New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1843-08-18
Carlyle Touches.

The last Foreign quarterly leefie" CONTAINS
characteristic parer by Thomas CARLYLE on the
Life and Character of DR.. FRANcIA Qately de-
ceased Cor twenty years Dictator OF Paraguay
in the heart of South America. We CLIP from 1t
the following passages:
"pitv. F" eyclaims Sauerteig once more, " that
nation cannot reform ITSELF the Enghsh are
now trvingto do, by what their newspapers call
.trernendous cheers - Alas II cannot DC done.
Reform is not Joyous but grlevous; no single man
can reform himself without stern suffering and
stern working how much less can a nation OF
men The serpent sheds not MS old SKIN with
out rusty disconsolateness he IS not happy but
miserable. In the Water-cure itself, do you not
sit down for months: washed to the heart III ele-
mental drenchings; and, like JOB, are made to
curse your day z Reforming of a nation IS a
terrible business Thus, too, Medea, when she
made men young again, was wont III H1mmet J
to hew them in pieces, with meataxes; cast
them into caldrons, and boil them for length OF
time. How much handler could they but have
done it by tremendous cheers alone!
ssLike drop of surgical antiseptic liquid,
poured (by the benign Powers, DIS fancy J INTO
boundless brutal corruptlons very sharp very
caustic, corrosive enough, this tawny tyrannous
DR.. Francia, in the interior Of the South Anne
rican continent,--he, too, is one Of the clements
of The Grand phenomenon there A monstrous
mouting process taking place ;-monstrous glut-
tonous boa.conStrictor Che is Of length from I'd
mama to Patagonia shedding his sohd SKIN;
whole continent getting itself chopped to pieces,
and boiled in the Medea caldron, to become young
again,-unable to manage it by tremendous
cheers alone !.
"What they say about love of power amount S,
to little Power? Love of power merely to
make hunkies come and 60 for you IS a love-
should think, which enters only INTO the mlnc oil
persons in very nfantine state: a grown man,
like this DR.. Francia, who wants nothing, as am
assured, but three cigars daily, cup of mate,
and four ounces of butchers meat with brown
bread the whole world and its united fi'lnkics,
taking constant thought of the matter. can DO
nothing for him but that only. That he already
has, and has had always; why should he, not
being n minor, love turnkey power = Tic loves
to see you about him, with your Turnkey prompt
tudes, with your grmaces, adulatlons, and sham
LOYALTY? You arc so beautiful, a daily and hourly
feast to the eve and soul Ye unhortunates,
from his heart rises one prayer, That the last
created funkev had vanished from this universe,
never to appear more
"And vet truly man does tend, and must
under frightful penalties perpetually tend to be
king of this world; to stand in his world as what
he is centre of light and ORDER not of darkness
and confusion. A man loves power: yes, II ne
sees disorder his eternal enemy rampant about
him. he does love to see said enemy IN the way
Of being conquered he can have no rest till that
comes to pass! Your Mahomet cannot bear a
rent cloak, but couts it with his own hands, how
much more rent country, rent world. He
has to- imprint the image of his own veraclty
upon the world, and shall, and must, and wil
do it, more or ess il is at his peril If he neglect
any great or any small possibility he may have Of
this. Francias inner flame is but a meagre,
blue-burning one let him irradlate midnight
Paraguay with it, such as 1t IS
" Nay, on the whole, how cunning IS Nature
In getting her farms leased Is 1t not a blessing
this Paraguay can get the one veraclous man II
has, to take lease of it, IN these sad cifcum
stances? His farm profits, and whole wages, 1t
would seem, amount only to what is called No
thing and find yourself! Spartan food and lodg-
ing solitude, two cigars, and cup OF mate daily,
he already had
Francia was a man that liked performance:
and sham performance, IN Paraguay as elsewhere
was a thing too universal. What time OF 1t
had this strict man with unrcal performers, ina
ginary workmen, public and private, cleric and
laic. Ye Guachos,--it is no child's play, cast
ing out those Seven Devils from you.
Monastic or other entirely slumberous church
establishments could expect no great favor from
Francia Such of them as seemed mcurable,
entirely slumberous, he somewhat roughly, shook
awake, somewhat sterny ordered to begone.
Debout canaile .taineante, as his prophet Raynal
saws; Debout: aux champs, dur dtetieyS Can
/ have you sit here, droning old metre through
your nose; your heart asleep IN mere guttony,
the while and all Paraguay wilderness or
nearly so,-the Heavens blessed sunshine grow
ing mere tangles. lianas, yellow-fevers, rattle
snakes, and jaguars on 1t Up, swift, to work.
or mark this governmental horsewhip, what the
crack of it is, what the cut of 1t is like to be-
incurab!e, for one class, seemed archbishops
bishops, and such like 4; given even TO a sham
warfare against extinct devils. At the crack Of
Francias terrible whip they went, dreadlng what
the cut Of it might be. \ cheap worship IN
Paraguay, according to the huncur OF the people,
Francia left; on condition that 1t o.'d no mischief
Wooden saints and the like ware he also sitting
In their inches, new ones, even OH solicitation,
would he give a dot to buy. Being potitioned to
provide new patron-saint Tor one OF his new
Notifications once, he had this answer: 20 peo-
ple of Paraguay, how long viii you continue
IDIOTS While was Catholic thought as
YOU do; bat now see there are no saints but
Good canrons that will guard our frontiers !.
This also is noteworthy He inquired OF the two
Swiss surgeons, what their religion was; and then
added, be of what religion YOU like here: CHRIS
tians. Jews, Mussumans,-bu don't be Atheists.
Equal trouble had Francia with his lalc work
ers for 1t is in Paraguay elsewhere like priest
like people. Francia had extensive barrack-
buildings (as we have seen,l arm,furnishngs
immensities of work going on, and his workmen
had in general t tendency to be imaginary. He
could get no work out OF them; only more or
less deceptive sinlitude of work Masons, so
called, builders of houses did Lot build, but
,nerelr seem to build their walls would not bear