, the Carlyles removed to Mrs. Carlyle's little property
of Craigenputtock, which, in a letter to Goethe, he described as "the
loneliest nook in Britain, six miles removed from anyone likely to
visit me," and there they lived for about six years. Carlyle subsisted
during this period by writing for a number of reviews, including the
_Edinburgh_, the _Westminster_, the _Foreign Quarterly_, and _Fraser's
Magazine_. The chief of the essays which he produced at Craigenputtock
are those on Burns, Samuel Johnson, Goethe, Voltaire, Diderot, and
Schiller. He also wrote a "History of German Literature," the best
parts of which were subsequently published in the form of essays; and
in 1833-34 there appeared, by instalments in _Fraser's Magazine_,
"Sartor Resartus," his most characteristic work, the fantastic hero
of which, Diogenes Teufelsdroeckh, illustrates in his life and opinions
the mystical and grotesque "Philosophy of Clothes." "Sartor Resartus"
is notable in the literary history of Carlyle as revealing the
Germanization of his mind, and his abandonment of the comparatively
simple diction of his earlier essays for the thoroughly individual
style of his later works--eruptive, ejaculatory, but always powerful,
and often rising to an epic sublimity. Life at Craigenputtock was
varied on the part of Carlyle by occasional visits to Edinburgh, in
one of which the idea of writing his "French Revolution" occurred to
him; by a residence of six months in London, during which he made the
acquaintance of John Stuart Mill and John Sterling; and by visits from
old friends like Jeffrey, and new admirers like Emerson. In 1830
Carlyle was reduced to great straits; and he had to borrow L50 from
Jeffrey for the expenses of his journey to London, although he
declined to accept an annuity of L100 from the same source.

Having by 1834 again saved L200, Carlyle resolved to try his fortune
in London, and on June 10th established himself in the house, 5 Cheyne
Row, Chelsea, in which he lived till the day of his death. Here he
settled down to the writing of his "French Revolution," which appeared
in 1837. This enterprise was also put an end to in 1835, owing to the
destruction, by a servant-girl, of all but four or five leaves of the
manuscript of the first volume, which had been lent to John Stuart
Mill. Carlyle accepted L100 from Mill as compensation for his loss.

[Illustration: Carlyle at Chelsea.]

In the years 1837, 1838, 1839, and 1840, Carl