Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1899-08-11
THE CROWNS OF KINGS.
Their Intrinsic Value and Interesting His
tories-The Bruinnnrem Crown.

There are few things which appeal
so largely to the Imagination as the
crowns of kings, which, though lying
lightly on the palm, are worth many
tons OF gold and almost every stone
OF which is a chapter of history. One
OF the most interesting of European
crowns is that of Hungary, a curious
composite crown in possession of the
Emperor OF Austria, which disappear
ed for several years in mysterious fash
ION ana reappearcd as mysteriously.
ne crown consists of a circle of
gold, richly jewelled with pearls and
other costly gems, to which has been
attached an old byzantine crown.
bearing an enormous sapphire in set
ting OF green stones. Just half a CEN
fury ago this historic crown came into
the hands of Kossuth, and, in spite of
the most diligent search, nothing was
heard of it for five years. At the end
OF this time it was discovered by
peasant in hollow tree and restored
to the Emperor's keeping.
The famous iron crown of Lombardy.
which is now treasured in an Italian
cathedral, is the oldest and most sa-
cred of all the crowns of Europe. 1t is
fashioned around a circlet of iron made
from one of the nails with which
Christ was pierced at the Crucifixion.
and from its sacred character is held
IN the highest veneration. Although
through all the centuries the iron band
has remained untouched, ii is said that
no spot of rust has ever been seen on
it.
There is no crown quite so imposing
as that with which the Russian Cars
;r
form OF mitre, to typify the spiritual
sovereignty of the Cars, and it is
crowned by a dazzling cross of enor-
nous diamonds with a ruby centre.
In marked contrast to the magnifi-
cence of the Russian crown is the SIM
pie design of the crown of Denmark.
This crown, which is of the most deli
cate and exquisite art, consists of a
gold circlet, wreathed In leaves. Each
leaf is traced in precious stones and
bears one gem of almost priceless
value.
The German crown, which is appro-
priately militant in design, contains
eight shields bearing alternate black
eagles and jewelled crosses, while pois-
ed on four arches blazing with dia-
monds is globe crowned by a cross
of gold.
The State crown of Great Brit
ain was made siXty-one years ago for
our queens coronation, and is among
the lightest of European crowns. AL
though it weighs only two pounds,
seven ounces, it's value is $1.600.000
or at the rate of nearly $4,000 an
ounce, and it contains 5000 stones,
many of them historical.
One enormous sapphire came from
the signet ring of Edward the Con-
fessor, and. from this sacred assoc
citation, is reported to have the power
of healing disease. One of the rubies,
however, has a sadly tragic history.
1t was at one time in the possession of
one of the Kings of Grenada, whom
Pedro the Cruel. invited to his palace,
and basely murdered out of greed for
his gem.
In the Pope's treasure house are two
crowns. which together are valued at
$4,000 900. One of them. the gift Of
the great Napoleon to Plus VII. has
the largest emerald in the world. and
the other, the gift of Queen Isabella
of Spain to Plus TX, weighs three
pounds and is worth s1,0000OO.
1t is interesting TO note that the
crown has no part in the coronation of
tue hlHSS VI Spain duu DelSlulu ant
the Sultan of Turkey. Its place is
taken in Turkey by sword, which is
regarded as the symbol of Divine au-
thority.
In ludicrous contrast to these mir
acles of gold and gems with which Eu-
ropean monarchs are invested are the
"Brummagem' crowns under which
African chiefs love to strut and pos
ture These are manufactured nv hun-
dreds in Birmingham and are a blaze
of mimic gold and paste stones" of all
the colors of the rainbow.
Their prices range from s. to $500
or $1,000, and even Solomon in all his
glory pales before the vision of an
ebony chief in the discarded apparel Of
Lord Mayors footman. and wearing
in all its paste brilliancy a ten dollar
Brummagem crown.