Litchfield enquirer., 1881-07-07
CARLYLE AS A sCOLD.
A World of Shams.

CARLYLE AS A SCOLD.
 A World of Shams
 HIS CONTEMPT FOR HIS OWN PROFESSION" IAN
 AwFULe SYSTEM OF CANT AND LYING''-HIs
 CHARMS AS BRIDEGROOM.
 It was amusing to see how impatient he was of correction from his wife, and yet he would take correction from mine like lamb He was talking on. the occasion with distin. guished nobleman about Herat. He pro- nounced it wrongly, Herat. My wife was an attentive listener, was conversing with Mrs. Carlyle about paper of mine that had recent ly appeared in Household Words on ''The Buried City of Ceylon." when heard Car lyle say to my wife, "You seem interested in our conversation
 II cannot quite make out what city you are talking about" sad she.
 "Why, do you not know Herat, on the western confines of Afghanistan and the east. ern of Persia, that diplomatists are SO much interested in just now?''
 "Oh, you mean Herat," said she. "that's quite different thing. Nobody calls It Herat."
 He accepted the correction without laur- mur, and for the rest of the evening spoke of the city as Herat.
 On another occasion he quoted wrongly from the Bible: ''Is thy servant dead dog to do thls thing?" ''It is not dead dog, Carlyle" said his wife-she spoke with burr on the r. Karlyle ''it is not dead dog, Car lyle, but dog,-"Is thy servant a dog to do this thing p" Carlyle heard her patiently to the end, and little after took occasion to re- peat his misquotation quite gravely: ''Is thy servant dead dog to do this thing ?" His wife, like prudent woman, did not hear it. .s.s. E-.... M al
 So much easier do we find it to be cor rected by other peoples wives than by our own! *@
 The following are my notes written quar- ter of century ago.,
 Oct. 22., 1859 My wife and spent the evening 8 to Il, with Mr. and Mrs. Car lyle. z
 5. II had some men to make aa room for me on the top of my house. They used bad tim ber-did not know their work -came tumb- liug through the roof often into the other rooms at the top-workmen complained of the master-the master of the workmen-every- thing done in the same way now days-an age ot shams-shams in religion, in social life in politics. It was the same two hundred years ago, It was all sham, and the people that would not have shams. the earnest thinking
 
 longer-they would cut each others throats for 1t, if need were, but the shams they would not endure"
 K. "lf everyone thought so now, we should have another revolution"
 c. That's exactly what we do want-a thorough revolution but nota revolution af- ter the French medel-a quiet, peaceful, sen slble revolution. But I see no help for these times-they must just go to perdition their own way, and then"
 K. And then ?" -..
 c. 'And then revolutions and mlsgovern- ments in cycles-ln eternal cycles, so far as can see." -..- --. -..s .s
 The subject changed to literary men: :- x c. ''The most contemptible man of the day is the literary man-the honest shoeblack is more respectable and useful citizen. If knew of any young man going to devote him self entirely to literature as profession, should say Gods sake. sir, stop, don't; be an honest, useful man any other way. You never will be that way." Men write without thinking nowadays. Everyone thinks he can write-that's all the thinking many do. Even history is written without research"
 K. ''The magazines and reviews have been very busy with you lately sir"
 C. "Ay, have they? 1 never read them.
 
 for the literary canaile of the day, with their reviews, and magazines, and Times newspaper. They should try and understand me-that would be more sensible. And what have they been saying ?" aa K. 1.-The North British Review had an ex- cellent article as thought it, on ''The Religi- ous Tendencies of the Day-Newman, Cole ridge, and Carlyle" endeavoring to point out what they believe to be your influence in re- ligious questions on the world. One of Ains- worth's Magazines Bently or the New Month ly-has an article this month too about you, but solely as literary mana poor article all about your style, which is not to their lik ing. ses .:s-.sg. ..a- t
 c. "Blind leaders of the blind How shall they understand me with their devotion to the devil? Give me God-fearing man and God believing man, and that man will under stand me but your Ainsworth Magazines are ouly part of that awful system of cant and lying that sweeps England to perdition in these days. Where there is no truth, there can be no utterances worth listening to. Some of these reviewers remind me of men accumu- lating first laboriously heap of refuse, and then proceedingly diligently to examine itland grope in it for novelties. That's the work that benefits them, believe me- care nothing what they say of me- or to me-
 MfS. V. we nave DeeQ greatly amused with book of Mr. Charles Reads. ''It is IS Never to Late to Mend" MT. Reade has evidently adopted, unconsciously Isuppose, Carlyle's style of manerism- completely so- and yet the views of the two men are so wide ly dissmilar-as opposite as possible to each other, in fact. It is a stupid book-a very stupid book; the author sympathizes with criminals and such like, all which MT. Car lyle and l hold in sbhorrence"
 c. 'That sympathy with criminals, and convicts, and ticket-of-leave men is just one of the worst symptoms of the age in which we live. But it is not to be wondered at that men, with no sincerity about themselves, should do their best for their bretberen, the children of the devil. If they had any real abhorrence of the crime, they would fling their mawkish sympathy to the winds They don't see, they never will see, that men who act for are like unto those they succor. The one is the liar, with dirty linen, living in a prison-the other is the liar, with clean linen, living in his own house." s4 K. ''The ticket leave system sometimes leads to crimes in our very streets. What is the use of prisons, one may ask, if the people that ought to be in them are jostlng us at every corner ?"
 C. '.The people that ought to be in them ha, ba. ha !-[a loud. hearty, honest langh1- they would be large prisons that would hold all that. ought to be in them. Had these sym pathizers and conscientious abhorrence of crime, they would say to the criminal, 'sOut of my sight, william! Go way with you to your father, the devil" They. do not see ths. their av m nat hv. ruth thoca ,urofohae <1,,l,,