1.
JWC wrote in her notebook, 27 April: “Last night we had a novelty in the way of society, a sort of Irish rigg. Mr. L[ucas] came in before tea with a tail consisting of three stranger Irishmen—real hot and hot live Irishmen, such as I have never
before sat at meat with or met ‘in flow of soul,’ newly imported, with the brogue ‘rather exquisite,’ and repale ‘more exquisite still.’ They came to adore Carlyle, and also remonstrate with him, almost with tears in their eyes, on his
opinion, as stated in his ‘Chartism,’ that ‘a finer people than the Irish never lived; only they have two faults: they do
lie and they do steal’ [cf. Works 29:137]. The poor fellows got into a quite epic strain over this most calumnious exaggeration. (Pity but my husband would
pay some regard to the sensibilities of ‘others,’ and exaggerate less!)
“The youngest one—Mr. Pigot—a handsome youth of the romantic cast, pale-faced, with dark eyes and hair, and an ‘Emancipation
of the Species’ melancholy spread over him—told my husband, after having looked at and listened to him in comparative silence
for the first hour, with ‘How to observe’ written in every lineament, that now he (Mr. Pigot) felt assured he (my husband)
was not in heart so unjust towards Ireland as his writings led one to suppose, and so he would confess, for the purpose of
retracting it, the strong feeling of repulsion with which he had come to him that night. ‘Why, in the name of goodness, then,
did you come?’ I could not help asking, thereby producing a rather awkward result. Several awkward results were produced in this
‘nicht wi' Paddy.’ They were speaking of the Scotch intolerance towards Catholics, and Carlyle as usual took up the cudgels
for intolerance. ‘Why,’ said he, ‘how could they do otherwise? If one sees one's fellow-creature following a damnable error, by continuing in which the devil is sure
to get him at last, and roast him in enternal fire and brimstone, are you to let him go towards such consummation? or are
you not rather to use all means to save him?’
“‘A nice prospect for you to be roasted in fire and brimstone,’ I said to Mr. L[ucas], the red-hottest of Catholics. ‘For all of us,’ said poor L[ucas], laughing good-naturedly; ‘we are all Catholics.’ Nevertheless the evening was got over without bloodshed. … While they were
all three at the loudest in their defence of Ireland against the foul aspersions Carlyle had cast on it, and ‘scornfully’
cast on it, one of their noses burst out bleeding. It was the nose of the gentleman [O'Hagan] whose name we never heard. … The third, Mr. D[uffy], quite took my husband's fancy, and mine also to a certain extent. … With the coarsest of human faces, decidedly as like
a horse's as a man's, he is one of the people that I should get to think beautiful, there is so much of the power both of
intellect and passion in his physiognomy. As for young Mr. Pigot, I will here … make a small prediction. If there be in his
time an insurrection in Ireland, as these gentlemen confidently anticipate, Mr. Pigot will rise to be a Robespierre. … / All
these Irishmen went off without their hats, and had to return into the room to seek them. … I have now seen what Sir James
Graham would call ‘fine foamy patriotism,’ dans sa plus simple expression [in its simplest expression]” (Froude, LM 1:307–10). Daniel O'Connell (1775–1847; ODNB), Irish politician; see JWC to JW, 18 Feb. 1843. O'Connell, Duffy, and others had been tried for seditious conspiracy, Jan. 1844, and found guilty; but the sentences were quashed on appeal, Sept. 1844. Charles Gavan Duffy (1816–1903; ODNB), Irish nationalist and later Australian politician; journalist in Dublin, 1836; founded and ed. the Nation, 1842, organ of the Young Ireland party; encouraged study of Irish history, music, and lit.; arrested and tried for treason, 1848–49, but not convicted; M.P. for New Ross, 1852–55; emigrated to Australia, 1855; barrister at Melbourne; member of the house of assembly and govt. minister, 1856–71; prime minister, 1871–72; speaker of the house of assembly, 1876–80; spent remainder of his life in S of Europe engaged in literary work; author of works on Young Ireland and of biography and
autobiography. Duffy pbd. part of JWC's account of the evening (Duffy 2–4) and also quotes from a letter of 27 April to his wife, Emily, saying of JWC: “She is one of the most natural, unaffected, fascinating women I ever encountered, and
O'H. and P. declare they would rather cultivate her acquaintance than the philosopher's. She is no longer handsome, but full
of intellect and kindness blended gracefully and lovingly together. Among a hundred interesting things which she told us,
[some were remarks about Tennyson]. … Of Miss Barrett she has a low … opinion. She says she could not read her, and that Cārlyle (so she pronounces his name) advised the poetess to write prose! … / We had a long talk
about Ireland, of which he has wrong notions, but not unkindly feelings, and we came away at eleven o'clock at night, delighted
with the man and woman. She bantered the philosopher in the most charming manner on his style and his opinions, but philosophers,
I fear, do not like to be bantered. He knows next to nothing, accurately or circumstantially, of Irish affairs. He has prejudices
which are plainly of Scotch origin, but he intends and desires to be right, and when he understands the case, where could
such an advocate be found before England and the world!” (Duffy 4–5). John Edward Pigot (1822–71) wrote verse for the Nation and was politically active; once seemed “a better St. Just” to Duffy, but gave way to his family and escaped the consequences
of 1848; collected Irish music; later called to the Indian bar. His father, David Richard Pigot (1797–1873; ODNB), was a leading lawyer and politician who became chief baron of the exchequer in Ireland, 1846–73. John O'Hagan (1822–90; ODNB), Young Ireland activist and writer of patriotic songs; called to Irish bar, 1842; counsel for Duffy, 1848–49; Q.C., 1865; education commissioner, 1861; judicial commissioner under Irish Land Act of 1881. Frederick Lucas (1812–55; ODNB), ed. of the Tablet and Irish nationalist; see TC to JF, 16 May 1840. O'Hagan and Pigot were to pursue legal studies in England, but they may all have been together in England because of the
political ferment roused by controversy connected with the Maynooth Bill, which they supported. Young Ireland had already
taken a stand against O'Connell in the Repeal Assoc., and they had another bond with TC in their contempt for Sir James Graham's
treatment of Mazzini, “whom the great THOMAS CARLYLE calls one of the purest and noblest of men” (Nation, 26 April).
