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64 PRECIOUS STONES.
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that of Mrs. Todgers (in Martin Chuzzlewit) who
presided over a boarding-establishment for commercial gentlemen, near
the Monument, where " the gravy alone was enough to add twenty years to
one's age " l. '* What I. have undergone in
consequence," cried the worthy, worn, little woman, " no one would
believe.'' " She had a lean, lank body, Mrs. Todgers, but a
well-conditioned soul within it. Perhaps the Good Samaritan was lean,
and lank, and found it hard to live! Who knows ? "
"
Next, a gentleman in France, being not long since reported to have a
fragment of this Stone, and to have cured several persons therewith of
inveterate diseases, by letting them lick it; my noble friend, Sir
Kenelm Digby, being then in France, was solemnly requested from thence
to enquire into the truth of that report, and answered, ' that he could
not upon examination finde it other than true.' "
THE DIAMOND.
The Diamond (Adamas, or
" Indomitable," as it was called of old) is the hardest substance
known. When worn in the Ephod of the Jewish High Priest, it gave token
of the guilt, or innocence, of an accused person. If such person was
guilty, the gem became dim and lustreless ; though if guilty, even unto
death, the stone flamed forth with a sullen flare of fierce blood-red.
If, on the contrary, the accused person was innocent, then the Diamond
shone out with its glory increased tenfold. This precious stone was
held to symbolise innocence, justice, faith, strength, and the
impassivity of fate. An ancient Black-letter book pronounces respecting
the Diamond: " God hath
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