said deserves contempt, though it may merit anger. If we would escape
his conclusion, we must not altogether disregard his premises.
Bankruptcy and death are the final heirs of imposture and make-believes.
The old faiths and forms are worn too threadbare by a thousand
disputations to bear the burden of the new democracy, which, if it is
not merely to win the battle but to hold the country, must be ready with
new faiths and forms of her own. They are within her reach if she but
knew it; they lie to her hand: surely they will not escape her grasp!
If they do not, then, in the glad day when worship is once more restored
to man, he will with becoming generosity forget much that Carlyle has
written, and remembering more, rank him amongst the prophets of humanity.

Carlyle's poetry can only be exhibited in long extracts, which would
be here out of place, and might excite controversy as to the meaning
of words, and draw down upon me the measureless malice of the
metricists. There are, however, passages in 'Sartor Resartus' and the
'French Revolution' which have long appeared to me to be the sublimest
poetry of the century; and it was therefore with great pleasure that I
found Mr. Justice Stephen, in his book on 'Liberty, Equality, and
Fraternity,' introducing a quotation from the 8th chapter of the 3rd
book of 'Sartor Resartus,' with the remark that 'it is perhaps the
most memorable utterance of the greatest poet of the age.'

As for Carlyle's religion, it may be said he had none, inasmuch as he
expounded no creed and put his name to no confession. This is the
pedantry of the schools. He taught us religion, as cold water and
fresh air teach us health, by rendering the conditions of disease well
nigh impossible. For more than half a century, with superhuman energy,
he struggled to establish the basis of all religions, 'reverence and
godly fear.' 'Love not pleasure, love God; this is the everlasting