AN OLD-TIME SOLDIER.
The queer-looking figure in the accompanying etching is that of a halberdier, or one of a style of soldier that formed an important body of the European armies of four hundred years ago. We of to-day would laugh at soldiers in such queer costumes; but in those days the halberdiers were considered a very fine-looking and handsomely uniformed body of men. The halberd, or half battle-axe, was a stout shaft of wood some six feet in length, and having a curious steel head formed for cutting, thrusting, or tearing; that is, one side of it was shaped like a battle-axe, and was for cutting; the end was like a spear; and on the other side was a strong hook, which was very useful in tearing down outworks.
The halberd was used by the Scandinavians and the semi-barbarous tribes of Germany in the very earliest times. The Swiss introduced it into France in the fifteenth century, and it was first used in England in the time of Henry VIII.
In our day halberds are very seldom seen, and but few exist outside of museums, where they are preserved as curiosities. Until late in the last century they were used by certain court officials in England, and at the present time they are sometimes borne on occasions of state ceremony by the yeomen of the Queen's Guard.