American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1866-01-11
Auecdotes or Gems,

/ Pliny tells US OF the misfortune OF No
niue. who was prescribed BY Marc Anto-
ny for the sake Of bis ismous opal, but
who. sooner than surrender his precious
treasure, valued ut 100000 OF our
money. went into voluntary exile. The
story told by the same writer Of Cleopat-
ra's wager with the triumvir that she
would spend at a single dinner f. .0O0.>
600 is better known. The queen was
accustomed to wear in her ears two
pearls. and when her lover ridiculed' the
banquet as inexpensive, she threw q of
those into a vessel Of the strongest viDe-
gar. dissolved it and drank it of. The
other was to have followed, but the 10
pire. by declaring that Antony had
already lost the wager. preserved it; and
afterward in the conquest Of Egypt, it
was sawn in two. to make pendenis for
the ears Of Venus in the Pantheon. Mr..
King. who reproduces this story to dis
credit it, hat no acid The human body can
endure is capable O. en,irely dissolving a
pearl, even under long maceration. The
willy queen. he surmises, swallowed the
pearl in some more agreeable potation
than vinegar. and. in order, to gain her
wager. invented the fiction Of it's dissolu-
ton. secure of it's ultimate recovery.
But there was another pearl Of unri-
VALID magnitude. to which a romantic
tale attaches. This was the gem oh.
tanned by a diver, at the price OF his life.
for the S~assanian King Perozes. So
priced was it by the monarch that it &C.
cupied bis thoughts ever in death. In
the supreme moment Of his fate. when
about to perish in the pitfall into which
be had been trapped by the feigned re.
Of the enemy. he plucked from his
right ear this glory Of his reign, and
hurled il before him into the abyss, de-
comfort eve then from having
the foe Of what would have been
the most glorious trophy of
their victory.
In later times. when the diamond sup.
the pearl in public estimation, we
have The story Of that known as the Sancy,
the history of which. generally confound.
ed with that of Charles the Bold, is here
correctly given. This famous stone was
once sent BY its owner. Seigueur de San.
cy, to Henry w., who wanted to raise a
loan on il. The servant to whom it's
was trusted, was beset by
and murdered. His master,
however, recovered the corpse. and
counting upon the expedient his faithful
envoy bad resorted to. opened it. and
recovered bis lost treasure.
Bonaparte may be said TO have found
ed his fortunes upon a diamond. for.
after the eighteenth Brumaire, it was by
pledging the celebrated ''regent" be pro.
1Uced the funds indispensable for the con.
OF his power; the finder of this
stone, q slave. is said to have concealed il
10 a cash made for its reception in the
calf OF his leg. and then escaped to Mad
Here he fell in with an English
who, by the promise Of finding y
purchaser, in consideration Of receiving a
Of what was TO be realized. lured
on board of a ship, and there dis
posed Of his claims by pitching him into
he sea. Il afterward came into the
possession Of Governor Pitt. 10 whom,
however, il must have been a source Of
anxiety, since we read he never
made known beforehand the day Of his
into town, nor slept twice con-
,ecutiyely in the same house until I7i7.
When he disposed Of his hsrrassing
possession to the Regent Orleans.