first year of his reign, he overhauled the contents of the Jewel-house, to see what portion of them he could most conveniently transfer to the care of His Grace of Buckingham, about to proceed as ambassador to the Hague, where his Majesty hoped it would not be difficult to borrow a few thousands upon such tangible security. In vain did Sir Henry Mildmay, the Master of the Jewel-house, venture to suggest the advisability of the king taking the advice of his Council on the matter, and with their concurrence, using a warrant under the Great Seal authorizing the pledging of the royal treasures, on the ground that there were too many, both in the court and in the kingdom, who looked upon the duke's proceedings "with more than a curious eye;" in vain did Lord Brooke, who had some of the crown jewels in his possession, throw difficulties in the way, and complain of having to deliver up such valuables without any proper warrant-his Majesty heeded no remonstrances, and followed no suggestions but those of his necessity; and before long, Mildmay wrote that he had sent all the jewels and gold-plate of any value in his care, and if the king wanted anything more, he must perforce be contented with silver-plate, as there was nothing else left in the Jewel-house. Buckingham arrived at the Hague in due time, and at once set about executing the financial part of his mission. It would hardly have been consistent with ambassadorial etiquette for the representative of the king of England to go hawking his master's valuables about among the Dutch money-lenders; so the duke commissioned a Mr. Sackville Crow and one Philip Calandrini to raise three hundred thousand pounds upon two parcels of jewels and one parcel of gold plate set with stones. The shrewd Hollanders, however, were not to be induced to part with their coin quite so easily as his English Majesty anticipated; they actually had the impudence to require a guarantee from some merchants of standing that the jewels should be redeemed within three years' time; and spite of Buckingham's urgings, the business proceeded very slowly and unsatisfactorily. After four months spent in negotiating the affair, Crow declared he utterly despaired of effecting any good, in consequence of the opposition of certain factions at Amsterdam; and at length rumors of difficulties between Charles and the Commons came over "in such a full stream as to carry away all hope;" the Dutch usurers expressing great doubt as to the king's power to pawn his jewels without the consent of his parliament; and Crow finally returned to England with the greater part of his precious charge. Crow's fellow-agent seems to have been more successful, having managed to raise £58,000 pounds upon certain jewels. In 1628, we find a warrant issued for the payment of £3,000 for interest on the above-named sum; but twelve months later, Calandrini writes to Secretary Dorchester that his brother had written to him from Holland, "that those who have the pearls in hand, and also the Widow Thibant, who has his Majesty's jewel of the Three Brethren, will not wait any longer, but will proceed to execution before March;" and begs the secretary to prevent the damage and dishonor which will be caused by delay in redeeming the jewels. Upon receiving this unpleasant notification, Charles took the affair in hand himself, and sent out instructions to sell four thousand tons of iron ordnance to the StatesGeneral for £120,000. With this sum, the plate and jewels pledged in Holland, and "the collar and rich balhasses pawned to the king of Denmark for £12,500, were to be redeemed; but if Sir Henry Mildmay flattered himself that he should have the pleasure of restoring the long-absent jewelry and plate to their accustomed places in the jewel-house, he was wofully mistaken. As far as the plate was concerned, it was a case of out of the frying-pan into the fire; its redemption was but the prelude to its being ignominiously sent to the melting-pot, the king specially ordering that the most valuable portions of it should be immediately melted down and sold, and the proceeds applied to the payment of certain clamorous creditors in the Low Countries. Even this wholesale transaction did not enable Charles to rescue all his jewels from the hands of the pawnbrokers. In 1631, warrants were granted for nearly £20,000 to redeem crown jewels held by Dutch merchants as security for loans; 1 and some still remained in pawn as late as 1635, when Boswell and Geraerd were commissioned to recover them; and were not a little disgusted to find that the agents employed to pawn them had raised some £25,000 more upon them than they had transmitted home, and so paid themselves pretty liberally for the trouble they had had in the busi ness. Not satisfied with pawning the crown jewels and plate, Charles every now and then took stock of the regal ornaments remaining to him, and disposed of those he thought he did not actually want for use. Thus, in 1629, he took away from the secret jewel-house a large agate, engraven with the portraits of Henry VIII. and Edward VI.; and at the same time ordered the sale of sundry articles of more or less value. Among these discarded ornaments were twelve pieces of goldsmith's work, like friar's knots, with ninety-one pendent pearls, being part of a collar of gold; two great half round pearls taken from the Mirror of Britain; four gold collars, including that of the Order of St. Michael, composed of twenty-four knots of gold, and twenty-four double scallop-shells with the saint hanging to it by a couple of little chains; also, a gold lorayne or double cross, set with diamonds and rubies; an old jewel in the shape of the letter M; a circlet of gold "new made for our dear mother, Queen Anne, having in the midst eight fair diamonds, eight fair rubies, eight emeralds, and eight sapphires, and garnished with thirty-two small diamonds, thirty-two small rubies, and sixty-four pearls, and on each border thirty-two diamonds and rubies;" and a girdle of rubies in the form of red and white roses possibly first worn by Elizabeth of York, whose marriage with the victor of Bosworth field united the white rose with the red. A year after Charles had effected this clearance of his surplus gauds, we find him accepting £1,108 from James Maxwell, and in consideration for that sum, authorizing him to retain as his own property two large diamonds, upon which he had previously advanced £11,346; and this is but a sample of many similar arrangements between money-lending goldsmiths and his impecunious majesty. While all this pawning and selling was going on, Charles patronized the jewellers as liberally as though the royal exchequer was overflowing with riches. With jewelry, as with more important things, the unhappy Stuart was quite oblivious to the wisdom of cutting his coat according to his cloth, and the tradesmen he favored found they were dealing with a queer customer indeed. In the very year that his agents were bringing England into contempt abroad by carrying her crown jewels from money-lender to money-lender, his bankrupt Majesty added to the royal collection a diamond costing £8,000, a gold ring costing £400, a fair jewel set with diamonds, worth £9,500, and a looking-glass set with diamonds priced at £2,500. He purchased £3,000 worth of jewelry of Mercadet, for the use of the queen; and when the jeweller presented the order for the money, he was informed the Exchequer had not the wherewithal to satisfy his demands, and was compelled to give it some months' credit. In still worse plight was John Vaulier, who supplied the king about the same time with above £2,000 worth of jewelry, for we find him, after a lapse of eighteen months, vainly dunning his royal debtor for his money; while Sir Thomas Roe, after waiting patiently for three years and a half, complained bitterly that he saw no prospect of obtaining £2,500 for some jewels he had procured at the express desire of the queen, and for which he had actually paid £3,000. No wonder merchants and traders grew suspicious, and declined, as had been their custom, to deposit their valuables in the Tower, lest their money-wanting monarch should be tempted to relieve himself at their expense. In 1642, when both king and parlia ment were preparing for war, Charles authorized Queen Henrietta to dispose of his great collar of rubies, and sundry other jewels she had conveyed abroad, to raise funds for providing arms and ammunition for his adherents. As soon as this became known, parliament (ignoring the fact that the kings of England had never hesitated to deal as they liked with the crown jewels) issued an order of the day, declaring Charles had no power to pawn or sell the crown jewels, and ordering that whoever "had or should pay, lend, send, or bring any money into the kingdom for or upon those jewels," should be accounted an enemy of the state, and be dealt with accordingly. Assuming to themselves the rights they denied the king, the Commons, in the same year, authorized Henry Martyn to break open the royal jewel-chest at Westminster, and sell the contents. Among the historic regalia thus confiscated were "the imperial crown of massy gold," commonly called King Edward's crown (this dated from Edward III.'s reign-the original Confessor's crown disappeared long before); King Alfred's crown of gold wire-work set with slight stones and two little bells; the queen's crown; Edward VI.'s crown; and Queen Edith's crown, formerly thought to be of massy gold, but upon trial found to be of silver-gilt, enriched with garnetts, foule pearl, saphires, and some odd stones." Four sceptres were also broken and defaced, and the perpetrators of this destruction discovered that one of them was only silver-gilt; that a large dove-headed staff was wood inside and silver-gilt without; and a smaller one, decorated with the fleur-de-luce, was iron within and gilt without, instead of being "massy gold," as they had fondly imagined. When England grew tired of the Protectorate, a new set of regalia became necessary, and in the first year of the Restoration, Goldsmith Vyner's bill amounted to £31,979 9s. 11d. Besides that, £1,200 had to be paid for some borrowed stones lost during the coronation ceremonial. Charles II. seems to have lost no time in doing something towards restocking the jewel-house. He bought a valuable oriental ruby, and a large heartdiamond of great perfection, and decorated his stirrups with three hundred and twenty diamonds. In the third year of his reign, we find one Mary Simpson petitioning his Majesty to award her £15,595 out of the Dunkirk money, for jewels supplied to him by her father and uncle; and three years later, another jeweller presented a small account for £12,179. Immediately after Charles' accession, a proclamation had been issued commanding all persons holding possession of any jewels or plate belonging to the crown to restore the same. Nathaniel Hearne, a London merchant, was arrested for refusing to give up Queen Elizabeth's great and precious onyxstone," upon which he professed to have lent money. Frances Curson was committed to prison for having received a hatful of gold and jewels at the time of the dispersion of the crown jewels; and she confessed that she knew of a Jesuit who had managed to appropriate property of the same kind worth forty thousand pounds. However, the royal valuables came in but slowly. Two years after the proclamation was issued, a warrant was granted to certain parties to search for and seize a diamond hatband and garter, a gold wedge and cup, and a stirrup of gold taken from the late king's closet at Whitehall. In the same year, too, it was thought necessary to appoint a commission "to examine the accounts of the so-called trustees, contractors, or treasurers for the sale of the late king's goods; namely, the crowns, jewels, plates, pictures, etc., formerly kept in the Tower and Whitehall jewel-houses, but forced from the persons to whom they were intrusted, and disposed of to those who were not creditors to the late king, and who are therefore not pardoned by the act of oblivion, but must return the property, or pay over the money which they received for it." Nothing, so far as we can discover, came of this effort, so we suppose it came to the inconsequential end common to royal commissions. The Merry Monarch very nearly lost his own crown jewels some few years afterwards, aud gratefully rewarded Blood for his daring attempt to rob him of his crown by pensioning him for life, while he left the faithful custodian of the jewelhouse unpaid for risking his life in defence of the royal treasures. The crown jewels have ever since remained unmolested by embarrassed sovereigns or light-fingered subjects, and they are not likely to be disturbed by either in our time. The Saturday Review. RUSSIA AND INDIA. THE impression that the progress of Russia towards India is a matter of just anxiety to England appears at length to have taken some hold of the public mind. The situation is, indeed, little changed from what it was six months ago, when the Bokharian fortress of Djuzak was captured, and the country placed at the mercy of the invaders. Even the intelligence received this week-that the communication of the Russians with their most advanced posts had been interrupted, and one of those on their line of communication threatened-simply means that the Bokharians have mustered courage to provoke their adversaries to complete their work. The important fact for some time has been the decisive overthrow of Bokhara. That event, together with the breaking up of the State into fragments like Affghanistan, and the complete anarchy which thus reigns between the Russian and Indian frontiers, has naturally increased the apprehensions felt in India, where even the native press has been discussing with avowed alarm, but veiled satisfaction, the news of Russia's progress, and wondering at the apathy of the masters of India. The time has therefore come for considering soberly in what way the recent conquests of Russia really touch our position, and whether any action is now incumbent on us in consequence, in defence of our Indian Empire. Prima facie there is ground for alarm in the fact that a great European Power has virtually become the next neighbor of India. It is scarcely possible that the security of our Empire can be so easily provided for as when our troops had merely to guard against internal revolt. There are nevertheless plenty of writers in the press, with whose views the Governor-General of India apparently agrees, who see no cause for the slightest apprehension. Their idea is that the country between the Russian and Indian frontiers, including broad tracts within both frontiers but interposing between the opposite "seats of power," is so difficult for the movements of armies that no attack on India is likely, while, if attempted, we may rest secure that it can be easily repulsed. Assuming that there is no reason for disquietude, they rather welcome the approximation of the Russian lines to India as a triumph of civilization over Asiatic barbarism. When such views are held, so different from the one first suggested, there is all the more reason for the inquiry proposed. We are inclined to hold by the prima facie view. It only requires the briefest consideration to perceive the unsoundness of all arguments based on the supposed impracticability of the region between Russia and India. So far from being an impracticable land, Central Asia is a huge battle-field where armies have marched and countermarched from the dawn of history. No doubt it is a region of deserts, where an army, if it is taken through a desert tract by the stupidity or miscalculation of a general, and without proper precautions, may easily be lost; but, on the other hand, there are many broad and fertile oases, coming near together, sometimes running into one another, and by following the lines thus indicated marches may be made, and have been made times without number, without any unusual difficulty. It is in this light we must look at the border between Russia and India. It is utterly irrelevant to urge, as the Times did the other day, that the Russians once lost an army in the distant desert between Orenburg and Khiva. It also appears, contrary to the assumption of optimist writers, that the Russians will have no difficulty in any operations within their own territory. The two points on their frontier from which they can approach India are Asterabad, on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, and Djuzak in Bokhara, to both of which points, we may state as a matter of fact, easy communication is established from the "seats of Russian power." Asterabad is directly linked with the heart of Russia by means of the Caspian Sea and the Volga, on which there are fleets of merchantmen. As for Djuzak, the ease with which troops may be moved thither was exhibited in the autumn before last, when more than 10,000 men were hastily dispatched from the Caucasus and Orenburg to the neighborhood of Taschkent. The truth is, Russia has so improved the roads by digging wells, and the Jaxartes is found so suitable for navigation, that the transit of troops to the front from the "seats of Russian power" is accomplished with the utmost facility. Starting, then, from Asterabad and Djuzak we find two great routes to India, which, speaking roughly, run in a south-easterly direction parallel to each small division to cover the advance of other, and about three or four hundred the main body? To both branches of miles apart. The distance to India by the question, according to good military the southernmost of these roads-from authorities-Lieut. Connolly, Sir AlexAsterabad by Meshed, Herat, and Can- ander Burnes, General Ferrier, and dahar, to Shikarpore on the Indus--is others--an affirmative answer must be about 1,350 miles; and the distance by returned. On the first section of the the other road-from Djuzak by Bok- main route, namely, between Asterabad hara, Balkh, and Cabul to Peshawur-is and Meshed-380 miles--there are two about 930 miles. There are also roads good level roads, with abundance of communicating between the two routes water, and a third road, not quite so On the way from Bokhara to Balkh good as the others Meshed itself is an there are several points where it is pos- important town, the capital of the Persible to branch off and proceed to Herat sian province of Khorassan, and on one on the southernmost road; and there is of the roads are the towns of Sebzwar again communication between Cabul and and Nishapore, each with about 12,000 Candahar. It is when we look at these inhabitants; while on the other are communicating roads that we perceive Shirwan, Birdjnoord, and Kouchan, the importance of the late conquests of which latter place, when Burnes passed Russia-that is, assuming that all the that way, had just been exposed for roads are practicable. It has often been months to a siege by a Persian army of urged that these conquests are of no 20,000 men, a fact of importance with consequence, because Russia has for regard to the capacity of the country. many years possessed Asterabad, and From Meshed to Herat, again-200 could always have advanced as well as miles-there are three good roads, on now direct from that point, by Herat one of which Lieut. Connolly travelled and Candahar, to the Indus. The answer with an Affghan cavalry and artillery is that the northernmost road was also force 7,000 strong. Of the wealth of necessary in order to cover the flank of Herat and the surrounding plain there such an advance. Unless the force mov- is no need to say anything. From Herat ing by Herat and Candahar has got to Candahar-350 miles-there are two Cabul and Balkh secured for it, its left good roads, and, according to Connolly, flank would always be in danger from an "the country, though hilly, would offer Indian force marching out of Peshawur little obstacle to the march of an unopand occupying the neglected posts. The posed European army; water is in suffiunopposed possession of the northern- ciency, and partial supplies might be most road also enables Russia to surprise procured on the way." Candahar would with ease the most important point on be another resting-place, being, like the main road--Herat. Till last year Herat, the centre of a fertile district. she must have given notice of an inten- From Candahar to the Indus-400 miles tion to occupy that city by the move--would be the most difficult portion of ment of ships and troops on the Caspian, and by negotiations with Persia, unless prepared to disregard that Power, in which case her preparations must have been on a larger scale, and all the more likely to be noised abroad. Now a small force sufficient for the purpose could be mustered unannounced in the valley of the Jaxartes, and the first hint of its advance might reach us with the intelligence that it had succeeded in its purpose. The question then is whether, if Russia proposed to attack India, the facilities for marching by the southernmost route are such that a considerable army could move on it, and whether the northerly road is good enough for a the journey, but the difficulties and hardships, whatever they are, were surmounted in 1839 by an English army, which entered the country by Shikarpore, after as long a march to that point as the Russians would need to make in order to reach Candahar. The force we then had was of very considerable size, requiring certainly as much transport as a Russian army of 30,000 men. hardly admits of doubt that a Russian army of about 40,000 men, the number named by General Ferrier, could be brought to the Indus, at any time that Russia chooses, with little loss, and with a perfectly secure retreat, if the northerly route is preoccupied to Cabul. It The evi |