The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1880-04-10
THAT CHRISTIANCY MUDDLE.
The Courtship, Marriage and TrOu-
bic That Followed.
Washington Letter.


Washington Letter.
There were few CLEANS of wintry
sunshine in the sky and the cold glitter
of abundance of ice on the earth one
morning in the middle of February, 1876,
when few guests assembled in the par
lor of the wife of one of the Michigan
representatives to the Forty-ffth Con-
gress.
The blinds were closed, the curtains
drawn and the gas hehted to give the
effect of evening to the ceremony about
to take place. An expression of amused
curiosity was apparent on the faces of
the visitors, some of whom had never met
before, and the scene savored more of
the preliminaries of funeral than those
of a wedding. The bridal party was led
by no less solemn parsonage than the
then Vice President pro TEN. of the Sem
ate, the Hon. Thomas w. Ferry, who had
on his arm bruno bridesmaid in chill
ly toilet of white tarlatan and ribbon
garnitures of white satin. The bride
followed on the arm of the groom, and
her immediate family closed the process
sion.
Rev. Byron Sunderland, Chaplain of
the Senate, tied the knot, and invoked
the blessing of the Church Spiritual
upon the pair joined in holy wedlock.
The radiant bride went through the
ceremony with'the aplolnb of veteran
conscious of her triumph and power of
her beauty. Her dazzling complexion
rivaled the silken sheen of her bridal
dress, and her hair, which is not quite
the shade Titan leved to paint, but of a
warm amber color, lent halo to her
beautiful head, that was set so archly on
a neck which rose out of the rich lace of
her cOrsage as graceful and slender as a
shaft of polished marble.
The groom, forty-three years the
brides senior, was in delirium of hap
piness and trembled so that the clergy
man had to assist him in placing the ring
ON the BRIDES finger.
A wedding breakfast followed down
stairs in the groom's parlor, and
a bridal tour of a week was
for some reason painfully abbrevi-
ated, and their friends astonished
the next day by their unexpected return
from Philadelphia, where at the Cont
mental, the bride had left the table in a
food of tears. From that day to this
their names have been before the public
until they have at last reached an unen-
viable nOtoriety.
While voting in the Senate on some
important measure the announcement
that the Senator from Michigan had
paired was received with uproarious
laughter. Gossip and scandal have raced
hot-footed to outstrip each other in pur-
suit of them.
When the bride returned she had her
compensations for the waggng heads and
envious tongues. Lady Thornton, the
social creme de la creme called immedi-
ately after the stately Mrs. Fish. Good
natured Nine. de Mantilla followed and
lisped her congratulations in Spanish,
which her old husband translated to the
brides old husband, making very anus.
ing scene all around.
Other noGables called who were not sc
good-natured and much more critical
They found her beautiful and in silk
attire. They voted her given to gauch
cries from lack of form, and seated in
so high chair that her feet did moi
touch the floor; that her home was moi
in fashionable quarter, and her apart
ments were stutfy and commonplace
But now all is changed.
In society here the lady receives much
sympathy. According to the natura
laws of selection and harmony, the wo
mans youth, beauty, grace and charm
of manner must initiate in her favor
against a husband old enough to be hel
grandfather, and whose habits of life
have been such as to give him a distast,
for fashionable society, and an utter in
difference to the attractions OF opera
balls, and other amusements SO essentia
to young people, and which the lady hac
expected to follow in the wake of ranl
and riches.
, A husband had never been 80 boldIy
played for and 50 easily won as hers. 1
may be so that the course of true Low,
never does run smooth, but it is fixee
fact that when a woman sets out to catcf
husband not handicapped with love
the machine runs straight along as if il
had been oiled for the occasion. Tht
Senator's capture had been determined
upon before the opening of Congress il
|, 1875. And SO adroitly had the lady
managed, seconded by her mother, thai
month after they met they were en-
gagged, and married at the expiration O
three weeks longer. The lady modestly
, pleaded for more time in order to carr
the money for handsome trousseau, bu
the impatient lover placed several hun
dred dollars in her hand, and imploret
her to hasten matters.
r To keep the wedding as secret as pos
t sible thew purchased the wedding outfi
{ in Baltimore, and fashionable modist,
, here made the dresses, but no mention
was made of the happy mans name il
her atelier to reach the outer world.
The unusual activity of the door hell