The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 14, July 1910 - April, 1911 Page: 35
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Reminiscences of Henry Smith. 35
felicity. I had taken it upon myself to attend to the reception and
comfort of the Padra and suit, and accordingly had a snug little
house fitted up for his reception, at a convenient distance from the
main crowd and bustle. The bed was comfortable and tastefully
caparisoned-the table groaned with its weight of the abundant
luxuries of the country tastefully arranged with a pyramid of the
most transparent and luscious honey comb in the centre. The day
was fine and every countenance seemed to brighten with the pros-
pect of the anticipated enjoyment, not for the pleasure of being, or
seeing, the old people married over again entirely, but the baptism,
the wine-the dinner, the dance and with many, the sight of a
Roman Catholic Priest was equal to a rare show in Texas-a thing
of which they had long heard, but never seen-and realy with some,
having heard much said about them, they were at a loss to con-
jecture whether the Priest could be a natural man, or some kind
of a beast. Expectation was on tiptoe-the Padra arrived and
was conducted to his mansion, and it was soon discovered, that he
looked like a man, and talked like a man, and finally concluded that
he was nothing but a common man-and an Irishman at that.
The Padra seemed to be well pleased with the provision made for
his comfort passed many encomiums on the taste displayed and
seemed much surprised to find so many of the real luxuries of life
in the wilds of Texas. So soon as he had become rested and taken
the necessary refreshments with a few glasses of generous wine, I
was called on, being generally acquainted with the people, to act as
a kind of precurser, and requested to go and take down the names
of the candidates for matrimony, in order that the necessary certifi-
cates be prepared and in readiness. This I complied with and
returned with a muster roll of twelve rank and file, no new candi-
dates having offered. While these things were in preparation I
was requested to return and make out a roll of the names of all the
candidates for baptism. now the test was to be made, though no
religious societies were tolerated in Texas, yet prejudices deep rooted
by early education rose up in strong opposition, and with many
the idea of being baptised by a Roman Catholic Priest carried
with it an everlasting stigma and disgrace. I applied to those who
seemed the elders among the people, and I found very few with-
out some kind of excuse, either that they had been baptised when
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 14, July 1910 - April, 1911, periodical, 1911; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101054/m1/43/?rotate=270: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.