The ban upon mixed marriages continued, and neither Viceroys, Governors,
nor high officials might lead to the altar any woman born in America,
however beautiful she might be, and however aristocratic her descent. A
few minor privileges had been accorded to these oversea dwellers, it is
true. A system of titles had been instituted throughout the colonies,
for instance. By means of this it was hoped to pander to the vanity of
the Americans, and to bring into being a new tie of interest which
should cement the link between the Old and the New World which was
proving so profitable to Spain.
As a matter of fact, none took the trouble to grant these titles in
return for merit or service; it was necessary to buy them and to pay for
them. Their grandeur was strictly local. Thus a Marquis or a Count in
Lima or elsewhere in the Southern Continent would have been crassly
unwise to leave the shores of South America, for once in Spain his title
fell from him like a withered leaf; he became plain "Senor" and nothing
beyond, for in Spain these colonial distinctions were a matter for jeers
and mockery. What remained, therefore, for the poor local noble but to
hasten back to the spot where his nobility held good! It was better to
bask as a Marquis in the sunshine of the south than to be
cold-shouldered as a plebeian in stately Castile.
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