After A Stay Of About A Fortnight At Saint James, We Again Mounted
Our Horses And Proceeded In The Direction Of Vigo.
As we did not
leave Saint James till late in the afternoon, we travelled that day
no farther than Padron, a distance of only three leagues.
This
place is a small port, situate at the extremity of a firth which
communicates with the sea. It is called for brevity's sake,
Padron, but its proper appellation is Villa del Padron, or the town
of the patron saint; it having been, according to the legend, the
principal residence of Saint James during his stay in Galicia. By
the Romans it was termed Iria Flavia. It is a flourishing little
town, and carries on rather an extensive commerce, some of its tiny
barks occasionally finding their way across the Bay of Biscay, and
even so far as the Thames and London.
There is a curious anecdote connected with the skippers of Padron,
which can scarcely be considered as out of place here, as it
relates to the circulation of the Scriptures. I was one day in the
shop of my friend the bookseller at Saint James, when a stout good-
humoured-looking priest entered. He took up one of my Testaments,
and forthwith burst into a violent fit of laughter. "What is the
matter?" demanded the bookseller. "The sight of this book reminds
me of a circumstance": replied the other, "about twenty years ago,
when the English first took it into their heads to be very zealous
in converting us Spaniards to their own way of thinking, they
distributed a great number of books of this kind amongst the
Spaniards who chanced to be in London; some of them fell into the
hands of certain skippers of Padron, and these good folks, on their
return to Galicia, were observed to have become on a sudden
exceedingly opinionated and fond of dispute. It was scarcely
possible to make an assertion in their hearing without receiving a
flat contradiction, especially when religious subjects were brought
on the carpet. 'It is false,' they would say; 'Saint Paul, in such
a chapter and in such a verse, says exactly the contrary.' 'What
can you know concerning what Saint Paul or any other saint has
written?' the priests would ask them. 'Much more than you think,'
they replied; 'we are no longer to be kept in darkness and
ignorance respecting these matters:' and then they would produce
their books and read paragraphs, making such comments that every
person was scandalized; they cared nothing about the Pope, and even
spoke with irreverence of the bones of Saint James. However, the
matter was soon bruited about, and a commission was dispatched from
our see to collect the books and burn them. This was effected, and
the skippers were either punished or reprimanded, since which I
have heard nothing more of them. I could not forbear laughing when
I saw these books; they instantly brought to my mind the skippers
of Padron and their religious disputations."
Our next day's journey brought us to Pontevedra.
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