VALPARAISO. 



319 



will not forget honour, while its present chief is even nominally its 

 admiral. 



Wednesday, 27///. — Several slight shocks to-day : a very severe one 

 at ten o'clock a. m., and again at six p. m. My pleasant friend 

 Mr. B. called to-day : he has announced his intended marriage with 

 a lady of Chile, and the circumstances connected with it form rather 

 an interesting point in the history of the progress of toleration in 

 the country. In other marriages of the kind, the foreigners have 

 generally changed their nominal religion for the sake of their brides, 

 but my friend has more of the feelings of Richardson's days ; and 

 though I do not mean to say that he is full-dressed in bag and wig, 

 like Sir Charles Grandison, at six o'clock in the morning, or to com- 

 pare the lady with the incomparable Clementina, his conduct in the 

 matter has been firm and right for himself, and wise for the country 

 he has now adopted. In this conduct he has been supported by the 

 Director, against all superstitious and party opposition. Neither 

 wishing his intended wife to change her faith, nor willing to change 

 his own, he applied to the Bishop for a licence and dispensation to 

 marry ; this the prelate positively refused, unless Mr. B. would enter 

 into the bosom of the church. The government now interfered, re- 

 presenting to the Bishop that the present state of the world demanded 

 less bigotry, and the advantage of the country required the greatest 

 degree of liberality towards strangers. Still His Grace was inexorable ; 

 when he received notice, that until he were more tractable, certain 

 tithes and emoluments which in the late commotions the church had 

 lost should not be restored. And now, after granting his dispensation 

 thus reluctantly, all he has gained is the framing a concordat by the 

 government, which will curtail his revenues, and diminish his power. 

 He is a bigoted ambitious man, holding, to appearance, with the pre- 

 sent government by various ties, the most efficient of which is cer- 

 tainly the partnership of Areas, who has married his niece, with 

 Rodriguez, but having stronger connections with all those who oppose 

 O'Higgins, whether as partisans of the unfortunate Carreras, or 



