"To-morrow and to-morrow and to-morrow Creeps on this petty pace from day to day, And all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death."
Ever and ever the old times, the dear old times! Were they really any better than these? I don't think so--we only fancy them so. They had their displacements. It was then, as now, "eat, drink, and be merry, for to-morrow ye die," life the same old walking shadow, the same old play, or, lagging superfluous, or laughing his hour upon the stage and seen no more, the same old
"... tale told by an idiot, Full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing."
Somehow, London has a tendency to call up such reflections; sombre, serious itself, to provoke moralizing, albeit a turmoil, with incessant flashes of light and shade, the contrasts the vividest and most precipitate on earth, deep and penetrating, even from Hyde Park corner to St. Martins-in-the-Field, and on eastward beyond the Tower and into the purlieus of Whitechapel and the solitudes of Bethnal Green.
[26] Copyright, 1910, by The Torch Press.
Gilderoy Wells Griffin, essayist, was born at Louisville, Kentucky, March 6, 1840, the son of a merchant. He was educated in the University of Louisville, and admitted to the bar just as he attained his majority. He soon became private secretary for George D. Prentice, and this pointed his path from law to letters. Griffin was dramatic critic of the Louisville _Journal_ until after Prentice's death; and his first book was a biographical study of the great editor. His _Studies in Literature_ (Baltimore, 1870), a small group of essays, was followed by the final edition of _Prenticeana_ (Philadelphia, 1871), which he revised and to which he also contributed a new sketch of Prentice. Griffin was appointed United States Consul to Copenhagen, in 1871. His _Memoir of Col. Charles S. Todd_ (Philadelphia, 1872), was an excellent piece of writing. The most tangible result of his sojourn in Copenhagen was _My Danish Days_ (1875), one of the most delightful of his works. In Denmark his most intimate friend, perhaps, was Hans Christian Anderson. His _A Visit to Stratford_ (1875), was worth while. The year following its publication, Griffin was transferred to a similar position in the Samoan Islands, and he left in manuscript a work on the Islands which has never been published. In 1879 Griffin was again transferred, this time being sent to Aukland, New Zealand, where he remained until 1884; and the time of his departure witnessed the appearance of his last work, _New Zealand: Her Commerce and Resources_ (Wellington, N. Z., 1884). President Arthur sent him as consul to Sydney, which post he held for seven years. Griffin's death occurred while he was visiting his old home, Louisville, Kentucky, October 21, 1891. His brother was the step-father of the famous Mary Anderson, the former actress, and she has a goodly word for the memory of Griffin in her autobiography. He was a patron of the drama, a faithful and far-seeing diplomat, and a very able writer. His wife, Alice M. Griffin, published a volume of _Poems_ (Cincinnati, 1864).