, 1880-07-12
Civil Weddings in Paris.

marie in Paris! Ii not, g. some Satur-
day, for that is the day which, though
never chosen by fashionable people,
seems to be set apart specially for the
class who labor, exist by the fruits of
their labor, and have no time to lose.
They have Sundays to fairs la noce, and
on Monday they put themselves once
more at work. About eleven A. M. gen
orally, the .tsances, their relatives, aud
their witnesses all meet together. Some
OF the company have brought with
them their children, dressed in new
clothes for the grand occasion, frizzed.
pomaded, and "got up regardless in
honor of the festive event. The garcons
de moce are blooming in appearance. the
intended husband and wife are critically
inspected by all The company. They
try, therefore, to put on an air of mod
est indifference and naturally enough
do not make much of success of it.
N. ie mare. or his dd5oint has arrived.
he puts on the tri colored scirf across
his breast diagonally, which glorious
scarf, in the eyes of the people, confers
on him alone the power of pronouncing
the magic words whose effect no human
power can ever break. He takes in his
hands little book, bound in red mo-
rocco, gives Il glance at the mirror in
order to assure himself that his cravas
is correctly tied, and goes forward to
the pretoire, where low platform sup
porting mahogany stand represents
the tribunal of indissoluble unions. A
servant playing the role of huissier an
M 10 Ia All
rise up. He seats himself. Every body
does the same. Whatever be the sea
son, however cold it may be, the doors
always stand wide open, for the act of
marriage is essentially public. A aref-
fsr (or recorder) is seated before a
pulpit-like desk with register before
him, which big book resembles huge
ledger in couDting-room. A name is
called. Then advance to the little plat
form the .tiamces, tho relatives. the
witnesses; they arrange themselves in
front of the maire in some red velvet
arm chairs. which remind one of the
orchestra stalls in our theaters. The
gre6fer reads the commencement of the
marriage act. Then the maire, calling
the candidates for matrimeny by name,
asks, of them each individually if they
consent to take the other as spouse.
Their response must be made clearly
and loudly in such manner as to be
distinctly heard by all present. If
there are present the progenitors of the
couple, the naaire asks them if they give
their consent to the marriage of their
children. Then, if granted. he opens
the little red book. reads articles 212.
213. 214 of the Code Civil. relative to
the rights and duties of the spouses,
terminating with article 226, which
says: "The wife may make ,cill
without the authorization of her hus-
band" The ones who most often ac-
cept this permission are, so it is said,
Hebrews. The maire then declares the
couple "united in marriage" The
gredier resuming his reading, finishes
it; the temoins, the relatives, and the
married couple are all invited to sign
the record of the ceremony written
down upon the great register of the
Etat Ciril. The earcon de bureau brawls
ont: "Don't forget tho poor, sill cous
ptait," and each one in passing out
drops q small coin in the poor box on
the table.-N. Y. Home Journal.