Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1858-04-24
From the LondeS Athep0um.
ROYAL MARRIAGES IN ENGLAND.

mcC. Incre W0S the wedding or DcLrOtneI,
and the subsequent marriage. In the latter
ceremony there were some solemn prayers, but
there was no actual contract. It was not till
the reign Of Henry the First that the "grOom"
was taught by the priest to say, Il take thee,
NJ, to be my welded wife" and the bride, in
like sense, ~ take thee, n, to be my welded
husband" Royal noble, gentle, and simple,
were constrained to follow the same form of
words.
Some time elapsed subsequently to the Con-
quest before Princess Of England was mar
ried on English ground; and even then the
ceremony had very much the air Of nm Irish
abduction case. None Of the daughters Of
William the First can be called EHglSh prin-
ccssess. They were all Norman born.
1t is not till the reign of Henry the First that
we meet with princess born on English soil,
and descended from the cSaxons by her mother.
We allude to Matilda. She was but seven
years old when an army of German mobiles
came hithrr to ask her hand for the Emperor
Henry Fifth. Her sire was hard put to it
to fit out this little lass with dowry, but the
happy and natural thought struck him that it
would be most secmly, and certainly most con-
venicnt, to compel the patient public to furnish
the "tOcher." Accordingly, the enormous tax
Of 3s. waslevicd on every hide of land through
out the kingdOml Since the establishment Of
that admirable precedent it has been the priv
ilcgc OF the people to provide portions for the
daughters Of Royalty. Mary, second daughter
Of Stephen, was the first English Princess since
the Conquest who wax married in England. -
When Henry the Second was on the throne,
the LADY Mary" was Abbcss of the solemn
sistcrhOod at RomSey in England. She was
also Countess Of Boulognc, but her estate, like
her person, belonged to the Church; and this
circumstance rather perplcxed for while the
mind OF lover, William Of Alsace, who was
favored by the King and not i'll thought of by
the lady. Mathew Iancicd, If he could sccu-
larize the Princess, her property would fall in
to the same condition. Thcrcupon he took
with him fourteen stout gentlemen alarms,
crossed the Channel, sent herald Of his coming
to the lady-nOthing lOth-married her, aud
carried her away; while the cavaliers stood by
to keep oil intrudcrs. 1t was o merry ride
back to the coast by moonlight, dtherc was
boistcrOus passage over to Bologne after
ward; but all was well again, when the joy
oGs party shook their feathers end smoothed
tlIcir silks, as they stood on the territory Of
the BoulOnnaiS Such was the runaway
match of the first Princess Royal married on
English gronnd.
1t ended badly. There was no wonderful
image in BOulogne that would work miracle
so long as the welded couple continued to-
gcthcr and held their property. At the end
Of three years the church disuntcd them,
drove Mathew abroad as a wanderer, clapped
the Princess into convent, and assumed the
guardianship Of her two daughters, with the
stewardship of their property
Tic first really MTTW marriage Of a Prin-
cess Royal, was that Of Joanna, the daughter
Of Hing John, who married Alexander the
Second Of Scotland. The ceremony took place
at York whittier the royal bridegroom was
too poor TO proceed at his own expense and
his journey TO York and back TO Scotland was
paid for ont Of the English treasury. There
were English mobiles appointed to escort Alex
an1cr, but so unpopular was the honor Of
waiting on needy bridegroom, that some Of
the mobiles avoided it by paying finc-of
bulls and sheep, which probably helped to
furnish forth the marriage tables.
10 isabella, Johns second daughter, wns re-
fused as q fitting bride for Henry, King Of
Germany, by his father, the Emperor Fred
erick the Second, who subsequently asked
for her hand himself. The Imperial German
sent over splendid embassy, whose first re-
quest was that they might have a look at the
lady! This request was not declined. Isa
bella was then ut the Tower, whence, after
dOnning her most brilliant costume, she re-
paired to Westminster. She was not only
an unusually pretty girl, with especially i
sparkling eyes, but she was SO Selcpos-
scssed. and she so well knew how to maintain
her self dignity, that the ENJOYS were subdued
by love and admiration. The chief cmbasa-
dor enthusiastically pronounced her worthy"
and placing ring on her finger, did homage
to her as Empress. Isabella, in return, sent
ring to her future lord, and when she re-
paired to Worms to be married she took with
her such a mighty load Of clothing, and furni-
turc, and dishes, and pots, and pans, (all
silvcredl and light knick-knacks, and heavy
boxes, that merely to catalogue them would
demand Supplement at our hands. Four
Kings stood by to present her to her lord,
and money was scattered at the wedding fcs-
tivitics as If every man had o plethora of
wealth, aud that to bleed freely was at once
benefit and luxury. The gorgeousness of
this marriage offers strong contrast to the
private ceremony at Portsmouth, which bound
lSabclla'S sister Eleanor to William, Earl of
Pembroke. At this ceremony the "groom"
was less willing than tho bride. When the
widowed Princess Elcanora subsequently, mar
ried (privately, at Westminster) the irresi>t-
ible Simon do Montfort, the bride, who,
would (ain have been nun, was less willing
than the "groom." 1t was miserable match,
and the misery was chiefly caused by the
guilty levity Of tho lady, who, had she taken
the veil, would have been the lveliest nun
the world ever heard Of except at Farmoutier
The reign Of Henry the Third presents US
with another royal marriage at York, between
an English Princess and Scottish King
Margaret of Windsor and Alexander the Third
There were soMe curinns incidents connected
with this political union The English and
Scotch mobiles who attended as Officials or
guests, were quarter in two opposite divisions
Of tho city, in order to prevent bloody collis-
ions between them. This arrangement was
only partially successful, for when these no.
bles or their servants encountered in the
streets, very Sanguinary Quarrels arose, at
which stones, sticks, and swords, were more
active than argument The antagonism be-
tween the two parties rose to 80 dangerous
height that the wedding Of Margaret and Alex.
ander was cleverly celebrated in snug way
so early in tho morning, that the ceremony
was concluded before half the riotous mobiles
were out of their beds. Alexander too, was
ns "canny" as his predecessor and namcsnkc
who had stood at the same place to espOuse