The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1889-09-14

on the very anniversary-the gentle
man again visited the spot and Will,
strolling along the shore a fisherma,
near him stopped down, picked NJ
something, and ran after him, saying
"Did you drop thisP" at the same TIM
holding up the identical ring los
twelve months before.
Some of the most curious losses ant
recoveries of which we have any record
are related in regard to famous jewels
Among these the De Sancy diamond
may be mentioned as possessing par
ticularly singular history. The frs
known owner of this gem was Charlie:
the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, who is
said to have worn it in his helmet. Il
was lost in the battle in which its owner
was killed, but was picked up by q
Swiss soldier, who sold it to u priest
for florin. The priest, as ignorant
as the soldier of its rare value, i'm
agined that he had made good bar
| gain when he sold it to the King OF
| Portugal for florin and half. The
profit Of the King, however, was some
what larger than that of the unworldly
priest, for he received no less than
| 100000 crowns for it from the wealthy
Harley de Sancy, in whose family it
remained for several generations.
| Finally one of his descendants, wishing
| to pawn it in order to lend Henri III.
some money, sent it to jew broker
by the hand of servant in whom he
had the utmost confidence. The serv-
ant never returned, and the broker
declared that the man had never made
his appearance with the diamond.
In spite of this assertion the conf
dence of De Sancy in the honesty of his
old servant was unshaken. This conf
dence, as it afterward appeared, was
not misplaced, for after time the body
of a murdered man was discovered
near the city walls in deep ditch,
which was recognized as that of the
missing servant. An attempt at robbery
had evidently been made, and the faith
full fellow had remained true to his
masters interests to his last moments;
for on the surgeons examining the body
the diamond was found in his stomach,
he having swallowed it as the only
means left to him of outwitting his
assailants. This diamond remained in
the possession of the family for several
more generations, but was at last sold
to James Ill. of England. who pre-
sented it to Louis XIV. 1t remained
among the crown jewels of France for
some time, but was finally purchased
by the Russian banker, Demidortf.
An interesting anecdote is related in
the life of Lord John Lawrence in re-
gard to that most famous diamond, the
Koh-i-noor. When the precious gem
was committed to the care of Lord Law
renee he stuffed it into his waistcoat
pocket and went on with business.
Dinner time arriving, he changed his
clothes and threw his waistcoat aside.
Six weeks later message came that
the Queen desired the diamond to be
sent home at once. The matter had en-
tirely escaped the memory of the absent
minded lord, and he at first avowed
that he had forwarded it long before.
When the facts came back to him he
was badly frightened, but allowed no
misgivings to appear, and took the first
opportunity to slip away to his private
room. Once there, with his heart in
his mouth, he sent for his native serv-
ant and said to him: "Have you got a
small box which was in my waistcoat
pocket some time agop" "Yes, sahib,"
the man replied. II found it and put
it in one of your boxes" Bring it
here" said the sahib. Upon this the
old servant went to broken-down tin
box and produced the little one from
it. "Open it," said Lord Lawrence,
land see what is inside" He watched
the man anxiously as fold after fold of
cloth was taken off, and great was his
relief when the brilliant gem ap-
peared. The servant seemed perfectly
unconscious OF the immense treasure
he had had in his keeping. There is
nothing here, sahib," he said, "but n
bit of glass" Thus, through the in
difference of native servant, what
might have been a serious loss was
turned into happy recovery.
In an interesting article on the ro-
nance OF literary discovery writer in
an English periodical names number
of notable book recoveries in ancient
times. Among these is Homer's
Odyssey" 800 lines OF which were
found grasped in the hands of mummy
at Monfalot; one of Cicero's most in
teresting treatises, which was found
amid a heap of refuse near Milan, by
a bishop of Lodi early in the fifteenth
century, and the well known instance
of the recovery of the original manu-
script of Magma Charta from the hands
of a tailor who was cutting it up for
patterns. An equally singular recovery
was that of small portion of what
was supposed to be one Of the lost
books of Livy. The tutor Of French
noblemen in the fifteenth century was
playing tennis when he CHANGED to no.
tice that his racquet bat was made of
parchment covered with writing. AS
he was good scholar be succeeded in
deciphering it, and found that it was a
piece OF historical Latin prose, in very
much the style of Livy. He instantly
hurried TO the racquet-maker; but in
vain. The man could only tell him
that he had fallen in with mass OF