The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-08-01
WHAT WEDDING RINGS MEAN.
Various Ways In Which Customs Of
 Giving Them is Accounted For.

Various Ways In Which Customs Of
 Giving Them is Accounted For.
 During the last F months many thou. sands of brides have been given wed- ding rings. Have many of them at tached any particular significance to the gift, or many bridegrooms stopped to inquire into the custom which bade them witness their espousals with tiny
 hoop of metal? Probably not, for mar riage Is such rnomentous affair to the principals and a time when their indivi-. dualities receive such undivided atten- tion 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 last
 months ring. and the June bride be- gins to consider the advisability of hav- l ing it reburnished, it may be opportune | to ask the meaning of the ornament. | So many of our ideas are borrowed from pagan, CT even savage, sources that the wedding ring may be badge of slavery or degradtion for aught the s=
 June bride knows. - A well-know clergyman who was asked his view of this phase of the question, laughingly said: Perhaps it | is a sort of handicap assumed by the woman to show that her left hand is worth as much as mans right. Or, perhaps" he continued in more serious tone, "the ring is worn on the left hand because it is nearer to the organ which the ancients considered as the seat of life, and love-the heart.
 The custom of using.a ring in marriage descends to us from our Saxon fore- fathers. Independently of any law or rubic, and to me it stands for the eter- nal nature of love, which like ring, has no end" r,.. |.
 The reason given for wearing the ring on the fourth finger are many and curious. "There is little book in my | library said another clergyman, which gives an interesting excuse for | the choice of that particular finger"
 The book when found contained this passage: "The finger on which the ring
 is to be worn is the fourth finger of the l left hand, next unto the little finger, be- cause by the received Opinion of the I Learned and Experienced in Ripping
 up and anatomizing Mems Bodies there
 is vein of blood which passeth from that Fourth finger unto the Heart, called Vena Amoris. Loves Vein. And
 so the wearing of a ring on that Finger signifieth 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 Experi- enced'' were obviously right in their opinon as to the blood flowing from the fourth finger to the heart. but it took many years for them to discover that the blood of the other fingers participa- ted in the privilege.
 In the old English marriage ceremony
 the ring was first placed on the thumb land 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, it came tc
 signify an intention to remain to wear
 ring on the little finger.
 Some attach great importance to the
 form and suhstnce of the circlet to bt
 used at weddings, and it is recorded
 that a. minister in India stopped tht lcsremony because the bridegroom
 offered diamond in place of the plail
 gold band. Otherh celebrants' of the