The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-05-28
THE TOWER OF LONDON
a Building Whose Origin Is Lost in the
Mist of Antiquity.

a Building Whose Origin Is Lost in the
Mist of Antiquity.
The most ancient, the most pictul>
:soue, and the most interesting pile
in the world, says writer in Har-
per's Young People, stands half
mile below the London bridge, COM
manding the Thames from ST. Saw
iors creek to ST. Olave's wharf. and
is known as the Tower Of London.
The very name of this wonderful.
building suggests thousands dramas.
It is a palace, a court, hall Of coun-
Gil, or a state prison as the fancy
chooses to make it. Its very walls
speak with human interest and every
inch of the massive structure is
identified with human life. Its eX-
istence began before history itself
took definite shape.
A part Of it was Saxon strong
hold, as is mentioned in Saxon chron-
icles. The remains of Roman wall
may still be traced near its founda-
tious, which many writer's insist have
existed since the days Of Caesar. The
plan Of the building in its present
form was commenced by William the
Conqueror.
AS it surpasses all other editices IN
interest, so its antiquity dwar:s them
into comparative inSignidcance. With
it's 800 years of historic life and its
years of traditional fame it may be
said to be part of all we know and
part of what we are. The historic
pride of other famous buildings pales
before this grim battIement.
The oldest place in continental Eu-
rope-the west front CT the burg IL
Nienne-dates from the time OF
Henry III. The old Louvre was COM
menced in the reign Of Henry VIII,
and the Tuileries in the time OF
Elizabeth.
Versailles had no existence before
che time Of the civil war in England,
and its site was swamp and wilder
ness The wonderful Escurial be-
longs to the Seventeenth century,
and the beautiful Sans Souci, the
r~ide of German emperors, was
e. -cted as late as the eighteenth
century.
The kremlin of Moscow and the
ioge's palace in Venice can date only
to the fourteenth century, and the
Oldest part of the vatican was com
menced by the man whose name it
bears-Borgia- The seraglio in Stam-
boul was built by Mohammed IL,
and the serai of Jerusalem was erected
under 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 haleigh wrote his
.sHistories of the World" There
Eliot produced his 'tMonarchy OF
Man" and Penn his ''No Cross No
Crown"
Upon its stones men and women
have engraved the thoughts which
burned within their souls, and every
chamber tells story OF human ex
perience. The mighty structure
seems to echo with human ambition
and glory, love and hate, hope and
despair.
Tragedy and comedy walked hand ir
hand through it's corridors. En-
glands history is there, and with il
much OF the history Of the world
Cranmer, and Latimer, and Ridley
speak to US from its walls; Lady Jane
Gray, Annie Boleyn, 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 in history, the tower is alSt
great in literature. 1t colors the
thoughts Of Bacon, and the inSpira
tion of Shakespeare, and the one
structure in the world which seems tx
have gathered into itself the grca,
stream Of human experience is the
Tower Of London.