The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-12-01
THE MORNING NEWS: THURSDAY. DECEMBER /. 1895

The hoh-i-Noor Is sometimes COMPOUNDED
with the Mognl diamond, but the former
weighed less than 200 carats IN the rough.
Its great purity, however, gained it the
the name of THE mountain of light" Him
doc accounts state that it was worn by
Karna. King of Anga and hero of the Ma
habharata, 1901 B. C. \ any rate, the dia-
mond was owned by Nillraniaditya. King
Of Ujayin, SO B. c., and from him passed
to the raiahs OF Malwa and the sultans of
Delhi. 1t was in the Delhi treasury when
the city was taken by Ala-ed-Din. Sultan
Baker of The Mogul dynasty esteemed it al
the sum of the daily maintenance Of the
whole world. Mohammed Shah great
grandson OF Aurungzebs. wore the gem in
his turbau a the interview In the tent of
his Persian conquerer. when Nadir Shah
insisted on exchanging headdresses as a
proof of his regard BY this means he ac-
quired the Koh-i-Noor, as well as every
thing else Mohammed owned Shah Suiah.
descendant of the Persian, wore the dia-
mond on his arm when, driven from Ka-
bul, he became the nominal guest and act
ual prisoner of Run eet Singh. The Lion
of the Punjaub, covetine the stone,
forced Sujah to resign il to him, giving in
exchange about 500, co., and thereafter he
wore it in an armlet on festive occasions.
Il was worn also by the successors OF
Runjeet, but after the murder of Shu
Singh remained in the Lahore treasury
until 1919, when the British civil authori-
ties took possession of III under the stipu-
lation conhscating all property Of the stale
of the East India Company in payment of
debts due and the expenses of the war
The Koh-i-Noor was presented 70 Queen
Victoria June 8, 1850. 1t was then valued
at 100000, but was of irregular form and
marred by assures. After consultation
with leading scientists of the day the del
icate task of recruiting was intrusted 10
the famous expert Coster of Amsterdam.
The Duke of Wellington placed the dia-
mond on the cutting wheel. The process
occupied thirty-eight days, and was COM
pletely successful, resulting in a brilliant
matchless for purity and fire. Thus the
great Indian gem has seen the rise and
fall of three empires, and now appropri-
ately forms the chief ornament of the
British crown
Almost equally typical are the adven-
lures of the French regent or Pitt dia-
mond, now in the Galerie d'Apo,lon at the
Louvre, and part of the crown Jewels
This stone was found In the mines of
Partial, forty-tive leagues south of Col
conda, and weighed in the rough 41O car
ats. Two years and nearly $4,000 were
spent in cutting it to a brilliant It was
bought at Madras by the grandfather of
the first Earl of Chatham commander
of Fort st. George, for 5000 COO, and sold
by him in III to the Due d'Orleans re-
gent during the minority of Louis XVIII,
for S6lS000. Pitt in the pamphlet pub
lished to clear himself from the charge
of having stolen it, says he bought il of
one Jamelchund, a Hindoo merchant Bur
Pope, in the Man of Rosa, expresses a
general opinion to the contrary
81. Simon tells, as of his own personal
knowledge, different story. He says the
diamond was stolen by person emp}ov-
ed in the diamond mines, who ESCAPED TO
Europe with it and showed il to several
princes, the King of England among the
rest, and finally to that prince of specula-
tors, the Scotchman Law. Then at the
hight Of his power in France, Law propos-
ed to the Regent to buy the diamond for
the king. After some dickering the bargain
was closed, the seller receiving 1884 eco.
with interest on the price until paid and
the fragments resulting from recutting.
After the fan of Louis XVI, at any rate
the diamond, chained and guarded by gems
darmes, was shown TO the people of Pa
ris, and any workman who chose might
| hold il for a. few moments in his hand.
Napoleon 1. wore it in the pommel of his
state sword and pawned It at pinch to the
BataYian government During the revolu-
ton it was stolen with The rest of the
crown jewels from the Garde Meuble but
was subsequently recovered and shone in
the imperial dadem OF Napoleon Ill
To nothing less precious than this jewel
could Pope compare the transcendent mer-
il of Lady Mary Worlley Montagu, the
same Lady Mary whose reputation he af-
terward assassinated. and who cried out
upon the wicked wasp of Twickenham."
When she was coming back from her
travels Pope welcomed her as "the only
equivalent the world affords for Pitts da-
mond, so lately sent out of our country;
which, after you was gone, was accounted
the most valuable thing here Adieu TO
that toyi let the costly bauble be hung
about the neck of the baby king it belongs
to, so England does but recover that jewel
which was the wish OF all her sensible
hearts and the joy of all her discerning
eyes"
Another great diamond connected with
French history is the Sancy an almond
shaped brilliant of 5315 carats. Some au-
thorities say that it was brought from
ConstaRhnople by the Baron de Sancy,
ambassador Of Henry ". But the story
commonly accepted is that it was origi-
nally owned by the Great Mogul, and
formed part of the immense booty taken
by the Swiss after the defeat Of Charles
the Bold at Grauson.
OF the three great diamonds found after
the battle in the tent Of Charles, one is
Salu 10 be now IN the papal tlara, another
in the treasury of Vienna, and the third,
after returning to india was brought
back again to Europe and bought by the
King of Portugal. In 1853 Anthony of
Portugal pledged 1t among other stones
to De Sancy, treasurer Of the King of
France, who kept it upon payment of 1OO.-
eco livres. The baron sent the diamond
to his royal master by a servant, who
was waylaid and assassinated in the for
est of Dole, but who first swallowed the
stone so that it was found in his stomach
after death Later the Sancy came into
the hands of James II of England. who
sold it to Louis XIV for f25, 600. Then il
was bought by Napoleon l. who sold n
to Prince Demldoff. il is said to be now
in Russia.
Carlyle and Dumas among others have
done their best to keep alive the affair
of the diamond necklace" which helped 10
level with the dust the throne and head OF
Marie Antoinette.
In 1774 the French crown jewels. in
Guiding the regent and the Saucv ON