"
This is, of course, no novelty invented by Goethe. We find it in Marius
the Epicurean, and he found it in ancient wells of Greek philosophy.
Carlyle's use of it has often been taken for Pantheism. In so mystic a
region it is impossible to expect precise theological definition, and
yet it is right to remember that Carlyle does not identify the garment
with its Wearer. The whole argument of the book is to distinguish
appearance from reality in every instance, and this is no exception.
"What is Nature? Ha! why do I not name thee God? Art thou not the
'living garment of God'? O Heavens, is it in very deed He, then, that
ever speaks through thee? that lives and loves in thee, that lives and
loves in me?... The Universe is not dead and demoniacal, a charnel-house
with spectres: but godlike and my Father's." "This fair Universe, were
it in the meanest province thereof, is in very deed the star-domed City
of God; through every star, through every grass-blade, and most
through every Living Soul, the glory of a present God still beams. But
Nature, which is the Time-vesture of God, and reveals Him to the wise,
hides Him from the foolish.
Pages:
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265