320 



THREE YEARS IN THE PACIFIC. 



stances of the parties. These thirteen pieces or arras are given 

 by the bride to the curate. The velaci6n cannot take place 

 during lent, except on St. Joseph's day. Besides the arras, 

 the curate is entitled to thirteen dollars and four reales, for wax, 

 proclaiming the marriage, &c. ; and ^or ascertaining the fact of 

 bachelorship, the consent of the contracting parties, and the 

 assent of parents or guardians, he receives twelve dollars ! 



Great difficulties are thrown in the way of foreigners, who 

 wish to marry Linianian ladies, if they be not of the Roman 

 Catholic faith. To render the nuptials legal, and the children 

 legitimate, a license and a dispensation are required to be ob- 

 tained from the bishop or archbishop. To enhance the value 

 of this indulgence, the bishop bears long importunity, and at 

 last yields, in consideration of a douceur of five or six hundred 

 dollars, which he accepts, only to be given to the poor, or for 

 masses for the benefit of the bridegroom ! Persuasion to join 

 the church, or as the phrase is, ^'hacerse Cristiano" — become 

 a Christian, is always made use of, and if the candidate for hy- 

 men's altar will attend mass and confess, all the difficulty is 

 removed ! Fortunately for foreigners in this predicament, a 

 half dozen onzas, quietly deposited in the hands of the curate 

 of the parish, will clear all obstructions in the way, without 

 resorting to the bishop, or even ''becoming a Christian," and 

 for two dollars more, the necessary certificate may be obtained. 



In cases where the parties have been unwilling to pursue 

 this latter course, and dispensation could not be procured from 

 the bishop, the ''clandestine marriage" has been resorted to. 

 It is thus efiected. At the elevation of the host in the usual 

 mass, when the priest pronounces the benediction, the bride- 

 groom, in the presence of three witnesses (who afterwards sign 

 the marriage contract,) says, taking the hand of the bride, "I 

 am your husband, you are my wife;" and she replies, "I am 

 your wife, you are my husband." This form is all sufficient 

 to make the nuptials legal, and consequently, the children le- 

 gitimate. 



