Last words of Thomas Carlyle - Warburg Institute

—VARNHAGEN VON ENSE IN THE YEARS 1837-57 233the king, in 1647, was negotiating between the Armyand the ParHament, he had promised to make OHveran Earl and Knight of the Garter ; how Ohver didnot entirely believe him ;got to understand that hewas writing a letter to his Queen, which was to gooff on a certain afternoon, sewed into the pannel ofa saddle, by a Courier from an Inn in London :Oliver thereupon, and hishowson-in-law, on that certainafternoon, disguised themselves as trooiiers, proceeded tothe specified Inn, gave the Courier a cup of liquor, slitopen the saddle, found the Letter, and there read,'Fear not, my Heart ; the garter I mean to give himis a hemp rope.' Whereupon &c. &c. This story,of which we have Oil Pictures, Engravings, and ageneral ignorant belief current among us, I havefor a long time seen to be mere Mythus ; and hadswept it, with many other such, entirely out of myhead. But now a benevolent gentleman writes tome that, for certain, I shall get evidence about it, inSir James Mackintosh's papers,—sends me even a longmemoir on the subject. Macaulay has Sir James'sPapers at present : I forward to Macaulay the longmight have occasion to examine. I fear, however, that you wouldfind little relating to times earlier than the Restoration.Beheve me, my dear Sir, yours very truly,T. B. Macaulay.To the date of this letter Carlyle has written with pencil thefollowing note —:'The Albany is a set of houses included within gates, withinregulations,— and all let as lodgings to opulent Bachelors here. OldIndians, official persons, and such like are to be found there.'H H