St. James, or Saint Jago, is the Patron Saint of Spain. The shrine at
Compostella, on the site of which the Apostle’s body was miraculously
discovered in 800, became famous throughout Europe, and was for many
ages the peculiar object of the liberality of the rich, and of the
pilgrimages of the poor of all nations. In the year 1434, no less than
2460 English had license from the King to proceed thither, with
considerable sums of money, as well for offerings as for their necessary
expenses.
When Almanzor, the Moorish King of Seville, ravaged Gallicia, the divine
interposition preserved, by a miraculous storm of lightning, the temple
of Compostella from plunder and profanation. Is it too much to hope that
the vengeance of Heaven may yet, in our days, visit invaders more
rapacious, more cruel, more impious, than the Moors!