The Correspondence of Thomas Carlyle and Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1834-1872, Vol. I

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"To my friend I write a letter, and from him I receive a letter. It is a spiritual gift, worthy of him to give, and of me to receive." Carlyle XLI. Carlyle XLVI. " Vol. II. C. Emerson CIV. Carlyle CV. " CVI. " CVII. " CVIII. " CIX. " CXII. " CXVI. " CXLIX. CLXV. " --C.E.N. December 31, 1884 ----------- CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. Boston, 14 May, 1834. Carlyle. Chelsea, 12 August, 1834. III. Emerson. Concord, 20 November, 1834. IV. Carlyle. Chelsea, 3 February, 1835. Austin. Concord, 12 March, 1835. Appreciation of Sartor. --Dr. VI. Emerson. Concord, 30 April, 1835. VII. Carlyle. Chelsea, 13 May, 1835. VIII. Carlyle. Chelsea, 27 June, 1835. IX. Emerson. Concord, 7 October, 1835. Mrs. Concord, 8 April, 1836. XI. Carlyle. Chelsea, 29 April, 1836. XII. Emerson. Concord, 17 September,1836. XIII. Carlyle. Chelsea, 5 November, 1836. XIV. Carlyle. Chelsea, 13 February, 1837. Teufelsdrockh in America and England.--_Nature._--Miss Martineau on Emerson. XV. Emerson. Concord, 31 March, 1837. --Mrs. Carlyle. Chelsea, 1 June, 1837. XVII. Emerson. Concord, 13 September, 1837. Emerson. Concord, 2 November, 1837. XIX. Carlyle. Chelsea, 8 December, 1837. XX. Emerson. Concord, 9 February, 1838. Emerson. Boston, 12 March, 1838. Carlyle. Chelsea, 16 March, 1838. Emerson. Concord, 10 May, 1838. XXIV. Carlyle. Chelsea, 15 June, 1838. Emerson. Boston, 30 July, 1838. XXVI. Emerson. Concord, 6 August, 1838. Carlyle. Scotsbrig, Ecclefechan, 25 September, 1838. Emerson. Concord, 17 October, 1838. XXIX. Carlyle. Chelsea, 7 November, 1838. XXX. Carlyle. Chelsea, 15 November, 1838. XXXI. Carlyle. Chelsea, 2 December, 1838. Emerson. Concord, 13 January, 1839. Carlyle. Carlyle. Chelsea, 8 February, 1839. Emerson. Concord, 15 March, 1839. XXXV. Emerson. Concord, 19 March, 1839. Carlyle. Chelsea, 13 April, 1839. Carlyle. Chelsea, 17 April, 1839. Emerson. Boston, 20 April, 1839. Emerson. Concord, 25 April, 1839. XL. Emerson. Concord, 28 April, 1839. XLI. Emerson. Concord, 15 May, 1839. XLII. Carlyle. Chelsea, 29 May, 1839. --Messages. Carlyle. Chelsea, 24 June, 1839. XLIV. Emerson. Concord, 4 July, 1839. XLV. Emerson. Concord, 8 August, 1839. XLVI. Carlyle. Scotsbrig, Ecclefechan, 4 September, 1839. Carlyle. Chelsea, 8 December, 1839. Emerson. Concord, 12 December, 1839. XLIX. Carlyle. Chelsea, 6 January, 1840. L. Carlyle. Chelsea, 17 January, 1840. LI. Emerson. New York, 18 March, 1840. LII. Carlyle. Chelsea, 1 April, 1840. LIII. Emerson. Concord, 21 April, 1840. LIV. Emerson. Concord, 30 June, 1840. --_The Dial,_ No. 1. LV. Carlyle. Chelsea, 2 July, 1840. LVI. Emerson. Concord, 30 August, 1840. LVII. Carlyle. Chelsea, 26 September, 1840. 1.--Puseyism.--Dr. Emerson. Concord, 30 October, 1840. --Hopes to print a book of essays. LIX. Carlyle. Chelsea, 9 December, 1840. 2.--Goethe. LX. Carlyle. Chelsea, 21 February, 1841. To Mrs. LXI. Emerson. Concord, 28 February, 1841. LXII. Emerson. Boston, 30 April, 1841. 4. Carlyle. Chelsea, 8 May, 1841. LXIV. Carlyle. Chelsea, 21 May, 1841. Emerson. Concord, 30 May, 1841. LXVI. Carlyle. Chelsea, 25 June, 1841. Emerson. Concord, 31 July, 1841. Carlyle. Newby, Annan, Scotland, 18 August, 1841. LXIX. Emerson. Concord, 30 October, 1841. LXX. Emerson. Concord, 14 November, 1841. LXXI. Carlyle. Chelsea, 19 November, 1841. Carlyle. Chelsea, 6 December, 1841. Emerson. New York, 28 February, 1842. Carlyle. Templand, 28 March, 1842. LXXV. Emerson. Concord, 31 March, 1842. --------------------- CORRESPONDENCE OF CARLYLE AND EMERSON At the beginning of his "English Traits," Mr. Emerson, writing of his visit to England in 1833, when he was thirty years old, says that it was mainly the attraction of three or four writers, of whom Carlyle was one, that had led him to Europe. "I found him one of the most simple and frank of men, and became acquainted with him at once. He talks finely, seems to love the broad Scotch, and I loved him very much at once. I am afraid he finds his entire solitude tedious, but I could not help congratulating him upon his treasure in his wife, and I hope he will not leave the moors; 't is so much better for a man of letters to nurse himself in seclusion than to be filed down to the common level by the compliances and imitations of city society." London, 1882, p. 58. ------------ Twenty-three years later, in his "English Traits," Emerson once more describes his visit, and tells of his impressions of Carlyle. For all that, he still thought man the most plastic little fellow in the planet, and he liked Nero's death, _Qualis artifex pereo!_ better than most history. The best thing he knew of that country was, that in it a man can have meat for his labor. "We talked of books. They burned the stacks, and so found a way to force the rich people to attend to them.' Each keeps its own round. --------- I. Emerson to Carlyle Boston, Massachusetts, 14 May, 1884 My Dear Sir,--There are some purposes we delay long to execute simply because we have them more at heart than others, and such an one has been for many weeks, I may say months, my design of writing you an epistle. If you love such sequences, then admit, as you will, that no poet is sent into the world before his time; that all the departed thinkers and actors have paved your way; that (at least when you surrender yourself) nations and ages do guide your pen, yes, and common goose-quills as well as your diamond graver. Says not the sarcasm, "Truth hath the plague in his house"? ------------ * This year, 1882, seventy thousand copies of a sixpenny edition of _Sartor Resartus_ have been sold. ------------- I venture to amuse you with this homiletic criticism because it is the sense of uncritical truth seekers, to whom you are no more than Hecuba, whose instincts assure them that there is Wisdom in this grotesque Teutonic apocalyptic strain of yours, but that 't is hence hindered in its effect. I send herewith a volume of Webster's that you may see his speech on Foot's Resolutions, a speech which the Americans have never done praising. I have great doubts whether the book reaches you, as I know not my agents. -------------- * _Observations on the Growth of the Mind,_ by Sampson Reed, first published in 1825. --------------- I need not tell you, my dear sir, what pleasure a letter from you would give me when you have a few moments to spare to so remote a friend. If any word in my letter should provoke you to a reply, I shall rejoice in my sauciness. Rich, London. Your friend, R. Waldo Emerson II. I have read in both your books at leisure times, and now nearly finished the smaller one. "Through the smallest window look well, and you can look out into the Infinite." The higher such a man rises, the better pleased I shall be. * Shall I say then, "In the mouth of two witnesses"? For though Teufelsdrockh exclaims, "Pulpit! --------- * In his Diary, July 26, 1834, Carlyle writes--"In the midst of innumerable discouragements, all men indifferent or finding fault, let me mention two small circumstances that are comfortable. One mortal, then, says I am _not_ utterly wrong. Precious is man to man." --------------- But now quitting theoretics, let me explain what you long to know, how it is that I date from London. Censure not; I came to London for the best of all reasons,--to seek bread and work. A strange element this, and I as good as an Alien in it. Much as I can speak and hear, I am alone, alone. It is part of my creed that the Only Poetry is History, could we tell it right. Understand too that your old bed stands in a new room here, and the old welcome at the door. The like, and even more, from France. has gone over to Greece, and become some kind of Manager under King Otho. He was an ardent follower of Saint-Simon, and an associate of Enfantin. ---------- Continue to love me, you and my other friends; and as packets sail so swiftly, let me know it frequently. How great a Possibility, how small a realized Result! III. May I use the word, "I thank my God whenever I call you to remembrance." ---------- * This letter was printed in the _Athenaeum,_ London, June 24, 1882. ---------- I receive with great pleasure the wonderful Professor now that first the decent limbs of Osiris are collected. of his Western World, but he remained inexorable for any new communications. ------------- * The four copies of _Sartor_ which Carlyle had sent were a "stitched pamphlet," with a title-page bearing the words: "Sartor Resartus: in Three Books. London, 1834." ------------- I feel like congratulating you upon the cold welcome which you say Teufelsdrockh* has met. As it is not earthly happy, it is marked of a high sacred sort. But you know the proverb, "To be fortunate, be not too wise." Nevertheless, as God maketh the world forevermore, whatever the devils may seem to do, so the thoughts of the best minds always become the last opinion of Society. With him I am becoming better acquainted, but mine must be a qualified admiration. ------------ * Emerson uniformly spells this name "Teufelsdroch." ------------ Then to write luxuriously is not the same thing as to live so, but a new and worse offence. Since my return home, I have been left very much at leisure. Yet the best poem of the Poet is his own mind, and more even than in any of the works I rejoice in the promise of the workman. Now I am only reading and musing, and when I have any news to tell of myself, you shall hear them. Now as to the welcome hint that you might come to America, it shall be to me a joyful hope. Indeed, indeed, you shall have the continent to yourself were it only as Crusoe was king. for a dialogue face to face. And as you like Sampson Reed, here are one or two more of his papers. Do read them. Your friend and servant, R. Waldo Emerson IV. "Speech" also, they say, "is cheerfuler than light itself." He is, in very deed and truth, with God,--_where_ you and I both are. ------------ * Obviously Carlyle's _Specimens of German Romance,_ of which the fourth volume was devoted to Goethe. ------------ But now as to myself; for you will grumble at a sheet of speculation sent so far: I am here still, as Rob Roy was on Glasgow Bridge, _biding tryste;_ busy extremely, with work that will not profit me at all in some senses; suffering rather in health and nerves; and still with nothing like dawn on any quarter of my horizon. I am for three small volumes now, and have one done. And then, How? I know they are. Men, strong men, I have seen die of it, or go mad by it. Yours with great sincerity, T. Carlyle V. Emerson to Carlyle Concord, 12 March, 1838 My Dear Sir,--I am glad of the opportunity of Mr. Barnard's* visit to say health and peace be with you. --------- * Mr. Henry Barnard, of Hartford, Connecticut, to whom Emerson had given a note of introduction to Carlyle. --------- But my errand is yet to tell. If we knew that two or three hundred would be taken up, we should reprint it now. I am an icicle to them. There I give him up to their wrath. Nobody is coaxed to admire you, and you have won friends whom I should be proud to show you, and honorable women not a few. There is a part of ethics, or in Schleiermacher's distribution it might be physics, which possesses all attraction for me; to wit, the compensations of the Universe, the equality and the coexistence of action and reaction, that all prayers are granted, that every debt is paid. I hope, or wish rather. Fail not, I beg of you, to remember me to Mrs. Carlyle. Hilliard, Gray, & Co. are the best publishers in Boston. Yours with respect and affection, R. Waldo Emerson VI. But, being come, it makes me sad and glad by turns. ----------- * The memory of Dr. Spurzheim has faded, but his name is still known to men of science on both sides of the Atlantic as that of the most ardent and accomplished advocate of the doctrine of Phrenology. ------------- But the subject, you say, does not yet define itself. They might, perhaps, be repeated at Cambridge, three miles from Boston, and probably at Philadelphia, thirty-six hours distant. The lectures might be fifteen or sixteen in number, of about an hour each. They might be delivered, one or two in each week. They must be delivered in the winter. In the country, of course, the expenses are two thirds less. "The man is certain of success," say those I talk with, "for one winter, but not afterwards." That supposes no extraordinary merit in the lectures, and only regards you in your leonine aspect. ---------- *Now the Rev. Dr. Hedge, late Professor of German and of Ecclesiastical History in Harvard College. ------------ I wish you to know that we do not depend for your _eclat_ on your being already known to rich men here. You are not. He is a very able young man, even if his letter should not show it. * He said he could, and would, bring many persons to hear you, and you should be sure of his utmost aid. Dr. Bradford, a medical man, is of good courage. ----------- * Emerson's estimate of Mr. Ripley was justified as the years went on. ---------- On the other hand, I make no doubt you shall be sure of some opposition. If you have any friendly relations to your native Church, fail not to bring a letter from a Scottish Calvinist to a Calvinist here, and your fortune is made. I am afraid to press this matter. Long as it is, I regret I have not more facts. Now it will go by that of the 8th, and ought to reach you in thirty days. Yours affectionately, R. Waldo Emerson VII. Good news, good new friends; nothing that is not good comes to me across these waters. May it prove blessed, this new arrangement! I may say: If the New. He shrieks at the idea. May it be sure, may it be speedy! God wot, simply THEREFORE! And so it lies, under lock and key. --------- * This allusion to Diana as an obstruction was a favorite one with Carlyle. --------- I have dwelt and swum now for about a year in this World-Maelstrom of London; with much pain, which however has given me many thoughts, more than a counterbalance for that. I called one day, and unearthed them. God bless you, my worthy Friend; you and her who is to be yours! Faithfully always, T. Carlyle VIII. My Wife says, whatever I decide on, I cannot thank you too heartily;--which really is very sound doctrine. Then comes bodily sickness; to act and react, and double the imbroglio. Would it were come so far,-- if it be ever to come! That beggarly Book, were there nothing else, hampers me every way. To finish it, on the other hand, is denied me for the present, or even so much as to work at it. Nevertheless that too shall clear itself, and prove a _favor_ of the Upper Powers: _tomorrow_ to fresh fields and pastures new! We are a singular people, in a singular condition. We both love you here, and send you all good prayers. _Vale faveque!_ Yours ever, T. Carlyle IX. ----------- * The original of this letter is missing; what is printed here is from the rough draft. ----------- I received in August your letter of June, and just then hearing that a lady, a little lady with a mighty heart, Mrs. Child,* whom I scarcely know but do much respect, was about to visit England (invited thither for work's sake by the African or Abolition Society) and that she begged an introduction to you, I used the occasion to say the godsend was come, and that I would acknowledge it as soon as three then impending tasks were ended. ------------ * The excellent Mrs. Lydia Maria Child, whose romance of _Philothea_ was published in this year, 1835. The house is not large, but convenient and very elastic. ---------- * "A Historical Discourse, delivered before the Citizens of Concord, 12th September, 1835, on the Second Centennial Anniversary of the Incorporation of the Town. Published by Request. Concord: G.F. Bemis, Printer. 8vo, pp. ----------- I could cry at the disaster that has befallen you in the loss of the book. ----------- * Mr. A.H. Everett's paper on _Sartor Resartus_ was published in the _North American Review_ for October, 1835. ----------- I read with interest what you say of the political omens in England. A man plunges into politics to make his fortune, and only cares that the world should last his day. He is our Doctor on all questions of taste, manners, or action. ------------ * One in August by Mrs. Child, apparently not delivered, and one, the preceding, in October. ----------- With it goes an American reprint of the _Sartor._ Five hundred copies only make the edition, at one dollar a copy. Certainly, I tell them, it is very odd. But in Boston, Lowell, Salem, courses are given by individuals. If you love them that love you, write me straightway of your welfare. Yours affectionately, R. Waldo Emerson I ought to say that Le-Baron Russell, a worthy young man who studies Engineering, did cause the republication of Teufelsdrockh. ----------- XI. One sole thought, That Book! There is but a Third now: one pull more, and then! It leaves one alone, to go his own road unmolested. I grow daily to honor Facts more and more, and Theory less and less. I must altogether hold my peace to this, as I do to much. ---------- * Now the Rev. Dr. Clarke, of Boston. ---------- The _North American Review_ you spoke of never came (I mean that copy of it with the Note in it); but another copy became rather public here, to the amusement of some. ------------- * The words supplied here were lost under the seal of the letter. ------------- My friend! Well, if you can_not,_ I will answer. Do not forget me. My love and my Wife's to your good Lady, to your Brother, and all friends. Adieu, my dear friend! Believe me ever Yours, Thomas Carlyle XII. --------- * Charles Chauncy Emerson,--died May 9, 1836,--whose memory still survives fresh and beautiful in the hearts of the few who remain who knew him in life. ----------- We want but two or three friends, but these we cannot do without, and they serve us in every thought we think. You are the property of all whom you rejoice in art and soul, and you must not deal with your body as your own. ----------- * This was _Nature,_ the first clear manifesto of Emerson's genius. ----------- I wish I could come to you instead of sending this sheet of paper. I have many, many things to learn of you. In God we meet. ----------- ** Some words appear to be lost here. ----------- I read Goethe, and now lately the posthumous volumes, with a great interest. Write me of your health, or else come. Yours ever, R.W. Emerson. XIII. It is a loss, a sore loss; which God had appointed you. I do not tell you not to mourn: I mourn with you, and could wish all mourners the spirit you have in this sorrow. Oh, I know it well! If it be not His will,--then is it not better so? Silence,--since in these days we have no speech! Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, in any day. It is very good, and precious for me. As for my health, be under no apprehension. Few happinesses I have ever known will equal that, as it seems to me. At all events, thou seest, I cannot help it. As to the Book, I do say seriously that it is a wild, savage, ruleless, very bad Book; which even you will not be able to like; much less any other man. What I am to do, were the thing done, you see therefore, is most uncertain. And if I were there, be sure the do-nothing arrangement is the only conceivable one for me. Nevertheless, at bottom, it is not my purpose to quit London finally till I have as it were _seen it out._ In the very hugeness of the monstrous City, contradiction cancelling contradiction, one finds a sort of composure for one's self that is not to be met with elsewhere perhaps in the world: people tolerate you, were it only that they have not time to trouble themselves with you. --------- I ought to say, however, that about New-year's-day I will send you an Article on _Mirabeau,_ which they have printed here (for a thing called the _London Review_), and some kind of Note to escort it. --------- * Sir William Molesworth. "In the beginning," he says, "it did not, as a whole, by any means represent my opinion." I suppose, as usual, Might and Right will have to make themselves synonymous in some way. CANST and SHALT, if they are _very_ well understood, mean the same thing under this Sun of ours. Adieu, my dear Emerson. Good be with you and Yours. There is an essay by one Schubarth which has reputation; but it is critical and ethical mainly. Strong he is, upright, noble, and sweet, and makes good how much of our human nature. ------------- XIV. We will leave them to the bounty of Time. As it is, we leave the poor orphan to its destiny, all the more cheerfully. It never came to hand, nor any hint of it,--except I think once before through you. ----------- * The allusion referred to is the following: "By the kindness of a Scottish Hamburg merchant, whose name, known to the whole mercantile world, he must not mention; but whose honorable courtesy, now and before spontaneously manifested to him, a mere literary stranger, he cannot soon forget,--the bulky Weissnichtwo packet, with all its Custom-house seals, foreign hieroglyphs, and miscellaneous tokens of travel, arrived here in perfect safety, and free of cost." --_Sartor Resartus,_ Book I. ch. xi. N.L. But be one, nevertheless; be the first, and there will come a second and a third. I declare, in History I find nothing more tragical. The Paper is declining fast, and all is yet speculation. In not many weeks, my hands will be washed of it! The residue is vague as the wind,--unheeded as the wind. There is a scheme here among Friends for my Lecturing in a thing they call Royal Institution; but it will not do there, I think. A thing, you see, which is and can be at bottom but a daydream! Good be with you always, my dear Friend! XV. For all these gifts and pledges,--thanks. Over the finished _History,_ joy and evergreen laurels. I solace myself with the noble nature God has given you, and in you to me, and to all. To be sure, that is its least merit,--that nobody can do the like,--yet is it a gag to Cerberus. Why, all things; inasmuch as a good mind creates wants at every stroke. I greet it well. Auspicious Babe, be born! Old England is to find you out, and then the New will have no charm. For me it will be the worst; for you, not. I have really never believed that you would do us that crowning grace of coming hither, yet if God should be kinder to us than our belief, I meant and mean to hold you fast in my little meadows on the Musketaquid (now Concord) River, and show you (as in this country we can anywhere) an America in miniature in the April or November town meeting. So I leave you with God, and if any oracle in the great Delphos should say "Go," why fly to us instantly. A man named Bronson Alcott is great, and one of the jewels we have to show you. Good bye. --R.W. ---------- XVI. As to its reception here or elsewhere, I anticipate nothing or little. We will let it go its way. By the by, speaking of dull Publics, I ought to say that I have seen a review of myself in the _Christian Examiner_ (I think that is it) of Boston; the author of which, if you know him, I desire you to thank on my part. For if a dull million is good, then withal a seeing unit or two is also good. I have read it for the good Authoress's sake, whom I love much. "God has given a Prophet to every People in its own speech," say the Arabs. I fancy the general reception will be good, and even brilliant. ---------- * Mrs Fanny Kemble Butler. ---------- I mean to retreat into Scotland very soon, to repose myself as I intended. She is gathering strength, but continues still weak enough. London, or else the Backwoods of America, or Craigenputtock! We shall see. I am sick of soul and body, but not incurable; the loving word of a Waldo Emerson is as balm to me, medicinal now more than ever. May a blessing be in it, on one and all! On the contrary, it seems almost certain that I shall. Good be with you. Yours always, T. Carlyle* ----------- * Emerson wrote in his Diary, July 27, 1837: "A letter today from Carlyle rejoiced me. ---------- XVII. You have broken away from all books, and written a mind. It is a brave experiment, and the success is great. Finally we have not--a dull word. One day we will have a better law, or perhaps you will make our law yours. Yours in love and honor. Curtis, Esq., who professes to be his attorney in Boston,--three times,--to ask for this account. I wish he would send me the account, that I may settle it. --------- * This was Emerson's famous Oration before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, at Cambridge, August 31, 1837, on "The American Scholar." --_My Study Windows,_ p. 197 --------- XVIII. Health, Joy, and Peace be with you! Meantime do you tell me, I entreat you, what speed it has had at home. The best, I hope, with the wise and good withal. But I preach in the Lecture-Room and then it tells, for there is no prescription. It is the new pulpit, and very much in vogue with my northern countrymen. This winter, in Boston, we shall have more than ever: two or three every night of the week. Good, wise, kind friend, I shall see you one day. Let me hear, when you can write, that Mrs. Carlyle is well again. I did go to Scotland, for almost three months; leaving my Wife here with her Mother. Looking into your kind-eyes with my eyes, I could speak: not here. I love to repeat to myself, "Silence is of Eternity." There is a man here called John Sterling (_Reverend_ John of the Church of England too), whom I love better than anybody I have met with, since a certain sky-messenger alighted to me at Craigenputtock, and vanished in the Blue again. This Sterling has written; but what is far better, he has lived, he is alive. This is the small piece of pleasant news, that two sky-messengers (such they were both of them to me) have met and recognized each other; and by God's blessing there shall one day be a trio of us: call you that nothing? Fearful I call it; and yet it is great, and the greatest. See Fenimore Cooper;--poor Cooper, he is _down in it;_ and had a climbing faculty too. Be steady, be quiet, be in no haste; and God speed you well! My space is done. And so adieu, for this time. Teufelsdrockh to precede. He shall not print a line; unless he give me money for it, more or less. I have had enough of printing for one while,--thrown into "magnetic sleep" by it! Rich, it seems, is in Spain. His representative assured me, some weeks since, that the Account was now sent. There is an Article on Sir W. Scott: shocking; invitissima Minerva! 12. XX. Now I am free as a wood-bird, and can take up the pen without fretting or fear. And then news of a friend, who is also Carlyle's friend. ; so that T.C. on each copy they sell. I say six months. In short, it has the success of a book which, as people have not fashioned, has to fashion the people. It will take some time to win all, but it wins and will win. But we shall see. If I waited, the bookseller would have done it himself, and carried off the profit. I am going to see for myself. You tell me how ill was Mrs. C., and you do not tell me that she is well again. I love you always. --R.W. Emerson XXI. You send me good news, as usual. You have been very brisk and helpful in this business of the _Revolution_ Book, and I give you many thanks and commendations. Thank God, no! ---------- But to go on with business; and the republication of books in that Transoceanic England, New and improved Edition of England. All the world cries out, Why _do you_ publish with Fraser? It is sad, most sad. *--As for me, I continue doing as nearly nothing as I can manage. -------- * This sentence is a variation on one at the beginning of the article on Scott. While you read this, I shall be in the agonies! But that, clearly, will not do. If something, well; if nothing, why also well. There is a dream to that effect. Your wife must love me. But Loring is a good man, and thinks that many desire to see the sources of Nile. ---------- * Printed in the _Athenaeum,_ July 8, 1882. ---------- The _French Revolution_ continues to find friends and purchasers. It has gone to New Orleans, to Nashville, to Vicksburg. In aid of your friendliest purpose, I will set down some of the facts. My house is now a very good one for comfort, and abounding in room. Well, with this income, here at home, I am a rich man. I have food, warmth, leisure, books, friends. Go away from home, I am rich no longer. But at home, I am rich,--rich enough for ten brothers. My wife sends to her this message: "Come, and I will be to you a sister." Your genius tendeth to the New, to the West. But he must get well. As to Miss Martineau, I know not well what to say. I was ashamed to read, and am ashamed to remember. Farewell, dear wise man. --R.W. ----------- * The late Mr. Henry S. McKean, a son of Professor McKean, and a graduate of Harvard College in 1828. ----------- XXIV. I have had two irregular Notes of your writing, or perhaps three; two dated March, one by Mr. Bancroft's Parcel,-- bringing Twelve _Orations_ withal; then some ten days later, just in this very time, another Note by Mr. Sumner, whom I have not yet succeeded in seeing, though I have attempted it, and hope soon to do it. Many thanks to you, my Friend, and much good may it do us all! I. p. 81, last paragraph, _for_ September _read_ August; Vol. II. on both sides of the water, yours as well as mine. But I calculate you will adjust it well and smoothly between you, some way or other. _Teufelsdrockh_ is at Press, to be out very soon; I will send you a correct copy, the only one in America I fancy. I have a great mind, too, to run off and see my Mother, by the new railways. Write you always hither, till you hear otherwise. I have read, a second or third time. Good speed to _him._ I had to send my Wife's love: she is not dangerously ill; but always feeble, and has to _struggle_ to keep erect; the summer always improves her, and this summer too. Adieu, dear Friend; may Good always be with you and yours. ---------- XXV. That day I was in Boston, and I have only now got the information necessary to answer it. Of these five hundred are bound, five hundred remain in sheets. When you see your copy, you will perceive that we have printed half the matter. To one other gentleman I have brought you in debt, --Rev. We could not have done without his books, and he is a noble-hearted man, who rejoices in you. ---------- * This worthy man and lover of good books was, from 1842 till his death in 1863, Professor in the Divinity School of Harvard University. ---------- Thanks for the letter: thanks for your friendliest seeking of friends for the poor _Oration._ Poor little pamphlet, to have gone so far and so high! And both these are now in press. So do not forget us: and if ever the scale-beam trembles, I beseech you, let the love of me decide for America. I hoped she was sound and strong ere this, and can only hope still. Yours affectionately, R.W. ---------- XXVII. We ought to say, May the Heavens give us thankful hearts! My Wife says she received your American Bill of so many pounds sterling for the Revolution Book, with a "pathetic feeling" which brought "tears" to her eyes. may good be ever with you, my kind Friends all! We will let it rest there, therefore. All goes decidedly better, I think. My Wife was and is much healthier than last year, than in any late year. Sterling is gone to Italy for the winter since I left town; swift as a flash! I cannot teach him the great art of _sitting still;_ his fine qualities are really like to waste for want of that. I read your paragraph to Miss Martineau; she received it, as she was bound, with a good grace. In truth there _are_ bores, of the first and of all lower magnitudes. (Perhaps I misremember the names [of the steamers], and the first should be last.) I have believed that you would come one day, and do believe it. At this moment I would not have you here, on any account. Yours affectionately, R.W. Emerson The _Miscellanies,_ Vols. I. and II., are a popular book. W.H. My Wife says it is the best plan I have had for years, and strongly urges it on. They answer always, We must see it first. They must speak it out who have it,--with what audience there may be. As to my share in it, grieve not for half an instant. If it were not [for] here and there an articulate-speaking man, one would be all-too lonely. I have much to tell you, which perhaps is as well not written. But the time shall come, if Heaven will. Why not you come over, since I cannot? There is a room here, there is welcome here, and two friends always. I will take, care of your messages to Sterling. Commend me to all the kind household of Concord: Wife, Mother, and Son. Ever yours, T. Carlyle --------- * See _ante,_ p. 184. ---------- _"Forgotten you? "_ O, no indeed! When I wish to see America it is still you, and those that are yours. And yet perhaps I am not old, only wearied, and there is a stroke or two of work in me yet. --"Monseigneur," answer they, "il n'y a pas de quoi!" The wild Ishmael can hunt in _this_ desert too, it would seem. As for Concord and New England, alas! That is the right way, is it not? She is writing a Novel. It is correctly printed, and that is all. Its fate here (the fate of the publication, I mean) remains unknown; "unknown and unimportant." XXXI. If you have printed off nothing yet, I will desire for my own behoof that Two hundred and _Sixty_ be the number sent; I find I shall need some ten to give away: if your first sheet is printed off, let the number stand as it was. R.W.E. To cover all, they charge that enormous price. I leave you to think of this.--And now enough, enough! I am yet writing nothing; feel forsaken, sad, sick, --not unhappy. But Life also is beautiful, is great and divine, were it never to be joyful any more. Horace Walpole is no dunce, not a fibre of him is duncish. Adieu, my dear Friend. Commend me to the Concord Household; to the little Boy, to his Grandmother, and Mother, and Father; we must all meet some day,--or _some no-day_ then (as it shall please God)! Ever yours, T. Carlyle I sent your book, message, and address to Sterling; he is in Florence or Rome. The fact is, it was wrong wrapped, that Newspaper. If not, do not mind it at all.--Addio! ------------- * Mr. John S. Dwight, whose volume of _Select Minor Poems from the German of Goethe and Schiller,_ published in 1839, was dedicated to Carlyle. Hedge, Dr. Frothingham, and others. --------- XXXII. Two came on the 2d and 3d of January, and the last on the 9th. I was once very near the man in Rome, but did not see him. Yours affectionately, R.W. --------- XXXIII. But now first as to this question, What I mean? For the present I have set him to ascertain, and will otherwise ascertain for myself, what the exact cost of _stereotyping_ the Book were, in the same letter and style as yours; it is not so much more than printing, they tell me: I should then have done with it forever and a day. You on your side, and we on ours, might have as many copies as were wanted for all time coming. This is, in these very days, under inquisition; but there are many points to be settled before the issue. We will consider well, we shall see. If you have not yet got to the very end with your printing, I will add a few errata; if they come too late, never mind; they are of small moment.... Nay, there are many in it that have a real friendliness for me. --------- * The beginning of the London Library, a most useful institution, from which books may be borrowed. --------- The thing denounced had not then arrived, though often asked for at Kennet's; it did not arrive till yesterday, but had lain buried in bales of I know not what. We have read it only once, and are not yet at the bottom of it. Speak, therefore, while you feel called to do it; and when you feel called. If these Orations balk me of this, how profitable soever they be for others. She has a brisk heart and a stout, but too weak a frame for this rough life of mine. True men of all creeds, it _would_ seem, are Brothers. You have been very generous, I very promising and dilatory. ---------- * This letter appeared in the _Athenaeum,_ July 22, 1882. ---------- The _Miscellanies_ go forward too slowly, at about the rate of seventy-two pages a week, as I understand. We shall send the last two volumes by a later ship. Your books are read. Home; III. The School; IV. Love; V. Genius; VI. The Protest; VII. Comedy; IX. Duty; X. Demonology. Very saucy, was it not? And by Alcibiades too, over whom the wrath of Pericles must pause and brood ere it falls. I wish, too, you could know my friends here. A man named Bronson Alcott is a majestic soul, with whom conversation is possible. -------- * Collins and Walsingham, two characters in _The Onyx Ring,_ are partly drawn, not very felicitously, from Carlyle and Goethe. --------- As I hear not yet of your reception of the bill of exchange, which went by the "Royal William" in January, I enclose the duplicate. Unless you can keep your own secret better in _Rahel,_ &c., you must not give it me to keep. --R.W. XXXV. They ask, What shall be done? Well, the best speed to them also. Farewell. --R.W. Emerson XXXVI. I will hope and believe that only this is it, till I hear worse. Nay, properly it is my Wife's memorial to your Wife. You have brought that upon yourself, my friend; and must do the best you can with it. After all, why should not Letters be on business too? Whether five hundred are too many or too few, I can only guess; if too many, we can retain them here and turn them to account; if too few, there is no remedy. You see, therefore, how it is. But I am in small haste for a third. Send me one, the first chance you have. Nevertheless, it seems to me, otherwise there is. ----------- * "Cruthers and Jonson; or, The Outskirts of Life. A True Story." ------------ This letter is far too long, but I had not time to make it shorter.--I got your _French Revolution,_ and have seen no other: my name is on it in your hand. My Lectures come on, this day two weeks: O Heaven! In five weeks I shall be free, and then--! people ask. Lady Bulwer too has written a Novel, in satire of her Husband. -------- * _Deerbrook_ -------- XXXVIII. I told Brown, of C.C. He is willing to do so, but not today. This is the whole of my present message. I shall have somewhat presently to reply to your last letter, received three weeks since. --R.W. Emerson XXXIX. A very simple thing, is it not! my friend, I can do no such gay thing as you say. But in God we are all great, all rich, each entitled to say, All is mine. I hope the advancing season has restored health to your wife, and, if benedictions will help her, tell her we send them on every west wind. --R.W.E. XL. These names amounted to two hundred, more or less. When we came to settle the account, this book could not be found. They expressed much regret, and made much vain searching. On these grounds they proposed that they should pay half my demand, and so compromise. They said, however, that, if I insisted, they would pay the whole. Emerson XLI. Now for the new matter. I was in Boston yesterday, and saw Brown, the bookseller. Meantime, give me the best advice you can; and despatch the books with all speed, and if you send six hundred, I think, we will sell them. ------------ * In the first edition of this Correspondence a portion of this letter was printed from a rough draft, such as Emerson was accustomed to make of his letters to Carlyle. I owe the original to the kindness of the editor of the _Athenaeum,_ in the pages of which it was printed. ----------- I went to the _Athenaeum,_ and procured the _Frasers'_ and will print the _Novelle_ and the _Mahrchen_ at the end of the Fourth Volume, which has been loitering under one workman for a week or two past, awaiting this arrival. As soon as the lectures are over, let the trunks be packed. Come, and make a home with me; and let us make a truth that is better than dreams. In very sooth and love, my friend, I shall look for you in August. If aught that we know not must forbid your wife at present, you will still come. And for yourself, you shall be as cynical and headstrong and fantastical as you can be. But now only Good Bye. --R.W. Emerson XLII. There is a freshness as of brooks and mountain breezes in him; one says of him: Thou art not great, but thou art genuine; well speed _thou._ Sterling is home from Italy, recovered in health, indeed very well could he but _sit still._ He is for Clifton, near Bristol, for the next three months. Adieu, dear friend. My Wife salutes you all.-- Yours ever and ever, T. Carlyle XLIII. A bad bargain will content me now, my hopes are not at all high. I will ask there, and verify, before this Letter go. Of course, the like mistake in the second case will be avoided. What help, O James? And you will never know that it is _not true,_ till you have tried. We all go, servant and all. I _must_ try. There is a thing of mine in _Fraser_ for July, of no account, about the "sinking of the _Vengeur_" as you will see. Adieu, my Friend. My wife grows better with the hot weather; I, always worse. Yours ever, T. Carlyle I say not a word about America or Lecturing at present; because I mean to consider it intently in Scotland, and there to decide. All is right therefore. N.B. XLIV. The facts are not yet ripe, though on the turn of the blush. wait but a week, and we will style thee Megalopsyche, and hang thee by the Argo in the stars. -------- * Morghen's engraving of Guido's Aurora. They still said, "We have but one copy, and so but one hand at work"! I. and II. is just complete, and I have set the man on the account, but doubt if I get it before twelve or fourteen days. My mother sends tonight, my wife always. Good bye. --R.W. Emerson XLV. I hope they have not gone to John again, but you must keep an eye to both names.... I cannot tell you how glad I am that you have seen my brave Senator, and seen him as I see him. He has his own sins no doubt, is no saint, is a prodigal. He loves a _man,_ too. I think our Church, so called, must presently vanish. There is a universal timidity, conformity, and rage; and on the other hand the most resolute realism in the young. I pine to show you my treasures; and tell your wife, we have women who deserve to know her. --R.W. XLVI. Do the best with it you can, my friend; and never mind the result. And yet, as you will say, why not even of dollars? We shall see by and by. A man that has discerned somewhat, and knows it for himself, let him speak it out, and thank Heaven. God speed you, my Brother! Yours ever, T. Carlyle XLVII. But the truth is, I could not write; and now I can and do it! ---------- * "Conversations with Goethe. By S.M. Fuller." Boston, 1839. ---------- Our sojourn in Scotland was stagnant, sad; but tranquil, _well let alone,_--an indispensable blessing to a poor creature fretted to fiddle-strings, as I grow to be in this Babylon, take it as I will. This is the reason why I could not write. Another copy goes off for you, to the care of Little and Company. By the by, have you not learned to read German now? We shall see. Yes, do!--We have seen no other Transoceanic that I remember. We wish she were back. This silence, I calculate, forced silence, will do her much good. Silence, silence! Thanks, thanks! We send a thousand regards to the two little ones, to the two mothers. Brown had disposed of fifty or sixty copies to the trade, and twelve at retail. There should be eight more; subject, "The Present Age." If you communicate with him, tell him I thank him for his letter, and hold him dear. --R.W. Do you read Landor, or know him, O seeing man? XLIX. --------- * The preceding letter had not yet arrived. --------- Some four sheets making a Pamphlet called _Chartism_ addressed to you at Concord are, I suppose, snorting along through the waters this morning, part of the Cargo of the "British Queen." It is very mortifying he had nestled himself down at Clifton, thinking he might now hope to continue there; and lo! We shall see whether it comes out or not; keeping silence till then. --------- L. Carlyle to Emerson Chelsea, London, 17 January, 1840 Dear Emerson,--Your Letter of the 12th of December, greatly, to my satisfaction, has arrived; the struggling Steamship, in spite of all hurricanes, has brought it safe across the waters to me. That is all right. As to the _French Revolution,_ I agree with your Booksellers altogether about it; the American Edition actually pleases myself better for looking at; nor do I know that this new English one has much superiority for use: it is despicably printed, I fear, so far as false spellings and other slovenlinesses can go. Thanks, a thousand thanks, for all the trouble you never grudge to take. She regards you with a certain love, yet a _shuddering_ love. What R.M. Adieu, dear friend. Yours, ever and ever, T. Carlyle LI. -------- * This letter appeared in the _Athenaeum,_ for July 22, 1882 -------- I am here on a visit to my brother, who is a lawyer in this city, and lives at Staten Island, at a distance of half an hour's sail. He solves the problem of life, not for one, but for all men of sound body. Ellen, they say, has no such depth of orb, but I believe I love her better than ever I did the boy. I can see easily that my predictions are coming to pass, and that. If they fail to do so, come and read lectures which the Yankees will pay for. I have had one of their estimates by me a year, waiting to send. Farewell. --R.W.E. LII. Tell me. Thanks, and again thanks. This earth is not an unmingled ball of Mud, after all. Certainly, I think, a right Book does lie in the man! Milnes tells me he is sending you a copy and a Note, by Sumner. Before my paper entirely vanish, let me put down a word about them. answered the aspiring, unaspirating. My Wife salutes you all. Yours ever, T. Carlyle -------- * There is an account of Heraud by an admirer in the _Dial_ for October, 1842, p. 241. I returned home on the 3d of April, and found it waiting. I am ungrateful not to have written to him, as his letter was very welcome to me. It is intended to begin where the last account I sent you, viz. We prosper marvelously on paper, but the realized benefit loiters. But the creature thinks and talks, and I am glad and proud of my neighbor. So do not fail to tell me of him. Yours always, R.W. Emerson LIV. Meantime, I rest your glad debtor for the good book. His speech, I remember, was below his writing. I addressed my letter to him at "London,"-- no more. They promised it at this time. It will speedily follow this sheet, if it do not accompany it. Emerson LV. I did not urge him, or he would have spoken any day: there is my sin. So he thinks. That is all. At times I felt as if I could, in the end, learn to speak. Enough of this. We salute you and yours, in all heartiness of brotherhood. Yours ever and always-- T. Carlyle --------- * Professor Andrews Norton. --------- LVI. Having no better story to tell, I told nothing. We must all hear you for ourselves. No, not in the near and practical way in which they seem to invite. I incline to write philosophy, poetry, possibility,--anything but history. He has brought nothing home but names, dates, and prefaces. He sent me his Poems from New York, and then went South, and I know no more of him. My Mother and Wife send you kind regards and best wishes,--to you and all your house. --R.W.E. LVII. Seeing my course now for a little, I must speak. Alas, no! It is truly very weak to speak about that matter so often and long, that matter of coming to you; and never to come. --Well, hang it, stay in then; and let people alone of it! This is all the rustication I have had, or am like to have. Nevertheless, courage! I grope in the dark vacuity of Baxters, Neales; thankful for here a glimpse and there a glimpse. The _Dial_ No. I will have all things condense themselves, take shape and body, if they are to have my sympathy. Nevertheless go on with this, my Brothers. A good man, and with good notions, whom I have noted for some years back. Sterling is busy writing; he is to make Falmouth do, this winter, and try to dispense with Italy. Adieu, dear Emerson. Good be with you and yours. "The stars are above us, the graves are under us." Adieu. Please to send the account with the last to your Fraser, and have it sifted. --------- * Partner in the firm of J. Munroe & Co. --------- I received by the "Acadia" a letter from you, which I acknowledge now, lest I should not answer it more at large on another sheet, which I think to do. I sent a _Dial,_ No. 2, for you, to Green. Kennet, I hear, has failed. I am gently mad myself, and am resolved to live cleanly. ----------- * Preliminary to the experiment of Brook Farm, in 1841. ----------- I am ashamed to tell you, though it seems most due, anything of my own studies, they seem so desultory, idle, and unproductive. I still hope to print a book of essays this winter, but it cannot be very large. I had a letter from Sterling, which I will answer. In all love and good hope for you and yours, your affectionate --R.W. Emerson LIX. There is a history. As to the bibliopolic Accounts, my Friend! We shall see. If I print the thing, we shall surely take in America again; either by stereotype or in some other way. Adieu, dear Emerson: time presses, paper is done. Commend me to your good wife, your good Mother, and love me as well as you can. LX. It is very beautiful of you;--nay, it is not foolish either, it is wise. I honor such Alchemy, and love it; and have myself done something in that kind. She writes unweariedly, has many friends visiting her. It is very beautiful. Beautiful as a child's heart,--and in so shrewd a head as that. Adieu, dear Mrs. Emerson. We salute you from this house. Yours with great regard, T. Carlyle LXI. I entreat you to set them on the work, and convict his figures if you can. In a month it will be April, and be will have a new one to fender. I hoped before this to have reached my last proofsheet, but shall have two or three more yet. Ward & Co. on the Messrs. Barings, payable at sight. To what use, surely? --------- * "Heroes and Hero-Worship." --------- I have put into Munroe's box which goes to Green a _Dial_ No. 4 also, which I could heartily wish were a better book. Yours affectionately, R.W. Emerson LXIII. _Euge!_ say I, from afar. My blessing on you, good Ralph Waldo! It has rebuked me, it has aroused and comforted me. This is the one fact for me, which absorbs all others whatsoever. Persist, persist; you have much to say and to do. I do nothing. Yours ever, T. Carlyle LXIV. Thanks, and again thanks. The Books, the _Dial_ No. Enough of all that. On my paper there comes, or promises to come, as yet simply nothing at all. Perfectly right. Adieu, dear Emerson; there is not a scrap more of Paper. This new one is based on that, and if that was incorrect, this must be also. If you have not written, write me exactly and immediately on this subject, I entreat you. * Mr. When you see him, show him these poems, and ask him if they have not a grandeur. --------- * _Essays and Poems,_ by Jones Very,--a little volume, the work of an exquisite spirit. --------- When I wrote last, I believe all the sheets of the Six Lectures had not come to me. I judge only from the tone. We work together day by day in my garden, and I grow well and strong. Yours, R.W. Emerson LXVI. ---------- * The greater part of this interesting Preface is reprinted in Mr. George Willis Cooke's excellent book on the _Life, Writings, and Philosophy of Emerson,_ Boston, 1881, p. 109. ---------- Enough, dear Emerson; and more than enough for a day so hurried. Good be with you all always. Adieu, dear Emerson. One could well leave to others the record, who was absorbed in the life. Yet as I tell you I am very easy in my mind, and never dream of suicide. --R.W. ---------- * "The Method of Nature. ---------- LXVIII. Steamers have been known to come, they say, in nine days. It cannot be said that I feel "happy" here, which means joyful;-- as far as possible from that. Your Letter is not here now, but at Chelsea. There ought to be. Adieu, dear Emerson. I can say no more. Yours ever, T.C. LXIX. When I was in Boston I saw the booksellers, the children of Tantalus,--no, but they who trust in them are. What news, my dear friend, from your study? LXX. ); he sacrificed to Despair, and threw away his pencil. For the present, he buys and sells. If it were eighty, I could better. Farewell, dear friend. R.W. He was a refugee from Italy, having escaped, the story was, on board an American man-of-war. ---------- LXXI. All which is very proper. What, What?" The Dial too, it is all spirit-like, aeriform, aurora-borealis like. Write you always _as_ it is given you,_ be it in the solid, in the aeriform, or whatsoever way. -------- * From the Dial for October, 1841. Adieu, dear Emerson! Good speed to you at Boston, and in all true things. Yours ever, T. Carlyle LXXII. Let us receive, use, and be thankful. Good speed to the Speaker, to the Speech. 5d. in cash. For they have no claims on us. A few weeks ago I accounted myself a very rich man, and now the poorest of all. Lidian, the poor Lidian, moans at home by day and by night. You too will grieve for us, afar. --------- * The memory of this Boy, "born for the future, to the future lost;" is enshrined in the heart of every lover of childhood and of poetry by his father's impassioned _Threnody._ ----------- Tell Jane Carlyle our sorrowing story with much love, and with all good hope for her health and happiness. Yours with love, R. Waldo Emerson LXXIV. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." To her I have no word. May good Influences watch over her, bring her some assuagement. Think of this, thou sorrowing Mother! --------- * "Templand has a very fine situation; old Walter's walk, at the south end of the house, was one of the most picturesque and pretty to be found in the world. "Carlyle's Reminiscences," Vol. II. --------- In some three weeks I shall probably be back at Chelsea. Adieu, my good kind Friend, ever dear to me, dearer now in sorrow. Farewell, and better days to us. Well, I have come back hither to my work and my play, but he comes not back, and I must simply suffer it. If you have heard his name before, forget what you have heard. --------- * Mr. Henry Lee. I send herewith a new _Dial,_ No. 8, and the last of this dispensation. With constant good hope for yourself and for your wife, I am your friend, --R.W. Emerson End of Vol. I. I, by Thomas Carlyle and Ralph Waldo Emerson