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 ENCIMSIl MKDIF.VAL EMBROIDERY. 289 Rich, however, as this abode is in the extensive collection of tapestry with which so many of its spacious chambers are adorned, it is still more deserving notice for its splendid Eliza- bethan hangings. These, embroidered in gold and silver with a countless variety of devices, and surmounted by waving plumes, admirably harmonize with the interior of the fabric. Pargetting, in high and coloured relief, spiritedly representing hunting scenes, is carried round the upper portion of the pre- sence chamber, where the labom's of the loom are incapable of covering the walls to the ceiling, from its great height. You view a moving picture ; the walls are vocal with hound and horn ; you walk through a region of romance, of allegory and of history, as you pass from room to room, until at length the eye grows weary with the shifting scenes of delight and deception, and seeks for repose from the animated, entrancing delusion amid the various quaint and elegant designs figured over the different articles of furniture. Most of these belong to the time when the house was constructed, and indicate the artistic feeling and manual dexterity of the foundress. Here too may be seen beds of state, with their curtains of black and silver, Venetian velvets, and damascenes, ' cloth of Raynes to slepe on softe,' and hangings 'raied with gold,' hard cushions of blue baudekyn, high-seated chairs covered with samit, and powdered with flowers, yet curiously uncom- fortable to sit upon. The arms and ensigns of Mary Queen of Scots, so long the too fondly cherished prisoner of George earl of Shrewsbuiy, still exist, and some of her own royal Avork is preserved amongst these treasures, together with a carpet embroidered by her needle, and a suit of hangings on which all the virtues are represented in symbolical figures and allusive mottoes, equally offering pictorial embellishments and moral lessons. On traversing the long range of apartments at Hardwick, and casting even a cursory glance upon the arras covering the wall, it excites surprise to see to what an extent this a[)i)ropriate decoration was used before the introduction of wainscotting. And when this in turn was brought into the houses of the weahliy, it was generally painted and gilt. Symbolism and allegory lent their influence to extend the charm of this rich but unnatural species of ornament, and if the powers of the workmen were incapable of soaring so high as to create, they were contented to repeat the conventional