The Pikeman And His Weapon

The pikeraan was covered with defensive armor, au iron headpiece, iron "back and breast" and "tasses, " a kind of iron apron protecting hiru from waist to knee. He carried a pike 1 6 f eet long, with an ashen shaft, au iron head and a blunt iron spike at the butt end, whereby to fix it in the ground, and besides the pike a rapier. The pike, from its great length, was a weapon which required deft handling in order to be of effective use, and, as may be imagined, was excessively showy on parade. The modern lance exercise is a pretty sight enough, but the old pikë exercise, perfectly executed by a large body of men, must have been superb. We axe not surprised, theref ore, to flnd that the postures or instructions for this exercise are extravagantly minute. To give one example, at the close of I the iustruction, on the word "Order your pikes, ' ' we flnd af ter a mass of complicated details the following con clusion: "You place the butt end of S your pike by the outside of your right foot, your right hand holding it even with your eye and your thumb right up; I then, your lef t arm being set akimbo by your side, you shall stand with a full