The Portland daily press., 1869-03-04

N~AAA-A8 &VSeAy A-CdEAb.
We all know how Julius Caesar, when he
was in love with the mother of Marcus Bru-
tus, gave her pearl worth nearly quarter
OF million of our money; and how MARX
Antony drank one dissolved in vinegar,
which cost nearly four millions, while Clodi-
Us, the glutton, swallowed one worth 1orty
thousand. The example OF cleopatra iound
an imtator even in sober England. Sir
Thomas Gresham, not otherwise famous for
acts of folly, still so mistook the meaning of
LOYALTY that he ground pearl, which cost
him e15, 900, into cup of wine, in order to
fity drink the health of his queen! This
plagiarist again had many rivals in the men
courtiers oi Louis XIV, who in their insane
extravaganza, were wont to pulVerize their
diamonds, and occasionally used the powder
to dry the Ink of their letters which they sent
to their loved ones. Is diamond powder in
their hair much worse?
The largest pearl Oh record is probably one
bought by the most romantic of all travellers
and dealers in precious gems, Travernier. at
Catifa, in Arabia, where a pearl fishery ex-
isted already in the days of PliDy. 1t is said
for this pearl is unknown in our day-to
have been pear shaped, perfect in al respects,
and nearly three inches long He obtained
from the Shah of Persia the enormous sum
of el11,000 for the gem. ea as ef
Mr.. Hopes pearl, which is looked upon as
the finest now known, is two inches round
1t weighs 1900 graius and like all such varie-
ties, is of such enormous and uncertain val
ne that no one would buy it at a market
price. The most beautiful collection okpearis
belongs to the dowager Empress of Russia.
Her husband was exceedingly fond of her,
aud as he shared with other fancies, also that
for fine pearls with her, he sought them all
over the world. They had to fulfil two con-
ditions rarely 10 be met with: They must be
perfect spheres, and they must be virgin
pearls-tor he would buy none that had been
worn by others. After twenty-five years
search he at last succeeded in presenting his
Empress necklace such as the world had
never seen before.
As this admiration for fine pearls has been
the common weakness of man in all ages.
and in all countries, we need not wonder at
their playing prominent part in religious
writings. ea f1el
The Talmud has pretty story, teaching
us that those who believed in it esteemed but
one object in nature OF higher value than
pearls. When Abraham approached Egypt,
the book tells us, he locked Sara in a chest,
that none might behold her dangerous beau
ty. But when he was come to the place of
paying custom, the officer said:
"Pay customP
And he said: aas .iisa
81 will pay the custom"
They said to him:
Thou earliest cloths"
And he sald
II will pay for Cloths" 1.s3 coissiml
Then they said to him: m 81
"Thou earliest gold" Its
And he answered them;
II will pay for gold.o
On this they further said: aossia i15
Surely thou dearest the finest silks"
He replied:
II will pay custom for the silksv
Then they said:
''Surely it must be pearls that thou takest
with thee"
And he answered only:
Il will pay for pearls.'
Seeing that they could name nothing of
value for which the patriarch was not willing
to pay custom, they said:
''It cannot be 4; but thou open the box and
let us see what is within"
So they opened the hox, and the whole
land OF Egypt was illuminated by the lustre
oil Saras beauty-far exceeding even that of
pearls!
Hence pearls are repeatedly used in Holy
Writ also for solemn comparisons, and to de-
note the highest degree of perfection. In the
Old Testament wisdom is praised as above
pearls, and in the New Testament is com
pared to pearl of great price,, which when a
merchant found he went and sold all that
he had and bought it. Even the New Jeru-
salem was revealed to St. John under the
figure of an edifce with twelve doors, each of
which was single pearl. 81.
Add this precious gem, fit to adorn an en-
peror at-l to heighten the beauty of the fair
est OF Hlsanens, this pearl of great price. per-
lSct III lOfea- UesSurSSS-s-:..- -l1Icfro- tb;e
jewel OF the deep, sought for at peril OF SpsS Ma
man life,and paid for with the bread of tens of
thousands-it sickens and dies and vanisbes
in day. Every now and then we hear of a
noble family, which prided itself on the pos
session of magnificent ancestral pearls panic
stricken by finding some Of the precious gems
turning OF sickly color, and crumbling into
dust. 1t is but few years since the Grown
Jeweller of France solemnly applied to the
Academy of Science for a remedy against this
disease, caused probably by the decomposi-
ton OF the membranes which form part OF the
pearl, and ara, after all, liable to decay and
corruption, like all animal matter, by contact
with air. There was no answer given. but
the advice to preserve the precious gems as
much as possible from the influences of light
and air; and the crown of France has since
lost some of its most highly priced Jewels.
"Beho'd all is vanity and vexation of sprit.o