The
pearl is generally considered to be the emblem of innocence and purity.
A pretty fashion in vogue among parents who can afford it, is of giving
a pearl to each of their daughters on their birthdays. These are
carefully matched and strung so that the string grows to a necklace for
maturer years.
Along
with the emblematic idea and the fanciful notion of their origin, there
comes to us from the old days a superstition concerning pearls which
probably grew out of the statement that they were the congealed tears
of heaven. It was supposed that they brought tears to their possessors.
The idea originated probably about a thousand years ago in western
Europe. It did not exist in Rome during the time of the Cassars for the
pearl was then the sign of power and affluence and was coveted by men
and women alike and it remains a most popular gem-in Italy to-day.
This
absurdity has been kept alive by stories of prominent persons in whose
experience occurrences seemed to confirm the claim. The Queen of Henry
IV. of France dreamt that her diamonds were turned to pearls the night
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