Nova Scotia Archives
Lunenburg by the Sea
Good luck wish to the bride and groom
This ‘Gold Luck Wish’, in the shape of a heart, was a wedding gift from Johann Gottlob Schmitt to Conrad Ernst and his bride, in 1798. The newly-weds pasted their gift inside a trunk, and so it came down through the years - until it was given to Canon Edward A. Harris, Church of England rector at Mahone Bay, who then provided a rough translation: “You true married nuptial pair, must I my wish render / That God will always grant His benediction / Also give Peace and Harmony, and will guard from War and Dispute. / The times of your life / God will grant you always to find Good Fortune and Blessing / With His mercy and Goodness will He continually bless you / And make you full and rich of goods that you may live in Rest all the time until the end. / This is the wish from the heart. Johann Gotlob Schmitt 1798.”
Date: 1798
Photographer: Johan Gottlob Schmitt
Reference: Canon E.A. Harris Nova Scotia Archives MG 4 vol. 105 no. 9