in
the hilts of the swords of conquerors. They have been the fondest
expression of love in all ages, and when the Christian prophet John
sought to wake imagination to the glories of the New Jerusalem, he made
the gates of pearls and built her walls of precious stones.
And
they endure. When, by the tricks and accidents of time, nothing remains
of the noble sculptures of ancient Greece and Rome but mournful
fragments, their jewels shine in pristine brilliancy; and the color of
them will be still untarnished when the paintings of the great masters
are long since black and seamed with age. Monarchs live and die; their
dynasties endure for centuries, then disappear. Invaders pass over
ancient landmarks and obliterate them in the passing. The borders of
great countries are washed out of memory. Time destroys nations, and
reduces their monuments to ashes, but the jewels remain. Never a stone
was cut that more or less of romance did not gather about it; many have
seen great tragedies, and there is not a string in the gamut of human
emotions which has not sung at some time or place to their fascinations.
The
qualities which make precious stones so desirable are beauty and
durability combined. The limpid, sparkling dew-drop is -beautiful, but
while the sun's rays beautify, they devour it. The beauty of the
diamond is the same, only it will tremble under the ardent glances of
the sun, and flash its answers back undimmed for thousands of years. In
the emerald one may see the unfading spring-time green of the fields
forever. No clouds can hide the azure of the turquoise, and an
aquamarine would hold in the sand-wastes of Sahara the light of the
deep seas through all time.
The
beauty of precious stones lies in their brilliancy or color, or both;
the durability comes from a native hardness, which resists the
abrasions of time and wear. Nature does not make them all fit for
jewels. Many of the diamonds, rubies, and sapphires found lack the
crystalline beauty or
