Charlevoix county herald., 1911-11-11


M agination of men who remem-
Der history, was taken through
London few days ago, and
now lies in a back yard OF the palace
of Kensington. 1t was the wreck or
an old boat. with timbers blackened
and rotted in the deep mud where so
many secrets Of the past lie buried
beneath this modern London OF ours
Other relics OF the past have been
found there, including skull and
some bones, and in the illustration the
modern civil engineer is thus shown
as grave digger.
Digging down for the foundations
of the new county hall at Westmin-
ster, workmen had struck their spades
against the ribs of that old boat skel-
eton, and then had revealed its shape
and size. 1t was a Roman galley.
built of oak that grew In Gaul when
Pan was worshiped in the woods, two
thousand years ago. The timbers were
hoisted on to a trolley, and working
men who had escaped, or recovered,
from the strike fever drove their load
through the streets OF London, and
then through Kensington Gardens.
What have you got there, mates"
was shouted by soldier encamped In
the gardens after strike duty, and the
answer came back, "A Roman barge,
Bill. Friends, Romans, countrymen-
what's that we used to learn?"
A Roman boat! A queer kind OF
craft TO be dragged through London
so queer that If we may believe the
reporters, soldier of the Army Ser
vice corps had a strange thrill down
his spine as though the ghost of some
old general were passing. Perhaps he
had read something about the Roman
iegions. He pulled himself up and
saiuted the old timbers as they were
drawn past.
That is a good story. / should like
10 have seen that British soldier salut-
ing the wreck of the Roman galley. 1t
was a salute across the ages, from i'm
perial London TO imperial Rome, from
a soldier of King George to Caesars
Iegions. 1t would not have been ridicu-
lous If the last voyage of that boat
had been made into pageant, with
soldiers guarding the line of route,
presenting arms, and playing solemn
march music, as the relic went by, for
here in those blackened timbers is
the cradle of English history, and
each plank Of them is bridge across
which We may pass from London OF
this twentieth century to Londinium
which was built upon the Thames
bank by the men who came in this
old craft, not only with swords to kill,
but with the wisdom and the virtues
of an imperial E1ce, and with the law
which they gave to their conquered
peoples.
Who shall sing the song OF that
boat? Who shall tell her tale? Our
imagination only may go voyaging in
hei upon the sea of adventure since
that day when strong brown hands ran
her down upon the beach below cliff
of Ganl, and Roman soldiers, leaping
in. rowed her across the dancing
waves or through the thick gray mist
to- this island, almost all the world
away" as Virgil wrote. Who shall
say that these very timbers did not
form part of that fleet OF eighty gal
leys in which julius Caesar came to
Britain forty-five years before the
birth of Christ? Perhaps Caesar him
self sat in the stern of his boat, star
Ing in his grim. silent way, with
hawks eyes, at the unknown land
whose white cliffs rose up before him
as the long oars swept the water
Upon the shore that day the British
cbieftains stood with their warriors
and priests. ready TO defend their
land against these strange invaders.
who raised their flashing swords. The
Roman soldiers rested on their oars,
afraid to land In the face OF such a
strong foe. In one of the boats-was
this the boat?-a standard bearer