174 THE BLACK PRINCE'S RUBY.
that
the crown is heavy and without elegance, being in short altogether in
the English taste. The criticism may be just, for it is difficult to
see how $5,638,000 worth of precious stones, exclusive of the Ruby,
could be packed on to the gear for the small head of a small woman with
any great attempt at elegance.
The
Queen was crowned on June 25, 1838, and Dean Stanley tells of a sudden
ray of sunlight which streamed down upon the youthful sovereign as she
sat in the Coronation Chair with the crown upon her head, producing an
effect which was beautiful in the extreme. A Queen has always been
popular with the English, and we can well imagine the enthusiasm which
Victoria's girlish gracefulness must have aroused in people who
contrasted her with the heavy uninteresting kings who had preceded her.
This was the last great occasion upon which the Black Prince's Ruby
appeared before the nation whose sovereigns it had so long adorned; and
viewing the beneficent reign of the gracious
