Alexander Carlyle's view was not shared by other and older
members of her uncle's family. During the summer of 1881 Froude
received from Carlyle's surviving brother, James, and his surviving
sister, Mrs. Austin, a letter dated the 8th of August, and written
from Ecclefechan, in which he was implored not to give up his task
of writing the Life, and assured of their perfect reliance upon him.
This assurance is the more significant because it was given after
the publication of the Reminiscences. It was renewed on James
Carlyle' s part through his son after the appearance of Mrs.
Carlyle's letters in 1883, and by Mrs. Austin through her daughter
upon receiving the final volumes of the biography in 1884. Miss
Austin wrote at her mother's request on the 25th of October, 1884,
"My uncle at all times placed implicit confidence in you, and that
confidence has not, I am sure, in any way been abused. He always
spoke of you as his best and truest friend." Time has amply
vindicated Carlyle's opinion, and his discretion in the choice of a
biographer.

As Mrs. Alexander Carlyle considered the publication of the memoir,
which is by far the most interesting part of the Reminiscences, to
be an impropriety, and a breach of faith, it might have been
supposed that she would repudiate the idea of deriving any profit
from the book. On the contrary, she attempted to secure the whole,
and refused to take a part, declaring that Froude had promised to
give her all. Froude's recollection was that, thinking Carlyle's
provision for his niece insufficient,* he had promised her the
American income, which he had been told would be large, though it
turned out to be very small indeed, in acknowledgment of her
services as a copyist. Ultimately he made her the generous offer of
fifteen hundred pounds, retaining only three for himself. She
accepted the money, though she denied that it was a gift. In the
opinion of Mr. Justice Stephen, which is worth rather more than
hers, it was legally a gift, though there may have been in the
circumstances a moral obligation. But Mary Carlyle put forward
another clam, of which the executors heard for the first time in
June, 1881. She then said that in 1875, six years before his death,
her uncle had orally given her all his papers, and handed her the
keys of the receptacles which contained them.

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* The provision for Mary Carlyle in the will of 1873 was, however,
materially increase by the codicil of 1878, under whic