New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-03-15
TALKS WITH TENNYSON.
HIS IDEA OF HEAVEN.
HIS NIECE AND WARD GIVES HER HEcoLLEc-
rroSc on THE p0rT

HIS NIECE AND WARD GIVES HER HEcoLLEc-
TIoSs OF TIE POET.
x.vm lnc Contemporary Review.
Though only my uncle by marriage. no moth
er's brother could have been moro loving 10 me
through lie than was my guardian. Lord len
nyson. OF late years our homes mad IAN lar
apart. and my opportunities of meeting him
were rare, but precious 10 me Is the memory
Of those days OF my youth, ",ch we ussu ~
take cross country walks over hedge and often, or
rambe together over the breezy downs, and when
he opened to me the treasuIchouse of his mind and
heart. ,,,
nc could see something to admire even in raw
boned old hack grazing by the waysidc:
You would scarcely call that poor, beast Sca1
through his skim but he is Certainly picturesque as
he stands shiverlng on the common HI, meagre uil
turesQne is generally associated with age or the COM
mencemen, OF decay: for take cottage that wne ,
down some Of Us thatch break the windows. and
introduce baby clad IN rags sprawinO across ,ne
threshold, and You lave at once 4 picturesque s"p
ject for the artist
His sympathy with Nature led him TO mourn over ,,
the cutting down of trees, as If they were, axe
the grove in Dante's Inferno the abode Oh Ms
personal friends, and specially did he gricve IL
the axe smote them in summertime weM re-
member his gazing long upon horse-cIns' -.
that had continued 10 put forth MOVERS gay; a,cp
it had been fcllcd TO the earth ~ Look at u, he
eaid, stretching out bcseechins arm, ana pios
eomng on, it's blooms unfolding in all their beauty
Quite unconscious that they can never turn to
}ruitace. How like they are to some men, who
appcar blooming outwardly, and think that thcy
are living, while they already dead within
NV uncle loved to talk of Arthur Hallam ana
other friends of his youth. hut he never de-
scended to any trivial details concerning them, ana
he used to say
cannot imagine why people should be SO curious us
cared TO know about the daily minu'"e OF, Of Great
mems lives which never n,srcs'sS s e IN me- .e eI
from which she said johnson used TO drink lemonade,
stirring win fingers wfh Were had am %nc r 6sts 'r
have omitted such details.
There was one incident in his life that Ten
nyson know had often been misunderstood, and he
most solcmny laid upon the charge that
J. who he said, could hcst undertake the task,
should let all the world know 81 how great
sacrifice these were his very words, uttered
in yielding 10 Mr.. Gladstone's pressing entreatles
that he should take the peerage:
WAS BY no meals GHa TO teach
morality" he would say, and her ravening tooth
is cruel one. Indeed it was the observed served
Of the Khonds, with their human sacrifices
"You could not learn 10 know The higher he aid
Of God from fact, he when think h much more
important the world must have seemed whcn , Iem
SeSspo.ed dt to regret the Of
because they have in no wise exalted mems concepo
f Gods a. ns and hs h
term But how amazing astronomy IS. ! am over t
the that looks smaller than the palm OF odrnr,
hand there $4,000 f d0 yo" w sCIs ny
heavens retained on your retlna !!
He looked upon astronomy and geology as the
greatest Of the sciences, and was never weary vi
dwelling upon the marves they unfold:
tn he Used to sdn the II mS SNn
inter nsntcancs and am ready @ to n hm
Vho Of he
are the greatest marvcs that come under our
around us, TO which Is but speck. l feel what
poor little worms we are. and ask myself Mhat ~, Is
Be applied 70 the Creator of all these worlds makes
Him seem mere artihccr certain amount DO OF
into our conception Of Ccd because though there may
be Infinitely higher beings than ourselves in TIE worlds
beyond ours, yet to conception man Is the hehtst
Matter lime and SPACE are all Illusions but a aHSye
Time has absolute existence and we can as NIUE
Of 4esS ne tbs rs Of H
much better than that Of matter. which Is to me far
ms Il really is. not even our fellow-creatures and
perhaps when we see Zach other as We o ra dS ,hS
masters In the path or on the snow
NV uncle always seemed TO like best to talk
about spiritual matters, and no clergyman was
ever a more earnest student OF me Boie' or a
treat 10 me 70 hear him recitc one OF ms
new poems, in that grand. sonorous voice OF his,
but II was q sui greater utllent W IS"fH W
his reading of chapter of Isaiah, for then so
thoroughly did he send his whole soul forth with
his words that reminded OF Bunscns
remark on F. d Mauricc's readirg Of the Church
Service" Such reading is IN itself sermon.
He could not find words strong enough to eX-
press his love of and reverence for the sacred vol
ime, and when his picture Of old age In TIE
"Ancient Sage" was said TO be like that by
Solomon in EcclesiaStes, II orN wish II were,
he replied Il never could equal that description
Yet surely tina; sublime poem is well worthy to
have been written by the author Of EcccSiastcs
and il must be studied attcntivcv by all who
desire 10 enter into the mind Of Tennyson. for.
from what he used "a tell me when thinking II
into being. ] can testify that the Ancient SAGE
sets forth his views more fully than any
of his other poems. How like clarion his
voice rang forth in these lines. which are very
gospel of hopcfulness:
And cling 10 Faith beyond the forms Of Faith.
She reel, not In fhc stO.m OF warning words
She brichtens q. III, clash Of 'Ycs'' ond NO"
She Rest ~, cnmers thro' the Worst.
She feels the Sun is hid hut for richt,
She sTics the run tiro tho winter bud.
She tastes the NUT hefor, the blossom falls,
Ohc hears The lark within the son2css egg,
She finds the fountain where thy wallet Mirage"