As we stand once more on Westminster Bridge and see the two great places, one on each side, where our lawmakers sit—those of the Nation and those of the great City—our glance falls on the dirty water of old Father Thames slipping by; and we think to ourselves that great statesmen may spring to fame and then die and leave England the poorer, governments good and bad may rise and fall, changes of all sorts may happen within these two stately buildings, the very stones may crumble to dust, but still the River flows on—silent, irresistible. BOOK III THE UPPER RIVER [Illustration: THE CASTLE KEEP, OXFORD.] THE UPPER RIVER CHAPTER ONE _Stripling Thames_ Just where the Thames starts has always been a matter of argument, for several places have laid claim to the honour of holding the source of this great national possession. About three miles south-west of Cirencester, and quite close to that ancient and famous highway the Ackman Street (or Bath fosseway), there is a meadow known as Trewsbury Mead, lying in a low part of the western Cotswolds, just where Wiltshire and Gloucestershire meet; and in this is situated what is commonly known as “Thames Head”—a spring which in winter bubbles forth from a hollow, but which in summer is so completely dried by the action of the Thames Head Pump, which drains the water from this and all other springs in the neighbourhood, that the cradle of the infant Thames is usually bone-dry for a couple of miles or more of its course. This spot is usually recognized as the beginning of the River. [Illustration: THAMES HEAD.] If, however, we consider that the source of a river is the point at greatest distance from the mouth we shall have to look elsewhere; for the famous “Seven Streams” at the foot of Leckhampton Hill, from which comes the brook later known as the River Churn, can claim the distinction of being a few more miles from the North Sea; and this distinction has frequently been recognized as sufficient to grant the claim to be the true commencement. But the Churn has always been the Churn (indeed, the Romans named the neighbouring settlement from the stream—Churn-chester or Cirencester); and no one has ever thought of calling it the Thames. Whereas the stream beginning in Trewsbury Mead has from time immemorial been known as the Thames (Isis is only an alternative name, not greatly used in early days); and so the verdict of history seems to be on its side, whatever geography may have to say.