Eaton weekly Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1866-1875, 1872-10-31


through the world nor was it easy to
| avoid at times saying spinster after a
| mans name, and bachelor after that of
| a woman.
NV predecessor in the curacy was
| very short-sighted, and was told that.
as a rule, it took him ten minutes or
more to get through the bans.
And this brings me back to the mar
| riages.
They were of all degrees, high and
low, rich and poor. One morning
found myself confronted by, ten bride
| maids; on another, the bridegroom
confded to the clerk in the vestry after
the ceremony, that it had not been his
| fortune to get much carriage exercise in
| the course of his life, and that, as he
had made up his mind to ride to his
wedding, one Of his friends had wheeled
him to church in a wheelbarrow.
Speaking generally, 1 must say that had
| the brides been as dense as the men,
the requirements of the marriage ser
vice could in very few cases have been
| got through at all the majority of my
bridegrooms appeared to have not the
| slightest idea of what they had to say,
or what they ought to do. AS rule,
| they were also far more nervous than
their fair partners, whose impotence
with their stupidity became at times
only too apparent. 1 used to wonder
what would become of me on these oc-
casions, if j. B. were taken i'll or other
wise detained from his duties.
| Imagine six couples, with their at
tendants, witnesses, bridemaids, and
| groomsmen, for the most part utterly
unknown to the ciergyman-in our own
parish were over 10000 people, and
very many outsiders came to our church
to be married-and ignorant as to what
was required of them as TO position,
| answers, etc. The naoduS operardi was as
| follows: After some minutes had been
| spent in arranging them in order, j. B.
was seen to place in a prayer book with
| great care six slips of paper, each one
| with a number and the name of one
chapter written on it. Slip No. l repre-
sented the first couple on the left, and
so on. Carefully arranging once more
the twelve individuals in proper order,
his gray head appeared between those
of each pair. q You Thomas Jones2
You Mary Smith ~ etc. "Then you'll
please not to move" Having ascer-
tanned that all were where they ought
| to be, he gave sigh of relief, handed
the book with the slips of paper to me,
and the service commenced.
soon found that 1 must know that
service by heart, for well nigh my whole
time and attention was taken up in
conversational instruction, and in watch
ing to see that no over-curious bride
maid surreptitiously, though uninten-
tionally, usurped the place OF the retlr-
ing bride.
Hardly ever, fear, did perform the
service without grave infractions OF the
law which forbids the making unau-
thorized additions to the prayer-book !;
| T o11oruo1 To orR tho frSt
question: "Wilt thou have this woman
to be thy welded wife ?' etc., without
some interruption for if the bridegroom
were not exceedingly reticent, he was
almost invariably over-eager, and before
1 had got through the few first words,
would answer, often with a pull of the
forelock: &c Yes, sir - or, L" To be sure,
sir-surelY, will do So" A request to
wait until the question was completed
had the effect, as rule, of driving him
to the opposite extreme, and making
him most reluctant to answer will !"
when the proper time came. The
point in the service, and it was always
with sense of relief that passed be-
yond it. Now, will you say this after
me2" 1 used to ask: ~, John, take
thee, Mary" etc. The hesitation was
occasionally SO long that the bride grew
impatient, and asked angrily, soto voce,
" Why don't you say it p which gener-
ally brought about the desired result.
| Turning to the bride" Now, will
you say this after me: " I, Mary, take
thee, john" ETC., and hard though it
be 10 believe, full often would the man
begin: 81, Mary or whatever the
name might be, TO his partners intense
disgust. z-
It will easily be seen that the great
majority of our weddings were the re
verse Of aristocratic. To. what class,
however, to assign them would be diff
cult to decide.
An elderly gentleman, whose card
announced him to be an officer of rank
in the army, called upon me one even
ing and produced a marriage license
saving that he wished to be married as
early as possible on the following morn
ing. Accordingly he appeared with q
rather over-dressed lady, some twenty
five years his junior, and by way of wit
nesses, a stout elderly couple of the
until the time came for signing the
, registers. l asked the usual questions
among them the profession of the
father of each party major-general was
given and entered as the quality
) trade or profession of the bridegroom's
parent. IS Your fathers profession, i
you please ?" 1 asked the lady. Gar
: dener," was the reply. 1 thought thai
r her husband looked much perturbed
5 but L duly entered the item, anc
7 thought no more about it until the mex
, day, when, to my surprise, he agar
3 called at my lodgings, and, after al
elaborate explanation as to the true
: position of his wife's father, which h
!, represented to be that of private gen
e tleman, earnestly requested me to alto
t this entry in the register, adding tina
he was willing to pay any fee; but
It made the alteration with note on th
a margin, to the effect that it had beel
y made by me on the representation AM
at the request of the bridegroom.
r, On another occasion, after the usua
y three-cornered note the previous even
a ing, found waiting at the vestry
n good-looking but somewhat q horsey
d young man, with license in due fo-n
is but without his bride. "Sorry to hav
. brought you out, sir" he said, '' but
J. have not been able to see the lady thi
y morning would this time tomorrow b
| o,3 ~