THE FATHERS QP CARLYfcE. . AND MILL.; ,

Mataura Ensign, Volume V, Issue 224, 26 January 1883, Page 6

THE FATHERS QP CARLYLE AND MILL.

It is an odd coincidence that in the autobiographies of two of the most important men of our , generaiioa— Oarlyle and Mill— rthe father of each is made to stand out as -almost more striking than* the ■ son. As ! we read over again the accounts of James Mill and James Carlyle, it & impossible not to feel how each of them stamped his character upon his son. We all remember Mill's glowing words about that rare quality, in his «,fatherr-" that exalted public spirit, and regard above all things to the good' of the whole, which warmed into life and: activity every germ of similar virtue that existed in the minds he came in contact with ; the desire he made,, them feel for his approbation ; the shame . at his disapprobation ; the moral support which his conversation and his very existence gave to those who were aiming at the the same object, and, the encouragement he afforded, to the : , : faint-hearted or desponding among' them by the firm confidence which he always felt in .the power of reason, the general progress ot improvement, and the good which individuals could do by judicious effort. " ill this was not a delusion of .filial partiality, for other strong men of that time have borne the same. testimony. The picture of James Carlyle is very different, though, in him as in James Mill we notice the same grit of' the lower classes in Scotland:—" He was a man of perhaps the very- largest natural endowment of any it has been my lot to converse with. Never again shall we hear such a speech as his. The whole district knew of it and laughed joyfully over it, not Knowing how' otherwise to express the feeling it gave them. ; . . s . ■In anger he had not need of oaths, his words were like sharp aforws that smote into the heart. He was a man of rigid, even scrupulous veracity. > . . Like a healthy mati^ he only wanted to get along with his task. Whatsoever could not forward him in this was of no moment to him, was not there for him. " I have a sacred pride in my peasant father, and would not exchange him even now for any king known to inc." Yet "we had all to complain that we durst not freely love him. His heart seemed as if walled in." In like manner, by the way, J. S; Mill said of James Mill that "it was impossible not to feel true pity for a father who did, and strove to do, so much for his children, who would, have so valued their affection, yet who must have been constantly feeling that fear of him was drying it up at its source," —Pall Mall \ Qmttei • < < ; i