to be obtained, while they
were served in regal style by numerous slaves, male and female.

The council chamber of the Grand Palace is hung with ancient Brussels
fabrics of great original cost and beauty. These pieces of tapestry,
twenty-two in all, are each fifteen feet square. The figures are of
life-size, representing typical scenes in India, Africa, Europe, and
America, and depicting with considerable accuracy the fauna and flora of
each section of the globe. In the representations of America, there are
a few manifest incongruities and inaccuracies, but one should not be
hypercritical under such circumstances. Little, comparatively speaking,
was known three hundred years ago of this great western continent. These
tapestries are in a state of remarkable preservation, both as regards
color and texture. They are said to have hung in their present position
for over two centuries and a half, exposed to a strong light, and more
or less to atmospheric influences. These are rare specimens of the
admirable work as well as of the durable colors produced by those early
artists in textile fabrics. Connoisseurs whose interest is in this
special line visit Malta solely to see them as they hang in the old
palace.

The author chanced to meet a wealthy American gentleman in the city of
Florence, lately, with whom this mania for ancient tapestry had become
chronic, and was pursued to some purpose. The individual referred to was
Mr. Charles M. Ffoulke, now of Washington, D. C. He had invested over
fifty thousand dollars in the purchase of very old and neglected fabrics
of this sort, found in various parts of Italy, notably at Rome. These
were mostly from the looms of Gobelin and Brussels. Mr. Ffoulke had
secured the services of a score of patient nuns in the convents of
Florence, who were engaged in the careful restoration of the frayed and
torn, but valuable fabrics. When every piece should be brought as nearly
as possible to its original condition, the whole was to be shipped to
America. One portion of this collection, valued at twenty thousand
dollars, is already in this country, and was presented by its generous
owner for the adornment of the sacristy of a prominent church in New
York city.

The spacious dining-hall of the government palace of Malta contains
among many other portraits one of Grand Master Vijncourt, by the famous
artist Caravaggio. A master ruler of the order, as we have shown, always
lived in regal style. When