The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-09-06
THE WEDDING 1 N
Sentiment OF the Ornament-Account-
ing for the Custom.

San Francisco Chronicle.
During the last twelve months many
thousands of brides have been given we'd
ding rings. Have many OF them attached
any particular significance to the gift, or
many bridegrooms stopped to inquire into
the custom which bade them witness their
espousals with a tiny hoop of metal? Prob
ably not, for marriage is such a momentous
affair to the principals and a time when
their Municipalities receive such undivided
attention that they have little inclination
TO puzzle over the age-old laws and cere-
monies which are in reality guiding their
seemingly spontaneous actions.
But now, when the daily wear OF life
has begun to scratch even a last months
slider the ACCESSIBILITY of having 1t rebur-
nished, 1t may be opportune to ask the
ideas are borrowed from pagan, or even
savage sources that the wedding ring may
be a badge of slavery or degradation for
aught the June bride knows.
A well-known clergyman who was asked
I n,S Siew Q. said shis Perhaps Perss si it 'h IS a aa soTt Of
handicap assumed by the woman to show
that her left hand is worth as much as
mans right. Or, perhaps" he continued
in a more serious tone, ''the ring is worn
on the left hand because it is nearer to
as the seat Of life and love-the heart.
The custom of using a ring in marriage
descends to us from our Saxon forefathers,
independently of any law or rubric, and
to me 1t stands for the eternal nature of
love, which, like a ring, has no END"
The reasons given for wearing the ring
on the fourth finger are many and curious.
There is a little book in my library" said
another clergyman, which gives an inter-
esting excuse for the choice of that partic-
ular finger" The book when found con-
the ring is to be worn is the fourth finger
of the left hand. next unto the little finger,
because, by the received opinion of the
learned and experienced in ripping up and
a-natomizing mems bodies there is a vein
of blood which passeth from the fourth
finger unto the heart, called vena amoris,
loves vein. And so the wearing of a ring
on that finger signiheth that the love
should not be in vain or feigned, but that
as they did give their hands each to other,
so likewise they should give their hearts
| also, whereunto that vein is extended"
The ancient learned and experienced
were obviously right in their opinion as
to the heart, but it took many years for
them to discover that the blood of the
other fingers participated in the privilege.
In the old English marriage ceremony the
ring was first placed on the thumb and
moved from finger to finger while the priest
recited the words: "In the name of the
Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen!" The little finger being the only one
which was not touched with the ring, 1t
came to signify an intention to remain
single to wear a ring on the little finger;
Some attach great Importance to. the
form and substance of the circlet to be
used at weddings, and ii Is recorded that a
cause the bridegroom offered a diamond in
place OF the plain gold band. Other cele-
brants OF the marriage rite, Indifferent as
TO the kind of ring used, have permitted
ingenious substitutes. Shreds of tobacco,
a section cut from a glove and the church
key have thus been used When the Duke
of Hamilton and Miss Gunny suddenly de-
termined TO wed they were at their wits
end to discover the necessary token. AT
last they were married with a ring of the
bed curtain" says Horace Walpole, "at
half an hour past II at night at May Fair
Chapel"
Judging by certain illusions in Shak-
speare and other early dramatists, rush
rings were at one time in great vogue
among the rustics OF England. In D'Aver-
nant's Rivals you may read: I'll crown
thee with a garland of straw, then-and
I'll marry thee with a rush ring" Another
writer laments the days when such sim
plicity was used that a ring of rush would
tye as mucn love together as a gimmon of
iIimsy token must have been as easily
broken as one In which a st. Martins ring
played a part. St. Martins rings are .faire
to the eye and have a rich outside. But If
a man should break them asunder and
locke into them they are nothing but brass
and copper" These counterfeits obtained
their name from being made in the sanctu-
airy of St. Martins in the time
of Henry ". Brides should look to their
rings and be or their guard.
The Hebrews had a reason apart from
precedents to advance in favor of mar
] rage rings. They considered them to be
unier the influence of Mazel lob or Jupi-
ter, 1.-The good STAR The wife was pre-
sented with an emblem of MaZel lob that
her children might be born under its in
fiuence- This superstition was shared by
Munster, Aben-Ezra and Chomer.
On account of their "heathenish origin
rings were abolished during the common
wealth. The Puritans shared the prejudice
and the Friends and Swiss Protestants re-
fuse 10 this day 10 be married with a ring
But among American denominations the
practice. at one time in allegiance, is be.
coming almost universal.