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.