KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



305 



THINGS IN SEASON. 



WEDDING PARTIES. 



Though fools spurn Hymen's gentle powers, 

 We, who improve his golden hours, 

 By sweet experience know — 

 That marriage, rightly understood, 

 Gives to the tender and the good 

 A Paradise below. 



Cotton. 



ROOFS HAVE WE INNUMERA- 

 BLE, that there is a time 

 for everything. There is a 

 time to be born, and a time to 

 die. A time to laugh, and a 

 time to weep. A time to 

 dance, and a time to sing. 

 Sorry are we to say, there is 

 also a time to pull a long face — a hideously 

 long face, and to play the hypocrite. But as 

 the month of May, " the" month set aside for 

 this observance, is past — let us for another 

 year at least meet our Creator with smiles of 

 Christian charity and gratitude, and glorify 

 him by enjoying rationally what He has pro- 

 vided for our universal happiness. The 

 earth just now is full of His works. Let us 

 away, and make merry. 



Glorious month of June — all hail ! This 

 is " the" month for completing certain little 

 plans devised in the Spring. We need not 

 speak more pointedly ; but let us introduce 

 a " Reminiscence" bearing on these plans. 

 It exhibits a picture of every-day life which 

 is now being realised — with a change of 

 names and places only — from one end of the 

 country to the other. Brides'-maids, — listen ! 



THE WEDDING PARTY; 



OR, PRO AND CON. 



The wedding-day had arrived. All 

 was bright and auspicious. The morning 

 dawned without a cloud ; the flowers shone 

 in the sunshine, as if brides themselves ; the 

 trees in their new foliage fluttered in the 

 breeze like so many bridegrooms ; and the 

 birds sung as blithely as a band of wedding 

 musicians. Within doors, the scene was 

 equally as exhilarating. There were deco- 

 rated rooms, well-dressed company, tables 

 covered with delicacies — silk, smiles, and 

 civility on all sides. The matron manager 

 of the bridal preparations, knew well the 

 importance of wedding-day arrangements ; 

 and, to use the expression common to shows 

 of every kind, the whole " went off with 

 great spirit." Precisely at the proper 

 moment, the bride, veiled like a nun, but 

 robed as for a ball, was supported into the 

 room ; company, carriages, and clergymen, 

 were religiously punctual ; the day was 

 lovely ; the crowd of spectators sufficient ; 

 the bridegroom made no blunder about the 

 ring ; the bride articulated the responses ; 



the procession returned without accident ; 

 the company sat down to breakfast ; — and 

 again, precisely at the proper moment, the 

 bride retired to put on a travelling dress and 

 take leave of her mother. Nothing could 

 have been better managed. 



But no one, however gay, however worldly, 

 could go through such a series of ceremonies 

 without emotion ; and when the gauzes and 

 satins were removed, and the heroine was 

 arrayed to leave her father's house, which 

 was never more to be re-entered as a home, 

 for a few moments she forgot that she was a 

 bride, and burst into tears. 



" Now, dear Miss, don't take on so — what's 

 done can't be undone. I dare say it is all for 

 the best," said her attendant, the nurse of 

 her childhood ; " here you are, the prettiest 

 creature that eyes ever saw — not that you 

 are half so pretty to me as when I had you a 

 baby in long coats all to myself— now a 

 woman grown, turning out into the trouble- 

 some world ; and how will you ever keep 

 house, and manage servants ? — lack-a-day — 

 I hardly know whether to laugh or cry ! — " 



" Nurse," said the lady-mother, recalling 

 the affectionate creature to the more impor- 

 tant concerns of the present moment; " how 

 can you harass this dear child's feelings so ? 

 go and see that her dressing-case is placed 

 properly in the carriage." The attendant 

 left the room, and the speaker proceeded to 

 comfort the " mourning bride" after her 

 own fashion. " What is to become of me, 

 if you give way to your feelings in this 

 manner ? positively, your eyes are so red, I 

 am quite ashamed. Only think how few 

 leave home with such happy prospects : I 

 shall always be near, and you will have a 

 most delightful excursion. Hark ! I hear 

 the carriage drawing up. Now, my dearest 

 love, don't let me have to blush for you at 

 the last ; so well as you behaved through 

 the ceremony ; no trembling, no tears, no 

 nonsense of any kind : but let me give you 

 one piece of advice, love ; when you return, 

 don't let Tomkins lay a finger on your hair ; 

 I was quite shocked when we were in church, 

 to see what a friz he had made it." 



" Oh, mamma, don't, pray, talk so — what 

 signify curls or anything else at a time 

 like this ? " replied the daughter, surveying 

 the room with an air of melancholy, partly 

 real, and partly affected. " I never expected 

 to suffer so much at leaving home — I fear I 

 have done a foolish thing ; I am changing a 

 certainty for an uncertainty ; even the chairs 

 and tables seem to know that 1 am going ; 

 and the poor looking-glass that I have 

 dressed at so often — " The fair speaker 

 was here overcome by her reminiscences, and 

 had recourse to silence and her scent-box. 

 . " Mary Anne," replied the matron, mak- 

 ing use of the looking-glass for the practical 



Vol. III.— 20. 



