THOMAS CARLYLE. <...> WITH PORTRAITS AND ETCHINGS
NEW EDITION
LONGMANS GREEN AND CO.
LONDON AND BOMBAY
1896
All rights reserved
Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO.
At the Ballantyne Press
JANE WELSH CARLYLE
(From miniature in a possession of J. A. Froude, Esq.)
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I. A.D. 1828. ÆT.33.
2
CHAPTER II. <...> Goethe had said of Carlyle that he was fortunate in
having in himself an originating principle of conviction, out of
which he could develop the force that lay in him unassisted by
other men. <...> Goethe had discerned what had not yet become
articulately clear to Carlyle himself. <...> We have arrived at a period when he had
become master of his powers, when he is an distinctly to utter
the 'poor message,' as he sometimes called it, which he had to
deliver to his contemporaries. <...> The secret of a man's nature lies in
his religion, in what he really believes about this world, and his
own place in it. <...> We have seen him confessing to Irving that he did not
believe, as his friend did, in the Christian religion, and that it
was vain to hope that he ever would so believe. <...> He tells his
mother, and he so continued to tell her as long as she lived, that
their belief was essentially the same, although their language
was different. <...> Historical religions, Christianity
included, he believed to have been successive efforts of
humanity, loyally and nobly made in the light of existing knowledge, to explain human duty, and to insist on the fulfilment of
it; and the reading of the moral constitution and position of
man, in the creed, for instance, of his own family, he believed
to be truer far, incommensurably truer, than was to be found in
the elaborate metaphysics of utilitarian ethics. <...> In revelation,
technically so called, revelation confirmed by historical
miracles, he was unable to believe — he felt himself forbidden
to believe — by the light that was in him <...>
Thomas_Carlyle_A_history_of_the_first_forty_years_of_his_life__1795-1835_In_2_vol._Vol._2.pdf
THOMAS CARLYLE.
A HISTORY OF THE FIRST
FORTY YEARS OF HIS LIFE.
1795-1835
BY
JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE, M.A
FORMERLY FELLOW OF EXETER COLLEGE,
OXFORD
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL. II.
WITH PORTRAITS AND ETCHINGS
NEW EDITION
LONGMANS GREEN AND CO.
LONDON AND BOMBAY
1896
All rights reserved
Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO.
At the Ballantyne Press
Стр.1
JANE WELSH CARLYLE
(From miniature in a possession of J. A. Froude, Esq.)
Стр.2
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I. A.D. 1828. ÆT.33.
CHAPTER II. A.D. 1828. ÆT. 33.
CHAPTER III. A.D. 1829. ÆT. 34.
CHAPTER IV. A.D. 1830. ÆT. 35.
2
20
36
56
EXTRACTS FROM A DIARY KEPT AT CRAIGENPUTTOCK. 57
CHAPTER V. A.D. 1830. ÆT. 35.
CHAPTER VI. A.D. 1830. ÆT. 35.
CHAPTER VII. A.D. 1831. ÆT. 36.
CHAPTER VIII. A.D. 1831. ÆT. 36.
EXTRACTS FROM CARLYLE'S NOTE BOOK, BEGUN IN
CHAPTER IX. A.D. 1831. ÆT. 36.
LONDON 1831.
CHAPTER X. A.D. 1831. ÆT. 36
CHAPTER XI. A.D. 1832. ÆT. 37.
CHAPTER XII. A.D. 1832. ÆT. 37.
EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL.
CHAPTER XIII. A.D. 1832. ÆT. 37.
CHAPTER XIV. A.D. 1833 ÆT 38.
EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL.
CHAPTER XV. A.D. 1833. ÆT.38.
CHAPTER XVI. A.D. 1833. ÆT. 38.
CHAPTER XVII. A.D. 1834. ÆT. 39.
CHAPTER XVIII. A.D. 1834. ÆT. 39.
EXTRACTS FROMJOURNAL.
79
98
109
127
127
156
180
190
217
232
243
269
269
288
301
322
347
347
1
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CHAPTER I.
A.D. 1828. ÆT.33.
Goethe had said of Carlyle that he was fortunate in
having in himself an originating principle of conviction, out of
which he could develop the force that lay in him unassisted by
other men. Goethe had discerned what had not yet become
articulately clear to Carlyle himself. But it is no less true that
this principle of conviction was already active in his mind,
underlying his thoughts on every subject which he touched. It is
implied everywhere, though nowhere definitely stated in his
published writings. We have arrived at a period when he had
become master of his powers, when he is an distinctly to utter
the 'poor message,' as he sometimes called it, which he had to
deliver to his contemporaries. From this time his opinions on
details might vary, but the main structure of his philosophy
remained unchanged. It is desirable, therefore, before pursuing
further the story of his
life, to describe briefly what
the
originating principle was. The secret of a man's nature lies in
his religion, in what he really believes about this world, and his
own place in it. What was Carlyle's religion? I am able to
explain it, partly from his conversations with myself, but
happily not from this source only, into which alien opinions
might too probably
intrude. There remain among his
unpublished papers the fragments of two unfinished essays
which he was never able to complete satisfactorily to himself,
but which he told me were, and had been, an imperfect
expression of his actual thoughts.
We have seen him confessing to Irving that he did not
believe, as his friend did, in the Christian religion, and that it
was vain to hope that he ever would so believe. He tells his
mother, and he so continued to tell her as long as she lived, that
their belief was essentially the same, although their language
was
Calvinist without
things — that
different. Both these statements were true. He was a
the theology. The materialistic theory of
intellect is a phenomenon of matter, that
conscience is the growth of social convenience, and other
2
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THOMAS CARLYLE.
CHAPTER I
kindred speculations, he utterly repudiated. Scepticism on the
nature of right and wrong, as on man's responsibility to his
Maker, never touched or tempted him. On the broad facts of the
Divine government of the universe he was as well assured as
Calvin himself; but he based his faith, not on a supposed
revelation, or on fallible human authority. He had sought the
evidence for it, where the foundations lie of all other forms of
knowledge, in the experienced facts of things interpreted by the
intelligence of man. Experienced fact was to him revelation,
and the only true revelation. Historical religions, Christianity
included, he believed to have been successive efforts
of
humanity, loyally and nobly made in the light of existing knowledge,
to explain human duty, and to insist on the fulfilment of
it; and the reading of the moral constitution and position of
man, in the creed, for instance, of his own family, he believed
to be truer far, incommensurably truer, than was to be found in
the elaborate metaphysics of utilitarian ethics. In revelation,
technically
so called, revelation confirmed by historical
miracles, he was unable to believe — he felt himself forbidden
to believe — by the light that was in him. In other ages men had
seen miracles where there were none, and had related them in
perfect good faith in their eagerness
to realise the divine
presence in the world. They did not know enough of nature to
be on their guard against alleged suspensions of its unvarying
order. To Carlyle the universe was itself a miracle, and all its
phenomena were equally in themselves incomprehensible. But
the special miraculous occurrences of sacred history were not
credible to him. 'It is as certain as mathematics,' he said to me
late in his own life, 'that no such thing ever has been or can be.
'He had learnt that effects succeeded causes uniformly and
inexorably without intermission or interruption, and that tales of
wonder were as little the true accounts of real occurrences as
the theory
of epicycles was a correct explanation of the
movements of the planets.
So far his thoughts on this subject did not differ widely
from those of his sceptical contemporaries, but his further
conclusions not only were not
their conclusions, but were
opposed to them by whole diameters; for while he rejected the
literal narrative of the sacred writers, he believed as strongly as
3
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