The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1922-06-16
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 ths
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.
The finest emeraldS are worth S2,o0O
a carat, while a sood-sized gem might
weigh anything from four to SIX
carats; $3.50 to 500 a carat is mini
mum price. The output of emeraldS is
very small.
The emerald is given a place OF
honor in history and literature. The
beautiful gem was most praised among
the ancients, not only Tor its beauty,
but also on account Of its rarity. It
was a favorite stone with the Roman
emperors and, later. with high digni-
taries of the church. 1t is named
twice in the book of Exodus as one Of
the Il jewels in the high priests
/; hreastplate of judgment, ranking in
) the second row with the sapphire and
'the diamond.
The best-known scriptural references
are in Revelation, where the rainbow
around the throne is compared in its Vi
vid greenness to an emerald; While
the same jewel forms one of the y
foundations Of the new Jerusalem,
George Eliot. in ''Middlemarch,' re-
fers to the singular beauty of these
passages. "It is strange" she says,
"how deeply colors seem to penetrate
one like scent. 1 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 TennySons poem, Columbus"
the 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 be
quoted from MontalembeSt, the famous
French author. He describes how in
the early ages of monasticism a GER
tain monastery was transformed by
its founder into q 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, "SeeNmy
emeralds."
The most celebrated medieval gem
was the so-called emerald" of Genoa,
known as the Sacro Catino- 1t was
presented early in the Twelfth cen
rury to the cathedral by the crusader
Embrace, having been brought by him
from the siege Of CaeSarea.
The relic, a 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 gives
by Solomon to the queen of Sheba.
The Sacro Catino was, removed to
Paris during Napoleon's vars, and was
discovered to be only an ancient piece
of Venetian glass It 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 fre-
quently among inventories Of crown
Jewels. Mary Queen of Scots pos
sessed at one time many specimens Of
this regal gem.