New-York tribune., 1882-04-09

il he saws of the subject of his apol-
ogy: "But it was his popularity that
if matters were well with himself it never occurred
to him that they could be going Ill with anyone
else and OH the other hand if he was uncomfortable
he required everybody to be uncomfortable along
with him." This was the man; and it Will be iouhd
as he gradually settles into his appointed place IN
literature, that his writing is but the splendid.
humorous and grOtesquc utterance OF his colossal
egOlsm.
Carlyle seems to have lived but to wrlte Ills leu
ters to his family his acquantances, TO veryDody,
are not only so numerous but so long, that with all
their felicity Of expression and pungency' they AT
least become wearisome lie writes letters that,
printed in small type, fill three, four and five octaVo
pages, and with no special purpose apparent other
than merely to writ, them Aud with all
the picturesquencss and humor that are of such
frequent occurrence in them, when culled out by
revision il is impossible to be impressed and de-
pressed with their monotone of dctractiOn which
varies only with viuperatOn. Indeed, Carlyle
seems TO have taken naturally to vituperation as
q duck 10 quackng or a goose to hisslng-thls man
who out of his poverty had advanced t210 for the
education OF his brother John. sum which would
not be adequately represented here and now by ten
times as many dollars. This roughness of tongue
was the resultant of two forces his atrabIlOus dis
position and his lux of words for he who was cease
eSsly crying out for action, GlOrifying silence and
calling upon helpless people to be "up and doing"
was the most exhaustleSs Boreas-bag of winged
words that the world has vet seen. II was
thus with him whether lac spoke or wrote HIS
biographcr says: "Words flowed from him with
completeness of form which no effort could improve
When he was excited It was like the eruption of n
volcano. thunder and lightning. hot stones and
10 faale al cd
upon sometimes to show the wrongful attitude of
Car1ylcs mind in regarl TO almost every person of
whom he spoke or wrote. lie cannot think Of
gong into the country upon n farm without speak
iUg of :ho laborcrs cntrcly imaginary as lazy
hnds"; the servant maids at Kinnard are " suttish
harOts" and Mrs. Huler who had been consid-
crate Ct him. and whom he wrote of as " one of
the most fascinating women that | ever knew"
becomes, on things going n little wrong,
of those ancient danes of quality, that Haunt
ing, painting, patching nefyOns, yaporlsh, jisgiug
scolding race of mortals" Poor Mrs. Buller'
FrJude protests in n foot-note. She was about
forty and probably had never Haunted, painted or
patched in her life" Elsewhere he remarks that
"vehement language, which implied nothing hut
the Impotence and rrtabity of his own mind was
as characteristic of Carlyle as If was Of Johnson"
Again. 4" Let him be crossed in argument, let some
rash person, whoever lie might be, dare to contra
diet him, and johnson himself was not more rude,
disdainful, and mperious; and tins quality III
him." the biographer naiyey adds, " had very
naturally dispeased Jeffrey. Not very admirable
oI tolerable characteristic, we venture to say.
Mrs. Carlyle had no children, and her longing
for what was denied hor is very sweetly
and delicately revealed in verse of
some touching lines that she wrote at Craigen-
puttoch on seeing a swallow build under their caves,
and which may perhaps, be found III THE
TRIBUNE of this morning But it was for her hap
piness that she was left childleSs. ITvlng's wife
brought him q child, son, which father and
mother idolized, and which knit them more closely
together than before. Carlyle at the house, al
honored invited guest, at a time when he could not
command much honor nor many invitations, and he
writes thence Irving has slueaking brat OF
son. who quoting the father brings Us many bless
ings but rather interrupts our rest at night. Bad
luck TO his blessings compared with natural rest ~
And again he writes scorning Irvings manifesto
tions of fatherly love and pride and holding his
friend up to ridiculc And yet again he writes TINS:
g" Isabella said he the other night, would wash
him. | think, with rdrm water tonight, a counsel
received with approving assent by the mother, but
somewhat objected to ny others. ! declared the
washing and dressing of him TO he the wife con-
Germ alone and that. were in her place. l would
wash him with oil of vitriOl if | pleased,
aud take no ones counsel in it," We may
laugh at this but imagine n young mother talked
to by her guest in this way about her irstbor son;
The birth of three or four children at Craigenput
toch is a series of events the possibility of which il
is deprc ssing to contemplate.
Carlyle kept journal, from which his bloTapber
makes copious extracts. II is to be remarked that
even this diary is characteristic of the man other
wise than III its style. There is small record of
events brief mention, or none OF other people,
cent for occasion of depreciation. 1t consists chic
" of records of his own thoughts and OF eXhorta-
tions to himself to be patient and 70 be up and do
ing. A few passages of this journal written in the
SIMMER of 1880, are OF peculiar interest because
thev contain the germs of SartOr ResartuS." Here
they are:
4 man with f2OO, 900 year eats the whole fruit
of {. .GG6 mems labor through year; for yen
get a stout spokesman to work and maintain
himself for the sum Of $50. Thus We have
private individuals whose wages are equal TO the
wages Of seven or eight thousand other individuals
society for their wages Kill partrijges Can this
last No, by the soul that is in man it cannot, and
will not, and shall not.
You see two men fronting each other One sits
dressed IN red cloth, the other stands dressed in
threadbarc blue; the first says 10 the other, BE
hanged and anatOmiscdw and 1t IS forthwith put IN
execution. till Number Two is skeleton. Whence
comes it 4, These men have no physical hold of each
other: they not in contact Each of the balills,
etc. is included IN his own skin, and not hooked to
any other. The reason is, man is a spirt. Invisible
influences Iuu through society, and make ii mys-
terious whole full OF life and nscrutable activities
and capabilities. Our individual existence Is
mystery: our social, still more.
What is a man If YOU look at him with the mere
logical sense with the understanding! pitful
hungry biped that wears breeches Often when /
read OF pompous ceremonials, drawing-rOom levees,
and coronations on n sudden the clothes fly of the
whole party i'll my fancy. and they stand there
stradding in half mdicrOus. half hOrrd condi-
ton!
What am but a sort of ghost Men rise as ap-
partitions from the bosom of night, and after grin
mug squeaking gbbenng some space. return
thithcr. The earth they stand on is bott0mless :;
the vault Of their sky is intnitudo the lifetime is
encompassed with eternity. O wonder And they
buy cattle OF seats in Parliament, and drink coarser
OF finer fcrmcnted liquors, If all this city
that had foundations,