New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-07-06
THE CARLYLE CIRCLE.
A RECORD or MISERY


IN a letter TO Emerson in 1867, 1would be no less
Than horrible t. me, and shall of certainty never
be done. The common impious vulgar OF this earth
what has it to do with my life or met Let dignfed
oblivion silence, and the vacant azure of Eternity
swallow me- for my share of it, that, verify, is the
handsomest, or one handsome way, of settling my
poor account with ne cdnai'ie of mankind, extant
and to come" Anu yet it would be hard to Ind
parallel to the surprising chapters of autobiography
in which Carlyle has exposed to this same impious
vulgar of the earth the secrets of an unhappy life
and the ugest features of defective character.
We refer not so much to the disclosures OF the
"Reminiscences to the exhibition OF the
domestic peaetralia in tbs Letters and Memorials
Of his wife, The central figure in those letters
Is not Jane Welsh Carlyle; 1t il the turbulent phil
iosopher and exacting husband to whom she devoted
a life of heroic sacrifice. And we must not forget
that although the formal responsibility OF publishing
was laid upon Mr.. Froude, 1t was Carlyle himself
who prepared tie book for the press leaving 1t to
his friend undcr circumstances which almost took
away that friends discretion as to the use to be
made of It, Virtually the publication Is Carlyles
own. II it bring any dlscredit upon his memory we
can blame no inludcious biographer 1t is the sage
himself who has laid bare that part of his life which
the most reckless biographer would hardly have
dared to touch.
The portrait Of Mrs. Carlyle engraved for the book
represents s.rong bat singularly sweet and VIM
ming tace e,,ressing intelligence, vivacity, and
in the good ser,se OF the word-scntment. She was
charming lp society; her powers Of appreciation
wsre high her native intellect vigorous, her
mind was cultivated she shone in the company OF
men of mark whc sought Caryle's house, and was
ut her ease in the high discourse which filled the
Chelsea evenings All who were admitted to that
circle brought away delightful impression OF her.
as model helpmeet and O bright and genial in
Is f,a<{ nj IA
Without her IL seemed as il Carlyle could hardly
have maintained intercourse with the human race
She repaired errors atoned for wrongs. prevented
brutalities, cflled out whatever was best In the
nature of her psrverse consort offered the sympathy
aud personal tenderness which even the most
savage Of PHILOSOPHERS cannot discard without some
distinct injury t. ais own soul. Her temperament
was an unusual combination of the intellectual and
the emotional Even apart from the testimony Oh
her acouaintarces there is evidence enough In this
collection Of the letters Of thirty that she was
q woman of acute, active and independent mind.
Her comments upon persons and events are shrewd
and pointed. Her literary judgm snts are now and
then surprising, but they arereal udgments-not tho
micro headoug expression Of womanish fancies.
She possessed q rich fund Of humof. together with
tho higher quality Of wit. The felicity OF
her personal descriptions. and reports OF con-
versation and characteristic remarks. often
value. Even when she wrote about household
worries she was brilliant and entertaining sho was
always natural: and sometimes she vergod uncon
sciously upon the poetical We do not recall any
published correspondence 90 burdeued as that or
Jane Carlyle with sordid cares and trivial conf-
dences and yet In the whole collection there s not
moan nor an embarrassing letter. There are let
ters which ought never to have been printed but
there are none which will be found dull to read.
~ Ewa faE a ut ant
from an account of tho daily life at Chelsea, written
to Carlyle while no was q visit to Scotland:
sOur visiting has been confined to one dinner and
two teas at the Sterlngs, and atsa at Hunts
You must know = = came the day after you
all things to see Hunt wrote him a note, asking II
might bring her up to call He n replied be was
s Ssioc ss.nY supposed this as usual mere Opat
but he q. tnsly came-iound Pepoi as woll as Miss
ySs sHS fsns No
me poorlsh opinion Of him to sue how uplifted to
the third heaven he seemed by IS compliments
thusiasui. to tea the following Monday: -,came
on purpose and slept here He sang. talked like
pen gum sOOsos yum made of Snil asO Tor
all in like nectar, while my mother looked cross
dences Of Mrs. Hunt. But for me- who was declared |
to be grown quite prim and elderly believe thsy
would have communicated their mutual experiences |
YOU, Miss - was repeated by Hunt three several
times te OF everincreaslng psthos and tender
FOR once in her life. seemed past speech. At the |
bottom of the stairs demur took place saw |
%sa bn Su, couple
aud then An almost inaudibly soft God bless you,
Miss -P Now just remember what sort OF look
tiou If he had kissed me, 1t would have been in
tellgible, but -. OF all people "
There is a great deal of drolery. mixed with not |
little contempt in Mrs. Carlyles frequent refer
pncep to q certain little handy legged bishop.
worldly and conceited man much too fond of |
thrusting himself upon her. who always figures in
this correspondence by the sobrouet of Cutti-
knsn an old Scotch word for spatterdashes:
aDearest-Ths postman presented me your letter
tonight n Cheyne walk, with a bow extraordiD-
AIRY. H. u jewel Of postman whenever he has
Put y letter from you into the box he both knocks
ing possession of il. In acknowledgment whereof.
crossed the street one day, when Cuttiklns, who
aud at that moment doing the impossible to be on
PERTAINING for the purpose OF salutng his THE post
msns) baby which he was carrying out foran airing
The rage vi Cuttikins ut this interruption was con
Siderable he looked at me as IL he could have eaten
he raw, and remarked with concentrated spleen,
so improved in smability You are. Everybody
and everything seems to DO honored with particq-
lar vo t b myse With saying
Isn't il darling babyf' Poor Cuttikins, his aunt
did not die; so he il gone with the prospect OF -
alas -of having TO return ere long. The last day
he came john Sterling exploded him in a way that
would have done your heart good TO see John
looked at me as much as TO say, Does he bore
YOU y and gave my shoulders little shrug in the
Affirmative; whereupon Jonn jumped to his feet
and said in polite urdortone, as audible, however,
YOU cgnnct keep your engagement with me, must
90 by lnyseif--I am too late already. The cool as
suranee of this speech inimitable, for had no
engagement In the world with him; but the bishop
suspecting nnthing, sprang to his feet, aud was
off In minute with apologies for having detained
me- |
aWell I actually accomplished my dinner at the