The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-01-09

the different kinds worn at differen
! periods as well as the improvement
made In its manufacture from time t
! time. For instance, William the No1
man, as well as the body of his horse
! is represented clad in an armor mad
| of small pieces of thick leather in tn
| shape of fish scales, which are sewel
| upon buekskin, while another suit O
| that period is made of small steel ring
/ also sewed upon the same material.
| shield, a long sword and a lance wer
carried at that period in battle. Chail
armor, made of small steel rings inter
laced or woven together, began to b
worn about a hundred years later, an,
| Henry III. appears clad in armor mad
in this manner. Complete suits of plat
armOr were first worn in the time G
! Henry v, and that sovereign is tn
first who is represented clad in tina
kind of armor. Some knights of tn
| time of Richard III. are clad in stee
armor made with joints, when this tn
| last improvement was made. At on
| time the body of the horse was ais
| clad in aTmor. The use of this was frs
discontinued, and after that the armo
was not worn below the mans knee. Il
the reign of Charles |. only half armOr
or that which protected the body il
front, was worn in that of Charles II.
| only the helmet and cuirass were worn
and finally, in the time of William ant
Mary, the use of armOr of all kinds wa
| discontinued, firearms having beer
generally introduced in warfare, render
ing armorial protection unavailable.
We next visited the rooms in the
towers where the State prisoners wer,
| confined, including the room wher,
Queen Elizabeth was kept a prisone
for a time during the reign of Queer
Mary, as well as the small dark room
where Sir Walter Raleigh was confined
twelve years. l saw the room in which
Lady Jane Gray was kept as prisoner
and from which she was led to execu
ton, and as L walked along the same
path that she walked, the buildings
standing about me nearly as they stood
that day, and the same bright SUI
shining over my head, it appeared al
most as if / could see the poor helpless
girl, innocent of any crime, going up tc
the scaffold to be offered a sacrifice to
the ambition of her would-be friends.
But in those days the quality of mercy
was not well understood. / saw also
the rooms where Bishops Latimer,
Cranmer, and Ridley were confined be.
fore they were taken to Oxford to exc
cutiOn; also where many others were
kept as religious prisoners during the
reign of Henry VIII. and Queen Mary.
Many of these cut their names upon the
stone walls, which are still Iegible.
Lastly, we visited the jewel tower where
the State jewels are kept, including
several old crowns, one of which is
valued at So, 900, 000-a very comfort
able little ornament for one to keep
when all the burglars are either IN
prison or are dead. Letter writer's
often speak of seeing the great Kohl
moor diamond here. This is a misteke.
The real diamond Is not State Jewel.
but belongs to Queen Victoria person
ally, and is kept by her at Windsor
Palace, the one exhibited in this cOllec-
ton being only a crystal facsimile of the
original.
THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
Kensington Museum, Kew Gardens,
the Botanical Gardens, Geological Gar
dens, etc, etc, were each visited, but
to give anything like a description of
any one of them would occupy the space
of several such letters as this. l Will
only repeat what your readers have
often heard before, that each of these
collections is almost as perfect as such a
collection can be, and is such one as
would be looked for in a city like this.
In the Genealogical department of the
British Museum are about 0,00O
specimens of shells; in the ornithOlogi-
cal, about 10000 specimens of stuffed
birds while in all the other depart
ments the number of specimens are as
large in proportion.
At the Kew Gardens there are about
1000 varieties of ferns, and about as
many of the cactus, while nearly every
tree and plant in the world may be seer
growing, including the fruit and spice,
bearing trees and plants of the tropics
STURGEON AND HIS TABERNACLE.
A visit to London without hearing
Mr.. Spurgeon would be regarded by {
majority of travellers as being almost {
failure, and l began to think that sucl
would be my experience, as he was sicl
and unable to preach the first two Sun
days that I was in the city but on the
last Sunday that was to remain, it wal
announced that he was better and would
ofliciate. l started early, and was for
tunate in securing a seat IN the lowe,
gallery, about on a level with his plat
form, and not more than twenty fee
distant. The church, or tabernacle a
it is called, is oblong in shape, with tive
galleries, one above the other, extend
ing entirely around, and will accOmmO
date about ZOO persons. The platform
extends out on a level with the lowe
gallery, from which there is an entranc'
to it. There is a railing around, but TX
pulpit or other furniture on the plat
form, excepting a sofa and a small tabl,
by the side of which Mr.. SpurgeOI
stands when preaching. The choriste
and some SIX or eight elderly gentle
men-deacons, 1 suppose-sit IN thu
front of the gallery behind the minister
| The seats fill rapidly-al excepting thu
strangers having their particular seats
and when the time to commence SERVES
arrived, every place in that immens'
/ building was full, including the aisles
/ where temporary seats were arranged
/ This has been the case every pleasan
/ Sunday, it is said, for the last ten years
/ This is a testimonial that but few mel
have ever received, and shows that h
possesses a wonderful power. Mr.. Spur
/ geon came upon the platform from hi
room adjoining, with hobbling sort o
a waikiki is said he is troubled badl
with the rheumatism-took a seat me
ment. and then rose and made the usua
invocation or opening prayer. He
now in his forty-frst year, began t
preach when he was about twenty year
old, and was first talked about as
celebrity about twelve years since. h
is a short, thick-set, dark-complexione
man. When he is sitting entirely {
ease, he appears rather dull, and juds
ing from his form and features, woul
be almost the last man in crowd thu
you would select for an eloquent on,
But when he is fully aroused with h
J subject, you can see that he is mol
) than an ordinary man. He speaks in
, very clear and distinct manner, and b
language in the first prayer, as well {
J throughout the entire service, was veI
, plain, simple, and at the same time al
prOpriate. For instance, in the fir
prayer he used substantially the follow
ing language, though cannot remen
, Der SO as to give it with half of IL
beauty as well as force and effect Thu
. L. al GGnuT.iOcy the Sly davS Of II