Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-04

modern English engineers. For thirty
seven miles along the course Of the stream
lofty mounds confne the river within fixed
bounds, and offe- a secure path TO the
navigator. On each side the country
spreads out far below the embankment,
and more than once the waters have bro
ken through, overs pread the lowlands, and
left desolatiUn around them. The En-
llsh had neglected to repair and strength
en- the banks of the river, and were in
debted 20 the skill of a Dutch engineer for
the restoration of the Roman work The
Thames from Richmond, says Mr. Smiles,
lis an artificial river" How many years
of ceaseless toll, of acute engineering skill,
and vast expense were employed ION this
unequalled work no history relates, NO
record even suggests. Some authorities
attribute the embankment to the Belgic
traders, before the Roman invasion;
others. even to the monks Of middle ages.
But there is good reason to suppose that
the true authors of the chief improve
ments on the Thames were the Romans
Similar work on almost an equal scale
exists in other parts of England, ana we
have the complaint of the subject Britons
that they were worn out ana consumed In
clearing the woods and embanking the
fens. Not that the hapless natives were
ever treated by their Roman taskmakers
as harshly as were the savages of Hayti
and Cuba by the Spanish discOveror,
but they outllVed their conqueror.
Before these entertainments were made,
the country below London was an immense
fen, or marsh, over which the tide flowed
necessarily. Tie town could have been
only collection of rude houses seated on
the rising ground above the river. It
was already seat of considerable, trade
even before the Roman co inquest But
the genins and skill of the Roman en-
glneers, If the Romans built the embank-
ment, gave it those unequalled facilities
for traffic that have secured its COM
merclal supremacy in every age. By the
embankment the Thames was confined
within bounds; many acres Of land were
added to the agricultural domain, while
along the fine highways of the river a
ceaseless procession of vessels Of every
size and form moved up and down. They
came, as Strapo tells US, from the mouths
of the Louire and the Garonne, the Seine
and the Rhine. Some were war ships,
moved usually by oars. and distinguished
by their sharp beaks of iron, and their
crews armed with spears and shields; some
were huge merchant vessels, propelled BY
oars and sail, laden with rich cargoes of
eastern manufactures, with the wines of
Italy, and the artistic wares of Greece;
some sailing down the river from the
docks of London, would carry the tin,
lead, furs, and TIE corn and cattle of the
west to the ports of Gaul and Spain.
Julian found in Britain the necessary
supplies for his perishing soldiers in
Germany, aud the immense store he drew
from it when famine prevailed on the
continent show the general cultivation
and prosperity Of the island. His six
hundred corn ships were hastily built in the
forest OF Ardennes, and possibly landed
only on the southern shore; If we allow
them burden of one hundred tons each,
they would equal the capacity of at least
six Umprias or Etrurias, and the very
name of our modern argosies recalls the
Italian teachers of our ancestors.
Roman London" by EUGENE LAW
nee, in wallpapers Magazine for May