Thomas Carlyle, his niece, his brother, and Provost Swan
From a terra-cotta bust in the National Portrait Gallery, by Sir J. E. Boehm, R.A.
THOMAS CARLYLE
(Reproduced from “Past and Present.” by kind permission of Messrs. J. M. Dent & Co.)
It will be found relevant to what I have to say hereafter to remark at this point that I do not myself accept Carlyle’s conception of the spiritual world as exhaustive. I believe in the essence of the old doctrine of equality, because it appears to me to result from all conceptions of the divinity of man. Of course there are inequalities, and obvious ones, but though they are not insignificant positively, they are insignificant comparatively. If men are all really the images of God, to talk about their differences has its significance, but only about the same significance which may be found in talking about the respective heights of twenty men, all of whom have received the Victoria Cross, or the respective length of the moustaches of twenty men, all of whom have died to save their fellow-creatures. In comparison with the point in which they are equal, the point in which they are unequal is not merely decidedly, but almost infinitely, insignificant. But my reason for indicating my own opinion on the matter, at this point, is a definite one. Carlyle’s view of equality does not happen to be mine; but it has an absolute right to be stated justly, and to be stated from Carlyle’s point of view. It was not a brutal fear or a mean worship of force; it was a serious belief that some found blessedness in commanding, and some in obeying. Now this kind of intellectual justice was the one great quality which was lacking in Carlyle himself. He would not consent to listen to Rousseau’s gospel, as I have suggested that we should listen to Carlyle’s gospel. He would not put Rousseau’s gospel from Rousseau’s point of view. And consequently to the end of his days he never understood any gospel except Carlyle’s gospel.
From a photo by J. Patrick, Edinburgh
CARLYLE’S HOUSE AT 5 (now 24), CHEYNE ROW, CHELSEA
