People's Pilot, Volume 3, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 March 1894 — Correspondence. [ARTICLE]

Correspondence.

ACROSS THE DEEP. Shifting View* of Country Scenery and London Life. From our Special Correspondent. London, July 25, ’93. Near the turmoil and busy life of the great London lies many an interesting and secluded spot. It is a characteristic of English rural life and scenery that you are often almost within sight of active city stir, yet you feel as if you were a hundred miles from any element that could, in the least, disturb the quiet that prevails. You seem wrapped in the solitudes of nature, save the constant outward symbol of man’s presence in his works. Near the town of Eton and Windsor Castle, and within a few miles of London, lies the little village of Stoke Pogis, within a half hour’s walk of which is the church which has , been immortalized as the subject one of the most beautiful and wide-read poems of any language. Besides it is situated in the midst of that quiet environment, which produced the poet w T ho sang that wonderful chant over the destinies of the lowly. The little church yard is further enriched as holding the dust of the man that has given to it v more than a “local habitation and a name.” As time moves ' pn, there will be no poet who : will grow nearer the hearts of the readers than Thomas Gray, and I doubt if any poem, more J than the “Elegy Written in a , Country Church Yard.” Everyone who has read many of the i shorter poems of the English ' language has read this poem. We had planned before leav- ■ ing America to visit this place in the evening, as no other time ' of the day would harmonize with the sentiment of the place. A half hour’s walk brought us to the church. It was a quiet, 'beautiful evening between sun- . set and dark. No better description of our visit can be given than to read the poem itself, i so perfect was the whole surrounding in harmony with the spirit of the poem. Such an evening Gray must have had in * mind as he has described in the t first three verses, and the masterly manner in which he re--duced the element of evening to perfect poetic form is one * of the marvels of genius. Before arriving at the church you are attracted by a large monument which was erected to the memory of the poet. It is .not situated in as desirable a place as the admirer of the poet would desire. A few steps brings you to the church. An ■ English rural church is a small ■ in the midst of what we ■ understand as a grave yard. We Hat once begin the search for the ■ grave of the poet and an inscrip- ■ tion of the church. The poet ■ described the yard accurately ■ when he said: ■ “Beneath those rugged elms, that yew trees ■ shade, ■ Where heaves the turf in many a mould’ring ■ heap, ■ Each in his narrow cell forever laid, ■ The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.” ■ Such perfect description of ■ this place has made the poem ■so typical in its description of ■all such places that it has struck ■a universal chord in the feelings ■ and experiences of all who read ■it. As we stood over the plain ■and unattractive vault of the ■poet we were almost compelled ■to think that he had portrayed ■his own grave in prophetic vis■ion when he said: in this neglected spot is laid ■Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire; that tha rod of empire might have ■ ' swayed, waked to extasy the living lyre.” ■ We had not long here to drink ■in the wonderful beauty and ■quiet of the whole scene. It ■was one of those pictures of Hruial environment worthy of ■the touch of artistic genius in ■color and in word. The latter ■has found its representative in ■Gray, and the scenes of his

childhood took form in the warmth and sympthy of his investigation anff glories of English poetry have been enriched thereby. A walk of about two miles brought us to the town of Eton, with its famous preparatory school for boys. Here many of the sons of nobility are prepared for university work. The poet, Gray, has also caught the inspiration of the place in his poem beginning with the lines: "Ye distant spires, ye antique towers That crown the watery glade.” The college buildings did not present sufficient attraction to deter us any length of time, and so we passed, within a few minutes’ into the enclosure of Windsor Castle, the dwelling place of the royal family, when not in London. It is a grand structure, solidly and magnificently built on a promontory overlooking the Thames river and the city of Eton. The castle was not open to the public on the day we were there and so only a few glimpses within gave us some idea of the splendor and grandeur of royalty. We could not leave the place without many pleasant wishes for the welfare of the royal family and especially royalty in the abstract, mixed with many -wonders as to how long the -people would continue to pay the bills. It requires a young army to care for the castle. The park is large and extends to the south many miles, but yet it is not as beautiful as Blenheim park. A brisk walk through a part of the park brought us to Old Windsor, which is in the midst of much of the crown lands which are rented. Our -walk from this place took us along the banks of “Father Thames” for about two miles, which afforded us an opportunity to see to what an extent the English are anglers. The banks and river were in extensive use by fishing parties. We also passed over some very interesting ground, historically. On a little island in the river is the place -where King John -was forced to sign the Magna Charta, the basis of English liberty, and may justly be called our first Declaration of Independence, because it contained some things which England denied us, and which compelled resistence on the part of our Revolutionary fathers. The one important demand was representation in Parliament and regular sessions of the same. It obtained for every Englishman trial by a jury of his peers. It gave Parliament control of the revenues of the state. We passed over the field of Runnimede, where the barons were encamped waiting the decision of King John. He signed the document in 1215. A precious date in the history of .English freedom, and all nations who have inherited English institutions and law, as our own. It was not long until we boarded a train and bid adieu to the many pleasant scenes of English rural life, and were soon in the midst of the mysteries and secrets of London. One week in this center of metropolitan life, with its numerous attractions, was a busy one, indeed. It is not my purpose to attempt to give any account of the many places visited, for that would be tiresome in the extreme. Not that they were not interesting or instructive, but that they can be better examined in any history of London. I imagine that no reader would desire a record of the dark and bloody crimes that are associated with that historic old place of London Tower. If you should desire to appreciate the Westminster Abbey, where the- illustrious dead of England are interred, or have been interred, take down Washington Irving’s Sketch Book and learn it through his immagination. The places that any person should visit, with one week at his disposal, would include the tower, Abbey, Parliamentary Building, National Art Gallery,

South Kensington Art Collection and Museum, British Museum, Bank of England. Old Bailey, and many parks and streets of interest. One never ought to leave the city without attending service at St. Paul’s Cathedral. So far it is the grandest service I have ever attended. The English cannot help being devotional, in their nature, with such magnificent churches as they possess. There were as many as 3,000 persons present, it was estimated and yet there seemed but a sprinkling in comparison to the space vacafit. Such music seemed scarcely born of man. but bore the melody of triumph, and as it re-echoed throughout the vast edifice it was torn into a thousand harmonies until it awakened the energies of the soul, and taught one that man was born to worship. Immediately in the midst of the active part of the city is situated this grand edifice, distinguished from its neighbors by the round dome. St. Paul’s Cathedral is one of the few great churches of the world. Yet, like many great structures, it is deceiving in distance, and seems much smaller than it really is. There are many interesting things that one observes concerning English life on the streets of London. It is the center of wealth and poverty of England. You meet both in the same daily struggle upon the street. Here you find begging run mad and you are so continually pestered that you soon possess a heart like stone, and at the same time you are moved to profound pity and sympathy for the helpless beings who have fallen behind in the struggle for existence. It was a picture that will long haunt my memory that I saw one bright morning, as we walked down the beautiful avenues of St. James park, in sight of the stately outline of the Parliamentary buildings and the majestic proportions of the Buckingham’s Palace and several other residences of the nobility. At the same time the air was ringing withone of the martial lays of England, as it proceeded from the court band, which was followed by gaily dressed soldiers—the hope and support of British power. That was a demonstration of the powers that be. A picture of one of the elements that you will find in any European state. The other part of England lay stretched out on the park lawns basking in the sunlight. One purpose of the English city park aside from a thing of beauty is its use as a refuge for the begging public. Hundreds of men were lying in the grass under the morning sun. Some mending their clothing, others eating theis frugal meal, others sleeping, and groups in conversation. These, I think, were all men, and, so far as could be judged, able bodied. I suppose a spectacle that has repeated itself in America under the existing abnormal industrial conditions.

There is one system in London that impresses the stranger, and that is the absence of street car lines. I only noticed one line. They are under-ground. We have attempted in New York and Chicago to navigate the air by t!ie elevated street car line. The English have taken to the bowels of the earth and, molelike, their longer street service is under-ground. But they have a system that takes the place of the regular street car in that of buss lines, similar to that on Broadway, in New York, leading to Central Park. I believe, for heavy passenger traffic it is more available than the cable or tramway. It may not be more economical in cost, but it certainly is in work done, besides, with good police control, it is impossible to blockade traffic. London is not as dark and dingy a city as one -would expect. Its streets are all paved, mostly with square blocks of hard wood, which afford a

smooth foundation, with much less noise in comparison to stone, which, in a large city, with much use of streets becomes quite an item. z London is a world within its own limits and must be seen and studied in order to be appreciated. and that can not be done within the space of one short week.