New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-08-10
THE TRIP TO ENGLAND.
".
A VISIT TO WINDSOR.


Poels-GRAY's ELEGY-sT. GEORGES CHAPEL-
WINDSOR PARK AND CORRESPONDENTS OAK
THE RAMBLE BY VIRGINIA wATER-QUAINrNESs
OF wINDsoR-THE LESSON OF ENGLISH TRAVEL
II the beauty of England were merely superficial,
would produce q merely superficial effect IL
would cause a passing pleasure, and would De iof-
gotten. 1t certainly would nOt-as now in fact 1t
does-inspire a deep, joyous, serene, and grateiul
contentment and linger IN the mind, gracious ana
benefcent remembrance. The cOnquering ana last
ing potepey of 1t resides not alone in loneliness of eX-
pression but in loneliness Of character Havingh Tst
greatly blessed the British Islands with the natural
advantages Of position. climate soil and products Ma
ture has wrought out their development and ACORN
ment as necessary consequence OF the spirit OF telI
inhabitants. The picturesque variety and pastoral
repose of the English landscape spring, IN consider
able measure, from the imaginative taste and the
afFectionate gentleness of the English people, Inc
state of the country like its social constitution
flows from principles within (which are constantly
suceested and il steadily comforts and nOurishes
the mind with sense of kindly feeling moral
rectitude solidity, and permanence. Thus IN the
peculiar beauty Of England the ideal IS made tue
actual-is expressed in things more than IN WORDS;
and in things by which words are transcribed
Millions 'LAllegro," fine as it is, is not SO tne as
the scenery-the crystalized, embodied poetry-out
of which it arose. All the delicious rural verse that
has been written in England is only the excess and
superhux of her own poetic opulencej IL mas
implied from the hearts Of her poets just as the
fragrance floats away from her hawthorn hedges
At every step of his progress the pilgrim through
English scenes is impressed with this sovereign
excellence of the accomplished fact, cOntrasted
with any words that be said in its celebration
Among representative scenes which are elo-
ouent with this instructive meaning-scenes easily
and pleasurably accessible to the traveller III what
Dickens expressively called the green. English
Summer weather "-is the region of Windsor The
chief features Of it have been often described the
charm that it exercises can only be suggested 10
see Windsor moreover, is to comprehend as at
glance the old feudal system, and to feel in pro-
found and special way, the pOmp of English charac-
ter and history. More than this 1t is to rise to
that ennobling exaltatiOn which always accom-
panies broad, retrospective contemplation OF the
current of human affairs. In this quaint, dec0rous
town-nestled at the base of that mighty and mag
nifcent castle which has been the home OF princes
for more than five hundred years-the imaginative
mind wanders over vast tracts of the past. and be-
holds as in a mirror. the pageants of ehivalry,
the cororations of kings the strfes of sects, the
battles of armies, the schemes of statesmen, the
decay of transient systems, the growth Of rational
civilization and the everlasting march of thought
Every prospect Of the region intenstes this senti-
ment of contemplative grandeur. AS you look from
the castle walls your gaze takes in miles and
miles of blooming country, sprinkled over with
little hamets, wherein the utmost statelness OF
learning and rank is gracefully commingled with
all that is lovely and soothing in rural life Not far
away rise the the antique towers of EtOn-
"Where grateful Science sti adores
Her Henry Is holy SHADE"
"a ~voo in WindsOr Castle that her Horny born
and there he often held his court and it is in st.
Georges Chapel that his relics repose In the dim dis
fanee stands the Church OfStoke-Pogs, about which
GRAY was wont to wander, Beneath those rugged
elms that yew-tree's shade" you recognize now
deeper significance than ever before in the solemn
stiffness of the incompatible Elegy. The lumrn-
Gus twilight mood of that immortal pOem-its pen
eive reyerie and solemn PASSIONS inherent in the
scene and you feel that it was there, and there
only that the genius of its exceptional author-aus-
1erely gentle and severely pure, and thus IN perfect
harmony with its surrOundings-cOuld have been
moved to that sublime outbuTst Of inspiration and
eloquenee Near at hand, in the midst Of your rev
erie the mellow organ sounds from the Chapel Of
St. George. whore, under fretted Vault and over
"long-drawn aisle,D depend the ghostly Wondering
banners of ancient knights-as still the bones of
the dead-and-gOne mOnarchs that crumble in the
crypt below. In this church many Of the old
kings and mobiles of England. The handsome and
gallant Edward w. here found his grave; and
near it is that of the accomplished Hastings
his faithful friend to the last and after Hero lies
the dust OF the ferocious Henry VIII, and here
tho ill-starred and hapless Queen Caroline; and
here at midnight, by the light of torches they laid
beneath the pavement the mangled body of Charles
the First. AS You stand on Windsor ramparts, pom
dering thus upon the stOTitd past and the evanes-
cence of all that beauty. all that wealth Ger gaveD
your eyes rest dreamily on green fields far below,
through which, under tall ems the trimming and
sparkling river flows on without a sound, and in
which few figures. dwarfed by distance, fit here
md there il seeming aimless Idleness while,
warned homeward by impending sunset, the chat
tering birds circle and float around the lofty towers
of the castle; and delicate perfumes of sernga and
jasmine are waited up from dusky, unknown depths
at the base of its ivied steep At such an hour
stood on those ramparts and saw the shy villages
and rich meadows of fertile Berkshire, all red and
golden with sunset hgbt and at such an hour
stood in the lonely clOisters of Saint Georges
Chapel and heard the distant organ Sob and saw
the sunlight fade up the gray walls and felt and
knew the sanctity of silence. Age and death have
made this church luStrOus but the spot itself has
its own innate charm of mystical repOse.
use Of GS SSS in nS ONE RaSSe lay
Feathefb anu uuSt uO-u"y anu SS9'0iN"S'
The drive from the front of Windsor Castle is
through broad and stately avenue, three miles in
length, straight as an arrow and level as standing
pool; and this white highway through the green
and fragrant sod IS sumptuOnsly embOwered, from
end to end with double rows of magnificent old
elms. The Windsor Avenue. however, like thespien-
did chestnut grove at Bushy Park long famous
among the pageants Of rural England, has been often
and sufficiently described. II is after leaving this
that the rambler comes upon the rarer beauties OF
Windsor Park aud Forest. From the far end Of the
avenue.-where, in a most superb position, the