SINGULAR MARRIAGES.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 2128, 24 October 1885, Page 2

SINGULAR MARRIAGES.

The following is the description of a scene which goes on every Sunday in the Foundling Hospital at Palermo, in Italy: —The long dormitories were clean and orderly, b|rt tjie anfl peci]ljaij features pf the establishment was a "parlatorio or regeptiofi-ropfn. Picture a large long room, the centre portion of which is divided off from the sides and further end by aniron grating, which forms a cage, entered only by a well-barred street door, through which visitors from the outer world are admitted. Hero they sit on benches to converse with those on the other side of the iron grating. Friends of j;I}S sister? Pr employers pf tjie pl(ipg and the fo'stfjr parent? aiq tl)o ijpal yjaitors. Once a week, however, on Sunday morning from ten to twelve, this place is the scene of the most novel and ludicrous courtships wo ever heard described. One of the objects of this motherly establishment is to find lit and proper husbands for the girls under their charge. The fit and proper here is much like the fit and proper of society ; the one requisite beins; that the young man is bound to show himself in possession of sufficient means to maintain a wife in comfort, before he is allowed to aspire to the hand of one of these precious damsels, Having given in ljis credentials of fitness to tjjß guanlianfy Ije jefjejyeg a cafd, which ajjmifs j]in) npxt Sunday "morning to an inspection of the 'candidates for matrimony. There, sitting pn a bench, jf his curpity will allow limv to remain §(tt{ng, )}e the on the other §ido qf the grating qf thejady superior, accompanied by a girl. She has been selected by order pf seniority and capacity for housjiold work from the one hundred or more between seventeen arid twenty-one, awaiting for a youth to deliver them from their prison, The two young people, both no doubt breathless with agitation at the importance of the ceremony, have to take one long fixod look at each other. No word is spoken, no sign made. These good sisters believe so fully in the language of the eye that to their minds any addition is j

futile, and might but serve to mystify the pure and perfect effect of love at first sight, The look over, the lady superior asks the man if he will accept the maiden as his bride. Should lie answer in the affirmative, the same question is put to her, and if she bows her assent, the betrothal has taken place, and they part till the Sunday following, The young lover again makes his appearance before the tribunal of guard-, ians, and there the contract is signed, and the day of marriage fixed, and he is granted leave to brine the ring, earrings, a wedding dress and confetti, and present them, through, the grid, of course, to his betrothed. Everything has to pass the scrutiny of the sisters, for fear of a letter, or some tender word, being slipped in with the gifts. During the few Sundays that intervene between the first love scene and the marriage, an hour's conversation within hearing of the lady superior is allowed, but not a touch is exchanged. The empty talk, interspersed with giggling, consists of enquiries as to the wedding dress, the sort of confetti most liked, and the occupation and place of abode of the suitor, Should the young man refuse the first damsel presented to him, he is favored with the sight of three or four more ; but should he still appear difficile, he is dismissed. The girl has also the power of refusal. The marriage over, the task of the sister is done ; here falls a vail they never lift. Our readers may wonder what inducement there can be to make the youths who have the world to choose from come here in search of a wife. Two hundred and fifty francs is the great attraction. That sum is given in dowry with each of these girls; and for that sum, it seems, a Sicilian is willing to take a girl for a wife without knowing her disposition. Those girls for whom the institution fails to find husbands are allowed at twenty-one to face temptations alone; and situations are found for them,