American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1851-1863, 1866-01-11
Auecdotes Of Gems,

/ Pliny tells US OF the misfortune OF No
nius. 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 single dinner 81 0OO.>
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 one Of
those into a vessel Of the strongest vines
gar. dissolved it and drank il of. The
other was to have followed, but the UNI
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, that no acid The human body can
endure is capable ofen,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 romantic
tale attaches. This was the gem oh.
tanned by diver, at the price Of his life.
for the Sassanian King Perozes. So
priced was it by the monarch that it oc-
cupied bis thoughts even in death. In
the supreme moment Of his fate. when
about to perish in the pitfall into which
he had been trapped by the feigned re-
treat Of the enemy. he plucked from his
right ear this glory Of his reign, and
hurled il before him into the abyss, de-
irving comfort even then from having
cheated the foe Of what would have been
the most glorious trophy of
their victory. -
In later times. when the diamond sup.
planted 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
given. This famous stone was
once sent BY its owner. Seigueur de San.
cy, TO Henry w., who wanted to raise
loan on il. The servant to whom its
was trusted, was beset by
and murdered. His master,
however, recovered the corpse. and
counting upon the expedient bis faithful
envoy bad resorted to. opened it. and
recovered bis lost treasure.
Bonaparte may be said TO have found
ed bis fortunes upon diamond. for,
after the eighteenth Brumaire, it was by
the celebrated "regent" be pro.
1uced the funds indispensable for the con.
solidstion OF his power; the finder of this
stone, slave. is said to have concealed il
10 cash made for its reception in the
calf OF his leg. and then escaped to Mad
ras. Here he fell in with an English
skipper, who, by the promise Of finding
purchaser, in consideration Of receiving
moieiy Of what was to be realized. lured
him on board of a ship, and there dis
posed of his claims by pitching him into
The sea. Il afterward came into the
possession Of Governor Pitt. TO whom,
however, il must have been a source OF
fearful anxiety, since we read he never
made known beforehand the day Of bis
,oming into town, nor slept twice con.
in the same house until i7i7.
when he disposed Of his harrassing
to the Regent Orleans.