never becomes wearisome, the added touches, as in the varied repetition of a musical theme, giving freshness to the impression while making it deeper. From first to last we are far removed from the region of commonplaces, of conventionalism, of "phrases." The slightest expressions have a close correspondence with the facts as apprehended and conceived; in the copious outflow of discourse there is no mere waste; far from finding fault with the abundance of the matter presented in these volumes, there are probably few readers who will not wish it had been greater. The vexed questions in regard to Carlyle's domestic life may not seem to be settled by the new light that is here cast upon them, but it leaves fewer disputable facts and reduces certain episodes that have been grossly exaggerated to their true proportions. On these matters a single remark is all that seems to us needed: Carlyle was the last man in the world to seek or use occasions for defence and self-justification. Explanations and excuses on his part are almost altogether wanting. This is also the case in regard to those views and doctrines of his which have been so often distorted by the critics who have undertaken to demolish them. An exception—if a private comment on a published statement can be called an exception—is worth citing, the subject being one on which Carlyle's utterances have been more generally misapprehended or misrepresented than on any other:
"With regard to that poor heresy of might being the symbol of right 'to a certain great and venerable author,' I shall have to tell Lecky one day that quite the converse or reverse is the great and venerable author's real opinion,—namely, that right is the eternal symbol of might: as I hope he, one day, descending miles and leagues beyond his present philosophy, will, with amazement and real gratification, discover; and that, in fact, he probably never met with a son of Adam more contemptuous of might except where it rests on the above origin."
One may safely say that a clever artist always makes a good traveller. Being primarily occupied with what he sees, it is his métier to observe more closely and understand more clearly than other men, turning to permanent account a thousand fleeting impressions which may be momentarily enjoyed by those of duller perception, but forgotten as soon as passed. The present is useful to him, and he discards as of little account the historical, political, and ethical questions connected with the country he is running over. Mr. Boughton says in his preface to his "Sketching Rambles in Holland," "I did not yearn to write a guide-book, there are such good ones already in the field. I have only tried to give the impressions day by day that one of the most quaint and artist-beloved countries in the world made upon us." In this attempt he succeeds to admiration. His lively and humorous narrative, combined with the delightful sketches which he and Mr. Abbey made on every hand, make up a volume which must alike charm the reader and the picture-lover. With such high spirits and enjoyment of everything they come across, the two artists allow themselves a great many enthusiasms. "Lest some painfully pure and cultured person should suppose that one sees nothing higher and nobler than these simple things," Mr. Boughton remarks, "we will hasten to explain that in our sadder and wiser moments we much prefer the Elgin marbles or the Venus of Milo. … Let us also own that in moments of depression and slightly impaired health we turn to Botticelli and Fra Angelico, and almost forget that there is such a thing as a rosy fisher-girl or a bronzed mariner worthy of serious attention." That the designs are excellent in themselves and exquisitely engraved, is to say very little. To turn the pages of the book is to be charmed by an unexpected felicity of execution and invention. The variety of subjects is remarkable. The Dutch landscape, with its wide middle distances, its far-off tranquil horizons, offers opportunities congenial to Mr. Boughton's well-established habit, and he has besides put into some of his work a minute attention to details which in certain of his sketches of single figures suggests Millet. The picture of "The Potato-Gatherers" is indeed so much like Millet as to approach imitation. These effects, gained by a few well-chosen strokes, are, however, the prize and the triumph only of those who have a profound knowledge of ends and means. Mr. Abbey's part of the work is less really pictorial than Mr. Boughton's, but is executed with his well-known skill and fine taste and judgment. Altogether, the volume is a very attractive one.
