William Cockell, 1787. _Stat lege corona._
On Serjeant Cockell's call, "in consequence of a late regulation no rings were given to the judges, the bar, or to the attornies."
Some of the older, and most of the modern, law reporters, mention the mottoes on the rings given by the serjeants.
T. P. is informed that the custom of Serjeants-at-law presenting rings with mottoes prevailed long before A.D. 1670. In the _Journal of the Arch. Institute_, vol. vii. p. 196., he will find mention of a mediæval ring of the kind, described as "A Serjeant-at-law's gold ring, the hoop 3/8 of an inch in width, and of equal thickness, inscribed _Lex regis præsidium_."
On June 8, 1705, fifteen Serjeants-at-law took the customary oaths at the Chancery Bar, and delivered to the Lord Keeper a ring for the Queen, and another for his H.R.H. Prince George of Denmark, each ring being worth 6_l._ 13_s._ 4_d._ The Lord Keeper, Lord Treasurer, Lord Steward, Lord Privy Seal, Lord High Chamberlain, Master of the Household, Lord Chamberlain, and the two Chief Justices, received each a ring of the value of 18_s._; the Lord Chief Baron, Master of the Rolls, the Justices of either Bench and two Chief Secretaries each one worth 16_s._; the Chief Steward and Comptroller each a ring valued at 1_l._; the Marshal, Warden of the Fleet, every Serjeant-at-Law, the Attorney-General, and Solicitor-General, each a ring worth 12_s._; the three Barons of Exchequer a ring worth 10_s._; the two Clerks of the Crown, the three Prothonotaries, the Clerks of the Warrants, the Prothonotary of Queen's Bench, and the Chirographer, each a ring worth 5_s._; each Filazer and Exigenter, the Clerk of the Council, and the Custos Brevium, each a ring that cost 2_s._ 6_d._ The motto on the rings was this, "_Moribus, armis, legibus_."
EXTERMINATION OF EARLY CHRISTIANS IN ORKNEY.
It is capable of demonstration that Christianity was introduced into the Orkney Islands, or at least that missionaries were sent there, long previous to the invasion of Harold Harfagre. Your correspondent W. H. F. mentions that Depping, in the _Histoire des Expéditions Maritimes des Normands_, states that Sigurd, the second nominally, though really the first earl, expelled the Christians from Orkney, and he requests to know Depping's authority; as the circumstance is not alluded to by Torfæus, the Orkneyinga-Saga or Snorro Sturleson, and has been "either overlooked by Barry, or unknown to him."