The Works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 16

Coming on shore, he there found George Alvarez, the same person who had brought him the first time to Molucca. Alvarez, surprised to see him once again, told him, that Father Xavier was returned from the Moluccas, and immediately brought Anger to his presence. The Father, who foresaw, not only that this Japonian should be the first Christian of that kingdom, but also, by his means, the gospel should be preached in it, was transported with joy at the first sight of him, and embraced him with exceeding tenderness. The sight of the saint, and his embracements, gave such consolations to Anger, that he no longer doubted of receiving an entire satisfaction from him. Understanding, in some measure, the Portuguese language, Xavier himself assured him, that the disquiets of his mind should be dissipated, and that he should obtain that spiritual repose, in search of which he had undertaken so long a voyage; but that before he could arrive to it, it concerned him first to understand and practise the law of the true God, who alone could calm the troubles of his heart, and set it in a perpetual tranquillity. Anger, who desired nothing so much as to have his conscience in repose, and who was charmed with the great goodness of the Father, offered himself to be directed in all things by him. The servant of God instructed him in the principles of faith, of which his friends, the Portuguese, had already given him some knowledge, as far as men of their profession were capable of teaching him. But to the end his conversion might be more solid, he thought it convenient to send him and his servants to the seminary of Goa, there to be more fully taught the truths and practice of Christianity before their baptism. The Father had yet a further purpose in it, that these first fruits of Japonian Christianity should be consecrated to God by the Bishop Don John d'Albuquerque, in the capital city of the Indies.

Since in his voyage to Goa he was to visit the fishing coast, he would not take the three Japonians with him, and gave the care of conducting them to George Alvarez. He only wrote by them to the rector of the College of St Paul, giving him orders to instruct them with all diligence. He put on board the ship of another Portuguese, called Gonsalvo Fernandez, twenty or thirty young men whom he had brought from the Moluccas, in order to their studies in the same college; after which, himself embarked in another vessel, which went directly for Cochin.

In passing the Strait of Ceylon, the ship which carried Xavier was overtaken with the most horrible tempest which was ever seen. They were constrained, at the very beginning of it, to cast overboard all their merchandize; and the winds roared with so much violence, that the pilot not being able to hold the rudder, abandoned the vessel to the fury of the waves. For three days and nights together they had death continually present before their eyes; and nothing reassured the mariners but the serene countenance of Father Xavier amidst the cries and tumults in the ship. After he had heard their confessions, implored the help of heaven, and exhorted all of them to receive, with an equal mind, either life or death from the hand of God, he retired into his cabin. Francis Pereyra, looking for the man of God in the midst of the tempest, to have comfort from him, found him on his knees before his crucifix, wholly taken up and lost to all things but to God. The ship, driven along by an impetuous current, already struck against the sands of Ceylon, and the mariners gave themselves for lost, without hope of recovery; when the Father coming out of his cabin, asked the pilot for the line and plummet, with which he was accustomed to fathom the sea; having taken them, and let them down to the bottom of the ocean, he pronounced these words: "Great God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, have mercy on us!" At the same moment the vessel stopped, and the wind ceased; after which they pursued their voyage, and happily arrived at the port of Cochin on the 21st of January, 1548.

There the Father gave himself the leisure of writing divers letters into Europe, by a vessel of Lisbon, which was just in readiness to set sail. The first was to the King of Portugal, John III.: the letter was full of prudent counsels concerning the duties of a king: he advertised him anew, that his majesty should be guilty before God of the evil government of his ministers, and that one day an account must be given of the salvation of those souls which he had suffered to perish, through neglect of application, or want of constancy in his endeavours; but he did it with all manner of precaution, and softened his expressions with Christian charity.

"I have long deliberated," said he, "whether I should certify your majesty of the transactions of your officers in the Indies, and what ought further to be done for the establishment of our faith. On the one side, the zeal of God's service, and his glory, encouraged me to write to you: on the other, I was diverted from that resolution by the fear I had of writing to no purpose; but, at the same time, I concluded, that I could not be silent without betraying my ministerial function: and it also seemed to me, that God gave me not those thoughts without some particular design; which probably was, that I might communicate them to your majesty; and this opinion, as the more likely, has at length prevailed with me. Nevertheless, I always feared, that if I should freely give you all my thoughts, my letter would only serve for evidence against you at the hour of your death, and would augment against your majesty the rigour of the last judgement, by taking from you the excuse of ignorance. These considerations gave me great anxieties, and your majesty will easily believe me: For, in fine, my heart will answer for me, that I desire not to employ all my strength, or even my life itself, for the conversion of the Indians, out of any other prospect than to free your majesty's conscience, as much as in me lies, and to render the last judgment less terrible to you. I do in this but that which is my duty; and the particular affection which you bear our Society well deserves that I should sacrifice myself for you."

After he had informed his majesty, how much the jealousies and secret divisions of his officers had hindered the progress of the gospel, he declares, that he could wish the king would bind himself by a solemn oath, to punish severely whosoever they should be who should occasion any prejudice to the farther propagation of faith in the Indies; and farther assured him, that if such who had the authority in their hands were made sensible, that their faults should not escape punishment, the whole Isle of Ceylon, all Cape Comorine, and many kings of Malabar, would receive baptism in the space of one year; that as many as were living in all the extent of the Indies would acknowledge the divinity of Jesus Christ, and make profession of his doctrine, if those ministers of state, who had neglected the interests of the faith, had been deprived of their dignities and their revenues.

After this he petitions the king to send him a supply of preachers, and those preachers to be of the Society, as judging them more proper than any others for the new world. "I beg and adjure your majesty," says he, "by the love you bear to our blessed Lord, and by the zeal wherewith you burn for the glory of the Divine Majesty, to send next year some preachers of our Society to your faithful subjects of the Indies: For I assure you, that your fortresses are in extreme want of such supplies; in garrison, and to the new Christians established in the towns and villages depending on them. I speak by experience; and that which I have seen with my own eyes obliges me to write concerning it. Being at Malacca, and at the Moluccas, I preached every Sunday, and all saints' days twice; and was forced upon it, because I saw the soldiers and people had great need of being frequently taught the word of God.

"I preached then, in the morning, to the Portuguese at mass: I went again into the pulpit in the afternoon, and instructed their children, their slaves, and idolaters newly converted, accommodating my discourse to the measure of their understanding, and expounding to them the principal points of Christian doctrine, one after another. Besides which, one day in the week, I assembled in the church the wives of the Portuguese, and catechised them on the articles of faith, on the sacraments of penance, and the eucharist. Much fruit would be gathered in a few years, if the same method were constantly observed in all places. I preached also, every day, in the fortresses, the principles of religion, to the sons and daughters of the soldiers, to their servants of both sexes; in fine, to the natives of the country, who were born Christians: and these instructions had so good effect, that they totally renounced the superstitions and sorceries which were in use amongst those stupid and ignorant new converts.

"I descend into all these petty circumstances, to the end your majesty may judge, according to your prudence, what number of preachers may be necessary here; and that you may not forget to send many to us: for if the ministry of preaching be not more exercised amongst us, we have reason to apprehend, that not only the Indians, who have embraced the faith, will leave it, but that the Portuguese also may forget the duties of Christianity, and live afterwards like Heathens."

As Father Simon Rodriguez, who governed the Society in Portugal, had great credit at the court, Father Xavier writ to him at the same time, desiring him, he would support his demands with his interest. He recommended to him in especial manner, "That he would make choice of those preachers, who were men of known virtue, and exemplary mortification." He subjoined, "If I thought the king would not take amiss the counsel of a faithful servant, who sincerely loves him, I should advise him to meditate one quarter of an hour every day, on that divine sentence, 'What does it profit a man to have gained the world, and to lose his soul?' I should counsel him, I say, to ask of God the understanding and taste of those words, and that he would finish all his prayers with the same words, 'What will it profit a man, to gain the world, and to lose his soul? 'Tis time," said Xavier, "to draw him out of his mistake, and to give him notice, that the hour of his death is nearer than he thinks: that fatal hour, when the King of kings, and Lord of lords, will summon him to judgment, saying to him these dreadful words, 'Give an account of your administration.' For which reason, do in such manner, my dear brother, that he may fulfil his whole duty; and that he may send over to the Indies all needful supplies, for the increase of faith."

Xavier also wrote from Cochin to the fathers of the society at Rome; and gave them an account, at large, of his voyages to Malacca, to Amboyna, to the Moluccas, and the Isle del Moro; with the success which God had given to his labours. But he forgot not the relation of his danger in the Strait of Ceylon, and made it in a manner which was full of consolation to them.

"In the height of the tempest," said he in his letter, "I took for my intercessors with God, the living persons of our society, with all those who are well affected to it; and joined to these, all Christians, that I might be assisted with the merits of the spouse of Christ, the holy Catholic Church, whose prayers are heard in heaven, though her habitation be on earth: afterwards I addressed myself to the dead, and particularly to Piere le Fevre, to appease the wrath of God. I went through all the orders of the angels, and the saints, and invoked them all. But to the end that I might the more easily obtain the pardon of my innumerable sins, I desired for my protectress and patroness, the most holy Mother of God, and Queen of Heaven, who, without difficulty, obtains from her beloved Son whatsoever she requests. In conclusion, having reposed all my hope in the infinite merits of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, being encompassed with this protection, I enjoyed a greater satisfaction, in the midst of this raging tempest, than when I was wholly delivered from the danger.

"In very truth, being, as I am, the worst of all men, I am ashamed to have shed so many tears of joy, through an excess of heavenly pleasure, when I was just upon the point of perishing: insomuch, that I humbly prayed our Lord, that he would not free me from the danger of my shipwreck, unless it were to reserve me for greater dangers, to his own glory and his service. For what remains, God has often shewn me, by an inward discovery, from how many perils and sufferings I have been delivered, by the prayers and sacrifices of those of the society, both such as labour here on earth, and such who enjoy the fruits of their labours in the heavens. When I have once begun the mention of our society, I can never leave; but the departure of the vessels constrains me to break off: and behold what I have judged most proper for the conclusion of my letter. If I ever forget thee, O Society of Jesus, let my right hand be unprofitable to me, and may I even forget the use of it! Si oblitus unquam fuero tui, Societas Jesu, oblivioni detur dextera meu. I pray our Lord Jesus Christ, that since, during the course of this miserable life, he has gathered us into his society, he would reunite us in a blessed eternity, in the company of saints, who behold him in his glory."

After he had written these letters, and given some time to the service of his neighbour, he took the way of Comorine, doubled the Cape a second time, and arrived at the coast of Fishery. The Paravas, who were his first children in Jesus Christ, were overjoyed at the sight of their saint, and good Father, as they called him. All the villages came to meet him, singing the Christian doctrine, and praising God for his return. The satisfaction of the saint was not less than theirs: but above all things his consolation was unspeakable to see the number of Christians so much augmented, by the labours of his brethren. There were in that place many of the society, of whom the chief were Antonio Criminal, Francis Henriquez, and Alphonso Cyprian; for Father Xavier having written from Amboyna for the greatest number of missioners whom they could spare, towards the cultivation of those new plants at the coast of Fishery, all those who came from Portugal, after his own arrival in the Indies, went thither, excepting the three who went to the Moluccas, and two who stayed at Goa, for the instruction of the youth.

The fervency of those new converts did not less edify Xavier than their number. In visiting a certain village, they shewed him a young man, a native of the country, who, having embarked in company of a Portuguese, had been cast, by tempest, on the coast of Malabar. The Saracens, who inhabit that place, having murdered the Portuguese, would have forced his companion to renounce his faith. Thereupon they brought him into a mosque, where they promised him great store of money and preferments, in case he would forsake the law of Jesus Christ, and take up that of their prophet Mahomet. But seeing their promises could not prevail, they threatened him with death, and held their naked weapons over his head to fright him; but neither could they shake his resolution with that dreadful spectacle: then they loaded him with irons, and used him with extraordinary cruelty, till a Portuguese captain, informed of it, came suddenly upon them with a troop of soldiers, and rescued the young man out of their hands. Xavier embraced him many times, and blessed Almighty God, that his faith was imprinted so lively in the heart of a barbarian. He heard also, with great satisfaction, of the constancy of some slaves, who, having fled from the houses of their Portuguese masters, and living amongst Gentiles, far from being corrupted with the superstitions of the Infidels, complied exactly with the obligations of their baptism, and lived in a most religious manner. It was reported to him of these slaves, that when any of them died, they suffered not his body to be burnt, according to the custom of the Pagans, neither would they leave it without sepulture; but buried it according to the ceremonies of the church, and set up a cross over the grave.

Though these infidels, whom they served, did not hinder them from continuing in Christianity, and that every one of them in particular was resolved to persevere in his faith, even in the midst of idolatry, yet they had a longing desire to return into the company of the faithful, where they might be supplied with those spiritual succours which they wanted, and lead a life yet more conformable to their belief: so that as soon as they had the news of Father Xavier's return, who had baptized the greatest part of them, they came to desire him, that he would make their peace with their masters, whom they had left to free themselves from slavery, and declared, that they were content once more to lose their liberty in prospect of the salvation of their souls. Xavier received them with open arms, as his well-beloved children, and afterwards obtained their pardon.

After he had visited all the villages, he made some stay at Manapar, which is not far distant from Cape Comorine. As the only end which he proposed to himself, was to plant the gospel in the Indies, and that in order to it he must there establish the society, he began to regulate all things according to the principles, and in the spirit of Father Ignatius, general of the order. Having reassembled all the labourers in the gospel of that coast, he examined their several talents and virtues, in familiar conversation with them, by causing them to give an account of what passed betwixt God and them in their own hearts. After he had assigned to each of them the places which were most convenient for them, both in regard of their bodily strength, and of their spiritual endowments, he constituted Father Antonio Criminal superior of all the rest: and to the end they might be more capable of serving that people, he ordered every one of them, with all possible care, to apply himself to the study of the Malabar language, which obtains through all that coast. Upon this account, he commanded Father Francis Henriquez to reduce that tongue into the rules of art, and to compose an exact grammar of it, according to the method of the Greek and Latin grammars. The work seemed impossible, especially to one who was newly come from Europe, and who had little knowledge in the Indian tongues; nevertheless Henriquez compassed it in a small time, which was apparently a miracle of obedience. In the mean while, Xavier judging that the exposition of the Christian doctrine, which he had made for those of Molucca, might be of use to his dear Paravas, ordered a Malabar priest, who was well versed in the Portuguese, to translate it into his own language. But to the end that the conduct of the missioners might be uniform, and that the same spirit might animate all of them, besides the instructions which he gave them by word of mouth, he gave them the following rules in writing.

In the first place, "Wherever the lot of your ministry shall fall, be mindful of baptising infants newly born, and perform it yourselves, without trusting the care of it to any other person: there is nothing at present of more importance. Do not wait till the parents bid you come; as they may easily neglect it, it behoves you to run through all the villages, to enter into the houses, and to christen all the infants you can find.

"After the great concernment of giving baptism, you ought to be careful of nothing more than of entering those little children into the principles of faith, who are grown capable of instruction. Not being able to be in all places, you shall cause the Canacapoles, and the teachers of the catechism, to perform their duty, and religiously to observe the customs established. To which purposes, when you visit the villages, to take an account of what passes there, assemble the masters, with their scholars, and know from the children, in the presence of those who are accustomed to instruct them, what they have learned, or forgotten, since your last visit; this will double the ardency of the scholars, and the diligence of their teachers.

"On Sundays, gather the men together in the church to repeat their prayers; and observe well, whether the Pantagatins, or chief of the people, are there present. You are to expound the prayers which they repeat, and reprove them for the vices then in fashion, which you are to make them comprehend, by using familiar examples. In fine, you are to threaten the more stubborn sinners with the wrath of God; and tell them, that if they do not reform their lives, their days shall be shortened by all manner of diseases; that the Pagan kings shall enslave them, and that their immortal souls shall become fuel to the everlasting flames of hell.

"When you come to any place, you shall inform yourselves what quarrels are stirring in it, and who are the parties; after which, you shall endeavour to reconcile them. These reconciliations are to be made in the church; where it will be fitting to assemble all the women on Saturdays, as the men on Sundays.

"When the Malabar priest shall have translated the exposition of the creed, you shall take copies of it, which you shall cause to be carefully read to the women on Saturdays, to the men on Sundays. If you are there present, you shall read it yourselves, and add to the exposition what you think convenient for the farther clearing it.

"Distribute to the poor those collections which are made for them in the churches, by the charity of the congregation; and beware of taking any part of them for your own uses.

"Fail not every Saturday and Sunday to put the faithful in mind of giving you notice when any one falls sick, to the end you may visit them; and give them to know, that if they do not advertise you, and that the sick person dies, you will not allow him burial amongst Christians, in punishment of their neglect.

"When you visit the sick, take especial care that they repeat to you the apostles' creed in their mother tongue. Interrogate them on every article, and ask them if they believe sincerely. After this, make them say the confiteor, and the other Catholic prayers, and then read the gospel over them.

"For the burial of the dead, you shall assemble the children; and, coming out of the church with them, the cross being at the head of the procession, you shall sing the Christian doctrine, coming and going. You shall say the prayers of the church at the house of the dead person, and before he is put into the ground. You shall also make a short exhortation to the assembly before the corpse, upon the necessity of death, the amendment of life, and the practice of virtue.

"You shall give notice to the men on Sunday, and to the women on Saturday, to bring their sick children into the church, that you may read the gospel over them for their cure; and that the parents from thence may receive increase of faith, and respect to the temples of our Lord.

"You shall yourselves determine all litigious causes; and, if you cannot end them on the place, defer them to the next Sunday; and, after divine service, cause them to be expedited by the principal inhabitants of the place. Yet I will not that these sort of affairs should take up too much of your time, nor that you prefer the care of your neighbour's temporal concernments before works of charity, which respect the salvation of souls; and am of opinion, that when any important business of that kind shall happen, you should remit it to the Portuguese commandant.

"Do all things in your power to make yourselves beloved by those people; for by that you will be able to do more good upon them, than by being feared. Decree no punishment against any person but by the advice of Father Antonio Criminal; and, if the commandant of the Portuguese be present, do nothing without his order. In case any man or woman shall make a pagod, or idol, banish them from the village, if Father Criminal consent to it. Testify great affection to the children who frequent the Christian schools; pardon, and wink at their faults sometimes, lest a severe usage should fright them from us.

"In presence of a Portuguese, abstain from reproving and condemning the natives of the country who are Christians; on the contrary, commend and excuse them on all occasions; for, considering how lately they have embraced the faith, and what assistance is wanting to them to live like good Christians, it is only to be admired that they are not more vicious.

"Be serviceable in all you can to the Malabar priests, in what relates to their spiritual advantage; take care that they confess themselves, and say mass, and give good examples, and write nothing against them to any person whatsoever.