THOMAS CAELYLE. 357 



afterwards translated into German ; the original poem, 

 therefore, required hunting up. None of my friends in 

 Berlin knew anything about, it. On learning this I 

 went down to Chelsea, where, in answer to my inquiry, 

 Carlyle promptly crossed his sitting-room and took 

 from a shelf the required volume. 



Thus, through the years, I kept myself in touch with 

 this teacher and in^pirer of my youth. The ' Life of 

 Frederick' drew heavily upon his health and patience. 

 His labours were intensified by his conscientiousness. 

 He proved all things, with the view and aim of holding 

 fast that which was historically good. Never to err 

 would have been superhuman ; but if he erred, it was 

 not through indolence or lack of care. The facts of 

 history were as sacred in his eyes as the ' constants' of 

 gravitation in the eyes of Newton ; hence the severity 

 of his work. The ' Life of Frederick,' moreover, worried 

 him ; it was not a labour into which he could throw his 

 whole soul. He was continually pulled up by sayings 

 and doings on the part of his hero which took all en- 

 thusiasm out of him. * Frederick was the greatest 

 administrator this world has seen, but I could never 

 really love the man.' Such were his words. While 

 engaged on this formidable task, he was invited to 

 stand for the Rectorship of Edinburgh University. 

 For the moment he declined, promising, however, to 

 consider the proposal when his labours on Frederick 

 were ended. The time came, and he accepted the in- 

 vitation. Disraeli was pitted against him, but he won 

 the election by an overwhelming majority. His trans- 

 port to Edinburgh had then to be considered. After 

 many talks with him and his wife, the simplest and 

 safest solution of the difficulty seemed to be that I 

 should take charge of him myself. 



