No More Learning

The time of embarkment being come, he was called one day to the palace:
the king discoursed fully with him concerning the present condition of
the Indies, and recommended particularly to him the affairs of religion.
He likewise gave him in charge, to visit the fortresses of the
Portuguese, and take notice how God was served in them; and withal to
give him an account of what more was requisite to be done for the
establishment of Christianity in those new conquests; and to write
frequently on that subject, not only to his ministers, but to his own
person.

After this he presented him the four briefs, which had been expedited
from Home the same year; in two of which, our Holy Father had constituted
Xavier apostolical nuncio, and endued him with ample power for the
extending and maintenance of the faith throughout the East; in the third,
his Holiness recommended him to David Emperor of Ethiopia; and in the
fourth, to all the princes who possessed the isles of the sea, or the
continent from the Cape of Good Hope, even beyond the Ganges.

John III. had requested these briefs, and the Pope had freely granted
them, with design thereby to make the mission of Father Francis the more
illustrious and authentic. The father received them from the hands of the
king with profound respect; saying, that as much as his weakness was
capable of performing, he should endeavour to sustain the burden, which
God and man had laid upon him.

Some few days before he went to sea, Don Antonio d'Ataida, count of
Castagnera, who supervised the provisions of the naval army, advertised
Xavier to make a note of what things were necessary for him in order to
his voyage; assuring him from his majesty, that he should be furnished to
his own desire. They want nothing, replied the father with a smile, who
have occasion for nothing. I am much obliged to the king for his
liberality, and to you for your care of me; but I owe more to the Divine
Providence, and you would not wish me to distrust it.

The count of Castagnera, who had an express order from the king, to make
a large provision for Father Xavier, was very urgent with him, and
importuned him so strongly to take something, for fear, said he, of
tempting Providence, which does not every day work miracles, that Xavier,
not to appear either obstinate or, presumptuous, demanded some few little
books of devotion, for which he foresaw he should have occasion in the
Indies, and a thick eloth habit against the excessive colds, which are to
be endured in doubling the Cape.

The count, amazed that the father asked for nothing more, besought him to
make a better use of the king's offers; but seeing that all his
intreaties prevailed nothing, "you shall not be master in every thing,"
said he, with some kind of heat, "and at the least you cannot possibly
refuse a servant to attend you, because I am sure you cannot be without
one. " "So long as I have the use of these two hands," replied Xavier, "I
will have no other servant. " "But decency," rejoined the count,
"requires, that you should have one, if it were but to maintain the
dignity of your character. How shameful would it seem to behold an
apostolical legate washing his own linen on the deck, and dressing his
own victuals? " "I will take upon me for once," said Xavier, "to serve
myself, and others too, without dishonouring my character. So long as I
do no ill, I am in no fear of scandalizing my neighbour; nor of debasing
that authority with which I am entrusted by the Holy See. They are these
human considerations, and false notions of decencies and punctilios,
which have reduced the church to that condition in which we now see it. "

This positive answer stopped Castagnera's mouth; but afterwards, he gave
great commendations of Xavier, and publicly said, "that he found it much
more difficult to combat the denials of Father Francis, than to satisfy
the craving desires of other men. "

The day of his departure being come at length, and all things in a
readiness to set sail, Xavier went to the port, with his two companions,
whom he carried with him to the Indies; namely, Father Paul de Camerino,
an Italian, and Francis Mansilla, a Portuguese, who was not yet in
priests orders. Simon Rodriguez bore him company to the fleet; and then
it was, that, embracing each other with much tenderness, "My brother,"
said Xavier, "these are the last words which I shall ever say to you:
we shall see each other no more in this present world; let us endure our
separation with patience; for most certain it is, that, being well united
with our Lord, we shall be united in ourselves; and that nothing shall be
able to divide us from the society which we have in Jesus Christ.

"As to what remains, I will, for your satisfaction," added he, "discover
to you a secret, which hitherto I have concealed from your knowledge: You
may remember, that when we lodged as chamber-fellows, in the hospital at
Rome, you heard me crying out one night, 'yet more, O my Lord, yet more! '
you have often asked what that exclamation meant; and I have always
answered you, that you should not trouble yourself about it: I must now
tell you, that I then beheld, (but whether sleeping or waking, God only
knows,) all I was to suffer for the glory of Jesus Christ; our Lord
infused into me so great a delight for sufferings, that not being able to
satiate, myself with those troubles which he had presented to my
imagination, I begged of him yet more; and that was the sense of what I
pronounced with so much fervency, 'yet more, yet more! ' I hope the Divine
Goodness will grant me that in India, which he has foreshewn to me in
Italy, and that the desires which he inspired into me shall be shortly
satisfied. "

After these words they embraced each other anew, and parted both of them
in tears. When Rodriguez was returned on shore, they gave the signal of
departure, and set sail. This was on the 7th of April, in the year 1541,
under the command of Don Martin Alphonso de Sosa, viceroy of the Indies;
a man of known integrity, and consummate experience in what related to
those parts, where he had formerly lived for many years. He was desirous
of Xavier's company, in the Admiral, which was called the St James.
Xavier went aboard on his own birth-day, entering then on his
six-and-thirtieth year. He had resided eight months entire at Lisbon; and
forseven years, and somewhat more, had been the professed disciple of
Ignatius Loyola.


* * * * *



THE LIFE OF ST FRANCIS XAVIER.


BOOK II.


_By what way he passes to the Indies. His employment in the ship. He
arrives at Mozambique, and what he does there. He falls sick himself, and
yet continues to serve the sick. His first prediction Verified by the
success. He arrives at Melinda, and there confers with the Mahometans. He
passes over to Socotora; his opinion concerning that people. He arrives
at Goa. He visits the Bishop of the Indies. The estate of religion in the
India at his arrival. His first work at Goa. The first fruits of his
labours. His industry to gain the Concubinarians. He is told of the coast
of Fishery, and goes thither. This coast is called in the maps La
Pescaria. He works a miracle at Cape Comorin. He labours in the salvation
of the Paravas. His manner of teaching the Christian faith. He
establishes catechists and teachers of the faith to supply ids place. The
fruit of his labours on the coast of Fishery. He makes use of children to
cure the sick. The zeal of the children against idols and idolaters. The
punishment of a pagan, who had despised the admonitions of Father Xavier.
The original and character of the Brachmans. He treats with the
Brachmans. The conference of Xavier with a famous Brachman. He works
divers miracles. He declares himself against the Brachmans. The means
whereby he destroyed idolatry. He returns to Goa, and for what reason.
The beginning and establishment of the seminary of holy faith. The
seminary of holy faith new named the College of St Paul. He returns to
the coast of Fishery; his actions there. He goes to the relief of the
Christians, on the coast of Fishery. He goes to the kingdom of
Travancore, and there labours with great success. God communicates to him
the gift of tongues. He is persecuted by the Brachmans. He goes to meet
the army of the Badages, and puts them to flight. He prevails upon the
king of Travancore to favour the gospel. He raises two from death. _


While the Christian religion flourished in Asia, under the emperors of
Constantinople, there were two ordinary passages, and both of them short
enough towards the Indies: the one by Syria, over the Euphrates and the
Persian Gulph; the other by Egypt, over the Arabian Gulph, commonly
called the Red Sea. But after the Saracens had possessed themselves of
those places, the European Christians finding those passages unsecure for
travelling, sought out ways of a larger circuit, to avoid falling into
the hands of their most mortal enemies.

The Portuguese were the first who bethought themselves of coasting all
Africa, and one part of Arabia and Persia; by taking this compass, the
Indies are distant from Portugal about four thousand leagues, and the
passengers are constrained to suffer twice the scorching heats of the
torrid zone, in going under the equinoctial line, which divides Africa
almost in two equal parts.

Don Henry, son of King John I. , the most skilful prince of that age in
the mathematics, was he who attempted the discovery of those seas, and
undertook to double the Cape of Good Hope, upon the account of traffic,
which he desired to establish betwixt the crown of Portugal and the
emperor of Ethiopia, commonly called Prester John. This enterprise having
succeeded, the kings of Portugal, Alphonso V. , John II. , and Emanuel I. ,
followed it so happily, that, by little and little, they completed the
passage to the Indies.

This was the course that Father Xavier held with the fleet of Portugal.
He found himself sufficient employment, during the time of the
navigation: his first study was to put a stop to those disorders which
are commonly occasioned by an idle life on ship-board; and he began with
gaming, which is the only recreation, or rather the whole employment,
of the seamen.

That he might banish games of chance, which almost always occasion
quarrels and swearing, he proposed some little innocent diversions,
capable of entertaining the mind, without stirring up the passions. But
seeing that, in spite of his endeavours, they were bent on cards and
dice, he thought it not convenient to absent himself, but became a
looker on, that he might somewhat awe them by his presence; and when they
were breaking out into any extravagance, he reclaimed them by gentle
and soft reproofs. He shewed concernment in their gains, or in their
losses, and offered sometimes to hold their cards.

There were at least a 'thousand persons in the Admiral, men of all
conditions: the father made himself all to all, thereby to gain some to
Jesus Christ; entertaining every man with such discourse as was most
suitable to his calling. He talked of sea affairs to mariners, of war to
the soldiery, of commerce to merchants, and of affairs of state to men of
quality. His natural gaiety, and obliging humour, gained him a general
esteem; the greatest libertines, and most brutal persons, sought his
conversation, and were even pleased to hear him speak of God.

He instructed the seamen daily in the principles of religion, of which
the greater part were wholly ignorant, or had at the best but a
smattering of it; and preached to them on every holiday, at the foot of
the main mast. All of them profited by his sermons, and in little time
nothing was heard amongst them, which was offensive to the honour of God,
or that wounded Christian charity; or touched upon obsceneness, or ill
manners. They had a profound veneration for him; with one word only, he
appeased their quarrels, and put an end to all their differences.

The viceroy, Don Martin Alphonso de Sosa, invited him from the very first
clay to eat at his table; but Xavier humbly excused it, with great
acknowledgments, and during all the voyage lived only on what he begged
about the ship.

In the mean time, the insufferable colds of Cabo Verde, and the excessive
heats of Guinea, together with the stench of the fresh waters, and
putrifaction of their flesh provisions under the line, produced many
dangerous distempers. The most common was a pestilential fever,
accompanied with a kind of cancer, which bred in the mouth, and
ulcerated all the gums; the sick being crowded together, spread the
infection amongst themselves; and as every one was apprehensive of
getting the disease, they had been destitute of all succour, if Father
Francis had not taken compassion on them. He wiped them in their sweats,
he cleansed their ulcers, he washed their linen, and rendered them all
the most abject services; but, above all things, he had care of their
consciences, and his principal employment was to dispose them to a
Christian death.

These were his perpetual employments; being at the same time himself
seized with continued fits of vomiting, and extreme languishments, which
lasted two whole months. For his ease and refreshment, Sosa caused him to
be accommodated with a larger cabin than was first appointed for him: he
accepted of it, but it was only to lodge in it those who were most
desperately ill; as for himself, he lay bare upon the deck, without other
pillow than the tackling.

He received also the dishes which the viceroy sent him from his table,
and divided them amongst those who had most need of nourishment. So
many actions of charity gained him the surname of the Holy Father from
thenceforward, which continued to him all his life, even, amongst
Mahometans and idolaters.

While Xavier employed his time in this manner, the navy following its
course, met with rocks and tempests, and contrary tides. After five
months of perpetual navigation, it arrived at Mozambique, towards the end
of August.

Mozambique is a kingdom situated on the eastern coasts of Africa,
inhabited by negroes; a barbarous people, but less savage than their
neighbours the Cafres, by reason of the trade which they continually
maintain with the Ethiopians and Arabs. There is no port on all the shore
to secure shipping from the winds; only one little island is shaped into
a haven, both convenient and safe.

This isle, which is but a mile distant from the main land, bears the name
of Mozambique, together with the whole kingdom. It was formerly subject
to the Saracens, and a Xeriffe Moor commanded it; but since, the
Portuguese have made themselves masters of it, and built a fort, to
secure the passage of their vessels, and refresh their sea-beaten men,
who commonly stay there for some time.

The army under Sosa was constrained to winter in this island, not only
because the season was far spent, but also because the sick passengers
could no longer support the incommodities of the sea. The place
notwithstanding was not very proper for infirm persons, for the air is
unwholesome; which proceeds from hence, that the sea overflowing the
low-lands of the isle, at the spring tides, the mass of waters there
gathered and inclosed is corrupted by the heats; for which reason, the
inhabitants are commonly short-lived, but more especially strangers;
upon which occasion, Mozambique is generally called the sepulchre of the
Portuguese. Besides the intemperance of the air, at the same time, an
infectious disease was raging in the country.

Being come ashore, Sosa gave immediate orders to carry the sick of every
ship to the hospital, which is in the island, of which the kings of
Portugal are founders. Father Xavier followed them; and, with the
assistance of his two companions, undertook to attend them all. The
undertaking was beyond his strength; but the soul sustains the body of
apostolical men, and charity can do all things.

Animated with this new fervour, he went from chamber to chamber, and from
bed to bed, giving remedies to some, and administering the last sacrament
to others. Every one desired to have him by him; and all acknowledged,
that only the sight of his countenance availed them more than a thousand
medicines.

Having passed the day in continual labour, he watched all night with
dying men, or laid himself down by those who were in most danger, to
steal a short unquiet slumber, which was interrupted almost every moment:
at the least complaint, or even at a sigh, he was awake, and ran to their
relief.

So many fatigues at the length overwhelmed nature, and he fell sick
himself of a fever, so violent, and so malignant, that he was blooded
seven times in a little space, and was three days in a delirium. At the
beginning of his sickness, many were desirous to have withdrawn him from
the hospital, where the contagion was frightful, and offered him their
own lodgings. He constantly refused their offers, and told them, "That,
having made a vow of poverty, he would live and die amongst the poor. "

But when the violence of his distemper was somewhat abated, the saint
forgot himself to think on others. Sometimes, not being able to sustain
his body, and burning with his fever, he visited his dear patients, and
attended them as much as his weakness would permit him. The physician
having one day met him, going hither and thither as his charity called
him, in the middle of his fit, after having felt his pulse, plainly told
him, that in all the hospital, there was not one man in more danger than
himself, and prayed him that he would take some small repose, and but
give himself a breathing time until his fever were on the declension.

"I will punctually obey you," replied the father, "when I have satisfied
one part of my duty which calls upon me; it concerns the salvation or a
soul, and there is no time to be lost on such an occasion. " Immediately
he ordered to be carried to his own bed a poor ship-boy, who lay
stretched out on a little straw, with a burning fever upon him, without
speech or knowledge. The youth was no sooner placed upon the saint's bed,
but he came to himself: Xavier made use of the opportunity, and laying
himself by the sick person, who had led a most dissolute life, exhorted
him so strongly all that night to abominate his sins, and to rely on the
mercy of Almighty God, that he saw him die in great contrition, mixed
with saving hope.

After this, the father kept the promise which he had made to the
physician, and took a greater care of his own preservation; insomuch that
his fever abated by degrees, and at length left him of itself; but his
strength was not yet recovered, when the navy put to sea again. The
viceroy, who began to find himself indisposed, would make no longer stay
upon a place so much infected, nor attend the recovery of his people, to
continue his voyage. He desired Xavier to accompany him, and to leave
Paul de Camerino, and Francis Mansilla, to attend the sick in the
hospital; where indeed they both, performed their duty as became them.

Thus having made a six months residence on Mozambique, they embarked once
more on the 15th of March, and in the year 1542. But they went not aboard
the St James, in which they came thither, changing her for a lighter
vessel, which made better sail.

It is here proper to observe, that the father, according to the report of
the passengers who came with him from Portugal to Mozambique, began to
manifest that spirit of prophecy, which he had to the end of his days in
so eminent a degree. For hearing those of the St James commend that ship,
as a vessel of the strongest built, and the best equipped of all the
fleet, he said in express words, that she would prove unfortunate. And in
effect, that ship, which the viceroy left behind him at Mozambique, in
the company of some others, pursuing her course afterwards to the Indies,
was driven against the rocks, and dashed in pieces towards the island of
Salseta.

The galeon, which carried Sosa and Xavier, had the wind so favourable,
that in two or three days she arrived at Melinda, on the coast of Africa,
towards the equinoctial line. It is a town of Saracens, on the sea side,
in a flat country, well cultivated, planted all along with palm-trees,
and beautified with fair gardens. It has a large enclosure, and is
fortified with walls, after the European fashion. Though the building is
Moresque, the houses notwithstanding are both pleasantand convenient. The
inhabitants are warlike, they are black, and go naked; excepting only
that they are covered with a kind of an apron of cotton or linen, from
the waist to the mid thigh. And indeed the heat of their climate will
permit them to wear no more; Melinda being distant from the line but
three degrees and some few minutes.

They have always maintained a good correspondence with the Portuguese, by
reason of the commerce established betwixt them. The flag of Portugal was
no sooner seen, but the Saracen king Came down to the port, attended by
the most honourable persons of his court, to receive the new governor of
the Indies. The first object which presented itself to Father Francis
when he stept ashore, drew tears from his eyes; but they were tears of
joy and pity mingled together. The Portuguese having there a constant
trade, and now and then some of them happening to die, are allowed a
burying-place near the town, full of crosses set upon their graves,
according to ihe custom of the Catholics: and above the rest there was a
very large one of hewn stone placed in the middle, and all over gilded.

The saint ran to it, and adored before it; receiving an inward
consolation, to behold it raised so high, and, as it were, triumphing
amongst the enemies of Jesus Christ. But at the same time, he was
sensibly afflicted, that this sign of our salvation served less to edify
the living, than to honour the memory of the dead. And lifting up his
hands to heaven, he besought the Father of all mercies to imprint in the
hearts of the infidels, that cross, which they had suffered to be planted
on their ground.

His next thoughts prompted him to confer of religion with the Moors,
that he might endeavour to shew them the extravagances of the Mahometan
belief, and gain an opportunity of revealing to them the eternal truths
of Christian faith. One of the principal inhabitants, and wonderfully
bigotted to his sect, prevented him, and immediately demanded of him, if
piety were not wholly extinguished in the towns of Europe, as it was in
Melinda. "For, to confess the truth," said he, "of seventeen mosques
which we have, fourteen are quite forsaken; there are but three
remaining, at which we pay our devotions; and even those three are but
little visited, and by few persons.

"This proceeds, without all question," added the Mahometan, "from some
enormous sin, but what it is, I know not: and whatsoever reflections I
can make, I am not able to find what has drawn upon us so dreadful a
misfortune. " "There is nothing more clear," replied Xavier; "God, who
detests the prayer of infidels, has permitted a worship to moulder away,
which is displeasing to him; and gives you thence to understand, that he
condemns your sect. " The Saracen was not satisfied with this reason, nor
with any other argument which Xavier used against the Alcoran. While they
were thus disputing, a Caciz, or doctor of the law, joined company with
them, having made the same complaint concerning the mosques, how little
they were frequented, and how cold was grown the devotion of the people.
"I have taken my measures," said he, "and if in two years Mahomet comes
not in person to visit the congregations of the faithful, who acknowledge
him for God's true prophet, I will certainly look out for some other
religion. " Xavier took pity on the folly of the Caciz, and endeavoured
all he could to convert him at that instant from Mahometanism; but he
could not prevail upon an obstinate mind, blinded with the opinion of its
own reason; and therefore the father acquiesced in the decrees of that
Providence, which has fixed the times and revolutions for the conversion
of infidels and sinners.

Having left Melinda, where they continued but few days, and still
coasting Africa, they cast anchor at Socotora, which is beyond Cape
Guardafu, and over against the Strait of Mecca. The Moors of that country
call it the Isle of Amazons; and the reason they allege is, because it is
governed by women. The inhabitants believe their isle to be the earthly
paradise; which notwithstanding, there is scarcely to be found in all the
world, a spot of ground less deserving that glorious title. The air is in
a perpetual sultry heat, the soil is dry and barren, and, excepting only
for the aoes which is there produced, and is indeed the best which grows
in those eastern parts, even the name of Socotora would not be mentioned.
It is not certainly known what religion they profess, so monstrous is
their belief. They hold from the Saracens the worship of Mahomet, from
the Jews the use of circumcision and sacrifices, and yet give themselves
the name of Christians. The males bear the name of some or other of the
apostles, the most part of the women are called Mary, and yet they have
no knowledge of baptism. They adore the cross, and hang it in little
about their necks. They chiefly venerate St Thomas; and it is an ancient
tradition amongst them, that this holy apostle, in going to the Indies,
was cast by a tempest on their coast; that being come ashore, he preached
Jesus Christ to those of Socotora; and that from the wreck of that ship
which brought him thither, they built a chapel in the middle of their
island.

The condition of these islanders sensibly afflicted Father Xavier; yet he
despaired not of reducing them to a right understanding of the faith,
because, as barbarous as they were, they still preserved some footsteps
of Christianity amongst them. Having no knowledge of their tongue, which
bears not the least resemblance to any of our European languages, and is
also wholly different from the Ethiopian and Arabic, at the first he was
constrained to testify his sorrow to them by dumb signs, for their
ignorance and errors. Afterwards, whether it were that some one amongst
them understood the Portuguese, and served as interpreter to all the
rest, or that counting from this very time he began to receive from
above, the first fruits of the gift of tongues, which was so abundantly
bestowed on him in the Indies on sundry occasions, he spoke to them
concerning the necessity of baptism, and let them know, that there was no
possibility of salvation without a sincere belief in Jesus Christ: but
that the faith allowed of no mixture, and that to become Christians, they
must of necessity cease to be Jews or Mahometans.

His words made a wonderful impression on the souls and hearts of those
barbarians: some of them made him presents of their wild fruits, in token
of their good will; others offered him their children to be baptised; all
promised him to receive baptism themselves, and to lead the life of true
Christians, on condition he would remain with them. But when they beheld
the Portuguese galleon ready to depart, they ran in crowds to the
water-side, and besought the holy man, with tears in their eyes, not to
forsake them.

So moving a spectacle wrought compassion in Xavier; he was earnest with
the viceroy for leave to stay upon the isle, at least till the arrival of
the vessels, which he had left at Mozambique, But he could obtain no part
of his request: and Sosa told him, that heaven having designed him for
the Indies, it was to be wanting to his vocation if he endeavoured this
exchange, and stopped in the beginning of his race; that his zeal would
find a more ample field, wherein to exercise itself, than in Socotora,
and people of better inclination than those islanders, naturally
inconstant, and as ready to forsake the faith, as they were easy to
receive it.

Xavier submitted to these reasons of the viceroy, which on this occasion
seemed to interpret to him the good pleasure of Almighty God. Instantly
they hoisted sail; but the saint was pierced with sorrow to behold those
poor creatures, who followed him with their eyes, and held up their hands
from afar to him; while the vessel was removing into the deep, he turned
his head towards them, breathing out profound sighs, and looking
mournfully upon them. But that he might leave nothing upon his conscience
to upbraid him concerning the Socotorins, he engaged himself solemnly
before Almighty God to return to them, so soon as possibly he could; or
in case he could not, to procure for them some preachers of the gospel,
to instruct them in the way of their salvation.

This last part of his navigation was not long. After having crossed the
sea of Arabia, and part of that which belongs to India, the fleet arrived
at the port of Goa, on the 6th of May, in the year 1542, being the
thirteenth month since their setting out from the port of Lisbon.

The town of Goa is situated on this side of the Ganges, in an island
bearing the same name. It is the capital city of the Indies, the seat of
the bishop and the viceroy, and the most considerable place of all the
East for traffic. It had been built by the Moors forty years before the
Europeans had passed into the Indies; and in the year 1510, Don Alphonso
de Albuquerque, surnamed the Great, took it from the infidels, and
subjected it to the crown of Portugal.

At that time was verified the famous prophecy of St Thomas the apostle,
that the Christian faith, which he had planted in divers kingdoms of the
East, should one day flourish there again; which very prediction he left
graven on a pillar of living stone, for the memory of future ages. The
pillar was not far distant from the walls of Meliapore, the metropolis of
the kingdom of Coromandel; and it was to be read in the characters of the
country, that when the sea, which was forty miles distant from the
pillar, should come up to the foot of it, there should arrive in the
Indies white men and foreigners, who should there restore the true
religion.

The infidels had laughed at this prediction for a long time, not
believing that it would ever be accomplished, and indeed looking on it as
a kind of impossibility that it should; yet it was accomplished, and that
so justly, that when Don Vasco de Gama set foot on the Indies, the sea,
which sometimes usurps upon the continent, and gains by little and little
on the dry land, was by that time risen to the pillar, so as to bathe its
lower parts.

Yet it may be truly said, that the prophecy of St Thomas had not its full
effect, till after the coming of Father Xavier; according to another
prediction of that holy man Peter de Couillan, a religious of the
Trinity, who, going to the Indies with Vasco de Gama, in quality of his
ghostly father, was martyred by the Indians on the seventh of July 1497,
forty-three years before the beginning of the Society of Jesus, who being
pierced through with arrows, while he was shedding his blood for Christ,
distinctly pronounced these following words: "In few years there shall be
born in the church of God, a new religious order of clergymen, which
shall bear the name of Jesus: and one of its first fathers, conducted by
the Spirit of God, shall pass into the most remote countries of the East
Indies, the greatest part of which shall embrace the orthodox faith,
through the ministry of this evangelical preacher. "

This is related by Juan de Figueras Carpi, in his history of the order of
the redemption of captives, from the manuscripts of the Trinity Convent
in Lisbon, and the memoirs of the king of Portugal's library.

After Xavier was landed, he went immediately to the hospital, and there
took his lodging, notwithstanding the instances of the viceroy, who was
desirous to have had him in his palace. But he would not begin his
missionary function, till he had paid his respects to the Bishop of Goa;
whose name was Juan d'Albuquerque, of the order of St Francis, a most
excellent person, and one of the most virtuous prelates which the church
has ever had.

The father having informed him of the reasons for which his Holiness and
the king of Portugal had sent him to the Indies, presented to him the
briefs of Pope Paul III. , at the same time declaring to him, that he
pretended not to use them without his approbation and good-liking: after
this, he cast himself at his feet, and desired his blessing.

The prelate, edified with the modesty of the father, and struck with that
venerable air of sanctity which appeared in his countenance, took him up
immediately, and embraced him with great tenderness. Having often kissed
the briefs, he restored them to the father, with these words: "An
apostolical legate, sent from the vicar of Jesus Christ, has no need of
receiving his mission from any other hand; use freely that power, which
the holy seat has conferred upon you; and rest assured, that if the
Episcopal authority be needful to maintain, it shall never be wanting to
you. "

From that moment they contracted a most sacred friendship, whose union
was so strict, that ever after they seemed to have but one heart and one
soul: insomuch that Father Xavier undertook not any thing without
consulting the bishop first; and the bishop, on his side, imparted all
his designs to Father Xavier: and it is almost incredible, how much this
holy correspondence contributed to the salvation of souls, and exaltation
of the faith.

Before we pass farther, it is of consequence to know the estate of
religion at that time in the Indies. It is true, that, according to the
prophecy of St. Thomas, they who discovered the East Indies, had new
planted Christianity in some parts of them, where all was in a manner
quite forgotten. But ambition and avarice, in short time after, cooled
the zeal of these new conquerors; instead of extending the kingdom of
Jesus Christ, and of gaining souls to him, they thought of nothing more
than of enlarging their dominion, and enriching themselves. It happened
also, that many Indians newly converted to the faith, being neither
cultivated by wholesome instructions, nor edified by good examples,
forgot insensibly their baptism, and returned to their ancient
superstitions.

And if any amongst them kept constant to his Christianity, and declared
himself a believer, the Mahometans, who were uppermost in many places
along the coast, and very wealthy, persecuted him with great cruelty,
without any opposition on the part of the Portuguese governor or
magistrates. Whether the power of Portugal were not yet sufficiently
established, or that interest was predominant over justice and religion,
this cruel usage deterred the new Christians fom professing Jesus Christ,
and was the reason, that, amongst the infidels, all thoughts of
conversion were laid aside.

But what yet appears more wonderful, the Portuguese themselves lived more
like idolaters than Christians. For, to speak somewhat more particularly
of their corrupt manners, according to the relation which was sent to
King John III. of Portugal from the Indies, by a man in power, and worthy
of belief; some few months before the arrival of Father Xavier, every man
kept as many mistresses as he pleased, and maintained them openly in his
own house, even in the quality of lawful wives. They bought women, or
took them away by force, either for their service, or to make money of
them. Their masters taxed them at a certain sum by the day, and, for
fault of payment, inflicted on them ail sorts of punishment; insomuch,
that those unhappy creatures, not being able sometimes to work out the
daily rate imposed on them, were forced upon the infamous traffic of
their bodies, and became public prostitutes, to content the avarice of
their masters.
Justice was sold at the tribunals, and the most enormous crimes escaped
from punishment, when the criminals had wherewithal to corrupt their
judges.

All methods for heaping up money were accounted lawful, how indirect
soever, and extortion was publicly protest. Murder was reckoned but a
venial trespass, and was boasted as a piece of bravery.

The Bishop of Goa, to little purpose, threatened them with the wrath of
heaven, and the thunder of excommunications. No dam was sufficient for
such a deluge; their hearts were hardened against spiritual threatening
and anathemas; or, to speak more properly, the deprivation of sacraments
was no punishment to such wicked wretches, who were glad to be rid of
them.

The use of confessions, and the communion, were in a manner abolished;
and if any one by chance was struck with a remorse of conscience, and
desired to reconcile himself to God, at the foot of a priest, he was
constrained to steal to his devotions by night, to avoid the scandal to
his neighbour.

So strange a depravation of manners proceeded from these causes. Its rise
was taken from the licence of arms, which permit, and almost authorize,
the greatest disorders in a conquered country. The pleasures of Asia, and
the commerce of infidels, aided not a little to debauch the Portuguese,
as starched and regular as they naturally are. The want of spiritual
directors contributed largely to this growing mischief. There were not
four preachers, in all the Indies, nor any one priest without the walls
of Goa; insomuch, that in many fortified places whole years were passed
without hearing a sermon or a mass.

Behold a draught, not unresembling the face of Christianity in this new
world, when Father Xavier arrived in it.

The author of the relation from whence mine is copied, seems to have had
some kind of foresight of his coming; for, in the conclusion of his
memorial, he prays Almighty God, and earnestly desires the king of
Portugal, to send some holy man to the Indies, who might reform the
manners of the Europeans, by his apostolic instructions, and his
exemplary virtues.

As for the Gentiles, the life they led resembled that of beasts rather
than of men. Uncleanness was risen to the last excess amongst them; and
the least corrupt were those who had no religion. The greatest part of
them adored the devil under an obscene figure, and with ceremonies which
modesty forbids to mention. Some amongst them changed their deity every
day; and the first living creature which happened to meet them in the
morning was the object of their worship, not excepting even dogs or
swine. In this they were uniform, that they all offered bloody sacrifices
to their gods; and nothing was more common, than to see bleeding infants
on the altars, slaughtered by the hands of their own parents.

Such manifold abominations inflamed the zeal of Father Xavier. He wished
himself able at the same time, to have applied remedies to them all; yet
thought himself obliged to begin with the household of faith, according
to the precept of St Paul; that is to say, with the Christians: and
amongst them he singled out the Portuguese, whose example was like to be
most prevalent with the baptised Indians. Behold in what manner he
attempted this great enterprise of reformation.

To call down the blessing of heaven on this difficult employment, he
consecrated the greatest part of the night to prayers, and allowed
himself at the most but four hours of sleep; and even this little repose
was commonly disturbed: for, lodging in the hospital, and lying always
near the sick, as his custom had been at Mozambique, his slumber was
broken by their least complaint, and he failed not to rise to their
relief.

He returned to his prayers at break of day, after which he celebrated
mass. He employed the forenoon in the hospitals, particularly in that of
the lepers, which is in one of the suburbs of Goa. He embraced those
miserable creatures one after the other, and distributed amongst them
those alms which he had been begging for them from door to door. After
this he visited the prisons, and dealt amongst them the same effects of
charity.

In coming back, he made a turn about the town, with his bell in his hand,
and gave a loud summons to the fathers of families, that, for the love of
God, they would send their children and their slaves to catechism.

The holy man was convinced in his heart, that if the Portuguese youth
were well instructed in the principles of religion, and formed betimes to
the practice of good life, Christianity, in a little time, would be seen
to revive in Goa; but in case the children grew up without instruction or
discipline, there was no remaining hope, that they who sucked in impiety
and vice, almost with their milk, should ever become sincere Christians.

The little children gathered together in crowds about him, whether they
came of their own accord, through a natural curiosity, or that their
parents sent them, out of the respect which they already had for the holy
man, howsoever vicious themselves. He led them to the church, and there
expounded to them the apostles' creed, the commandments of God, and all
the practices of devotion which are in use amongst the faithful.

These tender plants received easily the impressions which the father made
on them, and it was through these little babes that the town began to
change its face. For, by daily hearing the man of God, they became modest
and devout; their modesty and devotion was a silent censure of that
debauchery which appeared in persons of riper age. Sometimes they even
reproved their fathers, with a liberty which had nothing of childish in
it, and their reproofs put the most dissolute libertines to the blush.

Xavier then proceeded to public preaching, whither all the people
flocked; and to the end that the Indians might understand, as well as the
Portuguese, he affected to speak that language in a gross and clownish
dialect, which passed at that time amongst the natives of the country. It
was immediately seen what power a preacher, animated by the spirit of
God, had over the souls of perverted men. The most scandalous sinners,
struck with the horror of their crimes, and the fear of eternal
punishment, were the first who came to confession. Their example took
away from others the shame of confessing; insomuch, that every one now
strove who should be foremost to throw himself at the father's feet,
knocking their breasts, and bitterly lamenting their offences.

The fruits of penitence accompanying these tears, were the certain proofs
of a sincere conversion. They cancelled their unlawful bonds and
covenants of extortion; they made restitution of their ill-gotten goods;
they set at liberty their slaves, whom they had opprest, or had acquired
unjustly; and lastly, turned away their concubines, whom they were
unwilling to possess by a lawful marriage.

The saint acted with the concubinarians almost in the same manner as our
Saviour dealt with the publicans and harlots. Far from treating them
severely, the deeper they were plunged in that darling vice, the more
tenderly he seemed to use them. On all occasions he declared himself
their friend; he made them frequent visits, without fear of being
upbraided with so infamous a conversation. He invited himself sometimes
to eat with them; and then, assuming an air of gaiety, he desired the
master to bring down the children to bear him company. When he had a
little commended their prettiness, he asked to see their mother, and
shewed her the same countenance, as if he had taken her for an honest
woman. If she were beautiful or well shaped, he praised her, and said
"she looked like a Portuguese:" after which; in private conversation,
"you have," said he to her master, "a fair slave, who well deserves to be
your wife. " But if she were a swarthy, ugly Indian, "Good God! " he cried
out, "what a monster do you keep within your doors! and how are you able
to endure the sight of her? " Such words, spoken in all appearance without
design, had commonly their full effect: the keeper married her whom the
saint had commended, and turned off the others.

This so sudden a change of manners was none of those transient fits of
devotion, which pass away almost as soon as they are kindled; piety was
established in all places, and they who formerly came to confession once
a year, to speak the best of it, now performed it regularly once a month.
They were all desirous of confessing themselves to Father Xavier; so
that, writing from Goa to Rome on that subject, he said, "That if it had
been possible for him to have been at once in ten places, he should not
have wanted for employment. " His catechising having had that wonderful
success which we have mentioned, the Bishop Don John d'Albuquerque
ordained, that, from thenceforward, the children should be taught the
Christian doctrine, in all the churches of the town. The gentlemen and
merchants applied themselves to the regulation of their families, and
banishment of vice. They gave the father considerable sums of money,
which he distributed in their presence, in the hospitals and prisons.
The viceroy accompanied the saint thither once a week, to hear the
complaints of the prisoners, and to relieve the poor. This Christian
practice was so pleasing to the king of Portugal, John III, that
afterwards he writ to Don John de Castro, governor of the Indies,
expressly ordering him to do that once a month, which Don Martin Alphonso
de Sosa never failed of doing every week; in short, the Portuguese of Goa
had gained such an habitude of good life, and such an universal change of
manners had obtained amongst them, that they seemed another sort of
people.

This was the state of affairs, when Michael Vaz, vicar general of the
Indies, a man of rare virtue, and wonderful zeal for the propagation of
the faith, gave Xavier to understand, that on the Oriental coast, which
lies extended from Cape Comorin to the Isle of Manar, and is called the
coast of Fishery, there were certain people called Paravas, that is to
say, fishers, who had caused themselves to be baptized some time since,
on occasion of succours which had been given them by the Portuguese
against the Moors, by whom they were cruelly opprest; that these people
had nothing more of Christianity than baptism, and the name, for want of
pastors to instruct them; and that it would be a work well-pleasing in
the sight of God to accomplish their conversion. He concealed not from
him, that the land was barren, and so destitute of the conveniences of
life, that no stranger was willing to settle there; that interest alone
drew the merchants thither, in the season of pearl-fishing, and otherwise
the heats were insupportable.

There could not have been made to Xavier a proposition more according to
his heart's desire. He offered himself, without the least hesitation, to
go and instruct that people; and he did it so much the more freely,
because his presence was no longer so necessary at Goa, where piety was
now grown into a habit, by a settled form of five months standing.

Having received the benediction of the bishop, he embarked about the
midst of October, in the year 1542, in a galiot, which carried the new
captain of Comorin; and took with him two young ecclesiastics of Goa, who
had a tolerable insight into the language of the Malabars, which is
spoken in the coast of Fishery. Sosa offered to have furnished him with
money for all his occasions; but apostolic men have no greater treasures
than their poverty, nor any fund more certain than that of Providence. He
accepted only a pair of shoes, to defend him in some measure from the
burning sands upon the coasts; and, at parting, desired the viceroy to
send him his two companions, who were left behind at Mozambique, so soon
as they should arrive at Goa.

The Cape of Cornorin is at the distance of about six hundred miles from
Goa. It is a high promontory, jutting out into the sea, and facing the
isle of Ceylon. The Father being there arrived, immediately fell in with
a village of idolaters. He could bear to go no farther without preaching
the name of Jesus to the Gentiles; but all he could declare, by the mouth
of his interpreters, signified nothing; and those pagans plainly told
him, that they could not change their faith without consent of the lord
of whom they held. Their obstinacy, however, was of no long continuance;
and that Omnipotence, which had pre-ordained Xavier to the conversion
of idolaters, would not that his first labours should be unsuccessful.

A woman of the village had been three days in the pains of childbirth,
and had endured great torments, without being eased, either by the
prayers of the Brachmans, or any natural remedies. Xavier went to visit
her, accompanied by one of his interpreters; "and then it was," says he,
in one of his letters, "that, forgetting I was in a strange country, I
began to call upon the name of the Lord; though, at the same time, I
could not but remember, that all the earth is equally his, and all its
inhabitants are belonging to him. "

The Father expounded to the sick woman the principles of our faith, and
exhorted her to repose her trust in the God of the Christians. The Holy
Ghost, who, by her means, had decreed to save that people, touched her
inwardly; insomuch, that being asked if she believed in Jesus Christ, and
if she desired to be baptized? she answered, yes; and that she spake from
the bottom of her heart. Xavier then read the gospel to her, and baptized
her:--she was immediately delivered of her child, and perfectly
recovered. This visible miracle immediately filled that poor cabin with
astonishment and gladness: The whole family threw themselves at the
Father's feet, and asked to be instructed; and, being sufficiently
taught, not one amongst them but received baptism. This news being blown
abroad through all the country, the chief of the place had the curiosity
to see a person so wonderful in his works and in his words. He preached
to them the words of eternal life, and convinced their reason of the
truth of Christianity; but convinced though they were, they durst not, as
they said, become Christians, without the permission of their prince.

There was at that time in the village an officer, sent expressly from the
prince to collect a certain annual tribute. Father Xavier went to see
him, and expounded so clearly to him all the law of Jesus Christ, that
the pagan presently acknowledged there was nothing in it which was ill;
and after that gave leave to the inhabitants to embrace it. There needed
no more to a people, whom nothing but fear withheld from it; they all
offered themselves to be baptized, and promised thenceforth to live in
Christianity.

The holy man, encouraged by so happy a beginning, followed his way with
more cheerfulness, and came to Tutucurin, which is the first town
belonging to the Paravas. He found, in effect, that this people,
excepting only their baptism, which they had received, rather to shake
off the Moorish yoke than to subject themselves to that of Jesus Christ,
were wholly infidels; and he declared to them the mysteries of our faith,
of which before they had not received the least tincture. The two
churchmen who accompanied him served him in the nature of interpreters;
but Xavier, reflecting within himself, that these churchmen frequently
altered those things which passed through their mouths, and that our own
words, when spoken by ourselves, have more vigour in them, bethought
himself of finding some expedient, whereby to be understood without the
assistance of another. The way he took, was to get together some people
of the country, who understood the Portuguese language, and to join them
with the two ecclesiastics who were knowing in the Malabar. He consulted
both parties for many days together, and, drudging at his business,
translated into the Paravas tongue, the words of the sign of the cross,
the apostles' creed, the commandments, the Lord's prayer, the salutation
of the angel, the confiteor, the salve regina, and, in fine, the whole
catechism.

The translation being finished, the Father got, without book, what he
could of it, and took his way about the villages of the coast, in number
thirty, about half of which were baptized, the rest idolaters.

"I went about, with my bell in my hand," says he himself, "and gathering
together all I met, both men and children, I instructed them in the
Christian doctrine. The children learnt it easily by heart in the compass
of a month; and when they understood it, I charged them to teach it their
fathers and mothers, all of their own family, and even their neighbours.

"On Sundays I assembled the men and women, little boys and girls, in the
chapel; all came to my appointment with an incredible joy, and most
ardent desire to hear the word of God. I began with the confessing God to
be one in nature, and trine in Persons; I afterwards repeated distinctly,
and with an audible voice, the Lord's prayer, the angelical salutation,
and the apostles' creed. All of them together repeated after me; and it
is hardly to be imagined what pleasure they took in it. This being done,
I repeated the creed singly; and, insisting on every particular article,
asked, if they certainly believed it? They all protested to me, with loud
cries, and their hands across their breasts, that they firmly believed
it. My practice is, to make them repeat the creed oftener than the other
prayers; and I declare to them, at the same time, that they who believe
the contents of it are true Christians.

"From the creed I pass to the ten commandments, and give them to
understand, that the Christian law is comprised in those ten precepts;
that he who keeps them all according to his duty is a good Christian, and
that eternal life is decreed to him; that, on the contrary, whoever
violates one of these commandments is a bad Christian, and that he shall
be damned eternally in case he repent not of his sin. Both the new
Christians and the pagans admire our law as holy, and reasonable, and
consistent with itself.

"Having done as I told you, my custom is, to repeat with them the Lord's
prayer, and the angel's salutation. Once again we recite the creed; and
at every article, besides the Paternoster and the Ave Maria, we
intermingle some short prayer; for having pronounced aloud the first
article, I begin thus, and they say after me,--' Jesus, thou son of
the living God, give me the grace to believe firmly this first article of
thy faith, and with that intention we offer thee that prayer of which
thou thyself art author. ' We add,--' Holy Mary, mother of our Lord Jesus
Christ, obtain for us, from thy beloved Son, to believe this article,
without any doubt concerning it. ' The same method is observed in all the
other articles; and almost in the same manner we run over the ten
commandments. When we have jointly repeated the first precept, which is,
to love God, we pray thus: 'O Jesu Christ, thou Son of the living God,
grant us thy grace to love thee above all things! ' and immediately after
we say the Lord's prayer; then immediately we subjoin: 'O holy Mary,
mother of Jesus, obtain for us, from thy Son, that we may have the grace
to keep this first commandment. ' After which we say the Ave Maria. We
observe the same method through the other nine commandments, with some
little variation, as the matter requires it.

"These are the things which I accustom them to beg of God in the common
prayers; omitting not sometimes to assure them, that if they obtain
the thing for which they pray, even that is a means for them to obtain
other things more amply than they could demand them.

"I oblige them all to say the confiteor, but principally those who are to
receive baptism, whom I also enjoin to say the belief. At every article,
I demand of them, if they believe it without any scruple; and when they
have assured me, that they do, I commonly make them an exhortation, which
I have composed in their own language,--being an epitome of the Christian
faith, and of the necessary duties incumbent on us in order to our
salvation. In conclusion, I baptize them, and shut up all in singing the
salve regina, to implore the assistance of the blessed Virgin. "

It is evident, by what we have already said concerning the instruction of
the Paravas, that Xavier had not the gift of tongues when he began to
teach them: But it appears also, that, after he had made the translation,
which cost him so much labour, he both understood and spoke the Malabar
tongue, whether he had acquired it by his own pains, or that God had
imprinted the species of it in his mind after a supernatural manner. It
is at least probable, that, being in the Indies when he studied any
tongue, the Holy Spirit seconded his application, and was in some sort
his master; for it is constantly believed, that in a very little time he
learnt the most difficult languages, and, by the report of many persons,
spoke them so naturally, that he could not have been taken for a
foreigner.

Father Xavier having, for the space of a month, instructed the
inhabitants of one village, in the manner above said, before he went
farther, called together the most intelligent amongst them, and gave them
in writing what he had taught, to the end, that as masters of the rest,
on Sundays and Saints-days, they might congregate the people, and cause
them to repeat, according to his method, that which they had learnt
formerly.

He committed to these catechists, (who in their own tongue are called
Canacopoles,) the care of the churches, which he caused to be built in
peopled places; and recommended to them the ornament of those sacred
buildings, as far as their poverty would allow. But he was not willing to
impose this task on them, without some kind of salary; and therefore
obtained from the viceroy of the Indies, a certain sum for their
subsistence, which was charged upon the annual tribute, payable to the
crown of Portugal, from the inhabitants of that coast.

It is hardly to be expressed, what a harvest of souls was reaped from his
endeavours; and how great was the fervour of these new Christians. The
holy man, writing to the fathers at Rome, confesses himself, that he
wanted words to tell it. He adds, "That the multitude of those who had
received baptism, was so vast, that, with the labour of continual
christenings, he was not able to lift up his arms; and that his voice
often failed him, in saying so many times over and over, the apostles'
creed, and the ten commandments, with a short instruction, which he
always made concerning the duties of a true Christian, before he baptized
those who were of age. "

The infants alone, who died after baptism, amounted, according to his
account, to above a thousand. They who lived, and began to have the use
of reason, were so affected with the things of God, and so covetous of
knowing all the mysteries of faith, that they scarcely gave the father
time to take a little nourishment, or a short repose. They sought after
him every minute; and he was sometimes forced to hide himself from them,
to gain the leisure of saying his prayers, and his breviary.

By the administration of these children, who were so fervently devout, he
performed divers extraordinary works, even many of those miraculous
cures, which it pleased God to perate by his means. The coast of Fishery
was never so full of diseases, as when the father was there. It seemed,
as he himself has expressed it in a letter, that God sent those
distempers amongst that people, to draw them to him almost in their own
despite. For coming to recover on an instant, and against all human
appearance, so soon as they had received baptism, or invoked the name of
Jesus Christ, they clearly saw the difference betwixt the God of the
Christians and the pagods, which is the name given in the Indies, both to
the temples and the images of their false gods.

No one fell sick amongst the Gentiles, but had immediate recourse to
Father Xavier. As it was impossible for him to attend them all, or to be
in many places at the same time, he sent there Christian children where
he could not go himself. In going from him, one took his chaplet, another
his crucifix, a third his reliquiary, and all being animated with a
lively faith, dispersed themselves through the towns and villages. There
gathering about the sick as many people as they could assemble, they
repeated often the Lord's prayer, the creed, the commandments, and all
they had learnt by heart of the Christian faith; which being done, they
asked the sick, "If he believed unfeignedly in Jesus Christ, and if he
desired to be baptized? " When he had answered "Yes," they touched him
with the chaplet, or crucifix belonging to the father, and he was
immediately cured.

One day, while Xavier was preaching the mysteries of faith to a great
multitude, some came to bring him word from Manapar, that one of the
most considerable persons of that place was possessed by the devil,
desiring the father to come to his relief. The man of God thought it
unbecoming of his duty to break off the instruction he was then making.
He only called to him some of those young Christians, and gave them a
cross which he wore upon his breast; after which he sent them to Manapar
with orders to drive away the evil spirit.

They were no sooner arrived there, than the possessed person fell into an
extraordinary fury, with, wonderful contortions of his limbs, and hideous
yellings. The little children, far from being terrified, as usually
children are, made a ring about him, singing the prayers of the church.
After which they compelled him to kiss the cross; and at the same moment,
the devil departed out of him. Many pagans there present, visibly
perceiving the virtue of the cross, were converted on the instant, and
became afterwards devout Christians.

These young plants, whom Xavier employed on such occasions, were in
perpetual disputations with the Gentiles, and broke in pieces as many
idols as they could get into their power; and sometimes burnt them,
throwing their ashes into the air. When they discovered any bearing the
name of Christianity, and yet keeping a pagod in reserve to adore in
secret, they reproved them boldly; and when those rebukes were of no
effect, they advertised the holy man, to the end, he might apply some
stronger remedy. Xavier went often in their company, to make a search in
those suspected houses; and if he discovered any idols, they were
immediately destroyed.

Being informed, that one who was lately baptized, committed idolatry
sometimes in private, and that the admonitions which he had received were
useless, he bethought himself to frighten him; and in his presence
commanded the children to set fire to his house, that thereby he might be
given to understand, how the worshippers of devils deserved eternal
burning like the devils. They ran immediately to their task, taking the
command in a literal sense, which was not Xavier's intention. But the
effect of it was, that the infidel, detesting and renouncing his
idolatry, gave up his pagods to be consumed by fire, which was all the
design of the holy man.

Another infidel was more unhappy; he was one of the first rank in
Manapar; a man naturally violent and brutal. Xavier one day going to
visit him, desired him, in courteous words, that he would listen to what
he had to say to him concerning his eternal welfare. The barbarian
vouchsafed not so much as to give him the hearing, but rudely thrust
him out of his house, saying, "That if ever he went to the Christians'
church, he was content they should shut him out. " Few days after, he was
assaulted by a troop of armed men, who designed to kill him: all he could
do was to disengage himself from them, and fly away. Seeing at a distance
a church open, he made to it as fast as he could run, with his enemies at
his heels pursuing him. The Christians, who were assembled for their
exercises of devotion, alarmed at the loud cries they heard, and fearing
the idolaters were coming to plunder the church, immediately shut their
doors, insomuch that he, who hoped for safety in a holy place, fell into
the hands of murderers, and was assassinated by them, without question by
a decree of the divine justice, which revenged the saint, and suffered
the wretch to be struck with that imprecation which he had wished upon
himself.

These miracles, which Xavier wrought by the means of children, raised an
admiration of him, both amongst Christians and idolaters; but so
exemplary a punishment caused him to be respected by all the world: and
even amongst the Brachmans there was not one who did not honour him. As
it will fall in our way to make frequent mention of those idol-priests,
it will not be from our purpose to give the reader a description of them.

The Brachmans are very considerable amongst the Indians, both for their
birth and their employment. According to the ancient fables of the
Indies, their original is from heaven. And it is the common opinion, that
the blood of the gods is running in their veins. But to understand how
they were born, and from what god descended, it is necessary to know the
history of the gods of that country, which in short is this:

The first, and lord of all the others, is Parabrama; that is to say, a
most perfect substance, who has his being from himself, and who gives
being to the rest. This god being a spirit free from matter, and
desirous to appear once under a sensible figure, became man; by the only
desire which he had to shew himself, he conceived a son, who came out at
his mouth, and was called Maiso. He had two others after him, one of them
whose name was Visnu, was born out of his breast, the other called Brama,
out of his belly. Before he returned to his invisibility, he assigned
habitations and employments to his three children. He placed the eldest
in the first heaven, and gave him an absolute command over the elements
and mixed bodies. He lodged Visnu beneath his elder brother, and
established him the judge of men, the father of the poor, and the
protector of the unfortunate. Brama had for his inheritance the third
heaven, with the superintendance of sacrifices, and other ceremonies of
religion. These are the three deities which the Indians represent by one
idol, with three heads growing out of one body, with this mysterious
signification, that they all proceed from the same principle. By which it
may be inferred, that in former times they have heard of Christianity;
and that their religion is an imperfect imitation, or rather a corruption
of ours.

They say that Visnu has descended a thousand times on earth, and every
time has changed his shape; sometimes appearing in the figure of a beast,
sometimes of a man, which is the original of their pagods, of whom they
relate so many fables.

They add, that Brama, having likewise a desire of children, made himself
visible, and begot the Brachmans, whose race has infinitely multiplied.
The people believe them demi-gods, as poor and miserable as they are.
They likewise imagine them to be saints, because they lead a hard and
solitary life; having very often no other lodging than the hollow of a
tree, or a cave, and sometimes living exposed to the air on a bare
mountain, or in a wilderness, suffering all the hardships of the weather,
keeping a profound silence, fasting a whole year together, and making
profession of eating nothing which has had life in it.

But after all, there was not perhaps a more wicked nation under the
canopy of heaven. The fruit of those austerities which they practice in
the desart, is to abandon themselves in public to the most brutal
pleasures of the flesh, without either shame or remorse of conscience.
For they certainly believe, that all things, how abominable soever, are
lawful to be done, provided they are suggested to them by the light which
is within them. And the people are so infatuated with them, that they
believe they shall become holy by partaking in their crimes, or by
suffering any outrage from them.

On the other side, they are the greatest impostors in the world; their
talent consists in inventing new fables every day, and making them pass
amongst the vulgar for wonderful mysteries. One of their cheats is to
persuade the simple, that the pagods eat like men; and to the end they
may be presented with good cheer, they make their gods of a gigantic
figure, and are sure to endow them with a prodigious paunch. If those
offerings with which they maintain their families come to fail, they
denounce to the people, that the offended pagods threaten the country
with some dreadful judgment, or that their gods, in displeasure, will
forsake them, because they are suffered to die of hunger.

The doctrine of these Brachmans is nothing better than their life. One of
their grossest errors is to believe that kine have in them somewhat of
sacred and divine; that happy is the man who can be sprinkled over with
the ashes of a cow, burnt by the hand of a Brachman; but thrice happy be,
who, in dying, lays hold of a cow's tail, and expires with it betwixt his
hands; for, thus assisted, the soul departs out of the body purified, and
sometimes returns into the body of a cow. That such a favour,
notwithstanding, is not conferred but on heroic souls, who contemn life,
and die generously, either by casting themselves headlong from a
precipice, or leaping into a kindled pile, or throwing themselves under
the holy chariot wheels, to be crushed to death by the pagods, while they
are carried in triumph about the town.

We are not to wonder, after this, that the Brachmans cannot endure the
Christian law; and that they make use of all their credit and their
cunning to destroy it in the Indies. Being favoured by princes, infinite
in number, and strongly united amongst themselves, they succeed in all
they undertake; and as being great zealots for their ancient
superstitions, and most obstinate in their opinions, it is not easy to
convert them.

Father Xavier, who saw how large a progress the gospel had made amongst
the people, and that if there were no Brachmans in the Indies, there
would consequently be no idolaters in all those vast provinces of Asia,
spared no labour to reduce that perverse generation to the true knowledge
of Almighty God. He conversed often with those of that religion, and one
day found a favourable occasion of treating with them: Passing by a
monastery, where above two hundred Brachmans lived together, he was
visited by some of the chiefest, who had the curiosity to see a man whose
reputation was so universal. He received them with a pleasing
countenance, according to his custom; and having engaged them by little
and little, in a discourse concerning the eternal happiness of the soul,
he desired them to satisfy him what their gods commanded them to do, in
order to it after death. They looked a while on one another without
answering. At length a Brachman, who seemed to be fourscore years of age,
took the business upon himself, and said in a grave tone, that two things
brought a soul to glory, and made him a companion to the gods; the one
was to abstain from the murder of a cow, the other to give alms to the
Brachmans. All of them confirmed the old man's answer by their
approbation and applause, as if it had been an oracle given from the
mouths of their gods themselves.

Father Xavier took compassion on this their miserable blindness, and the
tears came into his eyes. He rose on the sudden, (for they had been all
sitting,) and distinctly repeated, in an audible tone, the apostles'
creed, and the ten commandments, making a pause at the end of every
article, and briefly expounding it, in their own language; after which he
declared to them what were heaven and hell, and by what actions the one
and other were deserved.

The Brachmans, who had never heard any thing of Christianity before, and
had been listening to the father with great admiration, rose up, as soon
as he had done speaking, and ran to embrace him, acknowledging, that the
God of the Christians was the true God, since his law was so conformable
to the principles of our inward light. Every one of them proposed divers
questions to him; if the soul were immortal, or that it perished with the
body, and in case that the soul died not, at what part of the body it
went out; if in our sleep we dreamed we were in a far country, or
conversed with an absent person, whether the soul went not out of the
body for that time; of what colour God was, whether black or white; their
doctors being divided on that point, the white men maintaining he was of
their colour, the black of theirs: the greatest part of the pagods for
that reason being black.

The father answered all their questions in a manner so suitable to their
gross understanding, which was ignorant alike of things divine and
natural, that they were highly satisfied with him. Seeing them instructed
and disposed in this sort, he exhorted them to embrace the faith of Jesus
Christ, and gave them to understand, that the truth being made known to
them, ignorance could no longer secure them from eternal punishment.

But what victory can truth obtain over souls which find their interest in
following error, and who make profession of deceiving the common people?
"They answered," said the saint in one of his letters, "that which many
Christians answer at this day, what will the world say of us if they see
us change? And after that, what will become of our families, whose only
subsistence is from the offerings which are made to the pagods? Thus,
human interest, and worldly considerations, made the knowledge of the
truth serve only to their greater condemnation. "

Not long afterwards, Xavier had another conference with a Brachman, who
lived in the nature of an hermit. He passed for the oracle of the
country, and had been instructed in his youth at one of the most famous
academies of the East. He was one of those who was knowing in their most
hidden mysteries, which are never intrusted by the Brachmans, but to a
certain select number of their wise men. Xavier, who had heard speak of
him, was desirous to see him; and he, on his side, was as desirous to see
Xavier. The intention of the saint was to try, in bringing over this
Brachman, if he could gain the rest, who were proud of being his
disciples.

After the first civilities which commonly pass betwixt two men, who
mutually covet an acquaintance, and know each other by reputation, the
discourse fell upon religion; and the Brachman found in himself, at the
very first, so great an inclination for Xavier, that he could not conceal
from him those secrets which a religious oath had bound him never to
disclose to any. He confest plainly to him, that the idols were devils,
and that there was only one God, creator of the world, and that this
God alone deserved the adoration of men: that those who held the rank of
wisdom amongst the Brachmans, solemnized the Sunday in his honour as a
holiday; and that day they only said this prayer, "O God, I adore thee at
this present, and for ever:" that they pronounced those words softly,
for fear of being overheard, and to preserve the oath which they had
made, to keep them secret. "In fine," said he, "it is to be read in our
ancient writings, that all the false religions should one day cease, and
the whole world should observe one only law.