with the experience of the sage_."[A]

[Footnote A: "In the earliest authorship of Mr. Carlyle," says Mr.
James Russell Lowell, alluding to these papers, "we find some not
obscure hints of the future man. The outward fashion of them is that
of the period; but they are distinguished by a certain security of
judgment, remarkable at any time, remarkable especially in one so
young. Carlyle, in these first essays, already shows the influence of
his master Goethe, the most widely receptive of critics. In a
compact notice of Montaigne there is not a word as to his religious
scepticism. The character is looked at purely from its human and
literary sides."]

Here is a passage from the article on _Newfoundland_, interesting as
containing perhaps the earliest germ of the later style:--

"The ships intended for the fishery on the southeast coast, arrive
early in June. Each takes her station opposite any unoccupied part of
the beach where the fish may be most conveniently cured, and retains
it till the end of the season. Formerly the master who arrived first
on any station was constituted _fishing-admiral_, and had by law the
power of settling disputes among the other crews. But the jurisdiction
of those _admirals_ is now happily superseded by the regular
functionaries who reside on shore. Each captain directs his whole
attention to the collection of his own cargo, without minding the
concerns of his neighbour. Having taken down what part of the rigging
is removable, they set about their laborious calling, and must pursue
it zealously. Their mode of proceeding is thus described by Mr.
Anspach, _a clerical person, who lived in the island several years,
and has since written a meagre and very confused book, which he calls
a_ HISTORY _of it_."

To the "New Edinburgh Review" (1821-22) Carlyle also contributed
two papers--one on Joanna Baillie's "Metrical Legends," and one on
Goethe's "Faust."

In the year 1822 he made a translation of "Legendre's Geometry," to
which he prefixed an Essay on Proportion; and the book appeared a
year or two afterwards under the auspices of the late Sir David
Brewster.[A] The Essay on Proportion remains to this day the most
lucid and succinct exposition of the subject hitherto published.

[Footnote A: "Elements of Geometry and Trigonometry," with Notes.
Translated from the French of A.M. Legendre. Edited by David Brewster,
LL.D. With Notes and Additions, and an Introductory Chapter on
Proportion. Ed