, 1862-06-05
REPrBLIsIIED BY REQUEST.
Gray's Elegy in a Country Church
ward.

From its first appearance, century ago, to the
present day, this poem has been deemed one Of the
best specimens of English verse. 1t is said to have
been for many years under correction and improve
ment; and perhaps it would never have seen the
light but for the publication of copy surrepti-
tiOusly obtained 1t passed. at once, to its perma-
ncnt place in English literature. The call Of Mr..
Webster for ii on his dying bed is very naturally
associated with similar incident which preceded
the death Of Wolfe. That commander, reduced to
straits by the dilatOry movements Of Amherst on
Lake Champlain, and the failure Of JOhnsons Co
operation. was under the necessity Of failing alto
gtther, or of achieving victory by the bOldest en-
terprise. Just recovering from illness, and with
strength only sufficient for imperative business he
conceived the design of landing his troops beneath
the Heights Of Abraham, and Of ascending by q
winding path, scarcely wide enough to permit two
to walk abreast. Drawing the attention Of the
French to other points, he collected as many boats
as he could without exciting suspicion, for the
embarkatiOn Of his troops. At one o'clock in the
morning, on the 18th of September the night dark,
and the tide flowing in the favorable direction, he
suddenly gave the order to embark. Silently,
swiftly, the boats moved upon the tide, every mind
occupied with the thought Of the dawn and its
work. No word was spoken. Wolfe alone, bend
ing to the officers near him, broke the stiffness,
repeating stanzas of Gray's Elegy. What stanzas
is not known Ono was,
"The boast Of heraldry, the pomp Of power,
And al that beauty, al that wealth e'er gave,
Await alike the inevitable hOurI-
The paths Of glory lead but to the grave"
How prophetic! Wolfe himself was, at that
moment in the path of glory, and on the day about
to dawn il led to the grave! When he had finished
the recitation, he said Gentlemen, would pre-
fer being the author Of that poem to the glory Of
beating the French tomorrow" The Elegy was
then q recent production. 1t was published about
1850. Wolfe took Quebec in l759.-
The excellence Of this poem may be judged from
the rejection of such stanzas as this after it had
been once inserted:
"Hark how the sacred calm that breathes around
BIDS every heICe tumultuous passion cease,
IL STILL small accents, breathing from the ground
grateful earnest Of eternal peace"
And this, descriptive Of the rustic tomb Of the
village scholar:
"There scattered on the earliest OF the year,
By hands unseen are showers Of ViOeIs found;
The Tedbreast loves to build aud WAFble there,
And little footsteps lightly print the ground"
At distance Of two or three miles from Wind
sor, ihr removed from the public highway, and
within the fine old park formerly belonging to the
family of William Penn, stands the church of Stoke
Pogis. Here, under the "agcd elm and ycw-trees
shade" lie the ashes Of Thomas Gray. On tab
let under the east window Of the church is the
following inscription:
"Oppose this stone, In the tomb upon which he
has lngy recorded his grief at the loss Of beloved
parent deposited the remains Of GRAY, the author
o the Ergy written In Country Churchyard, ETC., etc., etc.
He vas buried August 9Th, lIIl"