And I so weary, fu' o' care."


Leaving Rainton, a sudden rise brings you to the _Roman Military Road_,
leading from Aldborough,[3] the Isurium of the Romans, to Inverness, in
Scotland. This road was repaired by the Empress Heleanae, and hence the
corruption, from her name, of Learning Lane, its present designation.
It was laid by the Romans, with stones of immense size, which have
frequently been dug up. The _Via Appia_, at _Rome_, which has lasted
1,800 years, resembles it in construction. Raised considerably above the
level of the country which it crosses, it is an object of wonder and
interest even to the illiterate, on account of the continuous perspective
it presents; there being no _bend_ in it for several miles. Traversing
this noble monument of art, how are we led to think on the "strange
mutations" which have overthrown kings and kingdoms in the period of its
duration, whilst the road remains "like an eternity:"


ON CROSSING THE ROMAN MILITARY ROAD, LEADING FROM ISURIUM TO THE NORTH.


O'er classic ground my humble feet did plod,
My bosom beating with the glow of song;
And high-born fancy walk'd with me along,
Treading the earth Imperial Caesar trod.

A thousand rural objects on the way
Had been my theme-but far-off years arose,
When ancient Britain bow'd beneath her foes,
Adding resplendence to great Caesar's day: