The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1869-06-02

the Young man to table covered WIN
o-v6ite cloth, on the table1s a silver
Saiver with a'loaf of bread on It, aud
on the bread salt-cellar with saIt.
Two rings. one of gold. the other of
silver, are placed on small silver
trav bef5reo a golden image of the
Virgin Mary, holding the child j esus
in her arms. With this image they.
bless the future couple. "a AL the COM
pany stand; the mother holds the
bride, completely dressed in white, By
the hand. surrounded byall her dear
est friends and companions.
All bow before the image. The
father takes the imageg the mother
the bread and salt; the young couple
then kneeI under the image, and are
first blessed by the father; the latter
then takes the bread and salt from
the hands Of the mother aud gives her
the image. and the same ceremony IS
repeated, After this, the father and
mother of the bridegroom do the
like. Then comes the giving of the
rings; the brides father gives the
golden ring to the bridegroom, the
silver one Co the bride. They are now
affianced to each other and give each
other the first kiss. When the cere-
mony is over, the company enjoy
themselves; they chat. laugh, eat aud
drink, and separate, after having FIX
ed the day for the marriage. During
the interval Between this ceremony
and the marriage the bridegroom
spends all his evenings with his bride,
often tetes ate e. Fofrat.a naH s-A5 ~
"a THE CEREMONY. ..-se7 ~, ~
The marriage ceremony follows. Tt
is also called the oOrnation, because,
during the ceremony, crown Is placed
on the heads of the afianeed. Then
the priest offers them a cup of wine,
of which they both drink, as sign of
the union they have contracted. A
solemn procession is led by the of6cia-
ting priest, the bride and bridegroom
follow him around the desk placed in
the center of the church, upon which
is laid the Bible.s This Is to represent
che joys which await them, the ties
which they contract, and the eternity
of these ties. During the public cele
bratioh of the marriage, the rings
worn by the young people are ex-
changed; the husband now wearing
the silver one, the bride the golden.
From the church, all the company Is
invited to go to the house of the bride
groom's father. A week alter they
return TO church, when the priest lifts
the crown from off their heads. This
ceremony is the final conservation of
marriage. s
-o THE BANQUET.
The banquet is ordered at some
6rst-rate confeetioner s. Nothing is
wanting-silver, crystal, flowers, and
lusters laden with candles of the
purest wax. The most perfect order
reigns at these Tepasts. The finest
wines flow in abundance, and music
| plays from time to time during the
whole repast. The young married
pair occupy seats about the middle of
the table, the parents supporting
! them on both sides; the rest of the
company take seats according to the.
degrees of relationship or rank. If
they want a very grand dinner they
order a generals /" dinner, which
costs 1G0f more than an ordinary
dinner. At this dinner, so ordered,
the master Of the ceremony invites
a real old peusioned-of general, who
is received with all the reverence due
TO his rank, and seated in the place
of honor. He is the first to drink to
the health OF the young couple, and
is always helped before any one else.
He never speaks unless 1T Is ALSO
lutely necessary Jdr .slt atw -
He is there only for show, and he
does his best ia return forthe four
pounds paid him for his presence to
eat and drink as much as he can. He
is accosted when helped TO anything,
arTack or wine, as your exeellency.
/ He never refuses a single dish of the
thirty served on such occasions As
the last roast disappears from the
table, the champagne eorks fly, the
2 asses are filled to the brim, the
music strikes up, aud huzzas respond
from all parts. But here comes the
BRIDE father, with a glass in his hand,
going up to her bowing, and making
a most woeiul- face, saying that his
wine was so bitter he could not drink
it till she had sweetened. it. After a
great deal of pressing she rises and
| gives her husband a kiss; her father
still preteuds-that his wine is bitter,
and it lrenaains so until sshe has giy-
en- her husband three kisses; each
kiss not only sweetens his wine, but
is accompanied with roars Of laughter
aud bursts of applause After. the
dinner comes the ball aud the gen
erals walk. They lead him through
the rooms once every half hour;
everybody salutes him as he passes
along, aud he graciously. replies by an
inclination OF the head, ,,-.-... 80
THE DAY AFTER.
AT last, at three o'clock in the
morning, all the young. girls, and