The Dillon tribune., 1881-05-07
Carlyle and Mill.

that had hattcred myself too much.
have not vet succeeded
Carlyle and Mill.
1t was lately asked whether CARLYLE or
Mill were the more powerful influence
With this generation. At one time they
were warm friends, ard it wa, while in
Mills possession that the MS. OF Carlylc's
"lIistory OF the French Revolution" was
carclesslv burned. Oftwo suc', men it is
hard to tell which to pity most for -s.ch
mishap. Carlyle re-wrotc his history, but
Mill could never quite have forgiven him
self In the later year. Of Mills life they
were not intimate. Carlyle la,nrntetl the
eiecadence OF the time; Mill tried to stem it.
We do not mean, Of course, that Carlyle
was only a jeremiah, but he was essential.
~ poet, a man Of imagination, of mel
ancholly temperament, and Of a conscience
almost morbid. fle had the wrath and the
humor, the burning passion and the gro
tcsque exaggeraion, Of a poet. But Mill
pre-eminently philosopher. with wonder.
iul insight, ample knowledge, and severe
mental training, mingled with a taste for
AFFAIRS" which made him great theoreti.
cal statesman. Carlyle's "llistory Of the
French Revolution" is vast and splendid
phantlsmayoria, in which, however, the
characterization is n,arvcllously vivid and
incisivc. Mirabcau and Robespierrc, for
instance are nowhereo Else SO picturesquely
or probably 50 truly drawn. The reader
who ha, mastered th.t work has prodigous
picture burned into his memory, and u
singularly clear and accurate conception Of
the charact,r r, the movement, and the scope
| Of that great event. On tine other hand,
Mills reply to Lord Isrousha'n's structures
upon the Revolution Of lS+3 is a sta es.
mans overwhelming vinlication of specific
pei teal action 1t i without color of
style, without imaginative grasp Of events,
except Us adequate comprehension Of his.
t,ric and contemporar, events is necessari.
~ imaginative, but it is a .lcnolishiny and
} conclusive plea. IN another way, his "po.
,tical Economy" his Logic" his '.Rrpre-
sentative government" hi, Essay on Lib
erty," treated topics at which CARLYLE
poured out floods of sarcastic hum,r. topics
, of immediate AMI pro:ouni human interest.
discussed with extraordinary ability but Of
. which Carlyle would have said, as he said
OF Par'm:nt, "l'alavcring, p,lavering and
nothing to show for it Tor tl., most part but
chewed air.
CARLYLE blew a trump OF neral awaken
ing. lis gospel Of the ",ternal vcritics"
was simply gospel of "a,t -s.u,nbug." "lt
!, world Of sl,ams," he sail, IAN, our first
business is to perceive it, ard to know that
We ourselves are the wors. shams OF all,
and to try to get upon Il footing Of simple
truth and justice. Happiness is not our
affair, but honesty and toll and suffering
and duty" This was his sermon, and, he
was preacher Of such genius, his tones
were at once SD tender and SO trcin ,n.n,>,
that the world stopped to listen. 1t was
not new message. The old familiar ex-
hortation is that now is the accepted time.
Philip Sydney babe tho poet look into his
own heart and write. S" Carlyle thunder.
ca that ever, body ought to bc Il man here
and now. lie proclaimed, in stentorian
tones and in twenty large volumes. that
, silence is better than speech. lie said sad.
~, that Americans, with their eternal CAB.
bic about liberty, where thirty millions OF
people. gone away to mere talk, with Sir
Jal'esh Windb'gj,t the head.
There is no doubt OF Carl,,c's great in.
t1usncc in aro.:sing The Young mind OF
Ensland-.,al America to Il high neral
earncstnr>s Of purpose, aud us lite Of
Mills direction Of that mild into practical
channels toward results. NILS cxposi-
tions OF the proper objects, functions and
limitations Of government: the clearly de-.
monstrJtch justice and rc.ls ~ Ol' specific
policies OF atimin;straii ~; the immense
historic Notifications %; his conclusions
supplied by his extraordinary knowledge
his Calculation OF the true process OF RIA.
soning as applied to the management Of
public affairs, with his calm and beautiful
Interpretations OF historic episodes and
c''aractcrs-make him certainly the great
auxiliary of CARLYLE in the intellectual lead.
crship of this generation Of English, speak:
ing race. Neither couli have spared the
other. One quickencd the soil. the other
sow,d the sec.i,--Editor's Easy Chair. in
llarlHr'> Magazine.
Slow but Solid.
''Lsrd bless YOU. bu, l had never given
| him second look. knew that he WAS "a
Norwegian, slow hut solid, hardly able to
speak work OF English, and never cared
whether he had relative on earth. Per.
hans II looks hit hard. hearted Il, ,,,., I'm,