Is a more ancient symbol of royalty than the crown. Homer speaks of
"sceptred kings"--[Greek: skeptouchoi basilees]; and the book of
Genesis, "of far elder memory," of a sceptre, as denoting a king or
supreme governor[14]. There is a very early form of delivering this
ensign of authority preserved in the Saxon coronation services; and the
coins and seals of succeeding reigns usually place it in the hand of our
monarchs. Very anciently, too, our kings received at their coronations a
sceptre for the right hand, surmounted by a _cross_; and for the left,
sometimes called the verge, one that terminated in a globe, surmounted
by a _dove_. The two great symbols of the Christian religion are thus
professedly embraced; but the monarch never appears with two sceptres
except on this occasion.