IN CARLYLE'S COUNTRY. 



IN crossing the sea a second time, I was more 

 curious to see Scotland than England, partly be- 

 cause 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 English (I had 

 seen and known more of them in my youth), and es- 

 pecially 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 suspect 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 hospitable people than 

 the English ; they have more curiosity, more raci- 

 ness, 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 you will, he is still a peb- 



