The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-03-06
STORIES OF CARLYLE.
"reminiscences BY the Daughter
Of Hepworth Dixon.
4 STRANGE. soRRowFuL MAN.


ence. E0ne Of my FIRST recoIlections OF
Carlyle y the figure Of grim. sorroxful
looking man, who, wrapped in his double
capes ana his gloomy thoughts. passed
nke some sort of ghost amid the tortured
byways OF Chelsea His eyes, remember
even now, had hungry look They were
Lne saddest had ever SEEN Thomas
Iariyles Tor the strange and sorrowful man
| Was no other. lived hard BY. and
wandered much in search of ap-
petite and good digestion in the
Inen by no means fashionable quarter.
Inc nelghborhood has been transformed
SINCE Cariyie's death, 20 much transformed
that the Transatlantic visitor must be sur
pf1sed to find the quaint little street of
xueen Anne houses known as Cheyne row
almost untouched by time or the more
damaging machinations Of the jerrv-
builder. A medallion marks the house
where the great man lived, bat strangers
occupy the rooms and his place knows
MIN no more. In the sage's lifetime the
interior was conspicuous for Its Spartan.
or rather its Scotch simplicity.
The house was plain, orderly. prirn,
with that air Of solid comfort
such as houses wore in days when medic
val chairs and slippery Liberty chintzes
were undreamed Of. Turkey carpets COW
cred the floors and books the walls. Some
oio-iashloned silver (presents from admir-
frsf cleaned on the sideboard. and por-
traits Of Goethe and Mrs. Carlyle caught
The eye on entering. A miniature Of his
wHe, may mention, the good old man
looked At and bade good night to every
evening before going to bed. But that " as
when the original was no longer by his
side and when the last long evening Of his
own life was drawing In.
Both then, and in earlier days, Carlyle
loved sleek cat, his fire, and great
leather armchair which was usually
drawn up to 1t in the winter weather. 1t
was here that he wrestled with the un-
formed ideas which were presently to be
committed to paper, one of Mrs Carlyle's
1avor1te Jokes being to show visitors the
poker, which her husband handled with
damaging effect to the coal during these
aglfating and consuming moments. He
was, It appeared, fierce worker, both
with his brain and the humble implement
aforementioned. for his cautious Scotch
vile Was careful, she informed people, to
remove the sbest" poker when the fer
menflng process of authorship was on the
writer
Carlyie's irritability has become by now
byKord- What is less suspected by the
great authors critics is that the partner of
his joys and SORROWS could, and as mat
ter OF tact did, participate in the authors
petulanf Ill humor. Mrs. CarIyle's temper
was hardly Of the Lady GriseI order, az
the following story viii vouch. A friend
OF the house, a lady visitor Whose name
am not Mt liberty 10 mention), called one
day In Cheyne row and found the mis-
tress IN state of much agitation on the
sofa. did you see Nj. Carlyle?'' she
cried excitedly n she greeted her friend.
Did you see him" The visitor admitted
/ having stumbled over the unhappy
philosopher on the door step. "Ahi
I've this minute thrown my teacup
at him, returned the other in the same
strain; flor Uh1t. do you think? I've
been lying here for three days with q
headache, and he's Just asked me what
ais mer" The refuge Of headaches is
that of bored woman. The high-spirited
lady who could sacrifice her china To her
irritability loved excitement, while her
husband liked nothing so well when he
was not walking or riding as being within
his OWE four walls. That the ex-
peasant boy disiiked society was palpa-
bic from the first. The wife of q liter
the other day Of the constraint and irk-
someness such society cost him, even
In the hey-day of his fame. With Lord
and Lady Ashburnham-with whom the
Carlyles stayed for at least a month eyerv
year-this feeling probably wore of, but
at other houses, at the Hon. Miss Eden's
or her neighbor, Lady Franklin's. where
the great man occasionally appeared. his
gene was only too apparent. 1t was in
Miss Eden's drawing-room that he exhib-
tied in public the notable characteristics
have alluded to. A little group of peo-
pie had been invited to see some of
Lord Auckland's 1.-THE viceroy's) letters,
of teacups and bandying of small compli-
ments, the sage suddenly drew the liter
ary mans wife aside with a Cant YOU
show me the letters" and then with al
most childish simplicity and directness he
whispered as he shook his head. II don't
care for this sort of society; don't care
old-fashionedly and quantity dressed, the
picture of things neat and clean. The
hands were beautiful and BETRAYED
nothing of his origin. They were
strenuous, nervous, refined In boy
hood, and in early manhood the mouth
and jaw were too pronounced for beauty.
but beauty came, as it often does with
the yourhfully iil-favored. with advancing
years. The grizzled beard, when allowed
to grow. hid the too harsh contour of the
upper lip and chin and the individuality
of the shaggy soul which iooksd out of the
sad eyes was more pronounced in late than
In early life.
A story is still told by one of his neigh
bors which exemplifies his horror of SLOW
enly habits and hints at the vein of gal
lantry which lay beneath the tough Scotch
exterior. The visitor, again Lady, but this
time kindly old dame over 70, was an
nounced one evening IN Cheyne row
when Carlyle tamid the protests of his
niece, who declared he looked TT TO see
anybody insisted On ascending TO his bed
room TO make his additions. Tut, tut
lassie, do you think / would see 3 hand
some old lady, who is good enough
to come and sit with me, without
first washing my hands" the hand
some'' old lady has still another and
even pleasanfer recollection of the grim
old seer" She had stopped TO speak to
him. as neighbors viii, at the corner of the
street, and the pair had begun to saunter
together in the direction Of home. Sud-
denly Carlyle's eyes wandered, and drop
ping with quick movement behind, the
lady saw him fleeing an old water-cress
seller weli-known character IN the neigh
borhood Christmas Is coming on: was
afraid might forget the poor body" he
explained as he joined his companion He
had given the woman q crown
Such details seem hardly worth relating.
and yet they 60 TO make up picture
which shows the author OF the French
Revolution IN his geDtler aspects a crank,
curmu6geon to those who knew him
little there was something singuiarly en-