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PRECIOUS STONES.
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European owner, which, with the Austrian Yellow, was lost on
the day of his memorable defeat ; and here begins the complicated knot of difficulties never yet completely disentangled. The diamond was named for Nicholas de Harlay, Seigneur
de Sancy, at one time ambassador of Henry IV. of France to the court of Queen Elizabeth. The Baron de Sancy, it is said was the owner of two large diamonds, one having been purchased when he was ambassador to the Ottoman court, and the other was taken in pledge from Don Antonio, the pretender to the Portuguese crown, for a loan of one hundred thousand livres, which, however, was never redeemed ; this accounts for a part of the confusion pertaining to the subject. De Sancy, as the story goes, in order to raise funds for
Henry to enable him to prosecute his wars, pledged the famous diamond known as the Sancy to the Jews of Metz, and sent it thither by a trusty messenger, with the understanding that if the latter were attacked by banditti, a danger imminent in that turbulent period, he should swallow the gem. The catastrophe did occur, the messenger was murdered, but his master, having confidence in the fidelity of his servant, recovered the body, and found the diamond in the stomach. A little different version makes the king send the gem to Harlay, who was then in Switzerland, but for the same purpose. A different account, which probably applies to another
diamond bearing-the same name, states that Seigneur Harlay sold the gem when minister to England, and that it is mentioned in the inventory of the crown jewels in the Tower of London, made in 1605. It remained in the possession of the royal family until 1669, and is mentioned by Henrietta Maria. This Sancy was the one sold by James II., during his exile, to Louis XIV., for one hundred and twenty-five thousand dol- |
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