THE AUSTRIAN YELLOW. 227
Francis
Stephen would have been very pleased to smelt up a good number of
diamonds if he could thereby have produced a match for his great yellow
gem ; but it is easier to burn diamonds than to fuse them.
The
storms and revolutions which nearly shook the house of Austria to the
ground have left its diamond untouched. It was carefully preserved in
the hasty flights from Vienna which occurred during the effervescing
period of 1848 when all Europe was in an uproar. And now it reposes
peacefully as a hat-button for the Emperor Francis n. In appearance the
diamond is a nine-rayed star, and is all covered with facets,
according to the true Indian fashion. It may possibly interest the
reader to hear what the Austrians themselves think of their diamond.
The following extract is made from the official account furnished to
Mr. Streeter:
"
This jewel was once the property of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy,
who according to the custom of the day carried all his valuables in the
battlefield, first to
