| Show PAWNING ROYAL GEMS WHAT OLDTIME MONARCHS DID V IN ORDER TO RAISE MONEY V The Olds Sharp Trick Edward IIIV V V Pledged His Queens V Crown Re gentJ Diamond and Napoleon i OC all inanimate oblccts which have stirred to the depths the various emotions emo-tions of mankind gems and jewels take V Van easy first V place probably also V V their delusive sparkle has proved a greater incentive to crime than anything V any-thing else has ever done while in love affairs of the world V they havo always played V a very conspicuous part V That this role1 has hot always been an honorable one la unfortunately too V well proved when one remembers than countless tragedies and stories which surround almost every famous Jewel In existence History teljsj us how V kings and queens particularly queens V have fought and schemed to obtain possession of them indeed from the V worldrenowned pearls of Cleopatra down to the famous Cumberland Jcwclc of Queen Victoria a quecnn gems have always been among her most interesting and romantic possessions V pos-sessions Many of poor Mary Queen of Scots troubles arose froin time fact pf her owning the most magnificent parurc of pearlB In the world and the extraordinary conduct of her royal kinswomen Catherine Medici qf FrancU and Queen V Elizabeth of England In their frantic attempts to obtain these gems the while their Illfated cousin lay in prison affords entertaining if scarcely edifying reading Yqt another famous queen whose Jewels proved her V undoing or at least prejudiced her people against her was the beautiful Marie Antoinette of France who certainly cer-tainly paid dearly enough for the diamond dia-mond collar she was destined never to V wear Although It must be confessed that the falitsex seem to have fallen more under the fascination ot precious stones than their lords and masters yet one thing must be said of them when they came into possession of their jewels they generally kept them while It was loft for the Illustrious members of the male sex to show them how to raise money on the glittering baibloR WOMEN RARELY RESORT TO PAWNING V With the exceptions of poor devoted Henrietta Maria who went to Holland and pawned her private Jewels to obtain ob-tain money to enable her muchbeloved husband to carry on his war and Anne Boleyn who as historians toll us Was always short of money poor woman and who pawned till her Jewels lp order V to pay her debts btforo her marriage the Instances of women disputing ofr Ihwlr trinkets are exceptionally rare but from time Immemorial the king him turned to his regalia and raised money on It It has Indeed become ah unwritten un-written maxim that If yqu ipuflt pawn j anything jewels arc the ideal thirmgs with which to operate This probably comes from the fact that they have always V al-ways possessed V the advantage of comprising com-prising great value In small space be sideswhich the standard of their value V dccs not fluctuate much Therefore It V Is not surprising to find that history teems with examples of royal pawned jewels and almost every country has onct or oftenqr been rescued from great embarrassment by the money on Its crown Jewels V One of the curliest authentic casOs comes from Spain The Spaniards V trace the descent of their royal hquse bnok to Cid Campeador who nourished In the eleventh century This gentleman gentle-man on ono occasion raised a loan In a manner which has in these degenerate days unfortunately for borrower died out Wishing to go to Var and having hav-ing no funds he borrowed the necessary neces-sary moneys from certain Jews on fhe security of his treasure coffers which were locked Tile moneylenders were forbidden on pain of death to have thcscj coffers opened and at the tIme Of the transaction no one but the Cld himself V him-self knew that they were empty It V says much however for the honor of the said V Old that the eases empty or full were redeemed at their full value V Nearer home we have an amusing story of how Henry HI pawned a gold Image of the Virgin Mary In order to pay the olllccrs of the chapel royal at Windsor amid then a few hours afterward after-ward fearing lest his sacrilegious deed should bring upon him ill luck he redeemed re-deemed It with some land from bin own private parks Another otirlous story of the pawning transactions of Henry III relates to the famous Sancy V diamond which belonged to the Baron de Sancy who lent it to Henry In order that the King might give It as a security se-curity to the Swiss Government Tho messenger who carried the stone to the King was set upon and killed but V the thieves did not find the booty the faithful servant having swallowed It and It was ultimately recovered EDWARD III AND HENRY VI Strange Indeed were the financial transactions of Edward III During the long war he waged With France he pawned almost everything of value which he possessed and then borrowed V his Queens crown on which he borrowed bor-rowed 25000 As the war went on the poor Queen saw less and less hope of ever beholding her crown again She appealed to her royal consort who was however too much wrapped up In his V armies to spend a penny even If he had it on anything else The nation had at this time collected a sum which was to be glvon to the King to spend on somo of his cavalry and the question V was raised should tho King redeem the crown from his private purge and use the nations gift for the armies or should the nation redeem the crown and leave the King free to disburse his private money for tIle benefit bf his soldiers Eventually a compromise V was made a special tax on wool being levied so that all the money could be used for the army and 30000 packs of wool weiv sent to Cologne to redeem V the pledged crown V Henry VI IB notorious as being the monarch who never could or would redeem his pledges among the most famous of which was a jewel called the V Rich collar which vaz pawned bv l him and ultimately passed into foreign1 V handsV V One of V the most Instructive and mysterious stories of pawned jewels comes to us from France At the end of the eighteenth century after the disturbances toward the close of 1792 the French crown jewels which had formerly been open to inspection In the Garde Meuble were locked up incases V cases and stamped with the royal seal of the commune and three com mlssnlres were deputed to guard the treasure trove Whether through care V Icssncys or design Is not known hut one morning It wnsrfound that during the night the colonnade round the Garde Miuulc had been staled and the contents of the case abstracted There V war no clue upon which V the police could work and although many persons per-sons were arrested on suspicion no real V result was arrived at MADE NAPOLEON EMPEROR At this singe a letter was received V by the commune stating that if they would search the ditch in thb Allc dqs Veuves in the Champs Elysees they would there find sonic of the missing valuable This Was accordingly done and they found among other things the Regent or Pitt diamond This closed the matter for the time being and nothing further was done In ISO I there was a trial in which several persons per-sons wcrc Indicted on the charge V oC fbrglng bank notes One of thcm presumably to save his own skin made a full confession the forgery giving full details In open court and ended up hIs V speech to the followlnr V effect needless to say V to the utter astonishment of all who hcardhliVi This wijl not be the flrat occasion on which my disclosure have liccn of Vire to the country and If lath dohdemnqd I will appeal Withnil confidence tbthc clemency of hc Empoivr Had it not been for me he would never have ascended tho thrOne and to me Is due the victory of Marengo I was oua of the thieves uf the Garde V Meuble V I helped companions to burjfcm tho Alle des Veuves the Regent diamond and on the promise that I would bo pardoned promise that was1 faith V fullykept revealed the hiding place and you arc all aware gentlemen of the court that this magnificent gem was pawned by the First Consul to the Bnvnilan flovornment to obtain money V of which he vas deeply in need after the eighteenth 73rumalre V The Regent diamond Is said to be the finest though not the largest In the world and its value has been estimated at189000 sterling London Anglo American VV V |
