Trust one of our canons for
not committing himself so far until he sees very good reason.
These tales of treasure are at present rather too stale:
We have
heard of them ever since the time of the Moors.
Benedict. - He advised me to go to the Captain General and obtain
permission to make excavations, in which case he promised to assist
me to the utmost of his power.
Thereupon the Swiss departed, and I neither saw nor heard anything
farther of him during the time that I continued at Saint James.
The bookseller was never weary of showing me about his native town,
of which he was enthusiastically fond. Indeed, I have never seen
the spirit of localism, which is so prevalent throughout Spain,
more strong than at Saint James. If their town did but flourish,
the Santiagians seemed to care but little if all others in Galicia
perished. Their antipathy to the town of Coruna was unbounded, and
this feeling had of late been not a little increased from the
circumstance that the seat of the provincial government had been
removed from Saint James to Coruna. Whether this change was
advisable or not, it is not for me, who am a foreigner, to say; my
private opinion, however, is by no means favourable to the
alteration. Saint James is one of the most central towns in
Galicia, with large and populous communities on every side of it,
whereas Coruna stands in a corner, at a considerable distance from
the rest. "It is a pity that the vecinos of Coruna cannot contrive
to steal away from us our cathedral, even as they have done our
government," said a Santiagian; "then, indeed, they would be able
to cut some figure. As it is, they have not a church fit to say
mass in." "A great pity, too, that they cannot remove our
hospital," would another exclaim; "as it is, they are obliged to
send us their sick, poor wretches. I always think that the sick of
Coruna have more ill-favoured countenances than those from other
places; but what good can come from Coruna?"
Accompanied by the bookseller, I visited this hospital, in which,
however, I did not remain long; the wretchedness and uncleanliness
which I observed speedily driving me away. Saint James, indeed, is
the grand lazar-house for all the rest of Galicia, which accounts
for the prodigious number of horrible objects to be seen in its
streets, who have for the most part arrived in the hope of
procuring medical assistance, which, from what I could learn, is
very scantily and inefficiently administered. Amongst these
unhappy wretches I occasionally observed the terrible leper, and
instantly fled from him with a "God help thee," as if I had been a
Jew of old. Galicia is the only province of Spain where cases of
leprosy are still frequent; a convincing proof this, that the
disease is the result of foul feeding, and an inattention to
cleanliness, as the Gallegans, with regard to the comforts of life
and civilized habits, are confessedly far behind all the other
natives of Spain.
"Besides a general hospital we have likewise a leper-house," said
the bookseller. "Shall I show it you? We have everything at Saint
James. There is nothing lacking; the very leper finds an inn
here." "I have no objection to your showing me the house," I
replied, "but it must be at a distance, for enter it I will not."
Thereupon he conducted me down the road which leads towards Padron
and Vigo, and pointing to two or three huts, exclaimed "That is our
leper-house." "It appears a miserable place," I replied: "what
accommodation may there be for the patients, and who attends to
their wants?" "They are left to themselves," answered the
bookseller, "and probably sometimes perish from neglect: the place
at one time was endowed and had rents which were appropriated to
its support, but even these have been sequestered during the late
troubles. At present, the least unclean of the lepers generally
takes his station by the road side, and begs for the rest. See
there he is now."
And sure enough the leper in his shining scales, and half naked,
was seated beneath a ruined wall. We dropped money into the hat of
the unhappy being, and passed on.
"A bad disorder that," said my friend. "I confess that I, who have
seen so many of them, am by no means fond of the company of lepers.
Indeed, I wish that they would never enter my shop, as they
occasionally do to beg. Nothing is more infectious, as I have
heard, than leprosy: there is one very virulent species, however,
which is particularly dreaded here, the elephantine: those who die
of it should, according to law, be burnt, and their ashes scattered
to the winds: for if the body of such a leper be interred in the
field of the dead, the disorder is forthwith communicated to all
the corses even below the earth. Such, at least, is our idea in
these parts. Lawsuits are at present pending from the circumstance
of elephantides having been buried with the other dead. Sad is
leprosy in all its forms, but most so when elephantine."
"Talking of corses," said I, "do you believe that the bones of St.
James are veritably interred at Compostella?"
"What can I say," replied the old man; "you know as much of the
matter as myself. Beneath the high altar is a large stone slab or
lid, which is said to cover the mouth of a profound well, at the
bottom of which it is believed that the bones of the saint are
interred; though why they should be placed at the bottom of a well,
is a mystery which I cannot fathom. One of the officers of the
church told me that at one time he and another kept watch in the
church during the night, one of the chapels having shortly before
been broken open and a sacrilege committed.
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