The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-06-21
MARRIAGE IN FRANCE
pDcuLIAR rEATuREs ABOUT
 WEDDING CEREMONY.
Mayor Performs the seryice-The Church Function Is Only .
 Natter of Form and .@ ostentatious Display.

Sterling Helig. in The Chicago Record Herald 4t, I.
 Paris. May 22.-I have just come from a wedding at the Madeleine The bride, as she descended the broad steps at the head of the procession. clinging to the bride groom's arm, had doubtless the great mo- ment of her life. It was Il a. m. The ceremony in the church was over. The bride as she descended those broad steps stood at the pinnacle of earthly glory in the dreams of every young French girl
 The Madeleine, you see, Is more than a swell church. It is monument or hlgn publicity. Situated at the top of the Rue Royale, it points to the Champs Elysees and Paris beautiful while on its left " marks the entrance to the famous poule- ward, the centre of the brilliant cosmo- politan whirl.
 The bright morning sunlight fell upon the bride In her white dress and great veil. It fell upon the groom-in evening clothes It fell upon the best man and the other men, and all of them were dressed in evening clothes. Two young men only wore frock coats. while half a dozen others. who had In their secret hearts the English aud American ideals, had buttoned up their light overcoats. The ladies wore gay calling costumes. as is right, but the men. in spite of the late example of Paul Deschenel, dared not infringe the old Paris custom of the evening suit for morning wedddings-and funerals. '' '5
 It was glorious wedding, long drawn out, with carpets. hangings, candles, flow CTS. orchestra and opera stars, and Swiss in uniform. The father of the bride led forward his daughter; the groom had his mother on his arm; then followed the mother of the bride, accompanied by the father of the groom, while the organ and the orchestra pla, d Bach's Prelude" and the .'Fruhlingsklage" of Mendeis- sohn. Harps and violins were the favor lte orchestral instruments.
 The head Swiss" in his gorgeous court hunky uniform, hat on head and band masters staff in hand, told the bridal party what to do at each turn-kneel, 'ise, take the candle. advance toward the altar; and he whispered to the groom to push the wedding ring carefully down over the brides second joint-otherwise the marriage might turn out unhappy He also Kept the bride from getting tan gled in her train.
 Roll on. music! The bride is weeping in the sacristy, where everyone signs the big book. Roll on, music! for the gay and chattering procession to stand on the Greek porch of the Madeleine while all the carriages roll up, one by one, to take them to the wedding breakfasti Nevertheless this wedding at the Made leine has taken place at queer epoch in the history of the marriage institution in the pleasant land of France.
 In the first place, this church wedding Is no wedding. According to the present laws of France 1t does not marry the young people any more than going to the Moulin Rouge would marry them. The legal marriage took place earlier RTtn
 There, in bare waiting room, a dozen other marriage parties had assembled. When a good batch had collected they were ranged in line. The mayor of the ward then entered. He stepped up to the first couple.
 Do you take this woman for your wife?' he asked the groom, who an-
 Do you take this man for your hus- band?" Yes"
 Then the groom, slipping a ring over the brides finger, said:
 s" This ring is the sign of the marriage we have here contracted 9
 Then they sign the register and walk out That is all-the documents piled on the secretary's desk have done the rest These documents are:
 First-The formal acts of consent of all four parents. if living, or the death cer- tihcates of such as are deceased With out these no Frenchman under 35 ar French girl under 30 may contract a mar riage, and even later. when parents are stubborn, they can put their middle-aRed children to immense trouble in a law suit against them called the respectful sum- mons. ,Second-The certificate of birth of both parties, which are indispensable When. during the Franco PrussIan war and commune records were destroyed, en- abling acts had to be passed to make a great number of marriages possible. I know an Austrian young man in Paris who dteires to marry and cannot because he is refused a copy of his birth certi6- l cate by the chancellerie of his Govern ment in the Rue Laffitte.
 Third-The certificate of the legal pub lieation of the banns.
 Fourth-The groom's certificate that he | has done his military service Now note | at home or abroad, no Frenchmen can he | married legally in France without full | filling every one of these formalities Abroad the French consul takes the | mayors place and that is the only diff | ference. American girls, take notice! l All over the world Frenchmen are going l through solemn local marriage cere- monies which they are free to repudiate l in France have said that this wedding at the | -NnueiSihe tOoh pldCe at queer epoch. | Doubtless neither bride or bridegroom | thought about it, but on this same day l appeared the new book of Alfred Naouet. | called the father of divorce in France. And at the same hour a hundred Depu- , ties were being buttonholed by advocates of the proposed enlarged divorce law of the Marguerite brothers and President Judge Magnaud
 It IS curious thing that the divorce law as 1t stands in France is the work of one man, the father of divorce" aI- ready mentioned. Alfred Naauet. Hav- ing need for divorce himself, this great man, by his perseverance. had a law put on the statute books not differing greatly from the moderate systems of New York or Pennsylvania. This was in 1884, after the tremendous battle of tho Radicals and Conservatives of 1881
 At that time there was no divorce In France. Under the old law Kings mar riages were now and then declared null. in powerful families. by the Pope. The French revolution brought a wide open divorce law It was "mutilated" in the consular reaction and Napoleon, as