New-York tribune., 1882-04-09
NEW PUBLICATIONS.


Of Mr.. Frouds's Life of Carlyle. which take us
.hronvh fmtv wears of his fruitful life. Thus far
this is nj once "a and an amusing book. The anus
inc part Of il is furnished by Caryes letters, of
which We are gwen a great many, and by his note
hook which il sc ,ms 10 be Mr.. Froules intention
70 publish almost entirely The sal part is the story
of Mrs. Carlylos life. This indeed Is the most
serious and interesting part OF the work thus lar.
II so dominates the purpose of these two voiuines
that they might almost be entitled the history OF the
living death and burial of Jane Bailhc Welsh.
That il is so is hardly the occasion of surprise lhe
lives of men of letters who nothing more, rarely
abound in interesting incident. IL could hariN DC
otherwise. so purely internal and indlvidual
Is their experience of life. Cafly!c was OF al! no'a
bic men that ever lived probably the most purely
and absolutely man of letters: and his solitary
aud exclusive disposition aud his proud and scoTn-
full Withdrawing of himself from general society
make the story of his life one which is singulariy
devoid of that kind of Interest which ia awakened
by the clash and conflict of man with man, ana
even of that which is excited by following an I'M
prcssionabc man through varied experience OF
the world. Carlyles external life was one OF re-
markable monotony. 1t was made up almost en-
tirely of a struggle with poverty. and of a solitary
practice of the profession OF literature rewarded oy
the achievement of n success unsurpassed since that
Of Walter Scott, and uncquallel since then except
by that of Macaulay. His very struggles with
poverty lack the interest which often attaches 10
that gloomy conflict, because the struggle was not
a fight and was entirely without variety. Ii was
simply an endurance of privation ; and except for
the place in which he lived and the more or less
work that ne dill and the more or less money that
lie had. one year of it much like another
Thomas Carlyle was born at Ecclcfechan In An
nandale, Scotland, in 1893 lie was the second OF
the ten children of James Carlyle. stOnc-mason.
The family was very humble, and in life
and manners very rude, although not coarse
They knew nothing of themselves beyond
the second geacration backward. They were,
however, emnently reSpectable, and seem TO
have a great deal of character-of what IN tins
country il sometimes called grit" Humble as
they were poor hard working men and women
rs they were and numerous as the family was there
does not appear to have been one black sheep. one
shabby fellow or one frivolous woman among
Them They were what The Scotch call dOur aud
cannv and those of them who are brought partlcu-
larly to our notice leave an impression upon us of
intelligence. integrity and sterling worth They
were clannish even beyond Scotch clannishness.
They clung TO each other with hooks of steel.
Silent and reserved TO the world at large. they
seem to have had reserves TO each Other-no re-
serves either of thought and feelngor of the little OF
this worlds goods that theycould obtain They were
belpful loving. trusting to each other. They told
their plans of life to another, and what
one had be was not only ready but anxious 10 share
with the others A perfect and admirable
picture of family affection has rarely been
presented than that which is revealed by the letters
written to each other by these lOwly people. Nor is
this trait the only admirable to be found i'll this
correspondence The sound sense and the dchcacy
of feeling manifested by the writers is not less srk-
ing Two Of James Carlylc's ten children managed
TO achieve liberal education. One of them, John,
became after a desperate struggle q respectable
and prosperous physician the other is the eminent
subject of this biography. But Notwithstanding
his superior intellectual faculties and the distinction
10 which he attained, it may be reasonably doubted
that. as a man. he was superior TO the other MEM
bers of the family.
When Thomas Carlyle went to college at Edin-
burgh to work his way through as he could, II was
with the intention his fathers part and the sup
position on his own that he was to be a Prcsbyte-
rian minister But he discovered that
he had no call within him to the Christian ministry.
At first he sought 10 support himself by teaching,
and being q good mathematician and the nathe-
Inatical tutOrship at Amman falling vacant, he
sought and obtained 1t in 1914. But teaching was
very irksome to him He did not make many friends.
lie was silent reserved and shut himself up III his
room with such books as he could command. Al
ready the longing for literary distinction was born
In him. In a letter 20 friend written IN August,
1914. the youth of nineteen SAYS: "Ob. Fortune
thou that gvest each his portion in this dirty planet
besow If it shall please thee coronets and crowns
and principalities and purses and pudding and
powers upon the great and noble and fat of the
earth Grant me that with a heart of indie
pendence unyelding to thy fayors and unbendlng
10 thy frownS Iuay attain to literary fame and
though starvation be my lot, will smile that have
not been born a king" This happily preserved pas
sage reveals to us the perfected Thomas Carlyle
From what this aspiration p0rtrays him to have
been at nineteen lie never changed. 1t contains
the whole of him-his scornfu attitude toward the
world, this dirty planet" his grim satlrca
buInor "prncipalities and purses and pudding
and powers and " the fat ones of the earth ," his
Independence his will and his defiance of toll and
suffering Nor is it without prcmOnition of his
literary skill and the popularity of his style.
At Klrkcallv, in 1917, he fell moderately in love
with Margaret Gordon, of whom he says in his Rem
iniscenceS that q" she of the fair complexion,
softly elegant softly grave witty and comely type,
and had a good deal of gracefulness, Intelligence
and other talents Her accent was prcttily
English. and her voice very fine" Do women ever
suspect the charm that there is TO man in pretty
English accent and sweet, rich voice. We think
not. There Is not one III ten thousand OF them
who would not rather trust to stylish bonnet or
fashionable gown than to the English OF Portla or
the voice of COrdcia. Margaret Gordon's chief
distinction however, in connection with our sub
iect. is that she was the original so far as there
was an original Of BIumine III Sartor Resartus."
Thus ended the first and almost the only romantic
passage in Carlylcs life,-t furnished him with ma
terial for literary work.
The ministry was abandoned; schoomastering
was ntolerable and, with 800 saved up Car
lyle began to study for the bar But
he soon became dsgustcd with the law; and
in his twenty year we find him