Morning journal and courier., 1892-09-12
No. 2iS

of figure. 1 was utterly taken aback by
what followed. As soon as the marriage
ceremony was completed the bride asked
me in a soft, timid voice: "Plesse, sir,
will you baptize the bsbyF7 and at the
same moment one of the women lifted q
child from the cradle. In 10y Innocence /
asked: "Whose baby is itf' and the bride,
with face scarlet with blushes, meekiy
| answered, "It's mine, sir" What could
dos Why should the innocent child be de-
MED the Christian sacrament! The in
FAINT was placed in the arms of the bride
groom father, snd, with an extra touch of
pathos that / sincerely felt, / solemnly
commended the babe to the care of him
who said Suffer little children to come
unto me"
nsVe had some experience of marriages
south of the Tweed. Here there are no
home marrisges. The ceremony takes
place In church, and is often witnessed by
large congregation. Ii is the eticuette
for the bridegroom to be first on the spot
to welcome the arrival of the bride. /
once ofhciated at a marrisgs In the north
OF England in which a bride was placed in
most trying position. She was led down
the aisle of the church by her father, a
venerable, handsome looking gentleman,
followed by a bevy of bridesmaids, aud
they took their places in front of the com
munion rail. But the bridegroom was no.
where to be seen, and 10 one could account
for his absencs. The church was full of
eager, interested spectators, and observed
the rustic and futter of a growing excite
ment as the whisper went round, "Where
is the bridegroom suggested that the
ladies should retire into the vesiry, but
the bride declined with gentle frmness,
as much as 10 say. "I have come here TO
be married, and / am not goips TO run
away. Besides, / am cure my beloved will
be here immediately" But MINUTES that
seemed drawn out into unusual length
passed away, and he did not come IL was
time of intense and painful suspense.
The father and mother fdgeted and flushed,
the bridesmaids were in the nervous bor-
derland between laughing and crying, and
the congregation talked in buzzing whis-
pers. 1 engaged the bride in convrrsAtion
and indulged in a little diverting pleassn-
try. "Be brave" said ]; keep mp your
heart; don't faint on INV account; but If
you wish TO indulge in that innocent luxn-
~ do 1t gracefully Lean yonr head gent
ly on your fathers shoulder and take care
not TO dissrrangc that lovely WREATH She
bore up splendidly. and was the most self
possessed of the whole party. The crisis
was passed as the congregation rose to
watch the entrance of the bridegroom.
and he and the best man besn1ing with
satisfaction walked down the aisle utterly
unconscious that they had been the cause
of any awkward waiting. and they were
both astonished 10 fnd the bride had al
ready arrived The ceremony proceeded
in the usual way and all ended happily.
The blunder arose by the driver m1ddling
his orders. Instead of going ffst for the
bridegroom, scoor6ing to his insuncfions,
he went to different psrt of the town for
the bride.
The putting on of the wedding ring is
an important part of the Ceremony in the
English service. The ring lie placed on the
book out of which the service Is read: and
the minister, handing the ring 70 the bride
q oOm, instrgcts him 10 place it half way
On the third finger of the left hand of the
bride, and, holding 1t there, to repsat aud
bly the following formula: with this
ring, a token and pledge of the vow and
covenant now made betwixt me and thse,
thee wed, in the name OF the Father and
IF the Son and of the Holy Ghost" IL is
/ curious fact that though this formula is
usually broken up into eight fragments
ior the sake of easy repetition, il Is rarely
repeated with perfect accuracy. They're
stumbling block is the phrase, Now made
me sld thee" Though the words
are pnt Immediately into the mouth of The
1t is invariably rendered Be
twixt thee and me-" This is the rule in
my experience. 1t Is an exception when
IL is repeated sccurAt-ly-"Me and thee"
The bridegroom Is then asked 10 place the
ring fully on the finger; aud this is not al
ways easily accomplished / have seen it
done with such facility and nearness as in
iicated that ibeIe must have been some
previous practice of the art. But some
lines the ring is very obsiinAte and diff
,ult of manipulation, and have seen the
hurried pair get into an excited pucker in
heir desperate efforts to push the refrac-
ory symbol over the second joint re-
member a case of this kind once occurred
n Lancashire, whore / YVES marrying
couple of mill workers. The ring seemed
Tedged with little wrinkles at the second
oint, and the combined Efforts of the
bridegroom and bride to slip it down the
inger were unavsiling. The man grew
ed in the face with his exertious, and I
Was really afraid he would dislOcate the
ipger. / whispered, Leave 1t where it is
and let Us proceed" No, he was not GO
ng to be beaten with bit of ring Bat
aed at all points lie at last ssid, ''W+et it,
weet it," TIE b;ide at once stuffed the
ingsr into her mouth, as if it Were deli
oious sweetmeat, and TINS lubr;cated the
ring was st length satisfactorily
adjusted.
On another occasion, when We came to
The ring part of the ceremony, the bride
extended her hand and there was no third
inger-it had been sinputated. The bride
groom had given me a hint of this singu-
ar fact before the marriage. The ring was
placed on the second finger, and j have not
heard that anything dreadful happened in
1t must be some comfort to
our lady readers to know that even the
loss of the marriage finger is no bar to