LON 
which is carried before the king at his coronation. 6. A 
large filver fountain, prefented to king Charles II. by the 
town of Plymouth, very cnrioufly wrought. 7. A noble 
lilver font, double gilt with gold, and elegantly wrought, 
which is ufed at the chriltenings of the royal family. 8. 
The curlana , or fword of mercy, the blade thirty-two 
inches long, and near two broad, is without a point, and 
is borne naked before the king at his coronation, between 
the two fwords of juflice, lpiritual and temporal. 9. A 
gold falt-cellar of ftate, in form like the fquare White 
Tower, and exquisitely wrought. It is ufed only at 
the king’s table, on the day of the coronation. 11. The 
crown of.ltate, that his majelty wears in parliament; in 
which is a large emerald, feven inches round; the finelt 
pearl ever feen, and a ruby of prodigious value. 12. The 
prince of Wales’s crown. Thefe two crowns, when his 
majeliy goes to the parliament-houfe, are carried by the 
keeper of the jewel-office, attended by the warders, pri¬ 
vately, in a hackney-coach, to Whitehall; there they are 
delivered to the officers appointed to receive them, who, 
with fome yeomen of the guard, carry them to the robing- 
roains, where his majeliy and the prince robe tbemfelves. 
The king wears his crown on bis head as he fits upon 
the throne ; but that of the prince of Wales is placed be¬ 
fore him, to fhow that he is not yet come to it. As foon 
as the king is dilrobed, the two crowns are re-condubled 
to the Tower, by the fame perlbns that brought them. 
Laftly, the ampulla, or eagle of gold, finely engraved, 
which holds the holy oil the kings and queens of Eng¬ 
land are anointed with, and the golden fpoon that the bi- 
fhop pours the oil into. Thefe are two pieces of great 
antiquity. The golden eagle, including the pedeftal, is 
about nine inches high, and the wings expanded about 
feven inches ; the whole weight about ten ounces. The 
head of the eagle fcrews off about the middle of the neck, 
which is made hollow for holding the oil; and, when 
the king is anointed by the bilhop, the oil is poured into 
the fpoon out of the bird’s mouth.—Befides thefe com¬ 
monly (hown, there are, in the jewel-office, all the crown- 
jewels worn by the princes and princeffes at the corona¬ 
tions ; and alfo a vail variety of curious old plate. 
Tl'.efe enfigns of royalty, as already mentioned, had 
nearly been Itolen in the reign of king Charles II. the 
particulars whereof are worthy recital; as it is, perhaps, 
the molt Angular enterprile that ever was undertaken. 
The projector of this theft was colonel Blood, a gentle¬ 
man of Ireland, who, having fpent his fubltance in follow¬ 
ing the fortune of king Charles II. while in adverfity, 
thought himfelf hardly ufed by being neglected when that 
prince was reltored to his throne; and therefore, after 
having engaged in feveral very defperate, though unftic- 
cefsful, plots, thought of a fcheme to make himfelf amends, 
by feizing the crown, globe, fceptre, and dove, and carry¬ 
ing them ail off' together. To effect this, he-contrived, 
under the guife of a clergyman, to make acquaintance with 
Mr. Talbot Ed wards, the keeper of the jewel-office, infinu- 
ating himfelf into his favour and confidence. After various 
vilits, he at length, with the affiltance of fome affociates, 
feized on the old man, whom he had requeued to (how the 
jewels to his friends, gagged him, and, on his refilling, 
llruck hint on the head with a mallet, and gave him ie- 
veral ftabs. Edwards thought it prudent to counterfeit 
death. Blood put the crown under his parfon’s gown ; 
another put the globe in his breeches; a third, not being 
able to conceal the fceptre by reafon of its length, broke 
off the rich ruby, and put it in his pocket. As foon as 
they were gone, Edwards forced out the gag, and gave the 
alarm ; they were inlfantly purfued, and three of them foon 
taken. Blood ifruggled hard for his prize, laying, when it 
was wrelled from him, “ It was a gallant attempt, though 
unfuccefsfu!; it was for a crown.” The curiofity of the 
king was excited to fee a man engaged in fo many impor¬ 
tant villanies ; and from that moment the artful Blood 
dated -his Itcurity : he told the king fo many ptaulible 
tales s'fuqh indifference Be fhowed for his own life, fuch 
DON. 443 
anxiety for that of his majeffy, (for he infinuated that his 
comrades would certainly revenge his death, even on his 
facred perfon,) that in a fhort time he obtained his par¬ 
don. It was neceffary to apply to the duke of Ormond 
for permilfion, the ruffian having made an attempt on 
his grace’s life not long before. The duke nobly anfwer- 
ed, “ If his majeffy could forgive him dealing the crown, 
he might ealily forgive the attempt upon his life; and, 
if fuch was his majelty’s pleafure, that was a fufficent rea¬ 
fon for him,' and his lord (hip (the earl of Arlington, who 
brought the mefiage) might fpare the reft.” Blood was 
not only pardoned, but received into favour, had a pen- 
fion of 500I. a-year, and was perpetually feen at court, en¬ 
joying the fmiles of majeffy, and even fuccefsfully em¬ 
ploying his interefi as a moil refpeffable patron. But all 
good men looked on him with horror, and confidered him 
as a Sicarius to a profligate let of men, to overawe any 
who had integrity enough to refill the meafures of a molt 
profligate court. This mifcreant died peacefully in his 
bed, Auguft 29th,. 1680, fe'arlelsly, and without any fio- ns 
of penitence. The innocent Talbot Edwards, fo far from 
receiving the grateful reward of his fidelity and fufferings,. 
got with great difficulty a penfion of 200I. a-year; and 
his foil, who was active in faking Blood, iool. more; but; 
the order for the penfions was fo long delayed, and the 
expenfes attending the cure of the good old man’s wounds 
fo great, that he was forced to fell his order fora hundred 
pounds ready money, and his fon his for fifty ! 
The bufinefs of coining the money of the realm had been 
carried on principally within the Tower, from the time of 
William the Conqueror until the year 1811. Inthatyeara 
very elegant mint was completed on the eaftern fide of Tow¬ 
er-hill, in which the coinage is now performed withafimpli- 
city, difpatch, and accuracy, that can fcarcely be conceived 
by any who have not been witneffes of the feveral opera¬ 
tions.—This beautiful building was ereeled after a defign 
of Mr. Smirks, jun. and is intended for all thofe purpoles 
of coinage which have ufually been carried on in the Tower 
of London, and at Birmingham. As the building hap¬ 
pened to be finilhed juft at the time when, owing^to the 
high price of gold, all fpecie had difappeared, and alfo 
at the time that the new cuftom-houfe was planned, it 
was wittily obferved, by fome member in the houfe of 
commons, that we had a new mint when we had no mo¬ 
ney, and a new cuftom-houfe when we had no trade. The 
New Mint is erefted on the fcite of the Old Viiffualling- 
office, to theeall of the Tower; and is an extenfive build¬ 
ing, containing all the machinery and conveniences for 
coining, and alfo houfes for the refidence of the principal 
officers. It is compofed of a long front of Hone, confut¬ 
ing of a ground-floor, with two ifories above; the whole 
furmounted by a handfome baluftrade. The wings are 
ornamented with pilalfers, and in the centre are feveral 
demi-columns, over which is a pediment, decorated with 
the arms of England. The porch is covered with a gal¬ 
lery, baluftrades, &c. all of the Doric order. 
The coining of metallic money was originally performed 
by the hammer; and afterwards by what was called the 
fcrew-prefs,-or mill and fcrew. Thefe operations have 
been defcribed under the word Coin, vol. iv. p. 753. 
Alinolt all the money now coined in this kingdom is 
from bullion received from the Bank of England; from 
which it is lent to the mailer of the mint’s aflay-office i 
here it is received into what is called the Jlrong-itold, and 
there kept till its finenefs is afcertained, in order that its 
true value may be computed. This being afcertained, the 
parties concerned are defired to attend at the office of re¬ 
ceipt and delivery, to witnefs its weight, and to be in¬ 
formed of its finenefs-, and, confequently, of its value; the 
ftandard weight of the bullion being determined by the 
calculation of the refpeciive offices. A mint-bill is now 
made out, and given to the owner of the bullion, by which 
he knows the exact value of his depofit. The next thing 
is to deliver the bullion to the melting-houfe, which is 
furnilhed with a variety of apparatus, adapted, net only 
3 to 
