Show SOME celebrated CROWNS who would not risk his life for a crown one of the french conspirators was wan reported to have exclaimed to nac na when that mighty man shrank bk back from the coup which would either klaos him on the throne of france or submerge him in overwhelming disaster if the question were asked today the ordinary man w reply that it depended upon the crown for of late jt yearn yes many of the lesser diadems diadema of dt europe have actually gone a beg gins ging considered merely from the standpoint of intrinsic value there are many and various kinds of crowns extant in the world orld at the present time vor for instance the crown of roumania is i composed of gun metal made in fact out of a bit of old cannon captured at plevna that of portugal has gems in it ft which have caused it to be valued at the iron crown of lombardy which by the way to is the oldest diadem in europe t Is on only ly six 1 I inches in diameter atje the cams question tio n usually a eked asked by those who d behold old it for the first time is IB where to is the iron for to all appear ances the crown consists of the broad circle of gold ornamented by an enameling of flowers this however is but the outward case with the coronet rests the iron itself it is fashioned out by one of the nails mails by which christ was fastened to the cross the crown now rests on the cathedral of monza italy and is under the care of the monks of the establish ement these holy men call attention to the fact that while no attempt has ever been made mad to clean the baser metal still there is TIO no sign of rust upon it a fact which conclusively proves its sacred origin england possesses but two crowns which are ever used one of these is the british state crown the other the crown of england the former is re served for important occasions while the latter is used at times demanding less magnificence the state crown the one used by queen victoria when ascending the throne was made especially for that purpose and weighs but thirty nine ounces it is valued at the jewels with which it is studded were supplied mostly from older diadems diadema of the realm and include nearly stones the cap is of crimson velvet lined with white silk and has an ermine border to some of the gems blazing in this insignia of royal power grew some and romantic legends are attached for instance the famous ruby given by pedro the cruel to the black prince is said to have come into the formers hands by foul means the story runs that pedro invited the red king of grenada to his palace and murdered his guest for the sake of the wondrous gem perhaps the sinister influence which might attach itself to this jewel is counteracted by its companion the immense sap sapphire which is famed to come from the ring of edward the confessor so great were the virtues it was supposed to have gained through its cont act with this holy man that it was waa believed that the stone endowed its possessor with power over various diseases in connection with the diadems diadema of england might be mentioned the ancient crown of scotland which still may be seen in edinburgh castle it was made in the fourteenth century and of course was used deed at the coronation of mary queen of saca the russian imperial crown is a wonderful piece of workmanship the czar being regarded by his people as to a great extent a religious as well as a temporal lord it is not surprising to find the badge of sovereignty modeled after the patriarch ial miter five beautiful diamonds resting on a magnificent ent ruby form the cross which composes its summit diamonds and pearls of the utmost perfection and a sapphire which it is claimed has haa no rival render this diadem one unsurpassed in magnificence the crown possessed by the G german erman emperor Is of peculiar shape the cap rests upon eight shields four ornamented with diamond crosses and the others with the figure of the imperial eagle while above this four hoops sparkling with diamonds support a globe kl Bifi mounted by a golden cross singularly beautiful both in shape and ornamentation la Is the crown of the emperor of austria from the coronet there arase arse eight jeweled ornaments each topped by a superb pearl the hoop of the cap is surmounted by an enormous sapphire the lining to is of ruby colored velvet the emperor is also the possessor of the sacred crown of hungary this is in fact two crowns which have been welded together the first to is a golden diadem ornamented with pearls and precious stones the other a byzantine coronet to is an enormous sapphire surrounded by four oblong green stones of some unknown kind lapidaries Lapi daries disagree as to what these remarkable gems may be this crown has been the subject of many extraordinary adventures in 1848 it fell into the hands of kog koa and mysteriously disappeared rumor had it that kossuth had carried it off broken it up and sold the jewels in turkey others declared that it n taken to london A government commission was appointed to inquire into the mystery but discovered nothing until 1853 when a countryman offered to disclose the secret of its hiding place and led the searchers chers to a tree near in the roots of which kossuth had caused it to te be burled buried one of the most beautiful crowns in europe is that of the king of denmark this while comparatively simple in design devign is of most ax artistic workmanship the leaves by wall the circlet is surmounted are curved and veined by precious cious stones and each leaf is ornamented in turn by a magnificent jewel the king of the belgians is au an uncrowned monarch there is no coron coronation 8 function in the exact sense of the word the feature of the ceremony consists in the kings swearing to ore serve the constitution and laws of the tn country spain had in early times no roya diadem nor does its crown today ft ure in the coronation services the sovereign taking an am oath similar to tw that which forms the chief feature of tho the belgian installation the vatican treasures contain a ft biety of papal tiaras giaras some of enor enormous value which from the beautiful wort work manship and precious stones that adorn them are rendered pric eleft among this collection is one presented presen tei to plus pius IX by queen isabella at spain it is valued at more tha thab and weighs over threw pounds another treasure is the papal tiara presented by napoleon to plc alc VII one of its gems is the largie emerald known y the sultan possesses no crown coto moa nation being unknown in turkey ft place of this is substituted the ture of the monarch with the marfa I 1 of othman the saber is girt the new sultan with the words word tasa it with faith for ye have rece received iv from god outside of europe the crown cron fik 1 comes a rarity the crown of the shall of persia if such it may be called to of an altogether exceptional shape i M size indeed it is most frequently described by those who have be seen it i as a bonnet it is composed of letb of gold adorned with strings of hang ing precious stones with here aad there tufts of feathers ornamented UY diamonds rubles emeralds and pearl |