"I III. 40. PRECIOUS STONES. PART SECOND. HAVE mentioned pearls next to diamonds; but in value the ruby ranks second. Open that case on the table, and I will show you some beautiful rubies-not the necklace; in that, though the gems are very beautiful, they are only garnets -the ear-rings are the oriental ruby, the most beautiful of the several kinds of the same stone: see of what an ex'quisite 1 color they are when held up to the light." 2. " 1 They are certainly very beautiful; but why do you say the stones in the necklace are only garnets? They are also very beautiful." 3. "Yes, they are very beautiful, for they are Syriam garnets -so called from Syriam, the capital of Pegu-and are often confounded with the ruby; but they are a far inferior stone, neither taking so fine a polish nor giving nor reflecting so beau.tiful a light. The ruby is pure alumina, or clay without its silicious ingredients, and its coloring matter is ehrōmie acid, while the garnet is a silicate of alumina, colored by metallic oxides. 2 3 4. Here is a ring with an emerald surrounded by pearls. This is very valuable, because it is a perfect stone, and perfect emeralds have påssed into a proverb. The Duke of Devonshire has the largest known emerald; it is an uncut, six-sided prism two inches in width and from one to two and a hälf inches in length, and weighs over eight ounces. The emerald is a soft, light stone." 5. "You have not said a word about turquoise. Do you remember this ring you gave me for a birthday gift?"-"There are two kinds of turquoise-the eastern, which is the real gem, and the odontolite, or bone turquoise. The former was first found in Turkey; hence its name. It is very râre, and conse 1 Ex'qui site, perfect; matchless. 2 Sĩ li'cious, pertaining to, or containing flint or quartz. 3 In grē'di ents, the component parts of any compound or mixture. 4 Proverb, an old and common saying, especially a sentence which briefly and forcibly expresses some practical truth, or the result of experience and observation. quently very high priced. The odontolite1 turquoise is the teeth of fossil animals, colored by phosphate of iron. 6. "The real gem is very hard and of a beautiful ăzure blue, opaque but slightly transparent at the edge. They are found in Turkey, Persia, and Arabia Petræa. The odontolite is found in France; these can be acted on by acids, though the real ones can not; they are not so hard as the true gems, and when burnt give out a strong animal odor. 7. "Precious stones are long-lived, if I may so speak. Handed down from generation to generation, who can tell what they have passed through, how often they have changed owners, or what their age? Had they but the gift of speech, what stories they could tell! The gems that flash or gleam upon the person of a modern belle may be the very stones upon the gift or rejection of which empires have fallen and kingdoms been convulsed by war and bloodshed. 8. "And the gems flash back no record of the past. No tears have crystallized upon their surface-no drops of blood congealed there; yet perhaps the faultless hand of a Mary Stuart or Marie Antoinette 3 caressed them; the cruel touch of an Elizabeth Tudor or a Catharine de Medicis 5 is among the memories they could recall! 9. "The love of the glitter and display of elaborate toilettes, and the aid of precious stones in dress, was not confined to the old world alone. In the wilds of Mexico and among the South American mountains the natives were fully aware of their value and beauty. Of all the nations of the east, India and Persia are the most famed in this matter of precious stones. 10. "We read of the army of Dari'us, magnificent beyond expression in its equipments. The 'immortals,' a body of picked troops, wore collars of gold and dresses of cloth-of-gold, while the sleeves of their jackets were covered with precious stones and gold embroidery. 1O don'to lite, a petrified tooth. 2 O pāque', impervious to the rays of light; not transparent. * Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, born in Vienna, Nov. 2, 1755; beheaded in Paris during the "Reign of Terror," Oct. 16, 1793. England, daughter of Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn, born at Greenwich, Sept. 7, 1533; died at Richmond, March 24, 1603. 5 Catherine de Medicis, Queen of France, born in Florence in 1519; died at Blois, France, Jan. 4 Elizabeth Tudor, Queen of 5, 1589. 1 11. "As Christianity spread, gold and silver and precious stōnes were lavished 1 upon the service of God, and no church in France owned greater treasures than St. Denis. The Abbé Suger presented it with a crucifix profusely ornamented with precious stones, which was destroyed by the Leaguers in 1590. The church besides had shrines, crosses, and chalices of gold, enameled and jeweled, presents from Charles the Bold; besides many precious gifts from Charlemagne' and other kings. 12. "Rings are of the greatest antiquity and of universal fashion. The wedding ring we get from the Hebrews; adopted from them by the Romans, it became a general custom. In the time of Pliny this ring was of iron, and contained a loadstone or magnet, as emblematic of the love which should bind man and wife closely together. 13. "Rings were worn as a badge of knighthood. In early ages they denoted that their wearer was a freeman and not a slave. Seal-rings are as ancient as the days of Alexander the Great; and as early as the fourth century rings were made part of the dress of a bishop. The Popes have two rings, of which one, called 'the Ring of the Fisherman,' is the special ring of the Popes, and is broken whenever a Pope dies, a new one being provided for his successor. 3 14. "Now one word mōre befōre saying good-night, by way of moral reflection and a summing up of our talk, or rather my monologue. If you were to put a diamond beneath a bellglass filled with oxygen gas, and expose it to the rays of the sun, condensed to a focus by means of a lens,4 your diamond would burn, and the result would be merely carbonic acid gas. So you see, my dear, that not only our hopes and plans-the most precious natural desires of the human heart-but the hardest and most precious substance in mineral nature ends-in smoke!" 1 Lǎv'ished, freely expended. 2 Monologue (mon'o log),a speech uttered by a person alone. 3 Fō'cus, a point in which the rays of light meet after being reflected or refracted. transparent substance, ground with two opposite regular surfaces, either both curved, or one curved and the other plane, and commonly used, either singly or combined, in optical instruments, for changing the di 4 Lěns, a piece of glass or other rection of rays of light. SECTION XII. I. 41. CHURCH AND FATHERLAND. 1. EVERE the Chûrch thy Mother, the fair immortal Spouse Of Him whose thorny chaplet now binds her bleeding brows; The strong and mighty Mother, the old, the ever young, No tumult of the ages can drown her silver tongue! 2. With what a joy she caught thee upon her bosom broad, As when it smiled on Peter and his brethren at prâyer. 3. There is blood upon her garments, where her martyr sons took hold Of their Mother's robe, and held it till their dying hands waxed cold; But in the light celestial that from her face ō'erflows, Each blood-drop like a ruby on her royal raiment glows. 4. And from its folds she scatters the odors of the saints, 5. She hath sanctified thy life, hath been thy best and truèst friend, 1 A rēna, the space in the middle of an amphitheatre in which, during the early Christian persecutions, the martyrs were flung to the wild beasts or otherwise tortured for the amusement of the spectators. 6. Revere the Church thy Mother, and love thy Fatherland! The golden bonds would sever, the lovely twain divorce! 7. O Land! by nagic memory made fairest land of all, Or Eastern skies bend o'er thee, with changing glories filled; 8. Whether it be old Erin, the loveliest of isles, Or pleasant France, or Germany, the Tyrol's deep defiles, O Land, beloved Fatherland! our hearts are true to thee! A II. 42. PANCRATIUS. HUSH lay on the multitude-softly and low 2. They bōre him fōrth, and in his robe of pride Could view such struggles with a careless grace. A Christian martyr sprang to win his crown! 1 Tiēr, a row or rank of seats, especially when two or more rows are placed one above another. |