Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1876-10-25

by getting up early, see if they cannot
improve their voices.-C Christian
Weekly.
Oriental Marriages.
In America love, precedes and pre-
pares the way for marriage-at least
this is our theory Of cOurtship. In the
East marriage precedes and prepares
for love-at least this is the Oriental
theory of the welded state. 1t quite
accords, therefore, with the Eastern
ideas of the marriage relations that wo-
man should enter into it an age which
TO US seems very unfit; and this prac-
tice of early marriages is also favored
by the fact that women reach their ma
turity at much earlier age than with
us. They are at the height of their
bloom and beauty at fifteen or sixteen.
They are often married at thirteen or
fourteen, and sometimes asearly as eight
or nine; and DIR. Van Lenney mentions
one instance of a wedding which he at
tended in which the bride was so young
that she was carried about in the arms
Of her relatives. Naturally courtship
is done BY proxy, and the young men
are cheated out of what the American
regards as one of his most sacred, in
aiienable rights. The duty of looking
up for the young man a suitable wife,
which even in our own society the
mother, aunts, or sisters often assume,
is IN the East, by universal consent,
devolved upon them.
womanly nature is essentially the
same the world over, and we may safely
assume that they are nothing lOath to
perform the Guty which social custom
ihtrusts to them. For this purpose
they sally forth in body on their tou-
of inspection, call at any house which
afior',s reasonable hope Of containing a
suitable inmate, are invariably gree eIed
with the utmost courtesy, and ushered
at once into the reception-room; the
young lady is summoned, and presently
enters, bearing sweetmeats and water;
she is arrayed in all the finery and
jewels which belong to her dowry; nor
is it considered breach of social pro-
priety to inquire with particularly re-
specting her marriage portion. This
franknc-s prevents some of the awk-
ward discoveries which sometimes oc-
eur with us after marriage TO mar the
happiness of the honeymoon. If the
preliminary negotiations are satisiac-
tory, a bargain is made between the
parents, in which the amount paid by
the husband or on his behalf, either to
the bride or TO her parents, is definitely
agreed upon. This, which under the
Mosaic law was liked al uniform rate
at fifty shekles, or twenty-five dol
lars-varies among the modern Jews
with the condition OF the brides family
while among some OF the Circassian
tribes aud the Tartars, as among the
African savages, the daughter, when
she reaches a marriageable age, IL sold
To the highest bidder. The parties are
considered as affianced ss soon a, thr
marriage contract has been agreed 10
but the nuprial ceremony is sometimes
deferred for considerable period,
during which time the bride and groom
are not permitted to see each other;
their sole intercourse with each other
is through the intervention of n ''friend
of the bridegroom" The wedding
dress il even more a matter of import
ance with the Eastern bride than " it'll
us. The preparation OF her toilet, in
the presence Of female friends, often
occupies large part Of two days. The
wedding veil, the bridal crown, the
dodos, or cap, are some of the emblems
donned for the bridal ceremony. The
costumes are often rich and gorgeous
beyond expression. Fashion, as inter-
preted by an Oriental milliner quoted
by DIR. VanLennep, prescribes the
characteristics of an ideal wedding
dress. Ii should measure six yard
from the shoulders to the end of the
train; the long sleeves should sweep
the floor; the material is silk {; il is elab-
orately embroidered b. party of pro-
fessional embroiderers under the direc-
ton of chief The sum paid for su-
perintending the needle-wOrk on a
single robe referred to by DIR. Van Len
nep was five hundred dollars, while
the charge for tine work done by the
subordinates was two thousand five
hundred dollars, and the entire cost OF
the dress was ten thousand; nor must
it be forgotten that labor In that country
Is very much less expensive than in
this.
The marriage festivities last often for
a week, and in many sections of the
East the old practices are still main
tanned. The bridegroom, with pro-
cession, starts with music and torches,
by night, for the house of the bride,
where after a show of resistance, and
sometimes quite a struggle, she is
taken possession of, and borne away to
her future home. This resistance by
the coy maiden is curiOusly illustrative
Of the marriage custom of many coun-
tries, and in various forms-from that
of African societv, in which the BRIDE
groom chases the fleeing bride. cap
lures, and carries her away bodily, TO
that of the HISTORIANS, where the bride
remains in a corner of the church until
the time comes for the joining Of hands
when she is dragged half across the
building by main strength toward her
intended husband, who is allowed to
seize her hand only after a vehement
struggle, during which the officiating
clergyman stands passively by.-Hdr-
psr's -hdgdzins.
gsh~rtnn EvtIaa