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288 ENGLISH MEDIEVAL EMBROIDERY. each other in the amount of such intrinsically valuable posses- sions, and when the sepulchre closed over the bones of the dead, it even shut within its dark and damp recesses the glittering vestments once worn by its tenant. And thus deposited in gloomy state, enwrapped in the gorgeous raiment with which they had dazzled a crowd of satellites, mouldered the bones of the king of Macedon, of Nero, of Maria spouse of Honorius, of Childeric% and of Cuthbert. The discoveries attendant upon the exhumation of the two last individuals form the most singular history of sepulchral antiquities that have ever been given to the world. Interesting however as the investigation of the present sub- ject must be, whether its illustration is sought for amid the classical literature of Greece and Rome, or in the pages of those fathers of the Christian Church, who inveigh against the use of such things as mere superfluous vanities, it is an enquiry that becomes more attractive when directed towards the particular modes of costumic embellishment or of domestic decoration which have prevailed in England. How various have been the methods of employing the needle for ornamental purposes, and Avhat choice specimens of its skilful use may still be seen hu'king among the internal substantial comforts of the English gentry. The medieval monuments of female fancy are yet very considerable, though the moth has lent its aid to fret the canvass, and the garret has become converted into the store-house of ancestral industry. Occasionally, indeed, may be perceived a filial re- gard united with an uncertain appreciation for these faded heir-looms, and they are timidly brought forward into view and transferred to fresh foundations, as the evidence of linger- ing regard for the worker, and the proof of estimating a good but obsolete fashion. Nothing can evince better taste and discernment than the way in which these memorials of family toil are preserved at Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire, where the embroidery wrought by the countess of Shrewsbury forms one among the numerous remarkable features of that palatial residence. a Thedeathof Cliildcricthe Fii-st,wliois of great interest and cariosity. Amongst .'egarded as fbuitli king of the Merovingian these were several gold bees which had line, took place in 482. He was buried at been attached to his garments, and which Tournai, where he had resided. His tomb formed the insignia of the monarchs of the was discovered there in 1653, and contained first race, rings of great value and many other objects