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THE NEW JERUSALEM. 335
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7. Chrysolite, golden-yellow. 8. Beryl, bluish green. 9. Topazius, yellowish green.
10. Chrysoprasus,* apple-green. 11. Hyacinthus, blue. 12. Amethyst, -violet, or purple.
Neither
is this order of the colours suggested by the rainbow, as their
heavenly position would naturally suggest, for in that primeval symbol
of God's covenant the colours follow thus :—red, orange, yellow, green,
blue, purple, violet. Again, St. John being so close an imitator of
Ezekiel, one might have presupposed him guided by the prophet's most
poetical apostrophe to the king of Tyrus (xxviii. 13), "Thou has been
in Eden the garden of the Lord ; every precious stone was thy covering
: the Sardius (marg. Ruby), Topaz, and the Diamond ; the Beryl (marg. Chrysolite), the Onyx, and the Jasper ; the Sapphire, the Emerald, (marg. Chrysoprase), and the Carbuncle." j·
So
minute an acquaintance with the nicest shades of colour of the precious
stones will more forcibly impress the reader, if he should attempt to
arrange from memory, and by the aid of his own casually acquired
knowledge alone, twelve gems or even half that number according to
their proper tints. Without a practical acquaintance with the subject
such an attempt will only end in confusion. The " sainted seer "
alludes in other passages to the proper colours of precious stones in a
very technical manner: " He that sat on the throne " was .'like the
Jaspis and the Sardius, and was crowned with a rainbow like the
Smaragdus ; whilst the light within the Holy City was like " a very
precious stone, a Jaspis resembling Crystal " or
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