OBITUARY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 31, 31 October 1907, Page 7

OBITUARY.

MR. GERALD MASSEY, POET. bt. TELEaitArn—ritEcs. association—coriKiaiiT. ' (Reci. 0ct." ; 30, 10.38 1 ' 1 it London, October 30.'. " Tho' : death' is ; announced ; of" Mr. Gerald Mnssoy, poet; arid Egyptologist. \ ' 1 The late Viscount Gormanstown, whose seat, was! at Balbriggan; l County "Mcatli, ' Ireland, 1 succeeded to the titlo in '187G, .and downed, 11,000 acres. He, had. held [official; positions in. Ireland, and was Commissioner of National Education in that"'country 'froiii''lß7V to 1885.lie' had,- been Governor of tlic/.Leeward Islands,' British . Guiana, (and Tasmania.. lief"served through the ,'lndian Mutiny^

' VIsbdpNTtidRMAi&TON.; i' ;i - London;' October 29. '<■ Viscount Gormaiisibn. is dead} 1 at the ago of 70.' ■' !: v '' I '' ■'' ■ . Gerald ifasso'y, . recently , designated ,; "the Nestor of' lining British", poets,"; was' borri ill' Hertfordshire on May 29;') 1828... lie be{,'an work- 1 ing -at a .silk' factory,, eight years of ago,; for wages varying up to eightecnpenco a. 'wes;: Later, he spent'several yelirs at straw-plaiting —years of great poverty,,.hardship, and-suffer-ing.; . His .'education "was • necessarily 'of tho scantiest description,. but lid had a-''vigorous' milul -and a •'courageous.■ htarf <'-Finding' his way.- to London,, .when .fiftc.cn years, -old,:,lie cainc '.under the influence of,(Frederick Domsosi Maurico and Charles ivingsley,' and, began to 'contribute'' to the "Christian' Socialist" 'ami' the "Leader.": He 'started and edited - "Tho Spirit)of Freedom," iji 18tS.. lii his .youth .lie, had'' ho' predilection for poetry, and it' was not'-nntil>'he.-fell in love -that' lio ; '"bngiiii :torhyme ,as a, matter., of: coin-so.f In • hia. old age lie said he had, got .past (the.'time when he might 'read' verse. : His'first volume', "Voices,' of, "Freedom and Lyrics of Lovei": appeared in 1850,.followed,in -1851. by "The Ballad.of Babe Chnstabel," which passed into sevoral' editions, and was 'well 'received' by the liter.ary periodicals, and by such great critics'as Ravage Lander, Buskin, and Matthew Arnold. George Eliot took Gerald "Massoy as the model for Folix Holt. In 1855 _ho published "War .Waifs,", a volume, .inspired .by .tho-. Crimean war, followed' in;ISGO by "Ilavelock's 'March,'' and in 1869 by "A Talc of Eternity." During the middle of tho nineteenth century he was a contributor to the "Witness," then edited b)' Hu^h' Miller. Before 1870' tlio poet'/had begun to tiirn- his. attention to other subjects^. and gradually concentrated his _ attention oiy literary investigation; psychological enquiry, and Egyptology,'the result being "The Secret' Urania- of .Shakespeare's Sonnets,",'"Concerning Spiritualism,";"A'Book of the Beginning?;" and "Natural''Qbncsii,'" ' Mnssej was one of tho most truly; national'- of 'ErigliehV,poets, ; alive to all human interests..and inspired bv a very, fervent patriotism.. That his poetry is''not. so well known-'''to 4 the' present -'generation' : as that of many less thoughtful followers of themuse, is diio, to, the-long, years that have, elapsed , siiice' he laid his lyre' aside, for lib ' has, written' no 1 verse 'for about forty years; 'Ilis life work,', a book upon-tho iancient : life :aiid philosophy, of Egypt,, appeared, last month.