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Show Thomas Carlyle. The great English writer is gone. He died a few days ago, at the age of 85, at his house in Chelsea, Longdon. Carlyle was born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, December 4, 1795. He was a fellow-student at Edinburgh University with Edward Irving, and subsequently acted as assistant in a school at Kirkcaldy to that remarkable man, until he went forth on his evangelizing mission. Young Carlyle was greatly exercised about religious matters, and he secluded himself for weeks, laying the foundation of that chronic dyspepsia which afflicted him during all his subsequent years. He abandoned the idea of entering the ministry, and adopted literature as a profession. He has made several translations from the German, and became strongly imbued with the spirit of Goethe and other German authors. As an essayist and "writer of books" Carlyle made a great name, as well from his peculiarly involved style, which had many imitators for a time, as from his hard Scotch sense. His three most enduring works are: "The French Revolution," published in 1837; "Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell," and "History of Frederick the Great." Carlyle was a very strong man, full of prejudice and gall, but an enemy of ??? of every kind. He was as devoted in his friendships as he was implacable in his enemies. Carlyle went up to London in 1831, and took up his residence in the modest little house in Chelsea which was to become his life home. His place in English literature will be fixed by his essays rather than by his histories. As an essayist of force, precision and close analytical power he had no superior among his contemporaries. |