embroidered on saddle and harness. Before him march the Swiss
guard under Fleurange, who has left an account of the whole matter;
close by are Mountjoy and the other heralds, with the High Admiral and
the great nobles. On the back of the last rider is carved the royal
badge, that salamander which was seen miraculously to appear in effigy
among the clouds while the Cardinal was celebrating High Mass. The
English chronicler describes the scene carved upon this panel as
follows:--"Then blew the trumpets, sackbutts, clarions, and all other
minstrelsy on both sides, and the King descended down towards the
bottom of the valley of Ardres in sight of the nations, and on
horseback met and embraced the two Kings each other; then the two
Kings alighted, and after embraced with benign and courteous manner
each other, with sweet and goodly words of greeting; and after few
words these two noble Kings went together into the tent of cloth of
gold that was there set on the ground for such purpose, thus
arm-in-arm went the French King Francis the First of France, and Henry
the Eighth King of England and France, together passing with
communication."

On the fourth panel, behind four mace-bearers, rides an ecclesiastic
bearing what was once a double cross: the dove that flew above his
head has entirely disappeared. Then comes Cardinal de Boissey, the
Papal Legate, and among the other Cardinals (who may be recognised by
their hatstrings falling on their chests) are those of Bourbon,
Albret, and Lorraine. Much of this has been destroyed, but there is
enough left to realise what Du Bellay says about the ruinous
extravagance of the dresses:--"Many of the Frenchmen," he writes,
"carried the price of woodland, watermill, and pasture on their
backs." Yet the taste of the Englishmen, who had not spent so much,
was acknowledged to have produced as splendid an effect as the
gorgeous outlay of the French; as Fleurange particularly records of
the English pavilion made of wood, and drapery and glass, "elle etait
trop plus belle que celle des Francais, et de peu de coutance." In one
point, however, the ladies of Paris asserted a superiority they have
retained almost ever since; the Englishwomen confessed themselves
beaten; but when they followed the fashion of their fair rivals, it
was not much better; for, says the truthful historian, "what they lost
in modesty they did not make up in grace."

Most unfortunately, on the fifth and last panel, though t