Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1891-06-06
TuETHAMEs EMBANKMENT.
a wonderful Work of Engineering, The
History OF Which is Forgotten.

History OF Which is Forgotten
As the seat of an extensive commerce
and internal trade Roman London was
al eminent in antiquity as it IL to-day.
Its monuments, the memorials Of Its
greatness, prove its prominence. One OF
these, if it is Roman work which Is un-
certain, is the embanknent ct the river
Thames This immense work Is quite
unequalled by any Of the lahors of the
modern English engineers. Fer thirty
seven miles along the course Of ,he stream
lofty mounds conhne the river within fixed
bounds, and otfe~ 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 I0wiands, and
left des0latiUn around them The En-
lish 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 lon this
unequalled work no history relates, no
record even suggests. Some authorities
3
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, and 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 Haytl
and Cuba by the Spanish discoyeror,
but they outliyed their conqueror.
/ Before these embankmeuts were made,
( the country below London was an immense
/ fen, or marsh, over which the tide flowed
! incessantly The town could have been
4 only a 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-
/ gineers, 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 var ships,
moved usually by oars, and distinguished
! by their sharp beaks OF iron, and their
crews armed with spears and shields; some
I were huge merchant vessels, propelled b
oars and sail, laden with rich cargOes oil
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 builtl the
forest or Ardennes, and possibly landed
only on the southern shore; ii we allow
/ them burden OF one hundred tons each
/ they would equal the capacity o. at least
six Umprias or Etrurias, anu the very
name Of our modern argosies recalls the
/ Italian teachers Of our ancestors From
Roman London 10y EUGENE Law
NOE, in wallpapers Magazine tor May