The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 10, 1904, Page 15

ably be impossible to single ornament to which so much interest is attached _ uring centu- d with most i in mat- and sentiment. Its origin is enveloped in the mist of fable; the Greeks believed that the fashion emanated from no less personage than Zeus himself; and in their mythology the little finger-ring was consecrated to Mercury, the patron of thieves. Not to speak of the evidences we find In the mountains of ancient Egypt. we read that even the simple patriarchs were susceptible to this adornment. In the books of Moses we find records of the use of finger-ring; it originally ap- Dears to have been a signet, used &s we now do a written autograph, and it is not a little curious that the un- changed habit of Eastern life is as commeon to-day as it was 3000 years ago. When Tamar desired some token by which she should again be recognized by Tadah, she requested his signet (Fig. 1); this is the usual form of these rings; it has a somewhat clumsy mova- bie cube, engraved on each of its facets with symbolical devices. The next in importance is the ring which was given by Pharaoh to Jo- seph. Upon opening, in 1824, a tomb in the necropolis of Sakkara, the work- men discovered a mummy, every limb of which was cased in solid guld; each finger had its particular envelope, in- ceremony ILLUSTRATED £ B oottt scribed with hieroglyphics: *“So Joseph died, being 110 years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.” In connection with this ring it is nec- essary to remember what occurred: Pharaoh took his ring from his hand and put it upon Joseph's hand, and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt: the seal has the cartouche of Pharaoh upon it. (Fig. 2.) The Romans literally reveled in rings of all styles and sizes. We have a trans- lation of Juvenal by Dryden: Charged with lght summer rings, sweat, Unable to support a gem of weight. / his fingers They were made very thick, with such large stones in them that it is no wonder & fop should reckon them a little cumbersome in the summer sea- son in so hot a climate; we have as a proof the thumb ring which bears the portrait of Trajan's good queen Plo- tina. The coiffure is remarkable and eplendid, being composed of three rows of precious stones cut in facets. (Fig. 3.) This bust would of course come out- side the hand, the narrower part of the wreathed ring passing between the thumb and first finger. The gorgeous inconvenience of the whole thing is very apparent. In the comparatively modern era of Roman rule in Egypt, rings of more fanciful construction were worn (Fig. 4); here Is a remarkable one, having the convolutions of a serpent, the head of THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL. BY EUGENIE MELVILLE Serapis at vae extremity and of Isis at the other. (Fig. 5.) The above massive ring be- longed to Pope Pius II, bétter known™ by his literary name of Aeneas Sylvius; it is of brass, thickly gilt, set with a topaz; on the hoop are chased the arms of the family, Picolomini, the pa- pal tiara with the inscription *“Papa Pio,” and on each of the four sides is placed in reljef one of the four beasts of the Revelation, to typify the Evan- gellsts. (Fig. 6.) The recent election of Pio X has made every one aequaint- ed with all the sanctity and importance attached to the official ring of the sov- erelgn pontiff, the celebrated “Fisher- man’s Ring,” which impressed upon briefs was once more powerful than the authority of kings. It is a steel seal made in the fashion of a Roman signet; it bears upon it a representa- tion of St Peter seated in the prow of an ancient boat, holding a net in each hand. It i{s taken possession of by the cardinal chancellor with great solem- nity when the Pope dies; the signet is then destroyed and not restored until a new Pope has been elected; this is not worn by him, but is used for briefs, (Fig. 7). This is the ring of some early Christian, “I rejoice” inside, and the monogram upon the signet is evi- dently the name of Jesus, in its earliest form, made up of the letters X and 9q, as commonly found in the catacombs of Rome. The rings of the Anglo-, ing discarded the arms of France. Saxon sovereigns are very interesting, ™ having sometimes names upon them. One of these xellq'!. the remarkable work of this early ‘art, belonged to Rthelwulf, King of Wessex, the father of Alfred the Great, who reigned A. D. 836-828, and bears the royal name upon it. (Fig. 8.) In the year 1852 some citizens of Cal- ifornia presented President Plerce with a gigantic rlqg; it 'is of massive gold and was designed by George Blake, a mechanic of San Francigco; on the cir- cular portion of the ring are groups representing the history of California. The part reserved for a seal is eovered by a solid carved plate of gold, bearing the arms of the State of California, sur- mounted by the banner of thé Unitéd States; this lid opens and presents to view nine separate compartments, con- taining specimens of ores found in the country, with the inscription: *Pre- sented to Franklin Plerce—the four- teenth President of the United States.” (Fig. 11) George Washington made bequests in his will to each of his sisters-in-law and friends of a mourning ring of the value of $100, as mementoes of his es- teem and regard. A valuable one that has come down to our time is the signet-ring of Mary, Queen of Scots. It is thought that this was Mary's nuptial ring when she married Darnley, and it affords the earllest instance of her bearing the royal arms of Scotland alone after hav- On the ring is a monogram formed of the letters M and A. Just before her mar- ET in, you little cur,” and he kicked him into a stall. The pup didn’t even whimper; his tall went down a little bit—what tail there was to go—his deep-set brown eyes locked up and asked a question. With thet questioning look, with that hard, rough kick, began the love of a little al for the master of Moffat’s son. ps was an Irish terrier pup, not oroughbred, though behind him was the breeding of the great ‘“Mary Queen” stry He stood for & moment after that great kick on his little half-formed side, and, puppy-like, he thought to himself: “Maybe I'm not full bred, yet the master of Moffat is master here and the master's son is breed of the breed &nd I haven't whimpered and maybe—" but he got no further, for the voice came again: “Get in your little cur, v, and keep the little brute inside able.” This to the head stable- “Very good, sir,” came the an- and Cripps lay down to ponder swer, further on the stupidity of pups. Cripps, snub-nosed, yellow-haired, bright-eyed, understood from that time, human-like, everything you said to him. He loved Foxley, he loved the master of Moffat, but over and above all he loved the master’s son. nobody knew. Jack Lindsay, the master’'s son, was not a favorite. He had a naturally in- born, cruel nature; he had been a tease as a boy; he had grown to be a bully. Handsome, tall, upstanding as all of his race, dark-eyed, black-haired, lithe of limb, at 21 he was the catch of the county, but he wasn't liked, save by his father, who adored him, and the men who spent his money freely. Mothers of many daughters kept their eyes on him and girls too young to know an inborn, vicious nature thought perhaps too ‘much of Jack. Other women there were who saw more, yet cared less. Cripps grew apace. Strong limbed, big maw, with a solid muscular body, strong clean legs, he came to be a per- fect type of dog. He took his exercise manlike. He bathed, he ran, he kept himself in perfect condition. When it was necessary to fight, he fought; if he could keep from it, like a gentleman, he did so, othgrwise he killed. Almost against himself, {he master’s son got to llke him. It was hard to battle with such affection. No matter how many the kicks, no matter how many the blows, the dog, partly grown, would sidle away and come back smiling. One fear he had. The master gave a dinner in rooms at Oxford one night. The bottles traveled freely and after ‘Why, the table had been cleared, Liewellyn, a boon companion and an amateur boxer. of some note, suggested a bout. Lind- say took him up, himself no slouch, and soon the men had the room cleatcd and the two went at it. A careful observer might have saw the shifting of a big red body in Jack Lindsay’s corner, the gradually spread- ing muscles of great fore legs, the bristling of crisp halir, the glistening of eyes quickly becoming bloodshot. An uppercut took Lindsay fair and square under the right side of the jaw. There was a cry “Look out for Cripps,” and the big dog was in mid- alr, with a howl of fury. Quick as a flash Lindsay had recov- ered and caught the dog midway with a heavy right.’ It caught him fair on - the nozzle and threw him half way across the room. He lay there stunned, The men stood still for a minute, The room tgok on a great silence. Then Lindsay went quickly to him: Down on his knees, he took the big head in his lap, saying: “Poor old man, God knowu didn’t mean that to be so hard. Cripps looked up through blood and foam, smiled and licked a blood mark on Lindsay’s hand. Never again but once did he face a fist gloved or-bare. - There was not a dry eye that night as they made the young hero comforta- ble. He sighed with satisfaction, sorely hurt as he was, that he had saved the “master’s” son. From that .flml Cripps never left | By Wm. Jardine T [ 4 Jack. He gréw with him and became of him a part. As he gathered years he took on: knowledge and loved the blue sky, the green fields, the water, the universe itself, with all its health glving properties. One fear only he had and that we knew about. And Jack; Jack loved him in his way, a careless way; loved him enough to have him always with him. But Cripps loved as 2 woman Joves. He loved jeal- ously, fiercely, sometimes savagely, but always nobly, The dog never let Jack remember the slur of his babyhood or the knockout blow of his youth. He loved and all he asked was love in re- turn. He didn’t mind blows if there was & caress to follow. He took his lickings cheerfully, because a kind word would come his way later. He never whim- pered. His creed was sacred to him. ‘When he was alone he did his dear- est thinking. He. pondered on his past “and figured on his hmlrs. but most of all he thought of his love of the mas- ter's son and how he could but keep the hoar frost glistened and there com- riage Damley was created Duke of Albany. (Flt. %) ‘Queen Elizabeth's history,“and that of her unfortunate favorite, the Earl of Essex, is popularly known, and may ve briefly told. At the time when most passionately attached to the Earl, she gave him a ring, with the assurance that she would pardon any fauit of which he might be accused on the re- turn of the pledge. (Fig. 10.) When, in later, years, he was condemned for treason, she expected to receive this token, and was prepared to grant the promised pardon; it came not! The Queen was confirmed in the belief that he had ceased to care for her. The Earl, in the last extremity of despair, had entrusted the ring to the Countess of Nottingham, wife of the Lord High Admiral, an enemy of the unfortunate Essex, who forced his wife to conceal the trust entirely, and secrete the ring. The Countess upon her deathbed sent for her royal mistress, and for the first time told of her guilt, humbly implor- ing mercy from her God and forgive- ness from her earthly sovereign, who did not only refuse to give it, but hav- ing shook her as she lay in bed, sent her, accompanied with most fearful curses, to a higher tribunal. (Fig. 10.) Willlam Shakespeare’s ring was found March 16, 1810, by a laborer’s wife in tke mill close adjoining Stat- ford-on-Avon churchyard. Poison rings were in frequent use in BY MARIE MELVILLE Italy in the Middle Ages: they . were called “Death’s rings.” The most fa- mous of these employed to kill an ene- my was that which.belonged to. Caesar Borgia—a grasp from the hand wearing the ring insured a very slow but cer- tain death; it contained a virulent pol- son, which found vent through a small spike pressed out by a spring when the hand was grasped, and which was so slight In its operation as to be scarcely felt, and not usually noticed by the per- son wounded during the ‘excitement of the hearty friendship so well simulated. We wish to mention some of the num- berless rings of antiquity which were supposed to possess magical charms and medicinal virtues in the estimation of the credulous; even in our days some will purchase galvanic rings to cure rheumatism. Rings of gold were thought to cure St. Anthony’s fire; in Berkshire one made from a plece of silver collected at the communion was a preventive against convulsions; for curing divers diseases in Devonshire rings were made of ‘three nails or serews that had been used to fasten a coffin. Precious stones were luypoied to be endowed with properties. Jasper took the lead, Galen himself vouching for its qualities from his own ample experi- ence; it cured fever, dropsies and hem- orrahges. The turquoise was belleved to strengthen the sight and the spirits of the wearer, to take away all enmity and to reconcile man and wife. Ame- thysts were supposed to prevent drunk- pact and massive stood Cripps, gazing out into the vast—what, a nothing, a gaping vold. Something had happened weeks before, and to-day was the mar- riage day and his strong great love had gone for nothing somehow. Some ohe had come between, a sweet, pretty, clear-eyed girl, who loved Jack as he loved him, but whom Jack loved best when he wasn't around. This was their wedding day; all he knew was that something strange had been going on. There had been the laughter of young girlish voices; there had been much bustling about, and even his own corner had been besieged by a sweet young girl, who had tender- 1y patted him, almost mournfully. There in the cold morning air he sniffed the coming of evil, of a great sorrow. Might he cry just once, just once? Down on his great limbs he slipped and there in the cold of the win- ter dew he thawed out the hoar frost in his great sorrow. Theg up like a strong man, whose grief has been wrung from him and is a thing to be known only between Mother Nature and himself, he rose, slowly, - muy, and walked to the stable. Oh! that the man and the bride-to-be might Iuv- seen him !n hl- great de- the gamekeepers might guess; for in their toil by night they said later that they had seen him racing through the woods, a specter of a dog. ‘When ‘he returned it was to be at the master’s heels. The master’s word was law, and what he said Cripps did; but the dog was no longer the Cripps of old. True, his outward body was the same, the perfect symmetry of form was there, the huge muscles, but the eyes were the eyes of an old man grief stricken. The master petted him, had him al- ways with him, took nim to thé new house so soon to be ready for the young bride, and he went as a human goes whose days are done and whose life is finished. They came at last, Jack and his bride, came to the Old Grangé for the ré- unjon of families and made bright the old house. The master and Cripps stood .in the great hallway to recelve ‘them.’ The dog showed na gentle way his .unbounded affection and Jack was un- feignedly glad to see him. For the young' mistress Cripps gave as his best friend that unstinted afféction” that’ was ingrown. Yet he -knew. and they knew that it was not the same,. and while his, poor. understanding. could. not quite fathom the differepce, theirs learned at once that his, h.cn was breaking. It was on the following day, and Jack’ and his wife were in the morning Toom A threw Lindsay to mn ground, enness.. Queen Elizabeth received ome from_ her gallant Chancellor Hatton, with minute instructions for her guid- ance: “A ring agalnst infected alr, to be worn between the sweet dugs of her bosom."” Lady Cathcart, on’ marrying her fotirth husband, Hugh Maguire, in 1713, had the following posy inscribed on her wedding ring: “If I survive I will have five.” Another had a useful plece of advics, “Bear and Forbear.” A Monmouthshire man whe caused his wife’'s wedding ring to. be Iin- scribed, “If thee doesn’t. work thee shan’'t eat,” was . determined . that there should be no mistake in what he required in a wife. . It is again becom- ing fashionable _to _hava . wedding rings with posies, and no doubt the fact that the Duchess of York had ene engraved upon hers will do much to revive the old custom. The glyptic art may be sald te have réached its perfection in the ceptury which preceded and the century which followed the Christian era; then flourished the miost eminent gem engravers of antiquity, Pyrgoteles, Apollonides, Solon and 'Nausias. Three-fourths of the anclent engraved stones have baen plowed up from the soll, or dredged up from the rivers of classic lands, after lyfng buflod for a thousand years. Within the last century mm has been a renaissance of 'the - study of this art and ft is now quite a seclety fad in our country. ¥ ¥ THE PRETTY BRIDE AND GREEN-EYED CRIPPS @ = preparing a surprise for all the young folk, who were to receive them after breakfast. The most simple discussion occurred. Jack Lindsay grew angry, his young bride retorted, apd, no one shall ever tell what his raised fist meant to do. Cripps, quiet and demure; Was Taying between them. At first he had not seemed to notice the raised voices, then gradually his demeanor changed; the .blood red came into his eyes, hig hair stiffened and he ros b A The fist may have been meant to em- phasize, who shall tell? Cripps Tooked ‘once Into the girl's startled eyes, ‘then wheeled quickly. With & grin-on his face, but death In his eyes, he sprang at_the uplifted hand. The impetus The master of Moffat rarely speaks of it, but no brave man, Ne has sald, ever ‘stoodup against a wall to" bé shot as Cripps did that. morning. ” Bloody mawed, eyes aflame, he went with the . master . llkke a child. . He walked erectly with him. No man put chain or leather 6n him. He had fought “his* great -‘fight and had Won or lost. He dripped blodd as he went, the blood of ‘his love, and he knew that the pen- alty was death. Behind thestables ‘where he had been kicked and:called .qur he stood bravely to face the inevi- _table. Blear eyed though he was, he ‘never mnchod and even as he bled w».muwucxmmnen -Hand’