THE HESPERIAN STUDENT.
4&
of final expediency; when all slmll understand as Schiller
says "llmt nature with genius stands joined In lenguo
ovorlastltgj" when In short, men shall bo over willing
to look upon both sides of caoh question and shall "do
holr honest thinking in the sight of God."
OARLYLE'S PHILOSOPHY
STYLE.
AND LITERARY
Language is a mirror of the mind. It reflects the per
mancnt imago of character no less than tho transient
thought. Hcnco wo Judge that a specific stylo indicates
a onesided development of mind. Tho solomn How of
Ilawthorno's diction is tho monody of a tiubid current
welling up from thoso sources of sadness that lie deop
within tho human heart; whilo tho versatility of Shakes,
spcaro is tho portrait of n mind as symctrical as tho uni
verse itscly. How can wo convict Johnson of affecta
tion or regard as a hollow mask tho brilliant diction of
Pope, sinco tho pomp of tho former is tho apparel of u
royal mind and tho grace and harmony of tho latter tho
natural music of a sensitive instrument.
Ruggcdncss of stylo marks tho path of the pioncor in
the world of letters or philosophy and is, as in tho Pro,
mcthcus of Aeschylus or tho Sartor Rcsartus of Carlylc,
the manifestation ot lumbering, ponderous though 'Her
culean strength. To tho pioncor.belongs the irksome task
of rifting yast masses from tho mines of thought to bo
wrought by tho more skillful though feebler hands of sue
cessors into varied fomrs of sculpturcsquo beauty or the
cosmic structures of thought. Hence tho need of force
and vigor in opening new fields of inquiry and rescaich
whence often como those personal traits in literature,
marks, as it were, of tho sirong but rugged, unskilled
mind.
Thomas Carlylo, a preacher of tho gospel of transcen.
dcntalism is perhaps tho most marked jyertional character
in tho literature of this contury. That spirit which ho
possessed that could strugglo in obscurity, taking counv
sel of tho unseen and silent, that could descend to the
main's and toil and suffer there till it could emerge with
victory into the sunlight is tho clearest proof of great
ness in the man and shadows forth tho energy which lie
has manifested in all his works. Exiling himself from
tho world ho walked alone for many years over barren
lands, broke witli persistent energy through ovory bar
rier in his course and discovered finally an Eldorado of
thought tho wondrous German lore.
Thoso writers whoso thoughts arc the headlights of
progress gleaming through tho centuries on tho track of
time now become his instructors aud their every word
is to time a revelation of the infinite. Richter with his
chaotic, boundless Imagination, his vehement rugged in
intellect and wild fantastic humor expressed in senten
ces of tho most heterogeneous, lumbering and intermina
ble character becomes his model in thought and stylo
Ho assends tho German Parnassas to its highest peak
whero tho singer of tho world's deop secrets sit alone, tun
ing hisJiarp to strains of unsurpassed nay, eyen
unsmpssiblo excellence and grandeur.
This music of a soul in harmony with nature, this
walking on hallowed ground awakened within him a
sen&o of awe and reverenco which becamo, as it were,
his life's grace aud power upon which as a foundation ho
is built up Into all furthor mafullnoss and strength. His
adoration of tho Infinite, his bodso of its sublimity and
jusllco flowing from Bitch a source pours its enlivening
waters over tho moral Sahara in many a reader's heart,
transforming It into amoral paradise
From tho snmo sourco comes also his mysticism. That
ho always understands lnmsolf has sometimes boon
doubted. Ho catches a glimpso of his kinship with
nature and deems it inspiration. Dim, distant it may bo
as a landscape in tho twilight, yet by him It is cherished
as a torch of divlno truth and translated but vaguely into
words. More frequently tho conception has a wonderful
vividness of color but Is as vast and formless as Milton's
idea of tho Infinite terror. This feeling of kinship with
natuio characterized in an eminent degree tho childhood
of humanity. In tho Scandinavian as In the early Greek
mythology tho distinctions between tho hero and nature's
powers aro too dim to bo traced. IIo shares her fiery life,
her strength and grandeur. Wo observe In the Norse
god Thor sending forth his thundering hammer strokes
and in the hero Archilles silently cherishing his wrath
by tho sea tho same breathless energy as In elemental
warefaro or In tho pent up fires of an Etna or a Vesu
vlvs. But the crumbled dust of heroes, gods and iEtnas
mako up tho soil from which our life-fruit grows.
That 11 fclrco which waves round thco in this hour aud
whereof thou in this hour art portion, has its roots deep
down in tho oldest death kingdoms; and grows; tho
three Times, Past, Present and Future, watering it from
tho sacred well 1
The second and by far tho more important priuciplo
in Oarlylc's philosophy may be stated as follows. All
things which we see or work within this earth, especially
wo ourselves aud all persons aro a kind of ves
ture or sensuous appcarence; under these lies as tho
essence of them what jo calls tho "divine idea" of tho
world. This is tho reality that lies at tho bottom of all
appearances. By the mass of men no such diviuu idea
can be recognized. They live merely among the superfi
cialities practicoities and shows of .tho world. That sci
enco is superficial and touches not tho real essence of
things is to him a fact beyond dispute. According to
this philosophy, logic is legerdemain applied to words
and our system of morality is built upon tho false assump
Hon that happiness is tho highest good. Ho regards the
several sciences as systems of names which servo only to
obscure tho real and eternal in nature and that deop in
sight with its accompanying wonder aud reverence
which aro essential elements of his character, This doc
trin impressed Itsolf vaguely on tho mind of Shakespeare.
HU religion is summed up in that exclamation of Pross
pero, "Vearo such stuff as dreams aro made of." Tho
same idea is implied in thoso beautiful words of Richter,
'I look up to tho starry sky ; and an everlasting chain
stretches hither aud over and below; aud all is life aud
warmth and light, and is Godlike or God.
But in Sastor Rcsartus (or Tailor Patched) his theory
assumes a novel form. This work exhibits in their intenrf
sity the peculiarities of this stylo and thought. Craggcd
iucohearent, inarticulate, with its masses of verbal rubs
bish as insurmountable as tho wintry Alps, it contains
much also of Alpine beauty; and tho tourist who can
bridge chasms, welter through infinite chaos and scale tho
rugged height will And its summit crowned with moral
