sancta Maria
ad Martyres fecit vestem tyriam ut supra. Et in basilica sanctorum
Cosmae et Damiani fecit vestem de blatti Byzanteo, cum periclysin de
chrysoclabo, et margaritis."--i. 285.

[16] "De staurace."

[17] "Opere plumario exquitissime praeparatas."

[18] In the classical ages, they were in high repute. Juno's chariot
is drawn by peacocks; and Olympian Jove himself invests his royal
limbs with a mantle formed of their feathers.

[19] The name of Dame Leviet has descended to posterity as an
embroiderer to the Conqueror and his Queen.

[20] Will. of Malmesbury, 156.

[21] Vet. Mon. cap. 13.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY.--PART I.

"Needlework sublime."

Cowper.

Great discussion has taken place amongst the learned with regard to
the exact time at which the Bayeux tapestry was wrought. The question,
except as a matter of curiosity, is, perhaps, of little account--fifty
years earlier or later, nearly eight hundred years ago. It had always
been considered as the work of Matilda, the wife of the conquering
Duke of Normandy until a few years ago, when the Abbe de la Rue
started and endeavoured to maintain the hypothesis that it was worked
by or under the direction of the Empress Matilda, the daughter of
Henry the First.[22] But his positions, as Dibdin observes,[23] are
all of a _negative_ character, and, "according to the strict rules of
logic, it must not be admitted, that because such and such writers
have _not_ noticed a circumstance, therefore that circumstance or
event cannot have taken place." Hudson Gurney, Charles A. Stothard,
and Thos. Amyot, Esqrs. have all published essays on the subject,[24]
which establish almost to certainty the fact of the production of this
tapestry at the earlier of the two periods contended for, viz. from
1066 to 1068.

In this we rejoice, because this Herculean labour has a halo of deep
interest thrown round it, from the circumstance of its being the proud
tribute of a fond and affectionate wife, glorying in her husband's
glory, and proud of emblazoning his deeds. As the work of the Empress
Matilda it would still be a magnificent production of industry and of
skill; as the work of "Duke William's" wife these qualities merge in
others of a more interesting character.[25]

This excellent and amiable princess was a most highly accomplished
woman, and remarkable for her learning; she was the affectionate
mother of a large famil