116 NATURAL HISTORY OF PRECIOUS STONES, &c.
of
silver only. · And in the year 1800 Clausel, Weiler, and Hachette, by
adding one part of Diamond to sixty of iron, obtained an ingot of
excellent steel.
" THE DIAMOND NECKLACE"
As
it is truly said that " it is the last straw that breaks the camel's
back," so was it the scandal of the famous " Diamond Necklace " that
gave the coup de grâce, though with great injustice, to the
prestige of royalty in France. Briefly to give the main facts of this
extraordinary plot : the Cardinal de Rohan, a handsome, conceited,
luxurious prince of the Church, had been ambassador at Vienna, and in
that capacity had given great offence to both courts by a letter,
divulged by Madame Dubarry, containing some satirical remarks, too true
for forgiveness or excuse, upon the hypocrisy of the model devotee
Maria Teresa. He was recalled, and lived under a cloud in Paris, where
he was Grand Almoner to the king. Perhaps he was inspired with a
feeling warmer than loyalty by the charms of Marie Antoinette : at all
events to regain her favour was the grand object of his life. About
this time it happened that Böhmer, the court jeweller, had on sale a
magnificent necklace of brilliants, priced at sixteen hundred thousand
livres—64,000l., which he had offered to the queen, who had
declined the purchase as above her means at the time. Meanwhile the
Cardinal, in the pursuit of his one object, had made acquaintance with
a Madame de la Motte, a confederate of the notorious quack Cagliostro,
who pretended to have great influence with the Queen, and promised to
plead his cause with her. To prove to him the reality of her
professions, she procured him an interview, one night in August, 1784,
in the bosquet of Versailles,
