{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_63969/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_63969","id":"gutenberg_63969","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63969","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Other","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Poetry","Rings"],"text":"THE\n\n                         HISTORY AND POETRY\n\n                                 OF\n\n                            FINGER-RINGS\n\n\n                                 BY\n\n                           CHARLES EDWARDS\n\n                     COUNSELLOR AT LAW, NEW YORK\n\n\n      \u201c----My ring I hold dear as my finger; \u2019tis part of it.\u201d\n\n                                                    SHAKSPEARE\n\n\n                 _WITH A PREFACE BY R. H. STODDARD._\n\n\n                              NEW YORK\n                       JOHN W. LOVELL COMPANY\n               150 WORTH STREET, CORNER MISSION PLACE\n\n\n\n\n     Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, by\n\n                          CHARLES EDWARDS,\n\n  In the Clerk\u2019s Office of the District Court of the United States\n               for the Southern District of New-York.\n\n\n\n\n                              PREFACE.\n\n\nThe history of finger-rings is more abundant than the poetry, which\nis chiefly connected with the ceremonies and observances in which\nthey figure. What this history is Mr. Edwards has indicated in the\ngossipy pages which follow, and which contain a world of curious\ninformation. Interesting in themselves, they are valuable for their\nreferences, which enable the reader to verify the statements of Mr.\nEdwards, and to pursue his line of study farther than he has chosen\nto do. He will find many particulars in regard to rings of all sorts,\namong the different people by whom they have been worn, in ancient\nand modern times, and of the important part they have played in the\nhistory of the world. He will also find many allusions to them in the\npoets, but not so many poems of which they were the inspiration as\nhe might have expected, for the simple reason that such poems do not\nexist.\n\n               \u201cThe small orbit of the wedding-ring,\u201d\n\nas a nameless old poet satirically calls it, has seldom proved large\nenough for genius to revolve in. Mr. Edwards quotes but one marriage\npoem,\n\n                 \u201cThee, Mary, with this ring I wed,\u201d\n\nwhich he fails to trace to its author, the Rev. Samuel Bishop, who\nhas written nothing else that is worth remembering. I am happy to\nrestore it to him, and to quote a second poem, which is rather more\nelegant and less familiar, and which is put down to the credit of\nWilliam Pattison, of whom I know nothing. I take it from Dr. Palmer\u2019s\n\u201cPoetry of Courtship and Compliment\u201d (1868), an admirable collection\nof amorous verse.\n\n\n                            TO HER RING.\n\n      Blest ornament! how happy is thy snare,\n      To bind the snowy finger of my fair!\n      O, could I learn thy nice concise art,\n      Now, as thou bind\u2019st her fingers, bind her heart.\n\n      Not Eastern diadems like thee can shine,\n      Fed from her brighter eyes with beams divine;\n      Nor can their mightiest monarch\u2019s power command\n      So large an empire as my charmer\u2019s hand.\n\n      O, could thy form thy fond admirer wear,\n      Thy very likeness should in all appear;\n      My endless love thy endless love should show,\n      And my heart flaming, for thy diamond glow.\n\n                                                             R. H. S.\n\n\n\n\n                              CONTENTS.\n\n\n                            CHAPTER ONE.\n\n  1. Interest and Importance attaching to Rings; Shakspeare\u2019s Ring;\n  Earl Godwin. 2. Words _symbolum_ and _ungulus_. 3. Ring-money. 4.\n  Rings in Mythology; Theseus; Prometheus, Inventor of the First\n  Ring. 5. Seals from the Scarab\u00e6us. 6. Rings in Greek Urns. 7. Judah\n  and Tamar; Alexander. 8. Ring a Symbol of Fidelity, Eternity and of\n  the Deity. 9. Roman Rings. 10. Rings in German Caverns. 11. Rings\n  of the Gauls and Britons. 12. Anglo-Saxon Workers in Metal. 13.\n  Ladies\u2019 Seal-rings. 14. Substance, Forms and Size of Rings; Number,\n  and on what fingers worn; Pearls; Carbuncle; Death\u2019s-head Rings.\n  15. Law of Rings. 16. Order of the Ring. 17. Rings found in all\n  places. 18. Persian Signets. 19. Value of ancient Rings. 20. Love\u2019s\n  Telegraph, and Name-rings; Polish Birth-day Gifts. 21. Rings in\n  Heraldry. 22. Rings in Fish. 23. Riddle. 24. Ring misapplied. 25.\n  Horace Walpole\u2019s Poesy on a Ring.                                    9\n\n\n                            CHAPTER TWO.\n\n                     RINGS CONNECTED WITH POWER.\n\n  1. The Ring an Emblem of Power; Pharaoh; Quintus Curtius; Antiochus\n  Epiphanes; Augustus; King of Persia; Egypt under the Ptolemies;\n  Roman Senators; the Forefinger. 2. Rings used in Coronations;\n  Edward the Second; Mother of Henry VIII.; Queen Elizabeth; Charles\n  II.; Coronation Rings; Canute; Sebert; Henry II.; Childeric;\n  Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror. 3. King withdrawing a\n  Proceeding from the Council by the use of a Ring. 4. The Doge of\n  Venice marrying the Adriatic. 5. The Ring of Office of the Doge. 6.\n  _The Fisherman\u2019s Ring._ 7. Papal Ring of Pius II. 8. Investiture\n  of Archbishops and Bishops by delivery of a Ring; Cardinal\u2019s Ring;\n  Extension of the two Forefingers and Thumb. 9. Serjeant\u2019s Ring. 10.\n  Arabian Princesses. 11. Roman Knights. 12. Alderman\u2019s Thumb Ring.   65\n\n\n                           CHAPTER THREE.\n\n     RINGS HAVING SUPPOSED CHARMS OR VIRTUES, AND CONNECTED WITH\n    DEGRADATION AND SLAVERY, OR USED FOR SAD OR WICKED PURPOSES.\n\n  1. Antiquity of Amulets and Enchanted and Magical Rings;\n  Samothracian Rings; Double Object in Amulets; Substance and Form\n  of them. 2. Precious Stones and their Healing or Protective\n  Powers: Jasper; Diamond; Ruby; Carbuncle; Jacinth; Amethyst;\n  Emerald; Topaz; Agate; Sapphire; Opal; Cornelian; Chalcedony;\n  Turquoise; Coral; Loadstone; Sweating Stones. 3. Enchanted Rings;\n  those possessed by Execustus; Solomon\u2019s Ring; Ballads of Lambert\n  Linkin and Hynd Horn. 4. Talismanic Ring; Elizabeth of Poland;\n  Ring against Poison offered to Mary of Scotland; Rings from the\n  Palace at Eltham and from Coventry; Sir Edmund Shaw; Shell Ring.\n  5. Medicinal Rings. 6. Magical Rings; Ariosto; Ring of Gyges; Sir\n  Tristram; Cramp Rings; Rings to cure Convulsions, Warts, Wounds,\n  Fits, Falling Sickness, etc.; Galvanic Rings; Headache and Plague\n  Rings; Amulet against Storms. 7. Ordeal. 8. Punishment in time of\n  Alfred. 9. Founding of Aix-la-Chapelle. 10. Ring on a Statue. 11.\n  Bloody Baker. 12. The Borgia Ring. 13. Rings held in the Mouth. 14.\n  Rings used by Thieves, Gamblers and Cheats. 15. Roman Slave.        93\n\n\n                            CHAPTER FOUR.\n\n       RINGS COUPLED WITH REMARKABLE HISTORICAL CHARACTERS OR\n                           CIRCUMSTANCES.\n\n  1. Ring of Suphis; Pharaoh\u2019s Ring given to Joseph. 2. Rings of\n  Hannibal; Mithridates; Pompey; C\u00e6sar; Augustus and Nero. 3. Cameo.\n  4. Ethelwoulf; Madoc; Edward the Confessor; King John; Lord L\u2019Isle;\n  Richard Bertie and his Son Lord Willoughby; Great Earl of Cork;\n  Shakspeare\u2019s Signet-Ring; The Ring Queen Elizabeth gave to Essex;\n  Ring of Mary of Scotland and one sent by her to Elizabeth; Darnley;\n  The Blue Ring; Duke of Dorset\u2019s Ring in the Isle of Wight supposed\n  to have belonged to Charles the First, and Memorial Rings of this\n  Monarch; Earl of Derby; Charles the Second; Jeffrey\u2019s Blood-Stone;\n  The great Dundee; Nelson; Scotch Coronation Ring; The Admirable\n  Crichton; Sir Isaac Newton; Kean; Wedding Ring of Byron\u2019s Mother.\n  5. Matrons of Warsaw. 6. The Prussian Maiden.                      148\n\n\n                            CHAPTER FIVE.\n\n              RINGS OF LOVE, AFFECTION AND FRIENDSHIP.\n\n  1. The Gimmal or Gimmow Ring. 2. Sonnet by Davison. 3. Church\n  Marriage ordained by Innocent III.; and, Marriage-Ring. 4. Rings\n  used in different countries in Marriages and on Betrothment:\n  Esthonia; the Copts; Persia; Spain; Ackmetchet in Russia. 5.\n  Betrothal Rings. 6. Signets of the first Christians. 7. Laws of\n  Marriage. 8. Wedding Finger; Artery to the Heart; Lady who had lost\n  the Ring Finger. 9. Roman Catholic Marriages. 10. Marriage-Ring\n  during the Commonwealth. 11. Ring in Jewish Marriages. 12.\n  Superstitions. 13. Rings of twisted Gold-wire given away at\n  Weddings. 14. Cupid and Psyche. 15. St. Anne and St. Joachim.\n  16. Rush Rings. 17. Rings with the Orpine Plant. 18. Ancient\n  Marriage-Rings had Mottoes and Seals. 19. The Sessa Ring. 20. Rings\n  bequeathed or kept in Memory of the Dead: Washington; Shakspeare;\n  Pope; Dr. Johnson; Lord Eldon; Tom Moore\u2019s Mother. 21. The Ship\n  _Powhattan_. 22. Ring of Affection illustrated by a Pelican and\n  Young. 23. Bran of Brittany. 24. Rings used by Writers of Fiction;\n  Shakspeare\u2019s Cymbeline. 25. Small Rings for the _Penates_; Lines\n  to a Wife with the gift of a Ring. 26. Story from the \u201cGesta\n  Romanorum.\u201d                                                        192\n\n\n\n\n                         HISTORY AND POETRY\n\n                                 OF\n\n                            FINGER-RINGS.\n\n\n\n\n                            CHAPTER ONE.\n\n  1. Interest and Importance attaching to Rings; Shakspeare\u2019s Ring;\n  Earl Godwin. 2. Words _symbolum_ and _ungulus_. 3. Ring-money. 4.\n  Rings in Mythology; Theseus; Prometheus Inventor of the First Ring.\n  5. Seals from the Scarab\u00e6us. 6. Rings in Greek Urns. 7. Judah and\n  Tamar; Alexander. 8. Ring a Symbol of Fidelity, Eternity, and of\n  the Deity. 9. Roman Rings. 10. Rings in German Caverns. 11. Rings\n  of the Gauls and Britons. 12. Anglo-Saxon Workers in Metal. 13.\n  Ladies\u2019 Seal-rings. 14. Substance, Forms and Size of Rings; Number,\n  and on what fingers worn; Pearls; Carbuncle; Death\u2019s-head Rings.\n  15. Law of Rings. 16. Order of the Ring. 17. Rings found in all\n  places. 18. Persian Signets. 19. Value of ancient Rings. 20. Love\u2019s\n  Telegraph, and Name-rings; Polish Birth-day Gifts. 21. Rings in\n  Heraldry. 22. Rings in Fish. 23. Riddle. 24. Ring misapplied. 25.\n  Horace Walpole\u2019s Poesy on a Ring.\n\n\n\u00a7 1. A CIRCLE, known as a finger-ring, has been an object of ornament\nand of use for thousands of years. Indeed, the time when it was first\nfashioned and worn is so far in the past that it alone shines there;\nall around is ashes or darkness.\n\nThis little perfect figure may seem to be a trifling matter on which\nto found an essay; and yet we shall find it connected with history\nand poetry. It is, indeed, a small link, although it has bound\ntogether millions for better for worse, for richer for poorer, more\nsecurely than could the shackle wrought for a felon. An impression\nfrom it may have saved or lost a kingdom. It is made the symbol of\npower; and has been a mark of slavery. Love has placed it where a\nvein was supposed to vibrate in the heart. Affection and friendship\nhave wrought it into a remembrance; and it has passed into the grave\nupon the finger of the beloved one.\n\nAnd, though the ring itself may be stranger to us, and might never\nhave belonged to ancestor, friend or companion, yet there can be even\na general interest about such a slight article. For instance, a few\nyears ago a ring was found which had belonged to Shakspeare, and must\nhave been a gift: for the true-lover\u2019s knot is there. Who would not\ndesire to possess, who would not like even to see the relic? There\nis reason to suppose that this ring was the gift of Anne Hathaway,\nshe \u201cwho had as much virtue as could die.\u201d And we must be allowed to\nindulge in the idea that it was pressing Shakspeare\u2019s finger when\nthose lines were inscribed \u201c_To the idol of mine eyes and the delight\nof my heart, Anne Hathaway_:\u201d\n\n     \u201cTalk not of gems, the orient list,\n      The diamond, topaz, amethyst,\n      The emerald mild, the ruby gay:\n      Talk of my gem, Anne Hathaway!\n      She _hath a way_, with her bright eye,\n      Their various lustre to defy,\n      The jewel she, and the foil they,\n      So sweet to look Anne _hath a way_.\n            She _hath a way_,\n            Anne Hathaway,\n      To shame bright gems Anne _hath a way_!\u201d[1]\n\nWe shall find many interesting stories connected with rings. By way\nof illustration, here is one:\n\nIn a battle between Edmund the Anglo-Saxon and Canute the Dane, the\narmy of the latter was defeated and fled; and one of its principal\ncaptains, Ulf, lost his way in the woods. After wandering all night,\nhe met, at daybreak, a young peasant driving a herd of oxen, whom he\nsaluted and asked his name. \u201cI am Godwin, the son of Ulfnoth,\u201d said\nthe young peasant, \u201cand thou art a Dane.\u201d Thus obliged to confess\nwho he was, Ulf begged the young Saxon to show him his way to the\nSevern, where the Danish ships were at anchor. \u201cIt is foolish in a\nDane,\u201d replied the peasant, \u201cto expect such a service from a Saxon;\nand, besides, the way is long, and the country people are all in\narms.\u201d The Danish chief drew off a gold ring from his finger and\ngave it to the shepherd as an inducement to be his guide. The young\nSaxon looked at it for an instant with great earnestness, and then\nreturned it, saying, \u201cI will take nothing from thee, but I will try\nto conduct thee.\u201d Leading him to his father\u2019s cottage, he concealed\nhim there during the day; and when night came on, they prepared to\ndepart together. As they were going, the old peasant said to Ulf,\n\u201cThis is my only son Godwin, who risks his life for thee. He cannot\nreturn among his countrymen again; take him, therefore, and present\nhim to thy king, Canute, that he may enter into his service.\u201d The\nDane promised, and kept his word. The young Saxon peasant was well\nreceived in the Danish camp; and rising from step to step by the\nforce of his talents, he afterwards became known over all England as\nthe great Earl Godwin. He might have been monarch; while his sweet\nand beautiful daughter Edith or Ethelswith did marry King Edward.\n\u201cGodwin,\u201d the people said in their songs, contrasting the firmness\nof the father with the sweetness of the daughter, \u201cis the parent of\nEdith, as the thorn is of the rose.\u201d[2]\n\n\n\u00a7 2. The word _symbolum_, for a long time, meant a ring; and was\nsubstituted for the ancient Oscan word _ungulus_.\n\n\n\u00a7 3. In examining ancient rings, care must be taken not to confound\nthem with coins made in the shape of rings.[3] The fresco paintings\nin the tombs of Egypt exhibit people bringing, as tribute, to the\nfoot of the throne of Pharaoh, bags of gold and silver rings, at\na period before the exodus of the Israelites. Great quantities\nof ring-money have been found in different countries, including\nIreland.[4]\n\n[Illustration: Egyptian Ring-money.]\n\n[Illustration: Celtic Ring-money.]\n\nThe ancient Britons had them. That these rings were used for money,\nis confirmed by the fact that, on being weighed, by far the greater\nnumber of them appear to be exact multiples of a certain standard\nunit. Layard mentions[5] that Dr. Lepsius has recently published a\nbas relief, from an Egyptian tomb, representing a man weighing rings\nof gold and silver, with weights in the form of a bull\u2019s head; and\nLayard also gives a seeming outline of the subject, (although its\ndescription speaks of \u201cweights in the form of a seated lion.\u201d) It\nis presumed that these rings are intended for ring-money; the fact\nof weighing them strengthens this idea; and see Wilkinson\u2019s Popular\nAccount of the Ancient Egyptians, (revised,) ii. 148-9.\n\n\n\u00a7 4. We not only find rings in the most ancient times, but we also\ntrace them in mythology.\n\nFish, in antediluvian period, were intelligent, had fine musical\nperception and were even affectionate. Thus, in relation to Theseus,\nthe Athenian prince: Minos happened to load Theseus with reproaches,\nespecially on account of his birth; and told him, that, if he were\nthe son of Neptune, he would have no difficulty in going to the\nbottom of the sea; and then threw a ring in to banter him. The\nAthenian prince plunged in, and might have been food for fishes, had\nthey not, in the shape of dolphins, taken him upon their backs, as\nthey had done Arion, and conveyed him to the palace of Amphitrite.[6]\nIt is not said whether she, as Neptune\u2019s wife, had a right to the\n_jetsam_, _flotsam_, and _lagan_, to the sweepings or stray jewelry\nof the ocean; but she was able to hand Theseus the ring, and also to\ngive him a crown, which he presented to the ill-used lady Ariadne,\nand it was afterwards placed among the stars.\n\nAnd, coupled with mythology, we have, according to the ancients, the\norigin of the ring. Jupiter, from revenge, caused Strength, Force and\nVulcan to chain his cousin-german Prometheus to the frosty Caucasus,\nwhere a vulture, all the livelong day, banqueted his fill on the\nblack viands of his hot liver. The god had sworn to keep Prometheus\nthere (according to Hesiod[7]) eternally; but other authors give only\nthirty thousand years as the limit. He who had punished did, for\nreasons, forgive; but as Jupiter had sworn to keep Prometheus bound\nfor the space of time mentioned, he, in order not to violate his\noath, commanded that Prometheus should always wear upon his finger\nan iron ring, to or in which should be fastened a small fragment\nof Caucasus, so that it might be true, in a certain sense, that\nPrometheus still continued bound to that rock. Thus, as we have said,\ncame the idea of the first ring, and, we may add, the insertion of a\nstone.[8]\n\nWhile some writers, under this story, connect Prometheus with the\nfirst ring, Pliny still says that the inventor of it is not known,\nand observes that it was used by the Babylonians, Chaldeans, Persians\nand Greeks, although, as he thinks, the latter were unacquainted with\nit at the time of the Trojan war, as Homer does not mention it.[9]\n\nIt has however been said that Dschemid, who made known the solar\nyear, introduced the use of the ring.[10]\n\nTouching Pliny\u2019s notion of the antiquity of rings, there is, in\nSouthey\u2019s \u201cCommonplace Book,\u201d (second series,[11]) the following\nquotation from \u201cTreasurie of Auncient and Moderne Times,\u201d (1619:)\n\u201cBut the good olde man Plinie cannot overreach us with his idle\narguments and conjectures, for we read in Genesis that Joseph, who\nlived above five hundred yeares before the warres of Troy, having\nexpounded the dreame of Pharaoh, king of \u00c6gypt, was, by the sayde\nprince, made superintendent over his kingdom, and for his safer\npossession in that estate, he took off his ring from his hand and\nput it upon Joseph\u2019s hand.\u201d ... \u201cIn Moses\u2019s time, which was more\nthan foure hundred yeares before Troy warres, wee find rings to\nbe then in use; for we reade that they were comprehended in the\nornaments which Aaron the high priest should weare, and they of his\nposteritie afterward, as also it was avouched by Josephus. Whereby\nappeareth plainly, that the use of rings was much more ancient than\nPlinie reporteth them in his conjectures: but as he was a Pagan, and\nignorant in sacred writings, so it is no marvell if these things went\nbeyond his knowledge.\u201d\n\nIt is pretended that seal-rings were an invention of the\nLacedemonians, who, not content with locking their coffers, added a\nseal; for which purpose they made use of worm-eaten wood, with which\nthey impressed wax or soft wood; and after this they learned to\nengrave seals.[12]\n\n\n\u00a7 5. Cylinders, squares and pyramids were forms used for seals prior\nto the adoption of ring-seals.[13] These settled with the Greeks\ninto the scarab\u00e6us or beetle, that is to say, a stone something like\nthe half of a walnut, with its convexity wrought into the form of a\nbeetle, while the flat under surface contained the inscription for\nthe seal. The Greeks retained this derivable form until they thought\nof dispensing with the body of the beetle, only preserving for the\ninscription the flat oval which the base presented, and which they\nultimately set in rings. This shows how ring-seals came into form.\nMany of the Egyptian and other ring-seals are on swivel, and we are\nof opinion that the idea of this convenient form originated with the\nperforated cylindrical and other seals, which were, with a string\npassed through them, worn around the neck or from the wrist.[14]\n\nThe sculpture of signets was, probably, the first use of gem\nengraving, and this was derived from the common source of all the\narts, India.[15] Signets of lapis lazuli and emerald have been\nfound with Sanscrit inscriptions, presumed to be of an antiquity\nbeyond all record. The natural transmission of the arts was from\nIndia to Egypt, and our collections abound with intaglio and cameo\nhieroglyphics, figures of Isis, Osiris, the lotus, the crocodile, and\nthe whole symbolic Egyptian mythology wrought upon jaspers, emeralds,\nbasalts, bloodstones, turquoises; etc. Mechanical skill attained\na great excellence at an early period. The stones of the Jewish\nhigh-priests\u2019 breast-plate were engraved with the names of the twelve\ntribes, and of those stones one was a diamond(?). The Greek gems\ngenerally exhibit the figure nude; the Romans, draped. The Greeks\nwere chiefly intaglios.\n\nIt is generally understood that the ancients greatly excelled the\nmoderns in gem engraving, and that the art has never been carried to\nthe highest perfection in modern times. Mr. Henry Weigall, however,\nstates that \u201cthis supposition is erroneous, and has probably arisen\nfrom the fact of travellers supposing that the collections of gems\nand impressions that they have made in Italy are exclusively the\nworks of Italian artists; such, however, is not the case, and I have\nmyself had the satisfaction of pointing out to many such collectors,\nthat the most admired specimens in their collections were the works\nof English artists.\u201d[16]\n\n\n\u00a7 6. Rings have been discovered in the cinerary urns of the Greeks.\nThese could hardly have got there through the fire which consumed\nthe body, for vessels still containing aromatic liquids have also\nbeen discovered in the urns. It is very possible they were tokens of\naffection deposited by relations and friends. Such remembrances (as\nwe shall see) are found in the graves of early Roman Christians.\n\nThe idea that rings in Roman urns were secretly and piously placed\nthere, is strengthened by the fact that it was contrary to the laws\nof Rome to bury gold with the dead.[17] There was one exception to\nthis rule, which appears odd enough to readers of the nineteenth\ncentury, namely, a clause which permitted the burial of such gold as\nfastened false teeth in the mouth of the deceased, thus sparing the\nchildren and friends of the dead the painful task of pulling from\ntheir heads the artificial teeth which they had been accustomed to\nwear. It seems strange to find that these expedients of vanity or\nconvenience were practised in Rome nearly two thousand years ago.\n\nMaffei[18] gives a description and enlarged illustration of a gold\nring bearing a cornelian, whereon is cut the story of Bellerophon\nupon his winged horse, about to attack the _chimera_; and also a\nsmall but exquisite urn of porphyry, which contained funeral ashes\nand this ring. These were found in the garden of Pallas, freed man of\nClaudius; and Maffei reasonably makes out that the ring had belonged\nto him. Bellerophon is said to have been a native of Corinth, and\nPallas was from that city. Nero became emperor mainly through Pallas,\nand yet he sacrificed the latter to be master of his great riches.\nThese relics thus possess much interest. Although a freed man, merely\nas such, had no right to wear a gold ring, yet Pallas gained the\noffice of Pr\u00e6tor, and so was entitled to one. (In Plutarch\u2019s Galba,\nthe freed man of the latter was honored with the privilege of wearing\nthe gold ring for bringing news of the revolt against Nero.)\n\n[Illustration: (Signet Bracelet)]\n\n\n\u00a7 7. In the unpleasant story of Judah and Tamar, we see that the\nformer left in pledge with the latter his signet.[19] This, most\nlikely, was in the shape of a ring, although such signets were often\nworn from the wrist: for, in this case, he also pledged his bracelets.\n\nIn the Scriptures, the signet ring is frequently named; and Quintus\nCurtius tells us that Alexander wore one. After his fatal debauch,\nand finding himself past recovery, and his voice beginning to fail,\nhe gave his ring to his general, Perdiccas, with orders to convey his\ncorpse to the temple of Ammon. Being asked to whom he would leave\nhis empire, he answered, \u201cTo the most worthy.\u201d[20]\n\n\n\u00a7 8. The ring was generally the emblem of fidelity in civil\nengagements; and hence, no doubt, its ancient use in many functions\nand distinctions.[21] A ring denoted eternity among the Hindoos,\nPersians and Egyptians; and Brahma, as the creator of the world,\nbears a ring in his hand. The Egyptian priests in the temple of the\ncreative Phtha (Vulcan of the Greeks) represented the year under the\nform of a ring, made of a serpent having its tail in its mouth--a\nvery common shape of ancient rings. Although Jupiter is often figured\nwith attributes of mighty power, yet he is seldom coupled with a mark\nof eternity. There is, however, a gem (an aqua-marine, engraved in\nhollow) of this deity holding a ring as the emblem of eternity.[22]\n\n[Illustration: (Jupiter Holding Ring)]\n\nPythagoras forbade the use of the figures of gods upon rings, lest,\nfrom seeing their images too frequently, it should breed a contempt\nfor them.[23]\n\nIt has been attempted to connect with a ring the consecration\nof a circle, as emblematical of the Deity. Over the door of a\nNorman church at Beckford, in Gloucestershire, England, is a rude\nbas-relief, representing the holy cross between the four beasts,\nused as symbols of the Evangelists. The \u201chuman form divine\u201d appears\nto have been beyond the sculptor\u2019s power; he has made _a ring_. The\nothers are an eagle, lion, and bull.[24]\n\n\n\u00a7 9. The Romans distinguished their rings by names taken from their\nuse, as we do.[25] The excessive luxury shown in the number worn,\nand the value of gems and costly engraved stones in them, and the\ncustom of wearing lighter rings in summer and heavier in winter, are\namong the most absurd instances of Roman effeminacy, (as we shall\nhereafter more particularly show.)[26] The case in which they kept\ntheir rings was called _Dactylotheca_. No ornament was more generally\nworn among the Romans than rings. This custom appears to have been\nborrowed from the Sabines.[27] They laid them aside at night, as well\nas when they bathed or were in mourning, as did suppliants. However,\nin times of sorrow, they rather changed than entirely put them aside;\nthey then used iron ones, taking off the gold rings.[28] It was a\nproof of the greatest poverty, when any one was obliged to pledge his\nring to live. Rings were given by those who agreed to club for an\nentertainment. They were usually pulled off from the fingers of dying\npersons; but they seem to have been sometimes put on again before the\ndead body was buried.\n\nThere is no sign of the ring upon Roman statues before those of Numa\nand Servius Tullius. The rings were worn to be taken off or put on\naccording to festivals, upon the statues of deities and heroes, and\nupon some of the emperors, with the _Lituus_ ensculped, to show that\nthey were sovereign pontiffs.\n\nThis _lituus_ is a crooked staff; and the Roman priests are\nrepresented with it in their hands. They, as augurs, used it in\nsquaring the heavens when observing the flight of birds. It is traced\nto the time of Romulus, who being skilled in divination, bore the\nlituus; and it was called _lituus quirinalis_, from Quirinus, a\nname of Romulus. It was kept in the Capitol, but lost when Rome was\ntaken by the Gauls; afterwards, when the barbarians had quitted it,\nthe lituus was found buried deep in ashes, untouched by the fire,\nwhilst every thing about it was destroyed and consumed.[29] Emperors\nappropriated to themselves the dignities of the office of high\npriest,[30] and hence this priestly symbol upon their medals, coins\nand signets. Although it is a common notion that the pastoral staff\nof the Church of Rome is taken from the shepherd\u2019s crook, it may be a\nquestion whether it did not take its rise from the _lituus_?\n\nBrave times those Roman times for lawyers--or patrons, as they were\ncalled. Their clients were bound to give them the title of _Rex_;\nescort them to the Forum and the Campus Martius; and not only to make\nordinary presents to them and their children or household, but, on a\nbirth-day, they received from them the birth-day ring. It was worn\nonly on that day.[31]\n\nThere were rings worn by flute-players, very brilliant and adorned\nwith a gem.\n\nIn the Sierra Elvira, in Spain, more than two hundred tombs and an\naqueduct were discovered. Several skeletons bore the rings of Roman\nknights; and some of them had in their mouths the piece of money\ndestined to pay the ferryman Charon.[32] These skeletons crumbled\ninto dust as soon as they were touched. What a perfect subject for a\npoem by Longfellow!\n\nRoman stamps or large seals or brands have been found of quaint\nshapes. Some of them are in the form of feet or shoes. Drawings of\nthem appear in Montfaucon. They were fashioned to mark casks and\nother bulky articles. Caylus gives an illustration of a ring in the\nform of a pair of shoes, or rather, the soles of shoes.[33]\n\n[Illustration: (Roman Shoe Ring)]\n\nPliny observes that rings became so common at Rome, they were given\nto all the divinities; and even to those of the people who had never\nworn any. Their divinities were adorned with iron rings--movable\nrings, which could be taken off or put on according to festivals and\ncircumstances.\n\n\n\u00a7 10. At Erpfingen in Germany, remarkable stalactical caverns have\nbeen discovered. Every where, and especially in the lateral caves,\nhuman bones of extraordinary size, with bones and teeth of animals,\nnow unknown, have been discovered, and there, with pottery, rings\nwere found.\n\n\n\u00a7 11. Rings were in use among the Gauls and Britons, but seemingly\nfor ornament only. They are often found in British barrows.\nAnglo-Saxon rings were common.[34] William de Belmeis gave certain\nlands to St. Paul\u2019s Cathedral, and at the same time directed that his\ngold ring set with a ruby should, together with the seal, be affixed\nto the charter for ever. The same thing was done by Osbart de Camera,\nhe granting to St. Paul\u2019s, in pure alms and for the health of his\nsoul, certain lands; giving possession by his gold ring, wherein a\nruby was set; and appointing that the same gold ring with his seal\nshould for ever be affixed to the charter whereby he disposed of\nthem.[35]\n\nAnglo-Saxon kings gave rings to their wittenagemot and courtiers, and\nthey to their descendants.\n\n\n\u00a7 12. In metals the Anglo-Saxons worked with great skill. We read\nof the gold cup in which Rowena drank to Vortigern. So early,\nperhaps, as the seventh century, the English jewellers and goldsmiths\nwere eminent in their professions; and great quantities of other\ntrinkets were constantly exported to the European Continent. Smiths\nand armorers were highly esteemed, and even the clergy thought it\nno disgrace to handle tools.[36] St. Dunstan, in particular, was\ncelebrated as the best blacksmith, brazier, goldsmith and engraver of\nhis time. This accounts for the cleverness with which he laid hold of\nthe gentleman in black:\n\n     \u201cSt. Dunstan stood in his ivy\u2019d tower,\n      Alembic, crucible, all were there;\n      When in came Nick to play him a trick,\n      In guise of a damsel, passing fair.\n                Every one knows\n                How the story goes:\n      He took up the tongs and caught hold of his nose.\u201d[37]\n\n\n\u00a7 13. Ladies used seal-rings in the sixth century; but women of rank\nhad no large seals till towards the beginning of the twelfth.[38]\n\n\n\u00a7 14. There is scarcely a hard substance of which rings have not been\ncomposed. All the metals have been brought into requisition. First,\niron; then, as in Rome, it was mingled with gold.\n\nConquerors wore iron rings until Caius Marius changed the fashion. He\nhad one when he triumphed over King Jugurtha.[39] And while stones\nhave lent their aid as garniture for metal, these too have made the\nwhole hoop.\n\nWe find rings of two stones; such were those which the Emperor\nValerianus gave to Claudius.\n\nNear to the Pyramids, cornelian rings have been discovered. Rings of\nglass and other vitreous material have been found. Emerald rings were\ndiscovered at Pompeii, also glass used instead of gems. Some made\nentirely of one stone, as of amber, have been obtained.[40]\n\nWith the Egyptians, bronze was seldom used in rings, though\nfrequently in signets. They were mostly of gold and this metal seems\nto have been always preferred to silver.\n\nIvory and blue porcelain were the materials of which those worn by\nthe lower classes were made.[41]\n\nAn ancient ring of jet has been dug up in England.\n\nThere were some rings of a single metal, and others of a mixture\nof two;[42] for the iron, bronze and silver were frequently gilt,\nor, at least, the gold part was fixed with the iron, as appears\nfrom Artemidorus.[43] The Romans were contented with iron rings a\nlong time; and Pliny assures us that Marius first wore a gold one\nin his third consulate. Sometimes the ring was iron, and the seal\ngold; sometimes the stone was engraven, and sometimes plain; and the\nengraving, at times, was _raised_, and also _sunk_. (The last were\ncalled _gemm\u00e6 ectyp\u00e6_, the former _gemm\u00e6 sculptur\u00e2 prominente_.)\n\nAn incident, mentioned by Plutarch, shows how distinctive was a gold\nring.[44] When Cinna and Caius Marius were slaughtering the citizens\nof Rome, the slaves of Cornutus hid their master in the house and\ntook a dead body out of the street from among the slain and hanged it\nby the neck, then they put a gold ring upon the finger, and showed\nthe corse in that condition to Marius\u2019s executioners; after which\nthey dressed it for the funeral, and buried it as their master\u2019s body.\n\nThe rings of the classical ancients were rather incrusted than set in\ngold in our slight manner.[45]\n\nThe first mention of a Roman gold ring is in the year 432 U. C.;\nbut they, at last, were indiscriminately worn by the Romans. Three\nbushels were gathered out of the spoils after Hannibal\u2019s victory at\nCann\u00e6.[46]\n\n\u201cLovely soft pearls, the fanciful images of sad tears,\u201d have been\nused in rings from the time of the Latins. Cleopatra\u2019s drinking\noff the residuum of a pearl, worth three hundred and seventy-five\nthousand dollars, aside from luxurious extravagance, seems to be\nsomewhat nasty; but we are inclined to believe that this fond queen\nhad faith in its supposed medicinal and talismanic properties:\n\n                    \u201c---- Now I feed myself\n      With most delicious passion.\u201d\n\nPliny, the Roman naturalist, gravely tells us that the oyster which\nproduces pearls, does so from feeding on heavenly dew. Drummond thus\ntranslates him:\n\n     \u201cWith open shells in seas, on heavenly dew,\n        A shining oyster lusciously doth feed;\n        And then the birth of that ethereal seed\n      Shows, when conceived, if skies look dark or blue.\u201d[47]\n\nEarly English writers entertained the same notion; and Boethius,\nspeaking of the pearl-mussel of the Scotch rivers, remarks, that\n\u201cThese mussels, early in the morning, when the sky is clear and\ntemperate, open their mouths a little above the water and most\ngreedily swallow the dew of heaven; and after the measure and\nquantity of the dew which they swallow, they conceive and breed the\npearl. These mussels,\u201d he continues, \u201care so exceedingly quick of\ntouch and hearing, that, however faint the noise that may be made on\nthe bank beside them, or however small the stone that may be thrown\ninto the water, they sink at once to the bottom, knowing well in what\nestimation the fruit of their womb is to all people.\u201d In the East,\nthe belief is equally common that these precious gems are\n\n                    \u201c---- rain from the sky,\n      Which turns into pearls as it falls in the sea.\u201d\n\nThe ancient idea that pearls are generated of the dews of heaven, is\npretty conclusively met by Cardanus,[48] who says it is fabulous,\nseeing that the shell fishes, in which they are conceived, have their\nresidence in the very bottom of the depth of the sea.\n\nThe charlatan Leoni de Spoleto prescribed the drink of dissolved\npearls for Lorenzo the Magnificent, when he was attacked by fever\naggravated by hereditary gout.[49]\n\nThere was supposed to be a gem called a carbuncle, which emitted,\nnot reflected, but native light.[50] Our old literature abounds with\nallusions to this miraculous gem. Shakspeare has made use of it in\n_Titus Andronicus_, where Martius goes down into a pit, and, by\nit, discovers the body of Lord Bassianus; and calls up to Quintus\nthus:[51]\n\n     \u201cLord Bassianus lies embrewed here,\n      All on a heap, like to a slaughter\u2019d lamb,\n      In this detested, dark, blood-drinking pit.\n        _Quintus._ If it be dark, how dost thou know \u2019tis he?\n        _Martius._ Upon his bloody finger he doth wear\n      A precious ring, that lightens all the hole,\n      Which, like a taper in some monument,\n      Doth shine upon the dead man\u2019s earthy cheek,\n      And show the ragged entrails of this pit:\n      So pale did shine the moon on Pyramus,\n      When he by night lay bathed in maiden\u2019s blood.\u201d\n\nLudovicus Vartomannus, a Roman, reporteth that the king of Pege\n(or Pegu), a city in India, had a carbuncle (ruby) of so great a\nmagnitude and splendor, that by the clear light of it he might,\nin a dark place, be seen, even as if the room or place had been\nillustrated by the sunbeams. St. or Bishop Epiphanius saith of this\ngem, that if it be worn, whatever garments it be covered withal, it\ncannot be hid.[52]\n\nIt was from a property of resembling a burning coal when held against\nthe sun that this stone obtained the name _carbunculus_; which being\nafterwards misunderstood, there grew an opinion of its having the\nqualities of a burning coal and shining in the dark. And as no gem\never was or ever will be found endued with that quality, it was\nsupposed that the true carbuncle of the ancients was lost; but it was\nlong generally believed that there had been such a stone. The species\nof carbuncle of the ancients which possessed this quality in the\ngreatest degree was the Garamantine or Carthaginian; and this is the\ntrue garnet of the moderns.[53]\n\nRings, with a death\u2019s head upon them, were worn by improper\ncharacters in the time of Elizabeth of England. This kind of ring is\nreferred to in Beaumont and Fletcher:\n\n                  \u201c---- I\u2019ll keep it,\n      As they keep death\u2019s head in rings:\n      To cry _memento_ to me.\u201d[54]\n\nAlthough we meet with nothing to show the motive for wearing such\nrings by the characters referred to, we are inclined to fancy the\ndesire was to carry the semblance of a widow and to let the ring have\nthe character of a mourning token. Lord Onslow, who lived in the time\nof Elizabeth, bequeathed \u201ca ring of gold with a death\u2019s head\u201d to\nfriends.[55]\n\nSir Isaac Newton was possessed of a small magnet set in a ring, the\nweight of which was only three grains, but which supported, by its\nattractive power on iron, seven hundred grains. It has been observed\nthat such instances are by no means common, although the smallest\nmagnets appear to have the greatest proportionate power.[56]\n\nOur own sailors, in the quiet weather of a voyage, will, with the aid\nof a marlinspike, make exceedingly neat rings out of Spanish silver\nor a copper coin.\n\nSome of the Egyptian signets were of extraordinary size. Sir Gardiner\nWilkinson mentions an ancient Egyptian one which contained about\ntwenty pounds worth of gold. It consisted of a massive ring, half an\ninch in its largest diameter, bearing an oblong plinth, upon which\nthe devices were engraved; on one face was the successor of Amunoph\nIII., who lived B. C. 1400; on the other a lion, with the legend,\n\u201cLord of strength,\u201d referring to the monarch; on the other side a\nscorpion, and on the remaining one a crocodile.\n\n[Illustration: (Bronze Ox Ring)]\n\nIn the work of Count Caylus, there is a _vignette_ of a ring of\nbronze, remarkable from its size and the subject upon it.[57] The\ncollet or collar of the ring is an inch in height, and eleven lines\nin thickness. The figure upon it is an ox--or, as the author we have\nreferred to calls it, a cow, recumbent and swaddled, or covered by\ndraperies; and it wears a collar, to which hangs, according to this\nauthor, a bell. He considers that it was made when the Romans wore\nthem of an excessive size, and while Gaul was under the dominion of\nthe former. He does not give any guess at the intention or meaning\nof the subject. We believe it was, originally, Egyptian; and made\nin memory of the sacred Bull Apis, (found in tombs,) honored by the\nEgyptians as an image of the soul of Osiris and on the idea that his\nsoul migrated from one Apis to another in succession. And as to what\nCaylus considers a bell, we are inclined to designate a bag. In Dr.\nAbbott\u2019s collection of Egyptian Antiquities are not only mummies of\nthese sacred bulls, but also the skulls of others, and over the head\nof one is suspended a large bag, found in the pits with the bulls,\nand supposed to be used to carry their food.\n\nAddison, in observing upon the size of old Roman rings,[58] refers to\nJuvenal, as thus translated by Dryden:\n\n     \u201cCharged with light summer rings, his fingers sweat,\n      Unable to support a gem of weight.\u201d\n\nAnd he goes on to say, that this \u201cwas not anciently so great an\nhyperbole as it is now, for I have seen old Roman rings so very\nthick-about and with such large stones in them, that it is no wonder\na fop should reckon them a little cumbersome in the summer season of\nso hot a climate.\u201d\n\nAs a proof of the size to which Roman rings sometimes reached, we\nhere give an outline of one as it appears in Montfaucon.\n\n[Illustration: (Queen Plotina\u2019s Ring)]\n\nThis ring bears the portrait of Trajan\u2019s good queen Plotina. The\ncoiffure is remarkable and splendid, being composed of three rows of\nprecious stones cut in facets.\n\nAccording to Pliny, devices were not put upon the metal of rings\nuntil the reign of Claudius.\n\nWhen a wealthy Egyptian had been embalmed and placed in a superb case\nor coffin, with a diadem on his head and bracelets upon his arms,\nrings of gold, ivory and engraved cornelian were placed upon his\nfingers.[59]\n\nContrary to what might have been supposed, the British Museum is not\nrich in rings. Through a dear friend, the author is able to give\ndrawings of a few of its treasures, and the following extract from a\nletter: \u201cThey can trace none of their rings with any certainty. The\ncollection is not large, and has been bought at various times from\nother collections and private sources, which could give no history,\nor, if attempted, none that can be relied on. Mr. Franks, the curator\nof this department, kindly made the impressions I send of those he\nconsidered most curious, and selected the others for me.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: (Isis and Serapis Ring)]\n\nHere is one of those rings. It bears the heads of Isis and Serapis.\nA similar ring (perhaps the same) is figured in Caylus,[60] who\nobserves on the singularity of form and the ingenuity attendant\nupon shaping it, while it is considered extremely inconvenient to\nwear. It would, however, suit all fingers, large or small, because\nit can be easily diminished or widened. The two busts are placed\nat the extremities of the serpent which forms the body of the ring\ncontrariwise--if we may be allowed the expression--so that whatever\nposition or twist is given to the ring, one of the two heads always\npresents itself in a natural position. The ring given by Caylus\nwas found in Egypt, but is said to be of Roman workmanship and made\nwhen the former was under the dominion of the Romans; and he hints\nthat the heads may represent a Roman emperor and empress under the\nforms of Isis and Jupiter Serapis, adding, \u201cI will not hazard any\nconjecture on the names that may be given them. I will content myself\nwith saying that the work is of a good time and far removed from the\nlower empire; and I will add, that the quantity of rings which were\nwrought for the Romans of all the states may serve to explain the\nextraordinary forms which some present to us.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: (Romano-Egyptian Isis and Serapis Ring)]\n\nHere is another, from the British Museum, in which Isis and Serapis\nappear, singularly placed. This ring is Romano-Egyptian, and of\nbronze.\n\nHere are two, Etruscan, from the same source, with an impression from\neach.\n\n[Illustration: No. 1. No. 2.]\n\nThey are both of gold, while No. 2 has a white stone which works upon\na swivel.\n\nWe add, in this portion of our book, another from the British Museum.\nIt is worked from Greek or Etruscan gold, and was found in the\nAbruzzi.\n\n[Illustration: (Abruzzi Ring)]\n\nIllustrations of some of the Egyptian seal-rings contained in the\nBritish Museum, will be found in Knight\u2019s Pictorial Bible, at the end\nof the third chapter of Esther.\n\nFashion and Fancy have given us rings of all imaginable shapes, and\nthese powers, joined with Religion and Love, have traced upon them\nevery supposable subject.\n\nAlthough modern rings seldom display the exquisite cutting and\nartistic taste which appear upon antiques, still the latter exhibit\nsentimental phrases and sentiments similar to such as are observed\nupon rings of the present day. The Greeks were full of gallantry.\nTime has preserved to us incontestable proofs of the vows which they\nmade to mistresses and friends, as well as of the trouble they took\nand the expense they went to in order to perpetuate their sentiments.\nCaylus,[61] who says this, gives a drawing of a ring bearing the\nwords KIPIA KAAH, _Beautiful Ciria_; and adds, \u201cThis inscription is\nsimple but energetic; it appears to me to suit the sentiment.\u201d In\nMontfaucon are several illustrations of Greek sentences upon rings,\nwhich carry out what Caylus has observed; thus there are (rendered\ninto English), _Good be with you, Madam. Good be with you, Sir.\nGood be with him who wears you and all his household. Remember it.\nTheanus is my light._ Upon a ring bearing a hand which holds a ring:\n_Remember good fortune._ There are, also, upon Roman rings, sentiment\nand compliment in Latin sentences, as thus translated: _Live happy,\nmy hostess. You have this pledge of love. Live in God. Live._ And\nCaylus[62] gives a description and drawing of a remarkably formed\ngold ring; and although it bears Greek words, he leaves it in doubt\nwhether it is of Roman or Grecian workmanship. It has the appearance\nof three rings united, widened in the front and tapering within the\nhand. Upon the wide part of each are two letters, the whole forming\nZHCAIC, _Mayest thou live._ The Romans often preferred the Greek\nlanguage in their most familiar customs.\n\n[Illustration: (ZHCAIC Ring)]\n\nA ring of bronze has been discovered, in the form of a snake with\nits tail in its mouth, made on the principle of some of our steel\nrings which we use to hold household keys, widening their circle by\npressure.[63] In the finger-ring, the part in the mouth is inserted\nloose, so as to draw out and increase to the size of the circle\nneeded.\n\n[Illustration: (Snake Ring)]\n\n[Illustration: (Buckle Ring)]\n\n[Illustration: (Buckle Ring Laid Flat)]\n\nRings of gold are common in England at the present day, made to form\na strap with buckles, precisely, in shape, a common belt or collar.\nIt lies flat like an ordinary leather strap, and is formed of small\npieces of gold which are kept so delicately together that the lines\nof meeting are scarcely perceptible. This is accomplished by having\nmany minute and unseen hinges, which make the whole pliable and\nallow it to be buckled (as a ring) upon the finger.\n\nNothing is new. One of the prettiest modern rings, used as a\nremembrancer, has a socket for hair and a closing shutter. Roman\nremains were found at Heronval in Normandy, and among them were\nrings. One of these was almost of modern form, with a small place\nunder where the stone is usually fixed, into which hair might be\ninserted.[64] We are constantly retracing the steps of antiquity.\n\nA Roman gold ring of a triangular form has been discovered in\nEngland, with an intaglio representing the story of Hercules\nstrangling the Nemean lion.[65] And also a ring that, while it was\nremarkable for its thickness, had a whistle on one side, which was\nuseful in calling servants before the time of domestic bells.[66]\n\nWe shall find that there were rings in which poison was carried.\n\nWilkinson has discovered several Egyptian rings, where the subject is\nmade up of two cats sitting back to back, and looking round at each\nother, with an emblem of the goddess Athor between them.\n\nWe do not know why Athor, _Venus_, should be between these sentinel\ncats. Had the symbol of Pasht, _Diana_, been there, the thing would\nhave been less difficult; for cats, like maids, \u201clove the moon,\u201d and\ntheir guardian goddess was Pasht. Their attitude is more watchful\nthan sacred cats would be supposed to assume, and might rather appear\nto apply to the species embalmed in Kilkenny history.\n\nThere is an Anglo-Saxon ring inscribed Ahlstan, Bishop of Sherborne,\nwhich has the hoop of alternate lozenges and circles. It has, also, a\nSaxon legend. Epigraphs in that language are extremely rare. It has\nbeen supposed that Ahlstan had command of the Saxon army.\n\nIn the catacombs of Rome, where the early Christians \u201cwandered\nabout in sheep-skins and goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted,\ntormented,\u201d[67] where they stealthily prayed and lived and died, vast\nquantities of signet and other rings have been discovered, as well as\nmedals, cameos and other precious stones. Signet rings of different\ndevices, as belonging to different owners, are in the catacombs\nhere; and this has raised the idea that they were deposited by\nrelatives and friends as the stone lid of the grave was about to be\nshut,--offerings of love and affection.[68]\n\n\u201cWhat a picture,\u201d exclaims a writer in the London Art Journal,[69]\n\u201cdo these dark vaults display of the devotion, the zeal, the love of\nthose early Christian converts whose baptism was in blood! I picture\nthem to myself, stealing forth from the city in the gloomy twilight,\nout towards the lonely Campagna, and disappearing one by one through\nwell-known apertures, threading their way through the dark sinuous\ngalleries to some altar, where life and light and spiritual food,\nthe soft chanting of the holy psalms and the greeting of faithful\nbrethren, waking the echoes, awaited them. The sight of these early\nhaunts of the persecuted and infant religion is inexpressibly\naffecting; and I pity those, be they Protestant or Catholic, who can\nvisit these hallowed precincts without an overwhelming emotion.\nHow many martyrs, their bodies torn and lacerated by the cruel\nbeasts amid the infuriated roar of thousands shrieking forth the\ncry of _Christianos ad leonem!_ in the bloody games of the Flavian\namphitheatre, breathing their last sigh, calling on the name of the\nRedeemer, have passed, borne by mourning friends or by compassionate\nwidows or virgins to their last dark narrow home, along the very\npath I was now treading! How many glorified saints, now singing\nthe praises of the Eternal around the great white throne in the\nseventh heaven of glory, may have been laid to rest in these very\napertures, lighted by a flickering taper like that I held. But I must\npause--this is an endless theme, endless as the glory of those who\nhover in eternal light and ecstatic radiance above; it is moreover a\np\u00e6an I feel utterly unworthy to sing.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: (Christian Ring and Impression)]\n\nWe have received a drawing and impression of a ring which is in the\nBritish Museum; and our opinion is that it belonged to one of the\nearly Christians. While the \u03a7\u0391\u0399\u03a1\u03a9, _I rejoice_, upon it, favors the\nidea, the monogram (upon the signet part) confirms it. This is,\nevidently, the name of Jesus in its earliest monogrammatic form,\nmade up of the letters \u03a7. and \u03a1. As commonly found on monuments in\nthe catacombs of Rome, it has a single cross with the \u03a1. thus, \u2627\nwhile in our illustration the cross is multiplied; and this is the\nonly difference. Surely such a memorial as this is more likely to\nhave been the ring of the lowly-minded \u201cfisherman,\u201d than the one\nwhich is said to be framed with diamonds and worn by the Pope. In\nDr. Kip\u2019s very interesting work on the Catacombs of Rome, there is\nan illustration of a seal-ring, upon which a like monogram appears,\nalthough somewhat complicated.[70]\n\nNear Cork, in Ireland, a silver ring was discovered, the hoop whereof\nis composed of nine knobs or bosses, which may have served instead\nof beads and been used by the wearer in the Catholic counting of\nthem. The antiquaries of Ireland have considered this ring as very\nancient.[71]\n\n[Illustration: (Irish Diamond Ring Two Views)]\n\nIn referring to Irish rings, it may be well to mention one which was\nfound in the county of Westmeath, with some very ancient remains.[72]\nIt is remarkable, from being set with many diamonds in beautifully\nsquared work. On account of the place where it was discovered, a\nsuggestion has been made that it may have belonged to Rose Failge,\nPrince of Ireland, eldest son of Calhoir the Great, who reigned A. D.\n122, he being called the _Hero of Rings_. However, diamonds do not\nappear to have been named among precious stones at that early period.\n\nThe author is not aware that diamonds are often set loosely or upon\nswivel in a ring. We have mention of one in the reign of James I. of\nEngland. Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, (nicknamed by a cotemporary\n\u201cRobert the Devil,\u201d and by James called his \u201clittle Beagle,\u201d) was\ndangerously ill at Bath; but on a report of his recovery, the King\nsent purposely the Lord Hay to him, with a token, \u201cwhich was a\nfair diamond, set or rather hung square in a gold ring without a\nfoil\u201d--and this message, \u201cThat the favor and affection he bore him\nwas and should be ever, as the form and matter of that, endless,\npure and most perfect.\u201d[73] A writer, given to detraction, says that\nthis great statesman died of the disease of Herod, upon the top of\na mole-hill; and that his body burst the lead it was wrapped in. On\nhis tomb lies the skeleton of the Earl curiously carved. He seemed\nwell to weigh the glory of a courtier, for in writing to Sir John\nHarrington,[74] he said: \u201cGood Knight, rest content and give heed\nto one that hath sorrowed in the bright lustre of a Court, and gone\nheavily even on the best seeming fair ground. \u2019Tis a great task to\nprove one\u2019s honesty and yet not spoil one\u2019s fortune. You have tasted\na little hereof in our blessed Queen\u2019s time, who was more than a\nman, and, in truth, sometimes less than a woman. I wish I waited now\nin your presence chamber, with ease at my food and rest in my bed.\nI am pushed from the shore of comfort, and know not where the winds\nand waves of a Court will bear me. I know it bringeth little comfort\non earth; and he is, I reckon, no wise man that looketh this way to\nheaven.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: (Frank Pierce Ring)]\n\nIn the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, some citizens\nof California presented President Pierce with a gigantic ring. We\nhere give an outline, and add a description of it from Gleason\u2019s\nPictorial Newspaper for the 25th of December, 1852.\n\n[Illustration: (President Franklin Pierce Ring)]\n\n\u201cIt is already pretty widely known to the public generally, that a\nnumber of citizens of San Francisco have caused to be manufactured\nand forwarded to Gen. Pierce, a most valuable and unique present,\nin the form of a massive gold ring, as a token of esteem for the\nPresident elect. Of this ring our artist has herewith given us\nan admirable representation. It is a massive gold ring, weighing\nupwards of a full pound. This monster ring, for chasteness of design,\nelegance of execution, and high style of finish, has, perhaps, no\nequal in the world. The design is by Mr. George Blake, a mechanic of\nSan Francisco. The circular portion of the ring is cut into squares,\nwhich stand at right angles with each other, and are embellished each\nwith a beautifully executed design, the entire group presenting a\npictorial history of California, from her primitive state down to her\npresent flourishing condition, under the flag of our Union.\n\n\u201cThus, there is given a grizzly bear in a menacing attitude, a\ndeer bounding down a slope, an enraged boa, a soaring eagle and a\nsalmon. Then we have the Indian with his bow and arrow, the primitive\nweapon of self-defence; the native mountaineer on horseback, and\na Californian on horseback, throwing his lasso. Next peeps out a\nCalifornian tent. Then you see a miner at work, with his pick, the\nwhole being shaded by two American flags, with the staves crossed and\ngroups of stars in the angles. The part of the ring reserved for a\nseal is covered by a solid and deeply carved plate of gold, bearing\nthe arms of the State of California in the centre, surmounted by the\nbanner and stars of the United States, and inscribed with \u2018FRANK\nPIERCE,\u2019 in old Roman characters. This lid opens upon a hinge, and\npresents to view underneath a square box, divided by bars of gold\ninto nine separate compartments, each containing a pure specimen\nof the varieties of ore found in the country. Upon the inside is\nthe following inscription: \u2018_Presented to_ FRANKLIN PIERCE, _the\nFourteenth President of the United States._\u2019 The ring is valued at\n$2000. Our engraving gives a separate view of the lid, so as to\nrepresent the appearance of the top of the ring both when it is open\nand when it is closed. Altogether, it is a massive and superb affair,\nrich in emblematical design and illustration, and worthy its object.\u201d\n\nRings appear to have been worn indiscriminately on the fingers of\neach hand. It would seem, however, from Jeremiah, that the Hebrews\nwore them on their right hand; we there read that when the Lord\nthreatened King Zedekiah with the utmost effects of his anger, he\ntold him: \u201cThough Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were\nthe signet on my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence.\u201d[75]\n\nTrimalchion wore two rings, one large and gilt, upon the little\nfinger of his right hand, and the other of gold, powdered with iron\nstars, upon the middle of the ring finger.[76]\n\nAmong the Romans, before rings came to be adorned with stones, and\nwhile the graving was yet on the metal itself, every one wore them at\npleasure on what hand and finger he pleased. When stones came to be\nadded, they had them altogether on the left hand; and it would have\nbeen held an excess of foppery to have put them on the right.\n\nPliny says, they were at first worn on the fourth finger, then on the\nsecond or index, then on the little finger, and at last, on all the\nfingers excepting the middle one.\n\nClemens Alexandrinus has it that men wore the ring on the extremity\nof the little finger, so as to leave the hand more free.\n\nAccording to Aulus Gellius,[77] both the Greeks and Romans wore them\non the fourth finger of the left hand; and the reason he gives for\nit is this, that having found, from anatomy, that this finger had a\nlittle nerve that went straight to the heart, they esteemed it the\nmost honorable by this communication with that noble part. Macrobius\nquotes Atteius Capito, that the right hand was exempt from this\noffice, because it was much more used than the left, and, therefore,\nthe precious stones of the rings were liable to be broken, and that\nthe finger of the left hand was selected which was the least employed.\n\nPliny says, the Gauls and ancient Britons wore the ring on the middle\nfinger.\n\nAt first, the Romans only used a single ring; then, one on each\nfinger, and, at length, as we gather from Martial,[78] several on\neach. Afterwards, according to Aristophanes,[79] one on each joint.\nTheir foppery at length arose to such a pitch that they had their\nweekly rings.\n\nThe beast Heliogabalus carried the point of using rings the farthest,\nfor, according to Lampridius, he never wore the same ring or the same\nshoe twice.\n\nHeliogabalus was a funny wretch:--he would frequently invite to his\nbanquets eight old men blind of one eye, eight bald, eight deaf,\neight lame with the gout, eight blacks, eight exceedingly thin, and\neight so fat that they could scarcely enter the room, and who, when\nthey had eaten as much as they desired, were obliged to be taken out\nof the apartment on the shoulders of several soldiers.\n\nEgyptian women wore many, and sometimes two or three on one finger;\nbut the left was considered the hand peculiarly privileged to bear\nthese ornaments; and it is remarkable that its third was decorated\nwith a greater number than any other and was considered by them as\nthe ring finger.[80] This notion, as we have observed, the Grecians\nhad.\n\nThe idea of wearing rings on the fourth finger of the left hand,\nbecause of a supposed artery there which went to the heart, was\ncarried so far that, according to Levinus Lemnius, this finger\nwas called _Medicus_; and the old physicians would stir up their\nmedicaments and potions with it, because no venom could stick upon\nthe very outmost part of it but it will offend a man and communicate\nitself to the heart.\n\nWith regard to the translation of rings from the right to the\nleft hand, it may be pleasing to refer to that charming old work,\n_Enquiries into Vulgar and Common Errors_, by Browne:[81] he says,\n\u201cThat hand [the left] being lesse employed, thereby they were best\npreserved, and for the same reason they placed them on this finger,\nfor the thumbe was too active a finger and is commonly imployed with\neither of the rest: the index or fore finger was too naked whereto to\ncommit their pretiosities, and hath the tuition of the thumbe scarce\nunto the second joynt: the middle and little finger they rejected\nas extreams, and too big or too little for their rings; and of all\nchose out the fourth as being least used of any, as being guarded\non either side, and having in most this peculiar condition that it\ncannot be extended alone and by itselfe, but will be accompanied by\nsome finger on either side.\u201d\n\nAs to the Egyptians deriving a nerve from the heart in the fourth\nfinger of the left hand, the priests, from this notion, anointed the\nsame with precious oils before the altar. And Browne, in his Vulgar\nErrors, says, \u201cThe Egyptians were weak anatomists, which were so good\nembalmers.\u201d[82]\n\nIn the General Epistle of St. James,[83] we have this: \u201cFor if there\ncome unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel,\nand there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; and ye have\nrespect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit\nthou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there or\nsit here under my footstool: are ye not then partial in yourselves\nand are become judges of evil thoughts?\u201d In an illustrated edition\nof the New Testament, it is said, the expression \u201cwith a gold ring\u201d\nmight very properly be rendered, \u201chaving his fingers adorned with\ngold rings;\u201d and that about the time referred to in the text, the\nwearing of many rings had become a fashion, at least among the master\npeople, the Romans, from whom it was probably adopted by persons of\nwealth and rank in the provinces. The custom is noticed by Arrian;\nwhile Seneca, in describing the luxury and ostentation of the time,\nsays, \u201cWe adorn our fingers with rings, and a jewel is displayed on\nevery joint.\u201d There is a newspaper anecdote of an eminent preacher\nat Norwich, in England, which shows that he had the above verse\n(from the Epistle of St. James) in mind when it occurred. His\nReverence made a sudden pause in his sermon; the congregation were\npanic-struck. Having riveted their attention, he addressed himself by\nname to a gentleman in the gallery. \u201cHas that poor man who stands at\nthe back of your pew a gold ring on his finger?\u201d The gentleman turned\nround, and replied, \u201cI believe not, sir.\u201d \u201cOh, then, I suppose that\nis the reason he must not have a seat.\u201d The gentleman had three gold\nrings on his hand; and his pew was nearly empty.\n\nHere is another anecdote of a priest, in worse taste than the last.\nAlbert Pio, Prince of Caspi, was buried with extraordinary pomp in\nthe Church of the Cordeliers at Paris. He had been deprived of his\nprincipality by the Duke of Ferrara, became an author, and finally\na fanatic. Entering one day into one of the churches at Madrid, he\npresented holy water to a lady who had a very thin hand, ornamented\nby a most beautiful and valuable ring. He exclaimed in a loud voice\nas she reached the water, \u201cMadam, I admire the ring more than the\nhand.\u201d The lady instantly exclaimed, with reference to the cordon\nor rope with which he was decorated, \u201cAnd for my part, I admire the\nhalter more than I do the ass.\u201d He was buried in the habit of a\nCordelier; and Erasmus made a satire on the circumstance, entitled\nthe \u201cSeraphic Interment.\u201d\n\nThe Hebrew women wore a number of rings upon their fingers.[84]\n\nHippocrates, in treating of the decency of dress to be observed\nby physicians, enjoins the use of rings. We have somewhere seen\nit suggested, that the rings thus worn by physicians might have\ncontained aromatic water or preservative essence, in the same way\nas their canes were supposed to do; and hence the action of putting\nthe heads or tops of the latter to their noses when consulting in a\nsick-room.\n\n\n\u00a7 15. The author deems it as well to refer to the law, in relation to\nrings. In common parlance, we consider precious stones to be jewels;\nbut rings of gold will pass by that word. In the time of Queen\nElizabeth, the Earl of Northumberland bequeathed by his will his\njewels to his wife, and died possessed of a collar of S\u2019s, and of a\ngarter of gold, and of a button annexed to his bonnet, and also many\nother buttons of gold and precious stones annexed to his robes, and\nof many chains, bracelets and rings of gold and precious stones.[85]\nThe question was, whether all these would pass by the devise under\nthe name of jewels? It was resolved by the justices, that the garter\nand collar of S\u2019s did not pass, because they were not properly\njewels, but ensigns of power and state; and that the buckle of his\nbonnet and the button did not pass, because they were annexed to his\nrobes, and were no jewels. But, for the other chains, bracelets and\ntings, they passed under the bequest of jewels.\n\nPersons who desire to leave specific rings to friends should\ndesignate them; for, otherwise, the particular article will not pass.\nThus, \u201cI give a diamond ring,\u201d is what is called a general legacy,\nwhich may be fulfilled by the delivery of any ring of that kind;\nwhile \u201cI give the diamond ring presented to me by A,\u201d is a specific\nlegacy, which can only be satisfied by the delivery of the specified\nsubject.[86] A legacy of \u00a350 for a ring is but a money legacy; it\nfastens upon no specific ring, and carries interest like other money\nbequests.[87]\n\nA family ring may become an important piece of evidence in the\nestablishment of a pedigree; and the law admits it for that purpose:\nupon the presumption, as Lord Erskine has it, \u201cthat a person would\nnot wear a ring with an error upon it.\u201d[88]\n\nIn ancient times dying persons gave their rings to some one,\ndeclaring thereby who was their heir.[89]\n\n\n\u00a7 16. We do not find in any work on orders of knighthood, any\nassociation having direct reference to a ring; but in a volume of\nthe Imperial Magazine there is a reference to the Order of the Ring,\nsaid to have been copied from a beautifully illuminated MS., on\nvellum.[90] The sovereign of the order was to wear upon the fifth\nfinger a blue enamelled ring, set round with diamonds, with the\nmotto, _Sans changer_. The matter looks fictitious, for it embraces\nthe seeming signatures of Leonora, Belvidera, Torrismond and C\u00e6sario.\n\nLorenzo the Magnificent, of the Medici family, bore a diamond\nring with three feathers and the motto, _Semper_; and when the\nMedici returned to Florence, Giuliano de Medici instituted an\norder of merit, denominated the Order of the Diamond, alluding to\nthe _impresa_, an emblem of his father. This was done to secure\ninfluence by recalling the memory of the parent. The members of it\nhad precedence on public occasions, and it was their province to\npreside over festivals, triumphs and exhibitions.[91]\n\n\n\u00a7 17. Rings have been found in strange places, and under interesting\ncircumstances. We find them upon and below the earth; within the\nPyramids; beneath the ashes of Pompeii and Herculaneum; and strewed\nover battle-fields.[92] They have been discovered on the field of\nCressy.\n\n\n\u00a7 18. In Persia, at the present day, letters are seldom written and\nnever signed by the person who sends them; and it will thus appear\nthat the authenticity of all orders and communications, and even\nof a merchant\u2019s bills, depends wholly on an impression from his\nseal-ring.[93] This makes the occupation of a seal-cutter one of\nas much trust and danger as it seems to have been in Egypt. Such a\nperson is obliged to keep a register of every ring-seal he makes;\nand if one be lost or stolen from the party for whom it was cut, his\nlife would answer for making another exactly like it. The loss of a\nsignet-ring is considered a serious calamity; and the alarm which an\nOriental exhibits when his signet is missing, can only be understood\nby a reference to these circumstances, as the seal-cutter is always\nobliged to alter the real date at which the seal was cut. The only\nresource of a person who has lost his seal is to have another made\nwith a new date, and to write to his correspondents to inform them\nthat all accounts, contracts and communications to which his former\nsignet is affixed are null from the day on which it was lost.\n\nImportance has been given to signets in England. This was at a time\nwhen the schoolmaster had not made many penmen. \u201cAnd how great a\nregard was had to seals,\u201d says Collins, in his _Baronage_, \u201cappears\nfrom these testimonies; the Charter of King Henry I. to the Abbey\nof Evesham, being exhibited to King Henry III. and the seal being\ncloven in sunder, the King forthwith caused it to be confirmed,\u201d\netc., etc.; \u201cand in 13 Ed. III., when, by misfortune, a deed, then\nshowed in the Chancery, was severed from the seal, in the presence\nof the Lord Chancellor and other noble persons, command was not only\ngiven for the affixing it again thereto, but an exemplification was\nmade thereof under the Great Seal of England, with the recital of the\npremises. And the counterfeiting of another man\u2019s seal was anciently\npunished with transportation, as appears from this record in the\nreign of King John,\u201d etc., etc. \u201cIt is also as remarkable that in 9\nH. III. c. c. marks damages were recovered by Sir Ralph de Crophall,\nKnight, against Henry de Grendon and William de Grendon for forcibly\nbreaking a seal from a deed. Also so tender was every man in those\ntimes of his seal, that if he had accidentally lost it, care was\ntaken to publish the same, lest another might make use of it to his\ndetriment, as is manifested in the case of Benedict de Hogham,\u201d etc.\n\u201cAlso not much unlike to this is that of Henry de Perpount, a person\nof great quality, (ancestor of his Grace the Duke of Kingston,) who,\non Monday, in the Octaves of St. Michael, 8 Ed. I., came into the\nChancery at Lincoln and publicly declared, that he missed his seal;\nand protested, that if any instrument should be signed with that\nseal, for the time to come, it should be of no value or effect. Nor\nis that publication made by John de Greseley of Drakelow, in _Com.\nDerb._ 18 R. II., upon the loss of his seal, less considerable,\u201d\netc., etc.[94]\n\n\n\u00a7 19. We are aware of the value of many modern rings, arising from\ntheir being used as mere frames for jewels. And ancient ones, from\nthe same fact or from having exquisite engraving upon them, were also\nhighly prized. Nonius,[95] a senator, is said to have been proscribed\nby Anthony for the sake of a gem in a ring, worth twenty thousand\nsesterces.\n\nThe \u201cRoving Englishman\u201d[96] informs us, that the Pasha wears on his\nright-hand little finger, a diamond ring which once belonged to the\nDey of Algiers, and cost a thousand pounds sterling.\n\n\n\u00a7 20. An English work, of but little note, professes to make out\n\u201cLove\u2019s Telegraph,\u201d as understood in America, thus:--If a gentleman\nwants a wife, he wears a ring on the _first_ finger of the left\nhand; if he is engaged, he wears it on the _second_ finger; if\nmarried, on the _third_; and on the fourth if he never intends to be\nmarried. When a lady is not engaged, she wears a hoop or diamond on\nher _first_ finger; if engaged, on the _second_; if married, on the\n_third_; and on the fourth if she intends to die a maid.[97]\n\nMany of our readers are aware that there are _name-rings_, in\nwhich the first letter attaching to each jewel employed will make\na loved one\u2019s name or a sentiment. In the formation of English\nrings of this kind, the terms _Regard_ and _Dearest_ are common.\nThus illustrated:--R(_uby_) E(_merald_) G(_arnet_) A(_methyst_)\nR(_uby_) D(_iamond_).--D(_iamond_) E(_merald_) A(_methyst_)\nR(_uby_) E(_merald_) S(_apphire_) T(_opaz_). It is believed that\nthis pretty notion originated (as many pretty notions do) with\nthe French. The words which the latter generally play with, in a\ncombination of gems, are _Souvenir_ and _Amiti\u00e9_, thus: S(_aphir_ or\n_S_ardoine) O(_nix_ or _O_pale) U(_raine_) V(_ermeille_) E(_meraude_)\nN(_atralithe_) I(_ris_) R(_ubis_ or _R_ose diamant).--A(_m\u00e9thiste_\nor _A_igue-marine) M(_alachite_) I(_ris_) T(_urquoise_ or _T_opaze)\nI(_ris_) E(_meraude_).\n\nHere are the alphabetical French names of precious stones:[98]\n\n      A. Am\u00e9thiste. Aigue-marine.\n      B. Brilliant. Diamant, d\u00e9signiant la m\u00eame pierre.\n      C. Chrisolithe. Carnaline. Chrisophrase.\n      D. Diamant.\n      E. Emeraude.\n      F. (_Pas de pierre connue._)\n      G. Grenat.\n      H. Hiacinthe.\n      I. Iris.\n      J. Jasper.\n      K. (_Pas de pierre connue._)\n      L. Lapis lazuli.\n      M. Malachite.\n      N. Natralithe.\n      O. Onix. Opale.\n      P. Perle. Peridot. Purpurine.\n      Q. (_Pas de pierre connue._)\n      R. Rubis. Rose diamant.\n      S. Saphir. Sardoine.\n      T. Turquoise. Topaze.\n      U. Uraine.\n      V. Vermeille (_esp\u00e8ce de grenat jaune_).\n      X. X\u00e9pherine.\n      Y. Z. (_Pas de nous connus._)\n\nKobell says,[99] \u201cIn _name-rings_, in which a name is indicated\nby the initial letter of different gems, the emerald is mostly\nused under its English and French name (_Emeraude_) to stand for\n_e_, which would otherwise not be represented. (The German name\nis _Smaragd_.) While on this point, it may be mentioned that a\ndifficulty occurs with _u_, but recent times have furnished a name\nwhich may assist, namely, a green garnet, containing chrome, from\nSiberia, which has been baptized after the Russian Minister Uwarrow,\nand called _Uwarrovite_.\u201d\n\nThe Poles have a fanciful belief that each month of the year is\nunder the influence of a precious stone, which influence has a\ncorresponding effect on the destiny of a person born during the\nrespective month. Consequently it is customary among friends and\nlovers, on birth-days, to make reciprocal presents of trinkets\nornamented with the natal stones. The stones and their influences,\ncorresponding with each month, are supposed to be as follows:\n\n      January--Garnet. Constancy and Fidelity.\n      February--Amethyst. Sincerity.\n      March--Bloodstone. Courage, presence of mind.\n      April--Diamond. Innocence.\n      May--Emerald. Success in love.\n      June--Agate. Health and long life.\n      July--Cornelian. Contented mind.\n      August--Sardonyx. Conjugal felicity.\n      September--Chrysolite. Antidote against madness.\n      October--Opal. Hope.\n      November--Topaz. Fidelity.\n      December--Turquoise. Prosperity.\n\nModern jewellers are known to palm off imitations of gems; and so\ndid sellers of trinkets in ancient times. The moderns only run the\nchance of a loss of custom; but the latter were well off if they got\nno greater fright than the jeweller who sold to the wife of Gallienus\na ring with a piece of glass in it. Gallienus ordered the cheat to be\nplaced in the circus, as though he were to be exposed to the ferocity\nof a lion. While the miserable jeweller trembled at the expectation\nof instant death, the executioner, by order of the emperor, let loose\na capon upon him. An uncommon laugh was raised at this; and the\nemperor observed that he who had deceived others should expect to be\ndeceived himself.\n\nA ring often figures in the old English ballads. Thus, in _Child\nNoryce_, the hero of it invites Lady Barnard to the merry greenwood:\n\n     \u201cHere is a ring, a ring, he says,\n        It\u2019s all gold but the stane;\n      You may tell her to come to the merry greenwood,\n        And ask the leave o\u2019 nane.\u201d\n\n\n\u00a7 21. A ring, as an heraldic figure, is found in coats of arms\nthroughout every kingdom in Europe. In Heraldry, it is called an\n_annulet_. We find the ring \u201cgemmed\u201d borne in the _arms_ of the\nMontgomeries, who hold the Earldom of Eglinton; and one of whom\nfigures in the ballad of Chevy Chase:\n\n     \u201cAgainst Sir Hugh Montgomerie\n        So right his shaft he set,\n      The gray-goose-wing that was therein\n        In his heart blood was wet.\u201d\n\nA father and son of this family were opposed to each other in the\nbattle of Marston Moor. The father, from his bearing, had the popular\nappellation of _Gray Steel_. We find the amulet borne in the coats of\narms of several of the peers and gentlemen of England.\n\nLouis IX. of France, St. Louis, took for his device a marguerite or\ndaisy and fleur-de-lis, in allusion to the name of Queen Marguerite\nhis wife and the arms of France, which were also his own.[100] He\nhad a ring made with a relief around it in enamel, which represented\na garland of marguerites and fleurs-de-lis. One was engraven on a\nsapphire with these words, \u201c_This ring contains all we love._\u201d Thus,\nit has been said, did this excellent prince show his people that he\nloved nothing but Religion, France and his wife. It is a question,\nhowever, whether the emblem on the escutcheon of the kings of France\nis really a fleur-de-lis. Some think it was originally a toad,\nwhich formed the crest of the helmet worn by Pharamond; and others,\nthe golden bees which were discovered in the tomb of Childeric\nat Tournay in 1653.[101] The story is that Clovis, after baptism,\nreceived a fleur-de-lis from an angel. Since then France has been\ncalled \u201cthe empire of lilies.\u201d The coat of arms of Clovis and his\nsuccessors was a field of azure, seeded with golden fleurs-de-lis.\n\n\n\u00a7 22. The story of losing rings and finding them in fish, is as old\nas Pliny, and we shall have to mention Solomon\u2019s ring, which, it is\nsaid, was found in one. We have an English statement[102] of a Mrs.\nTodd, of Deptford, who, in going in a boat to Whitstable, endeavored\nto prove that no person need be poor who was willing to be otherwise;\nand, being excited with her argument, she took off her gold ring and\nthrowing it into the sea, said, \u201cIt was as much impossible for any\nperson to be poor, who had an inclination to be otherwise, as for her\never to see that ring again.\u201d The second day after this, and when she\nhad landed, she bought some mackerel, which the servant commenced to\ndress for dinner, whereupon there was found a gold ring in one. The\nservant ran to show it to her mistress, and the ring proved to be\nthat which she had thrown away.\n\nWe are told in Brand\u2019s \u201cHistory of Newcastle,\u201d that a gentleman of\nthat city, in the middle of the seventeenth century, dropped a ring\nfrom his hand over the bridge into the river Tyne. Years passed on;\nhe had lost all hopes of recovering the ring, when one day his wife\nbought a fish in the market, and in the stomach of that fish was\nthe identical jewel which had been lost! From the pains taken to\ncommemorate this event, it would appear to be true; it was merely an\noccurrence possible, but extremely unlikely to have occurred.\n\nWe are inclined to add in this section a circumstance connected with\na ring as it appeared in a respectable English periodical. Fact,\nhere, beats fiction:\n\n\u201cMany years ago a lady sent her servant, a young man about twenty\nyears of age, and a native of that part of the country where his\nmistress resided, to the neighboring town with a ring, which required\nsome alteration, to be delivered into the hands of a jeweller. The\nyoung man went the shortest way across the fields; and coming to a\nlittle wooden bridge that crossed a small stream, he leant against\nthe rail, and took the ring out of its case to look at it. While\ndoing so, it slipped out of his hand, and fell into the water. In\nvain he searched for it, even till it grew dark. He thought it fell\ninto the hollow of a stump of a tree under water, but he could not\nfind it. The time taken in the search was so long, that he feared to\nreturn and tell his story, thinking it incredible, and that he should\nbe even suspected of having gone into evil company and gamed it away\nor sold it. In this fear he determined never to return--left wages\nand clothes, and fairly ran away. This seemingly great misfortune was\nthe making of him. His intermediate history I know not; but this,\nthat after many years\u2019 absence, either in the East or West Indies, he\nreturned with a very considerable fortune. He now wished to clear\nhimself with his old mistress; ascertained that she was living;\npurchased a diamond ring of considerable value, which he determined\nto present in person, and clear his character, by telling his tale,\nto which the credit of his present position might testify. He took\nthe coach to the town of----, and from thence set out to walk the\ndistance of a few miles. He found, I should tell you, on alighting,\na gentleman who resided in the neighborhood, who was bound for the\nadjacent village. They walked together, and in conversation, this\nformer servant, now a gentleman, with graceful manners and agreeable\naddress, communicated the circumstance that made him leave the\ncountry abruptly many years before. As he was telling this, they came\nto the very wooden bridge. \u2018There,\u2019 said he; \u2018it was just here that I\ndropped the ring; and there is the very bit of old tree into a hole\nof which it fell--just there.\u2019 At the same time he put down the point\nof his umbrella into the hole of the knot in the tree, and drawing it\nup, to the astonishment of both, found the very ring on the ferrule\nof the umbrella.\u201d\n\nHere also was an occurrence against which one would have previously\nsaid the chances were as one to infinity. It was a circumstance which\nwe see to be most unlikely, yet must acknowledge to be possible, and,\nwhen well authenticated, to be true.\n\nIn the year 1765, a codfish was sold, and in its stomach was a gold\nring. It had remained there so long that the inscription was worn\noff, although the scrolls in which it had been written remained\nentire.[103] Codfish, like sharks, swallow any thing, whether fresh\nor salted, bits of wood, red cloth, and even a whole book has been\nfound in one. We are not aware, however, that a cod has turned\n\u201cState\u2019s evidence,\u201d as it is said a shark did. A shark had swallowed\na log-book, thrown overboard to him by a pirate; and afterwards\nrepenting, took the first hook that offered, and thus turned State\u2019s\nevidence--so as to hang the villain by the revelation of the\ndocument.[104]\n\n\n\u00a7 23. Poetical riddles are but a low species of verse, and yet the\nbest of poets have made them. We find a neat one on a ring, which, in\nriddle-phrase, has been said to \u201cunite two people together and touch\nonly one.\u201d It runs thus:\n\n     \u201cThough small of body, it contains\n      The extremes of pleasure and of pains;\n      Has no beginning, nor no end;\n      More hollow than the falsest friend.\n      If it entraps some headless zany,\n      Or, in its magic circle, any\n      Have entered, from its sorcery\n      No power on earth can set them free.\n      At least, all human force is vain,\n      Or less than many hundred men.\n      Though endless, yet not short, nor long;\n      And what though it\u2019s so wondrous strong,\n      The veriest child, that\u2019s pleased to try,\n      Might carry fifty such as I.\u201d\n\nGeorge Herbert--\u201cHoly Mr. Herbert,\u201d as Isaac Walton calls him--has\nan enigma in which a ring appears. We must confess our inability to\nsolve it, and leave readers to do so. It is entitled--\n\n\n\u201cHOPE.\n\n     \u201cI gave to Hope a watch of mine; but he\n            An anchor gave to me.\n      Then an old prayer-book I did present,\n            And he an optic sent.\n      With that, I gave a phial full of tears;\n            But he a few green ears.\n      Ah, loiterer! I\u2019ll no more, no more I\u2019ll bring:\n            I did expect a ring.\u201d\n\n\n\u00a7 24. Rings are sometimes misapplied. In the church of Loretto is\nthe house in which some Catholics say the Virgin mother of Jesus was\nborn, it having occupied a lane in Nazareth where Christ resided,\nand which, after a long flight of years, was transported by angels\nto Loretto. It must, as it stood in Nazareth, have resembled a mud\ncabin. Within it is a miraculous statue of the Virgin and child, in\ncedar wood. \u201cThe Bambino,\u201d says an authoress, \u201cholds up his hand, as\nif to sport a superb diamond ring on his finger, presented to him\nby Cardinal Antonelli; it is a single diamond, and weighs thirty\ngrains.\u201d[105]\n\n\n\u00a7 25. The scenes through which many rings are carried must be as\nremarkable as those exhibited in \u201cThe Adventures of a Guinea,\u201d or\n\u201cof a Feather.\u201d \u201cMy Lady Rochford,\u201d writes Horace Walpole, \u201cdesired\nme t\u2019other day to give her a motto for a ruby ring, which had been\ngiven by a handsome woman of quality to a fine man; he gave it to\nhis mistress, she to Lord *****, he to my Lady; who, I think, does\nnot deny that it has not yet finished its travels. I excused myself\nfor some time, on the difficulty of reducing such a history to a\npoesy--at last I proposed this:\n\n     \u2018This was given by woman to man and by man to woman.\u2019\u201d[106]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt may be well for the author to so far take the part of a jeweller,\nas to sort his Rings before he exhibits them.\n\nWe propose to speak of:\n\n  1.--_Rings connected with power._\n\n  2.--_Rings having supposed charms and virtues, or connected with\n  degradation and slavery, or used for sad and wicked purposes._\n\n  3.--_Rings coupled with remarkable historical characters or\n  circumstances._\n\n  4.--_Rings of love, affection and friendship._\n\n\n\n\n                            CHAPTER TWO.\n\n                     RINGS CONNECTED WITH POWER.\n\n  1. The Ring an Emblem of Power; Pharaoh; Quintus Curtius; Antiochus\n  Epiphanes, Augustus; King of Persia, Egypt under the Ptolemies;\n  Roman Senators; the Forefinger. 2. Rings used in Coronations;\n  Edward the Second, Mother of Henry VIII.; Queen Elizabeth; Charles\n  II.; Coronation Rings, Canute; Sebert; Henry II.; Childeric;\n  Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror. 3. King withdrawing a\n  Proceeding from the Council by the use of a Ring. 4. The Doge of\n  Venice marrying the Adriatic. 5. The Ring of Office of the Doge. 6.\n  _The Fisherman\u2019s Ring._ 7. Papal Ring of Pius II. 8. Investiture of\n  Archbishops and Bishops, by delivery of a Ring; Cardinal\u2019s Ring;\n  Extension of the two Forefingers and Thumb. 9. Serjeant\u2019s Ring. 10.\n  Arabian Princesses. 11. Roman Knights. 12. Alderman\u2019s Thumb Ring.\n\n\n\u00a7 1. From the most ancient times, a ring has been an emblem of power.\n\nPharaoh put his ring upon Joseph\u2019s hand, as a mark of the power he\ngave him; and the people cried, \u201cBow the knee.\u201d[107]\n\nQuintus Curtius tells us that Alexander the Great sealed the letters\nhe wrote into Europe with his own ring seal, and those in Asia with\nDarius\u2019s ring; and that when Alexander gave his ring to Perdiccas, it\nwas understood as nominating him his successor.\n\nWhen Antiochus Epiphanes was at the point of death, he committed to\nPhilip, one of his friends, his diadems, royal cloak and ring, that\nhe might give them to his successor, young Antiochus.[108]\n\nAugustus, being very ill of a distemper which he thought mortal, gave\nhis ring to Agrippa, as to a friend of the greatest integrity.\n\nThe ring given by Pharaoh to Joseph was, undoubtedly, a signet or\nseal-ring, and gave authority to the documents to which it was\naffixed; and by the delivery of it, therefore, Pharaoh delegated to\nJoseph the chief authority in the state.[109] The king of Persia, in\nthe same way, gave his seal-ring to his successive ministers, Haman\nand Mordecai; and in the book of Esther,[110] the use of such a ring\nis expressly declared: \u201cThe writing which is written in the king\u2019s\nname, and sealed with the king\u2019s seal, may no man reverse.\u201d\n\nThat ministers or lords under the king had their rings of office,\nis also apparent from what occurred with the closing of the den of\nlions: \u201cAnd a stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den;\nand the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet\nof his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning\nDaniel.\u201d[111]\n\nIn Egypt, under the Ptolemies, the king\u2019s ring was the badge under\nwhich the country was governed. It seemed to answer to the great\nseal of England.[112] We read that Sosibius, minister under Ptolemy\nPhilopater, was forced, by popular clamor, to give up the king\u2019s\nsignet ring to another. Here was a going out of a Lord John Russell,\nand a coming in of a Lord Palmerston.\n\nAt first, Roman Senators were not allowed to wear gold rings, unless\nthey had been ambassadors; but, at length, the Senators and Knights\nwere allowed the use of them; although Acron in Horace observes they\ncould not do it unless it were given them by the Pr\u00e6tor.[113] The\npeople wore silver rings.\n\nInhabitants of the eastern world do not sign their names. They\nhave ring-seals, in which name and title are engraven, and they\nmake an impression with thick ink where we make our signature. To\ngive a person, then, your seal-ring, is to give him the use of an\nauthority and power which your own signature possesses. This explains\nthe extraordinary anxiety about seals, as exhibited in the laws\nand usages of the East, and to which we have referred in a former\nchapter. It also illustrates Judah\u2019s anxiety about the signet which\nhe had pledged to Tamar.\n\nIn ancient times, the forefinger was emblematical of power. Among\nthe Hebrews, \u201cthe finger of God\u201d denoted his power; and it was the\nforefinger among the gods of Greece and Italy which wore the ring,\nthe emblem of supremacy.[114]\n\n\n\u00a7 2. Rings are used in coronations. The English public records,\nas now extant in the Tower of London, contain no mention of any\ncoronation proceedings before the reign of Edward the Second. The\naccounts of the forms observed with reference to that king being\ncrowned, as also of Richard the Second, are the two most ancient\nfrom which the minutes of those matters can be collected on official\nauthority.[115] However, there is enough of Saxon times left to\nshow that the Anglo-Saxon kings used a ring in their coronation\nceremonies.[116]\n\nIn a curious old manuscript relating to the Ancient Form of the\nCoronation of the Kings and Queens of England, we have this: \u201cAfter\nthe king is thus arrayed, then let the crown be placed upon the\nking\u2019s head by the Archbishop, and afterwards let a ring be put upon\nthe king\u2019s hand by the Bishop.\u201d\n\nIn Leland\u2019s _Collectanea_ is a circumstantial account of the\ncoronation of the mother of Henry the Eighth. In describing the\nceremonies made use of by the Archbishop: \u201cHe next blest her ring and\nsprinkled on it holy water.\u201d\n\nIn the ceremony of Queen Elizabeth\u2019s coronation, she was wedded\nto the kingdom with a ring, which she always wore, till the flesh\ngrowing over it, it was filed off a little before her decease.[117]\n\nOn the restoration of Charles the Second of England, measures\nwere adopted to repair, as much as possible, the loss of the\nancient regalia of the crown taken from their depository, the\nJerusalem Chamber, Westminster, and broken up and sold by the\nParliamentarians.[118] The new regalia was constructed by Sir Robert\nVyner, the king\u2019s goldsmith. The cost of it was \u00a321,978 9s. 11d.\n\nIn an account of the coronation of Charles II. of England,[119] we\nhave the following, which comes after a description of the robing\nand crowning: \u201cThen the master of the jewel house delivered to the\nArchbishop the ring, who consecrated it after this manner, saying:\n\u2018Bless, O Lord, and sanctify this ring, that thy servant, wearing\nit, may be sealed with the ring of faith and, by the power of the\nHighest, be preserved from sin; and let all the blessings, which\nare found in Holy Scripture, plentifully descend upon him, that\nwhatsoever he shall sanctify may be holy; and whomsoever he blesseth\nmay be blessed. Amen.\u2019 After which he put it upon the fourth finger\nof the king\u2019s right hand, and said: \u2018Receive this ring of kingly\ndignity, and by it the seal of Catholic Faith, that as this day\nthou art adorned the head and prince of this kingdom and people, so\nthou mayest persevere as the author and establisher of Christianity\nand the Christian faith; that being rich in faith and happy in\nworks, thou mayest reign with Him that is King of kings; to whom be\nhonor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.\u2019\u201d Think of this imposing\nceremony; and then remember the after life and the death of that\nroyal libertine. Better for his country had he never known a British\noak for safety. The living tree was dishonored when its foliage\nshaded him. What can be said in favor of one who squandered on his\nmistresses seventy thousand pounds sterling, which had been voted by\nParliament for a monument to his father? And also to think of the\njoking excuse, that his father\u2019s grave was unknown!\n\nIn an explanation of what are called the sacred and royal habits and\nother ornaments wherewith monarchs of England are invested on the\nday of coronation, we have a description of the king\u2019s and queen\u2019s\ncoronation rings. The king\u2019s is a plain gold ring, with a large\ntable ruby violet, wherein a plain cross or cross of St. George is\ncuriously enchased. The queen\u2019s coronation ring is likewise gold,\nwith a large table ruby set therein and sixteen other small rubies\nround about the ring, whereof those next to the collet are the\nlargest, the rest diminishing proportionally.\n\nIn the account of Ancient Regalia which were destroyed and dissipated\nin the time of the Commonwealth in England, there is no mention of a\nring.\n\nIn the year one thousand seven hundred and sixty-six, some workmen\ndiscovered a monument while repairing Winchester Cathedral, in\nEngland.[120] It contained the body of King Canute, and was\nremarkably fresh. There was a wreath around the head, several\nornaments of gold and also silver bands; upon a finger was a ring, in\nwhich was set a large and remarkably fine stone; while in one of the\nhands was a silver penny. This silver penny was not for \u201cthe ferryman\nthat poets write of,\u201d as was the piece of money in the mouths of the\nRoman knights whose passing-away bodies we have before referred to;\nbut, although it may have been for Peter and not Charon, is it not\nprobable that we find here a custom of Christian times springing out\nof heathen root? A statue of Jupiter has been turned into a Christ;\nand that which the Roman used for the boatman of Styx, is here meant\nfor one who had the key of heaven.\n\nWhile Henry the Second, of England, was rebuilding Westminster Abbey,\nthe sepulchre of Sebert, king of the East Angles, was opened.[121]\nThe body was dressed in royal robes, and there was a thumb-ring, in\nwhich was set a ruby of great value.\n\nHorace Walpole, having reference to the opening of this monarch\u2019s\ntomb, complains, like an antiquary, of the reburying the king\u2019s\nregalia. \u201cThey might, at least, have cut out the portraits and\nremoved the tomb [of King Sebert] to a conspicuous situation; but\nthough this age is grown so antiquarian, it has not gained a grain\nmore of sense in that walk--witness, as you instance, in Mr. Grose\u2019s\nLegends, and in the dean and chapter reburying the crown, robes and\nsceptre of Edward I. There would surely have been as much piety\nin preserving them in their treasury, as in consigning them again\nto decay. I did not know that the salvation of robes and crowns\ndepended on receiving Christian burial. At the same time, the chapter\ntransgresses that prince\u2019s will, like all their antecessors, for he\nordered his tomb to be opened every year or two years, and receive a\nnew cere-cloth or pall; but they boast now of having inclosed him so\nsubstantially that his ashes cannot be violated again.\u201d[122]\n\nWhen the tomb of Henry the Second, of England, was opened, it\nappeared that he was buried wearing a crown and royal robes,\nwith other paraphernalia, while there was a great ring upon his\nfinger.[123]\n\nRichard the Second, of England, by his will directed that he should\nbe buried in velvet or white satin, etc., and that, according to\nroyal usage, a ring, with a precious stone in it, should be put upon\nhis finger.\n\nThe body of Childeric, the first king of the Franks,[124] was\ndiscovered at Tours. It was found in royal robes, and, with other\nregalia, a coronation ring.\n\nIn the year one thousand five hundred and sixty-two, the Calvinists\nbroke open the tomb of Matilda, wife to William the Conqueror, in the\nAbbey of Caen; and discovered her body dressed in robes of state and\na gold ring, set with a sapphire, upon one of her fingers. The ring\nwas given to the then abbess, who presented it to her father, the\nBaron de Conti, constable of France, when he attended Charles IX. to\nCaen in 1563.\n\n\n\u00a7 3. In the time of Henry VIII. of England, the king\u2019s ring was\nused to withdraw from the Council the power to adjudge a matter and\nto place it entirely in the hands of the monarch. We refer to the\ncomplaints against Cranmer, which are made use of by Shakspeare,[125]\nwho has very closely followed Fox, in his Book of Martyrs.[126] The\nking sends for Cranmer, and follows up his discourse thus: \u201cDo you\nnot consider what an easy thing it is to procure three or four false\nknaves to witness against you? Think you to have better luck that\nway than your master Christ had? I see by it you will run headlong\nto your undoing, if I would suffer you. Your enemies shall not so\nprevail against you, for I have otherwise devised with myself to\nkeep you out of their hands. Yet, notwithstanding, to-morrow when\nthe council shall sit and send for you, resort unto them, and if,\nin charging you with this matter, they do commit you to the Tower,\nrequire of them, because you are one of them, a counsellor, that\nyou may have your accusers brought before them without any further\nindurance, and use for yourself as good persuasions that way as you\nmay devise; and if no entreaty or reasonable request will serve, then\ndeliver unto them this my ring, (which, then, the king delivered\nunto the Archbishop,) and say unto them, \u2018If there be no remedy,\nmy lords, but that I must needs go to the Tower, then I revoke my\ncause from you and appeal to the king\u2019s own person by this token\nunto you all;\u2019 for, (said the king then unto the Archbishop,) \u2018so\nsoon as they shall see this my ring, they know it so well that they\nshall understand that I have reserved the whole cause into mine own\nhands and determination, and that I have discharged them thereof.\u2019\nAnon the Archbishop was called into the council chamber, to whom was\nalleged as before is rehearsed. The Archbishop answered in like sort\nas the king had advised him; and in the end, when he perceived that\nno manner of persuasion or entreaty could serve, he delivered them\nthe king\u2019s ring, revoking his cause into the king\u2019s hands. The whole\ncouncil being thereat somewhat amazed, the Earl of Bedford, with a\nloud voice, confirming his words with a solemn oath, said, \u2018When you\nfirst began the matter, my lords, I told you what would become of it.\nDo you think that the king would suffer this man\u2019s finger to ache?\nMuch more (I warrant you) will he defend his life against brabbling\nvarlets. You do but cumber yourselves to hear tales and fables\nagainst him.\u2019 And incontinently upon the receipt of the king\u2019s token,\nthey all rose and carried to the king his ring, surrendering that\nmatter, as the order and use was, into his own hands.\u201d\n\n\n\u00a7 4. The stranger in Venice is yet shown the richly gilt galley,\ncalled _Bucentaur_, in which the Doge, from the year 1311, was\naccustomed to go out into the sea annually on Ascension Day, to throw\na ring into the water, and thus to marry, as it were, the Adriatic,\nas a sign of the power of Venice over that sea.[127] This ceremony\ndoes not go into remote antiquity, yet the origin of it is of\nconsiderable date. In the year 1177, when the Emperor Barbarossa went\nto humble himself before the Pope, who had taken refuge in Venice,\nthe Pope, in testimony of the kindness he had there received, gave to\nthe Doge a ring, and with it a right for the Venetians to call the\nAdriatic sea their own. He bade the Doge cast it into the sea, to\nwed it, as a man marries his wife; and he enjoined the citizens, by\nrenewing this ceremony every year, to claim a dominion which they had\nwon by their valor; for they had, with a small squadron, defeated a\nlarge fleet of the Emperor\u2019s and taken his son prisoner; and it was\nto regain his son that the Emperor submitted himself to the Pope.\n\nThe ceremony took place on Ascension Day. The Doge, the senators,\nforeign ambassadors and great numbers of the nobility, in their black\nrobes, walked to the sea-side, where the magnificent vessel, the\nBucentoro, was waiting to receive them. They then proceeded about\ntwo miles up the Laguna, and when arrived at a certain place, they\nall stopped. The Doge then rose from his chair of state, went to the\nside of the vessel and threw a gold ring into the sea, repeating the\nfollowing words: \u201cWe espouse thee, O sea! as a token of our perpetual\ndominion over thee.\u201d At the close of this part of the ceremony, all\nthe galleys fired their guns; and the music continued to play. On\ntheir voyage back, they stopped at a small island, where they went to\nchurch, and high mass was there celebrated. They then returned in the\nsame order they at first set out.[128]\n\nThis cry of perpetual dominion over the sea, puts us in mind\nof the story of Canute; and knowing the present prostrate and\ndecaying condition of Venice, truly may we say: \u201cHow are the mighty\nfallen.\u201d One of our frigates would make the whole maritime power of\nVenice tremble like the ring as it went through the waters. This\nceremony was intermitted in the year one thousand seven hundred and\nninety-seven.[129]\n\n\n\u00a7 5. The Doge of Venice had a ring of office. We find it figuring in\nthe acts through which the Doge Foscari had to move. A noble creature\nwas this Foscari. No Brutus ever behaved with the awful dignity which\nwas apparent in Foscari at the period of his son\u2019s torture in his\npresence.[130]\n\nWhen the Council of Ten demanded of him\n\n     \u201cThe resignation of the Ducal ring,\n      Which he had worn so long and venerably,\u201d\n\nhe laid aside the Ducal bonnet and robes; surrendered his ring of\noffice, and cried out:\n\n                    \u201cThere\u2019s the Ducal ring,\n      And there the Ducal diadem. And so,\n      The Adriatic\u2019s free to wed another.\u201d\n\nThe ring was broken in his presence, and as nobly as the old Doge had\nborne himself, whether when strangers were before him, or when his\nson was tortured in his presence, (as an awful punishment for the\nyearning of a young heart for childhood\u2019s home,) so did this great\nVenetian still act. He refused to leave the Ducal palace by a private\nway. He would descend, he said, by no other than the same giant\nstairs which he had mounted thirty years before. Supported by his\nbrother, he slowly traversed them. At their foot, leaning upon his\nstaff, for years of age were upon him, he turned towards the palace,\nand accompanied a last look with these parting words: \u201cMy _services_\nestablished me within your walls; it is _the malice of my enemies_\nwhich tears me from them.\u201d The bells of the Campanile told of his\nsuccessor. He suppressed all outward emotion, but a blood-vessel was\nruptured in the exertion and he died in a few hours.\n\n\n\u00a7 6. A Pope wears a ring of gold with a costly emerald or other\nprecious gem set in it.\n\nThe decrees of the Romish Court consist of bulls and briefs. The\nlatter are issued on less important occasions than the former. Briefs\nare written upon fine white parchment, with Latin letters; and the\nseal is what is called \u201cThe Fisherman\u2019s Ring.\u201d It is a steel seal,\nmade in the fashion of a Roman signet, (_signatorius annulus_.) When\na brief is written to any distinguished personage, or has relation\nto religious or general important matter, the impression from the\nFisherman\u2019s Ring is said to be made upon a gold surface; in some\nother cases it appears upon lead; and these seals are generally\nattached by strings of silk. Impressions of this seal are also made\nin ink, direct upon the substance on which the brief is written.\nThe author has obtained a sight of an impression of the Fisherman\u2019s\nRing, attached to a bull or brief in the archives of the Catholic\nbishopric of New-York, and liberty to copy it for publication.[131]\nThe impression is in ink upon vellum or fine parchment, at the left\nhand of the extreme lower corner, balancing the signature at the\nother (lower) corner. We are not aware that a sketch has ever before\nbeen made public.\n\n[Illustration: (Fisherman\u2019s Ring)]\n\nA \u201cFisherman\u2019s Ring\u201d was used at a very early period; and no doubt\nthe original device has been renewed. The reader will observe the\nantique form of the prow of the boat and oar, as well as the singular\nflying drapery attached to the head of the figure.\n\nWhen a pope dies, the cardinal chamberlain or chancellor\n(_camerlengo_), accompanied by a large number of the high dignitaries\nof the Papal Court, comes into the room where the body lies; and the\nprincipal or great notary makes an attestation of the circumstance.\nThen the cardinal chamberlain calls out the name of the deceased pope\nthree times, striking the body each time with a gold hammer; and as\nno response comes, the chief notary makes another attestation. After\nthis, the cardinal chancellor demands the Fisherman\u2019s Ring, and\ncertain ceremonies are performed over it; and then he strikes the\nring with the golden hammer, and an officer destroys the figure of\nPeter by the use of a file. From this moment all the authority and\nacts of the late pope pass to the College or Conclave of Cardinals.\n\nWhen a new pope is consecrated, it is always the cardinal chancellor\nor chamberlain who presents the renewed Fisherman\u2019s Ring; and this\npresentation is accompanied by imposing ceremonies.\n\nGavazzi, who tilts at every matter which may appear mystically\nCatholic, just as an excited bull runs at a red mantle, says: \u201cThe\nFisherman\u2019s Ring now in use is most valuable, and would hardly square\nwith the simplicity of Peter;\u201d[132] and he remarks, in reference to\nthe present Pope: \u201cThis man has on one of his fingers a splendid\nring, composed of diamonds and pearls of great price, and this ring\nof $8,000 is called the Fisherman\u2019s Ring; it symbolizes the ring of\npoor St. Peter, which cost, perhaps, two cents.\u201d Gavazzi must be in\nerror. A ring like that of the \u201cFisherman\u2019s,\u201d subject to be destroyed\non the death of a pope, would not be surrounded by brilliants; and\nthe fact that this ring is used as a signet to impress a gold or\nleaden surface, or even vellum, carries with it the conviction that\nit would not be encircled with precious stones and pearls; for,\nindependent of the chance of injury, they would impede an impression.\nIt is very possible that the official ring, bearing an emerald, and\nwhich a pope wears as Bishop of Rome, might be further ornamented.\nWe have been favored with a sight of a ring used by the present\nArchbishop of New-York, which is composed of an extra large oblong\nemerald of beautiful color, surrounded by brillants. This ring is\nworn on the fourth finger of the right hand.\n\nHorace Walpole refers to his friend Mr. Chute\u2019s playfully using an\nexpression which couples itself with the fisherman\u2019s ring: \u201cMr. Chute\nhas received a present of a diamond mourning ring from a cousin; he\ncalls it _l\u2019annello del Piscatore_. Mr. Chute, who was unmarried,\nmeant that his cousin was _fishing_ for his estate.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: (Pope Pius II. Ring Laid Flat)]\n\n[Illustration: (Pope Pius II. Ring Two Views)]\n\n\n\u00a77. There is a massive ring extant, chased with the arms of Pope Pius\nthe Second.[133] It is of brass, and has been thickly gilt. It is\nset with a topaz, the surface of which has lost its polish. On the\nhoop of the ring are chased the arms of Pope Pius the Second, of the\nfamily of Picolomini, the papal tiara, and this inscription, _Papa\nPio_. The stone is set in a massive square facet, carried up to a\nconsiderable height above the finger; and on each of the four sides\nis placed, in relief, one of the four beasts of the Revelation, which\nwere used to typify the Evangelists. Pope Pius the Second is better\nknown by his literary name of \u00c6neas Sylvius. His works, which include\na History of Europe, a History of Bohemia and a long series of\nletters, have passed through several editions. He was elected Pope in\n1418, and died in 1464. This ring is considerably larger in size than\nthe rings usually found buried with bishops, and which were probably\nwhat they received on their consecration. It must have been intended\nto have been worn over a glove. It seems to have been a state ring\nworn on one of those occasions when all Christendom came to receive\nhis benediction.\n\nThe estates and honors which composed the ecclesiastical\ntemporalities were considered to partake of the nature of fiefs;\nand, therefore, to require similar investiture from the chief lord.\nCharlemagne is said to have introduced this practice and to have\ninvested a newly consecrated bishop by placing a ring and crosier in\nhis hands.\n\nBy a Concordat at Worms, Henry V. resigned for ever all pretence to\ninvest bishops by the ring and crosier.\n\n\n\u00a7 8. During the times of the early British kings, it was a rule for\nthe monarch to invest archbishops and bishops, by delivery of a ring\nand the pastoral staff. Anselm was hurried into the presence of\nWilliam Rufus, in order to be made Archbishop of Canterbury.[134] He\nhesitated, because he was subject to Normandy, and the way in which\nthe holy men around him acted, savors very much of a portion of the\nhurly-burly of a popular democratic election. When no argument could\nprevail, the bishops and others who were present clapped the pastoral\nstaff into his hands, forced the ring upon his finger, shouted for\nhis election and bore him by force into the church, where _Te Deum_\nwas sung. This right of investiture became a serious matter of\ndispute in the time of Anselm.\n\nMiracles have been attributed to Anselm. A Flemish nobleman was cured\nof a leprosy by drinking the water in which Anselm had washed his\nhands; and a ship, wherein he sailed, having a large hole in one of\nher planks, nevertheless took in no water so long as the holy man was\non board.[135]\n\nFrom the reign of Charlemagne, sovereign princes took upon them\nto give the investiture of the greater benefices by the ring and\npastoral staff.[136] Gregory VII. was the first who endeavored to\ntake from them this right, towards the end of the eleventh century.\n\nArnulph, immediately on his consecration as Bishop of Rochester,\ngave the attendant monks to understand how a dream about a ring had\nforetold this dignity.[137] \u201cArnulph being received by the monks with\nall marks of respect, said to us, on the very day of his election:\n\u2018Brethren, I had assurance given me a few days ago that, unworthy\nas I am, I should soon be raised to the dignity now conferred upon\nme. For as I slept one night, Gundulphus\u2019 (who had been Bishop of\nRochester) \u2018appeared to me, offering me a ring of great weight; which\nbeing too heavy for me, I refused to accept it; but he, chiding me\nfor my stupidity in rejecting his present, obliged me to receive it,\nand then disappeared.\u2019 This he related to us; and we were convinced\nit was no fantastical illusion which the holy man had seen in his\nsleep, since, being made Bishop of Rochester, he received that very\nring, which Bishop Gundulphus, when alive, had given to Ralph, then\nan abbot, but afterwards bishop.\u201d\n\nSymbols of ring, staff, mitre and gloves are not used at the present\nday in the consecration of archbishops and bishops of the Church\nof England. The delivery of the _pastoral staff_ in the Roman\npontificate was preceded by its consecration, and followed by the\nconsecration and putting on of a _ring_ in token of his marriage to\nthe church; and of a _mitre_, as an helmet of strength and salvation,\nthat his face being adorned, and his head (as it were) armed with the\n_horns_ of both Testaments, may appear terrible to the adversaries of\nthe truth, as also in imitation of the ornaments of Moses and Aaron;\nand of _gloves_, in token of clean hands and breast to be preserved\nby him.[138]\n\nThe episcopal ring, and which is thus esteemed a pledge of the\nspiritual marriage between the bishop and his church, was used at a\nremote period. The fourth Council of Toledo, held in 633, appoints\nthat a bishop condemned by one council and found afterwards innocent\nby a second should be restored by giving him the ring, staff,\netc.[139]\n\nFrom bishops, the custom of the ring has passed to cardinals, who are\nto pay a large sum for the right to use a ring as such. Perhaps this\narises from the fact that cardinals and prelates do not, strictly,\nbelong to the hierarchy.\n\nA bishop, like a pope, receives a gold ring, set with a green gem.\nSometimes an abbot of a convent is invested with a ring, but this is\nsaid only to occur when he possesses a bishop\u2019s powers.\n\nSolid gold rings are frequently found in tombs of abbots and\nbishops.[140]\n\nIn a description of the finger-ring found in the grave of the\nvenerable Bede, it is said, that no priest, during the reign of\nCatholicity in England, was buried or enshrined without his ring.\nThis, however, has been questioned.[141]\n\nHigh dignitaries of the Church do not appear to have restricted\nthemselves to a single ring. On the hands of the effigy of Cardinal\nBeaufort in Winchester Cathedral, there are gloves fringed with gold\nand having an oval-shaped jewel on the back; while on the middle and\nthird fingers of each hand are rings worn over the gloves.\n\n[Illustration: (Bishop Bitton Ring)]\n\nIn new paving and beautifying of Exeter Cathedral in England, a\nleaden coffin was found of a Bishop Bitton, who died in 1307.[142]\nNear the bones of the finger was discovered a sapphire ring set\nin gold, in the centre of which was engraved a hand with the two\nforefingers extended in the attitude of benediction.\n\nThis extension of the two forefingers, in company with the thumb,\nmust have been often observed in Catholic pictures. We see it in the\npainting of the Virgin and Child in the D\u00fcsseldorf collection now in\nNew-York.\n\nThe thumb and the first two fingers have always been reserved as\nsymbols of the three persons of the Trinity.[143] When a bishop\ngives his blessing, he blesses with the thumb and first two fingers.\nSepulchral monuments bear witness of this fact.\n\nBoth the Greek and Latin Churches agree that the thumb and first two\nfingers symbolize the Trinity.[144]\n\nIt is, however, insisted that the origin of thus using the thumb\nand two fingers is not of Christian, but of heathen derivation;\nfor Apuleius mentions this practice as the usual one with orators\nsoliciting the attention of an audience.[145] Here we see another\npagan custom become a Christian one.\n\nThe hand, with the thumb and two fingers extended, is sometimes\ncalled the \u201chand of justice.\u201d[146]\n\nMiniature hands, taking in a part of the arm, are found in Rome,\nwhich have the thumb and two forefingers extended and the remaining\nfingers closed. Caylus gives a drawing of one (two inches and nine\nlines in length) which has a serpent stretched on the back of the\nhand, after having surrounded the wrist, and a lizard, likewise\nin relief, placed upon the arm.[147] The author we have referred\nto cannot account for this peculiar disposition of the thumb and\nfingers; but he considers that the thing itself was an offering, and\nrefers to a hole in it by which it could be suspended. But we observe\nthat Addison, in his Remarks on Italy,[148] says: \u201cThe custom of\nhanging up limbs of wax, as well as pictures, is certainly direct\nfrom the old heathens, who used, upon their recovery, to make an\noffering in wood, metal or clay of the part that had been afflicted\nwith a distemper, to the deity that delivered them. I have seen, I\nbelieve, every limb of a human body figured in iron or clay which\nwere formerly made on this occasion, among the several collections\nof antiquities that have been shown in Italy.\u201d This, however, does\nnot account for the snake and the lizard, or the peculiarity of\nclosing two fingers and elevating the others with the thumb; and we\nare inclined to raise a question, whether the miniature hand and arm,\nfigured by Caylus, was not an amulet and worn as such? The position\nof the fingers and thumb may here denote power, or authority and\ncontrol over noxious creatures. A Roman soldier going into Egypt\nmight carry such an one.[149] (This custom of offering a model of the\nrestored part, was common with the ancient Egyptians.[150])\n\nCatholics kiss the bishop\u2019s hand, or, rather, the ring which he wears\nin virtue of his episcopal office.\n\nIn the earliest ages bishops sealed with rings; but from the ninth\ncentury they had distinct seals.[151]\n\nIt is said that formerly bishops wore their rings on the forefinger\nof the right hand.[152]\n\nWhen a bishop receives the ring at his consecration, the words used\nare: \u201cReceive the ring, the badge of fidelity, to the end that,\nadorned with inviolable fidelity, you may guard, without reproach,\nthe Spouse of God, that is, the Holy Church.\u201d\n\n\n\u00a7 9. At the English Law Bar, there is a distinction among the\nbarristers. Those called Serjeants are of the highest and most\nancient degree, and judges of the Courts of Westminster are always\nadmitted into this venerable order before they are advanced to the\nBench.\n\nThe ceremony of making a serjeant is or rather was a very imposing\nand expensive one. Connected with this ceremony, the serjeant had to\ngive a great dinner, \u201clike to the feast of a king\u2019s coronation,\u201d and\nwhich continued seven days, and he had to present gold rings, bearing\nsome loyal motto, to every prince, duke and archbishop present, and\nto every earl and bishop, lord privy seal, lords chief justices,\nlord chief baron, every lord baron of Parliament, abbot and notable\nprelate, worshipful knight, master of the rolls, every justice, baron\nof exchequer, chamberlain, officer and clerk of the courts, each\nreceiving a ring, convenient for his degree. And a similar token was\ngiven to friends.\n\nThese rings were delivered by some friend of the new serjeant\u2019s and\nwho was of the standing of barrister. He was called his _colt_.\nWhitlock says, when the new Serjeants counted, their _colts_\ndelivered the rings.[153] Why they are thus called is not very\nclear: \u201c_colt_,\u201d according to Shakspeare, is a young foolish fellow.\n\nIn 1 _Modern Reports, case 30_, we have a hint of \u201cshort weight.\u201d\n\u201cSeventeen serjeants being made the 14th day of November, a daye\nor two after Serjeant Powis, the junior of them all, coming to the\nKing\u2019s Bench bar, Lord Chief Justice Kelynge told him that he had\nsomething to say to him, viz.: that the rings which he and the rest\nof the serjeants had given weighed but eighteen shillings apiece;\nwhereas Fortescue, in his book _De Laudibus Legum Angli\u00e6_, says, \u2018The\nrings given to the chief justices and to the chief baron ought to\nweigh twenty shillings apiece;\u2019 and that he spoke not this expecting\na recompence, but that it might not be drawn into a precedent, and\nthat the young gentlemen there might take notice of it.\u201d\n\nWe consider the matter about serjeants\u2019 rings sufficiently curious\nand interesting to allow of our adding extracts from Fortescue and\nCooke:\n\n\u201cBut this you must understand,[154] that when the day appointed\nis come, those elect persons, among other solemnities, must keep\na great dinner, like to the feast of a king\u2019s coronation, which\nshall continue and last for the space of seven days, and none of\nthose elect persons shall defray the charges growing to him about\nthe costs of this solemnity with less expense than the sum of four\nhundred marks; so that the expenses which eight men so elect shall\nthen bestow, will surmount to the sum of three thousand and two\nhundred marks, of which expenses one parcel shall be this: Every of\nthem shall give rings of gold to the value of forty pounds sterling\nat the least; and your chancellour well remembreth, that at what\ntime he received this state and degree, the rings which he then gave\nstood him in fifty pounds. For every such serjeant, at the day of\nhis creation, useth to give unto every prince, duke and archbishop\nbeing present at that solemnity and to the Lord Chancellour and Lord\nTreasurer of England a ring of the value of 26_s_. 8_d_.\n\n\u201cAnd to every earl and bishop, being likewise present, and also to\nthe lord privy seal, to both the lords chief justices, and to the\nlord chief baron of the King\u2019s Exchequer a ring of the value of 20_s_.\n\n\u201cAnd to every lord baron of the Parliament, and to every abbot and\nnotable prelate and worshipful knight, being then present, and also\nto the master of the rolls and to every justice a ring of the value\nof a mark; and likewise to every baron of the exchequer, to the\nchamberlains and to all the officers and notable men serving in the\nking\u2019s courts rings of a smaller price but agreeably to their estates\nto whom they are given.\n\n\u201cInsomuch that there shall not be a clerk, especially in the Court\nof the Common Bench, but he shall receive a ring convenient for his\ndegree; and, besides these, they give divers rings to other of their\nfriends.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd on Tuesday, May 10,[155] in the second week of the term, the\nsaid Sir John Walter being of the Inner Temple, Sir Henry Yelverton\nof Grayes Inne and Sir Thomas Trevor of the Inner Temple, with the\nbenchers, readers and others of those Inns of Court whereof they\nrespectively had been, being attended by the warden of the Fleet and\nmarshall of the Exchequer, made their appearance at Serjeants Inne\nin Fleet street, before the two chief justices and all the justices\nof both benches. And Sir Randolph Crew, chief justice, made a short\nspeech unto them, and (because it was intended they should not\ncontinue serjeants to practise) he acquainted them with the king\u2019s\npurpose of advancing them to seats of judicature, and exhorted them\nto demeane themselves well in their several places. Then every one\nin his order made his count, (and defences were made by the ancient\nserjeants,) and their several writs being read, their coyfs and\nscarlet hoods were put on them, and being arrayed in their brown-blew\ngownes, went into their chambers, and all the judges to their several\nplaces at Westminster, and afterward the said three serjeants,\nattyred in their party-coloured robes, attended with the marshall and\nwarden of the Fleete, the servants of the said serjeants going before\nthem, and accompanied with the benchers and others of the several\nInns of Court of whose society they had been, walked unto Westminster\nand there placed themselves in the hall over against the Common Pleas\nbar.\n\n\u201cAnd the hall being full, a lane was made for them to the barre;\n(the justices of the Common Bench being in court) they recited three\nseveral counts, (and several defences made to several counts,) and\nhad their writs read. The first and third by Brownlow the chief\nprothonotary, and the second by Goulton the second prothonotary. And\nSir John Walter and Thomas Trevor gave rings to the judges with this\ninscription, \u2018_Regi Legi servire libertas._\u2019 And Sir Henry Yelverton\ngave rings whereof the inscription was, \u2018_Stat Lege Corona_,\u2019 and\npresently after (they all standing together) returned to Serjeants\nInn, where was a great feast, at which Sir James Lee, Lord Treasurer\nand the Earl of Manchester, Lord President of the Council, were\npresent.\u201d\n\n\n\u00a7 10. Arabian princesses wear golden rings on their fingers, to which\nlittle bells are suspended, so that their superior rank may be known,\nand they, themselves, receive in passing, the homage due to them.[156]\n\n\n\u00a7 11. The insignia of honor peculiar to the Roman knights were a\ncharger, furnished at the public expense, a golden ring and a certain\nplace in the theatre.[157] The senators also wore golden rings.[158]\n\n\n\u00a7 12. We read of:\n\n                  \u201c---- an agate stone\n      On the forefinger of an alderman;\u201d\n\nbut cannot discover whether an alderman in Shakspeare\u2019s time\nwore a ring in connection with his office. We however find this:\n\u201cGrave persons, such as aldermen, used a plain broad gold ring\nupon the thumb.\u201d It may be that Shakspeare was not thinking of an\nalderman whose duties were attached to a mere city, but of the\nearl or _alderman_ of a whole shire, to whom the government of it\nwas intrusted. Such a person, from the authority he possessed,\nmight have worn a ring of power in former times. The word had the\nsame signification in general as senator. By Spelman\u2019s Glossary\nit appears there was anciently in England a title of _aldermannus\ntotius Angli\u00e6_; and that this officer was in the nature of Lord Chief\nJustice of England.\n\nIt will be seen that there is an incorrectness in Mercutio, a\nVeronese and in Verona, referring to an alderman. Knight, in his\nedition of Shakspeare, sees this and proposes that we read, instead\nof alderman, _burgomaster_. It has been observed that in whatever\ncountry Shakspeare lays the scenes of his drama, he follows the\ncostume of his own.[159]\n\nIn a portrait of Lady Ann Clifford, the celebrated Countess of\nPembroke, she wears a ring upon the thumb of her right hand.\n\nThe mention of this lady will, at once, call up Ben Jonson\u2019s epitaph\nof the \u201cwise, fair and good,\u201d and excuse us for quoting:\n\n\u201cThat is a touching pillar planted on the road between Penrith and\nAppleby, in the year 1656, by Anne, Countess Dowager of Pembroke,\nto commemorate her final parting with her mother on this spot, on\nthe second of April, 1616. The inscription declares that Anne of\nPembroke gave four pounds to be annually distributed \u2018upon the stone\nhereby\u2019 amongst the poor within the parish of Brougham. Well, after\nforty years of troubles--and troubles that must have cost the \u2018pious\nPembroke\u2019 many a bitter hour--it is pleasant to think of the daughter\nreturning to consecrate it. Four pounds a year could not do much\ngood, you may say, to the people of Brougham: but it may consecrate\nthe spot in years of scarcity by the thanks of people sorely pressed;\nand the spirit of tenderness which dictated the bounty is something\nto think of every year.\u201d[160]\n\nIn a polyglot dictionary published in 1625, by John Minshew, under\nthe article _Ring Finger_, it is said that rings were worn on the\nthumb by soldiers and doctors.\n\nA thumb-ring would not seem to be always connected with a dignity, if\nit is to be judged of through its inscription or bearing. A massive\nthumb-ring of brass, strongly gilt, was formerly in the collection of\nthe late Marquis of Donegal. Its motto, within side, was in quaint\nLatin, (_Cauda piera meleor cera_,) which may be rendered in this\njingle:\n\n      When God does send,\n      The times shall mend.[161]\n\n\n\n\n                           CHAPTER THREE.\n\n     RINGS HAVING SUPPOSED CHARMS OR VIRTUES, AND CONNECTED WITH\n    DEGRADATION AND SLAVERY, OR USED FOR SAD OR WICKED PURPOSES.\n\n  1. Antiquity of Amulets and Enchanted and Magical Rings;\n  Samothracian Rings; Double Object in Amulets; Substance and Form\n  of them. 2. Precious Stones and their Healing or Protective\n  Powers; Jasper; Diamond; Ruby; Carbuncle; Jacinth; Amethyst;\n  Emerald; Topaz; Agate; Sapphire; Opal; Cornelian; Chalcedony;\n  Turquoise; Coral; Loadstone; Sweating Stones. 3. Enchanted Rings;\n  those possessed by Execustus; Solomon\u2019s Ring; Ballads of Lambert\n  Linkin and Hynd Horn. 4. Talismanic Ring; Elizabeth of Poland;\n  Ring against Poison offered to Mary of Scotland; Rings from the\n  Palace at Eltham and from Coventry; Sir Edmund Shaw; Shell Ring.\n  5. Medicinal Rings. 6. Magical Rings; Ariosto; Ring of Gyges; Sir\n  Tristram; Cramp Rings; Rings to cure Convulsions, Warts, Wounds,\n  Fits, Falling Sickness, etc.; Galvanic Rings; Headache and Plague\n  Rings; Amulet against Storms. 7. Ordeal. 8. Punishment in time of\n  Alfred. 9. Founding of Aix-la-Chapelle. 10. Ring on a Statue. 11.\n  Bloody Baker. 12. The Borgia Ring. 13. Rings held in the Mouth. 14.\n  Rings used by Thieves, Gamblers and Cheats. 15. Roman Slave.\n\n\n\u00a7 1. Rings were made use of by way of charm and talisman in remote\nages.\n\nTheir potency was directed against fascination of every kind, but\nmore particularly the evil eye, against demons and witches, to excite\ndebility, against the power of flames, against wounds in battle and,\nindeed, every danger and most diseases. Nor was it the ring alone,\nfor the supposed virtue existed also in the material or in some\ndevice or magical letter engraved upon its circumference.\n\nShakspeare is thinking of the fascination of the eye in \u201cTitus\nAndronicus,\u201d when he makes Aaron say:[162]\n\n  \u201cAnd faster bound to Aaron\u2019s _charming_ eyes.\u201d\n\nIt has been observed that even Solomon was not exempt from the\ndread of the fascination of the evil eye, and reference is made to\nProverbs xxiii. 6: \u201cEat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil\neye, nor desire thou his dainty meats.\u201d A writer, however, remarks\nhow the context clearly shows that nothing more is intended than\nto express the disquiet with which a niggardly person regards what\nanother consumes at his table.[163] This dreaded fascination still\nperplexes the minds of Orientals; and is not banished from Spanish\nand Neapolitan superstitions. Naples is the headquarters for charms\nand amulets. All the learning has been collected by the Canon Jorio\nand the Marques Arditi.[164]\n\nWe read of the Samothracian talismanic iron ring, engraved with\nmagical characters, inclosing an herb cut at a certain time or\nsmall stones found under particular constellations.[165] Samothrace\nis an island of the \u00c6gean sea, opposite the Trojan territory, and\ncelebrated for its mysteries. An initiation into those mysteries was\nsupposed to have efficiency in preserving persons from dangers by\nsea.[166]\n\nIt has been observed that inscribed rings, commonly called talismanic\nor cabalistic rings, are improperly so designated. The mixed term is\nmuch more appropriate, _annuli virtuosi_. Perhaps _mystical_ might be\na suitable name.\n\nAlthough true \u201cAbraxas\u201d stones have that word engraved upon them, and\nmost of these are as old as the third century, yet this term is now\napplied to gems which bear supposed talismanic emblems, although it\nwould be most proper to call them Abraxoids.\n\nAccording to Caylus, amulets were always made with a double object:\nto flatter the superstition of the people and serve for seals; thus\nholding on to the charm itself, while they were able to spread a\nsupposed effect through impression; and this idea, he observes, is\nstrengthened by the fact that the subjects cut upon them never appear\nin relief.\n\nPhilostratus says: \u201cThe Indian Brahmins carry a staff and a ring,\nby means of which they are able to do almost any thing.\u201d Here may\nbe the origin of similar articles received by Christian kings and\necclesiastics as emblems of power?\n\nStones and conglomerated earth were mostly used for amulets.\n\nWherever the living man turns up the remains of past ages,\nsuperstition is shown to belong to them through the appearance\nof amulets; and no matter whether the subjects be Pagan or\nChristian--for still we find this proof of weakness. Even in our\nown day, men will carry these things under some creed that allows\nor custom which defends their use. It is a pity such persons do not\nfeel, as they must know, that he is nearest heaven whose conduct is\nhis talisman.\n\nMany of the ancient amulets are in other shapes than rings; often in\nthe form of perforated cylinders, worn round the neck; and we presume\nthey were set in rings for convenience.\n\nWerenfels, in his Dissertation on Superstition,[167] where he speaks\nof a superstitious man, says: \u201cHe will make use of no herbs but\nsuch as are gathered in the planetary hour. Against any sort of\nmisfortune he will arm himself with a _ring_, to which he has fixed\nthe benevolent aspect of the stars and the lucky hour that was just\nat the instant flying away, but which, by a wonderful nimbleness, he\nhas seized and detained.\u201d\n\nA ring, being a circle, was given to the initiated in the Eleusinian\nmysteries as an amulet possessed of the power to avert danger.[168]\n\nWe find amulets referred to in Isaiah: \u201cIn that day will the Lord\ntake from them the ornaments of the feet-rings and the net works and\nthe crescents, the pendents and the bracelets and the thin veils, the\ntires and the fetters and the zones and the perfume boxes and the\n_amulets_.\u201d\n\nFosbroke[169] says that the makers of talismanic rings generally used\nto have the sealing part made of a square shape; we, however, find\nmany of an oval form.\n\n\u201cAmulet\u201d with us, is _talisman_ with the Arabians. The Jews were\nextremely superstitious in the use of them to drive away diseases;\nand the Mishna forbids them, unless received from an approved man who\nhad cured at least three persons by the same means.\n\nThe use of charms and amulets to cure diseases or avert danger and\nmischiefs, both from the body and the fruits of the earth, was even\ncommon among ignorant and superstitious Christians: for Constantine\nhad allowed the heathen, in the beginning of his reformation, for\nsome time, not only to consult their augurs in public, but also to\nuse charms by way of remedy for bodily distempers, and to prevent\nstorms of rain and hail from injuring the ripe fruits, as appears\nfrom the very law where he condemns the other sorts of magic (that\ntended to do mischief) to be punished with death. St. Chrysostom\nthundered against the use of amulets and charms, as did St. Basil and\nEpiphanius, which shows that this piece of superstition, of _trying\nto cure diseases without physic_, was deeply rooted in the hearts of\nmany Christians.[170]\n\nWe here give an enlarged specimen of one of these complicated\namulets--an amulet against evil, to act favorably and fortunately.[171]\n\n[Illustration: (Amulet of Protection)]\n\nThe emblems are thus made out. The hare, rustic head and head of a\ngoat are to be considered as representing the god Pan, and to be\na guard against fear and certain sudden terrors called _panics_,\nwhich were thought to be occasioned by this god.[172] The cornucopia\n(erect) is to confirm abundance and happiness. In Memphis a white\ncock was held to be a sacred animal. He was consecrated to the sun:\naccording to the Egyptians, to Osiris. It was made an emblem of the\nsoul. When Socrates hoped to be able to unite the divinity of his\nsoul with the divinity of the greater world, he ordered a cock to be\nsacrificed to \u00c6sculapius, as to the physician of souls. This animal\nwas sacrificed to Annubis, who was the sailor\u2019s Mercury. The dolphin,\nfed from food thrown away by sailors, is to represent those seeming\nfriends who swim with and follow our fortunes until they get depth of\nwater sufficient for themselves. Here the cock, by treading upon a\ndolphin, with a palm branch over him, represents the power of wisdom\nin the soul over a feigned or evil friend.\n\nWe are inclined to present the reader with another of these\nremarkable combinations, which is said to be an amulet of\nhealth.[173]\n\n[Illustration: (Amulet of Health)]\n\nThe bird Ibis appears here as it is seen in the hieroglyphics upon\nobelisks. It was dedicated to Osiris and Isis, good and salutary\ngenii. This creature treads upon the crocodile, emblematical of\nTyphon, who was reckoned among the Egyptians as the cause of every\nevil. The two-headed Janus may signify the power of the sun and of\nOsiris from east to west in the day and in the night (although it has\nbeen questioned whether the faces are not those of Pythagoras and\nthe magician Apollonius). The goat\u2019s head, which also appeared in\nthe last gem, is said to be an amulet of health and intended to have\npower to defend against evils which malice might work, and such its\npower is marked by holding in its mouth a monstrous crested dragon\nallied to hatred and coupled with poisonous qualities and carrying a\nterrible appearance.\n\n\n\u00a7 2. Jasper, set in rings, took the lead of all other precious stones\nin its supposed healing power; and this power was supposed to be\nstrengthened when combined with silver in preference to gold.\n\nEven Galen has recommended a ring with jasper set in it and engraved\nwith the figure of a man wearing a bunch of herbs round the neck.\nMany of the Gnostic or Basilidian gems, evidently used for magical\nand talismanic purposes, were of jasper. Rings of this material, and\nto be used as marriage tokens, are said to be made at Wesingburg, the\nmaterials being supplied from the shores of Lake Wetter.[174]\n\nPierre de Boniface, a great alchemist and much versed in magic,\nwho died in 1323, is the reputed author of a manuscript poem on\nthe virtues of gems, of which the celebrated Nostradamus gives the\nfollowing pretended extract:\n\n\u201cThe diamond renders a man invincible; the agate of India or Crete,\neloquent and prudent, amiable and agreeable; the amethyst resists\nintoxication; the cornelian appeases anger; the hyacinth provokes\nsleep.\u201d[175]\n\nIn a scarce poem, by T. Cutwode, entitled _Calth\u00e6 Poetarum_, or\nthe Humble Bee, (1599,) the goddess Diana is introduced, modestly\nclothing and attiring the heroine:\n\n     \u201cAnd with an emerald hangs she on a ring,\n      That keeps just reckoning of our chastitie.\n\n             *       *       *       *       *\n\n      And therefore, ladies, it behoves you well\n      To walk full warily when stones will tell.\u201d\n\nThe ancients have had a very high esteem of the diamond, \u201cchampion\nof the precious stones,\u201d insomuch as they have thought it to be\nendued with divine virtues, and that if it were but worn in a ring or\ncarried about a person near his heart, it would assuage the fury of\nhis enemies and expel vain fears, preserve from swooning, drive away\nthe vanity of dreams and terrors of the night and frustrate all the\nmalign contagious power of poisons.\n\nAccording to Josephus, the high-priest of the Israelites wore a ring\non his finger of inestimable value and celestial virtue; and Aaron\nhad one whereof the diamond, by its virtues, operated prodigious\nthings, for it changed its vivid lustre into a dark color when the\nHebrews were to be punished by death for their sins, when they were\nto fall by the sword it appeared of a blood-red color, while, if they\nwere innocent, it sparkled as usual.\n\nIt is reported of the diamond that it is endued with such a faculty\nas that if it be in place with a loadstone, it bindeth up all its\npower and hindereth all its attractive virtue. Also, that if a\ndiamond be put upon the head of a woman without her knowledge, it\nwill make her, in her sleep, if she be faithful to her husband, to\ncast herself into his embraces; but if she be an adulteress, to turn\naway from him.\n\nWe take the above from a quaint work, by Thomas Nicols.[176] He goes\non to say: \u201cIt hath been by the ancients esteemed powerfull for the\ndriving away of _Lemures_, _Incubos_ and _Succubos_; and for the\nhindring of contentions and to beget in men courage, magnanimitie and\nstout-heartednesse.\u201d\n\nA species of ruby, called _Balassius_, or _Palatius_,[177] is said\nto restrain fury and wrath. There is a story of this stone by\n\u00c6lian.[178] Heraclis had cured the fractured thigh of a stork. The\ncreature flying in a dark night by a palace where one of these stones\nlay flaming like a lamp, took it up and brought it to Heraclis and\ncast it into her bosom, as a token of the acknowledgment of the favor\nwhich it had received from her in the cure of its harm. Andreas\nBaccius, speaking of a rubine of his inclosed in a ring, says that\non the fifth of December, 1600, he was travelling with his wife\nCatharina Adelmania to Studgard, and, in his travel, he observed his\nrubine to change its glory into obscurity, whereupon he told his\nwife and prognosticated that evil thereupon would ensue either to\nhimself or her, which accordingly did; for, not many days after, his\nwife was taken ill with a mortal disease and died. After which, he\nsaith, his rubine, of its own accord, did again recover its former\nlustre, glory, beauty and splendor. A perfectly pure deep carmine-red\nruby often exceeds in price a diamond of the same size[179] It has\nbeen written, that, if the carbuncle be worn in an amulet (or drunk)\nit will be good against poison and the plague, and will drive away\nsadness, evil thoughts, terrible dreams and evil spirits; also that\nit cleareth the mind and keepeth the body in safety, and that if any\ndanger be towards it the stone will grow black and obscure, and that\nbeing past, returns to its former color again.[180]\n\nThe jacinth or hyacinth is said to have the faculty to procure\nsleep when worn in a ring on the finger. Cardanus says he was wont\nto wear one to the intent to procure sleep, to which purpose \u201cit\nseemed somewhat to confer, but not much.\u201d The amethyst is said, by\nAristotle, to hinder the ascension of vapors; and that this is done\nby the stone drawing the vapors to itself and then discussing them.\nAndreas Baccius says that it sharpens the wit, diminishes sleep and\nresists poison.\n\nThe emerald is said to be at enmity with all impurity; and will\nbreak if it do but touch the skin of an adulterer. We cannot forego\nNicols\u2019 description of this stone: \u201cThe emerald is a pretious stone\nor gemine of so excellent a viridity or spring-colour as that if a\nman shall look upon an emerald by a pleasant green meadow, it will\nbe more amiable than the meadow, and overcome the meadow\u2019s glorie\nby the glorie of that spring of viriditie which it hath in itself.\nThe largeness of the meadow it will overcome with the amplitude of\nits glory, wherewith farre above its greatnesse it doth feed the\neie; and the virescencie of the meadow it will overcome with the\nbrightnesse of its glory, which in itself seemeth to embrace the\nglorious viridity of many springs.\u201d It is reported of Nero that he\nwas wont to behold the fencers and sword players through an emerald\nas by a _speculum_ or optic glass and that for this cause the jewel\nis called _gemina Neronis_. According to Pausanias,[181] the favorite\nring of Polycrates, a tyrant of Samos, contained an emerald. He was\nadvised by Amasis, king of Egypt, to chequer his continued prosperity\nand enjoyments by relinquishing some of his most favorite pleasures;\nand he complied by throwing into the sea this most beautiful of his\njewels. The voluntary loss of so precious a ring affected him for\nsome time; but a few days after, he received, as a present, a large\nfish, in whose belly the jewel was found.[182]\n\nAlbertus Magnus observes: \u201cIf you would sharpen the understanding,\nincrease riches and foresee the future, take an emerald. For\nprophesying, it must be placed beneath the tongue.\u201d\n\nThe topaz is said to free men from passions and sadness of mind; and\nthat, if it be cast into boiling water, it will suddenly \u201castonish it\ninto coldness.\u201d\n\nThe agate is stated to be good against poisons. It is reported of the\neagle that it doth carry this gem into her nest to secure her young\nfrom the bitings of venomous creatures. \u201cIf,\u201d says Albertus Magnus,\n\u201cyou would avoid all dangers and overcome all earthly things and\npossess a stout heart, take an agate. It causes danger and opposition\nto vanish and makes a man strong, agreeable and of good cheer.\u201d\n\nThe sapphire, according to St. Jerome, will procure the wearer the\nfavor with princes and all others, pacify enemies, free him from\nenchantments, bonds and imprisonments and it looseth men out of\nprison and assuageth the wrath of God. It is reported of it that\nit is of so contrary a nature to poisons that if it be put into a\nglass with a spider or laid upon the mouth of the glass where it is,\nthe spider will quickly die.[183] It is said to keep men pure and,\ntherefore, is worn by priests.[184] The Gentiles consecrated this\ngem to Apollo, because, in their inquiries at his oracle, if they\nhad the presence of this gem with them, they imagined they had their\nanswer the sooner.\n\nThe opal is said to sharpen the sight of its possessor and cloud the\neyes of those who stand about him, so that they can neither see nor\nmind what is done before them; for this cause it is asserted to be\na safe patron of thieves and thefts. Albertus Magnus says, \u201cIf you\nwish to become invisible, take an opal and wrap it in a bay-leaf,\nand it is of such virtue that it will make the bystanders blind,\nhence it has been called the patron of thieves.\u201d Nicols gives a\nglowing description of this stone.[185] \u201cThe _opalus_ is a pretious\nstone which hath in it the bright fiery flame of a carbuncle, the\npure refulgent purple of an amethyst, and a whole of the emerauld\u2019s\nspring glory or virescency, and every one of them shining with an\nincredible mixture and very much pleasure.\u201d It is reported of Nonius,\na Roman senator, that he had rather been deprived of his country and\nsenatorship than part with an opal which he had from Antonius.\n\nIt is asserted of the cornelian that it causeth him that weareth it\nto be of a cheerful heart, free from fear and nobly audacious and is\na good protection against witchcraft and fascination.\n\n\u201cChalcedony procureth victory to him that is the possessor of it and\ncarrieth it about him. It is much used for signets, for it sealeth\nfreely without any devouring of the wax.\u201d[186]\n\nThe report on jaspers is that they preserve men from drowning; and\n\u201cdivers do very superstitiously attribute much power and virtue to\nthem if figures, images and characters be engraven upon them. The\neffects which by this means are wrought in or for any, Andreas\nBaccius doth attribute to the devil.\u201d[187]\n\nWe might presume that the ring of Gyges held the opal or the stone\nknown as the Heliotrope or Oriental jasper; for Pliny gives the\nreport of magicians that if this gem be anointed with the juice of\nthe marigold, it will cause him that carrieth it to walk invisible.\n\nThe forget-me-not stone, turquoise or Turkey stone, \u201cceruleous like\nunto a serene heaven,\u201d if worn in a ring of gold will, it is said,\npreserve men from falls and from the bruises proceeding of them by\nreceiving that harm into itself which otherwise would fall upon\nthe man; yet these virtues are said not to be in the gem except it\nhas been received as a gift. \u201cThe Turkeys,\u201d says Fenton, in his\nSecrete Wonders of Nature,[188] \u201cdoth move when there is any peril\nprepared to him that weareth it.\u201d Ben Jonson and Drayton refer to\nthe same superstition. Rueus says, that he saw a _Turchoys_, which,\nupon the death of its master, lost all its beauty and contracted a\ncleft, which, a certain man afterwards buying at an under price,\nreturned again to its former glory and beauty, as if, observes he,\nby a certain sense, it had perceived itself to have found a new\nmaster. The same author says of it that it doth change, grow pale\nand destitute of its native color if he that weareth it do, at any\ntime, grow infirm or weak; and again, upon the recovery of its\nmaster, that it doth recover its own lovely beauty, which ariseth of\nthe temperament of its own natural heat and becometh ceruleous like\nunto a serene heaven. According to the ancients, the wearing of the\nturquoise had a most excellent quality: it destroyed animosity and,\nin particular, appeased discord between man and wife.\n\nIt is possible that Shakspeare had in his mind the seeming influence\nof the turquoise (as well as its value):\n\n  \u201c_Tubal._ One of them showed me a ring, that he had of your\n  daughter for a monkey.\n\n  \u201c_Shylock._ Out upon her! Thou torturest me, Tubal; it was my\n  turquoise; I had it of Leah, when I was a bachelor: I would not\n  have given it for a wilderness of monkeys.\u201d\n\nThe Arabs value the turquoise chiefly for its reputed talismanic\nqualities; and they seek for large pieces, without particular\nreference to purity of color. The stones intended for amulets are\nusually set in small rings of plated tin.\n\nThe wearing of coral in a ring has been thought of power to \u201chinder\nthe delusions of the devil, and to secure men from _Incubus_ and\n_Succubus_.\u201d[189]\n\nAll remember Shakspeare\u2019s beautiful exposition of adversity:\n\n     \u201cWhich, like the toad, ugly and venomous,\n      Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.\u201d[190]\n\nFenton, writing in 1569, says: \u201cThere is found in heads of old\nand great toads a stone which they call borax or stelon: it is\nmost commonly found in the head of a he-toad.\u201d They were not only\nconsidered specifics against poison when taken internally, but \u201cbeing\nused in rings, gave forewarning against venom.\u201d This stone has often\nbeen sought for, but nothing has been found except accidental or\nperhaps morbid indurations of the skull. Lupton says,[191] \u201cYou\nshall know whether the _tode-stone_ be the right and perfect stone\nor not. Hold the stone before a tode, so that he may see it, and if\nit be a right and true stone, the tode will leap toward it and make\nas though he would snatch it. He envieth so much that man should\nhave that stone.\u201d Nicols, in his Lapidary, observes:[192] \u201cSome say\nthis stone is found in the head of an old toad; others say that the\nold toad must be laid upon the cloth that is red, and it will belch\nit up, or otherwise not; you may give a like credit to both these\nreports, for as little truth is to be found in them as may possibly\nbe. Witnesse Anselmus Boetius in _Lib._ 2, in the chapter of this\nstone; who saith that to try this experiment in his youth, he took an\nold toad and laid it upon a red cloth, and watched it a whole night\nto see it belch up its stone, but after his long and tedious watchful\nexpectation, he found the old toad in the same posture to gratifie\nthe great pangs of his whole night\u2019s restlessness.\n\n\u201cSome of the toads that carry this precious jewel must be very\nlarge, for Boetius says the stone is found of the bigness of an\negg, sometimes brownish, sometimes reddish, sometimes yellowish,\nsometimes greenish.\u201d It is reported that if poison be present, the\nalleged stone will go into a perspiration. In connection with this\nsensitiveness, it may be observed that precious stones are said to\nsweat at the presence of poison. We are told that the jewels which\nKing John wore did so in his last sickness. There is no doubt,\nhowever, although Shakspeare makes him cry out, \u201cPoison\u2019d--ill fare,\u201d\nthat John got his death from unripe pears and new cider. His living\nabout three days from his attack, is a reasonable proof of not dying\nby poison.[193]\n\nIn a strange old book, and from which an interesting article appears\nin \u201cHousehold Words,\u201d it is said, the use of a ring, that has lain\nfor a certain time in a sparrow\u2019s nest, will procure love.\n\n\n\u00a7 3. That kind of fortune-telling, called Divination, has held\nan empire over the mind of man from the earliest period. It was\npractised by the Jews, Egyptians, Chaldeans, Persians, Greeks and\nRomans, and is known to all modern nations.[194]\n\nThe species of divination by rings is called Dactylomancy.[195]\n\nScott, in his work on Demonology,[196] observes, that in the now\ndishonored science of astrology, its professors pretended to have\ncorrespondence with the various spirits of the elements on the\nprinciples of the Rosicrusian philosophy. They affirmed they could\nbind to their service and imprison in a ring some fairy, sylph, or\nsalamander and compel it to appear when called and render answers to\nsuch questions as the viewer should propose. It is remarkable that\nthe sage himself did not pretend to see the spirit; but the task of\nreviewer or reader was intrusted to a third party, a boy or girl\nusually under the years of puberty.\n\nAs to divination by means of a ring, in the first place the ring was\nto be consecrated with a great deal of mystery: \u201cthe person holding\nit was clad in linen garments to the very shoes, his head shaven all\nround, and he held the vervein plant in his hand,\u201d while, before\nhe proceeded on any thing, the gods were first to be appeased by a\nformulary of prayers, etc. The divination was performed by holding\nthe ring suspended by a fine thread over a round table, on the edge\nof which were made a number of marks, with the twenty-four letters of\nthe alphabet. The ring, in shaking or vibrating over the table, stops\nover certain of the letters, which, being joined together, compose\nthe required answer.[197]\n\nClemente Alexandrino speaks of enchanted rings which predicted future\nevents--such were two possessed by Execustus, the tyrant of Phocis,\nwho was able, by striking them together, to know, by the sound, what\nhe ought to do and what was to happen to him. He was, however,\nkilled through treason. The magnificent rings had been able to tell\nthe time of his death, but they could not point out the means of\navoiding it.\n\nArabian writers make much mention of the magic ring of Solomon.[198]\nIt is said to have been found in the belly of a fish; and many\nfictions have been created about it. The Arabians have a book called\n_Scalcuthal_ expressly on the subject of magic rings; and they trace\nthis ring of Solomon\u2019s, in a regular succession, from Jared the\nfather of Enoch to Solomon.[199] Josephus,[200] after extolling the\nwisdom and acquirements of Solomon, and assuring us that God had\nenabled him to expel demons by a method remaining of great force to\nthe days of the historian, says:\n\n\u201cI have seen a certain man of my own country whose name was Eleazar,\nreleasing people that were demoniacal, in the presence of Vespasian,\nhis sons and his captains and the whole multitude of his soldiers.\nThe manner of the case was this: he put a _ring_, that had a part\nof one of those roots mentioned by Solomon, to the nostrils of the\ndemoniac; after which, he drew out the demon through his nostrils;\nand when the man fell down, immediately he adjured him to return\nunto him no more, making still mention of Solomon and reciting the\nincantations which he composed.\n\n\u201cAnd when Eleazar would persuade and demonstrate to the spectators\nthat he had such a power, he set a little way off a cup or basin full\nof water, and commanded the demon, as he went out of the man, to\noverturn it, and thereby to let the spectators know that he had left\nthe man; and when this was done, the skill and wisdom of Solomon was\nshown very manifestly.\u201d\n\nIn the popular old ballad of _Lambert Linkin_,[201] rings give proof\nof a terrible coming event by bursting upon the fingers:\n\n\n             *       *       *       *       *\n\n     \u201cThe Lord sat in England\n        A drinking the wine.\n\n     \u201cI wish a\u2019 may be weel\n        Wi\u2019 my lady at hame;\n     _For the rings o\u2019 my fingers_\n       _They\u2019re now burst in twain_.\n\n     \u201cHe saddled his horse,\n        And he came riding down;\n      But as soon as he viewed,\n        Belinkin came in.\n\n     \u201cHe had na weel stepped\n        Twa steps up the stair,\n      Till he saw his pretty young son\n        Lying dead on the floor.\n\n     \u201cHe had na weel stepped\n        Other twa up the stair,\n      Till he saw his pretty lady\n        Lying dead in despair.\n\n     \u201cHe hanged Belinkin\n        Out over the gate;\n      And he burnt the fause nurice,\n        Being under the grate.\u201d\n\nWe would refer our reader to a beautiful Syrian legend in the\n\u201cHousehold Words,\u201d[202] in which a ring is made to play an\ninteresting part upon the fingers of a maiden, who is able to know\nof the good or ill fortune and faith of her absent lover through its\nchanges. He, in giving it, had informed her: \u201cIf good fortune is with\nme, it will retain its brightness; if evil, dim. If I cease to love,\nand the grave opens for me, it will become black.\u201d Fitful changes\nthen come and go upon the ring, as the light and shadow of life\naccompany the roving lover.\n\nThere is a like notion in the ancient Scotch ballad of _Hynd\nHorn_:[203]\n\n     \u201cAnd she gave to me a gay gold ring,\n        With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan;\n      With three shining diamonds set therein,\n        And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie.\n\n             *       *       *       *       *\n\n     \u201cWhat if these diamonds lose their hue,\n        With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan,\n      Just when my love begins for to rew,\n        And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie.\n\n     \u201cFor when your ring turns pale and wan,\n        With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan,\n      Then I\u2019m in love with another man,\n        And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie.\n\n             *       *       *       *       *\n\n     \u201cSeven long years he has been on the sea,\n        With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan;\n      And Hynd Horn has looked how his ring may be,\n        And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie.\n\n     \u201cBut when he looked this ring upon,\n        With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan,\n      The shining diamonds were both pale and wan,\n        And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie.\n\n     \u201cOh! the ring it was both black and blue,\n        With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan;\n      And she\u2019s either dead or she\u2019s married,\n        And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie.\n\n     \u201cHe\u2019s left the seas and he\u2019s come to the land,\u201d etc.\n\nJohn Sterling, whose life has been written by the Rev. Julius Charles\nHare, composed a fiction which is worked up through a supposed\ntalismanic Onyx Ring. The hero had been reading an old book on\nnecromancy; it caused him to long to change his lot; he appears to be\nable to do this, through the appearance or apparition of an old man.\n\u201cWould you,\u201d says this figure, in a sweet but melancholy voice, \u201cin\ntruth accept the power of exchanging your own personal existence at\npleasure for that of other men?\u201d After a moment\u2019s pause, he answered\nboldly, \u201cYes.\u201d \u201cI can bestow the power, but only on these conditions.\nYou will be able to assume a new part in life once in each week.\nFor the one hour after midnight on each Saturday, that is, for the\nfirst hour of the new week, you will remember all you have been and\nwhatever characters you may have chosen for yourself. At the end of\nthe hour you may make a new choice; but, if then deferred, it will\nagain be a week before the opportunity will recur. You will also be\nincapable of revealing to any one the power you are gifted with.\nAnd if you once resume your present being, you will never again be\nable to cast it off. If, on these terms, you agree to my proposal,\ntake this ring and wear it on the forefinger of your right hand. It\nbears the head of the famous Apollonius of Tyana. If you breathe on\nit at the appointed hour, you will immediately become any person\nyou may desire to be,\u201d etc. The hero hesitates and says, \u201cBefore I\nassent to your offer, tell me whether you would think me wise to do\nso.\u201d \u201cYoung man, were I to choose again, my choice would be to fill\nthe station where nature brought me forth and where God, therefore,\ndoubtless, designed me to work.\u201d The ring is taken; it is supposed\nto be at a time when this same hero is in a suspense of love, and\nhe appears successively to take the form of those who are around\nthe maiden of his affections. All this, in fact, is imagined by him\nwhile in sickness. He secures his lady love; and sees upon her finger\nan onyx ring like the one which had appeared to have allowed of his\nvisionary changes. She held up her hand before his face, which his\nfirst impulse was to kiss; but he saw that on one of the fingers was\nan onyx ring. \u201cHow on earth did you come by that? It has haunted me\nas if a magic Ariel were fused amid the gold or imprisoned in the\nstone.\u201d \u201cI will tell you.\u201d And then the lady, somewhat lamely for the\nstory, informs him how she came into possession of it. The author\nacted cleverly in coupling Apollonius with this ring: for he is\nreputed to have been a most potent magician; not only miracles have\nbeen imputed to him, but one writer dares to rank him above Jesus in\nsuperhuman powers.\n\n\n\u00a74. Crowned heads have believed in amulets.\n\nWhen Elizabeth of Poland could not induce her son Andrea to leave his\nlustful wife of sixteen, Joan of Naples, and he was determined to be\nand act the King of Sicily and Jerusalem, she drew from her finger\na richly chased ring, took Andrea aside, placed it upon his finger,\nand, clasping him in her arms, \u201cMy son,\u201d she said, in a trembling\nvoice, \u201csince you refuse to accompany me, here is a talisman which I\nnever make use of but in the last extremity. While you retain this\nring upon your finger, neither steel nor poison can injure you.\u201d \u201cYou\nsee, then, my mother,\u201d answered the prince, smiling, \u201cthus protected,\nyou have no reason to fear for my life.\u201d \u201cThere are other deaths\nbesides those by poison or steel,\u201d replied the queen, sighing. When\nthe course pursued by Andrea had determined Joan that he should be\nkilled, her paramour Bertrand d\u2019Artois told her of the talisman.\n\u201cNevertheless, he dies,\u201d cried Joan. The next day, and in the castle\nof Aversa, this Queen of Naples was working, with her delicate hands,\n_a rope of silk and gold_.\n\nWhen conspirators flew upon him, they attempted to strangle him\nwith their hands, for it was supposed he could not be slain by\nsteel or poison, owing to the amulet which his mother had given\nhim. Struggles and terror were about to allow of his escape, when\nBertrand d\u2019Artois seized the prince round the body and, after a\ndesperate resistance, felled him to the ground; then dragging him by\nthe hair of the head to a balcony which looked out upon the gardens\nand placing his knee upon his victim\u2019s breast, \u201cThis way, barons!\u201d\nhe cried; \u201cI have got something to strangle him with!\u201d and, after\na desperate struggle, he succeeded in passing _a rope of silk and\ngold_ round the unfortunate man\u2019s neck. When strangled, his body was\ncast over the balcony. Charles of Duras was the mainspring of this\ntragedy; and he afterwards died on the same spot, and was thrown over\nthe same balcony. Years after and while Joan was a prisoner in the\ncastle of Aversa, two Hungarian barons, in complete armor, presented\nthemselves before her, making a sign that she should follow them.\nShe rose and obeyed in silence; but a dismal cry burst from her when\nshe recognized the place where Andrea and Charles of Duras had each\ndied a violent death. Recovering herself, however, she inquired, in\na calm voice, why they had brought her to that place. One of the\nbarons showed her _a rope of silk and gold_. \u201cLet God\u2019s justice be\naccomplished!\u201d cried Joan, falling on her knees. And in a few minutes\nshe had ceased to suffer. This was the third corse that was thrown\nover the balcony of Aversa.[204]\n\nPatrick, Lord Ruthven, a man suspected of occult practices and who\nhad been appointed of the privy council of Mary, Queen of Scots,\noffered her a ring to preserve her from the effects of poison.[205]\n\n[Illustration: (Amulet Ring)]\n\nAmulet rings have been used by persons calling themselves Christians\neven in, comparatively, late times. Caylus gives one covered with\nletters of the twelfth century. The body of the ring is simple and\nsquare; each of its surfaces is completely filled with characters,\nskilfully engraved.\n\nThe words are barbarous and the whole is senseless--the name of Jesus\nChrist abbreviated with the words Alpha, Adonai and Agla and the\ncross repeated appear here as they frequently do upon amulets. At the\nend of the lines, two Arabic characters are distinctly marked 7. I.\nThese sort of characters did not pass, according to common opinion,\nfrom Africa to Spain until the tenth century; and it was through\nSpain that they were communicated to other parts of Europe. Rings of\nthe shape of this one and for similar use often inclosed sprigs of\nsome herb or hair or other light substance. The present one, however,\nis said to be solid and does not contain any foreign matter.\n\nA gold ring has been found in the palace at Eltham in Kent,\nEngland.[206] It is set with an oriental ruby and five diamonds,\nplaced at equal distances round the exterior. The interior is plain,\nbut on the sides is this inscription:\n\n      Qui me portera exploitera\n      Et a grand joye revendra.\n\nor,\n\n      Who wears me shall perform exploits;\n      And with great joy shall return.\n\nFrom these lines it is evident that the ring has been worn as an\namulet; and there is a very probable conjecture that it may have been\npresented to some distinguished personage when he was on the point\nof setting out for the Holy Land, in the time of the Crusades. The\ninscription is in small Gothic letters, but remarkably well formed\nand legible. The shape of the ruby, which is the principal stone, is\nan irregular oval, while the diamonds are all of a triangular form\nand in their native or crystallized state.\n\nA ring of gold was found at Coventry in England. It is evidently\nan amulet. The centre device represents Christ rising from the\nsepulchre, and in the background are shown the hammer, sponge and\nother emblems of his passion. On the left is figured the _wound of\nthe side_, with the following legend: \u201c_The well of everlasting\nlyffe._\u201d In the next compartment two small wounds, with \u201c_The well of\ncomfort_,\u201d \u201c_The well of grace_;\u201d and afterwards, two other wounds,\nwith the legends of \u201c_The well of pity_,\u201d \u201c_The well of merci_.\u201d On\nthe inside is an inscription in Latin which embraces the amulet,\nhaving reference to the three kings of Cologne.[207]\n\nSir Edmund Shaw, goldsmith and alderman of London, directed by\nhis will _circa_ 1487, to be made \u201c16 Rings of fyne Gold, to be\ngraven with the well of pitie, the well of mercie and the well of\neverlasting life.\u201d\n\nBenvenuto Cellini mentions that, about the time of his writing,\ncertain vases were discovered, which appeared to be antique urns\nfilled with ashes. Amongst them were iron rings inlaid with gold,\nin each of which was set a diminutive shell. Learned antiquaries,\nupon investigating the nature of these rings, declared their opinion\nthat they were worn as charms by those who desired to behave\nwith steadiness and resolution either in prosperous or adverse\nfortune.[208] (By way of parenthesis: This dare-devil man of fine\ntaste, Cellini, having finished a beautiful medal for the Duke of\nFerrara, the patron of Tasso, the magnificent Alfonso sent him a\ndiamond ring, with an elegant compliment. But the ring was really\nnot a valuable one. The Duke threw the mistake upon his treasurer,\nwhom he affected to punish, and sent Cellini another ring; but even\nthis was not worth one quarter of the sum he owed him. He accompanied\nit with a significant letter, in which he ordered him not to leave\nFerrara. The artist, however, ran away as fast as his legs would\ncarry him, and was soon delighted to find he was beyond the fury of\nthe \u201cMagnifico Alfonso.\u201d)\n\n\n\u00a7 5. Ancient physicians carried signets or rings, frequently wearing\nthem upon the thumb, upon which were engraved their own names,\nsometimes written backwards, or the denominations of the nostrums\nthey vended. With regard to one of these seals, we find the word\n_aromatica_ from _aromaticum_, on another _melina_, abbreviation\nof _melinum_, a collyrium prepared with the alum of the island of\nMelos.[209] A seal of this kind is described by Tochon d\u2019Annecy\nbearing the words _psoricum crocodem_, an inscription that has\npuzzled medical antiquaries.\n\nIt has been suggested that the use of talismanic rings as charms\nagainst diseases may have originated in the phylacteries or\npreservative scrolls of the Jews, although it is easy to imagine\nthat, in the earliest days of medicine, the operator, after binding\nup a wound, would mutter \u201cthrilling words\u201d in incantation over it,\nwhich, in process of time, might be, as it were, _embodied_ and\nperpetuated in the form of an inscription, the ring, in some degree,\nrepresenting a bandage.[210] It appears to us this is much further\nfrom fact than that a barber\u2019s pole represents an arm with a bandage.\n\nAmulet rings for medicinal purposes were greatly in fashion with\nempyrics and ancient physicians.[211]\n\nIn Lucian\u2019s Philopseudes, one of the interlocutors in a dialogue\nsays that since an Arabian had presented him with a ring of iron\ntaken from the gallows, together with a charm constructed of certain\nhard words, he had ceased to be afraid of the demoniacs who had been\nhealed by a Syrian in Palestine.\n\nIn another dialogue, a man desires that Mercury should bestow a ring\non him to insure perpetual health and preservation from all danger.\n\nThese rings were to be worn upon the fourth or medical finger.\n\nMarcellus, a physician who lived in the reign of Marcus Aurelius,\ndirects the patient who is afflicted with a pain in the side to wear\na ring of pure gold inscribed with some Greek letters on a Thursday\nat the decrease of the moon. It is to be worn on the right side, if\nthe pain be on the left; and _vice vers\u00e2_.\n\nTrallian, another physician who lived in the fourth century, cured\nthe colic and all bilious complaints by means of an octangular ring\nof iron, upon which eight words were to be engraven, commanding the\nbile to take possession of a lark. A magic diagram was to be added,\nwhich he has not failed to preserve for the certain advantage of his\nreaders. He tells us that he had had great experience in this remedy\nand considered it as extremely foolish to omit recording so valuable\na treasure; but he particularly enjoins the keeping it a secret from\nthe profane vulgar, according to an admonition of Hippocrates that\nsacred things are for sacred purposes only. The same physician, in\norder to cure the stone, directs the wearing a copper ring, with\nthe figure of a lion, a crescent and a star to be placed on the\nfourth finger; and for the colic, in general, a ring with Hercules\nstrangling the Nemean lion.\n\nIn the Plutus of Aristophanes, to a threat on the part of the\nsycophant, the just man replies that he cares nothing for him, as\nhe has got a ring which he bought of a person, whom the scholiast\nconceives to have been an apothecary, who sold medicated rings\nagainst the influence of demons, serpents, etc. Carion, the servant,\nsarcastically observes that this ring will not prevail against the\nbite of a sycophant.[212]\n\nAs to medicinal rings, Joannes Nicolaus, a German professor, has most\nunceremoniously ascribed the power of all these medical charms to the\ninfluence of the devil, who, he says, by these means, has attracted\nmany thousands of human beings into his dominions.[213]\n\nLucati has attributed the modern want of virtue in medicated rings\nto their comparative smallness, contending that the larger the ring\nor the gem contained in it, the greater the medium power, especially\nwith those persons whose flesh is of a tender and penetrable nature.\n\nLord Chancellor Hatton sent to Queen Elizabeth a ring against\ninfectious air, \u201cto be worn,\u201d as the old courtier expresses it,\n\u201cbetwixt the sweet dugs\u201d of her bosom.\n\nEnnemoser, in his History of Magic, a work made more visionary by the\nunsatisfactory additions of the Howitts, gravely speaks of coming\nevents manifested in diseases. We have a betrothal ring in the\nfollowing extract:[214]\n\n\u201cIn the St. Vitus\u2019s dance, patients often experience divinatory\nvisions of a fugitive nature, either referring to themselves or\nto others and occasionally in symbolic words. In the \u2018Leaves from\nPrevorst,\u2019 such symbolic somnambulism is related, and I myself\nhave observed a very similar case: Miss v. Brand, during a violent\nparoxysm of St. Vitus\u2019s dance, suddenly saw a black evil-boding crow\nfly into the room, from which, she said, she was unable to protect\nherself, as it unceasingly flew round her as if it wished to make\nsome communication. This appearance was of daily occurrence with the\nparoxysm for eight days afterwards. On the ninth, when the attacks\nhad become less violent, the vision commenced with the appearance of\na white dove, which carried a letter containing a betrothal ring in\nits beak; shortly afterwards the crow flew in with a black-sealed\nletter. The next morning the post brought a letter with betrothal\ncards from a cousin; and a few hours after, the news was received of\nthe death of her aunt in Lohburg, of whose illness she was ignorant.\nOf both these letters, which two different posts brought in on the\nsame day, Miss v. Brand could not possibly have known any thing. The\nchange of birds and their colors, during her recovery and before the\nannouncement of agreeable or sorrowful news, the symbols of the ring\nand the black seal, exhibit, in this vision, a particularly pure\nexpression of the soul as well as a correct view into the future.\u201d\n\n\n\u00a76. Some of the finest scenes in Ariosto are brought out through a\nmagic ring. When it was worn on the finger, it preserved from spell;\nand carried in the mouth, concealed the possessor from view. Thus, in\nthe Orlando Furioso, where Ruggiero had Angelica in the lone forest\nand secure from sight, she discovers the magic ring upon her finger\nwhich her father had given her when she first entered Christendom and\nwhich had delivered her from many dangers.\n\n     \u201cNow that she this upon her hand surveys,\n      She is so full of pleasure and surprise,\n      She doubts it is a dream and, in amaze,\n      Hardly believes her very hand and eyes.\n      Then softly to her mouth the hoop conveys,\n      And, quicker than the flash which cleaves the skies,\n      From bold Rogero\u2019s sight her beauty shrouds,\n      As disappears the sun concealed in clouds.\u201d[215]\n\nThe ring of Gyges is taken notice of both by Plato and Tully. This\nGyges was the master shepherd to King Candaules. As he was wandering\nover the plains of Lydia, he saw a great chasm in the earth and had\nthe curiosity to enter it. After having descended pretty far into\nit, he found the statue of a horse in brass, with doors in the sides\nof it. Upon opening of them, he found the body of a dead man, bigger\nthan ordinary, with a ring upon his finger, which he took off and put\nit upon his own. The virtues of it were much greater than he at first\nimagined; for, upon his going into the assembly of the shepherds, he\nobserved that he was invisible when he turned the stone of the ring\nwithin the palm of his hand and visible when he turned it towards\nhis company. By means of this ring he gained admission into the most\nretired parts of the court; and made such use of those opportunities\nthat he at length became King of Lydia. The gigantic dead body to\nwhom this ring belonged was said to have been an ancient Brahmin,\nwho, in his time, was chief of that sect.\n\nAddison, in one of his Tatlers,[216] playfully declares he is in\npossession of this ring and leads his reader through different\nscenes, commencing thus: \u201cAbout a week ago, not being able to sleep,\nI got up and put on my magical ring and, with a thought, transported\nmyself into a chamber where I saw a light. I found it inhabited by\na celebrated beauty, though she is of that species of women which\nwe call a slattern. Her head-dress and one of her shoes lay upon a\nchair, her petticoat in one corner of the room and her girdle, that\nhad a copy of verses made upon it but the day before, with her thread\nstocking, in the middle of the floor. I was so foolishly officious\nthat I could not forbear gathering up her clothes together to lay\nthem upon the chair that stood by her bedside, when, to my great\nsurprise, after a little muttering, she cried out, \u201cWhat do you want?\nLet my petticoat alone.\u201d\n\nTo have the ring of Gyges is used proverbially sometimes of wicked,\nsometimes of fickle, sometimes of prosperous people who obtain all\nthey want. It is alluded to in Beaumont and Fletcher\u2019s Fair Maid of\nthe Inn:\n\n      \u201c---- Have you Gyges\u2019 ring,\n      Or the herb that gives invisibility?\u201d\n\nThe Welsh Sir Tristram is described as having had, from his mother, a\nmystical ring, the insignia of a Druid.\n\nLet us now look particularly at the subject of cramp rings.\n\nSt. Edward, who died on the fifth of January, 1066, gave a ring which\nhe wore to the Bishop of Westminster. The origin of it is surrounded\nwith much mystery. A pilgrim is said to have brought it to the king\nand to have informed him that St. John the Evangelist had made\nknown to the donor that the king\u2019s decease was at hand.[217] This\n\u201c_St. Edward\u2019s Ring_,\u201d as it was called, was kept for some time at\nWestminster Abbey as a relic of the saint, and was applied for the\ncure of the falling sickness or epilepsy and for the cramp. From this\narose the custom of the English kings, who were believed to have\ninherited St. Edward\u2019s powers of cure, solemnly blessing every year\nrings for distribution.\n\nGood Friday was the day appointed for the blessing of rings. They\nwere often called \u201cmedycinable rings,\u201d and were made both of gold and\nsilver, and the metal was composed of what formed the king\u2019s offering\nto the Cross on Good Friday.\n\nThe prayers used at the ceremony of blessing the rings on Good Friday\nare published in Waldron\u2019s Literary Museum; and also in Pegge\u2019s\n_Curiatia Miscellanea_, Appendix, No. iv. p. 164.\n\nCardinal Wiseman is in possession of a MS. containing the ceremony of\nblessing cramp rings. It belonged to the English Queen Mary. At the\ncommencement of the MS. are emblazoned the arms of Philip and Mary,\naround which are the badges of York and Lancaster and the whole is\ninclosed within a frame of fruit and flowers. The first ceremony\nis headed: \u201cCertain Prayers to be used by the Queen\u2019s Leigues in\nthe Consecration of the Crampe Rynges.\u201d Accompanying it is an\nillumination representing the queen kneeling, with a dish--containing\nthe rings to be blessed--on each side of her; and another exhibits\nher touching for the evil a boy on his knees before her, introduced\nby the clerk of the closet; his right shoulder is bared and the queen\nappears to be rubbing it with her hand. The author of the present\nwork caused an application to be made for leave to take a copy of\nthis illumination, so that his readers might have the benefit of it:\nthe secretary of the Cardinal refused.\n\nIn a medical treatise, written in the fourteenth century,[218] there\nis what is called the _medicine_ against the cramp; and modernizing\nthe language, it runs thus: \u201cFor the Cramp. Take and cause to be\ngathered on Good Friday, at 5 Parish Churches, 5 of the first pennies\nthat is offered at the cross, of each Church the first penny; then\ntake them all and go before the cross and say 5 paternosters to the\nworship of the 5 wounds and bear them on the 5 days, and say each day\nall much in the same way; and then cause to be made a ring thereof\nwithout alloy of other metal and write within it Jasper, Batasar,\nAltrapa\u201d (these are blundered forms of the three kings of Cologne)\n\u201cand write without Jh\u2019es Nazarenus; and then take it from the\ngoldsmith upon a Friday and say 5 paternosters as thou did before and\nuse it always afterward.\u201d\n\nLord Berners, the translator of Froissart, when at the court of the\nEmperor Charles the Fifth as ambassador from Henry the Eighth, in a\nletter dated 21st June, 1518, writes to Cardinal Wolsey: \u201cIf your\nGrace remember me with some crampe rynges, ye shall do a thing much\nlooked for and I trust to bestow thaym well, with Godd\u2019s grace.\u201d[219]\n\nA letter from Dr. Magnus to Cardinal Wolsey, written in 1526,[220]\ncontains the following: \u201cPleas it your Grace to wete that M. Wiat of\nhis goodness sent unto me for a present certaine cramp ringges, which\nI distributed and gave to sondery myne acquaintaunce at Edinburghe,\namonges other to Mr. Adame Otterbourne, who, with oone of thayme,\nreleved a mann lying in the falling sekeness, in the sight of myche\npeople; sethenne whiche tyme many requestes have been made unto me\nfor cramp Ringges at my departing there and also sethenne my comyng\nfrom thennes. May it pleas your Grace, therefore, to show your\ngracious pleasure to the said M. Wyat that some Ringges may be kept\nand sent into Scottelande; which, after my poore oppynyoun, shulde be\na good dede, remembering the power and operacion of thaym is knowne\nand proved in Edinburgh and that they be greatly required for the\nsame cause by grete personnages and others.\u201d\n\nThe mode of hallowing rings to cure the cramp is found in what is\nentitled an \u201cAuncient Ordre for the hallowing of Cramp Rings,\u201d etc.\nIt is amusing to read of the degrading course which king, queen,\nladies and gentlemen had to take, each one creeping along a carpet\nto a cross. The account runs thus: \u201cFirste, the King to come to the\nChappell or clossett, with the lords and noblemen wayting upon him,\nwithout any sword borne before hime of that day, and ther to tarrie\nin his travers until the Bishope and the Deane have brought in the\nCrucifixe out of the vestrie and laid it upon the cushion before the\nhighe alter. And then the usher to lay a carpet for the Kinge to\ncreepe to the crosse upon. And that done, there shall be a forme set\nupon the carpett before the crucifix and a cushion laid upon it for\nthe Kinge to kneel upon. And the Master of the Jewell house ther to\nbe ready with the crampe rings in a bason of silver and the Kinge\nto kneel upon the cushion before the forme. And then the Clerke of\nthe Closett be readie with the booke concerninge the halowinge of\nthe crampe rings, and the aumer must kneele on the right hand of the\nKinge, holdinge the sayd booke. When that is done, the Kinge shall\nrise and go to the alter, weare a Gent. Usher shall be redie with a\ncushion for the Kinge to kneele upon; and then the greatest Lords\nthat shall be ther to take the bason with the rings and beare them\nafter the King to offer. And thus done, the Queene shall come down\nout of her closett or traverss into the Chappell with ladyes and\ngentlewomen waiting upon her and creepe to crosse, and then go agayne\nto her clossett or traverse. And then the ladyes to creepe to the\ncrosse likewise, and the Lords and Noblemen likewise.\u201d\n\nIn 1536, when the convocation under Henry the Eighth abolished some\nof the old superstitious practices, this of creeping to the cross\non Good Friday, etc., was ordered to be retained as a laudable and\nedifying custom.[221]\n\nEven in the dark ages of superstition, the ancient British kings do\nnot seem to have affected to cure the king\u2019s evil or _scrofula_. This\ngift was left to be claimed by the Stuarts. The Plantagenets were\ncontent to cure the cramp.\n\nIn our own time we find three young men in England subscribing\nsixpence each to be moulded into a ring for a young woman afflicted\nwith the cramp.\n\nIn Berkshire, England, there is a popular superstition that a ring\nmade from a piece of silver collected at the Communion is a cure for\nconvulsions and fits of every kind.[222] Another curious British\nsuperstition, by way of charm, is recorded: that a silver ring will\ncure fits if it be made of five sixpences, collected from five\ndifferent bachelors, to be conveyed by the hand of a bachelor to a\nsmith that is a bachelor. None of the persons who give the sixpences\nare to know for what purpose or to whom they gave them. While, in\nDevonshire, there is a notion that the king\u2019s evil can be cured by\nwearing a ring made of three nails or screws which have been used to\nfasten a coffin that has been dug out of the churchyard.\n\nThere is a medical charm in Ireland to cure warts. A wedding-ring\nis procured and the wart touched or pricked with a gooseberry thorn\nthrough the ring.[223]\n\nA wedding-ring rubbed upon that little abscess called a sty, which\nis frequently seen on the tarsi of the eyes, is said to remove\nit.[224] In Somersetshire, England, there is a superstition that\nthe ring-finger, stroked along any sore or wound, will soon heal\nit. All the other fingers are said to be poisonous, especially the\nforefinger.[225] In Suffolk, England, nine young men of a parish\nsubscribed a crooked sixpence each to be moulded into a ring for a\nyoung woman afflicted with fits. The clergy in that country are not\nunfrequently asked for sacramental silver to make rings of, to cure\nfalling sickness; and it is thought cruel to refuse.[226] There is\na singular custom prevailing in some parts of Northamptonshire and\nprobably there are other places where a similar practice exists. If\na female is afflicted with fits, nine pieces of silver money and\nnine three-halfpennies are collected from nine bachelors. The silver\nmoney is converted into a ring to be worn by the afflicted person\nand the three-halfpennies (_i. e._ 13\u00bdd.) are paid to the maker\nof the ring, an inadequate remuneration for his labor but which\nhe good-naturedly accepts. If the afflicted person be a male, the\ncontributions are levied upon females.[227] In Norfolk a ring was\nmade from nine sixpences freely given by persons of the opposite sex\nand it was considered a charm against epilepsy. \u201cI have seen,\u201d says\na correspondent in _Notes and Queries_,[228] \u201cnine sixpences brought\nto a silversmith, with a request that he would make them into a ring;\nbut 13\u00bdd. was not tendered to him for making nor do I think that any\nthree-halfpennies are collected for payment. After the patient had\nleft the shop, the silversmith informed me that such requests were\nof frequent occurrence and that he supplied the patients with thick\nsilver rings, but never took the trouble to manufacture them from the\nsixpences.\u201d\n\nBrande, in his _Popular Antiquities_,[229] says: \u201cA boy, diseased,\nwas recommended by some village crone to have recourse to an alleged\nremedy, which has actually, in the enlightened days of the nineteenth\ncentury, been put in force. He was to obtain thirty pennies from\nthirty different persons, without telling them why or wherefore\nthe sum was asked; after receiving them, to get them exchanged for\na half-crown of sacrament money, which was to be fashioned into a\nring and worn by the patient. The pennies were obtained, but the\nhalf-crown was wanting--the rector of the place, very properly,\ndeclined taking any part in such a gross superstition. However,\nanother reverend gentleman was more pliable; and a ring was formed\n(or professed to be so) from the half-crown and worn by the boy.\u201d A\nsimilar instance, which occurred about fourteen years since, has\nbeen furnished to the same work by Mr. R. Bond of Gloucester: \u201cThe\nepilepsy had enervated the mental faculties of an individual moving\nin a respectable sphere in such a degree as to partially incapacitate\nhim from directing his own affairs; and numerous were the recipes,\nthe gratuitous offering of friends, that were ineffectually resorted\nto by him. At length, however, he was told of what would certainly\nbe an infallible cure, for in no instance had it failed; it was, to\npersonally collect thirty pence, from as many respectable matrons,\nand to deliver them into the hands of a silversmith, who, in\nconsideration thereof, would supply him with a ring, wrought out of\nhalf a crown, which he was to wear on one of his fingers--and the\ncomplaint would immediately forsake him. This advice he followed; and\nfor three or four years the ring ornamented (if we may so express\nit) his fifth or little finger, notwithstanding the frequent relapses\nhe experienced during that time were sufficient to convince a less\nardent mind than his that the fits were proof against its influence.\nFinally, whilst suffering from a last visitation of that distressing\nmalady, he expired, though wearing the ring--thus exemplifying a\nstriking memento of the absurdity of the means he had had recourse\nto.\u201d[230]\n\nQuite recently, a new means has been contrived for deluding the\npublic in the form of rings, which are to be worn upon the fingers\nand are said to prevent the occurrence of and cure various diseases.\nThey are called galvanic rings. Although by the contact of the two\nmetals of which they are composed an infinitesimally minute current\nof electricity (hence, also, of magnetism) is generated, still, from\nthe absurd manner in which the pieces of metal composing the ring\nare arranged and which displays the most profound ignorance of the\nlaws of electricity and magnetism, no trace of the minute current\ntraverses the finger upon which the ring is worn; so that a wooden\nring or none at all would have exactly the same effect as regards the\nmagnetism or galvanism.[231]\n\nEpilepsy was to be cured by wearing a ring in which a portion of an\nelk\u2019s horn was to be inclosed; while the hoof of an ass, worn in the\nsame way, had the reputation of preventing conjugal debility.[232]\n\nMichaelis, a physician at Leipsic, had a ring made of the tooth of a\nsea-horse, by which he pretended to cure diseases of every kind.[233]\nRings of lead, mixed with quicksilver, were used against headache;\nand even the chains of criminals and iron used in the construction of\ngibbets were applied to the removal of complaints.\n\nRings simply made of gold were supposed to cure St. Anthony\u2019s fire;\nbut, if inscribed with magic words, their power was irresistible.\n\nWith regard to rings supposed to possess magical properties, there is\none with an inscription in the Runic character, on jasper, being a\nDano-Saxon amulet against the plague. The translation is thus given:\n\n     \u201cRaise us from dust we pray thee,\n      From Pestilence, O set us free,\n      Although the Grave unwilling be.\u201d[234]\n\nOn another ring, inscribed with similar characters, and evidently\nintended for the same purpose, the legend is as follows:\n\n\u201c_Whether in fever or leprosy, let the patient be happy and confident\nin the hope of recovery._\u201d[235]\n\nRings against the plague were often inscribed Jesus--Maria--Joseph or\nI. H. S. _Nazarenus_--_Rex_--_Jud\u00e6orum_.\n\nA ring was dug up in England, with the figure of St. Barbara upon\nit. She is the patroness against storms; and it was most likely an\nintended amulet against them.[236] However, St. Barbara was not\nsolely here depended upon, for it has around it Jesu et Maria.\n\n\n\u00a7 7. The ordeal of touch, by a person accused of murder, remarkably\nappears in an English trial.[237] There, the murdered woman, at the\ntouch of the accused, \u201cthrust out the ring or marriage finger three\ntimes and pulled it in again and the finger dropped blood upon the\ngrass.\u201d The report goes on to say, that \u201cSir Nicholas Hyde, seeming\nto doubt the evidence, asked the witness, \u2018Who saw this besides\nyou?\u2019 _Witness._ \u2018I cannot swear what others saw; but, my lord, I do\nbelieve the whole company saw it; and if it had been thought a doubt,\nproof would have been made of it, and many would have attested with\nme.\u2019 The witness observing some admiration in the auditors, spake\nfurther: \u2018My lord, I am minister of the parish and have long known\nall the parties, but never had any occasion of displeasure against\nany of them, nor had to do with them or they with me, but as I was\nminister, the thing was wonderful to me; but I have no interest in\nthe matter, but as called upon to testify the truth, that I have\ndone. My lord, my brother here present is minister of the next parish\nadjoining, and, I am assured, saw all done that I have affirmed.\u2019\u201d\nThe clergyman so appealed to confirmed the statement; and the accused\nwere convicted and hanged.\n\n\n\u00a7 8. Amongst the dooms or punishments which \u00c6thelbirht, King of Kent,\nestablished in the days of Augustine, the amount of what was called\n_bot_ or damages to be paid for every description of injury to the\nperson is fully detailed.[238] The laws of King Alfred comprise,\nlikewise, numerous clauses respecting compensation for wounds\ninflicted; and the term \u201c_dolzbote_\u201d occurs in c. 23, relating\nto tearing by a dog. A silver ring was found in Essex, England,\ninscribed with the Anglo-Saxon word _dolzbot_, the exact meaning of\nwhich is compensation made for giving a man a wound either by a stab\nor blow.[239]\n\n\n\u00a7 9. We find a romantic story coupled with the founding of\nAix-la-Chapelle. Petrarch relates[240] of Charles the Great of\nFrance, that this monarch was so fondly attached to a fair lady that,\nafter her death, he carried about her embalmed body in a superb\ncoffin and that he could not indeed forsake it, because, under the\ntongue, was a gem \u201cenchass\u00e9e\u201d in a very small ring.\n\nA venerable and learned bishop, who thought a living beauty was\npreferable to the remains of a departed one, rebuked his sovereign\nfor his irreligious and strange passion and revealed to him the\nimportant secret that his love arose from a charm that lay under\nthe woman\u2019s tongue. Whereupon the bishop went to the woman\u2019s corse\nand drew from her mouth the ring; which the emperor had scarcely\nlooked upon when he abhorred the former object of his attachment\nand felt such an extraordinary regard for the bishop that he could\nnot dispense with his presence for a single moment, until the good\nprelate was so troubled with royal favor that he cast the ring into\na lake or marsh. The emperor happened to be attracted to the site of\nthe submerged ring; and, in consequence, founded upon it a palace and\nchurch, which gave birth to Aix-la-Chapelle.\n\nThe Germans have a legend which they connect with what must have\nbeen this ring. It runs thus: Charlemagne, although near his\ndissolution, lingered in ceaseless agony, until the archbishop who\nattended him caused the lake to be dragged and, silently placing the\ntalisman on the person of the dying monarch, his struggling soul\nparted quietly away. This talisman is said to be in the possession\nof Louis Napoleon; but it is described as a small nut, in a gold\nfilagree envelopment, found round the neck of Charlemagne on the\nopening of his tomb and given by the town of Aix-la-Chapelle to\nBonaparte and by him to his favorite Hortense, _ci-devant_ Queen of\nHolland, at whose death it descended to her son. In the German legend\nit is said to have been framed by some of the magi in the train of\nthe ambassadors of Aaroun-al-Raschid to the mighty Emperor of the\nWest, at the instance of his spouse Fastrada, with the virtue that\nher husband should be always fascinated towards the person or thing\non which it was.[241]\n\n\n\u00a7 10. Some of our readers are lovers of operatic music, and have\nheard _Zampa_. The placing of a ring on the finger of a statue and\nits consequences must have been gathered from a story by Floriguus.\nHe mentions the case of a young gentleman of Rome, who, on his\nwedding day, went out walking with his bride and some friend after\ndinner; towards evening, he got to a tennis-court and while he played\nhe took off his ring and placed it upon the finger of a brass statue\nof Venus. The game finished, he went to fetch his ring; but Venus had\nbent her finger upon it and he could not get it off. Whereupon, loth\nto make his companions tarry, he there left it, intending to fetch\nit the next day, went then to supper and, so, to bed; but, in the\nnight, the truly brazen Venus had slipped between him and his bride,\nand thus troubled him for several successive nights. Not knowing\nhow to help himself, he made his moan to one Palumbus, a learned\nmagician, who gave him a letter and bade him, at such a time of the\nnight, in such a crossway, where old Saturn would pass by with his\nassociates, to deliver to him the epistle. The young man, of a bold\nspirit, accordingly did so; and when Saturn had read it, he called\nVenus, who was riding before him, and commanded her to deliver the\nring, which forthwith she did.\n\nMoore has even made use of this tale. He calls it \u201cThe Ring,\u201d and\nuses upwards of sixty stanzas on it. He seems here to have laid\naside, as much as it was possible for him, his usual polish and tried\nto imitate Monk Lewis. The scene is laid in Christian times; his hero\nis one Rupert; and the deliverer a Father Austin. Moore says he met\nwith the story in a German work, \u201cFromman upon Fascination;\u201d while\nFromman quotes it from Belaucensis.\n\nIt is remarkable how often we find stories, which have originated in\nheathen times, made a vehicle for Catholic tales. The above has found\nits way into monkish legend.\n\nIn _The Miracles of the Virgin Mary_, compiled in the twelfth\ncentury, by a French monk,[242] there is a tale of a young man, who,\nfalling in love with an image of the Virgin, inadvertently placed on\none of its fingers a ring, which he had received from his mistress,\naccompanying the gift with the most tender language of respect and\naffection. A miracle instantly took place and the ring remained\nimmovable. The young man, greatly alarmed for the consequences of his\nrashness, consulted his friends, who advised him, by all means, to\ndevote himself entirely to the service of the Madonna. His love for\nhis former mistress prevailed over their remonstrances and he married\nher; but on the wedding-night, the newly betrothed lady appeared to\nhim and urged her claim, with so many dreadful menaces that the poor\nman felt himself compelled to abandon his bride and, that very night,\nto retire privately to a hermitage, where he became a monk for the\nrest of his life. This story has been translated by Mons. Le Grand,\nin his entertaining collection of _fabliaux_, where the ring is\ncalled a marriage-ring.\n\nPerhaps this last story grew out of the legend of St. Agnes. A\npriest, who officiated in a church dedicated to St. Agnes, was very\ndesirous of being married. He prayed the Pope\u2019s license, who gave\nit him, together with an emerald ring; and commanded him to pay his\naddresses to the image of St. Agnes in his own church. Then the\npriest did so and the image put forth her finger and he put the ring\nthereon; whereupon the image drew her finger in again and kept the\nring fast--and the priest was contented to remain a bachelor; \u201cand\nyet, as it is sayd, the rynge is on the fynger of the ymage.\u201d[243]\n\n\n\u00a7 11. There is a legend of a Sir Richard Baker, who was surnamed\n_Bloody Baker_, wherein a ring bears its part.[244] This Sir Richard\nBaker was buried in Cranbrook church, Kent, England, and his\ngauntlet, gloves, helmet and spurs are suspended over his tomb. The\ngloves are red. The Baker family had formerly large possessions in\nCranbrook; but in the reign of Edward VI. great misfortunes fell on\nthem; by extravagance and dissipation they gradually lost all their\nlands, until an old house in the village (now used as the poor-house)\nwas all that remained to them. The sole representative of the family\nremaining at the accession of Queen Mary was Sir Richard Baker.\nHe had spent some years abroad in consequence of a duel; but when\nMary reigned he thought he might safely return, as he was a papist;\nwhen he came to Cranbrook, he took up his abode in his old house;\nhe brought one foreign servant with him; and only these two lived\nthere. Very soon strange stories began to be whispered respecting\nunearthly shrieks having been heard frequently to issue at nightfall\nfrom his house. Many people of importance were stopped and robbed in\nthe Glastonbury woods and many unfortunate travellers were missed\nand never heard of more. Richard Baker still continued to live in\nseclusion, but he gradually repurchased his alienated property,\nalthough he was known to have spent all he possessed before he left\nEngland. But wickedness was not always to prosper. He formed an\napparent attachment to a young lady in the neighborhood, remarkable\nfor always wearing a great many jewels. He often pressed her to\ncome and see his old house, telling her he had many curious things\nhe wished to show her. She had always resisted fixing a day for her\nvisit, but happening to walk within a short distance of his house,\nshe determined to surprise him with a visit; her companion, a lady\nolder than herself, endeavored to dissuade her from doing so, but she\nwould not be turned from her purpose. They knocked at the door, but\nno one answered them; they, however, discovered it was not locked and\ndetermined to enter. At the head of the stairs hung a parrot which,\non their passing, cried out:\n\n     \u201cPeepoh, pretty lady, be not too bold,\n      Or your red blood will soon run cold.\u201d\n\nAnd cold did run the blood of the adventurous damsel when, on opening\none of the room doors, she found it filled with the dead bodies of\nmurdered persons, chiefly women. Just then they heard a noise and on\nlooking out of the window saw Bloody Baker and his servant bringing\nin the murdered body of a lady. Nearly dead with fear, they concealed\nthemselves in a recess under the staircase. As the murderers, with\ntheir dead burthen, passed by them, the hand of the unfortunate\nmurdered lady hung in the baluster of the stairs; with an oath,\nBloody Baker chopped it off and it fell into the lap of one of the\nconcealed ladies. As soon as the murderers had passed by, the ladies\nran away, having the presence of mind to carry with them the dead\nhand, on one of the fingers of which was a ring. On reaching home,\nthey told their story; and, in confirmation of it, displayed the\nring. All the families who had lost relatives mysteriously were then\ntold of what had been found out; and they determined to ask Baker to\na large party, apparently in a friendly manner, but to have officers\nconcealed. He came, suspecting nothing; and then the lady told him\nall she had seen, pretending it was a dream. \u201cFair lady,\u201d said he,\n\u201cdreams are nothing; they are but fables.\u201d \u201cThey may be fables,\u201d said\nshe, \u201cbut is this a fable?\u201d and she produced the hand and ring. Upon\nthis the officers rushed in and took him; and the tradition further\nsays, he was burnt, notwithstanding Queen Mary tried to save him on\naccount of the religion he professed.\n\n\n\u00a7 12. Dumas has it[245] that C\u00e6sar Borgia wore a ring, composed of\ntwo lion\u2019s heads, the stone of which he turned inward when he wished\nto press the hand of \u201ca friend.\u201d It was then the lion\u2019s teeth became\nthose of a viper charged with poison. (His infamous father, the old\npoisoner Alexander VI., kept a poisoned key by him, and when his\n\u201choliness\u201d wished to rid himself of some one of his familiars, he\ndesired him to open a certain wardrobe, but as the lock of this was\ndifficult to turn, force was required before the bolt yielded, by\nwhich a small point in the handle of the key left a slight scratch\nupon the hand, which proved mortal.)\n\n\n\u00a7 13. Liceto, as referred to by Maffei, gives an example of a ring\nforming part of the Barberini collection, which has engraved upon\nthe stone a Cupid with butterflies; and, on the hoop of it, _Mei\nAmores_, _i. e._ My Loves. This shows a freedom of subject that may\nhave reference to pretty plain flirting or wantonness. A fragment of\nEnnius, which runs thus: _Others give a ring to be viewed from the\nlips_, is coupled with a wanton custom (in full vigor in the time\nof Plautus) for loose characters to take the hoop of the ring with\nthe teeth and, leaving the stone out of the mouth, thus invite young\npersons to see either the figure or minute characters and who had to\napproach very close to do it.\n\n\n\u00a7 14. We have heard of rings with delicate spring-lancets or\ncutting-hooks, used by thieves to cut pockets before they pick them.\n\nIt is said that gamblers have rings with movable parts, which will\nshow a diminutive heart, spade, club or diamond according as a\npartner desires a particular suit or card to be led.\n\nThieves in America will often wear a ring with the head of a dog\nprojecting and its ear sharpened and still further extended, so that\na blow with it would cut like any sharply pointed instrument. The\npresent Chief of Police in New-York is in the habit of clipping off\nthese sharp ears whenever he has a rogue in custody who possesses\nsuch a ring. And characters of the like class wear one bearing a\ntriangular pyramid of metal, with which they can give a terrible blow.\n\nThe crime of ring-dropping consists, generally, in a rogue\u2019s stooping\ndown and seeming to pick up a purse containing a ring and a paper,\nwhich is made in the form of a receipt from a jeweller, descriptive\nof the ring and making it a \u201crich, brilliant, diamond ring;\u201d and in\nthe fellow\u2019s proposing, for a specified payment, to share its value\nwith you.\n\nWhen Charles VIII. of France crossed the Alps, he descended into\nPiedmont and the Montferrat, which was governed by two Regents,\nPrinces Charles Jean Aim\u00e9 and Guillaume Jean. They advanced to meet\nCharles, each at the head of a numerous and brilliant court and\nshining with jewels. Charles, aware that, notwithstanding their\nfriendly indications, they had, nevertheless, signed a treaty with\nhis enemy, received them with the greatest courtesy; and as they\nwere profuse in their professions of amity, he suddenly required\nof them a proof: it was, to lend him the diamonds they then wore.\nThe two regents could but obey a request which possessed all the\ncharacteristics of a command. They took off their rings and other\ntrinkets, for which Charles gave them a detailed receipt and, then,\npledged them for twenty-four thousand ducats.[246]\n\n\n\u00a7 15. When the Roman slave was allowed his liberty, he received, with\na cap and white vest, a ring. The ring was of iron.[247] We have\nnot heard the origin of this stated, but it appears to us it was\ngathered from the fable of Prometheus. The slave had been fastened,\nas it were, to the Caucasus of bondage; and when freed from that,\nhe had, still, as Prometheus had, to wear an iron ring, by way of\nremembrance. He was not permitted to have one of gold, for that was\na badge of citizenship.[248] However, vanity is inherent in bond and\nfree; and slaves began to cover their iron rings with gold, while\nothers presumed to wear the precious metals alone.[249] The iron\nrings of slaves were alluded to by Statius, who died about thirty\nyears later than Pliny.[250] Apuleius introduces a slave, with an\niron ring, bearing a device.\n\nWe all remember Moore\u2019s lines, beginning with:\n\n     \u201cRich and rare were the gems she wore,\n      And a bright gold ring on her wand she bore.\u201d\n\nThis was rather an Irish way of wearing a ring, on the top of a\nsnow-white wand, instead of upon a lily-white finger. The poet works\nout and polishes and varnishes these verses from the following story\nin Warren\u2019s History of Ireland:[251] A young lady, of great beauty,\nadorned with jewels and a costly dress, undertook a journey alone,\nfrom one end of the kingdom to the other, with a wand only in her\nhand, at the top of which was a ring of exceeding great value; and\nsuch an impression had the laws and government of the then monarch,\nBrian Borholme, made on the minds of all the people that no attempt\nwas made upon her honor, nor was she robbed of her clothes or jewels.\nIreland may or not be changed since that time; yet the monarch Brian\ndoes not seem to have worked through moral suasion, if we may believe\nan Irish verse-maker, who certainly uses neither the delicacy of\nsentiment nor the polish of Moore:\n\n     \u201cOh, brave King Brian! he knew the way\n      To keep the peace and to make them pay;\n      For those who were bad, he knocked off their head;\n      And those who were worse, he kilt them dead.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                            CHAPTER FOUR.\n\n              RINGS COUPLED WITH REMARKABLE HISTORICAL\n                    CHARACTERS OR CIRCUMSTANCES.\n\n  1. Ring of Suphis; Pharaoh\u2019s Ring given to Joseph. 2. Rings of\n  Hannibal; Mithridates; Pompey; C\u00e6sar; Augustus and Nero. 3. Cameo.\n  4. Ethelwoulf; Madoc; Edward the Confessor; King John; Lord L\u2019Isle;\n  Richard Bertie and his Son Lord Willoughby; Great Earl of Cork;\n  Shakspeare\u2019s Signet-Ring; The Ring Queen Elizabeth gave to Essex;\n  Ring of Mary of Scotland and one sent by her to Elizabeth; Darnley;\n  The Blue Ring; Duke of Dorset; Ring in the Isle of Wight supposed\n  to have belonged to Charles the First, and Memorial Rings of this\n  Monarch; Earl of Derby; Charles the Second; Jeffrey\u2019s Blood-Stone;\n  The great Dundee; Nelson; Scotch Coronation Ring; The Admirable\n  Crichton; Sir Isaac Newton; Kean; Wedding Ring of Byron\u2019s Mother.\n  5. Matrons of Warsaw. 6. The Prussian Maiden.\n\n\n\u00a7 1. When Egypt is mentioned, the Pyramids rise in their sublimity--a\nsublimity made perfect by their vastness and mysterious age. We can\nfancy Abraham beholding them with awe, as, in the moonlight, they\nseemed to be awful and gigantic reflexes of his own tents looming\ninto the heavens. We can imagine Alexander, rushing triumphantly on\nas the sun warmed and brightened their points; and Cambyses, within\ntheir shadow, horrifying the Egyptians by the destruction of their\ngod Apis. We can hear, too, the modern destroyer, with the bombastic\ncry to his soldiers that, from the summits of those monuments, forty\ncenturies looked down upon them: they must indeed have looked down\nupon those who came as locusts and were swept away like them! And\nas our minds enter, from the outward heat, into the cold chamber of\nthe Pyramids, we observe Champollion, Wilkinson, Vyse and Lepsius\nunrolling ages with the unwinding of papyrus and illuminated bandage.\n\nLet us, however, attempt to sink these mighty mountains of man\u2019s\nlabor below the desert--upon which they now heavily press as though\nthey were sealing the earth--and bring up, amid the vast desert and\nin their place, a single figure, bearing a signet-ring upon its\nfinger. It is Suphis or Cheops, King of Memphis, who caused the Great\nPyramid to be made for his monument. What a speck, for such a tomb!\nThe monuments of man take up much space. Here was a whole nation\nemployed to make one man\u2019s mausoleum. We fear that the virtues which\nlive after men could often go within the compass of their finger-ring.\n\nTo every kingly order or decree connected with the foundation of the\nGreat Pyramid or with the thousands of men who had to work or with\nthe prodigious material employed, an impression of the signet-ring of\nSuphis had to be attached. Rings have been used for higher and holier\nthings; but never for so vast a human purpose.\n\nNow, bring up, once more, (through the mind\u2019s enchantment,) the\nPyramids, built upwards of two thousand years before the time of\nChrist, with all the busy centuries which have encircled them;\nand looking back, we can hardly think that this ring of Suphis, a\ncircle which an inch square might hold--is undestroyed! And even\nif it be, we can scarcely believe that it is to be seen within the\nsweep of our own observation. The city of New-York holds the ring\nof Suphis. In the Egyptian collection formed by Dr. Abbott is this\nring. And if exquisite work can add to its value, it has it in a high\ndegree. Beautiful in execution;--there is something wonderful in its\npreservation; while a species of awe, seldom attaching to a small\nsubstance, seems to chill our nature and we are dumb while we look\nupon it.\n\nHere is the most valuable antique ring in the world. This ring alone\nought to be sufficient to secure the collection to New-York for\never.[252]\n\n[Illustration: (Hieroglyphics Ring and Oval)]\n\nIt may be well to copy a description of this relic as it appears in\nDr. Abbott\u2019s Catalogue:\n\n\u201cThis remarkable piece of antiquity is in the highest state of\npreservation, and was found at Ghizeh, in a tomb near that excavation\nof Colonel Vyse\u2019s called Campbell\u2019s tomb. It is of fine gold; and\nweighs nearly three sovereigns. The style of the hieroglyphics is in\nperfect accordance with those in the tombs about the Great Pyramid,\nand the hieroglyphics within the oval make the name of that Pharaoh\nof whom the pyramid was the tomb. The details are minutely accurate\nand beautifully executed. The heaven is engraved with stars: the fox\nor jackal has significant lines within its contour: the hatchets\nhave their handles bound with thongs, as is usual in the sculptures;\nthe volumes have the string which binds them hanging below the roll,\ndiffering in this respect from any example in sculptured or painted\nhieroglyphics. The determinative for country is studded with dots,\nrepresenting the sand of the mountains at the margin of the valley of\nEgypt. The instrument, as in the larger hieroglyphics, has the tongue\nand semi-lunar mark of the sculptured examples; as is the case also\nwith the heart-shaped vase. The name is surmounted with the globe and\nfeathers, decorated in the usual manner; and the ring of the cartouch\nis engraved with marks representing a rope, never seen in the\nsculptures: and the only instance of a royal name similarly encircled\nis a porcelain example in this collection, inclosing the name of the\nfather of Sesostris. The O in the name is placed as in the examples\nsculptured in the tombs, not in the axis of the cartouch. The\nchickens have their unfledged wings; the cerastes its horns, now only\nto be seen with the magnifying glass.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: Signet of the actual size.]\n\n[Illustration: (Signet Top and Bottom Seal)]\n\nProbably the next most important ring is one believed to have been\nthat which was given by Pharaoh to the patriarch Joseph. Upon\nopening, in the winter of 1824, a tomb in the necropolis of Sakkara\nnear Memphis, Arab workmen discovered a mummy, every limb of which\nwas cased in solid gold; each finger had its particular envelope,\ninscribed with hieroglyphics: \u201cSo Joseph died, being an hundred and\nten years old; and they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in\nEgypt.\u201d[253] A golden scarab\u00e6us or beetle was attached to the neck\nby a chain of the same metal; _a signet-ring_ was also found, a pair\nof golden bracelets and other relics of value.[254] The excavation\nhad been made at the charge of the Swedish Consul; but the articles\ndiscovered became the prize of the laborers. By a liberal application\nof the cudgel, the scarab\u00e6us with its chain, a fragment of the gold\nenvelope and the bracelets were recovered. The bracelets are now in\nthe Leyden Museum, and bear the same name as the ring.[255] This\nsignet-ring, however, which was not given up at the time, found\nits way to Cairo and was there purchased by the Earl of Ashburnham.\nThat nobleman having put his collection of relics, with his baggage,\non board a brig chartered in Alexandria for Smyrna, the vessel was\nplundered by Greek pirates, who sold their booty in the island of\nSyra. The signet in question fell thus into the hands of a Greek\nmerchant, who kept it till about three years ago, when it was sold\nin Constantinople and purchased and brought finally to England. It\nis again in the possession of the Earl of Ashburnham. This signet\nhas been assigned to the age of Thothmes III. The quantity and\nnature of the golden decorations existing in the tomb referred to\nindicate it as the sepulchre of one of the Pharaohs or of some highly\ndistinguished officer of the royal household; and a calculation\nplaces the death of the patriarch Joseph in about the twentieth\nyear of the reign of Thothmes III. The signet would be an excellent\nspecimen of the antique of a kind called Tabat, still common in the\ncountry and which resemble, in all but the engraved name upon this\nsignet, the ring placed by Pharaoh on Joseph\u2019s hand. The seal turns\non a swivel, (and, so, has two tablets,) and, with the ring or circle\nof the signet, is of very pure and massive gold. The carving is very\nsuperior and also bold and sharp, which may be accounted for from the\ndifficult oxydization of gold above all metals. In connection with\nthis ring, it is necessary to remember what occurred when \u201cPharaoh\ntook off his ring from his hand and put it upon Joseph\u2019s hand.\u201d--\u201cAnd\nhe made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they\ncried before him, Bow the knee; and he made him ruler over all the\nland of Egypt. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh and\nwithout thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of\nEgypt. _And Pharaoh called Joseph\u2019s name_ ZAPHNATH-PAANEAH.\u201d The seal\nhas the cartouch of Pharaoh. And one line upon it has been construed\ninto _Paaneah_, the name bestowed by Pharaoh on Joseph. This\nsignifies, in combination with \u201c_Zaphnath_,\u201d either, _the Revealer of\nSecrets_, or, _the Preserver of the World_.\n\nA discovery of the ring of Suphis and that which Pharaoh gave to\nJoseph appears to border on the marvellous; and, yet, such things\nwere and gentleness of climate may allow us to suppose that they\nstill exist,--while modern energy, science and learning are so\nlaying bare the world\u2019s sepulchre of the past that we ought not to\ndisbelieve at the suggested resurrection of any thing. In excavations\nrecently made in Persia, the palace of Shushan and the tomb of Daniel\nhave probably been found; and also the very pavement described in\nEsther, i. 6, \u201cof red and blue and white and green marble.\u201d[256]\n\n\n\u00a7 2. Hannibal carried his death in his ring, which was a singular\none. When the Roman ambassadors required the king of Bythinia to\ngive Hannibal up, the latter, on the point of the king\u2019s doing so,\nswallowed poison, which he always carried about in his ring. In\nthe late war between America and Mexico, rings were found upon the\nfingers of dead officers of the latter country. These opened and,\nit is said, a poisonous substance was discovered; and there is a\nnotion that the owners of these rings were ready to act the part of\nHannibal: poison themselves rather than become prisoners.\n\nThe Romans were very curious in collecting cases of rings,\n(_dactylothec\u00e6_,) many of which are mentioned as being at Rome; among\nthese was that which Pompey the Great took from Mithridates and\ndedicated to Jupiter in the Capitol.[257]\n\nAnd Pompey\u2019s ring is known. Upon it were engraved three trophies,\nas emblems of his three triumphs over the three parts of the world\nEurope, Asia and Africa.[258] A ring with a trophy cut upon it has\nhelped to victory: When Timoleon was laying siege to Calauria, Icetes\ntook the opportunity to make an inroad into the territories of\nSyracuse, where he met with considerable booty; and having made great\nhavoc, he marched back by Calauria itself, in contempt of Timoleon\nand the slender force he had with him. Timoleon suffered him to pass;\nand then followed him with his cavalry and light-armed foot. When\nIcetes saw he was pursued, he crossed the Damyrias and stood in a\nposture to receive the enemy, on the other side. What emboldened him\nto do this was the difficulty of the passage and the steepness of\nthe banks on both sides. But a strange dispute and jealousy of honor\nwhich arose among the officers of Timoleon awhile delayed the combat:\nfor there was not one that was willing to go after another, but every\nman wanted to be foremost in the attack; so that their fording was\nlikely to be very tumultuous and disorderly by their jostling each\nother and pressing to get before. To remedy this, Timoleon ordered\nthem to decide the matter by lot; and that each, for this purpose,\nshould give him his ring. He took the rings and shook them in the\nskirt of his robe; and the first that came up happening to have a\ntrophy for the seal, the young officers received it with joy and,\ncrying out that they would not wait for any other lot, made their way\nas fast as possible through the river and fell upon the enemy, who,\nunable to sustain the shock, soon took to flight, throwing away their\narms and leaving a thousand of their men dead upon the spot.[259]\n\nC\u00e6sar\u2019s ring bore an armed Venus. On that of Augustus there was,\nfirst, a sphinx; afterwards, the image of Alexander the Great; and at\nlast, his own, which the succeeding emperors continued to use. Dr.\nClarke says, the introduction of sculptured animals upon the signets\nof the Romans was derived from the sacred symbols of the Egyptians\nand hence the origin of the sphinx for the signet of Augustus.\n\nNero\u2019s signet-ring bore Apollo, flaying Marsyas. This emperor\u2019s\nmusical vanity led him to adopt it.\n\n\n\u00a7 3. When the practice of deifying princes and venerating heroes\nbecame general, portraits of men supplied the place of more ancient\ntypes. This custom gave birth to the cameo; not, perhaps, introduced\nbefore the Roman power and rarely found in Greece.\n\n\n\u00a7 4. In the British Museum is an enamelled gold ring of Ethelwoulf,\nKing of Wessex, second King of England, A. D. 836, 838. It bears his\nname.[260]\n\nThe tradition of Madoc, one of the last princes of Powis, is kept\nup by the discovery of a gold signet-ring, with the impress of a\nmonogram placed under a crown. It is supposed to be the ring of Madoc.\n\nThe ring of Edward the Confessor has been discovered; and is said to\nbe in the possession of Charles Kean the actor and that he wears it\nwhenever he plays the character of King Lear. This performer is a\ncollector of antiquities. He purchased the red hat of Cardinal Wolsey\nat the sale of the Strawberry Hill collection. This hat was found\nby Bishop Burnet, when Clerk of the Closet, in the great wardrobe\nand was given by his son, the Judge, to the Countess Dowager of\nAlbemarle, who presented it to Horace Walpole.\n\nKing John of England is reputed to have secured a ring to aid his\ndesigns upon the beautiful wife of the brave Eustace de Vesci, one\nof the twenty-five barons appointed to enforce the observance of\nMagna Charta.[261] The tyrant, hearing that Eustace de Vesci had a\nvery beautiful wife, but far distant from court and studying how to\naccomplish his licentious designs towards her, sitting at table with\nher husband and seeing a ring on his finger, he laid hold on it and\ntold him that he had such another stone, which he resolved to set\nin gold in that very form. And having thus got the ring, presently\nsent it to her, in her husband\u2019s name; by that token conjuring her,\nif ever she expected to see him alive, to come speedily to him. She,\ntherefore, upon sight of the ring, gave credit to the messenger\nand came with all expedition. But so it happened that her husband,\ncasually riding out, met her on the road and marvelling much to see\nher there, asked what the matter was? and when he understood how\nthey were both deluded, resolved to find a wanton and put her in\napparel to personate his lady. The king afterwards boasting to the\ninjured husband himself, Eustace had the pleasure to undeceive him.\nWe may imagine the cheated monarch\u2019s rage and how freely he used his\nfavorite oath of, \u201cby the teeth of God!\u201d\n\nLord L\u2019Isle, of the time of Henry VIII. of England, had been\ncommitted to the Tower of London on suspicion of being privy to a\nplot to deliver up the garrison of Calais to the French. But his\ninnocence appearing manifest on investigation, the monarch released\nand sent him a diamond ring with a most gracious message. Whether it\nwas his liberty or the ring or the message, the fact is that he died\nthe night following \u201cof excessive joy.\u201d[262]\n\nThe turquoise was valuable enough for princely gift. Anne of\nBrittany, young and beautiful, Queen of Louis the Twelfth of France,\nsent a turquoise ring to James the Fourth of Scotland, who fell at\nFlodden. Scott refers to it:\n\n         \u201cFor the fair Queen of France\n      Sent him a turquoise ring and glove;\n      And charged him, as her knight and love,\n          For her to break a lance.\u201d\n\nAnd, in a note, he says that a turquoise ring, \u201cprobably this fatal\ngift,\u201d is (with James\u2019s sword and dagger) preserved in the College of\nHeralds, London; and gives the following quotation from Pittscottie:\n\u201cAlso, the Queen of France wrote a love-letter to the King of\nScotland, calling him her love, showing him that she had suffered\nmuch rebuke in France for the defending of her honor. She believed\nsurely that he would recompense her again with some of his kingly\nsupport in her necessity, that is to say, that he would raise her an\narmy and come three foot of ground, on English ground, for her sake.\nTo that effect she sent him a ring off her finger, with fourteen\nhundred French crowns to pay his expenses.\u201d\n\nSome of the trials of life which Richard Bertie and his wife\nCatharine, Duchess of Suffolk, underwent,[263] are matters of\nhistory. They arose from the zeal of the Duchess for the Reformation\nin the reign of Edward VI. and through the malice of Bishop Gardiner.\nThe lady had in her \u201cprogress\u201d caused a dog in a rochet (part of a\nbishop\u2019s dress) to be carried and called by Gardiner\u2019s name. They had\nan only son Peregrine Bertie, who claimed and obtained the Barony\nof Willoughby of Eresby. He was sent as general of auxiliaries\ninto France; and did good service at the siege of Paris and by\nthe reduction of many towns. His troops were disbanded with great\ncommendation; and Lord Willoughby received a present of a diamond\nring from the King of France.[264] This ring he, at his death, left\nhis son, with a charge, upon his blessing, to transmit it to his\nheirs. Queen Elizabeth wrote a free letter inviting him back to\nEngland, beginning it, \u201cGood Peregrine.\u201d His will is a remarkable\none. It begins thus: \u201cIn the name of the blessed divine Trynitie in\npersons and of Omnipotent Unitye in Godhead, who created, redeemed\nand sanctified me, whom I steadfastlye beleeve will glorifye this\nsinfull, corruptyble and fleshely bodie, with eternal happiness\nby a joyeful resurrection at the general Judgment, when by his\nincomprehensible justice and mercye, having satisfied for my sinfull\nsoule, and stored it uppe in his heavenlye treasure, his almightye\nvoyce shall call all fleshe to be joyned together with the soule to\neverlasting comforte or discomforte. In that holye name I Pergrin\nBertye,\u201d etc., etc., etc. He was once confined to his bed with the\ngout and had an insulting challenge sent him, to which he answered,\n\u201cThat although he was lame of his hands and feet, yet he would meet\nhis adversary with a piece of a rapier in his teeth.\u201d His idea of a\n\u201ccarpet knight\u201d is observable in his saying, that \u201ca court became a\nsoldier of good skill and great spirit as a bed of down would one of\nthe Tower lions.\u201d\n\nRichard Boyle, who, by personal merit, obtained a high position and\nis known as the \u201cgreat Earl of Cork,\u201d did not forget his early life.\nWhen he was in the height of his prosperity, he committed the most\nmemorable circumstances of his life to writing, under the title of\n\u201cTrue Remembrances;\u201d and we find the mention of a ring which his\nmother had given him: \u201cWhen first I arrived in Ireland, the 23d\nof June, 1588, all my wealth then was twenty-seven pounds three\nshillings in money and two tokens which my mother had given me, viz.\na diamond ring, which I have ever since and still do wear, and a\nbracelet of gold worth about ten pounds; a taffety doublet cut with\nand upon taffety; a pair of black silk breeches laced; a new Milan\nfustian suit laced and cut upon taffety, two cloaks, competent linen\nand necessaries, with my rapier and dagger; and, since, the blessing\nof God, whose heavenly providence guided me hither, hath enriched my\nweak estate in the beginning with such a fortune as I need not envy\nany of my neighbors, and added no care or burthen to my conscience\nthereunto.\u201d[265]\n\nWe have mentioned Shakspeare\u2019s signet-ring. It is of gold and\nwas found on the sixteenth day of March in the year one thousand\neight hundred and ten, by a laborer\u2019s wife upon the surface of the\nmill-close, adjoining Stratford churchyard. The weight is twelve\npenny-weights; it bears the initials W. S.; and was purchased by Mr.\nR. B. Wheeler (who has published a Guide to Stratford-upon-Avon[266])\nfor thirty-six shillings, the current value of the gold. It is\nevidently a gentleman\u2019s ring of the time of Elizabeth; and the\ncrossing of the central lines of the W. with the oblique direction\nof the lines of the S. exactly agree with the character of that day.\nThere is a connection or union of the letters by an ornamental string\nand tassels, known commonly as a \u201ctrue lover\u2019s knot\u201d--the upper bow\nor flourish of which forms the resemblance of a heart. On the porch\nof Charlcote House near Stratford, erected in the early part of\nElizabeth\u2019s reign by the very Sir Thomas Lucy said to have persecuted\nShakspeare for deer stealing, the letters T. L. are surrounded in a\nmanner precisely similar. Allowing that this was Shakspeare\u2019s ring,\nit is the only existing article which originally belonged to him.\n\nSingularly enough, a man named William Shakspeare was at work near\nthe spot when this ring was picked up.[267] Little doubt can be\nentertained that it belonged to the poet and is probably the one\nhe lost before his death and was not to be found when his will\nwas executed, the word _hand_ being substituted for _seale_ in the\noriginal copy of that document. The only other person at Stratford\nhaving the same initials and likely to possess such a seal was\nWilliam Smith, but he used one having a different device, as may be\nseen from several indentures preserved amongst the records of the\ncorporation. Halliwell believes in the authenticity of this relic.\nMr. Wheeler, its owner, says: \u201cThough I purchased it upon the same\nday for 36s. (the current value of the gold) the woman had sufficient\ntime to destroy the precious _\u00e6rugo_, by having it unnecessarily\nimmersed in _aquafortis_, to ascertain and prove the metal, at a\nsilversmith\u2019s shop, which consequently restored its original color.\u201d\n\nIn the Life of Haydon the painter,[268] we have the following letter\nfrom him to Keats, (March 1, 1818:) \u201cMy dear Keats, I shall go mad!\nIn a field at Stratford-upon-Avon, that belonged to Shakspeare, they\nhave found a gold ring and seal, with the initials W. S. and a true\nlover\u2019s knot between. If this is not Shakspeare\u2019s, whose is it?--a\ntrue lover\u2019s knot! I saw an impression to-day, and am to have one as\nsoon as possible: as sure as you breathe and that he was the first of\nbeings, the seal belonged to him.\n\n     \u201cO Lord!                                      B. R. HAYDON.\u201d\n\nLet us now turn to the ring that Queen Elizabeth gave to the\nhandsome, brave and open-hearted Devereux, Earl of Essex; and which\nwas probably worn by him, when, on his trial, he was desired to hold\nup his right hand, and he said that he had, before that time, done it\noften at her majesty\u2019s command for a better purpose. The story of\nthis ring has been discarded by some authors; but we see no reason\nto doubt it. We take our account from Francis Osborn\u2019s Traditional\nMemoirs on the Reign of Queen Elizabeth.[269] \u201cUpon this,\u201d says he,\n\u201cwith a great deal of familiarity, she presented a ring to him, which\nafter she had, by oaths, endued with a power of freeing him from any\ndanger or distress, his future miscarriage, her anger or enemies\u2019\nmalice could cast him into, she gave it him, with a promise that,\nat the first sight of it, all this and more, if possible, should be\ngranted. After his commitment to the Tower, he sent this jewel to her\nmajesty by the then Countess of Nottingham, whom Sir Robert Cecill\nkept from delivering it. But the Lady of Nottingham, coming to her\ndeath-bed and finding by the daily sorrow the Queen expressed for the\nloss of Essex, herself a principal agent in his destruction, could\nnot be at rest till she had discovered all and humbly implored mercy\nfrom God and forgiveness from her earthly sovereign; who did not\nonly refuse to give it, but having shook her as she lay in bed, sent\nher, accompanied with most fearful curses, to a higher tribunal.\u201d\nThis reads like truth; and what a picture it presents! Mark the fury\nof such an overbearing, half-masculine Queen; and, the repentant\npassiveness of the dying Countess!\n\nDr. Birch, in his Memoirs, says: the Queen observed, \u201cGod may forgive\nyou, but I never can.\u201d\n\nWe are inclined to believe that Elizabeth swore pretty roundly on\nthis occasion, as it is known she could; and that there was a\nviolence on the occasion is even shown by Dr. Birch: he says--\u201cThe\nCountess of Nottingham, affected by the near approach of death,\nobtained a visit from the Queen, to whom she revealed the secret;\nthat the Queen shook the dying lady in her bed, and thenceforth\nresigned herself to the deepest melancholy.\u201d\n\nThe melancholy continued; and this haughty woman was soon smitten;\nrefusing to rest on a bed, from a superstition that it would be her\ndeath couch, she became almost a silent lunatic, and crouched upon\nthe floor. There sat she, as did another queen, who cried--\n\n     \u201cHere I and sorrow sit,\n      Here is my throne;\u201d\n\nneither rising nor lying down, her finger almost always in her mouth,\nher eyes open and fixed on the ground.[270] But her indomitable will\ndid not leave her in her death hour. She had declared she would have\nno rascal to succeed her; and when she was too far gone to speak,\nSecretary Cecil besought her, if she would have the King of Scots\nto reign after her, to show some sign unto them. Whereat, suddenly\nheaving herself up, she held both her hands joined together, over\nher head, in manner of a crown. Then, she sank down, and dozed into\nanother world.\n\nThe Chevalier Louis Aubery de Maurier, who was many years the French\nMinister in Holland, and said to have been a man of great parts\nand unsuspected veracity, gives the following story of the Essex\nring:[271]\n\n\u201cIt will not, I believe, be thought either impertinent or\ndisagreeable to add here what Prince Maurice had from the mouth of\nMr. Carleton, Ambassador from England in Holland, who died Secretary\nof State, so well known under the name of my Lord Dorchester and\nwho was a man of great merit. He said that Queen Elizabeth gave the\nEarl of Essex a ring in the height of her passion for him, ordering\nhim to keep it, and that whatever he should commit she would pardon\nhim when he should return that pledge. Since that time, the Earl\u2019s\nenemies having prevailed with the Queen, who besides was exasperated\nagainst him for the contempt he showed for her beauty, which, through\nage, began to decay, she caused him to be impeached. When he was\ncondemned, she expected that he should send her the ring; and would\nhave granted him his pardon according to her promise. The Earl\nfinding himself in the last extremity, applied to Admiral Howard\u2019s\nlady, who was his relation, and desired her, by a person whom she\ncould trust, to return the ring into the Queen\u2019s own hands. But her\nhusband, who was one of the Earl\u2019s greatest enemies and to whom she\ntold this imprudently, would not suffer her to acquit herself of the\ncommission; so that the Queen consented to the Earl\u2019s death, being\nfull of indignation against such a proud and haughty spirit who\nchose rather to die than to implore her mercy. Some time after, the\nAdmiral\u2019s lady fell sick and being given over by her physicians, she\nsent word to the Queen that she had something of great consequence\nto tell her before she died. The Queen came to her bedside, and\nhaving ordered all the attendants to withdraw, the Admiral\u2019s lady\nreturned her, but too late, that ring from the Earl of Essex,\ndesiring to be excused that she did not return it sooner, having been\nprevented doing it by her husband. The Queen retired immediately,\nbeing overwhelmed with the utmost grief; she sighed continually for\na fortnight following, without taking any nourishment; lying abed\nentirely dressed and getting up an hundred times a night. At last she\ndied with hunger and with grief, because she had consented to the\ndeath of a lover who had applied to her for mercy. This melancholy\nadventure shows that there are frequent transitions from one passion\nto another and that as love often changes to hate, so hate, giving\nplace sometimes to pity, brings the mind back again into its first\nstate.\u201d Sir Dudley Carleton, who is made the author of this story,\nwas a man who deserved the character that is given of him and could\nnot but be well informed of what had passed at court. The Countess of\nNottingham was the daughter of the Lord Viscount Hunsdon, related to\nthe Queen and also, by his mother, to the Earl of Essex.\n\nThe story of the ring and the relations of the Queen\u2019s passion for\nthe Earl of Essex were long regarded by many writers as romantic\ncircumstances. But these facts are now more generally believed. Hume,\nBirch and other judicious historians give credit to them. Dr. Birch\nhas confirmed Maurice\u2019s account by the following narrative, which\nwas often related by the Lady Elizabeth Spelman, a descendant of\nSir Robert Cary, Earl of Monmouth, whose acquaintance with the most\nsecret transactions of Queen Elizabeth\u2019s court is well known:[272]\n\n\u201cWhen Catharine, Countess of Nottingham, wife of the Lord High\nAdmiral and sister of the Earl of Monmouth, was dying, (as she did,\naccording to his Lordship\u2019s own account, about a fortnight before the\nQueen,) she sent to her majesty, to desire that she might see her\nin order to reveal something to her majesty, without the discovery\nof which she could not die in peace. Upon the Queen\u2019s coming, Lady\nNottingham told her that, while the Earl of Essex lay under sentence\nof death, he was desirous of asking her majesty\u2019s mercy, in the\nmanner prescribed by herself, during the height of his favor: the\nQueen having given him a ring which, being sent to her as a token\nof his distress, might entitle him to her protection. But the Earl,\njealous of those about him and not caring to trust any one with it,\nas he was looking out of the window one morning, saw a boy, with\nwhose appearance he was pleased, and, engaging him, by money and\npromises, directed him to carry the ring, which he took from his\nfinger and threw down, to Lady Scroope, a sister of the Countess of\nNottingham and a friend of his lordship, who attended upon the Queen\nand to beg of her that she would present it to her majesty. The boy,\nby mistake, carried it to Lady Nottingham, who showed it to her\nhusband, the Admiral, an enemy of Lord Essex, in order to take his\nadvice. The Admiral forbid her to carry it or return any answer to\nthe message; but insisted upon her keeping the ring.\n\n\u201cThe Countess of Nottingham having made the discovery, begged the\nQueen\u2019s forgiveness, but her majesty answered, \u2018God may forgive you,\nbut I never can;\u2019 and left the room with great emotion. Her mind was\nso struck with this story that she never went to bed, nor took any\nsubsistence, from that instant: for Camden is of opinion that her\nchief reason for suffering the Earl to be executed was his supposed\nobstinancy in not applying to her for mercy.\u201d\n\nMiss Strickland considers that the story of this ring should not be\nlightly rejected.\n\nThere are two rings extant claiming to be the identical one so\nfatally retained by Lady Nottingham. The first is preserved at\nHawnes, Bedfordshire, England and is the property of the Reverend\nLord John Thynne. The ring is gold, the sides are engraved and the\ninside set with blue enamel; the stone is a sardonyx, on which is\ncut, in relief, a head of Elizabeth, the execution being of a high\norder. The second is the property of a Mr. Warner, and was given\nby Charles the First to Sir Thomas Warner, the settler of Antigua,\nNevis, etc. It is a diamond set in gold, inlaid with black enamel at\nthe back and sides.[273]\n\nAnd now let us turn to one of Elizabeth\u2019s victims, who had her talent\nand was her contrast: for Mary of Scotland was womanly and beautiful.\nSo charming was she in the mind of the French poet Ronsard that he\ntells us France without her was as \u201ca ring bereft of its precious\npearl.\u201d[274] The nuptial ring of Mary, Queen of Scots, on her\nmarriage with Lord Darnley, is extant.[275] It is, in general design,\na copy of her great seal, the banners only being different, for,\nin the great seal they each bear a saltier surmounted by a crown.\n(In her great seal made when Dowager of France, after the death of\nFrancis the Second, the dexter banner is St. Andrew\u2019s Cross, the\nsinister the Royal Arms of the Lion.) The ring part is enamelled. It\nis of most beautiful and minute workmanship. An impression is not\nlarger than a small wafer. It has the initials M. R.; and on the\ninterior is a monogram of the letters M. and A., _Mary_ and _Albany_:\nDarnley was created Duke of Albany.\n\nA use of the arms of England by Mary came to the knowledge of and\ngave great offence to Elizabeth and Burghley; and the latter obtained\na copy of them so used, which copy is now in the British Museum. It\nis endorsed by Burghley, \u201cFalse Armes of Scotl. Fr. Engl. Julii,\n1559.\u201d The following doggrel lines are underneath the arms:\n\n     \u201cThe armes of Marie Quene Dolphines of France\n      The nobillist Ladie in earth for till aduance,\n      Off Scotland Quene, and of England also,\n      Off Ireland als God haith providit so.\u201d\n\nA letter has been discovered in the handwriting of Mary herself\nwhich presents the monogram of M. and A. that is upon the ring. This\nepistle is in French; and the following is a translation:\n\n\u201cMadam, my good sister, the wish that I have to omit nothing that\ncould testify to you how much I desire not to be distant from your\ngood favor, or to give you occasion to suspect me from my actions\nto be less attached to you than, my good sister, I am, does not\npermit me to defer longer the sending to you the bearer, Master of my\nRequests, to inform you further of my good will to embrace all means\nwhich are reasonable, not to give you occasion to be to me other than\nyou have been hitherto; and relying on the sufficiency of the bearer,\nI will kiss your hands, praying God that he will keep you, Madam my\ngood sister, in health and a happy and long life. From St. John\u2019s\nTown, this 15th of June.\n\n                                 \u201cYour very affectionate and faithful\n                                             \u201cGood Sister and Cousin,\n                                                           \u201cMARIE R.\u201d\n\n  \u201cTo the Queen of England,\n   \u201cMadam my good Sister\n    \u201cand Cousin.\u201d\n\nThe history of the ring bearing the arms of England, Scotland and\nIreland, (and which is said to have been produced in evidence at the\ntrial of the unfortunate Mary as a proof of her pretensions to the\ncrown of England,) is curious. It descended from Mary to her grandson\nCharles the First, who gave it on the scaffold to Archbishop Juxon\nfor his son Charles the Second, who, in his troubles, pawned it in\nHolland for three hundred pounds, where it was bought by Governor\nYale; and sold at his sale for three hundred and twenty dollars,\nsupposed to the Pretender. Afterwards it came into the possession\nof the Earl of Ilay, Duke of Argyll. It was ultimately purchased by\nGeorge the Fourth of England, when he was Prince Regent.[276] This is\nsometimes called the Juxon ring.\n\nIt appears by Andrews\u2019s continuation of Henry\u2019s History of Great\nBritain,[277] that Mary had three wedding rings on her marriage with\nDarnley: \u201cShe had on her back the great mourning gown of black, with\nthe great mourning hood,\u201d (fit robes for such a wedding!) \u201cThe rings,\nwhich were three, the middle a rich diamond, were put on her finger.\nThey kneel together and many prayers are said over them,\u201d etc.,\netc. Rings of Mary of Modena have been mistaken for those of Mary of\nScotland.\n\nThere is a ring at Bolsover Castle containing a portrait of Mary.[278]\n\nA word more of Elizabeth and Mary. Aubrey says,[279] \u201cI have seen\nsome rings made for sweethearts, with a heart enamelled held between\ntwo right hands. See an epigram of George Buchanan on two rings that\nwere made by Elizabeth\u2019s appointment, being layd one upon the other\nshowed the like figure. The heart was two diamonds, which joyned,\nmade the heart. Queen Elizabeth kept one moietie, and sent the other\nas a token of her constant friendship to Mary, Queen of Scots; but\nshe cut off her head for all that.\u201d Aubrey, who also quotes an\nold verse as to the wearers of rings: _Miles, mercator, stultus,\nmaritus, amator_,--here alludes, it is presumed, to a diamond ring\noriginally given by Elizabeth to Mary as a pledge of affection and\nsupport and which Mary commissioned Beatoun to take back to her when\nshe determined to seek an asylum in England. The following is one of\nBuchanan\u2019s epigrams on the subject of the ring, described by Aubrey:\n\n\u201c_Loquitur adamas in cordis effigiem sculptus, quem Maria Elizabeth\u00e6\nAngl. misit:_\u201d (The diamond sculptured into the form of a heart and\nwhich Mary sent to the English Elizabeth, says:)\n\n    \u201c_Quod te jampridem videt, ac amat absens,_\n     _H\u00e6c pignus cordis gemma, et imago mei est,_\n     _Non est candidior non est h\u00e6c purior illo_\n     _Quamvis dura magis non image firma tamen._\u201d\n\nThese lines we thus render in verse:\n\n     \u201cThis gem is pledge and image of my heart:\n        A heart that looks and loves, though not in view.\n      The jewel has no clearer, purer part--\n        It may be harder, but is not more true.\u201d\n\nThe sentiment in this epigram must have been gathered from\nexpressions made by Mary herself: for, at a time when she was at\nDumferline and desired and hoped for an interview with Elizabeth, she\nreceived, through the hands of Randolph, a letter from the English\nQueen, \u201cwhich first she did read and after put into her bosom next\nunto her _schyve_.\u201d Mary entered into a long private conversation\nwith Randolph on the subject of their proposed interview; and asked\nhim, in confidence, to tell her frankly whether it were ever likely\nto take effect. \u201cAbove any thing,\u201d said she, \u201cI desire to see my\ngood sister; and next, that we may live like good sisters together,\nas your mistress hath written unto me that we shall. I have here,\u201d\ncontinued she, \u201ca ring with a diamond fashioned like a heart: I know\nnothing that can resemble my good will unto my good sister better\nthan that. My meaning shall be expressed by writing in a few verses,\nwhich you shall see before you depart; and whatsomever lacketh\ntherein, let it be reported by your writing. I will witness the same\nwith my own hand, and call God to record that I speak as I think with\nmy heart, that I do as much rejoice of that continuance of friendship\nthat I trust shall be between the queen my sister and me and the\npeople of both realms, as ever I did in any thing in my life.\u201d \u201cWith\nthese words,\u201d continues Randolph, \u201cshe taketh out of her bosom the\nQueen\u2019s Majesty\u2019s letter; and after that she had read a line or two\nthereof, putteth it again in the same place, and saith, \u2018If I could\nput it nearer my heart I would.\u2019\u201d[280]\n\nMary\u2019s sad going to England, makes us remember Wordsworth\u2019s sonnet:\n\n          \u201c----; but Time, the old Saturnian seer,\n      Sighed on the wing as her foot pressed the strand,\n      With step prelusive to a long array\n      Of woes and degradations, hand in hand,\n      Weeping Captivity and shuddering Fear,\n      Stilled by the ensanguined block of Fotheringay!\u201d\n\n[Illustration: Original size.]\n\nIn the British Museum is a ring which belonged to one whose life\nhad been a tissue of cowardice, cruelty, falsehood and weakness,\nLord Darnley. If this was a ring he ordinarily wore, it probably\nwas upon his finger when he led the way to the murder of Riccio\nand pointed him out to the slayers. However this may be, the story\ngoes that when Darnley was reconciled to Mary and was in the house\ncalled Kirk of Field, she, one evening, on taking leave in order to\nattend a marriage of a servant, embraced him tenderly; took a ring\nfrom her finger and placed it upon his. It was on this night that\na terrific explosion was heard, which shook the city of Edinburgh.\nThen it was that the Kirk of Field was blown up; and at a little\ndistance, in the garden, were the dead bodies of Darnley and his\npage. We are not of those who believe that Mary\u2019s hand or heart were\nin this murder, notwithstanding we read of the vote of the Scotch\nParliament and peruse Buchanan\u2019s suggested letters from the Queen to\nBothwell--especially as these epistles are not forthcoming. It has\nbeen said that Buchanan expressed sorrow on his death-bed for what he\nhad written against Mary. But he certainly was not a repentant. We\nhave a proof of his indomitable disposition in the fact that when,\nat his dying hour, he was informed that the King was highly incensed\nagainst him for writing his books _De Jure Regni_ and History of\nScotland, he replied, \u201che was not much concerned about that, for\nhe was shortly going to a place where there were few kings.\u201d[281]\nWriters who show no esteem for Buchanan give him the character of an\ninveterate drinker even up to his death hour; he, \u201ccontinuing his\ndebauches of the belly, made shift to get the dropsy by immoderate\ndrinking,\u201d and it was said of him, by way of jest, that he was\ntroubled _vino inter cute_ and not _aqu\u00e2 inter cute_ (by _wine\nbetween the skin_ and not _water between the skin_).[282]\n\nThere is a ring known in English history as the _Blue Ring_.[283]\nKing James the First kept a constant correspondence with several\npersons of the English court for many years prior to Queen\nElizabeth\u2019s decease; among others with Lady Scroope, sister of\nRobert Carey, afterwards Earl of Monmouth, to which lady his majesty\nsent, by Sir James Fullerton, a sapphire ring, with positive orders\nto return it to him, by a special messenger, as soon as the Queen\nactually expired. Lady Scroope had no opportunity of delivering\nit to her brother Robert while he was in the palace of Richmond;\nbut waiting at the window till she saw him at the outside of the\ngate, she threw it out to him and he well knew to what purpose he\nreceived it. Indeed, he was the first person to announce to James his\naccession to the crown of England; and the monarch said to him: \u201cI\nknow you have lost a near kinswoman and a mistress, but take here my\nhand, I will be a good master to you and will requite this service\nwith honor and reward.\u201d This Robert Carey wrote his own memoirs;\nand therein says: \u201cI only relied on God and the King. The one never\nleft me; the other, shortly after his coming to London, deceived my\nexpectations and adhered to those who sought my ruin.\u201d\n\nThomas Sackvil, Duke of Dorset, who was Lord High Treasurer of\nEngland in the times of Elizabeth and James I., has left a remarkably\nlong and curious will, which shows exceeding wealth and a mixture\nof seeming humility, obsequious loyalty and pride of position. His\nriches appear to have mainly come from his father, who was called\nby the people _Fill-Sack_, on account of his vast property. A great\nnumber of personal ornaments are bequeathed; and among them many\nrings, which are particularly described. He often and especially\nnotices[284] \u201cone ring of gold and enamelled black and set round\nwith diamonds, to the number of 20., whereof 5. being placed in the\nupper part of the said ring do represent the fashion of a cross.\u201d\nThis ring is coupled with \u201cone picture of the late famous Queen\nElizabeth, being cut out of an agate, with excellent similitude,\noval fashion and set in gold, with 20. rubies about the circle of it\nand one orient pearl pendant to the same; one ring of gold, enamelled\nblack, wherein is set a great table diamonde, beying perfect and pure\nand of much worth; and one cheyne of gold, Spanish work, containing\nin it 48. several pieces of gold, of divers sorts, enamelled white\nand of 46. oval links of gold, likewise enamelled white, wherein\nare 144. diamonds.\u201d These rings, chain and picture are to remain\nas heirlooms; while particular directions are given to place them\nin the custody of the warden and a senior fellow of New College at\nOxford during minority of his descendants, to be kept within the said\ncollege \u201cin a strong chest of iron, under two several keys,\u201d etc.\nThe testator states how the \u201csaid rynge of gould, with the great\ntable diamonde sett therein togeather with the said cheyne of goulde,\nwere given to him by the Kinge of Spayne;\u201d while the way in which he\nobtained the ring set round with twenty diamonds is thus elaborated\nin the will: \u201cAnd to the intent that they may knowe howe just and\ngreat cause bothe they and I have to hould the sayed Rynge, with\ntwentie Diamonds, in so heighe esteeme, yt is most requisite that I\ndo here set downe the whole course and circumstance howe and from\nwhome the same rynge did come to my possession, which was thus: In\nthe Begynning of the monethe of June one thousand sixe hundred and\nseaven, this rynge thus sett with twenty Diamondes, as is aforesayed,\nwas sent unto me from my most gracious soveraigne King James, by\nthat honorable personage the Lord Haye, one of the gentlemen of his\nHighnes Bedchamber, the Courte then beying at Whitehall in London\nand I at that tyme remayning at Horsley House in Surrey, twentie\nmyles from London, where I laye in suche extremitye of sickness as\nyt was a common and a constant reporte all over London that I was\ndead and the same confidentlie affirmed even unto the Kinge\u2019s Highnes\nhymselfe; upon which occasion it pleased his most excellent majestie,\nin token of his gracious goodness and great favour towards me, to\nsend the saied Lord Hay with the saied Ringe, and this Royal message\nunto me, namelie, that his Highness wished a speedie and a perfect\nrecoverye of my healthe, with all happie and good successe unto me\nand that I might live as longe as the diamonds of that Rynge (which\ntherewithall he delivered unto me) did indure, and, in token thereof,\nrequired me to weare yt and keep yt for his sake. This most gracious\nand comfortable message restored a new Life unto me, as coming from\nso renowned and benigne a soveraigne,\u201d--but enough of this fulsome\npraise of the coward King of Holyrood. It makes us think of Sir\nRichie Moniplie\u2019s scene: \u201cBut my certie, lad, times are changed since\nye came fleeing down the back stairs of auld Holyrood House, in grit\nfear, having your breeks in your hand, without time to put them on,\nand Frank Stewart, the wild Earl of Bothwell, hard at your haunches;\nand if auld Lord Glenwarloch hadna cast his mantle about his arm and\ntaken bluidy wounds mair than ane in your behalf, you wald not have\ncrawed sae crouse this day.\u201d\n\nThere is a ring in the Isle of Wight, shown as having belonged to\nCharles the First of England; and the following story is told of\nit.[285] When Charles was confined in Carisbrook Castle, a man\nnamed Howe was its master gunner. He had a son, a little boy, who\nwas a great favorite of Charles. One day, seeing him with a child\u2019s\nsword by his side, the King asked him what he intended doing with\nit? \u201cTo defend your Majesty from your Majesty\u2019s enemies,\u201d was the\nreply; an answer which so pleased the King that he gave the child the\nsignet-ring he was in the habit of wearing upon his finger.\n\nAn engraving of the ring has been published. The article itself is in\nthe possession of a descendant of Howe\u2019s. It is marked inside with\nthe letters A and T conjoined followed by E. The author cannot trace\nor couple these letters with Charles the First; and he is otherwise\ninclined to doubt the story. It is a tale to please loyal readers.\nCharles was an intelligent man; and he was not likely, especially\nunder his then circumstances, to have given his signet-ring to a\nchild. There is a very pretty incident connected with his passing\nto prison, where he might beautifully have left a ring with a\ntrue-hearted lady. As he passed through Newport, on the way to\nthe Castle of Carisbrook, the autumn weather was most bitter. A\ngentlewoman, touched by his misfortunes and his sorrows, presented\nhim with a damask rose, which grew in her garden at that cold season\nof the year and prayed for him. The mournful monarch received the\nlady\u2019s gift, heartily thanked her and passed on to his dungeon.\n\nIt is true that Charles, when in the Isle of Wight, gave a ring from\nhis finger. But the receiver of it was Sir Philip Warwick. This\nring bore a figure cut in an onyx; and was handed to Sir Philip in\norder to seal the letters written for the King by that knight at the\ntime of the treaty. This ring was left by Sir Philip to Sir Charles\nCotterell, Master of the Ceremonies, who, in his will, (16th April,\n1701,) bequeathed it to Sir Stephen Fox. It came into the possession\nof the latter\u2019s descendant, the late Earl of Ilchester and was stolen\nfrom his house in old Burlington street, London, about seventy years\nago.[286]\n\nJust before his execution, the same monarch caused a limited number\nof mourning rings to be prepared. Burke, in his Commoners of Great\nBritain and Ireland, mentions the family of _Rogers in Lota_. This\nfamily was early remarkable for its loyalty and attachment to the\ncrown. A ring is still preserved as an heirloom, which was presented\nto its ancestor by King Charles the First during his misfortunes.\nRobert Rogers of Lota received extensive grants from Charles the\nSecond. In the body of his will is the following: \u201cAnd I also\nbequeathe to Noblett Rogers the miniature portrait ring of the martyr\nCharles I. given by that monarch to my ancestor previous to his\nexecution; and I particularly desire that it may be preserved in the\nname and family.\u201d The miniature is said to be by Vandyke.\n\nThe present possessor of this ring says that when it was shown in\nRome, it was much admired; the artists when questioned, \u201cWhose\nstyle?\u201d frequently answered, \u201cVandyke\u2019s.\u201d[287] Although many doubt\nwhether Vandyke ever submitted to paint miniatures, yet portraits in\nenamel by him are known to be in existence.\n\nA ring, said to be one of the seven given after the King\u2019s death,\nwas possessed by Horace Walpole and sold with the Strawberry Hill\ncollection. It has the King\u2019s head in miniature and behind, a skull;\nwhile between the letters C. R. is this motto:\n\n      \u201c_Prepared be to follow me._\u201d\n\nThere is another of these rings (all of which may be considered as\n\u201cstamped with an eternal grief\u201d) in the possession of a clergyman.\nThe shank of the ring is of fine gold, enamelled black, but the\ngreater part of the enamel has been worn away by use. On the inner\nside of the shank an inscription has been engraved, the first letter\nof which still remains, but the rest of this also has been worn away\nby much use. In the shank is set a small miniature in enamel of\nthe King, inclosed in a box of crystal which opens with a spring.\nAt the back of the box, containing the miniature, is a piece of\nwhite enamel, having a death\u2019s head surmounted by a crown with the\ndate January 30 represented upon it in black. A memorial ring of\nCharles the First, which has a portrait of the King in enamel and\nan inscription at the back, recording the day of his execution, was\nexhibited before the members of the London Antiquarian Society in\nMarch, 1854.[288]\n\nRings, with portraits of Charles the First on ivory, are not uncommon.\n\nWhen the body of Charles the First was discovered in 1813, (in the\nroyal burial place at Windsor,) the hair at the back of the head\nappeared close cut; whereas, at the time of the decollation, the\nexecutioner twice adjusted the King\u2019s hair under his cap. No doubt\nthe piety of friends had severed the hair after death, in order to\nfurnish rings and other memorials of the unhappy monarch.\n\nA noble character was James Stanley, seventh Earl of Derby, who was\nbeheaded for his loyalty to Charles the First.\n\nAs a proof of his bravery, with six hundred horse he maintained fight\nagainst three thousand foot and horse, receiving seven shots in his\nbreast-plate, thirteen cuts in his beaver, five or six wounds on his\narms and shoulders, and had two horses killed under him.\n\nHis manliness shows well in his answer to Cromwell\u2019s demand that\nhe should deliver up the Isle of Wight: \u201cI scorn your proffers;\nI disdain your favors; I abhor your treasons; and am so far from\ndelivering this island to your advantage, that I will keep it to the\nutmost of my power to your destruction. Take this final answer and\nforbear any further solicitations; for if you trouble me with any\nmore messages upon this occasion, I will burn the paper and hang the\nbearer.\u201d[289]\n\nHe was executed contrary to the promise of quarter for life, \u201can\nancient and honorable plea not violated until this time.\u201d\n\nThere is a deeply interesting account of his acts and deportment\nwritten by a Mr. Bagaley who attended on him. The Earl wrote letters\nto his wife, daughter and sons; a servant went and purchased all the\nrings he could get and lapped them up in several papers and writ\nwithin them and the Earl made Bagaley subscribe them to all his\nchildren and servants. This coupling his servants with his children\nin connection with these death tokens is charming. The Earl handed\nthe letters with the rings to Bagaley and, in relation to delivering\nthem, he used this beautiful and perfect expression--\u201cAs to them,\nI can say nothing: _silence and your own looks will best tell your\nmessage_.\u201d\n\nOn quitting his prison, others confined there kissed his hand and\nwept; but as to himself, he told them: \u201cYou shall hear that I die\nlike a Christian, a man and a soldier.\u201d\n\nHe was to be beheaded at Bolton. On his way thither, Bagaley says:\n\u201cHis lordship, as we rode along, called me to him and bid me, when I\nshould come into the Isle of Man, to commend him to the Archbishop\nthere and tell him he well remembered the several discourses that\nhad passed between them there concerning death and the manner of it;\nthat he had often said the thoughts of death could not trouble him\nin fight or with a sword in hand, _but he feared it would something\nstartle him tamely to submit to a blow on the scaffold_. But,\u201d said\nhis lordship, \u201ctell the archdeacon from me that I do now find in\nmyself an absolute change as to that opinion.\u201d\n\nAt night when he laid him down upon the right side, with his hand\nunder his face, he said: \u201cMethinks I lie like a monument in a church;\nand to-morrow I shall really be so.\u201d\n\nThere was a delay in his execution, for the people of Bolton refused\nto strike a nail in the scaffold or to give any assistance. He asked\nfor the axe and kissed it. He forgave the headsman before he asked\nhim. To the spectators, he said: \u201cGood people, I thank you for your\nprayers and for your tears; I have heard the one and seen the other\nand our God sees and hears both.\u201d He caused the block to be turned\ntowards the church. \u201cI will look,\u201d cried he, \u201ctowards the sanctuary\nwhich is above for ever.\u201d There were other interesting circumstances\nattending his execution. With outstretched arms he laid himself down\nto the block, exclaiming, \u201cBlessed be God\u2019s name for ever and ever.\nLet the whole earth be filled with his glory.\u201d Then the executioner\ndid his work--\u201c_and no manner of noise was then heard but sighs and\nsobs_.\u201d\n\nWe are left without any account of the way in which Bagaley delivered\nthe rings; but, imagination can make a picture of a darkened and\ndismantled mansion, suffering widow and children, with terrified\nretainers, and Bagaley standing in the midst, weary, heart-sick,\ntearfully presenting the melancholy remembrances and realizing the\ntruthfulness of the words of his brave, good and gentle master:\n\u201c_Silence and your own looks will best tell your message_.\u201d\n\nThe French woman Kerouaille, favorite mistress of Charles the Second,\nand created Duchess of Portsmouth, is said to have secured two\nvaluable diamond rings from the King\u2019s finger while the throes of\ndeath were on him. The following graphic description is worth reading:\n\n\u201cI should have told you, in his fits his feet were as cold as ice,\nand were kept rubbed with hot cloths, which were difficult to get.\nSome say the Queen rubbed one and washed it in tears. Pillows were\nbrought from the Duchess of Portsmouth\u2019s by Mrs. Roche. His Highness,\nthe Duke of York, was the first there, and then I think the Queen,\n(he sent for her;) the Duchess of Portsmouth swooned in the chamber,\nand was carried out for air; Nelly Gwynne roared to a disturbance\nand was led out and lay roaring behind the door; the Duchess wept\nand returned; the Princess (afterwards Queen Anne) was not admitted,\nhe was so ghastly a sight, (his eye-balls were turned that none of\nthe blacks were seen, and his mouth drawn up to one eye,) so they\nfeared it might affect the child she goes with. None came in at\nthe common door, but by an odd side-door to prevent a crowd, but\nenough at convenient times to satisfy all. The grief of the Duchess\nof Portsmouth did not hinder her packing and sending many strong\nboxes to the French ambassador\u2019s; and the second day of the King\u2019s\nsickness, the chamber being kept dark--one who comes from the light\ndoes not see very soon, and much less one who is between them and the\nlight there is--so she went to the side of the bed, and sat down to\nand taking the king\u2019s hand in hers, felt his two great diamond rings;\nthinking herself alone, and asking him what he did with them on, said\nshe would take them off, and did it at the same time, and looking up\nsaw the Duke at the other side, steadfastly looking on her, at which\nshe blushed much, and held them towards him, and said, \u2018Here, sire,\nwill you take them?\u2019 \u2018No, madam,\u2019 he said, \u2018they are as safe in your\nhands as mine. I will not touch them till I see how things will go.\u2019\nBut since the King\u2019s death she has forgot to restore them, though he\nhas not that she took them, for he told the story.\u201d This extract is\ntaken from a letter written by a lady who was the wife of a person\nabout the court at Whitehall and forms part of a curious collection\nof papers lately discovered at Draycot House near Chippenham,\nWiltshire, England.[290]\n\nJeffreys, the bloody Jeffreys, whose greatest honor was to make a\nmartyr of Sidney, while rising in royal favor and when about to\ndepart for the circuit to give the provinces \u201ca lick with the rough\nside of his tongue,\u201d (a favorite expression of his,) experienced a\nmark of regard from Charles the Second. The King took a ring from his\nown finger and gave it to this besotted wretch of a chief justice.\nAt the same time the monarch bestowed on him a curious piece of\nadvice to be given by a king to a judge: it was, that, as the weather\nwould be hot, Jeffreys should beware of drinking too much.[291] The\npeople called the ring \u201c_Jeffrey\u2019s blood-stone_,\u201d as he got it just\nafter the execution of Sir Thomas Armstrong. Roger North says: \u201cThe\nking was persuaded to present him with a ring, publicly taken from\nhis own finger, in token of his majesty\u2019s acceptance of his most\neminent services; and this by way of precursor being blazoned in\nthe Gazette, his lordship went down into the country, as from the\nking _legatus a latere_.\u201d The Lord Keeper North, who, it has been\nsaid, hated Jeffreys worse than popery,[292] speaks of the terror\nto others of the face and voice of the chief justice: \u201cas if the\nthunder of the day of judgment broke over their heads;\u201d and shows\nhow Jeffreys, who, by this time, had reached the position of Lord\nChancellor, was discovered by a lawyer that had been under the storm\nof his countenance:[293] \u201cThere was a scrivener of Wapping brought\nto hearing for relief against a bummery bond; the contingency of\nlosing all being showed, the bill was going to be dismissed. But one\nof the plaintiff\u2019s counsel said that he was a strange fellow and\nsometimes went to church, sometimes to conventicles and none could\ntell what to make of him and it was thought he was a trimmer. At\nthat the Chancellor fired; and \u2018A trimmer,\u2019 said he, \u2018I have heard\nmuch of that monster, but never saw one. Come forth, Mr. Trimmer,\nturn you round, and let us see your shape;\u2019 and at that rate talked\nso long that the poor fellow was ready to drop under him; but, at\nlast, the bill was dismissed with costs and he went his way. In the\nhall, one of his friends asked him how he came off? \u2018Came off!\u2019\nsaid he, \u2018I am escaped from the terrors of that man\u2019s face, which I\nwould scarce undergo again to save my life; and I shall certainly\nhave the frightful impression of it as long as I live.\u2019 Afterwards,\nwhen the Prince of Orange came and all was in confusion, this Lord\nChancellor, being very obnoxious, disguised himself in order to go\nbeyond sea. He was in a seaman\u2019s garb and drinking a pot in a cellar.\nThis scrivener came into the cellar after some of his clients; and\nhis eye _caught that face_, which made him start; and the Chancellor,\nseeing himself eyed, feigned a cough and turned to the wall with his\npot in his hand. But _Mr. Trimmer_ went out and gave notice that he\nwas there; whereupon the mob flowed in and he was in extreme hazard\nof his life,\u201d etc., etc. This term \u201cTrimmer\u201d seemed to be very\nobnoxious to Jeffreys. Once at the council and when the king was\npresent, Jeffreys \u201cbeing flaming drunk, came up to the other end of\nthe board and (as in that condition his way was) fell to talking and\nstaring like a madman, and, at length, bitterly inveighed against\nTrimmers and told the king that he had Trimmers in his court and he\nwould never be easy so long as the Trimmers were there.\u201d[294] North\ngives the interpretation of the word \u201cTrimmer,\u201d which was taken up\nto subdivide the Tory party, of whom all (however loyal and of the\nestablished church professed) who did not go into all the lengths of\nthe new-flown party at court, were so termed.[295]\n\nThe name of the great Dundee instantly brings to mind one of the most\nspirited and characteristic ballads ever written:\n\n     \u201cThe Gordon demands of him which way he goes--\n      Where\u2019er shall direct me the shade of Montrose!\n      Your Grace, in short space, shall hear tidings of me:\n      Or that low lies the bonnet of Bonny Dundee.\n          Come, fill up my cup; come, fill up my can;\n          Come, saddle the horses and call up the men;\n          Come, open your gates and let me gae free,\n          For it\u2019s up with the bonnets of Bonny Dundee.\u201d[296]\n\nAll of this is gone; low lies Bonny Dundee; and the untruth of what\nis called history is all we have of him. There was a ring of which a\ndescription and an engraving remain containing some of Lord Dundee\u2019s\nhair, with the letters V. D. surmounted by a coronet worked upon it\nin gold; and on the inside of the ring are engraved a skull and this\npoesy:\n\n      \u201c_Great Dundee, for God and me. J. Rex._\u201d\n\nThis ring, which belonged to the family of Graham of Duntrune,\n(representative of Viscount Dundee,) has, for several years, been\nlost or mislaid.[297]\n\nA memorial of Nelson is left in some half-dozen of rings. In\nthe place of a stone, each ring has a metal _basso relievo_\nrepresentation of Nelson, half bust. The metal, blackish in\nappearance, forming the relief, being, in reality, portions of the\nball which gave the Admiral his fatal wound at Trafalgar.\n\nCardinal York, the last of the Stuart family, left as a legacy to the\nPrince of Wales, afterwards George the Fourth, a valuable ring which\nwas worn by the kings of Scotland on the day of their coronation.[298]\n\nWe have met with but one case where, in a college disputation, the\nsuccessful contestant was rewarded with a ring. James Crichton,\nwho obtained the appellation of the \u201cAdmirable Crichton,\u201d had\nvolunteered--it was at a time when he was only twenty years of\nage--to dispute with any one in Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, Greek, Latin,\nSpanish, French, Italian, English, Dutch, Flemish and Sclavonian; and\nthis, either in verse or prose. He did not seem to prepare himself,\nbut occupied his time in hunting, hawking, tilting, vaulting, tossing\na pike, handling a musket and other military feats. Crichton duly\nappeared in the College of Navarre and acquitted himself beyond\nexpression in the disputation, which lasted from nine o\u2019clock in the\nmorning until six at night. At length, the President, after extolling\nhim highly for the many rare and excellent endowments which God and\nnature had bestowed upon him, rose from his chair and, accompanied\nby four of the most eminent professors of the University, gave him\na diamond ring (with a purse full of money) as a testimony of regard\nand favor.[299]\n\nIn England, during the year 1815, a tooth of Sir Isaac Newton was\nsold for seven hundred and twenty pounds to a nobleman who had it set\nin a ring.\n\nThe elder Kean used to wear, to the hour of his death, a gold snake\nring, with ruby head and emerald eyes. At the sale of his effects, it\nfetched four guineas and an half.[300]\n\nOn the day of the arrival of Miss Milbankes\u2019 answer to Lord Byron\u2019s\noffer of marriage, he was sitting at dinner in Newstead Abbey, when\nhis gardener came and presented him with his mother\u2019s ring, which\nshe had lost and which the gardener had just found in digging up the\nmould under her window. Almost at the same moment, the letter from\nMiss Milbankes arrived; and Lord Byron exclaimed, \u201cIf it contains\na consent, I will be married with this very ring.\u201d[301] It does\nnot appear whether it was really used. Strange, if it were! and\nsingular that his lordship, so full of powerful superstition, should\nhave suggested it. His mother\u2019s temper had been, in part, his bane;\nher marriage was a most unhappy one; the poet\u2019s father notoriously\nwedded for money and was separated from his wife--while, the poet\u2019s\noffer, at a time when he was greatly embarrassed, coupled with his\nown mysterious after-separation, would make this ring appear a fatal\ntalisman if it were really placed upon Miss Milbankes\u2019 finger. It was\nin his after-bitterness, in his desolate state and dissoluteness\nthat Byron called the wedding-ring \u201cthe damn\u2019dest part of matrimony.\u201d\n\n\n\u00a7 5. In the last Polish struggle, the matrons of Warsaw sent their\nmarriage rings to coin into ducats.[302]\n\nA few years ago the signet-ring of the famous Turlough Lynnoch was\nfound at Charlemont in the county of Armagh, Ireland. It bears the\nbloody hand of the O\u2019Neils and initials T. O. The signet part of the\nring is circular and the whole of it silver. O\u2019Neils had been kings\nof Ireland and were also Earls of Ulster. The symbol of the province\nof Ulster was a bloody hand. Fergus, the first King of Scotland, was\ndescended from the O\u2019Neils. King James the First made this bloody\nhand the distinguishing badge of a new order of baronets and they\nwere created to aid by service or money for forces in subduing the\nO\u2019Neils.[303]\n\nDuring the years 1813, 1814 and 1815, when Prussia had collected\nall her resources, in the hope of freeing herself from the yoke\nwhich France had laid upon her, the most extraordinary feelings of\npatriotism burst forth. Every thought was centred in the struggle;\nevery coffer was drained; all gave willingly. In town and village\naltars were erected, on which ornaments of gold, silver and precious\nstones were offered up. Massive plate was replaced in palaces by\ndishes, platters and spoons of wood. Ladies wore no other ornaments\nthan those made of iron, upon which was engraved: \u201c_We gave gold for\nthe freedom of our country; and, like her, wear an iron yoke._\u201d\nOne evening, a party had assembled in the house of an inhabitant\nof Breslau. Among them, was a beautiful though poor maiden. Her\ncompanions were boasting what each had contributed towards the\nfreedom of their country. Alas! she had no offering to proclaim--none\nto give. With a heavy heart she took her leave. While unrobing for\nthe night, she thought she could dispose of her hair and, so, add\nto the public fund. With the dawn, she went to a hairdresser\u2019s;\nrelated her simple tale; and parted with her tresses for a trifling\nsum, which she instantly deposited on an altar and returned to her\nquiet home. This reached the ears of the officers appointed each\nday to collect the various offerings; and the President received\na confirmation from the hairdresser, who proposed to resign the\nbeautiful hair, provided it was resold for the benefit of fatherland.\nThe offer was accepted; iron rings were made, each containing a\nportion of hair; and these produced far more than their weight in\ngold.[304]\n\n\n\n\n                            CHAPTER FIVE.\n\n              RINGS OF LOVE, AFFECTION AND FRIENDSHIP.\n\n  1. The Gimmal or Gimmow Ring. 2. Sonnet by Davison. 3. Church\n  Marriage ordained by Innocent III.; and, Marriage-Ring. 4. Rings\n  used in different countries on Marriages and in Betrothment:\n  Esthonia; the Copts; Persia; Spain; Ackmetchet in Russia. 5.\n  Betrothal Rings. 6. Signets of the first Christians. 7. Laws of\n  Marriage. 8. Wedding Finger; Artery to the Heart; Lady who had lost\n  the Ring Finger. 9. Roman Catholic Marriages. 10. Marriage-Ring\n  during the Commonwealth. 11. Ring in Jewish Marriages. 12.\n  Superstitions. 13. Rings of twisted Gold-wire given away at\n  Weddings. 14. Cupid and Psyche. 15. St. Anne and St. Joachim.\n  16. Rush Rings. 17. Rings with the Orpine Plant. 18. Ancient\n  Marriage-Rings had Mottoes and Seals. 19. The Sessa Ring. 20. Rings\n  bequeathed or kept in Memory of the Dead: Washington; Shakspeare;\n  Pope; Dr. Johnson; Lord Eldon; Tom Moore\u2019s Mother. 21. The Ship\n  _Powhattan_. 22. Ring of Affection illustrated by a Pelican and\n  Young. 23. Bran of Brittany. 24. Rings used by Writers of Fiction;\n  Shakspeare\u2019s Cymbeline. 25. Small Rings for the _Penates_. 26.\n  Story from the \u201cGesta Romanorum.\u201d\n\n\n\u00a7 1. One of the prettiest tokens of friendship and affection is what\nis termed a _Gimmal_ or _Gimmow_ Ring. It is of French origin. This\nring is constructed, as the name imports, of twin or double hoops,\nwhich play within one another, like the links of a chain. Each hoop\nhas one of its sides flat and the other convex; and each is twisted\nonce round and surmounted with an emblem or motto. The course of\nthe twist, in each hoop, is made to correspond with that of its\ncounterpart, so that, on bringing together the flat surfaces of the\nhoops, these immediately unite in one ring.[305]\n\n[Illustration: (Friendship Ring)]\n\nThis form of ring is connected with the purest and highest acts\nof friendship; it became a simple love token; and was, at length,\nconverted into the more serious _sponsalium annulus_, or ring of\naffiance.\n\nThe lover putting his finger through one of the hoops and his\nmistress hers through the other, were thus symbolically yoked\ntogether; a yoke which neither could be said wholly to wear, one half\nbeing allotted to the other; and making, as it has been quaintly\nsaid, a joint tenancy.\n\nDryden describes a gimmal ring in his play of _Don Sebastian_:[306]\n\n                        \u201cA curious artist wrought \u2019em--\n      With joints so close as not to be perceived;\n      Yet are they both each other\u2019s counterparts!\n      (Her part had Juan inscribed; and his had Laydor;\n      You know those names were theirs;) and in the midst\n      A heart divided in two-halfs was placed.\n      Now if the rivets of those rings, inclosed,\n      Fit not each other, I have forged this lie,\n      But if they join, you must for ever part.\u201d\n\nGimmal rings, though originally double, were, by a further\nrefinement, made triple and even more complicated, yet the name\nremained unchanged.\n\nHerrick, in his \u201cHesperides,\u201d has the following lines:\n\n\u201cTHE JIMMAL RING OR TRUE-LOVE KNOT.\n\n     \u201cThou sent\u2019st to me a true-love knot; but I\n      Return\u2019d a ring of jimmals, to imply\n      Thy love had one knot, mine a triple-tye.\u201d\n\nA singular silver gimmal ring was found in Dorset, England; the\nlegend _Ave Maria_ is partly inscribed on each moiety and legible\nonly when they are united.[307]\n\nA beautiful enamelled ring of this kind which belonged to Sir Thomas\nGresham, is extant.[308] It opens horizontally, thus forming two\nrings, which are, nevertheless, linked together and respectively\ninscribed on the inner side with a Scripture posy: QUOD. DEVS.\nCONJVNXIT (_what God did join_) is engraved on one half and HOMO\nNON SEPARAT, (_let not man separate_), on the other. The ring is\nbeautifully enamelled. One of the portions is set with a diamond\nand the other with a ruby; and corresponding with them, in a cavity\ninside the ring, are or rather were within the last twenty years two\nminute figures or genii. The workmanship is admirable and probably\nItalian.\n\nThe reader who may be curious to know more about the gimmal ring,\nand the probable derivation of the word _Gimmal_, is referred to a\nlearned and interesting article by Robert Smith, Esq., in the London\nArch\u00e6ologia, vol. xii. p. 7.\n\nIt is possible that Shakspeare was thinking of gimmal rings, some of\nwhich had engraven on them a hand with a heart in it, when (in the\n_Tempest_) he makes Ferdinand say to Miranda \u201cHere\u2019s my hand\u201d and she\nanswers \u201cAnd mine, with my heart in it.\u201d\n\n\n\u00a7 2. Coupled with the love of youth for maiden, we have one of the\nmost simple and perfect of old English sonnets (by Davison):[309]\n\n\u201cPURE AND ENDLESS.\u201d\n\n     \u201cIf you would _know_ the love which you I bear,\n      Compare it to the ring which your fair hand\n      Shall make MORE precious, when _you_ shall it wear:\n      So _my love\u2019s_ nature you shall understand.\n      Is it of metal _pure_? So endless is _my_ love,\n      Unless you it destroy with your disdain.\n      Doth it the purer grow the more \u2019tis tried?\n      So doth my love; yet herein they dissent:\n      That whereas gold, the more \u2019tis purified,\n      By growing less, doth show some part is spent;\n      My love doth grow more pure by your more trying,\n      And yet increaseth in the purifying.\u201d\n\nAs far back as the fifteenth century a lover wore his ring on the\nlast or little finger.[310]\n\n\n\u00a7 3. It is said that Pope Innocent the Third was the first who\nordained the celebration of marriage in the church; before which, it\nwas totally a civil contract; hence arose dispensations, licenses,\nfaculties and other remnants of papal benefit.[311] Shelford[312]\nobserves it came with the Council of Trent. The Council sat within\nthe Bishopric of Trent, Germany, from the year 1545 to 1563.\n\nBut the ring was used in connection with marriage before Catholic\ntimes. The Greeks had it. We find from Juvenal[313] that the Romans\nemployed the ring. There was commonly a feast on the signing of\nthe marriage contract; and the man gave the woman a ring (_annulus\npronubus_) by way of pledge, which she put upon her left hand, on\nthe finger next the least: because of the suggested nerve running\nto the heart.[314] The ring was generally of iron, though sometimes\nof copper and brass, with little knobs in the form of a key, to\nrepresent that the wife had possession of the husband\u2019s keys.[315]\nRoman keys attached to a ring for the finger are not uncommon.[316]\nThe ring is at right angles to the axle and, therefore, it could only\nbe used for a lock which required very little strength to turn it or\nas a latch-key. It may be a question, whether these were not rings\nused on marriages?\n\n[Illustration: (Roman Key Ring)]\n\nMaffei gives a gem, upon which is engraved only the two Greek words\n\u0391\u0398\u0391\u039d\u0391\u03a3\u0399 \u03a0\u0399\u03a3\u03a4\u0399\u03a3, in English, _Faith immortal_, which he considers as\nintended to be set in a betrothal ring--in some one of those rings\nwhich lovers gave to their beloved, with protestations of eternal\nconstancy, as a tacit promise of matrimony. Some Roman nuptial rings\nhad inscriptions, as _Ama me_; _Amo te_; _Bonam vitam_, etc. Among\nother rings found at Pompeii were some which are considered to have\nbeen wedding-rings.[317] One, of gold, picked up in Diomed\u2019s house,\nhad a device representing a man and woman joining hands. Another, was\na double gold ring, in which two small green stones were set.\n\nThere is no evidence that the ring was used by the Egyptians at a\nmarriage.[318]\n\n[Illustration: (Double Gold Ring)]\n\nOn the authority of a text in Exodus, wedding-rings are attempted to\nbe carried as far back as the Hebrews.[319] Leo of Modena, however,\nmaintains that they did not use any nuptial ring.[320] Selden owns\nthat they gave a ring in marriage, but that it was only in lieu of a\npiece of money of the same value which had before been presented. It\nprobably was ring-money or money in the shape of a ring, (of which we\nhave before spoken.)\n\n\n\u00a7 4. The common use of the ring in different countries, when\nbetrothment or marriage takes place, is remarkable.\n\nIn Esthonia, a province of the Russian empire, where the girls\nconsider marriage the one great object to be coveted, attained and\nprepared for from the earliest dawn of their susceptibilities, they\nspin and weave at their outfit, frequently for ten years before their\nhelpmate is forthcoming: this outfit extends to a whole wardrobe\nfull of kerchiefs, gloves, stockings, etc. When they have formed an\nacquaintance to their liking, the occasion having been usually of\ntheir own creating, they look forward with impatience to the moment\nof the proposal being made. But there is one season only, the period\nof the new moon, when an offer can be tendered; nor is any time so\nmuch preferred for a marriage as the period of the full moon. The\nplenipos in the business of an offer are generally a couple of the\nsuitors\u2019 friends or else his parents, who enter the maid\u2019s homestead\nwith mead and brandy in their hands. On their approach the gentle\nmaiden conceals herself, warning having been given her in due form\nby some ancient dame; the plenipos never make a direct announcement\nof the purpose of their mission, but in most cases tell the girl\u2019s\nparents some story about a lamb or an ewe which has got astray and\nthey desire to bring home again. The parents immediately invite them\nto drink, vowing that they know nothing of the stray creature; if\nthey decline to drink with them, it is a sign either that they have\nno inclination for the match or that their daughter has whispered\nthem \u201cher heart has no room for the youth in question.\u201d But if all\nare of one mind, the parents set merrily to work on the mead and\nbrandy and give the suitor\u2019s envoys free license to hunt out the\nstray lambkin. When caught, she is also expected to taste of the cup;\nand from that moment the bridegroom becomes at liberty to visit his\nbride. He makes his appearance, therefore, a few days afterwards,\nbringing presents of all kinds with him, together with a ring, which\nhe places on the maiden\u2019s finger as his betrothed.[321]\n\nThe Copts have a custom of betrothing girls at six or seven years\nof age, which is done by putting a ring upon their finger; but\npermission is afterwards obtained for her friends to educate her\nuntil she arrives at years of discretion.[322]\n\nIn Persia, a ring is among the usual marriage presents on the part of\nthe bridegroom.[323]\n\nIt is said that in Spain every girl who has attained the age of\ntwelve may compel a young man to marry her, provided he has reached\nhis fourteenth year and she can prove, for instance, that he has\npromised her his hand and given her to understand that he wished her\nto become his wife. These proofs are adduced before an ecclesiastical\nvicar. A present of a ring is considered sufficient proof to enable\nthe girl to claim her husband. If the vicar pronounces the marriage\nought to take place, the youth, who has been previously sent to\nprison, cannot be liberated until after the celebration.[324]\n\nDr. Clark, in his Travels in Russia, describes the marriage, at\nAckmetchet, of Professor Pallas\u2019s daughter with an Hungarian General\naccording to the rites of the Greek Church. After ascertaining as\nto ties of blood between them and voluntary consent, a Bible and\ncrucifix were placed before them and large lighted wax tapers,\ndecorated with ribbons, put into their hands.\n\nAfter certain prayers had been read and the ring put upon the bride\u2019s\nfinger, the floor was covered by a piece of scarlet satin and a\ntable was placed before them with the communion vessels. The priest\nhaving tied their hands together with bands of the same colored satin\nand placed a chaplet of flowers upon their heads, administered the\nsacrament and afterwards led them, thus bound together, three times\nround the communion table followed by the bride\u2019s father and the\nbridesmaids. During this ceremony, the choristers chanted a hymn; and\nafter it was concluded, a scene of general kissing took place among\nall present, etc.\n\n\n\u00a7 5. The betrothal of a young couple was formerly attended with\nconsiderable ceremony, a portion of which was the exchange of rings.\nShakspeare alludes to this in the play of \u201c_Twelfth Night_:\u201d\n\n     \u201cStrengthened by the interchangement of your rings.\u201d\n\nWe have a similar thing in \u201c_Two Gentlemen of Verona_:\u201d[325]\n\n     _Julia._ \u201cKeep this remembrance for thy Julia\u2019s sake.\u201d\n     _Proteus._ \u201cWhy then we\u2019ll make exchange; here, take you this.\u201d\n                                                    [_Giving a ring._\n     _Julia._ \u201cAnd seal the bargain with a holy kiss.\u201d\n\nThis betrothing, affiancing, espousal or plighting troth between\nlovers was sometimes done in church with great solemnity; and the\nservice on this occasion is preserved in some of the old rituals.[326]\n\nThe virgin and martyr, Agnes, in Ambrose, says: \u201cMy Lord Jesus Christ\nhath espoused me with his ring.\u201d\n\nThis interchangement of rings appears in Chaucer\u2019s \u201cTroilus and\nCresseide:\u201d\n\n     \u201cSoon after this they spake of sondry things\n      As fitt to purpose of this aventure,\n      And playing _enterchangeden of rings_\n      Of whom I can not tellen no scripture.\n      But well I wot, a broche of gold and assure\n      In which a rubie set was like an herte,\n      Creseide him gave, and stacke it on his sherte.\u201d[327]\n\nIn Germany, a loving couple start on the principle of reciprocity\nand exchange rings. This is not done at the time of the marriage\nceremony, but previously when the formal betrothment takes place,\nwhich is generally made the occasion of a family festival. The ring\nthus used is not called a wedding ring, but _Trau_ ring, which\nmeans _ring of betrothal_. A particular ring does not form part of\nthe ceremony of marriage. Royalty, however, appears to go beyond\nthe common custom of the country, even in a marriage. At the late\nmarriage of the Emperor of Austria, the Prince Archbishop of Vienna,\nwho performed the ceremony, took rings from a golden cup and\npresented them to the august couple, who, reciprocally, placed them\non each other\u2019s finger; and, while either held the hand of the other,\nthey received the episcopal benediction.\n\nIn the early Christian Church a ring of troth, the _annulus\npronubus_, was given by the man to the woman as a token and proof of\nher betrothment.\n\nPope Nicholas, A. D. 860, in the account which he gives of the\nceremonies used in the Roman Church, says: \u201cIn the espousals, the man\nfirst presents the woman whom he betroths with the arr\u00e6 or espousal\ngifts; and among these, he puts a ring on her finger.\u201d[328] This\nring, which may be traced back to the time of Tertullian, appears to\nhave come into the Christian Church from Roman usage; although the\nOriental ring of betrothment may have been the origin of both.\n\nAccording to the ritual of the Greek Church, the priest first placed\nthe rings on the fingers of the parties, who afterwards exchanged\nthem. In the life of St. Leobard, who is said to have flourished\nabout the year 580, written by Gregory of Tours, he appears to have\ngiven a ring, a kiss and a pair of shoes to his affianced. The ring\nand shoes were a symbol of securing the lady\u2019s hands and feet in\nthe trammels of conjugal obedience; but the ring, of itself, was\nsufficient to confirm the contract.[329]\n\nIt would seem that, on the ceremony of betrothal, the ring was placed\non the third finger of the right hand; and it may be a question,\nwhether the beautiful picture by Raffaelle, called _Lo Sposalizio_,\nshould not be considered as an illustration of espousal or betrothing\nand not a marriage of the Virgin. Mary and Joseph stand opposite to\neach other in the centre; the high priest, between them, is bringing\ntheir right hands towards each other; Joseph, with his right hand,\n(guided by the priest,) is placing the ring on the third finger of\nthe right hand of the Virgin; beside Mary is a group of the virgins\nof the Temple; near Joseph are the suitors, who break their barren\nwands--that which Joseph holds in his hand has blossomed into a lily,\nwhich, according to the legend, was the sign that he was the chosen\none.[330]\n\nThe same circumstance, of placing the ring on the third finger of the\nright hand, is observable in Ghirlandais\u2019s fresco of the \u201cEspousals\u201d\nin the church of the Santa Croce at Florence.\n\nThere is certainly some confusion as to the hand on which the\nmarriage-ring was placed. However, in religious symbols of espousal,\nthe distinction of the right hand was certainly kept. In an ancient\npontifical was an order that the bridegroom should place the ring\nsuccessively on three fingers of the right hand and leave it on the\nfourth finger of the left, in order to mark the difference between\nthe marriage-ring, the symbol of a love which is mixed with carnal\naffection and the episcopal ring, the symbol of entire chastity.[331]\n\nThe espousal became the marriage-ring. The esponsais consisted in\na mutual promise of marriage, which was made by the man and woman\nbefore the bishop or presbyter and several witnesses; after which,\nthe articles of agreement of marriage (called _tabul\u00e6 matrimoniales_)\nwhich are mentioned by Augustin, were signed by both persons. After\nthis, the man delivered to the woman the ring and other gifts: an\naction which was termed _subarrhation_. In the latter ages the\nespousals have always been performed at the same time as the office\nof matrimony, both in the western and eastern churches; and it has\nlong been customary for the ring to be delivered to the woman after\nthe contract has been made, which has always been in the actual\noffice of matrimony.[332]\n\nAccording to Clemens Alexandrinus, the ring was given, not as an\nornament but as a seal to signify the woman\u2019s duty in preserving the\ngoods of her husband, because the care of the house belongs to her.\nThis idea, by the by, is very reasonable, as we shall hereafter show,\nwhen speaking of the ritual of the Church of England. The symbolical\nimport of the \u201cwedding ring,\u201d under the spiritual influence of\nChristianity, came to comprise the general idea of wedded fidelity in\nall the width and importance of its application.[333]\n\n\n\u00a7 6. The first Christians engraved upon their seals symbolical\nfigures, such as a dove, fish, anchor or lyre.[334] The rings used in\ntheir fyancels represented pigeons, fish, or, more often, two hands\njoined together. Clemens of Alexandria, who permitted these symbols,\ncondemns not only the representation of idols, but also of the\ninstruments of war, vases for the table and every thing repugnant to\nthe strictness of the Gospel.\n\nA ring, when used by the church, signifies, to use the words of\nliturgical writers, _integritatem fidei_, the perfection of fidelity\nand is _fidei sacramentum_, the badge of fidelity.[335]\n\n\n\u00a7 7. The canon law is the basis of marriage throughout Europe, except\nso far as it has been altered by the municipal laws of particular\nStates.[336] An important alteration was made in the law of marriage\nin many countries by the decrees of the Council of Trent, held for\nthe reformation of marriage. These decrees are the standing judgments\nof the Romish Church; but they were never received as authority in\nGreat Britain. Still the ecclesiastical law of marriage in England is\nderived from the Roman pontiffs. It has been traced as far back as\n605, soon after the establishment of Christianity there.[337]\n\nMarriages in the Episcopal Church are governed by the _Rubric_. This\nterm signifies a title or article in certain ancient common-law books.\n\nRubrics also denote the rules and directions given at the beginning\nand in the course of the liturgy, for the order and manner in which\nthe several parts of the office are to be performed.\n\nStatutes of the English Parliament have confirmed the use of the\nrubric inserted in the part of the Common Prayer Book relating to the\nmarriage ceremony. But prior to the British marriage acts, a case\narose where no ring was used according to the Common Prayer Book.\nA then Chief Justice (_C. J._ Pemberton) was inclined to think it a\ngood contract, there being words of a present contract repeated after\na person in orders.[338]\n\nThe rubric directs that the man shall give unto the woman a ring,\nlaying the same upon the book; and the priest, taking the ring, shall\ndeliver it unto the man to put it on the fourth finger of the woman\u2019s\nleft hand. And he says, \u201cWith this ring I thee wed, with my body I\nthee worship and with all my worldly gifts I thee endow.\u201d These words\nare best explained by the rubric of the 2d of Edward VI., which ran\nthus:[339] \u201cThe man shall give unto the woman a ring and other tokens\nof spousage, as gold or silver, laying the same upon the book; and\nthe man, taught by the priest, shall say, \u2018With this ring I thee wed,\nthis gold and silver I thee give;\u2019\u201d and then these words, \u201cWith all\nmy worldly goods I thee endow,\u201d were delivered with a more peculiar\nsignificancy. Here the proper distinction is made, the endowment of\nall his goods means granting the custody or key and care of them. It\nwill be seen that the word \u201cendow\u201d is kept apart from the positive\ngift of pieces of gold and silver. It has been said that the ancient\npledge was a piece of silver worn in the pocket; but marriage being\nheld sacred, it was thought more prudent to have the pledge exposed\nto view by making it into a ring worn upon the hand.[340]\n\nThe Christian marriage-ring appears, in its substance, to have been\ncopied from the Roman nuptial ring. It was, according to Swinburn,\nof iron, adorned with an adamant; the metal hard and durable,\nsignifying the durance and perpetuity of the contract. Howbeit, he\nsays, it skilleth not at this day what metal the ring be of, the form\nof it being round and without end doth import that their love should\ncirculate and flow continually.\n\nIn the Roman ritual there is a benediction of the ring and a prayer\nthat she who wears it may continue in perfect love and fidelity to\nher husband and in fear of God all her days.[341]\n\n\n\u00a7 8. We have remarked on the vulgar error of a vein going from\nthe fourth finger of the left hand to the heart. It is said by\nSwinburn and others that therefore it became the wedding finger.\nThe priesthood kept up this idea by still keeping it as the wedding\nfinger; but it was got at through the use of the Trinity: for, in\nthe ancient ritual of English marriages, the ring was placed by the\nhusband on the top of the thumb of the left hand, with the words,\n\u201cIn the name of the Father;\u201d he then removed it to the forefinger,\nsaying: \u201cIn the name of the Son;\u201d then to the middle finger, adding:\n\u201cAnd of the Holy Ghost;\u201d finally, he left it, as now, on the fourth\nfinger, with the closing word \u201cAmen.\u201d[342]\n\nAs to the supposed artery to the heart. Levinus Lemnius quaintly\nsays:--\u201cA small branch of the artery and not of the nerves, as\nGellius thought, is stretched forth from the heart unto this finger,\nthe motion whereof you may perceive evidently in all that affects the\nheart of woman, by the touch of your forefinger. I used to raise\nsuch as are fallen in a swoon by pinching this joint and by rubbing\nthe ring of gold with a little saffron: for, by this, a restoring\nforce that is in it passeth to the heart and refresheth the fountain\nof life unto which this finger is joined. Wherefore antiquity thought\nfit to encompass it about with gold.\u201d[343]\n\nBy the way, a correspondent, in a British periodical, suggests: that\na lady of his acquaintance has had the misfortune to lose the ring\nfinger, and the question is raised whether she can be married in the\nChurch of England!?[344]\n\nIn the \u201cBritish Apollo\u201d it is said that, during the time of George\nthe First, the wedding-ring, though placed in the ceremony of the\nmarriage upon the fourth finger, was worn upon the thumb.[345]\n\nThe use of the ring has become so common in England that poor people\nwill not believe the marriage to be good without one; and the notion\nalso is that it must be of gold. At Worcester (England) on one\noccasion, the parties were so poor that they used a brass ring. The\nbride\u2019s friends indignantly protested that the ring ought to have\nbeen of gold; and the acting officer was threatened with indictment\nfor permitting the use of such base metal.\n\nIn another case of humble marriage, the bridegroom announced that\na ring was not necessary. The woman entreated to have one. The\nsuperintendent of the poor took part with the woman and represented\nhow the absence of it would expose her to insult; and he, kindly,\nhesitated to proceed with the marriage until a ring was produced.\nThe man yielded at last and obtained one. The woman\u2019s gratitude\nbrought tears into her eyes.\n\n\n\u00a7 9. In Roman Catholic marriages, with the priest in pontificals,\ngo two clerks in surplices. The latter carry the holy-water pot,\nthe sprinkler, the ritual and a little basin to put the ring in\nwhen it is to be blessed.[346] After the pair have clasped hands\nand the priest has by words joined them together, he makes the sign\nof the cross upon them; sprinkles them with holy water; blesses\nthe wedding-ring and sprinkles it also with holy water in the form\nof a cross, after which he gives it to the man, who puts it on the\nwedding-finger of the woman\u2019s left hand.\n\n\n\u00a7 10. The supposed heathen origin of our marriage-ring had well nigh\ncaused the abolition of it during the time of the Commonwealth in\nEngland. The facetious author of Hudibras gives us the following\nchief reasons why the Puritans wished it to be set aside:\n\n     \u201cOthers were for abolishing\n      That tool of matrimony, a ring;\n      With which th\u2019 unsanctify\u2019d bridegroom\n      Is marry\u2019d only to a thumb,\n      (As wise as ringing of a pig\n      That us\u2019d to break up ground and dig,)\n      The bride to nothing but the will,\n      That nulls the after-marriage still.\u201d[347]\n\n\n\u00a7 11. The author of the present essay found a difficulty in getting\na correct account of the use of the ring in Jewish marriages;[348]\nalthough there is an exceedingly learned and interesting decision\nin relation to one in the English Ecclesiastical Reports.[349] He\napplied to a professional friend of the Jewish persuasion, who\nobtained the following interesting particulars from one of our best\nHebrew scholars:[350] The nuptial rite among the Jews consists of\nthree distinct acts which together form the regular marriage ceremony.\n\n1st. The religious act _Kidushin_, consecration, by which the husband\nthat is to be _mekadesh_ consecrates--that is to say, sets apart from\nall other women and inhibits to all other men the woman who, by that\nact, becomes his wife.\n\nThe ceremony is performed in manner following. A canopy is raised\nunder which the bridegroom takes his stand. The bride is brought\nin and placed either at his right hand or opposite to him. The\nofficiating minister pronounces the initiatory nuptial benediction,\nafter which he receives from the bridegroom a ring that must be\nof a certain value and the absolute property of the bridegroom,\npurchased and paid for by him and not received as a present or bought\non credit. After due inquiry on these points, the minister returns\nthe ring to the bridegroom, who places it on the forefinger of the\nbride\u2019s right hand, while at the same time he says to her in Hebrew:\n\u201cBehold! thou art _mekudesheth_ consecrated unto me by means of this\nring, according to the law of Moses and of Israel.\u201d The bride joins\nin and expresses her consent to this act of consecration by holding\nout her right hand and accepting the ring; which--after her husband\nhas pronounced the formula--constitutes her his lawful wife; so that,\neven though the marriage should not be consummated, neither party\nis thenceforth at liberty to contract another marriage, unless they\nhave previously been divorced according to law: and if the woman were\nto submit to the embraces of another man, she would be guilty of\nadultery.\n\nThe law which enjoins \u201cconsecration\u201d requires that the symbol of the\nact should be an object made of one of the precious metals--gold or\nsilver--and of a certain value. But though the law does not insist on\nor even mention a ring, yet the custom of using a ring has, during\nvery many centuries, so generally prevailed--to the exclusion of\nall other symbols--that the words \u201cby means of this ring\u201d have been\nincorporated in the formula of consecration. In the greater part of\nEurope and in America the ring is usually of gold; but in Russia,\nPoland and the East the poorer classes use rings of silver.\n\n2d. The civil act _Ketubah_, written contract: As soon as bridegroom\nand bride have completed the act of consecration, the officiating\nminister proceeds to read the marriage contract, a document in Hebrew\ncharacters, signed by the bridegroom in the presence of two competent\nwitnesses--by which the husband engages to protect, cherish and\nmaintain his wife; to provide her with food, raiment, lodging and all\nother necessaries; and secure to her a dowry for the payment of which\nthe whole of his estate--real and personal--stands pledged.\n\nWhen this document has been read, the minister pronounces the closing\nnuptial benediction, and a glass is broken in memory of Jerusalem\ndestroyed, (see Psalm cxxxvii.,) which completes the ceremony. The\npsalm here referred to is that most beautiful one, beginning, \u201cBy\nthe rivers of Babylon,\u201d and ending with what has immediate reference\nto the destruction: \u201cHappy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy\nlittle ones against the stones.\u201d[351]\n\n3d. But all the time these religious and civil acts are being\nperformed, the young couple have likewise before their eyes and above\ntheir heads the emblem of the moral act _Hhupah_, cohabitation or\nliving together by themselves under one roof. This is the purpose\nfor which the canopy is raised over them; beneath which they ought,\nby right, to stand quite alone--though generally the minister and\nparents or nearest friends also find room under it.\n\nThese three distinct acts--religious, civil and domestic--to\nconstitute marriage according to the regular form _Hhupa ve\nkidushin_, require ten adult male witnesses. But so binding is the\nact of consecration, that if it were performed privately, without\nthe knowledge of parents or assistance of minister and solely in\nthe presence of two competent witnesses who hear the man pronounce\nthe formula \u201cBehold thou art consecrated unto me,\u201d etc., and see\nthe woman accept the ring, this proceeding, however irregular and\nreprehensible, constitutes a marriage perfectly valid in the eyes of\nthe law.\n\nLarpent, writing from France, but imbued with an ordinary English\nprejudice, which is apt to ridicule unfamiliar things and lose sight\nof reasons for customs, blurts out this: \u201cI have been to the Jew\u2019s\nwedding. The ceremony consists principally of singing and drinking\nand blessing in Hebrew. There must be something Jewish, however, as\nusual, and that is concerning the ring, which, as soon as produced,\nis shown round to all the rabbis near and some elders, etc., and to\nthe sponsors, to be sure it is really gold or otherwise the marriage\nis void; and the true old clothesman-like way in which they all\nspied at the ring was very amusing. Nearly the last ceremony is the\nbridegroom\u2019s smashing a wine-glass in a plate on the floor, with an\nidea that he and his spouse are then as difficult to separate as it\nwould be to re-unite the glass. The gentleman showed gallantry by\nexerting all his force and looking most fiercely as he broke the\nglass.\u201d[352]\n\nThe handing of the ring from the minister to some one of the persons\npresent has a reason broader than that which Larpent is pleased to\nassign, as we consider we have shown. We confirm it by saying, that\nthe Jewish law requires, at the time of marriage, that a valuable\nconsideration should pass from the bridegroom to the bride. This\nconsideration is represented by the ring, which, therefore, must not\nbe of less value than the _minimum_ fixed by the law. And as this\nvalue has to be ascertained and attested, which cannot be done by\nless than two witnesses, the officiating minister or Rabbi, after\nmaking the inquiries required by law, examines the ring and hands it\nto the presiding officer of the synagogue, (a layman, who is supposed\nto know more about the value of gold or silver than a Rabbi,) who\nalso examines and hands it back to the minister; and these two,\nthe minister and the officer of the synagogue, then witness that\nthe article is of that value which the law requires. We say this\nadvisedly; and can add as positively that the ring is never handed\nround to third persons.\n\nAt a marriage to which the author was invited--a marriage between\na Jewish merchant and the amiable daughter of a learned Rabbi in\nNew-York--the usual course was not departed from. The father of\nthe bride, who officiated, received the ring from the bridegroom,\nascertained that it was the young man\u2019s own property lawfully\nacquired, examined and then delivered it to the president of the\nsynagogue. He, also, examined and handed the ring back to the\nminister, who, finally, performed the ceremony.\n\n\n\u00a7 12. Some married women are so rigidly superstitious or firm that\nthey will not draw off their wedding-ring to wash or at any other\ntime: extending the expression \u201ctill death do us part\u201d even to the\nring.[353]\n\nAnd there is a superstition connected with the wear of the ring,\nworked into this proverb:\n\n     \u201cAs your wedding-ring wears,\n      Your cares will wear away.\u201d\n\n\n\u00a7 13. Gold-wire rings of three twisted wires were given away at\nweddings; and Anthony Wood relates of Edward Kelly, a \u201cfamous\nphilosopher\u201d in Queen Elizabeth\u2019s days, that \u201cKelly, who was openly\nprofuse beyond the modest limits of a sober philosopher, did give\naway in gold-wire rings (or rings twisted with three gold wires)\nat the marriage of one of his maid servants, to the value of\n\u00a34,000.\u201d[354]\n\n\n\u00a7 14. A gold ring has been discovered in Rome, which has the subject\nof Cupid and Psyche cut into the metal.[355] We give an enlarged\nillustration of it. Psyche is figured more ethereally than she\ngenerally appears upon gems. The lower portion of this emanation\nseems to partake of the delicate plumage of the butterfly; and the\nwhole prettily illustrates the soul. There is a strong contrast\nbetween these figures; and we are inclined to think the designer\nintended it. While Psyche is all that we have said, the other form\ncomes up to Colman\u2019s theatrical Cupid:\n\n     \u201cFat, chubby-cheeked and stupid.\u201d\n\nByron observes that the story of Cupid and Psyche is one uniform\npiece of loveliness.\n\n[Illustration: (Cupid and Psyche Ring)]\n\n\n\u00a7 15. The meeting of St. Anne and St. Joachim at the Golden Gate is\na favorite subject.[356] The Nuns of St. Anne at Rome show a rude\nsilver ring as the wedding-ring of Anne and Joachim.\n\n\n\u00a7 16. A wicked trick upon weak and confiding women used to be played\nby forcing upon their finger a rush ring: as thereby they fancied\nthemselves married.[357] Richard, Bishop of Salisbury, in his\nConstitutions, Anno 1217, forbids the putting of rush rings or any of\nlike matter on women\u2019s fingers.\n\nDe Breveil says,[358] it was an ancient custom to use a rush ring\nwhere the necessity for marriage was apparent.\n\n\n\u00a7 17. Rings occur in the fifteenth century, with the orpine plant\n(_Telephium_) as a device. It was used because the bending of the\nleaves was presumed to prognosticate whether love was true or false.\nThe common name for orpine plants was that of _midsummer men_. In a\ntract said to be written by Hannah More, among other superstitions\nof one of the heroines, \u201cshe would never go to bed on Midsummer Eve\nwithout sticking up in her room the well-known plant called midsummer\nmen, as the bending of the leaves to the right or to the left would\nnever fail to tell her whether her lover was true or false.\u201d The\norpine plant occurs among the love divinations on Midsummer Eve in\nthe Connoisseur:[359] \u201cI likewise stuck up two midsummer men, one for\nmyself and one for him. Now if this had died away, we should never\nhave come together; but, I assure you, his blowed and turned to mine.\u201d\n\n\n\u00a7 18. Marriage-rings, in the olden time, were not, as now,\nplain in form and without words.[360] Some had a seal part for\nimpression.[361] A ring of this kind was ploughed up in the year 1783\non Flodden Field. It was of gold and an inscription upon it ran thus:\n\u201cWhere are the constant lovers who can keep themselves from evil\nspeakers?\u201d This would have been a relic for Abbotsford; but Dryburgh\nAbbey has the wizard; and a stranger is in his halls.\n\nA Roman bronze ring has been discovered of singular shape and fine\nworkmanship, which appears to have been intended as a token of love\nor affection.[362]\n\n[Illustration: (Token Ring of Love Two Views)]\n\nThe parts nearest the collet are flat and resemble a triangle from\nwhich the summit has been cut. Its greatest singularity is an\nintaglio ploughed out of the material itself, representing the head\nof a young person. The two triangular portions which start from the\ntable of the ring are filled with ornaments, also engraved hollow.\nUpon it is the word VIVAS or _Mayest thou live_.\n\n[Illustration: (Ring Found at Sessa)]\n\n\u00a7 19. In the year 1845, an interesting ring was found at Sessa,\n(the _Suessa Auruncorum_ of the ancients,) situate in the Terra\nde Livaro, Kingdom of Naples. We here give the original signet.\nA drawing of the same with its outer edge, which, as it will be\nseen, contained the name of an after owner and the outer ring, with\nits religious maxims along its edge, appears in the Arch\u00e6ological\nJournal.[363] The stone which forms the signet is of a deep-red color\nand, apparently, a species of agate. In the centre are engraved\ntwo right hands joined together, with the following letters above\nand below, C. C. P. S., I. P. D. Our cut is somewhat larger than\nthe original. Judging from the workmanship of the signet, it is\nbelieved to have been executed in the period between the reigns of\nSeverus and Constantine or, in other words, about the middle of the\nthird century. The interpretation of these letters must be left to\nconjecture. It would appear, however, to have been regarded as an\nobject of value or interest at a later period, when it was set in\ngold for the person whose name appears round the stone in capital\nletters, which are to be thus read:\n\n      \u2720 SIGILLV\u00b7 THOMASII\u00b7 DE\u00b7 ROGERIIS\u00b7 DE\u00b7 SUESSA\u00b7\n         _Sigillum Thomasii de Rogeriis de Suessa._\n\nOn the outer side of the hoop of the ring are two other inscriptions,\nalso in capital letters. The first reads:\n\n      \u2720 XPS\u00b7 VINCIT\u00b7 XPS\u00b7 REGNAT\u00b7 XPS\u00b7 IMPERA\u00b7\n    _Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat._\n\nAnd the second:\n\n      \u2720 ET\u00b7 VERBU: CARO: FACTU: E: ET ABITAUIT: INOB\u00b7\n         _Et verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis._\n\nThe workmanship of these inscriptions is exceedingly good and the\nletters well formed and sharply cut. It will be remarked that in\nthe first legend on the hoop the letter T. in the word _Imperat_ is\nomitted for want of space; and in the second, for the same reason,\nnot only the final _m_, as usual, is twice suppressed, but the word\n_est_ is given in the abbreviated form of _e_; several letters are\njoined together; the aspirate is omitted in _habitavit_; and the\nletter _n_ is made to serve for the final of _in_ and the initial\nof _nobis_. As to the date of this ring, it may, very probably,\nbe ascribed to the thirteenth century. There can be no doubt that\nthe owner, Thomasius de Rogeriis, must have been a member of the\nNeapolitan family of Roggieri. The legend upon the ring, _Christus\nvincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat_, is found, also, in the\nseries of Anglo-Gothic gold coins from the reign of Edward III. of\nEngland to that of Henry VI.\n\nWe have been favored with the perusal of a presentation copy of\nthe article (in the Arch\u00e6ological Journal) and from it have taken\nthe above explanation. This copy was sent by the possessor of the\nring, George Borrett, of Southampton, England, Esquire, to Isaac E.\nCotheal, of New-York, Esquire; and it has, interleaved, (with the\naddition of a wax impression,) the following MS. note: \u201cThe Abb\u00e9\nFarrari, a priest attached to the Church of Sta. Maria in Comedia,\n(also called the Bocci della Venite,) submitted it to some members\nof the Propaganda at Rome, 12th April, 1845, who described it as\nfollows: _Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat, et\nverbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis. Sigillum Thomasii de\nRogeriis de Suessa_: Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands\nand the Word was made flesh and dwelt in us. The seal of Thomas de\nRogeriis de Suessa.\n\n\u201cThe veritable signet of Cicero (_i. e._) the coral in the centre of\nthe ring only. There were members of the Propaganda who thought it\nresembled some impressions attached to documents in the Vatican of\nthe Roman Governor in Judea, \u2018_Pontius Pilate_.\u2019 The gold setting is\nsupposed to be about the eighth or ninth century by some dignitary in\ntriumph over the pagan philosopher or governor.\u201d\n\nNotwithstanding what is thus said, we are strongly under the\nimpression that it was a mystical ring or one worn in remembrance\nof a marriage. Upon marbles and gems which illustrate the marriage\nceremony, the bride and bridegroom are represented with their\nrespective right hands joined. In Montfaucon[364] (and figured\nalso in Maffei) is a gem which has marital symbols and among\nthem a ring and the clasped right hands; and, in the same work,\n(Montfaucon,)[365] we find a ring precisely in the form and of the\nsize of the Sessa ring, with right hands disposed in exactly the same\nmanner and also letters above and below the emblem. The words there\nare:\n\n      PROTEROS\n      VGIAE\n\n_Proteros_ and _Hygie_; and Montfaucon says, \u201cCela marque peut \u00eatre\nle mariage contract\u00e9 entre les deux.\u201d\n\nAddison, in his Dialogue on Medals, says: \u201cThe two hands that join\none another are emblems of Fidelity;\u201d and he quotes (Ovid\u2019s Met. lib.\niv.):\n\n     \u201c---- _Inde Fides dextr\u00e6que data._\u201d\n\n(Thence faith and the right hand joined.) And also Seneca (Hurc. Fur.\nlib. iv.):\n\n    \u201c_Sociemus animos, pignus hoc fidei cape,_\n     _Continge dextram._\u201d\n\n(Let us unite souls, receive this pledge of faith, grasp the right\nhand.)\n\nWe can hardly imagine a more perfect token of love, affection or\nfriendship than this of right hands clasped and the names of giver\nand receiver. We commend it to loving friends and jewellers.\n\nThis joining of right hands appears upon ancient English\nmarriage-rings. Here is one, with its motto, _The Nazarene_:\n\n[Illustration: (The Nazarene Ring)]\n\nA silver wedding-ring, dug up at Somerton Castle, Lincolnshire, has a\npoesy very common in former times:\n\n     \u201cI love you, my sweet dear heart.\n      Go I pray you please my love.\u201d[366]\n\nThere is a marriage gold ring of the time of Richard the Second of\nEngland, having a French motto, translated, _Be of good heart_, and\nbearing the figure of St. Catharine with her wheel, emblematical\nof good fortune, and St. Margaret, to whom Catholics address their\ndevotions for safe delivery in childbirth.[367] The author has seen\nan old American ring, in the possession of a young man, whose\ngrandfather presented it on his wedding day to his wife. It has a\npiece of jet set in it and is cut into raised angular facets. On the\ninside is engraved:\n\n    \u201c_First love Christ, that died for thee,_\n     _Next to him, love none but me._\u201d\n                _T. A. G._\n\nJohn Dunton, a London bookseller and who is mentioned in the\n_Dunciad_, describes, in his autobiography, his wedding-ring: as\nhaving two hearts united upon it and this poesy:\n\n    \u201c_God saw thee_\n     _Most fit for me._\u201d\n\nThis would not seem to have attached to his second wife; for she left\nhim and wrote in one of her letters, \u201cI and all good people think you\nnever married me for love, but for my money.\u201d\n\nDr. John Thomas, who was Bishop of Lincoln in 1753, married four\ntimes. The motto or poesy on the wedding-ring at his fourth marriage\nwas:\n\n     \u201cIf I survive,\n      I\u2019ll make them five.\u201d\n\nThis Rev. Dr. John Thomas was a man of genial humor. He used to tell\na story of his burying a body; and a woman came \u201cand pulled me,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cby the sleeve in the middle of the service. \u2018Sir, sir, I want\nto speak to you.\u2019 \u2018Prythee,\u2019 says I, \u2018woman, wait till I have done.\u2019\n\u2018No, sir, I must speak to you immediately.\u2019 \u2018Why then, what is the\nmatter?\u2019 \u2018Why sir,\u2019 says she, \u2018you are burying a man who died of the\nsmall-pox next to my poor husband, who never had it.\u2019\u201d\n\n\n\u00a7 20. Heroes, philosophers, poets--indeed, men of all classes leave\nremembrances in the shape of rings. The will of Washington contains\nthis: \u201cTo my sisters-in-law Hannah Washington and Mildred Washington,\nto my friends Eleanor Stuart, Hannah Washington of Fairfield and\nElizabeth Washington of Hayfield, I give each a mourning ring of the\nvalue of one hundred dollars. These bequests are not made for the\nintrinsic value of them, but as mementoes of my esteem and regard.\u201d\nShakspeare bequeathes such tokens to several friends--among them,\nto his brother players, whom he calls \u201cmy poor fellows\u201d--\u201ctwenty\nshillings eight pence apiece to buy them rings.\u201d Pope bequeathed sums\nof five pounds to friends, who were to lay them out in rings. This\ngreat poet was no admirer of funerals that blackened all the way or\nof gorgeous tombs: \u201cAs to my body, my will is that it be buried near\nthe monument of my dear parents at Twickenham, with the addition\nafter the words _filius fecit_ of these only, _et sibi_: _Qui obiit\nanno 17_--, _\u00e6tatis_--: and that it be carried to the grave by six of\nthe poorest men of the parish, to each of whom I order a suit of gray\ncoarse cloth as mourning.\u201d\n\nThe affection which Dr. Johnson bore to the memory of his wife was a\npretty point in his heavy character: \u201cMarch 28, 1753. I kept this day\nas the anniversary of my Letty\u2019s death, with prayer and tears in the\nmorning. In the evening I prayed for her conditionally, if it were\nlawful.\u201d Her wedding-ring, when she became his wife, was, after her\ndeath, preserved by him as long as he lived with an affectionate care\nin a little round wooden box and in the inside of which he pasted a\nslip of paper thus inscribed by him in fair characters:\n\n                               \u201c_Eheu!_\n                           _Eliz. Johnson_\n                       _Nupta Jul. 9^o, 1736,_\n                           _Mortua, eheu!_\n                     _Mart. 17^o, 1752._\u201d[368]\n\nHusbands can love, where friends may see nothing to admire: Mrs.\nJohnson has been summed up as \u201cperpetual illness and perpetual\nopium.\u201d[369]\n\nLord Eldon wore a mourning ring for his wife. In his will we find\nthis: \u201cAnd I direct that I may be buried in the same tomb at Kingston\nin which my most beloved wife is buried and as near to her remains as\npossible; and I desire that the ring which I wear on my finger may be\nput with my body into my coffin and be buried with me.\u201d[370]\n\nThe last gift of Tom Moore\u2019s mother to him was her wedding-ring:\n\u201cHave been preparing my dear mother for my leaving her, now that I\nsee her so much better. She is quite reconciled to my going; and\nsaid this morning, \u2018Now, my dear Tom, don\u2019t let yourself be again\nalarmed about me in this manner, nor hurried away from your house and\nbusiness.\u2019 She then said she must, before I left her this morning,\ngive me her wedding-ring as her last gift; and, accordingly sending\nfor the little trinket-box in which she kept it, she, herself, put\nthe ring on my finger.\u201d[371]\n\nThe poet Gray was the possessor of trinkets; and, perhaps, we\nmay refer these to the \u201ceffeminacy\u201d and \u201cvisible fastidiousness\u201d\nmentioned in Temple\u2019s Life, (adopted by Mason.) In his will, the poet\ngives an amount of stock to Richard Stonehewer, and adds: \u201cand I\nbeg his acceptance of one of my diamond rings,\u201d while to Dr. Thomas\nWharton he bequeaths \u00a3500--and, \u201cI desire him also to accept of one\nof my diamond rings.\u201d He bequeaths his watches, _rings_, etc., to his\ncousins Mary Antrobus and Dorothy Comyns, to be equally and amicably\nshared between them.\n\n\n\u00a7 21. On the 1st of March, 1854, the ship _Powhattan_ sailed from\nHavre for New-York, with two hundred and fifty passengers. Not far\nfrom Barnegat Inlet she became a wreck, so complete that not a\nvestige of her reached land. The passengers were seen to cling to the\nbulwarks and, then, drop off by fifties; her captain, through his\ntrumpet, could be heard to implore attention to them; while the sea\ncrushed and dashed all to death on the fretted beach. The clothing\nof one of the victims, who was not more than twenty years of age,\nshowed her to have belonged to the wealthy class of Germans. She was\nbeautiful even as she lay in death dabbled with sea-weed and scum.\nUpon her fingers were two rings; one, plain and the other had a\nheart attached to it. They were marked P. S. and B. S. 1854. This we\ngather from a fleeting newspaper. While the mind sighs as it leaves\nthe corpse to its shallow, seaside, foreign and premature grave, a\ncuriosity is awakened by the rings and the attendant emblem. The date\nshows them to be very late gifts. Were these tokens of affection from\nbrother and sister--for one heart might well do for both--and who\nplaced them upon that now cold hand, then glowing with an affection\nthat throbbed from under those rings? Or, was this young creature on\nher way to her youthful husband, who had come before and built up a\nhome and whose betrothal was shown in the _heart_, while the plain\nring had made them one before God and the church and who was watching\nfor her and, in fancy, had, through day dreams and in night watching,\nfancied the vessel sweep into port and the hand, that lovingly wore\nhis gifts, wave a recognition? It may be that father and mother\nwere the donors, with a blessing and a prayer and the added almost\ncertainty of thought that she who received with a last kiss, would\nlong survive parents to reverence the tokens, hallow their memory and\nthink of Fatherland! Oh, how much of fact, of poetry, of sadness may\ncrowd around a little ring!!\n\n[Illustration: (The Pelican Mother Ring)]\n\n\n\u00a7 22. We can hardly meet with a prettier token and illustration of\naffection than is to be found upon an ancient silver ring. It has\na pelican feeding three young ones from the life-current oozing\nout of her breast; with the words: _Their Mother_. There is but\nlittle doubt that this was one of three rings given by a mother to\nher three children. The pelican is made an emblem of charity; and\nHackluyt, in his Voyages, speaks of the \u201c_Pellicane_\u201d--\u201cwhich is\nfain to be the lovingst bird that is, which rather than her young\nshould want, will spare her heart-blood.\u201d In no form or fashion\ncould a mother\u2019s love have been more beautifully and permanently\ndisplayed--pure as the metal, perfect as the emblem. It makes us feel\nthat love _is_ indestructible; that it came from Heaven and returns\nthither. No matter what may have been the sorrows, the cares and the\nlong-suffering of that mother; no matter though her heart dances\nno longer to the music of her children\u2019s voices; no matter what\nwere the earthly trials of those loved children; no matter though\ntheir home-nest has been torn down or that the snow of the world\ncovers where the wings of the parent bird were spread; no matter\nthough the grave has taken all, save this illustration of a divine\nemanation:--we feel that such love could not die and the throbbing\nfrom the poet\u2019s soul comes upon our memory:\n\n     \u201cOh when the mother meets on high\n        The babe she lost----\n      Hath she not then, for pains and fears,\n        The day of woe, the watchful night,\n      For all her sorrows, all her tears,\n        An overpayment of delight!\u201d[372]\n\n\n\u00a7 23. This love between mother and child, from its undying purity,\nis always a pleasant thing to trace and to follow. In the _Household\nWords_,[373] a work in which there is more of usefulness, pleasure\nand beauty than in any other modern book, a ring plays a pretty part\nin a ballad of the youthful knight, Bran of Brittany. He was \u201cwounded\nsore,\u201d and \u201cin a dungeon tower, helpless he wept in the foeman\u2019s\npower.\u201d\n\n     \u201cO find a messenger true to me,\n      To bear me a letter across the sea.\n      A messenger true they brought him there,\n      And the young knight warned him thus with care:\n      Lay now that dress of thine aside,\n      And in beggar\u2019s weeds thy service hide,\n      And take my ring, my ring of gold,\n      And wrap it safe in some secret fold,\n      But, once at my mother\u2019s castle gate,\n      That ring will gain admittance straight.\n      And O! if she comes to ransom me,\n      Then high let the white flag hoisted be;\n      But if she comes not--ah, well-a-day!\n      The night-black flag at the mast display.[374]\n      When the messenger true to Leon came,\n      At supper sat the high-born dame:\n      With cups of gold and royal fare,\n      And the harpers merrily harping there.\n      I kneel to thee, right noble dame;\n      This ring will show from whom I came.\n      And he who gave me that same ring,\n      Bade me in haste this letter bring.\n      Oh! harpers, harpers, cease your song;\n      The grief at my heart is sharp and strong.\n      Why did they this from his mother hide?\n      In a dungeon lies my only pride!\n      O quick make ready a ship for me,\n      This night I\u2019ll cross the stormy sea.\u201d\n\nThe ballad goes on to show how young Bran, from his bed, at morn, at\nnoon, at vesper, asked the warder whether he saw a ship; and when,\nat last, the warder says he observes one, he couples it with the\nfalsehood that the color of its flag is black.\n\n     \u201cWhen the downcast knight that answer heard,\n      He asked no more, he spake no word.\n      He turned to the wall his face so wan,\n      And shook in the breath of the Mighty One!\u201d\n\nThe mother touches the strand; hears a death-bell; asks of a\ngray-haired man; speeds wildly to the tower:\n\n     \u201cAt the foot of the tower, to the gaoler grim,\n      She sobbed aloud and she called to him:\n      O! open the gates (my son! my son!)\n      O open the gates (my only son!)\n      They opened the gates; no word they said:\n      Before her there her son lay dead.\n      In her arms she took him so tenderly,\n      And laid her down--never more rose she!\u201d\n\nThe ballad then describes an oak, with lofty head, whereon the birds\ngather at night:\n\n     \u201cAnd amidst them comes ever croaking low,\n      With a young dark raven, an aged crow.\n      Wearily onward they flap their way\n      With drooping wings, soaked through with spray,\n      As they had come from a far countrye;\n      As they had flown o\u2019er a stormy sea.\n      And the birds they sing so sweet and clear\n      That the waves keep very still to hear.\n      They all sing out in a merry tone,\n      They all sing together--save two alone.\n      With mournful voice ever croaking low,\n      Sing, happy birds! says the aged crow,\n      Blest little birds! sing, for you may,\n      _You did not die from home far away_!\u201d\n\nHow this noble ballad would have stirred the hearts of the authors of\n\u201cThe Lay of the Last Minstrel\u201d and of \u201cChristabel\u201d!\n\n\n\u00a7 24. Authors of fiction, from early times, have made use of rings\nfor their scenes. Shakspeare not unfrequently introduces them; indeed\nthe most interesting portion of _Cymbeline_ is worked up through the\nwager of a ring as to the honor of the heroine. Imogen, in taking\nleave of Posthumus, says:\n\n                    \u201c------ Look here, love;\n      This diamond was my mother\u2019s; take it, heart;\n      But keep it till you woo another wife,\n      When Imogen is dead.\n      _Posthumus_. How! how! another?\n      You gentle gods, give me but this I have,\n      And sear up my embracements from a next\n      With bonds of death! Remain thou here,\n                                             (_Putting on the ring_,)\n      While sense can keep it on.\u201d\n\nAnd he, then, exchanges for it, \u201ca manacle of love,\u201d a bracelet,\nplacing it upon her arm, that \u201cfairest prisoner.\u201d Iachimo induced\nPosthumus to wager this ring, which he esteemed \u201cmore than the world\nenjoys\u201d--but it is unnecessary to go further: for who has not read\nShakspeare?\n\n\n\u00a7 25. Roman iron rings, wrought with much care and having precious\nstones, but minute enough for a child, have been found. One or two\nof them are mentioned and illustrated in Caylus,[375] who, no doubt\nrightly, considers they were intended for the finger of a domestic\ndeity or household god.\n\n[Illustration: (Roman Child\u2019s Iron Ring)]\n\nThe Romans clung to their home deities; and this is the best part\nof their character. One of the most beautiful of the antique draped\nfigures, cut upon a signet, represents a woman contemplating a\nhousehold god,[376] \u201ca symbol of that domestic affection which\nthe ancients, exalted almost blamelessly, into an object of divine\nhomage.\u201d[377]\n\n[Illustration: (Woman Contemplating Household Gods)]\n\nIt was on this particular gem that Croly wrote these charming lines:\n\n       \u201cDomestic love! not in proud palace halls\n        Is often seen thy beauty to abide;\n        Thy dwelling is in lowly cottage walls,\n        That in the thickets of the woodbine hide;\n        With hum of bees around, and from the spring,\n        Shining along thro\u2019 banks with harebells dyed;\n        And many a bird to warble on the wing,\n      When morn her saffron robe o\u2019er heaven and earth doth fling.\n\n        O! love of loves!--to thy white hand is given\n        Of earthly happiness the golden key!\n        \u201cThine are the joyous hours of winter\u2019s even,\n        When the babes cling around their father\u2019s knee;\n        And thine the voice that, on the midnight sea,\n        Melts the rude mariner with thoughts of home,\n        Peopling the gloom with all he longs to see.\n        Spirit! I\u2019ve built a shrine; and thou hast come;\n      And on its altar closed--for ever closed thy plume!\u201d\n\nGifts of rings by lovers have always been common; but the intimate\nrelation between husband and wife brings toils, duties and sacrifices\nwhich generally charm off ordinary love tokens. It is comforting,\nhowever, when the husband can look to the past, to the present, to\nthe future with sentiments like those embraced in the following\nbeautiful lines in connection with the gift of a ring:\n\n\u201cTO MRS. ----, WITH A RING.\n\n     \u201c\u2018Thee, Mary, with this ring I wed,\u2019--\n      So, sixteen years ago, I said--\n      Behold another ring--for what?\n      To wed thee o\u2019er again? Why not?\n      With that first ring I married youth,\n      Grace, beauty, innocence and truth,\n      Taste long admir\u2019d, sense long rever\u2019d\n      And all my Mary then appeared.\n      If she, by merit since disclosed,\n      Prove twice the woman I supposed:\n      I plead that double merit now\n      To justify a double vow.\n      Here then to-day (with faith as sure,\n      With ardor as intense and pure,\n      As when amidst the rites divine\n      I took thy troth and plighted mine)\n      To thee, sweet girl, my second ring,\n      A token and a pledge I bring,\n      With this I wed till death us part\n      Thy riper virtues to my heart;\n      Those virtues which, before untried,\n      The wife has added to the bride;\n      Those virtues, whose progressive claim,\n      Endearing wedlock\u2019s very name,\n      My soul enjoys, my song approves,\n      For conscience\u2019 sake, as well as love\u2019s.\n      For why?--They show me hour by hour\n      Honor\u2019s high thought, affection\u2019s power,\n      Discretion\u2019s deed, sound judgment\u2019s sentence,\n      And teach me all things--but repentance.\u201d[378]\n\nAnd there is a charm and gentleness about the following lines which\nDr. Drennan addressed to his wife, with a gift of a ring:\n\n     \u201cEmblem of happiness! not bought nor sold;\n      Accept this modest ring of virgin gold.\n      Love, in this small, but perfect, circle trace;\n      And duty, in its soft but strict embrace.\n      Plain, precious, pure, as best becomes the wife;\n      Yet firm to bear the frequent rubs of life.\n      Connubial life disdains a fragile toy,\n      Which rust can tarnish and a touch destroy;\n      Nor much admires what courts the general gaze,\n      The dazzling diamond\u2019s meretricious blaze,\n      That hides, with glare, the anguish of a heart,\n      By nature hard, but polished bright by art.\n      More to thy taste the ornament that shows\n      Domestic bliss and, without glaring, glows,\n      Whose gentle pressure serves to keep the mind\n      To _all_ correct; to _one_ discreetly kind--\n      Of simple elegance the unconscious charm;\n      The holy amulet to keep from harm.\n      To guard, at once and consecrate, the shrine--\n      Take this dear pledge:--it makes and keeps thee mine.\n\n\n\u00a7 26. There is an interesting story in the _Gesta Romanorum_[379]\n(indeed the whole work is full of pleasing matter) entitled the\njudgment of Solomon. It is often represented in that illumination\nwhich in the ancient manuscripts of the French translation of the\nBible by Guiars des Moulins is prefixed to the Proverbs of Solomon,\nalthough the story itself does not occur in that Bible. It appears to\nhave been a great favorite in the middle ages; and was often related\nfrom the pulpit. A king, in some domestic difference with his wife,\nhad been told by her that one only of her three sons was a true\noffspring, but which of them was so she refused to discover. This\ngave him much uneasiness; and his death soon afterwards approaching,\nhe called his children together; and declared, in the presence of\nwitnesses, that he left a ring, which had very singular properties,\nto him that should be found to be his lawful son. On his death a\ndispute arose about the ring between the youths--and it was at length\nagreed to refer its decision to the King of Jerusalem. He immediately\nordered that the dead body of the father should be taken up and tied\nto a tree; that each of the sons should shoot an arrow at it and that\nhe who penetrated the deepest should have the ring. The eldest shot\nfirst and the arrow went far into the body; the second shot also and\ndeeper than the other. The youngest son stood at a distance and wept\nbitterly; but the king said to him: \u201cYoung man, take your arrow and\nshoot as your brothers have done.\u201d He answered, \u201cFar be it from me\nto commit so great a crime. I would not for the whole world disfigure\nthe body of my own father.\u201d The king said: \u201cWithout doubt you are his\nson, and the others are changelings: to you, therefore, I adjudge the\nring.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHere the author closes his \u201cDactylotheca\u201d or casket of rings.\n\nMetaphorically speaking, he fears it has been discovered that he does\nnot wear a _ring of power_; and that no _talismanic ring_ is in his\npossession. And it may be that some constrained position in which the\nwriter has kept his readers, will allow them to desire the use of\n_cramp rings_ for relief. If so, he would willingly \u201ccreep to cross\u201d\nto succor them: provided the ending of this essay did not answer that\npurpose.\n\nOne thing the author will hope; and it is this: that his readers\nand he have fashioned the interesting token of friendship a _gimmal\nring_; and if it be so, then they will pass from this work with the\nidea that they have one part of such ring, while the writer may\nproudly hold to the other, until some future essay shall bring author\nand friends and the twin hoops of the _gimmal_ together again. With\nsuch a token upon his hand, he can waive a farewell.\n\n\n\n\nINDEX.\n\n\n  A.\n\n  Abraxas stones, 95.\n\n  Ackmetchet, marriage at, 199.\n\n  Agate, its supposed magical and medical powers, 104.\n\n  Agnes, St., priest placing ring on finger of statue, 141.\n\n  Ahlstan, ring of, 39.\n\n  Aix-la-Chapelle, ring connected with the founding of, 138.\n\n  Alderman\u2019s thumb-ring, 90.\n\n  Alexander\u2019s ring, 20, 66, 156.\n\n  Amethyst, its supposed magical and medical powers, 100.\n\n  Amulet-rings found at Eltham, 120;\n    at Coventry, 121;\n    in antique urns, 121;\n    worn by physicians, 122;\n    Dano-Saxon amulet, 136;\n    amulet against storms, 136.\n\n  Andrea of Sicily and Jerusalem, 118.\n\n  Anglo-Saxon rings and workmen, 25.\n\n  Anne, Countess Dowager of Pembroke, 91.\n\n  Anne of Brittany sends ring to James IV. of Scotland, 158.\n\n  _Annulus pronubus_, 201.\n\n  Anselm, investiture by ring, 81;\n    and his miracles, 81.\n\n  Antiochus Epiphanes, ring of, 66.\n\n  Apis, sacred Egyptian bull, 32.\n\n  Arabian princesses, wearing rings with little bells attached, 90.\n\n  Archbishop\u2019s investiture by ring, 80.\n\n  Ariosto\u2019s Orlando Furioso, 126.\n\n  Arnulph\u2019s dream about a ring, 81.\n\n  Artery, supposed, in the fourth finger, 47, 206.\n\n  Augustus, ring of, 67, 156.\n\n\n  B.\n\n  Bagaley\u2019s account of Stanley, seventh Earl of Derby, 181.\n\n  Baker, Sir Richard, 141.\n\n  Balassius, (Ruby,) 102.\n\n  Belt, ring in the form of, 37.\n\n  Bertie, Richard, receives diamond ring from King of France, 159.\n\n  Betrothal rings: Grecian, 196;\n    in Esthonia, 197;\n    among the Copts, 198;\n    ceremony attendant on betrothal, 199, 201;\n    betrothal rings in Germany, 200.\n\n  Bishops, investiture by ring, 80, 83;\n    sealed with rings in early times, 85.\n\n  \u201cBlood-stone\u201d of Jeffreys, 184.\n\n  Bloody Baker, 141.\n\n  \u201cBlue Ring,\u201d 174.\n\n  Borgia, C\u00e6sar, his poisoned ring. 144.\n\n  \u201cBot,\u201d 137.\n\n  Boyle, Richard, (Great Earl of Cork,) 160.\n\n  Brand, Miss v., her vision, 125.\n\n  Bran of Brittany, 226.\n\n  Brian Borholme, 147.\n\n  Britons, rings worn by, 24, 25.\n\n  British Museum, rings in, 34.\n\n  Bronze rings, seldom used by Egyptians, 26.\n\n  Bronze ring, widening by pressure, 37.\n\n  Bucentaur, the galley used on the Doge marrying the sea, 73.\n\n  Bull (Apis) on a ring, 32.\n\n  Byron, his mothers wedding-ring, 189.\n\n\n  C.\n\n  C\u00e6sar\u2019s ring, 156.\n\n  Caius Marius, 26.\n\n  California ring presented to President Pierce, 43.\n\n  Cameo, its origin, 156.\n\n  Canute, King, discovery of his tomb, body and ring, 70.\n\n  Carbuncle, 29.\n\n  Cardinal\u2019s ring, 83.\n\n  Carey, Robert, Earl of Monmouth, takes the \u201cBlue Ring\u201d to James on\n      Queen Elizabeth\u2019s decease, 174.\n\n  Catacombs of Rome, 89.\n\n  Cats cut upon Egyptian rings, 38.\n\n  Cecil, Earl of Salisbury. 49.\n\n  Chains of criminals made into rings to cure diseases, 136.\n\n  Chalcedony, its supposed magical power, 106.\n\n  Charlemagne, story connected with founding Aix-la-Chapelle, 138.\n\n  Charles I., supposed ring of this monarch given to a boy, 177;\n    his ring used by Sir Philip Warwick, 178;\n    mourning rings of this king, 179;\n    his hair used for rings, 180.\n\n  Charles II., Duchess of Portsmouth takes diamond rings from his hand\n      when on his death-bed, 183.\n\n  Charles VIII. of France, 145.\n\n  Charm rings, 93.\n\n  Cheops, ring of, 149.\n\n  Childeric, his tomb, body, ring, 71.\n\n  Christians, rings of early Christians, 39, 40.\n\n  Christians wearing talismanic rings, 119;\n    symbolical figures on the rings of early Christians, 203;\n    Christian marriage-ring copied from Romans, 205.\n\n  Coffin-nails or screws made into rings to cure king\u2019s evil, 132.\n\n  Collar, pliable ring in the form of, 37.\n\n  College of Navarre, gives ring to Crichton, 188.\n\n  Commonwealth of England, inclined to abolish the ring in marriages,\n      208.\n\n  Convulsions cured by silver rings, 132.\n\n  Copts, betrothal ring used by them, 198.\n\n  Coral, its supposed magical power, 107.\n\n  Cork, Earl of, 160.\n\n  Cornelian rings found near the Pyramids, 26.\n\n  Cornelian, its magical and medical powers, 100, 105.\n\n  Coronation rings, 67.\n\n  Council of Trent, in relation to marriage, 195, 204.\n\n  Cramp rings, 128.\n\n  Cranmer using the ring of Henry VIII. before the Council, 72.\n\n  Creeping to cross, 130.\n\n  Crichton (the Admirable), ring given to him by the College of\n      Navarre, 188.\n\n  Criminals, chains of, made into rings to cure diseases, 136.\n\n  Croly\u2019s lines on a gem representing a woman contemplating a\n      household god, 230.\n\n  Cupid and Psyche, on a Roman signet, 214.\n\n  Cupid with butterflies, on a ring, 144.\n\n\n  D.\n\n  Dactylomancy, or divination by rings, 111.\n\n  Dactylotheca, Roman name for cases containing rings, 22, 155.\n\n  Dano-Saxon amulet, 136.\n\n  Darnley\u2019s ring, 173.\n\n  Death\u2019s-head rings, 30.\n\n  Devereux, Earl of, ring given by Queen Elizabeth to, 162.\n\n  De Vesci, King John\u2019s bad conduct towards the wife of, 157.\n\n  Diamond, 41;\n    on swivel in ring, 49;\n    its magical and medical powers, 100, 101.\n\n  Divination by rings, 111, 112.\n\n  Doge marrying the sea, 73; his ring of office, 75.\n\n  \u201cDolzbote;\u201d 138.\n\n  Domestic deities of the Romans, small iron rings used for, 229.\n\n  Drennan, Dr., his lines to his wife with a ring, 232.\n\n  Dschemid, said to have introduced the ring, 16.\n\n  Dundee, ring in memory of the great Dundee, 187.\n\n\n  E.\n\n  Edward, St., ring of, 128.\n\n  Edward the Confessor\u2019s ring, 157.\n\n  Egyptians, their rings, 17, 21, 26, 27, 34, 35;\n    on what fingers worn, 47, 48;\n    no evidence that they used a marriage-ring, 196.\n\n  Eldon, Lord, desired his ring to be buried with him, 225.\n\n  Eleusinian mysteries, rings given to the initiated, 96.\n\n  Elizabeth of Poland, talismanic ring given by her to her son\n      Andrea, 118.\n\n  Elizabeth, Queen, medicinal ring sent to her by Lord Chancellor\n      Hatton, 124;\n    ring given by her to Essex, 162;\n    her death, 164;\n    ring given by her to Mary of Scotland, 168.\n\n  Elk\u2019s horn, piece of, worn in ring to cure epilepsy, 135.\n\n  Emerald, its supposed medical and magical powers, 100, 103.\n\n  Epilepsy cured by wearing ring, 133, 135.\n\n  Essex-ring, 162, _et seq._\n\n  Esthonia, betrothal rings in, 197.\n\n  Eternity, ring an emblem of, 21.\n\n  Ethelwoulf, ring of, 156.\n\n  Etruscan rings, 35, 36.\n\n  Evil eye, charm-rings to act against it, 93.\n\n  Execustus, his two enchanted rings, 112.\n\n\n  F.\n\n  Fingers on which rings are worn, 45, 46, 67, 86, 202;\n    finger for betrothal ring, 201, 202;\n    finger for wedding ring, 206.\n\n  Fish, rings found in, 59.\n\n  \u201cFisherman\u2019s Ring,\u201d 77.\n\n  Fits, cured by ring, 132, 133.\n\n\n  G.\n\n  Gallienus frightening a dishonest jeweller, 57.\n\n  Galvanic rings, 135.\n\n  Gambler\u2019s rings, 145.\n\n  Gauls, rings used by, 24.\n\n  German betrothal ring, 200.\n\n  _Gesta Romanorum_, story from, 233.\n\n  Gibbet, iron from it made into rings to cure diseases, 136.\n\n  Gimmal ring, 192.\n\n  Gimmow (or Gimmal) ring, 192.\n\n  Godwin, Earl, 11, 12.\n\n  Gold rings, generally used by the Egyptians, 26;\n    Roman gold rings, 27.\n\n  Gray bequeaths his rings, 220.\n\n  Greeks, inscriptions on their rings, 36;\n    had the wedding and betrothal ring, 195, 196.\n\n  Greek urns, rings in, 18.\n\n  Gresham, Sir Thomas, his gimmal ring, 194.\n\n  Gyges, ring of, 126.\n\n\n  H.\n\n  Hand, on which hand rings are worn, 45, 47;\n    with thumb and two forefingers extended, 83.\n\n  Hannibal\u2019s ring, 154.\n\n  Hathaway, Anne, lines to, (note,) 11.\n\n  Hatton, Chancellor, sending medicinal ring to Queen Elizabeth, 124.\n\n  Hebrews, wore a number of rings, 49;\n    as to their using a marriage-ring, 196-7.\n\n  Heliogabalus, never wore the same ring twice, 46.\n\n  Henry II. of England, his tomb, body, ring, 71.\n\n  Heraldry, ring in, 58.\n\n  Herbert\u2019s enigma, 62.\n\n  Household gods of the Romans, small iron rings for, 229;\n    Croly\u2019s lines on a gem representing a woman contemplating a\n      household deity, 230.\n\n  Hyacinth, its supposed medical and magical powers, 102.\n\n  Hynd Horn, ballad of, 115.\n\n\n  I. J.\n\n  Indian Brahmins, 95.\n\n  Innocent III. ordered the celebration of marriage through the\n      church, 195.\n\n  Inscriptions on Greek and Roman rings, 36.\n\n  Investiture by ring and staff, 80, 81, 82.\n\n  Ireland, diamond found in, 41.\n\n  Iron, rings of, 26, 27, 94, 229;\n    iron from gibbets made into rings to cure diseases, 136;\n    iron rings containing the Prussian maiden\u2019s hair, 191.\n\n  Ivory rings worn by the Egyptians, 27.\n\n  Jacinth, its supposed medical and magical powers, 102.\n\n  James IV. of Scotland, receiving a turquoise ring from Anne of\n      Brittany, 158.\n\n  Jasper, its supposed superior healing and magical powers, 99, 105.\n\n  Jeffreys and his \u201cBlood-stone,\u201d 184.\n\n  Jewish marriage, and use of ring at it, 208.\n\n  Joan of Naples, 118.\n\n  John, King of England, his bad conduct in relation to the wife of\n      De Vesci, 157.\n\n  Johnson, Dr., his care of his wife\u2019s wedding-ring, 222.\n\n  Joseph, ring given by Pharaoh to, 66, 151.\n\n  Judah and Tamar, 20.\n\n\n  K.\n\n  Kean the elder, his ring, 189.\n\n  Kerouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth, takes two diamond rings from the\n      hand of Charles II. when in his death-throes, 183.\n\n  Key, ring with a key attached, 196.\n\n  King\u2019s evil cured by ring made from coffin-nails or screws, 132.\n\n  Kings of Scotland, ring used at their coronation, bequeathed by\n      Cardinal York to Prince Regent, 188.\n\n\n  L.\n\n  Lacedemonians, as to their inventing seal-rings, 17.\n\n  Lambert Linkin, ballad of, 114.\n\n  Law of rings, 50.\n\n  Lawyers in Rome, clients presenting them with rings, 23.\n\n  Lines with a ring, 232.\n\n  L\u2019Isle, Lord, 158.\n\n  Lituus, 23.\n\n  Louis IX. of France, 58.\n\n  Love\u2019s Telegraph, 54.\n\n\n  M.\n\n  Mad-stone, (note,) 109.\n\n  Madoc\u2019s ring, 157.\n\n  Magnet in a ring, 31.\n\n  Marriage, its ceremony through the Church, ordained by Innocent\n      III., 195;\n    marriage at Ackmetchet, 199.\n\n  Marriage-ring, Grecian and Roman, 195, 196, 216;\n    used at Ackmetchet, 199;\n    marriage-rings had inscriptions, others a sealing part, 215, 220,\n      221;\n    ancient one of silver with inscription, 220.\n\n  Mary, Queen of Scots, talismanic ring offered to her by Lord\n      Ruthven, 119;\n    her nuptial ring, 168, 170;\n    portrait of Mary in a ring at Bolsover Castle, 171;\n    a ring (one portion) sent to her by Queen Elizabeth, 171.\n\n  Matilda, wife of the Conqueror, her tomb, body, ring, 71.\n\n  Matrons of Warsaw, part with their rings to coin into ducats for\n      Polish struggle, 190.\n\n  Medicinal rings, 122, 123, 124, 136.\n\n  _Mei Amores_, upon a ring, 144.\n\n  Mexican officers\u2019 rings, 154.\n\n  Michaelis, (physician,) had medical ring made of tooth of sea-horse,\n      136.\n\n  Mithridates, ring of, 155.\n\n  Money in the form of rings, 13.\n\n  Months, Polish idea of their being under the influence of precious\n      stones, 56.\n\n  Moore, his mother\u2019s gift of her wedding-ring, 223.\n\n\n  N.\n\n  Name-rings, 55.\n\n  Navarre, College of, gives ring to Crichton, 188.\n\n  Nelson, memorial rings of, 188.\n\n  Nero\u2019s ring, 156.\n\n  Nottingham, Countess of, and her connection with the Essex ring,\n      163.\n\n  Newton, Sir Isaac, his magnet-ring, 31;\n    his tooth set in a ring, 189.\n\n\n  O.\n\n  O\u2019Neils of Ulster, and Turlough Lynnoch, 190.\n\n  Opal, its supposed medical and magical powers, 105.\n\n  Ordeal of touch, 137.\n\n  Order of the Ring, 51.\n\n  Orpine plant, inserted in rings, 215.\n\n\n  P.\n\n  Palatius, (Ruby,) 102.\n\n  Pallas, freed-man of Claudius, ring of, 19.\n\n  Papal ring, 76, 78.\n\n  Pearls, 28.\n\n  Pelican and young upon a ring, 225.\n\n  Pembroke, Anne, Countess Dowager of, 91.\n\n  Persians, their seal-rings, 52, 67;\n    bridegroom makes a present of a ring, 198.\n\n  Pharaoh\u2019s ring given to Joseph, 66, 151.\n\n  Physicians\u2019 rings, 49, 122.\n\n  Pierce, Franklin, ring from California presented to, 43.\n\n  Pio, Albert, anecdote of, 49.\n\n  Pius II., ring of, 79.\n\n  Plague-rings, 136.\n\n  Poison carried in rings, 38, 154.\n\n  Pompeii, marriage-ring found at, 196.\n\n  Pompey\u2019s ring, 155.\n\n  Pope\u2019s ring, 17, 78.\n\n  Pope the poet, bequeathed rings, 222.\n\n  Porcelain rings worn by the Egyptians, 27.\n\n  Portsmouth, Duchess of, her taking diamond rings from the hand of\n      Charles II. in the death throes, 183.\n\n  Power, rings connected with, 65.\n\n  Powhattan, (ship,) 224.\n\n  Prometheus, and his wearing the first ring, 15, 16.\n\n  Prussian maiden and the sacrifice of her hair, 190.\n\n  Puritans set against the wedding-ring, 208.\n\n\n  R.\n\n  Richard II., directions in his will, 71.\n\n  Riddle on a ring, 62.\n\n  Ring-dropping, 145.\n\n  Ring-money, 13.\n\n  Roman Catholic marriages, 208.\n\n  Roman flute players, rings worn by, 23.\n\n  Roman lawyers, rings given to, by clients, 23.\n\n  Roman urns, rings in, 19.\n\n  Roman rings, 36;\n    marriage-rings, 195.\n\n  Roman senators and their rings, 66.\n\n  Roman slave, 146.\n\n  Roman knights, 24, 66, 90.\n\n  Ruby, its supposed medical and magical powers, 102.\n\n  Rubric, marriage in the Episcopal Church governed by, 204, 205.\n\n  Ruthven, Lord, offers talismanic ring to Mary, Queen of Scots, 119.\n\n  Rush-rings, 215.\n\n\n  S.\n\n  Sackvil, Duke of Dorset, ring given to him by King James, 175.\n\n  St. Anne, ring of, 214.\n\n  Samothracian talismanic ring, 94.\n\n  Sapphire; its supposed medical and magical powers, 104.\n\n  Scarab\u00e6us, form of seal, 17.\n\n  Sea-horse\u2019s tooth, Michaelis\u2019s medical ring made of, 136.\n\n  Seal-rings, when first used by ladies, 26.\n\n  Sebert, his tomb, body, ring, 70.\n\n  Serjeants at law, their rings and the ceremony relating to their\n      presentation, 86.\n\n  Sessa, ring found at, 216.\n\n  Shakspeare\u2019s signet-ring, 10, 161;\n    bequeathed rings to his brother players, 222.\n\n  Shoes, rings with shape of soles of shoes, 24.\n\n  Signets with Sanscrit inscriptions, 17;\n    importance given to signets in England, 53.\n\n  Size of rings, Egyptian, 31, 32, 33.\n\n  Slave, Roman, 146.\n\n  Solomon\u2019s magic ring, 113.\n\n  Sonnet, by Davison, 195.\n\n  Sore cured by touch of ring-finger, 132, 133.\n\n  Spain, the power of a girl to compel marriage when a ring has been\n      given, 198.\n\n  Stanley, seventh Earl of Derby, his character and last gift of\n      rings, 181.\n\n  Statues, rings on, 22, 23, 24.\n\n  Sterling\u2019s story of the \u201cOnyx Ring,\u201d 116.\n\n  Storms, amulet against, 136.\n\n  \u201cSty\u201d on the eye cured by rubbing with wedding-ring, 132.\n\n  _Subarrhation_, the delivering of ring and other gifts, 203.\n\n  Substances from which rings are formed, 26.\n\n  Suphis, ring of, 149.\n\n  Suffolk, Duchess of, 159.\n\n  _Symbolum_, a term used for a ring, 13.\n\n  Syrian legend, 115.\n\n\n  T.\n\n  Talismanic rings, 93;\n    their form, 96.\n\n  \u201cThee, Mary, with this ring I wed,\u201d 231.\n\n  Theseus, 14.\n\n  Thieves\u2019 rings, 145.\n\n  Thumb-rings, 90, 91, 92.\n\n  Toad-stone. 107.\n\n  Topaz, its supposed medical and magical powers, 104.\n\n  _Trau_ (betrothal) ring in Germany, 200.\n\n  Trent, Council of, 195, 204.\n\n  Tristram, had a mystical ring, 127.\n\n  Trophy, emblem on rings, 155.\n\n  Turlough Lynnoch, his ring, 190.\n\n  Turquoise, its supposed medical and magical powers, 106;\n    turquoise ring sent by the Queen of Louis XII. to James IV. of\n      Scotland, 158.\n\n\n  U. V.\n\n  _Ungulus_, Oscan word for ring, 13.\n\n  Urns, rings in Greek urns, 18.\n\n  Urns, rings in Roman urns, 19.\n\n  Value of some ring, 54.\n\n  Venus, story of placing ring on brazen, statue of this goddess, 139.\n\n  Virgin, the, story of placing ring on finger of statue, 141.\n\n\n  W.\n\n  Walpole\u2019s poesy upon a ring, 63.\n\n  Warsaw, matrons of, give their wedding-rings to be coined in aid of\n      the Polish struggle, 190.\n\n  Warts, taken away by ring touching them, 132.\n\n  Warwick, Sir Philip, intrusted with use of the ring of Charles I.,\n      178.\n\n  Washington bequeathed rings, 229.\n\n  Wedding-ring touching wart to take it away, 132;\n    rubbing on \u201csty\u201d to cure it, _ib._;\n    Grecian and Roman wedding-rings, 195, 196;\n    gold-wire rings given away at weddings, 213, 215;\n    ancient silver ring, 220.\n\n  Whistle connected with a ring, 38.\n\n  Wire rings of gold given away at weddings, 213.\n\n  Wound cured by touch of ring, 133.\n\n\n  Y.\n\n  York, Cardinal, his bequest of the ring used by kings of Scotland on\n      their coronation, 188.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] The poem from which this stanza is taken has now become so\nscarce, and is so pleasing, that we are induced to insert it in this\nnote:\n\n\nTO THE IDOL OF MINE EYES AND THE DELIGHT OF MINE HEART, ANNE HATHAWAY.\n\n      Would ye be taught, ye feathered throng,\n      With love\u2019s sweet notes to grace your song,\n      To pierce the heart with thrilling lay,\n      Listen to mine Anne Hathaway!\n      She _hath a way_ to sing so clear,\n      Ph\u0153bus might wond\u2019ring stop to hear;\n      To melt the sad, make blithe the gay,\n      And nature charm, Anne _hath a way_:\n            She _hath a way_,\n            Anne Hathaway,\n      To breathe delight Anne _hath a way_.\n\n      When envy\u2019s breath and rancorous tooth\n      Do soil and bite fair worth and truth,\n      And merit to distress betray,\n      To soothe the heart Anne _hath a way_;\n      She _hath a way_ to chase despair,\n      To heal all grief, to cure all care,\n      Turn foulest night to fairest day:\n      Thou know\u2019st, fond heart, Anne _hath a way_,\n            She _hath a way_,\n            Anne Hathaway,\n      To make grief bliss Anne _hath a way_.\n\n      Talk not of gems, the orient list,\n      The diamond, topaz, amethyst,\n      The emerald mild, the ruby gay:\n      Talk of my gem, Anne Hathaway!\n\n      She _hath a way_, with her bright eye,\n      Their various lustre to defy,\n      The jewel she and the foil they,\n      So sweet to look Anne _hath a way_.\n            She _hath a way_,\n            Anne Hathaway,\n      To shame bright gems, Anne _hath a way_.\n\n      But were it to my fancy given\n      To rate her charms, I\u2019d call them Heaven;\n      For though a mortal made of clay,\n      Angels must love Anne Hathaway.\n      She _hath a way_ so to control\n      To rapture the imprisoned soul,\n      And sweetest Heaven on earth display,\n      That to be Heaven Anne _hath a way_!\n            She _hath a way_,\n            Anne Hathaway,\n      To be Heaven\u2019s self Anne _hath a way_.\n\n[2] Chambers\u2019s Miscellany, vol. xv., No. 132.\n\n[3] Layard\u2019s Nineveh, ii. 318.\n\n[4] Papers read before the Irish Academy, 1836.\n\n[5] Babylon and Nineveh, 513.\n\n[6] Pliny, lib. ix.; Pausanias in Attic. Poet., c. vi.; Ovid. Fast.,\n1. v. Bannier, ii. 497.\n\n[7] Lib. i. c. 1.\n\n[8] Plin. lib. xiii.; Montfaucon.\n\n[9] Book of Costume, by a Lady of Rank, 21.\n\n[10] Arch\u00e6ologia Biblica.\n\n[11] P. 246.\n\n[12] Fuss\u2019s Roman Antiquities.\n\n[13] Pictorial Bible, (Knight\u2019s Ed.,) Note to 1 Kings, ch. xxi.\n\n[14] Curiosities of Burial, (Chambers\u2019s Repository.)\n\n[15] Dagley\u2019s Gems, _Preface_.\n\n[16] Hottzappfel\u2019s Turning and Mechanical Manipulations, p. 1362.\n\n[17] Chambers\u2019s Repository, (Curiosities of Burial.)\n\n[18] Gemma Antiche, iii. 182.\n\n[19] Genesis, ch. xli. _et seq._\n\n[20] Goldsmith.\n\n[21] Caylus, vol. iii. p. 157.\n\n[22] And see Layard\u2019s Nineveh, 339, 340.\n\n[23] Montfaucon.\n\n[24] Gentleman\u2019s Magazine, vol. xx., N. S., 55.\n\n[25] Fuss\u2019s Roman Antiquities, sec. 435.\n\n[26] Juvenal, Sat. VII.\n\n[27] Adams\u2019s Roman Antiquities, 366, (Boyd\u2019s edit.)\n\n[28] Montfaucon.\n\n[29] Plutarch\u2019s Numa.\n\n[30] Fuss, \u00a7 318.\n\n[31] Fosbroke, 247; Fuss, \u00a7 150.\n\n[32] Gentleman\u2019s Magazine, vol. xviii., N. S., 527.\n\n[33] 4. vol. i. pl. lxxxix.\n\n[34] Fosbroke\u2019s Encyclop\u00e6dia of Antiquities, 247.\n\n[35] Dugdale\u2019s History of St. Paul\u2019s; and Arch\u00e6ologla, xvii. 316.\n\n[36] Eccleston\u2019s Introduction to English Antiquities, 60,61; and see\nManufactures of Metal, 376; Hone\u2019s Every-Day Book, 671; Arch\u00e6ologia,\niv. 54.\n\n[37] Ingoldsby Legends, 223.\n\n[38] Fosbroke, 251.\n\n[39] Montfaucon.\n\n[40] Fosbroke\u2019s Encyclop\u00e6dia of Antiquities, 246.\n\n[41] Wilkinson\u2019s Manners of the Ancient Egyptians, 371.\n\n[42] Rees\u2019s Encyclop\u00e6dia--Title, _Rings_.\n\n[43] Lib. i. i. cap. 5.\n\n[44] Life of Caius Marius.\n\n[45] Fosbroke\u2019s Encyclop\u00e6dia of Antiquities, 246.\n\n[46] Wilson\u2019s Arch\u00e6ological Dictionary, Art. _Rings_.\n\n[47] Chambers\u2019s Miscellany.\n\n[48] Cardanus, lib. vii. _de Lapidibus_.\n\n[49] Dumas\u2019 Celebrated Crimes--_The Borgias_.\n\n[50] Notes to Tallis\u2019s Edit. of Shakspeare.\n\n[51] Act IV. Scene 2.\n\n[52] Nichols\u2019s Lapidary, 54, 57; Kobell, 274.\n\n[53] Hill\u2019s Theophrastus, p. 75, notes _n. y._\n\n[54] Chances, Act 1, Sc. 3.\n\n[55] Collins\u2019s Peerage.\n\n[56] Harris\u2019s Rudimentary Magnetism, 6.\n\n[57] Recueil d\u2019Antiquit\u00e9s.\n\n[58] Remarks on Italy.\n\n[59] Curiosities of Burial--Chambers\u2019s Repository.\n\n[60] Recueil d\u2019Antiquit\u00e9s, Tom. ii. p. 310.\n\n[61] Lib. iv., p. 172, Pl. LVII.\n\n[62] Lib. v. p. 161.\n\n[63] Caylus, ii. 311.\n\n[64] Gentleman\u2019s Magazine, Vol. xviii., N. S., 527.\n\n[65] Arch\u00e6ologia, v. 71.\n\n[66] Ib. viii. 430.\n\n[67] Heb. xi. 37, 38.\n\n[68] Fosbroke, 247; Arch\u00e6ologia, iv. 54.\n\n[69] Vol. iv. N. S., p. 224.\n\n[70] (Published by Redfield,) p. 110.\n\n[71] Lond. Gent.\u2019s Mag., Vol. xxiv. p. 285.\n\n[72] Arch\u00e6ologia, (London,) ii. 35.\n\n[73] Memorials of Affairs of State, iii. 368.\n\n[74] Nug\u00e6 Antiqu\u00e6, ii. 263.\n\n[75] Jer, xxii. 24.\n\n[76] Moutfaucon.\n\n[77] Lib. x.\n\n[78] Martial, Lib. xi., epiq. 60.\n\n[79] Aristophanes, _in Nub._, &c.\n\n[80] Wilkinson.\n\n[81] P. 185, Edit. of 1646.\n\n[82] P. 185.\n\n[83] Chap. ii., v. 2.\n\n[84] Arch\u00e6ologia Biblica, \u00a7 128-9; Wilkinson.\n\n[85] Godolphin\u2019s Orphan\u2019s Leg., 413.\n\n[86] Williams on Executors, 739.\n\n[87] _Apreece_ v. _Apreece_, 1 V. and B. 364.\n\n[88] _Vowles_ v. _Young_, 13 Ves. J. 144.\n\n[89] Montfaucon.\n\n[90] London, for 1760, p. 243.\n\n[91] Roscoe\u2019s Leo X., i. 338, (8vo.)\n\n[92] Library of Entertaining Knowledge, Pompeii, vol. ii. p. 324.\n\n[93] And see Layard\u2019s Nineveh and Babylon, (Putnam\u2019s Edit.,) 529.\n\n[94] Vol. i. p. 345, 4to.\n\n[95] Adam\u2019s Roman Antiquities, 366, (Boyd\u2019s edit.)\n\n[96] Household Words, ix. 462.\n\n[97] Family Friend, vol. ii. p. 132.\n\n[98] Furnished to the author through the attention of Messrs.\nMarchand A\u00e9. Gaime, Guillemot & Co., Jewellers, of New-York.\n\n[99] Mineral Kingdom, p. 269.\n\n[100] New-York Albion newspaper, 8th October, 1853.\n\n[101] When the tomb of Childeric, father of Clovis, was opened,\nthere were found, besides the skeletons of his horse and page, his\narms, a crystal orb and more than three hundred little ornaments\nresembling bees of the purest gold, their wing part being inlaid with\na red stone like cornelian. It has, however, been asserted that they\nwere what are called _fleurons_, supposed to have been attached to\nthe harness of the monarch\u2019s war-horse. Napoleon, wishing to have\nsome regal emblem more ancient than the _fleur-de-lis_, adopted the\n_fleurons_ or bees, and the green ground as the original Merovingian\ncolor, (Notes and Queries, viii. 30.)\n\n[102] London Gent.\u2019s Mag. for January, 1765, p. 210.\n\n[103] Gentleman\u2019s Magazine, vol. xxxv. old series, p. 141.\n\n[104] Article in the N. Y. Albion for 31st Dec. 1853, on Cod and Cod\nFishing, 627.\n\n[105] Lady Morgan\u2019s Italy, vol. ii. p. 419.\n\n[106] Correspondence, vol. iii. p. 107.\n\n[107] Genesis, chap. lxi. _et seq._\n\n[108] 1 Mac. vi. 15.\n\n[109] Encyc. Brit., Article _Ring_.\n\n[110] Chap. viii. 8.\n\n[111] Daniel vi. 17.\n\n[112] Egypt under the Ptolemies, by Sharp, 118.\n\n[113] Lib. ii. Sat. 7.\n\n[114] Notes and Queries, iv. 261.\n\n[115] An Historical and Critical Enquiry into the nature of the\nKingly Offices, etc., by T. C. Banks, p. 7. See also a complete\naccount of the Ceremonies observed in the Coronation of the Kings and\nQueens of England, 4th edition, published by J. Roberts. Also, the\nentire Ceremonies of the Coronation of King Charles II., and of Queen\nMary, consort of James II., as published by the Learned Heralds,\nAshmole and Sandford.\n\n[116] Arch\u00e6ologia, (London,) iii. 390.\n\n[117] Biographia Britannica, Art. _Devereux_.\n\n[118] Arch\u00e6ologia, vol. xxvi. (London.) Account of the Jerusalem\nChamber, by A. J. Kempe, Esquire.\n\n[119] Ib. vol. xxix. pl. 2. Particulars of the Regalia of England,\nmade for the Coronation of Charles II., by Robert Cole, Esquire.\n\n[120] Arch\u00e6ologia, iii. 390.\n\n[121] Ib. 385.\n\n[122] Correspondence, vol. vi. p. 67.\n\n[123] Arch\u00e6ologia, iii. 392.\n\n[124] Ib. 389.\n\n[125] King Henry VIII., Act 5, Scenes 1, 2.\n\n[126] See also Antiquitat. Britannic\u00e6, 334, 336; Burnet, 327, _et\nseq._\n\n[127] Encyc. Am., Art. _Venice_. And see Scott\u2019s Discovery of\nWitchcraft (1665,) p. 152.\n\n[128] In the Gentleman\u2019s Magazine for March, 1798, p. 184, is a\nminute account of this ceremony, which somewhat varies from the\nabove: \u201cOn Ascension Day, the Doge, in a splendid barge, attended\nby a thousand barks and gondolas, proceeds to a particular place in\nthe Adriatic. In order to compose the angry gulf and procure a calm,\nthe patriarch pours into her bosom a quantity of holy water. As soon\nas this charm has had its effect, the Doge, with great solemnity,\nthrough an aperture near his seat, drops into her lap a gold ring,\nrepeating these words, \u2018_Desponsamus te, Mare, in signum veri\nperpetuique dominii._\u2019 \u2018We espouse thee, O sea! in token of real and\nperpetual dominion over thee.\u2019\u201d\n\n[129] Dictionary of Dates, Adriatic.\n\n[130] See Smedley\u2019s Sketches of Venetian History, referred to in note\n[A] to Byron\u2019s Works.\n\n[131] He is under obligations to the Reverend Thomas S. Preston for\nthis.\n\n[132] Gavazzi\u2019s Lectures, (New-York ed.,) 185.\n\n[133] London Gent.\u2019s Mag. for 1848, p. 599.\n\n[134] Eadmer, Histor. Nov., l. i. p. 16.\n\n[135] John of Salisbury\u2019s Life of Anselm.\n\n[136] Rapin.\n\n[137] William of Malmesbury.\n\n[138] Burn\u2019s Ecclesiastical Law, 209.\n\n[139] Encyc. Brit., Title, _Ring_.\n\n[140] London Gent\u2019s Mag., vol. lxxi. p. 1082.\n\n[141] Notes and Queries, viii. 387.\n\n[142] Ib. 2d vol. 4th S., 300.\n\n[143] Notes and Queries, v. 114.\n\n[144] Ib. 492.\n\n[145] Metamorph. ii. 34.\n\n[146] Ennemoser, i. 258, _et seq._\n\n[147] Caylus, vi. 295, Pl. xciii.\n\n[148] Addison, (Tickell\u2019s edit.,) v. 178.\n\n[149] Since writing the above, we have come across _Ennemoser\u2019s\nHistory of Magic_, who refers to these hands; and while he takes up\nwith the notion of their being votive offerings, he refers to the\nextended fingers to show that a cure had been effected by magnetic\nmanipulation. In reference to one particular specimen, the author\nconsiders the hand itself to be an appropriate emblem from having\nperformed the cure. (Vol. i. p. 255.) This, then, does away with the\nidea that a cure in the hand itself was effected; and if we take away\nthe hand, the remarkable figures with which it was studded do not\nseem to be connected with or emblematical of any kind of disease. All\nthis brings us nearer to our notion, that these hands were used as\namulets.\n\n[150] Wilkinson\u2019s Ancient Egyptians, ii. 354.\n\n[151] Fosbroke\u2019s Encyc. of Antiquities, 246.\n\n[152] Notes and Queries, v. 492.\n\n[153] Whitlock\u2019s Memoirs, p. 356.\n\n[154] Fortescue de Laud. Legum Angl., cap. 50.\n\n[155] 3 Cooke\u2019s Reports, 3.\n\n[156] Calmet\u2019s Dictionary, Art. _Bells_.\n\n[157] Roman Antiquities, by Foss, \u00a7 62.\n\n[158] Ib. \u00a7 456.\n\n[159] Brande\u2019s Popular Antiquities, (by Ellis,) 264.\n\n[160] Household Words: _I Give and Bequeath_.\n\n[161] London Gentleman\u2019s Magazine, vol. lxxxiii. p. 17.\n\n[162] Act 2, scene 1; and see Douce\u2019s Illustrations, 383.\n\n[163] Knight\u2019s Bible.\n\n[164] Spaniards and their Country, 66.\n\n[165] Fosbroke\u2019s Ency. of Antiquities, 247-8.\n\n[166] Ency. Brit., Ency. Amer.\n\n[167] P. 6.\n\n[168] Oliver on Masonry, 168.\n\n[169] P. 249.\n\n[170] Bingham\u2019s Origines Ecclesiastic\u00e6, p. 943, (Bohn\u2019s edit.)\n\n[171] Maffei, vol. ii. pl. 20, p. 42.\n\n[172] \u201cThe first author of it (_general shout_) was Pan, Bacchus\u2019s\nLieutenant-General in his Indian expedition, where, being encompassed\nin a valley with an army of enemies, far superior to them in number,\nhe advised the god to order his men in the night to give a general\nshout, which so surprised the opposite army that they immediately\nfled from their camp; whence it came to pass that all sudden fears\nimpressed upon men\u2019s spirits without any just reason were called by\nthe Greeks and Romans pannick terrors.\u201d--_Potter\u2019s Greece_, iii. c. 8.\n\n[173] Maffei, vol. ii. pl. 21, p. 45.\n\n[174] Arch\u00e6ologia, xxi. 127.\n\n[175] Fosbroke\u2019s Encyclop\u00e6dia of Antiquities, p. 246.\n\n[176] A Lapidary, or the History of Pretious Stones, with cautions\nfor the undeceiving of all those that deal with pretious stones,\n(1652,) p. 51.\n\n[177] This name occurs among the ancients, because it is the\nmother-dwelling or the _palace_, as it was said, in which the\ncarbuncle or true ruby is produced and dwells.--_Kobell_, 274.\n\n[178] Lib. viii. _de Hist. Animal_.\n\n[179] Kobell.\n\n[180] Nicols\u2019 Lapidary, 56-7.\n\n[181] Paus. viii, c. 14.\n\n[182] The Imperial Treasury at Vienna possesses an emerald valued at\n\u00a350,000.\n\n[183] Nicols\u2019 Lapidary, 85.\n\n[184] And see Kobell\u2019s Mineral Kingdom, 274.\n\n[185] P. 86.\n\n[186] Nicols.\n\n[187] Nicols, 130.\n\n[188] 1569, p. 51.\n\n[189] Ib. 164.\n\n[190] _As You Like It_, Act 2, Sc. 1.\n\n[191] First Book of Notable Things, 4to, vol. i.\n\n[192] P. 158.\n\n[193] This subject may allow us to mention what is called the\n\u201cmad-stone,\u201d a supposed antidote to hydrophobia. The following is\nfrom the New-York Tribune newspaper for July 4, 1854:\n\n  THE MAD-STONE.--The reference of _The Washington Union_ to the\n  mad-stone (one of which is now in the possession of the family\n  of the late Mr. John King Churchill, in Richmond, Va.) has drawn\n  articles upon the subject from several of our cotemporaries. _The\n  Petersburg Intelligencer_ has been shown one, in the possession\n  of Mr. Oliver, who resides in Petersburg, and, it is said, has\n  several certificates of cases in which it has been successfully\n  used for the bite of a mad dog. It is rectangular in shape, with\n  parallel sides and polished surfaces, traversed by dark-gray and\n  brown streaks, and about a size larger than half a Tonquay bean,\n  except that it is not near so thick. Upon being applied to the\n  wound of the patient, says _The Intelligencer_, it soon extracts\n  the virus, which, it is said, may be distinctly seen in the\n  water, into which it is repeatedly dipped during the operation.\n  _The Portsmouth Globe_ says: \u201cWe were raised--\u2018brought up\u2019 is,\n  perhaps, the word--in Petersburg, Va., and among our very earliest\n  recollections is one concerning a cure from hydrophobia, made\n  through the agency of a mad-stone. The person, whoever it was that\n  was bit by a rabid dog, went to Williamsburg, in this State, where\n  it was said that a mad-stone was located, and came back well, and\n  was never troubled either with madness or its symptoms. Our next\n  notice of the subject was when two individuals in Petersburg were\n  bitten by mad dogs. One, we think, lived in Halifax street, and his\n  father believing the mad-stone a humbug, refused to let his son go\n  and try it. He was seized with the fits, after the usual medicinal\n  agents had failed, and died in great agony. The other visited the\n  mad-stone--still then at Williamsburg--and entirely recovered. The\n  next case was this: We were travelling from Paineville, Amelia\n  County, to Farmville, Prince Edward County, Va., and stopped at a\n  blacksmith\u2019s house to get dinner. In the course of conversation, he\n  said he had been bit by a mad dog, that had destroyed by its bite\n  a number of cattle, sheep and hogs, and that he hastened at once\n  to Williamsburg; that, on the way, he had suffered much from the\n  bite, but after the application of the stone, he had got relief and\n  suffered none since. \u2018That bite,\u2019 said he, laying much emphasis on\n  the cost, \u2018_cost_ me nearly a _hundred_ dollars.\u2019\n\n  \u201cSuch is all that we remember concerning the mad-stone.\u201d\n\nAs a pendant, we give a \u201cslip\u201d from the Richmond (Virginia) _Penny\nPost_ for August 12, 1854. The description, if it may be so called,\nof the stone referred to is remarkable: \u201cas large as a piece of\nchalk,\u201d and \u201calmost indescribable:\u201d\n\n  \u201cAn article which we inserted in the _Penny Post_ some two months\n  ago, has elicited remarks from the press in every quarter. We know\n  from facts in our possession, that we were \u2018_rectus in curia_.\u2019\n  Mr. W. Bradly, who resides some half mile from the city, has left\n  at our office the genuine Simon Pure mad-stone, which can be\n  examined by the curious. We understand from Mr. Bradly that this\n  stone has been in the Bradly family for more than one hundred\n  years; and we are informed by gentlemen of intelligence from the\n  counties of Orange, Green, Culpepper and Madison that they are\n  cognizant of more than fifty cures of mad-dog bites, snake and\n  spider bites. This is a most valuable discovery, and one which\n  ought to be generally known. We mentioned facts some time since,\n  with regard to Sale\u2019s mad-stone, located in Caroline County, which\n  excited only a sneer from the press; none are so blind as those\n  who will not see. We who write this happen to know facts connected\n  with this matter, and we have faithfully given them. This stone is\n  rather a curious-looking affair; it is about as large as a piece of\n  chalk, perfectly porous, and truth to say, almost indescribable.\n  When applied to the wound either of a snake or mad-dog bite, it\n  will draw until all its pores are saturated, then drop off, and\n  if placed in warm water will soon disgorge and then be ready for\n  action again. We shall keep this stone in our office for several\n  days for the inspection of the curious. It ought to be purchased by\n  the city for the use of the public. We understand that Mr. Bradly\n  will sell it for $5,000; if it saves one valuable life, it will be\n  cheap at double that price.\u201d\n\nIn connection with this, we add a letter from the _Macon Journal and\nMessenger_, (August, 1854:)\n\n  A TALE FOR THE CURIOUS.--We received the following communication\n  from Major J. D. Wilkes, of Dooly County. He is a highly\n  respectable citizen, well known to us, and we feel no hesitation in\n  assuring the public that he would make no statements which were not\n  fully reliable.\n\n  \u201c_Editors of the Journal and Messenger_:\n\n  \u201cPermit me to lay before your readers a few facts which may furnish\n  matter of speculation for the curious, but may be doubted by some\n  or ridiculed by others. They are, nevertheless, strictly true. Some\n  twelve years ago I went out with a party on a deer hunt, and shot\n  down a fine buck. While dressing him, I cut up the haslet for my\n  hounds, and in doing so, I cut out a stone of dark greenish color,\n  about where the windpipe joins the lights. It was from an inch and\n  a half to two inches long, and quite heavy for its size, although\n  it appears to be porous. I have heard of such stones from old\n  hunters, and that they possessed the faculty of extracting poison,\n  and other medical virtues, but they were seldom found. They were\n  called beasle or bezoar stones. I have been a frontier man and\n  killed many a deer, but have never found another of the same kind.\n  I laid it by more as a matter of curiosity than having any faith in\n  its virtues.\n\n  \u201cOn the 12th ult. I had a favorite dog bitten on the nose by a\n  large rattlesnake. The dog at once commenced reeling and fell down.\n  I was within a few feet of him, and immediately (as the only remedy\n  at hand) forced a chew of tobacco down his throat. I got him home\n  very soon and dissolved some alum, but found his jaws nearly set.\n  I forced open his mouth, and poured it down his throat. I then\n  recollected seeing in your paper of the 5th ult. the description of\n  a stone and its virtue in extracting poison, in possession of some\n  family in Virginia, which stone, I presume, was similar to the one\n  I had taken from the deer. I got a bowl of warm water and applied\n  the stone to the place bitten, and then dropped it into the water,\n  when I could see a dirty, dark green substance shooting out of\n  it. This I repeated three times with a similar result. The fourth\n  time it seemed to show that all the poison had been extracted. In\n  less than a minute the dog got up, vomited up the tobacco, and\n  the swelling subsided immediately. In less than two hours he was\n  perfectly well, and eating any thing that was offered him.\n\n  \u201cNow I will not decide which of the three remedies--the tobacco,\n  the alum or the stone--cured the dog; but from the fact that he\n  was immediately cured on the application of the stone, should\n  reasonably weigh in favor of that remedy. In the article published\n  in your paper it is remarked that \u2018We are not aware that the\n  existence of such is known to the scientific world at all,\u2019 and it\n  is spoken of as its origin being a mystery, and wholly unknown.\n  Now, will not the above facts reveal the mystery of their origin? I\n  have now several highly respectable neighbors who were with me when\n  I obtained the stone. I live about nine miles east of Montezuma, in\n  Dooly County, where it may be seen or the use of it obtained, by\n  any one who may need it.\n\n                                                      \u201cJ. D. WILKES.\u201d\n\n[194] Popular Delusions, ii. 298, 301; Harwood.\n\n[195] Brande, iii. 329.\n\n[196] P. 295.\n\n[197] Ennemoser\u2019s History of Magic, ii. 456, referring to the 29th\nbook of Ammianus Marcellinus.\n\n[198] Arch\u00e6ologia, xxi. 124.\n\n[199] Solomon\u2019s wisdom and happiness have become proverbial; and the\nfable of the rabbins and the heroic and erotic poems of the Persians\nand Arabians speak of him, as the romantic traditions of the Normans\nand Britons do of King Arthur, as a fabulous monarch, whose natural\nscience, (mentioned even in the Bible,) whose wise sayings and dark\nriddles, whose power and magnificence are attributed to magic.\nAccording to these fictions Solomon\u2019s ring was the talisman of his\nwisdom and power.--Ency. Amer., Art. _Solomon_.\n\n[200] Johnston\u2019s Josephus, Book viii. ch. 2.\n\n[201] Motherwell\u2019s Minstrelsy, vol. ii. p. 164, (Ticknor\u2019s edit.) In\nChambers\u2019s Collection of Scotch Ballads, this story goes under the\nname of _Lammilsin_.\n\n[202] Vol. ix. p. 233.\n\n[203] Motherwell\u2019s Minstrelsy, vol. i. p. 187.\n\n[204] _Causes C\u00e9l\u00e8bres_ (Dumas).\n\n[205] Strickland\u2019s Queens of Scotland, iii, 319.\n\n[206] Arch\u00e6ologia, xix. 411.\n\n[207] Arch\u00e6ologia, xviii. 306.\n\n[208] Egyptian rings in the form of a shell are not uncommon.\n\n[209] Milligen\u2019s Curiosities of Medical Experience, ii. 137.\n\n[210] Arch\u00e6ologia, xxi. 25.\n\n[211] Arch\u00e6ologla, xxi. 121.\n\n[212] Plut., Act 4, \u00a7 3.\n\n[213] Arch\u00e6ologia, xxi. 122.\n\n[214] Vol. i. p. 76.\n\n[215] Canto xi. v. 6, (Rose\u2019s translation;) and see Hunt\u2019s Stories\nfrom the Italian Poets.\n\n[216] No. 243.\n\n[217] See, however, Hospinian, referred to by Brande, vol. i. p. 151.\nAs to Edward the Confessor\u2019s curing the _struma_, see Arch\u00e6ologia, i.\n162.\n\n[218] London Gent.\u2019s Magazine, vol. i., N. S., p. 49, referring to\nMS. Arundel, 275, fol. 23 _b_.\n\n[219] Ib. 50, referring to MS. Harl. 295, fol. 119 _b_, cited by\nEllis, i. 129.\n\n[220] Ib. referring to MS. Cott. Calig. B. II. fol. 112.\n\n[221] London Gent.\u2019s Magazine.\n\n[222] Brande\u2019s Pop. Ant. iii. 300, referring to Gent. Mag. for 1794,\np. 433, 648. Ib. 598, 889.\n\n[223] Notes and Queries, i. 349.\n\n[224] Ennemoser\u2019s History of Magic, ii. 488.\n\n[225] Notes and Queries, vii. 153.\n\n[226] Arch\u00e6ologia, xxi. 25.\n\n[227] Notes and Queries, vii. 146.\n\n[228] Ib. 216.\n\n[229] Vol. iii. p. 280, (Ellis\u2019s edit.)\n\n[230] Lupton, quoted by Brande, says: \u201cA piece of a child\u2019s navell\nstring, borne in a ring, is good against the falling sickness, the\npain of the head and the collick.\u201d\n\n\u201c_Annulus frigatorius._ A ring made of glass (_salt_) of antimony,\nformerly supposed to have the power of purging.\u201d Gardiner\u2019s Medical\nDictionary.\n\n[231] Beckmann\u2019s History of Inventions, i. 46, (Bohn\u2019s edit.)\n\n[232] See also Burton\u2019s Anat. of Melancholy, (1621,) p. 476; Browne,\nch. xviii.\n\n[233] Arch\u00e6ologia, xxi. 122; Illustrated Magazine of Art, i. 11.\n\n[234] Arch\u00e6ologia, (London,) xxi. 25.\n\n[235] Ib. 117.\n\n[236] London Gent.\u2019s Mag. vol. lxxv. p. 801.\n\n[237] Vol. xiv. of State Trials, case of Mary Norkott and John Okeman.\n\n[238] Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, 8vo. vol. i. p. 13.\n\n[239] Ib. p. 79.\n\n[240] Mem. de Petrarque, i. 210.\n\n[241] Notes and Queries, i. 140.\n\n[242] See Douce\u2019s Illust. of Shakspeare, p. 69.\n\n[243] Hone\u2019s Every Day Book, i. 141.\n\n[244] Notes and Queries, vol. ii. p. 67.\n\n[245] Crimes C\u00e9l\u00e8bres.\n\n[246] Crimes C\u00e9l\u00e8bres, (Dumas.)\n\n[247] Roman Antiquities, by Fuss, \u00a7 62.\n\n[248] Blair\u2019s Roman Slavery, 97; and see note 50, p. 241.\n\n[249] Pliny, xxxiii.\n\n[250] Lacrim. Etrus., (Sylv. iii. 3,) \u201c_l\u00e6v\u00e6que ignobile ferrum_.\u201d\n\n[251] Vol. i. book x.\n\n[252] We write at a time when a subscription is going among the\ninhabitants of New-York for the purchase of this collection; and\nalready have private citizens subscribed to the amount of $25,000.\nThis tells well for republican individual enterprise and taste.\n\nThe author has to acknowledge the prompt kindness of Dr. Abbott, in\nallowing him to take impressions as well from the Suphis-ring as from\nmany others in the Doctor\u2019s collection.\n\n[253] Genesis, ch. 1. v. 26.\n\n[254] Pote\u2019s Inquiry into the Phonetic Reading of the Ashburnham\nSignet. (Pickering, 1841.)\n\n[255] See Wilkinson\u2019s Manners of the Egyptians, iii. 374.\n\n[256] On the tomb is the sculptured figure of a man bound hand and\nfoot, with a huge lion in the act of springing upon him to devour\nhim. No history could speak more graphically the story of Daniel in\nthe Lion\u2019s Den.--_The (American) Family Christian Almanac for 1855._\n\n[257] Fuss\u2019s Roman Antiquities, \u00a7 435.\n\n[258] Adams\u2019 Roman Antiquities, 366, (Boyd\u2019s edit.)\n\n[259] Plutarch\u2019s _Timoleon_.\n\n[260] Introduction to English Antiquities, by Eccleston, 60, 61.\n\n[261] Dugdale.\n\n[262] Burke\u2019s Extinct Peerage, \u201cPlantagenet Viscount L\u2019Isle,\u201d 432.\n\n[263] Hollingshed; Dugdale.\n\n[264] Echard, 363.\n\n[265] Biographia Britannica, art. Boyle.\n\n[266] 1814; and see Notes and Queries, v. 589.\n\n[267] Halliwell\u2019s Life of Shakspeare, 334.\n\n[268] Part i. p. 346, (Harper\u2019s edit.)\n\n[269] P. 92. And see Johnson\u2019s Life of Coke, p. 147; Hume, Horace\nWalpole. The ring is said to be retained in the family of the\nCountess of Nottingham.\n\n[270] Pictorial History of England, ii. 693.\n\n[271] Histoire de Hollande, 215, 216; and also see the Biographia\nBritannica, vol. 5, art. Devereux.\n\n[272] Biographia Britannica, art. Devereux.\n\n[273] Lives and Letters of the Devereux Earls of Essex, by the\nHonorable W. B. Devereux.\n\n[274] Strickland\u2019s Queens of Scotland, vol. iii. p. 181.\n\n[275] Gent\u2019s Mag. vol. xxxv. p. 390; Arch\u00e6ologia, vol. xxxiii.\n\n[276] Willis\u2019s Current Notes for February and March, 1852.\n\n[277] P. 184, (note.)\n\n[278] Gent.\u2019s Mag. for 1852, p. 407.\n\n[279] Anecdotes and Traditions, published by the Camden Society,\n(London, 1839.)\n\n[280] Strickland\u2019s Queens of Scotland, iii. 279.\n\n[281] Mackenzie\u2019s Lives and Characters.\n\n[282] Father Garvasse.\n\n[283] Burke\u2019s Extinct Peerages, \u201cCarey,\u201d 111.\n\n[284] Collins\u2019s Baronage, 421, (4to.)\n\n[285] Hillier\u2019s Narrative of the attempted escape of Charles the\nFirst, etc., p. 79. And see Gentleman\u2019s Magazine, N. S., p. 28.\n\n[286] Gent.\u2019s Mag., vol. xli. p. 450, and ib. for June.\n\n[287] Notes and Queries, vii. 184.\n\n[288] See Gent.\u2019s Mag., vol. xli. p. 512.\n\n[289] Collins\u2019s Peerage, v. 68, 5th edit.\n\n[290] Household Words, ix. 277.\n\n[291] Burnet; and see note to Life of Lord Keeper North, vol. ii. p.\n13.\n\n[292] Knight.\n\n[293] P. 33, _et seq._\n\n[294] North, 100.\n\n[295] Lord Halifax, who is described by Dryden under the character\nof \u201cJotham\u201d in _Absalom and Achitophel_, was at the head of the\nparty called Trimmers; and in his \u201cPreface to the _Character of a\nTrimmer_,\u201d thus explains the term: \u201cThis innocent word _Trimmer_\nsignifies no more than this: that if men are together in a boat and\none part of the company would weigh it down on one side, another\nwould make it lean as much to the contrary, it happens that there\nis a third opinion, of those who conceive it would be as well if\nthe boat went even, without endangering the passengers. Now, \u2019tis\nhard to imagine by what figure in language or by what rule in sense\nthis comes to be a fault; and it is much more a wonder it should be\nthought a heresy.\u201d\n\n[296] Miss Mitford\u2019s Recollections, 425, (Am. edit.)\n\n[297] Notes and Queries, ii. 70.\n\n[298] Hone\u2019s Year Book, 1022.\n\n[299] Biographia Britannica, Art. _Crichton_.\n\n[300] London Gent.\u2019s Mag., N. S., ii. p. 195.\n\n[301] Moore\u2019s Life of Byron, vol. i. p. 458.\n\n[302] Beattie\u2019s Life of Campbell, ii. 287.\n\n[303] Dublin Penny Journal, 208.\n\n[304] The Death Warrant, or Guide to Life, 1844. (London.)\n\n[305] Hone\u2019s Every Day Book.\n\n[306] 1690, p. 122.\n\n[307] Gent.\u2019s Mag. for 1852, p. 640.\n\n[308] Ib. vol. xxxv. N. S. 390; Burgon\u2019s Life and Times of Sir Thomas\nGresham, i. 51.\n\n[309] Poetical Rhapsody.\n\n[310] Polyglot Dictionary, by John Minshew, (1625,) art.\n_Ring-Finger_.\n\n[311] Reflections on the Causes of Unhappy Marriages, etc., by Lewis,\np. 84.\n\n[312] Shelford on Marriage, 17, 31.\n\n[313] Sat. VI. verse 27.\n\n[314] Macrob. Sat. VII. 15.\n\n[315] Wilson\u2019s Arch\u00e6ological Dictionary, art. _Ring_.\n\n[316] Arch\u00e6ological Album, by Wright, p. 138.\n\n[317] Illustrations of Ancient Art, by Trollope, p. 49.\n\n[318] Wilkinson.\n\n[319] Ch. 35, v. 22.\n\n[320] Uxor Ebraica, Lib. ii. ch. 14.\n\n[321] Kohl\u2019s Reminiscences.\n\n[322] Hamilton\u2019s Marriage Rites, p. 188.\n\n[323] Ib. 194.\n\n[324] Bourgoing\u2019s Travels through Spain.\n\n[325] Act 2d, sc. 2d.\n\n[326] Douce, 24.\n\n[327] Book iii.\n\n[328] The People\u2019s Dictionary of the Bible, art. _Rings_.\n\n[329] Douce\u2019s Illustrations of Shakspeare, p. 69.\n\n[330] The beautiful architectural design in this picture is said to\nbe copied, but very much improved, from a picture by Perugino, the\nmaster of Raffaelle. As the latter had a genius beyond copying and as\nPerugino made use of the talents of his pupil, it is fair to suppose\nthat Raffaelle composed the building and afterwards claimed its\noutline by inserting it, with improvament from reflection, in his own\npainting, _Lo Sposalizio_. The general form and proportions are to be\nfound in Brunelleschi\u2019s design for the octagon chapel of the Scholari\nannexed to the church Degl\u2019 Angeli at Florence. See Kugler\u2019s Hand\nBook of Painting, by Eastlake, p. 332.\n\n[331] Martense, ii. 128.\n\n[332] Palmer\u2019s _Origines Liturgic\u00e6_, vol. ii. p. 214.\n\n[333] Bishop Jeremy Taylor\u2019s \u201c_Wedding Ring_.\u201d\n\n[334] Fosbroke\u2019s Encyc. of Antiquities, p. 250.\n\n[335] Notes and Queries, ii. 611.\n\n[336] 1 Dow, 181; 2 Hagg. C. R. 70, 81.\n\n[337] Hallam\u2019s Middle Ages, ii. 286, _et seq._; Shelford on Marriage,\n19, 20.\n\n[338] _Poulter_ v. _Cornwall_, Salk. 9.\n\n[339] Burns\u2019 Eccl. Law--_Marriage_.\n\n[340] Athenian Oracle, No. xxvi.\n\n[341] Burns\u2019 Eccl. Law, art. _Marriage_.\n\n[342] Notes and Queries, iv. 199.\n\n[343] Hone\u2019s Table Book.\n\n[344] Notes and Queries, v. 371.\n\n[345] Vol. i. p. 270.\n\n[346] Hamilton\u2019s Marriage Rites, etc., 125.\n\n[347] III. ii. 309.\n\n[348] See Hamilton\u2019s Marriage Rites, etc., 178.\n\n[349] _Lindo_ v. _Belisario_, 1 Haggard\u2019s Consist. Reps. 217.\n\n[350] And see Morgan\u2019s Doctrine and Law of Marriage, Adultery and\nDivorce, i. 97, _et seq._, and particularly note x. at p. 103.\n\n[351] Verse 9.\n\n[352] Larpent\u2019s Private Journal, 563.\n\n[353] Hone\u2019s Table Book.\n\n[354] Fosbroke, 249; Hone\u2019s Table Book.\n\n[355] Caylus, iii. 313, Pl. lxxxv.\n\n[356] Hone\u2019s Every Day Book.\n\n[357] See Douce\u2019s Illust. of Shakspeare, 194.\n\n[358] Antiquities of Paris.\n\n[359] No. 56.\n\n[360] Herrick, in his Hesperides, speaks of \u201cposies for our\nwedding-ring.\u201d\n\n[361] London Gent.\u2019s Mag. vol. lv. O. S. p. 89.\n\n[362] Caylus, ii, 312, Pl. lxxxix.\n\n[363] No. 32.\n\n[364] Tom. III. P. II. Pl. cxxciv.\n\n[365] Supplement, Tom. III. Pl. LXV. p. 174.\n\n[366] Gent.\u2019s Mag. vol. lxxv. p. 801, 927.\n\n[367] Ib. vol. lx. O. S. 798, 1001.\n\n[368] Boswell\u2019s Johnson, 280, (Murray\u2019s ed.)\n\n[369] Piozzi.\n\n[370] Twiss\u2019s Life of Eldon.\n\n[371] Moore\u2019s Diary, 173.\n\n[372] A gold ring, bearing a pelican feeding her young, was found at\nBury St. Edmunds, England. (Gent.\u2019s Mag. xxxix. 532, N. S.) The crest\nof the house of Lumley, Earls of Scarborough, is a pelican in her\nnest feeding her young.\n\n[373] Vol. viii. p. 179.\n\n[374] Has not the idea of this _black flag_ been taken from the black\nsail referred to by Plutarch in his life of Theseus? When the latter\nwas to go with the Athenian youths to attempt the destruction of the\nMinotaur, a ship was prepared with a black sail, us carrying them to\ncertain ruin. But when Theseus encouraged his father \u00c6geus by his\nconfidence of success against the Minotaur, he gave another sail, a\nwhite one, to the pilot, ordering him, if he brought Theseus safe\nback, to hoist the white; but if not, to sail with the black one in\ntoken of his misfortune. When Theseus returned, the pilot forgot to\nhoist the white sail and \u00c6geus destroyed himself.\n\n[375] Vol. ii. 310, 314.\n\n[376] It has been called Calphurnia consulting the Penates on the\nfate of C\u00e6sar.\n\n[377] Dagley\u2019s Gems, p. 6.\n\n[378] We do not know who is the author of these lines. They appeared\nanonymously in the Gentlemen\u2019s Magazine (London) for 1780, vol. 1.\nOld Series, 337, and it is merely said that they are by the \u201cwriter\nof lines on presenting a knife and verses on a former wedding day.\u201d\n\n[379] Douce\u2019s Illustrations of Shakspeare, 549.\n\n\n\n\n                           Transcriber\u2019s Notes\n\n  Obvious printer and scanning errors have been silently corrected.\n\n  Other errors made by the author such as listing T. Cutwode\u2019s poem as\n  as \u201cCalth\u00e6 Poetarum, or the Humble Bee\u201d have been maintained.\n\n  Inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation such as\n  \u201chigh-priest/high priest\u201d and \u201cwedding-ring/wedding ring\u201d have been\n  maintained.\n\n  Page 59: \u201c\u00a7 22.\u201d added before \u201cThe story of losing rings\u201d.\n\n  Page 129: \u201ca ring thereof without allou\u201d changed to \u201ca ring thereof\n  without alloy\u201d.\n\n  Page 207: \u201cin the ceremony of the mariage\u201d changed to \u201cin the\n  ceremony of the marriage\u201d.\n\n  Page 235: \u201c4\u201d changed to \u201c81\u201d in Index entry for _Anselm_.\n\n  Footnote 308: \u201cBurgou\u2019s Life and Times\u201d changed to \u201cBurgon\u2019s Life\n  and Times\u201d.","title":"The history and poetry of finger-rings","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":66652}