"
Perhaps the most graphic description of Carlyle's manner and
conversation ever published, is contained in the following passage
from a letter addressed to Emerson by an accomplished American,
Margaret Fuller, who visited England in the autumn of 1846, and whose
strange, beautiful history and tragical death on her homeward voyage,
are known to most readers.
The letter is dated Paris, November 16, 1846.
"Of the people I saw in London, you will wish me to speak first of the
Carlyles. Mr. C. came to see me at once, and appointed an evening to
be passed at their house. That first time, I was delighted with him.
He was in a very sweet humour,--full of wit and pathos, without being
overbearing or oppressive. I was quite carried away with the rich flow
of his discourse, and the hearty, noble earnestness of his personal
being brought back the charm which once was upon his writing, before I
wearied of it. I admired his Scotch, his way of singing his great full
sentences, so that each one was like the stanza of a narrative ballad.
He let me talk, now and then, enough to free my lungs and change my
position, so that I did not get tired.
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