A SINISTER DIAMOND.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2107, 25 March 1920, Page 4

A SINISTER DIAMOND.

ILL-STARRED ROYAL JEWEL. FROM SOLOMON TO KAISER. Of wondrous beauty, yet credited 'wkh an evil influence rivalling that of the famous Hope diamond, a remarkable jewel, which was incorporated in the Prussian royal regalia, is declared to have played a sinister part in the downfall of the Kaiser and his ill-starred dynasty. It is a great and brilliant diamond, known as the “Blaze of Glory,’’ and traditionally stated to have been given by King Solomon to the Queen of Sheba. A fascinating account of the long years of evil connected with it is related by an international diamond dealer.* Engraved on one side of it, by the most cunning work, is the sacred sign of King Solomon, and on the reverse, a device' attributed to that of the Queen of Sheba. The story goes that the wise king, carried away by the charm of Sheba’s ruler, plucked the jewel from his turban and gave it to the queen. Tales of the wonderful gem were carried by travellers into Persia, and the greed of the nomadic King El-Hakiip. 11., was soon excited. Ho marched into the land of the unfortunate queen, and robbed, her body, whit'h had been mutilated by his soldiers, of the blood-stained jewel. Two weeks later the Shah was murdered by a subject in his royal palace. And so, from year to year, the diamond wrought its -evil influence on every ruler, potentate, prince, and family, stumer or later, which became associated with it. Possession of the sinister gem spelt ruin, and often bloodshed to the owner, and recent history seems to have continued its fateful tradition of misfortune.

It is from this stage in the history of the jewel that its connection with the ex-Kaiser, Wilhelm, begins. In the Middle Ages, the Margrave (or Marquis) de Brandenburg, whose kingdom was the nucleus around which -sprang up the Prussian dynasty, while ranking one of his accustomed raids into the neighbouring country of Silesia, captured a Jewish merchant, whoso collection of goods contained the ill-starred diamond. The margrave promptly seized the shining gem, and swore to make it adorn the crown of a great kingdom, of widen his f amily was to be j ho head. The .merchant, aware of the curse the diamond carried with il, ventured to warn the margrave, but suffered death, for his 'boldness by the ruler’s orders, on the castle walls, the same night. The treasure was handed down, appttr* cptly without great incident, from king to king, until it came into the hands of the monarch now in exile in Amerongcn.

By this lime the jewel had gained the central position in the crown of the house of i’russm. The later heads of (he dynasty appear to have lost sight of the tradition attached io the gem, which adorned their crown. The keeper of the Prussian ,-jewel-house, the late Herr Graff Zunkelhorn, a learned antiquary, bad, however, kept its fateful history iu mind. He knew Unit to the years between 1919 and 1922 was assigned the climax in the awful record of misfortune and rain marked out by the stone. Hence he implored his royal master to yid himself of the jewel when he was crowned King of Prussia. 'Wilhelm’s reply was; “You must understand that I am crowned by (he spirit of God and the will of my people. The Hohen/.ollerns must endure for ever. No curse of evil can harm our dynasty. So ho was crowned. Tradition hits, however, justified itself.