THE LADIES' COLUMN.

Tuapeka Times, Volume I, Issue 37, 24 October 1868, Page 6

THE LADIES' COLUMN.

A WEDDING INDEED

To tho Editor. of the " Pall Mall Ga-

Bctte."

i Sir, — Wednesday, July 23, was a notable day in that part of London which ia situated upon tho sea, and which was known, to tho ancients as Brighthelmstono. On that day the first wedding over celebrated at St. Paul's, West-sfcrcot, took place. The ceremony (or, according to tho " Homo Paulina?," tho sacrament) was fixed, it is said, for half-past ton a.m. ; but before half-past .nine the church of St. Paul's was, it' fishermen speak truth, filled, and West-street blockaded. Of course, on such an occasion "priests" wexo abundant ; threo at least are- believed to havo had a hand iv making two into one. Tho service, was a« intricate as the most orthodox or heterodox could desire, and tho place of performance thereof was shifted in tho inout unexceptionable manner from point to point, until the heathen must havo boon at their wil's end. The priefsts shifted their garments so as to satisfy tho niopt exorbitant ; from cope to alh, from alb to chasuble, from chasuble, to dalmatic. Tho Holy Eucharist was received by the bi'ido and bridegroom only, it is reported : — (he other persona having, probably, come with tho reverential intention of looking on. Tho "altar was vested in whitcd frontal," and was ornamented with flowers, which of course were choice, and, equally of course, were arranged with all tho grace exhibited by thoso who would fain bo married towards those who. arc going to be. Lest anybody should fear that things were not altogether "comfort- j able," ifc should be mentioned that there, were altar candles lighted dur- I ing both sacraments. A "glorious wedding march " concluded the — business seems a very poor word under tho circumstances, but is perhaps as I appropriate as any other. The curious may bo glad to know that at different j)eriods there were snug, wholly or in part, Noa. 212, 213, 206, nnd 207 from "Hymns Ancient and Modern," and No. 129 from tho " Hymnal Noted." No doubt the wholo performance was likely to impress very vividly upon the performers, to say nothing of tho spectators, the perious (aTicl long-endm'ing, not to say todious) natnro of what was undertaken ; and a shorfe notice of the affair may be cither a warning or an encouragement (according to diversities of temperament) to those persons who, having High Church tendencies, are inclined to marry on three hundred a year. For it is to bo "presumed in such «i country as this, that you cannot get married in that manner for nothing. — Your obedient servant, Nioek. That inveterate misogynist, Augustus Muggins Esquire, sends us the following. AYe punish him by — printing it: — the chigxox. That Fa*!i'iim's views of what is fair Are plw.rrs r.omo\vhnt hazy You must admit ; but then of lato Bhe seems to have gone crazy. I know not what tho fato3 decree, But if I hive to wed, I slwnikl not liko a wife who wore A haycock on her head. It may seem cruel to attack With any hitter blame Such trifles, but you know by law All hares are counted game. As female suffrage is the vogue, For purposes of state, The ladies all may wish to show Tlieir heads have sometimes weight. But after all I cannot sec Whatever can bo gained By showing np to all the world They only are hair-brained. Gus. Muggins. FOR-BTDDCfG THE '"' BA2OTS." — On Sunday last, tho congregation of a certain parish church, not a hundred miles from Closeburn, were startled by a very unusual proceeding in tho church. A yoimg .man and young woman in that neighbourhood had resolved to unite their fortunes in the bonds of matrimony, and to be proclaimed three times last Sunday. On the precentor proclaiming the couple for " the first and second time," a young man rose, in tho church, and said, " T object to that proclamation." The precentor and session.clerk were puzzled, and the. congregation amused ; on the proclamation being made for " the third and last lime," the young man again rose and objected in the same' words as formerly. Public report has it that a marriage had been formerly arranged between the bride and the young man who' objected, and that the officials have resolved to hear the grounds of objection. — " Dumfries Courier." Elopesient eeO3i London. — The police at Queenstown lately arrested a fugitive couple, Charles Pierce and Catherine Allen, on board the outgoing Inman steamer. Pierce is a young -married man ; Mrs. Allen is a. middle-aged woman, who had left her "husband, carrying off £1000. Both had fled from London. The money wo s found upon ths "fugitives. Thehs were presented to tho Imperial Parliament last session seventyfour petition.-?, signed by 49,132 persons, in favour of tho extension of the franchise to women ; and for the married woman's Property Bill twentyeight petitions, with 27,629 signatures,