The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1890-08-15
ABOUT JEWELS.

- ~ INh@ "a DL
street, in Boston, under the Boston Muse
um-the ~well-known "play house" that
masqueraded for years behind galleries of
improbable curiosities and impossible a
igures-wrjtes Sallie Joy White in the
Lddies' Home journal, is a small and un-
pretending store. There IS nothing in its
one window to especially attract the at
tention of The chance passer-by; a few
beads of lapis-lazuli, some pieces of quartz
and uncut stone, which tell nothing to the
great mass Of humanity~thar surges by all
day long, but have wonderful hidden Sc
crets for the few who know what lies con-
cealed underneath. One would scarcely
look a second time at it, and thousands
pass it without ever dreaming that it is
one of the most fascinating places in the
Puritan City, and that its proprietor is in
charms the ear with his anecdotes as lie
does the eye with the exquisite treasure
which he reveals to those who are in sym
patty with his enthusiasm.
III sduHleiiuB ny oHe may titth SeeSh
glimpses of well-knoWn people standing
inside and chatting interostedly with the
CHEEKY faced connoisseur of gems aud pre-
cious stones, a man whose reputation is
not merely but even more than national,
for Mr.. John Rtmick has devoted his life
10 the study Of stones, not only as a bust
ness, but frem a genuine love of it. This
was one of the fayorite resorts of Henry
Ward Beecher, who alw avs made a point
of going there TO find something old and
unusual while he was staying i'll the city.
William Hunt, the artist, was another
habitue of The place, and the famous Bos-
ton Wit. Thomas Gold Appleton, passed
many an hour there. Women well known
in society and letters have a way of drop
ping in, always in search OF the something
new that is sure to be found there-Celia
Thaxter, Mrs. William Hunt and her bril-
liant daughter, Mis-. James T. Fields;
stately Mrs. Bfimmer, beautiful Mrs.
James Law renee and Mrs. John 7. Sargent,
for so many years the graceful hostess of
the Radical Club. Here, too, may N
timea be seen Bernard Carpenter, the poet
preacher, and Phillips Brooks, who, like
Beeeher, feels that lie has bible authofi-
ty" for loving those beautiful bits of
creation.
WEAKNESSES OF THE GREAT.
Would you believe that any of these peo-
rIa 9TH .hair breadth IF .houobt and in
tellect would be superstitious, even about
the smallest thing? And yet, they are;
there is not enc among them all that has
not something deeper than a mere love for
these gems; they hold them in positive
veneration, as something that has an in
nuence over their destinies. Not all of
them may acknowledge this, and it is also
true that some possess the feeling in a less
degree than others, but there is in every
one who has made a study of gem lore a
feeling that the world is a little kinder
and destiny a little smoother to the life
that holds i'll possession some kind of gem
or stone as an amulet against fate.
There have been several lists of stones
given as marking the months. and while
these are alike in many essentials there are
some points of difference. The best order
and the oldest, so far as known, is the
follow ing:
January, the garnet.
February, the amethyst.
March, the bloodstone.
April, the sapphire.
May, the agate.
June, the emerald.
July, the onyx.
August. the comedian.
September, the cbrysolite.
October, the aquamarine.
November, the topaz.
December, the ruby.
In ancient times these were called the
zodiac stones, and they were set together
Ia an amulet, so as to be sure to have the
one in connection with or corresponding
to the particular sign or month of the
year. This superstition was evidently
connected With the u stones in the breast
plate of the High Priest, and it is from this
that the present superstition arises.
The Jews, it will be possibly remember
ed by many, had a tradition that when, the
day OF atonement, the High Priest asked
ofthe Almighty forgiveness for the sins of
the " hole nation, If they were forgiven the
stones in the Trim and Thummim shone
most brightly; if the contrary, they become
black. The breastplate of the High Priest
contained twelve stones, each one of which
represented one of the tribes oflsIael.
Coming down to later time, there were
certain stones which s~ymbolized ihetwelve
Apostles. Peter is represented by the jas
per or garnet. Andrew by the sapphire,
James by the chalcedony, John by the
emerald, Philip by the sardonyx, Barthol-
omew by the earnelian, Matthew by the
ohrysolite, Thomas by the beryl, Thsddeus
by the chrysophrase. james, the lesser. by
the topaz, Simeon by the ~jacinth, and
Matthias by the amethyst. 1t is scarcely
probable that these humble men OF Galilee,
followers Of the meek Nazarene, knew of
the existence Of this symbolism. but it
shows in what valued estimation they were