The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1880-04-10

connect Prometheus with the first ring,
Pliny still says that the inventor of it is
not known, and observes that it was
used by the Babylonians, Chaldeans,
Persians and Greeks, although, as he
thinks, the latter were unacquainted
with it at the time of the Trojan war,
as Homer does not mention it.
Touching Pliny's notion of the an
Commonplace Book" (second series)
the following quotation from Treas
uric of Auncient and Moderne Times"
(1619): "But the good olde man Plinie
cannot overreach us with his idle argu-
ments and conjectures, for we read in
Genesis that Joseph, who lived about
500 yeares before the wares of Troy,
having expouDded the dreame of
Pharaoh. King of Egypt, was, by the
sayde Prince, made superintendent
over his Kingdom, and for his safer
possession in that estate, he took off
his ring from his hand and put it upon
Joseph's hand. In Moses
time, which was more than foure hun
dred yeares before Troy wares, wee
find rings to be then in use; for wee
reade that they were comprehended in
the ornaments which Aaren the high
priest should weer, and they of his pos
terrific afterward, as also it was
avouched by Josephus. Whereby APP
peareth plainly, that the use of rings
was much more ancient than Plinie re-
porteth them in his conjectures; but as
he was Pagan, and ignorant in sacred
writings, so it was no marvel if these
things went beyond his knowledge"
The idea that rings in Roman urns
were secretly and piously placed there,
is strengthened by the fact that it was
contrary to the law of Rome to bury
gold with the dead. There was one ex-
ception to this rule, which appears odd
enough to readers of the nineteenth
century, namely: clause which per-
mitted the burial of such gold as fast
ened false teeth in the mouth of the de-
ceased, thus sparing the children and
friends of the dead the painful task of
pulling from their heads the artificial
teeth which they had been accustomed
to wear. 1t seems strange to find that
these expedients of vanity or conven-
fence were practiced in Rome nearly
1000 years ago.
In the Scriptures the signet ring is
frequently named, and Quintus Curtius
tells us that Alexander wore one. After
his fatal debauch, and finding himself
past recovery, and his voice beginning
to fall he gave his ring to his General,
Perdiccas, with orders to convey his
corpse to the temple of Ammon Being
asked to whom he would leave his EN-
| hn g. To
thy"
The ring was generally the emblem
of fidelity in civil engagements, and
hence, no doubt, its ancient use in many
functions and distinctions A ring de-
noted eternity among the Hindoos, Per-
slams, and Egyptians; and Brahma, as
the creator OF the world, bears ring
in his hand. The Egyptian priests in
the temple of the creative Phtha (Vul-
can of the Greeks) represented the
year under the form of ring, made of
a serpent having its tail in its mouth
"a very common shape of ancient
rings.
Pythagoras forbade the use of the
figures of gods upon rings, lest, from
seeing their images too frequently, it
should breed a contempt for them.
The custom of wearing lighter rings
in summer and heavier in winter are
among the most absurd instances of
Roman effeminacy. No ornament was
more generally worn among the Romans
than rings. They laid them aside at
night, as well as when they bathed, or
were in mourning, or were suppliants.
However, in times of sorrow they rather
changed than entirely put them aside;
they then used iron ones, taking off the
gold rings. 1t was proof of the
greatest poverty when any one was
obliged to pledge his ring to live.
Rings were given by those who agreed
to club for an entertainment They
were usually pulled off from the fingers
of dying persons; but they seem to have
been sometimes put on again before the
dead body was buried.
Rings appear to have been worn in
discriminatory on the fingers of each
hand. 1t would seem, however, from
Jeremiah, that the Hebrews wore them
on the right hand; we there read that
when the Lord threatened King Zede-
kiah with the utmost effects of his
anger, he told him: "Though ConiaA
the son of Jehoiakim, King of Judah,
were the signet on my right hand, yet
would pluck thee thence"
Among the Romans, before rings
came to be adorned with stones, and
while the craving was yet on the metal
itself, every one wore them at pleasure
on what hand and finger he pleased.
When stones came to be added, they
had them altogether on the left hand;
and it would have been held an excess
of foppery to have put them on the
right.
Pliny says they were at first worn on
the fourth finger, then on the second
or index, then on the little finger, and,
at last, on all the fingers excepting the
middle one.
According to Aulus Gellius, both the
Greeks and Romans wore them on the
fourth finger of the left hand and the
reason he gives for it is this, that hav-
ing found, from anatomy, that this
finger had little nerve that went
straight to the heart, they esteemed it
the most honorable by this communica-
ton with that noble part.
At first the Romans only used single
ring; then one on each finger, and, at