The magnificence of the English clergy led Pope Innocent III. to exclaim, “O England, thou garden of delights! Thou art truly an inexhaustible fount of riches. From thy abundance much may be exacted.”
CHAPTER X.
ASIATIC GEMS.
To Asia we naturally turn for the history of the diamond, and a solution of some of the phenomena connected with the mineral. But here we have to contend with vexations at all points; and instead of clearness, we have obscurity, disconnected histories, conflicting traditions, and superstitious fancies. However, from the mass of fragments which have been preserved, the patient antiquary eventually may be able to arrange an interesting story relating to the gem in the early days of its discovery and its adoption in ornamentation.
We will now proceed to mention some of the celebrated stones whose history has been more or less clearly defined; and regret to say that there are a large number of others of great interest and value, but of which we are unable to give a correct description.
The Hindoos prize diamonds greatly on account of their supposed spiritual properties, and they reluctantly part with them unless compelled by dire necessity, or induced by the hope of greater gain. Many of the fine diamonds brought to Europe from Asia have blood-stained histories, and some of them are connected with appalling atrocities. Therefore we may with propriety say that few of the noble gems would have found their way to Europe had the free will of their rightful owners been consulted.
The foremost gem in the history of the diamond was that which was called the Great Mogul. This was the largest of all known diamonds, and was found in the rich mines of Gani about the year 1650, or nearly a century after their discovery. It became the property of Vizier Mirgimola, who, although a Persian by birth, had by ability and tact risen to the honor of general and vizier to the King of Golconda. By means of his rapacity in war, and his success in working the diamond mines, he became enormously wealthy, and accumulated immense numbers of gems. The King finally became jealous of the wealth and power of his favorite, and resolved to destroy him. But Mirgimola, warned of his danger in time, succeeded in escaping with all his treasures to the capital of Shah Jehan, the Great Mogul. The wily Persian gained the favor and protection of the Hindoo monarch by magnificent presents of gems, the chief of which was the immense diamond which has since been called the Great Mogul.
The original weight of this mammoth gem is said to have been 787¹⁄₂ karats; but during the process of cutting it was reduced to 279 karats. Tavernier relates that the work had been intrusted to a Venetian lapidary by the name of Hortensio Borghis, who, ignorant of the duties of his task, removed the flaws and external imperfections by grinding the surface of the stone away. The labor required by this operation seems almost incredible when we come to consider the hardness of the stone, and estimate the difficulty of polishing it, especially with the rude means then in use by the Oriental lapidaries. The cutting of the Pitt diamond (now the Regent) required two years’ time, with the aid of modern appliances and the facilities afforded by means of cleavage, by which large fragments were removed and utilized. Therefore the statement that this stone was reduced solely by grinding from 787¹⁄₂ karats to 279 karats is likely to meet with disbelief among the lapidaries; for the operation must have required more than the fifteen years which had elapsed from the discovery of the gem to the time Tavernier examined it. Tavernier says distinctly that cleavage was not resorted to in facilitating the reduction of the stone. We quote: “Had the Sieur Hortensio been well acquainted with his profession he might have obtained from this great stone some good pieces without doing any injury to the King, and without having taken so much trouble in grinding it away; but he was not a very skilful diamond-cutter.” This statement establishes the fact that the secret of reducing diamonds by cleavage was known at that time.
Fifteen years after the discovery Tavernier saw the gem in the hands of Aurungzeb, who was then Mogul, Shah Jehan having been deposed and placed in confinement. The distinguished traveller was allowed to examine the gem, weigh it, and make a drawing of it. It was then of the form of half an egg, and very high-crowned, and had been cut with many facets, quite regularly arranged over its superior surfaces. It was also of fine water, and disfigured by only one crack on its lower border, and a little flaw in the interior.
The French traveller gives an account of the ceremony of his examination as conducted with great precision and the utmost solemnity, as though the gems were the crystallizations or the embodiments of departed spirits. The gems were brought in upon two lacquered trays covered with brocade, and were counted over thrice, and three lists made of them by different scribes. This process was not particularly flattering to the pride of the guest, but it serves to illustrate or establish the fact that the Hindoo character for deception and theft was quite as marked then as now.
Since this period no further mention has been made of the gem by any authentic writer; but it is supposed to have formed a part of the plunder of Delhi, when Nadir Shah captured all the treasures accumulated during four hundred years of prosperity, and which were valued at from $150,000,000 to $350,000,000.