Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1871-11-21


claimed, the best of all is God is with us |! Hi
brothers widow tenderly ministers to him; b
tried to kiss her, saying, he giveth his ser
wants res! Then he repeated bis thanksgiv
ing. We thank thee 0 God, for these and al
Thy mercies; bless the Church and King, ant
grant Us truth and peace, through Jesus Chris
our Lord, for ever and ever He paused a lit
tie; then he cried, The clouds drop fatness !
Then another pause, The Lord of Hosts il
with US. the God of Jacob is our refuge!'-
Eleven persons were standing round his bed az
ne ne SAID Farewell his last word, at ten clock
Wednesday, March End, 1871. Children,
said John Wesey's mother, as soon as 1 am
dead, sing song of praise!' As soon as Wes-
ley died, his friends round his dead body raised
their voices in hymn, then knelt down and
prayed. He was buried behind the chapel 10
the Cityroad, on the 9th of March. So great
was the excitement created by his death, that
he was buried at 5 clock in the morning be-
fore this he had been laid in kind of state
Thus Samuel Rogers the poet saw him. He
says, as was walking home one day from my
fathers bank observed great crowd of peo-
pie streaming into chapel in the City-road.-
the dead body of clergyman, in full canoni-
Gals, his grey hair partly shading his face on
both sldes and his flesh resembling wax. 1t
was the corpse of John Wesley, and the crowd
moved slowly round and round the table, to
take last look at that most venerable man.
MARRIAGE FEEs.-The giving of the mar
rlage fee is one of the most awkward things in
the marriage ceremony, as usually conducted.
1t has been known to be performed by groom
who put into the minister's hands pair of
white kid gloves, with half eagle in each fin
ger; or, since the golden era, the greenbacks
Will be lnciosed in nice envelope Or as is
most common, the tribute will be stealthily left
In the minister's possession at parting, under
pretence of shaking hands,
The reverent and honest way to do this thing
Is, perhaps, to conform to the rubric in the En-
English prayer book, as follows
The man shall give the woman ring, lay
ing the same upon book, with the accustom-
ed duty to the priest and clerk
But in such weddings as occur in the private
house of the clergyman, the ways of doing this
thing are various One fellow took me into a.
corner, saying "he had something of great i'm
portance tc communicate" The substance of
the communication was, that "he happened to
be out of money at the time and he begged
me to trust him.
Another asked In a business-like tone. 'ihow
much was the damage? ?''
Another said, Your reverence has done me
great favor, SO here's quits -
An honest sailor had the grace to inquire be-
forehand. whats the fee for marrying me to
this girl p
Answer: Zone dollar according to law, and
quarter of dollar for clerks fee for record
ing the marriage"
''Shiver my timbersl" said Jack, II have
not got bat twenty cents but heave ahead
and marry as far as that goes -
Another sailor used the like question, and
interrupted the clergyman as soon as he got to
the recording, saying, do the splicing, but
hang the record, and take the dollar!"
might tell OF other incidents in weddings,
both pathetic and amusing
The same fellow who sneaked into marriage
without paying ''the accustomed duty" was a
curious specimen
Being interrogated according TO the form in
the prayer book, wilt thou have this woman
to be thy welded wife, to live together after
Gods ordinance, IL the holy estate Of matri-
mony?' &C., he broke in, ITO be sure; that s
fact. But being admonished to say, Il
will, at the end OF the series OF questions, he
concluded with an emphatic That's so |
will" And, in the betrothal that followed,
being directed to say, after me, Il, Ebenezer,
take thee, Hester, to be my welded wife, to
have and to hold from this day forward, for
better for worse, for richer for poorer" &C.,
he snapped his fingers geefuly as the end OF
each clause
The endowment VOW was made grotesque by
the twinkle of his eye, when he said, with
this ring thee we'd Hester had furnished
the ring,) ''and with all my worldly goods
thee endow," The had not dollar to pay the
parson with.