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strongholds. We will first give a little history of this celebrated Tower from the earliest times; and then mention some of the remarkable and beautiful objects which it contains, or did contain a few years ago, before the fire.

The large building from which the name of "the Tower" was probably taken, and which forms the largest object in our print, was built for William the First, king of England, by one of the most famous architects of those times. When we consider the very great age of this tower, greater than that of any but a very few of our churches and cathedrals, we shall look at it with very great interest and admiration. The year 1080 was the date of its construction; and this makes it want only thirty-six years of being eight hundred years old.

In the time of Richard the First it was much improved and enlarged, and a deep ditch was dug round for a defence; so large an one that it would be very difficult for an enemy to make way across it, while the garrison within were employed in resisting them with the weapons they then used, such as spears, and darts, and arrows. It should be said, that at present what is called "the Tower" is in reality much more than one building. It is more like a little city, containing above twelve acres of ground, surrounded by strong walls, besides the ditch, which is three hundred and sixteen feet round. Within the walls are several streets and a variety of buildings. There is a church, a grand store-house, several large armouries (or places to hold arms), houses for the officers, barracks for the soldiers, several offices, and towers, which make it much like a considerable town in itself.

King Henry the Third made many large additions to it; he built the royal chapels, the great hall, and chamber of state. He also kept his court here with great splendour and magnificence; and, indeed, it was considered as a palace for the residence of the sovereigns of England until the time of Queen Elizabeth. At this present time it seems to be in the heart of London, and is surrounded by a great population, and rendered very uncomfortable by being in the midst of the smoke of the town: but at the time we are speaking of, London was a much smaller

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place than it is now, perhaps not larger than many of our country towns are. The purpose, however, for which the Tower is principally known to the readers of English history, is that of a prison. It may seem strange that a palace should also be a prison; but so it was. It was used for the confinement and punishment of what are called state criminals, that is, of those who were suspected of plotting against the state, or the power of the king, which is usually called the crime of treason.

In those troublesome times, when laws had not the strength they have now, and when kings had to defend their own rights by force of arms, it was more safe for the person of the sovereign that his enemies should be confined in his own palace than elsewhere. The Tower was a well-defended place, with many strong dungeons under it, and was therefore a suitable place for keeping those turbulent noblemen whose crimes were dangerous, but who had their friends and servants without, ready to attempt to rescue them when they could. It was, however, very often the scene of horrible cruelties and unjust punishments. The enemies taken in Scotland and in France were here confined, among the chief of whom was the famous William Wallace, the brave hero of the Scots.

Here it is said that the dreadful murder of the young king Edward the Fifth and his brother was effected by means of their cruel uncle, afterwards king Richard the Third. Here the wicked king Henry the Eighth imprisoned several of his wives, whom he afterwards put to death.

In the reign of the bloody Mary, it was in this place that several of that "noble army of Martyrs," who died for the cause of true religion, were long confined.

The archbishop Cranmer, bishops Ridley and Latimer, and many others, here "held sweet counsel together," when they were permitted, and strengthened one another's hearts, by prayers and exhortations, to endure the dreadful fires in which they nobly perished for the truth of God. There was also another occasion which will make this place interesting to every English Churchman, when six bishops, together with the archbishop of Canterbury, preferred to be sent to the Tower as prisoners rather than

consent to the Popish designs and unjust proceedings of the second king James. Of late times there have been few occasions of making use of the Tower as a prison for state criminals; but nevertheless it is not quite a hundred years ago since many Scottish noblemen were here imprisoned and afterwards beheaded, for conspiring against the king, and endeavouring to obtain the crown of Scotland for the Popish family of that same king James.

It is now time to give some account of what the Tower now contains, or rather of what it did contain before the fire which happened so lately. The writer has not seen the place since that fire, and therefore will only give an account of what was seen in it before that unfortunate calamity occurred. The white Tower is a large square building in the centre of the fortress. On the top are four watch towers. In the first story there are two guard-rooms; one is an armoury for the sea service and contains arms enough for ten thousand seamen: the other room contains various tools and weapons of war, sufficient, in all, for more than 60,000 men. The Spanish Armoury is another large room, having in it the remains of the Spanish Armada, and the instruments of torture prepared for the English, with which they would have been tormented had not God spared our country by destroying its enemies. There is here a large figure of Queen Elizabeth in armour, as she was when she addressed her brave army at Tilbury. Another armoury is one of the finest rooms in Europe, 345 feet long, and it generally contains complete stands of arms for no less than 100,000 men.

There are other stores of armour of great antiquity, and representations of all the kings of England, in armour, on horseback, from the Conqueror down to George the Second. The Jewel office is a very strong tower of stone, appropriated to the keeping of the royal Crowns and and Sceptres of our Kings and Queens. Here is the imperial crown with which the kings are always crowned at Westminster Abbey in the beginning of their reign. It is made of gold, enriched with diamonds, rubies, pearls, emeralds, and sapphires. The sceptre is also very costly and beautiful, and is held in the sovereign's right hand when he is crowned. There is also another crown still

more valuable than the first, which is used on the more common occasions of the King or Queen going to meet the "high court of Parliament."

The value of all these jewels is not to be estimated. It would be quite impossible to describe here all the articles of value and interest to be seen in the Tower of London. Our readers may know some little of them from these few pages, and the print will thus be made more intelligible and pleasing.

DEATH OF AN AGED MISSIONARY.

THE following interesting account is extracted from the letter of the Bishop of Madras, dated April 17, 1844.

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'In a letter of the 30th ultimo, I informed you of the death of the Society's oldest Missionary, the Rev. John Caspar Kohlhoff, which solemn event took place on the evening of the 27th March. Mr. Kohlhoff had attained the age of eighty-one years, ten months, and four days, and was in the fifty-eighth year of his ministry. I need not mention any particulars, as the deceased was well known from the days of the Rev. Christian Frederick Schwartz, whose pupil he was since his eighth year; and afterwards he became his assistant as Catechist for some years, and later his fellow-labourer, after having received Lutheran ordination at Tranquebar fifty-eight years ago. This venerable man, who has been spared for so unusually long a period (for a European in India), well deserved the appellation of the Octogenarian patriarch of India, as our esteemed Diocesan was pleased to call him. Our excellent Metropolitan called him one of the pillars of the Indian Church. His fame was indeed throughout all the churches. For some years he was the only Missionary Clergyman in the south of India. All the present Mission Stations, including Tinnevelly, were at one time committed to his charge. He has preached Christ crucified as well in the Lord's vineyard as also in the desert. Thousands who never heard the name of Christ were, through his instrumentality, brought out of darkness into his marvellous light. God has indeed wonderfully protected him for the benefit of his Church; for at one time, when Trichi

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