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

"In administering the sacrament of penance, take heed of discouraging those who begin to discover the wounds of their souls to you, by appearing too rashly and too hastily severe. How enormous soever their sins may be, hear them, not only with patience, but with mildness; help out even their bashfulness, by testifying to them your compassion, and not seeming to be amazed at what you hear. Insinuate into them, that you have heard in confession sins of a much more crying nature: and, lest they should despair of pardon for their faults, speak to them of the infinite mercies of the Lord.

"When they declare a crime in such a manner that you may perceive they are in trouble how to speak, interrupt them, by letting them know, that their sin is not altogether so great as they may think; that by God's assistance you can heal the most mortal wounds of the soul; bid them go on without any apprehension, and make no difficulty of telling all. 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.