402 FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE 



idea that the aspects of nature and the consciousness of 

 man implied the operation of a power altogether beyond 

 my grasp an energy the thought of which raised the tem- 

 perature of the mind, though it refused to accept shape, 

 personal or otherwise, from the intellect. Perhaps the able 

 critics of the "Saturday Eeview" are justified in speaking 

 as they sometimes do of Mr. Carlyle. They owe him noth- 

 ing, and have a right to announce the fact in their own 

 way. I, however, owe him a great deal, and am also in 

 honor bound to acknowledge the debt. Few, perhaps, 

 who are privileged to come into contact with that illus- 

 trious man have shown him a sturdier front than I have, 

 or in discussing modern science have more frequently 

 withstood him. But I could see that his contention at 

 bottom always was that the human soul has claims and 

 yearnings which physical science cannot satisfy. England 

 to come will assuredly thank him for his affirmation of the 

 ethical and ideal side of human nature. Be this as it 

 may, at the period now reached in my story the feeling 

 referred to was indefinitely strengthened, my whole life 

 being at the same time rendered more earnest, resolute, 

 and laborious by the writings of Carlyle. Others also 

 ministered to this result. Emerson kindled me, while 

 Fichte powerfully stirred my moral pulse. 1 In this re- 

 lation I cared little for political theories or philosophic 

 systems, but a great deal for the propagated life and 

 strength of pure and powerful minds. In my later school 

 days, under a clever teacher, some knowledge of mathe- 



1 The reader will find in the Seventeenth Lecture of Fichte's course on 

 the "Characteristics of the Present Age" a sample of the vital power of this 

 philosopher. 



