The Regent Diamond

One of the most celebrated diamonds in the world is the Regent or Pitt diamond. Its brilliancy and proportions are considered matchless, and it is also of considerable size. It was found in the mine of Parteal, forty-five leagues south of Golconda, and weighed in the rough state 410 carats. Two years and $23,250 were spent in cutting it into a brilliant--a process which reduced it to 137 carats, but the cutting is perfect.

The usual account given of this diamond is, that it was bought at Madras by the grandfather of the first Earl of Chatham, when he was commander of Fort St. George; that he paid $60,000 for it, and that it was bought in 1717 for $648,000 by the Duke of Orleans, when regent of France during the minority of Louis XV.

A very different story, however, is told by Saint-Simon, who professes to speak of his own personal knowledge.

He says that the diamond was stolen by a person employed in the diamond mines, who escaped to Europe with it, and after showing it to several princes, and among the rest the King of England, passed over to Paris and showed it to the somewhat notorious Law. Law proposed to the regent that it should be bought for the king, but the state of the finances was such that the duke hesitated to spend such a large sum in that way. Saint-Simon lent his influence in favour of the purchase, representing that the diamond was peerless in Europe, and would well become the crown of France, and that the purchase of it would shed glory on the regency of the duke. The latter at last consented, and the diamond was bought for $384,000, the seller receiving also the fragments resulting from the cutting, with interest on the price until the whole was paid.

From that time the Regent became identified with the fortunes of France, and a chapter of historic details belongs to its career. It has passed through many revolutions, and it has passed--very literally--through many hands; for in the days that followed the fall of Louis XVI., the Regent, carefully chained and guarded by gendarmes, was exposed to the people of Paris; and any half-starved workman who chose might hold this symbol of royal splendour and epitome of twelve million francs for a few moments in his brown hand.