New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-02-23
THOMAS CARLYLE.
pTuTNIsCENCES.

.artNff IN
en.,-uR. cARLYLEs RELATIONS WIN ~.
ypoupE MR.. RusKiN AND oioIN'
<sss :. rug VETERAN EssAyisT.
81 W -. ,patn Ar CORRESPONDENT OF THE T"iDoNN-I
! y NOON Feb. $40 Mr.. Emerson 70 WHOM ~
- other things. owe my introduction 70 VIZ
rs,lsIa On my first visit to Lonuon, ioui' 80
Vs' Geo left Mr.. Emerson's letter at the door u
yeA' .arss in Cheyne Row. and the same evening
hrcught me this note:
oi'aeA 3. GRr CHpYNR Row, CHELsEA'
2sth Aug't, 1866.
ca. 7, vo, will be so kind as come down
Dn Ma to-morrow CWednyl, at y p M, We "N'
ave cup OF tea together Yours sinSeI S.s,y,r
~ raa little note is lying before mo- the haho"r'S
-, % a not less distinct and hardly less hrh "O
van than another specimen OF the same NAM %
and thirty yeaIs younger, winch IS DeeNS &C
a,essed 70 his brother. To know MI UarN - "a
sucb an event that the least parucu's,S IN
s,.s,saivss ON my memory such Ss that IL 'ainou ~
.i'ease' y .hst ,be eabman who was waiting at
49, NO, 4, Piccadilly grGmbied at having 10 drive
Co.. as (,belsea-a matter OF twenty minutes. ne
:. -..,..,ad he did not know where Great CheShe
~ SOC and upon my explaining innocentlv-lor
.aa NOT nc that time had much experience Oh
nraon cabmeD-that Mr.. Carlyle lived there' ue'
1000 scorniully who Mr.. CARLYLE might be.
s,s.y,e Walk he admitted he knew IL leo 10
C.an,orne AS had been to the house the day De-
go was able to explain to him that GreaC
rbsvue Row led out Of Cheyne Walk. Inc s'tee'
vas and still is, a very modest street There Is
obandler's shop on the corner, ana LAUNDRY heA'
49,. hut one TO MIR. Carlyle's. So humble are the
surroundings and the house ITSELF that years
,vnrd. when took Gsrman-Amorican friend 10 eau
- NJ CARLYLE he looked about him in wonder as
=. .,o,,ed at the door, and asked half lncreuu-
Z. ,ons,v. Does SO great man live IN so nt1'e
house ~ A similar remark had been maoo oeloro
> - Sin mora contentious form by the Shah OF
pars;a who when taken to Pembroke Lodge IN
p;.h,oond Park to see the late Earl RUSSELL oO-
s.rvsa s. Great man. little house" The nelehoot-
bood now is not much better or worse than IL was
in 1866. Cheyne Walk, indeed, is a nncn hior'
sn,epdid affair than then the Embankment having
since been COMPLETED, and all along t"e fNoi 0'N
ju,posinc mansions built. But this stream OF pros
arity h,s not turned aside into quieter hooks Inc
ho,se in which Mr. Carlyle lived then, and III whcn
be died Saturday morning, is that which he chosr
an first settling IN London in 1884. Inc name oi
,I,e street has been modified within the iast lew
Years from Great Cheyne Row to Cheyne Row, ana
the snirit of modern Improvement PERSONNEL IN the
uembers of the Street Committee OF the MetropOll-
ran Board of Works has altered the number OF the
house from to 2t. But it is the same mouse OF
three low stories, Of the dingy yellow common W
London. When my cabman pulled up Oelore IL Oh
4 that rainy evening of August Is, 1866, he made IL
evident he had but Door opinion OF the society III
which moved.
A r,a;5 servant answered the bell, and / was
shown into room ON the LETT of the narrow passage
On the ground floor. The room was dimly lshted.
LADY came forM ard, whom ! afterward know as
!. Mr. Carlyles niece, MISS Aitken, and sand IN
whisper that Mr.. Carlyle was still asleep but that
he expected ne and was to wait On the leIt Oh
the door, against the wall, was sofa and on the
sofa was Mr. Carlyle. He soon woke and INTRO
5uced myself Miss Aiken having vanished. NO"
had heard before coming to England an AWKWARD
story or two OF MI Carlvle's odd way oil receiving
strapgers Americans, 1t was SAID, were Iehs WEI
come than Others and though knew very wen
that MIR. Emerson's introduction was the best
eould have. was not Over-conhdent OF coru'ai
greeting. Bat found that in this as IN some oIner
nonts the CARLYLE OF common report and the actuai
Z CARLYLE were two different persons his nearly
,av of saving Ehl and so you are friend Oh MI
Emersopp and his outstretched hand, were qui'e
enough 10 put shy man at his ease. Not even Ill
America had ever seen any50d TO whom Ordinary
social usages wers more obviously lnGiuerent. LII
was the hour when London dimes, and III order TO
dine arrays itself In swallow-tail and white TIE
Mr. Carlyle had dined early and the tail inquire tnat
yoaa from the sofa was clad in a dresslnggOwn oil
n
toned inc eagerly about MIR. Emerson about his
health: and whether ne meant to come to England
again. and how soon and whether his fame at
home arew. and his looks sold. His manner as he
spoke of Mr.. Emerson was gentle and aiectlonatc'
1t was the same afteTward when he went back 10
\ that topic, as he often did.
As soon as he had satisfied the first keenness OF
his curiosity for the latest news about his TREND ne
sad he usually took a walk at this hour ana
would I 20 with him / remembered the pouring
rain and wondered il he would go ont III 1t, but the
weather was thing &c which as found later, lac
gave no tn ,ught. By the time he had put on coat
and hat and seIzed his big stick, 1t raned no longer
IL was quite dark and it had for long been MA Car
lyle's nabit to take his walks. which the English
would call his constitu tionals after the sun had
gone down. He did not seem to care for the river
and the fresh currents of air which blew freely along
itsbanks His steps were bent toward the qu letter
corners OF Quiet old Chelsea. Almost the whole of
that neighborhood was at that time quite unknown
to me and had no idea where we went. Nor did
care: il was enough for me that was walking
with Mr.. Carlyle. 1t was pleasure to note his
frm swift stride. His pace was such as few men of
past seventy would have cared to set; and he main
tanned it to the end The stream Of talk ran not less
swiftly. / have no notes OF what was said. and
should not use them il bad. but remember
clearly the subject anu scope OF MS sVrahso ou'por
ipus. Kindly and friendly as he was to me, out
Of the deoth of his regard for the friend whose
letter had brought ne was then and often after
ward whom saw him in a despairug and hostile
mood with reference to the world in general lie
discoursed on London and on LondonerS, storming
against the sordid and hollow life by which he was
surrounded; complaining OF the very houses amid
which he took his devious way. They we're built
be said, to tumble down in ninety years. The
tenant had only ninety nine years lease from tho
landlord who owned the ground; he could not