y did not try to put back
the hands on the clock of time; they sought to remove perturbing
influences. Much of the evil has arisen from men trying to do by
political methods what should not be done by these methods. Carlyle's
idea that Government should do this, that, and the other thing has
wrought mischief, inasmuch as it has led to an undue belief in the
virtues of Government interference. His writings are largely responsible
for the evils he predicted.

It is curious to notice how, with all his belief in individualism,
Carlyle, in political matters, was unconsciously driven in the direction
of socialism. Get your great man, worship him, and render him
obedience--such was the Carlylean recipe for modern diseases. Suppose
the great man found, how is he to proceed? In these democratic days, he
can only proceed by ruling despotically with the popular consent; in
other words, there will follow a regime of paternalism and fraternalism,
the practical outcome of which would be Socialism. Carlyle himself never
suspected how childish was his conception of national life. He wrote of
his Great Man theory as if it was a discovery, whereas the most advanced
races had long since passed through it, and those which were not
advanced were precisely those which had not been able to shake
themselves free of paternal despotism. On this point the criticism of
the late Professor Minto goes to the heart of the matter: 'Carlyle's
doctrines are the first suggestions of an earnest man, adhered to with
unreasoning tenacity. As a rule, with no exception, that is worth
naming, they take account mainly of one side of a case. He was too
impatient of difficulties, and had too little respect for the wisdom and
experience of others to submit to be corrected: opposition rather
confirmed him in his own opinion. Most of his practical suggestions had
already been made before, and judged impracticable upon grounds which he
could not, or would not, understand. His modes of dealing with pauperism
and crime were in full operation under the despotism of Henry VII. and
Henry VIII. His theory of a hero-king, which means in practice an
accidentally good and able man in a series of indifferent or bad
despots, had been more frequently tried than any other political system;
Asia at this moment contains no government that is not despotic. His
views in other departments of knowledge are also chiefly determined by
the strength of his unreasoning impulses.'

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