Mr. Carlyle, in a published letter of the 27th December
last, intimates that he could wish to be a German, and still young, in order to fight before Paris on the German side ; and General Garibaldi, in another published letter, of the 30th of December last, wishes that he were still young, that he might fight better on behalf of the French Republic,—making no condition at all as to his nationality. It is rather a sad world this, in which two men, both of a noble, and even, in some sense, grand type of character, can feel such diametrically opposite enthusiasms, that they wish for youth and strength only for the opportunity of more effectually thwarting each other's dearest ends, and, as it were, neutralizing each other's existence. Yet perhaps, as General Garibaldi does risk his life and makes no difficulty about his nationality, for the French cause, while Mr. Carlyle only sighs for a power of conditionally sacrificing himself for the German cause, the passionate yearning of the latter is more superficial and less really rooted in his heart than it seems.
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