The record-union., 1892-06-11
special Correspondence of the RECORD
UNION. Copyright. 1921
sA1IsRrRy Eng4, Nav % 1900

Especial Correspondence of the RECORD
UNION. Copyright. 1892.l
SALISBURY (Eng.), May %, 1892.
One cannot help really admiring Eng
lishmen all the more because they love
their tight little island" with an arrant,
defiant and uncompromising unreason-
;-bleness.
The admiration is not for their often
lnulish and sodden defense of some feat
ures OF English government, nor for all
English institutions, nor for some very
unpleasant English things and people.
IL is because every square acre of Eng
land is so endearing in its age, association
and beauty, and those VINO possess it will
justly brook no belittlement Of it all: any
more than you would let some smart
stranger come into your home and sneer
at your sweetest and most cherished, il
simple, belongings -beautitied, by effort,
hallowed by time and use, even more
tenderly loved for your own errors and
shortcomings = without pitching both
him and his airs incontinently into the
highway.
ii is such a beautiful country; such a
well-kept and delicious old garden such
snlhng land in sunshine and snug and
comfortable one in storm, and withaI
gives TO the stranger within it such a
sense OF constant interest, coupled with
close human companionship and SYM
pathles, the cynic and prig and incapable
OF interest in any land but his own
though he be, he cannot now and then
repress kindling enthusiasm, be here
and there pricked into secret admiration:
In this place and that find tender and as
ltnf a-f hTxxr ,..1 Il
IL may be to his determined American
Ism," in spite of himself melt under its
lnnumeraDle appeals to his heart and in
tellect, until its good and sunny face
cozens his frigidity. into a bright, re-
sponsive look, and unwittingly his tongue
pays tribute with:
Dear old England! most venerable
and mellow in all thing, most cantanker-
Gus and obstinate in many, thy face has
kinShlp and kingship in it, and thou art
brightest and loveliest Of all strange
lands ~
And never will this be truer than when,
after tidy breakfast at some quiet old
city inn, at peace with all the worId-or
all that can get at you-you are whirled
away from the CRIME and slime of Lon
don over the London and Southwestern
Hallway, across the shires OF Surrey and
Hants, 10 ancient Salisbury town.
In tnat less than two hours journey,
e on an English day in May-time, what in
Vulnerable scenes Of interest, of stirring
quality and Of restfulness and repose flash
upon you from your carriage window !
Passing from Waterloo station, or from
any other railway station in the heart of
London, through the lessening densities
OF the wonderful city to the first reaches
OF grassy fields, is in itself a tremendous
social object lesson and historic pano-
rama.
But here to the left is gay old EPSON.
Over yonder, to the right, is brilliant AS
cot, with the vast and turreted home of
England's Queen, at Windsor, leaden
gray silhoutte piercing the sky beyond.
10 the south sweeps
''-the downs of Bansted edged with woods
And towry villas"
while at Woking a glimpse is caught of
great English gypsy encampment.
NhlSklng into HantS, or Hampshire
you pass Oldham, birthplace OF the gram
marian William Lilly; and to the north
lie Basing, site Of one of the lordliest
castles OF early England, and Slichester,
to this day an eXhaustless mine of Roman
remains. Within its walls the usurper
Constantine was invested withthe purple:
and legend has 1t that King Arthur here
received his crown. Further toward the
sea, near Alresford, are the great Itch
BONE estates; the sleepy hamlet of King
Sambourn, where John of Gaunt had his
trowning head and Roman encampment:
and beyond, the low, square tower of
Winchester, behind which the purple
fringe OF woods hints Of New Forest
depths, where the arrow from Tyrreps
bow pierced the heart of rutlian Rufus.
England S second Norman King.
These are a few OF the things one will
know about from the books. Still more
gratefully teastiul are the things one viii
see and feel, as innumerable haulets
houses and halls are passed. Glorious
old manor houses flash from parks and
demesne forests. Thatched roofs of VIII
lage homes, yellow with lichen. are
varied here and there by red tiling. Az
enueS o. ancient elnls, beech anu lines
give tempting yistas above broad roads.
tesselated with lights and shades, and as
gray and smooth rs some old cathedral
floor. Cropped hedges, with trim, tiny
helds, give place here and there to downs
rolling away in biilowy hills of heather,
spangled with the golden asphodel or
wide meadows and tiny marshes where
Ilames the yellow marigold, or where the
forget-nle-notS are so dense and blue that
their surface seems like q breeze ripDled
pool. hawthorn lanes are white above
and beneath as banks OF driven snow.
Great masses of honeysuczle trail from
copse and hedge, and in, around and
above all this May-time nature heaven
thrushes and blackbirds, high above the
roaring OF your train, flood all the morn
with song.
Almost enraptured one descends into
the valleys of the downs of South Wilt
shire. Here, where the tiny Bourne, the
Southern Avon, the Nadder and the
Wiley songfully meet in rich and beau
tlful valley, are seen the gray masses of
the old cathedral town.
Old as 1t is 1t was originally built piece
by piece out OF the Sarum, 1.-THE dry
place." of the Romans. Old and New
Sarum, the site of the old city and the
new city itself are called. As you ap-
proach Salisbury, down the windinp
course of the Bourne, you will see the
old Roman station to your right, about
two miles north of the city. 1t stands
upon chalky eminence, the headland of
ridge of downs dominating all the
beautiful valley below.
No one knows how long before its oc-
cupatlon by the Romans it had been a
fortified British camp. Six great roads.
still traceable, led up to it, and when
Rome conquered Britain, Vespasian's
leglons gave 1t still more imposing forti-
flcauons. A town was built about it. 1t
was IN turn bishoprie of the West Sax
ons, great Norman garrison, an Eng
iish cathedral city from the time of King
Alfred, and now, though for centuries in
ruins, 1t is still TO the antiquary and
archeologlst one of the many marvels OF
England's early days
Serene and reposeful is all the valley
scene-the gray old city with its masses
of stone, red roofs and splendid foliage:
with its marvellous cathedral spire pierre
ing a cloudless sky; the messy bridges
with parapet loiterers. the outlying farms
and sleepy hamlets, and the silyery rivers
threading through and among odorous
hedges and fiowery meads. But awful
slaughter has Redeemed and enriched the
volley; Britons and Romans in mortal
-: H.,