THE RICHEST TREASURY IN THE WORLD.—HOW THE SAXON PRINCES ACQUIRED IT.—THE DIFFERENT CABINETS, AND WHAT THEY CONTAIN.—WONDERFUL CARVINGS, MOSAICS, AND CURIOSITIES.—SPLENDID GOLD AND SILVER PLATE.—MAGNIFICENT ROYAL REGALIA.—A LUXURIOUS AND GALLANT MONARCH.—HIS ROMANTIC ADVENTURES.—A MARVELLOUS TOY.—DAZZLING EMERALDS, PEARLS, RUBIES, AND DIAMONDS.—THE LARGEST AND MOST PRECIOUS GEMS ON THE GLOBE.—INGENIOUS AND DESPERATE ATTEMPTS TO ROB THE VAULTS.—A THIEF WALLED UP ALIVE.—EFFECT OF EXPOSING HIS SKELETON.—ARE THE PRICELESS JEWELS FALSE?—WHAT AN ENTERPRISING SCOUNDREL MIGHT ACCOMPLISH. The Green Vaults (_Grüne Gewölbe_) of Dresden, as they are called from the hue of the hangings which once covered them, are in the Zwinger, a group of buildings erected by Augustus II. as a vestibule to a new palace. They are not under ground as might be supposed from their name, and from the fact that they contain the treasures of the King of Saxony. They are vaulted apartments, eight in number, stored with rare carving, mosaics, gold and silver plate, precious stones, and an endless variety of curious and invaluable articles. The collection is the richest possessed by any European monarch, and altogether beyond what so small a power would be thought able to collect or keep. The Saxon princes, it must be remembered, however, were of far more consequence and influence in the past than they are in the present. The Freiberg silver mines alone were a source of immense revenue before the discovery of America, and Saxony had various means of acquiring wealth of which she is now wholly deprived. I have examined nearly all the royal treasuries abroad, and none of them are at all equal to the collection in Dresden, which is likely to create an agreeable surprise even after one has heard its variety and value extolled. I have known political economists to regret that what might be converted into so much money should be allowed to lie idle, and I have met others, again, who regarded the treasures of art and the priceless jewels gathered there as so many baubles unworthy of serious consideration. Persons of cultivated taste and lovers of beauty, however, can hardly be so narrow in their opinions, for they will find in the Green Vaults something more than capital uninvested, or glittering toys. The princes deserve commendation for the liberal manner in which they expended their wealth for the æsthetic benefit of those to come after them. [Sidenote: WONDERFUL WORKS OF ART.] The apartments are so arranged that each one you enter surpasses the last in interest and the variety of its contents. A great deal of space would be required to enumerate all the articles, though the principal may be easily set down.