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THE ATHENyUM PRESS SERIES

G. L. KITTREDGE and C. T. WINCHESTER

GEMEKAL EDITORS

trbe

Htbena:um press Series.

This series is intended to furnish a

library of the best English hterature

from Chaucer to the present time in a

form adapted to the needs of both the

student and the general reader. The

works selected are carefully edited, with

biographical and critical introductions,

full explanatory notes, and other neces-

sary apparatus.

atbcnfeum press Scrtes

CARLYLE

Sartor Resartus

EDITED BY

ARCHIBALD MacMECHANGeorge Munro Professor of English Langjiage and Literature in

Dalhousie College

Boston, U.S.A., and LondonGINN & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS

Wc^t ^tl)enaenm preecs

1900

Entered at Stationers' Hall

Copyright, 1896, by

GINN & COMPANY

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

TO

CHARLES ELIOT NORTON

AS A MARK OF ADMIRATION

FOR HIS CHARACTER AS A MAN OF LETTERS

AND

HIS DEFENSE OF CARLYLE'S MEMORY

aWein Sermad^tnifi, rote i^errlid^ tocit unb brcit I

2)ie 3eit ift metn SSermiic^tni^, mein aider ift bie 3eit.

PREFACE.

America's part in Carlyle is not small. When he wasstill, in his own country and among his own people, a

prophet without honor and sometimes almost without bread,

he receiv'ed from New England the three things he neededmost, money, literary recognition, and a friend. It is

not too much to say that the chance visit of an Americanproved to be the turning-point in Carlyle's career. ToEmerson's memorable voyage of discovery to Craigenput-toch in 1832, the beginnings of Carlyle's worldly prosperity

and of his influence on this side of the Atlantic, are directlytraceable. But for Emerson's generous admiration of them,

Carlyle's earliest works would certainly not have been pub-lished in Boston before they had made head in London

;

and but for the unselfishness and business talent of Con-cord's philosophical dreamer, the proceeds of the sales

might never have reached the rightful owner in Cheyne Row.Not in vain did he "summon all the Yankee" in him, and" multiply and divide like a lion." But money and famewere as dust in the balance, weighed against the treasureof a true friendship. What value Carlyle set upon it is tobe seen in almost every page of the Emerson correspond-ence. Again, in criticism no earlier praise is so just or soample as Thoreau's. Carlyle's very insult to the Republicin the hour of its extremity, followed as it was at once by

viii PREFACE.

his earnest desire for reparation, bound him closer to that

new world he never saw. When the time came for himto set his house in order, he left to an American university

as well as to his own Edinburgh, a token of affectionate

regard, an appropriate peace-offering of his books. Since

his death, an American man of letters has proved the truest

friend of his reputation by putting in the way of every one

who cares to make the trial, those personal documents whichcorrect the inadvertent errors, and downright distortions of

Carlyle's great biographer and literary executor. It was

from an American city, sixty years ago, that the first edition

of Sartor Resartus issued in book form; and it is not unfit-

ting that from the same city should now come, this, the first

attempt to deal systematically with the difficulties the book

presents.

The aim of the present edition is threefold: to make abook which is admitted to be worthy of study, and has the

name of being dark, easier of comprehension to the average

undergraduate and general reader ; to show clearly and in

detail the relations between this spiritual autobiography and

the actual life of Carlyle, which have hitherto been either

vaguely stated or only suspected to exist ; and to demon-

strate the process by which the book grew. The first inten-tion includes the other two, and is the most important of all.

The study of the writings necessary for these two lesserpurposes has brought about this desirable result, the

editor has been kept in the background, and the great manhas himself furnished the commentary to his own text.

Incidentally, the close scrutiny of Sartor has brought to

light a number of curious errors, such as may befall even aman of genius, when he leans too hard upon the best of

PREFACE. ix

memories, and writes at a distance from his works of refer-

ence. These have been noted in no spirit of vainglory, but

with the natural hesitation of the novice on whom it is laidto change places for the moment with his master.

The task of preparing this work, though thoroughly con-genial, and taken up lightheartedly enough, proved heavier

as it neared completion. Carlyle's course through the world

of books is as incalculable as a bee's in a clover-field. He isbesides a giant in seven-league boots; and Hop o' myThumb's chances of keeping him in sight are not brilliant.Though I have striven to avoid the usual jeers at commenta-tors and their farthing candles, I cannot hope that all readerswill find "each dark passage " sufficiently illuminated. Thereare still a few holes in Sartor's coat which remain to beneatly darned, and some regrettable gaps in my information.These are indicated in the hope that more learned critics

may fill them up. As I have been forced to work withoutthe aid of a modern, adequate library, my references arenot always made to the best or most accessible editions

;

though they are, I trust, clear and in every case to be reliedon. To break a road through new country is rough work,and much may be forgiven the pioneer, if the way he opensup is found to be merely passable.

That the imperfections of this work are not more numer-ous than they are, is largely due to the kindness of manyfriends who supplied information or transcribed extracts, orverified references which were inaccessible to me. To mycolleagues at Dalhousie my thanks are first due, to Profs. C.MacDonald, J. Johnson, J. Liechti, J. G. MacGregor, W. C.Murray, and H. Murray, also to Prof. W. M. Tweedie ofMt. Allison University, the Rev. Wm. King of Christ

X PREFACE.

Church, Cambridge, W. C. Desbrisay, Esq., of Ottawa,

T. Heath Haviland, Esq., of Charlottetown, P. E. I., andchiefly to Prof. Charles Eliot Norton, who lent me his pre-cious manuscript copy of Carlyle's Journals, and in otherways encouraged this present work ; to Prof. G. L. Kittredgewhose editorial zeal enabled him to endure the whole corpusof notes at one memorable sitting ; to my old friend Dr. F.H. Sykes of the Western University, whose affection has

survived the ordeal of reading many proof-sheets; and to

one other friend I need not name, who aided in the tedioustask of collating texts. The list is too long for any claimof independence, but not for gratitude.

The Glass Hotise, Dutch Village,

Halifax, July 26, 1895.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION' fAGE

I. The Production of Sartor xiii

II. The Sources xixIII. Relation to Carlyle's Life xxiii

IV. The Problem of Blumine xxviiV. Structure xxxvi

VI. Style xlii

VII. Significance AND Influence ' Ix

SARTOR RESARTUS.

CHAPTER BOOK I.I. Preliminary i

II. Editorial Difficulties 6

III. Reminiscences ii

IV. Characteristics 23

V. The World in Clothes 30VI. Aprons 2>7VII. Miscellaneous-Historical 40

VIII. The World out of Clothes 44IX. Adamitism 51X. Pure Reason 56

XI. Prospective 62

BOOK II.I. Genesis 72

II. Idyllic 80

xii CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGE

III. Pedagogy 90IV. Getting under Way 107V. Romance 120

VI. Sorrows of Teufelsdrockh 134VII. The Everlasting No 145

VIII. Centre of Indifference 154IX. The Everlasting Yea 166X. Pause 179

BOOK III.

I. Incident in Modern History 188II. Church-Clothes 194

III. Symbols 197IV. Helotage 205V. The Phcenix 210

VI. Old Clothes 216VII. Organic Filaments 221

VIII. Natural Supernaturalism 231IX. Circumspective 243X. The Dandiacal Body 247XL Tailors 261XII. Farewell 265

Notes 273

Appendix, Testimonies of Authors .... 403Carlyle's Index 409Index to Notes and Introduction .... 417

INTRODUCTION.

In the year 1830,^ Carlyle was living with his wife in the

lonely moorland farm-house of Craigenputtoch, which is byinterpretation, "Hill of the Hawks," on the western borderof his native shire, Dumfries. He was no longer young,and neither a successful nor a happy man. The eldestson of a stone-mason, he had followed the usual career ofthe ambitious Scots peasant, by preparing for the ministry.His father gave him the best education in his power,paying his expenses first at a good academy near home andafterwards at the university of Edinburgh. Though Carlyleacquiesced in the choice of profession made for him by hisparents so far as to preach two formal sermons at DivinityHall, he found at the close of his university career that hewas unfitted for the pulpit, and chose the usual alternative,the schoolmaster's desk. He disliked the profession ofteaching and soon abandoned it, but his short apprentice-ship to the distasteful calling gave him an influential and life-long friend, the only human being he ever saw face to face,

^ The biographies of Carlyle are so many and so easy to obtain, thatI have not thought it well to load my introduction with any biographicalfacts but those which directly explain the origin of Sartor. AfterFroude's classical work, the best is Dr. Garnett's " Life " in the GreatWriters Series (Walter Scott, London). This contains Anderson'sinvaluable bibliography. Prof. Xichol's memoir (English Men ofLetters Series), though meritorious, is not so pleasant in tone, nor soadmirably compressed.

xiv INTRODUCTION.

whose superiority to himself he in any way recognized. Thiswas the handsome, genial, brilliant Edward Irving. Althoughthey had met before, they grew intimate only when fatethrew them together as village dominies in the quaint littletown of Kirkcaldy. Irving was at this time Carlyle's intel-

lectual peer, and the two young men of genius read andstudied together, or walked and talked endlessly along thepleasant sands beside the sea. Their ways soon parted.Irving, who was rising rapidly into notice, went to Glasgowto be assistant to Dr. Chalmers. His translation to Londonin 1821,^ marked an epoch in the life of his obscure friend,as well as in his own. Irving became the fashionablepreacher of the metropolis ; and it was at his instance thatCarlyle first visited the city which was to be his home forhalf his life. A Mrs. Buller, who had been attracted to theCaledonian Chapel by Irving's preaching, asked him torecommend a tutor for her sons. Like a true Scot, heremembered his countryman ; and the young Bullers hadthe good fortune to have for tutor perhaps the most remark-able man of his age in Great Britain. This was the secondposition of the kind Carlyle had undertaken and by far themore agreeable. The English boys were not only clever butwell-mannered and affectionate. Charles, the elder, wasdestined to assist in giving England's greatest colony

responsible government and to die on the threshold of awider fame. Tutor and pupil became friends to the benefitof both. To a man of Carlyle's simple habits, ^^200 a yearwas riches. The first use he made of his wealth was topay for his brother John's education and to assist the restof the family in every possible way. Contact with the

refinement of the Bullers and their friends was good forthe raw peasant scholar

;but for several reasons he resigned

his position after a tenure* of two years.

^ Rem., II, 99 and n.

INTRODUCTION. XV

He was now twenty-nine years of age, without a profes-sion, trade, or means of livelihood. As a student, he haddone hack articles for the Brewster's Edifiburgh Encydo-pcedia, and now he turned to literature in the hope of earn-ing his bread. In the years of his tutorship he had studiedGerman and translated Goethe's Wilhelm Meister. A copysent to the author won the great man's regard. The workbrought him in ;^i8o and encouraged him to proceed. Fortwo years he supported himself by his translations from theGerman and his articles on German literature. But hisyouth was slipping away. He was known only to a smallcircle as an eccentric and impracticable man of genius,which by no means accorded with his vast ambition. Hesuffered constantly from a painful but not dangerous disease.He was at war with himself, as his journals testify. At thistime he married.

His friendship with Irving had paved the way for anotherand closer relationship. When Irving was master inHaddington Academy, he became deeply interested in JaneBaillie Welsh, the beautiful and clever daughter of a countrysurgeon of good family and sterling character. He wasfresh from college and she was a mere child. His positionas her tutor in her father's house favored the growth of inti-macy, though neither of them seems to have known the realstate of their feelings for each other. From HaddingtonIrving went to Kirkcaldy and there drifted into an engage-ment with the minister's daughter. Miss Isabella Martin.As time went on, he found that he had mistaken his feelingstowards both women. To his betrothed wife he was indif-ferent

;it was his quondam pupil who had his heart. He

tried to free himself from his entanglement; but the Martinsheld him to his plighted word, and Jane Welsh, though shereturned his love passionately, would not listen to him aslong as his engagement lasted. The affair ended in Irving's

xvi INTRODUCTION.

loveless marriage with the woman to whom he was bound inhonor, to the ruin of his own happiness and that of thewoman he loved. At first Carlyle's relation to the three wasthat of the friend, or mere bystander. He did not know thereal state of the case till shortly before his marriage. In

182 1, on a visit to Haddington with Irving, Carlyle methis future wife. With her keen insight, she soon divined hisgenius ; but she was repelled by his rustic manners, and therough strength of his character. Their first step towardsintimacy was a literary correspondence which seems to havebeen carried on without any great break from their firstmeeting till their marriage. Miss Welsh was ambitious, andwith Carlyle she had far more in common than with Irving.The story of their courtship has never been given to theworld; but Mr. Froude has told us that there were rubs inits course. One episode was the interference of a friend,and another a lover's quarrel which almost ended in a finalestrangement. The " taming of the mocking-bird " took time.Before he met Miss Welsh, Carlyle had been drawn to atleast one woman; and it may be said without fear of contra-diction that he could not possibly have made any womanhappy. Still, there can be no doubt that he loved his wifewith all the intensity of his fervid nature. The loss of herat the crowning moment of his life left him a broken man,and gave to our literature the record of a remorse as deepand heart-shaking as Lear's last agony over Cordelia. Nomerely imagined tragedy is darker than the true tale of hisunwitting offence, the dramatic conjunction of his greatesttriumph with his greatest loss, and his finding no place ofrepentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

At first, however, in spite of their narrow means anduncertain prospects, the skies were fair. The first year ofmarried life^ was spent in Edinburgh, in a comfortable, well-

^ They were married at Templand on October 17th, 1826.

INTRODUCTION. Xvii

furnished house, with a certain amount of society; and thenfrom motives of economy, they removed to Craigenputtoch, aproperty of Mrs. Carlyle's in the wilds of Dumfries. Carlyle

had hoped that marriage would work some sweeping changein his health and spirits ; but in this he was disappointed,as he was in the hope of various university chairs at St.Andrews, Edinburgh, and London. In a mood almost ofdespair, he settled down in his " Dunscore Patmos " to readand meditate and write and make a way for himself inliterature. At Comely Bank, his Edinburgh residence, hehad begun a novel which he threw aside at the seventhchapter. The acceptance of an occasional article kept thewolf from the door ; and from time to time, their friendssupplied them with various necessaries of life. Carlylespent his day in his study, or wandered solitary over themoors afoot or on horseback. His young wife slaved atthe housekeeping, lonelier than he. An occasional visitorbroke the gray monotony of their lives ; but no two peoplein Britain lived more retired. Crusoe, on the Island of Deso-

lation, was hardly more completely shut out from his kind.In the journal, that refuge of the lonely and impulsive,

Carlyle found a vent for his surcharged heart; and in 1829resumed irregular entries in a book he had already used forthe same purpose. The death of his sister Margaret in June,1830, doubtless set his mind powerfully at work. "Often Ithink of many solemn and sad things which, indeed, I donot wish to forget," ^ he writes his mother in this year.The month of September was particularly rich in the harvestof thought. About the 12th, he notes: "I am going towrite Nonsense. It is on ' Clothes.' Heaven be mycomforter." On October 19th, he writes to his brother:"For myself here I am leading the stillest life; musingamid the pale sunshine, or rude winds of October Tirl-the-

1 Lett., 172.

xviii INTRODUCTION.

trees, when I go walking in this almost ghastly solitude

;

and for the rest writing with impetuosity. . , . What I amwriting is the strangest of all things ; begun as an article forEraser ; then found to be too long (except it were dividedin two); now sometimes looking as if it would swell into aBook. A very singular piece I assure you! It glancesfrom Heaven to Earth and back again in a strange, satiricalfrenzy ; whether fine or not remains to be seen. . . .

" Teufelsdreck (that is the name of my present Schriff) willbe done (so far fifty pages) to-morrow."^ Ten days laterhe is able to record its completion.

The article in this form was sent soon after to Fraser,but not accepted, perhaps not even read ; for by February,1 83 1, Carlyle has his "long paper entitled Thoughts onClothes " back and is busy recasting and expanding it intobook form. " I can devise," he writes his brother John," some more biography for Teufelsdreck

;give a second

deeper part in the same vein, leading through Religion andthe nature of Society, and Lord knows what. Nay, the very' Thoughts,' slightly altered would make a little volumefirst." ^ This would seem to show that Book I of Sartor isthe original " long paper," that the devising of " more

biography " resulted in Book II, and the " second deeperpart in the same vein " is Book III. From February till theend of July ^ he is busy with the book, and by August 4th heis able to start for London with the completed manuscript.But the booksellers would have none of it, and afterhawking it about among the leading publishers for some sixweeks, Carlyle went home and laid the book aside for twoyears. Probably no changes were made in the text, in theinterval, for Carlyle was now very busy with his greatessays. Then, in November, 1833, the first four chapters

1 Left., i73f. 2 /^/^.^ 183.3 Idl'l/., 191, 212, 213, 221.

INTRODUCTION. xix

were printed in Fraser. The last instalment came out inAugust, 1834. In January and June it did not appear.For it, the author records, he received ;^82, i j,, and fifty-eight " really readable copies of 107 pages " ^ struck off from

the magazine types, which he distributed among friendsnorth of the Tweed. Few of them were even courteousenough to acknowledge the receipt of it; and on the generalreading public it made no impression, except repulsion anddisgust. Mrs. Carlyle pronounced it "A work of genius,dear." But she was almost alone in her opinion. Father

O'Shea in Cork, and Emerson in Concord, were apparentlythe only other persons in the world who saw anything in thebook. To the American admirer belongs the honor of bring-ing out the real editio priticeps anonymously in 1836 with alaudatory preface by Le Baron Russell. Though Emersonshore Sartor of the capitals wherein his heart delighted, hemade a good bargain with the publishers, and saw thatCarlyle received every dollar of his dues,* The first Eng-lish edition did not appear till two years later, and a thirdwas not needed for more than another decade. BeforeCarlyle's death, a popular edition of 30,000 copies had beenprinted and sold. The text was very correctly printed inFraser ; and between the first form of the book and the last,only the fewest changes have been made. The presentedition reproduces the text of 1874, with a few correctionswhich are indicated in the notes.

II.

" The first genesis of Sartor I remember well enough andthe very spot (at Templand) where the notion of astonish-ment at Clothes first struck me," ^ is Carlyle's own account

lett., 442.2 See Correspondence of Carlyle and Emerson, I, 86, 98, 122, 131.

Boston, 1886. 8 Kern., II, 190.

XX INTRonUCTION.

of how the book originated ; but this moment of illuminationis plainly a case of unconscious memory. The germ idea,as has been often pointed out, is contained in the Tale of aTub. That Carlyle knew Swift familiarly is indisputable.To his college friends he was known as " Jonathan " and"the Dean," as much from his known liking for Swift'swritings as his natural satiric bent ; and he recommends theTale of a Tub^ by name, to his brother John. To put thematter beyond the shadow of a doubt, Carlyle himself refers,in Sartor, to Swift and the passage quoted below.'

" The worshippers of this deity had also a system of theirbelief which seemed to turn upon the following fundamental.They held the universe to be a large suit of clotheswhich invests everything ; that the earth is invested by theair ; the air is invested by the stars ; and the stars areinvested by the Primum Mobile. Look on this globe ofearth, and you will find it to be a very complete and fashion-able dress. What is that which some call land but a finecoat faced with green, or the sea but a waistcoat of water-tabby ? Proceed to the various works of the creation, youwill find how curious journeyman Nature hath been to trimup the vegetable beaux; observe how sparkish a periwigadorns the head of a beech, and what a fine doublet of whitesatin is worn by the birch. To conclude from all, whatis man himself but a microcoat, or rather a complete suit ofclothes with all the trimmings ? As to the body there canbe no dispute, but examine even the acquirements of hismind, you will find them all contribute in their ordertowards furnishing out an exact dress. To instance nomore, is not religion a cloak, honesty a pair of shoes worn

out in the dirt, self-love a surtout, vanity a shirt, andconscience a pair of breeches ? " ^ (I omit the drasticSwiftian conclusion which must have found favor in the

1 Bk. Ill, cap. xi. 2 Talc ofa Tub, Sect. III.

INTRODUCTION. xxi

eyes of the man who wrote Count Zaehdarm's epitaph.)Here undoubtedly is the seed thought which lay chance-sown so long in Carlyle's mind that he had forgotten itsexistence and when it sprang up and bore fruit a hundred-fold, imagined it to be some spontaneous, self-derived tilth.While this is admitted, there is between the passage in Swiftand the completed Sartor all the difference between thebushel of seed-corn and the bursting garner. The seed fellin rich soil and it was most assiduously cultivated. A verylarge part of the book owes nothing at all to Swift. In thesecond portion, the story of Teufelsdrockh's life, his clothes-philosophy sinks out of sight altogether; and such chaptersas the fifth and eighth of the third book are too weighty andearnest to be really part and parcel of what was in the firstinstance a jest. The influence of Swift's thought isstrongest in the first or original portion. The rest is reallymade up of Carlyle's own experience of life, and his brood-ing over all problems that can engage the active brain, fromthe reality of the universe and the existence of God to thecondition of the poor and the phenomenon of the man offashion. The book is to be regarded as the epitome of allthat Carlyle thought and felt in the course of the first thirty-five years of his residence on this planet. Many thingswhich he wishes to say that cannot be ranged under anyrubric of the philosophy of clothes, such as his criticism ofduelling, are, notwithstanding, given room. This position Ihope to make good.

Such an explanation of Sarior as Mr. Larkin's ^ mustbe regarded as an exercise of pure fancy, in a line with theold-fashioned allegorical expositions of Scripture, like Dr.Alabaster's sermon on Adam, Sheth, Enosh. If, instead ofassuming the book to be an enigma, we simply examine the

1 Henry Larkin, Carlyle and the Open Secret of his Life, caps. i-iv.Lond., iS86.

xxii INTRODUCTION.

process by which it grew, light breaks upon us, and itssignificance becomes unmistakable. The sources of it canbe demonstrated to be fourfold. The first in importance isthe journal which Carlyle kept at Craigenputtoch from 1828to 1830. Extracts from this have been printed withgrotesque inaccuracy by Mr. Froude in his Carlyle's EarlyLife, and can be consulted there. A much safer authorityis a MS. copy in the possession of Professor Norton, whichhe kindly allowed me to use. The second source isCarlyle's novel Wotton Reinfred, which never got beyondthe seventh chapter. From this not only were many longpassages transferred bodily to Sartor, but also the mainoutlines of the love-story in Book Second. His essays formthe third source, notably the Signs of the Times} Character-istics^ also contains much of Sartor's thought. The fourthsource is his translations from the German ; and this is nota scanty stream. It is, however, of less importance thanthose mentioned. From Goethe he gets fundamentalthought, it is true, but from Richter, Schiller, Musaeus,Tieck and Hoffmann, he takes chiefly ornamental phrases,and illustrations. All those I have discovered are indicatedin the Notes. In many cases the thought is found mouldedinto two or three different shapes before it takes the final

impress of Carlyle's signet in Sartor? His use of his mate-rial is characteristically " canny." No good thing is allowedto pass unused, nothing is wasted, and many places showthe labor of the file. Often his borrowings were simply heldin his wonderful memory and set down unwittingly ; butagain, the process was distinctly conscious. Long extractsare copied word for word from Wotton Reinfred, notablythe account of Teufelsdrockh's meeting with Blumine and

1 Edinburgh Review, No. 98 (1829), and Essays, II, 135-162.2 Ibid., No. loS (1S31), and Essays, III, 5-49.* See I, 19, n. and passim.

INTRODUCTION. xxiii

Towgood on their wedding-journey. In this case thepatching is clumsy. Teufelsdrockh cannot ride up the

mountain-road which is still practicable for a barouche-and-four. And why should the wedding-party be bound southfor England t The passage fits into its context in WottonRein/red^ but torn from it only shows the author's haste andthat the end forgot the beginning. Carlyle's task fromFebruary to August in 1831 was drawing into the compassof a single volume all the best that he had thought in hispast life.

III.

The statement made by Carlyle that nothing in Sartor istrue, " symbolical myth all," has been repeated by Mr,Froude ^ and other biographers, in spite of the fact thatCarlyle contradicts himself. The only fact he admits asbiographical is the famous episode in the Rue St. Thomasde I'Enfer, otherwise Leith Walk ; but in the same workCarlyle confesses to various other facts which are more than!' symbolical," such as his first day at school.^ Indeed,even brief and limited research makes it clear that a verylarge meaning must be attached to the term, " symbolicalmyth," and I do not hesitate to say that the title " Life andOpinions of Diogenes Teufelsdrockh " is simply the usualinnocent device of authors to avoid taking the public openly

into their confidence, when their books are of an intimateand personal character, like Mrs. Browning's " Sonnets fromthe Portuguese." This has, heretofore, been generally sus-pected; it can now be clearly proven. Sartor is not onlythe epitome of all that Carlyle had thought; it contains thefine essence of all that he had felt.The first draft of Sartor was the novel Wottofi Reinfred.

This was begun in January, 1827, in the first months of

C. E. L., I, 103. 2 /v,.^ i^ 46.

xxiv INTRODUCTION.

Carlyle's wedded life, and finally thrown aside about June 4thof the same year. His letters ^ of this time show how hardhe worked at it, and what an interest Mrs, Carlyle took in it.The statement that it was given wholly to the flames cannotbe correct, for it has been since published. While it is notinteresting in itself, it is of the utmost importance for thestudent of Sartor and of Carlyle's literary methods. Thiswill be plain from a glance at its contents. The book con-sists of seven chapters, which are carefully finished andready for the press. The hero is a young man of morosetemperament who has been crossed in love. The object ofhis devotion, Jane Montagu, has been carried off by a" tiger-ape " of an Indian officer; and the unhappy lover isplunged into the deepest despair. In the first chapter hisfriend is trying to bring him to reason, and prescribes a visitto a certain physician of souls, called Moseley.

The second chapter gives Wotton's history to the time ofhis unfortunate love-affair. He has been brought up in asecluded part of the country by his mother, a truly religiouswoman. At school he is bullied by the other boys andnicknamed " weeping Wotton," till he thrashes one of histormentors. The death of a little sister makes a deepimpression upon his shy, sensitive nature, and increases hisnatural tendency to sadness. In due course, he attends theuniversity in a distant city, where he reads much, especiallymathematics. He finds his fellow-collegians uncongenial,and repels all advances by his reserved and sarcasticmanner. There is also little in the university system ofdiscipline and instruction for him to admire. Thrown backthus upon himself, he thinks much on the fundamentalproblems of life, studies the skeptical writers of modernFrance, and begins to doubt the creed in which he has beenbrought up. He ends in blank unbelief, and something

1 Lett., 20, 23, 32, 45 f.

INTRODUCTION. XXV

very like despair. Tn this mood he quits the university andfor a short time studies law. Disgusted with the technicali-ties of the subject, he abandons it and retires to the country.Near him lives the single friend he made at college,Bernard Swane, the " perfect opposite " of himself. Famil-iar intercourse with a man of Bernard's frank, hopeful

nature keeps Wotton back from madness and utter despair.On a visit to Bernard, one morning, he meets a youngbeauty, called Jane Montagu : and the occasion is describedat some length. One notable detail is the suppression of a" Philistine " by means of Wotton's adroit questionings.The youth and maiden fall in love with each other, and allgoes well till an ancient maiden aunt interferes. There is atearful final interview and they separate. Report says thatJane is to marry Edmund Waller, a young, well-connected,wealthy ofificer, whom Wotton holds to be a mere libertine.For some unexplained reason, this marriage does not takeplace ; but his disappointment makes Wotton ten timesmore gloomy than before. He looks forward to death asthe relief from all evils.

Chapter Three is short. Bernard and Wotton set outupon their rather ill-defined journey to Moseley. Thescenery they pass through is distinctly Scottish. At theirfirst inn, the waiters bring Wotton a locket containing aminiature which has been found in the mountains. Theportrait shows an unmistakable likeness to himself. Thoughhe knows that he has never sat for his picture, he takes thelocket with him, leaving a few guineas as a guarantee, andhis address in case any one with a better right should layclaim to it. His half-untold fancy is that it may havebelonged to his lost love.On the next day, the two friends proceed on their journey,

and meet a mysterious stranger. His name is MauriceHerbert, and he conducts the travellers to his mansion, the

XXvi INTRODUCTION.

House of the Wold, such a convenient, emblematic castle

as Wilhelm Meister strays into during his strange appren-ticeship. Here is met a company of scholars and philos-ophers, who reason after dinner, like Milton's fiends, on theeternal riddles of life. The chief significance of the discus-sion lies in the importation into it of Kantian philosophy,which the rest regard as they might a rabid dog. Afterthis symposium, the only other events worth noting are anencounter between the rivals, Reinfred and Waller, and,later a meeting between Reinfred and Jane Montagu, Witha long-winded explanation of the latter' s mysterious conduct,

the seventh chapter ends. The rest is silence.Now, the points of resemblance between these three

personages, Carlyle, Reinfred and Teufelsdrockh, both incharacter and career, are too close to be the result of merechance. As boys, all three are shy, sensitive, easily reduced

to tears and have been trained to religion by a piousmother. At school they are bullied, at the university they

are ill-taught. Among a crowd of uncongenial mates theyeach find only one true friend : Carlyle has his Irving

;

Reinfred, Swane; and Teufelsdrockh, Towgood. As theyreach manhood, all three part company with the creed of

their childhood; and in each case the loss increases the

natural tendency to sarcasm and misanthropic gloom. After

leaving the university all three study law for a time and give

it up in disgust. The two heroes of fiction have unhappylove-affairs which darken tenfold their former gloom.Whether this is true or not of Carlyle is a question still tobe settled. Carlyle and Teufelsdrockh wrestle through the

storm into calm ; and though Wotton Reinfred is not com-pleted, even there it is clear that the way is being paved for

the happiness of the star-crossed lovers. In some points,

the resemblance between the hero of the Reminiscences and

Wotton is closer than between Carlyle and Teufelsdrockh.

INTRODUCTION. xxvii

riie first little Janet Carlyle/ died at the age of three ; from

Wotton, " death had snatched away " " a little elder sister "

" before he knew what the King of Terrors was." "^ A beau-tiful girl, in whom Carlyle undoubtedly was interested, didmarry an Indian officer.^ Throughout Wotton Reinfred, thescenery, atmosphere and circumstances are those with whichCarlyle was familiar, that is to say, Scottish. On theother hand, though Reinfred does not, both Carlyle andTeufelsdrockh teach private pupils and "subsist by thefaculty of translation " after leaving college. These are thebroad outlines of resemblance between the personal history

of the writer and the careers of his two puppets or literarydoubles. Other minute resemblances are traced carefully in

the notes to Book Two. When this detailed evidence isconsidered in its mass, and taken with Carlyle's zeal fortruth and his hatred of fiction, as well as the fact thata writer's personal experience generally forms the basis of

his first novel, it will, I think, be hard to resist the conclu-

sion that Wotton Reinfred and Diogenes Teufelsdrockhare simple aliases of Thomas Carlyle.

IV.

Sunny is not the adjective one would select as most aptlydescribing the temper of any of Carlyle's works ; and yetthere is in Sartor a certain grace which the mind recognizesand rejoices in as the senses recognize and rejoice in thereturn of light and warmth in spring. In virtue of thispeculiar charm, found nowhere else so frequent or so strong

1 Two of Carlyle's sisters were christened Janet. C E. L., I, 9;E. lett., ix. 2 Z. IV. C, 25.

'Carlyle calls him an "idle Ex-Captain of Sepoys," Rem., II, 125.Mr. Strachey says he belonged to the 7th Hussars, Lord Anglesea'scrack regiment. Nineteenth Century, Sept., 1892.

xxviii INTRODUCTION.

in all his writings, the book constitutes a class by itself.Nor is it hard to account for the difference. Sartor wasCarlyle's first and only entirely creative work. In fashion-ing it he felt the joy of the artist in seeing the thought of hisbrain taking shape under his hands, the joy of the painteras the face of the Madonna grows out of the blank canvas,the joy of the sculptor as the sun-god emerges from themarble. The speed at which he worked attests this, as wellas the significant absence of those unutterable groanings

which waited on the building of his great histories. Again,Carlyle had not at this time parted with his mother's faith.True, he told Irving that he did not think of the Christian

religion as his friend did ; that is, as befitted a professed

minister of that religion ; but, on the other hand, a Scotch-

man of Carlyle's sincerity who takes sittings in the kirk andholds family worship ^ cannot be considered as in a state of

violent revolt against his inherited creed. Again, he had atthis time, love. He had but lately married a beautiful andbrilliant woman, without whom, in spite of all the unhappi-ness he caused and suffered, his life would not have beencomplete. The composition of Sartor marks the beginningof that time of which he was to write as a lonely gray-haired man the saddest words that surely ever blottedpaper : " I was rich once, had I known it, very rich ; andnow, I am become poor unto the end." Again, he had atthis time hope. He had not yet lost all expectation ofhuman virtue and courage and wisdom. He had not yetconceived the world as a ship of fools, driving without a

helm, in a black night of storm to certain wreck. There is

gloom in Sartor, but it is pierced by lightnings and floodedwith bursts of the upper glory ; and there are serene, sunlit

spaces into which the clouds do not intrude. For in spite of

disappointment and poverty and suffering in body and mind,1 Lett., 5.

nXTRODUCTIOX. xxix

Carlyle still possessed in large measure the things which goto make life full and sweet, joy of his task, faith, love,hope

;and all these influences find voice in his book.

There is one more element in the undeniable charm ofSartor yet to be considered. Let us for a moment imaginea Sartor consisting of the first and third books only. Weshould have "Opinions of Herr Diogenes Teufelsdrockh "

in plenty, and a very great deal of his clothes-philosophy

;

but could we spare his "Life"? In other words, if theheart of the book were torn out, the story of the " snow-and-rose-bloom maiden " Blumine, would the " Sorrows of Teu-felsdrockh" ever have aroused that widespread sympathywhich Emerson assures us the world gives freely to thelover t It may well be doubted. Here Carlyle touches theuniversal heart. Teufelsdrockh, the solitary philosopher,

the gloomy, misanthropical skeptic excites but moderate in-terest, and is indeed hardly intelligible. But Teufelsdrockhin love appeals to the experience or premonitions of all.Carlyle is not usually ranked with those who have spokeneloquently of the great passion, but where in our literaturecan we find another tale of pure devotion to a woman toldso simply and so well ? That he was competent to speakon this topic, his published letters to his wife are sufficientevidence. No small part of Sartor's charm depends uponthe Blumine episode. It is important for another reason.

It is strange to think that it should be the duty of Carlyle'seditor to discuss his Lilis and Frederikas. But in this caseit is unavoidable. Sartor is autobiographical. The closeresemblance between the career of Teufelsdrockh and thatof his creator has been already pointed out. The questionnaturally arises, " Is this central incident in Carlyle's spir-

itual biography without its parallel in his actual life ?

"

It has, in fact, been already asked, and it might be lightlydismissed, if so many contradictor}' answers had not been

XXX INTRODUCTION.

given. As the question has been put and various answershave been given, it is necessary to review them all with duecare.

Who was Blumine ? Froude says positively " MargaretGordon was the original, so far as there was an original,of Blumine, in Sartor Jiesarius." ^ Carlyle met her in Kirk-caldy in 1817, when he was a young man of twenty-two whoknew his own mind. Miss Gordon was born in PrinceEdward Island,^ now a province of Canada, and was con-nected with a well-known local family, the Hydes of EastRiver. Her mother was married first to a Dr. Gordon,Margaret's father, and after his death to Dr. Guthrie. It issaid that both were army surgeons, and that the latter wasstationed at Halifax. In Froude's opinion, the two youngpeople had been drawn to each other. " Two letters fromher . , . show that on both sides their regard for each otherhad found expression." He states further that "circum-stances . . . forbade an engagement between them." The let-ter which he prints in support, though stiff and formal,certainly implies intimacy ; and the significant little postscriptis confirmation strong : " I give you not my address, becauseI dare not promise to see you." Many years afterwards,Carlyle, an old grief-stricken man, alludes to the incident

with a certain mournful tenderness. Miss Gordon was " byfar the cleverest and brightest " of the " young ladies " ofKirkcaldy. She was " a kind of alien," " poorish, proudand well-bred." With her Carlyle had " some acquaintance,and it might easily have been more, had she and her Auntand our economic and other circumstances liked." Thisadmission is of course the basis of Froude's statement justgiven. "She continued," Carlyle proceeds, "for perhaps

1 C. E. L., I, 52.2 Carlyle says vaguely, ' born, I think, in New Bruns\nck,' Rein.,

II, 58.

INTRODUCTION. xxxi

some three years a figure hanging more or less in my fancy,on the usual rotnantic,^ or latterly quite elegiac and silentterms." " The portraits of Margaret and her aunt aresketched here in much the same colors as in Sartor. Healludes to their leave-taking at Kirkcaldy in 1819. The verywords used, " good-bye, then," have their place in his memory,and suggest the parting of Teufelsdrockh and his " flower-goddess." All this seems clear enough and points to oneconclusion. The heroine's after history is stated vaguely inthe Raniniscetices. The two met some twenty years later onhorseback at the gate in Hyde Park, "' when her eyes (butthat was all) said to me almost touchingly, " Yes, yes, that is

you." She married Mr. (afterwards Sir) Ronald Bannerman,and accompanied him to Prince Edward Island,^ when hecame out as Governor in 1850. Lady Bannerman was longremembered in the island, and it is stated that before theappearance of either the Rejiiinisccnces or Froude's Life., she

was known in the province as the original of Blumine." Islanders " were interested in reading Sartor, because the

heroine was connected with local history. If this is true,

the only source of the information would be Lady Banner-man herself, for previous to 1881, there was no printed

statement to connect the famous man of letters and the wifeof an obscure colonial governor. So far, then, Carlyle's

testimony, documentary evidence and local tradition agree.But of late a counter claim has been put forward.When Carlyle went to London, as tutor to the young

Bullers in 1822, he met a friend of the family, to whom heoften alludes by the pet name " dear Kitty." CatherineAurora Fitzpatrick was the daughter of a famous Irish sol-dier, and an Indian princess who traced her descent fromthe blood royal of Persia. She was an heiress and a

1 Italics mine. A. M. 2 Rem., II, 57.3 Not Nova Scotia as usually stated.

xxxii INTRODUCTION.

beauty. " A strangely-complexioned young lady, with soft,brown eyes, and floods of brofizc-x&d hair, really a pretty-looking, smiling and amiable, though most foreign bitof magnificence and kindly splendour," ^ is Carlyle's word-picture of her as he saw her first. Her character issketched by the same master hand. " She had one of theprettiest smiles, a visible sense of humour (the slight merrycurve of her upper lip, right side of it only, the carriage of

her head and eyes, on such occasions, the quiet little thingsshe said in that kind, and her low-toned hearty laughwere noticeable) ; this was perhaps her most spiritual qual-ity ; of developed intellect she had not much, though notwanting in discernment. Amiable, affectionate, graceful,might be called attractive (not slim enough for the title'pretty,' not tall enough for 'beautiful'); had somethinglow-voiced, languidly harmonious, placid, sensuous, lovedperfumes, etc. ; a Yl2i\i-egnm, in short ; interesting speci-

men of the Semi-oriental Englishwoman."^ It is a pleasantpicture. To all the rest, she adds the two chief charms ofLalage. Carlyle is not the only witness to her loveliness

and amiable character.^ As to the relationship betweenthem, he says without any hesitation, " It strikes me now,

more than it did then," that Mrs. Strachey " could have

liked to see ' dear Kitty ' and m3'self come together and socontinue near her, both of us, through life ; the good, kind

soul . . . and Kitty too, . . . might perhaps have beencharmed. None knows." * It seems plain, that beforethey met, the interest of the two young people had beenexcited in each other. Why else should Miss Kirkpatrickhave twitched the label off his trunk as she ran up stairs

that night of their first meeting ? and why should Carlyle1 Rem., II, 117. 2 7^/,/.^ 125.

3 Westviinstir, Aug., 1S94 ; N^inetcenth Century, Sept., 1892. Rem., II, 125.

INTRODUCTION. xxxiii

have noticed the girlish prank and recorded the trivial inci-dent years afterwards ? To match the rough man of geniuswith the beautiful, amiable heiress might well have seemedgood to the friends of both. Though Carlyle was poor, andby no means a man of the world, all the women divined hispower and foresaw his fame. It is clear that the youngpeople had every opportunity for coming to an understand-ing. On one occasion they travelled with a party to Paris.They certainly were on no unfriendly footing.Was Miss Kirkpatrick, then, Blumine .-' Her friends

thought so. When Sartor appeared, Mrs. Strachey told herson, as stated in his article, " Carlyle and the Rose-goddess," ^ that "the story of the book is plain as a pike-staff.Teufelsdrockh is Thomas himself. The Zahdarms ^ are youruncle and aunt BuUer. Toughgut^ is young Charles Buller.Philistine is Irving. The rose-garden is our garden withroses at Shooter's Hill, and the rose-goddess is Kitty."Mr. Strachey makes several minor points, such as the coin-cidence that Blumine is called " Aurora," " Heaven's Mes-senger," and that Miss Kirkpatrick was christened CatherineAurora. He says that he has taken pains to verify andestablish his facts ; and that he considers Froude's hypothe-sis, as given above, untenable. Such strong statementsmade by those in such a good position to know, must carrygreat weight. But more direct testimony is forthcoming.As recently as August, 1894, a Mrs. Mercer states that she

knew Miss Kirkpatrick as Mrs. Phillips, the wife of a retiredofficer. On a visit to her at Torquay, in 1847, Mrs. Phillipstold her to read Sartor Resartus by Carlyle. Her words asquoted by Mrs. Mercer are remarkable. " Get it {Sartor)and read the " Romance." I am the heroine and every

^ Niitetcenth Century, Sept., 1S92, p. 474."^ These coinages are the admiring tribute of a dyspeptic to people

blessed with normal digestion. " () dura messorum ilia ! "

xxxiV INTRonUCTION.

word of it is true. He was then tutor to my cousin, CharlesBuller, and had made no name for himself, so of course Iwas told that such an idea could not be thought of for amoment. What could I do with everyone against it ? Nowanyone might be proud to be his wife, and he has married awoman quite beneath him." ^ The entire article is open tot riticism of different kinds and must be received withcaution. But after making all deductions, it seems clearthat Miss Kirkpatrick looked upon herself as the original ofBlumine. It is also clear that her friends so regarded her.What becomes then of Froude's theory ?Now, if it be true that Lady Bannerman was known long

ago in Prince Edward Island as the heroine of Sartor, andif the Re7niniscences and the letter printed by Froude meanwhat they say, it is plain that Carlyle was strongly drawn toMiss Gordon. On the other hand, the testimony of Mrs.Strachey and Mrs, Mercer, again confirmed by Carlyle's ownwords, cannot be set aside. From them it appears that amarriage between Carlyle and Miss Kirkpatrick had beenthought possible, by at least one of those most interested inthe matter. Again, it is undeniable that both MargaretGordon and Catherine Fitzpatrick resemble Blumine incharacter and circumstances. It does not follow that eitheris the original of Blumine to the exclusion of the other.

Let us consider once more the genesis of Sartor. Thefirst draft is Wotton Rein/red, a novel begun four monthsafter Carlyle's marriage, with the knowledge, encourage-ment and cooperation of his wife. Now, such a man asCarlyle does not sit down, in his honeymoon almost, to cele-brate any woman other than his wife, with her knowledge andconsent. Again, it has been pointed out, that many traitsof Blumine are common to Jane Montague, the heroine of

^ Carlyle and the '^Blumine " of Sartor Resartus, Westminster Review,Aug., 1894, pp. 164 f.

INTRODUCTION. xxxv

IVotton Keinfred, and to Jane Welsh. Her portrait shows avivacious beauty, the index of her wit and spirit. Indeed, itis very easy for a special pleader to make out a strong casein her favor. The truth seems to be that while certaincircumstances point to each of the three, no one can beconsidered as the original of Blumine to the exclusion of theother two. Carlyle was an artist in words. He needed aportrait of a heroine. He took as models the three womenhe knew best, as fair and amiable influences as ever cameinto the life of genius, and painted from them with masterstrokes, and in unfading colors, a picture of ideal loveli-ness.

It was a true instinct which led Carlyle to " devise morebiography." The brightest pages of Sartor are those irradi-ated by the presence of Blumine, the " light-ray incarnate."Without this episode, so tender, so pathetic, the bookwould have lit1:le more coherence than Colton's Lacon, andwould remain a splendid chaos of weighty thoughts. Teu-felsdrockh as a person would be as vague as Sordello, andthe human interest in the book utterly lacking. Blumine isfit to take her place among the Shining Ones of our litera-ture by the side of the Juliets and the Di Vernons, not onlyfor her own sake, but for the new-old ideal of love which sheinspires in the hero. It needed to be restated. Felhamand Sartor were nearly contemporaries. The first was apopular success ; the other a failure. But contrast the twoin their treatment of the most important relationship pos-sible between men and women. Felham conceives ofnothing higher than the conventional clubman's notion oflove. In its course, a seduction is a creditable incident, andits natural conclusion is a fashionable marriage, with settle-ments. Carlyle, on the other hand, can only depict thething he knows, the intense chivalrous affection of theunworldly man who has retained the man's natural, rev-

Xxxvi INTRODUC TION.

erence for the woman. Which ideal was needed most in theage of dandies cannot be doubted.

V.

When Carlyle, in the first six months of 1S31, recastSartor into its final shape, he was known to the world, sofar as he was known at all, only as a student of Germanliterature. He had translated Goethe's most importantnovel, he had published a life of Schiller. He had madeRichter, Tieck, Musaeus, Hoffmann more than mere namesto the English public. He was capable of appreciating theNibelungenlied and of attempting to interpret the secondpart of Faust. He had even a history of German literaturein hand, and a life of Luther in contemplation. No man inGreat Britain possessed such accurate historical knowledgeof German literature, or was so deeply imfcued with itsspirit. His admiration for the great writers of Germany waswell grounded, and, in one case at least, reached the point of

enthusiasm. For him Goethe had a new gospel. That hisfirst original work, then, should bear many traces of Germaninfluence was the natural result of his long continued efforts

to transplant German thought into English soil. In forminga literary judgment of Sartor, one thought must always bekept in mind, it pretended to be German.

In the very first chapter, the reader encounters a Germanprofessor and his book. The name of the book is given infull with a translation appended. Even such details as the

name of the publishers, the place and date of publicationare added, but they are discreetly allowed to remain undis-

turbed in the original. The title. Die Kleidcr, travestiesthat of an actual German pamphlet presented by Goethe toCarlyle; but it does not give its name to the book. Thequaint Latin rubric which Carlyle pitched upon implies that

INTRonUCTION. xxxvii

his book is secondary, derivative and based upon the Germantreatise. It is hardly a stretch of hinguage to call the dis-coverer of the clothes-philosophy " tailor," or the rehabilita-

tion of his theories by the " English editor," " patching."But the title is not quite accurate. The first and thirdbooks do indeed consist ostensibly of extracts from DieKlcidcr^ with introductions, comments, and explanations

;

but in the second book, as has been already noted, theclothes-philosophy gives place altogether to the life of the

clothes-philosopher. Teufeldrockh's epoch-making workcannot be understood without more information regardingTeufelsdrockh the man. The friend who gives the informa-tion, in the famous paper-bags, is Heuschrecke, a GermanRath. The guardian of Teufelsdrockh is one of the greatFrederick's sergeants and lives in the village of Entepfuhl.This name is undoubtedly German, as, in its elements, isHinterschlag, the ominous designation of the academy wherethe boy is educated. He passes through the " nameless "

university, and after various efforts to make a way for himselfin the world, falls in love with a high-born maiden bearing theGerman name of Blumine. It is upon the invitation, whichis given in full, of a Frau Grafin that the meeting is broughtabout. When the lovers part, Teufelsdrockh takes up hisPilgerstab and wanders up and down the earth like thenoble Moringer or Rosegger's Waldschulmeister in hisstormy youth. But besides all this mere veneer of German,Carlyle goes deeper. The scenes in the Green GooseTavern and in the littered study of the watch-tower, theportrait of Lieschen, the idyls of the hero's childhood recallthe vanished Germany of little states and the quaint homelypoetry of the life it fostered.

Again, German books, with all their undoubted excel-lences, are popularly supposed to fail not seldom in lucidarrangement. C'arlyle, who should give no countenance to

xxxviii INTRODUCTION.

such an idea, goes over shamelessly to the enemy. InSartor, he produces ostensibly a double confusion. Inmost vivid phrases, he compares the original Kleider to" some mad banquet, wherein all courses had been con-founded, and fish and flesh, soup and solid, oyster-sauce,lettuces, Rhine-wine and French mustard were hurled intoone huge tureen." With the life of Teufelsdrockh, it is in-conceivably worse. The biographical material is containedin " six considerable paper-bags, carefully sealed, andmarked successively in gilt China-ink, with symbols of theSix Southern Zodiacal Signs, beginning at Libra." Thecontents are " miscellaneous masses of Sheets, and oftenerShreds and Snips, written in Professor Teufelsdrockh 'sscarce legible cursiv-schrift ; and treating of all imaginablethings under the Zodiac and above it, but of his own per-sonal history only at rare intervals, and then in the mostenigmatic manner." ^ This chaos the English editor has toreduce to order, and from the "Sheets" and "Shreds" hepieces together a story, meeting with about the same successas would attend the effort to reconstruct a Chinese puzzlewith half the parts missing.

A little reflection shows that this confusion is apparentrather than real. Carlyle does not want to be tied down toany rigid plan in discussing either the imaginary Kleider orthe life of its imaginary author. He wants a frame for hispatchwork, ample enough to admit any scrap of an idea orany fragment from his most intimate experience of life.Commenting upon a fictitious philosophy of clothes, andconstructing the life of its author, furnish exactly the oppor-

tunities he needs. By pretending that his book is doublyconfused, he forestalls the most obvious criticism that canbe made on it. Further, he wins the reader over to his side.This is simply the ordinary device of the novelist in bring-

1 Bk. I, cap. iii.

INTRODUCTION. xxxix

ing his own verse into his tale. The rule is to depreciate

the poetry yourself, or make your puppets run it down,depending on the reaction in the reader's mind to set thebalance true. Carlyle is the last man to be tangled in a

yarn of his own spinning. His plans are invariably clear ;and Sartor is no exception to the rule.The problem before Carlyle was to find a picturesque

setting for the thoughts within him which were clamoring

for utterance. He knew he could not write a novel ; andverse he found unmanageable. No essay could be largeenough or loose enough for his purpose. But it was as an

essay the book began. Apparently the stages of its growth

are these. At first it is a moment of inspiration, " astonish-

ment at the thought of clothes " ; then it is an essay " on

Clothes prepared as a paper for Fraser'"; then, as an after-

thought, the clothes-philosophy is fathered upon an unre-

sisting German professor with a fantastic name, and the

"English editor" is left free to comment upon it as he

pleases. Last, the unfinished novel, IVotton Reiufreil, is

pressed into the service of furnishing " more biography."

The completed Sartor shows Carlyle the artist. Afterthe first startling discovery that a learned German has ex-pounded a new philosophy, the interest of the reader is

excited by a series of delicate etchings in Carlyle's best

manner. Teufelsdrockh, the grave, the silent, toasting the

Cause of the Poor in the Green Goose Tavern, or in his attic

alone with the stars, or in a rhapsody over the sleeping city,

may well entice the reader on. Various short chapters, grave

or gay, wise or humorous, lead up to the hiatus vahlcdeflendus,

the impossibility of proceeding without more knowledge of

the author's life. This very check is intended to heighten

the interest. Then comes the "biography, a symbolicAdumbration significant to those who can decipher it," ^ in

1 See Carlyle's Index, p. 411.

xl INTRODUCTION.

other words, Carlyle's Wahrheit imd Dic/itung, his Praeterita.Here a new two-fold interest is aroused by the love idyl andthe tale of spiritual struggle the strenuous age was to knowso well. Here is no shadowy, unreal, feigned passion.Carlyle is writing his own story, and he writes it in lettersof gold and blood. It is hard to connect Teufelsdrockh thesage with Teufelsdrockh the perfervid lover and desperateskeptic. The first may be a German, the latter is undoubt-edly a North Briton. Let us be thankful for both, withouttrying too anxiously to reconcile them. But even with the

hero's self-conquest the interest is not exhausted. LikeTell, Carlyle keeps an arrow in reserve. The third bookhas less than the first of the clothes-philosophy, and more ofCarlyle's sanest, grandest deliverances on human life, suchas the incomparable chapter on Natural Supernaturalism.Though not so often abused as the style, the structure of

Sartor has not escaped criticism. It is the case of the doggiven a bad name. Carlyle for fun says his book is a jum-ble, and most people take him at his word. Indeed, nothingis more noticeable than the pride with which the ordinaryreader, following the vain tradition of the fathers, paradeshis helplessness to understand Sartor. In reality, Carlylehas anticipated every objection that can be raised to theplan, and used every mechanic art employed in the arrange-ment of written composition to make his purpose clear.The grand divisions are distinctly marked. The chaptersare generally short, and are furnished with piquant anddescriptive rubrics. Almost every ostensible extract fromDie KIcider is tagged with the plainest of labels. Some-times the supposed quotation is abused to arouse the readerin its defense. Again, its good qualities are unblushinglypointed out ; for part of Carlyle's whim is to praise himself.And for the sake of the wayfaring man, the book is pro-vided throutrhout with admirable summaries. Allowins:

INTRODUCTION. xli

Carlyle the privilege of speaking in his natural voice, it is

hard to see what more he could have done to make hiswords plain and clear. Given the man and his thoughts,how else could he have put them before the public ? Twomodes were open to him, the reformatory essay and thedidactic novel. Arnold succeeded with the one andKingsley with the other. Carlyle knew his limitations andstill tried to combine the two methods. Sartor is a novel,-

with appendixes, fore and aft. The form is unique, butit is capable of explanation and even of defense.

In pretending to be based on a specified German treatise.Sartor began life as a literary hoax. The first intention ofits author was humorous. His earliest recorded words onthe subject are sufficiently clear : "I am going to writeNonsense." His method was calculated to deceive the veryelect. He constructs a German book and evolves a Germanauthor for it. He gives ample quotations from the one andflows with reminiscences of the other. He is almost asgenerous with matter-of-fact detail as De Foe, and almost asunsmiling as Swift. The public, ignorant of German, weretaken off their guard. They held a vague belief that theGermans were learned, odd, and fantastical. Sartor assertedthat it was German, it was apparently learned, it was cer-tainly odd ; and so it was taken at face value. At least oneperson wrote, on seeing it quoted, to learn where Die Kleidercould be fallen in with ; the heavy-handed refutation of theNorth American reviewer shows that he had been haunted bygrave doubts ; while Mr. Strachey frankly confesses that hehimself was for a time befooled. Such results, of course,were only possible in a time when the British public knewas little of German as they do now of Hindustani. Thatany one could have finished the first chapter of Sartor andnot seen through the joke, is another proof that "with fitapparatus" the public is always "gullible."

xlii INTRODUCTION.

VI.

" The symmetrical constructions of human art and thoughtdispersed and upset, are piled under his hands into a vastmass of shapeless ruins from the top of which he fights andgesticulates like a conquering savage." This vivid gro-tesque, which is worthy of Carlyle himself and would hav^etickled his fancy, represents Taine's impression of his style.

The two counts in the indictment are : Carlyle's method ofwriting is chaotic, and it is barbarous. To a Frenchmanborn to a classic prose as lucid as his native air, the Scot's

apparent scorn of all rule and precedent may well seemVandalic. Still, the fact that a foreign critic considers

Carlyle's style objectionable, does not necessarily imply afinal condemnation of that style. The justice of his strict-ures must be carefully examined. But whether Taine isright or wrong, whether he is a competent judge of thematter or not, the fact remains that he finds Carlyle's stylea rock of offense, an opinion which is shared by almostevery critic and criticaster.When mention is made of Carlyle's style, it is not the

Life of Schiller which comes to mind, nor any one of theessays. The style recognized to be distinctively Carlyle'sis the style of his French Revolution, his Latter-day L\jm-phlets, his Frederick. This well-marked, unmistakable man-

ner, the real Carlylese, which is to Taine anathema, appearsfirst full-blown in Sartor. Before this book, his style is not

distinctive ; after it, he reverts only in a single instance to

his first manner.^ The importance, then, of investigatingthis style in its earliest example must be manifest. Whatfollows is not intended to be either a complete defense or a

complete study of Carlyle's style. It is based on Sartor.

"^ Life of Sterling. But even there traces of Sartor are apparent.

INTRODUCTION.xliii

and the conclusions reached apply, in the first instance, tothat book alone. Whether or not they may be of widerapplication can only be shown by similar investigations.

It might be supposed that Taine had said the worst thatcould be said of Carlyle's style

; but other objectors runhim close. Blackwood's description of it, "a barbarous,conceited, uncouth, and mystical dialect,"^ may or may notbe, in Carlyle's own word, " luminous," Scherer says hisstyle becomes pure gibberish and the Quarterly Ecvieimechoes this verdict without dissent.^ The notion that hisstyle was a deliberate affectation has long prevailed anddies hard. One writer even feels like contradicting Froude,who asserts that Carlyle wrote as he spoke, on the goodground that he, the particular reviewer, had never heardCarlyle speak. Other critics are more precise and insistthat Carlyle's obscurity is due to corrupting German influ-ence,^ and some are able to point out the very Germanwriter whose style he imitated, namely Richter.

Here again is seen the force of the bad name which thesly dog, in a merry mood, gives himself. The misconcep-tions of the critics are in no small measure due to Carlyle'scomic over-statement of his own peculiarities. As " Englisheditor " he feels himself bound to take Teufelsdrockh to taskfor "this piebald, entangled, hyper-metaphorical style ofwriting,"* abuse almost as severe as old Ebony's. Heeven makes more specific charges. Teufelsdrockh's style is"marred by the same crudeness, inequality, and apparentwant of intercourse with the higher classes. ... On thewhole Professor Teufelsdrockh is not a cultivated writer.

1 Blackwood ''s Ediiihurgh Mngaziiie, 1850, p. 643.2 Quarterly l\C7'icw, Jan., 18S5, p. 92.3 The trick of tearing a phrase out of its context as proof of Carlyle's

obscurity is an old one. See Appendix, p. 400.* Sartor, 266.

xliv INTRODUCTION.

Of his sentences, perhaps not more than nine-tenths standstraight on their legs ; the remainder are in quite angularattitudes, buttressed-up by props (of parentheses anddashes), and ever with this or that tag-rag hanging fromthem ; a few even sprawl-out helplessly on all sides, quitebroken-backed and dismembered." ^ Such a statement is,of course, the humorous exaggeration of a writer who isexperimenting upon the public with a new style. Carlyleput the worst face on the matter, and again his criticsmeekly follow his lead. Nor is this all. In his propercapacity as English editor, he has a confession to make of undue influence on the part of that dreadful Teuton." Thus has not the Editor himself, working over Teufels-drockh's German, lost much of his English purity t " ^

How Carlyle, the Scot, must have chuckled over the notionof his " English purity," at a time when Macaulay wasready to exalt the Cockney prentice above Scott or Robert-son, as a well of English undefiled. With his usualthoroughness, Carlyle aims at nothing less than completemystification. In pursuance of his first humorous inten-tion, he is at pains to give a German coloring to hisstyle. He lards his pages with scraps of German which hethoughtfully translates, or slips German phrases into thetext in brackets, as a guarantee of good faith. He wouldnot be suspected of abusing our confidence. The Englishand the German are placed side by side for comparison bythe intelligent. He further imitates such German idioms ascan be imitated; for instance, the insertion of an adjectivalphrase between the noun and its article. Besides, he extendsthe use of idioms which English possesses in common withGerman but does not use so freely, such as the adjectivefor the noun,"^ and " were " at the beginning of a conditional

1 Sarfor, 26 f. 2 //,/,/. ^ 266.^ " Condition of the German Learned," 5 2.

INTRODUCTION. xlv

sentence.^ All this gave the book an odd look which every-one was ready to agree was quite German. In view of this

artfulness on the part of Carlyle, critics must not be blamed

too severely for accepting with childlike trustfulness his

own misstatement of the case. The Sartorian pitfalls aremany and ingenious ; and one after another the criticsblunder into them.

The further charge that Carlyle imitated Richter wasmade early and it has often been repeated. Thoreau seemsto have set the notion going. In the course of a clear-

sighted appreciation of Carlyle, written in 1847, ^^ says :

"In his graphic description of Richter's style, Carlyle

describes his own pretty nearly ; and no doubt he got hisown tongue loosened at that fountain, and was inspiredby it to equal freedom and originality."^ The quotationshows that Carlyle and Jean Paul undoubtedly possessedcertain things in common, an untiring faculty of rich

allusion, an absolute command of vivid metaphor, and aturbulently fresh vocabulary. Thoreau makes one impor-tant reservation. In Carlyle, '" the proper current never

sinks out of sight amid the boundless uproar," as itundoubtedly does in Richter. In other words, .Carlyledominates his material ; he rides on his whirlwind, whileRichter is smothered under his roses. Between the twothere is a vast difference, the difference between thecloud and the clear sky. , How Thoreau arrived at hisconclusion, I have no means of knowing. He may havehad such a knowledge of German as would enable him tocompare Jean Paul and Carlyle with an expert eye fornice resemblance. On the other hand, he may simply haveread Carlyle's translations of Richter, and his admiringessays, and jumped at a striking analogy.

^ " Sheers down, were it furlongs deep," 26 5."^Essays and Other Writings of Henry Thoreau, p. 159, London, n. d.

xlvi INTRODUCTION.

Lowell is much more emphatic : " In ' Sartor,' the markedinfluence of Jean Paul is undeniable both in matter andmanner." ^ He thinks also that the humor of Swift, Sterne,and Fielding, after filtering through Richter, "reappears inCarlyle with a tinge of Germanism." ^ If this means thatCarlyle got his peculiar humor through Richter, Lowell issimply mistaken. Carlyle knew his Swift and his Sterne atfirst hand long before he heard of Richter or knew a wordof German. Besides, since this was written, new data, inac-

cessible to Lowell, have been published, which tend tooverset his theory altogether. It is true that Carlyle bor-

rows illustrations from Richter;^ but this is a different

thing from consciously modelling his style on Richter's,

which Lowell seems to imply. Blackwood^ refers confi-dently to Richter as Carlyle's model, in passing, as if the

matter were beyond dispute. The idea crops out again, aslate as 1885 when the Quarterly, reviewing Froude's Life,couples with a contradiction of Froude the statement thatCarlyle's imitation of Richter was at first unconscious.*

Of those who have echoed this opinion, how many haveexamined or tested it, or have possessed fit equipment formaking the necessary comparison, is a question which maybe deferred.On the other hand, individuals temerarious enough to

oppose these notions have not been wanting. In fact thetwo persons best qualified to speak on the subject, namelyCarlyle and Carlyle's. most intimate friend, declare againstthis strong array of confident assertions. Froude opinesthat "no criticism could be worse founded"^ than that

* Lowell, Essays, II, 88, Boston, 1892."^ Ibid. ^ See notes 32, 34, 2,-n6. passim.* Blackwood''s Edinlnirgh Magazine, 1850, p. 658.^ Quarterly Review, Jan., 1885., p. 92.^C.E.L., 1,411.

INTRODUCTION. xlvii

Carlyle's style was imitative of Richter. He further stateswith great plainness that Carlyle often told him that hisstyle "had its origin in his father's house in Annandale."^In another place, Carlyle admits the influence of the oldPuritans and Elizabethans, and asserts that they played a'" much more important part " in the formation of his stylethan Jean Paul ; " and the most important by far was thatof Nature." Surely Carlyle ought to know how his ownstyle was formed. Surely his positive statements must

carry greater weight than the mere conjectures of the mostbrilliant critics. How much of the " old Puritans andElizabethans," Shakspere being always barred, is dis-cernible in Sartor i And yet the influence of this negli-gible quantity was " greater " than Richter's. Carlyle writes

this passage at a very sad time, when he is more anxious toset Irving in a true light than to adjust nicely the generalpublic's notions about his own methods of composition.He enters into no lengthened discussion of the matter, butmerely jots down a note in passing.Though the reference is slight, it is, to my mind, decisive.

The publication of Carlyle's early letters has brought tolight most important material for the study of his style.His memory has not played him a trick when he says thathis style was formed in the old Annandale farm-house.The documentary evidence in support of this statement isample and convincing. Take for example such a passageas this : " Nap^ the mighty, who but a few months ago madethe sovereigns of Europe tremble at his nod; who hastrampled on thrones and sceptres and kings and priests andprincipalities and powers, and carried ruin and havoc andblood and fire from Gibralter to Archangel Nap, themighty is Gone to Pot ! !

!

^C.E.L.,\,i,\\.

xlviii INTRODUCTION.

" * I will plant my eagles on the towers of Lisbon. I willconquer Europe and crush Great Britain to the centre ofthe terraqueous globe.' I will go to Elba and be coopedup in Limbo ! ! ! But yesterday, and Boney might havestood against the world ; now ' none so poor to do himreverence.' ' Strange,' says Sancho Panza, ' very strangethings happen in the boiling of an egg.' "^ This is not anexcerpt from the Latter-day Pamphlets, but a bit of a letterwritten by Carlyle at nineteen, on hearing the news ofNapoleon's first overthrow. Not for six years was he tobegin the study of German or so much as know that Richterwas in existence. Still, here w^e see exactly what Thoreausaw in Carlyle's style, the unconventional vocabulary, thefree construction, and the wealth of allusion. These things,it must be repeated, Carlyle has in common with Richter

;

but in no sense does he derive them from the Germanhumorist. The passage quoted is only one of many whichmight be cited from his early letters and which display thesame qualities. The Teufelsdrockhian dialect is, to mymind, plainly foreshadowed in the nicknames ^'Boney"''^Vap, the mighty,'' in the tags from the Bible, from Shak-spere, from Don Quixote, in the burlesque of Napoleon'sgrandiloquence, in the bold use of the slang phjpase " goneto pot," in the favorite " Limbo," in the dashes and repeti-tion of the first paragraph, in the apparent gap in sensebetween the last two sentences, and above all in, the freshphrasing and explosive force of the w^hole passage. This isplainly Carlyle's habitual method of expressing himself.So far from being true that his natural voice is to be heardin his Life of Schiller, and only strained, affected tones inSartor, the very reverse is the case. When he imitates thepopular literary fashions in IVotton Reinfred, or in his hackarticles for Brewster, he writes in manacles. When he is

1 E. Lett., 2.

INTRODUCTION. xlix

carried on by the impetuous flow of his thoughts in Sartor,the book writes itself. The difference is marked even inhis early letters. To his intimates he writes in this freestrain. In addressing a mere acquaintance he becomes aScotch polite letter-writer.^

Superficial resemblances between Carlyle and Richterundoubtedly exist, but too much has been made of them.It is high time to call attention to their points of difference.

Thoreau lays his finger on the main distinction, the radicaldistinction between the essentially clear course of Carlyle'ssentences and Richter's endless meanderings. From Rich-ter's incurable vice of the parenthesis Carlyle is free.

There is nothing in Sartor to compare with the " Zwischen-satze und Zwischengedanken " of the Kavipaner Thai, forexample. Again, Richter's characteristic note is tender,and at times sentimental

;Carlyle's is stern, strenuous.

Even in his tenderest passages, he feels a self-imposed

curb. In Richter the note is too often forced, in Carlyle

it is felt to be almost always inevitable. Besides all thesethere are the differences between English prose and Germanprose. Carlyle has the advantage of a sentence-structurewhich is logical. He loosens the English sentence, frees itfrom the trammels of the Johnsonian tradition, and gives it aliveliness almost colloquial. Richter is also of the romanticschool and would gladly defy the Median laws of the Ger-man sentence. But they are too strong for him. No singlerebel can hope to abate the tyranny of the past participlesand relative clauses. Richter's expedient of suppling theGerman order by the introduction of parentheses, andparentheses within parentheses, only made matters worse.To the unavoidable rigidity of German prose he joins aheavy formlessness of interjected clauses. On the other

1 Contrast, for instance, the letters to Mitchell with No. 24 toT. Murray, E, Lett., 78.

1 INTRODUCTION.

hand, Carlyle's style, in Sartor at least, is free and fluid,

^

it may be as of clear stream, or of mountain torrent, or ofburning lava.

These misconceptions may then finally be laid to rest.Carlyle neither imitates Richter nor forms his style uponhim. To call his style German is simply misuse of words.As seen in Sartor, it is a natural development of fashionsof thought and speech learned under his father's roof andplainly traceable in his earliest writings. Leaving the dis-cussion of what his style is not, let us now examine whatit is.

It is generally conceded that the prose of Addison, ofSwift, and of Goldsmith is still unsurpassed in the essentialqualities of good prose, that is, in clearness, force, and ease.Later writers have tried to enlarge the scope of classicalprose by interfusing it with richer color, and with subtlerand more varied harmonies. But for all that, the prose ofthe eighteenth century remains our classical prose, themodel for succeeding generations of writers. Such a masterof style as Arnold stands out for the old tradition. Thedifference between the prose of Swift and the prose ofRuskin or DeQuincey is striking. The first is intended tobe read, it is free from mannerisms, it addresses itselfchiefly to the eye. The latter gains by being read aloud, itappeals to the ear, and it is so full of mannerisms that itcan be readily imitated and caricatured. No one cancaricature Swift or Addison. Modern or romantic proseis surcharged with color, with emotion, and it aims atrhythms undreamt of in the eighteenth century. Thesequalities of composition we look for, not in prose but inpoetry. In prose we have a right to expect, first and fore-most, intellectual qualities, not emotional. The best partof prose is that " vivid exactness " of phrase and that lucidorder of the whole, which are due to the exercise of logic.

INTRODUCTION. \\

Now Carlyle goes a step beyond both DeQuincey andRaskin, and addresses himself almost exclusively to theear. Beside Carlyle's all other styles seem tame. At times

his words seem to shout at you from the printed page.

There is hardly a sentence which does not produce theillusion of an audible voice full of mirth, or scorn, or ten-

derness, or melancholy, or entreaty. Often a passage

which seems hard to the eye, yields up its meaning whenread aloud. In this new prose the writer comes muchcloser to the reader than in the classical prose, whichconsiders it good breeding to suppress the personal notealtogether. But this style is not oratorical. It is too close-

knit, too free from the hint of insincerity, the necessary

verbiage and the diffuseness of persuasive speech to beclassed for a moment with Burke's. Every sentence is, asMr. Leslie Stephen says " alive to the finger-tips." Thereis an evident desire to be always emphatic, and no doubtMr. Stephen is correct in ascribing this to Carlyle's strongfeelings, his great intellectual power, his hatred of the con-

ventional, and his peculiar irritability of nerve. Later, Ishall advert again to this vividness of style and this unionof concentration with declamatory effect, which is still notoratorical.

Froude calls Carlyle's style " the clearest of styles." *

This is a hard saying, unless by clear he means structurallyclear, or else vivid. Otherwise the judgment cannot passunchallenged. Between the reader and Carlyle's meaningthere always hangs a veil, which grows transparent in theexact degree that he understands Carlyle's manifold andout-of-the-way allusions. To my mind this is the chief and

' Thoreau had done so long before. " Not one obscure line, or halfline, did he ever write. His meaning lies plain as the daylight, and hewho runs may read." Essays and Other Writings of Henry Thoreau, p.54-

lii INTRODUCTION.

perhaps the only real difficulty in understanding Carlyle.

His own comic self-depreciation may be set aside. It isnot because his mind is too weak to construct intelligiblesentences ; it is not because those sentences are " broken-

backed " or " dismembered " ; but because they are full ofreferences to all things visible and invisible, that they aresometimes hard to understand. The range of his allusionsis immense. Apparently he never forgot anything he ever

read or anything he ever saw. All literature lies open

before him from which to choose his illustrations. Hepasses from Aristotle to Peter Pindar, from Goethe to a

local almanac. Here is an astronomical fact jostling a

scrap of a song in praise of tobacco ; there, a bit from the

Anatotny of Melancholy alongside a reference to the dress of

the South American guacho. Only two English writersapproach him in wealth of remote allusion, Macaulay and

Mr. Swinburne. When the allusion is understood thecloudy veil becomes fire, a great and shining light. Take,for example, a typical passage chosen almost at random,

the closing paragraph of the second chapter of Sartor.

Within that space are six allusions, to Horace, to Pope,

to Tristram Shandy, to the Bible, to an English trade habit,

to an obscure Chinese custom.^ To the obvious meaningof the text these allusions superadd a fine literary flavor,

on which half its effect depends. The meaning is tolerablyclear without them ; but until we understand these allusions

as Carlyle did, we cannot read the passage as he intended

us to read it. Indeed, it is not too much to say that a rightappreciation of it is impossible without a knowledge of the

waggish turn which he gives to the solemn Latin adage.

Until we know that Mr. Shandy made a similarly free trans-lation of it, to justify the exposure of his grand-aunt Dinah's

peccadillo, we miss the author's meaning. The practice, it

1 See Notes, pp. 285 f.

INTRODUCTION. Hii

must be confessed, smacks of the schoolmaster ; it is alwaysmore or less pedantic. In justification of Carlyle, however,the fact is clear that it is theresult of a habit of mind, whichgrew with his growth and tinged the very earliest specimensof his style. His letters to his college friends are crammedwith allusions to his reading and with quotations fromMilton, Horace, Voltaire, etc., till one of his correspond-ents is driven to remonstrate.^ All through, the influenceof his early training is clearly traceable. As a Scotch Pres-byterian he knows his Bible thoroughly. Many passagesof Sartor are simply mosaics of familiar texts. As a stu-dent of Mathematics he can speak confidently of Lagrangeand Laplace. He is at Edinburgh when French philosophyis influential, and knows his D'Alembert and Voltaire.He learns to read German, he translates German literatureand writes essays upon it, and can therefore refer, withoutfear of making a slip, to Hugo of Trimberg and the Hoardof the Nibelungs. He has explored the deeps and shallowsof English literature, and when he casts his drag-net intothat wide sea, no one need be surprised at anything he

brings to light. As a bookman by nature, circumstances,and his own mature decision, his allusions are in the main,

bookish. Knowledge of them is the price he demands forthe right of entry into the treasure-house of his thought.

As a professed Carlylean, I, for one, cannot think it too

much."The clearest of styles," "every sentence alive to its

finger-tips " are phrases now easier to understand. This

clearness, or rather vividness, this impression of abounding

life will be found on examination to be largely due to the

quality which the Germans call AnschauUchkeit. Carlyle

loved the concrete fact with passionate devotion. What-

ever was strongly marked, individual, characteristic in a

1 E. Lett., 1 8, n.

liv INTRODUCTION.

scene or a man or a story fascinated him. Besides, hepossessed the vigorous constructive imagination which,being accorded the concrete fact, builds upon it with uner-ring truth. That is, Carlyle's mental vision is so keen, andhis sympathies so strong that he realizes in its sharpestoutline, in its most minute detail, in its exact gradation ofcolor, the fact which is to duller eyes a mere blur, and setsit before the reader in its very form and pressure. Meta-phors, then, are his natural language. With him there isno question of evolving the thought and then dressing it upin some fitting garb of metaphor. The thought and theimage are one. For example, he wishes to tell us thatProfessor Teufelsdrockh's method of arriving at truth isnot by a catena of syllogisms. The thought presents itselfto him as a picture from some children's game. " OurProfessor's method is not, in any case, that of commonschool Logic, where the truths all stand in a row, each hold-ing by the skirts of the others ^ Or, again, he wishes to havehis audience realize the expression of a face. Teufels-drockh's look is grave, but grave in a certain way. Aftertelling us what it is not, he compares it to the gravity of" some silent, high-encircled mountain-pool." Then oneimage calls forth another until the tissue of impressivepictures forms one consistent and illuminating whole. The" mountain-pool " may be "' perhaps the crater of an extinctvolcano

;into whose black deeps you fear to gaze ; those

eyes,' tho