178 THE GREAT DIAMONDS OF THE WORLD.
legend
: " This is the model of Governor Pitt's diamond, weight 136-1/2 carats
; was sold to Louis XV. of France, A.D. 1717." This model, or rather a
duplicate without the frame, had been sent to Paris and submitted to
the famous Scotch financier John Law, at that time at the height of his
power in France. Law took the stone first to the Regent, and then to
the Due de Saint Simon,* who gives a full account of the affair in his Memoirs. Saint
Simon agreed with Law that France ought to possess a gem which up to
that time was incomparably the finest ever seen in Europe. Yielding to
their combined efforts, the Regent at last consented to purchase it for
£135,000,^ including £5,000 for the negotiations, a euphemistic
expression, which, translated into plain language, meant a bribe for
Law. Money, however, was just then so scarce, that the interest alone
was paid on the amount, jewels being given as security for the
principal until it was paid off. This price, great as it may appear to
be, was even then regarded as much below its real value, and in the
inventory of the French Crown Jewels, drawn up in 1791, it is valued at
12,000,000 francs, or £480,000.
The
year after the preparation of this inventory which was made by a
commission of the most experienced jewellers in Paris, the whole of the
French
