The Shreveport weekly news., 1861-05-06
The Marriage Ring.

The Marriage Ring.
The ring, it is well known, is of
great antiquity, and it has been adopt
ed as a symbol in almost every age.
and almost by every nation, The
practice Of marrying with the ring
was, we believe, first adopted by the
Greeks; the bride was modestlv veil
ed, and after the nuptial benediction
was crowned with flowers. The ring
symbolic Of eternity, having 10 ter
mlnatlon, was given and received as
token OF everlasting love. Among
the Romans, the gift of a ring was a
mark Of liberation from Slavery
Married people may best explain
whether II is 50 among the modcrus.
II was Il pledge Of eternal contrac,
among the Persians and E@yptianS,
and. in the early ages of the world,
denoted authority and governments,
which were communicated symbolic
lily, by the delivery Of Il ring to The
person Oh whom they Were meant to
be conferred. This was the case with
Pharaoh when he committed the gov
eminent of Egypt to joseph. In
conformity with the ancient usage,
the Christian Church afterwards
adopted the ceremony of the ring. III
marriage, as u symbol of authority
which the husband gave the wife over
his household and over the earthly
goods with which which he endowed
her.
The gimmal ring, as its name i'm
plies, is constructed of twin or double
hoops, which play within each other
like the links of a chain. This kind
OF ring is comparatively of modern
date, for which we are indebted to the
French, whose skill in diversifying
the symbols of the tender passion has
continued unrivalled, and the Ian
Suage of whose country, the mottos
employed on almost all amorous fri
tes are still to be found. And il
must be allowed that the double hoop,
each apparently free, yet inseparahle,
both formed for uniting, and complete
in their union, affords not unapt
representation of the marriage state.
Among the numerous love-tokens
which lovers have presented to their !
mistresses, in all ages, the ring bears
a conspicuous part; nor is any more
likely than the gimmal to steal the
Impression of mistresses phantasy,'
as none so clearly expresses its errand.
From a simple love-token, the GIN
NAL was at length converted into a
ring Of affinance. The lover putting
his finger through one of the hoops,
and his mistress hers through the
other, We're thus symbolicallv yoked
yoke which neithcrcould
be said wholly to wear, one-half being
to one, and an equal portion
to the other. And in the use of the I
gimmial may be seen typitied COM
nunity Of interests, mutual forbear- I
ance, and a participation of authority. I
In New England, the ring is re-
garded as a token of affection, but it .
is not generally used at the marriage
ceremony. Marriages are probably as
frequent here as elsewhere, but many
wives have never known what it is to
be in possession of wedding ring
"a symbol which the women Of most
other countries regard with sort of
reverence, as precious
treasure, and preserve with great care
The following singular incident
connected with the subject of the
ring occurred some years
since in England. a woman acting
as cook to a lady at Northallerton, in
cutting turnip, found in the heart of
it gold ring, and Immediately made
her mistress acquainted with the ex-
.raordinary circumstance. The lady
sent for the gardeners wife, and asked
her whether the ring she had upon
her finger was the same that she had
been married withl The woman re-
piled that it was not, as she had I'M
fortunately lost her wedding ring
about year or two after her marriage,
from off her whilst wedding in the
garden. She was then asked if she
should know the ring again if it was
shown to her. To this she replied
that the ring she had lost had a par
ticular mark on it, which she describ-
ed. The ring found in the heart of
the turnip was then produced, and
was found from the marks to be the
identical ring lost by Mrs. Wood, the
gardeners wife, and was immediately
to her, after it had been in
be ground ten or twelve yeaTe. !