From Thomas Archer Hirst   Feby 10th 1856

Broughton | Feb^y 10th 1856

My dear John.

Thanks for your long and very pleasant description¹ of your visit to ‘the Grange’ It was easy for me to realize the several pictures and conversations you described. I too have often pictured what I should say if I ever met Carlyle, but you are quite right in saying that such pictures are worthless. Heinrich Heine² in describing his first interview with Goethe says ‘I had for so many long winter nights thought over what lofty and profound things I would say to Goethe if I ever saw him. And when I saw him at last, I said to him, that the Saxon plums were very good! And Goethe smiled.’³ I hope you and Carlyle may meet again and often if it be only for the sake of my reading your descriptions of the interviews. Anna and I are now reading similar descriptions by Miss Bremer in her ‘Homes of the new World.’⁴ One picture, of Emerson at home was very pleasant to me. Miss Bremer is a sensible observant woman, very amiable I should say, who amidst her intellectual habits retains her womanly trustfulness and feelings in due freshness. She has a high appreciation for Emersons noble and lofty nature, says frankly that she feels herself ennobled in his presence. She has too much of the womans nature in her to find consolation and satisfaction in his high self-reliant creed but she can admire it in him. In her interviews with him she evidently felt her own individuality endangered by his loftiness and made several not very happy but still very praiseworthy attempts to stand well in his eyes by an assertion of her own faith and her preference for it rather than his. I am myself not at all clear about Carlyles notion of action. If I understand you, he admires Emerson because he sits still and meditates seeing that he cannot act and retain his independence. I doubt whether that word cannot is in Emersons case correct. Men like Emerson can do great things when they feel so inclined. I rather think he feels his strength to be greater in meditation than action. And Carlyle himself what has he done and what is he doing? I question much whether any kind of action could have been more beneficial or durable than his, which as far as I know has consisted ever in writing. With Goethe I guess it was much the same.⁵ Perhaps it would have been better for Germany could they have employed Goethe differently but under the circumstances Goethe did, doubtless, what was best.

But how are you? Hard worked I should say. I am glad to tell you we have almost 100 boys at Queenwood which is much better than we anticipated this half year. We are now in full work, and are already engaged in that more disagreeable task⁶ we commenced when you were here. On the whole I think there is some improvement and with unceasing watchfulness I have now some hope that we shall keep comparatively pure in future.

Thine affectionately | T A Hirst

Anna send her love with mine. She is afraid you are forgetting her.

RI MS JT/1/H/222