[136] [Another demonstration of the fickleness and changeableness of all
    mundane affairs.  Mr. Stothard, after a successful execution of his
    great task, has ceased to be among us.  His widow published his life,
    with an account of his labours, in a quarto volume in 1823.  Mr.
    Stothard’s Monumental Effigies, now on the eve of completion,
    is a work which will carry his name down to the latest posterity, as
    one of the most interesting, tasteful, and accurate of antiquarian
    productions.  See a subsequent note.]

[137] See page 12, ante.

[138] ["That was true, when M. Dibdin wrote his account; now, the number
    must be reduced one half.”  LICQUET, vol. ii. p. 121.]

[139] Cette eglise ... etoit sans contredit une des plus riches de France
en
    vases d’or, d’argent, et de pierreries; en reliques et en ornemens.  Le
    proces-verbal qui avoit ete dresse de toutes ses richesses, en 1476,
    contient un detail qui va presque a l’infini.”  Bezieres, Hist. 
    Sommaire, p. 51.

[140] [But ONE letter has passed between us since this separation.  That
    letter, however, only served to cement the friendliness of our
    feelings towards each other.  M. Pierre Aime Lair had heard of the
    manner in which his name had been introduced into these pages, and
    wished a copy of the work to be deposited in the public library at
    Caen.  Whether it be so deposited, I have never learnt.  In 1827, this
    amiable man visited England; and I saw him only during the time of an
    ordinary morning visit.  His stay was necessarily short, and his
    residence was remote.  I returned his visit—­but he was away.  There are
    few things in life more gratifying than the conviction of living in
    the grateful remembrance of the wise and the good; and THAT
    gratification it is doubtless my happiness to enjoy—­as far as relates
    to Mons. PIERRE AIME LAIR!]

LETTER XV.

VISIT NEAR ST. LOUP.  M. PLUQUET, APOTHECARY AND BOOK-VENDER.  VISIT TO THE
BISHOP.  THE CHAPTER LIBRARY.  DESCRIPTION OF THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY.  TRADE AND
MANUFACTURE.

Well, my good friend! the stranger has been visited:  his library inspected:  his services accepted:  and his character partly unfolded.  To this I must add, in the joy of my heart, (as indeed I mentioned slightly in my last) that both the Chapter LIBRARY and the famous TAPESTRY have been explored and examined in a manner, I trust, worthy of British curiosity.  I hardly know what sort of order to adopt in this my second and last epistle from Bayeux; which will be semi-bibliomaniacal and semi-archaeological:  and sit down, almost at random, to impart such intelligence as my journal and my memory supply.