The last of the five great empires referred to in the prophecy of Daniel (Dan. ii. 44), in the 17th c. identified with the millennial reign of Christ predicted in the apocalypse. Also attrib., esp. in Fifth-monarchy man n. one of those in 17th c. who believed that the Second Coming of Christ was immediately at hand, and that it was the duty of Christians to be prepared to assist in establishing his reign by force, and in the meantime to repudiate all allegiance to any other government. 1655 Severall Proc. State-affaires No. 280. 4446 The sole power was in the Presbyterians, they would force all to their way, and they (the fifth Monarchy-men) would do the like. 1677 Duke of Lauderdale in O. Airy Lauderdale Papers (1885) III. lvii. 89 How soone they [the disaffected in W. Scotland] may take armes no man can tell; for..they are perfitely fifth monarchye men. a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1657 (1955) III. 196 Desperat Zealots, cald the fift Monarchy-men. 1702 S. Sewall Diary 31 Jan. (1973) I. 461 William Parsons of 88 years, is buried. Was in the fifth-monarchy fray in London: but slipt away in the Crowd. a1732 E. Calamy Life (1830) I. i. 76 He [Calamy's schoolmaster] was a sort of Fifth Monarchy man.

http://www.oed.com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/view/Entry/70008?redirectedFrom=fifth+monarchy#eid

With our reliance upon the mechanical and mechanisms of of society and philosophical thinking we permanently destroy our ability to think for ourselves.

Science and Art tied up with ideas of nature and divine inspiration; the opposite of mechanical.

Reference to movement from Catholic monarchy to brief republic to Protestant monarchy.He argues that this move was devoid of capitalistic interest. One of the last instances of morality over money.

The dissecting mania of the first seventeeth-century still echoes in Carlyle's century.

Fundamental is "De Motu Cordis" by William Harvey (1628) account on the discovery of the circulation of blood in the body.

Carlyle believes religion to be wholly personal and self-perpetuating. As stated by the others, this whole statement is a bit of a stretch.

Seems like a case of "the grass is always greener on the other side" syndrome; Carlyle longs for a return back to old virtues and mindsets. But these times had their own problems, too.

OED:

pulling along with a rope, chain, or tow bar.

Literature should have a moral, didactic element. Possibly another resistance to Gothic literature.

An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689) Locke illustrates his theory in which he rejects the concept of innate ideas, claiming that men are born with a blank mind, because knowledge is acquired through experience.

Capitalism and Utilitarianism taking over religion.

Canaanite deity associated in biblical sources with the practice of child sacrifice - https://www.britannica.com/topic/Moloch-ancient-god

Very Calvinist.

A comment on Gothic fiction, Carlyle thinks it is sensationalist and superficial.To carry on in this vein would be to become uncivilized.

The branch of philosophy that deals with the first principles of things, including abstract concepts such as being, knowing, identity, time, and space. It his a highly theoretical discipline.

a Science of Mind is a purely theoretical subject, that cannot be proved in factual reality. Mathematics is the epitome of Theoretical Science since its very basis - numbers - are a pure convention. Carlyle had started his degree in Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh, he never completed it.

In a way, this kind of reminds me of the tale of Adam and Eve, and the tree of Knowledge. It bore fruit - literally; fruit of knowledge. But this fruit proved, in a sense, poisonous to humankind, when Eve was sure it would only allow her and Adam to become gods themselves.

Carlyle doubting the validity of a government influenced by its citizens as with burgeoning commodification/capitalism these citizens are more likely to make changes that benefit themselves and forget the bigger picture, whether that is morality, Christianity or patriotism.

Carlyle's repetitive use of negatives enforces the absolutist statement immediately following: Everything has its cunningly devised implemets". With ths structural device, he manages to draw importance on the statement, the contrast is in fact greater and makes the reader focus on that final sentence.

Lee Yoon Sun tells us that this line is Carlyle refuting the legitimacy of governing bodies, what he calls 'radical scrutiny'. Could this also have a more conservative message about free will and agency over one's own fortune?

Norton Anthology:

"The eighteenth-century Enlightenment had left him not in light but in darkness."

"Utilitarians regarded society and the universe as machines." Practically, everything could be grasped within human control and understood "through reason and observation."

Such an idea needs to be called into question. There are religious institutions, and it is often these that drive preaching.

Echo was a nymph in Greek mythology, cursed by the godess Hera to only repeat the last words of another person's utterance/speech. She fell in love with Narcissus, but the man died falling in a lake while contemplating his reflection in the water. Echo wasted away for grieving his beloved. What remains of her, it is only her voice.

Contrasts with technology, which seems infinite, but is not.

Kyra earlier commented that it's interesting to hear Carlyle's worries about how technology is taking jobs, and so on, when we discuss the same worries today. Likewise, we can understand what he is saying here; we may sometimes feel that a life without our mobile phones or computers is unimaginable, that we have always had them.

Norton Anthology:

"To Carlyle, [...] life without a sense of the divine was a meaningless nightmare."

"Carlyle judges everything in terms of the presence or absence of some vital spark."

OED: adverb. From the adjective contrite: feeling or expressing remorse at the recognition that one has done wrong.

A prevailing theme this semester - perception. How man understands himself, his situation, and the world around him impacts on his belief in his own efficacy.

It is clear here that we are complicit in our deterioration of our moral condition. Secularisation has resulted in morality becoming a concern for external controls rather than internal ones.

Echoes the clash between present and old values even seen today

Argus Eyes: illusion to an "all seeing" mythological giant with one hundred eyes

Personification of the public opinion as a immense creature that provides more incentive to follow the rules than any kind of inward moral compass.

idea of media taking over the role of the church: "preaching" giving moral advice

Poetry is more than the sum of its parts. Those who seek to construct poetic verse in this way lose the nuanced meaning and, instead, focus on the knowable elements of form and technique; missing the inspirational elements of genius.

Clearness of understanding or insight; great mental penetration; discernment.

http://www.oed.com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/view/Entry/141532?redirectedFrom=perspicacity#eid

There is a clear distinction between intellect and logic. There is the inference that the later is an aggressive, forceful act of imposing understanding that is 'right' rather than thought that encompasses the views of others. A singular, narrow focussed, and unyielding process of thought.

The economy of industrial Britain has led to commodification that has cheapened man's appreciation of the sublime and morality is only pursued if it serves an individual's selfish goal.

Carlyle highlights that mass education can be reduced to means and end goals mediated by an ill conceived bureaucratic 'mechanism'.

Here Carlyle bemoans the institutionalizing of imaginative art that had come under the rule of mass-production that was adverse to individual genius.

There is a clear distinction between literature and mere products of print. This is critique of the commodification of aspects of society that are being eroded by the industrialisation of Britain.

Interesting shift in tone in this section. He seems to be saying that despite the fact that society has recently become preoccupied machines, sciences etc, it will nevertheless continue to grow and improve - faith in human nature?

several mythological references throughout - contrast between the old world and the new.

Sacramental Test Act 1828. The Sacramental Test Act 1828 (9 Geo. IV, c. 17) was an Act passed by the British Parliament. It repealed the requirement that government officials take communion in the Church of England. The laws discriminated against Catholics and Protestants of other denominations, preventing the Irish and members of the Church of Scotland from working in England.

Personification of freedom as a female entity who can wither all "noxious influences"

Birmingham fire-king: Birmingham as a 'king' - was known as "the workshop of the world", a national hub for commercial trade of goods.

Mentioning of fire - alludes to industrialism but also the process of a danger spreading quickly.

From this Carlyle introduces his fear of the the growing mechanized culture in Britain spreading to other nations with references to 'the fabulous East' countries that were not yet exposed to industrialisation and therefore not morally corrupt

Potassium nitrate (often used in fireworks), cardboard like material and cord; all the components of fireworks

metaphysical philosophy has became more concerned with large showy displays of intelligence and learning rather than the pursuit of knowledge

attempt to localise knowledge about thought, poetry, and religion to a particular area. Once again, the idea that the studies into areas of knowledge that are not the natural sciences have became mechanical in nature when it is not possible to study this the same way we study other disciplines.

Mentioning of Lancashire twice - became known as the center of the cotton industry which grew to be one of the most central exports of the British economy.

Carlyle asserts that the Victorians pursued education through mechanical instruction (monitors, maps and emblems) - discounting 'the old natural methods' of the human mind as a source of knowledge in itself. Society has become controlled by the industrial age losing all sense of individual human spirit.

Merriam Webster: Bragging speech

Personification of the philosophy of mind as something that must be nourished by thought and discussion to reach the "vigour of manhood"

Metaphor: "agencies of wisdom" will all move in the same way for the same purpose, loss of individuality. Furthers the idea that mankind has became governed by machines and has lost any sense of autonomy

Suggest a society where no one can be honest with each other, but must abide by an extensive list of social niceties just to get anything done.

Carlyle points out that a weakness of this new way of approaching education is that it doesn't interest itself in the individual.

At the beginning of the paragraph, we may think that Carlyle is making an argument in favour of the machine; but in the end, his negativity returns. Again, we have that idea of the Mechanical Age forcing itself on people without consent, and twisting their arm into accepting it.

Given that this is a critique of the Mechanical Age, we can suppose that this is meant as a critique. Perhaps Carlyle agreed with Immanuel Kant's view on means to ends: "Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end." By contrast, utilitarians believe that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Suggests a kind of hopelessness and a helplessness. While some might be invigorated by the exciting technological advances of the time, and thrilled that technology can be used to solve all sorts of problems, Carlyle sees it in a negative light, as it steals and will continue to steal from our lives. "There is no end" in sight.

Here, Carlyle is likening the prophesies of the Millennarians and Millites to prophecies of the oracle at Delphi, known for being vague and misleading.

Merriam-Webster:

1: mournful; especially: exaggeratedly or affectedly mournful 2: dismal

http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/carlyle/signs/saul.html - A breakdown of the relevance of Saul to this piece. "Carlyle draws on this connection, however, to make a critical point against the so-called prophets of his age; the infectious words of these men prove so powerful that they can permeate the minds of even the most political and mercurial individuals."

Thomas Fuller, an English theologian, was reportedly the first to set this phrase down in writing, in 1650: "It is always darkest just before the Day dawneth."

This is a very interesting idea. Kind of brings to mind the ideas of nature vs. nurture, in a way: how much of a person's personality, and morality, is dictated by inherent traits, and how much is dictated by the conditions and events around him or her?

Sir Hudibras is a character from a satirical poem written by Samuel Butler in the 17th century. He is a pretentious Presbyterian knight who sets out to right the sinners of the world --- and fails spectacularly.

Is that true? There was still a great deal of religion in the 1800s, and there still is today. The presence of technology doesn't completely stamp out the presence of religion. The two can definitely coexist. I think Carlyle is a bit unfair to say that there is no longer any worship at all in the world. He sounds like a bitter old grandfather at Christmas dinner complaining about how the young'uns don't know how to appreciate anything that isn't on their phones.

Interesting contrast. Overall, the work seems to be fairly critical of the rise of Mechanism, but he does note here that it's 'fruitbearing' and not all terrible.

It would be very interesting to look at E. M. Forster's 'The Machine Stops' and how it relates to Carlyle's ideas about man's increasing dependence on machines. Very interesting story.

Is this a quote from some other source? The quotations around it would seem to indicate so, but in searching online, I couldn't find anything about it. If it's not from another source, I'd be curious to know why Carlyle set it in quotation marks.

John Locke: English philosopher from the 1600s. Widely regarded as one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers of his time. 'Metaphysics' is a branch of philosophy.

Possibly indicating a departure from the ideas of Romanticism --- moving away from 'grander' thoughts and observations to more rational and precise inspection of immediate surroundings.

In my AP Computer Science class in high school, our teacher showed us a video called 'Humans Need Not Apply.' It focused on the idea that computers will, at some point, be able to do every job that humans can do. It's very interesting to see this same sort of idea expressed by a writer in the early 1800s.

OED: "A prediction of an oracular or inspired nature; a prognostication or prophecy, a prophetic utterance or forecast."