New-York tribune., 1908-08-15
DOUBLES.
Some Interesting Examples De-
scribed by AndrezC Lang.

From The London Morning Post
We all suffer, more or less. from doubles
and by the double l do not mean the copper
ganger" or "co-walker," or astral body but
the human being who is confused with us by the
public. Mr.. Matthew Arnold was apt to De
confused with Sir Edwin. and was often con-
THE Light OF Asia" A lady once told me that
this was the only poem of Mr.. Matthew Arnold
which she could tolerate. and replied that OF
Sir Edwin's verses 1 preferred The Scholar
Gipsy' Very many years ago was told thac
Mr. George Meredith was son Of Lord Lyttou.
the novelist We see how this fable grew owen
Meredith was used nom de guerre by the
eldest son of Lord Lytton, by the author or
Lucille The rest of the blunder came easily
When Mr.. Thomas Carlyle, the Sage OF Cheyne
Walk was hurt he, like Mr.. SqUeers (or was II
Miss Squeers?), did not moan low, he moaned
loud Never having heard him moaning loud
about a double, I supposed that he had none
This was an error of malobservauon. In the
preface of Literary and Historical Essays oy
that very interesting writer the late HeT; EenIy
Gray Graham. hear about Mr.. Carlyle
double. He was Mr.. Thomas Carlyle advocate.
and his genealogy is q puzzle TO me. The title
OF the old Carlyles of TOrthorwald, which was
limited to heirs male. fell into abeyance after
the death of Michael, fourth Lord Carlyle Cof
TorthorwaId) in 1879" As far as can see 1t
did not fall into allegiance" but became ex-
tinct for lack of male heirs. Though ! write
without book, feel certain that, after 1913, tnS
CARLYLE lands were held by an heiress, who mar
ried a Douglas, and If he did not murder James
Stewart of Ochiltree, at the time Earl OF Arran
in pursuance of blood feud. am much mis-
taken.
Yet It seems that. in 1885, Mr. Dacre Carlyle
"was served heir to the last Lord Carlyle, VINO
died in 1879 How this was managed is what
want to know. Finally, Mr.. Thomas Carlyle
advocate (the double) inherited the claim 10
the vacant title" He was 'the last direct male
descendant of the Lords Carlyle OF Tortnor-
waId'' But II that peer had direct male heirs,
how did his lands go to heiress in the reign
of James VI. a fact which am ready 10
lay moderate wager? Meanwhile the true true
Thomas Carlyle was traced. IN a geneaIosy
which have seen, 10 the House of TorthorWald,
and back behind the Norman Conquest The
sage is said to have taken 6. certain amount OF
interest in this pedigree, but we are told that
"the great Thomas, of Ckeyne Row. was NOT
descended from the baronial house OF Carlyle
Meanwhile We have letter by MI Grananl
who married a lady of the family claiming
TO be of the Torthorwald lineage, in wn1ch ne
quotes the bitter moan Of Thomas Of Chelsea,
against my double gOer. 7. Carlyle, advocate
+hen lately dead "and the numerous mistakes
wiIfuI and involuntary. which. from my NJ
teenth year. he occasioned me, selling his
pamphlets mine, getting my letters as MS.
and vice versa; nay once or more Win some
ambassador at Berlin dining IN my stead-Iooi-
ish vain fellow who called me anti-ChT1st
withaI in bis serious moments. InolnaS
added that his nanesake had been IAN angel"
which nobody could mistake him for.
Mr. Graham in q letter TO The Atheneun,
demonstrated that many OF the grievances OF
the true Thomas were imaginary. The oouoIe
wns no angel merely Apostle for Germany
of 1.-The Catholic Apostolic Church" not that OF
Rome but rather Of Paisley, or some Such
placs commonly called "Irvingite" He was
very well acquainted with the German Ian
guage and literature. which must nave m m
creas sed the confusion. He only six years
old when the genuine Thomas was fifteen. and
possibly the letters Of the pair were misdeliv-
cred even then. The younger Thomas pup
lished his pamphlets THE One Catholic Su-
premacy" The Office of the Paraclete." and
so on, either anonymously or with the addition
| Of advocate to his name More he could not
do to avoid confusion unless he had added
Apostle for GERMANY and even that might
have led to confusion. Mr.. Carlyle I'd; was
known well to the Bunsens, and generally to
the society Of Berlin. and when he dlned with
ambassadors did so as himself, and not as the
Sage OF Chelsea He was friend OF Bdward
Irving who was also a friend Of Thomas Car
up the wrong tree The works of one Of the
pair may have been bought. by careless pur-
chasers as the works Of the other, just as l am
used to being criticised for the poetry and prose
OF an author who bears my Christian name and
patronymic. and letters may have been misde-
livered But the sage can nave had no worse
sufferings from ''co-walkerT or "double-g -goer.
and Of his tribulations he made too much. Miss
Carlyle, the sages niece very properly omitted
the passage from her uncle's "Reminiscences"
America provides doubles for some of,u wit
ness the two MeSsrs. Robert Bridges, both poets
OF Tyres most dfverseiy tuned, and the two
Messrs. Winston Churchill, who do not tread
the same path to glory. For myself. have eev-
eral doubles. One appears TO be poet and a
journalist also one or another is writer or
sacred HYMNS while have translated those at
trfbuted untustly, to Homer. That poet had
scores OF doubles. authors Of hymns, satires
father of the rest" must have especially re-
sented They were not of merit equal with his
own Another double Of mine, as 1 have read
in a printed book. worshpped in q Nonconform-
tst chapel at Hull and his meritortous devotions
were attributed to me. But had a halibi
Sammy"
NY last double-whether in the body out
OF the body-was a German OF my name I
received a touching letter from two young
ladies, not OF my name citoyennes OF the United
States asking II 1 were their long lost uncle,
Andreas or Andrew Lang. of somewhere IN Ger
many. OF him they had heard from Grand
mama Henrietta Lang" and my great Cor
great-great) grandmother was Henrietta Lang.
The relationship thus looked plausible. but I
was obliged regretfully to disclaim relationship
with my Teutonic double. Meanwhile, by an
odd coincidence, a relation, also a Henrietta
Lang picked out all the Langs in photograph
of the actors in the Ammergau mystery play,
from their family likeness, while the American
nieces averred that my photograph closely re-
sembled a portrait of the long lost uncle An
dreas St. Peter may have some difficulty in
sorting out.
AS to doubles in personal appearance. l know
that must have many. One is dentist. whom
! have never seen. Another is a very famous
parsonage; the likeness is not obvious TO myself
Another the same, perhaps accounts for the
military civilities which the sentines posted at
a well known house used 70 bestow on me by
saluting when passed. OF third l only know
that he had brother in Liverpool. This dis
covered on the steps OF the Albany, where a