The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sartor Resartus, by Thomas Carlyle

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Title: Sartor Resartus
The Life and Opinions of Herr Teufelsdrockh

Author: Thomas Carlyle

Posting Date: August 5, 2008 [EBook #1051]
Release Date: September, 1997

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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Produced by Ron Burkey

SARTOR RESARTUS:

The Life and Opinions of Herr Teufelsdrockh

By Thomas Carlyle.

1831

BOOK I.

CHAPTER I. PRELIMINARY.

Considering our present advanced state of culture, and how the Torch
of Science has now been brandished and borne about, with more or
less effect, for five thousand years and upwards; how, in these times
especially, not only the Torch still burns, and perhaps more fiercely
than ever, but innumerable Rushlights, and Sulphur-matches, kindled
thereat, are also glancing in every direction, so that not the smallest
cranny or dog-hole in Nature or Art can remain unilluminated,--it might
strike the reflective mind with some surprise that hitherto little or
nothing of a fundamental character, whether in the way of Philosophy or
History, has been written on the subject of Clothes.

Our Theory of Gravitation is as good as perfect: Lagrange, it is well
known, has proved that the Planetary System, on this scheme, will endure
forever; Laplace, still more cunningly, even guesses that it could not
have been made on any other scheme. Whereby, at least, our nautical
Logbooks can be better kept; and water-transport of all kinds has grown
more commodious. Of Geology and Geognosy we know enough: what with the
labors of our Werners and Huttons, what with the ardent genius of their
disciples, it has come about that now, to many a Royal Society, the
Creation of a World is little more mysterious than the cooking of a
dumpling; concerning which last, indeed, there have been minds to whom
the question, _How the apples were got in_, presented difficulties. Why
mention our disquisitions on the Social Contract, on the Standard of
Taste, on the Migrations of the Herring? Then, have we not a Doctrine
of Rent, a Theory of Value; Philosophies of Language, of History, of