Page:My Life in Two Hemispheres, volume 2.djvu/138

 reform movement, of which Layard is the figure-head, and which has drawn Dickens and Thackeray into its current. 'Twenty years ago,' says Cobden, 'he was sleeping under a dog-cart. At present he is worth £20,000 a year. I advised him,' Cobden added, 'that his brain was overworked, and that he ought to give up business and take to politics as a change. He took half my advice—he took to politics, but did not give up business.' His brain is active, but he has a very overworked look; his head drops on his breast, and his hands hang loose and flabby. I heard him speak at the city meeting. He has energy, pluck, and good sense, but not a touch of eloquence. If it were not unjust to Cobden I would say he was a vulgar Cobden. He has one weakness of which there is not a trace in Cobden, an affectation of intimacy with the aristocracy. ' Among my correspondents,' he said to me, 'there is an old lady of great capacity and business habits, the Marchioness of Londonderry.' I believe he is really intimate with several great ladies, though he would not be a comely figure at a fancy ball. I met Bennoch, the poet, in this connection, and liked him very much. He has a more agile intellect than any other of the new reformers.

"Went to a reception which Mrs. London and Mrs. Crowe gave in concert. Among the company Louis Blanc interested me most. His face is very fine and his eyes expressive, but the effect is seriously diminished by his dwarfish figure. He has not at all the air of a gentleman in the English sense. He smiles and contorts too much even for a Frenchman, and suggests an artist, play-actor, or singer rather than a politician. I spoke of the vehement promises Ledru Rollin and other democratic leaders had made of help to Ireland in '44, which compared ill with the slender performances of the Provisional Government in '48. He said Ireland and all struggling nationalities would have been helped but for Lamartine, who paralysed the good intentions of his colleagues. I expressed regret that Kossuth should have become a regular contributor to the Sunday Times; people were accustomed to think of him as the chief of a people. Blanc said it had become necessary for Kossuth to work for an income. 'It was a pity; the articles would damage the reputation of the Maygar Chief, as they contained no new ideas and not many