Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1875-04-29
THE TOWER OF LONDON.
The Ancient FORTRESS Thrown Una,
10 the PUDIie-Its Past HIstoSr

LOnoon morning Post, April 81
a fresh chapter in the history of the
Tower OF London was begun on Saturday.
when for the first time the grim fortress
was thrown open to the public. In fu-
ture, twice a week, on Mondays and Sat-
urdays, the Tower may be visited bv Al;
who come, without the payment Of az
fee, the only formality to be zone through
being that Of applying for a ticket at the
entrancelodge, which stands on the side
OF the old Lions Tower. The privilege
thus conferred by the Government upon
the public cannot be too highly estimated
by those who value freedom OF access to
our few historical show-plaees, and the
present Prime Minister may be sure that
when the people come to consider his
claims to their popularity, his action in
this particular matter will not be over
locked.
IF prison walls could only speak,
what tales of mystery and horror they
would r%elatel" We often hear such a
phrase quoted with reference to some
dungeon or castellated fortress whose
gray stones are Wondering into dust.
But we do not ask that the walls Of the
Tower of London might speak, for,
thanks to such intelligent students as
Mr.. Dixon, we know almost as much of
the Towers history as the ancient stone
walls themselves. From the DAYS Of the
Conqueror, the t~yrannical Norman King
who caused the famous military architect
Gundulph, Bishop of Rochester, to bu;ld
the Middle Tower, down to yesterday. we
have the complete story of the Tower be-
fore US. And what a marvellous nara.
tive it isl 1t should be written in blood.
Every inch of the ground, every foot Of
masonry is associated with some cruel
deed, some tyrannous act. To use the
words of that Countess of Somerset. who.
with her husband poisoned Oyerbury'
ard subsequently occupied the prison in
which he had been confined, the place is
full OF the ghosts Of the dead These
spectres confront the visitor at every stem
and will not be shaken off. In the White
Tower, with its watch-towers at each an
gle, and its wall fifteen feet thick. was
imprisoned Maud, the third daughter Of
Earl Fitzwalter, that stout baron. who.
to avenge the Kings treatment Of his
child, compelled him to sign the Magma
Charta at Runnymede. Here, in a dun.
geon compared with which the Black
Hole at Calcutta would be a p~alatial
residence, was imprisoned Guy, or Guido
Fawkes; and here was the prison-home
OF the seven bishops, at whose knees
even the soldiers Of the guard fell, i'm
ploring their benediction, while the shore
was crowded by PROSTATE spectators ask
ing a blessing, The prosecuted prelates
we're lodged in the Earl of L~eicester's
Tower, where Heriot first observed the
satellites of Jupiter. The sun-dial of
this famous astronomer yet remains, and
the story of Heriot and the three magi"
as his companions were called, is by no
means one Of the least interesting epi-
sode Of the Tower. In the Bloody Tow
er, called the Garden Tower until the
murder Of the two little princes-perbaDa
the most tragic and pitiful incident iuf
the annals of the fortress-Cranmer
Latimer and Ridley held their confer
ence, asking only for Bible from which
to get counsel and instruction in their
hour Of need. Here, too, Sir W.lter Ra-
leigh wrote his History of the World"
his essay entitled THE Parliament Of
Man, and other political treatises,
Memories of those Inflated great ones
rise everywhere, and it does not require
overmuch imagination to e%onjure up
those dread mornings when Raleigh
passed oHt Of his little room to the block,
and when the executioner waited with
his glittering ak on the green for patient
Lady Jane Grey, who was lodged in the
house where now resides Mr.. Hughes, the
Yoeman ~jailer.
Indeed, we walk upon stones which
cover piles of royal and noble dust, that
of the unfortunate Earl OF Monmouth
among the rest; and then, issuing into
the fresh air again, we find ourselves
gazing at a little slab In the center of a,
railed-off space, placed there by the
Queen, in memory of Anne Boleyn. It
was on this green hat royal and i~llustri.
Gus persons were executed. Now. the
Constables Of the Tower are installed
there, and very shortly such a ceremony
will be witnessed. Of the bloody scenes
enacted within the precincts of the Tow
er century after century, nothing now re-
mains but their memory. The scaffold.
the masked h%eadsman, with his shining
white * poised on his shoulder, the m.
tie knot Of soldiers, the priest, and doubt
less cruel eyes gazing from some turret-
window upon the grim scene, the sharp
cry OF agony from the victims lips-of
these things naught exists but their writ
ten memorial and the stored walls of the
fortress.
A new mode of resuscitating drowned
persons, and others suffering from as
phyxia, consists in placing the patient
on his back with his arms extended. A
roll OF elething is then laid below the
false ribs so as to throw their anterior
margin into prominence. The operator
then kneels astride the patient, placing
his hands SO that the balls of the thumbs
rest apon the false ribs, while the fingers
fall naturally in the depressions between