Cfc. V.] HISTORY OF SILK, ETC. 89 



this the Italian did so well, that in a short time the 

 raw thread of France was quite as beautiful as that 

 of Italy. As a recompense for his skill, Benais re- 

 ceived letters of nobility and considerable pecuniary 

 gratifications at the hands of Louis XIV. 



During the turbulent times of the Revolution, a 

 vast number of the finest mulberry plantations were 

 ruined: since the Restoration nearly a million of 

 fresh trees have been planted, and the cultivation 

 of the silkworm has thriven proportionably. Not- 

 withstanding this advance, however, France does 

 not produce a sufficient quantity of raw silk for the 

 purposes of its manufacturers. 



Such being the history of the silkworm in France, 

 the profits derived from it make it a matter worth in- 

 quiring into, whether there is any thing in the cli- 

 mate of England which is unfavourable to the cul- 

 tivation of the silkworm. 



It is stated, that at the celebration of the marriage 

 between Margaret daughter of Henry III., and Alex- 

 ander III. of Scotland, in the year 1251, a most ex- 

 travagant display of magnificence was made by one 

 thousand English knights appearing in cointises of 

 silk. It appears also that in the reign of Henry 

 VI., there were a company of silk-women as early 

 as the year 1455 ; but these, it is probable, were em- 

 ployed rather in embroidering and making small 

 haberdasheries, than in the broad manufacture of 

 that article. Italy continued to supply England and 

 most other countries with silk. 



In the year 1554, in the reign of Mary, an act of 

 parliament was made to restrain the growing vanity 

 of the lower classes of the people. This statute 

 enacts, " That whoever shall wear silk in or upon 

 his or her hat, bonnet, or girdle, scabbard, hose, or 

 spur leather, shall be imprisoned during three months, 

 and forfeit ten pounds." This absurd statute was 

 however repealed in the first year of the reign of 

 James I., who, remark ing the effect of the great en- 

 H2 



