The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-02-26 00:00:00

THE DUKE AND HIS .DIAMOND.

We have been much diverted by the real farce de Car-
nival which has happened during the week to ono of our
oldest and most valued friends, the Duke of Brunswick,
As the adventure has ended with" the greatest satisfaction
to all parties," and as, according to the English proverb,
"All's well that ends well," and according to the French
one, " Taut toes quo de blesses it n'y a personne de motto'
we cannot refrain from giving the story in its entire
detail. Some years ago his serene highness, whose
passion for diamonds all the world knoWg, purchased
the famous Agra diamonds, whose weight alone can
be named On carets); its value, of course, is beyond
calculation. This purchase, which made the Duke the
envy of the whole diamond loving world, caused
him, however, many an anxious moment, with ?natty a
dark suspicion, and many a sleepless night, which none of
those who envied his possession ever could have dreamt
of. For along while he wore the diamond at the head of
the astounding riviere which, beginning far below his
shirt collar, disappears for awhile like several of the
streamlets of the Alps, and reappears a moment after
on his waistcoat, which it adorns to the very bottom;
but the very purpose for which the Agra diamond
had been purchased, the very intention in which
it was worn, that of attracting admiration, was dls•
covered, after awhile, like many a political mea-
sure, to be oecrdone. The attention it attracted
was found to be too serious., the admiration too demon-
strative, and instead of' the best means of its di splay
being considered, soon the best means of its concealment
became the sole object of its owner's care. For a long
time was the subject debated with the greatest conscietV
tiousness by the worthy synod of the Duke's advisers,
who surround him night and day. Some of these devised
a box with a secret spring to be worn always about the
ducal person; others advised the diamond to be deposited
in the safe custody of one of the first jewellers in
Paris. But neither of these means seemed to promise the
assurance of safety required by the Duke, and he sent to
Birmingham with an offer of premium for the safest contri-
vance of an iron safe or chest which should be presented.
This competition is still fresh in the minds of the workmen
of Birmingham, fixed there above all things by the result,
which was the carrying of' the prize by a poor journeyman
locksmith, belonging to a second rate firm of the city, and
the consequent mention of his name in all the newspapers
at the time. For five years has the Agra diamond reposed
thus in safety with other objects of equal value lathe iron
safe, made by the Birmingham journeyman, at the head of
the Duke's bed, lt has formed one of the great sights
exhibited to the favoured feW on great days and solemn
festivals of hope and security when the folding doors of
the safe were made to fly open at a touch froni the foot of
the enraptured owner, and to disclose the strong box
within which no mortal man save the Duke himself had
pow r to compel to the display of the treasures concealed.
It appears that in this opening of the folding doors of the
safe consists the great secret of the whole plan. They must
be closed in order to divulge the spring which commands
the strong box, acid In the hinge of the outer doors resides the
minute nail which, on being pressed with the little finger,
causes both safe and box to fly open together, Now, it would
seem that even diamonds lose their charm by long habit; and
so even the Duke of Brunswick had neglected to visit the Agra
diamond for some time, when, roused to energy and emulation
by the reports which had reached him of the splendid collection
of precious stones worn by the Persian Ambassador, he
resolved to appear at the ball of the Hotel de Ville, arrayed
in all his glory, and adorned with the Agra diamond. With
this view he proceeded alone and unwitnessed to the sate,
but—judge of his consternation—,only to discover that, from
disuse, the spring beneath the nail had grown rusty, and
that no human power could make it act ! On the instant
a telegraphic message was dispatched to Birmingham far the
workman who had manufactured the safe. The answer
brought despair—the workman had left that place for Aus-
tralia immediately after receiving his premium. No other
man on earth could help tha Duke in this dilemma ; and so,
after much deliberation and numberless experiments, all
rendered ineffectual by the matchless entitling of the
contrivance, the last resource was resorted to—the most
ignominious and clumsiest resource of all—the wall was
knocked down till round about the safe, and the box, after
being literally dug out from amongst the stones and mortar,
had to be burst open with hatchets and crowbars in the most
vulgar Jack Sheppard-like fashion possible. Needless to ray,
however, that his Highness wore the Agra diamond with
double satisfaction on the night of the bald, nor that its story
has doubly endeared it to his soul.—Paris Correspondence of
the Court Journal.

It is calculated that at Paris not fewer than 300 persong
every night look through the huge teiescopes for the
famous comet of Charles V.

HEALTiI of LoNDON.—.The total number of deaths
registered in London in the week that ended on Saturday
was 1,243. In the first week of this month the deaths rose
113 gl v eleth, Na tteginirtig aftiffle. th""'"d-
We (Salisbury Journal) hear that Mr. W. R. Brodio has
been successful in discovering in the Purbeck beds in Durl..
stone bay, what Sir Charles Lyell states to be three new
genera of the oolitic mamals, This is a considerable
reward for this gentleman's untiring activity in search of
fossil fauna.

NEN" SIGNAL LIGHTS—We are given to understand it is
the intention of the Messrs. Brown to urge on the trials of
their newly invented lights far sea and land purposes before
other public bodies, so as to finish the series of experiments
with all speed, the results and reports of which will appear
in our columns.

The King of Dahomey has just sent two of his sons to be
educated in France. They have arrived at Marseilles, and
have already adopted the costume of the college of that
city, in which they appear perfectly at their ease. They
have an intelligent air, and do not sLo AT the slightest symp-
toms of embarrassment.

THE KING OF NAPLES AND HIS PEISONER.S.-1t is
reported in Paris that the Neapolitan scheme to transport
the political prisoner; to the Argentine Republic has
altogether miscarried. The Argentine government only
accepts free colonists, and it is hoped that the consent
which the King of Naples did not doubt he would be able
to force from his prisoners, would bring them, at least
colourably, within the rule stated. But it seems that the
prisoners en masse, following Poerio's example, refused to
agree to the proposed commutation of the sentences, and
it is affirmed.,that the King has entirely abandoned the
project. •
TUB COMET OF TUNE.—The Paris _Pres.'s says —" It is
truly lamentable to see the excitement produced by the
indiscretion of a journal which annciunosci as the predic-
tion of a German astronomer the detttuction of the world
by a comet on the 13th June next. This ridiculous news,
repeated by echoes great and small, has spread over Europe
with amazing rapidity, It is now the universal topic of
conversati-n in every class of society; What is there—not
to speak of truth —but of probability in the prediction
relative to the comet said to be expected on the 13th June
Nothing—absolutely nothing." Our contemporary then
enters into an astronomical argument, showing the absurdity
of the popular impressions on this point.

REFORM OF THE AUSTRIAN PASSPORT SYSTEM. —The
most remarkable changes in the Austrian passport system :
—l. The passports of travellers will only be examined
and vise on the frontiers. 2, If a foreigner should
have neglected to obtain the visa of an Austrian
Minister or Consul to his passport he will not, as has
hitherto been the case, be sent back from the Austrian
frontier, but he will be furnished with a document
by the frontier authorities, which will enable him to reach
hia destination. 3. In future no foreigner will be obliged
to pay a tax for an Aufenshalts•Karte (permission of
sojourn) in any Austrian city or town. 4. Austrian subjects
will be furnished with a so called Legitimations Schein
(document of identity), with which they will be able to
travel wit hont let or hindrance from the Po to the Elbe.
and from Semlin on the Danube to Bregenz on the Lake of
Constantine.

THE GREAT COLLIERY EPPLOSION NEAR BARNSLEY.—
Joseph Simmonds, one of the colliers, would have been
saved but for the state of delirious excitement in which he
was fouud, consequent upon the inhalation of the gas. He
was the last man come to amongst those who had reached
the eye of the shaft ; and those who had descended were
about to lift him into the chair or cage, to send him up. He
broke from them and ran off, but was caught ; and again he
struggled with those who would have preserved him, dashed
off into the workings, and was seen no more. Since the pub-
lication of the list of miners known to be in the pit it
has been ascertained that 18 or 20 still remain unaccounted
for. The cupola still sends out a stream of smoke, and the
opinion of the authorities consulted is in favour of keeping
the shafts closed for some time longer, till all chances of
the fire being sufficiently strong to do any damage are over.
Mr. Wilson Montagu, of Milton Park, has addressed a
letter to Mr. Nicholson, solicitor of Watti, suggesting an
immediate subscription for the families of the deceased
men, and offering £lOO either to start or to add to a list of
names for that purpose.
SALE OF LITERARY PROPERTY.—Yesterday, Messrs.
Southgate and Barrett, at their rooms, Fleet street, offered
for public auction an extensive collection of literary pro-
perty, among which the undermentioned sold at the price
affixed to each :—" The Penny Cyclopredia," 29 vols. the
stereotype plates, with the right of publishing, sold to Mr.
Charles Knight, the original publisher, at £2,700; the
" Cyclopmdia Metropolitana," 4t0., the copyright, stereo-
type, steel and copper plates, the copyrights of which
alone cost 426,000, bought in at £1,000; Dr. S. Thompson's
" Dictionary of Domestic Medicine," the copyright and
stereotype plates, .'330; Dr. S. Thompsons " Wanderings
among the Wild Flowers" the copyright and 125 wood
blocks, £l5O ; the " Family Economist," the copyright,
stereotype plates, and 200 wood blocks, with 8,156 vols.,
x'36o; " Buds and Blossoms," 54 stories, the copyrights,
rereqyre 'plates, and 254 wood blocks, £B2 ; Martin
Doyle 's " Rural Economy," the copyright, stereotype
plates, and wood blocks, 432; " Stories for Summer Days
and Winter Nits " 43 tales, the copyright, stereotype,
plates, and 273 wood blocks, .452; De Beauchesne s " Life
of Louis XV11.," by Ilazlitt, 2 vols, the stereotype
plates, £42.

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