James Carlyle, the Annandale mason, was as vivid as Jonathan Oldbuck himself.

But it was upon Mrs.Carlyle that public interest fastened.
The delineation of her was most beautiful, and most pathetic.

There were few expressions of actual remorse, and Carlyle was not the first man to feel that the value of a blessing is enhanced by loss.
But there was an undertone of something more than regret, a suspicion or suggestion of penitence, which set people talking.

It is always pleasant to discover that a preacher of righteousness has not been a good example himself, and "poor Mrs.Carlyle" received much posthumous sympathy, as cheap as it was useless.

Whether Froude should have published the memoir is a question which may be discussed till the end of time.