Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1872-10-03
Miscellany.
AN ENGLISH CURATE'S WEDDING
EXPERIENCES.

EXPERIENCES.
In the earlier years of my clerical life
it was my fortune to hold a curacy in
one of the ancient metropolitan par
ishes
The church was, in point of architec
turaI beauty, by no means what it might
have been, although efforts toward i'm.
provement had been made when 1 first
entered On my duties. Yet, unprepos.
sessing as was the appearance of the
building, it seemed to|exercise an almost
magnetic power of attraction upon per-
sons about to marry and to such an ex-
tent was this the case, that when I left the
parish had myself married one couple
for every day of the period during
which had held the curacy.
Seldom did an evening pass without a
ring at the bell of my lodgings about
nine or ten O'Clock, and the entry of a
peculiarly-fol,led paper, with ever the
selfsame contents:
REV. SIR: A wedding 1.-TWO or three
weddings, and now and then even six OF
-:seven1 at ten O'Clock tomorrow morning.
Your obedient servant, J. B., Clerk"
He was a wonderful man, that same
]. B. My vicar, who did not have the
best of health, though he did his part &C,
cording to his ability, was handsome
man of some fifty five years, and looked
his profession; but J. B. on SUNDAYS, as
far as dress and department" went, with
the neatest and stiffest of white cravats,
and the glossiest of strictly clerical coats.
and a look which seemed to say, sVicars
and curates may be all very well in
their way, but know on whose shoul-
ders the real responsibilities of the ser
vice rest, fairly eclipsed us both. He had
seen, as he told me, four Wears 'out'-
he has since seen fifth-and curates
without number his post was lucrative
one; and he was reported to have done
well for himself in his business-that of
an undertaker-so, perhaps, it was but
natural that he should be tolerant of the
vicar and eondescending to the curate, as
to "men who come and men who go"
while clerks go on forever.
But, like the peacock, he was better to
look at than to hear; his voice was his
weak point; the higher it was raised
the more reedy it grew, as I realized on
my first Sunday afternoon, when, after
the baptismal service was concluded
there were eight babies that day-he
shocked my notions of propriety by thus
addressing the assembled sponsors:
Ladies as wishes to be churched please
to go up to the rails" which the ladies ac-
cordingly did
days and Fridays. On my first Wednesday.
well remember that the snow, or rather
what had been the snow, was deep on
the ground. I had put on my surplice,
and was leaving the vestry, when J. B.
stopped me: Better see if there's a
congregation first, sir" He entered the
church, and in minute or so returned:
Ii you please, sir, there was only Cap
tam NJ. and he said as there was only
him, he wouldn't trouble you; and he's
gone, sir.'
This, however, ought to say, did not
happen second time; we always had a
congregation, though it was often very
limited one
There was special point, however,
= on which I must own J. B. deserved
my gratitude. He had son who wrote
aslarge and very legible hand; this
son was his fathers amanuensis, and
used to write the names in the "Bans
Book"
1t was the custom for the congregation
to sit down every Sunday morning after
the second lesson, whilst l published
from twenty to thirty pairs from various
parishes for the first, second and third
times of asking; and but for the exceed
ing legibility of the writing should many
q time have broken down. I learned
then, for the first time, with what strange
and complicated names it is possible for
people to go through the world; nor was
it easy to avoid at times saying spinster
after mans name, and bachelor after
that of woman.
My predecessor in the curacy was very
shortsighted, and I was told that, as
rule, it took him ten minutes or more to
get though the bands"
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 brides
maids on another the bridegroom con
-fided to the clerk in the vestry, after the
ceremony, that it had not been his for
tune 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 wheelbarrow Speaking
generally, | must say that, had the brides
been a3 dense as the men, the require
ments of the marriage service could ir
very few cases have been got through a
all the majority of my bridesgrooms
appeared not to have the slightest idea O
what they had to say or of what the,
ought to do. As rule, they were alsl
far more nervous than their fair partners
whose impatience with their stupidit,
became at times only too apparent.
used to wonder what would become O
me on these occasions if j. B. were take
i'll, or otherwise detained from his duties
-~- Imagine six couples with their attend
ant witnesses, bridesmaids and groom;
men, for the most part utterly unknow
to the clergyman-in our own paris
were over ten thousand people, and yer
many outsiders caEae to our church to b
married-and ignorant as to what wa
required of them as to position, answer:
etc. The naodus operd7od5 was as TO
lows After some minutes had bee
spent in arranging them in order, j. f
was seen to place in prayer book wit
great care six slips of paper, each on
with a number and the names of on
couple written on it. Slip No. 1 repr'
sented the first couple on the left, and S
on. Carefully arranging once more th
twelve individuals in proper order, h
gray head appeared between those {
each pair "You, Thomas Jones Yor
Mary Smith ?'' etc. eyes" "The
you'll please not to move" Having a
certained that all were where they ougl
to be; he gave sigh of relief, handed tt
book with the slips of paper to me, an
the service commenced.