352 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF 



think it was my sagacious friend, Lady Stanley of Alder- 

 ley, who once remarked to me that in the reported 

 utterances of Carlyle we miss the deep peal which 

 rounded off and frequently gave significance to all that 

 had gone before. 1 Our fun over the eviscerated ' Past 

 and Present ' continued for some time, after which it 

 ceased, and an expression of solemn earnestness over- 

 spread the features of the old man. ' Well, 5 he said at 

 length, in a voice touched with emotion, < what greater 

 reward could I have than to find an ardent young soul, 

 unknown to me, and to whom I was personally un- 

 known, thus influenced by my words.' We continued 

 our chat in a spirit of deeper earnestness, and after he 

 had exhausted his goblet we walked together down 

 Albemarle Street to Piccadilly, his tough old arm 

 encircling mine. There I saw him safely seated in a 

 Brompton omnibus, which was his usual mode of loco- 

 motion. When he was inside every conductor knew 

 that he carried a great man. 



All this was late in the day of my acquaintance 

 with Carlyle. I first saw him, and heard his voice, in 

 the picture gallery of Bath House, Piccadilly. I 

 noticed the Scottish accent, not harsh or crabbed as it 

 sometimes is, but rich and pleasant, which clung to him 

 throughout his life, as it did also to Mrs. Somerville. I 

 first became really acquainted with him at the ' Grange, 

 the Hampshire residence of the accomplished and 

 high-minded Lord Ashburton. Sitting beside him at 

 luncheon, I spoke to him, and he answered me bluntly. 

 James Spedding was present, and to render myself sure 

 of his identity I asked Carlyle, in a low voice, whether 

 the gentleman opposite was not Spedding ? * Yes,' he 



1 From Dr. Garnet's excellent Life of Carlyle I learn that Mrs. 

 Allingham had also drawn attention to this point. 



