And he, then, exchanges for it, “a manacle of love,” a bracelet, placing it upon her arm, that “fairest prisoner.” Iachimo induced Posthumus to wager this ring, which he esteemed “more than the world enjoys”—but it is unnecessary to go further: for who has not read Shakspeare?
§ 25. Roman iron rings, wrought with much care and having precious stones, but minute enough for a child, have been found. One or two of them are mentioned and illustrated in Caylus,[375] who, no doubt rightly, considers they were intended for the finger of a domestic deity or household god.
The Romans clung to their home deities; and this is the best part of their character. One of the most beautiful of the antique draped figures, cut upon a signet, represents a woman contemplating a household god,[376] “a symbol of that domestic affection which the ancients, exalted almost blamelessly, into an object of divine homage.”[377]
It was on this particular gem that Croly wrote these charming lines:
“Domestic love! not in proud palace halls
Is often seen thy beauty to abide;
Thy dwelling is in lowly cottage walls,
That in the thickets of the woodbine hide;
With hum of bees around, and from the spring,