New-York tribune., 1867-08-16
c4pLYLE IND nEMoCRAcE

| with all MS pnllOoOphy mas hOI yctAuISCo'0io"
truths which are as clear as day to many
poor day laborer in England, and many an
ignorant negro in America No man OF equal
force has so little influence as he; he has
admirers, but few followers, and the reasons
for his isolation are fully set forth
| in the remarkable essay printed on
our second page. Therein Mr. Carlyle
proclaims his opposition to the Reform move
ment in England, his contempt for the abolition
| of Slavery in America his sCOrn of democracy
| in all its forms, and his faith in despotism as
the one great principle which is to work out
the salvation of mankind A philosopher whose
! ideal ruler is Frederick Of Prussia, whose
ideal government is one in which the
few keep down the many, cannot be
leader in the Nineteenth Century. Mr..
| Carlyle knows this. Want of penetration Is
not one of his misfortunes; no man is quicker
to see facts; but he s marvelously slow to
understand principles. He announces as
living fact-what the aristocracy of his cOun-
! try barely perceive as q phantom of dread
that Democracy in England must so on to the
| logical end that England before long must
take the Niagara lcapyof completed Democracy.
| But he protests against tho inevitable; he
prophecies that the triumph will be transtOry,
and that the world must finally go back to the
yoke of its old kings and oligarches.
1t is the few that have the right to rule, Mr..
! Carlyle believes I" the uDclassed aristOcracy by
nature, not inconsidcrablc in numbers and
" supreme in faculty. in wisdom human talent,
noblcness and courage, who derive t4f pa
A." tent of nobility direct from Almighty God.'D
| With this "small but invincible minority and
the aristocracy by title, which he thinks the
best class in England, he contrasts the Many
millions who are nosily living mere beaver
ish or dog-like life" who, while crying
for liberty, care inexOmbly marked b! Destiny
cas- slaves Legions of anarchs against bat
| TALON of heroes he sees, IN his Imagination the
opposing forces stand. IL the great Demo
cratic movement OF the ago, lac betolds an in
surrccton OF slaves against their GOd-appointed
masters: and he fears while he despscS the
grand uphcayql of the masses which viii sub
stitute the viii of the ignorant many for that
of his Frederick and his Bismarck. 1t is all
Greek to NJ Carlyle, this talk about the equal
fly of men. WhatT he exclaims "Quashee
"Nipger cou to Socrates or Shakespeare
d" Judas Iscariot to Jesus Christ f-palpable in
credibility and dclirious absurdity.n In the
extension of the English suffrage the philoso-
pher beholJs nothing better than the calling
in of new supplies of blockhcadism, gul-
iibility, bril-cablity, amenability to beer
" and baldcrdash.r In America, he thinks the
"ncgro question essentially one Of the small
{" cet.r and the abolition of Slavery q breaking
Of the Divine command. His idea of tho
true relations of the races is 10000
"bravc men bcneGcently keeping n mill
" lion of Niggers TO their work. Ot the
relations of the ignorant many to the educated
few. is-"a Drill-Sergcant,n this Drill-Sergeant
being Frederick, or Turenne. or Bismarck
any one who has the will and the power to
enforce the principle that commanding and
"obeying is the basis of human culture" With
this extraordinary creed il is not strange that
Thomas Carlyle can sec nothing but yulgaIity
in the Peoples expectations, resolutions, OF
desires.
But We see far more than vulgarity in the
resolution of the English people TO govern
themselves. We interpret the Reform move
ment as n yindication Of Manhood itself; as
one proof of many that the race is fit to exist,
and does not deserve to be utterly blotted
from the face Of the earth. Slaves of the power
that created them men may be, but the slavery
that Mr.. Carlyle declares to be our destiny is
that of race to race of man to man. we do
not so despise and degrade our nature.
We hold that man is capable OF self
government, that the power of a nation may
safely rest upon the broad basis of the intelli-
gence of the masses. There is littlo reason to
fear that the people will ever pretend to a
power they are not fitted to POSSESS
there is no record of an msurrectlon OF
slaves who were not fit to be free,
| and so long as nation needs
a King, the King sits safely ON his throne.
When Prussia was only worthy Of Frederick,
then Frederick ruled, and when Englishmen
were too stupid to take care of themselves, they
were content to be governed by the aristocracy
which Mr. Carlyle extols. But the coal-heaver
and the serf are of the same blood as Turenne
and Bismarck, and the time WiH come in every
land when those who have toiled for the glory
of the few-who have been so much power
| and brute force for the few to economize ana
| drect-will at once do the work and de-
termine its character We know not how
long it will take for humanity to reach Its
ideal through Democracy; but though II
| be hundreds of generations, 1t Is 10 DC
reached in that way and in no other
Leaders are but make -shifts-to be surely
guided, tho race must lead itself. We are
tired of Mr. Carlyle's heroes. Why are
they heroes Merely because the people
are crushed and debased, because their
development is imperfect, because OF
the Ignorance which is inseparable from
servitude and the want of responsibility
The true plan of making better
world is TO strive to make the hero unneces-