“Then was read to them, as above named, section thirteen of the law of the Republic, which explains and sets forth the reciprocal rights and duties of the husband and wife. Immediately thereafter I asked Serapio Antonio Gutierez the question, ‘Do you wish to take Felipa Rivas as your wife?’ who then answered in a distinct voice, ‘Yes; I want her, and take her thus.’ Then I asked Felipa Rivas, ‘Do you take Serapio Antonio Gutierez to be your husband?’ who in the same manner answered, ‘Yes; I want him, and take him thus.’ “Addressing myself to both, I said, ‘You are now joined in matrimony, perpetual and indissoluble, and you are required to support and assist each other, and provide each other, and the children that may be born to you, with the necessaries of the home, and be to each other a comfort and a blessing. “The above, having been properly witnessed, was signed by the married couple in my presence, and immediately entered in the book of civil registry. “SERAPIO ANTONIO GUTIEREZ. “FELIPA RIVAS. “FELIPE AGUERRA, _Engineer_. } _Witnesses._ “LUIS R. TORES. } “JULIO BAEZ PUMAR, _Clerk_. BASIDIO GABANTE, _Prefect_.” [Illustration: A BODEGA.] Under a glass cylinder, on a stand beneath the banner of Pizarro, is a large book bound in scarlet plush, with heavy gold clasps and hinges, in which the contracts are kept and the record of Venezuelan wedlock preserved. All the Catholics go at once to the church from the municipal palace, and repeat their vows, with the benediction of the priest, but this is not essential. At this same office the record of births and deaths is also kept in the strictest manner. Formerly, as in Cuba, the legitimacy of a child and permission to bury the dead could be acknowledged by the Church alone, but the republic has confiscated all the cemeteries, and opened the gates to those of every faith, Jew or Gentile, Protestant or Catholic. The Government is very exacting in many respects. One day a little boy was stolen. The only clew was given by some children, who saw their playmate seized by a man who drove away with him in a hack. Every hackman in the city was arrested and thrown into prison; every coach was seized, with its horses and harness, and notice given by the police authorities that not a wheel should be turned in the streets until the child was found. These summary measures made every coach-owner a detective, and finally the hackman who was engaged in the abduction confessed, and the child was recovered without the payment of the ransom demanded.