, 1881-04-24

| ments, aud he was never oniy 4 secontl-rate
| tiiaectcian. Whoever, after having Thought
| 1corsltip. wullld take the trouble to read 4
page of Spnoza Or Kant, would soon per-
| cei,se the difference there can he between 4
| philosopher and {: mere dtlcttdHfc III phil
! lusuphy.
| Ii Carlyle cannot be cIAssed amongst the
| great prose writers, nor amongst the great
! historians or thinkers, it must be admitted
that c hail III him the materials fur 4 great
poet; and we have To accnSe Nature tor
having gifted him with the most brilliant I'M
| asiraton n,ad not having given hlli the
faculty nf rhyme nr nleas,lle. There are pro
| plt. who put in verse what hardly merllS ne
ln5 put III prose, but Carlyle passed Ills llfe
in saying i'll prost. what should have been
said in verse. liz WAS born to write poems
| and ot!cs: his histories; are epic poems; his
philosophical dissertations are cleGies or
psalms.
The distractions about which hcspeaks are
tn him real animated beings; they have
faces, eyes, and mouths; they cry and they
laugh; he Speaks with them; he questions
| tlen; lug a"'strop!lses them; he blesses alid
s:ytptlcarts, his Achilles or his Tancred, his
Lisbia or his Clorintl:l: ami in order to show
tncnl how far liz considers 1!le1n aestl aiht
/ blUud, lle always takes care to write their
mines with Il BIZ, cauital letter. Certain
Phrases are often repeated bC him, he speaks
| eytrlastngy OF THE heart OF things" and
l,u appears 10 have ;,i his life imagined that
things had Il. hcart.' which appears to us
I to be extremely difficult Ut pr0of. But he
never tried to tilsbeli.ye it, although 4 Greek
l,et has said tllut 1t i! useless tOSpcak either
harsl,y or telldcrly to things seeing that they
| don't care
| CARLYLE had not only the imagination of
uet, hut it. lad also the temperament, the
character, the tfiSlucated nerves, the joys.
the sorrows, tlle ti's.tiiy, and the soldness OF
/, poet. All wiio saw him were struck with the
earns.s3tlrss of his Impressions, the energy
.fn IkIt nj sentiments
wrilklvtt, grl!l face Wtil+ its irregular 11af-
tlreS and tleeply-turroWet lines betrayed oy
its c!!a!lstn. cSprssa!on the itqutetuHe o1 1iS
temperament. The light That plazed III hlS
could be indifferent. AS so'1i US H!!e iiaa
g,: the better Ut his natural Wildness,
when one had gained Als coitliAtncs'
alltl It's soon as liz would CONSENT to cn!'ildc
in uns', he would brc:tk out l!li magnificent
bursts Of e!ounellcc' but 1!e se!dont ar!ued:
his ~"rd sAuuld be t,.l1eSto; prop!lelS ai.
not supposed to D. Obliged II explain tnehi-
selves Tue admiration WHICH lie inspired
Was lnnsisG MI. Sort u1 p;t} t %nt , a." t ~
proud to c"'npialn. Il may bt ll!at re SUI
ft:ycd on account of having missed his path
III life \ p:'et that nts naue ~, serse, !.
ro'li:'hecr that mas written ~ i'slces. ai;s
very unfortunate peopie; tiley cahhot sGt
rid Of tie demon that .teyoufs them. u Is
like n't.lsles that went break out, or IKE Il
tooth that catit cur the gum, anu Tue Iesulss
are ser1uus disorders quick pulse' ehills anu
fever.
Poets are people OF sentiment; they judge
OF things wiki their hearts and llerreS: they
see everything III the light Of their own loves
ur hates. Carlyle hai love and enthusiasm
which became lnf;llua.ion; he had also i'll
s,,rulountable ,,rssions. liz ila'; little adj
inlratiun for ordinary people, le 'tespised
st.rDntl-cl:.ss genius anil sccol.d-rlass men:
thnst. who had in their lle;tls only the ideas
| picked up by chance: those who regulated
tf,rsr
feed to ctiht; those who allowed themselves
to be governed ly their opinions without
slinwin2 where th,se opilinls citlne fr'1:i or
what they were wort],-ai! such 'sIsp!easetl
crs. doubters: and sknp!icisnl. he loo,al
,lpon :> spiritual paralysis. flr lletestel
above all tho clever oncs who know we'll
what they desire aud what they ITO, but viii"
ont the doubts and opinions vi others. lie
has said that the ,1nst uupltaslng ri human
bcn.s are those who are liKe L fox. with
pointed nose, pcrniciosls- full of resources.
suht!cty. al.a grace, but WHOSE kinWledse
consists only III knowing where the Geese
are IL be found, and i'll 5tFalyllnE thes
! proprrly.;' lie wished tt purge the
earth of geese and foxes: but he is dead, and
geese and foxes are still to be toullt, anu Will
Dr to the end Ut the world. At whatever
time Of uay Or night the end of the world
comes, We may rest assured that the curtain
will fall un 4 fox stral,gllllg goose.
Carlyle held also Ill aversion Tue Eotalie5
Of B,nthan.-all those who consider Interest
as tile motive of ali actions, general utility
the best principle Ut government, and mental
calculation the most noble exercise VI the
human 1uinh. uealso dctestett the pllilos-
upIiers WHO look OIL the world is 4 ma
cline. who dare say tllat everything i'll It
moved by weights amt Springs, who see
everywhere levers, pullieS: tackles, cords,
and strings. He accused them Of protan.
Ing the work of Gu.l, Of committing real
intellectual crime, III outrage Oh the Majesty
Of tie universe Perhaps It was because
of hts repuGnance TO mechanics that he dis
liked constitutional government. 1t p"s-
sesSetl. he thought, too much wheel work
artticia!ly adjusted 2ud he hoped for notl.-
ing from it Tor The benefit Of humanity. lie
believed that the best constitution was Il
capable man whom it would not be per-
milted to .,ans;1y, and who should he
allowed to 10 what he chose: but he has
not told us how we, shall procure those
capable mel, when we hayl't them OIL hand.
Hnsid.s. must it follow that genius is
ntaIiibie. and that it never has any foolish
and costly fantasies Distrust is the soul Of
parliamentary government; nations will a.
wnys do well to di>tr,sr one another 4. little,
and to prefer Il SYSTEM of guarantee to Il sys-
ten OF carte blanche. Besides, il Carlyle