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Philosophy: Stanhope

In a similar spirit, the true value of jewels, as souvenirs of affection, is shown in the will of the late Earl Stanhope, in which he gives certain diamonds to his daughter-in-law, Evelyn (the present Countess Stanhope), for her life, stating that in so doing, it is in accordance with the wishes of his late wife, as expressed in a memorandum, in which she sets forth that the jewels were part value of the deceased peer's published works, and as such she was very proud of them. After the death of the countess, the diamonds were to be made heir-looms, to pass with the title.

Among the spoils brought from the province called the Golden Castile, by Fernando Cortez, were five emeralds, then valued at one hundred thousand crowns. The first was cut in the shape of a rose, with its leaves; the second in that of a hunting-horn; the third in that of a fish, with golden eyes; the fourth was a bell, the clapper of which was a large pear-shaped pearl; and the fifth, the most precious of all, was a cup on a golden foot, with four small gold chains attached to a large pearl, by which the jewel was hung as an ornament to the person. These jewels probably entailed their owner's loss of court favour. The empress-queen expressed a desire to have them, but the conqueror of Mexico was about to be married to a pretty woman, and preferred to make her a present of them.