The Sun.
London, England, 1861-02-23 00:00:00

XIT.

While Edward was moving slowly along through the
crowd, his attention was caught by a fantastic little figure,
which at first he took for a monkey, but on examining the
grotesque object more narrowly, he found it to be human
—though the smallest specimen of full-grown humanity
he had ever set eyes upon. Attired in a tiny doublet
of bright orange-coloured satin puffed out with white,
with hose to match, the mannikin wore a scarlet cloth
mantle lined with sky-blue silk, about large enough to
cover the shoulders of a Barbary ape. In his hand the little
being held a flat bonnet of green velvet, which he waved
enthusiastically to the' king. The dwarf's features were
decidedly of a simous character, the nose being flat, with
wide nostrils, and having a long interval between it and the
mouth, and the hair being of a tawny hue, with a marked
resemblance to fur. The position occupied by this gro-
tesque little personage was such as enabled him to overlook
the royal party; he being perched on the broad shoulders
of a gigantic warder, whose colossal frame towered far
above the heads of the bystanders.

Standing as a pedestal below which pert little
manikin looms our burly familiar of days long ago—
when Mr. Ainsworth's illustrator, instead of John
Gilbert, was George Cruickshank—the giant warder
OG-BROTHER OF GOG AND MAGOG.
This tremendous son of A nak was quite as noticeable in
his way as his pigmy companion—more so, perhaps. His., , •
features were broad and good-humoured, and mightily'.'
pleased the king, who could not help regarding him with n".`
certain degree of wondering admiration. He was clad in
the scarlet cassock of a warder, with the rose and crown
embroidered on the front and back, and carried a partisan
almost as long as the spear of Goliath of Gath.

Later on here in the new narrative of our his-

tonic romance writer appears a more picturesque
figure still in some respects (also vividly borne in
remembrance in connection with The Tower of
London) the sinister and repulsive form of
MAULER THE HEADSMAN.
The aspect and demeanour of this personage were
savage and repulsive, and even the king's presence did not
seem to inspire him with much awe, though he rose on
Edward's appearance, and made 'a clumsy attempt at an
obeisance. The upper part of his frame was strongly,
though not stoutly built, the arms being remarkably mus-
cular, but his lower limb 3 were less powerful, and he seemed
to be halt of the right leg. His physiognomy was
singularly repulsive, the nose :being broad and flat,
and the eyes fierce and bloodshot ; the forehead
bald, and the hue of the skin dull and earthy. His
cheeks were clothed with a shaggy black beard, and the
sable luck:, left via either side oI ms Wad were wild and un •
kempt. His habiliments were of red serge, but above bis
doublet he wore a leathern jerkin, which was sullied with
dark stains, as if of blood. On his right hip he carried a
broad two-edged knife, protected by a sheath. But the
implement that proclaimed his revolting office was an execu-
tioner's axe. This he had not the grace to lay aside, but
continued to lean upon it while standing before the kind.
Another axo, similar in size and form, was reared against
the wall, and near it stood a two-lianded sword, sometimes,
though but rarely, employed in capital punishments.
When the headsman arose, it instantly became apparent
that the seat he had occupied was the block—and, more-
over, that it was a block which had been much used.
Turning, however, from old friends and familiars
like Xit and three giant warders of the Tower, we
follow Edward VI., at the novelist's behest, into
the privy garden early in the morning ; marking
him as he strolls there, studiously conning the
" Institutes of Justinian," referring occasionally to
another ponderous tome, Bracton's " De Legibus,"
borne behind him by John Fowler, the Boy-King's
faithful attendant—a wight of whom the writer
whimsically observes—

Ile was short and stout, by no means ill-favoured,
and wore a reddish sugar-loaf beard. Fond of
good cheer, he had usually a ruddy, jovial look,
and a droll, good-humoured expression of countenance ;
but his face was now pinched with cold, and his nose,
large, knobbed, and mulberry-coloured, was literally blue
with cold, and he had much ado to prevent his teeth from
chattering.
Here it is in the Privy Gardens of the Tower that
Edward, then merely a stripling, meets and con-
verses with the Lady Jane Grey, then a young
blooming slip of a maiden. This interview is
charmingly described—as is another graceful scene
a little later on introduced, more of alove scene.than
the one just particularised—the meeting between
Sir Thomas Seymour and the Princess Elizabeth,
when the latter is conducted to the Tower, from
Hertfordshire, by Sir Thomas Seymour's half-
Italian Esquire—Ugo Harrington. The contentions
(for influence over the youn g King) between the two
ambitious brothers, Sir Thomas Seymour, aid his
elder, the Earl of Hertford, the Lord Protector—
and the contentions (for precedence in the courtly
festivities) between the Dowager Queen Cathe-
rine Parr and the Countess of Hertford, wife of the
Lord Protector—are alike admirably and
powerfully depicted by Mr. Ainsworth. No
man now living perhaps is better " up" in the period
than the author of " The Tower of London," and its
sequel, " The Constable" of that ilk—certainly no
man is more admirably well acquainted with the
manners and customs of those far off times—in which
he moves like one' familiar to the age and
scene among clusters of his own creations
intermingled with well-known and many of them
world-famous historic characters. " The Constable
of the Tower"—we speak from our own experience
—is already repaying, in the Reader's delight, for
the evident care lavished upon it by the Romancist.

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AT THE LATE GENERAL
LYGoN'S.—BROADWAY, Feb. 21.—A fire broke out at the
residence of the late Gen. Lygon, at Spring-hill, near this
place, on Tuesday, which has proved most destructive. The
house had been unoccupied, except by domestics, since the
death of the General a few months ago, but on Tuesday
morning the servants were aroused by a sense of suffocation,
and en getting up i hey discovered that the butler's pantry
was on fire. The house is situate in a romantic position on
the Broadway Hill, but some miles from any town, so that
some time elapsed before fire-engines could be brought front
Campden, Broadway, and Moreton. In the meantime the
neighbouring farmers and their labourers were strenuously
employed in rescuing the pictures, furniture, and valuables
from the burning building, and by a judicious use of water
they succeeded in preventing the fire extending to the
principal suite of rooms. The late general's bedroom, Earl
Beauchamp's bedroom, the pantry, and several other rooms
near, however, were completely gutted. The property
saved, however, was very considerable, said to be worth
£30,000. A telegram was despatched to Earl Beauchamp,
at Madresfield, distant 30 miles, early in the day, and his
lordship arrived at Spring .hill in the aftern3on. By this
time the firemen had obtained an ascendancy over the fire,
and soon afterwards it was completely extinguished. The
damage is estimated at between £5,000 and £6,000. Of
course the property is insured. The origin of the fire is
not certainly ascertained, but is believed to have been
earned by a beam in the chimney of the butler's pantry
taking fire.
SAGACITY OF A DONKEY.—The other day a poor
donkey, with scarcely a shoe to his foot, was seen at
Braunton, Devon, wending his way, as it was thought,
homeward ; but having to pass a smith's shop where he
was always shod, the poor animal walked up the court to
the shop-door, and there stood quietly, without company
or any harness, until the hammer of the smith—who na-
turally thought that some person must have taken it there
—commenced work, and put a new set of shoes on, when
the " poor patient ass" quietly walked home, apparently
with much more ease and freedom.— Western Mornivg
Z'otes.