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34 THE REGENT.
diamonds
off to Rambouillet. As soon as the municipal government in Paris became
aware of this fact they sent two agents to receive the precious objects
from the hands of the ex-king. But his dethroned majesty would not give
them up, whereupon a column of six thousand troops marched upon
Rambouillet, and Charles was convinced by the irresistible logic of
their flashÂing bayonets. He surrendered the Regent and other gems
which were instantly appropriated by his "good cousin of Orleans,"
Louis Philippe.
He
again in turn was obliged to fly and leave his diamonds behind ; so
that the Regent was found by Louis Napoleon amongst the other treasures
of the country when he laid hold of the vacant crown of France. The
late Emperor had it set in the imperial diadem.* It is a thick,
square-proportioned diamond about the size of a Claude plum with a very
large top surface, technically the table, and it gives forth even in
*
It was shown to the world at large in the two French exhibitions,
where, in 1867, the present writer had the gratification of beholding
it.
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