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

It was at that time, properly speaking, when God first communicated to Xavier the gift of tongues in the Indies; according to the relation of a young Portuguese of Coimbra, whose name was Vaz, who attended him in many of his travels, and who being returned into Europe, related those passages, of which himself had been an eye witness. The holy man spoke very well the language of those barbarians, without having learnt it, and had no need of an interpreter when he instructed. There being no church which was capable of containing those who came to hear him, he led them into a spacious plain, to the number of five or six thousand persons, and there getting up into a tree, that he might the farther extend his voice, he preached to them the words of eternal truth. There it was also, that to the end the compass of the plain might serve in the nature of a church, he sometimes celebrated the divine mysteries under the sails of ships, which were spread above the altar, to be seen on every side.

The Brachmans could not suffer the worship of the pagods to be abandoned in this manner; but were resolved to be revenged on the author of so strange an alteration. In order to execute their design, they secretly engaged some idolaters to lie in wait for him, and dispatch him privately. The murderers lay in ambush more than once, and in the silence of the night endeavoured to shoot him with their arrows. But divine Providence would not suffer their malice to take place; of all their arrows, one only wounded him, and that but slightly; as it were rather to give him the satisfaction of shedding some blood in testimony of the faith, than to endanger his life.

Enraged and desperate for having missed their aim, they sought him everywhere; and not finding him, they set fire on three or four houses, where they thought he might possibly be lodged. The man of God was constrained one day to hide in the covert of a forest, and passed the following night upon a tree, to escape the fury of his enemies, who searched the whole forest to have found him. There was a necessity sometimes that the faithful should keep guard about him day and night, and to that purpose they placed themselves in arms about the house where he was retired.

In the meantime, the Badages, who had ravaged the coast of Fishery the year before, animated of themselves against the Christians, and perhaps pushed forward by the devils, who saw their empire decaying day by day, excited also by the desire of glory, and above all things by the hope of booty, entered into the kingdom of Travancore, on the side of one of those mountains-which confine on the cape of Comorin. Their former success had rendered them so haughty and so insolent, that they flattered themselves with an imagination that every thing would bend before them. But not having now to do, as they had before, with simple fishers, they were come in good order, and well armed, under the conduct of the Naiche, or lord of Modure, a valiant and experienced captain.

The inhabitants of the maritime villages took fright at the noise of an hostile army; and retiring, for the most part with great haste and confusion into the inland country, carried even to the court the news of the invasion.

The king of Travancore, whom the Portuguese call the Great Monarch, because indeed he is the most powerful of all the kings of Malabar, collecting his army with all speed, put himself at the head of it, and marched towards the enemy. The battle, in all appearance, was likely to be bloody, and the victory seemed assured to those vagabond robbers, who were more in number, and better disciplined.

Father Xavier, so soon as he understood that the Badages were drawing near, falling prostrate on the ground, "O Lord," said he; "remember that thou art the God of mercies, and protector of the faithful: give not up to the fury of these wolves that flock, of which thou hast appointed me the pastor; that these new Christians, who are yet so feeble in the faith, may not repent their embracing it, and that the infidels may not have the advantage of oppressing those, who repose their confidence in none but thee."

His prayer being ended, he arose, and inspired with a more than human courage, which made him incapable of fear, he takes a troop of fervant Christians, and, with a crucifix in his hand, runs with them towards the plain, where the enemies were marching in battalia. When he arrived within distance of being heard, he stopped and said to them, in a threatening voice, "I forbid you, in the name of the living God, to pass farther, and on his part, command you to return the way you came."

These few words cast a terror into the minds of those soldiers who were at the head of the army; they remained confounded, and without motion. They, who marched after them, seeing the foremost advanced not, asked the reason of it; answer was returned from the first ranks, that they had before their eyes an unknown person habited in black, of a more than human stature, of a terrible aspect, and darting fire from his eyes. The most hardy were desirous to satisfy themselves concerning what was told them; they were seized with amazement at the sight, and all of them fled with a precipitate confusion.

The new Christians who had followed Xavier, ran to declare to the neighbouring villages this wonderful event. The fame of it was suddenly spread abroad, and the king, who was marching towards the enemy with great speed, heard the report of it on his way. He caused Xavier to be brought into his presence, and embraced him as the redeemer of Travancore; and after he had publicly thanked him for so eminent a service, he said thus to him: "I am called the Great Monarch; and, from henceforth, you shall be called the Great Father."

The saint gave the king to understand, that it was only Jesus Christ to whom he ought to pay his acknowledgments; and, as for himself, he ought only to be regarded as a weak instrument, who could do nothing of his own power. The Pagan king comprehended nothing of his meaning; and the two vices which are the common obstacles to the conversion of the great, that is to say, the concupiscence of the flesh, and pride of heart, hindered him afterwards from embracing of the faith; which notwithstanding, he caused an edict to be published throughout his kingdom, whereby all men were commanded to obey the Great Father, as they would his proper person; and that whoever desired to be a Christian, might be so without any apprehension of danger to ensue. He went so far as even to call Xavier his brother; and bestowed on him large sums of money, all which the servant of God employed in charities on the poor.

An edict so favourable to the law of our belief, made many Christians even in the court, though contrary to the example of the prince. But the miraculous actions of Xavier finished the conversion of the whole kingdom. Besides his curing all sorts of diseases, he raised four persons from the dead, two women and two men. The act of canonization relates no more of the resurrection of the women, but the bare matter of fact, without any circumstances; but the resurrection of the men is related at large, of which the substance is in the ensuing account.

Xavier preached in one of the maritime villages of Travancore, called Coulan, near Cape Comoriu. Some were converted by his first sermons; but the greater party remained in their ancient superstition, after having often heard him. The most obstinate, it is true, listened to him with delight, and found the maxims of the gospel to be most conformable to the light of reason: but the pleasure which they took in hearing, produced nothing; and they satisfied themselves with admiring the Christian law, without troubling themselves to follow it.

The father one day finding, that he spoke to them of God without working any thing upon their hearts, prayed fervently to the Almighty in their behalf; and, with his eyes lifted up to heaven, his countenance more than ordinarily inflamed, and with abundance of tears, besought him to take pity on those obstinate idolaters. "O Lord," said he, "all hearts are in thy hands; thou canst bend, as it pleases thee, the most stubborn, and soften the most obdurate; do that honour, on this day, to the blood and the name of thy beloved Son." Scarcely had he ended his prayer, when he was assured it was answered: turning himself to his audience, with the air of one inspired, "Well," said he, "since you will not believe me on my word, behold that which will make me be believed. What testimony do you desire from me, of those truths which I have declared to you?" At the same instant he recalled to his remembrance, that a man had been there buried the day before. Then resuming his discourse in the same tone that he began it, "Open," said he, "the sepulchre which you closed yesterday, and bring out the body; but observe carefully, whether he who was buried be truly dead."

The most incredulous ran hastily to take up the corpse; far from finding any the least sign of life, they perceived it began to putrify with a noisome scent. They took off the linen in which he was wrapped, and laid the dead man at the feet of the father, who was come to the place of burial. The barbarians gazed with astonishment on the dead body, and impatiently expected the event. The saint fell upon his knees, and, after a short prayer, addressing himself to the dead, "I command thee," said he, "in the holy name of the living God, to arise, for the confirmation of that religion which I preach." At these words, the dead arose of himself, and appeared not only living, but vigorous, and in perfect health. All who were present cried out, with a loud voice, "That the God of the Christians was omnipotent; and that the law which the great Father preached was true." In consequence of which, they threw themselves at his feet, desired baptism, and received it on the place.

The other dead person whom the apostle raised to life, was a young man, and a Christian, who died at Mutan, on the same coast, betwixt Carjapatan and Alicale. He had been dead above four-and-twenty hours, of a pestilential fever. Xavier met the corpse by chance, as they were carrying it to the grave. The parents of the dead man, who were of the greatest quality in all the country, accompanied the funeral pomp, with all their kindred, according to the custom of that nation. As comfortless as they were, yet upon sight of the saint, they recovered courage, and, embracing his knees, implored him to restore their son to life; being persuaded, that what was not to be effected by the power of nature, would cost him only a word speaking. Xavier, moved by their affliction, and excited by their faith, begged the assistance of the Most High, made the sign of the cross, and threw holy water on the dead, after which he took him by the hand, raised him up in the name of the Lord, and restored him living to his father and mother.

To preserve the memory of an action so wonderful and so authentic, the parents of the man they raised erected a great cross on the place where the miracle was done; and were accustomed afterwards to go often thither, and pray to God before it. These resurrections were so famous through all the country, and made so great impressions on the souls of the inhabitants, that the people came thronging from all parts to behold the great Father, and to receive baptism from his hands; insomuch, that the whole kingdom of Travancore was Subjected to Christ Jesus in few months; and the king, with some few of his chief courtiers, were the only remaining idolaters in the land, by a terrible judgment of Almighty God, who sometimes abandons princes to their unruly passions, and departs from the great, while he communicates himself to those of the lowest quality.

BOOK III

He writes into Europe for a supply of missioners. The saint's letter to the doctors of Sorbonne. Ambassadors from the isle of Manar to the saint. He sends a missioner to the isle of Manar. The constancy of the Christians of Manar. A miraculous cross, and its effects. The enterprise of Xavier against the persecutor. New motives for his journey to Cambaya. He persuades Michael Vaz to go to Portugal. His letter to the king of Portugal. The success of the voyage undertaken by Michael Vaz. He converts a debauched Portuguese. He engages the viceroy of the Indies to make war on the king of Jafanatapan. Divers predictions of the saint. He goes to join the Portuguese fleet, and raises one from the dead. He frees the island of Manar from the plague. The enterprise of Jafanatapan defeated. He designs the voyage of Macassar, and the conversion of many kingdoms. He goes to the sepulchre of St Thomas, to consult God concerning his voyage to Macassar. What happened to him in his passage to Meliapor. He comes to Meliapor; the monuments which he there finds of the apostle St Thomas. He is threatened by devils, and afterwards beaten by them. He learns the will of God concerning his design. The conversions which he makes at Meliapor. He brings a great sinner to repentance. Divers wonderful events which encrease his fame. He persuades a rich merchant to evangelical perfection. The new convert falls from grace, and becomes suspected to the Saint. His charity to a soldier, who had lost all his money at play. He arrives at Malacca; a digression concerning it. In what condition he found the town, and what he did in order to reform it. He labours with success at Malacca. He revives a dead maid. He receives letters from Europe by the new missioners who are sent him. He defers the voyage to Macassar, and designs another. He foreknows, and foretels the ruin of Malacca. He goes to Amboyna, and what happens to him in his voyage. He arrives at Amboyna: What he performs there. He converts the idolaters and Moors of Amboyna. A Spanish fleet arrives at Amboyna. He assists the Spanish fleet during the contagion amongst them. He passes into divers islands. He recovers his crucifix, which was fallen into the sea. He foretels the holy death of a new convert. He goes to the island of Ulate, and the miracle there wrought by him. He goes to the Moluccas. What happens to him in his way. He declares to the people the death of John Araus. He makes many converts at Ternate. Conversion of a queen at Ternate. He hears of the isles del Moro. Great endeavours are used to dissuade the saint from going to the isles del Moro. He complains of those who make opposition to his voyage to the isle Del Moro. He goes for the isle Del Moro, and writes to Rome. God reveals to him what is doing in a distant island. He arrives at Del Moro; the condition in which he found it. He gains the inhabitants of the isle Del Moro. He speaks to them of hell. He exhorts them to repentance. He says mass in the midst of an earthquake. He is admired by the barbarians. He is persecuted by a cruel and savage people. His sufferings in the isle Del Moro; and the consolations which he there received. He goes for Goa; and the reason that induced him. He returns to Ternate. His proceedings at Ternate. He endeavours the conversion of the king of Ternate. What hindered the king of Ternate's conversion. He labours with great fruit in the court of Ternate. He leaves to the islanders a Christian instruction written with his own hand. The counsel he gave the Ternatines at parting. He renews his labours at Amboyna. He is endued with the supernatural knowledge of some things. A cross, erected by Xavier, becomes famous. The constancy of the Christians in Amboyna.

The reputation of Xavier was not confined to the kingdom of Travancore; it was spread abroad through all the Indies; and the God of the Christians, at the same time, was had in so great veneration, that the most idolatrous nations sent to desire the saint, that he would come and give them baptism. His joy was infinite, to find the Gentiles, of their own free motion, searching after the way of eternal life; but, on the other side, he was afflicted that he was not sufficient alone to instruct so many vast countries as were gone astray from it.

Seeing the harvest so great, and the labourers so few, he wrote earnestly to Father Ignatius in Italy, and to Simon Rodriguez in Portugal, for a supply of missioners. He had such transports of zeal on that occasion, as to say, in one of his letters, "I have often thoughts to run over all the universities of Europe, and principally that of Paris, and to cry aloud to those who abound more in learning than, in charity, Ah, how many souls are lost to heaven through your default! It were to be wished, that those people would apply themselves as diligently to the salvation of souls, as they do to the study of sciences; to the end they might render to Almighty God a good account of their learning, and the talents which he has bestowed on them. Many, without doubt, moved with thoughts like these, would make a spiritual retreat, and give themselves the leisure of meditating on heavenly things, that they might listen to the voice of God. They would renounce their passions, and, trampling under foot all worldly vanities, would put themselves in condition of following the motions of the divine will. They would say, from the bottom of their hearts, behold me in readiness, O my Lord; send me wheresoever thou shalt please, even to the Indies, if thou commandest me.

"Good God, how much more happily would those learned men then live, than now they do! with how much more assurance of their salvation! and, in the hour of death, when they are ready to stand forth before the dreadful judgment-seat, how much greater reason would they have, to hope well of God's eternal mercy, because they might say, O Lord, thou hast given me five talents, and behold I have added other five.

"I take God to witness, that, not being able to return into Europe, I have almost resolved to write to the university of Paris, and namely to our masters, Cornet and Picard, that millions of idolaters might be easily converted, if there were more preachers, who would sincerely mind the interests of Jesus Christ, and not their own concernments."

It is pity that his letter to the doctors of Sorbonne is irrecoverably lost; for certain it is, he wrote to them from the midst of the Indies, to engage them to come, and preach the gospel. And for this we have the testimony of Don John Derada, one of the chief magistrates of the kingdom of Navarre, who, studying at Paris, saw the letter sent from Father Xavier, admired the apostolical charity with which it was replenished, and took a copy of it, as did also many divines, to whom it was directed.

Amongst those idolatrous nations, which breathed after baptism, and desired to be instructed, the Manarois were the first, who made a deputation to the saint.

The isle of Manar is situate towards the most northern point of Ceylon, and at the head of the sands of Remanancor. It has a very convenient port, and is a place of great traffic. But the soil is so sandy and so dry, that it produces nothing, unless in some few places, which also are cultivated with much care and labour. For Manar has no resemblance to Ceylon, though placed so near it: Ceylon being the most delicious and most fruitful part of all the East; where the trees are always green, and bear fruits and flowers in every season; where there are discovered mines of gold and silver, crystal, and precious stones; which is encompassed with forests of ebony, cinnamon, and cocoa; and where the inhabitants live to an extreme old age, without any of the incommodities which attend it, The wonder is, that, being distant from the equinoctial but six degrees, the air is temperate and pure, and the rains, which water it from heaven regularly once a month, joined with the springs and rivers which pass through it, refresh the ground in a greater measure than the scorching heats can parch it.

Father Xavier was employed in establishing Christianity in Travancore, when he received this embassy from Manar. As he could not forsake an infant church without a reasonable apprehension of its ruin, he sent to Manar one of the priests whom he had left on the coast of Fishery. And God so blessed the labours of that missioner, that the Manarois not only became Christians, but died generously for the faith; and this was the occasion of their martyrdom.

The isle of Manar was at that time under the dominion of the king of Jafanatapan; for by that name the northern part of Ceylon is called. This prince had usurped the crown from his elder brother, and enslaved his subjects. Above all things, he was an implacable enemy of the Christian faith; though in appearance he was a friend to the Portuguese, whose forces only could set bounds to his tyranny. When he understood that the Manarois were converted to Christianity, he entered into that fury of which tyrants only can be capable; for he commanded, that his troops should immediately pass over into the island, and put all to the sword, excepting only the idolaters. His orders were punctually executed; and men, women, and children, were all destroyed, who had embraced the Christian faith.

It was wonderful to behold, that the faithful being examined, one by one, concerning their religion, and no more required for the saving of their lives, than to forsake their new belief, there was not one amongst them, who did not openly declare himself a Christian. The fathers and mothers answered for the newly baptized infants, who were not able to give testimony of their faith; and offered them to the death, with a resolution, which was amazing to their executioners. Six or seven hundred of these islanders gave up their lives for the name of Jesus Christ; and the principal place which was consecrated by so noble blood, from Pasim, which it was called before, now took the name of the Field of Martyrs.

This dreadful massacre, far from abolishing the Christian law, served only to render it more flourishing. The tyrant had even the shame of seeing his officers and domestic servants forsake their ancient superstition in despite of him. But what most enraged him, was the conversion of his eldest son. This young prince, inspired of God, caused himself to be instructed by a Portuguese merchant, who had dealings at the court; which yet could not be so secretly performed, but that the king had notice of it. At the first news, he cut his throat, and threw the body into the fields, to serve for food to savage beasts.

But Heaven permitted not, that a death which was so precious in the sight of God, should be without honour in the sight of men, The Portuguese merchant buried his disciple by night; and on the next morning, there appeared a beautiful cross, printed on the ground, which covered the body of the martyr. The spectacle extremely surprised the infidels. They did what they were able, to deface, and (if I may so say) to blot out the cross, by treading over it, and casting earth upon it. It appeared again the day following, in the same figure, and they once more endeavoured to tread it out. But then it appeared in the air, all resplendent with light, and darting its beams on every side. The barbarians who beheld it, were affrighted; and, being touched in their hearts, declared themselves Christians. The king's sister, a princess naturally virtuous, having privately embraced the faith, instructed both her own son, and her nephew, who was brother to the martyr. But, while she directed them in the way of heaven, she took care to preserve them from the cruelty of the tyrant. To which purpose she addressed herself to the merchant above mentioned, and intrusting him with the lives of the two princes, ordered him to convey them to the seminary of Goa.

This Portuguese managed all things so discreetly, with the concurrence of the princess, that he escaped out of the island, with the two princes, undiscovered. He took his way by the kingdom of Travancore, that he might behold Father Xavier, and present to him these two illustrious new converts. The father received them as angels descended from above, and gave immortal thanks to God, for so noble a conquest. He fortified them in the faith, gave them excellent instructions, and promised so to mediate in their favour, with the viceroy of the Indies, that they should have no occasion of repenting themselves for having abandoned all things for the sake of Jesus Christ.

When the king of Jafanatapan had notice of the flight of his son and nephew, he broke out into new fury against the Christians, and put to death great numbers of them. Being apprehensive that his brother, from whom he had usurped the crown, and who now led a wandering life, might possibly change his religion also, and beg protection from the Portuguese, he sent officers round about, with orders to bring him into his hands, or, at the least, to bring back his head. But he failed of getting him in his power either alive or dead; for this unhappy prince, attended by ten horsemen, having passed to Negapatan, came by land to Goa, after having suffered extreme hardships, in a journey of more than two hundred leagues.

Father Xavier, who was informed of all these proceedings, thought it necessary to make advantage of these favourable opportunities without loss of time. He considered with what perfection Christians might live in a kingdom where they died so generously for the faith, with so imperfect a knowledge of it. On the other side, he judged, that if the injustice and cruelty of the tyrant remained unpunished, what an inducement it might be to other idolatrous kings, for them to persecute the new converts in their turn; that the only means for repairing the past, and obviating future mischiefs, was to dispossess the tyrant of the crown, which he so unjustly wore, and restore it to his brother, to whom it rightfully belonged; that, for these considerations, recourse ought to be had to the Portuguese to engage them, by a principle of religion, to take arms against the usurper of the kingdom, and the persecutor of the Christians.

In order to this, the father caused Mansilla to be recalled from the coast of Fishery; and having intrusted him with the care of christianity in Travancore, took his way by land to Cambaya, where the viceroy of the Indies then resided.

Besides these reasons, relating to the king of Jafanatapan, the saint had other motives which obliged him to take this journey. The greatest part of the Europeans, who were in the Indies, and chiefly the officers of the crown of Portugal, lived after so infamous a manner, that they made the Christian faith appear odious, and scandalised alike both the idolaters and the faithful.

The public worship of the pagods was tolerated at Goa, and the sect of the Brachmans daily increased in power; because those Pagan priests had bribed the Portuguese officers. The people professed heathenism freely, provided they made exact payments of their tribute, as if they had been conquered only for the sake of gain. Public offices were sold to Saracens, and the Christian natives stood excluded, for want of money, which does all things with corrupt ministers. The receivers of the king's revenues, who were to pay the Paravas of the coast of Fishery, constrained those poor fishers to deliver their pearls almost for nothing; and thus the exaction of a lawful tribute, in the constitution, became tyranny and oppression in the management. Men were sold like beasts, and Christians enslaved to Pagans at cheap pennyworths. To conclude, the king of Cochin, an idolater, but tributary to the crown of Portugal, was suffered to confiscate the goods of his subjects, who had received baptism.

Father Francis was wonderfully grieved to perceive, that the greatest hindrance to the growth of Christianity, in those vast dominions of Asia, proceeded only from the Christians. He bewailed it sometimes to God, in the bitterness of his heart; and one day said, "That he would willingly return to Portugal to complain of it to the king, not doubting, but so religious and just a prince would order some remedy for this encroaching evil, if he had notice how it spread."

Xavier had taken the way of Cochin, along by the sea coast. He arrived there the 16th of December, 1544, where he happened to meet with Michael Vaz, vicar-general of the Indies. In acquainting him with the reasons of his journey, he made him sensible, that the weakness of the government was the principal cause of the avarice and violence of the officers; that Don Alphonso de Sosa was indeed a religious gentleman, but wanted vigour; that it was not sufficient to will good actions, if, at the same time, he did not strongly oppose ill ones; in a word, that it was absolutely necessary for the king of Portugal to be informed of all the disorders in the Indies, by a person who was an eye-witness of them, and whose integrity was not liable to suspicion. Vaz immediately entered into the opinions of the father, and his zeal carried him to pass himself into Portugal, in a vessel which was just ready to set sail. Xavier praised God for those good intentions; and wrote a letter by him to King John the Third, the beginning of which I have here transcribed: —

"Your Majesty ought to be assured, and often to call into your mind, that God has made choice of you, amongst all the princes of the world, for the conquest of India, to the end he may make trial of your faith, and see what requital you will make to him for all his benefits. You ought also to consider, that, in conferring on you the empire of a new world, his intention was, not so much that you should fill your coffers with the riches of the East, as that you should have an opportunity of signalizing your zeal, by making known to idolaters, through the means of those who serve you, the Creator and Redeemer of mankind."

The saint, after this beginning, gave the king to understand the good intentions of Michael Vaz, and the ill conduct of the Portuguese, who were in the government of the Indies. He suggested to him the means of putting a stop to those disorders, and advised him, above all things, not only to recommend, by letters, the interest of religion, but rigorously to punish all those officers, who were wanting to their duty in that respect; "for there is danger," said he, "that when God shall summon your Majesty to judgment, that will then come to pass which you least expect, and which is not to be avoided; there is danger, great Prince, that you may then hear these words of an offended God. Why have you not punished those who, under your authority, have made war against me in the Indies, you who have punished them so severely, when they were negligent in gathering your revenues? Your cause will be little helped by your return of this answer to Jesus Christ; – Lord, I have not wanted yearly to recommend, by letters to my subjects, all that concerns thy honour and thy service. For, doubt not, it will be thus answered; – But your orders were never put in execution, and you left your ministers, at their own disposal, to do whatever they thought good.