DESCRIPTION OF THE FORTRESS.-ITS PRINCIPAL BULWARKS.-TOWER CHAPEL.-TRAITOR'S GATE.-KINGS WHO BUILT, ENLARGED, AND LIVED IN IT. DISTINGUISHED PRISONERS WHOSE MISFORTUNES OR CRIMES HAVE THROWN A DEEP INTEREST OVER ITS DUNGEONS.

ASSOCIATED with almost every great and every tragic event in the history of our country, there is no building in Europe, which, to an Englishman, is replete with feelings and recollections of such deep and varied interest as the Tower of London. Who is there, indeed, whose philosophy is so rigid, or whose heart is so dead to every sentiment of poetry and romance, as to be able to pass without deep emotion through its dreary courts, every stone of which, could they speak, would chronicle some fearful crime, or some melancholy tale of suffering and distress! Whether, indeed, we recall the time when the Roman sentinel looked down from its ramparts on the quiet waters below; - - whether we identify ourselves with the period when it was the proud palace of our Norman sovereigns, diversified with terraced walks and verdant labyrinths; whether we conjure up the shadows of the headless and illustrious dead who have ex

piated here their patriotism or their crimes; — whether we recall the foul murders which have been perpetrated in its fearful dungeons, - the screams of tortured guilt, or the silent sufferings of innocence and beauty, this memorable pile cannot fail to awaken a train of thought and reflection to which no pen could do justice. But, before we proceed to touch on the many heart-stirring events with which the Tower is associated, it is necessary to give a brief description of the ancient fortress itself.

The fact of a Roman fortress having existed on the site of the present Tower of London has occasionally been called in question, but we believe without reason; nor would we willingly deprive it of one of its most interesting associations. That the White Tower, or, as it was formerly styled, Cæsar's Tower,* was originally founded by Julius Cæsar is unquestionably a fiction, the Roman emperor never having advanced so far as London in either of his expeditions. On the other hand, that the Romans had a fortification here, and indeed a Mint, at a later period, there can be little doubt.

That the Keep or White Tower is the most

Shakspeare more than once designates it as Cæsar's Tower. In "Richard the Second," Act v. Sc. 1, we find,

This is the way

To Julius Cæsar's ill-erected Tower. And, again, in "Richard the Third," Act iii. Sc. 1.

Prince.

Gloster.

Prince.

Did Julius Cæsar build that place, my Lord? He did, my gracious Prince, begin that place; Which, since, succeeding ages have re-edified. Is it upon record? Or else reported Successively from age to age, he built it? Buckingham. Upon record, my gracious Lord.

ENTRANCE TO THE TOWER.

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ancient part of the present fortress there can also be no question. It was erected, about the year 1078, by William the Conqueror; the architect being the celebrated Gundulph, Bishop of Rochester, who also built Rochester Castle. In the following reign, William Rufus surrounded the Tower with a stone wall, and his successor, Henry the First, made several important additions. Fitzstephen, who wrote about the year 1180, informs us, "London hath on the east part a Tower Palatine, very large and very strong, whose court and walls rise up from a deep foundation: the mortar is tempered with the blood of beasts." When Fitzstephen penned these lines, little did he imagine how symbolical were the materials, which cemented the walls of the Conqueror, of the bloody scenes which were destined hereafter to be enacted in its secret dungeons.

Ye Towers of Julius, London's lasting shame,
By many a foul and midnight murder fed!

The principal entrance to the Tower is by three gates to the west, one within the other. The first of these opens into a small court, on the right of which is the Lions' Tower, where the royal menagerie was formerly kept; the second opens to a stone bridge built over the moat; and at the further end is the third gate, which is defended by a portcullis, and is otherwise much stronger than the others, and where, for centuries, the principal guard of the

* "Arcem palatinam maximam et fortissimam, cujus areæ muri à fundamento profundissimo exsurgunt, cemento cum sanguine animalium temperato."

Tower, consisting of soldiers and warders, has always been stationed.

There still exists a curious and ancient ceremony, connected with the opening and closing of the Tower gates. In the morning, the yeomanporter, attended by a sergeant's guard, proceeds to the Governor's house, where the keys of the fortress are delivered to him. From hence he proceeds to open the three gates, and, as the keys pass and repass, the soldiers on duty lower their arms. The yeoman-porter then returns to the innermost gate, and calls on the warders in waiting to take in Queen Victoria's keys, on which the gate is opened, and the keys are lodged in the warder's hall till night-time. At the closing of the gates, the same formalities are used as in the morning. As soon as the gates are shut, the yeoman-porter, followed by a sergeant's guard, proceeds to the main guard, who are all under arms, with the officer upon duty at their head. The usual challenge from the main guard is, "Who comes here?" To which the yeoman-porter answers, "The Keys." The challenger returns, "Pass, Keys." As they pass, the main guard lower their arms, on which the yeoman-porter exclaims, "God save Queen Victoria," and the guards answer, with loud voices, "Amen." The yeoman-porter then proceeds with his guard to the Governor's house, where the keys are lodged for the night.

The principal bulwarks in the Tower of London are the White or Cæsar's Tower; the Bell Tower;

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the Beauchamp or Cobham Tower; the Devereux Tower; the Bowyer's Tower; the Jewel Tower; the Broad Arrow Tower; the Salt Tower; the Record or Wakefield Tower; and the Bloody Tower. Some other towers might be mentioned of ancient date, many of which may have been the dark scenes of torture and death, but it is not known that any particular interest is attached to them. The site of those we have mentioned, and of which we are about to give a brief account, may be traced by the annexed curious plan of the Tower, taken from a survey made in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. By a document, drawn up in 1641, shewing the manner in which the different buildings are appropriated, it appears that as many as eleven towers were used as prison lodgings."

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We have already mentioned that the WHITE TOWER, or Keep, is the most ancient part of the fortress. This fine building is of a quadrangular form. The walls are of vast thickness: and at each of its four angles is a lofty turret, one of which was formerly used by the learned Flamstead as an observatory. Besides its antiquity, the White Tower is especially an object of interest, as having been formerly an integral part of the ancient palace of the Kings of England. Its chapel, its hall, and its council-chamber still remain. In addition to some capacious vaults beneath its foundations, the White Tower consists of three stories, each of which has its particular interest. The ground, or basement story, consists of three apartments; two of which are of