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DOMESTIC MANNEBP OF THE PRTJSSIANS.

The intended bridegroora was, at the same time, expectedto furnish the town authorities with some such document asthe following:—

" Testimony as to means of Subsistence before Marrying.

" Jacob H------has work from me as a weaver, and earns

15s. a-month ; and it is more than probable that he will con-tinue in my service, as I intend to increase his work ; andhereby do I certify, by my signature, that he is possessed ofthe requisite means of subsistence to entitle him to marry.

«A------W------,

" Cloth Manufacturer.*

" Elberfeld, 22 July, 1833/

Still it came to be well known that little trust was to beplaced in such documents; since any workman, desirous oftaking to himself a wife, could easily obtain a certificate fromsome of the people who employed him, and masters seldomobjected, for such a purpose, to make out that a man in theirservice earned more than he really did. Thus the poor gotto press inconveniently on the rieh, despite the matrimonialrestrictions; and the authorities, therefore, determined onmaking the cost of citizenship five-fold dearer than previously.

This, we are told, has proved so successful a barrier towedlock, that now most of the poorer classes cohabit ratherthan marry; so that the official wiseacres of Prussia, whowatch so narrowly after the welfare of the people, havereduced, perhaps, the number of paupers, but proportionatelyincreased the number of Deutsch grisettes in the place.

Before the marriage ceremony takes place, there is anothergrand assembly of friends, called the " Polter-abend? and at

* The abo-ve is copied from the " Universal Briefsteller" before alluded to.

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