Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-06-20
"A ROMAN CAMP.
IErrH HILL AND THE MEMORIES IT
CALLS UP.
Journev TO It-storms In England ana
Africa = Travellers Of tae
0lden Tine.

~ -
~ certain very aris;ocIalic gentleman OF
Northern England who. when hahgco 'os
l,,h treason. according 10 tue custom OF
ali tr,,e gentlemen In those good QUO umcs.
aa,i'5 ,he attention Of tue gazing crowd
49, 20 The fact that be was still
~, ..V ro had always been) high above
w x.,y one else. might fairly pay myself
,ho ssme modest compliment. OF present,
,his hilton being Use highest and most
commanding spot for miles round, as the
por,qn prtfects discovered with those
Zen military eyes Of theirs eighteen ccntu-
T,cs ego. But Lord X. paid for his eleva-
lion. ana 30 must ], although such view
as now lies below me might well repay the
labor Of far more ioilsOme ascent, even
on morning when "the merry month OF
NAV" seems doing its best to rival the heat
and dust OF the fcry month OF july.
Judging by xhai I have seen at home
and abroad, | should say that the process OF
climbing a hill is usually somewhat as iol-
lows: You start of with jaunty stride
and a look OF quiet superiority, rs II feeling
yourself equal to the scaling OF the Andes
or the Himaaya, but qraciously condc-
scending 60 this little hillock in default OF
ANYTHING better. An hour later the iauutl-
mess a your step l. noi quite so obtrusiveiy
manifest, and you begin to have such
an absorbing interest in the scenery
"a 10 lind II necessary to halt and
look AT Il every three or four minutes.
Presently you become aware OF choking
sensation in your throat and nipping
pain IN your left side, strongly suggestive
Of rash overdose Of peculiarly lively
soda-waier. Then you flame into a burning
indignation with your companions Tor per-
sisting in walking fast, and rcyiie them
in no measured terms for such incoESider-
ate folly. You conceive a bitter and un-
quencbablc hatred of laborcr who sudden
ly comes out in front Of you 10y q short
cut, and when he wishes you good
morning In an exaspcratingly CHEEKY tone
YOU feel that death by lingering torture
would but poorly eXpiate his offence. Then
YOU find yourself trying 10 make the way
seem shorter by fixing upon some object
in front OF you as u landmark which
instantly appears 10 remove itSelf TO
double the previous distance, maintaining
This peryerse attitude till you actually
come up 10 Il. when you end all al once
that YOU have gone no distance at
all. To this succeeds a stage OF raVing
madness, supcTinduccd 10y your striking
your pet eorns with mathematical accuracy
against three or four sharp stones in sue
cossiOn, simultaneously with the peIseyer-
ing efforts Of an inqniring gnat to make
scientific survey OF the internal structure OF
!. your left ear. Finally, when t1e paroNysm
has srent itself You sink into torpor OF
sulIen misanthropy. embracing yourself,
volIr comrades. the scenery, the weather,
and the entire scheme Of creation.
But an tins is forgotten when once we
reach the crest Of the highest ridge. In all
the splendor Of the glorious May sunshine,
which has already lasted IAN almost mi
racuous event in England more than
ten days without intermission, the great
southern plain lie. outSpread below Us
like a vast chcsS-bOard. checkered with
the pale yellow Of the wide, dusty, plough
ed fields, the dark green OF the cluster
ing trees, and the lighter yerdure OF
the grassy meadows. through which the
bread. white. mQhroads wind like veins
ruon a cabbagc-lcas. High upon the bold
ridge that faces u from the opposite
side Of the little Wiley which we have Just
crossed rises a : ldDWy mass OF dark tr',
the sole remnant = that ancient forest IN
the gloomy der - Of which, ages before
TIE coming Of Julius CTs1r. the heather
Brit0ns burned their captured fOemen alive
in sacrifice Ia the cruel gods Of the North.
From the blOssOming appe-trecs OF "a shell
tered hollow lust below the edge II the fir
of Cold Iiar1or, an 0minOuS name. The very
sound of which carries one back twenty
two wear, TO q bloody Nirginian battlefield,
into The midst Of crashing muSketry and
rolling smoke. and thousands OF brave men
writing In the aeonieS Of death.
4 shrill whistle breaks the universal
Stiffness. and sometimes like TUT OF white
cotton rises fIum among tue trees far be-
low. showing where the MIDDAY train Is
on ~ way northward from brighton To
the spot where a few smart red brick
houses. Just visible over the crest OF Tower
Uill. mark the whereabouts Gi the neat
little town Of DOrkinC, snug IN it, quiet
valley between two Sbcitcring ridges. Be
yond II RoX Hill stands up AGAINST the sky
like wall, its dark-greCn surface check
or,d with more than one broad white scar,
showing where the rich turf has crllnl-
hed away. leaving bare the chalk under
heath i'm all its gaunt deiormlty. NJ
tie foot Of the Hill on which we stand
q clup,p Of meek little houses cluster like
brood Of chickens around the gray church
tower OF Ocklcy village. upon the very
ground whore. on bright sunday alter
noon more than one thousand years ago, the
Saxon warriors of We>>eX rang q peal oi
grim music with their batlle-aXes upon the
clown helmets Of their DANISH enemies.
Further still TO the southwark FOIL up, like
surgirg waves, against the warm, dreamy
blue Of the summer sky the long. low
slopcs Ot the Sussex hills, upon one OF
which one memorable dav in the latter hall
ii the eleventh century two men called
Harold the Saxon and William the Con-
puorOr fought from sunrise 10 sunset the
great hattie that decided the fate OF Eng
knd.
Hut in the crisp, dry. green sward on
which we are seated appear marNs OF an
other civilization far older. The round
knoll whereOn the tower stands Is glrdled
with two circular trenches, one within
the other which far less practiced eye
than that Of sir Walter SCOTS Antiquary
wCuld recognize al glance - the trace
lclt hv the "foSsos" of fortified camp.
More than 800 years ago some unknown
colonel Of Roman infantry, whose name
finds no place In the brief military notes
of the Latin kiuglakcs and Napiers oi the
first century. was stationed here to do out
post duty and 10 keep a watcbful eve from
his cantonmcnt on This hilltop upon the
movements of the painted sayages TIA!
prowlcd over the great plain below.
Rough work must 10 have been for these
soldiers OF sunny ltaly--as well as for their
brethren IN the second camp up yonder on
Anstiehury Rise, Just beyond this little
gully 10 our left-to keep ceaseleSS watch
and ward when the long dark nights and
bitter irosts and cutting winds Of The terri
Bile British winter came upon them IN
earnest. Nor were these the only enemies
by whom they were beset. The Romans
difficulty was the Briton's oppor-
tunity, and all around these lonely out
posts swarmed the Uckelwyr" Uall mem
Of the Cangi and Brigantes- men As crafty,
war-like, and ferocous as any Apache or
sioux-who bad given Caesar himself
hard time OF il when ne ran over here from
Gaul during one of his brief holt
days in order To see with his own eyes
What wonders lay hid in that mysterious
island " hich was to the Roman OF that age
what the North Pole is 10 ourselves.
So il beialls that one gloomy November
night, when the cold sleet is driving pitt
IcssIy along these unsheltered ridges. and
when the shivcring sentreS OF the Pr1io-
rium are thinking reyrelfully Of their sunny
VINEYARDS in native Campana and their
fayonle wineshops in the Via Flavis at
Rome. bali dozen hreathless and panic
stricken iugiliyes come rushing pcl-mell
into tic camp on AnStiebury Rise with the
news that their scouting party has been sur