New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-05-31
GRAY DAYS AND GOLD.
A DELIGHTFUL BOOK.
GRAY DAYS AND GOLD. BY william Winter.
2omo np asa. Macmillan Co.

A DELIGHTFUL BOOK.
GRAY DAYS AND GOLD. BY william Winter.
32mo, PIP. $685. Macmillan Co.
Whoever has read " Shakespeares England will
welcome heartily Mr. Winters companion volume
10 that charming book 1t is in the same vein a
vein which he alone seems able TO work In these
DAVIS of stern utlitarianism and sordidly practcal
aims The poetic spirit. the genuine love OIL
beauty the strong feeling for all tnat reVVes eie
waiting intellectual associations, for all that re-
news the kinship with spiritual excelences-these
have indeed too little in common with the pre-
waiting bent of the Anglo-Saxon mind at the close
Of the nineteenth century. But all the more
sbould On clear and vivid a manifestation Of such
motives and prep0ssessions be precious to those
NOT wholly hardened against what makes life more
than a feyerish race for material prosperity. In
these delightful pages MI Winter has shown us
the worthiest American spirit in sympathy with
the wor;biest English and Scotch examples, and
reoicinr in those natural beauties which are blend
cd with and heightened by their historic access
sories OF his reverence for Shakespeare and the
fascination which all that is associated WIN
Shakespeare exercises upon him, the readlng pup
lie has not now TO learn for the first time ms
feeling indeed, is the only one which could IN
spire the kind of work done in the present volume
Perhaps not many Englishmen possess more COM
prehensiye and minute acquaintance WIN the
whole country about Stratford-on-Avon than does
Mr. Winter. for he has traverted every foot Oh IL
with the enthusiasm Of pilgrim, the emotion OF
moot and the close observation of an antiquarian
And IL demands these three qualities for the con-
iuration Of the charm which characterizes his de-
scriptions. They at once modify and enhance tne
value. one Of the other, and the result Is az
mode of thought and expression which move ana
stimulate together. What can be more genial
graceful and altogether pleasing than snakes
peare,s Town." up and down the Avon, ana
"Rambes in Arden? Never does MI "lner
offend in the way which has become SO common
with less judicous enthusiasts by evolving
facts about his hero from his own imagination.
With scrupulous good Judgment he confines him
self to assured truths and he gives us pictures OF
Sbakespeares country which live and breathe
Rut in this volume it is not Shakespeare alone
who occupies the Wanderer. We have Drill
liant series of sketches of the country and tradition
of Thomas Moore Of Byron, of the Wordsworth
region: Of Scott and Burns and their local associa
tons; of the Highlands and Edinburgh of the
scenes which Scott immortalized in his poems.
All these various subjects discussed with
leenness of observation and force Of apprecla-
ton which sharpen and hold the attention and
interest of the reader. It may be that here and
there Mr.. Winters enthusiasm for certain poets
and prose writer's may appear somewhat excessive;
that his eulogy may not always encounter a
kindred sympathy. That, however, is inevitable
and Inherent in the Infinite diversity Of human
thought and mental constitution. What is really
of consequence is that we have here writer
whose sympathies so broad and his spirit
so kindly. and pure that it naturally seeks that
which is noble and praiseworthy, and as naturally
shrinIs from and avoids whatever tends to de-
traction or evilspeaking.
1t is good to read book written In so clean
and wholesome e tone at time when some low
minded churls have dubbed their perverted ener-
gies for the base purpose of degrading the memory
and denying the splendid work of Shakespeare.
There is, indeed no possible end 70 the efforts OF
this school but ridiculous and contemplate fail
ure yet attempts of this kind leave foul faint
in the intellectual atmosphere of a period, and
suggest if they do not foster ethical laXity
which may have more mschevous consequences.
Mr. Winter. too, has had before him distinct,
high and honorable purpose in reviving and re.
freshing our dulled memories Of the dead and
gone heroes and great ones of our mother country.
1t is not only that the recalling 70 US
Of mighty common legacy of glory is
always we'll worth doing. II is that through
the renascence of such memories there may be
reused and awakened one Of the most powerful
reactionary influences which can be brought to
bear upon the modern materielism whose advances
seem sometimes TO threaten with extinction every
feeling and aspiration beyond Mammon-worship.
It is part of the mission of our Wandering Poet
to remind us that the greatness Of the greatest
men England has produced in modern times is not
%1o ~ tha do lie
progress" though from this example and instruc-
ton the only progress worth making is produced.
The whole book. indeed. for those who know
to read between the lines is an eloquent protest
against the soul-bettling greed and the "lust
of the eyes and pride of the life" which paralyze
spiritual development and coarsen and harden the
life of what is called civilization at the present
day. How many modern travellers for example,
draw from the cathedrals Of Europe their pro-
foundest and most important lesson? The lesson,
that is 10 say, Of life devoted to high aims Of
sef-interest resolutely set under foot Of divine
sense Of duty compelling and controlling and Of
these motives and impulses combining and taking
physical expression in architectural forms the re-
production or the rivalling of which has become
alike impossible because with the advance of what
is called progress we have lost at once the sense
of duty. the self-detachment the devotion to high
aims and the capacity for conceving great and
noble ideas which are absolutely indispensable
in the creation OF such works. Even in the lands
which produced these eforescences Of faith. devo-
ton and enthusiasm, the spirit which wrought
them is dead or sleeping. While we, separated by
q thousand leagues of ocean from even the OPP
portunity of looking upon them freely.-we have
with too much willingness supplied the place of
all they recall and all they signify with fierce
money-getting passion. whose fruits. like those
tabled ones of the Dead Sea- turn. more and more,
to ashes upon our lips. Mr.. Winter reioices in the
great cathedrals of England. for not only do they
delight and satisfy his sense Of beauty. but they
speak to him the esoteric language we have re-
ferred to they reveal for him the meaning which
the growth of materialism has rendered indecpher-
able by the crowd.
The heyibitv Of the authors mind is shown in