|
THE REGENT. 19
tirely
groundless. On the contrary he received the applause of the nation for
his spirited acquisition of a gem the price of which had terrified all
the other monarchs of Europe; whereupon the Duke of Saint Simon remarks
with complacency that much of the credit was due to him for having
introduced the diamond to court. The sum actually paid to Mr. Pitt
appears to have been one hundred and thirty-five thousand pounds
sterling, equivalent to eight hundred and seventy-five thousand
dollars, and the diamond received its name of Regent in compliment to
the Duke of Orleans.
The
Regent now enters upon a long period of tranquillity, nothing
conspicuous happening to it for many years. It pursued its way quietly
as a royal gem during the reign of Louis xv., adding its lustre to the
brilliant but dissolute court of that monarch. After a lapse of nearly
sixty years the Regent again came forward upon a stately occasion in
order to fitly decorate a king of France. It was on the eleventh of
June,
|
||
|
|
||