164 THE BLACK PRINCE'S RUBY.
being
no purple velvet in London Charles was robed in white velvet, which is
an unlucky color it seems, and the Queen, Henrietta Maria, a silly and
obstinate girl, refused to be crowned with him, owing to their
religious differences. Fortunately the great Ruby was not left in the
jewel-house at the time of Charles' execution, for had it been there we
should have heard no more of it. Every thing which was found there was
either melted down or sold by order of the Commonwealth. Amongst other
things thus treated was the gold filigree crown of Edward the
Confessor, which was broken up and sold for its weight of bullion. Such
vandalism is almost enough to make one a Jacobite.
With
the return of the Stuarts the Ruby came back and ascended once more to
its proper place in the Crown of England. All the appliances of a
coronation had to be made anew for Charles 11., so that the ceremony
was in consequence somewhat shorn of its impressi veness. Charles'
crown was, according to an old writer," especially praise-
