Thomas Carlyle never visited American shores. There was much to encourage his coming, especially the argument dear to his Scottish heart of money to be earned by lecturing. His friend Emerson, whose efforts made Sartor Resartus appreciated in America earlier than in England, was ready both to entertain him at Concord and to introduce him to the paying public. Once Emerson wrote to Carlyle a letter of invitation, describing his life at Concord so charmingly that the invitation must have been hard to decline. Carlyle was touched at one of his most tender points when his correspondent suggested that the hardy Scot's destiny lay in a new world. “What have you to do with Italy?” Emerson asked. “Your genius tendeth to the New, to the West.” Carlyle was invited to try New England for a year, with the promise of new health for poor Jane. The conclusion of Emerson's postscript made the mock assumption of real expectation. “Shall we have anthracite coal or wood in your chamber? My old mother is glad you are coming.”