Bless, O Lord, this ring (looking at it) which we hallow in Thy Holy Name, that whosoever she be that shall wear it may be steadfast in Thy peace and abide in Thy will, and live, increase, and grow old in Thy love, and let the length of her days be multiplied. [Illustration: Gold ring in which are inserted representations of two winged figures cut in intaglio in a brown chalcedony. Antique workmanship. See page 363 Collection of B. G. Fairchild, Esq., New York City] [Illustration: Locket ring, opening at the bezel and on the sides, leaving room for the introduction of hair, or tiny portraits. When closed the ring appears to be plain and smooth] [Illustration: Antique Syrian ring of bronze, set with a yellowish green paste. Half of the circlet has broken away] [Illustration: Gold ring set with octahedral diamond. Late Roman. British Museum] [Illustration: Twisted hoop of silver on the bone of a finger. From an ancient sepulchre at Harnham Hill, England. Saxon, 7th century Archæologia, vol. xxxv, pl. opp. p. 278] [Illustration: WEDDING RINGS FROM SYRIAN TOMBS OF CHALCEDONY, AGATE, AND BANDED AGATE] But if the ring shall have been already blessed, then, as soon as the man have laid it on the book, let the Priest take the ring and deliver it to the man; and let the man receive it in his right hand, with the first three fingers, holding the right hand of the Bride with his left hand, and say, after the Priest: With this ryng ich the wedde, and with my body ich the honoure and with al my gold ich the dowere. And then let the bridegroom put the ring on the thumb of the Bride, saying-- In the Name of the Father; (on the first finger) and of the Son; (on the second finger) and of the Holy Ghost; (on the third finger). Amen. And there let him leave it, because in that finger there is a certain vein which reaches to the heart; and by the purity of the silver is signified the inward affection which ought ever to be fresh between them. In the modern Protestant Episcopal service, the bestowal of the ring is ordered as follows: Then shall they again loose their hands; and the Man shall give unto the Woman a Ring. And the Minister, taking the Ring, shall deliver it unto the Man, to put it upon the fourth finger of the Woman’s left hand. And the Man holding the Ring there, and taught by the Minister, shall say: With this Ring I thee wed, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. It will be noted that the ring is first given by the man to the woman, then taken from her by the priest who returns it to the man, upon which the latter puts it on the fourth finger of the woman’s left hand.