No More Learning

You
will find some of them, whom either the weakness of their age or sex will
hinder from revealing to you their most shameful sins. When you perceive
that bashfulness has tied their tongue, be before-hand with them; and, by
the way of a charitable prevention, let them know, that they are neither
the first, nor the only persons, who have fallen into disorder; that
those things which they want the confidence to tell you, are little in
comparison of what you have heard from others on the same subject. Impute
some part of their offence to the corruption of nature, to the violence
of the temptation, and to the unhappiness they had to be engaged in such
occasions and pressing circumstances, where their fall was almost
unavoidable. In fine, I must advertise you, that to remove from such
persons that unseasonable shame-facedness which keeps them silent; from
such persons, I say, whom the devil has made as bashful after a crime as
they were impudent before it, it may be necessary sometimes to discover
to them, in general, the frailties of our own past lives. For what can a
true and fervent charity refuse, for the safety of those souls who have
been redeemed with the blood of Jesus Christ! But to understand when this
is proper to be done, how far to proceed, and with what precautions, is
what the interior spirit, and your experience, must teach you, in those
particular conjunctures.

"You will ordinarily meet with some Christians who believe not the truth
of the holy sacrament of the altar, either by not frequenting it, or by
their conversation with Pagans, Mahometans, and Heretics, or by the
scandal which is given them by some Christians, and principally (which I
speak with shame and sorrow) by such priests whose life is not more holy
than that of the people. For beholding some of them approaching the altar
without any preparation, assisting at it without modesty and reverence,
they imagine that Jesus Christ is not, as we say he is, in the sacrifice
of the mass; for if he were there present, he would never suffer such
impure hands to touch him. Make it your business, that those misbelieving
Christians should propose to you all their doubts, and discover to you
all their imaginations, which being known, then prove to them the real
presence of Jesus Christ, by all those reasons which are capable of
establishing it; and shew them, that the surest means for them to come
out of their errors, and leave their vices, is often to approach that
sacrament, with suitable preparations to it.

"Though your penitents may be well prepared for confession, think not,
when they shall declare their sins, that your business is done. You must
dive into the bottom of their conscience, and, by examination, draw out
of them what themselves know not. Ask then of them, by what ways, and
in what manner, they make advantage of their money; what are their
principles, and what their practice, in their sales, in their borrowing,
and in all their business. You shall find usury reigning throughout their
traffic; and that they who have no stings of conscience, in relation to
unjust dealings, have by indirect ways scraped together the greatest part
of their estates. But in things where money has to do, many are so
hardened, that, being charged with rapine, they have either no scruple
concerning it, or so very light, that it never breaks their sleep.

"Use particularly this method towards the governors, the treasurers, the
receivers, and other officers belonging to the revenue. Whensoever they
present themselves before you in the sacred tribunal, interrogate that
sort of people, by what means they grow so rich? what secret they have to
make their offices and employments bring them in such mighty sums? If
they are shy of telling you, turn and wind them every way, and the most
mildly that you can, make them speak, in spite of themselves. You shall
soon discover their tricks, and secret ways of management, by which an
inconsiderable number of those they call men of business, divert, to
their own private advantages, what was designed for the public profit.
They buy up commodities with the king's money, that, by selling them
again, they may be able to make up their accounts: And by taking up all
the commodities in the port, they put the people upon a necessity of
buying at their price, that is, at most intolerable rates.

"Too often also, they make men languish at the treasury, with long
delays, and cunning shifts, or some other captious trick; men, I say, to
whom the exchequer is owing, that they may be driven to compound with
those sharks of state for half their due, and let them go off with the
other half. This open robbery, this manifest villainy, those gentlemen
call, by a mollified name, 'the fruits of their industry. ' When you have
squeezed out of them the confession of these monopolies, and the like, by
wire-drawing them, with apt questions, you will come more easily to the
knowledge of their ungodly gains, and what they ought to make restitution
of to their neighbour, in order to their being reconciled to God, than if
in general you should interrogate them concerning their injustice. For
example, demand of them, what persons they have wronged? they will
immediately answer, that their memory upbraids them not with wronging any
man; and behold the reason! Custom is to them in the place of law; and
that which they see done before them every day, they persuade themselves
may be practised without sin. As if custom can authorize, by I know not
what kind of prescription, that which is vicious and criminal in its own
nature. You shall admit of no such right, but shall declare to such
people, that if they will secure their conscience, they must restore what
they possess unjustly.

"Remember especially, to obey the vicar of the bishop. When you are
arrived at Ormuz, you shall go to wait on him, and, falling on your knees
before him, you shall humbly kiss his hand. You shall neither preach, nor
exercise any other employment of our institute, without his permission;
above all things, have no difference with him for any whatsoever cause;
on the contrary, endeavour, by all submissions, and all possible
services, to gain his friendship, in such sort, that he may be willing to
be taught by you, to make the meditations of our spiritual exercises, at
least those of the first week. Use almost the same method with all the
other priests; if you cannot persuade them to retire for a month,
according to our custom, engage them to a retreat of some few days, and
fail not to visit them every day, during that recess, to explicate to
them the subjects of those meditations.

"Pay a great respect to the person of the governor, and make it apparent,
by the most profound submissions, how much you honour him. Beware of any
difference with him, on whatsoever occasion, even though you should
observe, that he performs not his duty in matters of importance; but
after you perceive, that your demeanour has instated you in his favour
and good graces, go boldly to visit him; and after you have testified the
concernment you have for his safety and his honour, by a principle of
good will to him, then declare, with all modesty and softness of
expression, the sorrow you have to see his soul and reputation
endangered, by what is reported of him in the world.

"Then you shall make known to him the discourse of the people; you shall
desire him to reflect on the bad consequences of such reports; that they
may possibly be put in writing, and go farther than he would willingly
they should, if he bethinks him not in time of giving satisfaction to the
public. Nevertheless, take not this upon you before you are in some sort
satisfied of his good disposition, and that it appears probable to you
that your advertisement may sort to good effect.

"Be yet more cautious in charging yourself with bearing to him the
complaints of particular persons; and absolutely refuse that commission,
by excusing yourself on your evangelical functions, which permit you not
to frequent the palaces of the great, nor to attend whole days together
for the favourable minutes of an audience, which is always difficult to
obtain. You shall add, that when you should have the leisure to make your
court, and that all the doors of the palace were open to you at all
hours, you should have little hopes of any fruit from your remonstrances;
and that if the governor be such a man as they report, he will have small
regard to you, as being no way touched, either with the fear of God, or
the duties of his own conscience.

"You shall employ, in the conversion of infidels, all the time you have
free from your ordinary labours which indispensably regard Christians.
Always prefer those employments which are of a larger extent to those
which are more narrowly confined. According to that rule, you shall never
omit a sermon in public, to hear a private confession; you shall not set
aside the catechising, which is appointed every day, at a certain hour,
to visit any particular person, or for any good work of the like nature.
For the rest, an hour before catechism, either you or your companion
shall go to the places of most concourse in the town, and invite all men,
with a loud voice, to come and hear the exposition of the Christian
doctrine.

"You shall write, from time to time, to the college of Goa, what
functions you exercise for the advancement of God's glory, what order you
keep there, and what blessing God gives on your endeavours. Have care
that your relations be exact, and such that our Fathers at Goa may send
them into Europe, as so many authentic proofs of what you perform in the
East, and of what success it shall please God to bestow on the labours of
our little Society. Let nothing slip into those accounts which may
reasonably give offence to any man; nothing that may seem improbable;
nothing which may not edify the reader, and give him occasion to magnify
the name of God.

"When you are come to Ormuz, I am of opinion that you should see
particularly those who are of greatest reputation for their probity, the
most sincere, and who are most knowing in the manners of the town. From
such, inform yourself exactly what vices are most reigning in it, what
sorts of cheats; enter most into contracts, and societies of commerce,
that so understanding all things thoroughly and truly, you may have your
words and reasons in a readiness, to instruct and reprove those who,
being guilty of covert usuries, false bargaining, and other wicked
actions, so common in a place which is filled with such a concourse of
different nations, shall treat with you in familiar conversation, or in
sacramental confession.

"You shall walk the streets every night, and recommend the souls of the
dead to the prayers of the living; but let those expressions which are
used by you be proper to move the compassion of the faithful, and to
imprint the thoughts of religion in the bottom of their souls. You shall
also desire their prayers to God for such as are in mortal sin, that they
may obtain the grace of coming out of so deplorable a condition.

"Endeavour at all times to make your humour agreeable: keep a gay and
serene countenance, without suffering the least shadow of choler or
sadness to appear in it; otherwise those who come to visit you will never
open their hearts to you, and will not repose all that confidence in you
which it is necessary they should have, to the end they may profit by
your discourse. Speak always with civility and mildness, even in your
reprehensions, as I have already told you; and when you reprove anyone,
do it with so much charity, that it may be evident the fault displeases
you, and not the person.

"On Sundays and saints' days you shall preach at two o'clock in the
afternoon, at the church of the Misericordia, or in the principal church
of the town; sending first your companion about the streets, with his
bell in his hand, to invite the people to the sermon.

"If you had not rather perform that office in your own person, you shall
carry to church that exposition of the apostles' creed which I have put
into your hands, and the practice, which I have composed, how to pass the
day in Christian duties. You shall give copies of that practice to those
whose confessions you hear; and shall enjoin them, for their holy
penance, to do for certain days that which is contained in it. By this
means they shall accustom themselves to a Christian life, and shall come
to do, of their own accord, by the force of custom, that which they did
at the first only by the command of their confessor. But, foreseeing that
you cannot have copies enough for so many people, I advise you to have
that practice written out in a fair large hand, and expose it in some
public place, that they who are willing to make use of it may read and
transcribe it at their own convenience.

"They who shall be desirous of being received into the society, and whom
you shall judge to be proper for it, you may send them to Goa with a
letter, which shall point out their design, and their talents for it, or
else you may retain them with you. In this last case, after you have
caused them to perform the spiritual exercises for a month together, you
shall make a trial of them, in some such manner as may edify the people
without exposing them to be ridiculous. Order them, therefore, to serve
the sick in the hospitals, and to debase themselves to the meanest and
most distasteful offices. Make them visit the prisoners, and teach them
how to give comfort to the miserable. In fine, exercise your novices in
all the practices of humility and mortification; but permit them not to
appear in public in extravagant habits, which may cause them to be
derided by the multitude;--suffer it not, I say, far from imposing it
upon them. Engage not all the novices indifferently to those trials which
their nature most abhors; but examine well the strength of each, and suit
their mortification to their temper, to their education, to the advance
they make in spirituals, in such sort, that the trial may not be
unprofitable, but that it may produce its effect according to that
measure of grace which is given them. If he who directs the novices has
not all these considerations, it will fall out, that they who were
capable of making a great proficiency in virtue, with good management,
will lose their courage, and go backward; and besides, those indiscreet
trials, too difficult for beginners, take off the love of the master from
his novices, and cause his disciples to lessen their confidence in his
directions. In the mean time, whoever forms young people to a religious
life, ought to leave nothing untried to bring them to a candid and free
discovery of their evil inclinations, and the suggestions of the devil,
at the same moment when they are tempted: for without this they will
never be able to disentangle themselves from the snares of the tempter;
never will they arrive to a religious perfection. On the contrary, those
first seeds of evil being brooded over, and nourished, as I may say, by
silence, will insensibly produce most lamentable effects; even so far,
until the novices come to grow weary of regular discipline, to nauseate
it, and at length throw off the yoke of Jesus Christ, and replunge
themselves in the pollutions of the world.

"They amongst those young men whom you shall observe to be most subject
to vain-glory, and delighted with sensual pleasures, and other vices,
ought to be cured in this following manner: Make them search for reasons,
and for proofs, against those vices to which they are inclined; and when
they have found many, help them to compose some short discourses on them.
Cause them afterwards to pronounce those discourses, either to the people
in the church, or in the hospitals, to those who are in a way of
recovery, so as to be present at them, or in other places;--there is
reason to hope, that the things which they have fixed in their minds, by
constant study and strong application, will be at least as profitable to
themselves as to their audience. Doubtless they will be ashamed not to
profit by those remedies which they propose to others, and to continue in
those vices from which they endeavour to dissuade their hearers. You
shall use proportionably the same industry towards those sinners who
cannot conquer themselves so far, as, they commonly say, to put away the
occasions of their sin, or to make restitution of those goods which they
have gotten unlawfully, and detain unjustly from other men. After you
have endeared yourself to them by a familiar acquaintance, advise them to
say that to their own hearts which they would say to a friend on the like
occasion, and engage, as it were for the exercise of their parts, to
devise such arguments as condemn their actions in the person of another.

"Sometimes you will see before you, when you are seated in the tribunal
of penance, men who are enslaved to their pleasures and their avarice,
whom no motive of God's love, nor thought of death, nor fear of hell, can
oblige to put away a mistress, or to restore ill-gotten goods. The only
means of reducing such people, is to threaten them with the misfortunes
of this present life, which are the only ills they apprehend. Declare
then to them, that if they hasten not to appease Divine Justice, they
shall suddenly suffer considerable losses at sea, and be ill treated by
the governors; that they shall lose their law-suits; that they shall
languish many years in prison; that they shall be seized with incurable
diseases, and reduced to extreme poverty, without any to relieve them; in
fine, that they and their posterity, becoming infamous, shall be the
objects of the public hate and curses. Tell them, by way of reason for
those accidents, that no man who sets God at nought remains unpunished;
and that his vengeance is so much the more terrible, by how much longer
his patience has been abused. The images of these temporal punishments
will affright those carnal men who are not to be wrought on but by their
senses, and will bring forth in their insensible souls the first motions
of the fear of God,--of that saving fear which is the beginning of
wisdom.

"Before you treat with any one concerning his spiritual affairs,
endeavour to understand how his soul stands affected. Whether it be calm,
or tossed with any violent passion; whether he be ready to follow the
right way when it shall be shewn to him, or whether he wanders from it of
set purpose; whether it be the tempter, or the bias of his own
inclination, which seduces him to evil; whether he be docile, and
disposed to hear good counsel, or of that untractable humour on which no
hold is to be fastened,--it will behove you to vary your discourse
according to these several dispositions: But though more circumspection
is to be taken with hardened souls, and difficult of access, you are
never to flatter the disease, nor say any thing to him which may weaken
the virtue of the remedy, and hinder its effect.

"Wheresoever you shall be, even though you only pass through a place, and
stay but little in it, endeavour to make some acquaintance; and inquire
of those who have the name of honest and experienced men, not only what
crimes are most frequently committed in that town, and what deceits most
used in traffic, as I have already taught you in relation to Ormuz; but
farther, learn the inclinations of the people, the customs of the
country, the form of government, the received opinions, and all things
respecting the commerce of human life: for, believe me, the knowledge of
those things is very profitable to a missioner, for the speedy curing of
spiritual diseases, and to have always at hand wherewithal to give ease
to such as come before you.

"You will understand from thence, on what point you are most to insist in
preaching, and what chiefly to recommend in confessions. This knowledge
will make, that nothing shall be new to you, nothing shall surprise or
amaze you; it will furnish you with the address of conducting souls, and
even with authority over them. The men of the world are accustomed to
despise the religious as people who understand it not: But if they find
one who knows how to behave himself in conversation, and has practised
men, they will esteem him as an extraordinary person; they will give
themselves up to him; they will find no difficulty, even in doing
violence to their own inclinations, under his direction, and will freely
execute what he enjoins, though never so repugnant to their corrupt
nature. Behold the wonderful fruit of knowing well the world:--so that
you are not, at this present, to take less pains in acquiring this
knowledge, than formerly you have done in learning philosophy and
divinity. For what remains, this science is neither to be learned from
ancient manuscripts nor printed books; it is in living books, and the
conversation of knowing men, that you must study it: with it, you shall
do more good, than if you dealt amongst the people, all the arguments of
the doctors, and all the subtilties of the schools.

"You shall set apart one day of the week, to reconcile differences, and
regulate the interests of such as are at variance, and are preparing to
go to law. Hear them one after the other, and propose terms of
accommodation to them. Above all things, give them to understand, that
they shall find their account in a friendly reconciliation, sooner than
in casting themselves into eternal suits, which, without speaking of
their conscience, and their credit, ever cost much money, and more
trouble. I know well, that this will not be pleasing to the advocates and
proctors, whom the spinning out a process, and tricks of wrangling, still
enrich. But trouble not yourself with what those bawlers say; and make
even them comprehend, if it be possible, that by perpetuating suits, by
these numberless formalities, they expose themselves to the danger of
eternal damnation. Endeavour also to engage them into a retirement of
some few days, to the end their spiritual exercises may work them off to
other courses.

"Stay not till your arrival at Ormuz before you preach. Begin on
shipboard, and as soon as you come there. In your sermons, affect not to
make a show of much learning, or of a happy memory, by citing many
passages of ancient authors; some few are necessary, but let them be
chosen and fitted to the purpose. Employ the best part of your sermon, in
a lively description of the interior estate of worldly souls. Set before
their eyes, in your discourse, and let them see, as in a glass, their own
disquiets, their little cunnings, their trifling projects, and their vain
hopes. You shall also show them, the unhappy issue of all their designs.
You shall discover to them, the snares which are laid for them by the
evil spirit, and teach them the means of shunning them. But, moreover,
you shall tell them, that if they suffer themselves to be surprised by
them, they are to expect the worst that can happen to them; and by this
you shall gain their attention; for a man never fails of attentive
audience, when the interest of the hearer is the subject of the
discourse. Stuff not out your sermons with sublime speculations, knotty
questions, and scholastical controversies. Those things which are above
the level of men of the world, only make a noise, and signify nothing. It
is necessary to represent men to themselves, if you will gain them. But
well to express what passes in the bottom of their hearts, you must first
understand them well; and in order to that, you must practise their
conversation, you must watch them narrowly, and fathom all their depths.
Study then those living books; and assure yourself, you shall draw out of
them the means of turning sinners on what side you please.

"I do not forbid you, nevertheless, to consult the holy scriptures on
requisite occasions, nor the fathers of the church, nor the canons, nor
books of piety, nor treatises of morality; they may furnish you with
solid proofs for the establishment of Christian truths, with sovereign
remedies against temptations, and heroical examples of virtue. But all
this will appear too cold, and be to no purpose, if souls be not disposed
to profit by them; and they cannot profit but by the ways I have
prescribed. So that the duty of a preacher is to sound the bottom of
human hearts, to have an exact knowledge of the world, to make a faithful
picture of man, and set it in so true a light, that every one may know it
for his own.

"Since the king of Portugal has ordered, that you shall be allowed from
the treasury what is needful for your subsistence, make use of the favour
of so charitable a prince, and receive nothing but from his ministers. If
other persons will give you any thing, refuse it, though they should
offer it of their own mere motion. For as much, as it is of great
consequence to the liberty of an apostolical man, not to owe his
subsistence to those whom he ought to conduct in the way of salvation,
and whom he is bound to reprove, when they go astray from it; one may
truly say of those presents, that he who takes, is taken. And it is for
this, that when we are to make a charitable reprehension, to such of whom
we receive alms, we know not well how to begin it, or in what words to
dress it. Or if our zeal emboldens us to speak freely, our words have
less effect upon them, because they treat us with an assuming air of
loftiness, as if that which we received from them had made them our
masters, and put them in possession of despising us. What I say, relates
chiefly to a sort of persons, who are plunged in vice, who would
willingly be credited with your friendship, and will endeavour by all
good offices to make way to your good will. Their design is not to profit
by your conversation, for the amendment of their lives; all they pretend
to, is to stop your mouth, and to escape a censure, which they know they
have deserved. Be upon your guard against such people: yet I am not of
opinion, that you should wholly reject them, or altogether despise their
courtesy. If they should invite you to their table, refuse it not; and
yet less refuse their presents of small value, such as are usually made
in the Indies by the Portuguese to each other, and which one cannot
refuse without giving an affront; as, for example, fruits and drinks. At
the same time, declare to them, that you only receive those little gifts,
in hope they will also receive your good advice; and that you go to eat
with them, only that you may dispose them, by a good confession, to
approach the holy table. For such presents as I have named, such I mean
as are not to be refused, when you have received them, send them to the
sick, to the prisoners, or to the poor. The people will be edified with
this procedure, and no occasion left of suspecting you, either of
niceness or covetousness.

"For what relates to your abode, you will see at your arrival; and having
prudently considered the state of things, you may judge where it will be
most convenient for you to dwell, either in the hospital, or the house of
mercy, or any little lodging, in the neighbourhood. If I think fit to
call you to Japan, you shall immediately give notice of it, by writing to
the rector of this college by two or three different conveyances, to the
end, he may supply your place with one of our fathers, a man capable of
assisting and comforting the city of Ormuz. In fine, I recommend you to
yourself; and that in particular, you never forget, that you are a member
of the Society of Jesus.

"In the conjunctures of affairs, experience will best instruct you what
will be most for God's service; for there is no better master than
practice, and observation, in matters of prudence. Remember me always in
your prayers; and take care, that they who are under your direction,
recommend me in theirs to the common Master whom we serve. To conclude
this long instruction, the last advice I give you, is to read over this
paper carefully once a week, that you may never forget any one of the
articles contained in it. May it please the Lord to go along with you, to
conduct you in your voyage, and at the same time to continue here with
us! "--

Eight days after Gasper Barzæus was gone for Ormus, with his companion
Raymond Pereyra, Father Xavier went himself for Japan; it was in April
1549. He embarked in a galley bound no farther than Cochin, where waited
for him a ship, which was to go towards Malacca. He took for companions
Father Cozmo de Torrez, and John Fernandez, besides the three Japonese,
Paul de Sainte Foy, and his two servants, John and Anthony.

It is true, there embarked with him in the same galley, Emanuel Moralez,
and Alphonso de Castro; but it was only that the Father might carry them
to Malacca, from whence both of them were to be transported to the
Moluccas. The ship, which attended the Father at Cochin, being just ready
to set sail they made but a short stay in that place, but it was not
unprofitable. The saint walking one day through the streets, happened to
meet a Portuguese of his acquaintance; and immediately asked him, "how he
was in health? " The Portuguese answered, "he was very well. " "Yes,"
replied Xavier, "in relation to your body, but, in regard of your soul,
no man can be in a worse condition. " This man, who was then designing in
his heart a wicked action, knew immediately that the Father saw into the
bottom of it; and seriously reflecting on it, followed Xavier, confessed
himself, and changed his evil life. The preaching of Castro so charmed
the people, that they desired to have retained him at Cochin, there to
have established the college of the Society; but Xavier who had designed
him for the Moluccas opposed it. And Providence, which destined the crown
of martyrdom to that missioner, suffered him not to continue in a place,
where they had nothing but veneration for him.

They left Cochin on the 25th of April, and arrived at Malacca on the last
of May. All the town came to meet Father Xavier, and every particular
person was overjoyed at his return. Alphonso Martinez, grand vicar to the
bishop, at that time lay dangerously sick, and in such an agony of soul,
as moved compassion. For, having been advertised to put himself in
condition of giving up his accounts to God of that ministry which he had
exercised for thirty years, and of all the actions of his life, he was so
struck with the horror of immediate death, and the disorders of his life,
which was not very regular for a man of his profession, that he fell into
a deep melancholy, and totally despaired of his salvation. He cast out
lamentable cries, which affrighted the hearers; they heard him name his
sins aloud, and detest them with a furious regret, not that he might ask
pardon for them, but only to declare their enormity. When they would have
spoken to him of God's infinite mercy, he broke out into a rage, and
cried out as loud as he was able, "that there was no forgiveness for the
damned, and no mercy in the bottomless pit. " The sick man was told, that
Father Francis was just arrived; and was asked if he should not be glad
to see him? Martinez, who formerly had been very nearly acquainted with
him, seemed to breathe anew at the hearing of that name, and suddenly
began to raise himself, to go see, said he, the man of God. But the
attempt he made, served only to put him into a fainting fit. The Father,
entering at the same moment, found him in it. It had always been his
custom, to make his first visit to the ecclesiastical superiors; but
besides this, the sickness of the vicar hastened the visit. When the sick
man was come, by little and little, to himself, Xavier began to speak to
him of eternity, and of the conditions requisite to a Christian death.
This discourse threw Martinez back again into his former terrors; and the
servant of God, in this occasion, found that to be true, which he had
often said, that nothing is more difficult than to persuade a dying man
to hope well of his salvation, who in the course of his life had
flattered himself with the hopes of it, that he might sin with the
greater boldness.

Seeing the evil to be almost past remedy, he undertook to do violence to
heaven, that he might obtain for the sick man the thoughts of true
repentance, and the grace of a religious death. For he made a vow upon
the place, to say a great number of masses, in honour of the most Holy
Trinity, of the Blessed Virgin, of the angels, and some of the saints, to
whom he had a particular devotion. His vows were scarcely made, when
Martinez became calm; began to have reasonable thoughts, and received the
last sacraments, with a lively sorrow for his sins, and a tender reliance
on God's mercies; after which, he died gently in the arms of Xavier,
calling on the name of Jesus Christ.

His happy death gave great consolation to the holy man; but the apostolic
labours of Francis Perez and Roch Oliveira increased his joy. He had
sent them the year before to Malacca, there to found a college of the
Society, according to the desire of the people, and they had been very
well received. Perez had begun to open a public school, for the
instruction of the youth in learning and piety, according to the spirit
of their institute. Oliveira had wholly given himself to the ministry
of preaching, and the conduct of souls; but tying himself more especially
to the care of Turks and Jews, of which there was always a vast concourse
in the town. For the first came expressly from Mecca, and the last from
Malabar, to endeavour there to plant Mahometanism and Judaism, where
Christianity then flourished.

The example of the two missioners drew many Portuguese to that kind of
life, of which they both made profession. The most considerable of all,
was a young gentleman, whose name was Juan Bravo; who, by his noble birth
and valour, might justly hope to raise his fortunes in the world. But he
preferring evangelical poverty, and religious humility, before all those
earthly expectations and establishments, was just then ready to have
taken ship for Goa, there to execute those thoughts with which heaven had
inspired him, when he was informed, that Xavier would take Malacca in his
way. He therefore waited for him, and in the mean time lived with Perez
and Oliveira as if he had been already of the Society. At least he
conformed himself as much as he was able to their manners, and habited
himself like them; that is to say, instead of rich garments, he put on an
old threadbare cassock, with which he looked the world in the face
without having yet forsaken it. He performed the spiritual exercises for
a month together, and never came out of his retirement, but to employ
himself in works of charity in the hospital. There, for three months, he
attended the sick, living in poverty, and begging his bread from door to
door, even in the sight of James Sosa his kinsman, admiral of the fleet,
which was rigging out for the Moluccas.

These trials obliged the Father to receive Bravo into the Society. He
admitted him almost immediately to take the first vows; and finding in
him an excellent foundation for all the apostolical virtues, he took care
to cultivate him, even so far, as to leave him in writing these following
rules, before his departure to Japan.

"See here, my dear brother, the form of life which you are constantly to
practise every day. In the morning, as soon as you are awakened, prepare
yourself to meditate on some mystery of our Lord; beginning from his holy
nativity, and continuing to his glorious ascension: the subjects of the
meditations are marked, and put in order, in the book of Exercises.
Employ, at the least, half-an-hour in prayers; and apply yourself to it
with all those interior dispositions, which you may remember you
practised in your retirement of a month. Consider every day one mystery,
in such manner, that if, for example, on Monday, the birth of our Saviour
was the subject of your meditation, that of his circumcision shall be for
Tuesday, and so in course, till in a month's time, having run through all
the actions of Jesus Christ, you come to contemplate him ascending into
heaven in triumph. You are every month to begin these meditations again
in the same order.

"At the end of every meditation, you shall renew your vows of poverty,
chastity, and obedience, to which you have obliged yourself. You shall
make them, I say, anew, and offer them to God with the same fervency
wherewith you first made them. This renewing of your vows will weaken
in you the motions of concupiscence, and render all the powers of hell
less capable of hurting you; for which reason, I am of opinion that you
ought never to omit them.

"After dinner, you shall resume your morning's prayer, and reflect on the
same mystery half an hour; you shall also renew your vows, at the end of
your meditation. You are to employ yourself in this manner interiorly
through all the variety of your outward business; giving an hour in every
day to the consideration of the most holy life of our Lord Jesus, in
whatsoever affair, or in whatsoever incumbrance, you are engaged. You may
practise this with most convenience, by allowing half-an-hour in the
morning, and another half in the afternoon, according to my direction.

"Before you lie down at night, examine well your conscience, in calling
over your thoughts, words, and actions, of all the day; and even
observing, if you have not failed of doing something, which it was your
duty to have done: let this discussion be as exact, as if you were just
ready to confess yourself. After you have conceived a most lively sorrow
for your faults, by the motive of God's love, you shall humbly ask pardon
of Jesus Christ, and vow amendment to him. In fine, you shall so dispose
yourself to rest, that your sleep may come upon you, in thoughts of
piety, and in resolutions of passing the next day with greater holiness.

"On the morrow, at your waking, think on the sins which you observed in
the examen of the night before; and while you are putting on your
clothes, ask the assistance of God's grace, that you may not that day
relapse into your yesterday's offences. Then perform your morning's
meditation, and proceed through your whole day's work, as I have ordered
you. But be so punctual, and so constant in all these spiritual
practices, that nothing but sickness cause you to forbear them. For if,
when you are in health, you should defer, or leave them off, under some
pretence of business, be sure you make a scruple of it, and let not the
day pass over you, till, in the presence of your brethren, you confess
your fault, and of your own free motion demand penance for having omitted
or neglected that which was so strictly commanded by your superior.

"For what remains, whatsoever you do, or in whatsoever condition of
spirit you may be, labour with all your power still to overcome yourself.
Subdue your passions, embrace what is most abhorring to your sense,
repress all natural desire of glory most especially; and spare not
yourself in that particular, till you have torn out of your heart the
very roots of pride; not only suffering yourself to be debased beneath
all men, but being glad to be despised. For hold this for certain, that,
without this humility and mortification, you can neither advance in
virtue, nor serve your neighbour as you ought, nor be acceptable to God,
nor, to conclude all, persevere in the Society of Jesus.

"Obey in all things the Father with whom you live; and however
displeasing or difficult the things may be which he commands you, perform
them with much cheerfulness, never opposing his orders, nor making any
exceptions on your part, on any account whatsoever. In fine, hearken to
him, and suffer yourself to be directed in all things by him, as if
Father Ignatius were personally present, speaking to you, and directing
you.

"With whatsoever temptations you shall find yourself assaulted, discover
them all sincerely to him who governs you; and remain persuaded, that
this is the only means of subduing them. Besides this advantage, there
accrue other spiritual profits, in making known the secret motions of
your heart; for the violence which you do to yourself, to surmount, that
natural shamefacedness which hinders you from acknowledging your
imperfections and frailties, draws down the grace of God upon you; and on
the other side, this overture, and frankness of your heart, ruins the
designs of the evil spirit, who can never do mischief but when he is in
disguise; but when once discovered, is so far disarmed, and despicably
weak, that they, for whom he lies in ambush, laugh at him. "--

It was in this manner, that the holy apostle, Francis Xavier, instructed
the young men of the Society; and nothing, perhaps, could better explain
to us the great resemblance that was betwixt the souls of Xavier and
Ignatius.

At this time, there came news from Japan; and some letters reported, that
one of the kings of that island had desired some preachers to be sent to
him, by an express embassy to the viceroy of the Indies. That this king
had learnt somewhat of the Christian law, and that a strange accident had
made him desirous of knowing more. This accident was related in those
letters, after the following manner.

"Some Portuguese merchants, being landing at the port, belonging to the
capital city of one of those kingdoms of Japan, were lodged by the king's
order in a forsaken house, which was thought to be haunted by evil
spirits: the common opinion was not ill grounded, and the Portuguese soon
perceived, that their lodging was disturbed. They heard a horrible
rumbling all the night; they felt themselves pulled out of their beds,
and beaten in their sleep, without seeing any one. One night being
awakened, at the cry of one of their servants, and running with their
arms towards the place from whence the noise was heard, they found the
servant on the ground, trembling for fear. They asked him the occasion of
his outcry, and why he shook in that manner? He answered, 'That he had
seen a frightful apparition, such a one as painters use to draw for the
picture of the devil. ' As this servant was not thought either
faint-hearted, or a liar, the Portuguese no longer doubted, what was the
meaning of all that rattling and clutter, which they heard every night;
to put an end to it, they set crosses in all the rooms, after which they
heard no more of it.
"

The Japonese were much surprised to hear the house was now at quiet: the
king himself, to whom the Portuguese had said, "That the Christian cross
had driven away the evil spirits," admired that wonderful effect, and
commanded crosses to be set up in all places, even in his own palaces,
and in the highways. In consequence of this, he desired to be informed
from whence the cross derived that virtue, and for what cause the devils
so much feared it. Thus, by little and little, he entered into the
mysteries of faith. But as the Japonese are extremely curious, not
content to be instructed by soldiers and merchants, he thought of sending
for preachers, and in that prospect sent an ambassador to the Indies.

This news gave infinite satisfaction to Father Xavier; and so much the
more hastened his voyage, by how much he now perceived the Japonians were
disposed to receive the gospel. There were in the port of Malacca many
Portuguese vessels, in readiness to set sail for Japan; but all of them
were to make many other voyages by the way, which was not the saint's
business. His only means was to have recourse to a junk of China, (so
they call those little vessels,) which was bound directly for Japan. The
master of the vessel, called Neceda, was a famous pirate; a friend to the
Portuguese, notwithstanding the war which was newly declared against
them; so well known by his robberies at sea, that his ship was commonly
called, The Robber's Vessel. Don Pedro de Sylva, governor of Malacca, got
a promise from the Chinese captain, that he would carry the Father,
safely, and without injury, and took hostages to engage him inviolably
to keep his faith; but what can be built on the word of a pirate, and a
wicked man?

Xavier, and his companions, embarked on the twenty-fourth of June, in the
dusk of the evening; and set sail the next morning, at break of day, with
a favourable wind. When they were out at sea, the captain and ship's
crew, who were all idolaters, set up a pagod on the poop; sacrificed to
it in spite of Xavier, and all his remonstrances to the contrary; and
consulted him by magical ceremonies, concerning the success of their
voyage. The answers were sometimes good, and sometimes ill: in the
meantime they cast anchor at an isle, and there furnished themselves with
timber, against the furious gusts of those uncertain seas. At the same
time they renewed their interrogatories to their idol; and cast lots, to
know whether they should have good winds. The lots promised them a good
passage, whereupon the Pagans pursued their course merrily. But they were
no sooner got out to sea again, when they drew lots the third time, to
know, whether the junk should return safely from Japan to Malacca. The
answer was, that they should arrive happily at Japan, but were never more
to see Malacca. The pirate, who was extremely superstitious, resolved at
the same instant to change his course; and in effect tacked about, and
passed his time in going to every isle which was in view. Father Xavier
was sensibly displeased, that the devil should be master of their
destiny, and that all things should be ordered, according to the answers
of the enemy of God and man.

In cruising thus leisurely, they made the coast of Cochin China; and the
tempests, which rose at the same time, threatened them more than once
with shipwreck. The idolaters had recourse to their ordinary
superstitions. The lot declared, that the wind should fall, and that
there was no danger. But an impetuous gust so raised the waves, that the
mariners were forced to lower their sails, and cast anchor. The shog of
the vessel threw a young Chinese (whom Xavier had christened, and carried
along with him) into the sink, which was then open. They drew him out
half dead, much bruised, and hurt in the head very dangerously. While
they were dressing him, the captain's daughter fell into the sea, and was
swallowed by the waves, notwithstanding all they could do to save her.

This dismal accident drove Neceda to despair; "and it was a lamentable
sight," says Xavier himself, in one of his letters, "to behold the
disorder in the vessel. The loss of the daughter, and the fear of
shipwreck, filled all with tears, and howlings, and confusion. "

Nevertheless, the idolaters, instead of acknowledging that their idol had
deceived them with a lie, took pains to appease him, as if the death of
the Chinese woman had been an effect of their god's displeasure. They
sacrificed birds to him, and burnt incense in honour of him; after which
they cast lots again to know the cause of this disaster which had
befallen them. They were answered, "That if the young Christian, who had
fell into the sink, had died, the captain's daughter had been preserved. "
Then Neceda, transported with fury, thought to throw Xavier and his
companions overboard. But the storm ceasing in an instant, his mind grew
calmer by degrees, he weighed anchor, and set sail again, and took the
way of Canton, with intention there to pass the winter. But the designs
of men, and power of devils, can do nothing against the decrees of
Providence. A contrary wind broke all the projects of the captain,
constraining him, in his own despite, to enter with full sails into the
ocean of Japan. And the same wind carried the junk of the pirate toward
Cangoxima, the birth-place of Anger, sirnamed Paul de Sainte Foy. They
arrived there on the fifteenth of August, in the year 1549.




THE LIFE OF ST FRANCIS XAVIER.


BOOK V.


_The situation of Japan, and the nature of the country. The estate of the
government of Japan. The religion of the Japonese when the Father arrived
in that country. The six jesuits who were sent to Siam in_ 1685, _in
their relation of the religion of the Siamois, which much resembles this
of Japan, guess, with more probability, that these opinions were the
corruptions of the doctrine preached in the Indies by St Thomas. Paul de
Sainte Foy goes to wait on the king of Saxuma. That which passed at the
court of Saxuma. The saint applies himself to the study of the Japonian
tongue. He baptizes the whole family of Paul de Sainte Foy. He goes to
the court of Saxuma, and is well received. He begins to preach at
Cangorima, and converts many. He visits the Bonzas, and endeavours to
gain them. He proves the soul's immortality to the chief of the Bonzas.
The Bonzas rise against him. The Bonzas succeed not in their undertaking.
He leads a most austere life. He works divers miracles. He raises a maid
from death. God avenges the saint. A new persecution raised against
Xavier by the Bonzas. The king of Saxuma is turned against Xavier and the
Christians. The saint fortifies the Christians before he leaves them. He
causes his catechism to be printed before his departure. He departs from
Cangoxima. He goes to the castle of Ekandono. He declares the gospel
before Ekandono, and the fruits of his preaching. What he does for the
preservation of the faith in the new Christians of the castle. Thoughts
of a Christian of Ekandono. He leaves a disciple with the steward of
Ekandono, and the use he makes of it. He leaves a little book with the
wife of Ekandono, and for what it served. He arrives at Firando; and what
reception he had there. He preaches at Firando with great success. He
takes Amanguchi in his way to Meaco. He stays at Amanguchi; his actions
there. What hindered the fruit of his preaching at Amanguchi. He appears
before the king of Amanguchi, and expounds to him the doctrine of
Christianity. He preaches before the king in Amanguchi without success.
He pursues his voyage for Meaco. His sufferings in the voyage of Meaco.
He follows a horseman with great difficulty. He instructs the people in
passing through the towns. He arrives at Meaco, and labours there
unprofitably. He departs from Meaco to return to Amanguchi. Being
returned to Amanguchi, he gains an audience of the king. He obtains
permission to preach. He is visited by great multitudes. The qualities
which he thinks requisite in a missioner to Japan. He answers many men
with one only word. He preaches in Amanguchi. He speaks the Chinese
language without learning it. The fruit of his preaching. His joy in
observing the fervour of the faithful. His occasions of sorrow amongst
his spiritual joys. The faith is embraced, notwithstanding the prince's
example; and by what means. Divers conversions. He declares against the
Bonzas. The Bonzas oppose the Christian religion. He answers the
arguments of the Bonzas. The Bonzas provoke the king against the
Christians. The number of Christians is augmented together with the
reputation of the saint. He sends a Japonian Christian to the kingdom of
Bungo; and for what reason. He departs from Amanguchi, and goes for
Bungo. He falls sick with overtravelling himself; and after a little
rest, pursues his journey. He is received with honour by the Portuguese,
and complimented from the king of Bungo. He is much esteemed by the king
of Bungo. The letter of the king of Bungo to Father Xavier. In what
equipage he goes to the court of Bungo. His entry into the palace of the
king of Bungo. He receives the compliments of several persons in the
court. He is introduced to an audience of the king of Bungo, and what
passes in it. What passes betwixt the king of Bungo and Xavier. The
honour of Xavier in the kingdom of Bungo, and the success of his labours
there. He converts a famous Bonza. In what manner he prepares the
Gentiles for baptism. What happens to the companions of Xavier at
Amanguchi. The death of the king of Amanguchi, and the desolation of the
town. The brother of the king of Bungo is chosen king of Amanguchi: the
saint rejoices at it. He prepares to leave Japan, and takes leave of the
king of Bungo. The advice which he gives to the king of Bungo. The Bonzas
rise anew against Xavier. A new artifice of the Bonzas against the saint.
The beginning of the conference betwixt Xavier and Fucarandono. The
advantage of the dispute on the side of Xavier. The fury of the Bonzas
forces the Portuguese to retire to their ship. The captain of the ship
endeavours to persuade Xavier to return, but in vain. The captain takes
up a resolution to stay with Xavier. A new enterprize of the Bonzas
against him. He returns to the palace, to renew the conference with
Fucarandono. The dispute renewed. The answer of Xavier to the first
question of Fucarandono. The second question of Fucarandono, to which the
Father answers with the same success as to the former. The sequel of the
dispute betwixt Xavier and Fucarandono. The honour which the king of
Bungo does to Xavier. The Bonzas present a writing to the king, but
without effect. They wrangle about the signification of words. They
dispute in the nature of school-divines. He answers the objections of the
Bonzas, and their replies. The fruit of his disputation with the Bonzas.
He leaves Japan, and returns to the Indies. God reveals to him the siege
of Malacca. What happens to him in his return from Japan to the Indies.
How Xavier behaves himself during the tempest. What happens to the chalop
belonging to the ship. He expects the return of the chalop, or cockboat,
notwithstanding all appearances to the contrary. He renews his prayers
for the return of the chalop. He prays once more for the return of the
chalop. The chalop appears, and comes up with the ship. He arrives at the
isle of Sancian; and goes off after a little time. His prediction to the
pilot. A marvellous effect of the saint's prophecy. He forms the design
of carrying the faith to China. He takes his measures with Pereyra, for
the voyage of China. He dissipates a tempest; his prophecy concerning the
ship of James Pereyra. His reception at Malacca. The history of the ship
called Santa Cruz. He arrives at Cochin; and finishes the conversion of
the king of the Maldivias. He writes into Europe, and comes to Goa. He
cures a dying man immediately upon his arrival. He hears joyful news of
the progress of Christianity in the Indies. The conversion of the king of
Tanor. The conversion of the king of Trichenamalo. The letter from the
bishop of the Indies to Father Ignatius. He hears other comfortable news.
He is afflicted with the misdemeanors of Father Antonio Gomez. How Gomez
attacks the authority of Paul de Camerine. The extravagances of Gomez in
matters of religion. The violence and injustice of Gomez. Xavier repairs
the faults committed by Gomez. He expels Gomez from the Society. _



I undertake not to make an exact description of Japan, after those which
have been made of it by geographers and travellers: by an ordinary view
of the charts, and common reading of the relations of the Indies, it is
easy to understand, that Japan is situate at the extremity of Asia, over
against China; that it is a concourse of islands which compose as it were
one body, and that the chiefest of them gives the name to all the rest;
that this world of islands, as it is called by a great geographer, is
filled with mountains, some of which are inaccessible, and almost above
the clouds; that the colds there are excessive, and that the soil, which
is fruitful in mines of gold and silver, is not productive of much grain
of any sort necessary to life, for want of cultivation. Without dwelling
longer either on the situation or nature of the country, or so much as
on the customs and manners of the inhabitants, of which I have already
said somewhat, and shall speak yet farther, as my subject requires it, I
shall here only touch a little on the government and religion, which of
necessity are to be known at the beginning, for the understanding of the
history which I write.

Japan was anciently one monarchy. The emperor, whom all those isles
obeyed, was called the Dairy; and was descended from the Camis, who,
according to the popular opinion, came in a direct line from the Sun. The
first office of the empire was that of the Cubo, that is to say,
captain-general of the army. For the raising of this dignity, which in
itself was so conspicuous, in process of time, the name of Sama was added
to that of Cubo; for Sama in their language signifies Lord. Thus the
general of Japan came to be called Cubo Sama.

Above three hundred years ago, the Cubo Sama then being, beholding the
sceptre of Japan in the hands of a Dairy, who was cowardly and
effeminate, revolted from him, and got possession of the regal dignity.
His design was to have reduced the whole estate under his own dominion;
but he was only able to make himself master of Meaco, where the emperor
kept his court, and of the provinces depending on it. The governors of
other provinces maintained themselves in their respective jurisdictions
by force of arms, and shook of the yoke as well as he; insomuch, that the
monarchy came to be suddenly divided into sixty-six cantons, which all
assumed the names of kingdoms.

Since these revolutions, the king of Meaco took the title of Cubo Sama,
and he who had been deprived of it still retained the name of Dairy; and,
excepting only the power, there was still left him all the privilege of
royalty, in consideration of the blood of the Camis. His descendants have
had always the same title, and enjoyed the same advantages. This, in
general, was the face of the government, in the time of St Francis
Xavier. For some years afterwards, Nabunanga, one of the neighbour kings
to him of Meaco, defeated the Cubo Sama in a pitched battle, and followed
his blow with so much success, that, having destroyed all those petty
princes, he re-united the whole empire of Japan under his sole obedience.

As to what concerns religion, all the Japonians, excepting some few who
make profession of atheism, and believe the soul mortal, are idolaters,
and hold the transmigration of souls, after the doctrine of Pythagoras.
Some of them pay divine worship to the sun and moon; others to the Camis,
those ancient kings of whom we have made mention; and to the Potoques,
the gods of China. There are divers of them who adore some kinds of
beasts, and many who adore the devil under dreadful figures. Besides
these, they have a certain mysterious deity, whom they call Amida; and
say, this god has built a paradise of such distance from the earth, that
the souls cannot reach it under a voyage of three years. But the god Xaca
is he of whom they report the greatest wonders, who seems to be a
counterfeit of the true Messiah, set up by the devil himself, or by his
ministers. For if one would give credit to them, Xaca being born of a
queen, who never had the carnal knowledge of man, retired into the
deserts of Siam, and there underwent severe penances, to expiate the sins
of men: that coming out of his wilderness, he assembled some disciples,
and preached an heavenly doctrine in divers countries.

It is incredible how many temples have been built to the honour of Amida
and Xaca; all the cities are full of them, and their magnificence is
equal to their number. Nor is it easy to imagine how far their
superstition carries the worshippers of these two deities. They throw
themselves headlong down from rocks, or bury themselves alive in caves;
and it is ordinary to see barques, full of men and women, with stones
hanging at their necks, and singing the praises of their gods, after
which they cast themselves into the sea.

For what remains, the spirit of lies has established in Japan a kind of
hierarchy, not unlike that of the Catholic church. For these people have
a chief of their religion, and a kind of sovereign priest, whom they call
Saco. He keeps his court in the capital city of the empire; and it is he
who approves the sects, who institutes the ceremonies, who consecrates,
if I may be allowed to say so, the Tundi, who resemble our bishops, and
whose principal function is to ordain the priests of idols, by conferring
on them the power of offering sacrifice. These priests, who are called
Bonzas, part of them living in desarts, the rest in towns, all affect a
rigid austerity of manners, and are amongst the Japonese what the
Brachmans are amongst the Indians, unless that they are yet more impious,
and greater hypocrites.

To resume our history: immediately after the arrival of Xavier and his
companions, Paul de Sainte Foy, whom formerly we called Anger, went to
pay his duty to the king of Saxuma; on which Cangoxima is depending, and
whose palace is about the distance of six leagues from it. That prince,
who had heretofore shewn great favour to him, received him with much
humanity, and with so much the greater joy, because he had believed him
dead. This kind reception gave Paul de Sainte Foy the confidence to
petition the king for the pardon of that action, which had occasioned his
departure, and it was not difficult for him to obtain it.

The king, naturally curious, as the Japonians generally are, enquired
much of him concerning the Indies; as, what was the nature of the
country, and the humour of the people, and whether the Portuguese were as
brave and as powerful as they were represented by common fame. When Paul
had satisfied him on these and the like particulars, the discourse fell
on the different religions in the Indies, and finally on Christianity,
which was introduced by the Portuguese in India.

Paul unfolded at large the mysteries of our faith; and seeing with what
pleasure he was heard, produced a tablet of the Virgin, holding the
little Jesus in her arms. The tablet was very curious, and Xavier had
given it to this Japonese, that he might shew it as occasion offered. The
sight alone of this excellent painting wrought so much upon the king,
that, being touched with thoughts of piety and reverence, he fell on his
knees, with all his courtiers, to honour the persons therein represented,
which seemed to him to have an air that was more than human.