, 1881-05-01

| ton that ne doomed sufficient to ask the Prior.
leave to ttnish h!s miracle. The slater wou!e
| have found himself in the air. and Carlyle wOuIt
! have thought tilut it WIS the nlost agreeable po-
/ sttion possible, and would have liked /: himself
| But the slater would uot have agreed with him
and without waiting to know whether he VIZ:
| permitted Or not, hc would have tried to regHfE
| tho ground even at tho risk Of injury 10 him.
| self Mysticism is II torment to those who have
| not q mystic temperament. and above nll peO-
| pie the English are those who ctnnnt without
difficulty make up their minds to pass their lives
between heaven and earth.
| There nre two SORTS Of mystics. Que sort are
! as simple as doves and very respectable. the
| others are little more refined: they delight in
| voluntary obscnritics, and cannot resist the
temptation OF nlingltng some charlatanis!n with
their spirtuaIi1es. The type OF honest tnyst!cs
was the Gernlun shoemakcr: Jacob boehcme, "f
whom Charles the FIRST Of England bad such au
exalted idea that he sent sAvnut to Woerlitz
tor the express purpose Of examining md qnes-
t:onfng him. Henry Heine remarks that the
English savunt was more happy than his Royal
master. for while Chlrles lost his head by Crom-
wells TX ii, Whitehall. tho savant only los: his
reas"n BY questioning bo.heme ut "uer!itz. 4
short time previous there. we'd another mystic
called Partccfsc. who WIS much better educate d
than HOchme. but Il little more Of charhltAIl.
ile made real discoveries in chemistry: he
studied mercury, arsenic, and unti1uUny; he
wore Scarlet coat and II red hat; he invented 4
panace4 and It'll elixir uf life: he made it point
tu render his disciples imlnortul; he piquul him
self OIL living OH IN intimate footing with the
invisible spirits that animate nature. anu
boasted OF being able to make every part OF Il
Carlyle was not charlatan; no one was more
honest thsu he. and ho never manufactured
homonca|tS. Besides, be was much better edit
Gated than Boeheme or paracelse; he had read
much, and had I'M open aud cultivated mind; he
understood the aKe in which he lived; he be-
ionged to it by his culture. while at the same
time he belonged to the past in his nlode OF
ttinknk.-in hi. 50rrows and in his Dreams He
w,ls thus Il mass Ut contradictions, and we must
not he astonts1ed to find that his thoughts as
we'll rs bis utterances were often hazy aud con-
fused. Tie WAS 1T the slime time liberal and
despottc. and alternately preached independence
and submission He boasted Of the great eH1an-
cipators. the overthrowcrs Of idols, the 1.uthers
ard tho knoxes: and although he hNtcd the
eighteenth century as the age uf incredui1y and
Revolution the musk or the hand OF the
devil. he did not hesitate to decfare that
the eighteenth century had its mission, and that
suns cul',tt(@H had its cause Of existence and
divine work TO perform. l:ut democracy in
4p!retl him with no enthusiasm; he saw in It
unly ,provisionnl regime, transition to somc-
which we live would end, ana that Il new divinity
would turn mems minds 10 obedience. Tu serve
with dignity Anu with the sentiments OF trec
man was hts 1nntto. and he hoped that the rc1iE-
ion he invented would b.iug mankind tu their
duty. and regulate their desires mud conduct.
He maintained that IT God reveals Himself in the
stars and in the flowers He 1nanites,s Himself
still more clearly in great meE- He preached
hero -wnship even from the house- TOPS. The
Tint oni exist amongst the ruins with
which the tempest Of Revolution has Gov
cred the world; 1t Is the ONLY stone which
can be saved out OF the ruin. or rather 1t is the
cornerstone which the Revolution has not
tltnbled down, and upon which We can REBUILD
Nature is ever divine, heroes nre always worthy
Of Worship. That Is all thut is left us 0f retKon.
When Carlyle speaks of heroes he Is never
cool; II is thcnin'lecd that he mounts tho rost-
rum, that he trcaks out into lyric transports
and hosanhas- 1t is then he triimpcts. tIe re-
duced the history nf the world to q certain NUM-
ber Of biographies placed side by side. and he de-
clares that we must despair of humanity If it
produces more heroes, Or If 1t could do with
uon to those 1t has already brought forth. 1t
must be admitted that it, this be ts not entirely
wrong. We taan aKree with him that those for
Midable and Troublesome guests called great
men are MISUNDERSTANDING for humanity. and
that If It werc necessary IT, choose between Il
state OF society troubEd by tho dreatns Of
genius. and tranquil >one in which one dar ]
would be the same Ms Annthef. in which he.u
would be rs high ns another, In which |
every one would enlo; With pleasure the liberty
soon make his choice. - have seem" said the
sage, banks OF oysters on the beach OF the
Dcean; 1 WAS sensible OF their happiness, but |
lid not envy them We can a9rec with him !
also that those who sanuer herpes are generally |
;tupid people, and tbut, II nobody Is 4 hero to
are not heroes. but that the yalc1z arc Wallets. ]
[legel had said 1t before Carlyle. and had |
auKhed Mt those schoomasters who tnught |
heir pupils that Alexander and C;esar were |
mere ambitious men without morality, worked !!
>u by evil passions. from which 1t followed that |
he school1naster WAS grcat deal better mau !
han Caesar or Alexander, because he VAS ex- |
:u,Dt from at! evil passions, and proved it mus
much rs he had not tried to conquer A5tH, or
vin the battle 0f Pharsalia- He9el had s!so
.Houoncnle, utazally Z 1na1iktn or dwarf.