As  we  passed  the  little  chapel  built  by  Lady  Fleming,  which
has  been  the  occasion,  as  you  remember,  of  one  of  his  poems,
there  were  persons,  tourists  evidently,  talking  with  the  sexton
at  the  door.  Their  inquiries,  I  fancied,  were  about  Wordsworth,
perhaps  as  to  the  hour  of  service  the  next  clay  (Sunday),  with
the  hope  of  seeing  him  there.  One  of  them  caught  sight  of  the
venerable  man  at  the  moment,  and  at  once  seemed  to  perceive
who  it  was,  for  she  motioned  to  the  others  to  look,  and  they
watched  him  with  earnest  gaze.  I  was  struck  with  their  looks
of  delighted  admiration.  He  stopped  when  we  reached  the  main
road,  saying  that  his  strength  would  not  allow  him  to  walk  fur-
ther. Giving  me  his  hand,  he  desired  again  to  be  remembered
to  you  and  others  in  America,  and  wished  me  a  safe  return  to
my  friends,  and  so  we  parted.  I  went  on  my  way,  happy  iu  the
recollection  of  this,  to  me,  memorable  interview.     My  mind  was


Conversations  and  Personal  Reminiscences.      485

in  a  tumult  of  excitement,  for  I  felt  that  I  had  been  in  the
familiar  presence  of  one  of  the  noblest  of  our  race ;  and  this
sense  of  Wordsworth's  intellectual  greatness  had  been  with  me
during  the  whole  interview.  I  may  speak,  too,  of  the  strong-
perception  of  his  moral  elevation  which  I  had  at  the  same  time.
No  word  of  unkindness  had  fallen  from  him.  He  seemed  to  be
living  as  if  in  the  presence  of  God,  by  habitual  recollection.  A
strange  feeling,  almost  of  awe,  had  impressed  me  while  I  was
thus  with  him.
