Reviewed by:

• The French Revolution: A History in Three Volumes by Thomas Carlyle
• David Paroissien (bio)

Carlyle structures his history of the French Revolution around selected events. Arranged in three Acts–"Parts" in the Uniform Edition of 1857–this Aristotelian tragedy of epic proportion opens on 10 May 1774 with the death of Louis XV, the end of life for one sovereign and metaphorically the demise of centuries of monarchic rule. Quitting the sickroom of the Bourbon king, Volume I, "The Bastille," broadens its focus. The "eye of History" rests briefly on France left in ruins, its system of taxation broken and "all Solemnity" reduced to "Pageantry," before moving swiftly via the assembly of the States General (4 May 1789) and the refusal of the Third Estate on 20 June to dissolve in defiance of an order from Louis XVI to the fall of the Bastille on 14 July 1789. That year closed with the monarch compelled to sign the Declaration of the Rights of Man on 5 October and the royal family prisoners in Paris. Volume II–"The Constitution"–charts, among other high points, the rise of a cacophony of voices between January 1790 and August 1792. Politicians and theorists wrangle over attempts to build a constitution; bawling Hawkers and Billstickers "with pastepot and cross-staff" add to the confusion, the latter "a new Dynasty" who "new-clothe [End Page 102] the walls of Paris in colours of the rainbow" with their "magicalthaumaturgic" messages. The cumulative effect of both groups, Carlyle writes, was "great Journalism," a force which blows and blusters its way "forth from Paris towards all corners of France," already on fire with Patriotic zeal intensified by the threat of invasion, as Austria and Prussia, anxious to restore respect for France's ancien régime, prepared to invade (II, bk. 3, ch. 2). The French Revolution: A History concludes with Volume III, ominously entitled "The Guillotine." This Part covers the Revolutionary armies in action, the first day of the Republic (22 September 1792), the execution of Louis XVI (21 January 1793) and Marie-Antoinette (16 October), and the descent of France into anarchy. Terror continued throughout this period (10 August 1792–4 October 1795) before ending with the execution of Robespierre (28 July 1793) and final quelling of anarchic insurrection by Napoleon on 5 October 1795.

No brief summary can convey the energy, inventiveness, and intellectual brilliance Carlyle brought to a task of writing about an event he characterized as "A huge explosion," one which burst through "all formulas and customs" with such force as to confound "into wreck and chaos the ordered arrangements of earthly life; blotting out … the very firmament and skyey loadstars" ("Parliamentary History," Historical Essays 219). Cast the challenge in these terms and the historian faces questions. If the old order had already begun to break down as "poor Louis" lay sick in 1774 while sounds, "muffled-ominous," were heard throughout France, how is a story so seismic to be narrated? Given that "ours is a most fictile world" neither "fixable … [nor] fathomable!" where does the historian begin? What stance should the writer take to avoid "that class of cause-and-effect speculators" indifferent to the "wonderful" and intent on rendering everything "'computed and accounted for'"? (I, bk. 1, ch. 2; "On History," Historical Essays 9).

Readers interested in the evolution of Carlyle's thinking about history do well to study six essays he published about the discipline between 1830 and 1837. Read collectively they addressed issues noted above and served a double purpose. In the broadest sense they launched a sustained attack on the way historians had come to write history towards the end of the eighteenth century. On a more personal level, they provided an opportunity for Carlyle to explore ideas he had touched on elsewhere. In Signs of the Times (1829), Sartor Resartus–begun in 1830–Characteristics (1831), and in essays about German...

审核人：

• 法国大革命：三卷本，托马斯·卡莱尔（Thomas Carlyle）
• 戴维·帕劳西恩（David Paroissien）（生物）

凯雷（Carlyle）围绕某些事件来建构他的法国大革命历史。这部亚里斯多德式的史诗般的悲剧以三部法令（1857年统一版的“各部分”）编排，于1774年5月10日因路易十五逝世而逝世，这是一个君主寿终正寝，隐喻了数百年君主专制的灭亡。退出波旁王朝的病房，第一卷“巴士底狱”扩大了关注范围。“历史之眼”短暂停留在废墟上留下的法国，其征税体系被打破，“一切庄严”沦为“选美”，随后迅速通过了各国大会（1789年5月4日），并拒绝了法国的统治。于6月20日解散第三庄园，以抗击路易十六命令于1789年7月14日攻陷巴士底狱的命令。那年以10月5日君主被迫签署《人的权利宣言》和巴黎的王室囚犯为结尾。第二卷“宪法”，除其他要点外，图表还显示了1790年1月至1792年8月之间声音ca不休的现象。Hawk叫小贩和比尔切斯特“配浆糊和交叉工作人员”加剧了混乱，后者“凯莱写道，“新王朝”是“用彩虹色的颜色在巴黎的墙壁上换新[End Page 102]用彩虹色的墙壁装饰的人们。”凯雷写道，这两个群体的累积效应是“伟大的新闻事业”，一种吹散的力量奥地利和普鲁士急于恢复对法国旧政权的尊重，准备入侵法国。 （第3章，第2章）。法国大革命：历史第三卷结尾，标题为“断头台”。这部分内容涉及革命军队的行动，共和国成立的第一天（1792年9月22日），处决路易十六（1793年1月21日）和玛丽·安托瓦内特（10月16日）以及法国沦为无政府状态的部分。在这段时期（1792年8月10日至1795年10月4日）中，恐怖持续不断，直到罗伯斯庇尔被处决（1793年7月28日）和拿破仑于1795年10月5日最终镇压无政府起义而结束。

简短的摘要无法传达卡莱尔（Carlyle）带去撰写关于他所描述的“巨大爆炸”事件的精力，创造力和智慧，该事件以“所有公式和习俗”突围而出，将“迷惑”成破坏和混乱世俗生活的有序安排；消灭……非常坚强和凌乱的繁星”（“议会历史”，历史论文）219）。用这些术语来挑战，历史学家就会面临问题。如果旧秩序在1774年因“可怜的路易”病倒而又开始崩溃，而整个法国都听到“闷闷不乐”的声音，那么这个故事如何令人震撼地叙述呢？鉴于“我们的世界是最虚幻的世界”，都不是“固定的……[也不是令人难以置信的！”！历史学家从哪里开始？作者应该采取什么立场来避免对“精彩”漠不关心的“因果类投机者”，并意在使一切“经过计算并解释”？（I，bk。1，ch。2;“论历史”，《历史散文》 9）。

对凯雷历史思想的发展感兴趣的读者可以很好地研究他发表的关于1830年至1837年之间该学科的六篇文章。他们共同阅读了上述文章，具有双重目的。从广义上讲，他们对历史学家到18世纪末书写历史的方式发起了持续的攻击。从个人角度而言，他们为凯雷提供了一个探索他在其他地方接触过的想法的机会。在《时代的兆头》（1829年），《萨托·萨尔图斯》（Sartor Resartus）（始于1830年）和《特征》（1831年）以及有关德国文学的论文中...