The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-09-26 00:00:00

The FREE OPENING of the TOWER
of LONDON. _ .

A public meeting of the working men of the district
was held on Monday evening, at the Mission-hall,
Rosamond-street, Clerkenwell, with the object of
initiating a movement for the free opening of the
tower on Saturdays. The chair was taken by Mr.
Hepworth Dixon, supported by the Rev. R. Maguire
and other inflential inhabitants 44 the locality.

The Chairman said that although about to start on
the following evenieg for America on a six months'
tour, he had not been able to resist the calls made on
him to initiate this truly national movement. The
Tower of London was a building the possession of
which the proudest dynasty in Europe might envy
England. (Hear, hear.) It was a building which in
mere antiquity went back to the time of the Romans,
and yet was fresh and habitable at the present day.
The next oldest building in Europe, the Bourg of
Vienna, was quite modern compared to the 'rower,
and the next oldest, the Borgia Wing of the Vatican
at Rome, was far more modern still. The Tower
of Loudon was in fact a thousand years older
than the next oldest building in Europe. (Cheers.) The
Chairman passed from the antiquity to the history of
the Tower, and glanced at its various incidents. The
sad fate of Maud the Fair, the victim of John, it was,
he said, that roused England to the mat battle the
triumph of which was the granting of Magna ('harts.
He should be glad, if still in England, to escort the
working men over the Tower, and explain its incidents
stone by stone. (Hear, hear.) He would lead them
to the chamber in which the princes were murdered,
and to the other one in which Ridley and Latimer
came to the resolution of dying in the faith of the Re
formation. The working men of England had a right
of free ingress to the Tower, in order that they might
there study the great points of their country's history.
In a chamber in the 'rower Raleigh wrote his his-
tory of the world, and invented the frigate, a form of
warship which enabled England to grapple successfully
with the monster galleons of the Spanish navy. There
was a white-faced tenement within the Tower which
had once been occupied by Lady Jane Grey, but
which was now unfortunately closed to the public.
From a window in that tenement Lady Jane leaked
down upon her father-in-law and the Earl of Warvvick
going to recant their faith to save their lives ; but
she stood firm to the end, and she, the child
Queen, endured and resisted to the last what had ap
palled and crushed the spirit of stout soldiers. (Cheers).
Such were a few of the memories of the Tower, which
was in fact, the history of England preserved in
stone; the history of Ann Bob yan, of Queen Eliza-
beth, and of nearly all the great personages of our
land. His opinion was that this great national record
should be freely unsealed, as was the came in France,
in Russia, and in nearly all the European countries.
'rhe thing might easily be done in the case of the
Tower, because there was no vested interest against
it. No Secretary of State would oppose it, but
perhaps some permanent subordinate official who
feared a little extra trouble. Ten years ago he had
been resisted in his object of examining the public
records by such an official, but, thanks to the
firmness of Lord Stanley and Lord Lytton, the
understrapper's resistance was overcome, and the
national archives were al' now accessible in the new
building in Fetter-lane. He believed that if the working
men of London wished earnestly to have the Tower
thrown open, they would not be resisted by Mr.
Disraeli, who was so anxious to be in sympathy and
accord with the working man. The revenue of the
Tower was not more than 1..2 or £3 a day, which was
paid to the Treasury, not to the Tower servants, and
therefore need not stand for a moment in the way of
what would be a great national benefit. The charge
for admission to the Tower was the vilest tax upon
knowledge that had ever been invented, and it must be
abolished. (Loud cheers.)
The first resolution, declaring the expediency of
opening the Tower of London as a free exhibition one
day in the week, was moved by Mr. Ryan, who testi-
fied to the benefit which had already been conf erred by
the throwing open of public buildings to working men
especially the opening of Westminster Abbey on
Saturdays by the generosity of Dean Stanley. (Cheers.)
The motion was seconded by Mr. Brighty, and
supported by Mr. Barrett, who however thought that
two days in the week should be asked for, namely,
Monday and Saturday. The suggestion was embodied
in the resolution, which was carried unanimously.
The following memorial, moved by the Rev. Mr.
Maguire and seconded by Blr. Sheil was next agreed
to :

TO THE RIGHT HON. BENJAMIN DISRAELI.
The undersigned working men and others interested in
the spread of education amongst the industrial classes beg
respectfully to bring under your notice the disadvantages
attending the present opening of the Tower of London with
the view of soliciting your sanction to the opening of the
Tower at least one day in the week free of charge. The
historical associations connected with that stately pile,
which has played so varied and interesting a part in the
history of this nation, form an important branch of
study, and one which is fully deserving of the best at-
tention of the working classes. The impetus given to
the development of education by the establishment of
School Hoards would derive additional strength if the
school children were enabled to spend an occasional
half-holiday in visiting that building, which is the visible
witness of many great and strong episodes of the past. A
large majority of the intelligent portion of the masses
would frequently be glad of an opportunity of visiting, with
their wives and families, this great national institution, but
the fees charged for admisaion are more than they can afford.
Upon the Continent no charge is made for admission to the
national institutions, and that system appears to work ad-
vantageously. Your memorialists believe that the amount
derived from admisaion-fees payable into the Imperial
Treasury for one day in the week would be comparatively
small, and the loss to the Treasury would be counterbalanced
by the benefits which would be conferred on the industrial
and other classes by the grant of the boon asked for. The
free opening of the Tower for one day in the week would be
hailed with satisfaction and gratitude by every member of
tho working-classes in the metropolis. In conclusion, the
memorialist pray the First Lord of the Treasury to abolish
the fees charged for admission to the Tower at least one
day during the week.

- -
The proceedings terminated with the usual vote of
thanks.

In reference to the foregoing, the Daily News, in a leader,
says
The movement, commenced by a meeting on Mon-
day, for the free opening of the Tower of London, on
one day at least in the week, is one to which we wish
a speedy and a successful issue. The fact that this
castle is a national monument is, in itself, a sufficient
reason why, like the public museums and picture
galleries, it should be open, at certain times, and with
due precautions against damage from careless or
mischievous persons, without any charge whatever.
The Tower of London has, however, a pre-eminent
attraction for visitors, and stands foremost among
the famous sights of the City; it is the first place
which a foreigner, and especially an American,
desires to see; and there is not a schoolboy who
would not forego even the pleasure of climbing up the
Monument rather than that of visiting the Tower.
The ancient fortress, where all our Sovereigns, from
William, its builder, to James 1., held their Court, is
associated with every chapter in the Chronicles of
England. It was in the Tower that the struggles
of Kings, the overthrow of rebels, the intrigues of
nobles, with their following of judicial murders,
legal executions, and the long torture of imprison-
ment, were brought to their final catastrophe.
Almost everything that is dramatic, picturesque
or pathetic in the history of England may be con-
nected with this stately pile round whose buildings
cluster most of the events which give interest to the
annals of our country. Very few of the many tra-
gedies which lie in every page of our national records
live in the minds of the people, and probably the
White Tower conveys to the ordinary visitor less than
half-a-dozen recollections of the dim and shadowy
past. Many young lives have been sacrificed,
and much noble promise has been blighted, in
the Tower of London; but the visitor, unless his
memory. be jogged by the Beefeater, thinks chiefly
of the infant princes murdered in their sleep, and
of Lady Jane Grey, the most innocent victim of
all. As for Edward, Earl of Warwick, the last
male Plantagenet; or Lord Surrey, poet and scholar;
er the Duke of Monmouth, or the Earl of Derwent-
water, he knows little of them. So, too, there have
been many long and cruel imprisonments in these
dungeons; but the memory of one has overshadowed
and swallowed up all the rest. We have agreed to re.
member especially the captivity of Sir Walter Raleigh
who spent thirteen years in this prison, years to which
we owo his ‘• History of the World." It is not for his
writings that the prisoner is remembered, mince prob.
ably the works of Sir Walter Raleigh are no more
read by the populace nowadays than they were
on their first appearance; he survives because the
nation has not forgotten how a man who deserved the
best of his country received the worst. But what
about the other illustrious prisoners? There was
once a French prince, Charles of Orleans, under
English ward for five and twenty years, most of
them in the Tower. He wrote charming poems in
English as well as French; but who remembers
him' There are, too, the names, well nigh for-
gotten by the casual' visitor, of Fisher, Bacon,
Stratford, Russell, and Sidney, enough by themselves
to make the walls of a prison illustrious for ever.
Who, again, among the hundreds of weekly visitors to
this old stronghold have ever heard that here have been
confuted Jeremy Taylor, Samuel Pepys, Penn, John
Wilkes, Horne Tooke, and Sir Francis Burdett?
Vastly, would it greatly add to the respect of most
Orators to be told that Chaucer, clerk of works under
Richard 11., perhaps wrote here his "Testament of
Love " ? The reverence with which we consecrate the
site of many memories is in exact proportion to our
knowledge, and the yenise Nei is a phantom invisible
to unlearned eyes.
But the Tower has other associations than those
which belong to the gloomy chronicle of murders,
beheadings and dungeons. It was for many centuries
the headquarters of the Court. According to tradition
there has been a castle here from the occupation of
the Romans. Shakespeare aslopts the popular legend
that Julius (Wear built a fort on its site, "which since
succeeding ages have re-edified," and while there seems
nothing more certain than that the most ancient part
ot the Uhite Tower itself was built by William the
Conquoror, it is also known that older foundations,
with Rowan o ns, have been found to exist beneath
ehe ground. However that may be, it was enlarged
and etrengthened, often in despite of the Londoner's
lealougy, by almost every.,King in succession; it has
heed the scene of splendid Court festivities ; it has
always had its own officers, from Constable to
Beefeater or Yeoman; lb has its peculiar customs
and privileges, and it had, for six hundreds years, the
Royal menagerie' a lion being always named after the
reigning King. For visitors who would rather not be
asked to paw an examination in English history, there
are the splendid collections of arms and armour.
Under the stare, circles, and quaint devices in glitter-
rig steel which adorn the walls are arranged specimens
of all those inventions with which men have sought
to kill each other, and to protect themselves.
Here they are all : the two-handed sword, dear
to the lover of old romance ; the shield, the coat
of mail, the long pikes of which we have read. Here
are the things whose very names, familiar as they
eeem, convey no imaginary figure to the mind, and
which we see for the first time, such as partieanee
and spontoons. Older things than thew are here, such
as axes and spear-heads in bronze, and weapons of
flint. It needs little historical knowledge to realise
the thumbscrew, the "scavenger's daughter," the rack,
and the headsman's block; and, by way of keeping
up the connection between the past and the present,

he is the principal storehouse for modern small arms,
and hero, the visible golden symbols f royal great-
ness, are the sceptre, orb, and crown that belong to
coronations.

. . . The Tower, like the British Museum, conveys
instruction only to those who bring knowledge before-
hand; to the ignorant it is dumb, or at best only
curious, , quaint, and prettily decorated. There are,
however, many ways in which the Tower might be
made instructive. A larger portion nght be thrown
open to public inspection; parties might be conducted
round the Castle, while some one gave an ambulatory
addrees, as is done at the gatherings of the Archteological
Societies. Above all, visitors ought to be allowed to re-
main MI long in each room as they desire. It might be
objected that the nature of the collections would make
this dangerous. But it has not proved so at South
Kensington and the British museum, and we need
have little fear of mischief when we consider that to
purloin a battle-axe, to secrete a culverin, or to walk
away unnoticed with the helmet of an Ironside,
would be an enterprise fraught with every chance of
detection.