Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1886-02-08
Some Recent Autobiographies.

From "Notes of Professional Exile, .
in the February Century, we quote the
following: "I have with me the autobio.
graphical works of Carlyle, edited by
Froude, which have attracted so much
attention. There are two periods in the
history of the worlds state of mind to-
wards almost every clever and success
full man. One of these is when he is re-
cognized; the other is when he is found
out. At the former period his distinc-
tons and peculiar abilities are per-
ceived. The world sees what he is. He
may then be said to have been recog-
nized. But along with this recognition
the world is apt to bestow a vague and
tacit credit tor superiority in those quail
ties in which he has not been tried.
There comes time, however, when his
limitations are understood. The world
sees what he is not. He may then be
said to have been found out. That man
is fortunate who is recognized early and
found out late. The latter period was
much deferred in Carlyle's case, owing to
the vlgor OF the impression he made
upon us. But when the time came
Tor the public to be undeceived with re-
gard to the character of this great and
good man, it certainly did not Judge him
fairly. The ill-nature of these writings
OF Carlyle is not profound. Carlyle had
the presumptious discomfort of a spoiled
child. 1t was his instinct and habit to
Sass right and left. And the public
itself was mainly to blame for the spoil
ing. The fault in such cases is mainly
the public's, on account of the queer ex-
emptions they accord people who are able
to sling ink particularly well. Authors
are spoiled because of the weak suppose
ton of the public that they are as good
as they profess to be. The public will
not insist upon remembering that great
authors are like other people. Has not
an author hands, organs, dimensions.
senses, affections, passions; if you prick
them do they not bleed; if you tickle
them do they not laugh? OF course, the
book reveals Carlyle as an egotist. But
are not nearly all recent autobiographers
egotists? A number of such works have
appeared during the last ten years, and the
position OF the autobiographer has been
In nearly every case the same-namely.
that God did good thing when he made
him; but that he should have made any-
body else, and should have taken an in
terest in the other individual equal to
that which he manifested in the auto
biographer, is a proposition which he
cannot bring himself for moment to
consider: Two books in which this view
is conspicuous are the biographies of
John Quincy Adams and Miss Harriet
Martineau. Carlyle is a mild egotist
beside these writer's. Adams does not
speak of himself as an in diyidual, but as
cause which he has espoused. OF the
two, Miss Martineau is the more naive.
She is for arranging the world entirely
from her own point of view. For in
stance, she attacked the late Lord Lytton
because he did not carry an ear-trumpet.
Lord Lytton was deaf, and preferred not
20 carry an ear-trumpet Miss Martineau
vas deaf also, and did carry one. She
lid not believe in the immortality of the
'oul, and was very hard upon anv one
Who was of a contrary opinion. Her
heaven, had her belief permitted her to
lave one, would have been a place
where they all sat round with ear-trum-
'ets and derided the doctrine of the i'm
mortality of the SOUL"