The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-05-22

shillings and pence. The pages of
Judge Sewall's diary give ample proof
of his shrewd calculation in courtships,
both his own and his children's. And
the pages also show that he proved a
very good husband In spite of the
sharpness of his bargaining. A mar
riage settlement was a very important
matter in those days. A girl should
get married, of course, without a dowry
but she could not expect to match with
anyone Of very high standing in the
community unless she brought money
in her pocket.
There was some sentiment in love-
making, albeit of a rather broadly-out-
lined kind. A favoritc method of ex-
preston was by very energetic love
at first sight" and speedy marriage. /
am constrained to note that the hero
of this sort of romance has been in
every case which l have noted a wild
over. No romantic bachelor has ever
fallen in love at sight of fair maid
who sat milking her fathers cows,
proposed at once and married her as
soon as published. 1t has always been
widower who did this, and l am
bound to state, in approval of this APP
parently hasty choice, that the speed
ily-won bride always proved a notable
hOusekeeper. 1t has never been a
bachelor who had ridden to a mans
door and said boldly; II hear you have
a young daughter. l should like to see
her with q view to marrying her." and
followed this step by very speedy
march into matrimony. 1t is always
q widower who is such a hardy wooer,
often-let it not dim the glory of the
romance-a widower with children, who
need immediate care. We do not, how
ever, find a father who will make such
an offer to entlce a favorable answer,
as did Rev. Michael Wigglesworth, the
popular poet the author of the terrible
Day of DOOM" He was a widower
with several children, and he evidently
feared that his sought-for bride would
object to so many membranes; hence
he offers darkly to dispose of some of
method of disposal
1t has seemed to me, in studying do
mestic relations in the Colonies, that
widows and widowers were both so
much sought for as marriage partners,
were so evidently preferred to unmar-
ried men and women, that 1 have Won
dered how the supply of first husbands
and wives held out; how anyone was
willing to be the first partner, the sac
rifice, as it were.
NEVER TOO OLD TO MARRY.
Old age did not deter them from
marrying, nor ruin their opportunities.
Marriages of widows over 60 years of
age were frequent, and seem to have
hppn rpUnr1p1 a o. i,,tn
and even sentiment. The pages of
Judge Sewalrs diary tell us of his
fluctuations" as he termed his vari-
Gus attempts at matrimony in his sue
cessive widowerhoods, and show that
while he never lost sight of the busi-
ness aspect of the proposed contract,
he still could be somewhat mawkish
and silly; as mawkish and silly as
could, perhaps, be expected Of a wooer
or three score years and ten.
Many frankly simple customs pre-
vailed. ] do not know at how early a
date the fashion obtained of Coming
out bride" on Sunday; that is, the pub
lie appearance of bride and groom, and
sometimes entire bridal party, in we'd
ding array, at church the Sunday after
the marriage. 1t certainly was a COM
times, both in New England and in
New York. Gabriel Furman, in his
manuscript Commonplace Book" dat
ed 1870, tells of one groom whom he
saw who appeared on the first Sunday
after his marriage attired in white
broadcloth; on the second, in brilliant
blue and sold; on the third, in peach
bloom, with pearl buttons. The brides
dress, wholly obliterated by all this
masculine magni1icence, is not even
named.
Cotton Mather wrote, in 171S. that he
deemed 1t wise to have the newly-mar-
Iled couple appear publicly with some
dignity. Judge awalls daughter and
her husband walked with six other cou-
pies to meeting the Sunday after her
marriage. In Brooklyn, Conn, it was
the custom for the bride and groom to
SIT in the gallery and at a certain point
In the service to rise and turn around
several times slowly to show their
bridal iinery to the whole congregation.