The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1857-08-29
Bayard Taylor,s Sketches OF Notable


Bayard Taylorss Sketches or Notable
Literati.
From letter of Bayard Taylor to the n.
Y. Tribune, dated London July LIST, we ex-
tract the following sketches of notable liter
Try men:
KfNGLAKE AND LAYARD.
At dinner party the other day, I met
With Layard, and Kinglake, the author of
"Eothen.'' The latter is small, pale man,
with blonde hair and mOustache, and blush
grey eyes His manLer is quiet and subdued
and only few would guess his concealed ca
pacity for enthusiastic feeling and courageous
'ction. He has just entered Parliament and
broke down the other day, in his first speech
but it is a failure which only stimulates
mis- friends to believe more firmly in his future
success. He is now writing History Of
the Crimean war, all of which he saw, sharing
its dangers with the same steady nerve
which he opposed to the infection of the
Plague, in Cairo. Layard is man of f'rty,
with frank, open, energetic face, clear grey
eyes, and hair prematurely grey about the
temples. He has just astonished the world
by some very remarkable researches, which
he has been making in Italy the past two
years. Taking Vasari as his guide, he set
off upon the hunt of the lost frescoes of
Glotte and other painters of the Pre- Raphael
te period, and now brings back seven hun
dred tracings of works, theexistence of which
has been hitherto unknown. Some of these
will shortly be published by the Arundel
Society.
CHARLES DICKENS.
Last night heard Charles Dickens read
his "Christm,s Carol" in St. Martins Hall,
to an audience so crowded and enthusiastic
to surprise the London reporters, though
its equal in both these respects is a very COM
mon sight in America. His reading of the
dialogue was wonderfully fine; in the narra-
tive parts it had a smack of the stage, and
tendency to shrillness at the end of every
phrase, which had curious effect. Alto
gether, it was a complete success, and will
be repeated for the same charitable object
the benefit of Douglas Jerrold's widow
Dickens is now in his forty. ninth year. and
Time is beginning to tell upon his exuberant
locks, but his eye hos all its keenness and
sparkle. Little Dorrit,' though acknowl-
edged on all sides to be great falling off from
his previous stories, has had more extern
sive sale than anything he has written
which proves the truth of saying of Old
Sam Rodsers-that there is only one thing
harder for man to do than to write himself
down, aud that is, to write himself up.
THAcKERAY.
Thackeray, the noblest Roman of them all,
! f,l, &c <lo
PANTY Loyal Canadian papers, by giving his
lectures on the -Four Georges in all parts of
the United Kingdom, and with the most
gratifying success. 1t is cheering to see a
man Of his independence and honesty re-
wardad by sound and steady increase of
popular respect and appreciation. His next
novel, venture to say, will have at the out.
set much larger circle of readers than his
last. have seen few of the illustrations
for it, which he intends making with his own
hand, as in the case Of "The Newcomer" but
of the subject and character of the work you
must wait until the first number appears.
TENNIsoN.
I spent two fortunate days last week at
Freshwater, on the Isle of Wight, the resi-
dence of Tcnnison. In the scenery round
about the poets residence, l recognized many
lines of MAUD" He lives in a charming
spot, looking out on one side over the edges
Of the chalk cliffs, to
! the liquid azure bloom Of a crescent of sea,
The silent SAPPHIRE marriage ring of the land,
and ON he other, across the blue channel oil
the Snient to the far off wave line of the
New Forest, OH the northern horizon. New
er shall I forget those golden hours, spent
with the noble poet and noble man, on the
rolling windy downs above the sea, and un-
der the shade of his own lex and elm.
LEIGH HUNT.
Buchanan Read, who has just come hithe1
from Rome to fulfil some printers engage
ments, took me the other evening to visit
Leigh Hunt-the sole surviving star of the
constellation which dawned upon the litera
ture Of England with the present century,
The old poet lives in neat little cottage il
Hammersmith, quite one, since the recen
death of his wife. That dainty grace whirf
is the chief charm of bis poetry, yet lives il
his person and manners. He is scventy-thre,
years DID, but the effects of age are only ply
steal they have not touched that buoyant
Joyous nature, which survives in spite of sor
row and misfortune. His deep set eyes still
Team with soft, cheerful, earnest light, hi
voice is gentle and musical, and his hair, al
though almost silver white, falls in fine, silk,
locks on both sides of his face. 1t was CRATE
full to me to press the same palm, whicl
Keats and Shelley had so often clasped il
friendly warmth, and to hear him, who knew
them so well, speak of them as long los
companions. He has curious collection G
locks of the hair of pets, from Milton t.
Browning. The thin tuft of brown, silky Fl
bres, could it really have been shorp fror
Milton's he'd? i asked myself. "Touc
it," said Leigh Hunt. land then you will hav
touched Millions self" "There is life i
hair though it be dead" said I, as did Sc
repeating line from Hunts own sonnet o
his lock. Shelley's hair was golden and We
ry soft; Keats bright brown, curling j
, large Pacchic rings; DR.. Johnson's, gray
with harsh and wiry feel Dean Swift
both brown and gray, but finer, denoting
more sensitive organization and Charlie
Lambs reddish brown, short and strong.
was delighted to hear Hunt speak of poem
,, which he still designed to write, as if the az
of verse should never cease with one in whor