I'l.UtoNTS AND TKECIOVA STOJJES 
290 
Ule costliness and high estimation of diamonds, 
costliness ana nign csiimauun — . 
put in competition with the substantial coni- 
5®'"'6uiencies of life. Among ornaments and 
tnev 
however, unquestionably occupy, and have 
the highest rank. Even tiishkm, proverbially 
'^3 ujc nij^uijsL iaiixiL. I — ^ 
^he is, has remained steady in this, one ot her 
p Yj^^^chnients, during, probably, three or four thou- 
There must be, therefore, in the natuio of 
>1' 
, .iiicie iiiu.,.. ,.w, , 
adequate reason for this universal consent, 
a ctiriou 
t su . a curious object of enquiiy. 
>f "‘.ty of the diamond, great as it is in som.? respects, 
all ' l'® nothing into the calculation of its price; 
>eiic„ '‘’at portion of its value which constitutes the 
^ . "'^tween the cost of an entire diamond and an 
^CjQ^Sht of diamond powder, must be attributed to 
V j^J^anty of this gem, depending on its unrivalled 
i^ht doubt, the circumstance which origihally 
I'W 'pto . jiotice, and still continues to uphold it 
“t'c estimation; and certainly, notwithstanding 
^ of its bulk, there is not any substance, na- 
f ’dcialj which can sustain any comparison witli it 
r- tlK, ®Pect.^ The vivid and various refractions of the 
^tiful i- tints of the emerald, the singular and 
isSl, wbidf streams from the six-rayed star of the 
k'di ''srious colours, combined with high lustre, 
Q'iful ' ‘‘”guish the ruby, the sapphire, and the topaz, 
V/ lost*! are oil a near inspection, are almost en- 
^"iHg a distant beholder; whereas the diamond, 
Ik, i<iy^ ^ ®®sential colour of its own, imbibes the pure 
C’y, Ihen reflects it, either witli nndiminished in- 
1^ 3n '^hite and too vivid to be sustained for move 
“"St insensible eye, or decomposed 
\v '’ “’to those prismatic colours which paint the. 
\** '' brill', morning and evening clouds, combined 
VSidia ''y which yields, and hardly yields, to tliat of 
to”' Other gems, inserted into rings and 
^ h at* I ‘ wuici gcais, ****©*' 
^ seen by tlie wearer ; anclj if they attract 
|L bystanders, divide their attention, and 
regards wlrich ought to be concentred ou 
* to tlig iii(,t;giy accessary ornaments, i he dia- 
