His works have done much to mould the best thinkers in two continents,
in both of which he has been the Greatheart to many pilgrims. Not a
few could speak in the words of the friend whose memory he has so
affectionately preserved, "Towards me it is still more true than towards
England that no one has been and done like you." A champion of ancient
virtue, he appeared in his own phrase applied to Fichte, as "a Cato Major
among degenerate men." Carlyle had more than the shortcomings of a Cato;
he had all the inconsistent vehemence of an imperfectly balanced mind;
but he had a far wider range and deeper sympathies. The message of the
modern preacher transcended all mere applications of the text _delenda
est._ He denounced, but at the same time nobly exhorted, his age. A
storm-tossed spirit, "tempest-buffeted," he was "citadel-crowned" in his
unflinching purpose and the might of an invincible will.
APPENDIX
CARLYLE'S RELIGION
The _St. James' Gazette,_ February 11, 1881, writes:--
"It is obvious that from an early age he entirely ceased to believe, in
its only true sense, the creed he had been taught. He never affected
to believe it in any other sense, for he was far too manly and
simple-hearted to care to frame any of those semi-honest transmutations
of the old doctrines into new-fangled mysticism which had so great a
charm for many of his weaker contemporaries.
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