A CASE OF CONSCIENCE. 



41 



theless, the good fathers wished to give the 

 unhappy couple another chance ; and agreed to 

 refer the question to a learned doctor in the neigh- 

 bourhood, skilled in all difficult questions of casu- 

 istry. This sage person decided that, according 

 to the canons of the church, the marriage might 

 take place, on payment of a fine of four hundred 

 dollars : two for the poor in pocket, and two for 

 the poor in spirit, namely the priests. But to 

 expiate the crime of marrying a quadruple god- 

 mother, a slight penance must also be submitted 

 to in the following manner. Don N. was to place 

 himself on his knees before the altar, with a long 

 wax-candle burning in his hand, while his in- 

 tended lady stood by his side, holding another : 

 this was to be repeated in the face of the congre- 

 gation for one hour, during every Sunday and fast- 

 day throughout a whole year ; after which purify- 

 ing exposure, the parties were to be held eligible 

 to proceed with the marriage. 



Don N., who chose rather to put his conscience 

 than his knees to such discipline, took his own 

 measures on the occasion. What these were, the 

 idle public took the liberty of guessing broadly 

 enough, but no one could say positively. At the 

 end of a week, however, it was announced, that 

 the case had undergone a careful re-examination, 

 and that it had been deemed proper to commute 

 the penance into one week's retirement from the 

 world ; that is to say, Don N. was to shut himself 

 up in the convent of La Cruz, there to fast and 

 pray in solitude and silence for seven days. The 

 manner in which this penance was performed is an 

 appropriate commentary on the whole transaction. 

 The penitent, assisted by two or three jovial friars 

 of the convent, passed the evening in discussing 

 some capital wine, -sent out for the occasion by 

 Don N. himself, after eating a dinner prepared by 

 the cook of the convent, the best in New Galicia. 

 As for silence and solitude, his romping boys and 

 girls were with him during all the morning ; be- 

 sides a score of visitors, who strolled daily out of 

 town as far as the convent, to keep up the poor 

 man's spirits, by relating all the gossip which was 

 afloat about his marriage, his penitence, and the 

 wonderful kindness of the church. 



The interest I took in the question throughout 

 induced Don N. to invite me to the wedding. The 

 ceremony did not differ essentially from our own : 

 but the prayers were read in so rapid and mum- 

 bling a style, that I could not for a long time dis- 

 cover whether they were in Spanish or in Latin. 

 There was, as usual, abundance of wine and cakes ; 

 and it was truly exhilarating to mark the relish 

 with which the good fathers drained their glasses. 



The Novios, as the bride and bridegroom are 

 called, were silent and attentive, but I was the only 

 other person in the room who was so during the 

 whole ceremony ; every one else being employed 

 in laughing or whispering to his neighbour. Even 

 the officiating priest was scarcely serious ; and at 

 the conclusion, when he shut the book, and the 

 ceremony was considered as over, he said some- 

 thing ludicrous and appropriate to the circum- 

 stances, but in the same tone he had used in 

 reading the service. This, notwithstanding its 

 scandalous impropriety, was almost irresistibly 

 comic, and I had the utmost difficulty to repress a 

 laugh. I was restrained by an idea, that what- 

 ever liberties these people might themselves choose 



to take on such an occasion, they must have been 

 displeased at a heretic's presuming to join in the 

 jest. This prudent gravity, which cost me a con- 

 siderable effort, was the means of bringing me 

 acquainted with an old gentleman I had not seen 

 before. He came up to me, and begged to intro- 

 duce himself, saying he wished to express how 

 much pleased he was to observe that all English- 

 men did not ridicule the Roman Catholic sacra- 

 ments ; and he hoped I would accept a copy of 

 Don Quixote, of which he had an old and valuable 

 edition, in testimony of his satisfaction, as well as 

 to keep me in mind of his friend Don N.'s mar- 

 riage. 



In relating this anecdote, I trust it will not be 

 supposed that I intend to ridicule the Catholic ser- 

 vice generally ; but it seems quite allowable for a 

 traveller, on such an occasion, to impart to his 

 journal the same tone, which the whole society of 

 the place, where it occurred, are disposed to give. 

 I have always, indeed, studiously avoided placing 

 in a ridiculous point of view any customs or 

 ceremonies which, however absurd they might 

 appear to us, were held sacred by the inhabitants 

 themselves. On this occasion, however, I have 

 rather understated than exaggerated the degree 

 of merriment which the events described excited 

 in all classes of society on the spot ; and I feel 

 well assured, that should these pages ever meet 

 their eye, they will be as much amused with the 

 adventure as any foreign reader can be. 



On the 18th of April I accompanied a Spanish 

 gentleman and a native merchant of Tepic to the 

 top of a hill in the neighbourhood of the town. 

 Our object was to gain a view of the surrounding 

 country ; and in this we succeeded beyond our 

 expectation, for the view extended to the sea, and 

 along the coast to a great distance. On the other 

 hand, it brought some ranges of the Andes in 

 sight, especially one remarkable mountain, the top 

 of which, unlike this chain in general, was per- 

 fectly flat for an extent of many leagues. 



Nothing certainly could have been more inno- 

 cent than this trip to the hill, and I was of course 

 greatly surprised to learn next day that it had ex- 

 cited suspicion in the minds of the local authorities. 

 It was provoking too to find that the unceasing 

 pains we had taken to avoid giving cause of offence 

 had proved ineffectual. On first reaching Tepic, 

 I had learned from a friend that the people were 

 remarkably jealous of strangers, and apt at any 

 time to misinterpret the most harmless actions ; 

 and that, in our case, their suspicions would be 

 increased, as the Conway was the first English 

 man-of-war that had visited this remote corner of 

 the country. I did not see why this should follow, 

 but attended, nevertheless, sedulously to the hint, 

 and took care to impress on the officers a similar 

 feeling. We had been flattering ourselves that 

 we had completely succeeded, and imagined we 

 had gained the good-will of all parties, by avoid- 

 ing political discussions, and by being pleased 

 with everything and everybody. We were mis- 

 taken, however ; and on the day following the ex- 

 cursion to the hill, the Illustrious Ayuntamiento, 

 such is the title of the town-council, met to ex- 

 amine evidence ; and all sorts of absurd stories 

 were told and believed, till at length, having 

 worked themselves into a due pitch of diplomatic 

 alarm, they resolved to write me an official letter. 



