New-York tribune., 1903-02-01

tify to nothing more than the laziness OF an
editor with series Of classics to bring out he
seizes upon Carlyle as he seizes upon Sterne,
Ceryantes and two three others, without
whose presence no series of the sort Is supposed
to be complete An edition Of this kind relies
chiefly upon its paper, presswork, and illustra-
tion for success. More rarely we nave an
edition like the now published by Mr j. IL
Rose, whose recent work on Napoleon mas won
him high rank as an authority the revolu
tionary epoch in France. It is an admirable
piece of work. The notes. while not encroaching
seriously upon the text. are numerous, and they
are uniformly good. Mr.. Rose does not conflne
himself to checking his author points of fact,
as, for example. in his correction of Cariyles
attribution of the murder of Foulon to "a mere
mad outbreak of popular fury or in his re-
adjustment of the perspective in which the text
leaves Mirabeau in the famous chapter on the
triumph of the Third Estate. He Is alert
enough whenever it is necessary to counteract
an inaccuracy or clear up an obscurity. But we
appreciate even more his readiness to af1x a
note like that at the foot of the chapter describ-
ing the ignorant quietude of the Court on the
night which had closed on the fall of the Bas-
tile. 1t consists simply of extract from the
Kings private diary for July IA, 1889, and runs:
Nothing i. e., no game killed" A similar
diary in the following October: Shooting near
Chatillon: killed 81 head: interrupted by
events"
The introduction rises far above the perfume
tory level of such additions to a classic. Mr..
Rose traces ii the most interesting manner
some Of the sources of Carlyle's gradual alb
sorption in his subject, noting especially his
visit to Paris In the year 1875. and his talks
with Danton's friend, the butcher Legendre.
The secret of his success in picturing the great
spectacle Mr.. Rose finds in Carlyle's possession
Of IAN eye that could Sce,' and in an imagina-
ton that easily viSualized a scene Speaking
Of the historians attitude toward the Revolu-
ton, he describes him viewing it 'as a vol
canic outburst, revealing the utmost powers and
passions of human nature" and goes on to rep
resent him gazing into the crater with eager
longing, $50 that he might learn something of
that demoniac force that lies hidden under the
surface of a seemingly outworn society," Ask
ing what aspect of that mighty event Carlyle
undertook to depict" he continues:
Here we have his own answer couched in
Homeric phrase. The obstructive wrath of
Sansculottism: this is what we speak having
unhappily no voice for singing" And again:
May not say that the French Revolution
lies in the head and heart of every violent
speaking; Of every violent thinking French
Inan?" His work then, is prose epic describ-
ing the struggles of twenty-five million French
men TO right the wrongs of the past and also to
avenge them. He cared not jot for laws and
diplomacy, institutions and constitutions. He
had liking for battles since the date of
Homer, unless they CHANGED to be irregular
and personal as the assault on the Bastile or
the march of the women to Versailles. He ever
sought to come to close hand-grip with ndi-
vdual men. especially when fighting difficulty
and danger. History" he said elsewhere lis
the essence of innumerable biographies" Its
duty is not to reveal the hidden causes of
events; for these are unknOwabe; but it can
proftably tell us what men have done; and if
the Past be reverently studied in this way it
will become the true fountain of knowledge"
Mr.. Rose clearly exposes Carlyle's imta
tions. his sins of omission and commission, but
he is, on the whole, sympathetic. He does not
write to patroniZe a work of genius, but, by
strengthening it at its indubitably weak points.