e desire
of every fashionable heart. Invitations are issued to the friends of the
two families, and no one is admitted into the church without a card.
Often "no cards" are issued, and the church is jammed by the outside
throng, who profane the holy temple by their unmannerly struggles to
secure places from which to view the ceremony. Two clergymen are usually
engaged to tie the knot, in order that a Divorce Court may find it the
easier to undo. A reporter is on hand, who furnishes the city papers
with a full description of the grand affair. The dresses, the jewels,
the appearance of the bride and groom, and the company generally, are
described with all the eloquence Jenkins is master of.

If the wedding be at Grace Church, Brown, "the great sexton" is in
charge. A wedding over which he presides is sure to be a great success.
A wonderful man is Brown. No account of New York society would be
complete without a few words about Brown. He has been sexton of Grace
Church ever since the oldest inhabitant can remember, and those familiar
with the matter are sorely puzzled to know what the church will do when
Brown is gathered to his fathers. The congregation would sooner part
with the best Rector they have ever had than give up Brown. A certain
Rector did once try to compel him to resign his post because he, the
Rector, did not fancy Brown's ways, which he said were hardly consistent
with the reverence due the house of God. The congregation, however, were
aghast at the prospect of losing Brown, and plainly gave the Rector to
understand that he must not interfere with the sexton. Never mind about
his want of reverence. The Rector's business was to look after the
religious part of the congregation, while Brown superintended the secular
affairs of that fashionable corporation. They had use for the Rector
only on Sunday; but Brown they looked up to every day in the week. The
Rector meekly subsided, and Brown forgave him.

A very lucky man is Brown, and very far from being a fool. There is no
sharper, shrewder man in New York, and no one who estimates his customers
more correctly. He puts a high price on his services, and is said to
have accumulated a handsome fortune, popularly estimated at about
$300,000. Fat and sleek, and smooth of tongue, he can be a very despot
when he chooses. He keeps a list of the fashionable young men of the
city, who find it to their interest to be on good terms with him, since
they are