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came forward, and on his knees declared, with many tears, before all the people, the crime which he had committed, and the injunctions which had been laid on him by his own Bishop. The holy Bishop then opened the schedule, and found nothing written therein; it appeared as if no letters had ever been inscribed there. A marvellous thing, and an exceeding joy, for which great praise and glory were incontinently rendered to God and the Apostle, the people all singing, this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes!' The holy Bishop then of a truth believing, that the penitent had obtained forgiveness with God through the merits of the Apostle, would impose upon him no other penance for the crime which he had committed, except that of keeping Friday as a fast from that time forth, and having absolved him from all his other sins, he dismissed him to his own country. Hence it may be inferred, that if any one shall truly repent, and, going from distant countries to Galicia, shall there, with his whole heart, intreat pardon from God, and pray for the aid of the blessed Santiago, the record of his misdeeds shall, without all doubt, be blotted out for ever."— Acta SS. Jul. t. vi. p. 48.

There is a miracle of the same kind related of St. Antonio,.. and probably many other examples might be found.

THE

PILGRIM TO COMPOSTELLA :

BEING

THE LEGEND OF A COCK AND A HEN,

TO THE HONOUR AND GLORY OF

SANTIAGO.

A CHRISTMAS TALE.

"Res similis ficta; sed quid mihi fingere prodest."

OVID, Met. xiii. v. 935.

"Hear also no lean story of theirs!"- LIGHTFOOT.

THE PILGRIM TO COMPOSTELLA.

THE Legend, (for a genuine Legend it is,) which has been made the subject of the ensuing Ballad, is related by Bishop Patrick in his Parable of the Pilgrim. (ch. xxxv. pp. 430 -434.) Udal ap Rhys relates it in his Tour through Spain and Portugal. (pp. 35-38.) Both these writers refer to Lucius Marineus Siculus as their authority. And it is told also in the Journal du Voyage d'Espagne, (Paris, 1669,) by a Conseiller who was attached to the French Embassy in that country. (p. 18.)

The story may likewise be found in the Acta Sanctorum.

A

duplicate of the principal miracle occurs in the third volume, for the month of May, (die 12a, p. 171.), and is there ascribed to S. Domingo de la Calzada, the author, Luiz de la Vega, contending, that both relations are to be received as true, the Bollandist (Henschenius) contrariwise opining that they are distinct miracles, but leaving the reader nevertheless to determine freely for himself utrum id malit, an vero credere velit, unicum dumtaxat esse quod sub quadam circumstantiarum varietate refertur ut geminum.

In the sixth volume of the same work, for the month of July, (die 25a,) the legend of the Pilgrim is twice told, once (p. 45) as occurring to a native of Utrecht, (Cæsarius Heisterbachensis is the authority,) once as having befallen a German at Thoulouse (p. 50.); the latter story is in the collection of Santiago's miracles, which Pope Calixtus II. is said to have compiled. The extract from Lucius Marineus Siculus may also be seen there. It is here annexed as it

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stands in the fifth book of that author's work de rebus Hispania memorabilibus.

"In antiquissimâ civitate quam Sancti Dominici Calciatensis vulgus appellat, gallum vidimus et gallinam, qui dum vixerunt, cujus coloris fuissent ignoramus: postea vero cum jugulati fuissent et assi, candidissimi revixerunt, magnam Dei potentiam summumque miraculum referentes. Cujus rei veritas et ratio sic se habet. Vir quidam probus et amicus Dei, et uxor ejus, optima mulier, cum filio adolescentulo magnæ probitatis, ad Sanctum Jacobum Compostellam proficiscentes, in hanc urbem itineris labore defessi ingrediuntur, et quiescendi gratiâ restiterunt in domo cujusdam qui adultam filiam habebat. Quæ cum adolescentem pulchrâ facie vidisset, ejus amore capta est. Et cum juvenis ab ea requisitus atque vexatus, ejus voto repugnasset, amorem convertit in odium, et ei nocere cupiens, tempore quo discedere volebant ejus cucullo crateram sui patris clam reposuit. Cumque peregrini mane discessissent, exclamavit puella coram parentibus crateram sibi fuisse subreptam. Quod audiens

Prætor satellites confestim misit, ut peregrinos reducerent. Qui cum venissent, puella conscia sui sceleris accessit ad juvenem et crateram eruit e cucullo. Quapropter comperto delicto, juvenis in campum productus iniquâ sententiâ et sine culpâ laqueo suspensus est: miserique parentes cum filium deplorassent, postea discedentes Compostellam pervenerunt. Ubi solutis votis et Deo gratias agentes subinde redeuntes ad locum pervenerunt, ubi filius erat suspensus, et mater multis perfusa lacrymis ad filium accessit, multùm desuadente marito. Cumque filium suspiceret, dixit ei filius, Mater mea noli flere super me. ego enim vivus sum, quoniam Virgo Dei genetrix, et Sanctus Jacobus me sustinent et servant incolumem. Vade charissima mater ad judicem qui me falsò condemnavit, et dic ei me vivere propter innocentiam meam, ut me liberari jubeat, tibique restituat. Properat solicita mater, et præ nimio gaudio flens uberius, Prætorem convenit in mensâ sedentem, qui gallum et gallinam assos scindere volebat. • Prætor, inquit, filius meus vivit; jube solvi, obsecro !' Quod cum audisset Prætor, existimans eam quod dicebat propter amorem maternum somniasse, respondit sub

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