17 NOVEMBER 1838, Page 20

A spirited and masterly sketch of the Interior (I the

Gothic Ar- moury, in Grosvenor Street, has been made in tinted lithography, by DoeoLas MOnISON, a young artist whose name we have not heard be- fore, but who, judging from this specimen of his talent, is likely to make himself honourably known. The suits of armour, foot and horse, are arranged along the sides of the gallery ; the walls of which are hung with trophies of armour, weapons, and banners; and in the centre are seated a group of seeming knights round a table, as if in council of war. The effect of the light streaming through the case- ment on the polished armour is striking, and well represented ; and as a picture, the scene is novel and imposing. The print is dedicated by Messrs. PRATT, of Bond Street, the proprietors of the exhibition, to the Earl of Eglinton ; in gratitude, we suppose, for the service his Lordship is doing them as dealers in armour, by the intended tourna- ment that is to be held at Eglinton Castle next year.

We visited the Armoury the other day ; and a very picturesque and

interesting exhibition it is. It contains some superb suits of Italian armour, curiously wrought and inlaid with gold, an assortment of plainer suits of polished steel, and a great variety of weapons, many of them very curious, and richly ornamented : indeed, the collection of ancient arms is superior to that in the Tower, and is only surpassed by that at Paris. We learned from the attendant, that the noblemen and gentlemen who are to play at tilting are beginning to practice wearing their armour, commencing with the breastplate : so that the fashionable morning costume for the next season will be a corslet worn over the dressing-gown, and a casque instead of a cap. The weight of a suit of armour, however, is not so great as might at first be supposed-only about seventy pounds; which being equally distributed over the body, is not felt so heavy as a porter's burden of the same dead weight; the helmet is the worst, being both hot and heavy ; but then it rests, by means of the gorgct, on the shoulders partly. The joints of the euisses, &c. are so flexible that they cannot much impede the movement ; the spears will be light, though twelve feet long, and of course not pointed. The shock of a fall, however, is not to be coveted ; otherwise jousting is as harmless an amusement, for idle folk, as yeomanry reviews, tableaux, archery, or

hawking-and moreover stranger than either.