Jewel House

“ That the tremors of those who feared danger from fire were not unfounded eventually proved only too true. In 1843 the Armoury, which as mentioned was only a few feet from the Jewel House, caught fire and was burnt to the ground, placing the Crown Jewels in most imminent peril. That they escaped severe damage, if not destruction, was due to the great presence of mind, ready resource, and courage of a Sergeant, who broke into the Jewel House, and aided by yeomen bundled the precious articles without ceremony out on to the parade ground. ”

“ The discovery occurred in the time of Sir Thomas Wrothe, who was also the enlarger of the mansion, and it is a probable inference that it was found in the excavations which were required for this work [49] .
The scene now shifts from Newton to the neighbouring parish of Stogursey or, as modern research has taught us to write it, 140Stoke Courcy. In this parish is Fairfield House, a handsome Elizabethan mansion in which the Alfred Jewel was preserved for a quarter of a century, from the time of its discovery in 1693, until it was given to the University of Oxford in 1718 [50] . ”

“ Appertaining to the great salt cellars there remain a residue of twelve gold salt spoons, the missing numbers no doubt having been lost, or annexed by excessively loyal guests.
67Two very handsome gold tankards are in the Jewel House, which were added to the Royal plate by George IV. Viewed from a discreet distance the effect is very fine, but a closer inspection is not recommended to those who disapprove of realism in art. Queen Victoria, it is reported, disliked these flagons intensely.
The silver trumpets and gold maces are placed in the Jewel House as part of the Royal Treasure. ”

“ We will now glance at the Jewel-house, and give a brief description of the chief curiosities and treasures it contains.{114}
The regalia appears to have been kept within the Tower from an early period, as mention is made of jewels deposited there as far back as the days of Henry III. These jewels were often pledged, and were sometimes in the hands of French and Flemish merchants. Henry VI. was the first, we believe, who went to “his uncle” to raise money on them ”

“ Here, I'll give you a daisy to play with."
"Wait, Jewel, I think Anna Belle would rather see it growing until we go, don't you?"
"Would you, dearie? Yes, she says she would; but when we go, we'll take the sweet little thing and let it have the fun of seeing grandpa's house and what we're all doing."
"It seems such a pity, to me, to pick them and let them wither," said Mrs. Evringham.
"Why, I think they only seem to wither, mother," replied Jewel hopefully. "A daisy is an idea of God, isn't it?" ”

“ She glanced up in the mirror toward the housekeeper's face and saw that the woman's lips were working suspiciously and her eyes brimming over.
"You won't be lonely, will you, Mrs. Forbes?" she asked; "because grandpa says you want to live with Zeke in the barn this summer while he shuts up the house and goes off on his vacation."
"Oh, yes; it's all right, Jewel, only it just came over me that in a week, or perhaps sooner, you'll be gone."
"It's real kind of you to be glad to have me stay," said the child. "I try not to think about going away, because it does make me feel sorry every time. ”

“ But they having noe proofes to make good any one article agst him he had his liberty upon bayle; went over into France to his Maty and followed him in all his exile, till his restauration.
When every man (upon the prospect of his Matys recall) was putting in for employment. Sr G. T.; by the assistance of the D. of Ormond, obtained the graunt of Maister of the Jewell-house forfeited by the treason of Sr Hen: Mildmay and the reversion graunted by the Martyr King to Sr Robt Howard (brother of the old E. of Berkshire) vacated by his death. ”

“ You know the soot blows all around in Chicago and we haven't any yard, and when I think about all the sky and trees here, and the ravine, beside grandpa and you and Zeke and Essex Maid—why I have to just say 'I won't be sorry,' and then think about father and mother and Star and all the nice things! I think Star will like the park pretty well." Jewel looked into space thoughtfully, and then shook her head. ”

“ At this juncture the housekeeper came back into the hall.
"Well, Mrs. Forbes," said Harry, rising, "that was rather amusing important business Jewel had with my father."
The housekeeper held up her hands and shook her head. "Such lovers, sir," she responded. "Such lovers! Whatever he's going to do without her is more than I know."
"Why, it's a big change come over father, to be fond of children," returned the young man, openly perplexed. ”

“ Jeffries stood in the middle of the reincarnated old garden, looked for a long time at the Poplars, which was like a green encrusted gem with its old purple red brick under the vines, glanced again and again at the chapel with its weathered stone that stood beyond the silver-leafed graybeards, then let his eye wander down the broad elm-bordered main street past the courthouse and past the Settlement to the river bending around it all.
"Money couldn't build anything like it, Powers," he said to Nickols at his side. "Time and gentle living have formed it as a jewel is made in a matrix. ”

“ He lives in a big, beautiful castle, but it's Castle Discord. I named it that at dinner. Nobody loves one another. Of course grandpa loves me, because I'm his own little grandchild, but he's too sorry to show it. The beautiful enchanted maiden, and the Error fairy, and the giantess, are all making discord around him. A little flat is better than a big castle, isn't it? We know a flat—let's call it Harmony Flat, Anna Belle. Perhaps if we're very, very, good, we'll get back there some time.” Jewel suddenly pressed the doll's nightdress against her wet eyes. ”

“ Forbes will get you something," said her father.
"But has grandpa gone?" asked the child. Before they could reply the housekeeper passed the door and Jewel ran to her. "Has grandpa gone, Mrs. Forbes?" she repeated anxiously.
"Yes, indeed, it's after ten. Come into the dining-room, Jewel; Sarah will give you your breakfast."
"I'm not a bit hungry—yes, I am, a little—but what is grandpa's telephone number, Mrs. Forbes."
"Oh, now, you won't call him up, dear," said the housekeeper coaxingly. "Come and eat your breakfast like a good girl." ”

“ It was an imposing great white house, and the lilacs were tall, and there were crowds of rose-bushes not yet out of bloom; and there were box borders, and there were great elms at the side of the house and down the road. The hall door stood wide open, and my hostess turned to me as we went in, with one of her sweet, sudden smiles. "Won't we have a good time, Nelly?" said she. And I thought we should.
So our summer's housekeeping began in most pleasant fashion. It was just at sunset, and Ann's and Maggie's presence made the house seem familiar at once. ”

“ You see I'm going to dinner with him, and that's just like going to a party, and I ought to be very particular, don't you think so?"
"Well, don't sit down on anything dirty at the wharf. I expect you will," returned Mrs. Forbes with a resigned sigh, as she proceeded to unfasten Jewel's tight, thick little braids.
"Just think what a short time we'll have to miss cousin Eloise," said the child. "Day before yesterday she went away, and now to-morrow my mother'll braid my hair." She gave an ecstatic sigh. ”

“ They were able to manage their own affairs; but you are a stranger in a strange land. If you desire society, give me a hint and I will get it for you."
"Oh, no, father!" replied Julia, smiling. "There is nothing I desire less."
"Mother'll get acquainted with the people at church," said Jewel, "and I know she'll love Mr. and Mrs. Reeves. They're grandpa's friends, mother."
"Yes," remarked Mr. Evringham, busy with his dinner, "some of the best people in Bel-Air have gone over to this very strange religion of yours, Julia. ”

“ Forbes?"
The housekeeper gave the number, and Harry and Julia drew nearer.
"Your grandpa is coming out early, Jewel," said her father. "You'll see him in a few hours, and you can ask him whatever you wish to then."
"She never has called Mr. Evringham up, sir," said the housekeeper. "He speaks to her sometimes. You know, Jewel, your grandfather doesn't like to be disturbed in his business and called to the 'phone unless it is something very important." ”

“ The slight curve of the great beam adds, I think, to the interest of the old place, for it is a curve that has grown and was not premeditated; it has grown like the bough of a tree, not from any set human design. This, too, is the character of the house. It is not large, nor overburdened with gables, not ornamental, nor what is called striking, in any way, but simply an old English house, genuine and true. The warm sunlight falls on the old red tiles, the dark beams look the darker for the glow of light, the shapely cone of the hop-oast rises at the end ”

“ The mansion is full of fine apartments, many of them elaborately decorated, but it is not from these that the estate gets its present fame. The late Duke of Portland, who was unmarried, was an eccentric man, and he developed a talent for burrowing underground that made his house one of the most remarkable in England and consumed enormous sums of money. The libraries of Welbeck, five superb rooms opening into each other, a spacious hall adjoining, one hundred and fifty-nine feet long, the stables, large gardens, hothouses, lodges, and other apartments, are all underground. ”

“ Home is home, and I seem to hate to sell off my things; but I suppose they would look queer up to Boston. John says I won't have no idea of the house until I see it:" and she looked proud and important for a minute, but, as some one brought an old chair out at the door, her face fell again. "Oh, dear!" said she, "I should like to keep that! it belonged to my mother. It's most wore out anyway. I guess I'll let somebody keep it for me;" and she hurried off despairingly to find her son, while we went into the house. ”

“ A hundred men went to work on the site chosen for a new mill, digging, blasting, and hauling; while carpenters and masons were busy in and around the old mansion, with a view to its thorough renovation, as the future residence of Mr. Ralph Dewey. That gentleman was on the ground, moving about with a self-sufficient air, and giving his orders in a tone of authority that most of the work people felt to be offensive.
The antiquated furniture in the Allen House, rich though it was in style and finish, would not suit our prospective millionaire, and it was all sent to auction. ”

“ The stream goes rounding away through the sward, bending somewhat to the right, where the ground gradually descends. On the left side, at some distance, stands a row of full-grown limes, and through these there is a glimpse of the old manor-house. It is called the old house because the requirements of modern days have rendered it unsuitable for an establishment. A much larger mansion has been erected in another part of the park nearer the village, with a façade visible from the highway. ”

“ It made me wish I was a fairy, that I could transfer some of the fine-looking ladies from my country to grace such a mansion.
The next day I commenced by going on Eighth-street, but, in consequence of sickness, I did not go through the house. On entering I found the house and grounds more like France than any place I had seen in New York. From there I went to Mrs. S.'s elegant and princely mansion. It was a large double house, with two parlors on one side and a large reception room on the other. Everything in the house is chaste and elegant; everything in these parlors is magnificent. ”

“ Evringham.
"Oh, but you finish it, mother. You can tell it just beautifully."
"Thank you, dear, but I think it is your turn."
"Yes, Jewel," said her father, "it's up to you now."
"But I don't think a little girl can tell stories to grown-up people."
"Oh, yes, on her birthday she can," returned her father. "Go on, we're all listening; no one asleep except Topaz."
Jewel's grandfather had been watching her absorbed face all the time, between his half-closed lids. "I think they've left the hardest part of all to you, Jewel," he said,—"to tell about the dragon." ”

“ He had one daughter named Love-cluster, who seemed the model from whom the Creator had made the nymphs of heaven. This merchant gave his daughter to a merchant named Jewel-guard from Copper City.
As he was a tender father and had no other children, the merchant stayed with his daughter Love-cluster and her husband. Now Love-cluster came to hate Jewel-guard as a sick man hates a pungent, biting medicine. But the beautiful woman was dearer than life to her husband, dear as long-fathered wealth to a miser.
One day Jewel-guard started for Copper City to pay a loving visit to his parents. ”

“ The rooms all have elaborate cornices, and the lower hall is very fine, with an archway dividing it, and panellings of all sorts, and a great door at each end, through which the lilacs in front and the old pensioner plum-trees in the garden are seen exchanging bows and gestures. Coming from the Lancasters' high city house, it did not seem as if we had to go up stairs at all there, for every step of the stairway is so broad and low, and you come half-way to a square landing with an old straight-backed chair in each farther corner ”

“ This is now the large end of the street, and that which has been left the small. The houses seen from this end present precisely the same façade as they did at starting, so that were it not for the sense of weariness from walking it would be easy to imagine that no movement had taken place. Each house is exactly the same height as the next, the windows are of the same pattern, the wooden outer blinds the same shape; the line of the level roof runs along straight and unbroken, the chimneys are either invisible or insignificant. ”