represent
whatever they regarded as of surpassing purity, or of exceeding worth.
The high estimation in which they have always been held cannot be
attributed to any hereditary idiosyncrasy or commercial bias ; indeed,
the love of these " delicate gems of the ocean " appears to be more
strongly rooted in the instincts of the human race, the deeper wè
enquire into it. In some instances we find the passion for them has
been communicated by the conquerors to the conquered, as in the case
of the Persians and the Greeks ; but nations .that have never come in
contact with each other, and have originated from entirely different
root - stocks of. the human family, are yet found to have cherished the
same unaccountable love for the Pearl. In the New World, the Aztecs,
and in the Old World, the Aryan and Semitic races, appear to have been
equally charmed with them ; and where we have failed to find authentic
historic records, legends have come to us teeming with allusions to
them. No nation can boast a history in which place and favour have not
been bought or sold by Pearls ; and scarce a religion or sacred
literature has existed in which they have not borne some venerable
significance.
It is possible that the Pearl may be referred to,
