threw upon the market diamonds amounting to one million
two hundred and ten thousand dollars.
A magnificent bouquet of French diamonds, so ingeniously
constructed that it could be taken to pieces even to the petals
of the flowers and converted into seven different brooches,
was exhibited at the London Exposition in 1851.
The late Duke of Brunswick, who had a passion for the
acquisition of precious stones, left at his death a collection of
diamonds alone, estimated at two million five hundred
thousand dollars, but his possessions gave him little happiness,
since he lived in continual fear of being robbed and murdered,
and felt compelled to take annoying precautions against such an
event. Though these treasures may have been the source of
danger in numerous instances, and the incentive to terrible
crimes, yet on one occasion, at least, they afforded a protection to life. It is said that when Isabella II., Queen of
Spain, was attacked in public by a bold assassin, the dagger of
her assailant was intercepted by a diamond girdle worn by this
princess, and before another blow could be given, she was
rescued from her perilous condition by her attendants.
As an example of the abundant use of the diamond in
earlier times, it has been estimated that Sultan Mahmoud left
at his demise, at the beginning of the eleventh century, more
than four hundred pounds, avoirdupois, in these gems.
The ancient Romans and early mediaeval races valued this
precious stone more on account of its credited supernatural
powers, than for its intrinsic beauty, which had not been
developed by the later process of faceting. It was early
selected for the marriage ring, on account of its power to promote harmony in the conjugal relations. Those earliest
known to the Romans were obtained from Ethiopia, but only a
few of their diamonds have any historical interest like those of
