1. The Ring an Emblem of Power; Pharaoh; Quintus Curtius; Antiochus
Epiphanes, Augustus; King of Persia, Egypt under the Ptolemies;
Roman Senators; the Forefinger. 2. Rings used in Coronations;
Edward the Second, Mother of Henry VIII.; Queen Elizabeth; Charles
II.; Coronation Rings, Canute; Sebert; Henry II.; Childeric;
Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror. 3. King withdrawing a
Proceeding from the Council by the use of a Ring. 4. The Doge of
Venice marrying the Adriatic. 5. The Ring of Office of the Doge. 6.
_The Fisherman’s Ring._ 7. Papal Ring of Pius II. 8. Investiture of
Archbishops and Bishops, by delivery of a Ring; Cardinal’s Ring;
Extension of the two Forefingers and Thumb. 9. Serjeant’s Ring. 10.
Arabian Princesses. 11. Roman Knights. 12. Alderman’s Thumb Ring.
§ 1. From the most ancient times, a ring has been an emblem of power.
Pharaoh put his ring upon Joseph’s hand, as a mark of the power he
gave him; and the people cried, “Bow the knee.”[107]
Quintus Curtius tells us that Alexander the Great sealed the letters
he wrote into Europe with his own ring seal, and those in Asia with
Darius’s ring; and that when Alexander gave his ring to Perdiccas, it
was understood as nominating him his successor.
When Antiochus Epiphanes was at the point of death, he committed to
Philip, one of his friends, his diadems, royal cloak and ring, that
he might give them to his successor, young Antiochus.[108]
Augustus, being very ill of a distemper which he thought mortal, gave
his ring to Agrippa, as to a friend of the greatest integrity.
The ring given by Pharaoh to Joseph was, undoubtedly, a signet or
seal-ring, and gave authority to the documents to which it was
affixed; and by the delivery of it, therefore, Pharaoh delegated to
Joseph the chief authority in the state.[109] The king of Persia, in
the same way, gave his seal-ring to his successive ministers, Haman
and Mordecai; and in the book of Esther,[110] the use of such a ring
is expressly declared: “The writing which is written in the king’s
name, and sealed with the king’s seal, may no man reverse.”
That ministers or lords under the king had their rings of office,
is also apparent from what occurred with the closing of the den of
lions: “And a stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den;
and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet
of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning
Daniel.”[111]
In Egypt, under the Ptolemies, the king’s ring was the badge under
which the country was governed. It seemed to answer to the great
seal of England.[112] We read that Sosibius, minister under Ptolemy
Philopater, was forced, by popular clamor, to give up the king’s
signet ring to another. Here was a going out of a Lord John Russell,
and a coming in of a Lord Palmerston.
At first, Roman Senators were not allowed to wear gold rings, unless
they had been ambassadors; but, at length, the Senators and Knights
were allowed the use of them; although Acron in Horace observes they
could not do it unless it were given them by the Prætor.[113] The
people wore silver rings.
Inhabitants of the eastern world do not sign their names. They
have ring-seals, in which name and title are engraven, and they
make an impression with thick ink where we make our signature. To
give a person, then, your seal-ring, is to give him the use of an
authority and power which your own signature possesses. This explains
the extraordinary anxiety about seals, as exhibited in the laws
and usages of the East, and to which we have referred in a former
chapter. It also illustrates Judah’s anxiety about the signet which
he had pledged to Tamar.
In ancient times, the forefinger was emblematical of power. Among
the Hebrews, “the finger of God” denoted his power; and it was the
forefinger among the gods of Greece and Italy which wore the ring,
the emblem of supremacy.[114]
§ 2. Rings are used in coronations. The English public records,
as now extant in the Tower of London, contain no mention of any
coronation proceedings before the reign of Edward the Second. The
accounts of the forms observed with reference to that king being
crowned, as also of Richard the Second, are the two most ancient
from which the minutes of those matters can be collected on official
authority.[115] However, there is enough of Saxon times left to
show that the Anglo-Saxon kings used a ring in their coronation
ceremonies.[116]
In a curious old manuscript relating to the Ancient Form of the
Coronation of the Kings and Queens of England, we have this: “After
the king is thus arrayed, then let the crown be placed upon the
king’s head by the Archbishop, and afterwards let a ring be put upon
the king’s hand by the Bishop.”
In Leland’s _Collectanea_ is a circumstantial account of the
coronation of the mother of Henry the Eighth. In describing the
ceremonies made use of by the Archbishop: “He next blest her ring and
sprinkled on it holy water.”
In the ceremony of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, she was wedded
to the kingdom with a ring, which she always wore, till the flesh
growing over it, it was filed off a little before her decease.[117]
On the restoration of Charles the Second of England, measures
were adopted to repair, as much as possible, the loss of the
ancient regalia of the crown taken from their depository, the
Jerusalem Chamber, Westminster, and broken up and sold by the
Parliamentarians.[118] The new regalia was constructed by Sir Robert
Vyner, the king’s goldsmith. The cost of it was £21,978 9s. 11d.
In an account of the coronation of Charles II. of England,[119] we
have the following, which comes after a description of the robing
and crowning: “Then the master of the jewel house delivered to the
Archbishop the ring, who consecrated it after this manner, saying:
‘Bless, O Lord, and sanctify this ring, that thy servant, wearing
it, may be sealed with the ring of faith and, by the power of the
Highest, be preserved from sin; and let all the blessings, which
are found in Holy Scripture, plentifully descend upon him, that
whatsoever he shall sanctify may be holy; and whomsoever he blesseth
may be blessed. Amen.’ After which he put it upon the fourth finger
of the king’s right hand, and said: ‘Receive this ring of kingly
dignity, and by it the seal of Catholic Faith, that as this day
thou art adorned the head and prince of this kingdom and people, so
thou mayest persevere as the author and establisher of Christianity
and the Christian faith; that being rich in faith and happy in
works, thou mayest reign with Him that is King of kings; to whom be
honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.’” Think of this imposing
ceremony; and then remember the after life and the death of that
royal libertine. Better for his country had he never known a British
oak for safety. The living tree was dishonored when its foliage
shaded him. What can be said in favor of one who squandered on his
mistresses seventy thousand pounds sterling, which had been voted by
Parliament for a monument to his father? And also to think of the
joking excuse, that his father’s grave was unknown!
In an explanation of what are called the sacred and royal habits and
other ornaments wherewith monarchs of England are invested on the
day of coronation, we have a description of the king’s and queen’s
coronation rings. The king’s is a plain gold ring, with a large
table ruby violet, wherein a plain cross or cross of St. George is
curiously enchased. The queen’s coronation ring is likewise gold,
with a large table ruby set therein and sixteen other small rubies
round about the ring, whereof those next to the collet are the
largest, the rest diminishing proportionally.
In the account of Ancient Regalia which were destroyed and dissipated
in the time of the Commonwealth in England, there is no mention of a
ring.
In the year one thousand seven hundred and sixty-six, some workmen
discovered a monument while repairing Winchester Cathedral, in
England.[120] It contained the body of King Canute, and was
remarkably fresh. There was a wreath around the head, several
ornaments of gold and also silver bands; upon a finger was a ring, in
which was set a large and remarkably fine stone; while in one of the
hands was a silver penny. This silver penny was not for “the ferryman
that poets write of,” as was the piece of money in the mouths of the
Roman knights whose passing-away bodies we have before referred to;
but, although it may have been for Peter and not Charon, is it not
probable that we find here a custom of Christian times springing out
of heathen root? A statue of Jupiter has been turned into a Christ;
and that which the Roman used for the boatman of Styx, is here meant
for one who had the key of heaven.
While Henry the Second, of England, was rebuilding Westminster Abbey,
the sepulchre of Sebert, king of the East Angles, was opened.[121]
The body was dressed in royal robes, and there was a thumb-ring, in
which was set a ruby of great value.
Horace Walpole, having reference to the opening of this monarch’s
tomb, complains, like an antiquary, of the reburying the king’s
regalia. “They might, at least, have cut out the portraits and
removed the tomb [of King Sebert] to a conspicuous situation; but
though this age is grown so antiquarian, it has not gained a grain
more of sense in that walk--witness, as you instance, in Mr. Grose’s
Legends, and in the dean and chapter reburying the crown, robes and
sceptre of Edward I. There would surely have been as much piety
in preserving them in their treasury, as in consigning them again
to decay. I did not know that the salvation of robes and crowns
depended on receiving Christian burial. At the same time, the chapter
transgresses that prince’s will, like all their antecessors, for he
ordered his tomb to be opened every year or two years, and receive a
new cere-cloth or pall; but they boast now of having inclosed him so
substantially that his ashes cannot be violated again.”[122]
When the tomb of Henry the Second, of England, was opened, it
appeared that he was buried wearing a crown and royal robes,
with other paraphernalia, while there was a great ring upon his
finger.[123]
Richard the Second, of England, by his will directed that he should
be buried in velvet or white satin, etc., and that, according to
royal usage, a ring, with a precious stone in it, should be put upon
his finger.
The body of Childeric, the first king of the Franks,[124] was
discovered at Tours. It was found in royal robes, and, with other
regalia, a coronation ring.
In the year one thousand five hundred and sixty-two, the Calvinists
broke open the tomb of Matilda, wife to William the Conqueror, in the
Abbey of Caen; and discovered her body dressed in robes of state and
a gold ring, set with a sapphire, upon one of her fingers. The ring
was given to the then abbess, who presented it to her father, the
Baron de Conti, constable of France, when he attended Charles IX. to
Caen in 1563.
§ 3. In the time of Henry VIII. of England, the king’s ring was
used to withdraw from the Council the power to adjudge a matter and
to place it entirely in the hands of the monarch. We refer to the
complaints against Cranmer, which are made use of by Shakspeare,[125]
who has very closely followed Fox, in his Book of Martyrs.[126] The
king sends for Cranmer, and follows up his discourse thus: “Do you
not consider what an easy thing it is to procure three or four false
knaves to witness against you? Think you to have better luck that
way than your master Christ had? I see by it you will run headlong
to your undoing, if I would suffer you. Your enemies shall not so
prevail against you, for I have otherwise devised with myself to
keep you out of their hands. Yet, notwithstanding, to-morrow when
the council shall sit and send for you, resort unto them, and if,
in charging you with this matter, they do commit you to the Tower,
require of them, because you are one of them, a counsellor, that
you may have your accusers brought before them without any further
indurance, and use for yourself as good persuasions that way as you
may devise; and if no entreaty or reasonable request will serve, then
deliver unto them this my ring, (which, then, the king delivered
unto the Archbishop,) and say unto them, ‘If there be no remedy,
my lords, but that I must needs go to the Tower, then I revoke my
cause from you and appeal to the king’s own person by this token
unto you all;’ for, (said the king then unto the Archbishop,) ‘so
soon as they shall see this my ring, they know it so well that they
shall understand that I have reserved the whole cause into mine own
hands and determination, and that I have discharged them thereof.’
Anon the Archbishop was called into the council chamber, to whom was
alleged as before is rehearsed. The Archbishop answered in like sort
as the king had advised him; and in the end, when he perceived that
no manner of persuasion or entreaty could serve, he delivered them
the king’s ring, revoking his cause into the king’s hands. The whole
council being thereat somewhat amazed, the Earl of Bedford, with a
loud voice, confirming his words with a solemn oath, said, ‘When you
first began the matter, my lords, I told you what would become of it.
Do you think that the king would suffer this man’s finger to ache?
Much more (I warrant you) will he defend his life against brabbling
varlets. You do but cumber yourselves to hear tales and fables
against him.’ And incontinently upon the receipt of the king’s token,
they all rose and carried to the king his ring, surrendering that
matter, as the order and use was, into his own hands.”
§ 4. The stranger in Venice is yet shown the richly gilt galley,
called _Bucentaur_, in which the Doge, from the year 1311, was
accustomed to go out into the sea annually on Ascension Day, to throw
a ring into the water, and thus to marry, as it were, the Adriatic,
as a sign of the power of Venice over that sea.[127] This ceremony
does not go into remote antiquity, yet the origin of it is of
considerable date. In the year 1177, when the Emperor Barbarossa went
to humble himself before the Pope, who had taken refuge in Venice,
the Pope, in testimony of the kindness he had there received, gave to
the Doge a ring, and with it a right for the Venetians to call the
Adriatic sea their own. He bade the Doge cast it into the sea, to
wed it, as a man marries his wife; and he enjoined the citizens, by
renewing this ceremony every year, to claim a dominion which they had
won by their valor; for they had, with a small squadron, defeated a
large fleet of the Emperor’s and taken his son prisoner; and it was
to regain his son that the Emperor submitted himself to the Pope.
The ceremony took place on Ascension Day. The Doge, the senators,
foreign ambassadors and great numbers of the nobility, in their black
robes, walked to the sea-side, where the magnificent vessel, the
Bucentoro, was waiting to receive them. They then proceeded about
two miles up the Laguna, and when arrived at a certain place, they
all stopped. The Doge then rose from his chair of state, went to the
side of the vessel and threw a gold ring into the sea, repeating the
following words: “We espouse thee, O sea! as a token of our perpetual
dominion over thee.” At the close of this part of the ceremony, all
the galleys fired their guns; and the music continued to play. On
their voyage back, they stopped at a small island, where they went to
church, and high mass was there celebrated. They then returned in the
same order they at first set out.[128]
This cry of perpetual dominion over the sea, puts us in mind
of the story of Canute; and knowing the present prostrate and
decaying condition of Venice, truly may we say: “How are the mighty
fallen.” One of our frigates would make the whole maritime power of
Venice tremble like the ring as it went through the waters. This
ceremony was intermitted in the year one thousand seven hundred and
ninety-seven.[129]
§ 5. The Doge of Venice had a ring of office. We find it figuring in
the acts through which the Doge Foscari had to move. A noble creature
was this Foscari. No Brutus ever behaved with the awful dignity which
was apparent in Foscari at the period of his son’s torture in his
presence.[130]