Litchfield enquirer., 1881-02-10

PRESIDENT PoRTRR's RECOLLECTIoNs OF GEORGE ELIoT.-In the year 1858 the writer saw George Eliot-then- called Miss Marian Evans by universal consent-fof several days at the house of Jobn Chapman in the Strand
 oS peon in Mi rsh Pe hsd es aeaer sf shs n Bmsosathcp esaipeSas D lpher of sysS tknaabd hok tke Eerh hanM v Tie apartdb beSts s6ove Were used Hs his dwelling, which was also a very genteel and not inexpensive lodg- ing, or what we should call boarding house, cans, some of wnom femained for months and others for few days only. The house was r -, -cbeerfnl and vel keptt and to Americans eF GT sss ssb.s ss VsBss e$s ess siy Hs s4Ssss with the customary conveniences of a se-call
 cd ''bearding- house." It was usually resort ed to by Americans of liberalA or advanced opinions, for obvious reasons, and the writer well remembers the unfeigned astonish- T gqsgV which( Mr. hApmsn Nxpfessediwhen he diaspYered after several days shat one, of this &haktki Eabd ah ,efthodsxl clergyman, of ''preacher,y from, Amsriea, wb6 yet had brought letter of Introduction te rbimsen from Theodore Parker. MT. rCbapman, his Review, and his bookS were at that time nn. der the ban of 8 social ostracism. He printed only $50 copies of the Review, and he said with some bitterness tLat it was not s'taken in" at any reputable reading-reom in the United Kingdom. I've inmates of the fam. fly attracted my special attention--a highly cultivated and amiable gentleman, employed as clerk or writer in the publishing house, and Miss Marian Evans, who was spoken of as perhaps the most learned and cultured lady in the kingdom, and was then acting as principal !. critic and editor of the Reyiew. s4;TT r~e Fl ! Miss Evans was known at that time as the laborous translator of Strauss's Life of Christ" published in 1846, seven years be- fore. when she was twenty-six years old lalso: subsequently, of Feuerbach's Essence of Christianity" 1854. At this time she was thlty-three years old, with plain but interest ling features, of alittle above the medium size, of very quiet and almost timid bearing, most noticeable for her sngularly refined voice, her clear thoughts, her choice yet by no means suited dction, and above all for her fervd yet unaffected sensbty. She was free and af- fable with the family and guests, but unmis
 takably wore the air efa person preoecapied her owu weflp of elevated thoufhts and in
 t.nse feeling 2 The writer remeuibefs once De- ing greatly moved at seeing her, after having come late to the breakfast-table and being left almost alone, give way to @ mood of abstrac.
 tion during which the tears flowed in streams. over Der strDpg yet gentle faces 1t was de- lightfuf~ to near fer converse and yet l recall little or nothing. of long conversation with
 her as once we sat opposite one another at the table, and were left to ourselves. These are sll the recollections the writer has of this gift cd woman. Besides these he has read, by the skindness of friends in England and this coun- try, not few. notes and letters, one written after the death of Mir. Lewes and deepening the admiration and sympathy awakened by the slight personal acquaintance which has been sketched. tae Csristian Union !