To the Rev.A.Brandram (ENDORSED:recd.Sept.11,1837)SAINT JAMES (SANTIAGO)OF COMPOSTELLA,19TH AUG.[1837].
REVD.AND DEAR SIR,-I left Corunna about ten days since for this town,travelling with the courier or weekly post,who was escorted by a strong party of soldiers in consequence of the distracted state of the country.Nothing particular worth relating occurred during the journey,which occupied a day and a half,though the distance is barely ten leagues.Santiago,or Saint James,is,as you are aware,the capital of Galicia,and the residence of the Metropolitan.It is,or was,the most celebrated resort for pilgrims in the whole world,with the exception of Jerusalem,as it is said to contain the bones of Saint James the Elder,the Child of the Thunder,who according to the legend of the Roman Church first preached the Gospel in Spain.The cathedral,though built at various periods and by no means uniform,is a majestic,venerable edifice,in every respect calculated to excite awe and admiration;indeed it is almost impossible to walk its long dusky aisles and hear the solemn music and the noble chanting and inhale the incense of the mighty censers,which are at times swung so high by machinery that they smite the vaulted roof,whilst gigantic tapers glitter here and there amongst the gloom from the shrine of many a saint,before which the worshippers are kneeling,breathing forth their prayers and petitions for help,love,and mercy,and entertain a doubt that we are treading the floor of a house where God delighteth to dwell.Yet the Lord is distant from that house.
He heareth not,He seeth not:or,if He hear and see,it is with anger.What availeth that solemn music,that noble chanting,that incense of sweet savour?What availeth kneeling before that grand altar of silver,surmounted by that figure with its silver hat and breastplate,the emblem of one who,although an Apostle and Confessor,was at best an unprofitable servant?What availeth hoping for remission of sin by trusting in the merits of him who possessed none,or by paying homage to others who were born and nurtured in sin,and who alone by the exercise of a lively faith granted from above could hope to preserve themselves from the wrath of the Almighty?Yet such acts and formalities constitute what is termed religion at Compostella,where,perhaps,God and His will are less known and respected than at Pekin or amid the wildernesses where graze the coursers of the Mongol and the Mandchou.Perhaps there is no part of Spain where the Romish religion is so cherished as throughout Galicia.In no part of Spain are the precepts and ordinances of that Church,especially fasting and confession,so strictly observed,and its ministers regarded with so much respect and deference.The natural conclusion therefore would be that,if the religion of Rome be the same as that founded by Christ,the example of the Saviour is more closely followed,and the savage and furious passions more bridled,bloodshed and rapine less frequent,unchastity and intemperance less apparent,and the minds of the people more enlightened and free from the mists of superstition in Galicia than in other provinces.