[10] Muratori (Diss. 25), speaking of the mean habiliments usual in Italy even so late as the 13th century, adds, "Ma non per questo s'hanno a credere cosi rozzi e nemici del Lusso que' Secoli. A buon conto anche in Italia qui non era cieco, sovente potea mirare i piu delicati lavori di Seta, che _servivano di ornamenti alle Chiese e alle sacre funzioni_." CHAPTER VII. NEEDLEWORK OF THE DARK AGES. "Last night I dreamt a dream; behold! I saw a church was fret with gold, With arras richly dight: There saw I altar, pall, and pix, Chalice, and font, and crucifix, And tapers burning bright." W. S. Rose. Over those memorials of the past which chance and mischance have left us, time hath drawn a thick curtain, obliterating all soft and gentle touches, which connected harmoniously the bolder features of the landscape, and leaving these but as landmarks to intimate what had been there. We would fain linger on those times, and call up the gentle spirits of the long departed to describe scenes of quiet but useful retirement at which we now only dimly guess. We would witness the hour of recreation in the convent, when the severer duties of the cloister gave place to the cheerful one of companionship; and the "pale votary" quitted the lonely cell and the solitary vigil, to instruct the blooming novice in the art of embroidery, or to ply her own accustomed and accomplished fingers in its fairy creations. The younger ones would be ecstatic in their commendations, and eager in their exertions to rival the fair sempstress; whilst a gratified though sad smile would brighten her own pale cheek as the lady abbess laid aside the richly illuminated volume by which her own attention had been engrossed, and from which she had from time to time read short and instructive passages aloud, commenting on and enforcing the principles they inculcated; and holding the work towards the casement, so that the bright slanting rays of the setting sun which fell through the richly carved lattice might illumine the varied tints of the stitchery, she would utter some kind and encouraging words of admiration and praise.