Graphic representations of allegories are susceptible of so many
variations, that an artist, embodying the ideas of the poet, might
produce a representation bearing a close resemblance to the mythological
processions of the mystic dream.--Of one of the most perfect of the
historical subjects, I send you a drawing: it is the first in order in
Montfaucon's work, and exhibits the suite of the King of England, on
their way from the town of Guisnes, to meet the French monarch. Two of
the figures might be mistaken for Henry himself and Wolsey, riding
familiarly side by side; but these dignified personages have more
important parts allotted them in the second and third compartments,
where they appear in the full-blown honors of their respective
characters.
[Illustration: Bas-Relief, from the representations of the Champ du Drap d'or]
The interior has been modernized; so that a beam covered with small
carvings is the only remaining object of curiosity. On the top, a bunch
of leaden thistles has been a sad puzzle to antiquaries, who would fain
find some connection between the building and Scotland; but neither
record nor tradition throw any light upon their researches.
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