There was a somewhat
careless self-possession, large and broad enough to be called dignity;
and the more I looked at him, the more I knew that he was a distinguished
person, and wondered who. He might have been a minister of state; only
there is not one of them who has any right to such a face and presence.
At last,--I do not know how the conviction came,--but I became aware that
it was Macaulay, and began to see some slight resemblance to his
portraits. But I have never seen any that is not wretchedly unworthy of
the original. As soon as I knew him, I began to listen to his
conversation, but he did not talk a great deal, contrary to his usual
custom; for I am told he is apt to engross all the talk to himself.
Probably he may have been restrained by the presence of Ticknor, and Mr.
Palfrey, who were among his auditors and interlocutors; and as the
conversation seemed to turn much on American subjects, he could not well
have assumed to talk them down. I am glad to have seen him,--a face fit
for a scholar, a man of the world, a cultivated intelligence.
After we left the table, and went into the library, Mr. Browning
introduced himself to me,--a younger man than I expected to see,
handsome, with brown hair. He is very simple and agreeable in manner,
gently impulsive, talking as if his heart were uppermost. He spoke of
his pleasure in meeting me, and his appreciation of my books; and--which
has not often happened to me--mentioned that The Blithedale Romance was
the one he admired most.
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