Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1886-10-27
WEDDING PROCESSION.
ONE OF THE MOST CURIOUS FEA-
TURES OF FRENCH LIFE.

Taking the Matrimonial Plunge In the
Most OBSERVATIONS Fashion--Coming of
the Bride and Groom-A Disregard of
Good Manners.
To those who are not accustomed to such
sights in their own country, perhaps the most
curious feature of French life is the wedding
| procession in the open air. When the French
! plunge into matrimony, they show no shy
ness over it; on the contrary, they take the
plunge in the most osttntatious fashion.
They wish all the world to stand by and adj
| nire their heruisn, and, lest the world should
not take any trouble in the matter, they sally
forth from the church or marie dressed in
hymeneal garb, and spend the best part of
tw'> days promenadins in public and attract
ny all the attention they can to themselves
ihis custom Is general among the masses of
The people. Among the higher classes it is
needless TO say that there is no wedding pro-
| cesslon outside of the church, unless it DO The
procession of carriages.
Those who wish to see one of these corteges
les noces will have no difficulty in doing so if
they are in Paris at this season, which, above
all others, is the one in which mankind is
prone to marry. They have only to spend an
afternoon at st. Cloud, Clamart, Meudon or
any of the suburban rural retreats, and they
Will he sure to see at least cue noce, and they
may see half dozen 4 sudden clattar of
tongues tells me that one is coming. a pro
cession of twenty, thirty OF fifty people, walk
ing two and two, is passing near, headed by
young woman dressed in white, with wreath
man in a "claw-hammer" coat, with q great
deal of shirt showing, a white necktie, a tall
hat, and with his hands encaSed in white
gloves. A bouquet in the buttonhole COM
pletcs the invariable costume of the bride
groom. Those who follow are relatives and
intimate friends. Among them may often be
seen an old couple-the man in a hat Of the
bygone chlmney-pot pattern, and the woman
HI a great white cap, an elaborate work of
art in the way of starChing and ironing They
are he parents or the bride OF Bridegroom,
a-,.'sometimes there are two such couples. If
There one serious face in the whole party it
is that of the bride She feels that the eyes
of the world are guizz'cally fixed upon her,
and that everybody is saying 80 la belle
mariee!' or something less pleasant.
RADIANT WITH SATISFACTION
As a rule. however her face, like the bride
yroom's is radiant with satisfaction. and her
,hrlll laughter piercrs the air when her ears
'atch the latest joke from the low comedian
If the party-and it Is sure to include one.
When wit is wanting, buffoonery supplies its
place While the noce is promenadimg-foI
owing the bride and bridegroom as sheep fol-
ow their leader, feast is L.4ng prepared at
ncighboring restaurant, which displays
Elong its front the words, salons pour noces
eft teStinS,n At about O'Clock the procession |
enters the restaurant and the rest of the
evening Is spent in teasting, dancing and up |
ruarlniS merriment This programme, with |
out the marriage ceremony, Is repeated the |
next day at some other place. Rut it Is the |
rule there for the bride not 10 promenade in |
white, but in black silk
These wedding professions are not without |
a certain quaint picturesqueness and in some |
out-of thew districts they are associated |
with much that is pastoral and beautiful in |
its simplicity; hut there is nothing to he said |
in favor of the custom as it is practiced in the |
Of Paris and other large cen
terS. To n really modest girl the ordeal of be-
ing thus paraded before the public gaze can
not be otherwise than painful, for it is quite
opposed to delicacy Moreover, every person
invited to a noce of the kind | have been
describing considers that he is in duty bound
to air his wit. When the well-hred French
man airs his wit he can 18th difficulty restrain
his Raheaisan spirit, whichsis so character
istic of the Gaul, even in the presence of ladies'
When the ill-hred Frenchman tries to be |
it is generally at the expense of
decency. That respect for women which so
frequently niIs the coarse joke in the bud |
among Anglo-Saxons who have any claim to
is hardly perceptible in French
men who have never felt the restraining in
fuence of polite society. 1t may very well be
that the women are as much to blame as the
men for this state of things: nevertheless. no
Frenchman. | think would deny that young
woman who has just become a wife, if she has
any modestv. had better he deaf during the
two DAYS of Teasing and promenading which
are so often the beginning of matrimonial ex.
perience in this country.-Paris Cor Boston
Transcript