New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-05-05
NOTES FROM LONDON.
a SCENE IN THE TowER-A BERLIN TALE
AN AMERICAN QUOTATION - SIR
CHARLES In TEARS


London, April 20.
More Americans, IL is said, than Englshmen Oh
this generation have visited the Tower OF LONDON
but how many have visited 1t by nghtP IL is oy
NIGHT that il il really impressivc-so much more 30
than by day that il it not for distressing the
hundreds OF thousands who think they Rno" no"
IL looks, should say they have never really seen
A.. went there to dine few evenings SINCE, ho'
with the ghosts who haunt the place, but win
numher ~ voung warriors who are altogether
alive. and long, 1 hope, may be; gallant sons OF
Gallant sires Their regiment is IN garrison at the
Tower: against imaginary foes, you may thlnk'
hint that Ia not quite so. In the event OF serious
rising Of the London mob, the Tower is the hrst
n,ace that would be attacked, for the Tower Is
.ometbinp more than noble historical relic-it is
nm armory; and being an armory is necessarily
still a fortress, and Is never without garrison
capable of giving good account OF any foes hkeiy
TO try it's mettle. The instinct OF the mob would
take them here for arms the arms once seized, the
bank Of England would be their next objective
point. The battalion Of Guards now IN possession
are there for year, and every visitor will remem-
her the spacious barracks, which are, suppose,
the most modern Of all structures within the an
Gent moat and walls, and there they make their
home.
Your hanson is allowed to drive in after halEng
the gate but you win notice that soldier marcnes
in 'front.' partly guide and partly because u is
fortress into which you have penetrated, ana past
8 o'clock You 60 at almost foots pace do"h
the hill and then to the left along the inner ROAD
parallel with the Thames, between grim granite
walls, where the gloom grows darker, through
grim gates, beneath grim archways; the purueh
Of this mass of masonry lying heavier on your
soul at every step; the very shadows weighing on
you and the sky on this clear night-for u is clear
outsde-seen by glimpses, looking Infinitely more
remote than the usual London heavens, winch are
for the most part, a canopy OF smoke, as 10 "ere'
lust over your head. Presently out you come
into the barrack-yard and blessed eXpanse OF
air and evening light.
Three hours later, as said goodnight, my host
stopped me- There is something you wouio ike
10 see, and it is just time Come along AS we
wen, out an officer Of the Guards rushed oy IN luh
uniform, sword ringing against the stone Steps
huge bearskin helmet and all the rest ana crleu
out to us: You will be late if you don't hurry
and away he went at the double-quick across the
poonlit parade. 1t was rather soon after dinner
for a constitutional, but we followed ana iounu
the guard already turned out under the gallery
by the Bloody Tower. A moment later appeared
a little squad OF men, one of them IN flowing
scarlet robe with lighted lantern, coming up the
steep slope that leads from Traitors Gate The
sentry challenged sharply:
Halt Who goes there?'
The warder halts and answerss.
The keys"
Whose kcyS?'
Queen Victorias keys"
Pass Queen Victoria's keys" The warder IN
the flowing scarlet robe, with the lighted lantern
followed by his little squad, starts of again. but
Lalts again, and cries aloud:
God save Queen Victoria
The guard comes 10 the present the o1ncer
b-ings his sword to the salute, officer and men
respond in chorus three times wife Klnd OF
cheer:
Amen. Amen, Amen"
Arain the warder sets out passes, turns
square to the left and vanshes, he and his
flowing scarlet, and his lantern, and his little
souod. He is carrying the keys of the Tower
70 the Governor of the Tower. 1t was but
minute. The guard are dismissed, the officer
marches leisurely off. My friend and are left
there. Only minute; yet that seltsame ccre-
mony has been transacted on that same spot at
that same hour every night for something like
eight hundred years Back through oil those
crowded centuries OF English story you hear
nightly that challenge ring ont; nightly that
blessing invoked on King or Queen, wlth L
supposc, an interval when Oliver Protector got
the benefit Of it-nightlv the clash Of steel which
tells the Constable of the Tower that oil is well;
end nightly those keys have made their singular
Journey into the hands Of the Kings Lieutenant
A story has been afioat for day that Lord
Salisbury had been asked to Berlin by Prince
nd I,iSit
Chancellor at his palace in the Wlhelmstrasse.
The story is not true say this mornings fle-
grams, but it will serve to remind you OF one
that is true, dating back to the Congress OF
berlin in 1873 Lord Salisbury one OF the
English representatives at that Congress, accom-
nanvipg Lord Beaconsfeld, and they spent long
time in the German capital Some one asked
Prince Bismarck if he did not think Lord Sails
bury able "Oh, yes,' answered the Prince.
Salisbury is very well, but the Jew is the man"
And the Jew" is still spoken Of in Berlin with
kind of reverence. They show you at the hotel
the rooms he occupied, and there is q tone of
awe in the porter's voice as he Joints them out
They look, as it happens, upon the American
Legation across the broad street or place. No
body takes the trouble to point out Lord Sails
bury's There was, il is certain, sympathy
between Prince Bismarck and Lord BeacOnsfeld
They understood each other; looked at things
in similar ways. No English statesman ever
vas less English than this English Prime Minister
That, perhaps, explains, or helps explain, the
Germans liking for him. Perhaps, also, his
sympathy for Lord Beaconsfeld explains his
antipathy to MIR. Gladstone; who. in his turn
has an antipathy to Prince Bismarck which he
takes no particular trouble TO conceal. Never
were two men so little formed to sympathzt
with each other or understand each other.
Whether It is permissible TO mention the
Attorney General except to anathcmatize him,
know not, but il it be, there is a passage in his
speech TO the Bar which deserves notice in
America He said a few words TO the Bar-as at
Balaklava, there were six hundred-in answer to
their i'm in lis honor ON Sat ny