The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1878-08-21
Historic Sketch Of a Famous Gem.

Mingling in q crowd standing in front
of the show-wir dow of Chicago jeweliy
establishment, an Inter Ocean reporter
caught glimpse of the attracting curl
osity, and saw there neither golden
calf nor n brazen image, but a great,
magnificent, glowing emerald-the larg-
est of its kind in America, the placard
says. At any rate, as il reposed on it's
bed of snowy cotton, sparkling in the
sun like an enormous globule of water
and fire, set IN broad band OF Roman
gold, studded with twenty-four glittering
diamonds, it formed an ornament rs
large as q trade dollar and barbaric in
its splendor, and seemingly better fitted
to clasp the gorgeous mantle of some
dusky Oriental queen or CLEAN from the
crown OF Persian potentate than to
prosaic, matter. of-fact America.
One of the firm kindly gave its au-
thentic history, as follows: When the
emerald was discovered in its bed of
limestone is unknown, but its historic
account begins in the year A. d. 1871,
when Richard, surnamed the Lion
hearted, waged the third crusade against
the inHdels and the Sultan Saladin, who
fought so bravely under his black ban
ner. During the two years siege of
Acre the stone shown from the hilt of n
scimetar worn by an officer high in COM
mand, and one Of the Sultan's favorites,
But in one of the many battles fought
and won by the stubborn English,
Hassan was taken prisoner and confined,
with 2, 700 of his countrymen as hostages.
When the crisis came, and Richard die
tated his terms of surrender, they in
cluded the giving up of the fragment of
the true cross, the freedom of the Chris
tian prisoners, and the payment in forty
days of 10000 pieces of gold in redemp-
tion of the infidel captives. Saladin
agreed, but the forty days passed away,
and neither the portion of the holy cross
nor the gold pieces were forthcoming,
and Richard resolved at any cost to i'm
plant the principles of religion, and put
the 2,700 prisoners to the sword in sight
of the camp of Saladin.
When the bodies were rifled the emer-
aid was discovered on the dead officer
and conveyed to the English king. So
delighted was the monarch with the
precious bauble that he knighted its
finder on the spot, and promised him on
Soon after, it was sent to Queen EIeren-
gia as a gift from her royal spouse, and
she in turn shortly Afterward sold it in
order to raise funds for the continuance
of the crusades. It was purchased by
the royal house of Spain for 910, 900
sterling. In 1901, with princely and
Spanish generosity, it was sent to En-
gland as wedding present to the mag
niicent Catharine of Arragon, Queen of
Henry the Eighth. On her death it re-
verted to the Spanish possession, and in
1735 was re-cut by lapidary into its
present carbuncle shape, reducing it in
size nearly one-half, leaving it in its
present weight of twenty-three and three
eighths carats. For time nothing was
heard of the gem, but at last it was
offered for sale at the Paris Exposition
by an agent of the dissolute ex-Queen
Isabella of Spain. There it was pur-
chased by prominent London ieweller,
and after several transfers came, through
the medium of a New York firm, to
Chicago.