It is well known that the Queen is particularly careful
to wear nothing which is not tge produce of English skill. We do not propose to discuss the question whether it is consistent with good policy to avoid the use of foreign commodities, in order to encourage English manufac- tures : all will admit that the motive which induces the Queen to make this preference, is most amiable. Our present object is to show how the kindest acts may be misinterpreted, and the injury which arises from such hasty judgments. Some months ago, the Queen visited the Zoological Society, and wore a beautiful pelisse, the silk of which was woven in Spitalfields expressly for her own use. The fabric itself, and the design which adorned it, were superior to any thing of the kind which foreign art could achieve. Some of the spectators, imagining the pelisse, &c., to be made of foreign silk, had the ill man- ners to express their opinion sufficiently loudly to be overheard by her Majesty. On the next occasioir when the Queen was about to appear in public, she sent directions to have a piece of silk made at Spital- fields, which it should be impossible to mistake for foreign manufac- ture. Thus was the taste of our own workmen checked, and their improvement retarded, by an unjust and impertinent remark.
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