The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-06-21

to mankind that he was entitled to call on
them TO occupy themselves With the seamy
side Of his life. %,
OF his own feelings after he had under
taken the work and read the papers, ne
says:
found myself entan sled In painful family
differences OF exactly tho kind which most
dsliked to hear OF and acquaintance with
which hs d always avoided II was always
left to my discretion. but how was my as
erection 70 be exercised? Carlyles fauns
had been great. and he had endeayored 10
make nm atonement for them. 1t Was On
atonement complete In ITSELF. 40 c"np'''e
that he himself directed the publication
of memoir OF his wife, with her own letters,
II swept the faults away and exhibited MS
real character in its brightest ana tendereet
light. II 1 suppressed all that-n ! mace
my biography n mere panegyric ON hts wr"-
ings and his generally noble and sei-denying
life, ! should nevertheless give the worio
nothing but mockery
He heeitated and at first proposed to ex-
ercise his discretion by sitting the whole
matter. Carlyle had given him authority
to burn everything he thought beee TO ourh'
BY this time l had drifted towprd a cow
ardiy conclusion that would suppress Mrs'
Carlyles letters. after all: that would "rite
a biography suoh ~ would most surely oe
to my own advantage, dwelling on all that
was best and brightest In Carlyle ana passing
lightly over the rest. wrote the nrst volume
OF the Life as it no " stands In this sense
But he found Carlyle 40 miserable In the
last months OF his life at the thought that
these letters and papers would not see the
light that he determined to brave obloquy
and to print them.
z. L.. nkn a
we're put into Mr.. Froude's hands soon
after Mrs. Carlyle's death and that he had
been at work on them for years before
arlylc himself died. This acauits hin' OF
the unjust charge Of rushing into print
hastily and recklessly In order to profit by
the public's interest in his old friends
death.
1t is not an apology that Froude has
written but an explanation Of how ana
why he came to publish the Carlyle biog-
raphies and letters. His discretion may
be Questioned. but his statement bears all
the marks OF honesty and truth. 1t shows.
too, that IL was written when no was very
sore at the abuse the publication had
brought upon him from the general public,
and particularly from the Carlyle family
Into Froudes painful quarrel with Car
lyle's relatives about the ownership OF the
papers and the money derived from the
sale OF the books. we need not enter, though
the greater part of the pamphlet lie devoted
to it, Froude naturally was out to the
quick by the imputation Of dishonesty
or OF sharp practice in money matters
The whole matter seems to rect on mis-
understandings THAT could arise easily,
when we consider that no thought Of a
business relation occurred 20 either Froude
or Carlyle. and that Carlyle was an old
and aiing man. whose purpose changed
at times in his last years.
In dealing with the complications exist
ing after his death, personal feeling on
both sides were allowed to interfere with
any intelligent business settlement. A
bad tangle was made worse. Froudes
statement and Sir James Stephens &C.
count OF the proceedings show this clearly,
and certainly exonerate the historian. II
any one believes him to need exoneration.
1t is miserable and petty affair that has
no literary importance and might we'll be
kept out Of q sufficiently psinful story.