When Adam awoke out of the deep sleep into which he had been cast by the Almighty, and beheld the lovely being in his presence, he was told by his and her maker, that the woman was given to be with him, not given to him; for so we understand by the words of Adam, when he would have framed an excuse for his sin—“The woman that thou gavest to be with me.” Therefore the inference is plain that woman was not given to man to be his slave, nor the victim of his caprice or violence, nor the plaything of an hour, but a partner and confidante in all that concerned him; the sharer of his joys and sorrows, of his prosperity and adversity. Woman was not to be subjected to harsh and cruel treatment, but to be cherished and protected; and to be on an equality in every way with man. There is great force and truth in what was penned by an aged writer—“Man and wife are equally concerned to avoid all offences to each other in the beginning of their conversation; a very little thing can blast an infant blossom; and the breath of the south can shake the little rings of the vine, when first they begin to curl like the locks of a new-weaned boy; but when by age and consolidation they stiffen into the hardness of a stem, and have by the warm embraces of the sun, and the kisses of heaven, brought forth their clusters they can endure the storms of the north, and the loud noise of the tempest, and yet never be broken.”
Peculiar scope is given for the exercise of the highest qualities of the heart, through the obligations which belong to the state of matrimony. The presence of our Lord and Saviour at a marriage feast, and the example of the early Christians, give force to the statement that marriage is a divine institution. Marriage was held in great esteem by the venerable fathers of ancient days, and considered highly honourable, whilst celibacy was discountenanced by them.
Among the Jews, marriage was held in the greatest esteem and favour, and it is said that the early Christians would never allow any one to sustain the office of a magistrate except those who were married. Laws were made by the Pagans to promote the institution of marriage. A festival was instituted by the Lacedæmonians, at which those men, who were unmarried, were reviled and scourged by the women, and deemed unworthy to serve the republic. Among the Romans, those who had been several times married were distinguished, and received great honour from their fellow countrymen, crowns and wreaths, were placed on their heads, and in their public rejoicings they appeared with palms in their hands, signifying that they had been instrumental in adding to the glory of the empire. It is related by St. Jerome, that they covered a man with bays, and ordered him to accompany his wife’s corpse in funeral pomp, with a crown on his head, and a palm branch in his hand, it being considered highly necessary that he should be thus honoured and carried in triumph, seeing that he had been married twenty times, and his wife twenty-two.
The marriage ceremony being solemnized in accordance with the rites of the early Christian Church, the veil (a Pagan custom of former times) was preserved, and from this observance of veiling the word nuptials is derived. The use of the ring was also a matter of importance in the ceremony; the solemn kiss was imparted, and the practice of joining hands was observed. Usually, at the conclusion of the ceremony, the bride was crowned—occasionally both the bride and the bridegroom—with wreaths of myrtle.—The lace veil and the wreath of orange blossoms, which is now such a necessary adornment in bridal attire, may be traced to the practice pursued by bridal parties in former times.
The wedding ring is an emblem of many significant qualifications. Gold being the noblest and purest, as well as the most enduring—it is made of that metal.—Its circular form denotes that form to be the most perfect of all figures, and the hieroglyphic of eternity. Its being entirely free from ornament denotes the perfect simplicity and plainness of wedded life. The ring is put on the left hand because of its being nearest the heart; and on the fourth finger on account of some supposed connection between that finger, more than the others, with the seat of life. The ring is the acknowledged pledge of the bestowal of authority, as in former times the giving of it was regarded as the delegation of all the husband’s authority, and conferred upon the person receiving it, entire supremacy over every thing in the husband’s possession.