Page:Life of Octavia Hill as told in her letters.djvu/44

 Ladies' Guild, July 27th, 1852.

We all declare that we have never spent a more glorious evening. I think I never saw such a face as Mr. Kingsley's. That face was the chief pleasure of all, though there was a most splendid collection of people there. We went a party of six, Ockey, Mama, Mary, I, Mr. Rogers, and Miss Cons. We met Walter Cooper at the door, and he was very kind and seemed glad to see us. The Hall was very crowded but he got seats for us. Mama and I were together. We looked round and got glimpses of the Promoters. Mary fixed on Mr. Neale at once and was delighted with him. She noticed his head among all the rest and admired it almost more than any. &hellip; Suddenly, amongst a great crowd of faces, Mary pointed out one to me and asked if that was Mr. Kingsley, and it was. Mary thought it noble. Mr. Neale introduced Kingsley to Mama, and he talked to her for some time &hellip; and Mr. Neale introduced Mr. Ludlow to Mama, much to Ockey's delight. &hellip; I think Mr. Kingsley's face extremely suffering and full of the deepest feeling. But there is such a sublime spirituality; he looks so far above this earth, as if he were rapt up in grand reveries; one feels such intense humility and awe of him. I hardly dared look at him; and the more I looked, the more I felt what a grand thing the human soul is when developed as it is in him. Professor Maurice was called to the chair, and he made a nice speech. He seemed as if he felt a great deal more than he could express, and therefore left feelings rather than ideas in one's mind. He said a