Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1845-08-25
"rEN AND PENCIL sKETCnEs."
From Tic Hhsinn .Alln..

BLrss,NoroN-CouNr D'ORs.y-lApy Dynos-
Mas, NoRros.
There ara places where tho iairet PORTION of the liter,
y community ara Ia be met with, ti Instance in the va
flons Theatres al Learned Institutions. where Lectures
are delivered Al Literary Snitcos, " in The reading r,nIm
o' me bri'lsh tntiseunp, where tho occupants OF tho tables
are both male and female.
II was IN this reading room that saw. for the first s
anly time IN my lle, that cNtraurlinary woman
NohtRvlfir The learned %anthnress Of the Connection
oi the Physical Seioneos.' She was busfly employed IN
nlhlng extracts irnai some hugo ullos. and 50 had but
an Imperfect view nj her. As * usual with ladrs who
lr,qneai the NOM iar The purpose ui study and few 90
there with any nilier object ia view She was nnhunnct
I'd. She appeared To BIZ CT is mol nngallani, hope. 10
guess at a fair Indy years, in this instance. nj least a
bout tntly Two or three. Her countenance was not
h%andsome, but highly Intelligent her hroad forehead
her dark hair was colnhed back from the centre, and ter
minated IN large clusters OF small i~ilgleia. The cx.
preston OF her features was rather pleasing than pro
hound but | occupied So untavufable a position. aud The
lady was 50 intent upon her labor, thai did not not so
favorable n view Of her SIS could have wished.
How frequently dues II occur, that we are disappnnt-
ed ~ the external appearances OF ihusn with whose works
We have long been familiar. and of whose pefsons we
have drawn mud portraits. which have, from lnng asSo-
rla,ion. become acknowledged resetnblances. scarcely
remember one celebrated anthlr ar auiinuress. who has
answered eadciiy 10 thu ideal portraits ol Them. which,
long before saw them in the body, - Ind hung IN
IN my own private and particular image .eimmber. r..
ven when potttails have given ms STUNT notion of their
everyday ableness-ihe real originals appear vastly diff
ltrcn' from their pie cured semhlanccs. 81 II was in the
case OF a lady am ahoul to introduce 10 the reader, by
means OF what may be termed word thinning.
A few years since IN the occasion of n new Tragedy
being produced, by dint of much struggling, and after
having undergone 81 awful a squeezing Tint. like poor
nood's Spoiled Child. II had been held mp. | could
scarcely have been seen ~e5geways. found myself IN the
midst OF rs dense a erowd as can well be imagined in the
pit Of one of the great metropolitan theatres. had en-,
dured the enormous pressure outside the d,nr. Tor more
than two hours before thry were opened, aud whom they
were I'M ard | had literally been carried nearly ~ far
as the playing place by tile living stream which flowed
IRON without, in"afds. As soon M had recovered
lfom the terrific scramble fr a sent, loohed about me,
aud a brilliant spectacle met my view.
From orchestra 10 eeiling was one donsf mass of hu
man bclu9s. The dress circle was unusually lhronged;
and, amongst The brilliant audience were many Of bath
scNes. whose names have shed n lusiro on English Lit.
eraIufe. Nearly every author Of note in London was
present; and The reason OF this was, that Mr.. Sergeant
1alloutd's tragedy Of "ioE" WINS 10 Try is chance with
the Public, that night. Tor The first time.
Many of those WIN were present On That occasion. |
have already noticed in the series uf papers. Others
WIRE there wl,nm must pass by for the present; aud
nhly direct attention tna few, whom may not, hcrcai
Ter, have an opportunity Of presenting To the reader.
In 'ht very centre box q believr) of the dress circle,
and on he lrohl seai, sat az elderly lady. whose per-
soual appearance futmei . very striking contrast 10 theirs
Who sal on either side u her. On her tipit and left
baud were elegantly aud siperhly dressed Iadics, 81 cx
ceedue beauty, Wit slopo ~ all the glories ol dinmunds
aud ostrich plnmes. ionth aud loneliness Were all a..
round her; aud yet, that plain, elderly little lady attract
ed more attention Than Tho brightest of them. People
turned from the bellies in the buxes To uuza upon the
wltherod llitle lady. whp, II she ever possessed any
personal charms, Lad certainly lost them, .'long, long
ago"
The lady in qutslian was not only eljerly-as we
conticuusly call people WIN arc far dawn the hill of life
hut absolutely old. Although seated. il was plain 10
he seen thai SHE was low III siaiuro-and her franc very
slender. thin and aiienuated, but graceful wlthal. Her
ince vas small, and the features Pinched; know no otis
or term which would convey what mean al well as
that. The skin of hor face was Of u billions hue, much
wTnklcd, and strained souow hat tightly over the bridge
ot n rather aqniline and sharply pointed mise. Her grey
hair was simply parted on her fine forehead, and con
hned beneath a plainly made mob cap. do not Know
" whether my lady readers will know what kind Of n cap
this is. ! they do not. | am sorry for it-for am no
great hand nj describing such matters. Her eyes were
small, dark and very brilliant; and, even at her ndvar.
red sgc. she did not wear spec'ncles onstanlly-neycr
indeed, whilst locking at the s'nge. ] only saw them In
use when she had occasion 10 refer 10 the bill Of the play.
She was dressed in n very plain, dark Drown, tdinl)
silk gown, made 81 ~ Ia 1T closely around the throat;
aud had long. black silk gluvcs on. which reached hall
way mp her arms. This was The aulhore * OF the plays
of the Passions, The mtst powerful of Eng lands le-
male writers-JoAHs BAILIE.
From the somewhat masculine character Of Miss Bail.
He's poetry, ! bad anticipated seeing quito II different
hooking parsonage from villa, SHE turned out To be; and
could not help experiencing something like a feeling of
disappointment as eanrd upon the frau looking lady be
fore ne. Certainly, no one on lnnking al her. would
suspect her oi being lhe authoress of De MoNTFoRT.--
Since that time have frequently seen the PoeIess-nnd.
on one occasion, accompanied a friend Ia her house at
Hampstead. where she resides with an only sister
Miss Baltic is a fine specimen of. tie old English Lady
simple, graceful and dignlied. Her residence is al
ways open 10 literary people-cspecially Those from dis
lani counlries-and not \ few avail themselves of The
privilege Of seeing her at homo; and one of these inter"
views Miss SedgWiek has cllarmingly described. Her
conversational p0wers are Of a very high order, and. "a
may be expected, she is fall of apecduie respecting her
literary acquaintance. fSir Walter Scott SHE Is very
fond Of talkiug-Su Walter having visited her during
his last snjnurn In London. Blessed with competence,
her days glide serenply and smoothly on, in the company
Of hey sister Agnes, with whom She has lived since
~cIildhuod, and 10 ahom she is dovbtedly attached.
In The next box 10 Joanna BAILlE, sat WILLIAM
WORDSWORTH. and the great Poet of course was an ob-
Jnct Of not n lntle attention. As soon as he entered the
house he was recognized, and loudly cheered ~ beth
er he was ignorant that The compliment WAS Intended
for him or not, canoot tell-but he did not notice it
lie leaned over and shook hands with JOANNA, and Then
sal down. removed his green spectacles, and leaning
his thoughtful looking head on his hand, gazed round the
house, nodding tn one and another as he recognized them.
always thought that Wurdsworth's face had much of
sadness in It's expression, and this struck me very forci-
nly on The night in question. He looked more like a
man burne down by some heavy grief, than a profound
ihlnker-his smile, whenever he CHANGED To greet an ac-
puaintance, was really a snle.nn affair, and il speedily
vanished, as it the ettrt to display it, if but for a mo
tneni, was too painful for long coutipuance.
But despite this, who could look at the BARD OF Ry-
DIAL. and not feel a flush of pride. and Il glow of salts
faction, that he was in The presence Of one Of Natures
High Priests? During the whole of the tragedy, and
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