St. Paul daily globe., 1892-06-13

others are apt to notice the nature of
their purchase and take a too kindly
interest in their happy conntenances.
There is no subject i'll iewelry more
Interesting in all its associations than
the wedding ring, for it has ever ap-
peaIed to our most cherished feelings,
our fOndest hopes aud our sincerest
wishes. Of it Byron wrote:
In that one act may every grace
And every blessing have their place,
And give to future hours of bliss
The charm of life derived from this.
The circular form OF the ring has for
ages been accepted as SYMBOL of
eternity, indicative of the strength and
stability of affection. An old Latin
work, which attributes the invention Gf
the ring to Tubal Cain, says: The
form of the ring being circular. that is,
round, and without end. importeth thus
much, that affection should rOundly
flow from one to the other. as in cir
Gle. and that continually and forever"
These sentiments Herrick expressed
so beautifully III verse that will quote
from them also:
Julia, bring
{ To thee this ring.
Made tor thy finger ft
To show by this
That our love is
Or should be like to it.
And as this round
Is nowhere found
= TO flow or else to sever,
g So let our love
, As endless prove.
And pure as gold forever.
, Though history tells us that wedding
singS have at different periods been
made of all sorts of materials and met
oIs nthar fhan ynId x-pt tho Ioftar auan
in the earlier ages, has. always been as
.S9ciated with rings. A bishop in the
thirteenth century gave the following
beautiful reasons why the ring should
be of. gold. He said: ''One Protheus
made a ring OF iron with all adamant
inclosed therein as a pledge of
love, because, as iron Subdue:il all
things, so doth love conquer all things,
since nothing is more violent than its
ardor; and, aS adamant. cannot be
broken, SO love cannot be overcome, for
love is strong as death. In course of
time gold rings, set with gems, were
subStitut, for the adamantine ones of
baser metals, because as gold excelleth
all metals, so doth love excel all other
blessings, and as gold is set off with
gems, so is conjugal love set Off by
other virtues"
Among other noted divines of old who
voiced the sentiments OF many ages on
the figurative virtues of the wedding
ring were Dean Comber and Wheatley,
who expressed their thoughts in the
following words: The matter OF which
this ring is made is gold, signifying
hOw.noble and durable our affection
is; the form is round, to imply
that our respect or regard, shall never
have an end; the place of it is ON
the fourth finger of the left hand, where
the ancients thought there was tender
nerve, OF vein, which came directly
from the heart. and where it may be
always III view; and, being finger
least used, it would he less exposed TO
wear; but the main end is 10 be viSi-
bic and lasting token of the covenant
which must never be forgotten"
Another authority says that the an
cient wor shippers of Isis held this finger
sacred to Apollo and the sun, and i'll this
way account for the use of the gold.
Still another authority explains that
wearing the ring on the leTt hand sig
nifes the subsection of the wife to the
husband; the right hand Signifying
power. independence, authority; the
left, dependence or subjection. Colum-
biere says: ''S0me of the ancjents made
the ring to denote servitude, alleging
that the bridegroom was to give it to his
bride. to denote to her that she is TO be
subject to him."
Macrobius, however, upsets all these
contentious about the proper finger and
hand for the wedding ring by quoting
question and answer from the British
Apollo" which dispOSeS of the matter
in the following effectual manner:
why is it that the person to be mar
ried is enjoined to put ring upon the
fourth finger of the left hand?"
@ Answer: There is nothing more in
this than that the custom was handed
down to the present age from the prac-
tice of our ancestors, who found the
left hand more convenient for such
ornaments than the right, in that tits
lever less employed; for the same reason
they chose the fourth finger, which
is not only less used than the
rest. but is more capable OF pre-
serving a ring from bruises, hav-
ing this one quality peculiar to itself,
pany with some other finger, whereas
the rest may be Singly stretched and
Strengthened to their full length. Some
of the ancients' opinion in the matter,
viz: That the ring was so worn be-
cause to that fiuger. and to that only,
comes an artery from the heart; but the
politer knowledge of our modern anatO-
miStS having clearly demonstrated the
absurdity of that notion. we are rather
inclined the continuance of the custom,
owing to the reason above mentioned"
As pledges of betrothal or wedding
gifts, rings are of very ancient origin.
They were worn by the Jews prior to
Christian times, and constitute even at
present, among the orthodox of their
faith, an important feature in their mar |
riage eeremonials. The Jewish rings
were id past ages generally of large
size and elaborate workmanship. They
are, however, an exhaustive study in
themselves, and can merely be touched
upon here.
A ring in the Londesborough coIlec-
tion is fair type OF these marvellous
creations. The band itself is very wide
and e2aborately chased in alternating
designs of diamond-shaped outlines,
squares, octagons and circles. The head |
of the ring takes the form of a sexa-
gonal building with domed roof of an
Eastern character and very sug-
gestive Of the Jewish Temple.
Another beautiful specimen is
found III the Fould eollection;r il