It appears that the Emperor Alexander, disgusted with the conduct of three lady reformers who attempted to establish a revolution in religious opinion at St. Petersburg, banished them to the Crimea. They were Princess Galitzin, Madame de Krudener, and a mysterious personage who went by the name of Countess Gauchin. After death, which occurred during her banishment to the Crimea, the strange Countess proved to be the notorious De la Motte, who many years before had been publicly branded on the Place de la Grève in Paris. It would appear from statements in mediæval history that necklaces were not much known in France, or at least were not in fashion, until the times of Charles VIII. For one of the earliest known in that country was that given by the above-named monarch to the beautiful Agnes Sorel. The uncut gems, which were of great beauty and value, weighed heavily upon the delicate neck and bosom of the fair creature; and she complained of it to her lover as being an instrument of torture as well as a decoration. The King, fascinated with the charming effect of the gems, together with the natural entrancing beauty of the maiden, begged her to wear it, saying, with a supplicating smile, “One might surely bear some little inconvenience to please those we love.” The late Madame Thiers possessed a rare jewel, which came to her by inheritance, and which she wisely bequeathed to the Louvre collection. This jewel is a necklace of precious stones of the sixteenth century workmanship, and is regarded as without a rival in Europe except among the regalia preserved at St. Petersburg. There are a great many diamonds owned in France among the nobility, the landed proprietors, and the successful merchants. Paris has been for a long time the chief market in the world for the sale of the gem; and most of the stones cut at Amsterdam find their way, primarily, to the Parisian bazaars. Many of these are taken as securities by the rich; but the most of them are absorbed by the requirements of fashion and the love of display. Adventurers, during the tide of success, prefer to invest their gains in gems, and especially diamonds, rather than in lands or bonds. There is a twofold reason for this preference. Great wealth can be concealed in a handful of gems which can be easily transported; and the glitter of the stones adds vastly to the fascinations of the investment. Disastrous wars and commercial panics generally betray hoards of this description; and new sources of the precious stones are thus opened to commerce. It is reported that the Bonaparte family, since the disaster at Sedan, have thrown upon the market diamonds to the value of several millions of dollars. CHAPTER IX. THE REGALIA AND OTHER GEMS OF ENGLAND.