Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1894-03-03
THE TOWER OF LONDON.
A building Whose orign Is Lost in the
MIsts of Antiquity.

The most ancient, the most pictur-
esoue and the most interesting nile ia
me world, says a writer in H,uper'S
y9aag People, stands half mile below
London bridge, commanding the
Thames from st. Savior's creek to st.
OIave's wharf, and is known as the
Tower of London.
The very name of this wonderful
building suggests a thousand dramas.
n is palace, court, a hall of coun-
oil or state prison as the fancy
chooses TO make it. Its very walls
.peak with human interest and every
i1cb of the massive structure is identi-
led with human life. Its existence be-
gap before history itself took definite
shape
a part Of it was a Saxon stronghold,
as is mentioned in Saxon chronicles
The remains of a Roman wall may
sin be traced near its foundations.
which many writer's insist have exist
ed since the days of Cesar The plan
of the Building in its present form was
commenced by William the Conqueror.
As it surpasses all other edilices in
interest so its antiquity dwarfs them
into comparative insignifcauce. With
its 800 years of historic life and its
wears Of traditional fame it MAY be
said to be a part Of all we know and a
part of what we are. The historic
pride OF other famous buildings pales
before this grim old battlement
The oldest place in continental Eu-
rope the west front Of the burg in
Vieuua-dates from the time of Henry
III. The old Louvre was commenced
i'm the reign of Henry VIII, and the
Tuileries in the time of Elizabeth
Versailles had no existence before
the time of the civil war in England.
and its site was swamp and wilder
ness The wonderful Escurial belongs
to the seventeenth century, and the
beautiful Sans Souci, the pride of Ger
man emperors, was erected as late as
the eighteenth century.
The kremlin of Moscow and the
doges palace in Venice can date only
TO the fourteenth century, and the
oldest part of the vatican was COM
meuced 10y the man whose name it
bears Borgia. The seraglio in Stam-
boul was built by Mohammed H., and
the sera of Jerusalem was erected un-
der the dominion of the Turks.
The palaces of such ancient names
as Athens, Cairo and Teheran are but
modern inventions.
Within the vaults of this ancient
pile many book was written. There
The ACCOMPLISHED duke of Orleans
wrote his charming "Poesies." There
Sir Walter Raleigh wrote his "Histgrie
of the World" There Eliot produced
his Monarchy Of Man" and Penn his
NO Cross No Crown"
Upon its stones men and women
have engraved the thoughts which
burned within their souls, aud every
chamber tells u story OF human expe-
rience. The mighty structure seems
to echo with human ambition and
glory, love and hate, hope and despair.
Tragedy and comedy walk hand ir
hand through its corridors. England's
history is there, and with it much of
the history of the world. Cranmer,
and Latimer and Ridley speak to us
from its walls; Lady Jane Gray. Annie
8oleyn and Elizabeth haunt us at
every turn, and Raleigh, and Wyatt,
and Sir Thomas More have stamped
the very stones with the impress of
their own lofty dignity.
Great il history, the tower is also
great in literature. 1t colors the
thoughts of Bacon and the inspiration
Of Shakespeare, and the one structure
in the world which seems to have
gathered into itself the great stream
2t human experience is the Tower of
London,