numerous pavilions, fitted up with halls, galleries, and
chambers ornamented within and without with gold and silver tissue.
Amidst golden balls and quaint devices glittering in the sun, rose a
gilt figure of St. Michael, conspicuous for his blue mantle powdered
with golden _fleurs-de-lis_, and crowning a royal pavilion of vast
dimensions supported by a single mast. In his right hand he held a dart,
in his left a shield emblazoned with the arms of France. Inside, the
roof of the pavilion represented the canopy of heaven ornamented with
stars and figures of the zodiac. The lodgings of the queen, of the
Duchess d'Alencon, the king's favorite sister, and of other ladies and
princes of the blood, were covered with cloth of gold. The rest of the
tents, to the number of three or four hundred, emblazoned with the arms
of their owners, were pitched on the banks of a small river outside the
city walls."

No less abundant provision had been made for the residence of the
English visitors. When King Henry looked from the oriel windows of his
fairy palace, he saw before him a scene of the greatest splendor and the
most incessant activity. The green space stretching southward from the
castle was covered with tents of all shapes and sizes, many of them
brilliant with emblazonry, while from their tops floated rich-colored
banners and pennons in profusion. Before each tent stood a sentry, his
lance-point glittering like a jewel in the rays of the June sun. Here
richly-caparisoned horses were prancing, there sumpter mules laden with
supplies, and decorated with ribbons and flowers, made their slow way
onward. Everywhere was movement, everywhere seemed gladness; merriment
ruled supreme, the hilarity being doubtless heightened by frequent
visits to gilded fountains, which spouted forth claret and hypocras into
silver cups from which all might drink. Never had been seen such a
picture in such a place. The splendor of color and decoration of the
tents, the shining armor and gorgeous dresses of knights and nobles, the
brilliancy of the military display, the glittering and gleaming effect
of the pageant as a whole, rendering fitly applicable the name by which
this royal festival has since been known, "The Field of the Cloth of
Gold."

Two leagues separated Arde and Guisnes, two leagues throughout which the
spectacle extended, rich tents and glittering emblazonry occupying the
whole space, the canvas habitations of the two nations meeting at t