The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-02-07
THE FRENCH GROWN JEWELS.
The Gems Which the Chamber of Deputi'
Has Ordered To Be Sold.

The Gems Which the Chamber of Deputies
Has Ordered To Be Sold.
PARIS Feb. Con the 4th the Chamber Of
Deputies voted that the crown jewels should be
sold and the proceeds devoted to providing a
fund for aged workmen. The approval of the
Senate is necessary before the sale can be pro-
ceeded with. A commission of jewellers and
connoisseurs of jewels. appointed to value the
crown diamonds, and to say which, if any,
should be retained. recommended that certain
number of jewels or jeweled objects should not
be sold, and their advice is to be complied with.
save in regard to the foreign decorations and the
insignia Of the Legion of Honor worn by Napo-
leon III. These" says the report on the sub
j ct recall no historical souvenir" The girdle
in diamonds which the Empress Eugene caused
to DO made on the model CT the one worn by
Mile. Derval in ''La Biche au Bois,"
eedotal value. Three objects, instead of being
sold In their present form. are first to be
melted down. OF these, two are swords which
belonged, one to the Dauphin. the other to Louis
XVIII. The third of the objects to be melted is
the imperial crown made in 1854 for the coro-
nation which took place 1t Is inscribed as "in-
significant in workmanship and of doubtful
taste" It's value is more than doubtful consid-
cred as an historic relic Plus TX, it will be re-
membered, had been counted upon to perform
the ceremony for which it WAS made. But Ma
polean III never found himself in a position to
induce the Pope to assist in his coronation. The
two royal swords and the imperial crown which
was destined never to be used are, after the
stones have been taken out, to be melted and
sold as SO much metal in order that they may
not fail into the hands of Nine. Tussaud or the
proprietors of the Musee Grevin.
The government does not, however, propose to
sell the famous Regent" which was acquired
name for over $675000 A story was told of
the Regent that it had been stolen by French
deserter from the eye of the figure of Jugger-
naut, though according to another version, it
was stolen not from god, but from a slave who
had found it in mine, and was in the habit of
carrying it about in wound which he had made
expressly for its reception in one of his legs.
This stone has the reputation OF being the purest,
II not the largest, of famous diamonds The
kings of France wore it in their crown. Napo-
aeon, however carried it in the hilt of his sword.
Had he not doue so it would not for time have
been lost to France, as it in fact was when, at
Waterloo, it fell into the hands of the Prussans.
After the restoration it went back to France,
and, that 1t might not q second time become the
property OF the Prussians. it conveyed in
1870, when the capital was about to be invested,
from Paris to Tours, and from Tours to Bordeaux.
It has had strange adventures, too, IN France
1J6elF. mus, under the consulate and the en-
pire, it remained in the possession of NJ. Wander
berghe, who held it as guarantee for the repay
ment of a state loan, and. mean while, lent it to
his wife to wear at evening parties, replacing it
in his strong box by excellent imitation in
crystal, which is said on more than one occasion
to have been exhibited the original to the
authorities charged with the duty of visiting it.
Portions OF the crown diamonds of France
have already twice been sold-in 1851. by Louis
XIV, and in l774. by Louis XVI-and at the
aNf4 he nlrIfi thnvx
hatred of monarchical vanities, partly from
want of money! to have been disposed of in
mass The sale, however. as constantly post
p0ned, and the Convention being replaced by the
Directory. and the Directory by the Consulate
and the Empire taste for diamonds gradually
came into existence; though Napoleon. having
once pledged the crown diamonds, was. for
long time, without the necessary funds for TAX
ing them out. In republic where court cere-
monies have no existence crown diamonds are
for practical purposes valueless, and the best
thing to do with them. especially if the state
wants money, Is. doubtless, to sell them.