The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1885-02-12
THE TOWER OF LONDON
4 n Historical Edifice that is World Re-
nOwned.

nOWneu.
As related in the above dispatches
the dynamiters succeeded in partially
destroying the famous edifce a relic
of antiquity.
The Tower of London is supposed
TO have been commenced by Julius
Cp ar. Although most writers say
That William the C0Dqu error first COM
menced 1t in 107S, still we have the
authority of Shakespeare for saying it
was begun by the Roman emperor.
In Richard Ill, act 3, scene l, Prince
Edward says:
II do Lot like the Tower, OF any Place.
Dld julius Caesar build that .tlacemy lord?
Gloste He did, my gracious lord, begin that
place, ~
Which since, succeeding ages hayl "a Cel tied
. Prince. Is it upon record. er. Taga. yortel
Successfully tom age toSig1 lie built IL?
/ I'd
This celebrated fortress is situated
at the eastern extremity of the city,
about two miles and a quarter in a
direct line from the house of parlia-
ment, where the other explosions &C.
CURED to-day, and is separated from
the thickly- populated portion of the
i.
covers about twelve acres of ground.
and is surrounded by moat, which,
since lS43, has been used as garden. On
the riverside is an entrance called the
Traitors Gate, through which persons
OF state were conveyed to boats after
tEeIr trial. Within the famous struc-
ture are numerous buildings, iDclu-
ding the barracks, armory, jewel
house, white tower, st. Peters tower,
bloody toV IT, where Richard III,
murdered bis nephews; the Bowyer
tower, where the Duke of Clarence
was drowned in butt of Malmsey the
brick tower, in which the
Lady Jane Grey was confined; the
Beauchamp tower, the prison of
Anne Boleyn, and numerous other
buildings. In addition to the towers
original use as fortress, it was the
residence Of the monarchs of England
down to the time of Elizabeth, and a
prison for state criminals; and nu-
merous are the kings, queens, warriors
and statesmen who have not only
been imprisoned, but murdered within
its walls The histories of Lady
Jane Gray, Catherine Howard, Anne
Boleyn, Sir Walter Raleigh, Lord Will
liam Russell, the Protector Somerset,
Sir Thomas More, William Wallace
and King John Of France, do they not
live in the remembrance of every his
torical reader? Queen Elizabeth s
armorY, filed with arms and
relics, is locatsd within the
walls of the White Tower.
which are fourteen feet thick. The
room in which Sir Walter Raleigh was
immured is here shown; he was con-
fined three different times in the
tower, and here his son Carew was
born. The Lion tower, on the right,
Was for 600 years the royal menGgerie;
the aRImals remaining were removed
to the zooi6gtcal gardens in the reign
of William w..
The jewel-house~ contains all the
crown-jewels of England; they are
enclosed in an immense case. Promi-
nent among them is the crown>S made
for the coronation of Queen Victoria
at an expense of about 100000.
Among the profusion of diamonds is
the largest ruby worn by the
Black Prince; the crown made
for the coronation of Charlie
IL; the crown OF the Prince of Wales
and that Of the late prince consort;
crown made for the coronation of the
Queen ofJames u.,also her ivory scep-
ter. The coronation spoon and brace =
let's. royal spurs, swords of Mercy and
Justice, are among the Other Jewels,
Here, too, is the silver-giIt baptis-
NAL font, in which is deposited
the christening water for the royal
children, and the celebrated Kohl
Il To- q s
Queen Victoria and the objects of
in Hyde Park in 1851. It formerly be.
longed to RuDjeet Singh, chief Of
Lahore, and was called the Mountain
of Light"
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 tyran-
meal Norman king who caused that
famous military achitect, Gundulph,
bishop of Rochester, 80 build
the Middle tower, we have the
complete story Of the tower before
us; aud what q marvellous narrative
il is! To use the words of that Count
ess Of Somerset who, with her hus-
band, poisoned Overbury and subse-
quently occupied the prison in which
he had been confined, the place is
full of the ghosts Of the dead"
In the White tower, with its watch
towers at each angle, and its walls
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 Magma
Charta at Runnymede. Herein dun
geon, compared with which the
Black Hole at Calcutta would
zoe a paIat al residence, was i'm
prisoned Guy, or Guido Fawke: and
here was the prison home of the sew
en- bishops, at whose knees even the
soldiers of the guard TELL, imploring
their benediction, while the room was
crowded with PROSTATE spectators
asking a blessing The prosecuted
prelates were lodged in The Earl of
Leicester's tower, where Heriot first
observed the satellites of Jupiter.
No4soa