after many years, all these enchanted bowers that received the youth, and dismissed the man; but probably enough has been said for the purpose of incitement; and I shall only add a word or two on the Hero-Worship and the Sartor, before passing to another contemplated division of my subject.

I vividly remember the intense delight I received from the Hero-Worship: it was a torch that at once lightened up the whole of history. I shall never forget the summer's evening I read it on. I had been dissecting a black bullock's eye during the day; and had given myself much pleasure by my own successful demonstration of its structure; and it was late in the evening before I got the book. I read-but that's a poor phrase-I devoured-I sought to devour preternaturally-my eyes were not swift enough for my soul-the material process of arriving at the kernel thrö the words was slow and unendurable-O, to touch them with some lightning rod that they might collapse to flame! But such lightning rod was not exactly come-atable--and I must use the means if I sought the end-and the twilight was getting dimmer and dimmer-and it was in vain I opened the window, and put book and head out of it—and the rules of the house forbade a light on such an evening, and enforced an early bed-and-and-to bed I had to go with the play but half played out-and I never slept, but I dreamed and I dreamed-and there were great misty Odins and Thors with hammers in their whitening knuckles, and Jotans, and trees of Igdrasils, and blackbrowed Mahomets, perpetually swarming around me—and thrö the midst of them, there was the great, black bullock's eye glaring like the Evil One-till it was light enough to read again, and I had consumed my treasure long before the crowdy-time drew round.

Such a book, dear A.! Six short lectures! Such six short lectures never were delivered in England before! Such six short lectures never will be delivered in England again! They embrace the universe-they epitomize the world. All the misty-back ground of history becomes intelligible-all the present-all the future. Divisions of men-the structure of society-necessity and liberty— the conduct of life-the nature of government-religion: the fact of the matter is, it is a catalogue raisonnée of everything-an epitome of man and men, and all that concerns them. After years of thought, the lecturer contrives by means of these six lectures to evolve his Theory of the Universe; and it is all so plainly and intelligibly given, that a child cannot miss of understanding it.

His essays you may name the grand staircase-broad, wide, marble-presided over, on either hand, by statues of all the Heroes; this Hero-Worship is the Mighty Portico and Spacious Vestibule: and they lead to the awful dome of the Sartor. Sartor Resartus is, in every point of view, the most extraordinary of all modern compositions. It is an attempt to make the world again intelligible and inhabitable for us-and Religion once more possible. How gloriously the whole structure of society is explained by the doctrine of Clothes! How vividly are the metaphysical life of its discoverer, and his progress in development, displayed before us! How it seems that all our own hearts, and our own struggles, and difficulties, and backslidings, and weaknesses, and yet our strengths and aims and excellencies and longings, are dissected and laid bare before us-till we are Jed at length into the temple of the future, and see there the mysterious organic

filaments spinning themselves anew, and lay our hearts upon the altar of that awful Natural supernaturalism, discerning once again a liturgy to read, a rubric to believe in, a Psalm-singing to join in, a communion of the Saints to trust in, and, "for organ-music, hearing ever, as of old, the morning-stars sing together." My letter gets to a monstrous length, however, so I will e'en run away from it, subscribing myself Yours unfortunately,

CALIBAN.

THE PRESENT TIME.

Latter-Day Pamphlets. No. 1. By THOMAS CARLYLE. London, Chapman and Hall. February, 1850.

R CARLYLE has once more addressed us on a subject, and in language, which we should do well to ponder. From his well known and acknow

leged rank as a thinker and writer, it might be thought, that little if any comment were required on this, his latest production; yet, strange to say, amongst its audible critics and reviewers, we have met with few who, in our opinion, have regarded the work with the sincerity and justice it demands. Everywhere we hear of its being 'nothing new,' of its 'practical inutility,' of its 'disjointed unmeaning diction,' its 'testiness and bad spirit,' etc.; seldom of its intrinsic worth, or how much of it may, with profit, be transplanted into the field of our own thought and action. The only answer we are anxious to make to such Gentlemen, is simply this :-That not being a mere Intellectual Performance, it can scarcely be considered a fit subject for their dissecting skill;-it is the product of one who, after a lifetime passed in wide and thoughtful observation, now contemplates with sorrow, the sufferings and errors of his fellow men, and does his utmost to alleviate and correct them:-in short, a few earnest words addressed to the few earnest Workers,-not Reviewers,-of Great Britain. That there are imperfections and blemishes, we must confess,-none of which is more to be regretted than its Temper;-yet would we regard them with the leniency which long and faithful service and endeavor at all times command, and on no account allow them to prejudice the influence which its inherent Truth should legitimately exert. At all events it cannot be other than useful, to ascertain, if possible, why the world, and especially the Present Time, should assume in the eyes of our Author, so lamentable an aspect; how much of this is real, how much conjectural only, and above all, how much of the former may, thrö ourselves, be remedied. It is in this spirit, of a Truth-Seeker rather than a Faultfinder, that we approach our task; an exact criticism of its Demerits we shall not be careful to give; should the reader seek such, sufficient may be found elsewhere to supply him.

The most popular complaint against Mr. Carlyle's Works, and the one, from its sincerity and prevalence, most requiring notice, regards their incompleteness, rather than their error :—it is said, that while he demonstrates, palpably enough, that our actions are far from being what they ought to be, he gives us no practical object to replace them,-nothing that we can grasp and apply. To some extent this is true, yet unavoidable. To replace Error by Truth, much must necessarily be first unlearnt; with patient labor the field must be ploughed and cleared of weeds; for some time even it shall remain in fallow, before receiving the seed; and how often does it happen, that in the forthcoming crop, we expect the speedy growth, the rankness, and the thousand other attributes of our weedy species! Such expectation must be disappointed. The remedy is far other than we look for; yet, that there is a remedy proposed, will be apparent to every notefuł reader. Loud, earnest appeals there are, that would awaken in us our best energies, and put us on the alert for Truth. Once awaken this love for Truth, and shake off this indolence and indifference, and if God's Universe be not one huge Lie, we shall not seek in vain. It avails little to be presented with the most complete code of laws; the power to create, and the determination to act, are the great desideratum; grant this, and the thing created will be matter of no anxiety. For Indifference, laissez-faire, indeed Idleness in any shape and form, Mr. Carlyle has no mercy; nay, his hatred to it, in all places and times, is often expressed in words that, to others in whom the feeling is less intense, appear exaggerated, uncalled for, even hard-hearted. For instance, it is no wonder that well-meaning, Philanthropic Readers, should start in horror at such sentences as the following;-Mr.Carlyle's Prime Minister addresses his Irish Paupers thus :

"To each of you I will then say: Here is work for you; strike into it with manlike, soldierlike obedience and heartiness, according to the methods here prescribed,-wages follow for you without difficulty; all manner of just remuneration, and at length emancipation itself follows. Refuse to strike into it; shirk the heavy labor, disobey the rules,— I will admonish and endeavor to encite you; if in vain, I will flog you; if still in vain, I will at last shoot you,-and make God's Earth, and the forlorn-hope in God's Battle, free of you."

Our Author, nevertheless, we believe to be perfectly harmless,' and can assure our timid friends, that such strong expressions are owing more to a complaint he is at times subject to,' than to any homicidal intentions.

But to give some general outline of the work: It commences with a brief sketch of the last Revolution of 1848;—how a 'Reforming Pope,' with his simple 'law of veracity,' kindled the fire which eventually spread and blazed with such amazing force and destruction, thrö all Europe. It was the latest protest against Sham, and the most awful that the world has ever seen. Every revolution, if we would attend, asserts yet more loudly, that Falsehood is not the rule of this World; that, encircled as we are on every hand by the immutable and divine laws of God, it is impossible for imposture to hold its sway. The justice of these laws, Government after Government is called upon to administer; and in proportion to their Honesty and Capability therein, shall their safety and reign continue; once let Sham, let forms, customs, ceremonies, usurp the place of Reality; and the Law of Things, as certain in their operation as Gravity itself, shall exert their influence; down tumbles Throne and State, and the destruction thereof

shall be more or less formidable in proportion to the magnitude and long continuance of the Evil. The most characteristic fact of the Revolution of 1848 was, that it found little resistance on the part of the Governors themselves,

"Everywhere immeasurable Democracy rose monstrous, loud, blatant, inarticulate as the voice of Chaos. Everywhere the official holy-of-holies was scandalously laid bare to dogs and the profane:-Enter, all the world, see what kind of official holy it is. Kings everywhere, and reigning persons, stand in sudden horror, the voice of the whole World bellowing in their ear, Begone, ye imbecile Hypocrites, histrios not heroes! Off with you, Off!'-and, what was peculiar and notable in this year for the first time, the Kings all made haste to go, as if exclaiming, 'We are poor histrios, sure enough;-did you want heroes? Don't kill us, we couldn't help it!' Not one of them turned round and stood upon his Kingship, as upon a right he could afford to die for, or to risk his shin upon; by no manner of means. That, I say, is the alarming peculiarity at present. Democracy, on this new occasion, finds all Kings conscious that they are but Play-actors."

In such manner must the State ever assimilate itself to the increasing cultivation and insight of the Nation. That Democracy is a fact of great significance, is now universally admitted, all bloodshedding and quarreling as to the existence of the Problem has as good as ceased; and it is high time that the Problem itself were now solved, and it were ascertained what, in reality, it may be; so as to arrive at some method for its satisfaction or extirpation. Mr. Carlyle interprets it thus, and for the most part we concur with him: That it is nothing more nor less, than an inarticulate demand on the part of the people, for guidance and instruction: but hence arises a great mischief: Men will look to Parliaments and National Assemblies for such, and to find them there, at this day, is an impossibility. Parliaments, if we think of it, must, from their constitution, only represent the average amount of the cultivation or worth of the People. The Individuals are primary, the State secondary; it follows tardily in their steps, and its laws and operations serve only as an indication of what they are, or oftener indeed, of what they lately were. The influence of Private character,—of the Wise Man, wherever he may be, and however obscure his situation,-is, and can be, the only true Governor. It is the secret consciousness of this, and the ever increasing desire to see this Wise Man in a more prominent position, that lead, in most cases, to results such as we have once more witnessed. In the heat of the moment,- -a moment too requiring such calmness,-when imposture has been perhaps too summarily destroyed, and once more, with much labor, a clear field procured, men look around to fill the vacant places to their wish;-a difficult task at all times, an impossible one now, when excitement has usurped the place of thoughtful composure and firmness, when imagination runs riot everywhere, crying, Now is the year One of perfect Human Felicity at last come.

"The front wall of your wretched old crazy dwelling, long denounced by you to no purpose, having at last fairly folded itself over, and fallen prostrate into the street, the floors, as may happen, will still hang on by the mere beam-ends and coherency of old carpentry, tho in a still sloping direction, and depend there till certain poor rusty nails and worm-eaten dovetailings give way;-but is it cheering, in such circumstances, that the whole household burst forth into celebrating the new joys of light and ventilation, liberty and picturesqueness of position, and thank God that now they have got a house to their mind? My dear household, cease singing and psalmodying; lay aside your fiddles, take out your work-implements, if you have any, for I can say with confidence the laws of gravitation are still active, and rusty nails, worm-eaten dovetailings, and secret coherence of old carpentry, are not the best basis for a household!"

'Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity,' 'Emancipation,' 'Civil and Religious liberty,' and the numerous other watchwords of parties, meet with small favor from our Author. Harsh and uncalled for as many of his utterances may appear, we hesitate not to say, that with due consideration, what of truth and good intention are in those watchwords, will be apparent. In themselves, they are cheering enough, if they do but manifest a desire for Truth and Justice; it is their abuse only, or rather their insufficiency, that Mr. Carlyle rates so loudly; that men in their anxiety to accomplish some far-fetched good, are omitting and neglecting a very near and vital Evil.

We have just been advised then, to take out our work-implements, if we have any,' but until we know how to use them, and for what purpose, it will remedy little. Many seek in vain for answers to these questions; not because such are not to be found, but because they are unrecognizable in any form, save such as is already known. We are apt to look for improvements in voting, suffrage, and the like; and the remedy given is of a far different and more difficult nature. Parliaments and Elections must glide quietly into their allotted place in the sphere of importance; the uproar of Ballot-boxes, and Universal Suffrage, must be hushed in us; we must calmly and patiently contemplate the difficulty before we can find much significance in the following:

"To prosper in this world, to gain felicity, victory, and improvement, either for a man or a nation, there is but one thing requisite: That the man or nation can discern what the true regulations of the Universe are in regard to him and his pursuits, and can faithfully and steadfastly follow these."

Does this look inadequate?

Do you still reply, How discern this regulation

of the Universe? Think again, dear Reader: If there be in truth a Divine Message for our perusal (as undoubtedly there is), is it in a Latter-Day Pamphlet, or in any other Pamphlet or Book whatever, that, ready 'cut and dried,' we ought really to expect it? Mr. Carlyle says truly

"Half a century ago, and down from Father Adam's time till then, the Universe, whereever I could hear tell of it, was wont to be of somewhat abstruse nature; by no means carrying its secret written on its face, legible to every passer-by; on the contrary, obstinately hiding its secret from all foolish, slavish, wicked, insincere persons, and partially disclosing it to the wise and noble-minded alone, whose number was not the majority in my time!"

So that apparently, it is no easy thing, this proposed remedy; and certainly it is one with which Ballot-boxes and Voting can have nothing to do. Let no one judge it, or call it impracticable or inadequate to the evil, until it has been tried; for tried it must and will be, and the sooner commenced by us the better. Meanwhile, all praise to those already at work: the real Kings of England. May God prosper them! Where they are, we are told plainly enough:

"England, as I persuade myself, still contains in it many kings; possesses, as Old Rome did, many men not needing 'election' to command, but eternally elected for it by the Maker Himself. England's one hope is in these, just now. They are among the silent, I believe; mostly far away from platforms and public palaverings; not speaking forth the image of their nobleness in transitory words, but imprinting it, each on his own little section of the world, in silent facts, in modest valiant actions, that will endure for evermore."