THE REGALIA.

THE date of the following order for the first dispersion of the Crown Jewels was in the first year of the reign of King Charles I., 1625, when, influenced by his father's favourite, the Duke of Buckingham, he declared war against Spain, having previously obtained the alliance of Holland. This portion of the Regalia was pawned to Holland to pay the great expense of the fleet in manning ninety vessels and raising an army of ten thousand soldiers, when the Duke, as Lord High Admiral, started on his disastrous expedition to Cadiz. The Commons only voted a subsidy under great restriction for one year, which had usually been granted to a new sovereign for life, and this was the commencement of the dispute between the King and Parliament; an enormous debt had been incurred, and a new subsidy refused for continuing the war. The King's desire to be an absolute monarch with control of the army, and the refusal of supplies, were the main elements of the conflict which ended in the civil war.

The following sumptuous pieces of gold plate and jewels were formerly included in the Regalia, and are described at length in Rymer's Fœdera," vol. xviii., pp. 236 et sequitur.

"A greate riche Jewell of goulde called the Mirrour of Greate Brittaine" (set with diamonds).

'Affaire Jewell in fashion like a feather of goulde" (set with diamonds).

"A ffaire Fflower of goulde with three greate Balasses in the middest a great pointed dyamond and three greate pearles with a faire pearle pendant called The Brethren.'

"A greate pointed Dyamond with the collett, taken from a coller of goulde wherein yet remains eight greate pearles set in twoes, and a long pearl pendant.

"A broken coller of goulde of thirty pieces, where of fifteene are roses and fifteene crowned cyphers of the late Kinge and Queens names,

wherein are now remaining eleaven poynted dyamonds and nine table dyamonds.

"A Jewell of goulde of the letter I (set with diamonds) and pearle pendant.

"The greate Collar of Ballast Rubies, &c.

"One greate Saphire cut in fossetts, &c., in a collett of goulde enamelled.

"A greate Amatist in a collett of goulde."

The list enumerates and describes separately the following splendid pieces of gold plate, mostly set with jewels:

16 gold cups, some with covers and set with precious stones, including those with the arms of Denmark and "Anna Regina." The Constable's cup. An agate cup, having a gold cover with "The morris dance." A cup called "The Dreame of Paris." Weighing

13 gold ewers, lavers, basons, porringers, some jewelled and some with the arms of Denmark

Ozs.

902

1,263

4 gold salts, one in form of a ship, another in form of a castle. "The morris dance," &c.

667

29 gold dishes and trenchers, some with arms of Denmark 1 gridiron of gold

627 22

A looking-glass set in gold and garnished with precious stones. "The steele of aggott of twoe little boys, one holding a pearle, and five pearles hanginge; on the other parte of the body is a man on horseback, the body being a clocke within a crystall, garnyshed with fower dyamonds and fifty-five rubies, with fower antique boyes enamelled white; the base standing upon fower round crystalls, garnished with ten rubies, and fower naked women, of gould, standing at each corner, and a man at the toppe being naked"

A collar of gold with roses and knots

Total

973

30

3,609

"All which Jewells and Plate have been received by the Duke of Buckingham, our High Admiral, and the Earl of Holland as our Ambassadors Extraordinary to the States of the United Provinces, to

be disposed of by them for our especiall service according as we have given unto them private directions.

"Nowe, forasmuch as the saide Jewells and Plate are of greate value, and many of them have longe contynued, as it were, in a continuall discent for many years together with the Crowne of England, &c. . .

"Knowe all men that Wee, for many weighty and important reasons and causes, much concerning us, our honour and State, have authorised their delivery, &c. . . . . To dispose of the said Jewells and Piate for our owne ymmediate service, &c.

"In witness whereof, &c., Ourself att Hampton Courte, the seventh day of December (Anno I., Car. I., A.D. 1625).”

"The Mirror of Great Britain," the magnificent gold cup with the "Dream of Paris," weighing 120 ozs., the Gold Salt with "The Morris Dance," weighing 147 ozs., "The Constable's Cup," and many others here briefly alluded to-mostly set with precious stones-will be found minutely described in the Kalendars of the Exchequer of the reigns of our early kings of England from Edward II. to Henry VIII.

In 1644 the Commons House of Parliament ordered all the King's plate in the Tower to be melted down and coined, notwithstanding a remonstrance from the Lords alleging that the curious workmanship of the ancient plate was worth much more than the metal; but it had no effect, and beautiful historic works of art were ruthlessly destroyed, and went pell mell to the crucible. It is recorded, also, that in 1643 the crown and sceptre, lodged with the rest of the Regalia in the Treasury in Westminster Abbey, were turned into money. On October 9th, 1644, two of the members were ordered by the House of Commons to inform the House "what superstitious plate was in the place where the Regalia were kept in the Abbey, that it might be melted and sold and the produce employed to buy horses." The college plate was also ordered to be melted.

One of the payments during the Protectorate made to Alderman Backwell, Goldsmith and Banker, is thus recorded in his books:"February 1659. Received of the Committee of Parliament by Old Plate, £1,529 2s. 3d." (F. G. Hilton-Price, "Transactions of the Lond. and Middx. Archæol.", vol. vi. p. 197). The ordinary price of silver in Cromwell's time was about 5s. 6d. per oz. This item will account for the destruction of more than five thousand ounces of old plate, probably portions of the Royal Services.

About forty years since, Mr. Robert Cole, F.S.A., purchased as waste paper, at so much per cwt., a large quantity of old Exchequer Records which were condemned to be sold by some Government officials as worthless; many of these were of the greatest historical importance, and for several years he laboured hard in classifying them, occasionally reading papers on the various subjects, and exhibiting the records at the Society of Antiquaries and elsewhere. We had frequent opportunities of seeing them at his office in Tokenhouse Yard, and the sight of piles upon piles of these records will never be erased from our memory. Among these documents of truly national importance were some relating to the Regalia, made for the coronation of Charles II. One was an order dated 20th June 1662 for the payment from the Royal Treasury to Sir Robt. Vyner, His Majesty's goldsmith, of the sums of £21,978 9s. 11d. and £10,000. But as the curious particulars will interest many of our readers, especially as it is not generally known that all the articles comprising the Regalia were made new for the coronation of Charles II., and as the "Archæologia" is seldom referred to, and the ordinary proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries still less read by the general public, we may be permitted to reprint Mr. R. Cole's communication relating to his discovery, in a letter read before the Society, addressed to the Secretary, on the 9th December 1841 (" Archæologia,” vol. xxix.) ::

"It will be in the recollection of the Society of Antiquaries, that some two or three years ago the then Lords of the Treasury directed the selection and mutilation of many tons weight of Exchequer Records (as they were not improperly called), and which, after being mutilated, were sold as waste paper. It is not necessary for me to make any observations on the propriety or impropriety of this order for the destruction of original documents, nor on the manner in which that order was executed. The report of the Committee appointed by the House of Lords to enquire into the subject is before the public, and to that and the evidence taken upon that occasion, I would refer the Society. The contractor with the Government for the purchase of the mutilated records, resold the mass in various parcels, and a portion, weighing about two tons, came into my hands, from which I selected many very curious and interesting documents, one of them being the subject of my present communication.

The coronation of Charles II. was appointed to be solemnized on the 7th February 1660-1, but 'for many weighty reasons' it was deferred to the 23rd April following. One of the 'weighty reasons

may have been the want of regalia for the occasion, for we learn from a MS. intituled "The Preparations for His Majesty's Coronation, collected by Sir Edward Walker, Knight-Garter, Principal King-atArms,' first published in 1820, that because through the rapine of the then late unhappy times all the royal ornaments and regalia, theretofore preserved from age to age in the Treasury of the Church of Westminster, had been taken away, sold, and destroyed, the Committee (appointed to order the ceremony) met divers times, not only to direct the remaking such royal ornaments and regalia, but even to settle the form and fashion, although they had been newly made and prepared by the orders given to the Earl of Sandwich, Master of the Great Wardrobe, and Sir Gilbert Talbot, Knight, Master of the Jewel House. Whereupon the Master of the Jewel House had to provide two Imperial crowns, set with precious stones, the one to be called St. Edward's Crown, wherewith the King was to be crowned, and the other to be put on after his coronation, before His Majesty's return to Westminster Hall. Also an orb of gold, with a cross set with precious stones, called St. Edward's; a sceptre with a dove, set with precious stones; a long sceptre or staff of gold with a cross upon the top, and a pike at the foot of steel, called St. Edward's Staff; a ring with a ruby; a pair of gold spurs; a chalice and a paten of gold; an ampull for the oil, and a spoon; and two ingots of gold, the one a pound, the other a mark, for the King's two offerings.' And the Master of the Great Wardrobe had orders to provide the ornaments, to be called St. Edward's, wherein the King was to be crowned, and, among other things, the armilla, of the fashion of a stole, made of the cloth of gold, to be put about the neck and fastened above and beneath the elbows with silk ribbands.""

In the foregoing account no mention is made of the name of the goldsmith employed to make the regalia, nor the price paid for it, but Mr. Cole discovered among the mutilated records a receipt of Sir Robert Vyner, dated 20th June 1662, for "payment from the Royal Treasury of £21,978 9s. 11d., due and payable for two crowns, two sceptres, and a globe of gold, sett with diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds and pearls, St. Edward's Staff, the Armilla, Ampull, and other the Regalia, all of gold, provided by him for His Majesty's Coronation; And for a crown, mace, chain and badge for Garter King at Armes, 17 Collars, 17 Georges, and 5 garters of the order of St. George, and 75 badges of the Order of the Bath, all of gold, diverse parcels of guilt plate, given to the peeres and others for new yeares