From the Thames to the Tiber

Joseph Wardle

Joseph Wardle

From the Thames to the Tiber / or, My visit to Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, Switzerland, etc

“Go, little book, God send the good passage,

And specially let this be thy prayer:

Unto them all that thee will read or hear,

Where thou art wrong, after their help to call,

Thee to correct in any part or all.”

    —CHAUCER.

CHAPTER I

London: Its teeming millions of population: Its commercial aspect: Leaving Victoria Station for New Haven: On the Boat: New found friends: Landing at Dieppe: Leaving for Paris: Rouen, its Cathedral, etc.

We had settled to have a holiday—not a mere pic-nic, not a week-end at Blackpool, or a tour of a few days in the Isle of Man—but a real first-class, out-and-out trip.  Where then is it to be?  Why, to Rome and back, came the reply.  From St. Paul’s in London, the largest city in the world, to St. Peter’s in Rome, one of the great cities of the ancient world.

“To Rome!” my friends said in astonishment.

“Yes! to Rome.”  There seems to be magic in the very word.  Rome—The Eternal City.  The city of the seven hills.  The city of which St. Paul was proud to be a citizen.  See Acts, chapter 22, verse 25.  “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, uncondemned?” verse 28.  “Then the Chief Captain came and said unto him.  Tell me, art thou a Roman?”  He said, “Yes.”

Rome stands for power.В  Her proud eagles once swept their wings over almost the then known world.В  Rome stands for antiquity, greatness, wealth, splendour, conquest and colonization, liberty, law, self control, prowess, skill.В  But, alas!В  It also stands for cruelty, luxury, strife, war, humiliation, decay, decline.

This is the objective really of our holiday.В  Now it is settled, ways and means, and the route, etc., are but details.В  Packing!В  Well, I am a poor hand at packing.В  I think it must be a gift to be able to pack well.В  I think a good packer must be born, not made.В  If I pack, sure as fate, the things I want first are at the bottom of the trunk.В  My dear little wife, to whom I owe much for packing and general comfort during the tour, and, indeed, I owe to her well-kept journal, much that assists me to make this record of our holiday.

On the 25th September, 1907, we found ourselves en route for London, followed by the good wishes and prayers of loved ones left behind, also of the many friends we knew had kind thoughts of us.  We reached London about 6 p.m., and were soon snug and comfortable in “The Manchester Hotel.”  We had no time and no special wish just now to see London.  London cannot be seen in a day or two.  Its magnitude bewilders, having a population of about 7,000,000, and for its teeming millions, there is need of bread, milk, beef, clothes, work, etc.  We cannot understand at a glance what it means.  In London we have the largest breweries, distilleries, and sugar refineries in the Kingdom; also many metal manufacturers and machine makers, including: plate, jewellery, watches, brass works, and all kinds of tin and zinc works; large printing and publishing houses; also, as you know, large millinery and tailoring establishments; cabinet-making on a most extensive scale, leather-working, coopering, coach-building, ship-building, hat-making, extensive chemical works, soap manufacturing and dye works; also dock labourers, ’bus drivers, cab drivers, tram guards and drivers, railway men and engine drivers, policemen, postmen, ministers of religion, there being over 3,000 churches in this great city, and many other means of living besides the few I have mentioned.  Then there are its hotels, as “The Manchester Hotel” where we are staying, “The Midland Grand,” “Grand Hotel,” Trafalgar Square, “The Victoria Hotel” in Northumberland Avenue.  Many more offering accommodation to the tens of thousands of visitors to this great city from all lands.  We cannot refrain from mentioning the rel