to be celebrated: and little gaiety or display was manifested
on the occasion. According to the custom of the sect, the marriage
ceremony was performed by Bradford, as the chief civil magistrate, and
the personal friend of the family. At that period, marriage was
regarded as a mere civil act; and either the magistrate of the place,
or a commissary appointed for the purpose, was alone required by law to
officiate. If a clergyman chanced to be present, he was generally
requested to offer up a prayer, or even to deliver a suitable discourse
to the, parties; but this was a matter of choice, and not of necessity,
and had no share in the validity of the ceremony. Even the wedding ring
had already begun to be regarded by the Plymouthers as a relic of
Popish corruption and superstition, and was, in many cases, dispensed
with, and some time afterwards formally forbidden. But on this
occasion it was retained, at the wish of both Edith and her mother; who
were accustomed to regard it as a beautiful, and almost a sacred,
symbol of the purity and the duration of the holy tie of marriage.

On the appointed day, the civil rite was duly and solemnly performed by
the Governor, in the presence of a few chosen friends, among whom none
felt more interest in the future welfare of the young bride than the
venerable William Brewster. Although he was not a regular minister, he
was invited by Rodolph and Helen to offer up a prayer for the temporal
and eternal happiness of their beloved child, and fervently and
eloquently the old man complied with their request: and tears of
affection and anxiety glistened in his eyes as he concluded his prayer,
and added his own heartfelt blessing to that which he had asked from
Heaven.

Elliot then delivered a powerful and impressive address to the young
married couple, on their social and domestic, as well as their
spiritual duties; and a simple, but well-arranged repast at Rodolph's
house completed the ceremonies of the day.

It was about this time that the marriage of Henrich and Oriana was
celebrated in the distant wilderness, where all the outward
circumstances were so different, and where no prescribed forms could be
observed, to render the simple ceremony legal or impressive. And, yet,
surely it was as sacred and as binding to those who then plighted their
faith to each other as if it had been performed with all the rites of
civilized life. The vows of Henrich and his Christian bride were made
in th