ABSTRACT
Carlyle (1795–1881) was a friend of both Dickens and Forster. Dickens much admired his works, especially The French Revolution, acknowledged a debt to his ideas, and dedicated Hard Times to him. Extracts (a) to (d) come from letters to John Forster. In (d) the phrase cited is of course Johnson’s, on the death of Garrick, and 1866 was the date of Mrs Carlyle’s death. See also No. 156.
