haracteristic harangue on the wretched
degeneracy of these evil days. The prophet Jeremiah was cheerfulness
itself in comparison with him.... Most of his extraordinary harangue
was like an eruption of Vesuvius, but the laugh he occasionally gave
showed that he was talking about as much for his own amusement as for
ours."

Between these two pictures,--the one showing us the boy trudging away
in the mist of the November morning, the other revealing an old man
whose home in Chelsea had become the Mecca of the lovers of English
literature,--what has occurred?

The young boy has finished his studies at the University; has
concluded not to enter the ministry; has studied law; served as tutor;
translated a masterpiece of German into English, and finally dedicated
his powers to becoming a notability in English literature: wrote
_Sartor Resartus_, the _History of the French Revolution_, a _Life of
Cromwell_, a _Life of Frederick the Great_, and has become
world-renowned as one of the great figures of the Nineteenth Century.

XXXV

CARLYLE AND HIS WIFE

In 1826 occurred what Saintsbury calls the most important event in the
life of Carlyle,--his marriage with Jane Welsh, a young woman who
traced her ancestry back to John Knox, the rugged Scotch reformer.
Jane was a keen, active, high-strung, sensitive soul. There has arisen
a formidable mass of literature discussing the relationship between
Thomas and Jane. Were they happy or were they miserable?

Jane Welsh was a Scotch lady whose family was socially superior to
that of Carlyle's. Her father had been a physician, while Carlyle's
was but a rude stone-mason,--and yet a great man. It is said she
married Thomas because she was ambitious and wanted to be the wife of
a famous man, and she had discovered in the unknown Thomas the marks
of genius. In after years she is reported to have said: "I married for
ambition. Carlyle had exceeded all that my wildest hopes ever imagined
for him; _and I am miserable_."

Jeannie had what she had bargained for and yet she was unhappy,--why?

Carlyle was a big-hearted, hard-working, gruff, but kind-hearted
individual. I have not a doubt that he loved his Jeannie. But he took
no pains to show his love in those tender though trivial devotions
that mean so much to the sensitive wife.

During the first few years of their married life, they lived in a
lonely place and had but a scant income. We have a very interesting
picture of their li