tberto despised ; lienee occuned a new 
mode of building, which, though it m some 
degree resembled that of their ancestois, 
was attended with infinite improvement. It 
is in the residences thus produced that we 
are now to took for the tapestry once so ne- 
cessary, but in the latter instance pre- 
served threugh alaudable family pride, and 
as objects of curiosity. At Haidwncke 
Hall in Derbyshire, one of the seats of the 
Duke of Devonshire, built by a CounUss 
of Shrewsbury, in the reign of Queen Eli- 
zabeth, some very interesting tapestry and 
hangings of a bed are shown, which were 
worked by Mary, Queen of France and 
Scotland, during her long confinement at 
that place, previously to her execution. As 
may be anticipated from her mode of faith, 
and the circumstances of her situation, the 
colours and subjects are of a sombre and 
melancholy cast, but sufficiently well done 
to excite approbation. 
Those it will be remembered are the pro- 
duct of the needle, and are therefore very 
different from that which adorns the walls 
of the House of Lords from the loom, and 
are nearly coeval with the performances of 
the royal captive ; the latter have long b^fn 
celebrated as the only representations we 
possess of the destruction of the Spanish 
Armada, but their age and the fading of 
their colours have greatly lessened their In- 
tel est. Exclusive of those there are spe- 
cimens of ancient tapestry at the Charter 
House, placed there by the Duke of 
Norfolk in the reign of Elizabetli, and at 
St. James’s Palace, which is the best in 
every particular of all that has been men- 
tioned. 
It will be perceived, that in each of these 
instances the dates nearly correspond, 
whence it may be safely concluded, that 
very little use was made ot tapestry after 
the reign of James I. in England . Next to 
the English, the Flemings were most ex- 
pert at weaving of rich hangings, the French 
who subsequently exceeded all other na- 
tions in this art, did not apply themselves to 
it till the reign of their Henry IV. when an 
establishment was made in the year 1607 m 
the Fauxbourg St. Michael at Paris ; after 
the assassination of that monarch, the ma- 
nufactory was neglected, nor was it re- 
vived till the reign of Louis XIV . under the 
auspices of Colbert,, who caused a recepta- 
cle for this work to be constructed, whore 
two brothers named Giles and John Gobe- 
lins, had long before been celebrated as ex- 
cellent dyers, whence the name, whicti an 
TAPESTRY. 
edict issued by Louis, confirmed under tlm 
title of Hotel Royal des Gobelins. As it 
was the intention of the luxurious moiiarch 
just mentioned to excel all his contemporary 
sovereigns of Europe in the splendour of 
his palaces and establishments, the manu- 
factory of the Gobelins was placed by him 
under a complete system of government, 
and it flourished with some fluctuations of 
neglect and encouragement as a royal insti- 
tution, till the late revolution, during which 
dreadful period it was consigned, to all ap- 
pearance, to irretrievable ruin ; but the 
subsequent consulship of Bonaparte, and his 
further elevation to the throne of France, 
has in a gieat degree recovered it, though 
the change in public opinion in the manner 
of decorating walls will prevent it from ob- 
taining its pristine encouragement. 
The reader will forgive our enlarging on 
this subject, as the Gobelins is the only 
manufactory of tapestry remaining in Eu- 
rope worthy of particular notice, and where 
paintings are imitated w.th all the strength 
and beauty of colouring of the pictures fiom 
which thev are copied. M. Le Maistre, 
who visited Paris in 1802, mentions two 
pieces made about that time, one repie- 
senting the assassination of Admiral Co- 
ligni, and the other the heroic conduct of 
the President Molt', of uncommon excel- 
lence. Ninety persons were then em- 
ployed, and appeared to work with the ut- 
most ease, though six years apprenticeship 
and much attention and care are required 
to attain superior skill. Previously to the 
change in the government of France, the 
workmen were in a great degree state pri- 
soners, but such is the jealousy of rivalship, 
that they are still under the special care or 
surveillance of the police ; and the pieces 
manufactured were destined principally to 
ornament the favourite residence of St. 
Cloud, and some other.public buildings. To 
this information we shall subjoin the still 
more recent account ot Mr. Pinkerton in 
1805. “ In the ancient method,” says that 
gentleman, “ the workmen were obliged 
to stoop, which was found detrimental to 
their health, and the pictures were de- 
stroyed, being cut in pieces in the width of 
the loom ; the figures were also reversed. 
Neilson, at intelligent foreraat^, contrived 
to save tlie pictures, in traciiig them with 
oil-paper. Nor were the figures reversed 
as before, and the picture itself vvas placed 
behind the workman, that he might accu- 
rately express the shades and tone of co- 
lour. Still the result could not be judged 
