The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1878-08-07
Relics.

There seems to be a passion which il
developed in the majority of mankind
for the possession of relics, hat has LED
to extraordinary prices being sometimes
Epaid for articles of little value in them
selzes or sometimes perfectly worthless
Wepresent a few instances of exor'
bitant sums paid for objects more or less
curious. A tooth Of Sir Isaac Newton'E
was sold, in 1916, forthe sum of So, $50.
It was purchased by g nobleman, who
had it set in a ring and wore it constant.
~ on his finger. The prayer book used
by King Charles l., when on the scat
sold, was sold in London, in 1926, TO,
$500. The hat worn by Napoleon Bona,
parte, at the battle of Eylau, was sold
in Paris, in 1885, for nearly $500. II
was put up for sale at 500 francs, and
there we're thirty-two bidders. Vol
taire's cane realized $1D at a sale in
Paris; while a watch belonging to Rous'
seau sold for $10O, and1us waistcoat fol
$3.50. The two pens used:in signing the
treaty of Amiens were sold in 1926 for
50, 500. Several generations. of relic
hunters have been supplied with memen'
tos of the battle of Waterloo, manufac.
tued to order by enterpris1ng tradesmen.
A wig that had belonged to Sterne was
sold at public auction in London fol-
81, 900, while IN old wig which had been
worn by the German philosopher, Kant,
was sold after his death for 200 francs.
The ivory arm chair presented to Gus
tavus Vasa by the city of Lubec, was
sold, fifty years since, TO- the Swedish
chamberlain, N. Schunekel, for 58. GOO
forms. The coat worn by Charles XII.
at the battle of Pultowa, and preserved
by one of his officers and attendants,
brought SCI, 900 francs ($112, 20O). The
pens used in Paris for signing the treaty
of peace, concluded after the Russian
war, were presented to the Empress
Eugene, by whom they have no doubt
been carefully preserved. The pens
that have been the instruments in sign
ing famous proclamations, edicts and
treaties, have always been held in great
esteem by relic hunters. The passion
for possessing fine vases and ancient
pottery is quite prevalent, both in Eu-
rope and America, at the present time.
This, however, is only a revival Of similar
fancies half q century ago. In Naples in
the early part of the present century, a
single vase, representing the last night
OF Troy, realized 1880, another por-
traying a Dionysiac feast, sold at S 5000,
while q vase with the grand battle of the
Amazons was purchased for 1900.
The preservation Of many ancient
relics has undoubtedly served to &C.
quaint us with the manners and customs
Of races now extinct, and in many cases
have served as connecting links between
different epochs of the worlds civiliza-
ton. However, the desire to possess
relics of famous events, or bits OF per-
sonal property of eminent personages,
or ever mementoes of fallen ~eitios7uow
buried in ruins, is apt to become ru!-
ing passion, the qualification of which
o%verrules the dictates of common sense
and reason, yet so long as this indul-
gence is practiced by .thoseaof ample
means, the average individual must be
contented with their description, or pos
sibly q sight of the same in some art
museum, or even with the history and
fact that may be aeduced from their
construction and surroundings.