The mirror., 1919-03-06
LOST CROWN JEWELS
Immense Wealth Invested in These Royal Baubles
Most of Which has Vanished
Fdns;ly Herald { Canada)

Fdnily He,
6XXy1NANNERKNEM
lF#T5TNll0HERE has always been a
pV3fEH certain fascination about
H9NMH Crown Jewels, and many
&Ay romances have been built
around them. During the Russian
revolution many stories and ru-
mors we're circulated concerning
the fate of the Imperial jewels,
said to be worth fabulous sums.
Under the pretext of using the
money which could be raised by
their sale for the relief of the poor
several revolutionary authorities
endeavored to seize the jewels.
But although q strict search was
made no trace of them could be
found, nor has the mystery of their
disappearance been solved to this
day.
The British Crown Jewels have
suffered many vicissitudes. By
the Plantagenet kings, funds were
frequently raised on the security
of the Crown Jewels. notably by
the first and third Edwards to
enable them to carry on their Con-
tinentaf wars, and it is on record
that Richard the Second, without
such excuse raised two thousand
pounds e. large sum for those days.
BY pledging portion of them to
the City of London.
About a century earlier they
had. however, sustained q consider
able reduction. for, as is we'll
known to students of English his
tory, the crown and other jewels
we're lost in the waters of the
Wash when luckless King John
was flying before the pursuit of
his vengeful barons.
The great Civil War witnessed
the dispersal of the Crown Jewels
of England land some of those
of Scotland) to the four winds of
heaven. To begin with q portion
was used to raise money to arm
and equip the forces of King
Charles the First in his struggle
with Parliament. By his consort,
the intrepid Queen Henrietta, a
number were taken to Holland to
pay for cannon, muskets, powder,
and what not which she landed on
the coast of Yorkshire in the win
ter of 1912. The remainder of the
royal valuables were confscated by
the victorious Parliament in l649,
being sold to various purchasers,
and the bulk melted down to pro-
vide for the needs of the army.
When Charles IL was restored to
the throne of his ancestors. quite a
fresh start had to be made. Before
very much in this direction had
been done, for Charles had many
other ways of spending his money,
the new collection was nearly lost.
On May 9, 1871, a daring attempt
was made by Colonel Blood "a
cashierd officer who turned high
wayman) to carry off the Crown
Jewels from their depository in
the Tower of London, which only
just failed of success.
Since that date the Crown Jew.
els of Britain have not suffered
any diminution, but have, on the
contrary, received considerable
augmentation, one notable addi-
ton being the celebrated Kohl
moor diamond, once the priced pos
session of the Mogul King of
Delhi.
More than once in history have
the Crown Jewels of France un-
dergone some remarkable vicissi-
tudes and changes of ownership.
During the Great Revolution they,
like royalty itself, entirely disap-
peared. To q great extent they
had been mortgaged by the unfor-
tunate Louis XVI, in his many at
tempts to stave off disaster, and
what remained were mostly stolen
when. on August 10, 1899, the
Tuileries Palace was stormed and
looted BY the mob of Paris.