Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1897-01-26
FROM PARIS, MAINE, TO PARIS,
FRANCE.
No. 10.

4
| No. 10.
LONDON TowE.e.
(riom our Special Foreign Corrcspondcntl
LONDON, ENGLAND.
We feel sure you will quite agree
with US 10 the opinion that grim, cruel,
old London Tower Il the most impress.
i've thing In London, as well as histori.
cally the most interesting spot In all
England. With all that We have read Of
this place of savagery and torture, when
we actually see 1t In all Its majestic and
oyerpowering gloom, aud almoat hear its
walls tell Of the tragedies, cruelties, tor
ment, misery aud woe enacted within Its
confines, IL Is almost overwhelming; aud
as we 20 through the dungeons, see the
narrow, cold, dark, damp cells, where
for years innocent victims were confined
and tortured till death ended their SUI
ferings, we marvel that such things
could ever have been permitted, even In
the dark ages OF bsrbarism, instead OF
In nation and century Of pretended
civilization.
As you no doubt are aware, this
gloomy prison originated with William
the Conqueror, consequently Is more
than 500 years old. 1t Is no longer used
as a prison, but a government arsenal,
and Is kept In repair as q fortress. 1t
now covers thirteen acres Of ground, aud
has four entrsnces-th Iron Gate, the
Water Gate, the Traitors Gate, through
which all the prisoners were conducted,
and the Lions Gate, so called from the
royal menagerie formerly kept there. Ii
Is surrounded by battlemepted walls, and
deep moat. The square White Tower
rises In the centre-though by no means
white at this remote period-and Is the
Oldest part OF the ancient structure, hav-
Ing been built In 1913. The walls are l5
feet thick.
All about the entrances and enclosures
you see the fantastically attired guards,
or warders. sometimes called Beef-eaters
from the fact that anciently they were
served with rations Of beef while on
duty. They are all old soldiers Of valor
and merit, belonging to the military or
der Of Yeomen OF the Guard. II would
require pen as vivid "a their costume
to describe Its quaintness and unique
ness, H. may coin the word. The hat
might be called dream Of the milliner's
art, with Its flounces and plaits OF red
and black; and then there are little
capes and big capes, aud frills and fur
bellows galore, OF red and black trim
ming.
There are twelve towers, once all used
as prisons, and some of them recall as
sociations Of many dark and dreadful
deeds. We will take you first into what
is called the Bloody Tower, where the
two beautiful little princes were mur-
dered by order Of their uncle, so he
could succeed to the throne. They show
you the staircase under which their
bones were found In chest long after,
and also stain on the stone floor, said
TO be their blood. The cruel uncle had
them confined there under pretence Of
getting them away from danger, so solic-
itous was he Of their safety and wei
fare, and had their luxurious bed remoy-
ed there, with all Its sumptuous appoint
ments, and then hired some villain TO
slsy them In their sleeping innocence.
In the Bell Tower, the Princess Eliza
beth was confined By her sister Mary,
who had her prosecuted and excluded
from the throne.
In the White Tower, In which Sir
Walter Raleigh was confined fifteen
years, he wrote his History Of the World,
aud In this dark, damp, cold, subter-
ranean place, one would think no human
life could exist as many days. Yonder
on Tower Hill are the apartments In
which his poor wife her lone watch
kept.
In the Brick Tower WAS confined the
beautiful, learned and pious Lady Jane
Grey, for whose brief reign as Queen OF
Eugland the penalty was her head aud
that Of her husband, who with his father
and brother was imprisoned 10 Beau
champ Tower; and the walls here are
covered with inscriptions by former
prisoners, telling OF the trifing acts
committed for which they were con-
demned TO death, such As getting up
and speaking In church; and there Is
one 10 Latin by the Earl Of Arundel, be.
headed for aspiring to the hand of Mary
Queen OF Scots, aud In Wakefield Tower,
Henry vi was murdered.
But most terrible of all are these sub
terranean caverns, In one OF which are
still left remnants OF the racks and in
struments Of torture, and at the side OF
the wall, are the bars behind which were
huddled the prisoners, where they were
Obliged 10 watch the agonies OF their fel-
lows on the torture rack, till death re-
leased them, and then another was
brought 10, and another, till their own
turn came; and We turn away sick with
horror. In the next compartment Is a
small, dark cell, so narrow and so low
that man cannot stand up or sit down
or lie down in 1t, but must remain In
STOPPING position, and here Guy Fawkes
was kept eight days.
As we pass from these scenes OF hor-
ror, we come 10 the collection OF old
armor exhibited here, which includes
figures on horseback and otherwise, clad
In the armor and caparison used In diff
ferent ages. Some Of the earlier ones
were made OF leather cut In pieces like
the scales of fish, or Of fla. pieces OF
steel sewn on TO leather, and some OF the
suits for the head and arms, legs and
body are 50 heavy that one must think
the warriors In those days were like
giants in strength, for certainly no man
in this age would be able to carry one
of them around.
And here we see the block on which
the heads Of many victims were severed,
and the az that did the deadly work !;
and we can bear no more horrors, so we
pass to the Record Tower, where are kept
the crown jewels, in a glass case, inside