Chapter M: DCC LXI (4)

This church is a plain brick building enlightened by one series of large windows, and the corners strengthened and adorned with rustic, as is the corners of the tower. The principal door has a cornice supported by scrolls and a circular pediment, and the tower, instead of a balustrade, is crowned with a blocking course of the Attic kind.

_St._ THOMAS’S _street_, near St. Thomas’s hospital, in the Borough, Southwark.

THOMAS _street_, 1. Coverleads Fields, Spitalfields. 2. Gainsford street, Horselydown lane: 3. Shoreditch Fields: 4. Virginia row, East Smithfield.

THOMPSON’S _rents_, 1. Halfmoon alley.† 2. London Wall.†

THOMPSON’S _yard_, upper ground, Southwark.†

THRALL _street_, Spitalfields.

THREADNEEDLE _alley_, Little Moorfields.

THREADNEEDLE _street_, extends from Princes street opposite the Lord Mayor’s mansion-house, and running by the back of the Royal Exchange, reaches into Bishopsgate street.

THREE ANCHOR _alley_, Shoe lane, Fleet street.*

THREE BELL _alley_, Whitechapel.*

THREE BOWL _alley_, Moorfields.*

THREE BOWL _court_, Houndsditch.*

THREE CCC _court_, Garlick hill, Thames street.*

THREE COLTS _alley_, 1. near Bishopsgate street within.* 2. Cinnamon street.*

THREE COLTS _court_, Three Colts street Limehouse.*

THREE COLTS _corner_, St. John street.*

THREE COLTS _lane_, Air street, Spitalfields.*

THREE COLTS _street_, Limehouse.*

THREE COLTS _yard_, 1. Crutched Friars, near Tower Hill.* 2. London Wall.* 3. Mile-end.* 4. Three Colts street.*

THREE COMPASSES _alley_, East Smithfield.*

THREE COMPASSES _court_, near Brook street.*

THREE CONEY _walk_, Butt’s street, Lambeth.*

THREE CRANE _court_, Southwark.*

THREE CRANE _lane_, Thames street.*

THREE CRANE _stairs_, at the bottom of Queen street, Cheapside.*

THREE CRANES, a street by Thames street.

THREE CRANE _wharf_, three Crane stairs.

THREE CROWN _court_, 1. in the Borough.* 2. Castle street.* 3. Foster lane, Cheapside.* 4. Garlick hill, Thames street. 5. In the Minories.* 6. Poor Jewry lane, Aldgate.* 7. Wheeler street, Spitalfields.* 8. White’s alley, Little Moorfields.*

THREE CROWN _yard_, Bride lane, Fleet street.

THREE CUP _alley_, 1. Dean street.* 2. Shoreditch.*

THREE CUP _yard_, Bedford street.*

THREE DAGGER _court_, 1. Fore street, Crippelgate.* 2. Old Change.*

THREE DIAMONDS _court_, Hosier lane, Smithfield.

THREE FALCONS _alley_, St. Margaret’s hill.*

THREE FALCONS _court_, 1. Fleet street.* 2. St. Margaret’s hill.*

THREE FOX _court_, 1. Clements lane.* 2. Long Acre.* 3. Long lane, Smithfield.* 4. Narrow street, Ratcliff.* 5. Three Fox yard.*

THREE FOX _yard_, Ratcliff.*

THREE GRIFFIN _yard_, Aldgate street.*

THREE GUN _lane_, Three Colts street, Lambeth.*

THREE HAMMER _alley_, Green alley, Tooley street.*

THREE HATS _alley_, Horselydown lane.*

THREE HERRINGS _court_, 1. Creechurch lane, Leadenhall street.* 2. Long Acre.* 3. Redcross street, Crippelgate.* 4. St. Thomas’s in the Borough.*

THREE HOOP _yard_, Holiwell street.*

THREE HORSESHOE _alley_, Old street, Upper Moorfields.*

THREE HORSESHOE _court_, 1. Chick lane, Smithfield.* 2. Giltspur street, without Newgate.* 3. Long lane, Smithfield.* 4. Whitecross street, Cripplegate.*

THREE HORSESHOE _yard_, James’s street.*

THREE KING’S _court_, 1. Chandois street.* 2. Clement’s lane.* 3. Fleet street.* 4. King street, Covent Garden.* 5. Lombard street.* 6. in the Minories.* 7. Whitecross street, Cripplegate.*

THREE KING’S _yard_, David street, Grosvenor square.*

THREE LEG _alley_, East Harding street, by Shoe lane, Fleet street.*

THREE LEG _court_, Whitecross street, Cripplegate.*

THREE LINK _alley_, Fashion street, Spitalfields.*

THREE MARINERS _court_, Fleet street, Spitalfields.*

THREE MARINERS _stairs_, Rotherhith.*

THREE MOULDS _court_, Cherry-tree alley.*

THREE NEEDLE _alley_, Moorfields.*

THREE NUNS _alley_, Threadneedle street.*

THREE NUNS _court_, Threadneedle street.*

THREE NUNS _yard_, Whitechapel.*

THREE OAKS _lane_, Horselydown.*

THREE PIGEONS _alley_, Hockley in the Hole.*

THREE PIGEONS _court_, 1. Barbican, Aldersgate street.* 2. Jewin street, Aldersgate street.* 3. Moorfields.*

THREE SISTERS _court_, St. Catharine’s court, by the Tower.*

THREE SLIPPER _court_, Bishopsgate street.*

THREE STEP _alley_, Rotherhith.

THREE STILLS _court_, Bishopsgate without.*

THREE TUNS _alley_, 1. Bishopsgate street without.* 2. Cowcross, Smithfield.* 3. London wall.* 4. St. Margaret’s hill, Southwark.* 5. Petticoat lane, Whitechapel.* 6. Thames street.* 7. Tothill street, Westminster.* 8. White street by Kent street, Southwark.*

THREE TUNS _court_, 1. Crooked lane.* 2. Brown’s street.* 3. Halfmoon alley.* 4. Hart street, Mark lane.* 5. Ivy lane, Newgate street.* 6. St. Margaret’s hill, Southwark.* 7. St Michael’s lane, Great Eastcheap.* 8. Moorfields.* 9. Nightingale lane East Smithfield.* 10. Old Castle street, Wentworth street.* 11. Redcross street, Cripplegate.* 12. Threadneedle street.*

THREE TUNS _yard_, Cloth fair, Smithfield.*

THREE TWISTERS _alley_, Bunhill row.*

THRIFT _street_, Soho.†

THRIFT’S _alley_, Spring street.†

THROGMORTON _street_, extends from Broad street to the end of Bartholomew lane.

THROWSTERS _yard_, Lamb alley.

THRUM _street_, King street, Cheapside.

THRUM _yard_, Sutton street.

THUNDERBOLT _alley_, Windmill row. Upper Moorfields.

THWAIT’S _rents_, Newington Causeway.†

TICHBOURN _court_, 1. Holbourn.† 2. Vine yard, Drury lane.†

TICHFIELD _street_, 1. Chapel street: 2. Margaret street.†

TIDEWAITERS _court_, Little Minories.

TILBURY, or WEST TILBURY, a very ancient town in Essex, situated near the Thames; here the four proconsular ways made by the Romans, crossed each other, and in the year 630, this was the see of a bishop named Ceadda, who converted the East Saxons, In the reigns of Edward I. Edward II. and Edward III. it was held of the crown by the family of the Tilburies, and from them probably took its name. It is situated by level unhealthy marshes called the Three Hundreds, which are rented by the farmers, salesmen and grazing butchers of London, who generally stock them with Lincolnshire and Leicestershire weathers, which are sent hither from Smithfield in September and October, and fed here till Christmas or Candlemas; and this is what the butchers call right marsh mutton.

TILBURY _fort_, is situated in the marsh on the bank of the Thames, at some distance from the above town, from which it took its name, and is placed opposite to Gravesend. It is a regular fortification, and may justly be termed the key of the city of London. The plan was laid by Sir Martin Beckman, chief engineer to King Charles II. who also designed the works at Sheerness. It was intended to be a pentagon, but the water bastion was never built.

The foundation is laid upon piles driven down in two ranges, one over the other, which reach below the channel of the river, and the lowermost being pointed with iron, enter the solid chalk rock, which extends under the Thames and joins to the chalk hills on the other side. The esplanade of the sort is very large, and the bastions which are faced with brick are said to be the largest of any in England. It has a double moat, the innermost of which is 180 feet broad; with a good counterscarp, a covered way, ravelins, and terails. On the land side are also two small redoubts of brick; but its chief strength on that side consists in its being able to lay the whole level under water, and by that means to render it impossible for an enemy to carry on approaches that way.

On the side next the river is a very strong curtain, with a noble gate, called the water-gate in the middle, and the ditch is palisadoed. Before this curtain is a platform in the place of a counterscarp, on which are planted 106 cannon, carrying from 24 to 46 pounds each, besides smaller ones planted between them; and the bastions and curtains are also planted with guns. Here likewise is a high tower called the blockhouse, which is said to have been built in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.

TILERS and BRICKLAYERS, a fraternity of considerable antiquity, though it was not incorporated till the year 1568, when Queen Elizabeth granted them letters patent.

This company consists of a master, two wardens, thirty-eight assistants, and 103 liverymen, who, upon their admission, pay a fine of 12_l._

They have a convenient hall in a court in Leadenhall street. _Maitland._

TILT _yard_, Whitehall. So called from the tilts and tournaments formerly used there. _Maitland._

TIN PLATE WORKERS, a company incorporated by letters patent granted by King Charles II. in the year 1670; by the name of _the master, wardens, assistants and commonalty of the art and mystery of Tin_ _Plate Workers_, alias _Wire Workers of the city of London_.

This fraternity is governed by a master, two wardens, and twenty assistants; but has neither hall nor livery. _Maitland._

TINDERBOX _alley_, Norton Falgate.

TINDERBOX _court_, White Lion yard.

TITE’S _alley_, Limehouse.†

TITTENHANGER, three miles south-east of St. Albans, is situated near Colney, and is a very handsome seat belonging to Sir Henry Pope Blunt, Bart.

TITMOUSE _alley_, Farmer’s street, Shadwell.

TITUS’S _court_, Holbourn hill.†

TOBACCOPIPE _alley_, 1. Little St. Anne’s lane.* 2. Sun yard, Nightingale lane, East Smithfield.*

TOBACCOPIPE MAKERS, a company incorporated by letters patent, granted by King Charles II. in the year 1663.

They are governed by a master, two wardens, and eighteen assistants; but have neither hall nor livery. _Maitland._

TOBACCOPIPE _yard_, Old Gravel lane, Ratcliff Highway.*

TOBACCO ROLL _court_, 1. Gracechurch street*, 2. Long _alley_, Moorfields.*

TOBACCO ROLL _yard_, Sun yard, Nightingale lane.*

TOKENHOUSE _yard_, 1. Leadenhall street: 2. A very handsome place in Lothbury, chiefly inhabited by merchants.

TOM’S _yard_, Whitechapel.†

TONGUE’S _alley_, Whitechapel.†

TONGUE’S _yard_, Whitechapel.†

TONSON’S _wharf_, Puddle Dock.†

TOOLEY’S _gate_, Tooley street.†

TOOLEY’S _gate yard_, Tooley street.†

TOOLEY’S _stairs_, Tooley street.†

TOOLEY _street_, the first street in Southwark next London Bridge.†

TOOLEY’S _Watergate_, Tooley street.†

TOOLEY’S _Watergate stairs_, Tooley street.†

TORMENT _hill_, Broadway.

TOTHIL _court_, Tothil street.

TOTHILFIELDS, Peter street, Westminster.

TOTHILFIELDS SCHOOL, situated in Rochester row, Tothilfields, was founded by Emery Hill, Esq; in the year 1667, for the instruction of twenty boys of the parish of St. Margaret, Westminster, in english, latin, writing and arithmetic. _Maitland._

TOTHIL SIDE, Tothilfields.

TOTHIL _street_, Broad Sanctuary, Westminster.

TOTTENHAM COURT, a pleasant village situated between St. Giles’s and Hampstead.

TOTTENHAM _court road_, St. Giles’s.

TOTTENHAM HIGH CROSS, a village on the west side of the river Lea, five miles north-east from London in the road to Ware. David King of Scotland being possessed of this manor, after it had belonged to the Earls of Northumberland and Chester, gave it to the monastery of the Trinity in London; but Henry VIII. granted it to William Lord Howard of Effingham, who being afterwards attainted, it reverted again to the King, who then granted it to the dean and chapter of St. Paul’s to whom it still belongs. The present Earl of Northumberland and the Lord Colerain have seats here, and there are also a great number of pretty houses belonging to the citizens of London, the church stands on a hill, which has a little river called the Mosel at the bottom, to the west, north and east.

The parish is divided into four wards, viz. 1. Nether ward, in which stands the parsonage and vicarage: 2. Middle ward, comprehending Church end, and Marsh street. 3. High Cross ward, containing the hall, the mill, Page green, and the High cross; and 4. Wood Green ward, which comprehends all the rest of the parish, and is bigger than the three other wards put together.

The cross, which gives name to the place, was once much higher than it is at present, and upon that spot Queen Eleanor’s corps was rested, when on the road from Lincolnshire to London. St. Loy’s well, in this parish, is said to be always full, and never to run over; and the people report many strange cures performed at Bishop’s Well. In 1596, an almshouse was founded here by one Zancher, a Spaniard, the first confectioner ever known in this kingdom. Here are also a free-school, and a charity school for twenty-two girls, who are cloathed and taught.

TOWER _of London_, on the east side of the city, near the Thames. This edifice, at first consisted of no more than what is at present called the White Tower; and without any credible authority, has been vulgarly said to have been built by Julius Cæsar; though there is the strongest evidence of its being marked out, and a part of it first erected by William the Conqueror in the year 1076, doubtless with a view to secure to himself and followers a safe retreat, in case the English should ever have recourse to arms to recover their liberties. That this was the Conqueror’s design, evidently appears from its situation on the east side of London, and its communication with the Thames, whence it might be supplied with men, provisions, and military stores, and it even still seems formed for a place of defence rather than offence.

However the death of the Conqueror in 1087, about eight years after he had begun this fortress, for some time prevented its progress, and left it to be completed by his son William Rufus, who in 1098 surrounded it with walls, and a broad and deep ditch, which was in some places 120 feet wide, several of the succeeding Princes added additional works, and Edward III. built the church.

Since the restoration, it has been thoroughly repaired: in 1663 the ditch was scoured; all the wharfing about it was rebuilt with brick and stone, and sluices made for letting in and retaining the Thames water as occasion may require: the walls of the White Tower, have been repaired; and a great number of additional buildings have been added. At present, besides the White Tower, are the offices of Ordnance, of the Mint, of the keepers of the records, the jewel office, the Spanish armoury, the horse armoury, the new or small armoury, barracks for the soldiers, handsome houses for the chief officers residing in the Tower, and other persons; so that the Tower now seems rather a town than a fortress. Lately new barracks were also erected on the Tower wharf; and the ditch was in the year 1758, railed round to prevent for the future those melancholy accidents which have frequently happened to people passing over Tower Hill in the dark.

The Tower is in the best situation that could have been chosen for a fortress, it lying only 800 yards to the eastward of London Bridge, and consequently near enough to cover this opulent city from invasion by water. It is to the north of the river Thames, from which it is parted by a convenient wharf and narrow ditch, over which is a drawbridge, for the readier taking in or sending out ammunition and naval or military stores. Upon this wharf is a line of about sixty pieces of iron cannon, which are fired upon days of state.

Parallel to this part of the wharf upon the walls is a platform seventy yards in length called the Ladies line, from its being much frequented in summer evenings by the ladies, as on the inside it is shaded with a row of lofty trees, and without affords a fine prospect of the shipping, and of the boats passing and repassing the river. The ascent to this line is by stone steps, and being once upon it, you may walk almost round the Tower walls without interruption, in doing which you will pass three batteries, the first called the Devil’s battery, where is a platform, on which are mounted seven pieces of cannon: the next is named the Stone battery, and defended by eight pieces of cannon; and the last, called the Wooden battery is mounted with six pieces of cannon: all these are brass, and nine pounders.

But to return to the wharf, which is divided from Tower Hill at each end, by gates opened every morning for the convenience of a free intercourse between the respective inhabitants of the tower, the city, and its suburbs. From this wharf is an entrance for persons on foot over the drawbridge, already mentioned; and also a water-gate under the Tower wall, commonly called Traitor’s Gate, through which it has been customary, for the greater privacy, to convey traitors and other state prisoners by water, to and from the Tower: the water of the ditch having here a communication with the Thames, by means of a stone bridge on the wharf. However the Lords committed to the Tower for the last rebellion, were publicly admitted at the main entrance. Over this water-gate, is a regular building terminated at each end by a round tower, on which are embrasures for cannon, but at present none are mounted there. In this building are an infirmary, a mill, and the water-works that supply the Tower with water.

The principal entrance into the Tower is by two gates to the west, one within the other, and both large enough to admit coaches and heavy carriages. Having passed thro’ the first of these you proceed over a strong stone bridge, built over the ditch, which on the right-hand leads to the lions tower, and to a narrow passage to the draw bridge on the wharf, while on the left-hand is a kind of street in which is the Mint. The second gate is at a small distance beyond the lions tower, and is much stronger than the first, it has a portcullis to let down upon occasion, and is guarded not only by some soldiers, but by the warders of the Tower, whose dress and appearance will be immediately described.

_The Officers of the Tower._ The principal of these to whom the government of the Tower is committed, are, first the Constable of the Tower, who has 1000_l._ _per annum_, and is usually a person of quality, as his post at all coronations and state ceremonies, is of the utmost importance, and as the crown and other regalia are in his custody: he has under him a Lieutenant, and a deputy Lieutenant; these officers are likewise of great dignity; the first has 700_l._ a year, and the last, who is commonly called the Governor of the Tower, has 1_l._ a day. The other officers are, a tower-major, a chaplain, a physician, a gentleman-porter, a yeoman-porter, a gentleman-jailer, four quarter-gunners, and forty warders, who wear the same uniform as the King’s yeomen of the guard. They have round flat crowned caps, with bands of party-coloured ribbands: Their coats, which are of a particular make, but very becoming, have large sleeves, and very full skirts gathered round, somewhat in the manner of a petticoat. These coats are of fine scarlet cloth, laced round the edges and seams with several rows of gold lace, and girt round their waists with a broad laced girdle. Upon their breasts and backs they wear the King’s silver badge, an embroidered thistle and rose, and the letters G. R. in very large capitals.

_The ceremony at opening and shutting the gates._ This is done every morning and night with great formality. A little before six in the morning in summer, and as soon as it is well light in winter, the yeoman-porter goes to the Governor’s house for the keys, and from thence proceeds back to the innermost gate, attended by a serjeant and six of the main guard. This gate being opened to let them pass, is again shut; while the yeoman-porter and the guard proceed to open the outermost gates, at each of which the guards rest their firelocks, as do the spur-guard, while the keys pass and repass. The yeoman-porter then returning to the innermost gate, calls to the warders in waiting to take in King George’s keys; whereupon the gate is opened, and the keys lodg’d in the warders hall, till the time of locking them up again, which is usually about ten or eleven at night, with the same formality as when opened. After they are shut, the yeoman and guard proceed to the main guard, who are all under arms, with the officers 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_, and the officer orders the guard to rest their firelocks; upon which the yeoman-porter says, _God save King George_, and _Amen_ is loudly answered by all the guard. The yeoman-porter then proceeds with his guard to the Governor’s, where the keys are left; after which no person can go out, or come in upon any pretence whatsoever till the next morning, without the watch-word for the night, which is kept so secret, that none but the proper officers, and the serjeant upon guard, ever come to the knowledge of it; for it is the same on the same night, in every fortified place throughout England. But when that is given by any stranger to the centinel at the spur-guard, or outer gate, he communicates it to his serjeant, who passes it to the next on duty, and so on till it comes to the Governor, or commanding officer, by whom the keys are delivered to the yeoman-porter, who, attended as before, the main guard being put under arms, brings them to the outer gate, where the stranger is admitted, and conducted to the Governor; when having made known his business, he is conducted back to the outer gate; and dismissed, the gate shut, and the keys delivered again with the same formality as at first. It is happy for us that all this seems mere form and parade; but it is however fit that all this ceremony should be duly observed.

_The Lions Tower._ In examining the curiosities of the Tower, it will be proper to begin with those on the outside the principal gate, the first thing a stranger, usually goes to visit is the wild beasts, which from their situation first present themselves: for having entered the outer gate, and passed what is called the spur-guard, the keeper’s house presents itself before you, which is known by a painted lion on the wall, and another over the door which leads to their dens; and by ringing a bell, and paying six pence each person, you may easily gain admittance.

At your entrance, you come to a range of dens in the form of an half moon. These dens are rooms about twelve or thirteen feet high, divided into two apartments, the upper and the lower. In the upper apartment the beasts generally live in the day, and at night retire into the lower to rest: you view them through large iron grates, like those before the windows of a prison; so that you may see them with the utmost safety, be they ever so savage. Some of these dens are empty, and other inhabited by lionesses of different ages, who are here kept with the utmost care, particularly while young; for hardly any creature is more tender than a lion’s whelp, and they would here infallibly perish, were they not immediately taken from their dams as soon as whelped; for even in Barbary, where they are a part of the inhabitants of the woods and forests, many of them die in strong convulsions, from the pain they suffer in breeding their teeth. Those bred in the Tower are kept twelve months in a warm room, and fed mostly with milk diet, before they are put into their dens: when about five or six weeks old, they are as gentle as a lamb; but it is observed, that their savage nature gradually increases with their growth, which at three years is at the full, and then they seem as fierce as those brought from abroad.

The first they shew is Dido, a beautiful lioness, about twelve years of age; and the next is a young lioness from Africa, that used to play with her keeper like a puppy. She was taken by a negroe boy, as she was drinking in the river Gambia, on the coast of Africa, when no bigger than a cat; for the boy being sent to fetch water, found her without her dam, and carried her home: but the dam afterwards coming in search of her, and not finding her, ran roaring about, and killed several negroes, the cattle and every living thing that came in her way. The boy and the lioness were bought by the French, but being taken in their passage to Europe, were sent to the Tower, where she seemed incredibly fond of the young negroe.

After having seen another lioness or two, you are conducted to another range, where you are shewn a fine leopard, and three most beautiful tygers. The tyger, in shape resembles a cat, only is much larger, and when wild is extremely fierce and ravenous, it lurks in the woods, and seizes its prey by a sudden spring, and men in traversing the desarts, are frequently surprized by this animal. These tygers are finely spotted or streaked with black upon a yellowish ground. They are full of play, and leap a prodigious height, when, like a cat, they are playing their gambols. As to the leopard, he is a most beautiful creature; his colour is a shining yellow, finely interspersed with bright spots. No description can give the reader a complete idea of these beasts; for every image that words can convey, must fall short of that original beauty stamped upon them by nature.

Having satisfied your curiosity with the sight of these extraordinary beasts, you are shewn a variety of birds, among which is a golden eagle, a noble bird that has been kept here above ninety years; besides which there are other eagles from different countries, all of them having something different in their shape or colour, by which a curious observer may easily distinguish them.

You are next shewn an horned owl, which is a very surprizing bird, and as there is not perhaps such another in England, we shall give a particular description of it. Its head seems full as big as that of a cat, and its eyes, which are large, have circles round them of a bright shining gold colour. The feathers that compose the horns begin just above the eyes, and rise intermixed with a little white; but as they extend beyond the head, become of a red brown clouded with a more dusky colour, and are tipp’d with black. The spaces round the eyes, which compose the face, are of a light brown, confusedly mixed with orange colour, gradually becoming more dusky as it borders on the eyes. The top of the head, neck, back, wings, and upper side of the tail are of a dark brown, spotted and intermixed with some confused transverse small lines of ash colour and reddish. The great wing-feathers, and the tail, are barred across with dusky bars of half an inch in breadth, more or less; but between the back and wings the feathers are of an ash colour. The fore part of the neck and breast are a bright brown, inclining to orange, which gradually grows fainter on the sides. This brown part is spotted with pretty large dark spots, and intermixed between them, with the same dusky colour. The middle of the breast, belly, thighs, and under side of the tail are a faint ash colour, pretty regularly barred transversely with dusky lines; and the inside of the wings are coloured and variegated in the same manner: the legs and toes, almost to the ends are covered with light ash coloured feathers, and the ends of the toes and the claws, are of a dark horn colour, and very strong and sharp.

From these extraordinary birds you are conducted to a den where you are shewn the Great Pompey, the finest and largest lion ever seen in England; he is about twelve years of age, and of a noble and majestic appearance. His head is large, and his neck covered with a long shagged mane that reaches to his shoulders. He is of a yellowish colour, and about four feet high; his body is small in proportion to his head; but his legs have the appearance of amazing strength; his large muscles being very visible. The bones of his fore-legs seem about the thickness of a man’s wrist, and his fore-feet are armed with five prodigious claws, sheathed like those of a cat, with which he seizes his prey like that animal; but his hinder feet have only four. He seems very gentle and tractable to his feeder, and will lie down and let him play with him like a spaniel.

You are next shewn what your guides call their school of apes, which consists of two apes from Turky, and two Egyptian night-walkers. Of the largest of these creatures they will tell you abundance of surprizing stories. There are also one or two man tygers, a man of the wood, a Guinea racoon, much more beautiful than those brought from America; a jackal, a fine tyger cat, two large hyenas, a male and a female, and a very uncommon beast which the keeper calls the whistler of the woods. This is a beautiful little creature of the size of a badger, brought from Guinea, and receives her name from her counterfeiting in the woods the whistling and chirping of birds, by which she allures them to her, and so makes them her prey.

These animals are all regularly fed with proper food, and attended with all possible care.

But to proceed; the next place worthy of observation is the Mint, which comprehends near one third of the Tower, and contains houses for all the officers belonging to the coinage. See the article MINT.

_The white Tower_, on passing the principal gate you see the White Tower, built, as has been already said, by William the Conqueror. This is a large, square, irregular stone building, situated almost in the centre, no one side answering to another, nor any of its watch towers, of which there are four at the top, built alike. One of these towers is now converted into an observatory.

The building itself consists of three very lofty stories, under which are spacious and commodious vaults, chiefly filled with saltpetre. It is covered on the top with flat leads, from whence there is an extensive and delightful prospect.

In the first story are two noble rooms, one of which is a small armoury for the sea service, it having various sorts of arms very curiously laid up, for above 10,000 seamen. In the other room are many closets and presses, all filled with warlike engines and instruments of death. Over this are two other floors, one principally filled with arms; the other with arms and other warlike instruments, as spades, shovels, pick-axes, and cheveaux de Frize. In the upper story are kept match, sheep-skins, tanned hides, &c. and in a little room called Julius Cæsar’s chapel are deposited some records, containing perhaps the ancient usages and customs of the place. In this building are also preserved models of the new invented engines of destruction that have from time to time been presented to the government.

On the top of one of the towers is a large cistern or reservoir for supplying the whole garrison with water; it is about seven feet deep, nine broad, and about sixty in length, and is filled from the Thames by means of an engine very ingeniously contrived for that purpose.

_The Spanish Armoury._ Near the south-west angle of the White Tower is the Spanish armoury, in which are deposited the spoils of what was vainly called the Invincible Armada, in order to perpetuate to latest posterity the memory of that signal victory obtained by the English over the whole naval power of Spain in the reign of Philip II. which will ever render the glorious name of Queen Elizabeth dear to Britons: for of 132 ships that arrived in the British channel; scarce 70 of them returned home, and of 30,000 men on board, upwards of 20,000 were either killed, drowned, or made prisoners in England, such was the fate of this vain-glorious enterprize!

The trophies preserved here of this memorable victory, with some other curiosities are,

1. A Spanish battle-ax, so contrived as to strike four holes in a man’s skull, at once; it has besides a pistol in its handle with a match-lock.

2. The Spanish General’s halbert, covered with velvet. All the nails are double gilt, and on the top is the pope’s head, curiously engraven.

3. The Spanish morning star; a destructive engine in the form of a star; of which there were many thousands on board, and all of them with poisoned points; designed to strike at the English, in case they boarded them.

4. Thumb screws, of which there were several chests full on board the Spanish fleet. The use they were intended for is said to have been to extort confession from the English where their money was hid, had they prevailed.——Certain it is, that; after the defeat, the whole conversation of the court and country turned upon the discoveries made by the Spanish prisoners of the racks, the wheels, and the whips of wire, with which they were to scourge the English of every rank, age, and sex. The most noted hereticks were to be put to death; those who survived were to be branded on the forehead with a hot iron; and the whole form of government, both in church and state, was to be overturned.

5. A Spanish poll-ax, used in boarding of ships.

6. Spanish halberts, or spears, some of them curiously engraved and inlaid with gold.

7. Spanish spadas, or long swords, poison’d at the points, so that if a man received but ever so slight a wound, it would prove certain death.

8. Spanish cravats, as they are called; these are engines of torture, made of iron, and put on board to lock the feet, arms, and heads of English Hereticks together.

9. Spanish bilboes, also made of iron, to yoke the English prisoners two and two.

10. Spanish shot, which are of four sorts; spike-shot, star-shot, chain-shot, and link-shot; all admirably contrived, as well for the destruction of the masts and rigging of ships, as for sweeping the men off the decks.

11. The banner, with a crucifix upon it, which was to have been carried before the Spanish General. Upon it is the Pope’s benediction before the Spanish fleet sailed; for the Pope, it is said, came to the water side, and seeing the fleet, blessed it, and stiled it INVINCIBLE.

12. An uncommon piece of arms, being a pistol in a shield, so contrived that the pistol might be fired, and the body covered at the same time. It is to be fired by a match-lock, and the sight of the enemy taken through a little grate in the shield, which is pistol proof.

13. The Spanish rançeur, made in different forms, and intended either to kill the men on horseback, or to pull them off their horses. At the back is a spike, which your attendants say, was to pick the roast beef out of the Englishmen’s teeth. And on one of them is a piece of silver coin, which they intended to make current in England. On this coin are three heads, suppos’d to be the Pope’s, Philip the II’s and Queen Mary’s.——This is a curiosity which most Spaniards who arrive in London come to see.

14. The Spanish officers lances finely engraved. These were formerly gilt, but the gilding is now almost worn off with cleaning. ’Tis said, that when Don Pedro de Valdez, a captain of one of the Spanish ships that was taken, passed his examination before Lord Burleigh, he told his Lordship, that those fine polish’d lances were put on board to bleed the English with; to which that Nobleman, merrily replied, that, if he were not mistaken, the English had performed that operation better on their good friends the Spaniards with worse instruments.

15. The common soldiers pikes eighteen feet in length, pointed with long sharp spikes, and shod with iron; designed to keep off the horse, to facilitate the landing of their foot.

16. The last thing shewn of these memorable spoils, is the Spanish General’s shield, not worn by him; but carried before him as an ensign of honour. Upon it are depicted in most curious workmanship, some of the labours of Hercules, and other allegories which seem to throw a shade upon the boasted skill of modern artists. This was made near an hundred years before the art of printing was known in England: and upon it is the following inscription in Roman characters, ADVLTERIO DEIANIRA CONSPURCANS OCCIDITR CACVS AB HERCVL. OPPRIMITVR 1379.

17. The other curiosities deposited here, are Danish and Saxon clubs, weapons which each of those people are said to have used in their conquest of England. These are, perhaps, curiosities of the greatest antiquity of any in the Tower, they having lain there above 850 years. The warders call them the Womens weapons, because, say they, “the British women made prize of them, when, in one night, they all conspired together, and cut the throats, of 35,000 Danes; the greatest piece of secrecy the English women ever kept, for which they have ever since been honoured with the right-hand of the man, the upper end of the table, and the first cut of every dish of victuals they happen to like best.” The massacre of the Danes, was not however performed by the women alone, but by the private orders of Ethelred II. who in 1012, privately commanded his officers to extirpate those cruel and tirannical invaders.

18. King Henry the VIII’s walking staff, which has three match-lock pistols in it, with coverings to keep the charges dry. “With this staff, the warders tell you, the King sometimes walked round the city, to see that the constables did their duty; and one night, as he was walking near the bridge foot, the constable stopt him to know what he did with such an unlucky weapon, at that time of the night. Upon which the King struck him; but the constable calling the watch-men to his assistance, his Majesty was apprehended, and carried to the Poultry Compter, where he lay till morning, without either fire or candle. When the keeper was informed of the rank of his prisoner, he dispatched a messenger to the constable, who came trembling with fear, expecting nothing less than to be hanged, drawn and quartered: but instead of that, the King applauded him for his resolution in doing his duty, and made him a handsome present. At the same time he settled upon St. Magnus’s parish an annual grant of 23_l._ and a mark, and made a provision for furnishing thirty chaldron of coals and a large allowance of bread annually for ever, towards the comfortable relief of his fellow prisoners and their successors; which, the warders say, is paid them to this day.”

19. A large wooden cannon called _Policy_, because, as we are informed, when King Henry VIII. besieged Bulloign, the roads being impassable for heavy cannon, he caused a number of these wooden ones to be made, and mounted on proper batteries before the town, as if real cannon; which so terrified the French commandant, that he gave up the place without firing a shot.——The truth is, the Duke of Suffolk, who commanded at this siege under the King, soon made himself master of the lower town; but it was not till seven weeks afterwards that the upper town capitulated, in which time the English sustained great loss in possessing themselves of the Bray. The warders must therefore be greatly mistaken in their account of this piece.

20. The ax with which Queen Anne Bullen, the mother of Queen Elizabeth, was beheaded, on the 19th of May 1536. The Earl of Essex, Queen Elizabeth’s favourite, was also beheaded with the same ax.

21. A small train of ten pieces of pretty little cannon, neatly mounted on proper carriages, being a present from the foundery of London to King Charles I. when a child, to assist him in learning the art of gunnery.

22. Weapons made with the blades of scithes fixed strait to the end of poles. These were taken from the Duke of Monmouth’s party, at the battle of Sedgemoore, in the reign of James II.

23. The partizans that were carried at the funeral of King William III.

24. The perfect model of the admirable machine, the idea of which was brought from Italy by Sir Thomas Lombe, and first erected at Derby, at his own expence, for making orgazine or thrown silk. This model is well worth the observation of the curious.

You now come to the grand storehouse, a noble building to the northward of the White Tower, that extends 245 feet in length, and 60 in breadth. It was begun by King James II. who built it to the first floor; but it was finished by King William III. who erected that magnificent room called the New, or Small Armoury, in which that prince, with Queen Mary, his consort, dined in great form, having all the warrant workmen and labourers to attend them, dressed in white gloves and aprons, the usual badges of the order of masonry.

This structure is of brick and stone, and on the north side is a stately door case adorned with four columns, with their entablature and triangular pediment of the Doric order, and under the pediment are the King’s arms, with enrichments of trophy work.

_The Small Armoury._ To this noble room you are led by a folding door adjoining to the east end of the Tower chapel, which leads to a grand staircase of fifty easy steps. On the left-side of the uppermost landing-place is the workshop, in which are constantly employed about fourteen furbishers, in cleaning, repairing, and new placing the arms.

On entering the armoury you see what they call a wilderness of arms, so artfully disposed, that at one view you behold arms for near 80,000 men, all bright, and fit for service at a moment’s warning: a sight which it is impossible to behold without astonishment, and besides those exposed to view, there were before the present war sixteen chests shut up, each chest holding about 1200 muskets. Of the disposition of the arms no adequate idea can be formed by description; but the following account may enable the spectator to view them to greater advantage, and help him to retain what he sees.

The arms were originally disposed in this manner by Mr. Harris, who contrived to place them in this beautiful order both here and in the guard chamber of Hampton Court. He was a common gunsmith, but after he had performed this work, which is the admiration of people of all nations, he was allowed a pension from the crown for his ingenuity.

The north and south walls are each adorned with eight pilasters, formed of pikes sixteen feet long, with capitals of the Corinthian order composed of pistols.

At the west end, on the left-hand, as you enter, are two curious pyramids of pistols, standing upon crowns, globes, and scepters, finely carved and placed upon pedestals five feet high.

At the east, or farther end, in the opposite corner are two suits of armour, one made for that warlike prince Henry V. and the other for his son Henry VI. over each of which is a semicircle of pistols: between these is represented an organ, the large pipes composed of brass blunderbusses, the small of pistols. On one side of the organ is the representation of a fiery serpent, the head and tail of carved work, and the body of pistols winding round in the form of a snake; and on the other an hydra, whose seven heads are artfully combined by links of pistols.

The inner columns that compose the wilderness, round which you are conducted by your guides, are,

1. Some arms taken at Bath in the year 1715, distinguished from all others in the Tower, by having what is called dog locks; that is, a kind of locks with a catch to prevent their going off at half-cock.

2. Bayonets and pistols put up in the form of half moons and fans, with the imitation of a target in the center made of bayonet blades. These bayonets, of which several other fans are composed, are of the first invention, they having plug handles which go into the muzzle of the gun, instead of over it, and thereby prevent the firing of the piece, without shooting away the bayonet. These were invented at Bayonne in Spain, and from that place take their name.

3. Brass blunderbusses for sea service, with capitols of pistols over them. The waves of the sea are here represented in old fashioned bayonets.

4. Bayonets and sword-bayonets, in the form of half moons and fans, and set in carved scollop-shells. The sword-bayonet is made like the old bayonet, with a plug handle, and differs from it only in being longer.

5. The rising sun irradiated with pistols set in a chequered frame of marine hangers of a peculiar make, having brass handles, and a dog’s head on their pommels.

6. Four beautiful twisted pillars formed of pistols up to the top, which is about twenty-two feet high, and placed at right angles; with the representation of a falling star on the cieling exactly in the middle of them, being the center of this magnificent room. Into this place opens the grand staircase door, for the admission of the royal family, or any of the nobility, whose curiosity leads them to view the armoury; opposite to which opens another door into the balcony that affords a fine prospect of the parade, the Governor’s house, the Surveyor General’s, the Storekeeper’s, and other general officers in the Tower.

7. The form of a large pair of folding gates made of serjeant’s halberts, of an antique make.

8. Horsemen’s carbines, hanging very artificially in furbeloes and flounces.

9. Medusa’s head, vulgarly called the witch of Endor, within three regular ellipses of pistols, with snakes. The features are finely carved, and the whole figure contrived with the utmost art. This figure terminates the north side.

10. Facing the east wall, as you turn round, is a grand figure of a lofty organ, ten ranges high, in which are contained upwards of two thousand pair of pistols.

11. On the south side, as you return, the first figure that attracts attention is Jupiter riding in a fiery chariot drawn by eagles, as if in the clouds, holding a thunderbolt in his left hand, and over his head is a rainbow, this figure is finely carved, and decorated with bayonets.

The figures on this side answer pretty nearly to those on the other, and therefore need no farther description, till you come again to the centre; where, on each side the door leading to the balcony, you see,

12. A fine representation in carved work, of the star and garter, thistle, rose and crown, ornamented with pistols, _&c._ and very elegantly enriched with birds, _&c._

13. The arms taken from Sir William Perkins, Sir John Friend, Charnock, and others concerned in the assassination plot, in 1696; among which they shew the very blunderbuss with which they intended to shoot King William near Turnham Green, in his way to Hampton Court: also the carbine with which Charnock undertook to shoot that Monarch, as he rode a hunting.

14. Lastly, the Highlanders arms, taken in 1715, particularly the Earl of Mar’s fine piece, exquisitely wrought, and inlaid with mother of pearl: also a Highland broad sword, with which a Highlander struck General Evans, and at one blow cut him through the hat, wig, and iron skull cap; on which that General is said to have shot him dead; others say he was taken prisoner, and generously forgiven for his bravery. Here is also the sword of justice, with a sharp point, and the sword of mercy, with a blunt point, carried before the Pretender on his being proclaimed King of Scotland, in 1715. Here are likewise some of the Highlanders pistols, the barrels and stocks being all iron; also a Highlander’s Loughabor ax, with which it is said Col. Gardner was killed at the battle of Preston Pans.

A discerning eye will discover a thousand peculiarities in the disposition of so vast a variety of arms, which no description can reach, and therefore it is fit that every one who has a taste for the admirable combinations of art, should gratify it with the sight of the noblest curiosities of this kind in the whole world.

_The Royal Train of Artillery._ Upon the ground floor under the small armoury, is a large room of equal dimensions with that, supported by twenty pillars, all hung round with implements of war. This room which is twenty-four feet high, has a passage in the middle sixteen feet wide.

At the sight of such a variety of the most dreadful engines of destruction, before whose thunder the most superb edifices, the noblest works of art, and numbers of the human species, fall together in one common undistinguished ruin, one cannot help wishing that these horrible inventions had still lain, like a false conception, in the womb of nature, never to have been ripened into birth. But when, on the other hand, we consider, that with us they are not used to answer the purposes of ambition; but for self defence and in the protection of our just rights, our terror subsides, and we view these engines of devastation with a kind of solemn complacency, as the means providence has put into our hands for our preservation.

1. You are shewn two large pieces of cannon employed by Admiral Vernon before Carthagena; each of which has a large scale driven out of their muzzles by balls from the castle of Bocca Chica.

2. Two pieces of excellent workmanship, presented by the city of London to the young Duke of Gloucester, son to Queen Anne, to assist him in learning the art of war.

3. Four mortars in miniature, for throwing hand granadoes, invented by Col. Brown. They are fired with a lock like a common gun, but have not yet been introduced into practice.

4. Two fine brass cannon taken from the walls of Vigo in 1704, by the late Lord Cobham. Their breeches represent lions couchant, with the effigy of St. Barbara, to whom they were dedicated.

5. A petard for bursting open the gates of a city or castle.

6. A large train of fine brass battering cannon, 24 pounders.

7. Some cannon of a new invention from 6 to 24 pounders. Their superior excellence consists, first, in their lightness, the 24 pounders not weighing quite 1700 weight, whereas formerly they weighed 5000; the rest are in proportion; and secondly, in the contrivance for leveling them, which is by a screw, instead of beds and coins. This new method is more expeditious, and saves two men to a gun, and is said to be the invention of his Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland.

8. Brass mortars of thirteen inches diameter, which throw a shell of 300 weight; with a number of smaller mortars, and shells in proportion.

9. A carcase, which they fill at sieges with pitch, tar, and other combustibles to set towns on fire. It is thrown out of an eighteen inch mortar, and will burn two hours where it happens to fall.

10. A Spanish mortar of twelve inches diameter, taken on board a ship in the West Indies.

11. Six French pieces of cannon, six pounders, taken from the rebels at the battle of Culloden, April 16, 1745.

12. A beautiful piece of ordnance, made for King Charles I. when Prince of Wales. It is finely ornamented with emblematical devices, among which is an eagle throwing a thunder bolt in the clouds.

13. A train of field-pieces, called the galloping train, carrying a ball of a pound and half each.

14. A destroying engine, that throws thirty hand granadoes at once, and is fired by a train.

15. A most curious brass cannon made for Prince Henry, the eldest son of King James I. the ornamenting of which is said to have cost 200_l._

16. A piece with seven bores, for throwing so many balls at once, and another with three, made as early as Henry the Eighth’s time.

17. The Drum-major’s chariot of state, with the kettle drums placed. It is drawn by four white horses at the head of the train, when upon a march.

18. Two French field-pieces, taken at the battle of Hochstadt in 1704.

19. An iron cannon of the first invention, being bars of iron hammered together, and hooped from top to bottom with iron hoops, to prevent its bursting. It has no carriage, but was to be moved from place to place by means of six rings fixed to it at proper distances.

20. A very large mortar weighing upwards of 6600 weight, and throwing a shell of 500 weight two miles. This mortar was fired so often at the siege of Namur by King William, that the very touch hole is melted, for want of giving it time to cool.

21. A fine twisted brass cannon twelve feet long made in Edward the Sixth’s time, called Queen Elizabeth’s Pocket pistol; which the warders, by way of joke, tell you she used to wear on her right side when she rode a hunting.

22. Two brass cannon three bores each, carrying six pounders, taken by the Duke of Marlborough at the glorious battle of Ramelies.

23. A mortar that throws nine shells at a time; out of which the balloons were cast at the fire-works, for the last peace.