Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1873-07-02

from over the sands were laid before her.
Possibly she cried out in the Hebrew
tongue (if the language permits, l am sure
she did, "Oh! it's perfectly lovely-the
sweetest love of veil!' Wells were worn
at that time, for Rebekah covered herself
with one when she went to the we'll.
II we 60 back to the days wherein our
foretathers were poor and comparatively
helpless, and the custom of giving gifts at
weddings arose, we shall find signi6nance
and beauty in the practice that can
scarcely be said to adhere to the presents
OF this generation. To-day the gifts chosen
are rarely selected because necessary to
the well-being of the recipient. Let US
Imagine tor moment that the expectant
bride is the daughter of New York mer-
chant or New England manufacturer,
accustomed all her life to find every ne
cessary want provided for. Imagine then
that barrel of -four, chest Of tea, car
pet, a ton of coal, or even cargo Of the
same article were left at her fathers door
for her wedding presents. How surprised,
astonished, and indignant the fair daugh-
ter would be, She looked for articles
that she did not need; for the light Of jew
elry, and the perfume of flowers, and the
glitter of precious metals.
1t was not SO with the brides Of the
past. The money received by them at the
wedding ceremony or the marriage feast was
but too often necessary to their mainten-
ance, Going back scarcely one hundred
years, we find it the custom to pass around
tor the benefit of the bride at the close of
the entertainment plate, on which were
laid the offerings of her friends. The
sums thus collected varied in amount from
one to ten shilings. In 1874, welsh
bridal bidding yielded for the bride one
hundred pounds. Various were the modes
of collecting money for the bride in differ
ent portions of Great Britain. Wales had
bridal biddings in which the bride L" bid p"
her friends to her wedding either by a her.
aid, bearing an official wand and going
from house to house or by an advertise
ment in local paper; Cumberland had
bridewains, or the carrying home of the
bride; Scotland had penny weddings. 1t
was held as popular belief that in times
of emergency every man had right to
claim help from his neighbors; but, IN turn,
he was also required to give according to
his ability.
At that day gifts were offered freely,
but they were considered only as loans in
stead OF bounties, and were to be repaid
whenever occasion required. Thus the
fees Of the lawyer, the priest, and the doc
tor had their origin in gratuities that
could not have been legally enacted from
persons stingy enough to withhold them.
The one notion that sharp-edged gift
is ominous Of i'll is a modern one, and must
have arisen from the fact that two centu-
rles ago TO present was more common than
4 pair Of knives our scissors that the
bride might be able to cut the thread of
love ifit proved TO be no love. Poor per-
sons gave to their opulent neghbors small
gifts, cakes, coronals. toys pieces of lace
many of which still remain, and are the
envy of modern eyes J, baskets ofrush and
sedge.
Damsels clever at lace-work wrought
fine colts and kerchiefs, some of which yet
remain and are of wondrous beauty. But
the present which the bride ard her anx-
ous friends looked for with the greatest
solictude was the money that might be
bestowed This was often given at the
church-porcb, and was collected by the
first bridesmaid, aud the groom's best man
In such case the bridesmaid must have
been artfuly chosen, for the amount Of the
collection depended greatly upon her win
ming manners and persuasive words. 1t
was only in James the Flrst's time that
the practice of collecting money for rich
brides became questionable and costl
gifts took its place. Hearth and Home.