EARLY QUAKER MARRIAGES.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 777, 21 January 1887, Page 4

EARLY QUAKER MARRIAGES.

Before two Quakers could marry—that is, and remain in the society—the parties were required to attend a meeting and publicly announce their intention of being wedded. A committee was then appointed, which instituted inquiries to discover, among other things, whether the man was in a position to marry, and whether he was free from the claims of any earlier affection. They also inquired into "the state of his health, and whether his relatives had any objection to

his marrying, and if not, if they saw reason to object to the wife he had chosen. A committee of women made similar inquiries regarding the girl, and were very particular in examining whether she had ever flirted unwisely, or otherwise misconducted herself.

That the young couple had not sufficient means to marry upon was not considered in itself an insuperable bar, for the society, not having the fear of Malthus before its eyes, had a fund from which grants could be made toward furnishing. In very early times the parties were expected to be accompanied by their parents, vor at least to bring duly signed and witnessed assents from them, when they attended to announce their in--1 tention of getting married, but this was soon given up. On a fixed date the parties were required to attend another meeting, when, after they had stated they were still in the same mind, and the committees of inquiry had reported favorably, permission to marry was formally given and a day for the nuptials set. There was uo approach to a formal ceremony at the wedding. After a period of worship —generally silent— the engaged pair stood up and took each other for better or worse ; a certificate recording the fact was then read and signed by a number of witnesses, never less than twelve ; then perhaps a few friends might be moved to speak, but if not, silent worship was resumed as calmly as if nothing of importauce had just taken place. Fox never lost an opportunity of impressing on his followers the importance of having marriages duly witnessed and registered,, for very early in the history of the society an event occurred-which showed the necessity for these details.

In England, unless the parents have married according to law, the children are, as everyone knows, illegitimate. The primitive Quakers were in rather an awkwark fix, for their consciences would not allow them to be married at church, and there was in those days no by-way to matrimony via a register’s office. From about the year 1650 they had taken each other in the manner described, and lest questions should arise, they had been studious that the certificates should be largely signed. Some of the certificates are still in existence and frequently bear the signatures of thirty or more witnesses. Still the validity of the ceremony was constantly denied. The legality of these marriages was set at rest for ever in 1662 by a case tried at Nottingham.—London Society. A MARRIAGE MANIA. Kalamazoo, Mich,, Nov 23, —William Jones Sargent died at the State Asylum here this afternoon, where he was incarcerated several weeks ago fora peculiar mania. He was one of the most noted bigamists this country ever saw, but was not much heard about until his arrest at Jackson, in this State, where he had married a young woman for his twenty-sixth wife. Sargent was a man of fine address and was well educated. His vocation, that of commercial traveller, gave him peculiar advantages to gratify his remarkable mania. He had been in trouble twice previous to his final arrest, but he managed to clear himself. At the time of his last arrest his conduct led to the belief that he was insane and he was sent to the aaylum. After his incarceration the full story about him came out. It was learned that he had wives and children by the score in this and othet States, and that no less than eleven unsuspecting girls had married him in Canada. During the many years he lived with so many wives he never by word, act or in writing betrayed to one wife the fact that he had others, and he never was suspected of infidelity. When examined by the physicians it was discovered that Sargent when with one wife was oblivious to the existence of the others until they were brought to his mind by some circumstance. On all other subjects he was sane. The Superintendent of the asylum says it was the'most remarkable case of mania ever known. HYGIENE OP OLD AGE. The teeth in old age are, of coarse, lost, and they should, unless under exceptional circumstances, be replaced by artificial teeth, for the thorough chewing of the food is even more necessary in the old than iti the young, because in the old the digestive powers are apt to fail. With the best artificial teeth mastication is apt to be imperfectly performed ; hence the food of the aged should be soft and readily comminuted, and especially should it be of easy digestion. Very few old people need stimulating diet ; very many are injured by an excess of nitrogenous food. The kidneys, like all other organs, arc feeble, and if meats and other rich foods are used in excess, they greatly increase the strain upon these organs. Milk and milk products or preparations of breadstuff's cooked with milk should form a very large proportion of the food of the ordinary aged individual, but individual peculiarities differ so much that personal medical counsel should in all eases be taken so that the diet may be regulated to the needs of the indi- ! vidual case. Very many old people are hurt by the use of food in excessive quantity;

but little exercise can be taken ; all growth has ceased, and the bodily furnaces which make heat are able to destroy but very little of food fuel. Some little time since I had occasion to lecture on this subject at the Philadelphia Hospital, and an assertion I then made that most old people are more comfortable, enjoy better health, and probably live longer for the use of wine, has met with very severe disapprobation at the hands of some of the profession, whose strong sympathy with the temperance movement dominates their judgment. No valid reasons have, however, so far as my judgment goes, been brought forward to lead me to change my opinion. In the overfed American people the habitual use of wine i during youthful or middle age and vigorous health is, we think, an injury than a good ; but when the powers of life are failing, when digestion is weak, and the multitudinous small ills of feebleness perplex and annoy, one or two glasses of generous wino at dinner aid digestion, quiet for the time being much nervous irritation, and in no way do harm. The sum total of ruin wrought by alcohol in the world is appalling, but it is not lessened by our shutting our eyes to the good that wine properly used may achieve. When in the aged there is a distinct failure of vital power, and especially of digestive power, the call for the habitual use of alcoholic liquors is, in my opinion, imperative. The danger of the formation of any evil habits when a man has crossed the line of seventy is so slight that the most conscientious physician need not hesitate in recommending the daily use of alcoholic beverages to his patient.—Dr. H. C. Wood, in Annals of Hygiene.

A CHINESE PRESCRIPTION. A correspondent of the Columbus Medical Journal gives the following as the translation of a prescription which was written by a Chinese doctor for a man who had applied to him with chronic dysentery : Powdered gentian, powdered catnip leaves, powdered root of taraxicum, powdered root of white ginger, powdered smilax, powdered black pepper, powdered root of persimmon tree, of each quantity sufficient to half-fill a wineglass ; powdered rhubarb, powdered digitalis, calomel, of each as much as can be held between' the thumb and forefinger; three inches of umbilical cord, powdered; one snake’s skin, powdered; one cat’s head, fresh if possible. Sig. : Boil all these in five quarts of water for three hours ; cover the patient with many quilts and cause him to drink all the medicine in thirty-six hours, as hot as it can be swallowed.

SWEET LITTLE GIRLS. To-day I saw ‘ a sweet little girl,’ the dearest, nicest little thing : Not so pretty, but oh I so good, and gentle and loving ; and she set me to thinking how very few nice little girls there are to be found now-a-days. There are plenty of pretty, well-dressed ones ; but every one must notice how rare is the dear little girl of the past—the shy, modest, violet-like child, who knew herself to be young and understood how much her parents and friends were to her; who obeyed sweetly, and was afraid of doing wrong, and happy to be praised for doing right. One found her in the palace and in the cottage —a millionaire’s daughter, or the washwoman’s little girl. Her mild eyes and gentle voice, and infantile ways live in our memories still, but how seldom do we see her. In fashionable society there is now an over-dressed little girl put into corsets at seven, perpetually thinking of her clothes, never playing with her doll, but only taking it out to walk and show its costumes. If her father’s friends speak to her she grows pert, and tosses her head, and says saucy things, and evidently fancies they are flirting with her, and does her very best to flirt with them.

In homes where the mother is not fashionable or a flirt, there is often a disobliging, critical little creature who finds fault with her elders, is content with nothing, talks baby scandal of her school-fellows, and thinks herself wiser than her grandparents —an old little girl in every way. And amongst the poor of cities are children whose manner proves them vicious, who insult respectable peisons as they pass by, and who will only answer a kind question by some bit of street slang—little girls going straight down to destruction from their cradles. God forgive those who let them go. Of course, the sweet little girls exist in every class, but the thought that there are fewer of them than there were is enough to make any woman who has been a mother shed bitter tears. A sad thought for any one ; for the nice little girls grow up to be nice little woman, and what should we do without them ? M. K. D.

A HUNGARIAN HERO. A Paris correspondent of the New York Graphic writes : There has just died in an insane asylum at Buda-Pesth a man whose story recalls one of the most terrible episodes of the struggle for Hungarian independence in 1848. Ferencz Renyi was a school-master, and at that time about twenty seven years of age. He was high-spirited, lively, kind-hearted, and the idol of his pupils. He was quite expert at playing the fiddle, and his services were much sought after by the young people of his native village to enliven their fetes. He could also sing, and many of his songs were of a highly patriotic character.

The young man lived with his mother and sister, but was engaged to a charming young girl, and soon expected to be married. Just then the Hungarian Government, having problaimed its independence, called for volunteers. Renyi offered himself and was accepted. One day, after having fought like a lion at the head of a detachment, he was made prisoner by the Austrians. Led before the notorious Gen. Haynan, Renyi refused to disclose the position of the main bodj’ of the Hungarian Army. Haynan, however, was not to be foiled in his quest for information, and to accomplish his end resorted to one of the most barbarous acts that has sullied the records of modern warfare. Finding, on inquiry, that his prisoner was a native of a neighboring village, and that he had a mother and sister, he ordered the latter to be arrested and brought to his headquarters. They were then confronted with the unfortunate young man.

*lf you , want the lives of these women spared,’ Haynan then said to him, * you will give me the information I have asked for.’

Renyi made no reply. He trembled violently, however, and his eyes filled with tears, but he did not yield. c Don’t speak, my son,’ cried his aged mother; *do your duty without reference to me ; I have at most but a short time to live.’

And the young girl added ; ‘lf you betray your country your name will be tarnished, and what should I do without my honor ! Don’t speak, Ferencz. Be calm ; I Bhall die bravely.’ Renyi continued silent. In a few moments the two heroic women were shot dead by order of the brute in a General’s uniform.

Still another test remained, and Haynan did not hesitate to apply it. He had Renyi's fiancee brought before him and threatened her with a similar fate.. The latter was afraid to die. On hearing what would happen to her if her lover did not yield, she threw herself on her knees and besought him to save her.

‘ Speak, Ferencz,’ she cried. ‘ See, lam young ; I love you—don’t let them kill me. By speaking yon will save yourself as well as me, and when we are free we shall go far away from here and be happy. Speak, my beloved, and save thy wife.’ And she seized Renyi’s hands and wrung them with the energy of a drowning man grasping at a straw. Renyi was convulsed by his overpowering emotion. Suddenly he shoved his fiancee from him and turned away. Again the wretched girl pleaded with him, but the lover was silent. Then the soldiers seized her.

• Accursed one !’ she exclaimed, ‘my curses rest upon thee. Thou art my murderer !’

When the horrible scene was ended Renyi was taken back to the apartment where he was confined, but as it was discovered that the poor fellow had lost his reason Id undergoing the terrible ordeal to which he had been subjected, his savage captors allowed him to live after they had robbed him of all that made life tolerable. Over his grave Hungary should erect its grand monument, though, doubtless, he has already found an imperishable one in the hearts of his countrymen.

A CLEVER THIEF. The Chicago Inter-Ocean gives the following account of a dexterous female thief arrested in that city the other day on the charge of obtaining money under false pretences : A search of her person, by the matron at the station, revealed a new phase of criminal cleverness, which is as bold as it is ingenious. The young woman was arrayed in the garments of a lightning change artist, and could, without the removal of an article, change her dress into four distinct styles. When the prisoner saw that her trick was discovered, she did not hesitate to illustrate its operation for the entertainment of her captors. When arrested she wore a black cashmere dress, a tight bodice of the same color and material, and a hat with a wide brim. A swift displacement of hooks, eye 3 and buttons ; a deft adjustment of unseen fastenings here and there ; a crushing squeeze of the hat, and the lady stood with a brown woollen dress with corded front bodice, and a neat little turban upon her head. Another set of manipulations, and the dress was transformed into a gown, the turban gave place to a coif, a chaplet fell from the girdle, and the woman stood arrayed as a brown nun. Once more, presto, change, a tug of the skirt, a yank at the coif and waist, a flash of hands everywhere at once, and the nun was transformed into a young lady of aspiring fashion in brightcolored alpaca and the original wide-brimmed hat.