DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1401#0281
228
THE ILLUSTRATED EXHIBITOR.
THE QUEEN" OF SPAIN'S JEWELLERY.
The crowd of well-
dressed people who
daily throng round the
cases containing the
Queen of Spain's jewels,
the Russian diamonds,
and Mr. Hope's unique
collection—to say no-
thing of the thousands
who have gazed (and
heen disappointed) upon
the famous Koh-i-Noor,
the Mountain of Light
—sufficiently attests an
inherent principle in
human nature : a love
of gold and silver, pre-
cious stones, and rare
ornamentation. The
feeling which leads the
naked savage to daub
his person with red
ochre and hang a brass
ring in the cartilage of
his nose, is the same
that induces a duchess
to wear a diamond sto-
macber and encumber
her fair fingers withuse-
less circlets of gold and
proportions ; — true
that most of these ob-
tain a fictitious value
according to their
scarcity, or the pecu-
liarity of shape they
have assumed under
the wheel of the lapi-
dary ; true, that of
themselves they are
no more worthy than
bits of polished glass
—indeed some of them
shine not half so
brightly—and are less
useful in the hands of
the natural man than
an iron nail or a yard
of coloured cloth;—
and yet, in spite of all,
they become objects
of attraction and am-
bition ; the frequent
causes of disputes,
heart-burnings, bick-
erings in families, and
even wars among na-
tions. Inexplicable
mystery—strange in-
fa t uation—- wonderful,
jewels. The diamond
may be nothing more
than a bit of bright
charcoal; the pearl a
mere shining bead, the
product of a miserable
diseased oyster; the
emerald an ordinary
lump of metallic earth,
known by the initiated
as Glucina ; the ruby,
the hyacinth, the topaz,
the garnet, the amethyst, and the agate, compounds only
of various kinds of glass, earth, and metals in different
queen of Spain's head-dress, bouquet, and baudeau.
startling fact;—felt
from the earliest ages,
known to philosophers
and thinkers of all
times, common to the
people of every nation
and kindred under the
SUn_-who shall solve,
or excuse, or explain
it?
BY LEMONNIEUE, PARIS.
fives or feelings
very earliest of
It is an useless tasK
to probe into the bbo-
which have induced all people—from the
whom we have any mention to the mos
THE ILLUSTRATED EXHIBITOR.
THE QUEEN" OF SPAIN'S JEWELLERY.
The crowd of well-
dressed people who
daily throng round the
cases containing the
Queen of Spain's jewels,
the Russian diamonds,
and Mr. Hope's unique
collection—to say no-
thing of the thousands
who have gazed (and
heen disappointed) upon
the famous Koh-i-Noor,
the Mountain of Light
—sufficiently attests an
inherent principle in
human nature : a love
of gold and silver, pre-
cious stones, and rare
ornamentation. The
feeling which leads the
naked savage to daub
his person with red
ochre and hang a brass
ring in the cartilage of
his nose, is the same
that induces a duchess
to wear a diamond sto-
macber and encumber
her fair fingers withuse-
less circlets of gold and
proportions ; — true
that most of these ob-
tain a fictitious value
according to their
scarcity, or the pecu-
liarity of shape they
have assumed under
the wheel of the lapi-
dary ; true, that of
themselves they are
no more worthy than
bits of polished glass
—indeed some of them
shine not half so
brightly—and are less
useful in the hands of
the natural man than
an iron nail or a yard
of coloured cloth;—
and yet, in spite of all,
they become objects
of attraction and am-
bition ; the frequent
causes of disputes,
heart-burnings, bick-
erings in families, and
even wars among na-
tions. Inexplicable
mystery—strange in-
fa t uation—- wonderful,
jewels. The diamond
may be nothing more
than a bit of bright
charcoal; the pearl a
mere shining bead, the
product of a miserable
diseased oyster; the
emerald an ordinary
lump of metallic earth,
known by the initiated
as Glucina ; the ruby,
the hyacinth, the topaz,
the garnet, the amethyst, and the agate, compounds only
of various kinds of glass, earth, and metals in different
queen of Spain's head-dress, bouquet, and baudeau.
startling fact;—felt
from the earliest ages,
known to philosophers
and thinkers of all
times, common to the
people of every nation
and kindred under the
SUn_-who shall solve,
or excuse, or explain
it?
BY LEMONNIEUE, PARIS.
fives or feelings
very earliest of
It is an useless tasK
to probe into the bbo-
which have induced all people—from the
whom we have any mention to the mos