Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1860-10-29

ACCuunt VI inc AuWtI Ol hIWns
don-Its Historic Ass0ciations-Its Royal
and Celebrated Inmates.
The last number of Blackwood's Magazine
contains lengthy account of the famous
Tower Of London, which we condense, as
follows
The time the Tower was erected and the
name OF the builder have not been preserved
Some assign it to a very remote antiquity.
and Julius Caesar and Constantine the Great
have both been considered the builders. Au-
thentic annals inform us that the White
Tower was built in the time of William the
Oonqueror Walls and bastions, and dun
geons, were added at sundry times. till. in
the reign of Edward the Third, it attained
its present form and extent. During period
OF 300 years the Kings of England went in
procession from it on their coronation days
During the period that Richard II filed
the throne, this building was gay and noisy
with dance and banquet Here, too. that
monarch lay prisoner, and was forced 10
resign his diadem. 1t was afterward the
scene ofinjustice and tyranny. II was here
were imprisoned the Princess of France.
" hom Henry Y, whose chivalry has been so
loudly eXtolled, conquered in honorable war
fare. James l, of Scotland, whom Henry
the Fourth had seized by treachery, was
confined in one of the dungeons of this grim
and gloomy pile. From the window Of his
room the captive King saw beautiful dam
sci, and, smitten with her charms sent her n
letter, that so pleased the lovely miss She
gave her heart and hand to the royal lover.
hundreds have suffered cruel tortures in
the Tower on account of their religious opin-
ions. Here Lord Gotham lay loaded with
CHAINS for many weary months, because he
worshiped God after the manner which the
dominant appf nrnOnnnaaI n.
he denounced the worship of images, and
was opposed to making pilgrimages, and en-
tertslned and openly professed other notions
obnoxious to those who believed in those
thlngs, the titled victim was condemned to
su1er the most ignominious and painful
sentence. HE was drawn from the Tower
to st. Giles's Field, where he was suspended
by the middle from chain; fire was kin
died under him, and he was burned to
DEATH"
Twice the amiable and harmless Henry
VI was confined within these dark walls
and here the unfortunate monarch was found
stiff and cold in death. It's doors were kept
continually swinging on their hinges by the
vile and bloody Richard III. For framing
an answer when questioned, touching the
mode in which two innocent women should
be punished, with an ''ifh in it, Lord Hastings
was dragged by body ofservile soldiers from
the Council to the Green near the Chapel
within the Tower, and his head severed from
his body on log of wood.
The fascinating and corrupt Jane Shore
was immured in one of the gloomiest cells
of the Tower for crime that was not writ
ten against her in the book of the Record
ing Angel, and liberated after her persecu-
tors had stolen her worldly substance. The
wretched outcast died in want.
The doors of its dark vaults never opened
and shut so often in the same period as
during the reign of that taciturn, sagacious
bloody tyrant, Henry VII. Empson and
Dudley suffered the same punishment they
had inflicted on so many innocent persons.
Bainham and Firth were tortured by Sir
Thomas Moore, who, in his turn, fell under
the ak of the executioner. The mood in
which that nobleman met his fate was shock
lngly out of keeping with that solemn hour
which comes to all. On his way to the seat
fold he amused the bystanders with lively
observations, and witticism fell from his lips
the moment before the ak descended. After
he had committed his soul to God, and laid
his head upon the block, the headsman
prayed his forgiveness. 81 forgive thee.n
he said ''but prithee, let me put my beard
aside, for that hath never committed treason."
adding, "pluck up thy spirit, man, and be not
afraid to do thine office-my neck is very
short; take heed, therefore, that thoI
strike not wrong for the saving OF thine
honesty"
The clever and captivating Anne Boleyn
was the next victim of suspicion and cru
city. Her headless body lay for some time
on the Green of the Tower, and was placed
by rough hands in common chest and
buried in the chapel connected with the
grim building. The Lady Catharine Howard
was the next Queen whose blood stained the
horrid ak. The scholarly and engaging Earl
of Surrey, one of the fastest friends the
treacherous and bloodthirsty widower ever
had, was, after the lapse Of few months.
marked for the Hill. "The gallant nobIeman
and gentle poet" delighting only in class
ical pursuits with no lust for power, was
tried for treason in the presence of that illus
trious soldier, his father, the Duke of Nor
folk, and given to the headsman.
The shaft Of a greater tyrant than himself
prevented the King from dinting the grass
Of the Green with the blood of the Duke.
There are many more names on the gloomy
catalogue, and some that shine most brightly
were stained with blood by the unrighteous
judgment of Mary and Elizabeth. This an
cient pile has somewhat softened its harsh
yisage. Its walls are covered with vines,
and fiowers bloom on its moat. Its connec-
ton with the glorious name of Wellington
has helped greatly to abate the horror its
history inspires. The Duke was for some
time Constable of the Tower.