The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1896-07-20

Inaroan, klng or EGYPT, was py tAe
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 on Jo-
seph's hand. In Moses time. which
was more than four hundred years be-
fore Troy wares wee find rings TO he
then in use; for wee reade that they
were comprehended in the ornaments
which Aaron the high priest should
weare, and they were of his posteritie
afterward; as also 1t was avouched by
Jasephus. Whereby appeareth plainly
that the use Of rings was much more
ancieat than Plinie reporteth them in
his ctnjectures; but he was pagan,
and ignorant in sacred writings" the
old chronicler goes on to add, so 1t IS
no marvel If these things went beyond
his knowledge"
The ring given by Pharaoh to JOS eph
Is actually In existence, and is now in
the possession of the Earl of Ashburn-
ham. 1t was discovered in 1924 by
Arab workmen in a tomb in the me-
tropolis Of Sakkara, near Memphis.
The mummy was cased in gold. each
finger had its particular envelope, in
scribed with hieroglyphics. $50 Joseph
died, being an hundred and ten wears
old, and they embalmed him and he
was put in coffin in Egypt"
Joseph's ring, one of the most valua-
BILE antiquities in the world is put quite
| in the shade by another ring, older still
the ring of Suphis, or Cheopis, king Of
Memphis, who erected the great pyra-
mid for his monument. Like all the
| Egyptian rings, it is covered with hier
oglyphics, figures of Isis, Crisis, the To-
| trs the crocodile and the whole SYM
bolic Egyptian mythology. The ring is
now in New York in the possession IF
| q famous collector
| Rings have been discovered in the
cinerary urn of the Greeks. AS they
could scarcely have withstood the fire
through which dead bodies were
passed, they must have been placed
! there as tokens of affection by relatives
or friends. 1t was against the laws of
Rome to bury gold with the dead, so
| that the rings found in Roman urns
must have been secreted there. There
was one curious exception to this rule,
which seems like bit of satire on our
| vaunted modern progress The sold
l
| Of the deceased was exempt, and might
be buried with the body. Dentistry has
| not made such wonderful progress in
| these two thousand years after all.
| Rings were in use among the Ga,us
and Britons. William De Belmeis gave
certain lands to st. Paul's cathedral,
and directed that his ring, set with a
ruby, should, together with the seal,
be affixed to the charter forever. jew
elers and goldsmiths were highly es-
teemed in those days. Even the
clergy" says Edwards in his very Curl
Gus book on rings, thought it no dis
grace to handle tools. ST. Dunstan in
particular was celebrated as the best
blacksmith brazier,5 goldsmith and en-
graver of his time.
Rings have been made9of almost eve
ry hard substance known-gold, silver,
bronze, iron, stone ivory porcelain,
amber, jet, and even of glass. The first
mention of Roman gold ring is in TIE
1872 but they soon came to be indiscrin-
inately worn. Three bushels were
gathered out of the spoils after Hanni-
| baPs victory at Cannae The Romans
not only numbered their fingers with a
number of rings, but some of them
were of extraordinary weight and s.ae.
An outline of one appears in Montfau-
con. This ring represents a glorious
headdress, indeed, three rows Of pre-
cious stones cut In facets
i Rings have been worn on all fingers
Of both hands, but the fourth finger of
the left hand has been preferred to all
others from the earliest times; hence 1t
is called the ring-fnger. Apropos Of
this subject charming old work, In
quiries Into Vulgar Errors" SAYS:
THAT hand (the left) being Jesse en-
ployed, thereby they We're best pre-
served, and for the same reason they
place them on this finger, for the
thumb was too active a finger, and it is
commonly employed with either of the
rest; the index or forefnger was too
naked whereto to commit their preti-
osities, and hath the tuition of the
thumbe scarce into the second joynt;
the middle and little finger they reject
ed as extreams, and too big or little for
their rings; and of all chose out the
fourth as being least used of any, as
being guarded on either side, and hav-
ing in most this popularity, that it can
not be extended alone by itself, but viii
be accompanied by SEINE finger on eth.
err side"
The episcopal ring is esteemed rs a
pledge of the spiritual marriage be-
tween the bishop and his church, and
was used at remote period. The de-
crees of the Roman see are signed with
a seal known as "the f1sherman's ring.
This ring forms an important feature
in the funeral rites of a pontiff Fhe
following Is an account of the ceremo-
MES attendant on the death of a pope.
when a pope dies the cardinal cham
berlain, accompanied by a large num-
Der of the high dignitaries of the papal
court, comes into the room where the
body lies, and the principal or great
notary makes an attestation of the cir
cumstance. Then the cardinal cham
berlain calls out the name of the de-
ceased pope three times, striking the
body each time with a hammer, and, as
no response comes the chief notary
makes another attestation. After this
the cardinal chamberlain demands the
fisherman's ring, and certain ceremo
MES are performed over it, and then he
strikes the ring with a golden hammer,
and an officer destroys the figure of Pc
ter by the use of file. From this mo-
ment all the authority and acts of the
late pope pass to the college or conclave
of cardinals"
One of the most curious as well as