o small pieces, which are not eaten until the health of the
bride is proposed. This is usually done by the officiating clergyman,
or by an old and cherished friend of the family of the bridegroom. The
bridegroom returns thanks for the bride and for himself. The health of
the bride's parents is then proposed, and is followed by those of
the principal personages present, the toast of the bridesmaids being
generally one of the pleasantest features of the festal ceremony.
After about two hours, the principal bridesmaid leads the bride out
of the room as quietly as possible, so as not to disturb the party or
attract attention. Shortly after--it may be in about ten minutes--the
absence of the bride being noticed, the rest of the ladies retire.
Then it is that the bridegroom has a few _melancholy_ moments to bid
adieu to his bachelor friends, and he then generally receives some
hints on the subject in a short address from one of them, to which he
is of course expected to respond. He then withdraws for a few moments,
and returns after having made a slight addition to his toilet, in
readiness for travelling.

In some recent fashionable weddings we have noticed that the bride
and bridegroom do not attend the wedding breakfast, but after a slight
refreshment in a private apartment, take their departure immediately
on the wedding tour. But this defalcation, if we may so call it, of
the chief _dramatis personae_ of the day, though considered to be
in good taste, is by no means a popular innovation, but is rather
regarded as a prudish dereliction from the ancient forms of
hospitality, which are more prized than ever on so genial an occasion
as a marriage.

_Departure for the Honeymoon_.

The young bride, divested of her bridal attire, and quietly costumed
for the journey, now bids farewell to her bridesmaids and lady
friends. A few tears spring to her gentle eyes as she takes a last
look at the home she is now leaving. The servants venture to crowd
about her with their humble but heartfelt congratulations; finally,
she falls weeping on her mother's bosom. A short cough is heard, as of
some one summoning up resolution to hide emotion. It is her father.
He dares not trust his voice; but holds out his hand, gives her an
affectionate kiss, and then leads her, half turning back, down the
stairs and through the hall, to the door, where he delivers her as
a precious charge to her husband, who hands her quickly into the
carriage, sprin