On the Choice of Books | Page 8

to
realise in a book or written record. In fact, this book has been like an

exercise of devotion to me; I have not assisted at any sermon, liturgy or
litany, this long while, that has had so religious an effect on me. Thanks
in the name of all men. And believe, along with me, that this book will
be welcome to other generations as well as to ours. And long may you
live to write more books for us; and may the evening sun be softer on
you (and on me) than the noon sometimes was!
"Adieu, dear Hunt (you must let me use this familiarity, for I am an old
fellow too now, as well as you). I have often thought of coming up to
see you once more; and perhaps I shall, one of these days (though
horribly sick and lonely, and beset with spectral lions, go whitherward I
may): but whether I do or not believe for ever in my regard. And so,
God bless you,
"Prays heartily,
"T. CARLYLE."
On the other hand Leigh Hunt had an enthusiastic reverence for Carlyle.
There are several incidental allusions to the latter, of more or less
consequence, in Hunt's Autobiography, but the following is the most
interesting:--
"_Carlyle's Paramount Humanity_.--I believe that what Mr. Carlyle
loves better than his fault-finding, with all its eloquence, is the face of
any human creature that looks suffering, and loving, and sincere; and I
believe further, that if the fellow-creature were suffering only, and
neither loving nor sincere, but had come to a pass of agony in this life
which put him at the mercies of some good man for some last help and
consolation towards his grave, even at the risk of loss to repute, and a
sure amount of pain and vexation, that man, if the groan reached him in
its forlornness, would be Thomas Carlyle."[A]
[Footnote A: "Autobiography of Leigh Hunt, with Reminiscences of
friends and Contemporaries." (Lond. 1850.)]
It was in "Leigh Hunt's Journal,"--a short-lived Weekly Miscellany
(1850--1851)--that Carlyle's sketch, entitled "Two Hundred and Fifty
Years Ago,"[A] first appeared.
[Footnote A: "Two Hundred and Fifty Years Ago. From a waste paper
bag of T. Carlyle." Reprinted in Carlyle's Miscellanies, Ed. 1857.]
It was during his residence at Craigenputtoch that "Sartor Resartus"
("The Tailor Done Over," the name of an old Scotch ballad) was
written, which, after being rejected by several publishers, finally made

its appearance in "Eraser's Magazine," 1833--34. The book, it must be
confessed, might well have puzzled the critical gentlemen--the
"book-tasters"--who decide for publishers what work to print among
those submitted in manuscript. It is a sort of philosophical romance, in
which the author undertakes to give, in the form of a review of a
German work on dress, and in a notice of the life of the writer, his own
opinions upon matters and things in general. The hero, Professor
Teufelsdroeckh ("Devil's Dirt"), seems to be intended for a portrait of
human nature as affected by the moral influence to which a cultivated
mind would be exposed by the transcendental philosophy of Fichte. Mr.
Carlyle works out his theory--the clothes philosophy--and finds the
world false and hollow, our institutions mere worn-out rags or
disguises, and that our only safety lies in flying from falsehood to truth,
and becoming in harmony with the "divine idea." There is much
fanciful, grotesque description in "Sartor," with deep thought and
beautiful imagery. "In this book," wrote John Sterling, "we always feel
that there is a mystic influence around us, bringing out into sharp
homely clearness what is noblest in the remote and infinite, exalting
into wonder what is commonest in the dust and toil of every day."
"Sartor" found but few admirers; those readers, however, were firm and
enthusiastic in their applause. In 1838 the "Sartor Resartus" papers,
already republished in the United States, were issued in a collected
form here; and in 1839-1840 his various scattered articles in periodicals,
after having similarly received the honour of republication in America,
were published here, first in four and afterwards in five volumes, under
the title of "Miscellanies."
It was in the spring of 1837 that Carlyle's first great historical work
appeared, "The French Revolution:--Vol. I., The Bastile; Vol. II, The
Constitution; Vol. III., The Guillotine." The publication of this book
produced a profound impression on the public mind. A history
abounding in vivid and graphic descriptions, it was at the same time a
gorgeous "prose epic." It is perhaps the most readable of all Carlyle's
works, and indeed is one of the most remarkable books of the age.
There is no other account of the French Revolution that can be
compared with it for intensity of feeling and profoundness of thought.
A great deal of information respecting Carlyle's manner of living and