DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1213#0129
CHAPTER VII.
THE THAMES.
SOURCE OF THE RIVER----ITS VARIOUS NAMES — WINDSOR
CASTLE—ETON COLLEGE----HAMPTON COURT—KINGSTON-
ON-THAMES—TWICKENHAM----RICHMOND—KEW GARDENS
— ISLEWORTH — BRENTFORD ---- CHISWICK — HAMMER-
SMITH----FULHAM----PUTNEY—WANDSWORTH----BATTERSEA
— LAMBETH PALACE, ETC.
"We now purpose to review that noble stream upon which
the capital is seated—the Thames, equally famed for the
rare argosies of wealth which float upon its bosom, and for
the exquisite scenery which diversifies its banks from Ciren-
cester to Gravesend. And upon the banks of this noble
river, once crowded with royal and baronial residences, the
ancient and modem edifices that are yet to be found
attest, that although the Thames is no longer a silent
highway, its immediate localities are the favourite abodes
of the learned, the great, the wealthy. The ancient castle
of Windsor; Lambeth Palace; that gorgeous pile of our
own day, the new Houses of Parliament; and the Tower
of London, that fine old fortress, the walls of which are
impressive chroniclers of the past annals of England; are
alone sufficient to impart celebrity to the shores of any
river, however famed in ancient song or modern history.
Sir John Denham thus apostrophises the chief of English
rivers:—
"Nor are his blessings to his banks confined,
But free and common as the sea or wind,
When he to boast or to disperse his stores,
Full of the tributes of his grateful shores,
Visits the world, and in his flying towers
Brings home to us, and makes both Indies ours;
Finds wealth where 'tis, bestows it where it wants,
Cities in deserts, woods in cities plants;
So that to us nothing, no place is strange,
While his fair bosom is the world's exchange !"
THE THAMES.
SOURCE OF THE RIVER----ITS VARIOUS NAMES — WINDSOR
CASTLE—ETON COLLEGE----HAMPTON COURT—KINGSTON-
ON-THAMES—TWICKENHAM----RICHMOND—KEW GARDENS
— ISLEWORTH — BRENTFORD ---- CHISWICK — HAMMER-
SMITH----FULHAM----PUTNEY—WANDSWORTH----BATTERSEA
— LAMBETH PALACE, ETC.
"We now purpose to review that noble stream upon which
the capital is seated—the Thames, equally famed for the
rare argosies of wealth which float upon its bosom, and for
the exquisite scenery which diversifies its banks from Ciren-
cester to Gravesend. And upon the banks of this noble
river, once crowded with royal and baronial residences, the
ancient and modem edifices that are yet to be found
attest, that although the Thames is no longer a silent
highway, its immediate localities are the favourite abodes
of the learned, the great, the wealthy. The ancient castle
of Windsor; Lambeth Palace; that gorgeous pile of our
own day, the new Houses of Parliament; and the Tower
of London, that fine old fortress, the walls of which are
impressive chroniclers of the past annals of England; are
alone sufficient to impart celebrity to the shores of any
river, however famed in ancient song or modern history.
Sir John Denham thus apostrophises the chief of English
rivers:—
"Nor are his blessings to his banks confined,
But free and common as the sea or wind,
When he to boast or to disperse his stores,
Full of the tributes of his grateful shores,
Visits the world, and in his flying towers
Brings home to us, and makes both Indies ours;
Finds wealth where 'tis, bestows it where it wants,
Cities in deserts, woods in cities plants;
So that to us nothing, no place is strange,
While his fair bosom is the world's exchange !"