Spenser's English Rivers. 93 



having- for their noble service in the warres deserved great com- 

 mendations at the hands of the Romans, they gave tmto them the 

 whole freedome of Romans, whereby they were made Muni- 

 cipes, and became more free in truth than their Colonies could 

 be' (p. 322). A little earlier he says: 'It would seeme when 

 these ancient cities flourished that the same towne, which we 

 now call saint Albons, did most of all excell : but cheef elie in 

 the Romans time, and was not onelie nothing inferior to London 

 it selfe, but rather preferred before it,^^ bicause it was newer, 

 and made a Municipium of the Romans, whereas the other was 

 old and ruinous' (p. 321). Holinshed speaks more than once of 

 the ruins, which he says he had viewed with his own eyes 



(P- 323)- 



The genius of Verolam continues : 



To tell the beawtie of my buildings fayre, 

 Adornd with purest golde and precious stone, 

 To tell my riches, and endowments rare, 

 That by my foes are now all spent and gone, 

 To tell my forces, matchable to none, 

 Were but lost labour. . . . 



High towers, faire temples, goodly theaters. 

 Strong walls, rich porches, princelie pallaces, 

 Large streetes, brave houses, sacred sepulchers. 

 Sure gates, sweete gardens, stately galleries 

 Wrought with faire pillours, and fine imageries. 

 All those (O pitie!) now are turnd to dust.°* 



Says Harrison (p. 322) : 'Of the beautie of the citie it selfe 

 you shall partly understand by that which followeth at hand.' 

 He then tells how, in King Edgar's time, the abbot Eldred dug 

 in the ruins for material with which to embellish his abbey of 

 St. Alban's. 'He had no sooner begun to dig among the rubbis, 

 but he found an exceeding number of pillers, peeces of antike 

 worke, thresholds, doore frames, and sundrie other peeces of 

 fine masonrie for windowes and such like, verie convenient for 

 his purpose. Of these also some were of porphyrite stone, some 

 of diverse kinds of marble, touch, and alabaster, beside manie 

 curious devises of hard mettall. . . . Besides these also he 

 foimd sundrie pillers of brasse, and sockets of latton, alabaster 



°^ Cf. Ruins of Time 99-103. 

 "LI. 85-97. 



