The noble, silent men, scattered here and there, each in his department; silently thinking, silently working; whom no Morning Newspaper makes mention of They are the salt of the earth. A country that has few or none of these is in a bad way.
The Reminiscences is one of the more immediate and accessible of the writings of Thomas Carlyle. a work of intense personal and professional self-analysis, which was first prompted by the death in 1832 of Carlyle's much-respected father. In this illustrated talk, to mark this year's Carlyle Centenary, Dr Ian Campbell of the University of Edinburgh examines some of the tensions that were provoked in Carlyle's life and work by the memory of his father, and by the severe contrast between the simple family home in Ecclefechan and the brilliant London world of the ' Sage of Chelsea '.
Readings by Tom Fleming Producer PATRICK RAYNER BBC Scotland