Lives of the last four princesses of the royal house of Stuart

1710.] COSTLY SILK PETTICOAT PUECHASED FOE HER. 359
formed on a small scale, at Lyons, some of the wonders we
see achieved by the power of steam, at Manchester and
Glasgow, in our own days.
Like all the royal Stuarts, the son of James II. took a
lively interest in the arts of peaceful life, and the progress
of domestic civilisation. His letters to his royal mother,
during this tour, abounded with just and lively remarks on
these subjects. She expressed great satisfaction to her
friends at Chaillot, and her daughter, at the good sense
which led him to acquaint himself with matters likely to
conduce to the happiness of his people, in case it should
be the will of God to call him to the throne of England.*
The nuns were much more charmed at the Prince telling
his royal mother, that he had been desirous of purchasing
for the Princess, his sister, one of the most beautiful speci-
mens of the silks manufactured at Lyons, for a petticoat ;
but they had not shown him any that he considered good
enough. He had, at last, however, summoned female
taste to his aid, by begging Madame l'lntendante, to make
the choice for him ; and she had written to him that she
believed she had succeeded, so he hoped his sister would
have a petticoat, of the richest and most splendid brocade,
that could be procured, to wear in the winter, when she left
off her mourning, which she still wore for the Dauphin.
The genuine affection for his sister, indicated by this
little trait, may well atone for its simplicity. The Queen,
their mother, having no allowance, of any kind, for her
daughter; was precluded by her poverty, from indulging
her maternal pride by decking her in rich array.
The Chevalier de St. George, who had enough of the
Frenchman in him to attach some importance to the sub-
ject of dress, was perhaps aware of the deficiencies in the
wardrobe of his fair sister, when he took so much pains to
* Memorials of Mary Beatrice, in the Archives du Eoyaume of France.