Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1866-11-02
ENGLISH AUTHoREssEs.

In letter from London to the Round Ia
Jtc, NJ. D. Conway gives the following
graphic description Of the personal appear
ance of some of the leading female writers
of England
What Margaret Fuller father sad of her
when she was girl-ip ce1i: regila-may
be said of the mature woman who writes
under the name of George Elliot. She is a
finely shaped woman, and quite large,
though not in the sense In wlich Hawthorne
describes English female largeness She is
by no means eorpulent, nor are there any
suggestions Of steaks and airloins about her;
but she is Of large skeleton. She is not
meagre either, but has the look of being
made out Of fine clay She is blonde, with
very light auburn hair, clear, serene smiling
eyes, with beautiful teeth She has also
gracious and easy manners, with an lndefn-
able air of unworldliness having been
made for large and fine societies, but never
entered them. In word, she is woman
who, though not handsome, would person
ally satisfy her most ardent admirers
In remarkable contrast every way to Geo.
Elliot is Miss Braddon, the great sensation
al novelist. One would, seeing her, natu-
rally doubt whether she could write her
name, Mixed of lower clay, the exact em
bodiment of the southern phrase 'commo-
ny, with color which looks like rouge,
but is not, she is really indescribable here :;
but my reader may see her anywhere along
Broadway at any time Of the day Miss
Francis Power Cobbe is huge The first
impression she makes is that of great mass
ofmerry flesh and blood, weighing three
hundred and fifty pounds. She too often
has TO walk on crutches, which gives one a
sad feeling that this enormous size is far
from being the result Of, or accompanied by
health. But when one converSes with Miss
Cobbe he finds that the chief characteristics
of her face and expression is delicacy There
is lambent humor about her mouth. SUB
tic perceptiveness blended with sweetness
about the eye, a sensitiveness and sensibili-
ty in her manner, under which-as CONVEX
sation and acquaintance go on-the corpu-
lency seems to shrink, and the most charm
ing physiOgnOmy to be unsheathed. Miss
Cobbe has an extraordinary power of con-
versation, Is one of the wittiest Of mortals,
and wherever she appears has about her
group Of fascinated young people-particu
larly Of her own sex-by whose bursts Of
merriment one may know on entering a
company where the authoress Of ''lntuitiye
Morals is seated.
Very likely there will be not far off Miss
Isa Craig, editress of the ArgOsy, leading
Secretary of the Social Science Society, who
has literary position in England quite be-
yond what one might imagine, and which Is
much more the result of her personal attrac-
tiveness than any of her published works.
She is not pretty, something Of a German,
has ne. retrOuSSe, is not blooming; but
she is young, has pure, childlke express
sion, an eye full of delicate and refined feel
ing, and gentle voice that every one likes
to hear She is one ofa few persons Of cul-
ture, and Of talent yerglng on genius,
whom | have seen devoting themselves
more 10 the work that will do good than to
that which will bring the public gaze upon
them. She is a near friend of George Eli
OF, g. H. Lewis, Herbert Spencer, and 9th
ers of that ilIl, who admire her warmly.
She viii soon be married.
One cannot do any justice to these letters
in brief' letter, nor can he even mention
many of the ladies' known to the literary
world. There. for instance is the soul Of
mystic meditation in the substantial and
good looking person of Hschokkes best
translator, Frederika Rowan there is the
strange and vigorous, but not altogether at
tractjye, Mrs. +. Lynn Linton and now
and then, in few companies, one may see
the still brilliant eye and eager, sc0rnful face
Of the Hon. Mrs. Norton For some we'll
beloved faces one must now, alas look in
vain they look down upon US from the
walls 1t would be hard to say how many
hearts in England are still draped and lin
gering comfortless about the graves Of Mrs.
Gaskell and Mrs. Browning. The Printer.