ily for nearly three months, when the
husband, becoming tired of it, wrote to the Bishop of New Orleans an
account of the manner in which his house had been besieged, and in due
time received a reply from that excellent ecclesiastic, stating that he
would satisfactorily arrange the business; at the same time expressing
his regrets that he had not before been informed of the condition of
affairs.

In the mean time, another priest in the town chanced to be discussing
the all-absorbing question of the day, the heretic marriage, and
unfortunately happened to remark that a marriage by an American priest
was not a lawful marriage. This was too much for our Englishman, and he
answered it--as an Englishman is accustomed to answer insulting remarks
in relation to the affairs of his household--not by a single blow, but
by such a pommeling as never a priest had sustained since the Conquest.
Yet there was no earthquake on the occasion, and Orizaba was not
discomposed at witnessing such a shocking act of impiety.

Time moved on, and with it came the parish priest to validate the
marriage. But our Englishman would not be _validated_. No, not he; and
when the priest began to mutter and to move his hands, the Englishman's
blood was up, and so was his foot, and this ceremony was terminated
according to a formula not laid down in any prayer-book now extant.
This was the end of the war. The pair had passed through many
tribulations in order to consummate their union; yet both declare that
the prize was worth the contest.

THE MONK AT JALAPA.

Our good monk, with whom we parted at Vera Cruz, visited the convent at
Jalapa, on his journey, and thus records what he saw:

"The night of our arrival at Jalapa we were entertained at the convent
of San Francisco, where we passed the day following, as it was Sunday.
The income of this convent is great, notwithstanding the community is
composed of only six _religios_, though it might well maintain more
than a score of them. The guardian of Jalapa is no less vain than the
prior of Vera Cruz; but he received us with much kindness, and treated
us magnificently, although we were of another order.

"In this town, as in all others, we observed that the lives and customs
of the clergy, both seculars and regulars (monks), were greatly
relaxed, and that their conduct completely gave the lie to their vows
and their professions. The order of San Francisco, besides the vows
common to the other orders;