Stuarts

THE CHEVALIER ST. GEORGE 221
It is dated 1695 and is now the property of the nation, having been be-
queathed to it by the fourth Earl of Orford. The Princess is here a delight-
fully quaint, prim little figure, of three years old, in a pearly grey dress. In
Mr. Philip Howard's picture we see her a little older ; and the Duke of
Fife owns a picture of her also as a child, painted by P. de Mignard.
Except her brother the Chevalier, she was the only child of James and
Mary of Modena, who survived. She was intended for a nun, but died
when twenty years of age.
There are two nicely painted pictures in oils of James and Maria
Clementina in the Bodleian. They are on copper, by Belle, cabinet size
and carefully finished. The long face and brown eyes of the Chevalier
have the family look strongly pronounced. He is in armour and wears
the Garter, and also the Order of St. Andrew. Clementina is young and
attractive.
Colonel H. Walpole possesses an eminently pleasing picture of Maria
Clementina by Largilliere, which seems to be the original of several minia-
tures of her that I am acquainted with, indeed it closely resembles one in
Colonel Walpole's own attractive series of Stuart portraits. It is interesting
to compare her face when full of vivacity with the painting of her at
Versailles, holding a book of devotion in her hand, a crown being placed
conspicuously upon a table in front of her.
Of her two sons, Charles Edward and Henry, there are at Heckfield
Place two most attractive pictures by Blanchet, representing them in full
court dress, the elder Prince wearing a breastplate, whilst his right hand
rests upon a plumed helmet.
If the annals of the make-believe court of James III. and his unhappy
wife be meagre and unexciting, not to say melancholy, the story of their
son in the outset of his career, at any rate, is romantic in the extreme, and
in the following chapter I shall deal with the chequered fortunes of " bonnie
Prince Charlie."