THOMAS CAELYLE. 391 



the ground next morning as we proceeded by rail to 

 the station of Ecclefechan. Here we found the hearse 

 powdered over by the frozen shower of the preceding 

 night. Through the snow-slop we walked to Mainhill, 

 the farmhouse where Carlyle, in 1824, completed the 

 translation of ' Wilhelm Meister.' It may have been 

 the state of the weather, but Mainhill seemed to me 

 narrow, cold, humid, uncomfortable. We returned to 

 Ecclefechan, I taking shelter for a time in the signal- 

 room of the station. Here I conversed with the 

 signalman, an intelligent fellow, who wished me to 

 know that Mr. James Carlyle, who was still amongst 

 them, was fit to take rank in point of intellect with 

 his illustrious brother. At the appointed hour we 

 joined the carriage procession to the churchyard. There, 

 without funeral rite or prayer, we saw the coffin which 

 contained the body of Carlyle lowered to its last resting- 

 place. So passed away one of the glories of the world, 



