Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-11-16
WEDDING CASkuS.
OIien Time Marriages and tho Presents
 Which Aaoo.ana.liSG Ehan,.

ladies concerned, there was no thought Of 1 presenting the bride with any thing save 1 ths necessary utensils for housekeeping, | says the St. Louls Globe-Democrat, and tho promise of condign punishment in casethey ! were Hot properly and efficiently used. 1 When however, marriage became con- l tract and was recognized as such, the con- 1 sent of the bride was an important prelinli- | nary, and was generally secured by gifts, sometimes of nominal, often of real value. l As civilization changed the conditions Of 1 life, the married state became much moro expensive; the wife became drag on the l resources of her husband, and then began to demand that, instead of paying for their l wives, they should receive some conpeusa- ] tion for being willing to marry. This orlgl- 1 mated the brides dowry, on the principle 1 that as marriage is a contract and the eX- l penses of @ married man arc far greater than those of bachelor, the bride should l contribute to the resources Of the house. 1 hold.
 in every Welsh neighborhood, until al- | most the middle of the present century, there was a functionary known as the bid der The duty of thls important official was l to give notice of an approaching marriage, 1 Which he aid by perambulating the neigh l borhood and surrounding country annouuc- l Ing tho festivities, inviting every body to attend, and stating in pleasant Welsh dog l gerel rhymes the important people who would be present, the merits of the groom, l the beauty and grsces of the bride, and the abundance and delicacieS of the viands that l would be placed before the guests. He also l served notice on all persons indebted i'll we'd l ding gifts to the groom and bride CT to their l parents to pay up at once, the meaning of l which peculiar dun will bo apparent in the l light of the fact that on previous occasions l the parents of the pair have contributed to 1 the household effects of half the ueighpor- l hood, and naturally desire 8 return.
 On the day of the wedding the presents aro laid out in rows on tables, and an auctioneer, paid for the purpose, attends ana values d q l cash rate every thing that has been present. 1 ed. Receipts in due form are given, and in case the gift is not tho payment of a debt 1 similarly incurred, a return of similar value is expected when a marriage takes placo ln the family of the donor. By this plan the drain on resources of families for we'd ding presents is, in some measure, made good by . return, for among the Welsh tho same kind of article is, if possible, returned when payment is requested, so that he who gives pickle dish receives a pickle dish. and to prevent il multiplicity of pickle dishes a consultation of ncighbors is generally held, at winch the gifts to be made are determined. Among the wedding presents, however, there IS often ono which, from it's De- | y. Is ODScrNaDlC. It Is a gliG rom | the groom to the bride, and is in the form Cf | q small box, to contain such little trinl1Cts $ as she may have Once it was an inyaria- l ble accompaniment of q wedding, but, like the bidding and the bidder, it Is now falling into disuse, and is moro rarely sCCn than even in the mlddlc of the present century But three or four hundred years ago the wedding casket was as important an acces sorry to the ceremony as the ring.
 During tho middle ages there were among l the Kings and nOblcmen of Europe tive kinds of marriages-the one in which the wife shared the honor of her husband, and her children inherited his rank and fortune if he had any, the other iii winch he gave his left hand during the ceremony: his wife l was merely his legaiZcl companion, her children could not inherit his property, and she herself did not take his name nor share his rank. The latter marriage was con- frmed the morning after it's celebration by il gift-the nlorgong gabc-gcncrcily of deeds to property, the documents being incloScd in small but valuable box. In passing, il may bo noted that many complications grew out of these two styles of matrimOay, foT certain nOblCmGn conceived the idea that, beside a regular, right-hand wife they were entltledc also to morganat!c or l2tt-haRL spouse, if they wanted one. Philip Land grave, ofEesse, one of the supporters OfthC reformation, was of thls opinion, but being a man of prudence, determined to take co
 cesiastical counsel on the subject, and ac
 cordingly wrote to Luther and Mclanch
 thon, requesting an approval of his course
 The question was exceedingly Gelicatc, for the Landgrave was not g man to be triicd with, and threatened to appeal to the Elm
 pcror, or even to tho Pope, in case of the re- fusal of the reformers to sanction his action in the proposed second marriage In an swer, they, therefore, drew up a most re markable document, dlsapproying of such marriages ill general but confirming the act of Philip, who, thus fortified by clerical
 authority, he married, morganatically, Mar | guerite de Staal, and gave her what was said to be tho most beautiful wedding cas-
 ket ever seen in Germany.
 In these days the wedding casket was fol
 the bridegroom a solemn reality, for he Was expected not only to provide the casllet, bu
 also to fill it with the finest jewels his mean: could procure. When his species of gif 1 was found to be too much of a tax, the jew 1 els were omitted from the programme, bu | the box was retained and presented usually
 with single piece of money Inside, sym
 bolic of ''all the worldly goods" with wEicl the groom, even to the present day, is sup
 posed to eudow his brido. The museums o
 Europe contain many of these wedding l caskets, there being no Etto variety ir l their material form and manufacture. II
 the fourteenth century there was an idle;
 prevalent in most parts of Europe that at
 wedding the nature of the groom's occupa
 tion should be symbolized in some way b,
 the surroundings. Thus, the carpenter, ir
 walking into the church with his new-fouu,
 treasure, promenaded over shavlngs an,
 chips which were strewn on the pavement
 The shoemaker had a friend preceGe tn
 jovial party, carryinga pair of shoes on
 I nlDs Tor had mt ta I h
 borne in the van of the little procession
 the ropemaker coil of his own rope; tn 0 blacksmith was preceded by his anvil, ol o which members of the company from tim . to timo enthusiastically performed.
 1 lost inf 8i,f,E EnIIr