“And the hall being full, a lane was made for them to the barre; (the justices of the Common Bench being in court) they recited three several counts, (and several defences made to several counts,) and had their writs read. The first and third by Brownlow the chief prothonotary, and the second by Goulton the second prothonotary. And Sir John Walter and Thomas Trevor gave rings to the judges with this inscription, ‘_Regi Legi servire libertas._’ And Sir Henry Yelverton gave rings whereof the inscription was, ‘_Stat Lege Corona_,’ and presently after (they all standing together) returned to Serjeants Inn, where was a great feast, at which Sir James Lee, Lord Treasurer and the Earl of Manchester, Lord President of the Council, were present.” § 10. Arabian princesses wear golden rings on their fingers, to which little bells are suspended, so that their superior rank may be known, and they, themselves, receive in passing, the homage due to them.[156] § 11. The insignia of honor peculiar to the Roman knights were a charger, furnished at the public expense, a golden ring and a certain place in the theatre.[157] The senators also wore golden rings.[158] § 12. We read of: “---- an agate stone On the forefinger of an alderman;” but cannot discover whether an alderman in Shakspeare’s time wore a ring in connection with his office. We however find this: “Grave persons, such as aldermen, used a plain broad gold ring upon the thumb.” It may be that Shakspeare was not thinking of an alderman whose duties were attached to a mere city, but of the earl or _alderman_ of a whole shire, to whom the government of it was intrusted. Such a person, from the authority he possessed, might have worn a ring of power in former times. The word had the same signification in general as senator. By Spelman’s Glossary it appears there was anciently in England a title of _aldermannus totius Angliæ_; and that this officer was in the nature of Lord Chief Justice of England. It will be seen that there is an incorrectness in Mercutio, a Veronese and in Verona, referring to an alderman. Knight, in his edition of Shakspeare, sees this and proposes that we read, instead of alderman, _burgomaster_. It has been observed that in whatever country Shakspeare lays the scenes of his drama, he follows the costume of his own.[159] In a portrait of Lady Ann Clifford, the celebrated Countess of Pembroke, she wears a ring upon the thumb of her right hand. The mention of this lady will, at once, call up Ben Jonson’s epitaph of the “wise, fair and good,” and excuse us for quoting: