Wilton, Mary Margaret Stanley Egerton; Wilton, Mary Margaret Stanley Egerton [Hrsg.]: The art of needle-work from the earliest ages: including some notices of the ancient historical tapestries (London: Henry Colburn Publishers, 1841)

172

ROMANCES WORKED IN TAPESTRY.

romance with a halo of interest and of beauty which
is perfectly fascinating; and it seems almost impos-
sible to divest oneself of these impressions and to
look upon him only in the unattractive light in which
history represents him.
A person not initiated in romance would suppose
that the real actions of Alexander—the subjugator of
Greece, the conqueror of Persia, the captor of the
great Darius, but the generous protector of his
family—might sufficiently immortalize him. By no
means. He cuts a considerable figure in many
romances ; but in one, appropriated more exclusively
to his exploits, he “ surpasses himself.” The world
was conquered :—from north to south, and from east
to west his sovereignty was acknowledged ; so he
forthwith flew up into the air to bring the aerial po-
tentates to his feet. But this experiment not an-
swering, he descended to the depths of the waters
with much better success ; for immediately all their
inhabitants, from the whale to the herring, the canni-
bal shark, the voracious pike, the majestic sturgeon,
the lordly salmon, the rich turbot, and the delicate
trout, with all their kith, kin, relations, and allies,
the lobster, the crab, and the muscle,
“ The sounds and seas with all their finny drove”
crowd round him to do him homage : the oyster lays
her pearl at his feet, and the coral boughs meekly
wave in token of subjection. Doubtless in addition
to the legitimate “ battles ” these exploits, if not
fully displayed, were intimated by symbols in the
Tapestry.
The Tale of Troy was a very favourite subject for