Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-06-19
MARRIAGE IN RUSSIA.
flow Fashionable People Conduct the
 Ceremony.

Ceremony.
 Tho Russians generally marry quite young i'll the upper classes, and among corniry people even at an earlier age; and to the honor of this society be 1t said, love marriages are the rule, and marriages for money are worry rare excep- lions. Dowry hunting and marriages of Interest havc not yet made their appear nncc in Russian manners. Girls of high social position readily marry young offi- cers of the guard, who furnish the larg- est contingent of dancers to the balls of St. Petersburg.
 During the carnival fetes the two ar mies-the army in petticoats and the army that wears epa ulets-learn to know each other thoroughly. Friend ships spring up the young man pays 1 court, and one day, without having con- suited anybody, two frances come to ask of the parents q blessing, which is never l refused. The church does not marry during Lent, so they have to wait until Easter week. Fashion demands for tho celebration of the ceremony the chapel of some private house, if the couple have not sufficiently lofty relations to secure the chapel of tho palace. A family that | respects itself ought to have at its wed- ding as honorary father and honorary mother, if not the emperor and empress, | at least a grand duke and grand S holy image. which some little child re- | lated to the families carries in front of | tho dances. They enter the church, followed by all their friends in gala uni | forms.
 | Tine ceremony begins. It is very long and complicated with many symbolic | rites. small table, sort of movable altar, is placed in the middle of the ora | tory the couple are separated from it by l n hl n f, nf Cnfi in Nph hn priest calls they must advance, and the | first who sets foot on the band, whether husband or wife, will be tho one who will impose his or her will in the household This is an article of faith for all the ma trons, who watch them at that moment. On the table is placed the liturgical formulary, the candles which they must hold, the cross which they will kiss, the rings which they will exchange, the cup of wine in which they will moisten their lips, and which Is called in the Slavonic ritual ''the cup of bitterness" Pages re- lieve each other to carry with outstrctced arms two heavy crowns, which must be held above the heads of the tiances while the ceremony continues.
 At the decisive moment when tho priest Is pronouncing the words that bind them around the altar, followed by the crown bearers; until the third turn is com- pleted there is time to turn back; after that the dle is east, the couple are united for life. Thereupon the singers strike up in their most strident voices tbe joyful hymn. "Let Isaiah Rejoice" The bride and groom then go and prostrate them selves before the Virgin of Iconostase and kiss her tilagree robe, after which they pass into the neighboring salon, where they gayly clink glasses of cham pagne, while the invited guests receive boxes of sweetmeats marked with the mono gram of the young couple.-The Vicomte Eugene Melchoir dc Vogue, ir Harpers Magazine.
 Smoking during service is said to b, customary in some of the rural churche in Holland
 An exhibition of birds, fishes and in sects, illustrative of the natural histor, of the Thames, has been opened at Rich mond.