that
was in him now gone to the tongue; a squat, thickset, low-browed, short,
grizzled little man of fifty.'

One of the few men Carlyle was anxious to see was Sir Robert Peel. He
was introduced by the Barings at a dinner at Bath House. Carlyle sat
next to Peel, whom he describes as 'a finely-made man of strong, not
heavy, rather of elegant, stature; stands straight, head slightly thrown
back, and eyelids modestly drooping; every way mild and gentle, yet with
less of that fixed smile than the portraits give him. He is towards
sixty, and, though not broken at all, carries, especially in his
complexion, when you are _near_ him, marks of that age; clear, strong
blue eyes which kindle on occasion, voice extremely good, low-toned,
something of _cooing_ in it, rustic, affectionate, honest, mildly
persuasive. Spoke about French Revolutions new and old; well read in all
that; had seen General Dumouriez; reserved seemingly by nature, obtrudes
nothing of _diplomatic_ reserve. On the contrary, a vein of mild _fun_
in him, real sensibility to the ludicrous, which feature I liked best of
all.... I consider him by far our first public man--which, indeed, is
saying little--and hope that England in these frightful times may still
get some good of him. N.B.--This night with Peel was the night in which
Berlin city executed its last terrible battle, (19th of March to Sunday
morning the 20th, five o'clock.) While we sate there the streets of
Berlin city were all blazing with grape-shot and the war of enraged men.
What is to become of all that? I have a book to write about it. Alas! We
hear of a great Chartist petition to be presented by 200,000 men. People
here keep up their foolish levity in speaking of these things; but
considerate persons find them to be very grave; and indeed all, even the
laughers, are in considerable secret alarm.'[21]

At such a time Carlyle knew that he, the author of _Chartism_, ought to
say something. Foolish people, too, came pressing for his opinions. Not
seeing his way to a book upon 'Democracy,' he wrote a good many
newspaper articles, chiefly in the _Examiner_ and the _Spectator_, to
deliver his soul. Even Fonblanque and Rintoul (the editors), remarks
Froude, friendly though they were to him, could not allow him his full
swing. 'There is no established journal,' complained Carlyle, 'that can
stand my articles, no single one they would not blow the bottom out of.'

On July 12 occurs this entry in his journa