Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-07-14
From Our Regular Correspondent
Our European Letter.
LONDON, Eng, June 90, 1875

My recent journyings took me TO the
old town of Caerlcon. in Monmouthshire,
among the other historic hooks of old
England. By that rule of " illegal deduc-
tons" beyond modern comprehension,
this place is called Raleen,' by the
learned as well rs unlearned. There are
many old places and persons in En-
gland of mental wealth that are super
seeded by upstart, flaunty and tricky
&" modern mushrooms of material glitter,
rs an American statesman rather awk-
wardly conveyed his figure of speech But
the dignity and repose of these old places
always cast the new brazen polish Of the
modern places into sorry shade. Per-
haps of the old hooks and corners in
England this "Caerleon, the City of
Legions," is the very Oldest, oldest and
most dignitiedly sleepy of all. Here, in
the early Romauislic period of England,
dwelt men and women in fine linen and
purple challenging the competition and
the admiration of all western Britain, and,
though nearby Newport has arisen, like
tall bully, with its noisy head lifted aloft,
still Caereon carries its charming char
acter of antiquity untarnished or undim-
med, and you look over the field of myth
ical King Arthur's round table in prefer
ence to the real docks and ships of modern
la, ut N soil Tho
glitter of to-day at Newport is less attract
i've than the moldy remains of the Au-
GUSTAV army, though no castelated garri-
son and no abbey ruins are visible. The
chief treasures here are, or were, subter-
ranean, and have been revealed periodic
ally by the peculiar contour of the ground,
and the searching industry of the plow-
share, the pickaxe of the builder and the
hammering researches of the geologlist
and archaologist 1t is unique in this
respect, that however much of the early
tangible evidences Caerleon may possess,
there is not an atom of tradition to be
found here. 1t is peculiar in another
respect; that there have not been ten
Americans, separately or collectively,
staying here a single night in century Of
years, and few of our country people have
:" spoiled this market " with their lavish
expenditure or lusty criticisms. Bnt, il
we are to accept the idealistc or realistic
trcatises of the learned Celt Giraldus,
=
renowned for history and romance. this
same Caerleon was city of great antiqui'
ty, even In his day, and bearing the
external and internal evidences of"power-
full privileges, with a Roman brick wall
surrounding it." Indeed, this spasmodic-
ally shaped village of to-day is reported by
this ancient chronicler to have been Of
" oriental splendor and magnificent maj
, esty'-a character we fail to see the most
/ saddened evidences of now. That it was
a great army centre of the renowned
second Roman legion there is no doubt
J That it was tho cradle of great law-givers
and rulers there is also no doubt. And il
! the tiny crumbling testimonies, tangible
J say. but not traditional, be your guide
certainly palaces that emulated old
} Rome" as the poetic Giraldus says, stood
here with " gilded tiles " and sumptuous
surroundings of decorative grandeur.
Here are vapory evidences of those lofty
watch towers and those spacious baths,
and the temples and the theatrical
places that this chronicler spoke of, but at
this moment they are like the Irishman s
overcoat, so completely patched that but
little of the original is left. In fact, you
take the historic descriptive dish of Gil
radius Gun, grano saltS; and while you
know the Romans dwelt in marble halls
here figuratively, and in fair truth called
this place Isca Silveren-from the adjoin-
ing silvery and almost surrounding waters
of the Usk-still you see but little on the
surface that is eloquent of the Augustan
legion, or Iscb Legionis Aagasst.
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