,c
8
A ItEVTEW OP THOMAS CARLYLE'S "FBENCH KEVOLUTION.'
VOL. IX,
Among liis first articles were those con
trlbutcd lo Brewster's Endinburgh Ency
clopaedia. A few years, after he com
nienced his Life of Schiller; which work
also met with much favor. Several years
after appeared his Sartor Jtesartus,
which is generally acknowledged to be
his ablest work.
Perhaps we cannot give a better idea of
Mr. Carlyie's manner of life, than byquot
ing the following extract from his letters
to Goethe, the great German bard :
"Two ponies which carry us everywhere, and
the mountain nir. arc the beet medicine forwenk
ncives. This daily exorcise, to which I am much
devoted, Is my ouly dissipation; for this nook of
ours (Craigcnputtoch) is thelonlicstin Britain,
six milco removed from everyone who. In any
case might visit me.1'
Mr Carlyle opens his Ilistory with a
discussion of the character of Louis XV,
and, unlike most historical writers, in
stead ol begining with the causes that
produced a certain effect, aud gradually
unfolding their progress; or of giving a
connected scries of facts, he takes up
some of the characters or principles that
led to the results, discusses their nature,
shows what part they bore in iuiluenciug
and shaping what was to follow; so that
it can hardly be called a history accord
ing to the common acceptation of the
word; but rather a collection of observa
tions and speculations, or moral izutions
upon the various themes which bear close
ly upon the subject. In this respect Mr.
Carlyle is thoroughly original, differing
widely, in his method of treatment, from
all other writers of his age; the most
prominent among whom are, Macaulay,
Motley, Froude, aud Bancroft of this
country; most of these being easy, enter
taining writers, while Carlyle is just the
opposite; his writings being very difficult
to read with any degree of ease and rapid
ity. Each sentence has to be carefully
analyzed, in order to bring out the mean
ing; aud sometimes even then it is almost
impossible to determine the thought
One tault with Mr. Carlyle is his con
stant employment of words of his own
coining; sometimes implying consider
able knowledge of philology on the part
of the reader to understand. As examples
of some we give the following: "eleuther
omaniac," c,simulucrum," 'unveraclty,"
"philosophcdom;" iu some the meaning
is evident from the parts of which tho
word is composed; in others, it is not.
To the ordinary mind he seems to have
lost uli idea of perspicuity, or of making
himself intelligible to his reader; but
rather to have written for his own gratifi
cation than to benefit his fcllowmen. As
to the value and importance of this book
and Carlyie's works in general, perhaps'
we cannot better express our ideas than
in the words of a writer in the London
Quarterly Review for 1840:
"Mr Carlyle an astute and trenchant critic
might, with show of justice, remark assumes to
be tho rclormcr, and castlgator of his age a re
former In philosophy, in politics, and in religion,
denouncing Its mechanical method of thinking
deploring its utter want of faith, and threatening
political society, obstinately deaf to the voice of
wisdom, with the retributive horrors of repeated
revolution, and yet neither in philosophy, in re
ligion, nor In politics has Mr. Carlyle any distinct
dogma, creed, or constitution to promulgate, He
is anything but a man of practical utility, Set
ting aside hid style for tho present, let us see
whether he has ever in the course of his life
thrown out a single hint which could be useful tn
his own generation, or profitable to those w'u ,'
may come after. If he could originate any such
hint, he docs not possess the power of embodying
it in distinct language. He has written a history
of the French Revolution, a pamphlet on Char
tism, a work on Heroes and Hero-worship, and
a sort of political treatise entitled, "Paat and
Present." Can any living man point to a single
practical passage, In any of these volumes? If
not, what is tho real value of Mr. Carlyie's writ
ings I What Is Mr. Carlyle, himself, but a phan
tasm of the species he is pleased to denounce."
Gale.