We have the honour to submit to the public a “Book of the
Thames, from its Rise to its Fall,” hopeful that our readers
may share with us the enjoyment we have so long, and so often,
derived from the “King of Island Rivers!”
We have traced the bountiful river from the bubbling well out
of which it issues, in the meadow by Trewsbury Mead—its lonely
birthplace—through its whole course, gathering tributaries, and
passing with them through tranquil villages, populous towns,
and crowded cities; ever fertilizing, ever beautifying, ever
enriching, until it reaches the most populous city of the
modern or the ancient world, forming thence the GREAT HIGHWAY
by which a hundred Nations traverse the globe.