m 



IN carlyle's country 



T^N" crossing the sea a second time, I was more 

 -L curious to see Scotland than England, partly 

 because I had had a good glimpse of the latter 

 country eleven years before, but largely because I 

 had always preferred the Scotch people to the Eng- 

 lish (I had seen and known more of them in my 

 youth), and especially because just then I was much 

 absorbed with Carlyle, and wanted to see with my 

 own eyes the land and the race from which he 

 sprang. 



I susi3ect anyhow I am more strongly attracted 

 by the Celt than by the Anglo-Saxon; at least by 

 the individual Celt. Collectively the Anglo-Saxon 

 is the more impressive; his triumphs are greater; 

 the face of his country and of his cities is the more 

 pleasing; the gift of empire is his. Yet there can 

 be no doubt, I think, that the Celts, at least the 

 Scotch Celts, are a more hearty, cordial, and hospi- 

 table people than the English; they have more 

 curiosity, more raciness, and quicker and surer 

 sympathies. They fuse and blend readily with 

 another people, which the English seldom do. In 

 this country John Bull is usually like a pebble in 

 the clay; grind him and press him and bake him as 



