"Sartor Resartus" expresses the doubts and hesitancies of youth, when confronted with the materialism and apparent relentlessness of nature, together with the bold, sturdy defiance which youth's courage creates for its protection. In "Heroes and Hero-Worship," the "Essay on Burns," "The French Revolution," and the "History of Frederick the Great" he holds up examples of heroism as he sees them, searchingly and vividly. So in the "Life of John Sterling," he studies the character of one of his dearest friends, recently dead, and there finds the same qualities of manly nobility. His work becomes not only biographical but historical, obviously, and such volumes as "Past and Present" and "Latter-Day Pamphlets" attack flagrant weaknesses of his day. Work that is so daring and furious in tone could not be utterly free from error; his conclusions are not always justified. Yet he will always remain the prophet and seer of his century. THE MAN 1. Of what extraction was Carlyle? 2. What was the nature of his education? 3. What occupations did he follow? 4. What places were the scenes of his literary life? 5. Do you think he can be called a genial soul? 6. Would you call him a typical or an exceptional Scotchman? STYLE AND WORKS 1. What was the purpose of his writings? Is he a philosopher? 2. What particular phase of history interested him most? 3. Is he at his best in narration or description? 4. What is the source and the cause of his style? 5. Account for the distinct feeling of reality which arises from a reading of his descriptive passages. 6. What work best illustrates his element of strength? 7. What defects are apparent in much of his writing? 8. Are his accounts of Coleridge, Burns, and Mahomet sympathetic? Which do you prefer? Why? 9. Is he religious or unreligious in your opinion? Why do you think so? 10. Among what people have his writings the greatest vogue? Why? 11. What trait renders Carlyle unreliable as a critic? I, 168. 12. Into what did Carlyle transmute the principles of German philosophy? XI, 445. "THE FALL OF THE BASTILLE" 1. What act on the part of Louis XVI caused the smouldering flame of revolution to break out in this demonstration of violence? 2. How is the term Eumenides appropriate when applied to the Parisian mob of the French Revolution? (Consult a classical dictionary.) 3. Contrast the French and the English in revolutions. 4. Why did Carlyle choose the subject of the French Revolution? 5. What was the form of government at Paris during the Revolution? 6. Briefly describe the condition of the lower classes as indicated in this account. 7. Are any of the other selections from Carlyle equal to this? Why? FOR REFERENCE "Reminiscences."--CARYLE, ed. NORTON. "Carlyle, Personally and in his Writings."--MASSON. "Literary Remains."--JAMES. "Thomas Carlyle."--CONWAY. "Thomas Carlyle."--FROUDE. JOHN RUSKIN