WORKS OF CARLYLE.  There are two widely different judgments of Carlyle as a man and a writer.  The first, which is founded largely on his minor writings, like Chartism, Latter-Day Pamphlets, and Shooting Niagara, declares that he is a misanthrope and dyspeptic with a barbarous style of writing; that he denounces progress, democracy, science, America, Darwin, —­everybody and everything that he does not understand; that his literary opinions are largely prejudices; that he began as a prophet and ended as a scold; and that in denouncing shams of every sort he was something of a sham himself, since his practice was not in accord with his own preaching.  The second judgment, which is founded upon Heroes and Hero Worship, Cromwell, and Sartor Resartus, declares that these works are the supreme manifestation of genius; that their rugged, picturesque style makes others look feeble or colorless by comparison; and that the author is the greatest teacher, leader, and prophet of the nineteenth century.

Somewhere between these two extremes will be found the truth about Carlyle.  We only note here that, while there are some grounds for the first unfavorable criticism, we are to judge an author by his best rather than by his worst work; and that a man’s aims as well as his accomplishments must be taken into consideration.  As it is written, “Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart.”  Whatever the defects of Carlyle and his work, in his heart he was always planning a house or temple to the God of truth and justice.

Carlyle’s important works may be divided into three general classes,—­ critical and literary essays, historical works, and Sartor Resartus, the last being in a class by itself, since there is nothing like it in literature.  To these should be added a biography, the admirable Life of John Sterling, and Carlyle’s Letters and Reminiscences, which are more interesting and suggestive than some of his better known works.  We omit here all consideration of translations, and his intemperate denunciations of men and institutions in Chartism, Latter-Day Pamphlets, and other essays, which add nothing to the author’s fame or influence.

Of the essays, which are all characterized by Carlyle’s zeal to get at the heart of things, and to reveal the soul rather than the works of a writer, the best are those on “Burns,” “Scott,” “Novalis,” “Goethe,” “Characteristics,” “Signs of the Times,” and “Boswell’s Life of Johnson."[244] In the famous Essay on Burns, which is generally selected for special study, we note four significant things:  (1) Carlyle is peculiarly well fitted for his task, having many points in common with his hero. (2) In most of his work Carlyle, by his style and mannerisms and positive opinions, generally attracts our attention away from his subject; but in this essay he shows himself capable of forgetting