Past and Present (Oxford World's Classics)

Thomas Carlyle's Past and Present (1843) was a prophetic warning of impending disaster for mid-Victorian Britain that was delivered in what the author described as a 'miraculous thunder-voice, from out of the centre of the world.' The impact of Carlyle's social criticism was immediate and profound, shaping debate about the 'The Condition of England' question well into the twentieth century and beyond, and serving as the moral foundation of the welfare state. His relentlessly abrasive and illuminating critique of industrial civilization generated a vast range of response both in England, Europe, and the United States. The writings of Matthew Arnold, John Stuart Mill, William Morris, John Henry Newman, and John Ruskin, as well as Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Walt Whitman, were saturated with imagery and ideas directly indebted to the book. Past and Present also provided novelists and poets with an enduring vision of the ubiquitous rot that lay at the heart of ' laissez-faire ' England. The repercussions of Carlyle's unique analysis can be witnessed in the literary form and thematic content of such works as Charles Dickens's Christmas Carol (1843), Dombey and Son (1848), Bleak House (1852-53), and Hard Times (1854); Benjamin Disraeli's Sybil (1845); Elizabeth Gaskell's Mary Barton (1848) and North and South (1855); and Charles Kingsley's Alton Locke (1850). Poets such as Alfred Tennyson in Maud (1855), Elizabeth Barrett Browning in Aurora Leigh (1856), and Arthur Hugh Clough in The Latest Decalogue (1862) built a vocabulary that was steeped in the outrage and indignation of Carlyle's polemic. The artist Ford Madox Brown attempted in his painting Work (1852-65) to give visual testimony to the profound social schisms that Carlyle had exposed in Past and Present and to pay tribute to the 'Sage' who had 'moulded a nation to his pattern.' Cover OXFORD WORLD’S CLASSICS: Past and Present Copyright CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ‘Not Yesterday but Today’: The Genesis of Past and Present The ‘Magical Pick-Lock’: Carlyle and the Chronica Jocelini ‘Horrid Enchantment’: England in the Industrial Age ‘The Stupidest in Speech, The Wisest in Action’: Work, Leadership, Democracy, and the Future of Industrial Society Postscript: ‘Expanded, Almost Transformed’: The Discordant Legacy of Past and Present A NOTE ON THE TEXT SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY Primary Sources Select Bibliography: Secondary Sources A CHRONOLOGY OF THOMAS AND JANE WELSH CARLYLE A TIMELINE OF CHRONICA JOCELINI DE BRAKELOND SUMMARY OF PAST AND PRESENT BOOK I. — PROEM. Chap. I. Midas. Chap. II. The Sphinx. Chap. III. Manchester Insurrection. Chap. IV. Morrison’s Pill. Chap. V. Aristocracy of Talent. Chap. VI. Hero-Worship. BOOK II. — THE ANCIENT MONK. Chap. I. Jocelin of Brakelond. Chap. II. St. Edmundsbury. Chap. III. Landlord Edmund. Chap. IV. Abbot Hugo. Chap. V. Twelfth Century. Chap. VI. Monk Samson. Chap. VII. The Canvassing. Chap. VIII. The Election. Chap. IX. Abbot Samson. Chap. X. Government. Chap. XI. The Abbot’s Ways. Chap. XII. The Abbot’s Troubles. Chap. XIII. In Parliament. Chap. XIV. Henry of Essex. Chap. XV. Practical-Devotional. Chap. XVI. St. Edmund. Chap. XVII. The Beginnings. BOOK III. — THE MODERN WORKER. Chap. I. Phenomena. Chap. II. Gospel of Mammonism. Chap. III. Gospel of Dilettantism. Chap. IV. Happy. Chap. V. The English. Chap. VI. Two Centuries. Chap. VII. Over-Production. Chap. VIII. Unworking Aristocracy. Chap. IX. Working Aristocracy. Chap. X. Plugson of Undershot. Chap. XI. Labour. Chap. XII. Reward. Chap. XIII. Democracy. Chap. XIV. Sir Jabesh Windbag. Chap. XV. Morrison Again. BOOK IV. — HOROSCOPE. Chap. I. Aristocracies. Chap. II. Bribery Committee. Chap. III. The One Institution. Chap. IV. Captains of Industry. Chap. V. Permanence. Chap. VI. The Landed. Chap. VII. The Gifted. Chap. VIII. The Didactic. BOOK I. PROEM. CHAPTER I. Midas.* CHAPTER II. The Sphinx. CHAPTER III. Manchester Insurrection.* CHAPTER IV. Morrison’s Pill.* CHAPTER V. Aristocracy of Talent. CHAPTER VI. Hero-Worship. BOOK II. THE ANCIENT MONK. CHAPTER I. Jocelin of Brakelond.* CHAPTER II. st. edmundsbury. CHAPTER III. landlord edmund. CHAPTER IV. ABBOT HUGO.* CHAPTER V. twelfth century. CHAPTER VI. monk samson. CHAPTER VII. the canvassing. CHAPTER VIII. the election. CHAPTER IX. abbot samson. CHAPTER X. government. CHAPTER XI. the abb ot’s ways. CHAPTER XII. the abb ot’s troubles. CHAPTER XIII. in parliament. CHAPTER XIV. henry of essex. CHAPTER XV. practical-devotional.* CHAPTER XVI. st. edmund. CHAPTER XVII. the beginnings. BOOK III. THE MODERN WORKER. CHAPTER I. Phenomena. CHAPTER II. Gospel of Mammonism. CHAPTER III. Gospel of Dilettantism. CHAPTER IV. Happy. CHAPTER V. The English. CHAPTER VI. Two Centuries. CHAPTER VII. Over-Production. CHAPTER VIII. Unworking Aristocracy. CHAPTER IX. Working Aristocracy. CHAPTER X. Plugson of Undershot. CHAPTER XI. Labour. CHAPTER XII. Reward. CHAPTER XIII. Democracy. CHAPTER XIV. Sir Jabesh Windbag.* CHAPTER XV. Morrison again. BOOK IV HOROSCOPE.* CHAPTER I. Aristocracies. CHAPTER II. Bribery Committee. CHAPTER III. The one Institution. CHAPTER IV. Ca ptains of Industry.* CHAPTER V. Permanence. CHAPTER VI. The Landed. CHAPTER VII. The Gifted. CHAPTER VIII. The Didactic. EXPLANATORY NOTES abbreviations BOOK I. PROEM BOOK II. THE ANCIENT MONK BOOK III. THE MODERN WORKER. BOOK IV: HOROSCOPE ANNOTATED INDEX A book of social commentary informed by the history of England. It forms an analysis of the problems of newly industrialized England both by invoking historical events and by dissecting contemporary issues