like those that burn
To light the dead, and warm th' unfruitful urn!"

D'Israeli, in his "Curiosities of Literature," thus explains this
superstition: "It has happened frequently that inquisitive men,
examining with a flambeau ancient sepulchres which have just been
opened, the fat and gross vapors engendered by the corruption of dead
bodies kindled as the flambeau approached them, to the great
astonishment of the spectators, who frequently cried out 'A miracle!'
This sudden inflammation, although very natural, has given room to
believe that these flames proceeded from _perpetual lamps_, which some
have thought were placed in the tombs of the ancients, and which, they
said, were extinguished at the moment that these tombs opened, and were
penetrated by the exterior air." Mr. Dennis, however, in his "Cities and
Cemeteries of Etruria" (1878, vol. ii. p. 404), says that the use of
sepulchral lamps by the ancients is well known, and gave rise to the
above superstition. Sometimes lamps were kept burning in sepulchres long
after the interment, as in the case of the Ephesian widow described by
Petronius ("Satyr," c. 13), who replaced the lamp placed in her
husband's tomb.

A common expression formerly applied to the dead occurs in the "Winter's
Tale" (v. 1), where Dion asks:

"What were more holy,
Than to rejoice the former queen is well?"

So in "Antony and Cleopatra" (ii. 5):

"_Messenger._ First, madam, he is well.

_Cleopatra._ Why, there's more gold.
But, sirrah, mark, we use
To say, the dead are well."[752]

[752] See Malone's note, Variorum edition, xiv. 400.

Lastly, commentators have differed as to the meaning of the words of
Julia in the "Two Gentlemen of Verona" (i. 2):

"I see you have a month's mind to them."

Douce says she refers to the mind or remembrance days of our popish
ancestors; persons in their wills having often directed that in a month,
or at some other specific time, some solemn office, as a mass or a
dirge, should be performed for the repose of their souls. Thus Ray
quotes a proverb: "To have a month's mind to a thing," and mentions the
above custom. For a further and not improbable solution of this
difficulty, the reader may consult Dyce's "Glossary" (p. 277).

CHAPTER XV.

RINGS AND PRECIOUS STONES.

From a very early period, rings and precious stones have held a
prominent place in the traditionary lore,