These feelings, however, are not universal, for some of the richer class of Indians would be highly displeased with a female relation forming such a connection. Among the Indians themselves this arrangement frequently takes place, as very many of the poorest people are unable to save money enough to pay their marriage fees, and in the event of a couple living together without having had the ceremony performed previously, they regard themselves, and are considered by their neighbours, as not the less man and wife. As an instance of the extent to which this prevails among them, I may mention a circumstance which struck me much at the time:-- Being near the cathedral at Manilla one evening in April last, I entered an open door of the edifice and wandered into a room attached to it, where several people were in waiting, and among them several women with children to be baptized. I stopped to witness the ceremony, and had the curiosity to look into the register where their names were enrolled; in that book, two of them were described as illegitimate children, and the third was the only one born in matrimony. Although the custom does not prevail to anything like the extent of two-thirds of the population, still it is a very frequent one, and proves among other things, that the sort of religion prevailing among the people is only that of forms, possessing no sufficient hold over their minds to regulate their conduct. Compare their religious ideas with those of the old Scottish covenanters, or English puritans, and how different are the effects of faith; but perhaps they are not more dissimilar than the natures of the two races are. For there is no race in the world with all the good qualities of the Celtic breed crossed by the Saxon, and that again by the Norman; for depend upon it, blood tells in every human being--aye, and as much in men as in dogs or horses. But, unfortunately for ourselves, men pay less attention to the innate qualities and virtues of blood and pedigree, when selecting a mate for themselves, than they do when their dogs or horses are in question, as then no trouble is spared to trace out and scrutinise the qualities of _their_ sires, and to breed only from a good stock. By pedigree, of course not the worldly station of men is meant, but the history of their lives and reputations, as good and useful men of their time. Of necessity both parents affect the character of their offspring, and so we frequently see a great and good man leaving behind him none in his family capable of supplying his place. Now, how is this? Why, it comes from the mistake he has made in selecting his mate, for if he had been more cautious in that respect the produce would have been equal to the promise. How often do we see wise men with silly wives and tall men with short wives. The only wonder is, that the offspring of such couples are not worse than they are. CHAPTER X.