Rensselaer Union and Jasper Republican, Volume 8, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 March 1876 — Royal Brides. [ARTICLE]

Royal Brides.

Hjbtohy and tradition have handed down to nfi wonderful accounts of the magnificent ceremonials and the gorgeoue raiment which have signalized the raiment of by-gone days, though some of the high-born dames of old liavt stood at the altar simply appareled. When Louis XIII. married Anne of Austria, her robe was white satin, and her hair was simply dressed, withoutcrowu or wreath; hut Isabel la of Portugal, as the bride of tlie Duke of Burgurtfly'.wWß ndrtns erf Bplradtd embroidery, a stomacher of ermine, tight sleeves, a oloak bordered with ermine falling from her shoulders to the ground; but she had no ornaments, and her headdress was white muslin. When Anne of France, finding the Archduke Maximilllan tardy In his wooing, gave herself and her dominions to Charles VIII., she appeared at the imposing ceremonial of

her marriage in a robe of cloth of gold, with designs in raised embroidery upon it, and bordered with priceless sable. James I. nearly ruined himself in order to celebrate the marriage of his daughter, tlie Princess Elizabeth, and great and determined was tlie opposition shown by his subjects to the marriage-tax he raised to defray tlie JE53,2t(4 it cost. Tlie ceremony took place at Whitehall with so much pomp,that it has formed the precedent for all other royal weddings in England which have followed. The traiu of the bride’s dress,lwliich was of silver cloth, cost £l3O. Her hair floated on her shoulder, intermixed with pearls and diamonds, and a crown of gold was oil her head. Perhaps, however, the marriage of Henry I. with Matilda, of sicotluucl, carries off the palm, as far as splendor is concerned. Bishop Ansleui performed the Ceremony in the presence of all the beauty and chivalry of the realm. Tlie marriage of Edward I. in Canterbury Cathedral was little less magnificent. Margaret Tudor, when married to James, of Scotland, stood proudly at the altar, as her noble lineage warranted, a crown on her head, her hair hanging beneath it, covered onlv by a cap of gold, and pearls about her neck. The ill-fated union of Philip and Mary was solemnized at Winos two great countries.; Charles 1. was married by-proxy at Notre Dame; and George 111. signalized his marriage with Queen Charlotte, which took place at St. James’ Chapel Royal, by abolishing many of the practices which then held good, but which were opposed to modern taste and feeling. St. Janus’ Chapel Royal has been tlie scene of more royal marriages in modern days than perhaps any other edifice, though it is cramped and small. Queen Anne and William IV. were wedded here, and here George IV. was married at ten o’clock at night, aud Queen Victoria on the 10th of February, 1840. — Cassell's Magazine.