Diamond Jubilee

“ Some people, notably in the early part of the nineteenth century, adopted the practice of placing war medals below the escutcheons amongst other decorations. It is doubtful, however, how far this practice is correct, inasmuch as a medal does not technically rank as a decoration or as a matter of honour. That medals are "decorations" is not officially recognised, with the exception, perhaps, of the Jubilee medal, the Diamond Jubilee medal, and the Coronation medal, which have been given a status more of the character of a decoration than of simple medals. ”

“ Our Society also joined heartily with all other societies in testifying together with them our united affection and loyalty upon the 22nd of June, the officially appointed Jubilee day.
It seemed to me, however, that the Sons of England owed it to their Queen, and earnestly desired to do something more, and I therefore organized the “Jubilee Service of a continuous anthem around the world,” to take place on Sunday, the 20th of June, the actual anniversary day of Her Majesty’s accession. ”

“ He received the honour of knighthood from Her Majesty the Queen in May, 1886, and was raised to the peerage on the occasion of Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee, in 1897. The gifts of both these gentlemen for educational and philanthropic purposes have been upon a princely scale, running up into millions of dollars. ”

“ There is in this gem, though it is not always the most costly of precious stones, the strongest appeal to a woman, and she is fortunate indeed whose claim to the diamond is a birthright.
A diamond in a jewel adorning another beauty sets unrest in a woman’s heart, until she too is asparkle. The diamond is a sign of love; it confers loveliness, or at least it imposes pride. It is the ambition of every woman—and it should be the fortune of everyone Aprilborn—to possess a flawless diamond. ”

“ But it would be truer to say of him that his was so transparent a nature that the sun of life shone through it, and that like a precious stone, its rays were reflected in myriad sparkling flashes of joy, gaiety, kindliness and generosity. The flaws were there; but there is no doubt this was a genuine diamond.
"J'aime qui m'aime." It was his motto, that line from the Proverbs: "I love them that love me." ”

“ And then, with blare of trumpet and clash of drum, with troopings and marchings, with garlanded streets and miles upon miles of cheering people, came the great Jubilee festivities. Silver was the note of the decorations—silver in the midst of green spring. The Queen herself wore silver gowns and bonnets of heliotrope, and the King a uniform wherein silver braid formed the becoming substitute for gold. Corporations came carrying silver caskets ”

“ At last, from out of its silver paper and casing, the jewel lay revealed, and she stood, gazing a little awestruck at its flashing beauty.
It was a diamond star, to be worn as a brooch, and, every spike radiating from the centre diamond of great size and brilliancy, was composed of selected stones. Worked in across the star, in sapphires, were the words "Regina Imperatrix," and [Pg 125] the blue and white lights from sapphire and diamond shone dazzlingly from their satin bed. ”

“ How wonderful is its affection for light—taking in the rays eagerly, dissolving them, and sending them forth again to gladden the eyes in rich prismatic beauty! And to what mental quality must the diamond correspond? As it loves the sun's rays, in which are heat and light—must it not correspond to the affection of things good and true?—heat being of love, and light of truth or wisdom? The wearer of diamonds, then, should have in her heart the heavenly affection to which they correspond. She should be loving and wise. ”

“ Just then the wise old woman of Hollowbush, who had the amiable peculiarity of appearing just when people most needed her, stopped before the window, and said, as she looked up at her young friend, "You were wishing for a diamond necklace, my child. What would you do if I should tell you of a country where diamonds are as plenty as flowers are here?" ”

“ Saturn was the father and first king of the gods; his stone is the king of gems, the diamond. Saturday crowns the days of the week, as the diamond crowns the family of the gems. In a man the diamond marks gravity, fortitude, constancy. In a maiden, it may betoken a certain giddiness, a flighty [87] fancy that has not yet found its destination; but in a woman it marks perseverance and constancy. The woman of the Saturday diamond knows what she wants, and works unfaltering to attain it. ”

“ Why do people say so?"
"Because I never trick myself out in diamonds, or have more than one color in a gown. An artist told me once that all those things spoiled a picture."
She would have liked the diamonds as well as the rest of us, and once said so to her husband. "Oh, no!" he answered, "diamonds are the consolation of old wives, a diamond for a wrinkle!"
Mrs. Douglas was the first of the Washington ladies who adopted the fashion of closing her shutters in the early afternoon and lighting her rooms with gas. ”

“ I am now sorry for not having visited them, but, at that time, every thing was some how or other indifferent to me, and it was only by chance that once, being with my friends in the apartments of the Empress, I saw her collection of diamonds. Upon a table of the apartment are placed the crown, sceptre, and globe; the imperial crown is a huge mass of beautiful jewels; the diamond weighs 779 carats, and is in the shape of a small spoon, being round on one side, and flat on the other. Catherine gave for it 2,250,000 French livres, and an annuity of 100,000. ”

“ I can scarcely contain myself for joy! How much I owe you, you wonderful and delightful man! They will verify the truth of the oracle immediately, and when it is found that the famous diamond is but glittering paste the company will adore my father, for it will feel that but for him it would have been covered with shame, by avowing itself the dupe of a sharper. ”

“ There is no doubt that the five gems—diamond, ruby, emerald, sapphire, and pearl—have grown more fully than all others into our ways of living. They have become, as I shall indicate in this chapter, adornments not only of our persons but of our speech and writing. They are used not only in figures of jewelry but in figures of speech, to express human beauty, or eminence, or virtue. The poet and the orator, as well as the monarch and the lover, have utilized the glamour of the gem.
Diamond
Supreme in human imagination is the diamond, the hardest of all stones. ”

“ Under a transparent stone or coat of colorless enamel may be pressed a lock of hair. The jewel itself may be shaped so as to symbolize a family—as a coat of arms; or a people—as the maple leaf worn by Queen Elizabeth II, a gift from and a symbol of the Commonwealth of Canada. The lady who launches a ship receives, from the builders or the owners, a diamond pin that is indeed, to her and those that come after her, a precious memento of a signal occasion. ”

“ But it serves simply to illustrate my thought, which I emphasize by saying if you do not have the actual diamond-mines literally you have all that they would be good for to you. Because now that the Queen of England has given the greatest compliment ever conferred upon American woman for her attire because she did not appear with any jewels at all at the late reception in England, it has almost done away with the use of diamonds anyhow. All you would care for would be the few you would wear if you wish to be modest, and the rest you would sell for money. ”

“ Nothing proved can be,
Quoth Elizabeth, prisoner.
At last Philip showed signs of leaving Spain. On the 19th June, arrived his precursor, the Marquis de las Naves, bringing presents for the bride. These were: “A great table diamond mounted as a rose, in a superb gold setting, and valued at 50,000 ducats; a necklace of eighteen brilliants, worth 32,000 ducats; a great diamond, with a fine pearl [Pg 313] pendant from it, worth 25,000 ducats, and other jewels, pearls, diamonds, emeralds and rubies of inestimable value, for the Queen and her ladies”. ”

“ The bandeau which bound her luxuriant curls was of diamonds also, and about her neck the magnificent diamond necklace lately presented by Marie Caroline with the ciphers of the Royal children. Even a plain woman must have glowed in such a dress set off with such a galaxy of jewels but with her velvet skin of lilies and roses, her bright hair, and the crimson bow of her lips she was a figure of dazzling beauty to strike the coldest into amazement. ”

“ So, though in the clear air of day, suspended against a blue-veined neck, the pure-watered diamond drop will healthful glow; yet, when the cunning jeweller would show you the diamond in its most impressive lustre, he lays it against a gloomy ground, and then lights it up, not by the sun, but by some unnatural gases. ”

“ Joseph entered.
"Here is the address of the jeweler, my lord; his name is Baudoin."
"My dear M. Doublet, you will go, I beg you, to this jeweler, and tell him to bring here, in an hour, a diamond necklace worth about two thousand louis. Women can never have too many jewels, now that dresses are trimmed with them. You will arrange with the jeweler for the payment."
"Yes, my lord. It is on account of the surprise that I do not groan this time. Diamonds are like buildings, the value remains; and, besides, this surprise to the marchioness! ”

“ He who wears on his finger a ring containing a diamond of great value, looks frequently at the ring to see if the diamond be secure: it is thus we ought to watch over our souls. And should we see that it has been lost by sin, we ought instantly to adopt every means in our power to recover it. ”

“ You have, I hope, that solidity and cohesion of parts; take now as much pains to get the lustre. Good company, if you make the right use of it, will cut you into shape, and give you the true brilliant polish. Apropos of diamonds, I have sent you, by Sir James Gray, the king’s minister, who will be at Venice about the middle of [Pg 222] September, my own diamond buckles, which are fitter for your young feet than for my old ones; they will properly adorn you; they would only expose me. [Same date.]
Trifles.—Great merit or great failings will make you respected or despised ”

“ Thomas Hope and his son was displayed, all the glory of their Hope chest, including the mysterious blue stone that came to be called the Hope diamond. There on white velvet lay the great Black Diamond of Bahia, weighing 350 carats, so hard that no one had been able to shape it with facets. And there, not far from a replica of the ship that had just brought it from India, was shown for the first time in England what the catalogue called “the great diamond of Runjeet Singh called the Mountain of Light or the Koh-in-noor.” This is what the millions came to see. ”

“ The brilliancy and rainbow play of the diamond is not so apparent by daylight as by certain kinds of artificial light, when all its latent beauties are called forth as if by magic. The light of the camp-fire in the obscurity of night produces a marvellous effect upon the polished stone; and it is no wonder that the savage heart of the Russian General, Suvaroff, was fascinated by the vivid gleams of his treasured diamonds when viewed at night in the flickering beams of his bivouac fire. ”

“ The Prince showed some of his diamonds to Mawe, but the latter in an emphatic foot-note says "I did not see this diamond (the Braganza) when in Brazil." On gala days John wore the royal gem around his neck, and for the purpose of suspension it had a small hole drilled through the top. A large rough diamond nearly a pound in weight, hanging from the neck by a string of gold, would seem to our thinking to be rather a barbaric ornament for a civilized monarch to wear. ”

“ In another place, under the charge of the giants, is a rare and costly diamond. None so large ever has been seen by human eyes. Request this youth to procure the diamond for you, and when he has failed you will be free to marry me. ”

“ It was Christmas Eve, and they had been making the old hall at Denesfield Manor ring with happy voices. And now, in the dim twilight hour, they came into the drawing-room, and begged that before the gas was lighted, Grandmamma would tell them all about "those diamonds."
A charming group they made. The girls with their young, fair faces, and streaming curls, the boys full of life and strength and fun; yet all so loving to the silver-haired lady who delighted to see them round her at happy Christmastide. ”

“ Among the paragons possessed by the Crown is the diamond known as the Orloff, which derives its name from one of the counts of that celebrated family, who purchased it for the Empress Catherine. It is one of the finest gems in the world, and is the largest in Europe. It rivals in beauty the famous Regent of the French regalia, which it surpasses in size. The weight of this diamond is 1943⁄4 karats, and it is exactly [Pg 150] of the form of the famous diamond described by Tavernier as the Great Mogul. In shape it is ovoid, or rather, in gem nomenclature, of a high-crowned rose-pattern. ”

“ To the American woman the diamond is not an object of luxury, it is an object of prime necessity. An English old maid would do without her tea before an American woman would go without diamonds.
Oh, those diamonds in America! You see them wherever you go! Not one woman in a hundred will you see without a pair of them in her ears. It is an obsession.
Diamonds, at night with evening dress and artificial light, are things of beauty: but diamonds in the street with morning dress, at early breakfast in company with morning wrappers ”