He had been born into a pious and devout Christian family but abandoned his inherited faith while in college, an occurrence not unique to his times and epidemic in our own. Carlyle was born in Ecclefechan, Dumfriesshire, Scotland in 1795, at the end of the French Revolution, the historic event to which he devoted his most successful book. His parents belonged to a “Secession” Church known as the Burghers. Their denomination rejected the state church, though remaining Presbyterian and strongly Calvinistic, perhaps helping instill in Thomas a somewhat contentious spirit or at least an independent manner. Sickly as a youth and plagued by stomach ailments the rest of his life, he nonetheless became accomplished in Latin and mathematics, entering the University of Edinburgh at fourteen to study for the Gospel ministry, at the urging of his father. He continued his math studies, joined a debate society, where he was appreciated for his wit, and read voraciously, a lifetime habit. He dropped out, however, and taught literature to boys in his home shire. Carlyle returned to Edinburgh at twenty-three, having abandoned all desire to enter the ministry, and began his career as a writer.

Carlyle established his reputation as an essayist, writing primarily about German romanticism and in praise of French philosophes like Voltaire and Diderot. He came to the notice of other literary men, especially the transcendentalist, Ralph Waldo Emerson, who published the Scotsman’s first novel Sartor Resartus, in the U.S. The Carlyles moved to London from rural Dumfriesshire, and “began to network in literary circles.” He counted among his friends the aforesaid Emerson and especially philosopher John Stuart Mill, who persuaded him to write a history of the French Revolution.

Carlyle was writing in an era of political ferment in Europe and his The French Revolution: A History proved most timely. His first major historical work took seven years to write and what he had envisioned as an epic poem ended up in three exciting and powerfully written volumes. The manuscript of his first book, after completion, was accidently throne into a fire by a maid and he had to start over. Carlyle found dispassionate “objective” history-writing too boring—he wanted to convey the sights, sounds, agonies, and humanity of the stories; his writing was much more like the “creative non-fiction” of today and has often been described as more poetic and didactic than the sterile reconstruction of heavily footnoted Olympian histories. He captured the frenzy, drama, and power of the revolution “in its unforgettable details.” Carlyle’s French Revolution was the go-to book for Charles Dickens in The Tale of Two Cities.

Title page from an 1837 first edition copy of Thomas Carlyle’s French Revolution

Thomas Carlyle gave a series of lectures in London, which were subsequently published as On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroes in History. He believed that “every advance which humanity had made was due to special individuals supremely gifted in mind and character, whom Providence sent among them at favored epochs . . . the history of the world is but the biography of Great Men.” The prevailing theory of how history is “made,” is today the exact opposite of Carlyle’s idea. He is hated and ignored, for the important and exalted people of history are now assumed to be the underclasses, the poor, inarticulate, women, and marginalized groups who did not write books, but took to the streets in the French Revolution and made the heads roll as the world was refashioned in revolutionary ways. These new theories have thus marginalized “heroes and Great Men,” who need to be “disappeared” from the public eye and the knowledge of the next generation. God does, however, raise up particular individuals to accomplish extraordinary deeds and these men are worthy of honor and study. It is important to view history from every angle we can, since it is the product of God’s good providence to further his Kingdom and rule in history. Thomas Carlyle’s unique style and insightful philosophy brought a perspective that was criticized by some and appreciated by many.

ord High Chancellor of England Sir Thomas More published a book in 1516 entitled Utopia. He created the word out of a Greek language pun meaning “no place.” The idea of creating a perfect society is as old as the Greek philosophers and has been used as a basic idea behind many novels, most of which have been classified in modern times as science fiction. Of course utopian societies are not possible because man is a fallen creature in sin and his heart is wicked above all other factors. That has not stopped men from seeking to build that elusive perfect world without the only redemption for that sin, found in Jesus Christ alone. National Socialism (Nazism in Germany) and International Socialism (Communist Russia) are two historical examples of states seeking a totalitarian but perfect society.

Hitler saw his first light of day in 1889, the son of a failed farmer and later customs official in Austria. Hitler, like his Russian counterpart, Stalin, considered studying for the priesthood, a pursuit quickly abandoned. He rebelled against his father from an early age, wanting only to go his own way. After a lack-luster schooling, Hitler attempted, without success, to get into art school at the age of sixteen. With both parents dead, he tried his hand at different odd jobs, though his passion was painting, architecture, music, and German culture.

Klara Hitler Adolf’s mother (1860-1907)

He got deeply involved in party politics as a true believer in their goal of overthrowing the post-war Weimar government, the onerous Versailles treaty, Marxist subversives and Jews in general. They changed the name of the Party to the Nationalist Socialist German Workers Party and adopted a flag he designed—a black swastika on a white circle on a red field. Adolf Hitler developed a powerful rhetorical speaking style and quickly rose to the leadership of the party. Using populist themes and identifying scapegoats for Germany’s economic hardships, he led an attempted coup of the Bavarian government in 1923, with his army of brown-shirted thugs and supporters. He received a five-year prison sentence for treason, for his pains. The Nazi Party survived his arrest and confinement and were waiting for him when he got out, actually serving only one year. He wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle) while in prison.

In the Reichstag elections of 1924 and 1928, the Nazi Party won only 14 and 12 seats respectively. Hitler kept up his rhetoric of promises to restore Germany’s economy and respect in the world, holding impressive rallies and building the party among the middle classes, ex-soldiers and industrialists. In July of 1932, with the worldwide economic depression affecting everyone, his party won 37% of the vote and in March of 1933, almost 44%—more than 17 million votes! The Nazi Party was now the second largest in Germany and promised that the state would solve poverty, restore dignity to the nation, and eliminate internal enemies. Party members, and others, persuaded the superannuated eighty-six-year-old President and former General Paul Von Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as Chancellor, a position from which the leader of the Nazis could control the political direction and future of Germany. On January 30, 1933, Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, and two of his close associates took over the offices that gave the Nazis control over most of the police in Germany.

Lott saved every extra penny he made as he received promotions and preferment at the warehouse, and the right to sell waste tobacco for profit. He was able to purchase his own and his two children’s freedom, in 1807, when he was about the age of thirty-three. He remarried (his first wife had died) and began preaching to a small black congregation, along with his work in the tobacco warehouse. God blessed Lott’s mastery of the Scriptures and his powerful oratory, and his church rose to eight hundred members. Through studies with his white teacher, William Crane, Lott developed an interest in African missions, an interest originally introduced to him by his grandmother! Believing God’s calling, Lott determined to go to the mission field in Africa.

Henry Clay (1777-1852)

The American Colonization Society, a diverse group of mostly white Americans from every section of the country, was formed in 1817, to promote the emigration of free Americans of African ancestry to Africa. The originators of the movement, mostly evangelicals and Quakers, were joined by such distinguished supporters as Abraham Lincoln, two other Presidents and Senator Henry Clay. African-American leaders as a rule, many abolitionists and most free black preachers opposed the organization vehemently as a tool to perpetuate slavery, separate African-Americans from their homes and ship them off to areas their ancestors were not originally from. Nonetheless, in the earliest days of the Society, support for a mission effort by a gifted and popular preacher like Lott Carey had great appeal, and with the support of his church, reached fruition.

In Liberia—whose national language is English, their flag red, white, and blue, and their capital city named after President James Monroe—Lott Carey established Providence Baptist Church, schools for both settlers and native children, and the Monrovia Baptist Missionary Society. He even served as provisional governor when the white governor returned home because of illness. He organized a defense force to protect the colony when attacked by hostile tribes. Lott Carey and seven co-workers died in a gun powder explosion during a rescue mission to save negotiators with one of those aggressive enemies. He was forty-nine.