New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-06-06
THE RECORD OF FIT TY YEARS
"REMINISCENCES OF A JOURNALIST
BY CHARLEs 7. CoNGDoN.
YYVI
TIE TOWER AND TUssAUD's.

THE TOWER AND TUsSAUDS.
wHY WENT TO THE TowER-PAfiNd siArNNO ~ 1..
vTHE BEEF-RATERs, THE TOWERS AND me
INTERCHANGEABLE OF SIR WALTER RALEiGh-
ouyRN ELIZABETH ON Observation-Disclosures
IpciURKR ON THE CROWN JEwELs-AME
TussAuDs wAx-woRK sHoW-soAE OF THE
MORE SELECT IMAGES-THE NAPOLEON RELICS
AND THE CHAMBER OF HORRORS.
One fine morning had been running about for
several hours in the city, taking glance at
1Suildhall, peeping in at the bankers shovelnng
soyereigns in Lombard st., admlrlng tne gIeao
ledgers at Lpyds and b ee1s as civil as if had
called upon HIM for f1O,OOO; oudueny
grew medieval in my tastes, nnd exP9ilehSI on
an jdomitable desire to see the rover OF po,n
It was under the very SHADOW o VI Mno ~" me and
: NV surrender to il is all the more remarkaP1ie
hsscaTsa before leaving home had whimsicaiy
reoisiersd half vow that would come Dac5
the e Aforesaid Tower whereby expected to WIN
treat admiration and glory. But who knows
his fate. or who can fight successfully agalnst
til aWhat shall say" askea, 10 nne
with solemn and sympathetic faces, II saw Ihe
MAGE Wbele the poor little princes were muir
Sered f-Ana where Clarence was droWneu IN
butt of malmsey VINE, you know Inc r, oons
little historians! To be sure, 1t ls by no means
certain that the princes were murdered anu
the story of the Duke soused to death IN ex-
cellent tipple is shalSy; but we VIII go 10 zee
the old historic butcher-snop al Tue 80 tNrrn
shaekles the blocks, the instruments OF torture
the dungeons upon whose walls hopeless PTS
oners have scrawled their hOpelessness, the last
scene of SO many intrigues, and tile grave Oh
numberless ambitions! .a uoAoolIr
nile is not romantic. l was so accustomed 10
prons;,ler our New-YOrk streets the most mlser-
ably miry in the world, that l was PLEASED
though much despatched, to hnd the ap,
nroaches TO the Tower, Little East Cheap ana
the rest, about as unavailable, by reason OF per
yading nastiness, as some or our own; LIE
crush of carts is tremendous; the sldeWalRs
are narrow the air is full OF the smell OF decay
;nosfrnit, and of other merchandise, with fine
underflayor of marine stores. They have SCI
up q statue in this appropriate neignDOTho0u VI
William the Fourth, the Sailor King, aoout
whom il may be said that nobody Would, nave
known what an ass he was if he had not been
Amounted. / approached the great cltaueI
hr;mfnl of emotion. / recalled Sidney ana
Russell, Raleigh and poor misguided anne anne
Roleyn. and the white neck of my Lady Jane,
the Queen of an hour! DilatiDg with these ap--
propriate emotions, approached the ancient
nile aud my sense of the romantic was at once
sorely smitten by demand 1or slxpen;Ge.t f
ali the disenchanters which one encounters IN
london. One does not mind bestOwng II upon
the boots at his inn, nor Goes he gTudge giving
it to the smart aud smiling cnamDsfnlaia Tn ao
shown him to his BEDROOM but the demand
;ars. ,,;sa 1reeabiy upOn the mind when its
dreams are of the middle ages, and you are full
from top to bottom OF s9e S TGor pa of n"s
Tondon's fasting shame, With many foul and
midnight murder fed u who wants to fumDie:ln
his pocket for sxpence that he may ste the IN,
aide of the aforesaid Towers Napoleon called
ENGLAND nation of shOpkeepers.ewoutdn't his
Imperial Majesty have been tf1fe terser ana
more epigrammatic if he had called it nation
of sixpencesy .. .o,,--,,,o5
over with eleven other sight seers to the
Guidance of a warder popularity called beef
eater. from a notion that he exists entirely upon
the flesh of this ox-produc,ng lSaL sang h,It us
believe that the delightfully."- dietete name Is no
more than corruption OF Ontet'er-a servant
who attends at the Kings buffet or sldebOaId.
At the Tower he is q wonderfully impressive
nersona0e The plan is to wait until string
Of twelve visitOrt have paid their slxpentes'
and then the march through tie stone myS,
teres and dark mazef, up narrow sIalls' n Gl,U
beef. eater was not personally beautiful, ana
few lessons in elocutiOn would have rendered
his deliyerances more instructive; put we
traied after him with sense oe enIue uep 81 u
ence upon his leadership, and feeling that II he
should leave us to our fate, we might perish IN
some noat, or be hope .essly immersed IN SUD
telTanean dungeon, there to perlsh OF s.arVa-
tion. calling Beef eater good beef-eater come
and let us ioutr and calling all In vain. The
dress which this fantastic functionary wore Gas
was informed by the guide book was devised
nv Henry the Seventh, or his tailor, ana most
men not engaged in circuses or minor theatres,
youid EXPECT 10 be very handsomely rewarded
for wearing it. The poor old fellow had great
rosettes in his shoes, and his short clothes were
fastened at the knee with the same lie had
a short sword by bis side for ornament, and
long pole in his hand with spear head In the
top-an ancient weapon OF war WIFE ,whlcn ne
peacefully pointed out the objects OF Interest.
About his neck was ruf1e, and | remember
coming to the conclusion that It did not cost
him much for washing. Upon his manly chest
were embroidered royal emblems, the crown OK
England, the rose and thistle ana snanllo OK
and stew-pan. Accounted thus. l Thought
how invaluable he would be as a. walking
advertisement of Smiths Laundry Soap" or
of aJones's UnappIoachaole bacH f g. ond
He went before us, flock OF sheep, ana
we followed as those animals follow the shep-
herd in the East We saw no end OF towers
great and small. We sawSwhere that foolish
bow the Earl of Essex, was decapltated by
order of that strange creature Elizabeth the
He'll Tower, where for q time Eizabeth's sister,
with the sanguinary soubriQuet, shut her up /
the Bsk I0weT ~ he %1 thew Worked their
wicked will upon that sweet meek ; 1--WE read or
tried TO read the autographs OF many nobIe
gentleman scrawled upon the walls OF the Beau
champ Tower; and we were shown the sdark
cell which is said to have been the prison of
Sir Walter Raleigh, IN which he wrote his great
History of the World. AS had fine folio
copy Of it ct home, and as, moreover, had
read it, which perhaps all pOssessOrs of copies
have9Sot done, 1 took of my hat as l went in,
and paid my respects to the memory OF great
If not always wise man, who was murdered here
because he could not find gold Tough IN
America to satisfy the avariee of king who
was half .pedant and half fool, the ignOble son
of that Scotch Queen who was herself, with all
her many faults, at least not ignOble. Thirteen
years, upon the fooishest pretences of treason,
he was locked up here. and then enlarged and
sent TO Guiana with a sort of rowing commits