d 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.

What is the fact? Almost every road is teeming with banditti, who under
the name of Carlists plunder friend and foe, and to robbery join cruelty
so atrociously horrible that indignation at the crime is frequently lost
in wonder; for the Galician robbers are seldom satisfied with booty, and
unlike their brethren in other parts generally mutilate or assassinate
those who are so unfortunate as to fall in their hands; prostitution is
carried on to an enormous extent, and although loathsome concustant [sic]
diseases stare the stranger in the face in the street, in the
market-place, in the church, and at the fountain; 'Drunken as a Galician'
is a proverb; and superstitions forgotten, abandoned in the rest of
Spain, are clung to here with surprising pertinacity, the clergy exerting
themselves to uphold them by carrying on a very extensive sale in charms,
verifying the old saying, 'Witches are found where friars abound.'

An unhappy man, whilst collecting vipers amongst the hills, which he was
in the practice of selling to the apothecaries, was lately met near
Orense by some of these monsters. Having plundered and stripped him,
they tied his hands behind him and thrust his head into the sack, which
contained several of these horrible reptiles alive! They then fastened
the sack at the mouth round his neck, and having feasted their ears for a
time with his cries, they abandoned him to his fate. The poor wretch,
stung by the vipers in the face and eyes, presently became mad and ran
through several villages, till he fell dead.

I am now in the heart of this strange country and people. It has pleased
the Lord to bless my humble endeavours more than I had reason to expect;
since my arrival Santiago between thirty and forty copies of the New
Testament have been despatched. The bookseller of the place, Rey Romero,
a venerable man of seventy, very wealthy and respected, has taken up the
cause with an enthusiasm which doubtless emanates from on high, losing no
o