310 THE HOME, FARM AND BUSINESS CYCLOPEDIA. 



niture, jewellery, and articles of ornament as well as of utility, to the 

 newly-married lady in her future station. These, together with her 

 wedding dresses, etc., it is customary to exhibit to the intimate friends of 

 the bride a day or two before her marriage. 



Duty of a Bridegroom-Elect, 



The bridegroom-elect has, on the eve of matrimony, no little business 

 to transact. His first care is to look after a house suitable for his future 

 home, and then, assisted by the taste of his chosen helpmate, to take steps 

 to furnish it in a becoming style. He must also, if engaged in business, 

 make arrangements for a month's absence ; in fact, bring together all mat- 

 ters into a focus, so as to be readily manageable when, after the honey- 

 moon, he shall take the reins himself. He will do well to burn most of 

 his bachelor letters, and to part with, it may be, some few of his bachelor 

 connections ; and he should communicate, in an easy, informal way, to his 

 acquaintances generally, the close approach of so important a change in 

 his condition. Not to do this might hereafter lead to inconvenience, and 

 cause no little annoyance. 



We must now speak of 



Buying the King, 



* 



It is the gentleman's business to buy the ring; and let him take special 



care not to forget it, for such an awkward mistake has frequently happened- 

 The ring should be, we need scarcely say, of the very purest gold, but sub- 

 stantial. There are three reasons for this ; first, that it may not break a 

 source of great trouble to the young wife ; secondly, that it may not slip 

 off the finger without being missed few husbands being pleased to hear 

 that their wives have lost their wedding rings ; and thirdly, that it may 

 last out the lifetime of the loving recipient, even should that life be pro- 

 tracted to the extreme extent. To get the right size required is not one 

 of the least interesting of the delicate mysteries of love. A not unusual 

 method is to get a sister of the fair one to lend one of the lady's rings to 

 enable the jeweller to select the proper size. Care must be taken, how- 

 ever, that it is not too large. Some audacious suitors, rendered bold by 

 their favoured position, have been even known presumptuously to try the 

 ring on the patient finger of the bride-elect ; and it has rarely happened in 

 such cases that the ring has been refused, or sent back to be changed. 



