, 1860-03-08
7Dre6& Trihtttte,


hr. Hal.anl, with style c.laste ercn to pru.
dcry, and Judgment impartial even to fault
thoughtful, Indeed, but thoughtful only about
iacts; treating all actions and erens as matters
OF course, neither strange nor startling nor at.
tecs1ng, and Important only as generating cef-
tain other facts which we Gull social and polti-
ca! results; SO dry and cold that you shrink
from contact with him, and } ct so useful and so
sound that you avoid 1t Mt your peril.
.1e e'd Hnib,ae bae sear e aa sat ha et pst1ous
corTuscating- with well polished epigrnm and
nicely poised an.ithesis, 81 all c1in1uant, all in
go!d,' carries You on with it by an irresistible
impulse, yet weerics you at lest by the very mo-
noiony Of its elaborate excellence, and the STU
died modulation Of its vigorous and ringing
turesque, and large share Of that poetic feeling
which attained its perfection in Scott, recognix.
ing, like Italian, the importance Of events in
their social and political aspect, and also, unlike
nallan, strongly affected by incidents in them
selves, provided they are out Of common sooy,
but seeing little to wonder ut, or to weep over
in the ordinary course Of that sorrowfui mys-
terry, the life Of man, looking scarcely beyond
the surface of things-hnting all PHILOSOPHERS
except those which minister to material well
fure, dcspising ethics, sneering at metaphysics,
barely tolcrating creeds, aud distributing praise
or blame without hesitation and without stint,
under strong party bias, and from standard
Of morality Of The simplest and most conven-
tional kind.
And Mr.. Car1yle-what shall we sar Of Car
1yle:--writlng in English exclusively his own,
part German, part classical part colloquial, part
poetlcal-in itself wonderful creation Of
genius, startling, indeed, to Edinburgh reviewers
Of the table article" order, and TO old Indies
who have no "patiencc with such nonsense"
but digging up, US it were, and bringing to light
from the depths Of Our. glorious language a
power and beauty unknown before; valuiup
events not for tie political or social but for the
human interest that is in them, and looking
upon every action or eyent, however ordinary,
with intense interest, curiosity, and almost awe,
as matter for wonder, laughter, or tears; as
" j strange fact, not an unexnmp1ed one, for the
strangest Of all animals is man;" with humor
c1uberant enough 10 rob history Of her dignity,
and pathos and carnestness deep enough 10
restore it to hcr teufold, with jealous and pas-
sion;te lore and quick and steady discern
ment Of all that in human action Is lorely aud
true, and great, and a graphic power which
causes scenes and persons to lire und move be-
fore us as they never Tired in history till now;
with turn Of mind siugularly nnjudiciat, ret q
judgment Of character eminently impartial, be.
cause Of the marvellous insight which he Dos
sesses into the secret chambers of the human
heart. No question but Of the three Carlyle
comes nearest to tue ideal Of perfect history,
and that is because Carlyle is a poet Poetry,
indeed, is not history, nor is history poetry:
and yet it is e'ernally true that, except by a
poet, no perfect history caI be written.-fraser's
Nugd-ine.