Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-08-24

protection, and to their parents for having
raised them. The husband then presents
his wife to the members of his family and
to the friends present. The band con-
tinues to play during the entire ceremony
and the dinner which follows it.
You will notice the simplicity Of these
ceremonies; they are neither religious
nor civil; no priest assists and no official
is present; there is neither conservation
nor certificate given; the only witnesses
of the marriage are God, the family and
the friends. After the dinner, and
throughout the evening, the doors Of the
house remain wide open, and all the
neighbors and even the passers-by are
permitted TO enter and gaze upon the
bride, who remains standing in the par
Tor, separated from the public by table,
upon which are placed two lighted can
delabra.
The day after the marriage it becomes
the brides turn to introduce her husband
to her parents, at whose house the same
ceremonies are repeated. Such are, gen.
orally speaking. our marriage customs.
They do not vary except in the splendor
Of the details among the rich families.
If it were the custom with the rich in
Europe to have professions at their
marriages, the ceremonies would be as
imposing as are those Of their funerals.
But such is not the case, for elaborate
C6ItUuulGs are no uiUIG lue ldSuiUu. Iue1
are suppressed as much as possible and
il is only in the country that marriage
festivities are still in vogue: there they
dance. they sing and amuse themselves.
Marriages in high life as l have witnessed
them are in reality anything but gay. No
one attends the civil ceremony and those
who are invited to witness the religious
service are in a hurry to get out Of church.
As soon as the bridal party reaches home
they change their toilets and hurry of on
their bridal tour on the next train. In
fact it would only be possible to consume
less time if the Mayor and the Minister
should await the couple at the station and
perform the marriage ceremony on the
train. l believe that it will eventual Y
come to that.
l strongly believe in the influence of
ceremonies. They inspire respect for the
deed itself. In spite of yourself you feel
impressed by a sOlemnity which You can
not define, but which exists nevertheless.
Ceremonies have certain air Of mystery
about them, and we cannot help feeling
their elevating influence. The less i'm
posing the ceremonies the less important
the deed seems to YOU. For this reason
marriage has lost much of its charm in
Europe.
1t is very curious fact that the hon.
ors shown the dead have ever remained
the same; public opinion respects them.
and the mOurners themselves do not care
to change them. Why is it soY 1t is be-
cause the ceremonies Of the living are
open TO criticism, while in the presence
of death old customs are allowed to re-
main. In modern Europe all ceremonies
are more or less serious, but some old
books have informed me that il has not
always been so. In former times people
lived more in direct communication with
nature, and / have discovered from these
old manuscripts that great many Gus
toms resemble those OF the Chinese,
which leads me to conclude that these
changes do not denote progress, at least
rarely is it so. When l look at the
beautiful costumes of the Olden time,
the plumed hats and embroidered cloaks,
/ cannot help thinking the black silk hat
and that odd black dress coat which
everybody and especially the walters
wear, very ugly. l believe that if some
one We're to write a complete history of
the customs and costumes of the world,
most Of the changes would be found to
correspond with some important event.
Formerly the costume Of a man indicated
his rank, and the local customs kept up
the affection Of the people for their native
land, but nowadays all the people in
Europe dress alike and pay no more at
tentiOn to the other. II this be considered
progress, it has been attained, but l
neither admire nor envy it.