adorned themselves with them, not because of the beauty of the gems, but because they knew and prided themselves in the consciousness that they were raising the abominable feeling of envy in the bosoms of other women, who were perhaps purer in mind and in body than themselves."
We now entered another large room, over the door of which were the words "Beauty defiled by man." Here we saw numerous gems of various sizes placed on small obelisks about three feet high. The Recorder took me up to one of these, and asked me to read a Latin inscription that was written on the sides of the obelisk. It explained the gem's history, and stated that 1,600 men had been murdered for its sake, 2,463 had been maimed, thousands had been imprisoned, flogged and starved. It had engendered envy, hatred, and malice in the bosoms of untold millions; the lies told about it and for its possession were innumerable, and some had even denied and blasphemed God for its sake.
