MR CARLYLE INTERVIEWED.

Otago Witness, Issue 1242, 18 September 1875, Page 18

MR CARLYLE INTERVIEWED.

The San Francisco Ohroaicle publishes ai> long letter from London, written by a" "La<ly- ■ Correspondent." The writer! Bays :,—," The , pictures ia our country of CarlyJe are nob very good ; he has not the wrinkled visage and thought- weary, almost .unhappy expression generally seen in them, but rather the friendly, happy look so apt to characterize' the old age of a well-spent life • his thick " head of hair not entirely whitened j his blue eye is bright; but looks worn with use j his form is thin and feeble, and the continual trembling of his hand must interfere greatly, -L> if not entirely, with the use of his . pen., Expecting our visit, his eyes and whole faoa lighted up with a smile of welcome r as, he entered the room, extending both hands, in greeting. His first words, ' after,' those of welcome, were of i singular beauty and appropriateness ; they were a quot*« ; tion froiii his own favourite \'Ossian; in ' reply to my companion's congratulation on his apparent good health ; 'Yes, lnifc "Age ' is dark and unlovely." ' Tfre almost' solemn' sadness of the.tono in which- he spoke the words changed to cheerfulness as., he irame--diately added, 'But I ought not to complain, ' and then to vivacity as -thought and ranini- - 1 scenoe followed each other in uninterrupted - flow. Ib was quite wonderful to regall.how,muoh he had paid' in our short visit ; "ha knew that we had come to see and hear 'a - great man;, and he paid us the compliment of putting as much of himself as possible into our half-hour with him. He ran over this' and that history with apparently no mental s effort, and then, touching upon the present and himself,' said that the strangest things in the world to him were ' the little boys and girla in the streets. Of ' course it would not have been Thomas. Car* lyle had he not indulged in a little downnght good scolding, and that Bcoldfna was * about California. • You are doing no good'there ; you are harming the world. Cover over your mines, leave, your gold in the earth, and go to planting potatoes. Every man who gives a potato to the world ia the benefactor of his race ; but you, with your gold, are overturning society, making the ignoble prominent, increasing everywhere the expenses of living, and confusing all things.' Expressing the hope that he would live years, to which, he replied, 'You n«ed .not wish it for me, but I must await my summons,' we bade him adieu and pMsed out again mfco the world, which for the n»» -