What James II said to Sir Gilbert Talbot over this, or what reply Sir Gilbert Talbot made to His Majesty, history does not relate. But the whole incident shows how very loosely kept were the Crown Jewels as recently as three hundred years ago. Indeed, to be strictly just, they were never really secure till the reign of Edward VII, and in the intervening centuries a fairly regular disappearance of gems and their replacement with coloured glass seems to have been the rule rather than the exception. A piece of ecclesiastical plate added to the Royal treasure in the reign of Charles II was the Maundy Dish,[14] from which the Maundy money has since that reign been distributed on Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday. William and Mary have inscribed their monogram and crest on the dish, but the plate-mark shows that it belonged to the reign of Charles II. Two other pieces of church plate which were added by William and Mary are a very handsome alms dish and flagon.[15] These have W.M. for William and Mary, surmounted by a crown embossed on them. King George V and Queen Mary have added two of the finest and most important additions to the Regalia. These are the Imperial Crown of India and Queen Mary’s State Crown, which have already been fully described. Thus, though it has taken some centuries to accomplish, the devastation wrought by the Commonwealth on the Regalia has been more than repaired. The Crown Jewels of the King of England are at this time more magnificent and of far greater value than they have been in any former reign—nay more, they are of greater value both historically and intrinsically than the Crown Jewels of any other monarch. [Illustration: THE KEEPER OF THE JEWEL HOUSE IN HIS STATE ROBES] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER VIII THE KEEPERS OF THE JEWEL HOUSE