. Shakespeare's England . NE of the most impressive spots on earth,and one that especially teaches — withsilent, pathetic eloquence and solemnadmonition — the great lesson of con-trast, the incessant flow of the ages andthe inevitable decay and oblivion of the past, is theancient city of Canterbury. Years and not merely daysof residence there are essential to the adequate andright comprehension of that wonderful place. Yeteven an hour passed among its shrines will teachyou, as no printed word has ever taught, the meas-ureless power and the sublime beauty of a perfectreligious faith; while, as


. Shakespeare's England . NE of the most impressive spots on earth,and one that especially teaches — withsilent, pathetic eloquence and solemnadmonition — the great lesson of con-trast, the incessant flow of the ages andthe inevitable decay and oblivion of the past, is theancient city of Canterbury. Years and not merely daysof residence there are essential to the adequate andright comprehension of that wonderful place. Yeteven an hour passed among its shrines will teachyou, as no printed word has ever taught, the meas-ureless power and the sublime beauty of a perfectreligious faith; while, as you stand and meditate in theshadow of the gray cathedral walls, the pageant of athousand years of history will pass before you like adream. The city itself, with its bright, swift river (theStour), its opulence of trees and flowers, its narrowwinding streets, its numerous antique buildings, itsmany towers, its fragments of ancient wall and gate,its formal decorations, its air of perfect cleanliness and 221. CHAP. XX A GLIMPSE OF CANTERBURY 223 thoughtful gravity, its beautiful, umbrageous suburbs, — where the scarlet of the poppies and the russet redof the clover make one vast rolling sea of colour and offragrant delight, — and, to crown all, its stately char-acter of wealth without ostentation and industry withouttumult, must prove to you a deep and satisfying com-fort. But, through all this, pervading and surmountingit all, the spirit of the place pours in upon your heart,and floods your whole being with the incense and organmusic of passionate, jubilant devotion. It was not superstition that reared those gorgeousfanes of worship which still adorn, even while they nolonger consecrate, the ecclesiastic cities of the old the age of Augustine, Dunstan, and Ethelnoth human-ity had begun to feel its profound and vital need of asure and settled reliance on religious faith. The drift-ing spirit, worn with sorrow, doubt, and self-conflict,longed to be at peace — l


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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidshakespeares, bookyear1895