New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-05-30

| busy In the ueighbOrhoOd. There was notalngs
/ however. remarkable to be seen, after eixpenco
| had opened the door, except perhaps tn9 '0i}
largest pew which these eyes ever Deneiu t ~ ~
| belonged to the Penn family, descenuanIIN VI
/ drah- Coated and sWeet-voiced William rem,
| whose seat is in the neighbOrhood. 90 nOt
know what that primitive quaker WouI s s nSSe
| said TO such an enormous reservation 9t ePuoe
| in the house of God for the sole use ana DSnOpI
| nf two or three aristOcratic wOrshippers. PROD
| ably few of my readers have ever seen suon 4" .
pew as that. 1t was not SO mucn P eM a Sot q
| room. Il was literally walled OF, ana quite SCI
| anart from fine plebeian portion OF the sanctuary
| vas csrneted. and furnished with comfortable
arm-chaiIs, and in the middle OF 1t was o stoye.
| THE occupants could look out and over at tne
| altar. but the rustiCs could not look IN ana az
them. The Squire might have smoker OF LeI "
| novels. or my Lady might have worked WOrsted
or petted her poodle through the service, WIN u
| out much scandal. The pew m0noponzen 30
much room that there was little left LOT tne TO
maiDder of the miserable onenderss Dui T.bo
| pect that there was quite enough Tor all WHO
| came to pray. For 1T was, as nave soIu
before. literally q country church ; anu those
who sleep near it we're really peasants. ,h,,.
1t is difficult to comprehend the whoie phys
iognomy of the poem, if may use the express
| sion, without seeing the spot when IL COM
| memorates. l take it for granted that the
reader is familiar with it, There are those
rugged elmsn and there is I" that yeW trees
shade There are athe .frail memorials, !"
Swith uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture
decked )" there @ the name the years, spelt by
the unletteled muse y; and the holy texts
strewn round that teach the rustic morallst T
to die" There is still "the iyX-mantled
tower, though the @moping owl that even
| ing did not I" to the moon complain" partly
| because there was no moon to complain 10,
| and possibly because there was no m0plng OWL
| in the tower. But there was one little clfcum-
| stance which may be pardOned for mention
ing. Gray somehow, has the reputation OF
| being an artificial poet, yet for one who wrote
| so little poetry he makes good many illusions
| to childhood and children: AS passed through
| the Park on my way to the churchyard, L en-
| cOuntered q group of merry boys and girls play
| ing about the base Of the monument ana L
recalled that verse which Gray wrote for the
| Eie0y and afterWard discarded under the I'M
| pre- ssiOn that II made the paren'hesS Voo lohE'
| Their scatter'd Oft. the earliest OF the year,
| BY hands unseen are showers of vlolets found;
The redbreast loves to build and MARBLE there
And little footsteps lightly print the ground
Ibove often wondered how Gray could bear
| TO give up these sweet tender, and most
natural lines. | have sometimes surmlse0 THAT
| he thought them a little too much like Am
brOse Phillips's yer SEES, about chlldTenIN Nam Dy
! Pamby Phillips, as the Pope set nlcknamed
| that unfortunate writer.
fingered about the churchyard until thatlOne
| twilight of which VIC know nothing IN America,
began to grow DINNER and DINNER: 1t 1t was
| still before, it seemed all the stiuer now.
was glad that had waited so long, because by
| doing SO I understood all the better how true
| the Elegy is to nature. The nelghborhOod, Win
] its agreeable variety of meadow ana WOOD, mas
| all the hundred charms of the gentle and WIN
| ming English scenery. The hush, hardly
| broken even by the songs OF the birds, brought
fOrcibly to my mind that beautiful line Of the
Elegy: "And all the air solemn stiffness
| hOldsn; while that other line: Now fades the
glimmering landscape on the. sight," is exactly
true. The landscape did gllmmer, ana as
| watched the sun go down, pleased myself VIII
| the fancy that was sitting lust where the poet
49, Is,,nC IkTnh hn
has got by heart. just then came the cry OF
the cattle, and knew why Gray wrote: The
lowing herd winds slowly DER the lea," nor did
fail to encounter plOughman h0meWaTd plOd-
back to the station, there was such serenity Oh
the earth about me, and in the SKY above me
that l could easily give myself to, gentle
memories and poetic dreams. L recalled the
spring time of life, when l learned this L
NOUS Eegy by heart as pleasant task, and
as yet unsophisticated by critical notions
accepted it as perfect. l thought of innumer
able things which had read about 1T OF the
| long and patient revision which its auth0
gave it, year after year, keeping it in his desk
aud then sending 1t, mere pamphlet, with III
} flourish of trumpets, into the world. Many al
, ancient figure came to lend animation to TIN
scene. Horace WalpOe IN his lace coat ant
, spruce wig went mincing Oyj the mother o
GRAY, with her sister, measured lace for tn
: customers who came to her little shop IN Lon
don; the wags of Pembroke College, gracees
| VaIletS, raise I'll HlhIH VI nIS JldO IHCy ma.
see the frightened poet drop from the window
} half dead with alarm; old Fouls, the Glasgow
print r. volunteers to send from his press such
luxurious edition OF Gray1s poems rs the Lon
! don printers cannot match DIR. johnson, hold
ing the page to his eyes, grow s over this stanza
and half grudgiDgy praises that. | had tpen
perhaps the pleasantest day which the rate
, vOuchSafed me during my sOjUurn III England
and here wac back again III Slough Station
ready to return to the NOISY haunts of mel
The train came rattling up, aud the day wit
Gray was over.
Thousands of our people will this Summe
visit England, and l venture to rccOmmen
those of them who are in the least bOOkiSh :
| try the experiment which found so successful
, One gets tired, or at least did, in Westmlnste
Abbey and St. PauI's, of the ghOstly pOpulOus
ness OF long drawn aisle and tretted vault.
There is a safety OF sensation. There IL
l. striking disparity, which will force itself upO
the mind, between the monumental pOmp an
circumstance without, and the handful 0
ashes which they commemorate ana conceal
, The demands upon the attention are sOmewha
confusing. Two or three hours OF lapldar
study is tiresOme, and we seek rest by gOn
once more into the streets with it's living crowd
A day given to a single great name or to som
scene of individual interest, will restore the ton
of the mind, and make prOmiscuOus sight seeln
less fatiguing. / should be sorry to have
herd of American tourists spelling Stoke POgls
but | should be equally sorry to have any on
miss it whose genuine tastes tit him for its en-
jOyment. -----
!, ! NfDT dn1no Am THE MAJ