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IT 
THE GARDENS OF ST. GRATIEN, HEAR ter than honored age ; he is law to_ himself above all 
i tradition. I he doctors were astonished. I hey said, 
PARIS, FRANCE. 
The scene in illustration is from the Gardens of St. 
Gratien, belonging to the Princess Mathilde. I hey 
are situated in the 
Department of 
Seine-et-Oise, near 
Paris, and are con¬ 
sidered among the 
prettiest of the gar¬ 
dens which sur¬ 
round the mansions 
and chateaux of 
sunny France. 
The summer 
house, arbors, va¬ 
ses, flower beds, and 
massive verdure of 
the forest, are in 
splendid contrast 
with the lake, and 
the prospect from 
the veranda of the 
villa is of extreme 
beauty. 
When Christ cometh shall be tell us great things ? 
And they thanked God, for they said: The old men 
are not always wise. Yet God be praised that out of 
of the thousands who throw old shoes after bridal par¬ 
ties as they are leaving home, know anything of the 
origin of the custom. Like almost all our customs, its 
origin is ancient, and can be traced to Bible times. It 
was then the custom for the brother of a childless man 
to marry his widow, 
or at least, he had 
the refusal of her. 
If he chose to reject 
her, the ceremony 
Beautiful Le¬ 
gend. —We find in 
a sermon of Theo¬ 
dore Parker the fol¬ 
lowing story. The 
subject of his dis¬ 
course was “Rest.” 
“ They tell a story 
that one day Rabbi 
J udah and his 
brethren, the seven 
pillars of wisdom, 
sat iu the court of 
the temple on fast 
day disputing about 
rest. One said it 
was to have attained 
sufficient wealth, 
yet without sin. 
The second said it 
was fame and praise 
to all men. The 
third that it was 
possession of power 
to rule the State. 
The fifth, that it 
must be only in the 
old age of one who 
i s rich, powerful, 
famous and sur¬ 
rounded by children 
and children’s chil¬ 
dren. The sixth 
said that all were 
vain unless he kept 
all the ritual of 
Moses. And Rab¬ 
bi Judah, the ven¬ 
erable, the tallest 
of the brothers, 
said: Ye have 
spoken wisely, but 
one thing more is 
necessary: He only 
can find rest who to 
all things addeth 
this—that be keep 
the tradition of the 
elders. There sat 
in the court a fair¬ 
haired boy playing 
with lilies in his 
lap, and hearing the 
talk, dropped them 
i n astonishment 
from his hands and 
looked up—t hat 
boy of twelve—and 
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The Gardens of St. Gratien, near Paris, France. 
said : hi ay, nay, my fathers, be only can find rest who 
loves his brother as himself and God with his whole 
heart and soul. He is greater than fame, wealth and 
power ; happier than a home that is without it; bet- 
the mouth of that young suckling has his praise be¬ 
come perfect.” 
Throwing the Old Shoe. —Very few, probably, 
was public, and con¬ 
sisted in her loosing 
his shoe from his 
foot, and spitting in 
his face. His giv¬ 
ing up the shoe was 
a symbol of aban¬ 
doning all domin¬ 
ion over her; spit¬ 
ting in his face was 
an assertion of in¬ 
dependence. There 
was an affair of this 
kind between Ruth 
and Boaz. In some 
parts of the East it 
was a custom to 
carry a slipper be¬ 
fore a newly-mar¬ 
ried pair, as a token 
of the bride’s sub¬ 
jection. The cus¬ 
tom, as it exists 
with us, is very old 
in England and 
Scotland. The 
usual saying is that 
it is thrown for 
luck, and that is 
the idea in this 
country; hut origi¬ 
nally it meant a re¬ 
nunciation of au¬ 
thority over the 
bride by the parents. 
It was formerly a 
custom among the 
Germans for the 
bride, when she 
was conducted to 
her bed-chamber, 
to take off her shoe 
and throw it among 
the guests. Who¬ 
ever caught it, in 
the struggle to ob¬ 
tain it, received it 
as an omen that he 
or she would soon 
he happily married. 
Train, in his “His¬ 
tory of the Isle of 
Man,” says: “On 
the bridegroom 
leaving his house, 
it was customary to 
throw an old shoe 
after him, and in 
like manner, after 
the bride on leaving 
her home to proceed 
to church, in order 
to insure good luck 
to each respec¬ 
tively; and if by 
stratagem either of 
the bride’s shoes 
could be taken off 
by any inspector on 
h e r w a y from 
church, it had to he 
ransomed h y the 
bridegroom.” 
In Kent, Eng¬ 
land, after a couple 
have started on their tour, the single ladies are drawn 
up in one row, and the bachelors in another. An old 
shoe is then thrown, and the ladies run for it, the suc¬ 
cessful one being the first who will be married. 
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