Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1852-10-14

Rings were early worn as part of the ponti
fetal appartus; and in the fourth Council o
Toledo, held in 663, it was ordained that Bish
op, condemned by one Council, and found af
terwards innocent by second, should be restor
ed by having the ring and staff returned to him
The ring being the symbol of the spiritual unior
subsistlng between the Bishop ard the Church
From the tunctionaries, the custom passed tc
those hinges of the Papal government as the
name implies the Cardinals from Cardo, hinge
who wear it with the same significance.
The superb ponti6cial dresses displayed in tho
recent Exhibition, exhibited these rings on the
gloved hands of the efiigies Of these ccclesias
tics.
Kings we're likewise invested with a ring al
their coronations and in the Liber RECALLS
preserved at Westminster, we find form fol
hallowng the ring, before the Archbishop pre-.
sented it to the Monarch, who was bidden to &C.
cept it as sign of faith aud sincerity in his desire
for the welfare of the church, kingdom, etc.
Bishops were buried with ring and Math
ew Paris, in describing the obseques of Hubert
Archbishop of Canterbury, tells US that they
clothed him in his robes, with his face uncovered
his mitre on his head, gloves on his hand, and q
ring on his finger, with all the other ornament:
belonging to his office.
Not that this rich toilet for the tomb was prop
er to pontiAs only. Princes and other great mer
were arrayed with corresponding Splendor unt
we find King Richard the Second commanding
the dead body of Robert de We're, Duke of Ire
land, 10 be clad in princely garments, and tc
have chain of gold, and rich rings put upor
his fingers. The royal ring like the ponti6ciaI
one) was undoubtedly mythical of the relation
hencetorth subslsting between the monarch ant
the kingdom, solemn sign Of espousal, possibly
as old as Christianity itself.
Tertullan informs us that the wedding ring, thu
4" Anm,h SpOnsatilis of the Romans, was ear
ly introduced amongst the primitive Christians
and in certain pictures unburied at Pompeii, af
ty years, the female pictures were depicted
wearing itagi or camel in rings of the Roman
fashion, upon what is now called the wedding
finger.
We have no data as to The precise period wher
the custom was introduced amongst ourselves
Strut tell us he finds no mention of the marriage
ring in the Saxon era, except in the Poychroni
con translated by Trevaa,, who tells story Of
a young man at r Romo lin the time of Edward
the Confessor,) who, being st play on hie wed
ding day, " dyde place his spousying lynge or
the fvnger of an ymage /" of Venus, and coul,
by no manner or means get it off nay, at nigh
the statute clanined him for her spouse and tn
whole story is full of stony horror and ubsurdity
yet interesting as showing the superstition
charm supposed to reside in this sacred fllet
From this belief in the binding nature G
golden rings, we may trace their use as love
gifts, and the solemn breaking OF them betwee
contracted parties when forced to separate fl
any time-a custom frequently alluded to in al
cient ballads, and which was supposed to az
as constraining talisman, bringing togetht
agaiu the faithful keepers of the several po
tons. Could some such faith have dictated tn
giving away Of rings, on the occasion of
death, 10 the particular friends of the decease
"a fashion of very ancient date amongst us
Shakespeare bequeathes to his 6LOlcS, Jol
Heuninge, Richard Burbage (the original Ric
ard III, and Henry CondeIl, twenty six shil
ings and eight pence apiece, to buy them rings
But these mystical ornaments have had 9th
uses amongst US than at weddings and funeral
they were Of force in magic, and of stranl
potency in healthful charms According to Ho
pinan, the kings of England had anciently
custom Of hallowing rings, with much cerem
ny, or Good Friday, the wearers of which,
informs us, were preserved from the falling sic
ness. He adds, that the custom took its ri
from ring which had long been preserved wi
great veneration in Westminster Abbey, viii
was supposed 10 be eficacious against cram
and epilepsy, when touched by those atlllct
with them. The ring, which had been broug
home from jerusalem 10 King Edward was o
which he himself had long before given priya
ly in aims to poor person who had asked ch;
lty of him for the love he bore to St. John t
Evangelist circumstance which imp
whence its miraculous power was supposed
be derived.
t Blessed rings, like blessed roses, were son
. times bestowed by the Roman PontIfs, a
| were thought TO be endowed with peculiar v
7 tues for the wesrers of thSm thus William I
= CUnqueror landed OIL our coast, wearing ri
y hallowed by Pope Hdebrand, solegay as
y banner had been. And the gold ring present
!. to Sebastiano Ziani, on his defeat of the sh
T. Of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, by Pt
n Alexander is said to have originated the SIM
lar custom aud beautiful pageant of the wedd
n of the Dodge of Venice 10 the Adriatic.
r Tbs Pope, on the return of the victors 10 Ii
IS fastened in person to see his benefactor, and
d knowledge his debt Of gratitude and as s,
l. as Zan touched the shore, he placed on
It hand ring of gold, ithe antique Roman bat
of power,) excamlng: "Take this ring,
e with ittake, on my authority, the sea as your s
IN ject. Every year, on the return of this hal
le day, you and your successors shall make kno
a to all posterity, that the tight of conquest
ic subjugated the Adrutic to Venice, as spot
r to her husband And annually, on Ascens
al Day, through the long course of six hund
ID years, as long indeed rs the Republic exis
O. the Vonitians witnessed the fguralive nupt
IN of the Dodge with the mystic bride.
1t is said that when julius II. inquired of
&c Venitan ambassador where this grant of P
ge Alexander was to be found, he was directed
ne look for on the back Of tho donation of Const
ne tine; but Marco Foscarini finds traces of the