On the northern bank of the Thames, standing in a somewhat elevated
position a short distance east of the ancient city-walls, is the
collection of buildings known as the Tower. The enclosure covers about
twelve acres, encircled by a moat now drained, and a battlemented wall
from which towers rise at intervals. Within is another line of walls
with towers, called the Inner Ballium, having various buildings
interspersed. In the enclosed space, rising high above all its
surroundings, is the great square White Tower, which was the keep of the
old fortress. Tradition assigns a very early date to this stronghold,
but the written records do not go back earlier than William the
Conqueror, who built the White Tower about 1078. It was enlarged and
strengthened by subsequent kings, and Stephen kept his court there in
the twelfth century. The moat was made about 1190. Edward II.'s daughter
was born there, and was known as Joan of the Tower. Edward III.
imprisoned Kings David of Scotland and John of France there. Richard II.
in Wat Tyler's rebellion took refuge in the Tower with his court and
nobles, numbering six hundred persons, and in 1399 was imprisoned there
and deposed. Edward IV. kept a splendid court in the Tower, and Henry
VI., after being twice a prisoner there, died in the Tower in 1471.
There also was the Duke of Clarence drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine,
and the two youthful princes, Edward V. and his brother, were murdered
at the instance of Richard III. Henry VII. made the Tower often his
residence. Henry VIII. received there in state all his wives before
their marriages, and two of them, Anne Boleyn and Catharine Howard, were
beheaded there. Here the Protector Somerset, and afterwards Lady Jane
Grey, were beheaded. The princess Elizabeth was imprisoned in the Tower,
and James I. was the last English sovereign who lived there. The palace,
having become ruinous, was ultimately taken down. The Tower during the
eight hundred years it has existed has contained a legion of famous
prisoners, and within its precincts Chaucer, who held an office there in
Richard II.'s reign, composed his poem _The Testament of Love_, and Sir
Walter Raleigh wrote his _History of the World_.
[Illustration]
The "Yeomen of the Guard," a corps of forty-eight warders, who are
meritorious soldiers, dressed in the uniform of Henry VIII.'s reign on
state occasions, and at other times wearing black velvet hats and
dark-blue tunics, have charge of the exhibition of the Tower. The
entrance is in a small building on the western side, where years ago the
lions were kept, though they have since been all sent to the London
Zoological Garden. From this originated the phrase "going to see the
lions." At the centre of the river-front is the "Traitor's Gate,"
through which persons charged with high treason were formerly taken into
the Tower. It is a square building erected over the moat, and now
contains a steam pumping-engine. Opposite it is the Bloody Tower, where
the young princes were smothered and where Raleigh was confined.
Adjoining is the Wakefield Tower, with walls thirteen feet thick.
Passing through the Bloody Tower gateway to the interior enclosure, a
large number of curious guns are seen, and the Horse Armory at the base
of the White Tower is filled with specimens of ancient armor
artistically arranged. In this collection the systems of armor can be
traced from the time of Edward I. to that of James II., and there are
suits that were worn by several famous kings and warriors. Above, in
Queen Elizabeth's Armory, is more armor, and also trophies of Waterloo
and other battles, and a collection of every kind of weapon in the
Tower. There are also specimens of instruments of torture and many other
curiosities on exhibition.
[Illustration: THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER, ON TOWER GREEN.]
The White Tower, which has walls fourteen feet thick in some parts,
covers a space one hundred and sixteen by ninety-six feet, and is
ninety-two feet high, with turrets at the angles. Each floor is divided
into three rooms, with stone partitions seven feet thick. On the second
floor is St. John's Chapel, and on the third the council-chamber of the
early kings, with a dark, massive timber roof; in this chamber Richard
II. resigned his crown; it is now filled with a vast collection of arms.
The Salt Tower, which is at an angle of the enclosure, was formerly a
prison; and in another part of the grounds is the Jewel House, where the
crown jewels are kept; they are in a glass case, protected by an iron
cage, and the house was built for them in 1842. Queen Victoria's state
crown, made in 1838, after her coronation, is the chief. It consists of
diamonds, pearls, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds set in silver and
gold, and has a crimson velvet cap with carmine border, lined with white
silk. It contains the famous ruby given to Edward the Black Prince by
the King of Castile, and which is surrounded by diamonds forming a
Maltese cross. The jewels in this crown are one large ruby, one large
sapphire, sixteen other sapphires, eleven emeralds, four rubies, one
thousand three hundred and sixty-three brilliant diamonds, one thousand
two hundred and seventy-three rose diamonds, one hundred and forty-seven
table diamonds, and two hundred and seventy-seven pearls. Among the
other crowns is St. Edward's crown, of gold embellished with diamonds,
used at all coronations, when it is placed upon the sovereign's head by
the Archbishop of Canterbury. This crown was stolen from the Tower by
Blood in 1761. There are also the Prince of Wales' crown, the queen's
crown, the queen's diadem, St. Edward's Staff, four feet seven inches
long, made of beaten gold and surmounted by an orb said to contain part
of the true cross, and carried before the sovereign at coronation; the
royal sceptre (surmounted by a cross), which the archbishop places in
the sovereign's right hand at coronation; the rod of equity (surmounted
by a dove), which he places in the left hand; several other sceptres;
the pointless sword of Mercy, the swords of Justice, and the sacred
vessels used at coronation. Here is also the famous Koh-i-noor diamond,
the "Mountain of Light," which was taken at Lahore in India. The ancient
Martin or Jewel Tower, where Anne Boleyn was imprisoned, is near by; the
barracks are on the north side of the Tower, and behind them are the
Brick and Bowyer Towers, in the former of which Lady Jane Grey was
imprisoned, and in the latter the Duke of Clarence was drowned; but only
the basements of the old towers remain. The Tower Chapel, or church of
St. Peter's, was used for the cemetery of the distinguished prisoners
who were beheaded there, and in its little graveyard lie scores of
headless corpses, as well as the remains of several constables of the
Tower. In front of it was the place of execution, marked by an oval of
dark stones. The Beauchamp Tower stands at the middle of the west side
of the fortress, built in the thirteenth century and used as a prison;
there are numerous inscriptions and devices on the walls made by the
prisoners. Here Lady Jane Grey's husband carved in antique letters
"Iane." In the Bell Tower, at the south-western angle, the princess
Elizabeth was confined, and in the present century it was the prison of
Sir Francis Burdett, committed for commenting in print on the
proceedings of the House of Commons. The Tower Subway is a tunnel
constructed recently under the Thames from Tower Hill to Tooley Street
for passenger traffic. The Duke of Wellington was constable of the Tower
at one time, and its barracks are sometimes occupied by as many as eight
thousand troops. This ancient fortress always has a profound interest
for visitors, and no part of it more than the Water-Gate, leading from
the Thames, the noted "Traitor's Gate," through which have gone so many
victims of despotism and tyranny--heroes who have passed
"On through that gate, through which before
Went Sydney, Russell, Raleigh, Cranmer, More."