Telegram-herald., 1889-09-19

were aot properly aDa czre.c.Ly l>ed
v ae1. however, marriage ceca11e . cer-
trscE a11 Nas rccegu lzcd - saeE tas ceL-
seat q tAs bride Nzs "a Ia pertant prs4.Gal-
Aarg. and WAS generally so1lre1 - 4 -fls.
scuiet. .u.es q r11-lll4l. oflen of rrsl yA-ee-
As CIVILIZATION cn4eRea the oepclucus q
hfe. the Al zrriec ststs DeezEe muca Aore
expensive the wife tecs ne X Gag ~ tie
resources q her E.> band, sha 1ael bsFza
T. deuaE1 taal, Instead 81 paying for their
wives, they sagu.d rsSelvc sogle ceiu pensz-
ton for being vA-lng to marry. lnis orlgl-
natod tie brides ceyyry. ca tae prGeple
that IS marriage = = coStrsCt aud tae ex-
penses 0f a married ulan are Tar greater
than those Of = bachelor, tue bride should
contribute u The resources Of The house
hold.
Ia every Welsh neighborhood, uutil a.
most the middle 0f the present century,
there was = funciioaary Auown a. the bid
der. The duty Il tLlS important Official Vas
- give notice cf al approaching marriage.
waich he cid by perambglAuug the neigh
borhooi aud surrounding country annouEc-
ing the festivities, ilyIting every body 10
attend, aud stating in pleasant Welsh dog
gerel rhymes the important people who
would be present, the merits Of the groom,
the beauty and graces Of the bride, and The
abundance and delcsc.es of the yiEnGs that
would be placed before the guests. BE also
served notice OF al persons indebted Ia wed
ding gifts 10 the groom and bride or 20 their
parents 70 pay up al once, the meaning of
which peculiar dun viii DO apparent IA the
light OF the fact that On previous occasions
the parents OF the pair have contributed 20
the household effects Of half the neignbor-
hood, and naturally desire a return.
On the day of the wedding the presents are
/ laid out In rows on tables and an auctiOneer,
/ paid for the p1rpOse, attends and values a. a
/ cash rate every thing that has been present
ed. Receipts IN due form are given, and ia
case the gift is not the payment Of a debt
similarly incurred, return Of SIM Ar value
/ Is ext .cted when a marriage taxes place
ia the family Of the donor By this plan
the drain on resources of families for wed
ding presents is, IN some measure, made
/ good by return, for among The " Welsh the
same kind Of article IS, ifposslblc, returned
when payment Is requested, so that be who
! gives pickle dish receives q pickle dish,
and to prevent multiplicity of pickle dishes
a consultation Of neighbors is generally held,
at which the gifts 10 be made are determined.
| Among the wedding presents. however,
there Is often one which, from its pc
culiarity. is observable 1t is a gift from
the groom To the bride, and is in the form Of
q small box, 10 contain such little trinl1ets
as she may have. Once II was an invaria-
bic accompaniment OF wedding, but, like
the bidding and the bidder, IL Is now falling
into disuse, and is more rarely seen than
even in the middle 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 the middle ages there were among
the Kings and nobenren Of Enrope two
I kinds of marriages-the one in which the
wife shared the honor OF her hus band, and
her children inherited his rank and fortune.
il he had any, the other in which he gave
his left hand during the ceremony; his wife
was merely his legaliZed 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-
firmed the morning after its celebration by
gift-the orgengabe-generally Of deeds
TO property, the documents being inclosed
in O small but valuable box. In passing. it
may be noted that many complications grew
out Of these two styles of matrimOny, for
certain noblemen conceived the idea that,
beside regular, right-hand wife theyw were
entitleds also TO a morganauc or lefthand
! spouse, II lLtN NhDNtu one. luilip IouN-
! grave, of Hesse. one Of the supporters oftno
reformation, was Of tins opinion, Dut being
man Of prudence, determined to take &c
clesiastical counsel on the subject, and &C
cordingly wrote 10 Luther and Meanch-
thon, requesting an approval Of his course.
The question was exceedingly delicGte, for
the Landgrave was not a man 20 be trihed
with, and threatened to appeal 10 the En-
peror or even 10 the Pope, in case of the re-
fusai of the rcformers to sanction his action
In the proposed second marriage. In an
swer, they, therefore, drew up a most re-
markable document, disapproving Of such
marriages in general, but confirming the
act of Philip, who. thus fortified by clerical
authority, be married, morCanatically, Mar
guerte dc Staal, and gave her what was
said 70 be the most beautiful wedding cas-
ket ever seen in Germany.
In these days the wedding casket was for
the bridegroom solemn reality, for he was
expected not only TO provide the casket, but
also to FIJI it with the finest jewels his mean
could procure. When his species Of gift
was found 10 be too much Of tar, the Jew
els were omitted from the programme, but
the box was retained and presented usually
with a single piece Of money inside. as sym
bOlic of "s.ll the worldly goods with which
the groom, even 10 the present dav. IL sup
posed TO endow his bride. The museums OF
Europe contain many Of these wedding
csskets, there being no little variety in
their material, form and manufacture. in
the fourteenth century there was an idea
prevalent in most parts OF Europe that az a
wedding the nature OF the groom's occupa-
ton should be symbolzed in some way by
the surroundings. Thus, the carpenter, in
walking into the church with his new-found
treasure. prouenaded over shavings aud
chips which were strown on the pavement
The shoemaker had a friend precede the
j0v.al party. carrying pair Of shoes on a
pole; the tanner haG an uRtauued hide
borne in the van Of the little procession
the ropemsker coil n his own rope. the
blacksmith was preceded By bis anvil, on
which members of the company from time
to time enthusiss'ics r performed
Smallest Town in the Coon;ry.