Page 289 - Early English Adventurers in the Middle East_Neat

THE ARCH INTERLOPER—THOMAS PITT 289

emerged a superb gem which was immediately recognized
as one of the finest stones in the world. Pitt, with charac­
teristic acumen, set himself to the task of disposing of his
precious possession to the fullest advantage. It was not
the kind of article to secure a ready market, and many
anxious days and restless nights were spent by the owner
ere he found for it a purchaser in the person of an Agent
of the Regent of France. The price paid was £135,000,
and enormous as the amount is, it fell far below the actual
value of the stone which in 1791 was calculated at £480,000.
The gem, which after the purchase was placed in the Crown
of France, is still preserved amongst the few Royal jewels
left by the vicissitudes of time in the national treasure-
house in Paris.
In his later years Pitt was a prominent figure in Parlia­
ment. He died on April 28,1726, and was buried at Bland-
ford St. Mary’s. Of all the earlier adventurers who were
conspicuous in the East he was in many respects the most
able. There were in him the qualities which are peculiarly
valuable in a field such as India where in administration
so much depends upon a prompt and yet calm judgment,
resourcefulness and a steadiness of purpose in those who
are in positions of power. If he had lived a century later
he would probably have ranked amongst the great British
rulers of India. Even without the opportunities offered
to his successors, lie left a name which will ever be associ­
ated with the firm building up of British power in Southern
India and the organization of the earliest of the English
settlements.

T