The Tower! ay, the Tower!-Shakspeare.

Of the many sights-so interesting to the youngwith which London abounds, there is not one which can afford them so much instruction as a visit to the Tower; its history is that of England, since the Norman conquest, and long even before William the Norman placed

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his foot upon English ground, a fortress proudly reared its walls on the banks of the Thames, and promised security to the inhabitants of London.

In this paper we shall furnish our young readers with an historical account of this renowned fortress; and in a succeeding article we shall explain to them the various curiosities and antiquities at present contained within its walls, alike interesting to those at a distance, as also to those who may have an opportunity of visiting it.

This venerable fortress stands on the northern bank of the Thames, at the eastern extremity of the city. It consists of a large collection of fortified buildings, surrounded by a moat, or ditch,-containing several streets, and covering upwards of twelve acres of land. The most conspicuous part of this edifice is a lofty square building, surrounded by turrets, which is seen surmounting the rest of the fortress: this is called the "White Tower;" it was erected by William the Conqueror, the architect being Gandulph, Bishop of Rochester: its height is ninety-two feet, and the walls are fourteen feet in thickness. For many years, this building itself formed "The Tower of London," the other buildings having been added as outworks to this-the original palace and castle of the early monarchs of England. Tradition has ascribed its erection to Julius Cæsar; but there is no foundation for this fable, none of the present buildings being of Roman workmanship; it is however certain that the Romans had a fort on this spot.

William Rufus and Henry I. made considerable ad

ditions to the tower; and in the reign of Stephen, it was used as a regal residence, he being the first of our monarchs who made use of it for that purpose. It continued to be the occasional residence of our kings for near 500 years, and not unfrequently became also their dungeon. In 1190, William Longchamp, Bishop of Ely, Chancellor of England, who was left at the head of the regency during the absence of Richard I. in Palestine, surrounded the fortress with an embattled wall of stone, and a broad deep ditch.

The youthful king, Henry III. spent a considerable portion of the years of his minority in the tower, during which time it was celebrated for the performance-with great pomp-of religious festivals. In the year 1239, Henry III. began to give a more formidable character to this fortress, by surrounding it with an additional line of fortifications: the work was no doubt hurriedly performed, as the walls twice fell down, "shaken as it had been with an earthquake." The king also repaired, strengthened, and widened the quadrangular tower erected by the conqueror: he also erected the lion tower, for the reception of three leopards, which had been presented to him by the emperor, Frederick, and which formed the commencement of the far-famed tower menagerie : this exhibition, so peculiarly interesting to the young visiters to the tower, was closed some few years ago, and the animals removed to the zoological gardens, in the regent's park.

Edward I. completed the ditch and bulwarks erected

by his father; he also raised some considerable fortifications to the west: these were the last additions of any military importance made to the tower before the invention of cannon.

James I. was exceedingly fond of the beasts which formed the menagerie in the tower. In 1605, we are told the king caused three trap doors to be made in the wall of the lions' den, for the lions to go into their walk, at the pleasure of the keeper;' and directed a petition to be made in the den, for the breeding lioness.

In the latter part of the reign of Charles II. very considerable repairs were effected in the tower; and in the succeeding reign of James II. was commenced building the grand storehouse, on the north side of the inner ward. This building was completed in the reign of William III., on which occasion a magnificent banquet was celebrated, at which was present the king, queen Mary, and a host of the nobility, eager to show their devotion to their protestant sovereigns. It was this building which was totally destroyed by fire, on the night of the 30th Oct. 1841.

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The great storehouse consisted of three stories; the lowest called the train of artillery, the second the smallarms armoury, the third the tent room: the building measured 345 feet in length, and 60 feet in width. the lower room was contained many curious pieces of ordnance; amongst the most interesting, was a large iron gun in its carriage, both decayed, and covered with marine products. It was one of the cannons of the Royal

George, which went down with brave Admiral Kempenfeldt, and was recovered from the wreck in 1834, having been under water fifty-two years. There was also in this room a curious Maltese cannon, measuring seventeen feet in length; two brass mortars, of immense weight, taken at Cherbourg, in 1758, by Admiral Howe; a magnificent looking forty-two pounder, of the finest brass, sixteen feet long, which was brought from Java in 1811,-it bore an inscription in the Persian language, which was thus translated by the Earl of Munster—' the work of Sultan Ranafa Achmet Medigem-ed-Deen, of the county of Palembang the sacred, on which be peace1182 of the Hegira,' (1769); and a curious wooden gun, appropriately named Policy,-it was one of those used at the seige of Boulogne in 1544, by the Duke of Suffolk, who being destitute of cannon, fabricated a number of wooden ones, to deceive the governor into the belief that the English army was fully prepared with artillery, for the prosecution of the siege, the stratagem was successful, and Boulogne was given up to the English. The grand staircase was considered one of the finest in Europe. It formed in effect one magnificent trophy of English bravery and skill, in almost every part of the world, embracing an endless variety of weapons and arms, both ancient and modern; these were all destroyed by the late fire, with the exception of some pieces of cannon from Waterloo.

In the small-arms armoury were contained 150,000 stand of arms, kept ready for immediate service, arranged