Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-05-11
REAu4IEs OF BRITAIN.
Island Rich in Scenery and Historical
Associations.

IF my fellow-countrymen would
fully realize ,the varied beauties of
English scenery and the vast wealth
of England's historical associations,
they must come west" Thus wrote
John Lothrop Motley, while revising
the proofs of the Rise of the Dutch
Republic" in one of those verdant and
picturesque Dorsetshire valleys STOP
ing gently upward from the sea coast
toward the Via fnceiana, that great
western road of Roman times of which
unmistakable traces can still be iden-
tined at various points between Dor
chester and Exeter, The words or Mot
ley may be taken as correctly describ-
ing the singular pieturesaueness of al
most the whole of that vast tract of
country. TO every part of which the
Great Western railway affords rapid
and convenient access
Travelling in England is no longer the
exclusive privilege of the millionaire,
aud il is now possible, at very mod
crate cost to explore, within the space
OF few weeks, all the chief points of
antiquarian. scenic or commercial in
terest lying between Paddington and
Penzanee on the one side, and Liver
pool, Fishguard and Weymouth on the
other. Many noteworthy places have
given their names to prosperous and
populous townships and even states of
the other side of the Atlantic, the citi-
Zens If which now take special pleas
nre in visiting the former localities, not
infrequenuy In quest OF some remote
ancestor, who may turn out to be the
founder of a powerful New England
family
This distinction can be claimed by
the cities of Bath. Chester. Bristol.
Gloucester. Salisbury. Manchester.
Winchester. Wells. oxford. Worcester.
Birmingham and Liverpool. and. among
Others, by the towns of plymouth,
Reading, Dorchester Milford, Lean
lington. Weymouth. Taunton, Newport
and wellington, as wep as by the PEN
Ursula of Portland and the Island of
Jersey A frequent exchange of hos
pitalisy takes place nowadays between
the corporations of towns bearing the
same name, but situate beyond the
seas. The recent representation of the
daughter" Baths of the new world at
the Bath pageant of 1909 may be re-
garded as an instance of the linking of
the old world with the new.
Americans row commence their explo-
ration of England) that the Pilgrim Fa-
Tiers set sail on that momentous voy-
age of the Mayhower of which the ter
centenary is now not many years ahead
of us There are at least forty .daugh-
ter Plymouths beyond the seas.
1t is from PaddIngton that the trav-
eler must start for Royal Windsor, or
a f.,fx nv
petition into Shakespeares country
which is destined hereafter to become
one of the most cherished and agree
able memories of his never-to-b be for
gotten English tour The very names
of Windsor. oxford, Stratford-on-A Avon
and Bath suffice To conjure up visions
of those gleries and traditions of which
the American and the Englishman are
today equally proud. II our visitor has
fancy for the folk lore of remote an
tiquity he can investigate the Arthur
an legend ''in stu either on the cliffs
of Cornwall or amid the rocks of Sicily
or in Avalonian Glastonbury itself. The
student Of ecclesiastical history or me-
dievai architecture will be able to COM
press visit TO many of the famous
cathedrals of England into single
fortnight, or even less.
| Possibly the traveller is specially in
terested in the battlefeids of history.
| II this is so. he will be pleased to know
| that in many instances the Great Wes-
| tern railway passes In close proximity
| to notable British. Roman and Saxon
| earthworks or intrenchments which
| have survived the ravages of centuries
| and still retain much of their original
| appearance; that il is alike the key 70
| such celebrated scenes of medieval con-
| test as Shrewsbury and Evesham, and
| to the spots which Witnessed a large
| proportion of the fercest fights and
/ sieges of the Civil war. such as those
/ which took place at Worcester. Glou-
| cester, Newbury. oxford. Landsdown
Hill and elsewhere.
Bath is to England what Spa was
to Europe. Its literary and social his
tory is only an epitome of that OF
| England itself. but II is by no means
| the only inland health resort of which
| the Great Western railway can boast
for cheltenham, bennington. Malvern
| Clifton. Droitwich and Church Stretton
| present in turn powerful attractions To
the travellers of all nations 1t Is IN
the west that We must look for the
| traces (rapidiy becoming fainter and
| fainter) of many of those great men
i and women whose talents and industry
| have helped to build up the common
i language and common literature OF
(which all English-speaking countries
should be equally proud 1t Is super
fluous TO speak of Oxford with Its mus
| ter roll of renowned divines and IA
nous scholars Silent homage to the
| enormous influence of alma mater from
| every point of view Is offered year ar
| ter year by the thousands of apprecia-
tive visitors who throng its deserted
/ halls, chapels and quadrangles each
| succeeding long vacation. Bath also
| possesses list of worthless almost
equally lengthy and important; but
| there are few localities in the west OF
| England. however remote. which have
| not contributed some notable addition
| to the ranks of the great statesmen
| warriors, theologians, philosophers
/ fsto i1fa ny