MARRIAGES-OLD AND NEW.

Mr Joe Thompson, a well-known Palmerstonian who has been for some time connected with the China Inland Mission, in a letter to his parents arrives some interesting particulars ot the change that is taking the cus-oms of the Celestial Empire through the promulgation or Uhristian beliefs. Describing Chinese marriages, he says: The one I attended very quiet affair, and both were Christians. A Chinese wedding is a religious ceremony. The betrothal, which usually takes place any time after the girl is 13, is the lega func- I tion, and is managed entirely by the I parents. It is a'common practice anion* the poorer classes to take a baby girl and rear her with a view to making her the wife of one of the sons. The reason for this is economy, as a bride generally costs from £8 to £12 Part of this money is used tor the'bridal ou'fit, but the parents expect to make a profit! The pitiable thing about such weddings in China is that neither of the parties most interested have any say in the master. There is no escape, as breaking a betrothal is considered almost as bad as divorce. The natural result o* this system is that there is no love m the home, and the women mostly are stunid and spiritless. How can it be otherwise when, in many cases, the husband and wife never see each other until their wedding day! To cro back to the wedding which I attended. lam glad to say that in this case a happier condition prevailed. Boh bride and bridegroom ivere bright young Christians, who had known each other for years. The wedding was as usual managed by the parents, but it was very evident the youn~ couple were fond of each other. The o-irl was 17 and the young man 22. The arrival of each guest was j greeted with the clash of cymbals and j the beating of drums. The ceremony was very short. Two chairs were placed side by side covered with a rug. The bride and bridegroom, took their seats, and the service com- j menced in Chinese, with the hymn, 1 'The voice that breathed o'er Eden. Then a prayer and reading of two short addresses, after which both knelt facing the pastor and promised by a nod of the head to love, honour and cherish, and in the case of the wife to obey. After this another hymn and the ceremony is over. The oride then retires to her room to spend the rest of the day there, and the groom mingles with the guests. I eaiinpt attempt to describe the bride' 6 dress, enough to say thpt it was yellow and scarlet, and she wore a wonderful head-dress! Then follows the feast of fat things, which I must confess I did not enjoy at all. The number of guests was between 40 and .50 persons. Feilding Star, Volume XI, Issue 2403, 24 July 1914, Page 4