I lingered
long in Porchester, indeed till sundown. Nothing in all England rightly
understood is more reverent than this great ruin, not even the Wall.
It, too, like that great northern barrier, was built in our defence by
our saviours against our worst foes the barbarians, the pagans. It,
too, was an outpost of civilisation and of the Faith against the
darkness. Wherever Rome has passed, there a flower will blow for ever,
wherever Rome has been, there is light, wherever Rome has built, there
is something which moves us as nothing else can do, and not least here
in England of my heart upon the verge of the Saxon shore, while we
recall the past at evening and question the future, the future which
will not be known.
CHAPTER XVII
SOUTHAMPTON
When I left Porchester I went on into Fareham to sleep, and next
morning set out by train, for it was raining, to go to Clausentum.
Before I left the railway, however, the weather began to clear, and
presently the sun broke through the clouds, so that when I came into
Clausentum the whole world was again full of joy.
Clausentum, which even to-day, is not without charm was as I understand
it, the mother of Southampton, a Roman, perhaps even a Celtic
foundation, for its name Clausentum is certainly of Celtic origin.
Pages:
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329