This was the Tower; but seen from a
different and more picturesque point of view than I have heretofore
gained of it. Being so convenient for a visit, I determined to go in.
At the outer gate, which is not a part of the fortification, a sentinel
walks to and fro, besides whom there was a warder, in the rich old
costume of Henry VIII's time, looking very gorgeous indeed,--as much so
as scarlet and gold can make him.
As J----- and I were not going to look at the Jewel-room, we loitered
about in the open space, before the White Tower, while the tall, slender,
white-haired, gentlemanly warder led the rest of the party into that
apartment. We found what one might take for a square in a town, with
gabled houses lifting their peaks on one side, and various edifices
enclosing the other sides, and the great White Tower,--now more black
than white,--rising venerable, and rather picturesque than otherwise, the
most prominent object in the scene. I have no plan nor available idea of
it whatever in my mind, but it seems really to be a town within itself,
with streets, avenues, and all that pertains to human life. There were
soldiers going through their exercise in the open space, and along at the
base of the White Tower lay a great many cannon and mortars, some of
which were of Turkish manufacture, and immensely long and ponderous.
Others, likewise of mighty size, had once belonged to the famous ship
Great Harry, and had lain for ages under the sea.
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