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PRECIOUS STONES.
ites, one of whom received nearly twenty thousand specimens
of pearls and precious stones. Richard II. expended upon a
single coat jewels costing nearly one million dollars.
The Tudor princes were no less conspicuous for their love
of personal ornaments than the Plantagenets had been. The
coronation robes of Henry VIII. were resplendent with gold
and precious stones, and a gay bridegroom was this same prince
if we ma}- believe the reporters of his time, who say he wai
attired in cloth of gold loaded with diamonds, emeralds, rubies,
and pearls. His costume, at the celebrated meeting of the
" Cloth of Gold," was conspicuous for its richness even where
each prince was emulous to outshine every other, in the splendor and magnificence of his wardrobe. His daughters inherited
their royal father's tastes, seen in the richness of the bridal
trousseau of Mary Tudor, and at the court of Elizabeth, who is
said to have surpassed all her contemporary sovereigns in the
profusion and variety of her jewels. The nobles and courtiers
imitated the example of their queen, so that her reign was
signalized for the brilliancy of her court in costly attire, as well
as brilliancy in wit. It was the custom of this period to confer
valuable jewels as guerdons upon knights of the tournament
and prize-fighters ; the queen, on a similar occasion, presented
to a successful athlete a jewel set with rubies and diamonds,
valued at more than three thousand dollars, a gift far more
costly in those times than it would be now. The old-fashioned
devices and mottoes called " posies," frequently alluded to by
contemporary writers, were spelled or represented by precious
stones.
Mary Queen of Scots was the peer of her rival in the possession of rich jewels. Her crown worn at her marriage with the
Dauphin was brilliant in diamonds and other valuable gems : a
single carbuncle pendant was valued at hundreds of thousands
