The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1922-06-20
Gem LONG PRICED
Emerald Figures Largely in His.
tory and Legend.
Princess Marys Love Stone Has In
spired Both Saints and Poets-Re-
ferred To in Scriptures.

Emeralds will be set in the most
fashionable engagement rings OF tbs
future, for Princess Mary had an emer-
aid engagement ring.
The emerald Of average quality is
much more valuable than the diamond
OF equal quality, observes the London
Tit-Bits.
Tae finest emeralds are worth S2,5oo
q carat, while good-sized gem might
weigh ANYTHING from four 10 SIX
carats; $500 10 S4t'0 carat is mini
auln price. The output of>emeraids Is
Sefy small.
The emerald is given a place OF
honor in history aud literature. The
beautiful gem was most praised among
the ancients, not only fos its beauty,
but also on account of it's rarity. 1t
was favorite stone with the Roman
emperors and, later, with high dIsni-
eaFies Of the church. 1t IS named
lyiee in the book Of Exodus as one Of
the L jewels in the high priests
hreastplate of Judgment, ranking in
the second row With the sapphire ana
the diamond.
The best-known scriptural references
are in Revelation, where the rainbow
around the throne is compared in its VI
yid gseenness to ap emerald; While
the same jewel forms one of the Il
foundations of the new Jerusalem.
George Eliot, in 'Middlemarch," :" re-
fers TO the singular beauty Of these
passages. cit is strange" she says,
show deeply colors seem to penetrate
nne. like scent. l suppose that is the
reason why gems are used as spiritual
emblems in the Revelation Of st. John,
They look like fragments OF. heaven"
In TennySon's poem, Columbus"
,tne discoverer used the passage in
Revelation to describe the San Saliva
dor as he first deserted it.
In contrast we may mention the
"emerald monocle" through which
Nero, whom the latest commentators
regard as the Beast" OF the Revela-
ton, gazed at the agonies of his VIC
tins in the ARENA
A more pleasant legend may De
quoted from MontalembeSt the famous
French author. BE describes how in
the early ages of monaslicism a'1er-
tain monastery was transformed by
it's founder into hospital for lepers
and cripples. Behold said he, in
showing the ladies of Alexandria the
upper floor, (which was reserved for
women. behold, my jacinths"; then,
In conducting them to the floor below
where the men were placed, See my
emeraldS."
The most celebrated medieval gem
was the so-called emerald of Genoa,
known as the Sacro Catinc. 1t was
presented early in the Twelfth cen
Gury to the cathedral by the crusader
Enbriaco, having been brought by him
from the siege Of Caesarea.
The relic. huge single stone, was
said to be the dish from which our
Lord ate the Last Supper. 1t was
believed by some to have been given
by solomon to the queen Of Sheba.
The Saero- Catino was removed to
Paris during Napoleon's wars, and was
discovered to be only an ancient piece
of Venetian glass. 1t is still shown,
much mended, in the cathedral OF
Genoa, to which place it was restored.
by the French.
In the Fifteenth and Sixteenth cen
turies the emerald is mentioned fire.
qGently among inventories of crown
jewels. Mary Queen Of Scots pos
sessed at one time many specimens OF
this regal gem.