rather than by
his worst work; and that a man's aims as well as his accomplishments must
be taken into consideration. As it is written, "Whereas it was in thine
heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine
heart." Whatever the defects of Carlyle and his work, in his heart he was
always planning a house or temple to the God of truth and justice.

Carlyle's important works may be divided into three general classes,--
critical and literary essays, historical works, and _Sartor Resartus_, the
last being in a class by itself, since there is nothing like it in
literature. To these should be added a biography, the admirable _Life of
John Sterling_, and Carlyle's _Letters_ and _Reminiscences_, which are more
interesting and suggestive than some of his better known works. We omit
here all consideration of translations, and his intemperate denunciations
of men and institutions in _Chartism, Latter-Day Pamphlets_, and other
essays, which add nothing to the author's fame or influence.

Of the essays, which are all characterized by Carlyle's zeal to get at the
heart of things, and to reveal the soul rather than the works of a writer,
the best are those on "Burns," "Scott," "Novalis," "Goethe,"
"Characteristics," "Signs of the Times," and "Boswell's Life of
Johnson."[244] In the famous _Essay on Burns_, which is generally selected
for special study, we note four significant things: (1) Carlyle is
peculiarly well fitted for his task, having many points in common with his
hero. (2) In most of his work Carlyle, by his style and mannerisms and
positive opinions, generally attracts our attention away from his subject;
but in this essay he shows himself capable of forgetting himself for a
moment. To an unusual extent he sticks to his subject, and makes us think
of Burns rather than of Carlyle. The style, though unpolished, is fairly
simple and readable, and is free from the breaks, crudities, ejaculations,
and general "nodulosities" which disfigure much of his work. (3) Carlyle
has an original and interesting theory of biography and criticism. The
object of criticism is to show the man himself, his aims, ideals, and
outlook on the universe; the object of biography is "to show what and how
produced was the effect of society upon him; what and how produced was his
effect on society." (4) Carlyle is often severe, even harsh, in his
estimates of other men, but in this case the tragedy of Burns's "life of
fragments