The Tower of London: A Historical Romance, IllustratedAinsworth, William Harrison
General
The Tower of London: A Historical Romance, Illustrated
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Grey, Jane, Lady, 1537-1554 -- Fiction; London (England) -- Fiction; Tower of London (London, England) -- Fiction
The vast area of Tower Hill was filled with spectators. The crowds who
had witnessed her entrance into the city had now flocked thither, and
every avenue had poured in its thousands, till there was not a square
inch of ground unoccupied. Many were pushed into the moat, and it
required the utmost exertion of the guards, who were drawn out in lines
of two deep, to keep the road which had been railed and barred from the
end of Tower Street to the gates of the fortress clear for the Queen.
As Mary’s eye ranged over this sea of heads—as she listened to their
stunning vociferations, and to the loud roar of the cannon which broke
from every battlement in the Tower, her heart swelled with exultation.
It was an animating spectacle. The day, it has been said, was bright and
beautiful. The sun poured down its rays upon the ancient fortress,
which had so lately opened its gates to an usurper, but which now like a
heartless rake had cast off one mistress to take another. The whole line
of ramparts on the west was filled with armed men. On the summit of the
White Tower floated her standard, while bombard and culverin kept up a
continual roar from every lesser tower.
After gazing for a few moments in the direction of the lofty citadel,
now enveloped in the clouds of smoke issuing from the ordnance, and,
excepting its four tall turrets and its standard, entirely hidden from
view, her eyes followed the immense cavalcade, which, like a swollen
current, was pouring its glittering tide beneath the arch of the Bulwark
Gate; and as troop after troop disappeared, and she gradually approached
the fortress, she thought she had never beheld a sight so grand and
inspiriting. Flourishes of trumpets, almost lost in the stunning
acclamations of the multitude, and the thunder of artillery, greeted
her arrival at the Tower. Her entrance was conducted with much ceremony.
Proceeding through closely-serried ranks of archers and arquebussiers,
she passed beneath the Middle Gate and across the bridge. At the By-ward
Tower she was received by Lord Clinton and a train of nobles. On either
side of the gate, stood Gog and Magog. Both giants made a profound
obesiance as she passed. A few steps further, her course was checked by.
Og and Xit. Prostrating himself before her, the elder giant assisted
his diminutive companion to clamber upon his back, and as soon as he had
gained this position, the dwarf knelt down, and offered the keys of the
fortress to the Queen. Mary was much diverted at the incident, nor was
she less surprised at the vast size of Og and his brethren—than at
the resemblance they presented to her royal father. Guessing what was
passing through her mind, and regardless of consequences as of decorum,
Xit remarked,—
“Your majesty, I perceive, is struck with the likeness of my worthy
friend Og to your late sire King Henry VIII., of high and renowned
memory. You will not, therefore, be surprised, when I inform you that he
is his—”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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