MR. E. W. GOSSE'S MONOGRAPH ON GRAY.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—The concluding sentences of Mr. E. W. Gosse's mono- graph on Gray (recently published in Mr. John Morley's " English Men of Letters ") contain an of course unintentional misstatement, which, for the honour of my College, I shall be glad to be allowed an opportunity of correcting. Mr. Gosse
writes :—" If strangers did not periodically inquire for his room, it is probable that the name of Gray would be as completely forgotten at Pembroke as at Peterhouse, where also no monument of any kind preserves the record of his presence. When we reflect how differently the fame of a great man is honoured in France, or Germany, or Italy, we have little _on which to congratulate our national self-satisfaction."
After the College hall at Peterhouse had been restored in 1870, a series of stained-glass windows was placed iu it, com- memorating a number of eminent persons connected with the College. The list had been drawn up by the present Master of Peterhouse and Vice-Chancellor of the University, to whom the credit of the undertaking is due. The cartoons for the windows were drawn by Mr. F. Madox-Brown, and the glass was executed by Mr. Morris. Among these windows is one commemorating Gray, which was presented by Mr. A. H. Hunt, M.A.—I am, Sir, &c., P.S.—Mr. Gosse's statement, on p. 8, that " Gray entered Peterhouse as a fellow-commoner," is obviously incorrect, for in the copy from the Register of Admissions, printed in a note on the same page, he is said to have been admitted " ad Mensanx Pensionariorum." The letters " clusetur," in the same note,. are a misprint for " censetur."
Previous page
