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THE  LIFE   OF  ST.    FRANCIS  XAVIER 


By  the  same  Author 


PILGRIMAGE 
AND    BATTLE 

A  Volume  of  Poems 

Crown  8vo,  gilt 
35.  6d.  net 


HEADLEY  BROS. 
PUBLISHERS,  LTD. 
Kingsway  House,  W.C. 


,  Franrtscuj  Xauerius;  aw  primus  ex  Sodttate 
inuexfa,    Olyt  **•.  }S 

it  Wtrr*  -fecit  ft  ex(- 


:  exundant vberc c4t 
Pe  flora:  nee  tantum  mens  capit  arfia  Deum. 
fandefmus, FRANCISCE  Pat er, totum accipc 

numen. 
In  quo*  effujidas,  quodfupertbit,  ertirit. 


PORTRAIT  OF  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

(From  tkeftnt  Latin  edition  of  Turullinu,'  Lift) 


THE  LIFE  OF 

ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

Evangelist,  Explorer,  Mystic 


BY 

EDITH  ANNE  STEWART 
H 


With  Translations  from  his  Letters  by 
DAVID  MAGDONALD,  B.D. 


HEADLEY    BROS.     PUBLISHERS,    LTD. 
KINGSWAY  HOUSE,  KINGSWAY,  W.C. 

MCMXVII 


ST 


T7  ENECIDOS  los  trabaios  y  acabados  de  pasar  los  peligros,  no 
X?  sabe  el  hombre  contar  ny  escreuir  lo  que  por  el  passo  al  tiempo 
que  estaua  en  ellos,  quedando  una  memoria  imprimida  de  lo  pasado, 
para  no  cansar  de  seruir  a  tan  buen  Senor,  asi  en  lo  presente  como 
en  lo  porvenir,  esperando  en  el  Senor,  cuyas  misericordias  no 
tienen  fin,  que  le  dara  fue^as  para  lo  seruir. — FRANCISCO  DE  XAVIER. 

Mementote  prsepositorum  vestrorum,  qui  vobis  locuti  sunt 
verbum  Dei  :  quorum  intuentes  exitum  conversations,  imitamini 
fidem.  Jesus  Christus  heri,  et  hodie :  ipse  et  in  secula. — HEB.  xiii.  7-8. 


TO 
MY  FATHER 

AND 

MOTHER 


PREFACE 

THE  Lives  of  St.  Francis  Xavier  fall  into  three  main  classes — 
the  erudite,  the  popular,  and  the  pious.  An  addition  to 
the  first  or  third  of  these  groups  would  have  been  beyond 
the  capacity  of  the  present  writer,  even  had  they  not  already 
had  abundant  attention  from  the  devout  and  the  scholarly. 
But  since  the  original  Letters  and  documents  have  been 
printed  no  popular  Life  of  the  Saint  has  appeared  in  England. 
The  present  work  is  an  attempt  to  fill  that  blank. 

In  studying  the  life  of  Xavier  we  turn  first  of  all  to  his 
Letters.  Until  a  few  years  ago  these  were  only  accessible  in 
MS.  or  in  very  poor  Latin  versions,  or  in  translations  based 
on  these  Latin  versions.  But  between  1899  and  1914  the 
Society  of  Jesus  in  Madrid  published  all  the  existing  Letters 
and  writings  in  their  original  forms,  together  with  numerous 
other  relative  letters  and  documents,  and  the  two  oldest 
and  most  valuable  Lives,  Teixeira's  and  Valignano's,  until 
then  only  available  in  MS.  This  great  collection,  covering 
about  2,000  pages,  is  called  the  Monumenta  Xaveriana,  and  is 
a  part  of  the  Monumenta  Historica  Societatis  Jesu. 

A  list  of  subsidiary  sources  will  be  found  in  the  Biblio- 
graphy on  p.  345, 

In  an  age  that  for  all  but  the  very  wise  and  the  very 
foolish  is  an  age  of  moral  and  mental  bewilderment,  it  is 
possible  to  understand  why  so  many  men  and  women  are 
scanning  the  faces  of  the  saints  for  help  and  comfort  and 
light.  There  every  disease  of  faith  finds,  by  universal 
consent,  some  gift  of  restoration  and  healing.  For  in  all  these 
sicknesses  there  is  present  a  blindness  to  the  moral  beauty 
and  grandeur  of  man,  and  the  contemplation  of  the  lives  of 
the  saints,  and  the  inevitable  sense  of  communion  with  them 
which  follows,  restore  again  to  the  lonely  mind  and  heart 
the  far-off  morning  hours  when  it  was  no  startling  thing  to 
catch  a  glimpse  of  some  passing  angel's  face.  And  more 
than  that,  this  contemplative  communion  recalls  us  to  the 
very  Holy  of  Holies  itself :  "  For  both  He  that  sanctifieth  and 
they  that  are  sanctified  are  all  of  one." 


8  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

How  often,  in  this  age  of  ecclesiastical  division  and  so- 
called  "  religious  "  strife,  have  we  found  comfort  in  the 
knowledge  that  the  Church  Invisible  is  greater  than  the 
churches  which  are  seen,  and  that  we  have  sat  at  the  table 
of  the  Lord,  if  not  with  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  yet 
with  Ignatius  of  Antioch ;  if  not  with  the  Pope  at  Rome,  yet 
with  Francis  of  Assisi ;  if  not  in  the  City  Temple,  yet  in  the 
Temple  of  a  lovelier  city,  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in 
the  heavens  !  There  we  have  drunk  of  the  fruit  of  the  vine 
in  a  company  which  our  own  love  and  reverence  are  sufficient 
for  ever  to  unite  in  our  hearts. 

And  both  the  homeliness  and  the  wonder  of  this  feast  are 
enhanced  by  every  fragment  of  our  knowledge  of  how  those 
saints  and  prophets  and  heroes  spent  their  days  and  nights 
when  they  lived  upon  this  planet.  We  wish  to  know  the 
simple  and  small  details  of  their  everyday  life,  just  as  lovers, 
when  they  meet  again,  ask  each  other  how  they  spent  each 
moment  of  the  time  of  absence. 

This  is  a  healthy  and  a  helpful  curiosity,  and  certainly 
its  satisfaction  does  not  lead  to  pride.  The  lives  of  the 
saints  are  strangely  disconcerting  ;  their  gifts  were  so  like 
our  own.  Our  failure  lies,  we  learn,  in  a  lack  of  receptive- 
ness  rather  than  in  a  lack  of  opportunity.  A  man's  greatness 
does  not  depend  on  his  circumstances,  but  on  the  way  in 
which  he  reacts  to  circumstance. 

In  mediaeval  times  the  glory  of  the  Church  was  ingathered 
in  the  aureoles  of  her  saints  ;  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
centuries  it  flamed  from  the  swords  of  her  reformers.  In 
those  days,  outside  Italy  at  least,  to  be  a  great  man  and 
to  be  a  reformer  were  almost  synonymous  terms.  The 
sickness  of  religion  and  morals  was  so  widespread  that 
in  every  department  of  life  the  specialist  could  trace  a  mischief 
and  prescribe  a  cure. 

Philosophers  blamed  scholasticism,  and  cried  out  for  a 
return  to  the  Early  Fathers,  or  for  a  frank  acceptance  of 
the  New  Learning. 

Lawyers,  fresh  from  the  perusal  of  Theodosius  and 
Justinian,  preached  the  separation  of  ecclesiastical  and 
civil  law. 

Statesmen  saw  that  the  modern  ideal  of  national  unity 
and  independence  could  never  exist  alongside  of  the  despotism 
of  a  degenerate  Papacy.  Some  of  them,  such  as  Cranmer 


PREFACE.  9 

and  a  number  of  the  German  princes,  not  only  refused  to 
tolerate  a  State  controlled  by  the  Church,  but  established  a 
Church  in  subordination  to  the  State. 

Ecclesiastics  provided  councils  and  inquisitions,  re-estab- 
lished monastic  discipline,  and  founded  schools  of  theology. 

But  Francis  Xavier  was  next-of-kin  to  none  of  these  :  the 
name  of  reformer  sits  ill  on  him.  To  find  his  fellows  we 
must  look  southwards  across  the  Alps,  to  the  painters  of  the 
Italian  Renascence.  In  this,  indeed,  he  was  one  with  the 
reformers — his  permanent  contribution  is  one  of  character 
rather  than  of  thought,  but  he  has  a  still  deeper  affinity 
with  the  artists.  For  his  genius,  like  theirs,  was  a  happy 
and  positive  one.  He  was  intoxicated  with  the  beauty  of 
holiness.  There  is  a  colour,  a  tender  grace,  a  naive  childlike- 
ness  about  his  life  that  we  associate  with  the  angels  of  Fra 
Angelico  or  the  bright  figures  of  Botticelli.  It  was  not  his 
to  pull  down  and  destroy  ;  he  found  it  difficult  even  to 
reprimand.  We  cannot  picture  him  chasing  the  money- 
changers out  of  the  Temple  with  a  knotted  cord. 

Had  he  been  confronted  by  all  the  knaves  of  Europe  in  a 
body,  he  would,  with  that  glowing  and  smiling  countenance 
which  the  old  biographers  delight  to  speak  of,  have  rendered 
thanks  for  so  great  an  opportunity,  and  instantly  have 
begun  preaching  to  them  "  the  Law  of  Christ  our  Lord." 
One  feels  that  he  simply  took  for  granted  that  every  man 
was  a  desperate  sinner  like  himself,  and  as  willing  as  himself 
to  find  and  to  serve  God.  To  him  the  only  renascence 
was  that  of  the  individual  soul.  He  was  therefore  peculiarly 
aloof  from  the  circumstances  of  his  time.  Had  Ignatius 
Loyola  never  come  to  Paris,  it  is  likely  that  the  "heretics" 
from  whom,  Xavier  afterwards  wrote,  he  had  been  "  de- 
livered "  would  have  annexed  him  to  Protestantism.  They, 
like  Loyola,  had  appealed  to  him  by  a  great  enthusiasm. 
But  Xavier  as  a  Protestant  would  not  have  been  very  different 
from  Xavier  of  the  Company  of  the  Name  of  Jesus.  The 
greatest  of  Loyola's  disciples  was  the  least  of  the  Jesuits. 
At  home  or  abroad,  within  the  visible  Church  or  without  it, 
Francis,  after  his  conversion,  knew  nothing  but  Christ  and 
Him  crucified,  and  could  do  nothing  but  preach  Him  to  the 
Gentiles. 

He  had  in  him  the  makings  of  an  arch-dilettante,  versatile, 
brilliant,  so  much  all  things  to  all  men  that  what  for  other 


10  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

people  would  have  been  acting  was  to  him  the  only  sincerity  ; 
he  was  interested  in  life,  in  men,  and  in  things  to  an  extent 
that  would  have  absorbed  all  the  energies  of  a  lesser  man. 
But  he — and  this  sets  the  seal  on  his  genius — directed  all 
this  versatility  and  wealth  of  self -giving  to  one  single  goal ; 
there  seems  hardly  a  moment  of  his  experience  or  an  iota 
of  his  knowledge  that  is  not  used,  in  his  favourite  phrases, 
"  to  increase  our  holy  faith  "  or  "to  gain  much  fruit  of 
souls." 

The  life  of  Francis  was  dominated  by  the  greatest  of  all 
passions,  the  passion  for  human  souls  ;  in  him  we  see  that 
ardour  burning  with  a  splendour  rare  even  among  the  saints. 
This  is  his  greatest  claim  to  Christliness,  that  he  spent  his 
life  in  seeking  to  save  those  that  were  lost. 


The  name  of  the  translator  of  the  Letters  is  on  the  title- 
page.  But  that  is  not  enough  :  I  blush  to  think  what  the 
rest  of  the  book  would  have  been  without  his  patient  and 
continual  aid.  He  has  come  to  the  rescue  in  every  chapter, 
almost,  I  might  say,  on  every  page.  To  him,  and  to  the 
Rev.  Hugh  Watt,  B.D.,  of  Bearsden,  who  has  read  the 
proofs  and  given  much  valuable  help  and  advice,  I  am  quite 
hopelessly  indebted. 

E.  A.  S. 


CONTENTS 


PAC3E 

PREFACE  ...         ^ 

LIST  OF  ILLUSTBATIONS          ...        15 

CHAPTER  I 

MAKERS    OF    SPAIN 

Spanish  independence  of  Rome — reasons  for  this  independence — Santiago — 
Dominic — Raymond  Lull — opposing  influences  in  the  Spanish  renascence — 
Spanish  Inquisition — the  scope  of  the  Catholic  Reaction — work  of  Cardinal 
Ximenes — Spanish  religious  genius  focussed  in  the  Society  of  Jesus  ...  17 

CHAPTER  II 

CHILDHOOD    AND    BOYHOOD 

(1506-1525) 

Traditions  of  Christian  family  life  xipheld  during  the  Renascence,  both  in  Italy 
and  in  Spain — history  of  the  family  of  Xavier — the  castle  of  Xavier — birth 
of  Francis — the  troubles  of  Navarre — death  of  Francis'  father — early 
surroundings  of  the  Saint — demolishment  of  the  keep — poverty  of  the 
family — siege  of  Pampeluna — Loyola  and  the  brothers  of  Francis — he 
prepares  for  Paris  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  31 

CHAPTER  in 

AT   THE    COLLEGE    OF   STE.    BABBE 

(1525-1529) 

Decline  of  the  university  far  advanced  in  1525 — Fabrian  Protestantism  pre- 
cedes Lutheranism  and  Calvinism  in  Paris — Jacques  Le  F6vre  d'Etaples 
— a  letter  to  Calvin — early  days  of  Francis  in  Paris — the  college  of  Ste. 
Barbe — Francis  enrols  as  a  student  in  arts — value  of  university  degrees 
at  that  time — Principal  Gouvea — fellow -students  and  professors — Peter 
Faber — Mathurin  Cordier — George  Buchanan — Erasmus — Calvin — Noel 
Beda — letter  from  a  priest  at  Meliapor  about  the  student  days — friend- 
ship with  the  Lutherans — love  of  dress — extravagance — protests  from 
home — letter  from  Xavier's  sister  Madeline — death  of  his  mother — his 
brothers  marry ...  43 

CHAPTER  IV 

THE    FOUNDATION    OF   THJE    OBDEB 

(1528-1534) 

Ignatius  Loyola  comes  to  Paris — his  earlier  life — he  shares  a  room  in  Ste.  Barbe 
with  Peter  Faber  and  Xavier — religious  strife  increases — Loyola  and  La 
Salle — Xavier  takes  his  arts  degree — appointed  Professor  at  Beauvaia 
college — death  of  his  sister  Madeline — critical  months — Faber  becomes 
Loyola's  first  disciple — Xavier  his  second — the  Company  begins  to  take 
shape — the  dedication  at  Montmartre — Francis  receives  the  Spiritual 
Exercises  ..  69 


12  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

CHAPTER  V 

THE    SPIRITUAL   EXERCISES  PACK 

Important  part  which  the  Exercises  have  played  in  Catholic  religious  life — dis- 
appointment of  the  reader  on  first  examining  the  book — reason  of  this — the 
place  of  the  priest  in  giving  the  Exercises— summary  of  text — the  anno- 
tations— the  precepts — directions  for  self-examination— the  first  week — 
Calvin's  criticism — the  second  week — meditation  of  the  Two  Standards — 
note  on  three  degrees  of  humility — note  on  Decisions — the  third  week — 
rules  on  abstinence — the  fourth  week — the  three  methods  of  prayer — 
summary  of  the  Life  of  Christ — various  rales — the  profound  psychological 
knowledge  displayed,  especially  in  the  later  chapters — the  spiritual  cunning 
of  the  scheme — the  Exercises  not  an  end  in  themselves — this  separates  them 
from  mediaeval  works  of  contemplation — is  this  their  weakness  or  strength  ? 
Gothein's  criticism — other  critics — the  accusation  of  "  crass  materialism  " 
— is  this  criticism  justifiable  ? — the  confessional  quality  of  the  book — how  it 
was  built  up — Loyola's  supreme  emphasis  on  the  "  end  " — he  fails  to 
enunciate  the  spiritual  unity  of  means  and  end — he  reduces  religious  expe- 
rience to  a  spiritual  technique — oriental  influence  seen  here — how  those 
who  are  not  Roman  Catholics  can  read  the  book  with  profit — the  book 
reveals  Loyola's  devotion  to  the  Church — his  attitude  towards  "  faith 
and  reason  " — did  the  Exercises  inspire  the  early  Jesuits,  or  were  the 
Jesuits  and  the  Exercises  the  products  of  the  same  inspiration  ? — the 
Exercises  continued  to  be  given  after  the  death  of  Loyola,  but  Jesuitism 
degenerated — their  strength  and  weakness  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  75 

CHAPTER  VI 

THE   LAST   YEARS    IN   PARIS    AND    THE    JOURNEY   TO   VENICE 

(1534-1537) 

Ignatius  and  Francis  constantly  together — the  Company  arouses  the  suspicion 
of  the  Doctors — letter  to  his  brother — the  certificate  of  Francis'  nobility 
and  the  offer  of  a  canonry  at  Pampeluna  arrive  on  the  eve  of  his  departure 
for  Venice — Tursellinus'  chapter  on  the  journey  to  Venice  ...  ...  91 

CHAPTER  VII 

THE    ITALIAN    YEARS 

(January,  1537-March,  1540) 

Xavier  and  his  companions  meet  Ignatius  in  Venice — Xavier  goes  to  work  at 
the  Incurable  Hospital — he  begins  to  preach  the  Gospel — Venice  at 
that  time  a  city  of  refuge — the  Somascenes — Gaetano  da  Tiene — Cardinal 
Caraffa — Loyola's  relations  with  the  Theatines — Xavier  is  sent  to  Rome — 
the  journey  there — the  interview  with  the  Pope — the  return  to  Venice — 
retreat  in  Monselice — preaching  and  teaching  in  the  villages — the  proposed 
mission  to  the  Holy  Land — the  war  between  Turkey  and  Venice — Vicenza 
— the  first  mass — -'illness — abandonment  of  visit  to  Palestine— they  call 
themselves  the  Company  of  Jesus — Francis  is  sent  to  Bologna  to  preach — 
illness  there — his  success  in  preaching — return  to  Rome — rest— visions 
of  work  in  India — the  drawing  up  of  the  Constitutions  of  the  order — 
"  Hie  est  Digitus  Dei  !  " — difficulty  in  obtaining  the  formal  consent  of 
the  Curia — Butta  Regimini  Militantis  Ecclesiae — important  to  note  that 
this  was  all  Xavier  ever  had  of  the  Constitutions — text  of  Bull — comparison 
of  Bull  with  final  form  of  the  Constitutions — Francis  acts  as  Loyola's 
secretary  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  101 

CHAPTER  VIII 

THE    JOURNEY   TO    LISBON 

(March-April,  1540) 

The  Principal  of  Ste.  Barbe  asks  the  Company  for  six  missionaries  for  the 
East — Faber's  reply — neutral  attitude  of  the  Pope — Loyola  promises  to 
send  two  men — Francis  chosen — his  sudden  departure  from  Rome — the 
three  memoranda — the  parting  from  Loyola — he  goes  with  the  ambassador 
— letter  to  Ignatius — at  Parma  misses  Faber — account  of  the  journey 
by  a  fellow-traveller  of  the  Saint — the  last  look  on  the  old  home  ...  ...  116 


CONTENTS  13 

CHAPTER  IX 

THE    WORK    IN    LISBON 

(June,  1540-April,  1541)  PAGE 

Portugal  in  1540 — Xavier's  evangelical  ardour — the  first  letters  from  Lisbon — 
description  of  the  court — the  proposed  Jesuit  college — Xavier's  corre- 
spondence with  the  Doctor  of  Navarre — visiting  the  prisoners  of  the 
Inquisition — farewell  letters  to  Rome — preparations  for  the  voyage — 
cheerfiil  departure  for  India  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  125 

CHAPTER  X 

FROM    LISBON    TO     GOA 

(April,  1541-May,  1542) 

The  rise  of  Portuguese  power  in  India — Albuquerque — da  Sousa — the  voyage  to 
the  East — hardships  of  sea  travelling  in  those  days — arrival  at  Mozam- 
bique— letter  to  Loyola — winter  in  Mozambique — Xavier  lodges  in  the 
hospital — leaves  for  Goa  at  the  end  of  February — Melinda — Socotra — 
letter  from  Socotra — the  Nestorians — arrival  at  Goa  ...  ...  ...  141 

CHAPTER  XI 

IN   PORTUGUESE   INDIA 

(1542) 

The  Venice  of  the  East  —earlier  missions  to  India — work  among  the  Portuguese 
and  half-castes  in  Goa — letter  to  Loyola — the  college  of  St.  Paul — Cape 
Comorin  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  160 

CHAPTER  XII 

CAPE    COMORIN 

(September,  1542-December,  1544) 

The  Paravas — previous  conversions — Xavier's  methods  of  baptizing — letter 
from  Tuticorin  to  Loyola — return  to  Cochin  and  Goa — organising  work 
at  Goa — leaves  again  for  Cape  Comorin — pauses  at  Cochin — writes  from 
there  to  the  King  of  Portugal — writes  to  the  Fathers  in  Rome  a  full 
account  of  his  work  among  the  Paravas — persecutions  of  the  Christians 
by  the  Badages — Xavier  organises  relief  and  shelter — the  journey  to 
Travancore — the  great  mission  there — letter  to  the  Fathers  in  Rome — 
description  of  the  Saint  by  Joao  Vaz 171 

CHAPTER  XIII 

THE    LETTERS   TO    FRANCISCO    MANSILLAS   (1544)       ...  ...  ...  191 

CHAPTER  XIV 

CEYLON,  NEGAPATAM,  AND  SAN  THOME 

Visit  to  Coulam  and  Cochin  to  arrange  for  the  protection  of  the  new  converts 
— news  of  the  massacre  in  Ceylon — political  mission  to  Negapatam — 
halt  at  Cochin — budget  of  letters  despatched  to  Europe — failure  of 
mission  to  Negapatam — letter  to  Rodriguez — letter  of  advice  to  Man- 
sillas — an  inward  spiritual  crisis — the  retreat  to  San  Thome— discovery 
of  the  will  of  God — Xavier  prepares  to  go  to  Malacca  215 

CHAPTER  XV 

"  ISLANDS    OF   HOPE   IN    GOD  " 

(1545-1547) 

Arrival  in  Malacca — the  Portuguese  colony  in  Malacca — letter  to  the  Fathers 
in  Portugal — the  question  of  the  education  necessary  for  missionaries — 
letter  to  the  Fathers  in  Goa — social  reform  in  Malacca — a  story  from  Du 
Jarric — voyage  to  the  Moluccas — arrival  at  Amboinar — letter  giving  reasons 
for  this  mission,  and  details  of  the  voyage — description  of  the  islanders — 
rumours  of  Jews  in  China — letter  to  Camerino — letter  to  King  of  Portugal 


14  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

PAGE 

— Xavier  asks  for  the  Inquisition  in  India — descriptions  of  work  in  Ternate 
and  of  the  king  of  Malucca — the  Islas  del  Moro — Exposition  of  the  Apostles' 
Creed — Xavier  leaves  the  Moluccas — success  of  his  mission  there — return 
to  Malacca — his  habit  of  prayer — the  first  news  of  Japan — leaves  Malacca 
for  Cochin  (India)  224 

CHAPTER  XVI 

INDIA   REVISITED 

(January,  1548-April,  1549) 

Xavier  pauses  at  Cochin  to  send  ofj  letters  to  Europe — a  wave  of  depression 
— letters  to  Loyola  and  the  King  of  Portugal  and  Rodriguez — the  Paravas 
revisited — a  flying  visit  to  Ceylon — return  to  Goa — visit  to  the  Governor 
at  Bassein — letter  to  Diego  Pereira — affairs  at  the  college  at  Goa  put  in 
order — persecutions  in  the  south — returns  to  the  Cape — letter  to  Enriquez 
— returns  to  Goa  to  plead  for  the  Christians  in  the  south — letter  to  Loyola 
announcing  his  plans  for  a  mission  to  Japan — letters  to  Rodriguez — letter 
to  the  King  of  Portugal — departure  for  Japan  via  Malacca — letter  to  Antonio 
Gomez — the  Saint  as  matchmaker — the  Instructions  to  preachers  in  the 
forts  256 

CHAPTER  XVII 

JAPAN 

(August,  1549-November,  1551) 

Arrival  at  Kagoshima — letter  describing  the  voyage — letter  describing  the 
Japanese  people — advice  to  those  who  may  be  asked  to  come  to  Japan — 
letter  summoning  three  of  the  Fathers  from  Goa — letter  to  Pedro  da  Gama — 
letter  describing  the  work  in  Kagoshima — Xavier  leaves  Kagoshima — 
arrival  in  Hirado — account  of  the  journey  from  Frois — Yamaguchi — 
Xavier' s  letter  about  the  work  there — descriptions  from  the  Annalist 
of  Macao — the  journey  to  Kioto — a  disappointing  entry  into  the  capital 
— Xavier' s  brief  account  of  the  failure — the  journey  back  via  Sakay  to 
Hirado — Xavier  sets  out  again  for  Yamaguchi — success  of  the  preaching 
there — the  blind  convert  Laurence — departure  from  Japan — Fernandez 
left  there — letter  to  Loyola  about  the  Japanese  mission  ...  ...  ...  283 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE    LAST    MONTHS    IN    INDIA 

(January— April,  1552) 

On  arrival  at  Cochin  begins  to  arrange  for  an  expedition  to  China — visits  the 
college  at  Goa — Teixeira's  description  of  the  Saint's  personal  appearance 
— he  is  appointed  Provincial  in  India — other  missionaries  at  work  in 
India — Xavier  reorganises  the  college  at  Goa  and  makes  changes  in 
many  of  the  mission  stations — letter  of  admonishment  to  Father  Cyprian 
— letters  and  notes  of  advice — Rules  for  Humility  left  to  Father  Gaspar — 
directions  on  how  to  avoid  scandals — a  letter  of  dismissal 311 

CHAPTER  XIX 

THE    FINAL   VOYAGE 

(April-November,  1552) 

The  departure  from  India — arrival  at  Malacca — Alvaro  d'Ataide  puts  an  end  to 
the  proposed  embassy  to  China — letter  to  Diego  Pereira — Xavier  leaves 
Malacca  without  Pereira — arrival  at  Singapore — letters  despatched  from 
there — arrival  at  Sancian — letter  to  Father  Perez — arrangements  made  to 
land  at  Canton  in  a  Chinese  junk — the  last  letter — the  junk  fails  to 
appear — illness — death 324 

APPENDICES 

I.  THE  MIRACLE  -STORIES 336 

II.  NOTE  ON  XAVIER'S  R^BRICA  AND  LETTERS  ..  ...         ...     343 


BIBLIOGRAPHY...         ...         ,..         ...         ...  ...  ...         ...  345 

TABLE  OF  CONTEMPORARY  CHRONOLOGY    ...         ...  ...  ...         350 

MAPS      ...          ...          ...  ...  ...  Facing  page  350 

INDEX    .  ...         351 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PORTRAIT  OF  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER       Frontispiece 

THE  HOUSE  OF  JASSO  Facing  page  32 

IGNATIUS  LOYOLA  SETS  OUT  FOR  MONTMARTRE „  58 

IGNATIUS  LOYOLA  AT  SCHOOL      „  61 

"  WHAT  SHALL  IT  PROFIT  A  MAN,  MASTER  FRANCIS  ?  "  „  74 

THE  CASTLE  OF  XAVIER      ,  94 

ANOTHER  VIEW  OF  THE  CASTLE  OF  XAVIER          „  124 

THE  DOORWAY  OF  XAVIER  CASTLE      „  140 

ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER  WRITING  TO  LOYOLA  FROM  INDIA  „  271 

SPECIMEN  OF  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER'S  HANDWRITING      ...  ,  308 

THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  CRAB  AND  THE  CRUCIFIX „  342 

MAPS  350 


CHAPTER  I 

MAKERS    OF   SPAIN 

GRADUALLY,  as  they  began  to  recover  from  the  Moorish 
invasions  of  the  eighth  century,  the  feudal  lords  of  Spain  re- 
emerged  from  their  northern  fastnesses,  and  pressed  their 
old  conquerors  ever  farther  and  farther  south,  each  leader 
establishing  himself  as  petty  king  over  the  particular  area 
which  he  had  captured.  In  1481  all  Spain,  except  Navarre 
and  Granada,  was  united  by  the  marriage  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella,  but  nothing  seemed  so  much  to  cement  the  national 
unity  and  establish  the  monarchy  as  the  successful  culmina- 
tion of  the  seven  hundred  years'  war  against  the  Moors  by  the 
seizure  of  Granada  in  1492  and  their  final  ejection  from 
Spain.  From  that  hour  she  leapt  swiftly  forward  to  her 
short-lived  but  dazzling  European  supremacy. 

The  ground  had  indeed  been  well  prepared,  for  she  had 
kept  herself  clean  and  strong  throughout  the  "  dark  ages  " 
by  her  unwavering  crusade  against  the  infidels,  and  by  a 
united  and  national  Catholicism  which,  although  loyal  in 
attachment  to  Rome,  was  never  subservient.  From  very 
early  times  she  had  resented  any  over-interference  on  the 
part  of  the  Roman  Curia.  And  long  before  the  German 
Reformation  had  begun  to  take  shape  the  Spanish  Cortes 
had  been  asserting  in  every  way  within  their  power  their 
own  legal  independence  of  Rome,  and  the  obligation  of  the 
clergy  to  submit  to  civil  law. 

The  ordinances  of  their  Kings  were  used,  time  after  time,  to 
counteract  the  influence  of  harmful  papal  Bulls,  and  to  prevent 
the  interference  of  Italian  ecclesiastics  in  the  affairs  of  the  Spanish 
church.  In  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  the  Spanish  Bishops 
had  been  reduced  to  a  state  of  dependence  on  the  Crown ;  all 
exercise  of  ecclesiastical  authority  was  carefully  watched  ;  the 
extent  of  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  was  specifically  limited,  and 
clerical  courts  were  made  to  feel  their  dependence  on  the  secular 
tribunals.  The  Crown  wrung  from  the  Papacy  the  right  to  see 
that  piety  and  a  zeal  for  religion  were  to  be  indispensable  quali- 
fications for  clerical  promotion.* 

*  T.  M.  Lindsay,  Hist,  of  the  Reformation,  vol.  ii.  p.  489. 

B 


18  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

This  national  attitude  of  independence  towards  the  Papacy 
was  also  nourished  in  another  very  different  way.  There  was 
no  other  European  people  in  which  certain  forms  of  mysticism 
played  such  a  great  part  in  religious  life  as  in  Spain.  Spain 
was,  indeed,  the  main  channel  through  which  Oriental 
mysticism  penetrated  into  the  Church.  And  to  a  mystic  a 
priest  is  always  more  or  less  superfluous. 

But  if  the  Spanish  independence  had  here  something  akin 
to  Protestantism,  the  strain  was  only  marked  enough  to 
lend  colour  and  vitality,  when  the  time  came,  to  a  movement 
which  was  essentially  Catholic.  The  Spanish  champions  of 
the  Church  in  distress  did  all  the  better  service  to  her  because 
they  served  her  with  their  eyes  open  to  her  weakness  and  her 
need.  Loyola  begged  his  followers  always  to  show  great 
respect  to  the  established  Church,  and  the  deliberate  and 
anxious  expression  of  this  advice  betrays  his  knowledge  of 
the  Church's  shortcomings  and  his  determination  to  be 
faithful  to  her  in  spite  of  them.  This  union  of  aloofness  and 
chivalry  is  a  strong  trait  both  of  Loyola's  character  and  of 
the  national  religious  genius. 

The  independence  of  the  Spanish  Catholics  really  sprang 
from  their  profound  faithfulness  to  Catholic  principles. 
For  while  between  Rome  and  other  European  nations  there 
had  existed,  throughout  the  Middle  Ages,  much  of  the 
relationship  of  servant  to  master,  the  Spaniards,  because  of 
their  piety  and  the  good  services  which  they  had  rendered 
Christendom  in  their  warfare  against  the  Moors,  enjoyed 
many  of  the  rights  and  privileges  of  children  in  their  father's 
house. 

One  cannot  look  back  upon  the  mediaeval  history  of  Spain 
without  being  struck  by  the  important  place  in  it  which  was 
held  by  the  national  hero  and  saint,  Santiago  (Saint  James), 
the  Son  of  Thunder. 

The  legend  runs  that  the  disciples  of  the  earliest  of  the 
Apostolic  martyrs  removed  his  body  from  its  tomb  in 
Jerusalem  and  bore  it  to  Isia  Flavia  in  north-west  Spain.  It 
was  discovered  there  in  the  ninth  century  and  removed  to 
Compostela.*  And  throughout  his  unending  wars  against  the 
infidels  the  military  imagination  of  the  Spaniard  saw  in 
Santiago  no  gentle  intercessory  saint,  but  an  heroic,  titanic 

*  The  name  Compostela  is  apparently  a  corruption  of  Giacomo  Postolo 
=  ad  Jacobum  Apostolum. 


MAKERS  OF  SPAIN  19 

figure,  riding  upon  the  thunder  clouds  which  hang  over  the 
fields  of  battle,  on  his  white  horse,  bringing  victory  to  the 
hosts  underneath  who  called  upon  his  name. 

There  is  probably  no  other  saint  or  hero  in  Europe  who 
has  been  so  identified  in  the  minds  of  the  people  with  national 
and  spiritual  ideals,  nor  has  there  been  any  shrine  in  Europe, 
except  St.  Peter's,  so  popular  as  the  shrine  of  Santiago  at 
Compostela.  And  the  pilgrims  to  this  western  shrine  were 
exempt,  so  runs  the  legend,  from  all  perils  by  land  or  water, 
for  the  son  of  Zebedee  had  power  from  God  to  keep  them. 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  roads  which  run  from  every  part 
of  the  continent  to  Compostela,  the  Peninsula  would  for 
centuries  have  been  almost  isolated  from  western  Europe. 
Even  as  it  was,  Spain  was  far  more  in  touch  with  North 
Africa,  throughout  the  Middle  Ages,  than  with  Europe,  and 
for  every  man  that  crossed  the  Pyrenees  a  hundred  must  have 
crossed  the  Straits. 

Like  all  the  great  mythical  or  semi-mythical  figures, 
Santiago  is  probably  rather  the  poetic  vehicle  and 
explanation  of  certain  national  beliefs  and  ideals  than 
the  originator  of  them.  Round  the  shrine  of  this 
saint  the  Spaniards  gradually  planted  all  their  worthiest 
dreams  and  aims.  Spanish  pride,  for  example,  was  in 
a  very  true  sense  a  high  virtue.  And  the  Spaniard  gave 
as  a  gracious  reason  for  this  the  fact  that  the  legendary 
founder  of  the  Spanish  Church  and  the  hero  of  the  race  was 
no  less  a  personage  than  one  of  the  twelve  Apostles  of  Christ 
and  the  first  of  the  martyrs.  There  was  often  fear  in  Rome 
that  this  cult  of  Santiago  should  lead  its  votaries  away  from 
their  first  love.  Pope  Gregory  VII.  thought  it  his  duty 
to  cut  St.  James  rather  severely,  and  to  remind  the  Spaniards 
that  it  was  St.  Paul  who  had  first  brought  them  the  Gospel, 
and  that  this  fact  ought  to  bind  them  more  strongly  to  Rome 
than  to  Compostela.  But  his  warning  fell  on  heedless 
ears.  The  greatest  religious  poet  of  Spain,  Luis  Ponce  de 
Leon,  sings  of  St.  James  as  the  very  author  and  inspirer  of 
11  Spanish  greatness.  And  he  only  expressed  what  others 
Sieved.  This  pride,  moreover,  took  for  granted  the  rever- 
ence and  devotion  of  all  Europe  towards  the  Saint,  and  looked 
upon  every  offer  of  service  from  foreign  countries  in  the  wars 
against  the  Moors  as  natural  tributes,  at  the  same  time 
regarding  outside  help  as  superfluous,  and  ignoring  the  part 

B2 


20  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

which  crusaders  from  the  North  and  East  often  took  in 
conquering  the  enemy.  Beneath  the  banner  of  Santiago 
Spain  could  never  fail,  and  it  was  a  kindly  condescension 
rather  than  an  acknowledgment  of  weakness  which  allowed 
the  knights  of  France  and  Italy  and  Germany,  and  even 
of  England  and  Scotland,  to  share  in  those  indubitable 
victories. 

Besides  those  elements  of  pride  and  of  religious  enthusiasm 
the  Spanish  character  is  full  of  traits,  or  of  something  far 
stronger  than  mere  traits,  which  it  acquired  through  its  long 
association  with  Jews  and  Moors.  For  though  these  two 
races  kept  very  much  apart  from  the  Spanish  people  and  from 
one  another,  especially  among  the  preponderating  middle  and 
lower  classes,  they  could  not  fail  in  the  course  of  centuries 
to  leave  their  indelible  mark.  "  The  whole  development 
of  Spanish  culture  in  the  Middle  Ages,  its  originality,  its 
influence  on  other  nations,  is  based  upon  this  inter-relation- 
ship between  East  and  West."  * 

These  qualities  of  military  pride,  of  religious  enthusiasm, 
of  half-Oriental  passion  and  mysticism,  developing  along 
their  highest  lines  and  among  the  highest  spirits,  contributed 
more  than  anything  else  in  Europe  to  all  that  was  best  in 
the  Catholic  Revival.  Long  before  the  Reformation  even, 
they  had  found  expression  in  men  like  St.  Dominic  and 
Raymond  Lull. 

Of  Dominic  less  is  known  than  historians  tell  us,  but  even 
that  little  clearly  illustrates  the  difference  between  Spanish 
and  Italian  saintship,  and  in  many  points  his  character  is 
far  more  like  that  of  St.  Francis  Xavier  than  that  of  his  great 
contemporary,  St.  Francis  of  Assisi.  Like  Xavier,  Dominic 
combined  intense  sensitiveness  of  character  and  tenderness 
towards  individuals  with  a  fiery  ardour  for  the  Faith  which 
sometimes  tolerated,  or  even  countenanced,  "  religious  " 
cruelty,  while  holding  aloof  from  any  personal  share  in  it. 
For  Dominic  did  not,  as  is  often  imagined,  found  the  Inquisi- 
tion; nor  does  it  appear  that  he  persecuted  the  Albigenses, 
though  he  spared  no  pains  in  trying  to  convert  them — a  very 
different  matter.  Yet  his  intimate  friend,  Folco  of  Mar- 
seilles, the  Bishop  of  Toulouse  (1205-1231),  treated  them 
with  notorious  cruelty. 

Like  Xavier  again,  and  unlike  most  of  the  Italian  saints, 
*  E.  Gothein,  Ignatius  von  Loyola  und  die  Gegenreformation,  p.  23. 


MAKERS  OF  SPAIN  21 

Dominic  was  a  man  of  learning  and  intellectual  power. 
Like  Xavier,  he  was  a  lover  of  poverty,*  but  that  was  not 
for  either  of  them  the  central  passion  of  life.  That  passion, 
for  them  both,  was  to  teach  and  to  convert. 

In  his  early  thirties — always  critical  and  significant  years 
for  a  man  of  genius — Dominic  went  to  France  with  his  bishop 
to  arrange  a  royal  marriage,  and  he  saw  Languedoc.  On  the 
return  journey,  Rome  and  Montpellier  had  further  tales  to 
tell.  He  had  seen  the  Church  as  a  bride  torn  from  her 
husband,  and  her  children  naked,  and  starved,  and  desolate. 
To  the  good  bishop,  too,  the  journey  had  been  a  revelation, 
and  at  Montpellier  he  dismissed  all  his  train  excepting  only 
Dominic,  and  resolved  henceforth  to  live  in  simplicity. 
In  his  early  childhood,  Dante  tells  us,  the  little  Dominic 
had  often  been  found  by  his  nurse,  escaped  from  his  cot, 
and  upon  his  knees  in  prayer.  "  And  soon,"  the  poet  goes 
on,  leaping  lightly  over  those  three  decades,  "he  became  a 
mighty  teacher."  He  was  entirely  disinterested,  not  seeking 
to  gain  wealth  or  position  for  himself,  but  only  to  give  light 
to  others.  Cold  and  fierce,  we  have  been  told,  he  was ;  but 
the  few  most  reliable  fragments  of  his  biography  which  remain 
tell  another  tale.  All  men  desire  most  that  which  lies  deepest 
in  their  own  hearts,  and  Dominic's  chief  prayer  was  for  the 
gift  of  love.  Once,  seeing  a  captive  in  distress,  he  offered  his 
own  body  in  exchange  to  free  him ;  again,  seeing  those 
around  him  hungry,  he  went  and  sold  his  precious  books  that 
they  might  have  bread.  Dante  places  him  along  with  Francis 
of  Assisi  as  one  of  the  two  champions  chosen  by  God  for 
His  soldiery  in  peril,  a  soldiery  "  laggard,  fearsome,  and 
thin-ranked,"  and  it  was  at  their  doing  and  saying  that  the 
"  straggling  squadron  gathered  itself  together  again."! 

Of  Raymond  Lull  far  too  little  is  popularly  known.  And 
although  he  lived  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  years 
earlier  than  Francis  Xavier,  there  are  many  points  of  re- 
semblance between  the  two.  For  this  reason,  and  also 
because  in  Lull  we  have  the  apotheosis  of  the  half-Eastern 
Spanish  genius  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  the  very  greatest 
precursor  of  the  religious  revival  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth 

*  Well  did  he  show  himself  a  messenger  and  a  familiar  of  Christ, 

For  the  first  love  made  manifest  in  him 

Was  to  the  first  counsel  that  Christ  gave. 

Paradiso,  xii.  73. 
f  Paradiso,  xii.  38  seq. 


22  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

centuries,  we  shall  devote  a  few  pages  to  the  story  of  his 
life. 

Raymond  Lull  was  born  at  Palma,  in  Majorca,  about 
1235.  In  his  boyhood  he  refused  a  scholastic  education,  and 
at  the  age  of  thirty  he  was  a  gay  and  licentious  officer 
("  gransenescal")  at  the  court  of  Aragon.  His  conversion, 
like  that  of  so  many  of  the  saints,  was  sudden  and  dramatic. 
He  is  said  to  have  seen  a  vision  of  Christ  upon  the  Cross,  and 
heard  the  words  "  O  Raymond  Lull,  from  henceforth  follow 
thou  Me,"  and  from  that  hour  his  whole  life  was  given  up 
to  God.* 

He  resolved  to  devote  himself  to  the  conversion  of  the 
Moslems.  He  was  ill -educated,  had  no  powers  of  argument 
and  no  knowledge  of  the  Arabic  tongues.  But  conversion 
expressed  itself  in  him,  as  in  Loyola  after  him,  by  a  colossal 
reinforcement  of  will  power.  He  resolved  to  write  a  book 
which  would  convince  the  infidels  of  the  truth  of  Christianity. 
He  made  a  solemn  vow  to  God,  dedicating  to  Him  not  only 
himself,  but  his  wife  and  chi  dren,  and  all  his  earthly  goods 
except  a  small  piece  of  land  upon  which  they  could  live,  and 
to  which  he  could  retire  for  periods  of  study  and  writing. 
Then,  after  visiting  Compostela  and  praying  at  the  shrine 
of  Santiago,  he  went  to  the  university  of  Palma,  where,  in 
absolute  poverty,  he  began  a  course  of  study  which  extended 
over  nine  or  ten  years.  He  learned  Arabic  from  a  Saracen 
slave,  who,  after  nine  years'  friendship,  awakened  to  the 
fact  that  he  was  serving  his  own  religion  ill  by  teaching 
this  man.  He  attacked  Lull  suddenly,  and  almost  had  him 
murdered. 

We  see  him  next  in  his  hermitage  on  Mount  Randa, 
directly  inspired,  he  believed,  by  God,  writing  the  books 
which  he  hoped  would  convert  the  infidels.  It  is  difficult 
for  us  to  grasp  how  profoundly  original  this  missionary  was. 
Hitherto  the  Cross  had  always  been  held  before  the  Saracens 
with  the  sword  close  behind  it ;  and  if  Lull  put  too  much 
faith  in  the  power  of  logic,  he  was  at  least  far  ahead  of  those 
who  armed  their  faith,  or  rather  their  unfaith,  with  a  sword. 
Raymond  Lull — and  here  he  resembles  Dominic — could 
not  conceive  of  converting  a  man's  heart  to  Christ  without 

*  His  own  account  of  his  conversion  in  De  Miraculis  Mundi  is  of  such  a 
vision  five  times  repeated  in  a  very  short  space  of  time.  But  the  passage  is 
one  which  has  been  controverted. 


MAKERS  OF  SPAIN  23 

first  gaining  his  intellectual  assent  to  Christian  principles. 
God,  he  reminds  his  readers,  commands  us  to  love  Him 
with  all  our  mind.  He  wanted  to  reconcile  theology  and 
philosophy,  and  have  the  resulting  system  grasped  by  each 
individual  who  accepted  the  Christian  faith.  The  fact  that 
an  Arab  held  a  twofold  standard  of  truth  disturbed 
Lull  more  than  the  fact  that  this  Arab  was  a  Moham- 
medan. This  identification  of  theology  with  philosophy 
went  beyond  the  bounds  of  scholastic  propriety,  and  he  was 
therefore  never  canonised.  For  him  there  was  no  distinction 
between  faith  and  reason,  nor  between  natural  and  super- 
natural truth.  "  Relying  on  the  grace  of  God,"  he  says,  "  I 
intend  to  prove  the  Articles  of  Faith  by  convincing  reasons." 
Thus  he  gets  his  title,  the  Illuminated  Doctor.  But  he  was 
no  mere  writer  of  books  ;  and  though  he  published  over 
three  hundred  separate  writings,  his  other  activities  would 
have  filled  a  score  of  normally  industrious  lives. 

In  1276  he  founded  a  school  of  Oriental  languages  in 
Majorca.  There,  and  in  Paris,  he  lectured  and  taught,  and 
in  the  midst  of  all  this  work  he  tried  again  and  again,  by 
many  ways  and  means,  to  found  chairs  of  Oriental  languages 
at  the  various  European  universities.  He  was  baffled  in  this 
endeavour  again  and  again,  and  at  last  resolved  himself 
to  go  and  preach  the  Gospel  in  Africa.  When  he  was 
about  to  sail  from  Genoa  his  imagination  painted  the  terrors 
of  the  unknown  to  him  in  such  vivid  colours  that  he  allowed 
the  ship  to  sail  without  him.  He  was  immediately  overcome 
with  remorse,  and  soon  found  his  way  on  board  another 
ship.  But  his  friends  began  to  fear  for  him,  and  came  and 
dragged  him  back.  His  shame  now  made  him  very  ill.  He 
could  not  move,  and  his  friends  thought  him  dying,  and 
when  he  expressed  a  desire  to  go  to  Africa  they  consented 
with  indifference,  for  they  thought  his  days,  in  any  case, 
were  numbered.  But  no  sooner  had  he  set  sail  than  health 
and  strength  came  back.  He  entered  Tunis,  not  as  an 
evangelist,  but  as  a  wandering  scholar,  eager  to  talk  with 
the  Arabs,  and  expressing  himself  as  ready  to  be  con- 
verted to  their  faith  if  he  could  but  be  persuaded  of 
its  truth.  But  he  could  not  keep  the  light  within  him 
hid,  and  he  was  soon  put  into  prison  and  condemned  to  die. 
Ultimately  he  was  banished  with  a  warning  that  if  he  ever 
came  back  he  would  be  stoned  to  death.  He  returned  to  the 


24  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

writing  of  books,  to  his  lectures,  and,  above  all,  to  the  attempt 
to  awaken  some  sort  of  missionary  interest  in  the  Moors. 
He  was  continually  met  by  failure,  and  once  more  he  deter- 
mined to  spend  his  own  time  in  preaching  the  Gospel  to 
the  infidels,  and  for  this  purpose  he  withdrew  to  his 
native  Majorca,  and  there  "  brought  innumerable  Saracens 
into  the  way  of  salvation."  Later  he  went  to  Cyprus,  to 
"  Armenia,"  and  possibly  to  England,  and  then  he  returned 
to  Africa,  but  once  more,  after  being  stoned  and  imprisoned 
for  six  months  in  a  foul  dungeon,  he  was  banished.  The 
vessel  upon  which  he  was  sent  away  was  wrecked  off  the 
coast  of  Pisa,  and  he  escaped  with  one  companion, 
naked  and  exhausted.  He  was  by  this  time  seventy  years 
old.  The  next  ten  years  of  his  life  were  largely  occupied  in 
combating  the  heresies  of  Averroism. 

At  last,  at  the  Council  of  Vienne  in  1311-12,  he  succeeded 
in  getting  an  edict  passed  which  ordained  that  there  should 
be  schools  of  Hebrew  and  Greek,  and  Arabic  and  Chaldean, 
in  various  universities  throughout  Europe,  including  Oxford. 
Had  he  done  nothing  else  but  this,  Lull  would  have 
been  entitled  to  enduring  fame.  Finally,  in  his  eightieth 
year,  the  veteran  returned  to  Africa  to  make  his  last  "  sweet 
and  reasonable  "  appeal  for  Christ,  and  there,  outside  the  walls 
of  Bugia,  on  the  shore  of  that  sea  he  had  so  often  crossed  in  his 
apostolic  missions,  he  was  stoned  and  battered  to  death. 

Helfferich  calls  him  the  most  remarkable  figure  of  the 
Middle  Ages.*  He  certainly  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
men  that  Spain  ever  produced. 

The  story  of  his  outward  life  is  that  of  a  hero  and  a  martyr. 
His  writings  reveal  the  spirit  which  lay  at  the  source  of  all 
he  did: 

"  He  who  loves  not  lives  not.  He  who  lives  by  the  Life  cannot 
die." 

"  He  who  gives  God  can  give  nothing  more." 

"  The  image  of  the  crucified  Christ  is  found  much  rather  in 
men  who  imitate  Him  in  their  daily  walk  than  in  the  crucifix 
made  of  wood." 

"  Elevate  thy  knowledge  and  thy  love  will  be  elevated.  Heaven 
is  not  so  lofty  as  the  love  of  a  holy  man.  The  more  thou  wilt 
labour  to  rise  upward,  the  more  thou  wilt  rise  upward." 

*  H.  Helfferich,  Raymon  Lull  und  die  Ant&n&e  der  Catalonischer  Literatur, 
1858. 


MAKERS  OF  SPAIN  25 

"  He  who  would  find  Thee,  O  Lord,  let  him  go  forth  to  seek 
Thee  in  love,  loyalty,  devotion,  faith,  hope,  justice,  mercy,  and 
truth  ;  for  in  every  place  where  these  are,  there  art  Thou."  * 

But  the  same  qualities  which  went  to  the  formation  of  such 
a  great  character  as  Raymond  Lull  showed  themselves  capable 
of  development  along  more  sinister  lines.  And  a  century 
or  two  later,  while  Cardinal  Ximenes,  under  the  guidance  and 
inspiration  of  Isabella  the  Catholic,  was  doing  the  great 
work  which  we  shall  presently  study  in  more  detail ;  while 
Santa  Teresa  was  preparing  to  cleanse  the  nunneries,  and 
Ignatius  Loyola  was  founding  the  Order  of  Jesus,  hordes 
of  vicious  and  unscrupulous  pirates  and  adventurers  were 
coming  and  going  from  Spain  and  Portugal  to  the  newly 
discovered  lands,  drunk  all  the  time  with  the  lust  of  gold  and 
of  pleasure  ;  the  terrific  machinery  of  the  Inquisition  was 
being  set  in  order,  and  the  boys  were  at  school  who  were  to 
turn  the  devout  and  high-minded  little  Company  of  Jesus 
into  a  pack  of  unscrupulous  Jesuits. 

Thus  at  the  very  time  when  Spain  was  the  greatest  power 
in  the  world  we  can  detect  the  ominous  auguries  of  her 
downfall.  For,  however  immediately  successful  Spanish 
enterprise  abroad  might  appear,  and  however  effective  the 
weapons  of  the  Inquisition  proved  at  the  moment  to  be,  no 
national  greatness  could  survive  the  state  of  affairs  which 
these  activities  revealed. 

Spain  had  been  accustomed  to  a  religious  outlook  upon 
life.  All  she  ever  did  was  in  the  name  of  religion  ;  but  what 
she  began  by  doing  sincerely  she  ended  by  doing  mechanically. 
She  began  by  giving  up  everything  in  order  to  vindicate 
the  cause  of  the  Cross  against  that  of  the  Crescent.  She 
ended  by  holding  the  Cross  in  the  van  of  her  own  causes,  and 
deluding  herself  into  believing  that  the  presence  of  the 
sacred  symbol  made  all  things  holy.  About  1455  we  read 
that 

the  Iffante  licensed  an  expedition  consisting  of  six  caravels, 
the  command  being  given  to  Lanzarote,  receiver  of  the  royal 
customs  at  Lagos,  and  presented  each  with  a  banner  emblazoned 
with  the  cross  of  the  Order  of  Christ  to  be  hoisted  as  its  flag. 
Lanzarote  and  his  companions  raided  the  coast  as  far  as  Cape 
Branco,  shouting  "  Santiago  !  San  Jorge  !  Portugal !  "  as 
their  war-cry,  and  ruthlessly  slaying  all  who  resisted,  whether 
*  See  Raymond  Lull,  by  W.  T.  A.  Barber. 


26  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

men,  women,  or  children.  They  brought  back  to  Lagos  no  fewer 
than  235  captives  ;  the  receiver  of  customs  was  raised  by  the 
Iffante  to  the  rank  of  knight,  and  the  wretched  captives  were 
sold  and  dispersed  throughout  the  kingdom.  Large  tracts,  both 
of  Portugal  and  of  Spain,  remained  waste  or  half -cultivated  as  a 
result  of  the  Moorish  wars :  and  the  grantees  of  these  lands  eagerly 
purchased  the  human  chattels  now  imported  in  increasing 
numbers.* 

And  the  same  age  which  produced  these  blasphemous 
pirates  produced  the  Spanish  Inquisition.  This,  as  distinct 
from  the  earlier  mediaeval  Episcopal  and  Papal  Inquisitions, 
did  not  emerge  till  towards  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
during  the  reign  of  the  Catholic  sovereigns  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella. 

And  in  the  Inquisition,  as  in  the  early  voyages  of  discovery 
and  adventure,  we  find  the  Spaniards  taking  the  name  of  reli- 
gion in  vain.  While  on  the  African  coast  the  slave-raiders 
were  holding  the  Cross  before  them  as  they  ravaged  the  native 
villages,  the  same  symbol  was  affixed  by  the  Holy  Office  to  the 
weapons  of  torture  and  death  which  made  the  Castilian  throne 
secure  and  popular,  and  brought,  through  fines  and  con- 
fiscations, a  continual  stream  of  gold  into  the  royal  treasuries. 
For  the  Inquisition  in  Spain  was,  strange  as  it  may  appear,  a 
tremendously  popular  affair.  "  Since  it  was  established," 
says  the  Italian  historian  Caraccioli,  "  Ferdinand  reigned 
more  peacefully,  though  whether  it  helped  the  country  or 
not  remains  an  open  question."  t  It  was  popular  chiefly 
because  it  spelt  ruin  and  confusion  to  the  Jewish  population. 
These  were  at  that  time  far  more  deeply  hated  than  the 
Moors,  who  were  but  little  affected  by  the  Inquisition. 

The  aristocracy  and  the  poorer  people  were  curiously 
divided  against  one  another  at  this  time  by  their  relations  to 
the  New  Christians.  While  the  former  freely  intermarried 
with  those  converted  Jews,  and  used  their  influence  to  have 
their  Jewish  friends  put  into  high  ecclesiastical  and  political 
positions,  the  latter  disdained  all  intermarriage ;  and  while 
on  the  one  hand  a  famous  Jewish  bishop  was  acclaimed  as  a 
collateral  descendant  of  the  Holy  Virgin,  on  the  other  hand 
the  popular  preachers,  with  no  uncertain  voice,  were  giving 

*  Cambridge  Mod.  Hist.,  vol.  i.,  "  The  Renaissance,"  p.  14. 
f  Tr.  Caraccioli,  De  inquisit'one  Neapolitana  Muratori  S.S.  rerr.  Hal.  XX., 
quoted  by  Gothein,  op.  tit.,  p.  34. 


MAKERS  OF  SPAIN  27 

expression  to  the  indignation  of  the  people  at  the  appoint- 
ment of  these  Semitic  shepherds  and  rulers. 

Torquemada  was  the  first  and  one  of  the  most  notorious 
of  the  Spanish  Inquisitors-General.  He  had  been  the 
confessor  of  Isabella,  and  it  was  he  who  instigated  the 
Catholic*  sovereigns  to  apply  for  the  Papal  authority  which  by 
1483  gave  to  the  Spanish  Inquisition  such  a  unique  power.  It 
is  impossible  to  explain  Torquemada's  devilries  on  any  other 
ground  than  that  of  madness,  and  in  some  mysterious  way,  of 
which  this  outburst  of  ferocity  is  not  the  only  example,  this 
kind  of  madness  seems  to  infect  weaker  characters  who  come 
under  the  influence  of  the  leader.  Although  statistics  of  the 
burnings  and  imprisonments  are  various  and  contradictory, 
and  modern  investigation  has  been  unable  as  yet  to  produce 
an  unchallengeable  estimate,  it  is  manifest  from  every  source 
that  the  number  of  those  who  suffered  reaches  a  simply 
appalling  figure.f 

The  inquisitors  .  .  .  travelled  from  town  to  town,  attended 
by  guards  and  notaries  public.  Their  expenses  were  defrayed 
by  taxes  laid  on  the  towns  and  districts  through  which  they 
passed.  Spies  and  informers,  guaranteed  State  protection, 
brought  forward  their  information.  The  Court  was  opened : 
witnesses  were  examined,  and  the  accused  were  acquitted  or 
found  guilty.  The  sentence  was  pronounced  ;  the  secular  assessor 
gave  a  formal  assent ;  and  the  accused  was  handed  over  to  the 
civil  authority  for  punishment.  When  Torquemada  reorganised 
the  Spanish  Inquisition,  a  series  of  rules  were  framed  for  its  pro- 
cedure which  enforced  secrecy  to  the  extent  of  depriving  the 
accused  of  any  rational  means  of  defence  ;  which  elaborated  the 
judicial  method  so  as  to  leave  no  loophole  even  for  those  who 
expressed  a  wish  to  recant,  and  which  multiplied  the  charges 
under  which  suspected  heretics,  even  after  death,  might  be 
treated  as  impenitent  and  their  property  confiscated.  The 
Spanish  Inquisition  differed  from  the  papal  in  its  close  relation- 
ship to  the  civil  authorities,  its  secrecy,  its  relentlessness,  and  its 
exclusion  of  Bishops  from  even  a  nominal  participation  in  its 
work.  Thus  organised  it  became  a  terrible  curse  to  unhappy 
Spain.! 

But  let  us  turn  now  to  the  brighter  side  of  the  Catholic 
Revival  in  the  Peninsula,  and  see  how  the  spirit  of  the  age 

*  The  title  of  "  Catholic  "  was  not  conferred  on  the  sovereigns  till  1494-5. 
t  See  H.  C.  Lea,  History  of  the  Inquisition  in  Spain,  1906,  vol.  iv.  p.  525. 
j  T.  M.  Lindsay,  op.  eit.,  vol.  ii.  p.  599. 


28  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

manifested  itself  in  the  loftiest  Spanish  minds.  The  Spanish 
Reformation  under  Cardinal  Ximenes,  because  it  was  con- 
temporaneous with  the  German  Reformation  rather  than 
a  reply  to  it,  really  preceded  the  Counter-Reformation. 
For  in  considering  this  movement  we  must  recognise 
its  limits.  The  Counter-Reformation  was  a  movement 
within  the  Establishment,  and  only  included  those  who 
were  first  and  last  loyal  to  Rome,  those  who  looked  for  a 
reformation  not  of  dogma,  but  of  discipline  and  practice. 
The  term  Counter-Reformation  cannot,  however,  include  the 
many  movements  towards  reform,  arising  from  within  the 
Church,  which  had  preceded  the  appearance  of  Luther. 
The  two  main  lines  of  its  activity  were  interdependent. 
While  it  aimed  at  destroying  the  constructive  work  of  the 
Protestant  reformers,  it  at  the  same  time  aimed  at  destroying 
the  morbid  growths  which  had  sucked  away  all  strength  and 
dignity  from  the  body  of  the  mediaeval  Church.  The  Counter- 
Reformers  were  reactionaries.  They  admitted  no  new 
revelation,  no  possibility  of  having  outgrown  the  teaching 
of  the  Fathers.  Their  task  was  to  lead  priests  and  people 
back  to  the  uncorrupted  ideals  of  mediaeval  Christendom. 
Thus  the  term  Catholic  Revival,  or  Catholic  Reaction,  is 
more  accurate  than  Counter-Reformation.  It  is  impossible, 
in  any  real  sense,  to  have  a  reformation  within  the  Roman 
Church.  To  say  this  is  in  no  way  to  deny  the  enormous 
significance  of  the  Revival.  "  The  Catholicism  of  to-day 
rests  upon  the  Counter-Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
None  of  the  changes  which  it  has  since  then  undergone  have 
penetrated  below  the  surface  of  things  ;  or  if  they  have  had 
any  significance,  it  has  been  because  they  have  been  a  carrying 
out  of  the  programme  then  laid  down."* 

The  programme  had  in  it  a  healthy  democratic  element. 
For  this  Cardinal  Mendoza  must  get  some  credit.  One  of  his 
earliest  dicta  was  that  if  the  religious  life  of  the  country 
were  to  be  quickened,  the  grandees  must  be  kept  from 
episcopal  power.  Mendoza,  aristocrat  though  he  was,  knew 
and  trusted  the  power  of  the  people.  It  was  he,  probably 
more  than  anyone,  who  made  a  great  career  possible  for 
Cardinal  Ximenes  ;  and  Ximenes  was  before  all  things  a 
man  of  the  people.  "Das  wusste  und  sah  man,"  says 
Gothein,  *'  dass  er  ein  Mann  aus  einem  Gusse  war." 

*  E.  Gothein,  Ignatius  von  Loyola  und  die  Gegenrcformation,  p.  1. 


MAKERS  OF  SPAIN  29 

Ximenes'  youth  was  a  stormy  one.  When  he  was  study- 
ing in  Rome,  Sixtus  IV.  promised  him  the  first  vacant  benefice 
in  his  native  province  of  New  Castile.  So  when,  in  1473, 
Useda  fell  vacant  he  produced  an  "  expective  "  letter  from 
the  Pope,  which  he  had  long  treasured,  and  claimed  the 
benefice.  The  affair  is  a  typical  illustration  of  the  relations 
between  Spain  and  the  Vatican,  for  the  Archbishop  of 
Toledo,  annoyed  with  the  Pope  for  assuming  control  over  a 
Spanish  benefice,  put  Ximenes  in  prison,  and  there  he 
remained  for  six  years.  Four  years  after  his  release  he 
resigned  his  position  as  grand  vicar  to  Cardinal  Gonzalez, 
and  became  a  Franciscan  of  the  Friary  of  St.  John  at  Toledo. 
He  accepted  the  post  of  confessor  to  Queen  Isabella — a  post 
offered  to  him  through  the  influence  of  Mendoza — on  the 
condition  that  he  might  continue  to  live  in  the  Friary.  When 
he  was  called  to  be  Archbishop  of  Toledo  he  refused  for 
six  months  to  take  office,  and  only  gave  in  at  last  at  the 
Pope's  urgent  command.  As  Archbishop  he  continued  to 
live  the  simple  life  of  an  ideal  Franciscan  friar.  Alexander  VI. 
reprimanded  him  for  neglecting  the  exterior  pomp  demanded 
by  his  position.  But  he  would  never  wholly  conceal  the 
friar's  garb  beneath  the  arch-episcopal  robes. 

One  of  his  earliest  reforms  was  that  of  the  Franciscan 
order.  His  reinforcement  of  the  original  rules  was  so  strict 
that  hundreds  of  the  brothers  left  Spain  rather  than  obey 
him.  Nor  did  he  confine  his  reform  to  his  own  order.  In 
his  capacity  of  Regent  he  took  advantage  of  the  liberty 
given  to  the  Spanish  Crown  to  confer  benefices  or  to  dismiss 
churchmen  from  their  offices.  He  visited  monasteries  and 
convents,  and  purified  the  Church  with  such  vigour  and 
effect  that  the  accusations  poured  out  by  the  Protestant 
Reformers  against  the  clergy,  and  against  monastic  life  in 
general,  hardly  applied  to  Spain  at  all. 

In  all  his  work  he  was  guided  and  inspired  by  Queen 
Isabella,  whose  motives  were  far  less  tinged  with  political 
guile  than  those  of  her  husband. 

Besides  restoring  discipline  and  virtue  within  the  Church, 
Ximenes  gave  great  attention  to  education.  It  was  he  who, 
in  1504,  founded  the  university  of  Alcala.  About  the  same 
time  he  undertook  the  publication  of  the  first  polyglot 
Bible,  at  a  cost  of  £25,000.  This  version  is  known  as  the 
Complutensian  Bible,  Complutum  being  the  Latin  form  of 


30  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

Alcala.  The  Complutensian  New  Testament  was  printed, 
though  not  published,  before  Erasmus'  edition.  Erasmus 
rushed  through  his  publication  to  get  before  Ximenes ; 
his  haste  may  account  for  the  bad  text  in  some  places. 
Ximenes  also  founded  the  universities  of  Toledo  and  Seville. 

Under  Ximenes,  who  was  later  made  Grand  Inquisitor, 
the  severity  of  the  Inquisition  was  modified,  and  its  pro- 
cedure, to  a  certain  extent  at  least,  made  less  brutal.  He 
also  made  his  humanitarian  influence  felt  with  regard  to 
the  slave  trade,  and  in  all  places  under  his  control  he  dis- 
countenanced the  possession  of  those  African  captives 
who  were  being  brought  into  the  country  at  that  time. 

Nothing,  perhaps,  did  more  to  make  a  union  of  the  German 
and  the  Spanish  reformers  seem  at  least  within  the  bounds 
of  possibility  than  the  work  of  this  great  Cardinal.  Before 
the  Diet  of  Worms  (1521)  some  such  union  was  seriously 
contemplated,  but  that  Diet  revealed  a  gulf  between  the  two 
religious  parties  that  could  not  be  crossed — to  the  Spaniards  a 
General  Council  was  an  infallible  authority,  to  Luther  it  was 
not,  and  soon,  in  Spain  at  least,  every  other  reform,  and  all 
other  reformers,  were  either  merged  into  or  overshadowed  by 
the  supreme  influence  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  Of  this  we  will 
speak  more  fully  in  later  chapters.  It  is  enough  at  present 
to  remind  ourselves  that  here  were  ingathered  all  the  most 
salient  features  of  the  Spanish  genius — enthusiasm,  ardour, 
a  military  spirit,  Oriental  mysticism,  astuteness,  unsparing 
devotion.  It  was  this  society  which,  in  its  unspoiled  days, 
cherished  the  awakening  spirit  of  Francis  Xavier,  and  which, 
after  he  had  gone  eastward,  was  to  regain  a  great  part  of 
Europe  for  the  Catholic  Church. 

The  long-mustering  forces  of  the  Counter-Reformation 
really  took  their  place  and  began  their  great  battle  under  the 
banner  of  Pius  V.,  but  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the 
battle  would  never  have  been  fought,  nor  the  lost  lands 
recovered,  had  it  not  been  for  the  Company  of  Jesus. 


CHAPTER   II 

CHILDHOOD    AND    BOYHOOD 

(1506—1525) 

AMID  the  dark  records  of  social  life  in  Europe  during  the 
Renascence  one  lights  again  and  again  upon  the  histories 
of  men  and  women  in  places  of  honour  and  position  who 
upheld  the  traditions  of  Christian  family  life.  Even  in 
Italy  such  folk  existed  side  by  side  with  those  families  whose 
scandalous  histories  have  given  them  a  perpetual  notoriety. 
Books  such  as  Domenichi's  treatise  on  household  govern- 
ment, and  the  diary  of  Landucci  and  the  letters  of  Ales- 
sandro  degli  Strozzi,  to  name  but  a  few,  may  not  be  such 
exciting  reading  as  the  histories  of  the  Cenci  or  the  Medici, 
but  they  reveal  a  side  of  Renascence  life  which  is  apt  to  be 
forgotten. 

And  in  Spain  such  households  were  even  more  common 
than  in  Italy.  For  there  family  honour  and  patriotism, 
soldiery  and  religion,  had  become  inextricably  intertwined  ; 
there,  if  anywhere,  the  sense  of  faith  had  been  nourished 
on  the  fields  of  battle,  and  the  sense  of  unity  strengthened 
through  generations  of  isolated  warfare  against  an  enemy  of 
an  alien  religion. 

The  great  Spanish  families — and  to  one  of  these  Francis 
Xavier  belonged — had  no  time  to  relapse  into  an  effete  and 
luxurious  leisure.  The  fathers  had  hardly  come  home  from 
doing  battle  with  the  Moors  before  the  sons  had  gone  forth  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth  on  voyages  of  discovery  and  exploration. 

It  is  important  that  we  should  recognise  that,  the  normal 
channel  for  the  expression  of  Spanish  piety  was  the  sword, 
and  the  normal  sphere  of  Spanish  wit  the  Church.  Many  of 
Xavier's  biographers  detect  the  aureole  round  his  brow  as 
soon  as  he  chooses  not  to  follow,  like  his  brothers,  the  pro- 
fession of  arms,  but  to  become  a  scholar  and  a  churchman. 
Surely  the  balance  of  piety,  though  not  of  enterprise  and 
courage,  in  these  choosings  fell,  if  anywhere,  on  the  side  of  the 
brothers.  Francis'  choice  was  more  of  the  brain,  less  of  the 


32  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

heart;  and  it  was  tinged,  we  gather  from  his  later  letters, 
with  personal  ambition. 

The  history  of  the  family  of  Francis  de  Xavier  y  de 
Jasso  trails  far  back  into  the  mediaeval  records  of  Navarre. 
At  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century  his  father's  people 
quitted  their  original  home  in  Jasso,  and  settled  in  a  little 
village  of  some  fifteen  fires  which  lay  in  the  midst  of  the  vast 
forests  on  the  southern  slopes  of  the  western  Pyrenees.  As 
the  century  wore  on  the  family  of  Jasso — for  they  had 
adopted  the  name  of  the  place  from  which  they  came — grew 
in  importance,  and  the  road  to  the  village  of  San  Juan 
became  worn  with  the  hoofs  of  couriers'  horses  as  the  king's 
messengers  came  to  and  from  the  Court  of  Navarre  with 
papers  of  state.  It  was  because  of  these  long  generations 
of  faithful  and  intelligent  service  to  their  kings  that  at  the 
time  when  Francis  Xavier  was  born  his  father's  people  were 
recognised  as  noble. 

About  1445  the  grandfather  of  the  Saint  was  made  auditor 
of  the  royal  accounts.  He  earned  popularity  at  court  and 
married  into  an  old  Navarrese  family.  In  1471  he  is  spoken 
of  as  the  king's  counsellor,  and  he  has  become  wealthy  and 
important.  The  father  of  Francis  was  sent  to  the  university 
of  Bologna,  and  there  he  took  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws. 
Immediately  afterwards  he  was  employed  at  the  court,  and 
quickly  won  both  respect  and  affection,  as  we  may  see  from 
the  following  extract  from  a  document  in  the  possession  of 
the  Duke  of  Granada  : 

June  10th,  1478. 

Don  Johan  (i.e.,  King  John  of  Navarre)  .  .  .  bears  in  mind 
the  good,  continual,  and  kind  services  which  our  illustrious, 
faithful  and  well-beloved  counsellor  and  treasurer  Don  Juan  de 
Jasso  has  up  to  the  present  time  rendered,  in  many  ways,  to  us 
and  to  the  Crown  of  Navarre,  and  continues  each  day  to  render 
with  great  and  intense  faithfulness.  Estimating  that  in  the 
future  he  will  do  no  less,  desiring  to  remunerate  and  recompense 
him  in  some  manner,  and  seeing  that  we  recognise  him  as  worthy 
of  every  recompense  and  favour,  we  give  to  him  and  his  heirs  for 
all  time  the  civil  jurisdiction  of  Ydocin,  which  lies  in  the  valley 
of  Ybargoiti,  with  all  the  homicides,*  demi-homicides,  sixantenas, 
calonyas,t  and  civil  rights  which  obtain  in  the  said  district  of 

*  "  Homicide  was  the  ancient  tribute  paid  by  localities  when  they  refused 
to  give  up  a  murderer  "  (Lopez  and  Recalde,  Diccionario). 
*  Fines  for  libel. 


HOUSE  OF  JASSO 

ST.  JEAN-PIED-DE-PORT 


CHILDHOOD  AND  BOYHOOD  33 

Ydocin  which  belonged  to  us.  He  and  his  successors  shall  have 
the  right  to  create  mayors,  judges,  bailiffs,  and  other  officials 
in  the  above  jurisdiction,  and  we  desire  that  the  auditors  of  the 
royal  accounts  shall  deduct  from  the  amount  due  to  our  trea- 
surers and  receivers  those  sums.  ...  * 

During  the  childhood  of  Francis,  Ydocin  was  probably  a 
second  home  ;  to-day  there  is  nothing  left  of  it  but  a  ruined 
tower. 

The  Saint's  mother  came  of  an  older  and  more  aristocratic 
strain  than  did  his  father.  The  ancestors  of  Maria  de 
Azpilcueta  y  Xavier  had  been  for  many  generations  lords 
of  the  manor  and  patrons  of  the  Church,  and,  above  all, 
distinguished  soldiers,  f  Francis*  uncle,  the  Doctor  of 
Navarre,  a  noted  Spanish  authority  on  Canon  Law,  says  : 

Francis'  ancestor,  Martin  de  Azpilcueta,  was  a  man  whose 
personal  qualities  outshone  even  the  glory  acquired  by  his  house. 
These  personal  qualities,  indeed,  were  his  only  possession.  The 
family  was  poor,  and  he  remained  almost  the  sole  representative 
of  bygone  generations.  It  was  then  that  Providence  united  him 
to  the  heiress  of  another  house,  of  equal  nobility  but  greater 
wealth,  the  house  of  Xavier.J 

Such  was  the  stock  from  which  Francis  Xavier  sprang, 
but  mingled  with  this  brave  blood  was  a  yet  older  and 
prouder  strain.  On  more  than  one  occasion  Xavier  declared 
himself  a  Basque,  as  a  child  he  spoke  in  Basque,  and  when 
he  lay  dying  on  the  island  of  Sancian  all  the  other  tongues 
that  he  had  acquired  were  forgotten,  and  he  is  said  to  have 
murmured  his  last  words  in  the  language  of  his  earliest  days. 

This  aboriginal  people  were  the  last  race  to  accept  the 
Roman  yoke,  and  they  alone  of  all  the  peoples  of  the  South 
kept  their  language  pure  from  the  romantic  influence.  It 
was  this  invincible  tribe  which  originally  held  the  kingdoms 
of  Navarre  and  Aragon  separate  from  the  rest  of  Spain. § 

*  Cros,  Documents  Nouveaux,  p.  50. 

t  Among  the  forbears  of  the  Azpilcueta  was  the  Duke  of  Eridon  Aznar, 
who  was  also  the  common  ancestor  of  the  kings  of  Navarre  and  Aragon. 

$  Cros,  Documents  Nouveaux,  p.  71. 

§  "  Let  us  note  then,  before  going  further,  that  the  Apostle  of  the  Indies, 
although  he  bore  the  name  of  Xavier,  is  more  Jasso  and  Azpilcueta  than  he 
is  Xavier  or  Aznar.  The  genealogy  of  the  Aznars  shows  us  that  they  were 
already  supplanted  at  Xavier  by  the  Artieda,  a  century  before  Francis  came 
into  the  world,  a  grandson  of  the  Azpilcueta,  and  himself  a  supplanter  of  the 


34  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

Xavier  stands  far  from  the  beaten  track,  high  up  among 
the  rocky  moorland  passes  which  lie  around  the  source  of 
the  Ebro.  Behind  it  rise  the  Pyrenean  mountains,  beneath 
its  walls  the  young  river  Aragon  sings,  and  to  the  south  and 
east  and  west  lie  vineyards  and  olive  gardens  and  wide 
pasture  lands.  A  few  miles  off  is  the  town  of  Sanguessa. 
Half  a  league  from  Xavier  there  still  stand  the  ruins  of  the 
ancient  monastery  of  San  Salvador  de  Leyre,  and  there  the 
bones  of  the  kings  of  old  Navarre  are  gathered  to  the  dust. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  castle  of 
Xavier  must  have  been  an  imposing  edifice.  It  wras  sur- 
rounded by  a  moat  and  by  a  wall  with  turrets  and  battle- 
ments. Outside  the  drawbridge  stood  a  castclet.  The  main 
building  was  flanked  by  four  towers.  The  entrance  door, 
over  which  the  arms  of  Xavier  were  blazoned,  was  guarded 
by  a  portcullis,  and  within  this  door  was  another  tower. 
The  place  was  a  donjon  rather  than  a  home.  Instead  of 
windows  there  were  loopholes,  and  the  inhabitants  had  to 
climb  from  storey  to  storey  by  dark  and  tortuous  passages. 
In  the  thirteenth  century  the  king  of  Navarre  had  presented 
this  fortress  to  the  maternal  ancestors  of  Francis,  and  the 
boy,  after  an  old  Spanish  custom,  inherited  his  mother's 
name  as  well  as  that  of  his  father. 

Francis'  mother,  Maria  de  Azpilcueta,  had  married  when 
she  was  at  most  fifteen,  and  probably  not  more  than  twelve 
years  old.  She  brought  to  her  husband,  Doctor  Juan  de 
Jasso,  the  castle  of  Xavier  as  part  of  her  dowry,  and  they 
made  this'place  their  home. 

Artieda.  The  blood  of  the  Jassos,  or  of  the  Echeberria,  united  to  the  blood 
of  the  Azpilcueta,  is  then  that  which  flowed  in  the  veins  of  Francis  ;  what  he 
inherited  from  the  Aznarez  is  rather  a  reflexion  of  earthly  glory,  an  illustrious 
connection  :  and  as  the  Jasso  and  the  Azpilcueta  were  both  pure  Basques, 
the  Jasso-Echeberria  French-Basque,  and  the  Azpilcueta  Basques  from  the 
Navarrese  side  of  the  Pyrenees,  one  is  not  able,  it  would  seem,  better  to 
answer  the  question  so  often  raised  as  to  the  nationality  of  Francis  Xavier 
than  by  saying  he  was  a  Basque.  At  the  time  of  the  birth  of  Francis,  Jasso 
and  Azpilcueta  belonged  to  the  kingdom  of  Navarre,  as  did  Xavier ;  the  last 
word  then  on  the  nationality  of  the  Saint  might  run  he  was  Basque-Navar- 
rese.  The  Doctor  Navarro,  himself  on  both  sides  a  Basque,  writes  :  4  They 
reproach  me  because  I  am  a  Basque.  ...  I  confess  it  is  for  me  a  subject  of 
rejoicing,  and  I  hold  it  to  be  a  great  honour  to  be  a  Navarrese  and  a  Basque.' 
The  two  roots  of  the  doctor's  joy  and  noble  enthusiasm  must  have  been 
shared  by  Francis  also — '  Navarrese  and  Basque,'  wrote  Navarro,  *  two 
peoples  famous  for  their  faithfulness  to  their  kings  .  .  .  thus,  too,  they  have 
been  faithful  to  God  and  to  the  Church  '  "  (Cros,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier> 
vol.  i.  p.  23).  See  also  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  279. 


CHILDHOOD  AND  BOYHOOD  35 

Francis  was  born  on  Thursday  of  Holy  Week  in  the  year 
1506.  At  the  hour  of  his  birth  the  priests  in  the  chapel 
adjoining  his  mother's  room  were  chanting  the  sacred  offices 
of  the  Passion  of  Christ.  Therefore,  when  the  time  of  his 
baptism  came,  his  parents  resolved  to  call  him  after 
St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  who  had  borne  on  his  hands  and  his  feet 
the  marks  of  his  crucified  Lord.  When  the  ceremony  was 
over  the  baptismal  robe  was  taken  off  and  hung  up  tin  the 
chapel  beside  the  five  little  robes  of  his  elder  brothers  and 
sisters — Juan's  and  Miguel's  still  white  and  fair,  the  others 
beginning  to  grow  dusty  and  grey  and  blending  with  those 
of  the  children  of  bygone  centuries. 

The  old  biographies  are  singularly  devoid  of  any  but  vague 
and  pietistic  details  of  Francis'  boyhood.  Yet,  by  recon- 
structing his  environment  from  the  numerous  available 
documents  and  histories,  we  can  at  least  gain  some  knowledge 
of  the  background  of  his  early  days. 

The  year  of  the  Saint's  birth  was  one  of  the  most  troubled 
of  all  those  troubled  years. 

Since  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  the  Catholic  sovereigns,  had 
by  their  marriage  in  1469  joined  the  kingdoms  of  Castile  and 
Aragon  the  days  of  the  independence  of  Navarre  had  been 
numbered.  In  1492  they  conquered  Granada,  and  their 
dream  of  a  united  Spain  seemed  then  nearer  than  ever  to 
fulfilment.  But  when,  in  1504,  Isabella  died,  a  period  of 
anarchy  began  which  only  ended  with  the  establishment 
of  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  in  1523.  Isabella's  son-in-law, 
Philip  of  Austria,  the  husband  of  Juana,  whom  Isabella  had 
named  as  her  successor,  tried,  and  with  a  strong  following, 
to  drive  Ferdinand  from  the  throne.  But  in  1506  Philip 
died  suddenly,  and  all  Spain  was  left  in  confusion.  Juana, 
who  for  long  had  been  subject  to  fits  of  madness,  wandered 
from  village  to  village  at  the  head  of  a  procession  which  bore 
her  dead  husband's  body.  She  would  take  no  interest  in  the 
affairs  of  State.  Ferdinand  became  dominant  once  more. 
It  was  a  fatal  hour  for  Navarre  when  he  gained  control  of  the 
eastern  passes  of  the  Pyrenees.  From  then  until  the  final 
annexation  in  1515  the  little  kingdom  struggled  in  its  death 
agonies,  and  Francis'  father,  the  Doctor  Juan,  spent  body 
and  soul  in  the  attempt  to  maintain  a  lost  cause.  The  crisis 
came  when  the  Emperor,  the  Venetians,  the  Pope,  and 
Henry  VIII.  of  England  joined  in  the  Holy  League  against 

C2 


36  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

France,  and  King  John  of  Navarre,  across  whose  lands  troops 
had  to  pass  on  their  way  from  Spain  into  France,  allied 
himself  to  Louis  XII.  The  Duke  of  Alva  marched  on 
Navarre,  probably  bearing  with  him  the  General  Papal  Bull 
against  all  the  opponents  of  the  Holy  League.  John  fled  to 
Bayonne  and  Pampeluna  surrendered.  France  gave  no  help 
to  her  ally,  and  in  1515  Navarre  was  formally  annexed  to 
Castile. 

Till  near  the  end  the  optimism  of  Doctor  Juan  had  been 
unshaken.  But  the  failure  of  all  his  hopes,  added  to  the 
effects  of  the  toil  and  anxiety  of  those  last  six  years,  proved 
ioo  much  for  this  ardent  patriot,  and  a  few  months  after 
Ferdinand  had  annexed  Navarre  Francis  became  fatherless. 
He  can  never  have  known  his  father  well,  and  the  event  must 
have  meant  to  the  nine-year-old  boy  chiefly  the  sorrow  of  his 
mother,  a  strange  hush,  the  subdued  rustle  of  the  funeral 
arrangements,  a  tolling  bell,  slow  music,  mystery. 

Although  the  castle  stood  alone  on  the  hillside,  it  held 
within  its  gates  a  large  and  varied  community.  From  his 
mother's  tapestried  chamber,  or  the  wide  rooms  where  his 
married  sister's  boys  and  girls  played  when  they  came  to 
visit  the  uncle  who  was  younger  than  themselves,  Francis 
could  stray  through  galleries  hung  with  the  helmets  and 
breastplates  of  his  ancestors,  till  he  came  to  the  chapel  where 
the  priests  were  chanting  the  holy  offices  of  the  day.  Or  if 
the  altar  were  deserted,  he  could  go  and  look  at  the  mysterious 
crucifix  which  had  been  found  in  the  thirteenth  century  in  a 
crevice  of  the  castle  wall.  Before  his  intellect  was  disturbed 
by  the  problems  of  sin  and  pain  his  imagination  had  become 
stored  with  the  symbols  of  war  and  suffering  and  death. 

Nor  was  it  only  in  silent  gallery  or  chapel  that  he  learned 
of  these  things.  In  the  dungeon  beneath  the  great  tower  lay 
the  civil  prisoners  of  the  locality.  Francis  could  stand  on  the 
outer  wall  of  the  moat  and  see  their  faces  peering  through  the 
bars,  while  he  shouted  innocent  greetings  to  them,  or  chanted 
to  them  fragments  of  his  nursery  rhymes. 

But  there  were  more  sinister  figures  lurking  beneath  the 
walls  than  these.  From  time  immemorial  the  place  had  been 
a  sanctuary  for  all  hunted  and  persecuted  sinners.  Unlike 
the  old  Hebrew  cities  of  refuge  to  which  only  those  who 
had  killed  any  person  unwittingly  might  flee,  these  mediaeval 
asylums  opened  their  gates  even  to  those  "  who  thrust  their 


CHILDHOOD  AND  BOYHOOD  37 

enemies  out  of  hatred,  or  hurled  at  them,  or  lay  in  wait  for 
them,  or  in  enmity  smote  them." 

And  it  is  surely  hardly  fanciful  to  trace  at  least  some  of 
the  young  mountain  sources  of  the  ultimate  great  river  of 
the  pity  and  compassion  of  Francis  Xavier  to  the  hours 
which  followed  his  boyish  conversations  with  those  robbers 
and  murderers,  when,  looking  deep,  he  saw  "  the  thorns 
which  grow  upon  this  rose  of  life  " — hours  when  he  learned 
that  there  were  wild  worlds  on  the  yon  side  of  those  sheltering 
hills  of  Xavier,  and  wild  sins  whose  names  had  never  even 
crossed  his  mother's  lips. 

But  the  pervading  atmosphere  of  the  castle  was  not  a 
sombre  one.  There  were  long,  sunny  afternoons  when  the 
old  fortress  rang  with  children's  voices,  and  gay  winter 
nights  when  soldier  cousins  and  uncles  and  brothers  came 
home  from  the  wars  unhurt,  and  raised  the  sounds  of  revelry 
among  the  rafters  of  the  banqueting  hall.  Francis  himself 
was  a  notable  athlete  ;  this  passion  was  to  cost  him  some- 
what in  later  years,  when,  drunk  with  the  elation  produced 
by  the  Spiritual  Exercises  of  Loyola,  he  tied  cords  round  his 
calves  and  spoiled  his  powers  of  jumping  for  ever,  because 
he  had  gloried  too  much  in  the  legs  of  a  man.  Tennis  was  a 
favourite  game — pelota,  or  jeu  de  paume,  they  called  it, 
because,  instead  of  using  a  racquet,  they  wore  heavy  gloves 
and  hit  the  ball  with  the  palms  of  their  hands.  To-day  the 
Basques  still  play  in  this  way.  The  French  and  Spanish 
soon  took  to  stretching  cords  across  their  great  gloves,  and 
from  that  the  transition  to  a  racquet  was  natural. 

Many  a  day  of  wild  sport  and  adventure  must  the  boy  have 
passed  among  his  native  mountains,  bracing  his  nerves  and 
hardening  his  frame  for  the  labours  of  his  manhood,  climbing  the 
cliffs  to  find  the  eagle's  nest,  tracking  the  wolf  by  torchlight 
over  the  blood-stained  snow,  fishing  for  his  Lenten  fare  in  the 
dark  lakes  that  lie  in  the  heart  of  the  hills,  or  rambling  on 
some  long  summer  day  by  pine  forest  and  winding  stream, 
even  to  where  the  rocky  ramparts  of  France  are  cleft  as  with 
Titan  sword  at  the  far-famed  Breche  de  Rolande,  or  scaled  by  the 
sacred  pass  of  Roncesvalles.* 

The  freedom  of  this  out-of-door  life  was  complemented  by 
a  routine  within  the  family  of  unwavering  piety  and  devo- 
*  Francis  Xavier,  by  M.  H.  MacLean,  1895,  p.  2. 


38  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

tion  towards  the  Church.  We  know  nothing  of  the  personal 
religious  life  of  any  member  of  that  household,  but  we  know 
that  outwardly,  at  least,  the  people  were  good  and  devout. 
The  year  immediately  before  the  birth  of  Francis  had  seen 
the  reconstruction  and  enlargement  of  the  private  chapel, 
the  foundation  of  a  clergy  house,  and  the  presentation  of 
numerous  lands  and  increments  for  the  upkeep  of  the  clergy 
and  of  the  services.  Pious  biographers,  indeed,  are  prone 
to  regard  the  gift  of  the  future  Apostle  of  the  Indies  as  a 
reward  for  this  generosity  on  the  part  of  his  parents. 

Every  day,  in  this  chapel  enlarged  and  restored  by  the  chate- 
laines, one  of  the  priests  from  the  clergy  house  chanted  the  grand 
mass.  On  Saturday  it  was  in  honour  of  our  Lady,  and  on 
Monday  for  the  dead.  Every  day  vespers  were  sung.  On 
special  feast  days  tierce  was  added  before  mass,  on  Saturdays 
and  Sundays,  and  on  solemn  feasts  and  vigils,  compline,  and  a 
dozen  times  a  year  matins.  Every  evening  the  Salve  Regina 
was  sung. 

When  he  had  learned  to  read  Francis  would  be  able  to  turn 
over  the  pretty  little  volume,  bound  in  leather,  with  a  clasp, 
where  on  nineteen  pages  of  vellum  the  ordinances  of  Santa 
Maria  of  Xavier  were  inscribed. 

Here  his  parents  had  vowed  never  at  any  time  to  break  these 
rules,  enjoining  their  sons  and  successors,  under  pain  of  dis- 
obedience and  of  losing  their  blessing,  to  praise  and  approve  of  the 
present  donation,  and  never  in  any  way  to  go  against  it,  because 
it  was  made  for  the  service  of  God  and  of  the  said  church,  for  the 
help  and  support  of  those  who  are  buried  there,  for  the  discharge 
of  the  souls  of  their  ancestors,  lords  of  this  place,  and  of  their 
successors,  and  in  order  that  the  divine  service  might  be  held  in 
the  church  in  such  a  manner  that  God  should  be  better  served 
there  than  He  had  been  hitherto. 

...  it,  the  abbadia,  was  almost  more  of  a  monastery  than  a 
clergy  house.  At  every  mass  there  was  confession ;  women  under 
sixty  years  of  age  were  not  allowed  within  the  walls;  at  table 
there  was  silence,  and  books  were  read  ;  for  recreation  there  were 
gardening  and  fishing,  but  no  games  or  hunting.  "  All  the 
advantages  of  the  Apostolic  life  are  offered  to  you,"  they  said. 
"  You  have  a  safeguard  against  the  perils  of  the  world  in  the 
church  and  abbadia  of  Santa  Maria  de  Xavier,  and  you  lack 
nothing  which  is  necessary  in  order  to  traverse  the  present  life 
and  gain  life  eternal."  Such  were  the  singularly  ascetic  ideas 
which  were  held  at  the  castle  of  Xavier.  If  all  these  prescriptions 
were  observed,  the  young  Francis  must  have  always  had  before 


CHILDHOOD  AND  BOYHOOD  39 

him  the  spectacle  of  priestly  lives  which  were  reserved,  austere, 
and  edifying.* 

All  round  him  were  good  and  gentle  people.  He  had  to 
travel  far  before  he  got  beyond  the  neighbourhood  of  one  or 
other  of  his  virtuous  relatives. 

If  he  went  into  the  church  of  San  Nicolas  at  Pampeluna, 
he  would  see  there  the  tombs  of  his  maternal  ancestors  ;  he 
would  see  altar-cloths  embroidered  by  women  of  the  kindred 
house  of  Atonda,  and  arches  and  mosaics  renewed  through 
the  generosity  of  the  same  family,  and  the  priests  who  stood 
before  the  altar  chanted  prayers  for  the  peace  of  their  souls. 

Francis'  uncle,  Pedro,  lived  in  Pampeluna,  too;  but  a 
mysterious  shadow  had  fallen  over  that  household.  All 
that  the  boy  knew  was  that  it  was  something  to  do  with  his 
cousin  Juan's  affection  for  the  beautiful  Maria  Periz  de 
Herice.  Francis  probably  thought  her  wonderfully  lovely 
when  he  saw  her  on  fete  days  in  her  low-bodiced  dress,  her 
long  sleeves  flying  behind  her ;  and  doted,  as  young  boys  do, 
on  her  embroidered  ruff  and  the  bands  of  jewelled  velvet 
round  her  hair.  She  was  the  prettiest  lady  in  Pampeluna. 
It  was  not  surprising  that  his  cousin  Juan  loved  her  so  well. 
But  his  parents  told  him  that  both  Juan  and  Maria  were  very 
wicked,  and  so  was  Juan's  brother,  Cousin  Esteban,  who  had 
had  to  run  away  in  order  to  escape  being  put  into  prison. 
These  three,  and  the  prisoners  in  the  castle  dungeon  at  home, 
were  the  only  people  he  knew  who  were  not  good. 

Francis'  elder  brother  Miguel  was  his  senior  by  eleven 
years,  and  Juan  was  two  years  younger  than  Miguel.  All 
the  three  sisters  were  much  older.  Before  Francis  was  born 
Madeline  was  a  lady-in-waiting  at  the  court  of  Isabella  the 
Catholic.  She  was  noted  for  her  beauty  and  her  virtue  and 
her  charm,  but  while  still  young  she  retired  to  a  convent. 
The  present  Duke  of  Feria  traces  his  parentage  back  in  the 
direct  line  to  another  sister,  Maria  Periz.  The  remaining 
sister  died  a  grandmother  in  1535,  while  Francis  was  just 
about  to  leave  the  university  of  Paris. 

In  the  nursery,  in  the  kitchen,  in  the  hall,  the  talk  was 
always  of  battles  and  campaigns.  As  Francis  grew  older 
he  used  to  sit  out  in  the  garden,  under  the  shadow  of  the 
olives,  with  his  book  on  his  knees,  and  often  he  must  have 

*  Brou,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  i.  pp.  10, 11. 


40  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

lifted  his  eyes  from  some  favourite  tale — perhaps  that  of 
the  brave  knight  Amadis  of  Gaul — to  scan  the  long  white 
road  for  messengers  bringing  tidings  of  his  brothers  and 
uncles  and  cousins  who  were  out  at  the  wars.  One  spring 
day,  when  he  was  ten  years  old,  a  horseman  galloped  up  the 
hill  with  the  news  that  Ferdinand  was  dead ;  that  Navarre, 
in  the  desperate  hope  of  regaining  her  independence,  had  risen 
again ;  that  the  troops  of  Jean  d'Albret  had  been  surprised 
in  the  Val  de  Roncal ;  and  that,  among  others,  four  soldiers 
of  the  house  of  Jasso  had  been  taken  prisoner.  His  brothers 
were  safe,  but  any  day  might  bring  tidings  of  fresh  disaster. 

And  while  the  household  at  Xavier  waited  for  the  news 
of  life  or  death,  there  clattered  one  day  into  the  courtyard  a 
troop  of  horsemen,  bearing  orders  from  the  Governor  of 
Spain  to  demolish  the  fortifications  of  the  castle.  From 
their  high  window  Francis  and  his  mother  watched  them 
day  after  day  as  they  smashed  the  outer  walls,  and  the 
watch-towers,  and  the  drawbridge,  and  destroyed  the  battle- 
ments. Then  they  entered  the  interior  and  broke  open  the 
loopholes.  There  were  no  gateways  left,  and  all  the  great 
doorways  of  wood  were  burned,  and  the  outer  stairways  and 
the  tower  of  San  Miguel  entirely  demolished.  The  well-ordered 
garden  was  a  desert  of  broken  stones  and  charred  beams  and 
trampled  flowers. 

The  glory  of  Xavier  was  departed,  but  Maria  de  Azpil- 
cueta  still  lived  there  with  her  youngest  son.  We  know 
nothing  of  his  schooling,  but  he  most  likely  had  as  a  tutor 
one  of  the  priests  from  the  abbadia  or  clergy  house,  which 
adjoined  the  private  chapel.  If  he  went  at  all  to  school  at 
Sanguessa  or  Pampeluna,  it  was  only  for  a  year  or  two  before 
going  to  the  university.  His  mother's  cousin,  Martin  de 
Azpilcueta,  who  came  to  live  at  Xavier  after  the  death  of 
Doctor  Juan,  may  have  been  his  teacher.  He  appears  to  have 
been  a  man  of  great  intelligence.  He  had,  we  read,  "  a 
faithful  heart,  a  beautiful  character,  a  pliant  humour  :  one 
always  loved  him  after  having  learned  to  know  him,  and 
to  see  him  again  was  a,  fete."  *  The  description  has  a  special 
interest  for  us  when  we  remember  that  this  man  was  Francis' 
guardian  from  his  tenth  till  his  nineteenth  year. 

The  family  at  Xavier  was  no  longer  wealthy.     The  fortune 
as  well  as  the  life  of   Doctor  Juan  had  been  spent  for  his 
*  Cros,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  i.  p.  68. 


CHILDHOOD  AND  BOYHOOD  41 

king.  In  1519  his  widow  asked  the  King  of  Castile  for  an 
indemnity  for  the  damage  done  to  the  castle,  and  at  the  same 
time  she  asked  for  the  payment  of  moneys  which  had  been 
due  to  her  husband  from  the  treasury  of  Navarre  at  his 
death.  She  was  promised  certain  sums,  but  the  money  was 
never  given  to  her.  The  collection  of  the  numerous  dues 
and  taxes,  which  formed  a  great  part  of  the  family  income, 
had  been  neglected  during  the  last  arduous  years  of  Doctor 
Juan's  life,  and  many  who  had  ceased  to  pay  refused  to  begin 
again.  The  following  is  one  typical  little  story  out  of  many 
in  existence  that  treat  of  these  troubles,  and  it  gives  us  a 
fleeting  glimpse  of  Francis  himself : 

About  1519  the  chatelaine  of  Xavier  was  Dofia  Maria  de  Azpil- 
cueta,  and  with  her  was  her  sister  Dona  Violante,  and  the  three 
sons  of  Dona  Maria — Miguel,  Juan  and  Francisco.  I  was  keeper, 
and  I  gathered  in  the  cjues  on  the  flocks  which  traversed  our 
lands.  Now  one  day  several  herds  of  cattle  came  up,  and  the 
shepherd,  instead  of  sending  them  to  the  place  where  they  should 
be  counted  and  the  dues  taken,  drove  them  on  without  saying 
anything ;  but  I  and  the  three  sons  of  the  Senora  of  Xavier,  and 
other  companions,  ran  after  them,  and  brought  back  all  the  herd 
to  Xavier.  We  turned  the  cattle  into  the  court  of  the  clergy 
house.  I  took  the  dues  from  the  shepherd.  There  was  three 
hundred  head  of  cattle  for  the  Senora,  but  then  Pedro  de  Tudela, 
the  proprietor  of  the  cattle,  and  old  Miguel,  who  did  the  bargaining 
for  him,  made  some  negotiations  and  transactions  with  the  lady, 
and  I  do  not  know  what  arrangement  they  came  to.* 

It  was  when  Francis  was  fifteen  years  old  that  Ignatius 
Loyola  had  his  leg  smashed  by  a  cannon  ball  at  the  siege  of 
Pampeluna. 

It  is  possible  that  Francis*  brothers  may  have  shot 
the  ball,  which  did  a  bigger  stroke  of  business  for  the  Roman 
Church  that  day  than  many  a  Pope  did  in  a  lifetime.  Loyola, 
lieutenant  and  a  faithful  subject  of  the  Emperor  Charles, 
was  defending  the  town  against  the  insurgents,  who,  under  the 
inspiration  of  Henri  d'Albret,  the  son  of  Jean  d'Albret,  late 
king  of  Navarre,  had  again  taken  to  the  field.  Francis  I. 
of  France  encouraged  them ;  but  although  they  took  Pampe- 
luna, their  victory  was  short-lived. 

While  Loyola  lay  suffering  agonies  in  the  attempt  to  have 
his  leg  elegantly  set — for  these  were  the  days  of  his  vanity — 
*  Cros,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  i.  p.  80. 


42  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

the  insurgents  were  defeated  at  Noain,  but  even  then  the 
patriotism  of  some  of  them  was  unquenched.  Francis* 
brothers  were  among  those  who  refused  to  surrender,  and  in 
the  general  pardon  of  1523  their  names  were  in  the  list  of 
those  who  were  excepted  from  grace,  and  they  were  con- 
demned to  forfeiture  of  all  their  possessions  and  to  death  ; 
but  they  were  not  caught.  For  two  years,  helped  by  the 
French,  they  held  out  in  the  garrison  town  of  Fuenterrabia. 
At  last  both  sides  became  weary,  and  the  patriots  were  given 
permission  to  return  to  homes  and  lands  with  honour,  if 
they  would  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Emperor. 
This  they  did. 

When  Miguel  and  Juan  came  back  to  Xavier,  they  found 
that  their  little  brother  Francisco  had  grown  into  a  tall  lad 
of  eighteen  years,  of  that  sunburnt,  bookish,  athletic  type  of 
youth  which  is  so  familiar  to  us  to-day.  He  had  no  hanker- 
ings after  a  soldier's  life,  but  he  was  full  of  eager  talk  of  Paris 
and  the  students  and  professors  there,  and  of  the  fine  positions 
that  were  open  to  well-educated  young  ecclesiastics  of  good 
family. 


CHAPTER  III 

AT   THE    COLLEGE    OF   STE.    BARBE 

(1525—1529) 

IN  October,  1525,  Francis  Xavier  found  himself  in  Paris. 
The  university  of  Paris  had  been  organised  since  the  be- 
ginning of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  not  many  years  after 
that  she  had  been  "  the  brightest  glory  of  mediaeval  France." 

But  that  was  in  the  far-off  days  of  Abelard,  of  Albertus 
Magnus,  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  of  St.  Bonaventura. 

Abelard  used  to  lecture  to  great  crowds  of  students  in 
the  open  meadows  which  lay  upon  the  slopes  of  Mont 
Ste.  Genevieve. 

There  was  in  those  days  no  medieval  sage  who  had  not  studied 
or  taught  in  Paris — subtle  doctors,  seraphic  doctors,  angels  of  the 
schools,  Italians,  Spaniards,  Germans.  At  one  moment  the 
souls  of  the  students  would  be  prisoned  in  the  hard  armour  of 
scholastic  argument,  and  the  next  caught  up  into  the  third 
heaven  of  mysticism.* 

But  as  long  ago  as  the  days  of  our  Edward  III.,  Richard 
of  Bury  had  written :  "  The  zeal  of  that  illustrious  school 
has  become  lukewarm — nay,  even  frozen — whose  rays  once 
illumined  every  corner  of  the  earth."  This  decline  syn- 
chronises with  the  gradual  growth  of  despotism  within  the 
university,  and  with  the  refusal  on  the  part  of  the  dominant 
faculty  to  progress,  to  change,  to  be  born  again. 

By  the  sixteenth  century  Paris,  as  a  centre  of  learning, 
deserved  all  the  ridicule  which  was  flung  at  her  from  writers 
such  as  Montaigne  and  Rabelais  and  Erasmus.  In  the 
sixteenth  chapter  of  the  second  book  of  Pantagruel  there  is 
a  picture  of  student  life  so  appalling  in  its  utter  folly  and 
soddenness  that  most  people  feel  it  to  be  beyond  the  limits 
of  caricature.  But  a  study  of  contemporary  letters  and 
writings  proves  the  picture  to  be  almost  photographic  in  its 
accuracy.  A  depraved  moral  tone  among  the  students  was 
the  inevitable  fruit  of  the  depraved  intellectuality  among  the 

*  Doumergue,  Vie  de  Jean  Calvin,  vol.  i.  p.  50. 


44  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

masters  and  doctors.  To  the  doctors,  scholasticism  seemed 
bound  up  with  their  very  existence.  It  was  the  foundation 
upon  which  the  whole  academic  structure  rested,  and  they 
dreaded  and  fought  against  the  influence  of  the  New  Learning 
because  they  knew  that  a  force  lay  there  which  would  under- 
mine their  authority.  To  this  day  Roman  Catholic  historians 
boast  that  the  theological  faculty  in  Paris  was  the  first  to 
detect  the  link  between  heresy  and  humanism. 

The  earliest  taint  of  "  heresy  "  appeared  in  Paris  before 
either  Lutheranism  or  Calvinism  had  taken  to  the  field. 
Doumergue  gives  it  the  name  of  Fabrian  Protestantism, 
after  Le  Fevre  (Faber  Stapulensis). 

Jacques  Le  Fevre  d'Etaples  was  born  about  1455,  and  he 
was  finally  driven  from  the  university  in  the  same  year  that 
Francis  Xavier  entered  it.  He  was  the  first  man  in  Paris  to 
criticise  the  versions  of  Aristotle  then  in  use.*  His  criticism, 
founded  on  his  study  of  the  MSS.  in  Italy,  could  not  be 
expected  to  please  the  theologians  who  gloried  in  Albertus 
Magnus  and  Thomas  Aquinas.  "  By  liberal  and  intelligent 
handling  of  Scripture,"  says  Hume  Brown,  "  he  did  more 
than  any  other  Frenchman,  except  Calvin  himself,  to  induce 
a  critical  attitude  towards  the  traditions  of  the  Church."t 
Unfortunately,  he  still  more  quickly  induced  a  critical  atti- 
tude towards  himself.  His  commentary  on  the  Epistles  of 
St.  Paul  has  been  called  the  first  Protestant  book.  In  it  is 
found  the  principle  of  the  sovereign  authority  of  the  Word 
of  God.  And  elsewhere  he  enunciated  most  clearly  the 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith.  But  the  theological 
faculty  was  determined  to  keep  Scriptural  truth  in  its  naked 
simplicity  from  the  people.  In  that  same  year  (1525)  "  the 
books  of  the  Holy  Scripture,"  the  Sorbonne  announced,  "  are 
approved  in  the  Latin  language,  and  ought  thus  to  remain."  I 
During  his  later  years  Etaples  began,  in  exile,  the  transla- 
tion of  the  Bible  which  became  the  foundation  of  the  later 
French  versions. § 

There  is  a  letter  written  in  1519  by  Olivetan  to  his  young 
cousin,  John  Calvin,  then  a  schoolboy  of  ten  years  old,  which 
gives  us  not  only  a  delightful  description  of  Le  Fevre  himself, 

*  Graf,  La  Vie  et  les  Merits  de  Jacques  Le  Fevre  cTEtaples,  1842. 

f  P.  Hume  Brown,  Life  of  George  Buchanan,  1890,  p.  18. 

J  J.  M.  Cros,  Documents  Nouveaux,  p.  277. 

§  See  Ranke,  "  Franzosische  Geschichte  "  (Werke,  Band  8),  p.  111. 


AT  THE  COLLEGE  OF  STE.  BARBE  45 

but  also  a  simple  yet  vivid  impression  of  the  dawn  of  the 
religious  renascence  in  Paris  : 

.  .  .  They  [the  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne]  so  hate  all  new  ideas 
that  they  prefer  the  old  wrong  way  to  the  new  right  way.  What 
is  strange  is  that  the  priests  hate  good  grammar  more  than  they 
do  bad  lives.  ...  I  must  tell  you  of  a  dear  old  man  who  is  one 
of  our  teachers.  His  name  is  Doctor  James  Le  Fevre.  I  am 
proud  of  him  because  he  is  a  Pi  card.  He  was  once  a  poor  boy 
in  the  village  of  Etaples,  where  he  was  born  about  65  years  ago. 
Perhaps  there  is  some  hope  for  us  Noyon  lads  if  we  will  be  as 
studious  and  pious  as  he  has  been.  He  is  a  small  man  of  a  mean 
appearance,  but  his  great  soul,  his  vast  learning,  his  deep  piety, 
and  his  powerful  eloquence  make  him  the  most  charming  man  in 
the  university  .  .  .  we  all  know  that  he  reads  and  talks  about 
the  Holy  Scriptures  as  few  others  do  in  our  day.  A  child  can 
understand  him  when  he  preaches.  Some  of  the  students  are 
beginning  to  make  an  uproar  about  the  Gospel  that  he  preaches. 
They  think  he  is  fighting  against  the  Church.  But  I  am  sure 
that  he  tells  us  more  about  Jesus  Christ  than  we  ever  heard 
before.  ...  I  want  your  father  to  be  ready  to  study  a  book 
which  I  will  soon  send  him.  It  was  written  by  Le  Fevre.  I  do 
not  yet  know  whether  the  lovely  old  man  is  right  or  not,  but  he 
says  if  we  become  as  little  children  and  simply  believe  in  Jesus, 
we  will  be  saved.* 

It  was  in  the  same  year  that  this  letter  was  written  that 
the  Sorbonne  clearly  showed  its  front  with  regard  to  the 
doctrines  of  Martin  Luther.  Thenceforward  the  official 
attitude  towards  the  German  reformer  was  one  of  fierce 
opposition.  Yet  all  the  time,  especially  in  quarters  like 
Ste.  Barbe,  where  Humanism  had  made  some  advance,  the 
followers  of  Luther  were  becoming  more  numerous.  But 
they  lacked  a  leader.f  So  from  the  noise  and  tumult  of 

*  Quoted  by  W.  M.  Blackburn  in  The  College  Days  o/  Calvin,  p.  8. 

f  "  For  the  absence  of  such  a  movement  [i.e.,  of  religious  reform]  no 
reason  can  perhaps  be  given  but  the  non-appearance  of  the  men  to  lead  it. 
However  the  fact  be  accounted  for,  the  university  of  Paris  never  did  see 
within  its  college  walls  the  growth  of  a  really  religious  movement  at  all  com- 
parable to  the  Wycliffite  movement  at  Oxford,  to  the  movement  of  which  Hus 
was  the  product  rather  than  the  author  at  Prague,  or  even  to  the  quieter 
religious  revival  inaugurated  in  the  sixteenth  century  by  men  like  our  Oxford 
Tyndale  and  the  Cambridge  reformers.  The  complete  isolation  of  the  intel- 
lectual life  of  Paris  from  contact  with  the  stronger  currents  of  popular  re- 
ligious feeling  outside  is  one  of  the  strangest  facts  of  her  history  "  (Hastings 
Rashdall,  The  Universities  of  Mediaeval  Europe,  vol.  i.  p.  557).  The 
omission  in  this  passage  of  any  reference  to  the  movement  which  resulted  in 
the  formation  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  strikes  one  as  remarkable. 


46  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

Navarre  at  war  Francis  had  escaped,  only  to  find  himself 
engulfed  in  this  maelstrom  of  religious  and  intellectual  strife. 
The  lad  was  now  nineteen — dark,  athletic,  and  very 
pleasing  to  look  upon.  We  can  well  imagine  with  what 
eagerness  the  young  freshman  flung  off  his  Spanish  cloak, 
donned  the  long  black  cape  and  pointed  hat  of  the  Parisian 
student,  and  set  out  to  explore  the  place  which  for  the  next 
eleven  years  was  to  be  his  Alma  Mater. 

I  was  the  Dreamer,  they  the  Dream  ;  I  roamed 
Delighted  through  the  motley  spectacle  ; 
Gowns  grave,  or  gaudy,  doctors,  students,  streets, 
Courts,  cloisters,  flocks  of  churches,  gateways,  towers  : 
Migration  strange  for  a  stripling  of  the  hills.  .  .  .* 

During  his  earliest  days  in  Paris  Francis  doubtless  found 
himself  besieged  by  such  companions  as  were  always  ready 
to  befriend  the  bejaunes.^  Eagerly  they  would  show  him 
the  sights  of  the  town,  and  assist  him  to  spend  his  full  purse. 
One  of  the  chief  expeditions  was  to  the  towers  of  the 
church  of  Notre-Dame,  whence — lacking  a  Baedeker — the 
newcomer  could  gain  the  best  idea  of  his  surroundings.  Let 
us  ascend  those  narrow  spiral  stairs  with  Francis  and  his 
fellows,  and  look  down  upon  sixteenth-century  Paris.  The 
great  trefoil,  city,  university,  town,  lies  before  us,  inter- 
penetrating yet  distinct.  On  the  old  shields  of  the  Cite 
there  is  blazoned  a  ship.  Sauval  explains  the  origin  of  the 
device  in  these  words  :  "  The  island  of  the  city  is  made  like  a 
great  ship,  stuck  in  the  mud  and  run  aground  in  the  current, 
near  the  centre  of  the  Seine."  Near  the  prow  stand  the 
delicately  poised  spires  of  the  Sainte  Chapelle,  and  close  by, 
from  the  water's  edge,  where  the  laundresses  wash  and  beat 
their  linen  and  laugh  and  sing,  rise  the  towers  of  the  Palace 
of  Justice.  The  river  is  hardly  visible,  for  every  bridge  is 
laden  with  houses.  We  can  picture  Francis*  companions 
showing  him  the  boundaries  of  the  city  ;  within  its  walls  he 
could  distinguish  more  than  twenty  churches.  "  There," 
says  Victor  Hugo,  "  on  the  right  and  the  left  to  east  and  west, 
within  the  walls  of  the  city,  which  was  yet  so  contracted, 
rose  the  bell-towers  of  its  one  and  twenty  churches,  of  every 
date,  of  every  form,  of  every  size,  from  the  low  and  worm- 

*  Wordsworth,  Prelude,  book  iii.  line  30. 

f  Bejaune,  bec-jaune :  yellow  bill  :  freshman. 


AT  THE  COLLEGE  OF  STE.  BARBE  47 

eaten  belfry  of  St.  Denis  du  Pas  to  the  slender  needles  of  St. 
Pierre  aux  Bueufs  and  Saint  Landry" 

And  there,  to  the  west,  the  autumn  foliage  reddens  in  the 
king's  gardens,  and  the  falling  leaves  begin  to  reveal  the 
lie  du  Passeur.  The  king  is  a  prisoner  in  Madrid,  but  the 
gardens  are  not  quite  deserted.  His  mother,  the  Queen 
Regent,  at  this  time  more  devoted  to  the  Pope  than  to  the 
reformers,  takes  her  pleasure  there,  after  anxious  days 
and  weeks.  The  trial  against  the  Lutherans  has  been  so  far 
successful ;  the  worst  of  the  heretics  are  in  prison.  With 
the  preachers  of  Meaux  she  and  her  friends  had  been  less 
fortunate.  Brisonnet  certainly  had  accepted  defeat,  and 
forfeited  for  ever  a  place  either  at  the  right  hand  or  the 
left  of  Luther  ;  but  the  more  fervent  members  of  the  group 
has  escaped,  and  were  at  this  moment  hiding  in  Capito's 
house  in  Strasburg.*  Le  Fevre's  New  Testament — which  she 
and  her  daughter,  Margaret  of  Angouleme,  had,  in  another 
mood,  urged  him  to  undertake — was  safely  in  the  fire.  But 
it  would  be  on  the  university,  and  not  on  the  king's  gardens, 
that  the  gaze  of  the  young  Navarrese  would  rest  longest. 
Did  he  look  down  on  that  unbroken  mass  of  houses  and 
colleges  with  a  feeling  of  ownership,  of  boyish  pride  ? 
Did  wistful  ambition  surge  through  heart  and  mind  as  he 
stood  there,  a  little  apart  from  his  gay  companions  ?  Down 
among  the  colleges  he  could  see  the  abbeys  of  the  Mathurins, 
the  Bernardins,  the  Augustins.  There  rose  the  square  tower 
of  Ste.  Genevieve,  and  yonder  stood  the  Sorbonne  itself. 
The  old  dreams  of  ecclesiastical  honours,  which,  realised, 
must  justify  him  in  the  eyes  of  his  house  for  having  renounced 
a  life  of  soldiery,  surely  seemed  nearer  fulfilment  now.  There 
lay  the  abbeys.  What  if  up  here,  on  the  pinnacle  of  the 

*  Brisonnet,  Bishop  of  Meaux,  and  his  more  worthy  followers  are  known 
as  the  "  group  of  Meaux."  Among  them  were  Le  Fevre  d'Etaples,  the  bishop's 
old  tutor  ;  Vatable,  the  Hebrew  scholar ;  Facel ;  Roussel.  They  were  separate 
from  the  Lutheran  party,  and  although  d'Etaples  had  anticipated,  in  his 
commentary  on  1  Corinthians,  Luther's  teaching  on  faith  and  works,  and 
had,  in  his  commentary  on  Hebrews,  denied  the  doctrine  of  Transubstantiation 
— while  admitting  the  Real  Presence — yet  the  group  were  more  independent  of 
doctrine  than  the  German  reformers,  and  expended  their  energy  chiefly  on 
*'  preaching  Christ  from  the  sources."  For  some  years  they  preached  un- 
disturbed, and  then,  most  naturally,  but  apparently  somewhat  to  the  chagrin 
of  the  Bishop,  the  theological  faculty  at  Paris  began  to  identify  their  religion 
with  Luther's.  Meaux  issued  a  decree  against  Lutheranism,  while  continuing 
his  work  of  reform,  but  in  1525  he  gave  up  the  difficult  struggle. — (See  Ranke, 
Wcrke,  Band  8,  p.  111.) 


48  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

temple,  one  should  be  standing  now — hush,  you  boisterous 
boys — we  will  go  down  presently  to  the  cabaret  and  drink  at 
my  expense — one,  Francis  Xavier,  who  will  in  time  be 
abbot,  cardinal,  Pope  ?  .  .  . 

"  What  is  that  ?  "  he  cries,  as  his  impatient  guides  drag 
him  towards  the  staircase.  He  has  seen  a  strange  white  cliff, 
so  high,  so  wrapped  in  the  October  mists,  that  it  seems 
almost  to  be  hung,  like  a  drifting  cloud,  in  the  sky — a  mass  of 
turrets  and  windmills — but  so  soft,  so  dreamlike,  that  he 
fears  it  will  be  gone  before  they  answer  him. 

"  That  is  Mons  Marty  rum.  There,  in  the  crypt  of  the 
church  of  Our  Lady,  lie  the  bones  of  good  Saint  Denis. 
Come  away  down  to  the  tavern,  senor." 

Yes,  Francis,  that  is  Mons  Martyrum.  And  there,  at  the 
close  of  your  student  life,  you  will  take  the  cup  of  salvation 
and  pay  your  vows  unto  the  Lord. 

If  the  afternoon  on  the  towers  of  Notre-Dame  was  a 
delight  to  eye  and  mind,  the  hours  in  the  college  class-rooms 
must,  on  the  contrary,  have  been  a  hard  trial  to  one  whom 
we  know  to  have  been  fastidious  in  his  manners  and  tastes. 
The  college  itself  was  dark  and  ill-ventilated,  and  bounded 
by  narrow  streets  that  reeked  with  offal.  The  lectures 
began  at  5  a.m.  In  1452  benches  had  been  prohibited,  and 
scholars  bidden  to  sit  on  the  floor — for  humility's  sake,* 
the  authorities  said,  being  too  proud  to  confess  that  they 
were  short  of  money.  So  on  the  floor  Francis  sat,  on  straw 
in  winter,  and  on  mown  grass  in  summer,  while  the  regent, 
rod  in  hand,  lectured  from  his  solitary  chair.  Here  and 
there  a  lamp  reeked,  and  round  it  clustered  a  knot  of  students 
who  took  notes,  or  wrote  letters  to  their  mothers  or  their 
sweethearts.  In  1491  an  order  had  been  issued  advising 
that  one  of  the  morning  lectures  each  day  should  be  devoted 
to  dictation.  Each  student  was  to  be  given  an  allowance  of 
three  sheets  of  paper  per  week.f  Some  of  the  students 
were  not  half-way  through  their  teens ;  others  were  middle- 
aged  men.  Some  were  there  to  learn,  many  to  rest,  to 
write,  to  read,  or  to  fool.  From  time  to  time  the  professor 

*  "  They  shall  sit  in  the  presence  of  the  masters  on  the  ground,  not  on 
benches  or  seats  raised  above  the  ground  as  in  time  past,  when  the  study  of 
the  said  faculty  was  more  flourishing."  (Bulaeus,  vol.  iv.  p.  390,  and  vol.  v. 
p.  573.  "  Bulaeus  was  perhaps  the  stupidest  man  that  ever  wrote  a  valuable 
book,"  says  Rashdall.) 

t  Quiclierat,  Histoire  de  Sic.  Barbe,  p.  87. 


AT  THE  COLLEGE  OF  STE.  BARBE  49 

would  rise,  thread  his  way  through  the  black  cloaked  figures, 
and  single  out  a  special  offender  for  punishment.  Montaigne, 
with  good  reason,  pitied  these  poor  young  students  : 

It  is  a  verie  prison  of  captivated  youth,  and  proves  dissolute, 
in  punishing  before  it  be  so.  Come  upon  them  when  they  are 
going  to  their  lesson,  and  you  heare  nothing  but  whipping  and 
brawling,  both  of  children  tormented,  and  masters  besotted 
with  anger  and  chafing.  How  wide  are  they,  which  go  about  to 
allure  a  child's  mind  to  go  to  his  booke,  being  yet  but  tender  and 
fearfull,  with  a  stearne — frowning  countenance,  and  with  handsfull 
of  rods.* 

Vives,  the  great  educationist,  has  very  severe  things 
to  say  about  the  education  in  the  university  of  Paris  in  those 
days.  "  One  discusses  before  dinner,  during  dinner,  after 
dinner,  in  public,  in  private,  in  all  places,  at  all  times.  One 
ends  by  discussing  as  to  whether  the  pig  is  led  to  market  by 
the  man  who  is  taking  it,  or  by  the  string  he  holds."  In  his 
Dialogus  qui  Sapiens  inscribitur  he  portrays  a  scene  which 
is  supposed  to  have  occurred  in  one  of  the  class-rooms  in 
Ste.  Barbe  : 

MASTER  :  Boy,  tell  me  in  what  month  Virgil  died  ? 

PUPIL  :  September,  sir. 

MASTER  :  In  what  place  ? 

PUPIL  :  At  Brindisi. 

MASTER  :  On  what  day  of  the  month  ? 

PUPIL  :  Ninth  of  the  month. 

MASTER  :  Idiot,  do  you  wish  to  make  a  fool  of  me  before  these 
gentlemen  ?  Reach  me  my  rod,  pull  back  your  sleeve  and  hold 
out  your  hand  for  having  said  the  ninth  instead  of  the  tenth. 
Try  to  pay  more  attention.  You  all  see,  gentlemen,  that  this  is 
a  boy  who  knows  a  lot.  Did  Sallust  at  the  beginning  of  his 
Catilina  write  omnies  homines  or  omnis  homines  ? 

PUPIL  :  The  general  opinion  is  that  he  wrote  omnis,  but  I 
think  he  wrote  omnies,  and  that  so  it  was  necessary  for  the  printer 
to  break  the  customary  rule,  and  spell  it  with  an  "  ie  "  and  not 
with  a  simple  "  i." 

MASTER  :  What  was  the  brother  of  Remus  called,  and  how  did 
he  wear  his  beard  ? 

PUPIL  :  Some,  my  master,  say  that  he  was  called  Romulus, 
others  Romus,  whence  the  name  of  Rome,  and,  as  a  term  of 
affection,  the  diminutive  Romulus.  When  he  went  to  the  war  he 

*  Montaigne's  Essays,  book  i.  chap.  xxv.  (Florio's  translation). 

D 


50  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

had  no  beard,  but  he  had  a  long  one  in  times  of  peace.  It  is 
thus  that  he  is  represented  in  colour  in  the  Livy  printed  in  Venice. 

MASTER  :  How  did  Alexander  raise  himself  when  he  fell  on 
the  earth  in  touching  for  the  first  time  Asiatic  soil  ? 

PUPIL  :  By  leaning  on  his  hands  and  raising  his  head.* 

Surely  Francis  was  recalling  such  hours  when,  years  after- 
wards, he  wrote  from  India  that  he  often  had  a  mind  to 
come  to  Europe,  to  Paris,  above  all  to  the  university,  and 
"  shout  aloud  like  a  madman  who  had  lost  his  senses  "  to  the 
students,  reminding  them  of  the  things  that  really  mattered  .f 

Ribadeneira,  Loyola's  contemporary  biographer,  has  given 
us  a  succinct  account  of  a  normal  day  at  college  : 

Rise  at  four,  at  five  lecture,  followed  by  mass,  and  breakfast 
composed  of  a  roll.  From  eight  to  ten  lecture ;  at  eleven  masters 
and  pupils  dine  together,  while  parts  of  the  Bible  or  the  Lives 
of  the  Saints  were  read  aloud.  Then,  for  recreation,  the  reading 
of  poetry  and  questions  on  the  preceding  lesson.  Another 
class  from  three  to  five ;  at  six  supper,  repetition,  salut  du  Sainct- 
Sacrement,  and  to  bed.t 

This  probably  gives  a  fairly  accurate  description  of  the 
tenor  of  Xavier's  first  four  years  at  the  university.  He 
was  enrolled  as  a  cameriste-portioniste — that  is,  he  paid  both 
for  food  and  for  lodging,  and  boarded  with  the  principal, 
who  was  required  "  diligently  to  hear  the  lessons  of  the 
scholars  studying  in  the  Faculty  of  Arts,  and  faithfully  to 
instruct  them  alike  in  life  and  in  doctrine."  §  There  were 
various  other  kinds  of  students.  Bursars  were  taught, 
lodged,  and  fed  free  of  charge.  Cameristes  fed  themselves, 
but  were  provided  with  lodging  under  charge  of  certain 
regents  known  as  pedagogues.  Besides  all  these,  there  was 
a  large  body  of  outside  students  known  as  martinets^  who 
attended  the  classes  if  they  had  time  or  inclination,  or  any 
special  mischief  in  hand.  These  men  formed  the  hooligan 
element,  which  at  that  time  made  up  a  considerable  part  of 

*  Joannes  Ludovicus  Vives,  Opera  Omnia  (Valentia,  1783),  vol.  iv.  pp.  23 
and  24. 

f  Mon.  Hist.  Soc.  Jesu,  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  I.,  p.  285. 

J  Vida  de  P.  Ignatius  de  Loyola  (French  Edition,  Paris,  1891),  p.  133. 

§  Bulaeus,  vol.  iv.  p.  93  (quoted  by  H.  Rashdall). 

||  In  1463  the  Faculty  of  Arts  ordered  all  students  who  did  not  board  with 
relatives,  or  in  the  house  of  some  responsible  member  of  the  university,  to  live 
inside  the  colleges  or  pedagogies.  See  Bulaeus,  vol.  v.  p.  658.  Those  who 
evaded  this  rule  were  the  martinets — birds  of  passage.  Cf.  the  Chamber- 
dekyns  of  mediaeval  Oxford. 


AT  THE  COLLEGE  OF  STE.  BARBE  51 

university  life.  To  the  inner  ring  of  this  group  belonged  the 
galoches.  They  trailed  their  noisy  sabots  through  the 
colleges  at  all  seasons,  a  lazy  unkempt  crew,  never  taking 
any  examinations,  grey-haired  parasites  and  loafers.  A  few 
of  them,  however,  hired  themselves  out  to  the  wealthier 
students  as  servants.  Such  was  Miguel  the  Navarrese, 
Francis  Xavier's  man,  "  a  sad  person  of  low  birth  and  an 
evil  life."  There  was  yet  another  class,  the  serviteurs, 
sons  of  the  poorest  citizens,  and  they,  in  return  for  washing 
and  scrubbing  the  floors  and  doing  the  humblest  work  of  the 
house,  were  allowed  to  attend  any  of  the  classes  they  chose. 

Francis,  like  all  students  with  serious  ambitions,  elected 
to  take  the  Arts  course,  which  led  up  to  the  protracted 
theological  studies.  To  gain  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts, 
the  student  had  first  an  examination  in  Greek,  history, 
grammar,  and  Latin  versification.  One  or  two  years, 
mostly  occupied  with  logic,  followed,  and  then  came  the 
examination  for  Bachelorship.  A  year  later*  the  student 
submitted  himself  for  the  licentiateship  examination.  This 
examination  passed,  there  followed  a  sort  of  minor  gradua- 
tion ceremony,  a  diploma  was  publicly  given,  and  the 
chancellor,  in  his  robes  of  state,  bestowed  the  Apostolic 
blessing.  Towards  the  end  of  the  same  year  it  was  in  order 
for  the  student  to  ask  for  the  "  bonnet,"  and  to  be  officially 
and  publicly  designated  Master.  "  Placet  ne  vobis  talem, 
licentium  biretari  ?  "  said  the  professor.  "  Placet,"  replied  the 
other  masters.  So  the  graduation  ceremony  was  called  Placet. 

Thus  the  student  became  a  magister  novus.  He  was  not  a 
full  Master,  or  Master  Regent,  until  he  had  been  appointed 
as  professor  in  one  of  the  colleges.  These  posts  were  nearly 
always  occupied  by  youths  on  their  way  to  graduate  in  one 
of  the  higher  faculties,  and  they  were  only  held  from  year 
to  year.f 

The  value  of  university  degrees  in  those  days  is  very 
uncertain.  The  registers  at  Paris  show  that  candidates 
were  hardly  ever  rejected.  On  the  other  hand,  the  students 
appear  to  have  been  weeded  out  by  various  processes  before 
they  took  the  actual  examinations.  Rashdall  computes  J 

*  The  intervals  between  these  different  examinations  appear  to  have 
varied  considerably,  and  by  the  sixteenth  century  the  whole  curriculum, 
which  had  originally  occupied  44-  years,  was  reduced  to  3£  years. 

t  H.  Rashdall,  Universities  of  Mediaeval  Europe,  vol.  i.  p.  457  ff. 

$  Ibid.,  p.  462. 

D2 


52  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

that  only  half,  at  the  outside,  of  the  students  who  matricu- 
lated in  Arts  took  their  Bachelor's  examination,  and  that 
of  these  only  a  small  proportion  became  Masters.  If  a 
student  was  rejected  by  the  examiners,  it  was  generally  on 
moral  grounds.* 

The  college  of  Ste.  Barbe  was  informally  founded  in  1460 
by  Geoffrey  Lenormant.  Colleges  were  usually  called  after 
their  founders,  but  this  man  appears  to  have  been  graced 
by  an  unusual  modesty,  and  gave  it  the  name  of  a  saint. 
Ste.  Barbara,  like  St.  Catherine,  is  supposed  to  have  confuted 
the  pagan  doctors.  But  we  have  here  as  well  a  characteristic 
mediaeval  double- entendre,  for  Barbara  is  the  name  of  a  form 
of  syllogism. 

There  was  no  college  in  Paris  at  that  time  with  such  a 
high  reputation  as  Ste.  Barbe.  It  had  been  compared  to  the 
wooden  horse  of  Troy,  because  it  had  within  itself  such  a 
number  of  great  men.  Francis  was  very  probably  advised 
to  go  there  by  his  uncle,  the  scholarly  Doctor  of  Navarre. 
Between  the  Doctor  and  his  nephew,  as  will  be  seen  from 
later  letters,  there  existed  a  deep  affection.  He  may  simply 
have  gone  there  because  it  was  a  favourite  college  among 
Spaniards  and  Portuguese. 

Jacques  de  Gouvea,  the  principal,  was  a  Portuguese,  and 
one  of  the  most  progressive  members  of  the  university ;  to 
him,  indeed,  his  college  was  largely  indebted  for  its  high 
position  at  this  time.  He  saw,  almost  before  anyone  else, 
the  crying  need  for  young  men  who  would  go  out  to  the 
notoriously  lawless  and  demoralised  new  colonies  as  priests 
and  missionaries,  and  he  used  all  his  influence  with  his  kings 
to  get  them  to  provide  education  at  Ste.  Barbe  for  that  pur- 
pose. About  a  year  after  Xavier's  arrival  in  Paris,  Gouvea 
succeeded  in  renting  the  college  in  the  interests  of  John  III., 
and  fifteen  bursaries  were  given  by  Portugal  for  missionary 
students.  Yet,  in  spite  of  the  large  proportion  of  Iberians, 

*  On  this  point  Rashdall  says  :  "  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  degree 
was  not  a  mere  certificate  of  having  passed  an  examination,  but  the  admission 
to  an  official  position  (i.e.,  that  of  regent).  Thus  at  Vienna  we  find  that  in 
1449  out  of  43  candidates  for  the  licence  seventeen  were  rejected,  one  for 
having  spoken  uncivilly  to  a  master,  another  for  irregularities  in  the  matter 
of  academical  dress,  another  for  going  out  to  see  an  execution  in  the  midst 
of  an  examination,  another  for  going  about  disguised,  and  for  the  heinous 
offence  of  wandering  by  the  Danube,  another  for  gambling,  another  for 
taking  part  in  a  knife  fight  with  certain  tailors,  none  apparently  for  failure 
in  the  literary  part  of  the  examination"  (op.  cit.  I.  p.  461). 


AT  THE  COLLEGE  OF  STE.  BARBE  53 

the  college  was  the  most  cosmopolitan  in  the  university. 
It  had  the  best  of  both  the  Scottish  and  the  French  students. 
And,  most  portentous  fact  for  Francis,  Loyola  the  Basque 
was  soon  to  be  there,  lucerna  ardens  et  lucens.  Only  Germany 
was  ill-represented.  For  most  of  her  sons  Paris  had  become 
a  dead  branch. 

During  the  whole  of  Xavier's  first  winter  session  the  king, 
Francis  I.,  was  a  prisoner  in  Spain,  and  the  discipline,  both 
in  town  and  university,  was  even  more  lax  than  usual. 
Orders  were  issued  and  reissued,  but  the  authority  of  the 
university  could  no  longer  cope  with  the  rising  tide  of  life, 
nor  with  its  inevitable  froth  of  lawlessness  and  folly.* 

We  have  but  little  direct  evidence  as  to  the  life  of  Francis 
during  those  first  college  years.  His  earlier  biographers 
have  paid  but  scant  attention  to  that  part  of  his  life.  That 
he  worked  well  is  evident.  It  is  evident,  too,  that  he  had 
that  usual  quality  of  genius,  a  power  of  friendship  with  widely 
different  types  of  men.  The  closest  of  his  friends  was 
probably  Peter  Faber.  With  something  of  the  same  love 
and  wonder  which  some  of  the  best  men  of  his  time  betray 
when  speaking  of  George  Meredith,  we  find  Faber's  lovers 
and  friends  speaking  and  writing  of  him.  He  and  Francis 
found  themselves  freshmen  together,  sharing  the  same 
room.  And  when  the  young  hidalgo  from  Xavier  was  not 
following,  albeit  with  reluctant  feet,  the  dubious  ways  of 
his  more  turbulent  companions,  he  often  sat  and  talked  far 
into  the  night  with  the  wise  and  gentle-souled  shepherd  lad. 
Faber  had  been  born  in  the  same  year  as  Francis,  but  in 
very  different  circumstances.  He  grew  up  to  tend  his 
father's  sheep  on  his  native  heights  of  Savoy.  He  was  neither 
the  first  nor  the  last  shepherd  lad  to  turn  saint  and  scholar. 
Among  his  writings  is  the  beautiful  Memorial,  an  auto- 
biography of  part  of  his  life.  In  it  we  find  these  words  : 

I  went  to  Paris  to  the  College  of  Ste.  Barbe  in  the  year  1525. 
I  was  nineteen.  ...  I  pray  to  God  that  He  may  ever  keep  me  in 
grateful  remembrance  of  the  good  things  He  gave  to  me,  both 
bodily  and  spiritually,  by  various  means,  during  those  three 
and  a  half  years.  I  put  among  the  foremost  of  my  mercies 
that  I  had  such  a  master,  and  that  I  found  in  the  room  of  his 
college  in  which  I  was  installed  such  good  companionship  :  I 

*  See  Crevier,  Histoire  de  Vuniversite  de  Paris,  vol.  v.  p.  191 ;  see  also 
Journal  tfun  Bourgeois  de  Paris,  p.  272. 


54  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

speak  above  all  of  Master  Francis  Xavier,  who  is  of  the  Company 
of  Jesus.* 

Many  years  afterwards,  when  he  was  in  Cochin,  in  1548, 
Francis  writes  of  Faber  as  the  dearest  of  all  the  departed 
souls  of  the  Company. f 

Mathurin  Cordier,  to  whom  Doumergue,  the  biographer  of 
Calvin,  gives  a  place  of  honour  as  among  the  most  potent 
influences  of  the  great  reformer's  student  days,t  was  almost 
certainly  one  of  Xavier' s  professors.  Cordier  did  not  join 
the  reformers  till  about  1528,  though  long  before  that  time 
he  himself  had  been,  in  the  deepest  sense  of  the  word,  a  re- 
former. His  orthodoxy  probably  gave  him  a  greater  influ- 
ence over  Francis  than  he  would  otherwise  have  had,  and 
there  are  passages  in  the  letters  from  India  curiously  akin 
to  the  following  passage  from  the  writings  of  Cordier : 

In  the  schools  of  this  city  Christ  is  so  neglected  !  There  is  so 
little  care  for  the  Word  of  God  !  How  many  of  the  masters  are 
there  who  lead  their  pupils,  in  their  rooms  or  at  the  lectures,  to 
the  love  of  God,  or  the  study  of  things  divine  ?  How  many  of 
them  prefer  a  student  who  is  virtuous  and  honourable  to  one 
who  is  learned  and  clever  with  his  pen  ?  What  teacher  is  there 
who  places  love  above  gain  ?  .  .  .  Why  do  you  force  the  students  ? 
Why  do  you  struggle  with  them  ?  Why  do  you  torture  them  ? 
Do  you  wish  to  teach  them  easily  ?  Begin  with  principles. 
Begin  with  speaking  of  God  and  of  the  things  of  heaven.  Teach 
these  boys ;  do  not  leave  them  to  themselves ;  but  by  divine  grace, 
lead  them,  I  say,  to  love  the  Christ,  to  breathe  the  Christ,  to  have 
the  Christ  on  their  lips.  Pour  it,  as  it  were,  drop  by  drop  on  the 
souls  of  your  pupils :  make  it  enter  and  penetrate  into  them. 
Inculcate  them  so  assiduously  with  the  Word  of  God  that  they 
shall  be  at  least  touched  with  some  spark  of  the  Love  Divine.§ 

Another  great  man  whom  Xavier  must  often  have  met  was 
George  Buchanan,  who  had  arrived  in  Paris  for  the  first  time 
in  1520,  and  was  more  or  less  connected  with  the  university 
for  many  years.  It  was  he  who,  along  with  Mathurin 
Cordier  and  S  treble,  achieved  the  classical  revival  at 
Ste.  Barbe.  There,  in  1529,  he  was  regent  or  professor,  and 
therefore  in  the  same  house  with  Xavier  and  Loyola.  One 

*  P.  Faber,  Fabri  Monumenla,  Memoriale,  p.  493. 
Mew.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  436. 


J   1VJ.UH.   A.UV.,    VU1.    1.    \J.   -*OU. 

J  See  Calvin's  preface  to  his  book  on  Thessalonians,  Opera  xiii.  p.  525. 
§  Quoted  by  Doumergue,  Vie  de  Jean  Calvin,  vol.  i.  p.  60. 


AT  THE  COLLEGE  OF  STE.  BARBE  55 

wonders  if  that  most  astute  fisher  of  men,  the  great  founder 
of  the  Order  of  the  Jesuits,  ever  set  his  nets  for  George 
Buchanan.  Did  Loyola  know  the  measure  of  his  power, 
and  shun  defeat ;  did  he  weigh  the  Scottish  humanist  and 
find  him  wanting  in  that  which  he  required,  or  was  he  in  this 
instance  blind  to  what  lay,  perhaps,  within  his  grasp  ?  For 
Buchanan  was  in  these  days  of  the  stuff  of  which  the  Counter- 
Reformers  were  compact :  intellectual,  a  man  steeped  in 
affairs,  a  seeker  of  truth,  a  malcontent,  yet  no  Lutheran. 

Erasmus  had  been  in  Paris  some  years  earlier,  but  the 
study  of  Greek  had  then  scarcely  begun,  and  the  fare  and 
lodging  disgusted  one  whose  fastidiousness  was  in  advance 
of  his  times.  "  I  carried  nothing  away  from  Paris,"  he  says 
in  his  IctJtophagia,  "  but  a  body  infested  with  disease,  and  a 
plentiful  supply  of  vermin." 

Scholars  passed  and  repassed  across  the  Channel.  While 
Erasmus  came  to  Oxford,  John  Major  and  Florence  Wilson 
and  a  host  of  lesser  stars  followed  in  the  train  of  Buchanan 
to  Paris.  Some  of  those  Scotsmen  most  likely  saw,  if  they 
did  not  meet,  the  theologian  who  has  since  become  almost  the 
special  property  of  their  race.  Although  Quicherat  *  and 
Ribadeneira  f  claim  Calvin  for  Ste.  Barbe,  the  colleges 
associated  with  his  early  university  life  are  la  Marche  and 
Montaigu,  which  latter  he  left  about  the  same  time  as  Loyola 
arrived .J  It  is  curious  to  think  of  CalvhYs  remaining  in 
this  extreme  conservative  atmosphere  for  so  long,  while 
Loyola  only  went  there  for  a  short  period,  and  then  gravitated 
the  more  liberal  Ste.  Barbe.  The  college  of  Montaigu 
at  that  time  the  most  reactionary  man  in  the  university 
principal.  This  was  Noel  Beda  ;  Erasmus  said  that  in 
>ne  Beda  there  were  three  thousand  monks.  He  seems  to 
have  combined  intellectual  mediocrity  with  a  vast  conviction 
of  the  Tightness  of  his  own  opinions.  Even  his  friends 
disapproved  of  his  excess  of  retrogressive  zeal,  and  Francis  I., 
after  making  various  complaints,  finally  ordered  the  univer- 
sity to  expel  him  because  he  had  condemned  a  book  written 
by  Margaret  of  Navarre.  The  college  itself  seems  to  have 
been  even  more  disagreeable  than  the  principal.  It  was 

*  Quicherat,  Histoire  de  Ste.  Barbe,  vol.  i.  p.  204. 

f  La  Vie  de  S.  Ignatius  de  Loyola,  apres  Ribadeneira,  p.  138. 

j  Doumergue,  Jean  Calvin,  vol.  i.  p.  59,  note  ;  T.  M.  Lindsay,  History  of 
the  Reformation,  vol.  ii.  pp.  93-4  ;  and  H.  Y.  Reyburn,  John  Calvin,  London, 
1914,  p.  10. 


56  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

famous  for  its  exaggerated  asceticism,  its  ceaseless  punish- 
ments, its  indescribable  filth,  and  its  unrelenting  studies.* 
And  Erasmus  writes  of  it : 

the  beds  were  so  hard,  the  food  so  meagre,  the  labours  so  exacting 
that  many  youths  of  splendid  promise,  after  the  first  years  of 
their  sojourn  in  this  college,  became  mad  or  blind  or  leprous,  if 
they  did  not  die.  Some  of  the  bedrooms,  because  they  were 
close  to  the  lavatories,  were  so  dirty  and  infected  that  none  of 
those  who  lodged  there  came  away  alive,  or  without  the  germ  of 
some  grave  disease  .  .  .  Oh,  how  many  rotten  eggs  I  ate  there, 
and  how  much  mouldy  wine  I  drank  !  f 

There  is  a  letter  extant  which,  as  if  to  make  up  for  the 
singularly  rare  glimpses  possible  into  the  youth  of  Xavier, 
gives  us  a  picture  both  intimate  and  sad.  It  shows  to  us, 
too,  that  the  repulsive  physical  surroundings  in  the  university, 
of  which  Erasmus  has  given  'us  so  vivid  a  picture,  were 
matched  by  the  moral  atmosphere  of  the  colleges.  This 
letter  is  written  after  Xavier's  death  by  a  priest  near  Melia- 
por,  to  whom  the  Saint  had  given  one  of  his  few  personal 
confidences : 

Talking  to  me,  he  told  me  the  story  of  his  life  from  his  earliest 
years  until  that  time.  He  spoke  of  his  native  land,  of  his  father 
and  mother,  of  the  age  at  which  he  went  to  Paris,  and  of  what 
happened  to  him  there.  And  d  propos  of  the  students'  way  of 
living,  he  told  me  that  they — and  the  professors  too — were  very 
dissipated.  Often  they  went  out  at  night  from  the  college  and 
led  him  with  them.  But  Francis  was  seized  with  such  a  dread 
of  sharing  in  their  physical  ruin  that  he  did  not  dare  to  behave  as 
they  did.  This  fear  sustained  him  for  one  or  two  years.  Then 
the  Professor  died  as  a  result  of  his  excesses,  and  was  succeeded 
by  a  pure  and  virtuous  Master  (Juan  Pena),  whose  good  example 
Francis  followed,  so  that  never,  from  that  day  onward,  had  he 
such  acquaintances  as  these  were.J: 

At  this  time  Francis'  sympathies  lay  with  the  Lutherans, 
and  he  frequented  their  society.  To  do  so  implied  either 
great  bravery  or  great  recklessness,  for  the  martyrs  had 
already  begun  to  burn.  The  following  extract  gives  but  one 
story  among  many  of  its  kind : 

*  See  Doumergue,  Vie  de  Jean  Calvin,  vol.  i.  p.  69. 

f  Quoted  by  Doumergue,  op.  cit.,  vol.  i.  p.  72. 

j  Delplace,  Sel.  Ind.  Epist.  (Florence,  1887),  p.  180. 


AT  THE  COLLEGE  OF  STE.  BARBE  57 

In  the  said  year  1526,  on  Tuesday,  August  28th,  a  young  man, 
a  beneficed  scholar,  not  yet  in  priest's  orders,  but  a  Master  of 
Arts  .  .  .  native  of  Theronne  in  Picardy,  because  he  was  a 
Lutheran,  saying  that  the  Virgin  Mary  had  no  more  power  than 
any  other  saint,  with  several  other  follies,  and  who  persisted, 
although  he  was  warned,  and  counselled  by  the  chief  confessor 
of  Paris,  M.  Jean  Merlin,  Doc.Theo.,  died  in  this  error.  .  .  .  He 
had,  on  the  previous  Christmas  Eve,  made  honourable  repentance, 
a  burning  torch  in  his  hand,  naked  but  for  his  shirt,  before  the 
Church  of  Notre-Dame,  begging  God  and  the  Virgin  to  have  mercy 
on  him,  for  the  many  errors  and  follies  which  he  had  held  and 
taught,  and  which  he  repented  and  deplored.  Thereupon  he  was 
condemned  to  seven  years'  imprisonment  in  the  prison  of  St. 
Martin  des  Champs,  in  Paris,  living  on  bread  and  water,  by  order 
of  the  court.  But  having  entered  the  said  prison,  he  returned  to 
his  errors  and  follies.  So  that,  finally,  the  said  court,  advised  by 
the  prior  of  St.  Martin  and  others,  tried  and  condemned  him,  as 
before,  to  be  burnt.* 

And  while  he  read  the  writings  of  Luther,  and  loved  the 
Lutherans,  and  loved  still  more  the  shepherd  lad  who  had 
vowed  perpetual  celibacy  and  had  dedicated  himself  to 
the  priesthood,  while  he  passed  all  his  examinations  and 
associated  with  the  best  and  the  worst  men  of  his  college, 
Xavier  still  found  ample  time  to  devote  to  his  tailor.  Old 
Tursellinus  says:  "Francis,  desirous,  as  usual,  to  maintain 
his  nobility  and  estimation  among  his  equals,  fell  into  extra- 
ordinary expense,  for  which  cause  his  fatherf  began  to  think 
of  calling  him  home."  And  his  biographer  goes  on  to  relate 
how  his  sister  Madeline,  a  nun,  wrote :  "  Do  not  do  this ;  rather 
help  my  brother  Francis  with  his  studies,  for  I  am  sure  that 
he  will  become  a  great  servant  of  God  and  a  pillar  of  the 
Church."  t 

When  we  know  that  the  family  of  Xavier  was  now  ex- 
tremely poor,  that  Francis*  mother  had  exhausted  all  her 
resources  in  the  law  courts  in  the  attempt  to  get  hold  of  the 
sums  which  had  been  promised  to  her,  we  can  understand 
the  desire  on  the  part  of  his  family  to  see  the  youngest  son 
at  home  and  making  money,  and  their  reluctance  to  pay  for 
his  education  and  his  extravagances.  But  this  advice  from 

*  Journal  (Tun  Bourgeois  de  Paris,  p.  292. 

f  His  father,  Tursellinus  had  forgotten,  or  had  not  known,  was  long 
since  dead.  He  had  probably  confused  him  with  the  eldest  son  of  the  family, 
who  bore  the  same  name. 

J  See  Tursellinus,  Book  I.,  cap.  2  ;  also  Cros,  Documents  Nouveaux,  p.  266. 


58  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

Madeline  the  nun  appears  to  have  been  taken,  and  Tursel- 
linus  says  that  in  his  day  the  prophetic  letter  was  still  to  be 
seen  among  the  family  treasures  at  Xavier. 

About  this  time  both  Francis'  brothers  married,  and  in 
1529  his  mother  died,  and  the  old  home  was  broken  up. 

It  was  just  during  those  months,  which  must  have  been  the 
loneliest  of  his  life,  that  he  found  himself  beginning  to  stir 
beneath  the  supreme  fascinations  of  Ignatius  Loyola. 


SIGNATURE    OF   LOYOLA, 


IGNATIUS  LOYOLA  SETS  OUT  FOR 
MONTSERRAT 


£  lomo  &  cotmdhone  Jua,  exit,rectuaut 
aa,  Virainis  ternvluni  mmuUs  re&we^ 
Serrahun  contenfak. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   FOUNDATION    OF   THE    ORDER 

(1528—1534) 

ONE  February  day  in  1528  there  entered  Paris,  driving 
before  him  an  ass  laden  with  books,  the  radiant  knight  of 
the  Church  in  distress  who  was  to  win  Francis  from  his 
earlier  dreams.* 

On  the  face  of  it  there  was  small  likelihood  that  Ignatius 
Loyola  and  Francis  Xavier  would  become  friends.  Eight 
years  ago  Miguel  and  Juan,  the  brothers  of  Francis,  had 
gone  up  against  Loyola  at  the  fateful  Pampeluna.  Since 
then  the  God-intoxicated  cripple  had  made  of  himself  a 
laughing-stock  to  all  but  a  few,  and  the  whole  world  of  his 
ambitions  was  strange  to  such  as  Francis  was.  Yet  they 
had  in  common  a  language  rarely  heard,  and  high  traditions 
which  they  had  both  once  dreamed  of  carrying  on,  and  did 
still  hope  to  honour,  each  in  his  own  way.  In  Loyola  the 
iron  endurance  of  the  Basque  was  blended  with  the  old 
mediaeval  Spanish  qualities — the  quasi-religious  mysticism, 
the  fantastic  chivalry — which  were  the  web  and  woof  of 
such  romances  as  his  favourite  Amadis  of  Gaul.f  His 
youthful  hopes  of  military  and  knightly  glory  were  not  to 
be  easily  broken,  and  since  he  could  no  longer  serve  his 

*  Ribadeneira,  Vita,  torn.  i.  cap.  xvi.  "  Alone,  driving  an  ass  loaded 
with  books,  he  turned  into  the  way  from  Barcelona  that  he  might  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  studies  of  Paris." 

t  There  are  qualities  both  in  Xavier  and  in  Loyola  which  can  hardly  be 
sympathetically  understood,  unless  one  had  read  one  or  other  of  those  old 
romances.  Perhaps  Southey,  the  translator  of  Amadis,  was  too  unmeasured 
in  his  criticism  when  he  said :  "  Amadis  of  Gaul  is  among  prose  what  Orlando 
Furioso  is  among  metrical  romances,  not  the  oldest  of  its  kind,  but  the  best." 
Yet  there  is  no  book  which  gives  us  a  finer  picture  of  the  combination  of 
chivalry  and  mysticism  which  was  so  characteristic  of  Spain  at  that  time.  In 
other  countries  this  mediaeval  quality  had  been  more  or  less  uprooted  by  the 
influences  of  the  Renascence,  which  had  as  yet  hardly  penetrated  to  Spain. 
But  by  a  curious  evolution  of  circumstance  the  enthusiasms  which  the 
crusades  against  the  Moors  had  kindled  were  fanned  into  new  life  at  the 
very  moment  when  they  might  easily  have  died.  For  the  final  expulsion  of 
the  Moors  from  Spain  was  coincident  with  the  discovery  of  America  and  the 
opening  up  of  the  New  World,  and  once  more  Spain  was  to  hold  up  the  Cross 
at  the  head  of  her  armies.  To  colonise  was  to  Christianise.  This  national 
ideal  probably  played  a  larger  part  in  the  inspiration  of  both  Loyola  and 
Xavier  than  we  are  accustomed  to  think.  And,  in  their  sincere  and  enthu- 
siastic youth,  they  must  have  heard  and  read  with  anger  of  the  way  in  which 
these  sacred  traditions  were  being  carried  out. 


60  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

country  in  the  field,  nor  his  "  lady  more  high  than  duchess 
or  countess,"  he  bethought  himself  of  the  great  reputations 
of  the  saints,  and  was  glad  to  think  that  after  all  he  might 
not  find  the  gates  of  fame  shut  upon  him.  It  did  not  matter 
how  poor  or  crippled  the  soldiers  were  who  fought  about  the 
walls  of  Jerusalem  or  Babylon.  The  Virgin  Mary  would 
be  his  Oriana ;  he  could  already  hear  her  say,  like  the  lady 
whom  Amadis  was  bidden  to  serve,  that  it  pleased  her.  Yes, 
there  she  stood,  with  her  Child  in  her  arms,  and  with  one 
long  look  she  rapt  his  soul  from  his  earth  to  her  Heaven. 
This  vision  inspired  him  to  leave  his  father's  castle  and  go  up 
into  the  mountains.  It  was  a  difficult  journey.  His  wounded 
leg  was  still  helpless.  But  he  took  with  him  two  servants, 
and  the  faithful  ass  upon  which  his  brother  had  mounted  him 
carried  its  strange  burden  carefully  up  the  passes,  till,  high 
among  the  naked  rocks,  they  found  the  church  of  Our  Lady 
of  Montserrat. 

There  the  cripple  hobbled  from  his  beast,  and,  like  Amadis, 
the  Child  of  the  Sea,  "  he  armed  himself  all  save  his  head  and 
his  hands,  and  made  his  prayer  before  the  altar,  beseeching 
God  to  grant  him  success  in  arms,  and  in  the  love  which  he 
bore  his  Lady." 

At  dawn  on  the  third  day,  his  prayers  and  vigils  over, 
the  future  founder  of  the  great  militant  order  took  off  his 
sword  and  his  spurs,  exchanged  his  knightly  dress  for  the 
coarse  garb  of  a  hermit,  and  descended  the  rocky  path  on 
foot.  He  was  determined  to  go  to  Jerusalem,  but,  afraid 
that  his  friends  would  find  him  at  Barcelona  and  detain  him, 
he  made  first  for  the  Dominican  convent  of  Manresa. 

From  this  time  he  no  longer  called  himself  Inigo  Recalde 
de  Loyola,  but  Ignatius,  because  of  his  love  for  the  martyred 
bishop  of  Antioch. 

At  Manresa  his  soul  weathered  a  storm  that  has  reminded 
many  historians  of  that  storm  which  had  come  upon  Luther 
twenty  years  before  in  the  convent  at  Erfurt.  In  both 
cases  there  was  the  same  prolonged  and  anguished  struggle, 
the  same  despairing  resort  to  all  the  machinery  of  the  mediaeval 
Church,  the  same  sense  of  alienation  from  God  through  sin, 
the  same  hopeless  effort  to  keep  a  law  which  unaided  human 
effort  cannot  keep. 

It  has,  strange  to  say,  surprised  many  that  the  same  peace 
came  to  both  alike.  But  Luther's  vindication  of  the  doctrine 


jjarcuwne  ytst  &L  anMiwrwiv  Jatutem  v 
vrvna  Grantmatiae.  Aementa  annos  ires,  et  tri  - 
ffinta-  natus  adaisdi  ;Jurente  ac  nmpentt  re> 
Daemone ,  am  inrnriums  rerum  cadestiuni  aau 
liis  auocare  mo  eius  animimjn&'a  canatitr. 


IGNATIUS  LOYOLA  AT  SCHOOL 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  ORDER     61 

of  justification  by  faith  does  not  necessarily  appropriate 
that  experience  for  Protestantism.  Loyola,  like  Luther, 
found  rest  in  resting  on  the  mercy  of  God. 

It  was  from  these  experiences  at  Manresa,  and  from  his 
ardent  perusal  there  of  Garcia  de  Cisneros  and  Thomas  a 
Kempis,  that  the  founder  of  the  Jesuits  built  up  the  Spiritual 
Exercises.  From  these  experiences,  too,  came  a  fresh  rush 
of  enthusiasm  and  joyfulness.  From  the  hour  when  he 
discovered  that  his  self -chastisements  and  fasting  and  sleep- 
less vigils  had  failed  to  bring  him  nearer  God,  he  distrusted 
the  severer  forms  of  asceticism.  He  put  off  his  hermit's 
dress,  and  anointed  his  head  and  washed  his  face  and  trimmed 
his  nails.  The  children  in  the  streets  no  longer  jeered  at 
him.  He  had  yet  to  renounce  worldly  poverty.  He  begged 
his  way  to  Palestine,  but  his  enthusiasms  and  his  fearless- 
ness alarmed  the  Christian  population  in  Jerusalem,  and  he 
was  persuaded  to  return.  But  he  had  "  seen  "  something  at 
Manresa,  and  he  was  not  to  be  baffled.  He  put  himself  to 
school.  The  man  of  thirty-three  sat  on  the  benches  of  the 
school  at  Barcelona  with  little  boys,  to  learn  Latin  and  to 
prepare  himself  for  the  university.  The  boys  laughed  at 
him.  His  brain,  long  unused  to  study,  was  slow  to  learn. 
But  his  will  was  of  steel. 

Yet  he  could  not  keep  to  himself  that  which  was  the  root 
and  flower  of  all  his  endeavour.  After  school  hours  he  went 
out  into  the  streets  and  preached,  and  taught  the  children 
their  catechism.  The  Church,  seeing  him  so  ecstatically 
happy,  suspected  him  of  belonging  to  the  heretical  gnostic 
sect  known  as  the  Alumbrados.*  It  was  a  coarse  judgment 
which  placed  this  most  astute  of  mystics  on  a  plane  with 
these  unbalanced  folk,  yet  one  can  understand  the  mistake. 
And  a  sacerdotal  religion  has  no  worse  enemy  to  fear  than 
the  man  who  claims  to  be  able  to  commune  with  his  God 
without  the  intervention  of  a  priest.  The  writings  of  the 
great  mystics  have  all  a  Protestant  ring  : 

Oh,  who  can  heal  me  ? 

Give  me  perfectly  Thyself : 

Send  me  no  more  a  messenger 

Who  cannot  tell  what  I  seek.f 

*  The  Alumbrados,  or  Spanish  Illuminati.  See  Ranke,  Die  Romischen  Pdpste 
in  den  lelzten  vier  Jahrhunderten,  Bd.  i.  p.  123 ;  see  also  Gothein,  Ignatius  von 
Loyola  und  die  Gegenreformalion,  pp.  61-4. 

f  St.  John  of  the  Cross. 


62  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

Overcaref ulness  on  the  part  of  the  Church  was  therefore 
pardonable.  Ignatius  was  ordered  to  study  theology  for 
four  years  before  dogmatising  again  in  public. 

For  most  men  of  his  age  this  would  have  meant  giving 
up  and  going  down.  But  Ignatius,  after  proving  his  inno- 
cence of  any  taint  of  heresy,  and  his  entire  faithfulness 
towards  the  Church,  only  went  on  the  more  doggedly  with 
his  studies.  lie  became  a  prominent  figure  in  Alcala  and  in 
Barcelona,  and  he  did  not  lack  for  means  or  for  friends. 
Some  devoted  ladies  financed  him  liberally.  But  he  never 
spent  more  than  a  small  proportion  of  these  moneys  on  his 
own  personal  needs. 

After  spending  a  short  time  at  the  college  of  Montaigu, 
possibly  just  before  Calvin  left  there,  Loyola  entered  Ste. 
Barbe. 

Perhaps  they  [Calvin  and  Loyola]  passed  one  another  in  some 
street  of  Mont  Sainte  Genevieve  :  the  young  Frenchman  of 
eighteen  on  horseback,  as  was  his  custom,  the  Spaniard  of  thirty- 
six  on  foot,  his  purse  furnished  with  gold  which  he  had  begged, 
before  him  his  ass,  laden  with  his  books,  and  in  his  pocket  a 
manuscript  called  the  Spiritual  Exercises.  These  two  repre- 
sented the  two  opposing  worlds  which  were  then  separating. 
Each  of  them  was  preparing  himself  for  the  formidable  contest 
which  was  about  to  shake  Christianity  to  its  foundations — Calvin 
the  Reformer,  Loyola  the  counter-Reformer :  Calvin  the  father  of 
the  Huguenots,  Loyola  the  father  of  the  Jesuits.* 

Faber  tells  us  in  his  Memorial  that  Francis,  Loyola,  and 
himself  shared  the  same  room  in  Ste.  Barbe.  It  is  not 
likely  that  it  held  much  furniture  ;  it  was  unusual  for  the 
students  even  to  have  beds  in  those  days.  In  one  corner,  neatly 
arranged,  we  fancy,  stood  the  books  which  the  good  ass  had 
borne  across  the  Pyrenees.  Among  them  would  be  the 
manuscript  Loyola  had  written  and  illuminated  himself,  a 
quarto  volume  of  three  hundred  pages,  containing  a  record 
of  the  lives  of  Christ  and  the  saints,  the  words  and  acts  of  our 
Lord  in  red  and  gold,  those  of  Mary  in  blue,  and  those  of  the 
saints  in  other  colours.  Beside  it,  a  Latin  Bible  surely,  and 
his  missal,  and  a  copy,  perhaps,  of  Garcia  de  Cisneros'  Manual 
of  Devotion.  But  the  dearest  possession  of  all  was  a  copy  of 
the  Imitation  of  Thomas  a  Kempis,  called  in  the  editions  of 
those  days  The  Ecclesiastical  Music,  and  supposed  to  be 
*  Douraergue,  Vie  de  Jean  Calvin,  vol.  i.  p.  126. 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  ORDER     63 

written  by  Gerson.  Among  his  school  and  college  books 
may  have  been  the  Dialogues  of  Vives,  which  were  beginning 
to  be  very  popular,  the  Summulce  Logicales  of  Peter  the 
Spaniard,  the  Sentences  of  Peter  Lombard,  Lebrija's  Latin 
dictionary  perhaps,  and  one  of  his  grammars.  Beside  them 
lay  the  MS.  of  the  Spiritual  Exercises,  which  he  had  been 
working  upon  since  1522. 

Xavier's  library  was  probably  more  eclectic.  There  was 
some  jovial  literature  in  circulation  at  that  time,  which  we 
fancy  would  appeal  to  the  gay  and  sharp-witted  young 
Navarrese.  He  probably  could  not  afford  to  possess  many 
books,  but  there  was  an  extensive  system  of  lending  libraries 
in  the  town.  La  Celestina,  written  by  his  fellow-country- 
man, Ferdinand  de  Rojas,  had  been  published  in  1499,  and 
was  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  important  models  of  the 
modern  drama.  There  were  popular  comedies,  too,  about, 
such  as  those  of  Torres  de  Naharro  and  Gil  Vicente ;  these, 
for  Spaniards,  were  the  literary  talk  of  the  hour.  On  a 
higher  level,  and  almost  certainly  among  Xavier's  treasures, 
was  the  Coplas  de  Manrique  (published  in  1477),  a  gem  of 
Spanish  poetry,  and  one  of  the  supreme  elegies  of  literature. 
It  is  familiar  to  many  of  us  through  Longfellow's  translation. 
The  satires  of  Rabelais,  which  a  few  years  later  were  to  enjoy 
such  a  colossal  popularity,  were  not  yet  published.  Who 
knows — had  they  appeared  but  a  little  earlier — where 
this  supreme  and  compelling  and  destructive  humour  would 
have  carried  the  gay  Francis  ?  Would  it  have  undermined 
his  devotion  to  the  Church,  a  devotion  that  had  been  faith- 
fully tended  at  home  throughout  his  childhood,  and  was 
about  to  receive  its  determining  direction  from  the  finger  of 
Loyola  ?  It  must  have  been  very  difficult  ever  to  feel  quite 
the  same  again  towards  the  ecclesiastical  systems  of  the  day 
after  reading  the  story  of  Gargantua  and  Pantagruel. 

But,  Rabelais  apart,  there  was  food  enough  for  fear  on 
Loyola's  part  for  this  disciple-elect  of  his. 

14  What  is  that  in  the  corner  there,  Master  Francis  ?  " 

;t  That,  Sir  Pilgrim,  is  a  copy  of  some  most  interesting 
writings  by  Martin  Luther — you  have  heard  of  him;  they 
appeared  ten  years  ago,  I  believe,  but  have  only  lately  come 
to  my  notice." 

"  Yes,  I  have  indeed  heard  of  him.  Tell  me,  what  do  you 
think  of  him  ?  How  does  he  appeal  to  you  ?  " 


64  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

Xavier  had  no  affection  for  Ignatius  yet.  The  "  Pilgrim/* 
as  they  called  him,  was,  in  spite  of  his  smouldering  beauty, 
too  unconventional,  too  strange  and  disconcerting  a  figure 
to  love  without  a  prelude  of  fear.  But  Ignatius,  looking  on 
Francis,  had  loved  the  laughing  boy,  so  cleanly  built  and 
unspoiled,  so  fluent  with  his  Latin,  so  keen  with  his  wit. 
"  /  shall  win  him,"  said  Ignatius.  He  did  not  talk  much  ; 
his  policy  was  rather  to  listen  and  sympathise,  to  under- 
stand his  prey,  to  win  trust  and  affection,  and  then  cast  the 
net.  Francis  and  Peter  Faber  did  most  of  the  talking ; 
talking  is  always  so  easy  in  the  presence  of  those  whose  very 
presence  is  a  caress.  And  Loyola,  listening,  prepared  his 
big  guns. 

While  within  the  little  room  the  founder  was  beginning 
to  learn  the  amazing  power  of  his  personal  magnetism,  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  armies  where  his  battle  was  to  be  waged 
were  tuning  up  in  the  street  below.  Down  in  the  rue 
St.  Symphorien  the  students  were  shouting  : 

Prions  tous  le  roi  de  gloire 

Qu'il  confond  ces  chiens  mauldicts, 

Afin  qu'il  n'en  soit  plus  memoire, 

Non  plus  que  de  vielz  os  pourris. 
Au  feu,  au  feu  !  c'est  leur  repere 
Fais-en  justice  !    Dieu  1'a  permys  ; 

and  their  enemies  flung  back  the  taunt : 

La  Sorbonne,  la  bigotte, 

La  Sorbonne  se  taira  ! 
Son  grand  hoste,  1'Aristote, 
De  la  bande  s'ostera  I 
Et  son  escot,  quoi  qu'il  coste 
Jamais  ne  la  soulera  ! 

La  Sorbonne,  la  bigotte, 

La  Sorbonne  se  taira  ! 

La  saincte  Escriture  toute 
Purement  se  prechera, 
Et  toute  doctrine  sotte 
Des  hommes  on  oublira  ! 

La  Sorbonne,  la  bigotte, 

La  Sorbonne  se  taira  !  * 

*  Bulletin  de  la  Societe  de  Fhistoire  de  Protestantisme  fran$ais,  vol.  xii. 
p.  129,  quoted  by  T.  M.  Lindsay,  History  of  the  Reformation,  vol.  ii.  p.  536. 
See  also,  for  another  version  of  these  words,  Herminjard,  Correspondance  des 
Reformaleurs  francais,  torn.  iii.  p.  59. 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  ORDER     65 

Ignatius  apparently  entered  Ste.  Barbe  some  time  before 
the  beginning  of  the  autumn  term  which  was  to  see  Xavier — 
then  only  in  his  twenty-fifth  year — established  as  a  lecturer  in 
Greek  in  the  college  of  Beauvais.  There  is  one  curious 
incident  on  record  of  Loyola's  college  days  at  Ste.  Barbe ; 
whether  it  made  his  conquest  of  Xavier  easier  or  harder  we 
can  only  guess.  Loyola,  who  had  been  talking  of  heaven 
and  hell  on  the  house-tops  as  only  saints  and  madmen  do, 
had  been  allowed  to  enter  Ste.  Barbe  on  the  condition 
that  he  would  leave  the  consciences  of  the  other  students 
alone.  But  even  the  nucleus-ideas  of  the  scheme  which 
was  to  leave  its  mark  on  European  history  were  too  much 
to  be  contained,  if  only  for  a  few  hours  on  end,  in  the 
mind  of  their  originator.  Among  the  restless  group  of 
men  and  boys  sitting  and  lying  on  the  straw  floor  of 
his  lecture  room,  Professor  Pena  knew  none  so  tiresome 
as  Master  Ignatius.  Again  and  again  he  besought  him 
to  leave  his  fellows  alone,  and  at  last  he  reported  him  to  the 
Principal,  Jacques  de  Gouvea,  who  said  that  this  scholar  of 
forty  would  be  punished  as  he  had  not  been  since  he  was 
sixteen.  He  was  ordered  to  submit  next  day  to  La  Salle  : 

One  gave  this  name  to  a  punishment  more  infamous  than 
painful,  which  was  administered  in  the  following  fashion.  After 
dinner,  all  the  students  being  present  in  the  refectory,  the  masters 
and  the  scholars,  each  armed  with  a  whip,  ranged  themselves  in  a 
double  row.  The  delinquent,  stripped  to  the  waist,  had  to  pass 
between  them,  and  got  from  each  of  them  a  lash  on  his  back.* 

The  masters  and  pupils  were  assembled  for  this  affair,  but 
Loyola  did  not  appear.  He  was  in  the  Principal's  room. 
Presently  they  came  out  arm-in-arm,  and  Gouvea  made,  not 
an  abject  apology,  as  many  of  the  old  biographers  love  to 
relate,  but  a  short  speech,  explaining  that  he  had  seen 
Ignatius  to  be  a  man  of  a  holy  life,  albeit  apt  to  be  overcome 
with  too  much  zeal,  that  he  had  promised  to  be  more  discreet 
in  future,  and  that  in  his,  the  Principal's,  name  he  renewed 
this  promise  before  the  college  and  received  pardon. 

One  recalls  that  among  that  waiting  row  of  students  and 

masters    stood,    doubtless,   the   brooding   figure  of    George 

Buchanan.     "  It  is  certainly  odd  to  think  that  Buchanan, 

afterwards  the  co-churchman   of    Knox,   should   so  nearly 

*  Quicherat,  Hist,  de  Ste.  Barbe,  vol.  i.  p.  193. 


66  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

have  missed  the  privilege  of  laying  his  ferule  on  the  bare 
shoulders  of  the  founder  of  the  Society  of  Jesus."  * 

In  1530  Xavier  took  his  Arts  degree  and  was  free  to 
teach  "  Arts,  here  and  over  all  the  earth."  As  we  have  seen, 
he  was  by  no  means  opulent,  and  he  supported  himself 
during  his  theological  course  by  obtaining  a  post  as  lecturer 
or  regent  at  the  college  of  Beauvais,  where,  as  Tursellinus 
says,  he  "  explicated  Aristotle  publicly  and  not  without 
praise."  Although  Le  Fevre  d'Etaples,  who  had  taught 
Greek,  as  he  taught  the  Gospel,  "  from  the  sources,"  had  come 
and  gone,  the  mediaeval  Aristotle  still  held  its  place  in 
the  schools  of  Paris,  and  it  is  not  likely  that  Francis 
Xavier  got  behind  the  treatises  of  Albertus  Magnus  and 
Thomas  Aquinas.  These  scholastics  had  rendered  an 
unforgettable  service  to  the  Church  by  giving  her,  for 
the  first  time,  a  version  of  the  master  in  keeping  with 
her  own  teaching.  For  the  earliest  translations  of 
Aristotle  had  been  taken  from  the  Arabic  versions  of  the 
exiled  Caliphs  among  the  Nestorians,  and  these  versions 
emphasised  the  anti-Christian  side  of  the  philosopher,  the 
unitas  intellectus,  the  indestructibility  of  matter,  the  nega- 
tion of  personal  immortality.  The  result  was  that  in  1215 
Aristotle  had  been  prohibited  by  the  Sorbonne,  and  the 
prohibition  was  not  withdrawn  until  the  labours  of  the  great 
Dominicans  had  produced  an  orthodox  philosopher.  This, 
then,  was  the  Aristotle  upon  which  Xavier  founded  his 
lectures. 

Meanwhile  his  old  dreams  of  ecclesiastical  distinction  were 
not  forgotten,  and  the  preparation  for  the  first  step  towards 
their  fulfilment,  the  Doctorate  in  Theology,  along  with  his 
own  lectures,  must  have  kept  him  hard  at  work.  Although 
the  theological  course  extended  over  so  many  years,  the 
range  of  works  studied  was  surprisingly  small.  Beyond  the 
Bible  and  the  Sentences  of  Peter  Lombard,  no  other  text- 
book was  used. 

How  completely  the  Sentences  were  placed  side  by  side  with  the 
Bible  as  the  very  source  and  fountain-head  of  all  theology  is 
illustrated  by  Albert  the  Great's  disquisition  on  the  knowledge 
possessed  by  the  Mother  of  Christ.  After  demonstrating  in 
detail  that  the  Jewish  peasant  woman  must  have  been  acquainted 

*  P.  Hume  Brown,  George  Buchanan,  p.  63. 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  ORDER     67 

with  the  Trivium  and  Quadrivium,*  the  Doctor  proceeds  to 
discuss  the  extent  of  her  attainments  in  the  Faculties  of  Medicine, 
Civil  and  Canon  Law,  and  Theology  ;  in  the  latter  he  holds 
that  she  must  have  had  a  summary  knowledge  of  the  Bible  and 
Sentences.  (Beatissima  Virgo  Bibliam  et  sententias  in  summo 
habuit.)t 

Yet,  in  spite  of  these  crudities  of  thought  and  expression, 
there  was  then,  as  always,  the  possibility  of  devout  and 
profitable  study.  Robert  Sorbonne  himself,  with  a  greatness 
which  ought  to  have  shamed  many  who  taught  in  the  place 
which  was  called  by  his  name,  had  said  that  knowledge  had 
no  worth  if  it  did  not  raise  the  soul  toward  God.  "  There 
are,"  he  said  again,  "  scholars  who  work  ceaselessly  in  sharpen- 
ing the  sword  of  the  Word  of  God,  and  thus  put  it  to  use. 
Others  amass  thick  volumes  of  argument,  and  bind  them  in 
grand  covers  painted  with  red,  and  go  home  very  proud  of 
their  booty,  their  bags  full,  their  spirits  empty." 

Xavier's  bag  was  getting  full,  but  his  spirit  was  restless 
and  unsatisfied.  The  whole  atmosphere  of  life  in  the 
company  of  Ignatius,  during  those  portentous  months,  was 
charged  as  it  were  with  fire.  The  founder  had  not  openly 
chosen  his  soldiers,  nor  formed  his  constitutions.  Yet,  with 
all  his  faculties  strained  to  their  utmost  use,  he  was  in  his 
own  mind  picking  his  men  and  constructing  his  Order. 

Faber  and  Xavier,  his  most  intimate  companions,  were 
alternately  repelled  and  attracted.  Both  began  to  see 
that  their  ambitions  ran  counter  to  those  of  Loyola,  and 
both  nursed  their  imperilled  hopes  with  ardent  yet  flickering 
zeal.  Francis  took  clerk's  orders.  Then  he  sent  to  Navarre 
for  a  formal  title  of  his  nobility  and  honourable  descent. 
These  things  did  not  count  for  nothing  in  the  Church.  But 
even  while  he  dictated  his  claims  to  the  notary  the  words 
that  Loyola  loved  to  quote  were  ringing  in  his  ears :  "  What 
shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his 
own  soul  ?  " 

Faber  has  recorded  his  own  struggles  at  this  time  : 

Without  being  able  to  fix  on  anything  I  wished  now  to  be 
a  doctor,  now  a  lawyer,  now  a  professor.  One  day  I  wished 

*  The  two  subject-groups  of  the  Arts  curriculum. 

t  Rashdall,  Hist,  of  the  Med.  Univ.,  vol.  i.  p.  465 — quoted  from  Peter 
Lombard,  Opere  (Lugdino,  1651),  torn.  xx.  p.  80. 

E2 


68  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

to  be  a  doctor  of  theology,  the  next  a  simple  clerk.     At  one  point 
I  even  thought  of  becoming  a  monk.* 

Meanwhile  Xavier' s  supplies  of  money  from  home  had  entirely 
ceased,  and  he  was  poor  to  the  point  of  suffering  and  actual 
privation.  But  Ignatius  soon  saw  his  wants.  "  It  was  a 
door,"  says  Brou,  "  which  God  had  opened  to  him,  that  he 
might  enter  this  soul."  So  the  Pilgrim  gave  him  of  the  alms 
he  had  received  from  the  Spanish  ladies  or  during  his  vaca- 
tion tours  in  England  and  Flanders.  At  the  same  time  he 
highly  praised  the  young  professor's  lectures  on  Aristotle, 
and  brought  numbers  of  students  to  his  classes.  Master 
Francis  became  very  popular. 

Xavier  began  to  love  this  man  who  knew  so  well  how  to 
appreciate  him,  and,  encouraged  by  his  success,  he  would 
pour  out  his  plans  to  him  as  they  sat  at  night  in  their  little 
room  in  Ste.  Barbe.  Ignatius  listened  with  all  his  immense 
natural  tact  and  charm  and  sympathy,  fortified  by  the  real 
knowledge  and  scholarship  which  had  been  so  hardly  acquired. 
Yet  always,  the  old  biographers  tell  us,  these  talks  ended  with 
the  words,  "  What  shall  it  profit  a  man,  Master  Francis,  if 
he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?  " 

And  Francis  could  not  forget  those  words,  and  could  not 
answer  them.  Months  passed.  Polanco  said  he  had  heard 
"  our  great  moulder  of  souls  say  that  the  hardest  block  he 
ever  had  to  do  with  was  the  young  Francis  Xavier  in  those 
early  days." 

He  was  a  young  man  of  a  great  spirit,  with  froward  and  over- 
thwart  answers  ;  he  oftentimes  of  set  purpose  carped  at  Ignatius 
and  his  words  ;  yea,  and  sometimes,  also,  in  very  reproachful 
manner  scoffed  at  his  excellent  piety  ;  but  he,  on  the  other  side, 
used  all  the  sweet  means  he  could  to  reclaim  him  from  his  in- 
solency.  And  not  in  vain.  For  Patience  at  last  overcame 
Pertinacity.  And  Xavier,  being  little  by  little  made  tractable 
by  that  so  gentle  and  courteous  usage,  began  to  bear  some  respect 
towards  him,  and  at  last,  touched  by  God's  divine  Spirit,  let 
himself  be  wholly  ruled  and  guided  by  him.t 

In  order  to  earn  the  love  wherewith  to  draw  him  away 
from  the  congenial  work  at  Beauvais  College,  Loyola 
first  established  there  the  success  and  popularity  of  his 

*  P.  Faber,  Memorial,  p.  13,  Fr.  ed. 

t  Tursellinus,  Life,  English  edition,  p.  8. 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  ORDER     69 

disciple-elect.  It  was  a  bold  game  to  play,  but  it  answered 
admirably.  Further,  he  who  originally  attended  the  lectures 
as  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  backward  scholars  soon  made 
it  appear  that  he  conferred  an  honour  on  Francis  by  going 
there,  and  he  discussed  the  lectures  with  the  kindly  con- 
descension of  a  master  towards  a  brilliant  pupil. 

Meanwhile  the  old  links  which  bound  Francis  to  his  early 
surroundings  were  falling  away  one  by  one.  With  his 
mother's  death  his  home  had  been  broken  up  and  his  youthful 
ambitions  shaken.  And  now  came  the  news  of  the  death 
of  his  sister,  the  Abbess  of  Gandia,  "  a  true  spirit,  who 
excelled  in  the  practice  of  humility,  love,  prayer,  gentleness, 
and  silence."  *  It  was  this  sister  who  had  watched  over 
his  career  with  such  affection,  and  without  whose  interven- 
tion, at  the  time  when  he  was  recalled  home,  he  would  have 
had  to  return  to  Navarre  and  would  never  have  met  Loyola. 

Once  again,  perhaps,  alone,  and  in  a  graver  mood  than 
before,  he  climbed  the  spiral  stairs  of  Notre-Dame,  and  looked 
down  upon  Paris. 

It  was  more  than  eight  years  since  he  had  stood  there  first, 
fresh  from  school,  the  spurs  of  undaunted  ambition  pricking 

his  ardent  spirit.  And  now ?  Life  had  grown  very 

complex.  What  arid  stretches  of  experience  it  held,  what 
absurd  laughter,  what  fruitless  tears  !  And  the  wise  doctors 
of  the  Sorbonne,  amongst  whom,  in  his  dreams,  he  had  once 
seen  himself,  were  mostly  fat  old  men  with  heavy  eyes  and 
stubborn  mouths.  And  the  bishops  were  busy  burning 
students  whom  he  used  to  think  good  and  wise.  It  was  not 
worth  being  a  bishop  for  that.  During  all  these  years  he  had 
never  been  home,  and  now  he  had  no  longer  a  home.  The 
trophies  that  had  once  seemed  valuable  to  him  because 
he  might  lay  them  at  his  mother's  feet  had  now  a  new  and 
a  harsher  worth.  Personal  power,  riches,  authority,  had 
acquired  for  him  an  attraction  of  their  own.  And  in  the 
Church  it  seemed  as  if  ever  since  that  night  in  May,  1527, 
when  the  Imperialists  had  burst  into  Rome  it  was  doubly 
easy  for  his  fellow-countrymen  to  attain  distinction.  It 
was  a  fine  thing  to  be  a  Spaniard.  They  were  gaining  the 
whole  world !  Ah,  "  What  shall  it  profit  a  man  ?  What  shall 
it  profit  a  man  ? "  These  were  the  words  Ignatius  had 
teased  him  with  night  and  day,  day  and  night.  Did 

*  Letter  from  Sor  Ana.     See  Doc.  Nouv.,  p.  311. 


70  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

that  inscrutable  gargoyle-face  of  stone  beside  him  not 
suggest  the  same  question,  as,  chin  in  hand,  with  gentle 
brows  and  mocking  mouth,  it  fixed  its  great  blank  eyes 
on  Paris  ? 

Paris  had  gained  the  worlds  of  philosophy  and  theology— 
for  scholars,  once  all  the  roads  of  Europe  had  converged 
there  ;  but  where  was  the  soul  of  that  fair  city  now  ?     Francis 
knew  that  the  wisest  men  were  turning  to  other  centres  of 
learning,   that  the  Latin  texts  from  which  he  expounded 
Aristotle  were  out  of  date.     Thought  was  difficult  and  con- 
fused.    But  he  could  not  blind  himself  to  the  fact  that  in 
Paris,    at   least,    there   was    some   real   bond   between    the 
Humanists  and   the  religious  reformers,   between  the  new 
passion  for  truth  from  the  "  sources  "  of  things  and  the  new 
contempt  for  the  Roman  Curia.     Luther  was  shouting  that 
it  was  the  Bible  and  not  the  Pope  to  which  they  must  turn  : 
Pico  had  lifted  his  head  from  his  newly  found  manuscripts  to 
say :  "  Philosophy  seeks   truth,    theology   finds   it,    religion 
possesses  it,"  and  had  turned  again  to  the  tales  of  the  gods 
of  Greece.     But  such  men  were  despicable.     This  "  truth  " 
of  the  Protestants  and  the  Humanists  was  a  cold  thing ;  men 
should  seek  not  an  idea  but  a  person,  serve  not  Humanity 
but  the  Church,  the  Bride.     The  most  sacred  traditions  of 
life  could  not  be  held  in  a  printed  book,  but  only  in  the 
living  hands  of  the  Vicar  of  Christ.     If  Pico  had  put  "  God  " 
in  place  of  "  truth,"  he  would  have  done  better.     Religion 
possesses   God — that   was   what   Francis   believed.     And    it 
was  religion  that  Paris  lacked.     But  where  was  this  religion 
to  be  found  ?     Not  surely  in  those  burning  piles  where  the 
Lutherans  screamed  out  their  last  moments  in  anguish,  nor 
yet — God  grant — in  the  hands  that  held  the  torch  to  the 
faggot,  nor  in  those  "  tomes  bound  in  grand  covers  and  painted 
with  red  "  that  Robert  Sorbonne  had  laughed  at,  but  that 
the  old  doctors  down  there  loved  so  well.     What  if  it  was 
religion  which  was  carrying  those  heretics  to  their  death  ? 
Loyola  had  said  that  all  reform  must  begin  in  the  individual 
heart,  that  the  only  life  that  mattered  was  the  life  of  the  soul. 
Had  Luther  not  said  something  like  that  too  ?    And  was  this 
zealot  from  Guipuzcoa,  perhaps,  after  all,  just  leading  them 
by  another  road  to  the  same  fire  ?     He  would  leave  this 
fanatical  cripple  before  it  was  too  late.      And  yet  how  he 
loved  him  !     Could  he  leave  him  ?     His  father  and  mother 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  ORDER     71 

had  died,  and  Loyola  had  taken  him  up.  Loyola  was 
praying  for  him  continually.  How  kind  he  had  been,  and 
how  generous  !  How  sympathetic  he  was  !  Did  Francis 
wonder  how  he  could  ever  have  scorned  this  knight  of  Christ, 
who  had  sprung  from  as  noble  a  house  as  his  own,  and  who 
had  achieved  a  military  glory  that  he,  Francis,  had  never 
achieved,  who  had  sacrificed  infinitely  more  than  he  had 
sacrificed  ?  He  thanked  God  that  He  had  given  him  this 
man  for  a  friend — nay  (the  subjugation  was  almost  complete), 
for  a  Master. 

At  this  time  Faber  had  gone  home  to  Savoy  to  bid  his 
father  and  friends  farewell.  He  had  offered  his  whole  life 
to  Loyola. 

For  seven  months  Francis  and  the  founder  were  alone. 
When,  at  the  beginning  of  1534,  Faber  returned  from 
Switzerland,  Ignatius  had  won  his  second  disciple. 

Francis  wished  to  fling  up  all  his  collegiate  duties  at  once. 
Ignatius  bade  him  to  go  on  with  his  teaching,  and  to  take 
his  theological  degree.  He  did  not  even  give  him  the  Spiritual 
Exercises.  That  Xavier  was  the  last  of  the  original  members 
to  undergo  this  discipline  has  been  held  by  some  to  indicate 
that  Ignatius  thought  it  imprudent  to  harness  the  high  spirit 
of  the  young  hidalgo  to  those  stern  hours  until  he  was  entirely 
sure  of  his  devotion.  But  the  delay  may  simply  have  been 
caused  by  the  fact  that  Xavier' s  time  was  fully  occupied 
with  his  work. 

Just  at  this  time  a  curious  incident  took  place,  which  in 
its  own  bizarre  way  witnesses  both  to  Xavier's  devotion  to 
Ignatius  and  to  the  devotion,  however  distorted,  which 
Xavier  had  inspired  towards  himself. 

Miguel  the  Navarrese,  Xavier's  wicked  servant  and  protege, 
was  made  wildly  jealous  by  his  master's  devotion  to  Ignatius  : 
the  poor  fool  went  to  Loyola's  window,  by  night,  with  a 
dagger  in  his  hand.  The  future  of  the  Society  hung  in 
the  balance.  But  a  voice,  the  biographers  tell  us,  turned 
him  back  from  this  deed,  and  he  fell  down  at  the  bedside, 
confessing  his  sin  and  begging  forgiveness. 

Ignatius  appears  at  this  time  to  have  had,  or  at  least  to 
have  expressed,  no  definite  plan  of  action : 

There  was  no  question  of  the  foundation  of  a  new  religious  order, 


72  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

nor  of  one  definite  enterprise.  Nothing  was  defined  except 
certain  ascetic  principles,  the  same  which  formed  the  foundation 
of  the  Exercises :  a  certain  indifference  of  will  towards  every- 
thing except  God :  the  need  of  linking  oneself  to  Jesus  Christ, 
winning  souls,  and  working  for  their  salvation,  yet  working  as 
Christ  did,  by  poverty  and  the  Cross.* 

Thus  tentatively,  slowly,  with  a  curious  blending  of 
calculation  and  fervour,  the  Company  began  to  take  shape. 
The  members  of  this  society  were  to  bridge  the  gulf  between 
the  Crusaders  and  the  modern  missionaries.  Its  earlier 
dreams  were  of  the  Holy  Land  and  the  Sepulchre  of  our 
Lord :  its  finest  result  was  the  Apostle  of  the  Indies. 

Ignatius  talked  over  the  future  with  his  disciples  indi- 
vidually, and  one  by  one,  unknown  to  the  rest,  they  were 
asked  to  go  aside  alone  for  some  days  and  seek  the  guidance 
of  God,  and  then  to  return  at  a  stated  time  to  his  rooms. 
One  day  Francis,  Faber,  and  four  others  all  found  themselves 
there  together  with  Ignatius,  and  when  he,  with  his  magnetic 
skill,  began  to  question  them,  they  found,  with  delicious 
astonishment  and  wonder,  that  they  were  all  of  one  mind 
and  one  purpose. 

Rodriguez,  who  was  one  of  them,  says  that  at  this  point 
they  took  the  triple  vow  of  poverty,  chastity,  and  pilgrimage 
to  Jerusalem.  But  nothing  was  to  be  done  till  the  theo- 
logical studies  were  ended.  A  day  was  fixed  (January  25th, 
1537)  when  they  should  all  meet  for  conference  at  Venice, 
and,  if  possible,  proceed  from  there  to  the  Holy  Land.  In 
Jerusalem  they  would  once  again  ask  God  to  give  them 
special  direction.  But  if  anything  were  to  hinder  their 
leaving  Italy,  they  were  to  present  themselves  to  the  Pope 
and  put  themselves  at  his  disposal. 

A  few  days  after  this  informal  conference  Ignatius  and  his 
six  followers  met  as  a  Company  for  the  first  time.  They 
had  still  to  obtain  the  Pope's  sanction  before  they  could 
constitute  themselves  as  an  Order.  They  assembled  at  the 
cathedral  church  of  Notre-Dame,  and  from  thence,  banner- 
less,  trumpetless,  and  unnoticed,  the  little  black-robed  band, 
led  by  Ignatius,  made  its  way  to  the  heights  of  Montmartre. 
The  citizens  of  Paris,  who  loved  gay  flags  and  banners, 
robes  of  silk  and  cramoisie  and  velvet,  gaily-trapped  horses, 

*  Brou,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavitr,  vol.  i.  p.  43. 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  ORDER     73 

shouting,  singing,  the  noises  of  drums  and  tambours,  would 
have  jeered  if  you  had  told  them  that  this  was  the  most 
portentous  procession  that  had  threaded  their  streets  for 
many  a  year.  Yet  so  it  was. 

In  the  van  limped  Loyola,  with  swift,  determined  steps, 
his  eyes  burning,  his  brows  inscrutably  calm.  Behind  him 
came  those  who  were,  in  varying  degrees,  his  devotees,  and 
God's.  Faber,  with  the  loose  gait  and  far-focussed  eyes 
of  a  shepherd,  Xavier,  of  medium  height,  dark,  eager- 
limbed,  his  eyes  meekly  dropped,  and  a  reverent  gravity 
veiling,  for  this  great  occasion,  the  wayward  mouth  that 
laughed  so  lightly  and  so  well.  Salmeron  and  Bobadilla 
were  there,  too,  both  of  them  restless,  energetic,  impatient, 
full  of  fire,  and  of  desire  to  go  one  step  farther  than  their 
master  ;  Salmeron  was  to  prove  a  great  preacher,  and  was  to 
discharge  the  duties  of  Papal  theologian  at  the  Council  of 
Trent.  In  the  same  Council  Lainez,  "  a  young  man  with 
the  brain  of  an  ancient  sage,"  the  most  learned  of  this  strange 
procession,  was  destined  to  be  the  dominating  and  fatal 
influence.  And  lastly  there  was  Rodriguez,  the  Portuguese, 
who  was  to  leave  written  records  of  the  Company,  and  to  be 
one  of  their  most  outstanding  diplomatists.* 

The  story  of  how  the  first  Jesuits  went  to  Montmartre  has 
been  told  again  and  again,  but  there  is  probably  no  such 
accurate  account  of  that  day  as  that  given  in  the  simple 
words  of  Peter  Faber  in  his  Memorial. 

This  same  year,  1534,  on  the  day  of  the  Assumption  of  the 
Holy  Virgin,  all  those  of  us  who  at  that  time  shared  in  the  designs 
of  Loyola,  and  who  had  undergone  the  Spiritual  Exercises  (except 
Master  Xavier,  who  had  not  yet  received  them),  rendered  our- 
selves at  Notre  Dame  of  Montmartre,  and  there  we  made  a  vow  to 
serve  God  and  to  depart  on  a  certain  day  for  Jerusalem,  to  give 
up  relatives  and  all  the  rest,  taking  with  us  only  the  viaticum. 
Besides,  we  resolved  to  go,  after  our  return  from  the  Holy  Land, 
and  put  ourselves  at  the  disposal  of  the  Pope.  Now  those  who  were 
present  at  this  first  re-union  at  Notre  Dame  de  Montmartre  were, 
Ignatius,  Master  Francis  Xavier,  I,  Faber,  Master  Bobadilla, 
Master  Lainez,  Master  Salmeron,  Master  Simon  Rodriguez.  For 
Le  Jay,  though  in  Paris,  had  not  yet  resolved  to  follow  us,  and 
neither  Master  J.  Codure  nor  Master  Paul  Brouet  were  yet  taken. 

*  Simon  Rodriguez,  author  of  the  CommenUirium  de  origine  el  progres  su 
Societatis  Jesuy  Lisbon,  25  Juli  1577. 


74  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

The  two  following  years,  1535-86,  we  returned  there  on  the 
same  day,  to  the  same  altar,  to  confirm  the  determination  we 
had  then  taken,  and  each  time  we  found  there  great  help  for  our 
spiritual  life.* 

Rodriguez  adds  that  Faber,  who  was  the  only  priest 
present,  celebrated  mass.  After  this  consecration  before  the 
altar,  "  the  new  associates,  coming  forth  from  the  chapel, 
sat  them  down  by  a  spring  on  the  western  aspect  of  the  height 
— a  spring,  like  our  white  Winefride's  Holywell,  traditionally 
stained  with  the  martyr's  blood — and  there  breaking  their 
fast  together,  spent  the  residue  of  the  blessed  day  together  in 
holy  and  fraternal  chat."f  "  And  in  the  evening,  at  set  of 
sun,"  says  Rodriguez,  "  they  went  homeward,  praising  and 
blessing  the  Lord." 

A  few  days  later  the  term  ended,  and  Francis  employed 
the  month  of  September  in  taking  the  Spiritual  Exercises. 
He  has  left  no  record  of  his  experiences  during  those  days. 
But  the  way  in  which  he  henceforth  speaks  of  the  Exercises, 
and  his  continual  recommendation  of  them  to  others,  shows 
that  he  believed  they  had  done  much  for  himself.  Possibly 
he  over-estimated  how  much.  It  is  often  difficult  to  differ- 
entiate between  the  results  arising  from  the  state  of  mind 
which  leads  a  man  to  a  remedy,  and  the  results  of  the  remedy 
itself.  At  the  same  time  it  is  most  probable  that  the  Exer- 
cises influenced  him  enormously.  Beside  the  old  sense  of 
individuality,  and  the  desire  for  personal  development,  there 
was  awakening  at  this  time  a  sense  of  social  unity,  a  desire 
to  live  as  a  worthy  part  of  the  whole.  This  enlightenment 
came  to  some  through  the  channels  of  Humanism  :  to  many 
devout  Catholics  it  probably  came,  in  part  at  least,  through 
the  military  discipline  of  the  Spiritual  Exercises,  combined 
with  the  general  influence  of  Loyola's  genius.  There  Francis 
Xavier  learned  that  religion  and  personal  culture  and  social 
serviceableness  could  go  hand  in  hand,  and  with  this  new 
programme  in  his  possession  he  ceased  to  gaze  wistfully 
toward  the  more  or  less  forbidden  fruits  of  classicism  which 
had  heretofore  seemed  to  him  the  only  food  for  thoughtful 
and  progressive  minds. 

*  Peter  Faber,  Memorial,  pp.  14  and  15. 

f  Francis  Thompson,  Ignatius  Loyola,  p.  86. 


4  WHAT  SHALL  IT  PROFIT  A  MAN, 
MASTER  FRANCIS?1' 

From  an  old  woodcut  of  Loyola  and  Xavier 

"The  Father  Master  Francis  was  a  little  difficult  and  obstinate,  for  though  he 
enjoyed  greatly  the  conversation  and  friendship  of  Ignatius,  yet  he  did  not  dare  to 
change  altogether  the  estate  of  his  life,  as  he  was  naturally  inclined  to  the  honour 
and  pomp  of  the  world,  as  some  who  at  thii  time  were  very  intimate  with  him 
afterwards  told  us  "  (Teix.,  Vita,  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  ii.  p.  8  i  8). 


CHAPTER   V 

THE    SPIRITUAL   EXERCISES 

No  account  of  the  Order  of  Jesus,  nor  of  the  life  of  Francis 
Xavier,  is  complete  without  some  notice  of  the  "  Spiritual 
Exercises."  "  Most  of  us,"  says  Lainez,  the  second  general, 
"  received  with  the  Exercises  the  spirit  of  vocation,  so  much 
so  that  we  might  truly  say  that  our  Society  has  been  founded 
and  united  and  developed  chiefly  by  their  means."  To  all 
who  wished  to  join  the  Company,  Ignatius  administered  this 
discipline  ;  it  was  given,  too,  to  hundreds  who  found  them- 
selves at  the  cross-roads,  and  such  were  almost  invariably 
added  to  the  ranks  of  the  Society.  Francis  of  Sales  remarked 
that  the  little  book  had  converted  more  souls  than  the 
letters  it  contained,  and  it  has  often  been  said  that  the  famous 
meditation  of  the  Two  Standards  (see  p.  79)  has  peopled 
monasteries.  To  this  day  the  Jesuits  honour  it  as  a  revela- 
tion from  God,  and  find  in  it  the  apotheosis  of  the  spirit  of 
their  Order  ;  Loyola  himself  had  such  unbounded  faith  in 
this  discipline,  that  if  it  ever  failed  to  produce  the  desired 
effect  he  blamed  only  the  manner  of  giving  or  receiving  it.* 

To  hear  such  reports  of  its  fame,  and  then  to  turn  to  the 
book  itself,  is  inevitably  to  be  disappointed.  The  first 
thing  which  strikes  you,  especially  if  you  expect  to  find  here 
a  work  of  devotion,  is  the  dryness  and  reticence  of  the  book. 
It  is  like  a  school  text-book,  small,  precise,  divided  into 
portions  and  headings.  Here  is  no  mystical  rapture,  no 
poetic  beauty.  The  personality  of  the  author  never  appears. 
Dates,  hours,  subjects  of  prayer  and  meditation,  physical 
environment,  a  confessor  or  adviser,  all  are  arranged  for,  and 
then  the  soul  is  to  be  left  alone  with  God,  until  the  director 
again  demands  its  confidence.  For  between  the  pupil  and  the 
director,  who  represents  the  Church,  there  can  be  no  veil 
drawn.  Ignatius  did  not  put  this  book  into  the  hands  of 
Christians  that  they  might  keep  it  on  their  shelves  and  read 
it  now  and  then,  or  at  stated  intervals,  as  they  would  their 
Bibles  or  their  books  of  devotion.  For  the  mere  reader  the 
book  is  a  door  of  which  he  can  only  see  the  outside.  It  is 

*  Cartas,  No.  6. 


76  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

primarily  for  the  use  of  priests,  and  without  the  help  of  a 
priest  the  layman  has  nothing  to  gain  from  it  except  a  half- 
satisfied  curiosity. 

Thus,  by  always  keeping  the  priest  between  the  soul  and 
God,  Ignatius  attacked  at  the  same  time  the  sentimental 
mysticism  of  certain  Catholics,  and  the  independent  Pro- 
testantism of  the  reformers,  who  claimed  direct  access  to 
God  through  Jesus  Christ.  How  far,  in  the  case  of  the 
Exercises,  the  director  interfered  between  man  and  his 
Maker,  and  how  far  he  was  merely  a  friend  and  a  counsellor 
is  a  point  on  which  Romanists  and  Protestants  must  be 
divided.  But  our  study  of  the  Annotations,  with  which  the 
book  opens,  may  lead  us  to  think  that  originally  the  Director 
was  meant  to  play  a  humbler  part  than  later  he  came  to  do, 
and  the  question  arises  whether,  in  this  usurpation  of  a  right 
that  was  not  really  theirs,  the  later  Jesuits  failed  to  carry 
out  the  will  of  their  Founder,  and  thus  brought  the 
Exercises  into  a  disrepute  which  they  do  not  deserve.  * 

Let  us  look  first,  then,  at  these  "  Twenty  Annotations  for 
Obtaining  some  Knowledge  of  the  Spiritual  Exercises  which 
Follow,  and  for  the  Help  as  Well  of  Him  Who  is  to  Give  as  of 
Him  Who  is  to  Receive  Them." 

These  Annotations  begin  by  defining  spiritual  exercises  as 

every  method  of  examination  of  conscience,  of  meditation,  of 
contemplation,  of  vocal  and  mental  prayer,  and  of  other  spiritual 
operations,  as  shall  be  afterwards  declared  ;  for  as  to  go  for  a 
walk  or  a  journey,  and  to  run,  are  bodily  exercises,  so  is  the 
name  of  spiritual  exercises  applied  to  any  method  of  preparing 
and  disposing  the  soul  to  free  itself  from  all  inordinate  affections, 
and  after  it  has  freed  itself  from  them,  to  seek  and  find  the  will 
of  God  concerning  the  ordering  of  life  for  the  salvation  of  one's 
soul. 

The  second  annotation  advises  the  priest  who  gives  the 
exercises  to  keep  himself  in  the  background,  going  through 
the  points  briefly  and  with  a  short  explanation,  in  order  that 

*  Most  of  the  references  and  extracts  which  follow  are  taken  from  the 
1908  English  version.  (The  Text  of  the  Spiritual  Exercises  of  Ignatius  Loyola, 
Burns  &  Gates,  1908.)  The  Spanish  autograph  copy  was  first  approved  by 
Pope  Paul  III.  in  1548,  and  the  book  was  printed  in  Latin  in  the  same  year. 
The  first  English  version  appeared  in  1736,  but  it  is  far  from  accurate.  In 
1847  and  in  1870  other  editions  were  published  ;  that  of  1870  was  specially 
arranged  for  the  use  of  the  Anglican  communion. 


THE  SPIRITUAL  EXERCISES  77 

the  pupil  may  "  understand  and  savour  the  matter  interiorly, 
for  that  fills  and  satisfies  the  soul." 

The  third  declares  that  there  are  degrees  of  reverence 
required  by  the  pupil,  a  less  degree  during  intellectual  opera- 
tions than  during  those  "  acts  of  the  will,"  when  the  soul 
converses  vocally  or  mentally  with  God. 

The  fourth  allows  that  the  formal  time-limitation  of  one 
week  for  each  of  the  four  divisions  of  the  exercises  may  be 
lengthened  or  shortened  according  to  the  needs  of  the  pupil, 
so  long  as  the  whole  is  concluded  in  about  a  month.* 

The  fifth  advises  "  him  who  is  receiving  the  exercises  to 
enter  upon  them  with  a  large  heart  and  with  liberality 
towards  his  Creator  and  Lord,  offering  all  his  desires  and 
liberty  to  Him,  in  order  that  His  Divine  Majesty  may  make 
use  of  his  person  and  of  all  he  possesses  according  to  His 
most  holy  will." 

After  that  come  various  precepts  for  the  benefit  of  the 
administrator  of  the  Exercises.  He  is  especially  warned  not 
to  allow  the  pupil  to  make  any  rash  vows  under  the  impetus 
given  him  by  the  discipline. 

he  who  gives  the  exercises  must  not  incline  him  who  receives 
them  more  to  poverty  or  to  a  vow  than  to  their  contraries,  nor  to 
one  state  or  manner  of  life  more  than  another  .  .  .  but  keeping 
as  it  were  in  equilibrium,  like  a  balance,  allow  the  Creator  to  act 
immediately  with  the  creature,  and  the  creature  with  its  Creator 
and  Lord. 

Number  XIX.  outlines  a  modified  course  for  those  taken 
up  with  private  affairs  and  necessary  business. 
Number  XX.  runs  as  follows  : — 

To  him  who  is  less  occupied,  and  who  desires  in  every  possible 
way  to  profit,  let  all  the  Spiritual  Exercises  be  given  in  the  order 
in  which  they  follow  ;  and  in  these  generally  he  will  derive  all  the 
more  profit,  in  proportion  as  he  separates  himself  from  all  friends 
and  relations  and  from  all  earthly  cares,  as  for  example,  by  leaving 
the  house  he  dwells  in  and  choosing  another  house  or  room,  there 
to  dwell  in  as  great  privacy  as  possible,  in  such  a  way  that  it  be  in 
his  power  to  go  daily  to  Mass  and  to  Vespers,  without  fear  that 

*  Ignatius  himself,  in  his  later  years,  modified  the  limitations  of  time  and 
circumstance  to  such  a  degree  that  he  recommended  lay  people,  if  they  desired, 
to  go  daily  to  church  for  one  hour,  and  in  this  way  go  through  the  Exercises 
with  a  confessor  ;  see  Gothein,  Ignatius  von  Loyola  und  die  Gegenreformalion, 
p.  242. 


78  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

his  relations  will  put  any  obstacle  in  his  way.  And,  among  many 
other  advantages,  three  principal  ones  will  result  from  this 
separation.  The  first  is,  that  when  a  person  separates  himself 
from  numerous  friends  and  acquaintances,  and  disengages  himself 
from  many  ill-ordered  concerns,  in  order  to  serve  and  praise  God 
our  Lord,  he  gains  no  little  merit  in  the  eyes  of  His  Divine  Majesty. 
The  second  is,  that  when  a  person  has  thus  withdrawn  himself,  as 
his  understanding  is  not  divided  on  many  subjects,  but  all  his 
solicitude  is  placed  on  one  thing  only,  namely,  on  the  service  of 
his  Creator  and  the  profit  of  his  own  soul,  he  enjoys  a  freer  use  of 
his  natural  powers  in  seeking  diligently  what  he  so  much  desires. 
The  third  is,  that  the  more  our  soul  find  itself  alone  and  in  soli- 
tude, the  fitter  it  renders  itself  to  approach  and  unite  itself  to  its 
Creator  and  Lord  ;  and  the  nearer  it  thus  unites  itself  to  Him, 
the  more  it  disposes  itself  to  receive  graces  and  favours  from  His 
Divine  and  Supreme  Goodness. 

After  these  annotations  come  directions  for  the  self- 
examinations  which  are  to  be  made  thrice  daily.  The  pupil 
is  to  keep  diagrammatic  notes  or  charts  of  his  sins,  in  order 
that  his  progress  or  decline  may  be  easily  evident  from  day 
to  day,  and  week  to  week.  After  retiring,  if  possible,  com- 
pletely from  the  outer  world,  closing  doors  and  windows,  he 
is  to  meditate  for  a  week  upon  sin  and  punishment,  especially 
in  the  morning,  at  noon,  in  the  evening,  and  at  midnight. 
At  the  end  of  the  First  Week  he  is  advised  to  make  a  general 
confession,  and  to  receive  the  Holy  Sacrament. 

John  Calvin's  criticism  of  the  Exercise  of  the  First  Week 
is  interesting,  as  coming  from  so  great  a  contemporary  of 
Loyola's,  but  some  of  us  will  think  it  unreasonable  and  over- 
harsh  : 

There  is  no  semblance  of  reason  in  the  absurd  procedure  of 
those  who,  that  they  may  begin  with  repentance,  prescribe  to 
their  neophytes  certain  days  during  which  they  are  to  exercise 
themselves  in  repentance,  and,  after  these  are  elapsed,  admit 
them  to  communion  in  Gospel  grace  .  .  .  such  are  the  fruits 
which  their  giddy  spirit  produces,  that  repentance,  which  in 
every  Christian  man  lasts  as  long  as  life,  is  with  them  completed 
in  a  few  short  days.* 

The  Second  Week  the  meditations  are  taken  from  selected 
events  in  the  Life  of  our  Lord,  up  to  the  Sabbath  before  His 
Passion.  Amid  these  meditations,  on  the  Fourth  Day  of  the 

*  J.  Calvin,  Institutes  of  Christian  Religion,  Book  III.  cap.  ii. 


THE  SPIRITUAL  EXERCISES  79 

Week,  is  inserted  the  Meditation  on  Two  Standards.  As  the 
Jesuits  have  always  considered  this  one  of  the  most  efficacious 
passages  in  the  writings  of  Loyola,  we  will  quote  it  in  full. 

The  meditation  on  Two  Standards,  the  one  of  Christ,  our 
sovereign  Leader  and  Lord  ;  the  other  of  Lucifer,  the  mortal 
enemy  of  our  human  race. 

The  usual  preparatory  prayer. 

The  first  prelude  is  the  history  ;  it  will  be  here  shown  how 
Christ  calls  and  desires  all  under  His  banner — Lucifer,  on  the 
contrary,  under  his. 

The  second  prelude  is  a  composition  of  place,  seeing  the  spot ; 
it  will  be  here  to  see  a  vast  plain  of  all  the  region  round  Jerusalem, 
where  the  Supreme  general  Leader  of  all  good  is  Christ  our  Lord  ; 
and  to  imagine  another  plain  in  the  country  of  Babylon,  where 
the  chief  of  the  enemy  is  Lucifer. 

The  third  prelude  is  to  ask  for  what  I  want ;  it  will  be  here  to 
ask  for  knowledge  of  the  deceits  of  the  wicked  chieftain,  and  for 
help  to  guard  against  them  ;  and  for  knowledge  of  the  true  life 
which  our  Sovereign  and  true  Leader  points  out,  and  for  grace 
to  imitate  Him. 

The  first  point  is  to  imagine  the  chieftain  of  all  the  enemy  as 
seated  in  that  great  plain  of  Babylon,  as  on  a  lofty  throne  of  fire 
and  smoke,  in  aspect  horrible  and  fearful. 

The  second  point  is  to  consider  how  he  summons  together 
innumerable  devils,  how  he  disperses  them  some  to  one  city,  some 
to  another,  and  so  on  throughout  the  whole  world,  omitting  not 
any  provinces,  places,  or  states  of  life,  or  any  persons  in  particular. 

The  third  point  is  to  consider  the  address  which  he  makes, 
and  how  he  warns  them  to  lay  snares  and  chains ;  telling  them 
how  they  are  first  to  tempt  men  to  covet  riches  (as  he  is  wont  to 
do  in  most  cases),  so  that  they  may  more  easily  come  to  the  vain 
honour  of  the  world,  and  then  to  unbounded  pride  ;  so  that  the 
first  step  is  riches,  the  second  honour,  the  third  pride ;  and  from 
these  three  steps  he  leads  them  to  all  other  vices. 

In  the  same  way,  on  the  other  hand,  we  are  to  consider  the 
sovereign  and  true  Leader,  Christ  our  Lord. 

The  first  point  is  to  consider  how  Christ  our  Lord,  in  aspect  fair 
and  winning,  takes  His  station  in  a  great  plain  of  the  country 
near  Jerusalem  on  a  lowly  spot. 

The  second  point  is  to  consider  how  the  Lord  of  the  whole 
world  chooses  out  so  many  persons,  Apostles,  disciples,  etc.,  and 
sends  them  throughout  the  whole  world  diffusing  His  sacred 
doctrine  through  all  states  and  conditions  of  persons. 

The  third  point  is  to  consider  the  address  which  Christ  our 
Lord  makes  to  all  His  servants  and  friends,  whom  He  sends  on 


80  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

this  expedition,  recommending  to  them  that  they  desire  to  help 
all,  by  guiding  them  first  to  the  highest  degree  of  poverty  of  spirit, 
and  even  to  actual  poverty,  if  it  please  His  Divine  Majesty,  and 
He  should  choose  to  elect  them  to  it ;  leading  them,  secondly,  to 
a  desire  of  reproaches  and  contempt,  because  from  these  two 
humility  results  ;  so  that  there  are  three  steps  :  the  first,  poverty, 
opposed  to  riches  ;  the  second,  reproaches  and  contempt,  opposed 
to  worldly  honour  ;  the  third,  humility,  opposed  to  pride  :  and  from 
these  three  steps  let  them  conduct  them  to  all  other  virtues. 

A  colloquy  to  our  Lady  to  obtain  for  me  grace  from  her  Son 
and  Lord  that  I  may  be  received  under  His  Standard.  And  first, 
in  the  highest  degree  of  poverty  of  spirit,  and  not  less  in  actual 
poverty,  if  it  please  His  Divine  Majesty,  and  He  should  choose 
to  elect  and  receive  me  to  it.  Secondly,  in  bearing  reproaches 
and  insults,  the  better  to  imitate  Him  in  these,  provided  only  I 
can  endure  them  without  sin  on  the  part  of  any  person,  or  dis- 
pleasure to  His  Divine  Majesty  ;  and  after  this  an  Ave  Maria. 

To  ask  the  same  from  the  Son,  that  He  obtain  for  me  this  grace 
from  the  Father  ;  and  then  to  say  an  Anima  Christi. 

To  ask  the  same  from  the  Father,  that  He  grant  me  this  grace  ; 
and  to  say  a  Pater  noster. 

This  Exercise  will  be  made  at  midnight,  and  again  early  in  the 
morning ;  and  two  repetitions  of  it  will  be  made  at  the  hours  of 
Mass  and  Vespers,  always  finishing  with  the  triple  colloquy  to  our 
Lady,  the  Son,  and  the  Father  ;  and  the  meditation  on  the  Classes, 
which  follows,  will  be  made  during  the  hour  before  supper. 

There  is  also  included  in  the  Second  Week  a  note  on  the  three 
degrees  of  humility.  The  first  when  God's  will  is  man's  law, 
the  second  when  God's  will  is  man's  will,  the  third  when 
God's  will  is  specially  pleasing  to  man  when  it  involves  him 
in  the  sufferings  and  poverty  of  Christ. 

This  note  is  followed  by  a  disquisition  on  the  making  of 
choices  or  decisions  in  life.  Here  are  one  or  two  extracts  : — 

In  every  good  election,  as  far  as  regards  ourselves,  the  eye  of 
our  intention  ought  to  be  single,  looking  only  to  the  end  for  which 
I  was  created,  which  is,  for  the  praise  of  God  our  Lord,  and  for 
the  salvation  of  my  soul.  And  thus  whatever  I  choose  ought  to  be 
for  this,  that  it  should  help  me  to  the  end  for  which  I  was  created  ; 
not  ordering  and  drawing  the  end  to  the  means,  but  the  means 
to  the  end.  As,  for  example,  it  happens  that  many  first  choose 
to  marry,  which  is  a  means,  and  secondarily  to  serve  our  Lord 
God  in  the  married  state,  which  service  of  God  is  the  end.  In  the 
same  way  there  are  others  that  first  desire  to  possess  benefices 
and  then  to  serve  God  in  them.  So  these  do  not  go  straight  to 


THE  SPIRITUAL  EXERCISES  81 

God,  but  wish  God  to  come  straight  to  their  inordinate  affections  ; 
thus  they  make  of  the  end  a  means,  and  of  the  means  an  end  ;  so 
that  what  they  ought  to  take  first  they  take  last.  For  first  we 
ought  to  make  our  object  the  desire  to  serve  God,  which  is  the 
end  ;  and  secondarily  to  receive  the  benefice,  or  marry,  if  it  is 
more  profitable  to  me  ;  and  this  is  the  means  to  the  end.  Nothing 
then  ought  to  move  me  to  take  these  or  other  means,  or  to  deprive 
myself  of  them,  except  only  the  service  and  praise  of  God  our 
Lord  and  the  eternal  salvation  of  my  soul. 

The  first  rule  is  that  the  love,  which  urges  and  causes  me  to 
choose  such  or  such  a  thing,  descend  from  on  high  from  the  love 
of  God  ;  so  that  he  who  chooses,  feel  first  in  himself  that  the  love 
which  he  has  more  or  less  for  the  thing  he  chooses,  is  solely  for 
the  sake  of  his  Creator  and  Lord. 

The  second  rule  is  to  place  before  my  eyes  a  man  whom  I  have 
never  seen  or  known,  and  to  consider  what  I,  desiring  all  perfec- 
tion for  him,  would  tell  him  to  do  and  choose  for  the  greater 
glory  of  God  our  Lord,  and  the  greater  perfection  of  his  soul ; 
and  acting  so,  to  keep  the  rule  which  I  lay  down  for  another. 

The  third  rule  is  to  consider,  as  if  I  were  at  the  point  of  death, 
what  would  be  the  form  and  measure  which  I  should  then  desire 
to  have  observed  in  the  proceeding  of  the  present  election  ;  and 
regulating  my  conduct  according  to  this,  I  must  make  my  decision 
in  all  things. 

The  fourth  rule  is,  viewing  and  considering  what  I  shall  find 
myself  at  the  Day  of  Judgment,  to  think  how  I  shall  then  wish 
to  have  decided  in  regard  to  the  present  matter ;  and  the  rule 
which  I  should  then  wish  to  have  observed,  I  will  now  observe, 
that  I  may  then  find  myself  full  of  joy  and  pleasure. 

During  the  Second  Week  and  thereafter  the  pupil  is  advised 
to  read  occasionally  out  of  the  Imitation)  the  Gospels,  and 
the  Lives  of  the  Saints. 

The  whole  of  the  Third  Week  is  occupied  with  the  contem- 
plation of  the  Passion  of  our  Lord.  There  are  added  to  these 
meditations  some  Rules  for  regulating  oneself  for  the  future 
in  the  matter  of  food. 

Abstinence  is  more  suitable  with  regard  to  drink  than  with 
regard  to  eating  bread  ....  abstinence  may  be  observed  in 
two  ways,  first,  by  accustoming  oneself  to  eat  coarser  food  ; 
secondly,  by  taking  delicacies  in  smaller  quantities  .  .  .  while 
eating  let  one  consider  that  he  sees  Christ  our  Lord  eating  with 
His  disciples,  and  how  He  drinks,  and  how  He  looks,  and  how 
He  speaks,  and  endeavour  to  imitate  Him.  .  .  .  Let  him,  above 
all,  guard  against  his  mind  being  completely  engrossed  in  what 

F 


82  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVJER 

he  is  eating  ...  it  is  very  profitable  after  dinner  or  after  supper, 
or  at  some  other  time  when  one  does  not  feel  any  desire  to  eat, 
to  determine  the  amount  which  it  is  fitting  to  eat,  and  not  to 
exceed  this  amount.  .  .  . 

The  attitude  of  Loyola  towards  ascetism  was  clearly 
defined  :  he  never  regarded  it  as  an  end  in  itself,  and  he  recog- 
nised that  there  was  a  point  at  which  it  was  apt  to  defeat 
its  own  ends.  It  was  his  servant,  not  his  master,  a  servant 
to  be  discarded  as  soon  as  self -con  quest  is  reached. 

The  Fourth  Week  is  occupied  with  the  Resurrection  and 
the  Contemplation  for  obtaining  Love.  In  this  final  contem- 
plation the  stern  reticence  of  the  Founder  begins  at  last  to 
break.  "  For  after  winter  followeth  summer,  after  night  the 
day  returneth,  and  after  a  tempest  a  great  calm."  * 

The  windows,  according  to  the  directions,  have  been  opened, 
the  sunlight  streams  into  the  cell,  the  Lord  is  risen,  the 
disciple  is  bidden  "  to  rejoice  in  the  exceeding  great  joy  and 
gladness  of  Christ  our  Lord  ...  to  bring  before  the  memory 
and  think  of  things  that  cause  pleasure,  cheerfulness  and  joy, 
as  about  Heaven  ...  to  avail  himself  of  light,  the  beauties 
of  the  season,  as  in  Spring  and  Summer  of  refreshing  coolness, 
and  in  winter  of  the  sun  or  a  fire."  In  this  joyous  mood  the 
following  prayer  is  to  be  said,  "  with  great  affection,  as  one 
who  makes  an  offering  "  : — 

Take,  O  Lord,  and  receive  all  my  liberty,  my  memory,  my 
understanding,  and  all  my  will,  whatever  I  have  and  possess. 
Thou  hast  given  all  these  things  to  me  :  to  Thee,  O  Lord,  I  restore 
them  all :  all  are  Thine,  dispose  of  them  all  according  to  Thy 
will.  Give  me  Thy  love  and  Thy  grace,  for  this  is  enough 
for  me. 

There  follows  a  chapter  on  Three  Methods  of  Prayer.  The 
first  method  is  an  examination  or  testing  of  conduct  in  its 
relation  to  the  ten  commandments,  the  seven  deadly  sins 
and  their  contrary  virtues,  and  the  five  senses  of  the  body. 
The  second  method  advises  you  to  pray  word  by  word, 
pausing  at  each  word  and  dwelling  on  its  significance  so  long 
that,  for  example,  the  repetition  of  the  Lord's  Prayer  will 
occupy  about  an  hour.  The  third  method  is  that 

at  each  breath  or  respiration,  prayer  be  made  mentally,  saying 
*  The  Imitation  of  Christy  cap.  viii. 


THE  SPIRITUAL  EXERCISES  83 

one  word  of  the  Lord's  Prayer  or  of  any  other  prayer  that  is  being 
recited,  so  that  only  one  word  be  said  between  each  breath,  and 
in  the  length  of  time  between  each  breath  let  attention  be  specially 
paid  to  the  signification  of  the  word,  or  to  the  person  to  whom 
the  prayer  is  directed,  or  to  one's  own  lowness,  or  to  the  distance 
between  that  person's  great  dignity  and  such  lowness  of  ours. 

Next  there  comes  an  annotated  summary  of  the  Life  of 
Christ,  chiefly  in  the  words  of  the  New  Testament,  various 
rules  "  for  the  discernment  of  spirits,"  by  which  the  disciple 
may  detect  what  is  real  and  what  is  false  in  his  spiritual  life. 
There  are  added  Rules  for  giving  alms,  Rules  on  scruples,  and 
the  much  discussed  Rules  for  thinking  with  the  Church. 
The  knowledge  of  the  inner  machinery  of  the  human  heart 
and  mind  displayed  in  this  book,  and  specially  in  these  later 
chapters,  is  profound.  Nowhere  else,  perhaps,  outside 
William  James'  Varieties  of  Religious  Experience,  have  we 
such  an  attempt  at  a  precise  and  scientific  systemisation  of 
the  soul.  Yet,  like  all  genuine  scientific  writing,  the  book, 
for  youthful  spirits,  glows  with  romance.  Xavier,  we  feel 
sure,  found  nothing  cold  or  indecent  in  this  searching  psycho- 
logy. That  discovery  has  been  left  to  the  modern  student 
and  critic. 

There  must  be  a  deep  aesthetic  as  well  as  religious  delight 
in  shutting  oneself  within  the  bare  and  austere  walls  of  this 
discipline,  and  then,  after  seeing  and  hearing  and  feeling  the 
terrors  of  hell,  finding  oneself  gradually  surrounded  by  all 
the  splendours  of  this  magical  architecture ;  and  Francis,  with 
his  genius  for  joyousness,  must  have  benefited  to  the  full  by 
this  design  of  spiritual  cunning.  But  Ignatius  never  allows 
the  discipline  or  delights  of  these  Exercises  to  be  an  end  in 
themselves ;  his  aim  is  self -discipline,  and  the  discipline  of 
the  regiment  of  Jesus. 

It  is  this  quality  which  separates  the  Exercises  from  most 
mediaeval  works  of  contemplation  and  meditation.  And  it  is 
when  we  come  to  this  point  that  the  question  forces  itself 
upon  us  :  Should  a  man  study  and  contemplate  the  mysteries 
of  the  Christian  faith  in  order  to  add  to  the  stature  of  his 
soul  ?  "  Which  of  you  by  being  anxious  can  add  one  cubit 
to  his  stature  ?  "  said  Jesus.  "  If  then  ye  are  not  able  to  do 
that  which  is  least,  why  are  ye  anxious  concerning  the  rest  ? 
.  .  .  Seek  ye  His  kingdom  and  these  things  shall  be  added 
unto  you."  Loyola's  supreme  aim  was  indeed  the  Kingdom 

F2 


84  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

of  God,  but  he  missed,  like  so  many  of  us,  that  view  of  the 
Divine  economy  which  shows  us  that  the  pursuit  of  that  end 
will  in  itself  sufficiently  educate  and  discipline  the  soul. 
When  we  compare  Ignatius  with  the  mediaeval  mystics  we 
incline  to  admire  the  practicality  of  his  devotions ;  and  the 
older  mystics  we  condemn,  because  they  set  as  their  utmost 
goal  an  experience  of  rapture  which  was  something  between 
themselves  and  God  and  no  other,  an  experience  which  they 
could  attain  to  in  the  isolation  of  their  own  cells.  But  if 
that  kind  of  religion  was  unpractical,  at  least  it  was  not 
passionless,  and  sometimes  one  is  inclined  to  think  that  the 
Spiritual  Exercises  must  tend  to  expurgate  religious  passion 
from  the  soul.  "  This  book,"  says  Eberhard  Gothein,  "  is 
not  a  work  of  passionate  reverie,  as  has  often  been  believed  : 
rather  it  is  a  process  of  inoculation  against  that  quality." 
The  same  writer  goes  on  to  suggest  a  comparison  between  the 
influence  of  the  Exercises  and  the  influence  of  tragedy  as 
defined  by  Aristotle.  Tragedy,  Aristotle  tells  us,  is  a  repre- 
sentation (literally  an  imitation)  which  produces  through  pity 
and  fear  the  purification  or  /«x#apo-ts  of  emotions  of  that  nature. 
"  Is  this  world-drama  but  a  great  tragedy  for  Loyola,  from 
the  Creation  to  the  Day  of  Judgment,  with  the  central  tragic 
episode  of  the  Redemption  ?  "  * 

Perhaps  the  quality  which  suggests  this  comparison  to 
Professor  Gothein  is  the  same  quality  which  is  condemned 
by  most  other  Protestant  critics  under  the  heading  of  "  crass 
materialism"  : 

Materialism  of  the  crudest  type  mingled  with  the  indulgence 
of  a  reverie  in  this  long  spiritual  journey.  At  every  step  the 
neophyte  employed  his  five  senses  in  the  effort  of  intellectual 
realisation.  Prostrate  upon  the  ground,  gazing  with  closed 
eyelids  in  the  twilight  of  his  cell  upon  the  mirror  of  imagination, 
he  had  to  see  the  boundless  flames  of  hell  and  souls  encased  in 
burning  bodies,  to  hear  the  shrieks  and  blasphemies,  to  smell 
their  sulphur  and  intolerable  stench,  to  taste  the  bitterness  of 
tears,  and  feel  the  stings  of  ineffectual  remorse.  He  had  to 
localise  each  object  in  the  camera  obscura  of  the  brain. f 

*  Eberhard  Gothein,  Ignatius  von  Loyola  und  die  Gegenreformation,  p.  235. 

f  J.  A.  Symonds,  The  Renaissance  in  Italy,  "  The  Catholic  Reaction," 
Part  I.  p.  288  ;  see  also,  for  an  exactly  similar  criticism,  Dr.  T.  M.  Lindsay's 
History  of  the  Reformation,  vol.  ii.  p.  548.  The  passage  quoted  by  Symonds 
is,  with  the  addition  of  comments  and  italics,  taken  from  the  Fifth  Exercise  of 
the  First  Week  ;  see  p.  27  of  English  edition  (1908). 


THE  SPIRITUAL  EXERCISES  85 

If  this  criticism  is  just,  we  are  forced  to  ask  :  What,  then, 
is  the  orthodox  Protestant  state  of  mind  and  imagination 
on  reading,  say,  the  last  few  verses  of  the  ninth  chapter  of 
St.  Mark  or  the  twenty-fifth  chapter  of  St.  Matthew  ?  It  would 
take  a  most  accomplished  theologian  to  read  these  words  of 
our  Lord  without  the  most  vivid  and,  to  use  Dr.  Lindsay's 
phrase,  "  crassly  material "  pictures  invading  his  mind. 
What  is  the  purpose  of  the  Parables,  of  all  imaginative  art 
and  literature,  if  not  just  to  make  us  see  and  hear  and  feel, 
and  thus  to  minister  to  those  experiences  of  the  imagination 
which  bridge  the  life  of  sense  and  the  life  of  ultimate  reality  ? 
We  dwell  in  a  house  of  shadows  and  semblances ;  the  things 
we  can  touch  and  handle,  and  see  and  hear,  are,  just  because 
of  these  physical  qualities,  the  things  that  we  know  have  no 
permanent  place  in  a  life  which  is  eternal.  Knowing  this, 
the  ascetic  goes  on  to  say  that  because  the  material  world 
is  not  an  end  in  itself,  because  it  is  a  shadow,  a  symbol, 
therefore  it  is  to  be  despised,  to  be,  as  far  as  possible,  ignored. 
He  has  seen  the  supreme  value  of  the  life  of  the  imagination, 
of  the  soul,  but  he  has  forgotten  that  God  created  the  world, 
and  that  the  "  Word  was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us." 
On  this  chill  ground  extreme  Protestants  and  extreme 
Catholics  meet.  But  it  is  the  unique  quality  of  Christianity 
that  it  realises  the  link  between  the  world  of  tangible  shadows 
and  the  world  of  invisible  realities.  The  Christian  has  to 
learn  to  live  in  the  world  and  yet  separate  from  it.  There 
is  no  created  thing  which  cannot  help  to  lift  the  soul  to  God. 
When  Paul  says,  "  Henceforth  know  we  Christ  no  longer  after 
the  flesh,"  he  surely  does  not  altogether  condemn  that  earlier 
knowledge ;  when  he  was  a  child  he  thought  as  a  child. 
Does  the  history  of  the  Christian  disciple  not  always  show  a 
progression  from  a  knowledge  of  Christ  after  the  flesh 
onward  to  a  deeper  knowledge  ?  Through  the  words  and 
actions  of  our  schoolmasters  who  bring  us  to  Christ,  through 
the  Scriptures,  through  the  material  images  which  the 
Scriptures  conjure  up  in  our  minds,  through  Nature,  which 
is  the  garment  of  God,  through  all  these  "  material  "  ways 
we  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  of  the  things  unseen. 
And  the  power  of  the  Spiritual  Exercises  lies  in  their  use  of 
the  lower  experiences  to  serve  the  purposes  of  the  higher.  It 
is  the  same  power  which  gave  distinction  to  the  whole  life 
of  Loyola.  On  the  one  hand  he  saw  the  Church  absorbed 


86  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

in  material  things,  in  the  cleansing  and  decorating  of  the 
outside  of  the  cup  and  platter,  worshipping  the  customs 
themselves,  forgetful  of  the  reason  which  lay  behind  the 
custom  ;  and  on  the  other  hand  he  saw  the  "  mystics  "  and 
ascetics,  despising  reason  and  custom  alike,  and  trying  to 
escape  from  the  senses  which  God  had  given  them.  Surely 
Protestants  should  be  the  last  to  condemn  this  inward  eye. 
In  their  impatience  of  outward  symbol  and  ceremony  the 
early  Jesuits  savoured  far  more  of  Scotland  or  of  the  English 
Puritans  than  of  Rome.  George  Tyrrell  made  no  ill  compari- 
son when  he  likened  Ignatius  Loyola  to  John  Bunyan. 
Bunyan  himself  says  :  "  It  began  to  be  rumoured  up  and  down 
that  I  was  a  witch,  a  Jesuit,  a  highwayman,  and  the  like." 
Both  men  were  making  a  bee-line  for  God,  and  folk  who  make 
bee-lines  across  rough  land  carry  few  superfluous  goods. 
The  greatest  Protestant  saints  have  yet  a  holy  frenzy  in  their 
behaviour,  the  greatest  Catholic  saints  a  naked  simplicity, 
and  these  qualities  bring  them  very  close  to  one  another. 
Ignatius'  pages,  like  John  Bunyan's,  had  been  lived  before 
they  were  written. 

And  though  spiritual  exercises  were  common  enough  in 
those  days,  the  confessional  quality  of  this  book  gives  to  it 
an  essential  originality  and  an  incalculable  power.  Loyola 
lived,  like  all  artists,  a  double  life.  Every  crisis  of  his 
experience,  all  times  of  light  and  darkness,  of  joy  and  sorrow, 
of  ease  and  difficulty,  have,  in  the  full  tide  of  their  arrival, 
been  analysed  and  reduced  to  a  sort  of  spiritual  psychological 
system.  "  After  this,"  says  Gon^alvez,  "  I  asked  the 
Pilgrim  about  the  Exercises  and  Constitutions,  that  I  might 
understand  how  he  had  written  them.  He  replied :  4 1  did 
not  compose  them  all  at  once.  As  through  my  own  expe- 
rience a  thing  appeared  to  me  useful  to  others,  I  noted  it 
down.  So,  for  example,  the  plan  of  marking  on  lines  the 
result  of  a  particular  examination,  and  other  things  of  this 
kind.'  "  This  habit  he  had  begun  at  Manresa  in  1522,  and  the 
Exercises  were  not  published  till  1548.  Apart  from  his  own 
experiences,  the  sources  of  the  book  are  not  numerous.  But, 
as  befits  the  chef-d'oeuvre  of  the  great  cosmopolitan  Order, 
they  are  representative  of  many  countries. 

Spain  is  represented  by  Ignatius  himself  and  by  Garcia  de 
Cisneros  (the  author  of  a  book  of  exercises  which  Loyola  found 


THE  SPIRITUAL  EXERCISES  87 

at  Manresa) ;  the  Low  Countries  and  Germany  by  Ludolf  of 
Saxony,  Mauburnus,  Gerard  van  Ziitphen,  and  the  author  of  the 
Imitation  ;  France  at  least  by  the  director  of  St.  Ignatius  at 
Montserrat,  D.  Chamines  ;  Italy  by  St.  Bonaventura.* 

By  far  the  most  influential  of  those  books  was  undoubtedly 
the  Imitation,  and  in  the  letters  and  writings  of  St.  Francis 
Xavier  we  can  see  that  he,  too,  was  deeply,  probably  directly, 
influenced  by  Thomas  a  Kempis. 

The  great  motto  of  the  company,  Ad  Major  em  Dei  Gloriam, 
was  meant  to  recall  the  Church  to  reason,  and  the  mystics 
and  ascetics  to  a  purposeful  life.  We  cannot  question  the 
nobility  of  the  phrase.  It  embodies  one  of  the  truisms 
of  Christianity.  Ignatius,  in  taking  this  for  his  motto, 
only  echoed  the  words  of  St.  Paul :  "  Whether  therefore  ye  eat 
or  drink  or  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God."  He 
anticipated  the  first  answer  of  the  Shorter  Catechism  :  "  Man's 
chief  end  is  to  glorify  God  and  to  enjoy  Him  forever."  By 
this  motto,  then,  the  Spiritual  Exercises  must  be  judged. 
In  so  far  as  the  author's  conception  of  the  glory  of  God  is 
inadequate,  they  fall  short. 

But  the  words  Ad  Major  em  Dei  Gloriam  may  have 
many  interpretations ;  and  although  the  ideals  of  the  greatest 
saints  may  be  much  alike,  the  little  spark  of  difference  is 
what  flashes  into  flame  in  the  lesser  lives  of  those  who 
follow  them.  For  the  passing  experience  in  itself  Ignatius 
never  shows  anything  more  than  the  respect  one  shows  to  a 
good  tool.  And  this  supreme  emphasis  which  he  puts  upon 
the  "end,"  the  lofty  disregard  of  moral  or  physical  damage 
involved  in  the  struggle,  degenerated,  because  he  had  never 
clearly  enunciated  the  spiritual  unity  of  means  and  end, 
into  the  notorious  immorality  of  the  later  Jesuits. 

And  although  the  accusation  of  materialism  may  not  be 
convincing,  there  yet  remains,  in  the  way  in  which  Loyola 
here  approaches  the  sublimest  events  of  history,  something 
which  is  open  to  criticism.  For  while  our  only  approach  to 
spiritual  things  is  through  created  things,  while  the  Christian 
religion  is  the  religion  of  the  Incarnate  God,  yet  there  is 
an  instinct,  at  the  least,  which  rebels  against  the  reduction 
of  the  highest  experiences  to  a  sort  of  spiritual  technique. 

*  "  Etudes  religieuses,"  Les  Origines  des  Exercises  Spirituels,  par  P.  Watri- 
gant,  S.J.,  May,  Oct.,  1897. 


88  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

This  tendency,  however  original  Ignatius'  application  of 
it  may  have  been,  is  only  the  expression  of  something  which 
had  taken  firm  root  in  the  Spanish  character.  Here  we 
trace  the  Moorish  influence  :  here  we  see  signs  of  the  highly 
artificial  mysticism  of  the  East.  Through  Spain,  which 
fathered  the  Counter-Reformation,  this  Oriental  tendency 
crept  into  the  Roman  Church. 

On  the  whole,  it  is  difficult  to  approach  these  pages  without 
prejudice,  and  to  read  them  without  searching  for  u  Jesuitry  " 
between  the  lines.  And  the  book  has  that  quality  of  genius, 
it  gives  us  that  for  which  we  seek.  But  above  and  beyond 
every  other  impression  is  the  impression  that  the  whole 
composition  is  Ad  Major  em  Dei  Gloriam,  and  that  the  glory  of 
God  and  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  for  Loyola  identical. 

The  only  way  for  Christians  outside  the  Roman  Communion 
to  read  this  book  with  any  degree  of  sympathy  or  profit — 
though,  after  all,  it  is  not  a  book  to  be  read,  but  a  set  of  rules 
for  exercises  to  be  done — is  for  them  to  substitute  for  Loyola's 
conception  of  the  Church  their  own  conception  of  a  Church 
Catholic  whose  glory  might  be  identified  with  the  glory  of 
God,  and  then  to  give  to  that  Church,  throughout  the  book, 
their  full  allegiance.  Thus  when  the  Sacrament  is  referred  to, 
they  may  think  of  the  Holy  Communion  as  they  receive  it ; 
when  confession  is  recommended,  they  may,  if  they  choose, 
understand  the  Confessor  to  be  Jesus  Christ.  Hell  and 
Purgatory  may  be  something  very  real,  and  yet  very  different 
from  mediaeval  conceptions,  and  there  is  nothing  in  the  vivid 
personifications  of  good  and  evil  spirits  which  is  peculiarly 
Roman  Catholic.  When  we  are  here  bidden  to  call  upon  Mary 
or  Michael,  we  may  fortify  ourselves  with  the  recollection  and 
the  practice  of  the  Communion  of  Saints. 

Yet  though  few  except  Roman  Catholics  have  used,  or  will 
use,  this  discipline,  we  must  not  imagine  that  it  has  been 
confined  to  members  of  the  Order  of  Jesus  : 

Among  a  hundred  persons  who  have  undergone,  undergo,  or 
will  undergo  the  Spiritual  Exercises  there  are  perhaps  not  five 
Jesuits  .  .  .  the  Exercises  have  built  up  the  characters  of 
doctors  and  soldiers,  artists  and  priests,  mothers  of  families 
and  workmen.  And  it  is  not  M.  Maurice  Barres  who  has  had  the 
"  first  inkling  that  the  method  of  the  Exercises  is  susceptible 
of  adaptation  to  another  end  than  that  of  the  monastic  life."* 
*  P.  Suau,  in  Eludes,  5  March,  1905. 


THE  SPIRITUAL  EXERCISES  89 

Perhaps  the  most  attractive  feature  of  the  Exercises  is 
the  revelation  in  them  of  Loyola's  passionate  devotion  to 
the  Church.  There  is  something  very  beautiful  about 
his  faithfulness  towards  her.  There  was  probably  no  man 
in  Europe  in  those  days  who  saw  her  faults  more  plainly, 
and  yet  for  the  sake  of  that  heavenly  ideal  of  her  which  was 
in  his  heart,  and  in  the  hope  of  happier  days  to  come,  this 
great  man  was  content  to  lick  the  dust  from  off  her  denied 
feet. 

44  To  attain  the  truth  in  all  things  we  ought  always  to 
hold  that  we  believe  what  seems  to  us  white  to  be  black,  if 
the  Hierarchical  Church  so  defines  it ;  believing  that  between 
Christ  our  Lord  the  Bridegroom  and  the  Church  His  Bride 
there  is  one  and  the  same  spirit."  These  words  have  been 
so  often  taken  as  representing  Loyola's  attitude  to  the  Church, 
and  so  persistently  misunderstood,  that  it  is  worth  while 
to  examine  them  more  closely.  What  are  they,  after  all, 
but  the  quintessence  of  Roman  Catholicism  ?  There  is 
nothing  in  them  which  should  be  peculiar  to  the  Jesuits. 
They  formulate,  for  example,  the  process  by  which  one  comes 
to  believe  in  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  or  the 
doctrine  of  an  unchangeable  God,  Who  at  the  same  time 
became  Man.  I  quote  from  a  luminous  article  entitled 
"  Philosophy  Among  the  Jesuits,"  which  bears  on  this  point : 

St.  Ignatius  does  not  take  a  contradiction  of  faith  with  reason 
as  his  example,  but  a  contradiction  of  the  senses  versus  faith. 
He  does  not  say,  for  instance,  that  supposing  2  plus  2  equalled  5 
were  to  be  decided  by  a  Council,  he  would  have  to  believe  it. 
Nor  is  this  contradiction  of  the  senses  an  absolute  one.  It  would 
be  so  if  he  said  :  You  must  believe  that  what  is  black  is  white,  if 
the  Church  tells  you  that  it  is  :  or  you  must  believe  that  what 
you  see  to  be  black  you  see  to  be  white,  if  the  Church  decrees  it. 

He  does  not  affirm  either  of  these  two  contradictions,  but  only 
says  that  what  we  see  to  be  black  may  be  white — that  is,  may  not 
be  in  itself,  what  it  is  subjectively,  as  preconceived.* 

In  these  Exercises,  then,  we  find  nothing  which  is  not 
consistent  with  orthodox  Roman  Catholic  belief,  but  there 
is  no  doubt  that  Loyola  emphasised  those  very  points  of 
doctrine  with  which  Protestants  have  the  least  sympathy. 
For  example,  a  Protestant  is  able  to  come  to  ethical  con- 
clusions, and  to  live  up  to  certain  ethical  standards,  without 

*  Mind,  vol.  xii.  p.  234. 


90  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

the  aid  of  such  an  elaborate  imaginative  reconstruction  of 
the  material  side  of  the  Gospel  narrative  as  the  Exercises 
prescribe  :  and  to  a  Protestant  mind  the  ethical  results  are 
safer  if  too  much  time  is  not  spent  over  such  reconstructions. 
Yet  when  the  Protestant  historian  comes  to  illustrate  this 
theory,  he  finds  that  he  must  except  the  results  which  the 
Exercises  produced  on  the  early  Jesuits,  or  else  say  that 
these  men  were  fired  by  an  inspiration  which  transcended 
all  the  minor  practices  of  faith.  For  there  did  unquestion- 
ably follow  upon  the  receiving  of  these  Exercises,  in  the  early 
days  of  the  Order,  lives  of  unparalleled  devotion  and  sanctity. 
Upon  these  Exercises  were  nourished  the  men  who  stemmed 
the  tide  of  the  Reformation  in  Europe,  from  this  discipline 
there  rose  up  the  greatest  educationalists  of  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries,  and  the  most  ardent  missionaries 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  "  Francis,"  says  Brou,* 
"  emerged  from  the  Exercises  changed  into  another  man. 
From  this  time  onward  it  is  the  life  of  a  saint  which  we 
write." 

But  after  the  death  of  the  founder,  Jesuitism  became 
something  far  less  lovely  than  it  was  at  the  beginning,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  the  Exercises  continued  to  be  given. 
So  we  are  inclined  to  believe  that  it  was  when  the  original 
impetus  given  by  the  sanctity  and  genius  of  Loyola  and  his 
first  disciples  died  out,  that  the  Exercises  underwent  the 
real  test — and  failed.  "  Before  all  things,"  says  a  Jesuit 
writer  very  truly,  "  the  Exercises  are  a  school  for  the  reason 
and  the  mind,  a  school  to  form  self-mastery."  If  their 
greatest  strength  lies  here,  here  also  lies  their  greatest 
weakness.  Loyola  may  have  sighted  the  Mystic  Goal, 
but  surely  he  set  out  to  reach  it  by  the  wrong  road.  The 
true  mystics  have  not  striven  to  attain  to  an  ideal,  by  any 
mere  self-discipline  or  spiritual  technique,  or  imitation,  they 
have  submitted  themselves  to  a  Life-force.  With  the  pro- 
foundest  utterances  of  St.  Paul  or  St.  John,  for  example, 
the  tone  of  this  marvellous  book  is  hardly  in  tune. 

*  Brou,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  i.  p.  45, 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE     LAST    YEARS    IN    PARIS    AND    THE    JOURNEY    TO    VENICE 

(1534-1537) 

THE  order  of  the  Jesuits  had  as  yet  no  formal  existence, 
but  during  the  year  which  followed  the  solemn  day  of  con- 
secration on  Montmartre,  Ignatius  and  his  disciples  were 
constantly  together.  They  supped  in  one  another's 
rooms,  compared  their  college  notes,  and  discussed  plans 
for  the  future.  Once  a  week  they  confessed  and  com- 
municated. It  was  during  those  months  that  Francis 
Xavier  cemented  the  strongest  and  tenderest  friendships 
of  his  life.  The  expression  of  this  great  affection  for  the 
fellow-members  of  his  company,  and  above  all,  for  Ignatius, 
runs  like  a  thread  of  gold  through  his  letters  from  the 
East. 

But  meanwhile  the  group  began  to  attract  the  attention  of 
the  watch  dogs  at  the  Sorbonne. 

This  frequent  intercourse,  these  meetings,  those  unusual 
methods  of  devotion,  this  change  of  life,  could  not  pass  unnoticed. 
Everyone  was  talking  of  the  heretics  (i.e.  the  Lutherans),  whose 
conventicles  were  multiplying,  and  the  government,  provoked  by 
their  excesses,  felt  forced  to  be  severe.  The  theological  faculty 
allowed  nothing  to  escape  them.  Naturally  the  little  group  of 
friends  was  suspected.  "  They  will  end  by  coming  under  the 
Inquisition,"  people  said.  It  seems  they  had  enemies.  We  do 
not  know  who  these  were,  but  Ignatius  was  censured  once  more. 
The  Inquisitors,  who  knew  him  as  a  converter  of  heretics,  shrugged 
their  shoulders.  But  bad  reports  of  the  Company  were  abroad 
and  the  echoes  of  these  reached  as  far  as  Navarre.* 

When,  in  March  1535,  Ignatius  left  Paris  for  Spain,  he 
carried  with  him  a  letter  from  Francis  to  his  brother,  and 
in  this  letter  we  hear  something  of  those  troubles.  This  is 
the  earliest  of  the  Saint's  writings  in  existence. 

*  Brou,  Vie  de  S.  Frangois  Xavier,  vol.  i.  p.  46. 


92  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

"  Paris, 

"  25th  March,  1535. 

"  Senor. 

"  During  the  last  few  days  I  have  written  to  you  by 
various  routes  and  for  many  reasons.  What  chiefly  moved 
me  to  write  you  so  often  is  the  great  debt  I  owe,  since  I  am 
your  junior  and  you  my  Lord,  as  well  as  on  account  of  the 
many  favours  I  have  received. 

"  And  that  you  may  not  hold  me  for  unthankful  and 
ungrateful  for  such  extreme  favours,  every  time  that  I 
find  a  messenger  I  shall  be  sure  to  write  to  you  ;  and  if,  as 
the  road  is  so  long,  you  do  not  get  my  letters  as  often  as  I 
write  them,  I  beg  you  to  blame  the  many  mischances  between 
Paris  and  Obanos  ;  for  when  I  do  not  get  your  letters  as 
often  as  you  write  to  me,  in  reply  to  the  many  I  write,  I  lay 
the  blame  on  the  long  road  on  which  many  of  your  letters  and 
mine  are  lost.  So  on  your  part  there  is  no  lack  of  love,  but 
rather  the  contrary,  since  you  at  home  where  you  have  in 
plenty  what  is  needed  feel  the  miseries  and  hardships  of  my 
student-life,  no  less  than  I  do  in  Paris  where  the  necessary 
is  always  lacking.  Yet  this  lack  is  only  because  you  do  not 
really  know  about  my  hardships,  and  I  suffer  them  all  in  the 
very  certain  hope  that  when  you  know  assuredly  about  them, 
your  great  liberality  will  end  my  miseries." 

We  have  seen  from  the  accounts  of  student-life  in  Paris 
in  those  days  how  real  those  miseries  were. 

"  Sir,  lately  the  Rev.  Father  Friar  Vear  was  in  this 
university  and  he  gave  me  to  understand  certain  complaints 
which  you  have  made  about  me,  which  he  related  to  me 
at  great  length  ;  and  if  it  is  as  he  gave  me  to  understand, 
your  feeling  them  so  much  is  a  sign  and  very  great  proof  of 
the  love  and  warm  affection  you  have  for  me.  What  I  felt 
so  much  on  hearing  this  news  was  the  thought  of  the  great 
pain  which  you  suffered  through  stories  from  worthless  and 
bad  men  whom  I  desire  much  to  discover  in  order  to  give 
them  the  pay  they  deserve.  But  since  everyone  here  appears 
very  friendly,  it  is  hard  for  me  to  know  who  it  is  (who  has 
slandered  me).  God  knows  the  pain  I  suffer  in  having  to 


THE  LAST  YEARS  IN  PARIS  93 

defer  punishing  them  as  they  deserve.     This  alone  comforts 
me  :  what  is  divulged  is  no  longer  a  secret.'"  * 

The  next  part  of  the  letter  suggests  that  Francis'  wrath 
was  specially  roused  because  Ignatius  had  been  involved  in 
the  slanders. 

"  And  so  that  you  may  know  clearly  how  the  Lord  has 
favoured  me  in  making  me  acquainted  with  the  Senor  Maestro 
Ifiigo,  I  here  give  you  my  word  that  in  my  whole  life  I  can 
never  make  up  all  I  owe  him,  both  for  his  having  helped  me 
very  often  with  money  and  with  friends,  and  for  his  having 
been  the  cause  of  my  withdrawal  from  bad  companions, 
whom  I,  in  my  inexperience,  did  not  recognise.  And  now 
that  these  heresies  are  exposed,  I  should  not  wish  to  have 
been  associated  with  them  for  anything  in  the  world. 
For  this  alone  I  do  not  know  when  I  shall  be  able  to  pay 
Sefior  Maestro  Inigo,  that  he  brought  to  an  end  my  con- 
versation and  intercourse  with  persons  who  outwardly 
appeared  to  be  good,  but  within  were  full  of  heresies,  as  has 
now  been  shown." 

One  Jean  Calvin,  Xavier  might  have  added,  was  the  ring- 
leader of  those  wicked  persons. 

"  Therefore  I  beg  you  to  receive  him  as  you  would  me, 
myself,  since  with  his  good  works  he  has  put  me  under  such 
obligation.  And  believe  that  if  he  were  such  as  they  told  you, 
he  would  not  go  to  your  house  and  put  himself  in  your  hands. 
For  no  evil-doer  puts  himself  in  the  power  of  him  whom 
he  has  offended,  and  by  this  alone  you  can  know  that  all 
they  told  you  about  Senor  Maestro  Ifiigo  is  false. 

"  I  beg  you  very  earnestly  too  not  to  fail  to  commune  and 
converse  with  Senor  Ifiigo,  and  to  believe  what  he  may  say 
to  you,  for  his  counsels  and  conversations  will  help  you,  he 
is  so  much  a  man  of  God,  and  so  good.  .  .  .  give  him,  to  do 
me  a  favour,  as  much  credit  as  you  would  give  to  me  myself  : 
and  from  him  better  than  from  anyone  else  in  the  world 
you  will  be  able  to  learn  of  my  needs  and  hardships.  .  .  . 

*  The  earlier  collectors  of  the  Letters,  who  felt  it  their  duty  to  show  a 
saint  flawless  from  the  cradle,  have  omitted  these  spirited  sentiments. 
This  passage  is  in  Latin  in  the  original,  and  therefore  is  printed  in  italics. 
This  method  is  adopted  throughout  the  Letters. 


94  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

"  And  if  you  wish  to  do  me  the  favour  of  alleviating  my 
great  poverty,  you  will  be  able  to  give  what  you  send  to 
Serior  Inigo,  the  bearer  of  this,  for  he  has  to  go  to  Almazan, 
and  carries  certain  letters  from  a  student,  a  great  friend  of 
mine — who  is  studying  in  this  University,  and  is  a  native  of 
Almazan,  and  is  very  well  looked  after — by  a  very  safe 
route.  He  writes  to  his  father  that  if  Serior  Inigo  gives  him 
any  money  for  certain  students  in  Paris,  to  send  it  with 
his  own,  and  in  the  same  coin.  And  since  so  safe  a  way  is 
offered,  I  beg  you  to  remember  me. 

44 1  do  not  know  what  more  to  tell  you,  except  that  our 
dear  cousin  has  fled  this  university,  and  that  I  went  after 
him  as  far  as  Notre  Dame  de  Clery,  which  is  thirty-four  leagues 
from  Paris  (102  miles).  I  beg  you  to  let  me  know  if  he  arrived 
at  Navarre,  for  I  much  fear  me  for  him,  that  he  will  never 
be  any  good.  Senor  Maestro  Inigo  will  tell  you  how  affairs 
have  turned  out  about  these  heresies,  as  much  as  I  could 
write  by  letter. 

44  So  I  finish,  and  kiss  the  hands  of  yourself  and  of  the 
lady  (of  your  wife)  a  thousand  times.  May  our  Lord  increase 
your  lives  by  many  years,  as  for  your  very  noble  hearts  is 
desired. 

44  Your  very  sure  servant  and  younger  brother, 

44  FRANCIS  DE  XAVIER."* 


It  is  most  likely  that  Francis  over-estimated  his  brother's 
financial  resources  at  this  time.  Political  complications  had 
certainly  told  very  severely  upon  the  exchequers  of  the 
Navarrese  patriots.  Whether  the  Captain  of  Azpilcueta 
fulfilled  all  those  requests  remains  unknown.  In  the  same 
year,  as  Rodriguez  relates,  and  almost  at  the  hour  of  his 
departure  for  Venice,  Francis  got  the  news  that  the 
Chapter  of  Pampeluna  was  about  to  appoint  him  to  a 
Canonry  in  the  cathedral.  This  was  no  greater  an  honour 
than  a  man  of  his  family  and  attainments  might  expect  as 
a  matter  of  course,  but  it  must  have  summed  up  for  him, 
as  it  were,  the  things  which  he  was  leaving  behind  him  as  he 
left  the  gates  of  Paris  for  the  last  time.  About  this  time  the 
certificate  of  nobility  which  he  had  demanded  a  few  years 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  201. 


THE  LAST  YEARS  IN  PARIS  97 

earlier  was  drawn  up  in  Spain,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  Francis 
ever  read  it.* 

Behind  him  lay  twelve  years  of  college  life — of  a  kind  of 
college  life  of  which  Montaigne  and  Rabelais  and  Erasmus  have 
left  such  pitiful  and  burning  records.  He  had  in  turn  starved, 
caroused,  fasted,  frozen.  He  had  studied,  talked,  quarrelled 
and  made  friends  in  at  least  five  different  languages — Latin, 
French,  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Basque.  He  was,  according 
to  the  standards  of  the  Church,  a  cultured  philosopher  and 
an  expert  theologian.  The  constant  perils  of  cold  and 
pestilence,  of  rope  and  faggot  had  left  him  unharmed.  But 
above  all,  it  was  here  that  Ignatius  had  led  him  to  God. 
No  wonder  that  those  old  streets  and  colleges  haunted  his 
imagination  throughout  the  remaining  sixteen  years  of  his 
life.  It  was  for  Paris,  more  than  for  the  high  plains  of 
Navarre,  that  he  longed  in  exile.  And  it  was  to  Paris  that 
he  would  fain  have  returned,  and  "  gone  shouting  up  and  down 
the  streets  like  a  madman,"  telling  the  students  to  give  up 
their  small  ambitions  and  come  eastward  to  preach  the  Gospel 
of  Christ. 

Old  Tursellinus'  chapter  on  the  journey  from  Paris  to 
Venice  is  typical  and  quaint,  and  gives  perhaps  as  good  a 
picture  as  exists  of  that  hard  journey.  I  quote  from  the 
English  version  of  1632.f 

FRANCIS   GOETH  TO   VENICE   WITH  EXTREME   PAIN    OF    BODY 

He  had  now  almost  finished  his  course  of  Divinity,  when 
presently  he  was  to  depart  for  Italy.  For  the  Fathers  had  agreed 
among  themselves  that  upon  a  set  day,  to  wit  the  24th  of 
January,  1537,  they  would  meet  all  together  at  Venice,  with 

*  The  certificate  runs  as  follows  : 

We  declare  that  the  said  Don  Francisco  de  Jasso  y  Xavier  has  duly  proved 
that  he  was  and  that  he  is  by  ancient  origin  and  descent  in  direct  and  legitimate 
line  through  parents  and  ancestors,  according  to  the  four  branches  of  his 
paternal  and  maternal  ancestry,  an  hidalgo,  nobleman,  and  gentleman, 
legitimate  brother  of  Don  Miguel  de  Xavier  to  whom  belong  the  estates  and 
palacios  of  Xavier,  Ydocin,  and  Azpilcueta.  Therefore  We,  the  Emperor, 
King  and  Queen,  declare  that  we  hold  the  said  Francisco  de  Jasso  and  Xavier 
for  a  nobleman,  hidalgo,  and  gentleman,  and  that  he  and  his  sons  and 
descendants  may  and  shall  use  and  enjoy  all  the  prerogatives,  exemptions, 
honours,  liberties,  and  privileges  which  the  other  gentlemen  and  hijosdalgo  use 
and  enjoy  in  our  kingdom  of  Navarre.  (See  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  ii.  p.  83.) 

t  The  original  Latin  version  of  Tursellinus'  life  was  published  in  Antwerp 
and  in  Rome  in  1546. 


98  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

St.  Ignatius,  who  was  gone  thither  before  upon  certain  occa- 
sions. In  the  meantime,  before  the  appointed  day  of  their 
journey  came,  France  was  all  up  in  arms,  by  reason  of  Charles  V. 
his  war  made  upon  the  Frenchmen  *  :  which  accident  made  them 
hasten  their  determined  journey  by  setting  aside  all  care  of 
ending  their  course  of  studies.  Xavier  was,  indeed,  much 
grieved  by  this  hindrance,  f  but  yet  carried  it  discreetly,  esteeming 
it  as  good  to  leave  his  studies  for  God's  sake,  as  to  follow  them. 

Therefore  upon  the  thirteenth  day  of  November,  a  most 
unseasonable  time  of  the  year,  having  according  to  their  vows 
given  all  they  had  to  the  poor,  except  their  writings  and  some 
little  thing  to  help  them  on  the  journey,  he,  together  with  his 
other  company,  setteth  forth  on  the  way.  Their  manner  of 
travelling  was  this  :  they  were  clothed  in  coarse  and  old  habits, 
every  one  with  a  staff  in  his  hand,  and  a  short  leather  mantle  upon 
his  shoulder  like  poor  pilgrims  :  about  their  necks  they  hung  their 
beads  to  be  known  for  Catholics  as  they  travelled  among  heretics, 
their  writings  they  carried  at  their  back  in  a  little  bag. 

They  used  every  day  to  communicate,  being  the  only  comfort 
of  all  their  labours,  thereby  both  to  renew  their  forces,  and  to 
revive  their  spirits,  being  wearied  with  painful  travail.  When 
they  departed  from  their  lodging,  they  always  commended  them- 
selves to  God,  and  when  they  came  into  it  they  gave  Him  thanks. 
Being  upon  the  way,  they  first  spent  some  time  upon  meditating 
upon  heavenly  matters :  then  they  used  some  pious  discourse 
together,  and  now  and  then  they  lightened  the  labour  and 
weariness  of  their  journey  with  singing  of  hymns,  psalms,  and 
spiritual  canticles. 

In  this  manner,  for  the  most  part  taking  his  way  through 
Lorraine  and  Germany,  to  avoid  the  troubles  of  the  war,  he 
endured  the  autumn  showers  of  France,  and  the  winter  colds  of 
Germany,  and  though  he  were  not  accustomed  to  travel  on  foot, 
yet  he  cheerfully  undertook  and  performed  this  long  and  tedious 
journey,  being  loaden  with  his  writings,  and  tjois  in  the  dead  of 
winter,  and  through  most  foul  ways  many  times  encumbered 
over  with  snow  and  frozen  up  with  ice,  especially  as  he  passed 
the  Alps.  And  beside  the  weight  of  his  bag,  and  badness  of  the 
way,  he  voluntarily  used  another  mortification  which  put  him  to 
intolerable  pains. 

Here    follows    an    inaccuracy    on    Tursellinus'    part.     In 

*  The  war  between  Francis  I.  and  Charles  V.  regarding  the  inheritance  of 
Francis  Sforza,  Duke  of  Milan. 

t  There  is  a  great  difference  of  opinion  as  to  whether  Xavier  did  actually 
take  the  final  Doc.  Theol.  examination  or  not,  See  note  in  Brou's  Via  de 
S.  Francois  Xavier,  p.  50. 


THE  LAST  YEARS  IN  PARIS  99 

common  with  Bartoli  and  Lucena  he  tells  us  that  Francis 
nearly  killed  himself,  on  this  journey,  by  tying  cords  round 
his  legs.  But  Rodriguez,  who  was  one  of  the  Company  at 
that  time,  is  a  more  reliable  historian,  and  he  dates  this 
indiscretion  earlier.  It  was  during  the  summer  vacations 
of  the  previous  year,  while  he  was  taking  the  Spiritual 
Exercises,  says  Rodriguez,  that  he 

macerated  his  body,  carried  away  with  his  fervour,  with  too  little 
prudence.  With  hard  and  tightly-bound  strings  he  tied  his 
arms  and  his  legs  so  that  the  flesh  swelled  and  broke,  and  almost 
entirely  covered  the  cord.  It  seemed  impossible  to  cut  them. 
His  friends,  in  great  sorrow,  prayed  for  him.  He  endured  two 
days  of  terrible  suffering.  We  feared  that  his  arms,  which  were 
the  worst,  would  have  to  be  amputated.  But,  by  a  singular 
providence  of  God  they  healed  completely,  and  I  am  quite  ignorant 
of  how  this  sudden  recovery  came  about. 

Tursellinus'  account  is  exactly  similar  to  this,  and  unless 
we  are  to  believe  that  Francis  submitted  himself  twice  to  the 
same  ordeal,  which  is  extremely  unlikely,  we  must  accept 
the  earlier  version  of  Rodriguez.* 

.  .  .  Then  they  presently  set  out  again  to  their  travel,  most 
joyful  for  that  good  success,  inciting  one  another  to  employ 
all  their  labours  in  the  service  of  so  sweet  a  Lord.  And  Francis 
throughout  the  whole  journey  (as  he  was  always  before  wont  to 
do)  applied  himself  with  such  diligence  and  alacrity  in  helping 
and  serving  his  companions  as  was  wonderful.  For  as  they  all 
strove  to  the  uttermost — this  being  the  one  emulation  among 
them — to  excel  one  another  in  courtesy,  he,  either  out  of  fervour 
of  spirit,  or  natural  civility,  far  outwent  the  rest.  And  this  care 
and  desire  of  his  was  no  greater  to  help  his  companions  than  to 
procure  the  salvation  of  others.  Whensoever  occasion  was  given 
him  of  helping  his  neighbours,  either  with  counsel,  advice,  or 
example,  he  with  great  zeal  made  his  commodity  thereof,  and 
enhanced  the  same  as  opportunity  served.  And  herein  his 
labours  were  not  in  vain,  for  many  Catholics  were  thereby 
reclaimed  to  a  good  life,  and  some  heretics  also  reduced  to  the 
wholesome  way  of  truth.  Which  way  soever  they  passed  they 
left  behind  them  tokens  of  sanctity,  for  all  to  behold,  and  Catholics 
to  imitate.  And  so  it  happened  oftentimes  that  even  heretics 
themselves,  taken  with  admiration  at  their  sanctity,  would 
courteously  show  them  their  way,  tell  them  what  difficulties 

*  See  Brou,  Vie  de  St.  Francois  Xavier,  p.  45,  note. 

G2 


100  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

they  were  to  pass,  and,  when  need  was,  would  themselves  freely 
conduct  them  on  their  journey.  Thus  true  and  kindly  virtue 
sheweth  itself,  and  putteth  even  savage  people  in  mind  of 
humanity. 

Francis,  therefore,  by  the  aid  both  of  Heaven  and  earth, 
having  waded  through  all  the  incommodities  and  dangers  of  the 
way,  upon  the  tenth  of  January  the  year  following,  arrived  safe 
with  his  companions  at  Venice.  There  he  found  Ignatius  Loyola 
with  the  greatest  desire  expecting  his  dearest  sons  and  com- 
panions. Then,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  Society,  they 
salute  and  embrace  one  another  most  joyfully,  with  the  greatest 
demonstration  of  love  that  might  be  imagined.  And  this  joy 
made  them  forgetful  of  all  their  toilsome  past  labours.* 

*  Tursellinus,  Life,  English  edition,  Book  I.  chap.  iv. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   ITALIAN   YEARS 

(January,  1537 — March,  1540) 

"  These  first  Jesuits  were  mirrors  reflecting  holiness,  pure 
doctrine,  a  singular  prudence  and  a  profound  humility" 
— CERVANTES. 

WHEN  Francis  and  his  companions  sailed  into  Venice,  they 
found  that  their  leader  had  arrived  almost  a  year  before  them. 
He  had  passed  the  time  between  the  study  of  theology,  the 
care  of  the  sick  and  destitute  and  the  administration  of  the 
Spiritual  Exercises.  The  members  of  this  long-planned 
Conference  found  a  very  different  programme  awaiting  them 
from  that  which  is  put  into  the  hands  of  the  twentieth-century 
patron  of  Congresses.  Exhausted  with  the  cold  and  hard- 
ships of  the  journey,  they  were  immediately  divided  into  two 
groups  ;  one  group  went  with  Ignatius  to  work  in  the  hospital 
of  SS.  John  and  Paul,  the  other,  which  included  Xavier, 
went  to  serve  the  Incurables.  And  there,  indeed,  the  bread 
was  bitter  and  the  stairs  were  steep.  Francis  was  apparently 
even  more  sensitive  than  the  others  to  the  physical  loathsome- 
ness of  his  surroundings.  The  story  of  how  he  inured  himself 
to  the  sights  and  smells  which  he  could  hardly  bear  reminds 
us  of  the  account  of  how  Goethe  by  walking  in  the  Strasburg 
churchyard  at  midnight  rid  himself  of  fear,  and  by  standing 
on  the  pinnacle  of  the  cathedral  cured  himself  of  giddiness. 
And  the  saint  was  no  less  successful  than  the  poet. 

It  is  in  Venice  that  we  first  hear  of  Francis  preaching  the 
Gospel.  His  Italian  was  uncertain,  but  he  talked  boldly, 
catechised,  and  while  he  nursed  the  sick  he  read  and  prayed 
with  them.  "  You  would  have  thought,"  says  Tursellinus, 
"  that  he  had  seen  Christ  with  his  eyes  in  those  poor  sick 
persons,  and  employed  all  his  labours  in  serving  of  Him."  * 

There  was  no  city  in  Europe  more  fitted  than  Venice  to  be 
the  theatre  for  the  early  and  heroic  enthusiasrns  of  the 
Jesuits.  It  was  at  the  same  time  the  city  of  refuge,  and  the 

*  Lift,  P.  22. 


102  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

hospital^  of  Northern  Italy.  Rome  was  sacked,  the  patriots 
of  Florence  exiled,  Milan  little  else  than  an  army.  Venice, 
insulated,  apart,  became  a  spot  where  men  retired  ;  from 
whence  they  gained,  as  it  were,  a  bird's  eye  view  of  the 
turbulent  arena  of  their  life.  There,  serious  thought  became 
common,  and  religious  enthusiasm  inevitably  followed.  And 
there  none  had  to  look  far  in  order  to  see  Christ  naked  and 
sick  and  in  prison.  The  story  of  the  foundation  of  the 
Somascenes  *  gives  a  typical  impression  of  this  revival,  and 
shows  us  that  the  conduct  of  Xavier  and  his  companions 
must  have  appeared  less  extravagant  to  the  citizens  of 
sixteenth-century  Venice  than  it  would  to  the  citizens  of 
twentieth-century  London.f 

Xavier's  headquarters  in  Venice,  the  Incurable  hospital, 
was  founded  in  1523.  Next  to  the  Jesuits  themselves,  the 
Theatines  were  the  most  important  of  the  non-monastic  orders 
which  are  so  characteristic  a  feature  of  this  period.  The 
founders  of  this  order,  Cardinal  Caraffa  and  Gaetano  da  Tiene, 
were  members  of  the  Oratory  of  Divine  Love.  This  was  an 
association  of  about  fifty  pious  and  cultured  Italians,  who 
had  been  united  by  the  earnest  desire  to  bring  about  a  reform 
in  the  Church  neither  by  sword  nor  dogma  nor  knotted  cords, 
but  by  personal  piety  and  intellectual  earnestness.  Gaetano 
himself,  one  gathers,  was  of  a  timid  and  sentimental  disposi- 
tion, one  of  those  who  believe  in  being  "  good  to  the  poor," 
and  living  a  holy  life  in  order  that  they  may  beautify  and 
save  their  own  souls.  Added  to  this  was  an  extreme  modesty. 
It  was  said  of  him  that  he  would  "  like  to  reform  the  world 
without  his  own  existence  being  known."  J  Caraffa,  after- 

*  "A  Venetian  senator,  Girolamo  Miani,  gathered  together  the  children 
who  were  fugitives  in  Venice,  and  received  them  into  his  house,  seeking 
them  out  through  the  islands  and  the  city.  Without  paying  much  heed  to 
the  scolding  of  his  sister-in-law,  he  sold  his  plate  and  the  handsomest  tapestry 
in  his  house,  to  procure  for  the  children  lodging,  food,  raiment,  and  instruc- 
tion. By  degrees  he  devoted  his  whole  energy  to  this  vocation.  His  success 
was  particularly  great  in  Bergamo.  The  hospital  which  he  founded  there  was 
so  strenuously  supported,  that  he  was  encouraged  to  make  similar  experi- 
ments in  other  towns.  By  and  by  hospitals  of  the  same  kind  were  estab- 
lished at  Verona,  Brescia,  Ferrara,  Como,  Milan,  Pavia,  and  Genoa.  Finally, 
he  entered  with  some  friends  of  like  sentiments  into  a  congregation  of  regular 
clergy,  modelled  on  that  of  the  Theatines,  designated  by  the  name  Di  Somasco. 
Their  main  object  was  education.  Their  hospitals  received  a  common 
constitution  "  (Ranke,  History  of  the  Popes,  Book  II.,  "  New  Ecclesiastical 
Orders  "  ;  see  also  Cocquelines,  Bullarium,  vol.  iv.  p.  173). 

t  This  passage  was  written  before  the  European  war. 

j  Caracciolus,  Vita  S.  Cajetani  Thienaei,  cap.  ix.  p.  101,  quoted  by  Ranke. 


THE  ITALIAN  YEARS  103 

wards  Pope  Paul  IV.,  was  of  a  very  different  mould — active, 
violent,  business-like,  "  a  builder  and  a  destroyer."  But 
the  stormy  soul  of  the  future  Pope  saw  as  clearly  as  the  con- 
templative Gaetano  that  his  only  peace  lay  in  submission  to 
God  and  in  a  life  of  communion  with  Him.  So  these  two 
members  of  the  Oratory  of  Divine  Love  united  in  founding 
an  institution  whose  members  were  to  cultivate  prayer  and 
contemplation,  and  at  the  same  time  to  return  to  the  old 
Apostolic  ideals  of  preaching  the  Gospel  and  ministering  to 
the  sick  and  the  unhappy. 

It  was  with  these  men  that  Loyola  associated  in  Venice, 
and  it  was  in  their  convent  that  he  awaited  the  coming  of 
his  disciples.  Had  either  he  or  Caraffa  been  less  original,  or 
of  a  less  autocratic  temper,  it  is  probable  that  the  Jesuits 
and  the  Theatines  would  have  merged  into  one  common 
order.  For  here  Ignatius  saw  many  of  his  dreams  in  practice. 
Hier  bin  ich  Mensch,  hier  darf  ich's  sein,  he  might  have  said 
with  Faust.  In  so  congenial  an  atmosphere  all  his  charms 
unfolded,  and  during  the  first  months  of  his  stay  Gaetano 
found  him  the  gentlest  of  doves,  and  Caraffa  knew  him  for 
the  wisest  of  serpents.  But  their  ideals  were  not  precisely 
alike;  those  of  Ignatius  were  larger  and  more  ambitious, 
and  when  he  tried  to  impose  them  upon  Caraffa,  the  almost 
inevitable  rupture  came  about. 

Scarcely  had  Xavier  and  his  brother  pilgrims  recovered 
from  the  hardships  of  their  fifty  days*  march  across  the  Alps, 
when  they  had  again  to  take  to  the  road.  This  time  Rome 
was  the  goal.  Ignatius  divided  them  into  three  bands  and 
sent  them  southward,  to  obtain  the  Papal  permission  to 
preach  in  the  Holy  Land,  and  to  make  arrangements  for  their 
ordination.  He  himself  remained  in  Venice.  The  accounts 
of  this  expedition  are,  as  far  as  outward  circumstances  go, 
lugubrious  in  the  extreme.  It  was  Lent,  "  a  very  incom- 
modious time  for  religious  men  to  travel  in,"  they  fasted 
rigorously,  and  ate  only  what  the  chances  of  begging  put  in 
their  satchels.  They  had  neither  horse  nor  ass.  Often  they 
spent  the  night  with  the  cattle,  and  if  they  did  find  other 
shelter,  the  beds  were  such  that  it  took  more  courage  to  lie 
down  in  them  than  to  share  the  rush  floor  with  the  rats. 
The  rain  was  continuous  and  the  country  so  flooded  that 
they  had  at  times  to  walk  in  water  up  to  the  waist.  The 
best  historian  of  this  journey,  Rodriguez,  who  was  with  them, 


104  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

has  an  annoying  habit  of  withholding  the  names  of  his  com- 
panions while  he  tells  of  their  adventures.  Brou  thinks  it 
is  Xavier  whom  we  see  in  his  picture  of  "  one  in  the  market 
place,  bare-footed,  his  gown  kilted  up  to  the  knee,  asking 
the  merchants  for  a  vegetable,  or  a  little  fruit,  and  taking 
it  with  great  humility.  And  then,"  Rodriguez  goes  on,  "  I 
compared  the  poverty  of  this  abasement  of  my  companion 
with  his  great  learning,  his  talent  and  deep  wisdom,  and  all 
those  qualities  which  might  have  made  for  him,  had  he  chosen 
it,  earthly  fame,  and  I  felt  profoundly  moved,  beyond  all 
expression. " 

But  Francis  seems  to  have  shown  no  signs  of  self-pity. 
In  the  midst  of  all  these  privations,  we  read,  his  soul  over- 
flowed with  joy.  The  spirits  of  the  company  were  so  high 
that  they  could  take  but  little  sleep.* 

At  last  Francis  stood  in  the  Vatican,  and  found  himself 
by  the  command  of  the  Pope,  and  in  his  presence,  arguing 
with  the  Papal  theologians,  in  order  to  prove  his  ability  to 
preach  the  Gospel. 

Kings  rode  from  Far,  with  Splendid  Retinues, 
And  found  their  Young  Lord  Cradled  in  a  Mews  : 
Poor  Pilgrims  came,  a  naked,  sorry  Clan  ; 
They  found  Christ's  Vicar  in  the  Vatican. 

Francis  and  his  friends  passed  the  theological  test  satisfac- 
torily, and  the  Pope  gave  them  his  permission  to  go  abroad. 
The  interview  did  not  last  long,  and  no  sooner  had  the  pilgrims 
quitted  the  Vatican  than  they  prepared  to  return  to  Venice. 
In  May  they  were  once  more  with  Ignatius,  and  on  June 
24th  Francis  was  ordained.  Immediately  afterwards  he 
retreated,  along  with  Salmeron,  to  Monselice,  a  quiet  spot 
at  the  foot  of  the  Euganean  Hills,  between  Padua  and  Rovigo. 
There  they  found  a  deserted  roofless  cottage,  wrhich  they 
thatched  themselves  and  made  "  a  little  sorry  habitation." 
In  this  still  place  they  passed  forty  days  in  prayer  and  serious 
thought.  Then,  as  their  leader  had  not  yet  recalled  them, 
they  went  out  into  the  villages,  preaching  and  teaching. 

[And  this  was  his  (Francis')  manner  of  preaching  :  remembering 
that  Christ  was  wont  to  preach  in  the  fields,  upon  mountains  and 

*  Letter  of  Father  Brandao,  Rome,  February  1551,  Epistolce  Mixtce,  vol.  ii. 
p.  515,  quoted  by  Brou,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  i.  p.  56. 


THE  ITALIAN  YEARS  105 

on  the  sea-shores,  whenever  he  saw  any  hope  of  doing  good,  there 
he  would  put  himself  among  assemblies  of  people  to  preach,  and 
especially  would  he  teach  such  as  never  used  to  come  to  sermons, 
.  .  .  gathering  together  people  in  crossways  and  streets,  and 
borrowing  a  stool  out  of  some  shop,  standing  thereon  he  would 
speak  of  virtuous  and  godly  life  with  more  fervour  of  spirit  than 
flourish  of  words,  to  such  as  either  stood  there  idle,  or  else  were  in 
their  plays  or  pastimes  ;  insomuch  as  some  who  came  to  his  sermon 
only  to  get  something  to  laugh  at,  being  moved  by  the  weight  of 
his  speech,  and  the  divine  force  wherewith  he  spoke,  instead  of 
laughing,  went  away  weeping.  Nothing  caused  him  to  be  more 
admired,  or  helped  on  his  business  better,  than  refusing  to  take 
money,  a  token  of  sanctity  most  pleasing  to  all  men.  For  when 
all  saw  that  he  neither  asked  anything  of  the  people  about  him, 
nor  would  take  anything  which  was  offered  him,  they  could  not 
but  think  that  he  sought  the  salvation  of  others  more  than  his 
own  commodity.* 

The  proposed  mission  to  the  Holy  Land  was  still  impossible. 
Venice  and  Turkey  were  at  war,  the  Sultan's  ships  blocked 
the  Adriatic,  peaceful  transit  was  out  of  the  question.  But 
wherever  the  future  Apostle  of  India  found  himself,  he  found 
also  souls  to  be  saved. 

In  the  autumn  Ignatius  recalled  Francis  and  the  other 
members  of  the  Company  to  Vicenza.  They  found  their 
leader  in  a  half-ruined  and  deserted  convent,  doorless, 
windowless,  unfurnished.  There  they  ate  and  slept  and 
prayed,  and  they  took  their  recreation  among  the  poor  and 
sick  and  ignorant  folk  in  the  town. 

It  was  here  that  Xavier  offered  his  first  mass.  "  To  look 
upon  him,"  they  said,  "  one  would  have  thought,  not  only 
that  he  believed,  but  that  he  saw  with  his  eyes  that  which 
is  hidden  in  this  most  holy  mystery."  | 

Nor  did  he  ever  lose  this  fresh  ardour.  It  was  "as  if 
coming  every  day  like  a  new  priest  to  the  Altar,  he  had  tasted 
the  first  sweetness  of  those  sacred  mysteries." 

About  this  time  Francis  was  seized  with  one  of  those 
violent  attacks  of  fever  to  which  he  was  liable,  and  to  which  he 
probably  in  some  measure  owed  his  early  death.  Rodriguez 
writes  : 

Soon  after  this,  Francis  and  I  both  fell  ill.     They  admitted  us 
to  the  hospital,  but  we  had  to  share  between  us  one  narrow  bed, 
*  Tursellinus,  Life,  p.  31.  f  Ibid.,  Book  I.  cap.  vi. 


106  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

and  that  was  a  great  occasion  of  discomfort  to  us.  When,  for 
example,  the  one  was  shivering  and  wishing  a  dozen  blankets,  the 
other  was  burning  with  fever  and  wished  none  at  all ;  we  both 
profited  by  this  affair  in  the  practice  of  patience  and  charity. 
Further,  the  room  where  we  lay  was  open  to  all  the  winds  of 
heaven,  and  we  received  from  the  hospitaller  hardly  any  of  the 
attentions  which  our  illness  demanded.* 

When  they  had  recovered  and  returned  to  the  ruined 
convent,  where  they  had  the  benefit  of  open-air  treatment 
again  during  their  convalescence,  they  found  hope  of  an 
expedition  to  the  Holy  Land  finally  abandoned.  Ignatius 
was  about  to  go  to  Rome  with  Lainez  and  Faber,  and  the 
others  were  told  off  in  couples  and  sent  out  on  preaching 
tours  to  the  university  towns  of  Northern  Italy.  Xavier  and 
Bobadilla  were  put  down  for  Bologna. 

And  they  began  to  ask  what  they  should  call  themselves. 

They  prayed  about  this  matter,  and  wondered  what  name 
would  be  best.  They  remembered  that  they  knew  no  name  but 
Jesus  Christ,  and  that  they  served  Him  alone.  And  so  it  appeared 
to  them  that  they  might  take  the  name  of  their  Leader,  and  that 
they  should  call  themselves  the  Company  of  Jesus. 

In  October,  1537,  Francis  and  Bobadilla  arrived  in  Bologna. 
Gon£alvez's  and  Teixeira's  accounts  of  this  visit  are  probably 
the  most  accurate. 

Francis' first  act  was  to  visit  the  tomb  of  St.  Dominic,  for  he  had 
a  great  admiration  for  the  founder  of  the  Preaching  Friars.  There, 
the  day  after  his  arrival,  he  said  Mass.  There  was  present  that 
day  a  holy  woman  called  Isabel  Casilini,  who,  on  seeing  his 
devotion  before  the  altar,  took  him  for  a  great  saint.  She  spoke 
to  him  after  Mass,  and,  she  records,  "  this  interview  inspired  me 
greatly  towards  a  better  life." 

Isabel  had  an  uncle,  Jerome  Casilini,  a  learned  and  noble  canon. 
.  .  .  At  the  request  of  Isabel,  Francis  visited  him,  and  the  canon 
offered  him  the  hospitality  of  his  house  and  table.  Francis 
accepted  the  lodging,  but  he  desired  to  beg  his  bread  each  day. 
After  early  Mass  and  the  recitation  of  the  hours,  he  occupied 
each  day  until  evening  with  works  of  charity  towards  the  prisoners 
and  the  afflicted.  Besides  this,  he  ran  through  the  streets  waving 
his  hat  in  the  air  and  crying :  "  Come  and  hear  the  Word  of 

*  Rodriguez,  Commcntarium  de  origine  el  progressu  Soc.  Jesu,  Lisbon,  1577. 


THE  ITALIAN  YEARS  107 

God  !  "  The  first  seat  that  he  came  upon  served  as  a  pulpit, 
and  he  preached  in  a  jargon  composed  of  several  languages, 
because  he  did  not  at  that  time  know  much  Italian.  He  advised 
all  his  hearers  to  frequent  the  sacraments  of  confession  and 
communion,  which  are  of  great  help  against  sin.  From  his  time 
the  custom  of  communion  after  the  manner  observed  in  the 
Primitive  Church  was  revived  in  Bologna,  and  in  this  town, 
from  that  time,  there  was,  among  great  numbers,  a  notable  change 
of  life.  Jerome  Casilini  said  of  Francis  :  "  He  spoke  little,  but 
his  words  had  a  marvellous  effect.  In  his  sermons,  such  was 
his  ardour  that  it  quickly  communicated  itself  to  his  audience. 
.  .  .  One  might  well  say  of  him  that  he  was  a  man  of  great 
pray  erf ulness,  and,  like  Daniel,  a  man  of  desires."* 

In  Bologna  he  was  again  stricken  down  with  a  violent 
fever,  but  he  hardly  allowed  himself  any  rest.  Before  the 
ague  had  left  him  he  was  out  again  in  the  squares  and  arcades 
calling  to  the  students  and  townsfolk  to  come  and  hear  the 
Word  of  the  Lord. 

Francis  and  Bobadilla  had  this  rule  between  themselves.  Each 
week  one  obeyed  the  other.  He  who  obeyed  had  the  duty  of  call- 
ing the  people  in  the  streets  to  the  sermon,  and  when  the  people  had 
gathered  he  would  get  the  loan  of  a  bench  and  put  it  in  the  middle 
of  the  square,  and  the  one  who  was  superior  that  week  would 
mount  it  and  preach  to  the  town.  The  concourse  of  people  who 
gathered  to  the  sermon  on  account  of  this  novelty  was  great, 
great  the  fruit  which  the  Lord  made  by  them,  and  great  the 
alms  offered  them.  ...  If  they  saw  someone  moved  by  the 
sermons,  they  spoke  to  him  apart,  and  instructed  him  as  to  what 
was  necessary  for  salvation.! 

In  March,  1538,  Francis  rejoined  the  rest  of  the  Company 
in  Rome.  His  friends  were  horrified  by  his  appearance. 
"  He  seemed  to  me,"  says  Rodriguez,  "  more  like  a  corpse 
than  a  living  man,  he  was  so  pale  and  thin  and  disfigured  by 
his  long  privations  and  illnesses.  When  I  saw  him  so  unlike 
himself,  so  scarred  and  sorry  and  worn-out  a  figure,  I  could 
not  help  feeling  that  he  would  never  again  regain  his  old 
strength,  and  that  his  working  days  were  at  an  end.  "I 

*  Sebastien  Gongalvez,  Historia  da  Companhia  na  India,  written  in  Goa 
between  1593  and  1619,  Lisbon,  Ajuda  MSS.  26/30.  I  am  indebted  to 
Cros,  Vie  de  S.  Frangois  Xavier,  vol.  i.  p.  144,  for  this  extract. 

f  Teixeira,  Vita,  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  ii.  p.  824. 

j  Rodriguez,  in  op.  cit. 


108  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

Apparently  Francis  gave  up  active  work  for  some  little 
time,  for  neither  Ribadeneira  nor  Polanco  mentions  him  as 
being  among  those  who  preached  in  Rome  at  this  period.* 
But  in  his  weakness  there  came  to  him  "  visions  and  revela- 
tions of  the  Lord."  In  remote  regions  of  his  soul,  he  now 
heard  the  call  from  the  East. 

Even  in  Bologna,  he  had  spoken  of  India  continually  to 
his  friends.  And  one  night  in  Rome,  Rodriguez,  who  was 
sleeping  in  the  same  room,  was  awakened  by  hearing  his 
companion  call  out  in  his  sleep,  More  !  More  !  More  !  Long 
afterwards,  just  before  he  embarked  for  India,  he  said  to 
Rodriguez  : — 

You  remember,  my  brother  Simon,  how  one  night  in  the  hospital 
at  Rome  I  woke  you  with  my  repeated  cries,  More  !  More  ! 
More  !  You  asked  me  at  the  time  what  it  was,  and  I  said  it  was 
nothing.  But  I  will  tell  you  now  that  I  had  seen  myself  in  great 
labour  and  peril  for  the  service  of  God,  and  at  the  same  time  His 
grace  sustained  me  so  marvellously  that  I  could  not  help  calling 
out  for  more  to  do.  I  hope  that  the  hour  will  soon  come  when 
that  which  was  foreshown  me  will  be  realised. t 

But  now  Ignatius  and  his  disciples  thought  that  the  time 
had  come  for  the  definite  and  official  formation  of  the  Order. 
"  They  unanimously  decided,"  says  Polanco,  "  to  give  them- 
selves up  to  prayer,  to  offer  the  holy  sacrifice  of  mass  and  each 
to  devote  himself  specially  to  serious  thought  on  the  subject, 
in  order  the  better  to  know  God's  will  for  them."  These 
evening  and  midnight  conferences,  in  the  little  room  in  the 
Piazza  Margana  in  Rome,  lasted  for  three  months.!  They 
would  use  none  of  their  working  daytime  for  this  business. 
Every  question,  as  it  came  under  review,  was  submitted  to 
three  stages,  study,  discussion,  vote.  For  the  first  stage 
each  man  went  apart  alone,  and  prayed  and  thought  over 
the  matter  in  silence ;  secondly,  they  had  an  open  debate, 
and  lastly  the  question  was  put  to  the  vote.  The  proceedings 
remind  one  of  a  modern  study-circle. 

The  first  subject  which  came  under  discussion  was  one 
which  intimately  concerned  Xavier's  future  work.  Were 

*  Tursellinus,  however,  on  I  know  not  what  authority,  affirms  that  Xavier 
and  Faber  were  bidden  to  preach  by  turns  in  the  Church  of  St.  Lawrence, 
and  that  their  sermons  changed  many  lives  ;  see  Tursellinus,  Life,  p.  48. 

f    Cros,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  p.  148. 

J  See  Fouqueray,  Hisloire  de  la  Companie  de  Jesus,  vol.  i.  p.  72. 


THE  ITALIAN  YEARS  109 

those  of  the  Company  who  might  be  sent  to  the  Far  East 
to  be  bound  by  the  same  discipline  as  the  members  at  home  ? 
There  was  a  long  discussion,  for  some  thought  that  these 
men  should  be  more  or  less  free  and  independent.  It  was 
finally  decided  that  if  it  pleased  God  and  the  Pope  the  bond 
should  be  equally  close,  however  far  apart  the  brothers 
might  be. 

Secondly,  it  was  debated  as  to  whether  the  vows  of  obedi- 
ence should  be  added  to  the  vows  of  poverty  and  chastity. 
We  have  no  record  of  what  Francis  said,  but  probably  the 
construction  of  an  outward  rule  on  this  matter  was  of  little 
concern  to  him.  His  friendship  and  devotion  for  Loyola 
and  the  brethren  transcended  all  literal  commands  or  dis- 
obediences. He  was  "theirs  in  Christ,"  as  he  was  wont  to 
sign  himself  in  his  letters.  And  one  feels  that  if  his  life  had 
not  so  nearly  realised  his  words,  his  indomitable  and  naturally 
autocratic  temper  would  often  have  made  thunder  and 
lightning  in  the  Company.  But  if  he  was  really  theirs  in 
Christ  he  could  transcend  all  rules  and  yet  break  no  laws. 
Here  the  man  of  moral  genius  stands  on  the  same  ground  as 
the  great  artist.  And  thus,  though  Francis  Xavier  was  one 
of  the  original  Jesuits,  we  can  fancy  that  he  looked  upon  that 
dread  master-word  of  the  Constitutions  with  something  of  a 
child-like  innocence.  Sometimes,  as  we  think  of  a  certain 
friend,  while  we  walk  through  crowded  streets,  we  seem  to 
see  him  in  the  distance  again  and  again,  and  though  we  are 
deceived,  we  do  not  regard  those  who  deceive  us,  but  go  on 
communing  with  our  friend.  So  Francis  saw  Christ  in  Loyola 
and  his  brother  Jesuits,  and  if  their  orders  were  not  always 
compatible  with  the  Divine  Voice  within,  he  still,  with  dreamy 
eyes  of  love,  saw  Christ  in  them,  and  obeyed  that  inner 
Voice. 

And  as  the  stranger  in  the  streets  may  wonder  sometimes 
at  the  smile  which  greets  him  because  he  has  unwittingly 
fed  the  memory  of  a  friend,  so  the  friends  of  Francis  may 
have  wondered  perhaps  at  the  tender  words  he  wrote  to 
them  from  the  East,  at  his  undying  faith  in  their  goodness 
and  in  their  prayers. 

At  last  a  document  was  drawn  up,  and  on  the  twenty-fourth 
of  June,  1539,  presented  to  Pope  Paul  III.  (Alexander 
Farnese).  He  is  said  to  have  exclaimed,  on  reading  the 
document,  Hie  est  digitus  Dei !  And  when  we  recall  the 


110  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

position  of  the  Papacy  at  this  time,  his  exclamation  of  joy 
does  not  surprise  us. 

In  Germany,  heresy  was  extending  with  an  unheard-of  rapidity. 
In  France,  Poland,  in  Spain,  in  Italy  itself,  Luther  had  gained 
numerous  partisans.  Scandinavia  and  England  had  already 
quitted  the  yoke  of  the  Roman  Church.  The  Catholics,  even 
those  who  were  still  faithful,  were  violently  hostile  to  the  Papal 
See  and  its  abuses.  The  Emperor  was  energetically  demanding  a 
complete  reform,  and  threatening  to  despoil  the  Papacy  of  a 
great  number  of  its  most  profitable  privileges.  From  the  Papal 
point  of  view  the  situation  seemed  truly  desperate.  And  just 
at  this  point  came  a  troop  of  men,  ardent,  belligerent,  devout, 
offering  a  blind  obedience  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  and  ready  to 
fight  to  the  death  for  his  greatness  and  his  authority.* 

But  the  custom  of  the  Papal  Court  demanded  that  the 
document  should  be  read  and  approved  by  three  Cardinals 
as  well  as  by  the  Pope,  and  although  Paul  and  two  of  his 
Cardinals  were  ready  to  welcome  the  new  Order  with  open 
arms,  there  remained  Cardinal  Gia,  who  would  not  even  look 
at  the  papers.  There  were  too  many  orders  already,  he  said, 
and  he  was  for  suppressing — with  one  or  two  exceptions- 
all  those  which  were  then  in  existence.  It  was  not  until 
Ignatius,  with  consummate  patience,  utilised  the  influence 
of  John  of  Portugal,  of  Margaret  of  Austria,  of  Carpi  and 
Contarini,  that  Gia  at  last  consented  to  the  official  formation 
of  the  Company. 

For  the  student  of  the  life  of  Francis  Xavier,  the  Bulla 
Regimini  Militantis  Ecclesice  has  a  peculiar  interest.  For 
besides  giving  the  authority  of  the  Pope  and  the  Apostolic 
See  to  the  Jesuits,  it  contains  the  nucleus  of  the  famous 
Constitutions  of  the  Order,  and  this  nucleus  is  all  of  these 
that  Xavier  ever  possessed.  They  were  not  completed  until 
many  years  later,  nor  were  they  put  into  the  hands  of  members 
of  the  Society  till  1553,  a  year  after  Xavier's  death.|  The 
revised  edition,  with  large  additions  and  introduction  by 
Lainez,  was  not  published  till  1558,  after  the  death  of  Loyola 
himself. 

Therefore,  the  Constitutions  as  they  now  stand  have  little 

*  La  Contre-Rtvolution  riligieuse  du  16e  sidcle.    Martin  Philipsson,  p.  55. 

t  See  Brou,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  i.  p.  67  ;  also  Philippson,  op. 
tit.,  p.  104,  who  quotes  from  Orlandino,  Hist.  Soc.  Jesu,  Book  III.  cap.  v., 
and  Book  X.  cap.  48  seq. 


THE  ITALIAN  YEARS  111 

to  do  with  Xavier,  but  the  version  of  them  contained  in  this 
Bull  was  the  fruit,  in  part  at  least,  of  his  own  mind  and  soul. 
The  later  edition  is  a  very  different  and,  to  many  of  us,  a  much 
less  beautiful  affair. 

I  have  thought  it  worth  while  to  reproduce  this  formula  in 
full.  It  was  the  only  Rule  which  the  Saint  had  with  him  in 
India.  After  a  preliminary  paragraph  the  document  pro- 
ceeds : 

Whosoever  in  our  Society,  which  we  wish  to  call  by  the  Name  of 
Jesus,  wishes  to  become  the  soldier  of  God  under  the  banner  of 
the  Cross,  and  to  serve  God  alone,  and  His  Vicar  upon  earth,  the 
Roman  Pontiff,  shall,  after  a  solemn  vow  of  perpetual  chastity, 
agree  in  his  own  mind  to  become  a  part  of  this  Society.  It  is 
instituted  for  the  perfecting  of  souls  in  Christian  life  and  doctrine  ; 
the  propagation  of  the  Faith  by  public  teaching,  by  the  ministra- 
tion of  the  Word  of  God,  by  spiritual  exercises  and  works  of 
charity,  by  the  instruction  of  boys  in  the  Christian  doctrine,  by 
giving  spiritual  comfort  to  the  faithful  through  the  Confession. 
A  member  of  this  Society  shall  strive  to  keep  God  first  of  all  before 
his  eyes,  and  then  the  method  of  this  institute  which  leads  to 
Him.  With  all  his  energies  he  shall  aim  at  this  object  which  is 
set  before  him  by  God,  each  one  according  to  the  grace  given  him 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  demands  of  his  position,  lest  he  have 
a  zeal  which  is  not  according  to  knowledge.  The  appointment  of 
each  member's  special  position,  and  the  fixing  and  complete 
arrangement  of  his  duties,  shall  be  in  the  hands  of  a  General  or 
Head,  to  be  chosen  by  us  (i.e.t  the  Society),  that  a  convenient 
order  may  be  observed,  such  as  is  needful  in  every  well  regulated 
community. 

This  Head,  with  the  advice  of  his  associates,  shall  have  authority 
to  draw  up  constitutions  to  help  the  formation  of  the  object  pro- 
posed to  us,  the  larger  number  of  votes  always  having  the  rights 
of  determination.  The  Council  shall  be  understood  to  be  the 
greater  part  of  the  whole  society  which  can  conveniently  be  called 
by  the  Head,  if  an  important  or  permanent  matter  is  to  be  settled. 
But  for  lighter  or  more  transient  cases,  it  is  enough  to  call  all 
those  who  happen  to  be  present  in  the  place  where  the  General 
shall  reside.  The  whole  right  of  issuing  commands  shall  be  in 
the  General. 

Let  all  the  association  know,  not  only  at  their  entrance  into  pro- 
fession, but  so  long  as  they  live  must  they  bear  it  in  remembrance, 
that  this  entire  society  and  all  its  members  become  God's  soldiers 
under  the  faithful  obedience  of  the  most  sacred  Lord  the  Pope,  and 
the  other  Roman  Pontiffs  his  successors.  And  although  we  are  taught 
in  the  Gospel,  and  in  the  orthodox  faith  acknowledge  and  firmly 


112  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

profess,  that  all  Christ's  faithful  people  are  subject  to  the  Roman 
Pontiff  as  their  Head,  and  as  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ,  yet,  for 
the  greater  humility  of  our  Society,  and  the  perfect  mortification 
of  every  member,  and  for  the  denial  of  our  own  wills,  we  have 
deemed  it  very  good,  that  each  one  of  us  be  bound  by  a  special 
vow,  beyond  that  general  obligation,  so  that  whatsoever  the 
present  or  other  Roman  Pontiff  for  the  time  being  shall  ordain, 
pertaining  to  the  advancement  of  souls,  and  the  propagation  of 
the  faith,  and  to  whatever  province  he  shall  ordain  to  send  us, 
we  are  straightway  bound  to  obey,  as  far  as  in  us  lies  without 
any  evasion  or  excuse — whether  he  send  us  among  the  Turks,  or 
to  any  other  unbelievers  in  existence,  even  in  those  parts  called 
India,  or  to  any  heretics  or  schismatics,  or  likewise  to  any  be- 
lievers. So  they  who  wish  to  join  us  should,  before  they  begin 
this  work,  consider  long  and  carefully  whether  they  are  rich 
enough  in  spiritual  goods  to  finish  their  tower,  or  not,  according 
to  the  counsel  of  God — that  is,  whether  the  Holy  Spirit  Who 
guides  them  promises  to  them  so  much  grace  that  they  may  hope 
with  His  assistance  to  bear  the  burden  of  their  calling.  And 
when,  by  the  inspiration  of  God,  they  have  enrolled  their  name 
for  this  warfare  of  Jesus  Christ,  their  loins  should  be  girded  day 
and  night,  and  they  should  be  ready  for  the  discharge  of  their 
great  debt. 

And  that  there  may  be  no  seeking  or  refusing  among  ourselves 
of  missions  or  provinces  of  any  kind,  let  each  profess  that  he  will 
never,  directly  or  indirectly,  ask  anything  of  the  Pope  touching 
such  missions,  but  put  all  this  care  upon  God,  and  the  Pontiff 
as  His  Vicar,  and  upon  the  General  of  the  Society.  The  General, 
too,  shall  profess  like  the  rest,  that  he  will  not  ask  of  the  Pope 
touching  his  own  mission  into  any  part,  except  with  the  concur- 
rence of  the  Society. 

All  shall  vow  that  they  will  be  obedient  to  the  Head  of  the 
Society  in  all  things  which  tend  to  the  keeping  of  this  our  Rule. 

And  the  General  shall  do  whatever  he  thinks  good  in  order  to 
gain  the  things  asked  of  him  by  God  and  by  the  Society.  And 
in  his  own  high  place,  he  shall  always  be  mindful  of  the  blessedness 
and  gentleness  and  love  of  Christ,  and  of  the  examples  of  Peter 
and  Paul,  and  both  he  and  his  council  shall  diligently  regard  this 
rule.  They  shall,  too,  be  specially  advised  to  teach  to  boys  the 
Christian  doctrines,  the  ten  Commandments,  and  other  like 
rudiments  as  they  shall  deem  fit,  according  to  the  state  of  the 
people,  the  place,  and  the  time.  It  is  most  necessary  that  the 
General  and  his  council  pay  heed  to  this  business,  seeing  that  the 
building  up  of  faith  cannot  be  done  without  a  foundation.  There 
is  here  a  danger,  that  we,  because  of  our  own  learning,  may  try 
to  avoid  this  duty,  irksome  at  first  sight,  but  in  reality  more^ 


THE  ITALIAN  YEARS  113 

fruitful  than  any  other  towards  the  edification  of  our  neighbours, 
and  the  exercise  of  charity  and  humility. 

Also,  that  this  all-important  humility  may  be  diligently 
practised,  as  well  as  for  the  advantages  of  order,  inferiors  must 
always  obey  the  Superior  in  all  things  that  have  to  do  with  the 
Institute  of  the  Society.  The  inferior  must  see  Christ  in  the 
Superior,  and,  as  far  as  is  seemly,  worship  Him  there. 

And  since  we  know  by  experience,  that  a  life  far  from  the  con- 
tagion of  avarice,  and  as  near  as  possible  to  evangelical  poverty, 
is  the  happiest,  the  purest,  and  the  most  helpful  to  our  neighbours, 
and  since  we  know  that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  will  give  us  all  we 
need  of  food  and  clothing  if  we  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God, 
so  each  end  all  shall  vow  perpetual  poverty,  declaring  that  they 
cannot  acquire,  either  separately  or  in  common  for  the  main- 
tenance or  use  of  the  Society,  any  civil  rights  to  any  real  property, 
or  to  its  proceeds  or  incomes,  but  that  they  shall  be  content  to 
receive  only  the  use  of  what  is  given  them  to  provide  things 
needful. 

But  they  may  have  in  the  universities  a  college  or  colleges 
holding  revenues,  estates,  or  possessions,  to  be  applied  to  the 
wants  or  necessities  of  the  students,  the  government  or  super- 
intendence of  the  said  colleges  and  the  said  students  as  touching 
the  election  of  rectors  and  students,  their  admission,  discharge, 
reception,  inclusion,  the  appointment  of  statutes  for  the  instruc- 
tion, erudition,  edification,  and  correction  of  the  students,  the 
manner  of  supplying  their  food  and  clothing,  and  all  other  govern- 
ment, regulation  and  care  being  always  secured  to  the  General  of 
the  Society,  yet  so  that  the  students  shall  not  abuse  the  aforesaid 
goods,  nor  the  Society  convert  them  to  their  private  use,  but 
minister  to  the  necessity  of  the  students.  And  these  last  also  may 
be  admitted  into  our  Society  when  their  progress  in  the  Spirit 
and  in  learning  has  been  ascertained,  and  after  sufficient  pro- 
bation. 

All  associates  whatever  in  this  order,  though  they  hold  no 
ecclesiastical  benefices,  nor  incomes  therefrom,  shall  nevertheless 
be  bound  each  one  privately  and  separately,  and  not  as  a  body, 
to  say  the  services  according  to  the  ritual  of  the  Church. 

These  are  the  matters  which,  with  the  allowance  of  our  said 
Lord  Paul,  and  the  Apostolic  See,  we  can  in  some  manner  explain 
of  our  profession.  We  have  now  done  so,  that  by  our  writing  we 
may  briefly  inform  not  only  those  who  question  us  by  touching 
our  manner  of  life,  but  our  successors  also,  if  by  God's  favour  we 
shall  have  followers  in  this  way.  And  since  we  have  found  many 
and  great  difficulties  in  it,  we  have  thought  it  right  to  say  that  no 
one  will  be  taken  into  this  Society,  unless  he  has  been  long  and 
carefully  tried,  and  when  he  shall  be  found  prudent  in  Christ, 


114  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

learned,  or  conspicuous  in  purity  of  Christian  living,  then  at 
length  he  may  be  admitted  into  the  army  of  Jesus  Christ,  Who 
will  vouchsafe  to  favour  those  humble  beginnings  of  ours  to  the 
Glory  of  God  the  Father,  to  Whom  be  praise  and  honour  for  ever. 
Amen. 

Then  follows  the  assent  of  the  Pope  and  the  Apostolic  See, 
and  the  advice  to  draw  up  Constitutions.* 

We  see  in  this  document  the  germs  of  the  later  Constitu- 
tions, the  beginnings  of  that  distrust  of  the  free  exercise  of 
personal  judgment  which  is  the  vitiating  element  in  Roman 
Catholicism.  The  fresh  vigour  of  Francis  Xavier  was, 
however,  proof  against  this  comparatively  mild  edition  of 
the  Constitutions.  And  the  fact  that  they  were  partly  of  his 
own  devising  made  the  yoke  easy  to  him.  The  harm  only 
really  began  to  show  when  the  scheme  grew  and  developed 
along  its  worst  lines,  while  at  the  same  time  the  enthusiasm 
and  genius  of  the  originating  spirits  no  longer  existed.  The 
initiators  of  the  Order  possessed  high  gifts  of  individuality, 
independence,  and  creative  imagination,  and  these  qualities 
saved  their  obedience  from  servility.  Ignatius,  with  all  his 
astuteness,  never  perhaps  foresaw  that  the  Rules  which  were 
good  for  those  whose  whole  natures  had  had  free  exercise  on 
the  making  of  them,  might  not  be  good  for  those  who  had 
merely  to  step  into  the  machine.  The  founders  of  the  Order 
had  such  a  supreme  confidence  in  their  own  individual 
conception  of  life  that  they  did  not  see  that  the  worth  of  that 
conception  lay,  not  in  the  special  form  which  it  had  taken, 
but  in  the  fact  that  it  was  original,  and  had  been  beaten  out 
with  the  hammer  of  sincere  self-expression. 

Yet  we  must  not  forget  that  the  idea  of  unswerving 
obedience  to  a  superior  was  not  peculiar  to  the  Jesuits, 
although  the  fact  that  this  was,  above  all  things,  a  military 
order  t  means  that  it  laid  a  very  special  emphasis  on  that 
virtue. 

St.  Basil  had  told  his  monks  to  be  in  the  hands  of  the 
superior  as  an  axe  in  the  hands  of  the  butcher.  The  monks 
of  the  Chartreuse  were  to  give  up  their  wills  as  sheep  led  to 

*  C.  Cocquelines,  Bullarium  Privilegiorum  ac  Diplomatum  Romanorum, 
Rome  1739  ;  also  Constitutions  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  translated  from  the 
Spanish,  London,  1839,  Appendix. 

f  **  I  do  not  consider  myself,"  says  Loyola,  "  to  have  quitted  military 
service,  but  only  to  have  transferred  it  to  God." 


THE  ITALIAN  YEARS  115 

the  slaughter.  For  the  Carmelite  disobedience  was  a  mortal 
sin.  St.  Francis  of  Assisi  and  Bonaventura  both  compare 
the  obedient  man  to  a  corpse.  Ignatius  may  have  borrowed 
this  figure  from  them  when  he  wrote,  some  years  later,  the 
often  quoted  words : 

Let  everyone  be  persuaded  that  those  who  live  under  obedience 
are  obliged  to  allow  themselves  to  be  moved  and  directed  by 
the  divine  providence  working  through  their  superiors  as  if  they 
were  a  corpse,  which  allows  itself  to  be  carried  about  at  will,  and 
to  be  treated  it  matters  not  how  ;  or  like  an  old  man's  staff,  which 
serves  him  who  holds  it,  in  every  place  and  in  every  way  as  he 
will. 

The  formal  proclamation  of  the  Bull  did  not  take  place 
till  September  27th,  1540,  more  than  six  months  after  Francis 
had  left  Rome. 

But  on  September  3rd,  1539,  the  Pope  gave  his  oral  appro- 
bation, and  within  a  few  weeks  the  Jesuits  were  preaching 
all  over  Italy  under  his  orders. 

A  close  correspondence  was  kept  up  between  Loyola  and 
his  followers.  He  required  them  to  send  him  full  details  of 
all  their  work,  and  he  on  his  side  sent  them  constant  advice 
and  encouragement.  During  this  autumn  of  1539,  and  until 
he  left  Rome  in  March  of  the  following  year,  Francis  Xavicr 
was  kept  at  Loyola's  side  as  his  private  secretary. 


H2 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE   JOURNEY   TO   LISBON 

(March — April,  1540) 

MEANWHILE  Gouvea,  the  old  principal  of  the  College  of 
Ste.  Barbe,  had  not  lost  sight  of  his  former  students.  The 
reader  will  remember  that  he  was  a  Portuguese,  and  an  ardent 
advocate  of  missionary  work  in  India,  and  that  he  had 
under  his  care  a  number  of  Portuguese  students,  holding 
special  bursaries  to  enable  them  to  qualify  as  missionaries. 
While  Ignatius  and  his  disciples  were  in  Rome  he  wrote  to 
them,  asking  them  if  they  would  accept  a  mission  to  India, 
if  it  were  offered  to  them  by  John  III.  of  Portugal.  Faber 
replied  in  the  name  of  the  Company  as  follows  : 

A  few  days  ago  your  messenger  arrived  here  with  your  letter. 
And  with  his  own  voice,  he  has  given  us  some  news  of  you.  By 
your  letters,  we  can  see  in  what  kindly  remembrance  you  hold 
us.  We  see,  too,  how  ardent  is  your  desire  to  save  the  souls 
of  your  Indian  subjects,  and  to  gather  in  this  perishing  harvest. 
Our  hearts  share  your  zeal,  and  we  would  gladly  fulfil  your  wishes 
— which  are  ours  too — but  there  are  so  many  other  demands 
upon  us  that  it  is  difficult  at  the  moment  to  reply.  But  you 
will  pass  on  the  following  statement: 

All  of  us  who  are  bound  together  in  this  society  have  made 
our  vows  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  as  to  the  master  of  all  the 
harvests  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  offering  ourselves  to  the  Pope, 
we  have  declared  that  we  are  ready  for  anything  which  he  may 
have  for  us  to  do  in  the  name  of  Christ.  If  then  he  send  us 
himself  to  the  place  where  you  have  called  us,  we  go  rejoicing. 
We  determined  to  submit  ourselves  thus  by  a  vow  to  the  will 
of  the  Pope,  because  he,  we  know,  is  better  informed  than  anyone 
else  as  to  what  is  most  expedient  for  Christianity  as  a  whole. 

Several  of  us  have  already  besought  His  Holiness,  that  he 
would  send  us  to  those  other  Indies  which  the  Spaniards  are 
from  day  to  day  bringing  under  the  Emperor's  flag  :  in  their 
name  the  proposal  has  already  been  made  by  a  Spanish  bishop 
and  by  the  ambassador  of  the  Emperor ;  but  they  understand 
that  the  Pope  does  not  wish  to  send  us  away  from  Rome,  for  the 
harvest  there  is  great. 

The  distances  which  separate  us  from  India  and  the  difficulty 


THE  JOURNEY  TO  LISBON  117 

of  learning  their  languages  would  not  daunt  us.  To  do  anything 
which  will  help  Jesus  Christ,  that  is  our  business.  Pray  to  Him 
then  that  He  may  make  us  His  ministers  to  preach  the  word 
of  life  so  that  we  may  not  be  self-sufficient  as  if  sufficient  of 
ourselves,  for  our  Hope  is  in  His  abundance  and  His  riches. 

As  for  ourselves  and  our  own  affairs,  you  will  be  fully  informed 
by  letters  which  we  have  written  to  our  intimate  friend  and 
brother  in  Jesus  Christ,  Diego  de  Caceres,  Spaniard.  He  will 
show  you  these  letters.  You  will  see  there  that  we  have,  even 
up  to  the  present  time,  suffered  many  things  for  Jesus  Christ,  and 
how  we  have  won  through  without  harm.  There  are  many  people 
even  in  Rome  who  hate  the  truth,  and  the  enlightenment  of  the 
Church.  It  is  for  you,  then,  to  watch,  and  to  send  out  into  the 
world  Christian  men,  who,  by  the  example  of  a  holy  life,  as  well 
as  by  the  other  means  which  you  have  put  at  their  disposal  for 
the  defence  of  the  faith  and  of  sound  doctrine,  may  instruct 
Christian  people,  for  how  are  we  to  believe  that  God  will  keep  us 
in  the  integrity  of  the  faith  if  we  neglect  a  holy  life  ?  There  is 
good  reason  to  believe  that  the  chief  errors  of  doctrine  proceed 
from  evil  lives,  and  that  the  former  can  do  no  harm  if  the  latter 
is  corrected.  But  enough  of  this  subject.* 

The  letter  was  forwarded  by  Gouvea  to  the  King,  who 
then  wrote  to  his  ambassador  at  the  Papal  court,  asking  him 
to  inquire  secretly  into  the  lives  and  qualifications  of  these 
young  men,  and,  if  the  results  were  satisfactory,  to  ask  the 
Pope  to  allow  some  of  them  to  go  to  India. 

The  ambassador  made  his  investigations,  and  found  that 
the  half  of  their  virtues  had  not  been  told  him.  They  said 
they  would  willingly  go  wherever  the  Pope  should  send  them. 
The  Pope  replied  that  such  a  long  and  dangerous  voyage 
ought  to  be  undertaken  voluntarily,  he  would  command 
none  of  them,  but  if  any  of  them  decided  to  go,  he  would 
give  them  his  blessing. 

Then  a  difficulty  arose.  Although  Ignatius  could  say  that 
all  of  the  Company  were  ready  to  go  if  called  upon,  most  of 
them  were  at  the  moment  engaged  elsewhere.  King  John 
wished  four  men,  but  out  of  the  twenty  members  who  now 
composed  the  Society,  only  two,  besides  Ignatius,  were  then 
in  Rome,  Francis  Xavier  and  Salmeron.  Salmeron  was 
destined  for  Ireland,  and  Francis  appears  at  first  to  have 
been  put  on  one  side  ;  why,  we  can  only  guess.  Probably 
his  shattered  constitution  had  not  yet  recovered ;  probably, 
*  Cros,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  i.  p.  150. 


118  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

also,  Loyola  was  loth  to  lose  his  secretary  and  one  of  his 
best-loved  disciples.  It  was  impossible  to  find  four  men, 
but  Loyola  promised  that  he  would  send  two,  and  the  Pope 
thereupon  gave  formal  command  that  two  should  go.  Rodri- 
guez arrived  in  Rome,  and  was  immediately  despatched  by 
boat  to  Lisbon,  as  he  was  not  well  enough  to  go  by  land 
with  the  ambassador.  With  him  went  a  young  priest  who 
had  volunteered  at  the  eleventh  hour,  Micer  Paulo  Camerino, 
of  whom  we  shall  hear  later,  but  he  was  so  young  and  inex- 
perienced that  he  hardly  counted,  and  Ignatius  still  sought 
his  second  man.  Bobadilla,  who  was  not  far  away,  was 
ordered  to  return  at  once.  He  came,  but  he  was  so  ill  that 
for  him  India  was  out  of  the  question. 

The  time  passed  and  no  one  was  found.  At  last  there 
were  only  twenty-four  hours  left  before  the  date  fixed  for  the 
ambassador's  return  to  Portugal.  And  Ignatius  had  pro- 
mised that  one  of  the  Company  would  go  with  him,  en  route 
for  India. 

Francis  had  not  hidden  his  desires  from  the  founder. 
He  could  say  no  more.  Loyola  must  decide. 

"  All  at  once,"  Rodriguez  tells  us,  "  Ignatius,  who  was  ill 
in  bed,  called  Father  Francis  Xavier,  and  said  to  him, 
*  Master  Francis,  you  know  how,  by  order  of  His  Holiness, 
two  of  us  must  go  to  India,  and  that  we  had  chosen  Master 
Bobadilla  for  this  mission,  and  now  because  of  his  illness  he 
cannot  go.  The  ambassador  cannot  wait  till  he  is  better. 
There  now  is  something  for  you  ! '  And  at  once  the  blessed 
Father  Francis,  with  great  joy  and  promptitude,  replied, 
4  Well,  then,  forward  !  Here  I  am  ! '  "  * 

There  was  no  time  for  elaborate  preparations  or  for  long- 
drawn-out  farewells.  Next  morning  the  traveller  must 
leave  Rome.  His  kit  was  simple,  he  rolled  up  three  or  four 
well-worn  garments  and  put  them  in  his  little  bag,  then  he 
put  in  two  books,  and  that  was  all.  One  of  these  books  was 

his  breviary^ the  pthe.rL.jnay  still  be  seen  in  a  convent  in 

Madrid,  and  is  largely  composed  of  extracts  from  the  New 
Testament.  You  will  look  in  vain  for  any  underlinings  or 
marginal  notes,  for  before  he  left  Europe  Francis  seems  to 
have  learned  the  rule  of  the  Order  that  there  was  to  be  no 
.marking  of  books. 

*  Ribadeneira,  Scripla,  p.  381,  quoted  by  Brou,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier, 
vol.  i.  p.  78. 


THE  JOURNEY  TO  LISBON  119 

On  the  day  of  his  departure  he  wrote  the  three  following 
memoranda,  and  left  them  in  charge  of  the  brethren  in  Rome  : 

Ihus.  I  Francis  declare  this.  When  His  Holiness  approves 
of  our  plans  I  shall  agree  to  what  the  Society  shall  ordain  with 
regard  to  all  the  constitutions,  rules,  and  manner  of  life,  by 
the  assembly  of  those  Fathers  in  Rome  who  are  able  at  that  time 
to  go  there  :  and  because  His  Holiness  is  sending  many  of  us 
beyond  Italy  who  will  not  be  able  then  to  be  present  I  now 
declare  and  promise  that  I  will  agree  to  whatever  is  ordained 
by  those  who  are  able  to  be  there,  be  they  two,  or  be  they  three, 
or  however  many  they  be.  I  declare  and  promise  to  agree  with 
all  that  they  decide.  Written  in  Rome  in  the  year  1540,  on  the 
15th  of  March.  FRANCISCO. 

Also  I  Francis  declare  and  affirm  that,  in  no  way  persuaded 
by  man,  I  judge  that  he  who  ought  to  be  elected  as  the  Superior 
in  our  Company,  and  to  whom  we  must  all  show  obedience, 
seems  to  me,  as  I  judge  by  the  voice  of  my  conscience,  our  old 
and  true  Father  Don  Ignatio,  who  brought  us  all  together  with 
so  much  labour,  and  who,  still  not  without  labour,  knows  best 
how  to  keep  us,  rule  us,  and  lead  us  on  to  better  things,  for  he 
knows  us  all.  And  after  his  death,  according  to  the  counsel  of 
my  inmost  soul,  and  as  I  should  declare  if  I  were  about  to  die, 
I  say  that  the  Father,  Master  Peter  Faber,  should  be  chosen  ; 
and  here  God  is  my  Witness  that  I  speak  no  other  than  what  I 
think,  and  to  witness  this,  I  sign  it  with  my  own  hand. 

Written  in  Rome  in  the  year  1540,  the  15th  of  March. 

FRANCISCO. 

And  so  also,  when  the  Company  shall  have  met  and  have 
chosen  a  Superior,  I  Francis  promise  now  for  then,  perpetual 
obedience,  poverty,  and  chastity  :  and  so,  my  Father  in  Christ, 
dearest  Lainez,  I  beseech  you  in  the  name  of  God  our  Lord  that 
in  my  absence  you  will  offer  for  me  this  my  will,  with  my  three 
religious  vows  to  the  Superior  who  will  be  elected.  For  from 
now,  as  from  that  day  I  promise  to  keep  them,  in  witness  whereof 
I  have  drawn  up  this  declaration,  and  now  sign  it  with  my  own 
hand. 

Written  in  Rome  in  the  year  1540,  on  the  15th  of  March. 

FRANCISCO.* 

Nothing  now  remained  to  do  but  to  go  to  the  Vatican  to 
receive  the  Papal  blessing,  and  to  bid  his  friends,  and  above 

*  Mon.  Xav.t  vol.i.  pp.  812-14. 


120  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

all  Loyola,  a  long  farewell.  These  two  were  never  to  meet 
again.  Of  that  hour  we  have  no  record  ;  but  he  may  well 
have  been  thinking  of  this  moment  when  years  afterwards 
he  wrote  those  words  : 

"  It  may  be  easy  to  understand  the  Latin,*  and  the  general 
meaning  of  this  saying  of  the  Lord,  but  when  dangers  arise, 
where  the  life  about  which  you  wish  to  decide  will  probably 
be  lost,  and  when,  in  order  to  prepare  yourself  to  decide  to 
lose  your  life  for  God's  sake  that  you  may  find  it  in  Him,  you 
get  down  to  details,  everything  else,  even  this  clear  Latin, 
begins  to  get  hazy.  And  in  such  a  case,  however  learned 
you  may  be,  you  can  understand  nothing,  unless  God,  in 
His  infinite  mercy,  makes  your  particular  case  plain."  f 

He  had  entered  the  capital  in  abject  poverty,  but  now, 
though  against  his  will,  he  had  to  keep  state  with  the  ambas- 
sador, in  whose  train  he  travelled.  But  even  thus  he  found 
ample  occasion  for  service. 

In  his  journey  he  gave  no  less  sign  of  modesty  than  of  sanctity. 
For  although  he  were  given  to  the  contemplation  of  heavenly 
things,  yet  being  not  altogether  unmindful  of  human,  he  showed 
himself  so  courteous  unto  all,  that  when  he  came  to  the  Inn  he 
would  leave  the  best  chambers  and  beds  to  other  of  his  company, 
contenting  himself  with  the  worst  things.  And  when  the  servants 
neglected  to  look  unto  their  master's  horses,  or  discharge  other 
inferior  servile  offices,  he  would  himself  do  them  all,  showing 
himself  therein  rather  a  servant  indeed,  than  a  companion. 
Yet  none  was  more  pleasant  in  conversation  than  himself,  nor 
more  ready  in  all  kinds  of  courtesies.  .  .  .  But,  which  is  hardest 
of  all,  he  kept  such  a  mean  in  these  things,  that,  tempering 
courtesy  with  gravity,  both  his  actions  and  words  savoured  all 
of  sanctity. 

Tursellinus  goes  on  to  relate  how  he  talked  seriously  of 
religious  matters  with  his  companions,  "  and  the  wholesome 
bitterness  of  these  discourses  he  always  allayed  with  the 
sweet  sauce  of  many  courteous  offices."  t 

*  Whosoever  would  save  his  life  shall  lose  it,  but  whosoever  shall  lose  his  life  for 
My  sake  the  same  shall  save  it. 

t  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  400.     See  p.  231. 

|  Tursellinus,  Life,  p.  48  ;  see  also  Teixeira,  Vita,  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  ii.p.  832. 
Teixeira  adds  that  he  got  his  details,  which  are  the  same  as  those  of  Tursellinus, 
from  the  secretary  of  the  Ambassador  when  he  afterwards  met  him  in  India 
as  Secretary  of  State. 


THE  JOURNEY  TO  LISBON  121 

By  way  of  Loretto  they  went  to  Bologna,  where  Francis  had 
preached  two  years  earlier.  From  there  he  wrote  to  Igna- 
tius. This  is  the  second  of  his  existing  letters. 

"  On  Easter  Day  I  got  some  letters  from  you  with  a  mail 
which  came  for  the  Lord  Ambassador,  and  with  them  our 
Lord  knows  what  joy  and  consolation.  And  since  only  by 
letters  I  suppose  that  we  shall  see  each  other  in  this  life,  and 
in  the  other  face  to  face,*  with  many  an  embrace,  then  in  this 
little  time  left  us  of  this  life,  let  us  see  each  other  by  frequent 
letters.  So  I  will  do  as  you  have  commanded  me  about 
writing  often,  keeping  the  order  of  the  hijuelas.^ 

"  I  had  a  long  and  pleasant  talk  with  the  Lord  Cardinal 
Ivrea,  according  to  your  instructions.  He  received  me  very 
kindly,  making  great  offerings  to  favour  us  all  he  could. 
The  good  old  man  on  my  taking  leave  began  to  embrace  me, 
and  I  to  kiss  his  hands,  and  in  the  middle  of  the  speech  I 
made  him,  I  knelt,  and  in  the  name  of  all  the  Company,  I 
kissed  his  hands.  By  what  he  answered  me  I  think  he  is 
very  pleased  with  our  way  of  doing  things. 

"  The  Lord  Ambassador  made  me  so  many  presents  that  I 
could  not  come  to  an  end  of  writing  them.  And  I  don't 
know  how  I  could  stand  them  if  I  did  not  think  and  hold 
almost  for  certain  that  in  India  they  may  have  to  be  paid 
with  no  less  than  life. 

"  In  Our  Lady  of  Loretto  on  Palm  Sunday  I  confessed  and 
communicated  him  with  many  of  his  household,  and  in  the 
Chapel  of  Our  Lady  I  said  Mass,  and  the  good  Ambassador 
arranged  that  all  of  his  household  within  the  Chapel  should 
communicate  along  with  him.  The  chaplain  of  the  Ambas- 
sador commends  himself  much  to  the  prayers  of  all,  and  has 
given  me  his  hand  to  go  with  us  to  the  Indies.! 

"  Give  my  greetings  to  Madona  Faustina  Ancolina.     Tell 

*  "  Videmus  .  .  .  per  speculum  incenigmate  :  tune  autem  fade,  ad  faciem  " 
(1  Corinthians  xiii.  12).  Although  theMon.Xav.  gives  the  spelling  as  fatie, 
it  is  almost  certainly  only  a  copyist's  error.  The  sixteenth-century  "  t  "  was 
very  similar  to  the*"  c."  We  may  see  this  in  the  reproduction  of  Francis's 
signature  ;  see  Cros,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  ii.  p.  xxx,  note. 

f  The  word  hijuda  means  little  daughter,  also  a  patch  of  cloth  joined  to 
another  which  is  too  short.  Ignatius  had  given  instructions  that  if  members 
of  the  Company  had  anything  private  to  say,  apart  from  the  main  burden  of 
the  letter,  it  was  to  be  put  on  a  separate  sheet ;  see  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  208, 
note. 

J  He  did  not  keep  his  promise. 


122  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

her  I  have  said  a  Mass  for  her  Vicentio  and  mine,  and  that 
to-morrow  I  will  say  another  for  her,  and  that  she  may  be 
sure  that  I  shall  never  forget  her  even  when  I  am  in  the 
Indies.  And  in  my  name,  Micer  Pedro  my  very  dear  brother, 
remind  her  to  keep  the  promise  she  made  me  to  confess  and 
communicate,  and  that  she  let  me  know  if  she  has  done  it, 
and  how  often.  And  if  she  wishes  to  please  Vicentio,  hers 
and  mine,  tell  her  in  my  name  to  forgive  those  who  killed 
her  son,  for  Vicentio  prays  much  for  them  in  heaven.  Here 
in  Bologna  I  am  more  engaged  in  hearing  confessions  than  I 
was  in  St.  Louis. 

"  Commend  me  much  to  all,  for  truly  it  is  not  through 
forgetfulness  that  I  fail  to  name  them. 

"  From  Bologna  the  last  of  March  1540. 

"  Your  brother  and  servant  in  Christ."  * 

From  Bologna  they  went  on  by  Modena  and  Reggio  to 
Parma.  There  Francis  had  planned  to  meet  his  beloved 
Peter  Faber,  with  whom  he  had  been  so  closely  associated 
throughout  his  student  life,  but  they  missed  one  another  by 
a  few  days,  and  they  never  saw  one  another  again. 

In  Gon£alvez's  MS.  there  is  an  account  given  by  a  fellow 
traveller  of  his  conversion  by  Francis  during  this  journey. 

I  was  an  hidalgo,  young  and  rich,  and  I  was  out  to  see  the 
world.  I  visited  France,  Germany,  Italy,  and  finally  I  reached 
Rome  in  1540.  I  visited  Don  Pedro  Mascarenhas,  the  ambas- 
sador of  John  III.,  and  he  asked  me  to  accompany  him  on  his 
return  voyage  to  Portugal.  I  had  many  things  on  my  con- 
science, as  often  happens  when  a  rich  youth  roams  at  large  in 
strange  countries,  free  from  all  surveillance.  On  the  way,  I 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Master  Francis,  and  he  showed  great 
kindness  to  me.  He  sought  out  my  company,  and  warmed  my 
heart  by  his  honest  gaiety,  as  side  by  side  we  travelled  onwards. 
Gradually,  he  came  to  speak  of  general  confession,  and  persuaded 
me  to  make  it.  I  made  it  to  Francis  himself,  and  with  great 
satisfaction,  in  a  church  which  we  passed  by  the  way.  From  that 
time  I  became,  thanks  to  God,  another  man.  It  is  true  that 
Master  Francis  had  a  notable  gift  for  impressing  the  fear  of  God 
on  men's  souls  :  I  felt  this  fear  grow  within  me  even  as  I  con- 
fessed. It  was  then,  for  the  first  time  in  my  life,  that  I  under- 
stood what  it  was  to  be  a  Christian.! 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  207. 

f  Quoted  by  Cros,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  i.  p.  101. 


THE  JOURNEY  TO  LISBON  123 

During  this  journey  Xavier  is  said  to  have  saved,  on 
different  occasions,  the  lives  of  three  of  his  fellow  travellers. 
The  following  account  of  one  of  these  incidents  is  from 
Tursellinus. 

Afterwards  they  travelled  over  the  Alps  where,  not  being  able 
to  take  sure  footing  by  reason  of  the  driving  of  the  snow,  and  the 
craggy  rocks  and  paths,  their  horses  being  tired,  with  no  small 
danger  to  their  masters,  the  ambassador's  secretary  fell  by  chance 
from  his  horse,  and  was  suddenly  swallowed  up  in  a  huge  mass 
of  snow.  The  place  was  upon  a  slippery  and  steep  rock,  under 
which  ran  a  swift  torrent.  The  greatness  of  the  danger  stroke  all 
his  companions  into  such  a  fear  that  none  durst  undertake  to  assist 
him  ...  so  they,  being  all  amazed,  stood  still  looking  upon  one 
another.  As  they  thus  stood,  on  cometh  Xavier,  and  regarding 
another's  life  more  than  his  own,  leapt  presently  from  his  horse 
and  by  main  strength  drew  him  up  out  of  the  snow  and  delivered 
him  from  manifest  danger  with  no  small  peril  to  his  own  life.* 

After  crossing  the  Alps  the  travellers  went  through  the 
South  of  France  and  thence  up  one  of  the  northern  passes 
of  the  Pyrenees. 

Some  of  the  old  biographers  tell  an  elaborate  and  pathetic 
tale  of  how  the  company  passed  close  to  the  castle  of  Xavier, 
and  the  ambassador  asked  Francis  to  go  and  bid  farewell 
to  his  mother.  The  Saint  refused,  and  thus  provided  the 
historians  with  a  rapturous  passage  on  his  other-worldliness, 
and  some  readers,  at  least,  with  a  text  for  the  inhumanity 
of  Roman  Catholicism.  But  Francis'  mother  had  been 
dead  since  1529,  and  the  old  home  was  long  since  broken 
up.t 

Nevertheless  the  folk  of  these  parts  still  show  the  spot 
where  Francis,  they  say,  paused  to  look  down  upon  the 
scenes  of  his  early  youth,  and  to  say  good-bye  to  his  old 
home.  And  they  have  given  to  that  place  the  name  of 
the  Farewell  Rock,  la  Pena  del  Adios. 

Nothing,  indeed,  can  be  more  likely — though  the  sensa- 
tional tale  of  the  biographers  is  disproved — than  that  on  one 

*  Tursellinus,  Life,  p.  51. 

t  Teixeira's  account,  the  oldest  of  all,  is  very  sober,  and  makes  no  mention 
of  his  mother.  "  Passing  through  to  the  kingdom  of  Navarre  very  near  his 
native  place,  and  his  relatives,  they  could  not  get  him  to  visit  them  nor  to 
turn  aside  a  little  from  the  road  to  see  them."  Vita,  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  ii. 
p.  833. 


124  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

of  these  lonely  heights  above  the  ancestral  keep,  the  worn- 
out  youth,  clad  in  a  battered  cloak,  which  contrasted  quaintly 
with  his  handsome  mount,  drew  in  the  reins,  and  allowed  his 
eyes  to  linger  for  a  little  while  on  those  walls  which  had 
once  held  all  that  was  most  dear  and  sacred,  whispering,  as 
he  turned  away,  tender  adieux. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE   WORK   IN   LISBON 

(June,  1540— April,  1541) 

PORTUGAL,  when  Francis  arrived  there,  was  at  the  height 
of  her  brief  day.  She  had  drunk  of  the  mysterious  and 
reviving  wine  of  the  Renascence,  and  her  renewed  vigour 
had  found  outlet — shut  off  as  she  was  by  Spain  from  the 
rest  of  Europe — in  the  only  way  which  was  left  to  her.  The 
sea  was  her  open  door.  Other  lands  were  giving  the  world 
reformers,  artists,  poets,  scholars  ;  her  greatest  gifts  were 
Bartholomew  Diaz  and  Vasco  da  Gama  and  the  Navigator 
Prince.  But  her  glory  did  not  last  long.  The  best  of  her 
population  was  pouring  out  east  and  west  to  the  new  colonies, 
and  comparatively  few  ever  came  back.  If  the  children  of 
the  emigrants  returned  they  were  often  half-caste  and  of  low 
moral  and  physical  stamina.  Then  the  Inquisition  was  doing 
its  deadly  work,  and  the  fine  Jewish  population  had  been  sent 
out  of  the  country.  And  the  best  men  among  those  who  were 
left  at  home  devoted  themselves  rather  to  the  Church  than 
to  their  country,  with  a  blind  devotion  which  did  Portugal 
small  service. 

It  has  often  been  said  that  the  early  thirties  are  critical 
years  of  life.  If  a  sensitive  man  reaches  that  age  without 
having  chosen  his  path,  he  is,  indeed,  apt  to  find  himself  in 
a  mental  and  spiritual  maelstrom.  But  Francis  Xavier 
came  to  Lisbon  serene  and  joyful,  and  the  whole  town  seems 
to  have  been  astonished  and  captivated  by  the  spectacle 
of  one  whose  life  not  only  recalled  the  meekness  and  poverty 
of  Jesus,  but  also  reflected  something  at  least  of  an  aspect 
of  Him  which  was  still  dearer  to  the  Iberian  temperament, 
His  authority  and  princeliness.  And  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  those  who  saw  him  marvelled.  For  Francis  was 
experiencing  in  those  months  the  pristine  ecstasy  of  the 
spiritual  marriage ;  in  Paris  he  had  been  wooed,  and  had 
responded  to  the  call,  and  made  his  solemn  promises,  but 
now  at  last  all  preparations  were  completed,  and  the  old 


126  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

life  left  behind,  and  now  he  was  dead  to  all  save  his  life  in 
Christ,  and  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  In  all  his  letters 
of  this  time,  there  is  no  trace  of  any  regret,  no  wistful  turning 
toward  the  glories  he  had  renounced  ;  though  there  is  a 
blending,  to  English  eyes  most  strange,  of  rapturous  love  to 
Jesus  and  serpentine  cunning,  of  evangelical  ardour  and 
suave  urbanity,  that  perhaps  none  but  a  Spaniard  could  in 
himself  contain. 

His  inward  joy  must  already  have  been  very  real,  and  the 
new  life  very  satisfying.  For  in  wild  spring  months  on  that 
lovely  Portuguese  coast,  in  the  dazzling  and  seductive 
environment  of  the  Court,  where  he  was  soon  persona  grata, 
there  must  have  been  much  to  lure  and  disturb  a  heart 
not  firmly  fixed  elsewhere.  And  there,  too,  he  would  learn, 
probably  for  the  first  time,  from  the  seafaring  folk  about 
the  harbour,  and  the  travellers  at  the  Court,  of  the  terrible 
dangers  of  a  voyage  to  India.  Only  a  small  proportion  of 
the  ships  ever  returned  to  port.  And  on  every  ship,  and  in 
every  Eastern  town,  disease  took  heavy  toll  of  those  who 
escaped  shipwreck.  But  Francis  took  no  account  of  these 
things,  for  his  treasure  was  in  heaven,  and  on  earth  he  had 
nothing  to  lose. 

From  the  first  moment  of  his  arrival  he  plunged  into  work. 
A  smaller  man  would  complacently  have  viewed  the  sacrifice 
he  was  about  to  make  of  himself,  and  have  taken  a  good 
holiday  before  embarking.  Not  so  Francis.  He  was  already 
on  active  service,  and  henceforth  always  would  be,  so  long  as 
there  was  within  a  day's  journey  of  him  one  soul  who  did 
not  know  Christ  Jesus.  For  he  was,  above  all  things,  an 
evangelist.  As  the  architecture  of  the  Church  has  ever 
sprung  from  the  minds  and  hearts  of  simple  laymen,  so 
her  inner  life  has  always  been  fostered,  not  by  an  esoteric 
hierarchy,  but  by  men  of  a  spirit  too  Catholic  to  be  ecclesiastic. 
Such  were  Origen,  Augustine,  Francis  of  Assisi,  Luther, 
Xavier.  Lisbon  was  stirred  because  a  living  evangelist 
had  come  to  her. 

But  although  Francis  had  little  care  for  ecclesiastical 
concerns,  and  spent  small  time  on  theology,  he  was,  like  most 
great  evangelists,  an  uncompromising  dogmatist.  His 
evangelical  genius  taught  him  that  if  a  man  is  to  preach  at 
all  he  must  preach  passionately — nay,  aggressively.  We 
cannot,  by  any  means,  always  agree  with  his  opinions  about 


THE  WORK  IN  LISBON  127 

the  nature  of  God,  but  neither  can  we  quench  our  admira- 
tion for  the  impatience  with  which  he  bids  his  converts 
repeat  the  Credo,  and  be  baptized,  and  proceed  to  more 
practical  business.  There  is  no  doubt  he  left  Lisbon  a  better 
city  than  he  found  it. 

Simon  Rodriguez,  who  had  gone  up  with  him  to  Mont- 
martre,  was  there  to  welcome  him.  Old  biographers  weave 
a  miracle  from  the  story  of  their  meeting,  but  Francis' 
own  words  about  it  throw  light  on  many  miracles.  "  On 
the  day  I  got  to  Lisbon,"  he  says,  "  I  found  Master  Simon 
just  coming  under  a  fit  of  ague.  My  coming  was  such  a 
joy  to  him,  and  seeing  him  such  a  joy  to  me,  that  the  two 
joys  added  expelled  the  fever.  That  is  a  month  ago,  and  it 
has  not  come  back  since.  He  is  very  well  and  making  much 
fruit." 

The  same  letter  continues  : 

**  There  are  many  good  persons  here  who  long  to  serve 
our  Lord  if  there  were  anyone  to  help  them,  and  to  give  them 
some  Spiritual  Exercises  to  help  them  to  put  into  practice 
the  good  which  from  day  to  day  they  put  off  doing.  For, 
however  promptly  men  begin  to  do  the  good  they  know, 
they  will  find  in  fact,  if  they  look  well  into  it,  that  they  are 
too  late  in  putting  it  into  practice.  This  full  knowledge 
[given  by  the  Exercises]  helps  many  to  awake,  and  keeps 
them  from  finding  peace  where  it  is  not,  chiefly  those  who, 
against  all  reason,  try  to  lead  our  Lord  whither  they  desire, 
and  do  not  wish  to  go  whither  God  our  Lord  calls  them,  but 
allow  themselves  to  be  guided  by  their  inordinate  affections 
rather  than  by  the  good  desires  that  are  in  them.  Toward 
such  one  must  have  compassion  rather  than  envy,  seeing 
they  go  so  uphill,  and  by  so  difficult  and  dangerous  a  road 
and  for  payment  of  such  labour  come  to  so  hard  an  end. 

"  Three  or  four  days  after  our  arrival  in  this  city  the 
King  sent  for  us,  and  received  us  very  kindly.  He  was 
alone  with  the  Queen  in  a  room  where  we  were  with  them 
more  than  an  hour.  He  asked  many  details  about  our 
manner  of  life,  about  the  way  in  which  we  came  to  know 
each  other  and  unite,  what  were  our  first  desires,  and  of 
our  persecutions  in  Rome.*  ...  All  here  are  edified  that 

*  In  the  summer  of  1538  Ignatius  and  his  companions  had  been  accused 
of  being  fugitive  heretics.     In  November  of  the  same  year  the  "  slander  * 
was  publicly  and  formally  declared  to  be  false. 


128  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

we  carried  on  the  affair  to  a  decision,  so  much  so  that  it 
seems  to  them  that  if  it  had  not  been  settled  as  it  was,  we 
should  never  have  gained  any  fruit,  and  in  the  opinion  of 
those  here  we  never  did  a  better  thing  than  carry  it  to  a 
decision  and  let  the  truth  be  seen.  The  King  and  Queen 
were  delighted  to  be  so  well  informed  about  all  our  affairs. 
At  the  end  of  all  the  talk  His  Highness  called  his  daughter, 
the  Infanta,  and  his  son,  the  Prince,  that  we  might  see  them, 
and  told  us  of  the  sons  and  daughters  whom  our  Lord  had 
given  him,  both  of  those  who  were  dead  and  of  those  who 
live.  And  so  the  King,  as  well  as  the  Queen,  showed  us  much 
love. 

ic  That  same  day  on  which  he  talked  to  us  His  Highness 
recommended  us  strongly  to  confess  the  young  gentiles 
hombres  of  his  Court,  for  the  King  has  made  a  rule  in  his 
Court  that  all  these  should  confess  weekly,  and  he  strongly 
recommended  us  to  look  after  them.  He  said  to  us  that  if 
the  young  men  know  God  and  serve  Him,  then  when  they 
are  grown  they  will  form  sound  judgement,  and  if  they 
turn  out  as  they  ought,  the  humbler  people  will  take  example 
from  them,  and  the  laymen  of  the  kingdom  will  be  reformed. 
For  he  holds  it  for  certain  that  if  the  nobles  are  reformed 
the  great  part  of  the  kingdom  will  be  reformed  too.  It 
is  a  matter  for  wonder  and  for  thanks  to  our  Lord  to  see 
how  zealous  for  the  glory  of  God  the  King  is,  and  how 
inclined  to  all  pious  and  good  things  ;  and  all  we  of  the 
Company  owe  him  much  for  the  good  will  he  has  to  us,  both 
for  those  with  you,  and  for  us  here.  The  ambassador  told 
me  that  he  had  spoken  with  the  King  after  we  had  spoken 
with  him,  and  that  the  King  told  him  he  would  be  delighted 
to  have  all  of  us  here,  even  though  it  cost  him  part  of  his 
revenue. 

"  A  number  of  the  people  here  that  we  know  are  trying  to 
keep  us  back  from  going  to  India.  It  seems  to  them  that 
we  will  gain  more  fruit  by  confession,  private  conversations, 
spiritual  exercises,  the  ministry  of  the  sacraments,  exhorting 
persons  to  frequent  confession  and  communion  and  by 
preaching,  than  if  we  went  to  India.  ...  It  is  marvellous 
to  hear  tell  of  the  fruit  we  may  gain  in  India.  Those  who 
have  been  there  many  years  tell  us  this,  because  they  have 
seen  the  people  well  prepared  to  receive  the  faith  of  Christ  our 


THE  WORK  IN  LISBON  129 

Lord.  They  say  that  if  we  maintain  out  there  our  present 
remoteness  from  any  kind  of  avarice  in  our  way  of  living,  they 
have  no  doubt  but  that  in  a  few  years  we  shall  convert  two  or 
three  kingdoms  of  idolaters  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  when  these 
idolaters  recognise  in  us  that  we  seek  nothing  else  but  the 
salvation  of  their  souls.  .  . 

"  We  are  trying  hard  to  find  here  some  clerics  who  for 
the  service  of  God  alone,  and  for  the  salvation  of  souls,  will 
go  to  India  with  us.  It  seems  to  us  at  present  that  we 
cannot  serve  the  Lord  in  anything  better  than  in  seeking 
some  companions,  for  if  there  were  even  a  dozen  clerics  all 
of  one  mind  and  will,  we  should  gain  much  fruit.  We  are 
finding  some  ;  a  cleric  whom  we  knew  in  Paris  has  promised 
to  come  with  us,  and  live  and  die  with  us,  and  to  go  out 
with  the  same  aims  as  we  have.  We  believe  that  he  will 
be  very  true,  for  he  has  given  many  securities.  There  is 
another  in  minor  orders  who  will  soon  be  a  cleric  and  who 
has  freely  offered,  and  there  is  a  doctor  of  medicine,  well 
known  to  us  in  Paris,  who  has  promised  to  come  with  us, 
and  to  use  his  art  only  as  he  sees  it  will  help  him  to  save 
souls.  .  .  .  We  always  strive  to  get  men  to  join  us  who  are 
separate  from  all  avarice,  and  we  are  not  even  content 
that  they  should  be  separate  from  avarice,  but  from  all 
appearance  of  it,  to  such  a  degree  that  none  may  be  able 
to  suspect  that  we  seek  the  temporal  more  than  the 
spiritual. 

"  The  King  said  to  his  confessor,  and  to  a  bishop  who  is 
greatly  attached  to  us,  that  we  ought  to  preach  :  we  put  it 
off  for  some  days,  in  order  to  apply  ourselves  to  humble 
affairs,  and  showed  no  desire  to  preach,  though  all  who 
know  us  desire  nothing  else.  His  Highness  sent  for  us  one 
day,  and  after  talking  for  a  little  said  he  would  be  delighted 
if  we  preached,  and  so  we  offered  freely  to  do  it,  as  well  to 
obey  him  as  for  our  hope  in  Christ  our  Lord  that  He  would 
favour  us  and  allow  us  to  gain  some  fruit  of  souls.  We  begin 
the  Sunday  after  next,  and  we  shall  surely  gain  some  fruit,  as 
the  people  here  are  well-disposed  to  us.  We  pray  much  to 
our  Lord  that  He  may  increase  their  faith  who  have  any  hope 
or  good  opinion  of  us.  And  because  of  the  good  opinion  they 
have  of  us  we  trust  much  in  God  that  if  we  do  not  look  to 
ourselves  but  to  the  faith  of  those  who  wish  to  hear  us  He 


130  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

will  give  us  savour  and  grace  that  we  be  able  also  to  console 
them  and  to  say  whatever  is  either  necessary  or  useful  to  the 
salvation  of  souls. 

"  Lisbon,  13th  July,  1540, 

"  For  all  of  you  most  dear  in  the  Lord.'9  * 

A  few  days  later,  on  July  26th,  he  wrote  the  following 
letter  : 

"  To  Ignatius  Loyola  and  Peter  Codacio,  Rome. 
"  The  grace  and  love  of  Christ  our  Lord  be  always  in  our 
help  and  favour. 

"  After  having  written  of  everything  here  at  great  length 
some  things  which  we  had  forgotten  to  write  came  to 
mind,  among  which  are  the  following.  If  the  Brief  which 
concerns  all  the  Company  is  despatched,  send  the  copy,  for 
the  King  and  those  who  favour  us  will  be  delighted  to  see 
it,  and  the  decision  which  the  Governor  gave  in  our  favour. 
The  King  asked  for  the  Exercises,  and  wanted  to  see  them. 
.  .  .  We  have  got  two  letters,  both  very  short,  one  written 
on  the  8th  of  June,  and  the  other  on  the  1st  May.  The 
Ambassador  would  be  delighted  to  get  a  letter  from  you. 
Some  which  you  had  written  and  he  got  on  the  road  coming 
from  Rome  to  Portugal — just  think,  he  treasures  them  ! 
If  you  are  not  able  to  write,  arrange  that  we  can  show  the 
letters  Estrada  writes,  and  speak  of  him  (the  Ambassador) 
in  them. 

"  We  are  going  to  give  the  Exercises  to  two  licentiates  in 
theology,  the  one  a  very  famous  preacher,  and  the  other  a 
tutor  of  the  King's  brother,  the  Infante  Don  Ennrique, 
and  we  are  making  some  other  persons  of  quality  desire  them, 
believing  that  the  more  they  wish  to  do  them,  the  more 
they  will  profit  in  doing  them.  ...  To  see  the  numbers 
who  confess  and  communicate  is  a  matter  of  praise  to 
God  our  Lord. 

"  See  what  you  think  about  Francisco  de  Strada's  coming 
to  the  University  of  Coimbra,  for  here  what  is  necessary 
for  their  studies  will  not  be  lacking  for  him  nor  for  others. 
...  In  the  course  of  time  we  will  not  fail  to  speak  to  the 
King  about  a  house  for  students,  and  for  this  we  will  need 
to  know  your  intention  as  to  its  style,  and  as  to  who  should 
govern  it,  and  the  order  they  ought  to  have,  that  they  may 
*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  211  ff. 


THE  WORK  IN  LISBON  131 

grow  in  spirit  rather  than  in  learning — so  that  when  we  speak  to 
the  King  we  may  tell  him  about  the  way  those  who  study  in 
our  colleges  must  live.  Of  all  this  write  us  fully.  We  see 
no  difficulty  about  building  a  college  here,  and  the  people 
here  would  be  delighted  to  put  us  up  houses  if  there  were 
anyone  to  live  in  them. 

"  The  bishop,  our  friend,  has  told  us  that  the  King  is  not 
quite  determined  about  sending  us  to  India,  he  thinks  we 
should  serve  our  Lord  here  no  less  than  there.  Two  bishops 
urged  that  we  ought  not  to  remain  here,  but  go  to  India, 
thinking  that  we  were  bound  to  convert  some  kings. 

"  We  are  always  at  it  to  find  companions,  and  I  believe 
that  they  will  not  be  wanting,  as  they  keep  on  turning  up. 
If  we  stay  here  we  shall  found  some  houses,  and  it  will  be 
easier  to  find  men  who  will  stay  here  than  go.  And  if  we 
go,  and  God  our  Lord  give  us  some  years  of  life,  we  shall,  with 
His  help,  found  some  houses  among  Indians  and  negroes. 

"  If  the  Brief  which  concerns  all  the  Company  is  not 
dispatched  arrange  that  they  may  give  us  licence  to  found 
houses  of  our  profession  among  unbelievers.  Whether  we 
shall  remain  here  or  go  to  India,  for  the  love  and  service  of 
God  our  Lord,  write  to  us  the  way  and  order  which  we  ought 
to  pursue  in  organising  our  Company,  and  write  very  fully,  for 
you  know  well  what  few  talents  we  have,  and  if  you  do 
not  help  us  the  greater  service  of  God  our  Lord  will  suffer  for 
want  of  our  knowing  how  to  manage. 

"  Lisbon,  26th  July,  1540. 

"  For  all  of  you.  "  FRANCISCO."  * 

It  is  possible  that  when  Francis  suggests  in  the  above 
letter  that  it  may  not  be  so  easy  to  fill  the  proposed  college 
as  to  build  it,  he  betrays  some  of  the  disappointment  which 
he  already  must  have  felt  in  the  rather  rococo  piety  of  the 
Portuguese  Court.  While  the  new  Order  owed  to  John  III. 
its  missions  in  India,  Africa,  South  America,  as  well  as 
colleges  at  home,  and  while  Francis  had,  at  first,  as  we 
have  seen,  been  carried  away  by  this  King's  full-blown 
enthusiasms,  one  could  not  live  long  in  Lisbon  and  be  ignorant 
of  the  gigantic  exploitations  which  were  taking  place  in  the 
new  colonies.  Xavier  soon  suspected  that  a  bad  conscience 
was,  in  part  at  least,  the  source  of  John's  devotion,  and  when 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  219. 

12 


132  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

this  became,  in  India,  quite  plain  to  him,  he  was  at  no  pains 
to  express  what  he  thought. 

Meanwhile  the  Saint  was  now,  as  always,  equally  at  home 
in  palace  or  pot-house,  dining  with  the  King,  or  binding  up 
some  wretched  beggar's  sores.  Although  they  were  offered 
rooms  at  the  Court,  he  and  Rodriguez  lodged  in  the  hospital, 
where  they  spent  much  of  their  time.  They  began  by 
begging  their  food  in  the  streets,  although  the  King  offered 
them  supplies  from  his  table.  But  this  begging  interfered 
with  their  other  work,  and  they  soon  gave  it  up — save  twice 
a  week  to  keep  them  humble — and  accepted  what  the  King 
sent.  Of  these  meals,  we  are  told,  they  ate  but  a  small 
portion,  and  gave  the  rest  to  the  patients  at  the  hospital.* 

At  the  Court  Francis'  class  for  pages  and  their  friends, 
begun  by  the  special  request  of  the  King,  did  livelier  work 
than  perhaps  John  had  intended,  for  it  turned  some  of  the 
young  courtiers  into  monks,  and  others  into  missionaries. 
Of  this  work  we  will  hear  more  from  Francis  himself  in  one 
of  his  letters. 

About  this  time  the  Saint's  uncle,  the  Doctor  of  Navarre, 
began  a  correspondence  with  his  nephew.  The  Doctor  was 
now  a  professor  at  the  University  of  Coimbra,  and  he  begged 
Francis  to  come  and  visit  him,  since  they  were  so  near  one 
another.  He  also  wrote  to  King  John,  promising  to  deliver 
two  extra  courses  of  lectures  if  the  Royal  approval  were 
given  for  his  nephew  to  come  to  see  him.  Francis*  replies 
to  this  invitation  reveal  a  singular  mingling  of  deep  and 
simple  affection  towards  his  uncle,  with  priestly  admo- 
nitions and  warnings.  These  letters  show  that  he  really 
wished  and  meant  to  see  his  relatives  before  leaving  for 
India,  and  so  contradict  all  that  is  implied  of  his  nature 
in  the  story  of  his  refusing  to  go  to  see  his  mother,  though 
passing  near  her  home.  That  story  was  invented  to  exhibit 
his  holiness,  but  has  often  been  read  as  betraying  his  heart  - 
lessness,  and  even  if  we  had  not  had  proof  that  his  mother 
was  dead  at  the  time  he  is  said  to  have  passed  her  by,  these 
letters  would  have  made  us  doubt  the  tale.  "  May  it  please 
God  .  .  .,"  he  says,t  "  that  in  this  life  we  may  see  each  other 
before  my  companions  and  I  depart  for  India  :  and  then 

*  Polanco,  torn.  i.  p.  87  ff.,  quoted  by  Brou,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavicr, 
vol.  i.  p.  91. 

f  Man.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  224. 


THE  WORK  IN  LISBON  133 

I  shall  be  able  to  give  you  the  whole  story  of  what  you  ask 
me  in  your  letters." 

A  little  later  he  writes  again  to  his  kinsman  : 

"  My  soul  received  such  joy  and  comfort  with  your  letter 
of  the  25th  October  that  nothing  but  the  sight  of  you,  longed 
by  me  for  so  many  days,  could  have  given  me  more  rest.  .  .  . 
I  do  not  pity  you  as  I  would  if  I  thought  that  you  did  not 
use  that  very  ample  talent  which  Christ  our  Lord  gave  you, 
as  a  faithful  servant,  who  holds  for  certain  that  the  reward 
of  the  toil  will  be  greater  than  the  fatigue  involved.  For 
then  he  will  be  made  ruler  over  many  things  who  has  been 
faithful  over  a  few  things.1'  .  .  . 

"  I  shall  write  to  the  Prior  of  Roncesvalles,  as  you  command 
...  as  for  the  rest,  I  wait  till  we  see  each  other,  which  will 
be  when  you  least  think  ;  for  the  love  which  you  show  me 
in  your  letters  obliges  me  to  be  obedient  to  you  in  this  " 
(i.e.,  in  arranging  that  they  should  meet).  "  I  say  indeed 
nothing  of  the  love  that  links  me  to  you,  the  Lord,  who  alone 
searches  out  the  innermost  secrets  of  both  of  us,  knows  how  dear 
you  are  to  me.  Farewell,  illustrious  Doctor,  and  love  me  as 
you  are  wont."  * 

During  the  time  when  Francis  was  in  Lisbon,  there  was  a 
great  fracas  going  on  between  the  Vatican  and  the  Portu- 
guese Court,  as  to  the  conduct  of  the  Inquisition.  Our 
Saint,  instead  of  entering  into  the  dispute,  visited  the  victims 
who  crowded  the  prisons,  and,  though  he  gave  them  the 
Spiritual  Exercises  of  the  First  Week,  which,  as  the  reader 
may  remember,  are  largely  occupied  with  meditations  on 
Heaven  and  Hell,  he  seems  to  have  cheered  and  encouraged 
them  marvellously.  We  find  him  writing  :  "  Numbers  of 
them  tell  us  that  God  has  done  them  great  favour  in  bringing 
them  to  the  knowledge  of  many  things  necessary  for  the 
salvation  of  their  souls."  t 

Amazing  spectacle  !  If  Xavier  had  been  a  worldly-minded 
priest,  eager  for  the  promotion  which  would  bring  greater 
opportunities  for  ease  and  self-indulgence,  one  could  easily 
imagine  his  visiting  those  cells  with  complacency,  and 
admonishing  the  prisoners  to  think  on  their  sins.  But  that 
Francis,  the  tender-hearted,  the  sensitive,  the  pitiful,  should 
go  there,  day  after  day,  with  no  word,  as  far  as  we  know,  of 
*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  234.  t  JW<*.,  vol.  i.  p.  232. 


184  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

protest  against  the  tyrants,  how  do  we  account  for  this  ? 
How  did  he  dare  to  bid  the  victims  think  on  their  sins,  and 
moreover,  how  did  he  win  their  love  and  gratitude  for 
having  done  so  ?  How  could  he  bid  them  rejoice  that 
they  were  cast  into  prison  ?  He  had,  indeed,  a  different 
sense  of  proportion  from  most  of  us,  and  did  not  use  his 
powers  along  the  average  lines.  One  of  the  first  conditions 
of  the  development  of  genius  is  specialisation,  and  the 
genius  of  Francis  had  to  specialise  in  its  own  ways.  He  had 
faith  in  the  Church.  He  was  a  good  Roman  Catholic. 
Therefore,  it  followed  that  he  believed  that  there  were 
those  who  were  inspired  by  God  to  arrange  ecclesiastical 
affairs,  persecutions,  and  the  rest.  That  was  not  his  affair. 
His  affair  was  to  bring  outsiders  into  the  Fold,  for  that  he 
must  answer  before  his  Church  and  before  God,  and  if  the 
Church  called  a  man  a  heretic,  it  was  not  for  him  to  argue 
with  the  Church,  but  to  give  the  man  more  light.  After  all 
no  doubt  they  were  heretics,  the  Church  was  right  enough 
there.  And  the  kindest  as  well  as  most  consistent  thing, 
according  to  her  lights,  which  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
can  do  to  heretics  is  to  cleanse  them  of  their  heresy,  whatever 
the  gruesome  cost  may  be.  But  we  can  imagine  how  Francis 
would  rejoice  and  sing,  when  he  was  brought  into  contact 
with  those  unhappy  creatures,  that  he  happened  to  have 
been  ordained  not  to  hurt  but  to  heal,  not  to  torture  their 
bodies,  but  to  comfort  their  souls.  There  is  nearly  always 
peace  in  one's  own  point  of  view. 

Later  on,  as  we  shall  see,  in  India,  a  very  different  side  of 
his  character  appeared.  There,  emancipated  from  the 
immediate  authority  of  the  Church,  his  personal  sense  of 
justice  and  of  responsibility  for  the  administration  of  justice 
burst  forth  again  and  again  in  fiery  splendour.  And  it  was 
nothing  less  than  his  passion  for  justice  which  led  him,  near 
the  end,  to  make  the  fatal  mistake  of  asking  for  the  Inquisition 
in  India.  But  of  that  more  anon. 

A  few  months  later,  on  September  27th,  1540,  by  the  Bull 
Regimini  Militantis  Ecclesice,  the  full  text  of  which  we  have 
already  seen,*  Pope  Paul  III.  formally  established  the  Society 
of  Jesus  as  a  religious  Order.  The  text  of  the  Bull  was  not 
actually  published  until  April,  1541,  just  after  Francis  had 
left  for  India. 

*  See  p.  111. 


THE  WORK  IN  LISBON  135 

On  March  18th  he  wrote  two  farewell  letters  to  his  friends 
in  Rome.  The  first  is  addressed  to  Ignatius  Loyola  and 
John  Corduri,  and  we  give  it  almost  in  full : 

"  We  have  your  letters,  which  we  were  longing  for.  The  joy 
they  gave  our  souls  was  as  great  as  our  thankfulness  for  them, 
for  they  told  us  both  of  the  good  health  of  all  the  Company, 
and  of  the  holy  and  pious  occupations  of  you  all,  in  building 
spiritual  as  well  as  material  houses,  so  that  the  living  and 
those  to  come,  having  the  needful  means  for  working  in  the 
vineyard  of  the  Lord,  may  be  able  to  carry  on  what  is  begun 
in  the  service  of  God  our  Lord.  May  it  please  the  Lord  that 
to  us  also,  absent  in  the  body,  though  never  more  present  in  the 
spirit  than  now,  He  may  give  His  holy  grace  to  imitate  you, 
seeing  that  you  showed  to  us  the  way  to  come  to  Christ  our 
Lord. 

"As  to  things  here,  I  may  tell  you  that  our  way  of  pro- 
ceeding pleases  the  King,  for  he  sees  the  spiritual  harvest, 
and  is  also  hopeful  that  it  would  be  greater  if  there  were 
more  [workers].  So  he  is  thinking  of  founding  a  college  and 
a  house  for  us,  that  is,  for  the  Company  of  Jesus.  Three 
men  are  to  stay  here  to  build  them,  Master  Simon  [Rodriguez], 
Master  Gonzalo,  and  another  priest  learned  in  canon  law. 
Many  others  are  being  discovered  who  think  of  entering  the 
Company.  The  King  has  taken  the  making  of  these  houses 
very  much  to  heart,  and  sincerely.  Always,  when  we  have 
visited  him,  he  has  spoken  to  us  about  it  without  our  ever 
having  spoken  to  him,  neither  ourselves  nor  by  third  parties, 
but  he  has  been  moved  to  wish  to  build  them  by  his  sheer 
and  pure  goodwill.  He  will  put  up  the  college  this  summer  in 
the  University  of  Coimbra,  and  the  houses,  I  think,  in  the  city 
of  Evora.  I  believe  he  is  going  to  write  to  His  Holiness  to 
send  him  some,  or  one,  of  the  Company  to  help  Master  Simon 
for  these  beginnings.  The  King  loves  our  Company,  and 
desires  its  increase  like  one  of  ourselves,  and  solely  for  the 
love  and  honour  of  God  our  Lord.  He  puts  us  under  an 
obligation,  for  God's  sake,  to  be  his  perpetual  servants.  .  .  . 

"  Micer  Paulo  [Camerino],  and  another,  a  Portuguese 
[Francisco  Mansillas],  and  I  leave  this  week  for  India.  .  .  . 

"  The  King  is  sending  us  away  loaded  with  favours.  He 
has  commended  us  warmly  to  the  Viceroy  *  who  goes  to 

*  Xavier  makes  a  mistake  in  referring  to  Sousa  as  a  Viceroy  ;  there  was  no 
Viceroy  at  this  time,  and  Sousa  was  only  a  Governor. 


136  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER. 

India  this  year.  We  go  in  his  ship,  and  he  shows  us  much 
love,  so  much  so  that  he  does  not  wish  anybody  but  himself 
to  be  concerned  with  our  embarkation  and  the  things  needed 
at  sea,  and  he  has  taken  charge  of  providing  everything, 
even  to  having  us  at  his  table. 

"  I  send  you  these  details  just  that  you  may  understand 
how  much  fruit  we  may  gain  among  those  heathen  kings 
through  the  great  credit  enjoyed  by  a  Viceroy  in  these  parts. 

"  The  Viceroy  who  goes  this  year  has  been  there  many 
years.  He  is  a  very  fine  man.  He  has  a  good  name  in  the 
Court  here,  and  is  beloved  by  all  in  India.  He  told  me  the 
other  day  that  in  an  island  of  India,  where  there  are  no 
Moors  or  Jews,  but  only  heathen,  we  are  sure  to  gain  a  great 
harvest,  and  he  sees  no  difficulty  in  our  making  the  king  of 
that  island  and  all  his  kingdom  Christian. 

"...  By  the  love  and  service  of  God  our  Lord  we  pray  you 
to  write  next  March  when  the  ships  leave  Portugal  for  India. 
Tell  us  what,  in  your  opinion,  ought  to  be  our  method  with 
the  unbelievers.  Although  experience  will  teach  us  partly 
how  we  ought  to  go  about  it,  yet  for  the  rest  we  hope  in  God 
our  Lord  that  it  will  please  His  Divine  Majesty  to  make  us  to 
know  through  you  the  best  way  in  which  to  serve  Him.  He 
has  done  so  until  now,  but  we  are  afraid  of  what  often  happens, 
and  has  been  the  fate  of  so  many.  By  carelessness,  or  by 
not  being  willing  to  ask  others  and  take  advice  from  them, 
they  are  denied  many  things  by  God.  .  .  .  So  we  pray  you, 
Fathers,  and  beseech  you  again  and  again  in  the  Lord  by 
that  friendship  which  has  so  united  us  in  Christ  Jesus,  write 
and  tell  us  how  you  think  we  ought  to  proceed.  What 
counsels  have  you  ?  What  means  shall  we  use  for  the 
better  service  of  God  our  Lord  ?  We  do  wish  to  have  the  will 
of  Christ  our  Lord  made  clear  to  us  through  you.  Again  we 
ask  you — have  us  in  your  prayers  beyond  the  usual  remem- 
brance. This  long  voyage,  and  the  new  dealing  with  heathen, 
and  our  ignorance,  ask  for  much  more  favour  than  usual. 

"  From  India,  with  the  first  ships  that  leave,  we  shall  write 
fully,  and  tell  you  all  about  everything.  The  King  said  to 
me  when  I  took  my  leave  that  I  was  to  write  very  fully  for 
the  love  of  our  Lord  about  the  opportunity  there  is  there 
for  the  conversion  of  those  poor  souls.  He  takes  their 
misery  hard,  and  was  very  anxious  that  their  Creator  and 
Redeemer  might  not  be  perpetually  shamed  by  the  creatures 


THE  WORK  IN  LISBON  137 

made  in  His  image  and  likeness,  and  bought  with  such  a 
price.  Such  is  the  zeal  of  His  Highness  for  the  honour  of 
Christ  our  Lord  and  the  salvation  of  his  neighbours  .  .  .  that  I 
could  not  believe  what  I  have  seen  if  I  were  not  an  eye- 
witness. .  .  . 

"  Let  me  tell  you  that  this  court  is  greatly  reformed.  So 
much  so  that  it  is  more  like  a  religious  house  than  a  court. 
It  is  a  matter  for  thanks  and  praise  to  God  that  so  many 
make  their  confession  and  take  communion  every  week 
without  fail.  We  are  so  engaged  with  confessions,  that  if 
our  numbers  were  doubled,  there  would  still  be  penitents. 
We  are  engaged  the  whole  day  and  part  of  the  night,  and  this 
with  courtiers  alone  without  others.  When  we  were  in 
Almerin  those  who  came  to  do  business  at  the  Court  were 
astonished  to  see  the  multitude  who  communicated  every 
Sunday  and  feast  day.  Seeing  the  good  example  of  the 
courtiers  they  did  the  same.  So  that  if  there  were  many  of 
us,  there  would  be  no  one  with  business  who  would  not  search 
to  do  business  with  God  before  doing  it  with  the  King.  We 
have  no  time  for  preaching  on  account  of  the  number  of 
confessions,  as  we  judge  it  a  better  service  to  our  Lord  to  be 
taken  up  with  confessing  than  with  preaching.  There  are 
plenty  of  preachers  in  this  Court,  so  we  have  given  it  up. 

"  There  is  nothing  else  to  tell  you  but  when  we  are  to  embark. 
In  concluding,  we  pray  Christ  our  Lord  to  give  us  grace  to  see 
each  other,  and  to  bring  us  together  in  the  other  life  bodily. 
For  in  this  life  I  do  not  know  if  we  shall  see  each  other  again, 
both  because  of  the  great  distance  from  Rome  to  India,  and 
because  of  the  great  harvest,  which  is  there  without  going 
to  seek  it  elsewhere.  And  let  the  first  (of  us)  who  goes  to  the 
other  life,  and  does  not  find  his  brother  whom  he  loves  in  the 
Lord,  pray  Christ  our  Lord  to  join  us  all  there  in  His  glory. 

"  Lisbon,  18th  March,  1541. 

"  For  all  of  you  beloved  in  the  Lord, 

"  FRANCISCO  DE  XAVIER."  * 

The  next  letter  to  Jay  and  Lainez,  sent  along  with  the 
previous  one,  is  of  a  more  personal  and  confidential  character, 
and  reflects  not  a  little  of  Loyola's  discretion  and  careful 
sagacity. 

"...  Don't  neglect  to  write  to  Don  Pedro  Mascarenhas, 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  237  seq. 


138  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

for  he  gets  more  pleasure  and  comfort  from  your  letters  than 
I  can  express.  I  assure  you  that  he  loves  you  much  in  the  Lord, 
he  keeps  your  letters  carefully,  and  reads  them  often,  and 
not  without  great  comfort  and  joy  of  soul.  Seeing  how  much 
he  is  yours,  I  feel  bound  to  be  entirely  his  all  the  days  of  my 
life.  It  seems  to  us  here,  unless  you  have  a  better  plan,  that 
it  would  be  useful  if  you  wrote  to  the  King,  thanking  him  for 
the  College  and  House  which  he  means  to  build  for  the 
Company,  for  here  they  think  a  lot  of  compliments,  and  I 
know  by  what  Don  Pedro  has  told  him  about  you,  that  the 
King  would  be  pleased  with  a  letter  from  you.  You  could 
say  in  the  letter  how  we  write  to  you  about  the  College  and 
House  which  he  means  to  build  in  the  name  of  the  Company. 
This,  too,  will  be  useful  in  getting  on  toward  putting  them  up, 
and  I  know  that  a  letter  will  be  seen  by  many  here. 

"  As  to  Francisco  Mansillas,  I  wish  you  to  know  that  he 
has  no  orders.  There  is  a  bishop  in  India ;  we  hope  in  God 
that  it  will  be  possible  to  have  him  ordained  there.  The 
good  man  has  a  larger  share  of  zeal  and  goodness  and  great 
simplicity  than  of  learning.  If  Don  Paulo  [Camerino],  with 
his  wide  learning,  does  not  go  with  him,  we  shall  be  in  a 
quandary  about  ordaining  him  there  in  India  if  God  our  Lord 
does  not  help  us.  He  is  very  anxious,  that  if  by  chance  they 
should  not  ordain  him  there,  you  should  send  him  a  dispen- 
sation so  that  extra  tempora  in  three  feasts*  it  might  be  possible 
to  ordain  him  ad  titulum  of  voluntary  poverty,  and  most  abound- 
ing simplicity,  and  his  great  goodness  and  holy  simplicity  may 
make  up  what  he  does  not  reach  by  learning.  .  .  . 

"  From  India  we  shall  write  at  great  length,  when  we  have 
had  experience  of  things  there.  The  Viceroy's  favour  will 
do  much  to  help  us,  for  he  has  great  credit  with  those  kings 
who  keep  the  peace  with  the  King  of  Portugal.  .  .  . 

"  When  you  write  to  us  to  India,  write  us  by  name  of 
everyone,  since  it  has  to  be  only  once  a  year.  And  write 
at  great  length,  so  that  we  shall  have  what  will  take  us  eight 
days  to  read.  And  we  shall  do  the  same."  t 

Some  of  those  biographers  who  make  his  life  a  peg  upon 
which  to  hang  their  ragings  against  Roman  Catholicism  talk 
of  the  gorgeous  state  in  which  Xavier  departed  for  the  East, 

*  The  sub-diaconate,  diaconate,  and  priesthood  are  usually  conferred  on 
three  different  days. 

f  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  243. 


THE  WORK  IN  LISBON  139 

and  contrast  his  journey  with  that  of  good  Protestant  mission- 
aries to-day.  Spleen  and  ignorance  are  the  parents  of  this 
kind  of  eloquence.  The  oldest  and  probably  the  most 
authentic  account  of  his  send-off  is  that  of  Gon£alvez.* 

When  the  time  of  departure  was  near  John  III.  commanded 
Don  Antonio  de  Ataide,  the  Count  of  Castanheira,  to  find  out 
from  Master  Francis  the  things  which  he  would  need  during  the 
voyage,  and  procure  them  for  him.  All  that  the  Count  could  do 
was  to  get  the  Father  to  accept,  for  himself  and  his  companions, 
a  rug  of  coarse  wool,  as  a  protection  against  the  cold  weather  at 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  several  religious  books  which  were 
not  obtainable  in  India.  He  would  accept  no  provisions  of  food. 
Still  less  would  he  accept  a  servant  which  Don  Antonio  offered 
him.  4  Your  position  demands  it,"  the  Count  said  to  him, 
"  you  can't  wash  your  own  linen,  nor  busy  yourself  over  the 
stock-pot."  To  this,  with  a  grave  and  modest  air,  Francis 
made  answer,  "  Sir,  this  care  for  an  imaginary  dignity,  this 
anxiety  to  fulfil  unreal  obligations,  has  put  Christianity  into 
the  deplorable  state  in  which  we  now  see  it.  As  for  me,  I  mean 
to  wash  my  own  clothes,  and  watch  my  own  soup-pot,  and  look 
after  other  people's  as  well,  and  by  doing  these  things  I  hope  I 
shall  not  lose  any  authority." 

The  Count  remained  much  struck  with  these  words  ;  often  later 
on  he  recalled  them,  and  would  add,  "  Entrusted  with  providing 
for  the  passengers  on  those  ships  who  were  in  the  service  of  the 
King,  my  great  trouble  was  usually  with  those  who  asked  too  much, 
or  even  took  more  than  they  were  given,  but  the  hardest  task 
I  ever  had  was  with  Father  Francis,  when  I  tried  to  persuade 
him  not  to  refuse  absolutely  everything,  but  to  consent  to  accept 
some  small  gift  from  the  King." 

The  departure  of  the  ships  for  the  East  was  at  that  time 
one  of  the  great  events  of  the  year  in  Lisbon.  A  small 
proportion  of  those  who  went  away  ever  returned,  but  those 
who  did  often  came  laden  with  fabulous  wealth,  and  full  of 
wonderful  tales  of  the  new  lands.  Before  the  travellers 
embarked,  they  used  to  meet  in  the  Church  of  Our  Lady  of 
Nazareth,  where  they  were  publicly  commended  to  the  care 
of  God.  And  all  the  year  round,  in  the  convents  near  by, 
they  chanted  the  Mass  of  the  Angels  for  those  at  sea.  The 
place  of  embarkation  was  known  as  the  Place  of  Tears. 

There  is  a  tradition  in  Lisbon  that  Francis,  before  going 
on  board  the  ship,  preached  to  the  crowds  that  had  come  to 
*  Quoted  by  Cros,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavicr,  vol.  i.  p.  188. 


140  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

bid  him  farewell.  A  movable  pulpit,  it  is  said,  was  brought 
from  an  adjoining  monastery,  and  the  Place  of  Tears  rang 
with  the  cheerful  adieux  of  the  most  joyful  of  saints,  the 
gayest  of  missionaries. 

This  man  was  off  to  preach  the  Gospel,  because  he  could 
not  for  an  hour  keep  the  good  news  to  himself,  nor  even  to 
Europe,  now  that  the  opportunity  had  come  to  go  farther 
afield. 

Many  missionaries  have  sober  faces,  and  speak  often  of 
taking  up  the  Cross,  and  setting  their  faces  steadfastly  to 
go  to  Jerusalem.  Xavier,  because  One  had  gone  there 
already,  could  see  no  more  darkness  in  that  direction,  and 
to  him  the  Cross  which  a  human  back  can  bear  was  so  small — 
that  other  Cross  in  view — that  he  did  not  talk  much  of  it. 
Yet,  like  all  the  gayest  souls,  he  had  known  well  the  taste 
of  tears.  From  his  boyhood  on  he  had  quitted  the  easier 
and  more  obvious  battlefields,  and  sought  the  harder.  He 
had  left  the  knightly  company  of  his  brothers  and  cousins, 
and  become  a  poor  student  in  Paris  ;  after  eleven  years  of 
hard  study  and  teaching,  he  had  found  the  Church  waiting 
for  him  with  open  doors,  and  the  road  to  fame  free  before 
him  ;  but  instead  of  accepting  a  canonry,  he  had  gone  on 
foot  to  Venice — the  Swanwick  of  the  first  Jesuits — and  from 
that  time  on  to  now,  and  it  was  to  be  the  same  henceforth, 
his  life  was  one  steady  crescendo  of  love  and  devotion  to  his 
neighbour  and  his  God.  He  was  fastidious  and  sensitive : 
he  spent  his  spare  moments  nursing  the  sick  and  diseased, 
and  visiting  those  in  prison,  and  reading  to  them  and  praying 
with  them.  He  was  a  lover  of  books  and  all  lovely  things, 
but  he  had  left  his  Alma  Mater,  and  what  she  might  still 
have  given  him,  far  behind.  He  was  a  philosopher,  and  had 
"  explicated  Aristotle  publicly,  and  not  without  praise,"  but 
all  that  he  had  now  put  by.  All  the  superb  possibilities, 
social,  intellectual,  political,  ecclesiastical,  for  which  his 
genius  had  held  the  key,  he  was  content  to  see  now,  hid  with 
Christ  in  God  :  hid  there,  too,  the  still  dearer  and  more 
intimate  treasures  of  family  life  and  love,  which  few,  indeed, 
dare  willingly  forgo  for  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven's  sake. 
For  a  man  so  eager,  so  ardent,  so  miraculously  sympathetic 
and  tender  as  Francis,  this  last  sacrifice,  of  which  he  never 
spoke  or  wrote,  is  perhaps  the  fullest  witness  of  all  to  the 
largeness  and  simplicity  of  his  faith. 


DOORWAY  OF  XAVIER  CASTLE 


CHAPTER  X 

FROM   LISBON    TO    GOA 

(April,  1541— May,  1542) 

THE  sea  route  to  India  had  been  open  to  Europeans  for  less 
than  half  a  century  before  Francis  Xavier  sailed  for  India. 
Until  then  only  an  occasional  adventurer  from  the  West  had 
penetrated  the  lands  of  the  Orient  by  other  ways  than  the 
old  overland  routes  from  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Persian  Gulf. 
Pliny  speaks  of  Roman  merchants  voyaging  from  Egypt  to 
the  coasts  of  Malabar  (Barace)  in  seventy  days,  their  ships 
manned  with  archers  as  a  protection  against  pirates,  and, 
of  course,  the  Indian  Ocean  was  familiar  to  the  Arab  traders 
from  immemorial  times,  but  the  first  voyage  to  the  East 
via  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  was  made  by  Vasco  da  Gama 
in  1498.*  That  intrepid  adventurer  struck  a  bigger  blow 
at  Mohammedan  power  in  the  East  by  that  one  voyage 
than  did  many  hundreds  of  missionaries.  It  was,  indeed, 
a  more  effective  retaliation  against  the  followers  of  Islam 
for  their  having  closed  the  overland  routes  to  the  Christians, 
than  they  can  possibly  have  foreseen.  Hitherto  the  afore- 
said Arabs,  or  Moors  as  the  Portuguese  called  them,  had 
been  practically  the  sole  voyagers  across  the  Indian  Ocean, 
and  the  very  names  of  the  cities  of  their  merchandise,  such 
as  Bagdad,  Venice,  Ormuz,  Damascus,  still  breathe  an  odour 
of  fabulous  splendour  and  wealth.  A  curious  and  inte- 
resting characteristic  of  these  sea-traders  was  that  they 
never  made  any  attempts  to  colonise  on  the  Indian  coasts, 
as  the  Portuguese  immediately  did.  Political  ambition 
they  had  none.  Commerce  was  to  them  an  all-absorbing 
art,  loved  for  her  own  sake,  or  for  the  sake  of  the  voluptuous 
beauty  and  luxury  with  which  she  could  surround  them. 
This  may  account  for  the  atmosphere  of  glamour  which  still 
hangs  over  the  merchants  of  the  East.  Very  different 
are  our  typical  Western  merchants,  and  they  get  rich  for 
other  and  much  more  complicated  reasons.  But  when  the 

*  The  Cape  had  first  been  rounded  in  1487  by  Bartholomew  Diaz. 


142  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

Muslim  wished  to  establish  himself  in  India  these  Arab 
sea-traders  did  not  put  themselves  at  his  disposal ;  they 
were  too  much  artists,  perhaps,  to  be  warriors,  and  the 
Mohammedan  armies  had  to  do  without  their  help,  and  go 
by  land. 

Vasco  da  Gama  had  landed  near  Calicut,  and  had  been 
received  by  the  Emperor  of  the  twelve  Rajahs  of  Malabar, 
or  Zamorin,  as  he  was  called,  with  great  courtesy  and  for- 
mality. One  piece  of  information  which  they  brought 
back  to  Portugal  was  that  all  the  Indians,  except  the 
Mohammedans,  were  Christians,  only  they  were  in  need  of 
teaching.  This  mistake  may  have  been  accounted  for  by 
an  incident  which  took  place  on  their  landing.  They  were 
taken  into  a  temple  to  be  purified,  and  found  it  dedicated 
to  a  goddess  named  Mariamma — Mari,  for  short,  the  natives 
called  her.  This  they  at  once  took  for  the  Virgin  Mary, 
and  said  their  prayers  to  her. 

From  the  first  the  Portuguese  were  unhappy  colonisers. 
They  did  not  know  the  language,  took  little  pains  to  learn  it, 
and  the  social  and  religious  customs  of  the  East  were  a  con- 
tinual occasion  of  stumbling  to  them,  while  their  high-handed 
methods  of  introducing  themselves  were  certainly  an  occasion 
of  stumbling  to  India.  Further,  they  came  determined  to 
oust  the  Mohammedan  traders.  This  purpose  the  Moham- 
medans were  aware  of  immediately,  and  they  took  full 
advantage  of  the  impression  which  the  ungracious  manners 
of  da  Gama  and  his  friends  had  made  on  the  natives,  to 
maintain  their  own  favour  at  the  cost  of  that  of  the  new 
competitors.  But  the  deep-rooted  instincts  of  hospitality 
were  not  easily  to  be  overcome,  and  the  first  receptions 
given  to  the  Portuguese  were  on  the  whole  friendly. 

The  second  expedition  left  Portugal  in  1500,  a  fleet  of 
thirteen  ships,  of  which  only  six  arrived  in  India.  In  spite 
of  fighting  both  with  natives  and  Arabs,  and  of  innumerable 
misfortunes,  five  of  these  ships  returned  to  Portugal  so 
richly  laden  that  all  loss  of  goods  and  boats  was  many  times 
covered.  This  journey  is  specially  notable  because  of  the 
discovery  of  Cochin  harbour,  which  was  far  superior  to  Calicut, 
and  opened  upon  a  richer  country.  Cabral,  the  commander 
of  this  expedition,  was  able  to  disillusion  the  Portuguese  at 
home  with  regard  to  the  "  Christianity  "  of  the  natives. 

In  1502  da  Gama  set  out  again,  and  by  means  of  brilliant 


FROM  LISBON  TO  GOA  143 

determination  and  courage,  fortified  by  the  most  unscru- 
pulous deeds  of  injustice  and  robbery,  revolting  and  often 
wholesale  acts  of  cruelty,  and  artillery  far  superior  to 
anything  which  either  the  natives  or  the  Mohammedans 
possessed,  Portuguese  power  in  India  soon  established 
itself  all  along  the  western  littoral.  Impregnable  fortresses 
were  built  in  place  after  place,  churches  and  monasteries 
were  put  up  inside  the  forts,  and  priests  and  soldiers  were 
shipped  out  in  the  desired  proportions. 

In  1510  Albuquerque,  then  Governor  of  India,  and  the 
real  founder  of  the  Portuguese  Empire  in  the  East,  captured 
the  island  of  Goa,  and  made  it  the  capital  of  the  new  colonies. 
Under  his  brilliant  administration  some  sort  of  solid  success 
was  more  nearly  achieved  than  at  any  other  time,  but  his 
policy,  although  in  many  ways  large  and  statesmanlike, 
had  fatal  weaknesses. 

He  was  like  most  men  of  his  age,  pitiless  and  cruel,  but  he  had 
a  keen  love  of  justice.  He  kept  no  doorkeeper,  and  his  door 
was  never  closed  save  for  a  short  time  when  he  slept  after  dinner. 
It  was  his  maxim  that,  though  the  Mohammedans  had  been 
conquered,  having  once  submitted,  they  should  be  treated  with 
more  than  even  justice,  to  attach  them  by  love.  ...  he  was 
both  sagacious  and  wily,  and  he  was  able  to  foil  Orientals  with 
their  own  weapons.  The  value  of  downright  honesty  in  dealing 
with  the  Eastern  peoples  had  not  yet  been  recognised,  and 
Albuquerque's  successors,  imitating  his  methods,  but  not  posses- 
sing his  abilities,  lost  heavily  in  the  game  of  intrigue.  He,  too, 
had  limitations  which  many  of  them  did  not  recognise,  for  though 
he  certainly  acted  on  standards  of  truth  and  honesty  which  are 
not  now  acknowledged,  he  saw  clearly  enough  the  value  of  both 
of  these  qualities,  and  in  this  very  few  of  his  successors  followed 
him.  "  I  am  known  all  over  India,"  he  tells  the  king,  "  as  a 
man  of  my  word.  If  I  send  for  a  Mohammedan  from  anywhere, 
he  comes  and  demands  no  security.  India,  sire,  in  my  time,  is 
governed  by  truth  and  justice,  though  it  is  true  the  people  of 
these  parts  speak  little  truth  to  us,  but  we  must  not  treat  them  in 
the  same  way.  ..."  He  was  a  man  with  the  true  imperial 
instinct — the  personality  the  Oriental  follows  blindly  ;  clear- 
headed, always  accessible,  he  did  his  work  himself;  he  might 
inadvertently  be  unjust,  but  he  never  allowed  subordinates  to  rob 
or  oppress,  he  knew  his  own  mind,  and  he  never  let  his  judgment 
be  warped  by  fear  or  favour.* 

*  Whiteway,  Rise  of  Portuguese  Power  in  India,  p.  167  ff. 


144  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

He  was  confronted  by  immense  difficulties,  and  perhaps 
the  considerable  measure  of  his  success  was  due  rather  to 
the  inevitable  influence  of  a  powerful  and  noble  character, 
working  from  hour  to  hour  on  the  events  of  each  day,  than 
to  his  general  policy  or  statesmanship. 

One  of  his  chief  weaknesses  of  judgment  was  the  small 
respect  he  showed  for  the  Mohammedans ;  although  he 
never  obeyed  the  urgent  calls  of  the  King  to  massacre  them 
wholesale,  yet  he  never  realised  that  there  was  plenty  of 
room  for  both  Mohammedan  and  Portuguese  under  just 
conditions.  Again,  in  the  face  of  the  practical  insolvency 
of  his  government,  he  had  no  adequate  financial  policy  to 
propose.  The  enormous  loss  in  ships  and  cargoes,  the 
salaries  and  extravagances  of  the  officials,  the  cost  of  buildings 
and  garrisons,  had  to  be  met  by  plunder,  prize-ships,  sudden 
deals  of  fortune,  or  by  the  whole  capital  of  some  ambitious 
and  desperate  governor. 

Nor  was  Albuquerque's  scheme  for  maintaining  and 
increasing  the  European  population,  and  manning  the  navies, 
practical  or  wise.  He  encouraged  the  colonists  to  marry 
native  women,  and  only  saw  the  racial  degeneration  which 
that  involved  when  it  was  too  late.  He  had  some  scheme 
in  his  mind  to  counteract  this  error,  under  which  all  the 
children  were  to  be  sent  to  Portugal  for  education  and 
training,  but,  of  course,  this  was  never  carried  out. 

Albuquerque  was  followed  by  a  succession  of  far  inferior 
men,  and  soon  the  lurid  series  of  episodes — which  never 
really  had  enough  of  unity  or  dignity  to  merit  the  title  of 
government — lost  even  the  brilliance  and  "  dash "  that, 
from  the  first,  had  taken  the  place  of  more  enduring 
qualities. 

The  self-deception  on  the  part  of  the  Portuguese  about 
the  success  of  their  new  conquest  was  on  a  vast  scale,  and 
was  apparently  devoid  of  any  conscious  insincerity.  It 
has,  indeed,  a  certain  bizarre  and  lurid  grandeur  of  its  own. 
Never  were  the  Cross  and  the  sword  more  blandly  or  shame- 
lessly identified  than  in  those  days.  And  if  for  a  moment  the 
clouds  of  conquest  and  of  battle  shifted  from  the  sacred 
Symbol,  the  dizenry  of  ecclesiastical  pomp  still  hid  its  glory, 
and  put  its  message  to  shame. 

The  Popes,  in  far-off  Rome,  had  the  vaguest  notion 
of  what  was  happening.  They  poured  out  indulgences  and 


FROM  LISBON  TO  GO  A  145 

pardons  of  every  variety  to  those  "  who  went  to  India, 
stayed  there,  returned  from  there,  those  who  died  in  the 
fighting  there  for  the  spread  oj  the  faith. "  * 

Colossal  raiding  expeditions  set  out  again  and  again  with 
formal  and  public  episcopal  blessing,  cheered  across  the 
harbour  bar  by  the  chanting  of  choristers  and  the  waving  of 
sacred  banners.  Indian  temples  were  desecrated  and 
despoiled,  and  their  priests  slaughtered,  in  the  name  of 
Jesus.  Francis  Xavier  writes  enthusiastically  of  the  charm 
and  piety  of  da  Sousa,  and  we  know  from  other  reliable 
sources  that  he  used  regularly  to  visit  the  sick  in  Goa, 
and  that  he  spent  much  time  and  money  over  charitable 
and  "  religious  "  affairs  there.  One  extract  from  an  equally 
reliable  historian  shows  us  another  side  of  his  character, 
and  the  two  pictures  give  us  a  typical  impression  of 
Portuguese  character  in  those  days: 

On  this  coast  between  Cochin  and  Quilon,  the  Portuguese  had 
been  settled  for  over  forty  years,  and  they  depended  upon  the 
goodwill  of  the  residents  for  the  supply  of  merchandise  which 
was  the  bait  that  drew  them  to  the  East.  This  did  not  prevent 
da  Sousa  from  leading  an  expedition  to  attack  the  temple  of 
"  Tebelicare,"  a  few  miles  inland,  which  local  information 
reported  to  be  full  of  gold.  There  were  two  jangadas  attached 
to  this  temple,  but  one  with  almost  all  the  guards  had  gone  to 
the  south  when  the  movements  of  the  Portuguese  had  first 
attracted  attention.  An  offer  of  £12,000  down  failed  to  turn  the 
Governor  from  his  intention,  and  before  nightfall  the  temple 
was  reached.  The  building  was  of  the  common  design,  surrounded 
by  a  wall,  with  a  few  straw  huts  outside.  The  Governor  and 
his  immediate  following  went  inside  the  temple  and  shut  the  door  ; 
those  outside  the  building  passed  a  miserable  night  enough,  a 
prey  to  every  imaginable  horror — the  fall  of  a  shield  nearly 
caused  a  stampede.  Inside  the  Governor  and  his  friends  spent 
the  time  in  torturing  the  Brahmins  of  the  temple,  and  in  digging 
up  the  floor.  It  was  never  known  exactly  what  was  found — 
a  gold  patten  worth  £50  was  all  that  was  ever  shown — but  as 
two  barrels  of  matchlock  powder  were  emptied,  and  the  barrels 
passed  in,  and  as  afterwards  they  each  required  eight  slaves  in 
relays  to  carry  them,  scandalous  tongues  were  busy.  When  in 
the  morning  they  started  on  their  return  journey,  a  Nair,  dressed 
with  scrupulous  care  with  all  his  ornaments,  followed  by  ten  or 

*  Rehello  da  Silvas,  Corpo  Diplomatico  Port.,  quoted  by  Brou,  Vie  de 
S.  Francois  Xavier t  vol.  i.  p.  127. 


146  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

twelve  others,  flung  himself  on  the  Portuguese  ranks.  It  was  the 
remaining  jangada  with  the  relatives  whom  he  could  collect  who 
thus  tried  to  wipe  out  by  their  deaths  the  stain  upon  their  honour. 
During  the  retreat  the  Portuguese  were  harassed  by  the  country 
people  and  suffered  a  loss  of  thirty  killed  and  150  wounded,  but 
on  the  way  they  sacked  another  temple,  whence  was  obtained 
some  small  amount  in  silver  coins  to  distribute  among  the 
soldiery.* 

Barros,  the  official  Portuguese  historian  of  the  period, 
interprets  to  the  people  the  teaching  of  the  Church  on 
Eastern  affairs  in  the  following  words  : 

It  is  true  that  there  does  exist  a  common  right  to  all  to  navigate 
the  seas,  and  in  Europe  we  acknowledge  the  rights  which  others 
hold  against  us,  but  this  right  does  not  extend  beyond  Europe, 
and,  therefore,  the  Portuguese  as  lords  of  the  sea,  by  the  strength 
of  their  fleets,  are  justified  in  compelling  all  Moors  and  Gentiles 
to  take  out  safe  conducts  under  pain  of  confiscation  and  death. 
The  Moors  and  Gentiles  are  outside  the  law  of  Jesus  Christ, 
which  is  the  true  law  that  everyone  has  to  keep  under  pain  of 
damnation  to  eternal  fire.  If,  then,  the  soul  be  so  condemned, 
what  right  has  the  body  to  the  privileges  of  our  laws  ?  It  is 
true  they  are  reasoning  beings,  and  might,  if  they  lived,  be  con- 
verted to  the  true  faith,  but  inasmuch  as  they  have  not  shown 
any  desire  as  yet  to  accept  this,  we  Christians  have  no  duties 
toward  them.t 

The  victims  of  this  alien  civilisation  were  in  many  respects 
not  far  from  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  in  Malabar,  at  least, 
would  quickly  have  responded  to  a  happier  gospel.  The 
Hindoo  rulers  were  gentle  and  tolerant,  and  had  more 
advanced  ideas  of  justice  than  their  conquerors.  A  Persian 
traveller  of  the  fifteenth  century  has  left  us  his  impressions 
of  Calicut : 

Security  and  justice  are  so  firmly  established  in  this  city  that 
the  most  wealthy  merchants  bring  thither  from  maritime  countries 
considerable  cargoes,  which  they  unload,  and  unhesitatingly 
send  to  the  markets  and  the  bazaars,  without  thinking  in  the 
meantime  of  any  necessity  of  checking  the  account  or  keeping 
a  watch  upon  the  goods.  The  officers  of  the  custom-house  take 
upon  themselves  the  charge  of  looking  after  the  merchandise, 

*  Whiteway,  Rise  of  Portuguese  Power  in  India,  p.  284. 
t  Quoted  by  Whiteway,  Rise  of  Portuguese  Power  in  India,  p.  21.     The 
sentiments  here  expressed  are  worthy  of  most  modern  daily  papers. 


FROM  LISBON  TO  GOA  147 

over  which  they  keep  a  watch  night  and  day.  When  a  sale  is 
effected  they  make  on  them  a  charge  of  one-fortieth  part ;  if 
they  are  not  sold  they  make  no  charge  on  them  whatsoever.* 

There  is  no  place  in  all  India  says  Pyard  de  Laval,  writing  of 
Calicut]  where  contentment  is  more  universal  than  here,  both  on 
account  of  the  beauty  and  fertility  of  the  country  and  of  the 
intercourse  with  the  men  of  all  religions  who  live  there  in  free 
exercise  of  their  own  religion.  ...  It  is  the  busiest  and  most 
full  of  traffic  and  commerce  in  the  whole  of  India ;  it  has  mer- 
chants from  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  of  all  nations  and  religions, 
by  reason  of  the  liberty  and  security  offered  to  them  there ;  for 
the  king  permits  the  exercise  of  every  kind  of  religion.t 

Strange  and  confusing,  indeed,  is  the  tapestry  which  the 
historians  of  that  period  have  woven  for  us.  Da  Gama 
embarks  from  Lisbon,  the  crowd  shouting,  "  To  what  mad 
enterprises  covetousness  can  lead  men  !  "  while  King  Manuel, 
with  great  piety  and  solemnity,  puts  a  far  other  interpreta- 
tion on  the  "  mad  enterprise  "  by  placing  a  banner  emblazoned 
with  the  Cross  in  the  hands  of  the  great  Admiral.  And 
the  accusations  of  the  crowd,  and  the  solemn  charges  of 
the  king,  have  both  a  certain  relevancy.  Da  Gama  sallies 
out  from  the  shadows  of  his  gorgeous  banner  to  torture 
innocent  fisher  folk ;  Albuquerque,  the  best  of  all  the 
Portuguese  governors,  cuts  off  the  noses  of  Arab  women  ; 
Almeida,  another  governor,  gratuitously  tears  out  the 
eyes  of  a  Nair  in  a  mood  of  suspicion.  Sousa  secretly  rolls 
his  barrels  of  gold  out  of  the  temples  ;  sailors  fling  dead 
bodies  of  their  captives  into  the  sea,  and  then  watch  the 
shore  to  extort  ransoms  from  the  friends  who  come  to  take 
home  the  corpses  ;  soldiers  kill  by  torture,  or  sell  into  slavery, 
the  prisoners  whom  they  cannot  ransom.  And  again  and 
again  those  Indians,  whom  the  Portuguese  said  they  were 
going  out  to  civilise  and  convert,  put  their  would-be  teachers 
to  shame.  Malik  Aiyaz  sought  for  Don  Louren9o's  body 
on  the  battlefield,  that  he  might  give  it  honourable  burial, 
and  wrote  to  Almeida,  the  governor,  that  when  the  enemy 
was  conquered  he  should  be  treated  as  a  brother.  A  poor 
native  tribe,  suddenly  disturbed  on  their  rustic  green  by 
Portuguese  slave-hunters,  gave  their  enemies  food  and  drink, 
and  then  went  off  on  parole,  such  of  them  as  could,  to  gather 

*  India  in  the  Fifteenth  Century,  by  Abdu-r-razak,  p.  13,  quoted  by  White- 
way,  op.  cit.,  p.  26. 

t  Pyard  de  Laval,  vol.  i.  pp.  366  and  402,  quoted  by  Whiteway,  p.  27. 

K2 


148  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

together  enough  money  for  their  ransoms,  and  brought  it 
back  at  the  appointed  time  as  they  had  promised,  when 
they  might  easily  have  escaped.  But  within  a  few  miles 
of  these  gentle  folk  were  others  who  tortured  the  hours  of 
darkness  with  their  profane  and  obscene  rites,  while  by 
daytime  their  young  men  hunted  for  human  heads  to  offer 
to  the  maidens  they  courted,  and  their  womenfolk  dressed 
human  bodies  for  the  oven  :  beyond  the  next  range  of 
hills  it  was  a  crime  to  kill  a  fly.  Upon  the  edge  of  this  vast 
and  mysterious  and  chaotic  continent  the  Portuguese 
colonists  had  settled  with  about  as  much  disturbance  as  a  few 
gnats  would  make  upon  an  elephant's  back. 

But  Francis  Xavier,  as  he  looked  upon  the  fading  coasts  of 
Europe  for  the  last  time,  and  turned  his  face  towards  the 
sunrising,  saw  no  clouds  there,  but  only  eager  hands  held 
out  to  receive  the  things  he  was  taking,  and  dark  eyes  full 
of  grateful  tears. 

The  ship  in  which  the  new  governor  sailed,  with  Xavier 
and  his  two  companions  on  board,  was  called  the  Santiago. 
The  immense  clumsy  vessel,  which  housed  in  her  dark  and 
unhealthy  crevices  about  a  thousand  souls,  had  hardly  loosed 
her  moorings  before  Francis  had  become  the  minister  of  all. 
There  were,  indeed,  in  that  motley  crowd,  many  to  care 
for,  and  few  to  care.  Most  of  them  were  poor,  not  a  few 
desperate.  There  was  no  more  reckless  gamble  open  to  men 
in  those  days  than  a  voyage  to  the  Orient.  They  might 
return  with  a  fabulous  fortune,  they  might  just  as  likely 
perish  before  ever  they  reached  the  new  lands.  Many  of 
the  travellers  went  simply  because  they  were  unemployed 
and  hungry,  and  this  voyage,  thanks  to  the  self-interested 
generosity  of  the  Portuguese  Government,  would  provide 
them  with  maintenance  till  they  were  beyond  the  help  of 
Portugal,  and  not  likely  ever  to  have  either  health  or  courage 
to  return.  Contrasting  with  these  were  the  sharpest-witted 
merchants  of  the  day,  or  their  representatives,  and,  lastly, 
there  were  the  real  simple  lovers  of  adventure  for  her  own 
wild  sake,  and  with  these  our  Saint  had  probably  more  in 
common  than  with  any  of  the  others.  For  all  saints  love  the 
spirit  of  adventure.  Are  they  not  themselves  the  greatest 
adventurers  of  all  ? 

Since  Vasco  da  Gama  had  embarked  in  1497,  the  conditions 
of  travelling  had  not  much  improved,  although  the  expedition 


FROM  LISBON  TO  GOA  149 

had  now  become  an  annual  one,  and  consisted  always,  at 
the  start  at  least,  of  a  goodly  number  of  ships.  This  little 
fleet  of  five  was  probably  the  smallest  that  had  ever  set 
out.  The  dangers  and  discomforts  of  the  expedition  were 
legion.  Except  for  the  richer  travellers,  there  were  no 
cabins,  no  sleeping  accommodation,  no  shelters  of  any  kind 
at  all ;  and  the  few  cabins  which  did  exist  had  about  as  much 
space  and  ventilation  as  coffins.  The  food  was  scarce, 
and  soon  much  of  it  became  bad.  The  water  was  scarcer 
still,  and  was  presently  so  putrid  that  one  historian  tells 
that  it  could  only  be  drunk  in  the  dark,  because  of  the 
numbers  of  distracting  creatures  in  it.  Another  writer 
describes  how  the  passengers  put  a  handkerchief  across  the 
mouth  before  drinking,  in  order  to  catch  the  filth.  Disease 
was,  of  course,  rampant,  and  there  was  little  provision  made 
for  its  prevention  or  cure,  or  even  amelioration.  There  was 
one  official  box  of  medicine,  which  in  a  few  days  was  empty. 
Added  to  these  perils  and  sufferings  within  were  the  terrors 
of  the  uncharted  seas.  Little  was  known  of  the  times  or 
regions  of  storms  or  calms,  and  the  ships  were  unfitted  to 
combat  even  with  what  was  known. 

The  old  chronicler  Valignano  draws  a  pitiful  picture  of  the 
gay  and  ignorant  travellers  setting  out  on  this  journey, 
bound  to  be  so  terrible  even  at  the  best,  as  if  they  were  going 
for  a  day's  pleasure  trip  on  the  Tagus  ;  their  only  raiment 
the  shirts  on  their  backs,  their  luggage  just  what  they  carried 
in  their  hands — a  couple  of  rolls  of  bread,  a  cheese,  and 
perhaps  a  little  marmalade. 

Of  the  ships  that  left  Portugal  between  1497  and  1579, 
90  per  cent,  returned  in  safety.  A  far  larger  number  were 
lost  in  the  next  forty  years,  when  the  ships  were  bigger  and 
less  navigable,  and  never  lasted  more  than  two  or  three 
voyages  at  best.  The  Portuguese  had  no  natural  gifts  of 
seamanship,  and  Couto,  the  Portuguese  historian,  who  went 
out  to  India  in  1556,  writes  : 

Both  the  Dutch  and  the  English,  the  very  first  time  they  went 
there  [i.e.,  Surat  River]  found  anchorages  between  shoals  and 
banks  where  they  stay  as  securely  as  if  they  were  at  home  from 
our  fleet,  which  cannot  injure  them.  Our  fleets  which  go  in  and 
out  every  day  know  of  them  (the  shoals)  what  the  English  have 
taught  us.* 

*  Couto,  Decadas,  vol.  ix.  pp.  24  and  25,  quoted  by  Whiteway,  p.  42. 


150  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

On  the  English  ships  the  taking  of  the  altitudes  was  a 
much  encouraged  and  popular  diversion  ;  on  the  Portuguese 
ships  it  was  done  by  the  pilot  only,  and  he  did  it  in  secret. 

But  it  was  the  conditions  on  board  the  ship,  more  than 
actual  shipwreck,  which  took  the  heaviest  toll  of  life.  Less 
than  60  per  cent.,  on  the  average,  of  those  who  left  Portugal 
reached  their  goal.  In  1576  the  ship  carrying  the  Viceroy 
and  1,100  men  arrived  in  India  with  only  200  men  alive. 

Xavier,  though  officially  a  first-class  passenger  in  the  suite 
of  the  new  Governor,  did  not  keep  to  his  quarters.  Remem- 
bering, and  interpreting  in  his  own  matchless  way,  Loyola's 
counsel  to  be  all  things  to  all  men,  remembering  it  so  well, 
doubtless,  because  the  words  echoed  the  deepest  counsel 
of  his  own  heart,  he  was  immediately  ship's  doctor,  steward, 
nurse,  evangelist,  playmate,  tutor,  cook,  in  swift  and 
bewildering  succession.  Of  course,  it  took  a  man  of  genius 
to  do  this  as  he  did  it,  but  the  sincerity  and  unselfishness, 
nay,  more,  the  rapture  of  personal  devotion  to  Jesus  with  which 
this  t our  de  force  was  carried  through,  earned  for  him  on  the 
spot  the  title  of  Saint — a  title  so  often  only  acquired  through 
the  gracious  or  even  flattering  hand  of  tradition.  A  ship's 
boy  who  was  on  board  used  afterwards  in  India  to  tell  how 
this  amazing  man  used  to  occupy  himself  in  doing  all  the 
humblest  services  possible  to  the  other  passengers,  how  he 
washed  their  linen  for  them,  and  how  he  gave  up  his  cabin 
to  one  who  was  sick,  and  slept  himself  on  the  coil  of  a  rope. 
He  appears  soon  to  have  become  the  most  popular  man 
on  board,  and  to  have  had  an  immense  influence  on  those 
around  him.  First  and  last  he  was  evangelist.  "I  let 
things  go  in  at  their  door,  but  I  take  care  they  come  out  at 
mine,"  he  is  reported  to  have  said,  and  as  he  spoke  he  may 
have  been  recollecting  the  words  of  Loyola,  "  A  good  hunter 
of  souls  ought  to  pass  by  many  things  in  silence,  as  if  he 
did  not  see  them  ;  later,  when  the  will  is  mastered,  he  will 
be  able  to  direct  the  disciple  as  he  please  towards  virtue." 
"  Very  plain  is  it,"  said  Francis  Thompson,  writing  of 
Xavier,  in  his  Life  of  Loyola,  "  where  he  learned  his  divinely 
unprincipled  sleights,  his  heavenly  cunning."  He  played 
cards  with  the  young  rakes  on  board,  and  soon  became  their 
boon  companions,  and,  for  the  time  at  least,  brought  them 
on  their  knees  before  the  beauty  of  holiness  ;  their  ribald 
songs  died  down,  and  many  years  later  we  hear  of  the 


FROM  LISBON  TO  GOA  151 

hymns  still  being  sung  on  the  Portuguese  ships  which  Francis 
Xavier  had  them  all  singing  before  they  passed  Madeira. 
A  curiously  modern  trait  which  we  discover  at  this  time 
is  his  absolute  refusal  to  drink  wine.  "  A  priest,"  he  said, 
"  should  drink  nothing  but  water  ;  this  beverage  does  not 
excite  evil  passions,  nor  defile  speech,  nor  reveal  that  which 
should  remain  hid." 

His  place  during  the  journey  was  at  the  table  of  the 
Governor,  but  he  chose  rather  to  eat  with  the  crowd.  His 
portion  was  sent  to  him  from  the  high  table  ;  he  gave  away 
all  but  the  most  meagre  remnant  to  those  who  were  sick. 
He  himself  became  ill,  but,  as  old  Tursellinus  puts  it,  with 
premonitory  hints  of  a  very  modern  point  of  view,  "  The 
divine  virtue  which  was  in  him  overcame  the  weakness  of 
his  nature,  and  his  noble  and  constant  courage  held  in  the 
troublesome  vomiting  of  his  stomach,  and  so,  when  he  was 
not  able  to  help  himself,  he  failed  not  to  help  those  who 
were  sick."  The  same  writer  goes  on  to  give  us  a  vivid 
description  of  Xavier' s  life  on  board  ship,  which  is  carefully 
founded  on  contemporary  letters  and  histories. 

This  tedious  and  laborious  navigation,  as  commonly  it  happeneth, 
had  so  extremely  worn  out  the  marines  and  other  passengers, 
that  now  many  fell  sick  in  the  ships,  and  their  victuals  greatly 
increased  the  same.  For  they  fed  continually  on  salt  meats 
and  oftentimes  on  musty  biscuits,  besides,  they  had,  for  the  most 
part,  no  other  drink  but  stinking  and  corrupted  water,  which, 
by  reason  of  the  nature  of  the  liquor,  and  small  quantity  thereof, 
did  rather  increase  than  allay  the  extreme  thirst  which  the  salt 
meat  caused  in  them,  so  that  the  bad  humours  of  such  unwhole- 
some diet  being  dispersed  through  their  veins  engendered  in  them 
diseases  no  less  gruesome  than  deadly.  For  their  gums  swelled 
after  a  loathsome  manner,  breaking  out  into  horrible  ulcers, 
and  did  not  only  put  the  sick  men  to  great  torment,  but  also 
(which  was  most  miserable)  made  them  that  they  could  not  eat. 
And  this  contagion,  by  little  and  little  increasing  through  their 
grief  of  mind  and  want  of  necessary  commodities,  began  to  spread 
itself  over  the  whole  multitude,  who  were  much  thronged"  up  in 
strait  places  for  want  of  room  .  .  .  so  the  sick,  being  destitute  both 
of  physic  and  attendance,  died  not  more  through  the  contagious 
diseases  than  for  hunger,  which  was  a  worse  plague.  Besides 
the  filth  of  the  ship  did  most  extremely  annoy  those  poor  wretches, 
and  was  far  more  troublesome  and  loathsome  unto  them  than 
unto  the  others  who  were  in  health. 


152  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

Xavier,  therefore,  when  he  saw  the  ship  wherein  he  sailed  full 
of  sick  persons,  calling  to  mind  what  he  had  accustomed  himself 
unto  at  the  beginning  of  his  conversion,  gave  an  evident  proof 
of  his  benignity  and  virtue.  That  which  hastened  him  on  would 
have  made  another  afraid.  He  saw  the  hatches  of  the  ship  stowed 
not  only  with  sick  bodies  but  also  with  half-dead  :  he  knew  the 
disease  to  be  very  infectious,  he  saw  death's  grisly  look  before 
his  eyes.  Yet  for  all  this,  turning  fear  into  charity,  and  knowing 
it  was  a  kind  of  martyrdom  to  hazard  his  life  by  such  contagion 
for  the  saving  of  souls,  he  resolved  to  help  the  said  sick  as  best  he 
could,  and  so  he  presently  began  to  hear  the  confessions  of  those 
who  lay  a-dying,  he  cleansed  the  sick  men's  bodies,  he  washed  their 
linen,  he  dressed  their  meat,  minced  it  small  and  fed  them  with 
his  own  hand.  He  ministered  physic  to  the  weak,  he  most 
lovingly  cheered  up  those  who  were  sad,  and  put  them  that  were 
out  of  heart  in  hope  of  recovery  both  of  body  and  soul.* 

Through  ignorance  and  inexperience  on  the  part  of  the 
navigators,  the  ships  were  becalmed  in  tropical  waters,  and 
the  accounts  of  that  part  of  the  voyage  are  just  as  frightful 
as  the  tale  of  the  Ancient  Mariner,  if  a  trifle  less  artistic. 
It  was  many  years  since  there  had  been  such  a  terrible 
passage.  But  every  horrible  circumstance  only  served 
Xavier  as  a  new  occasion  of  devotion.  Camerino  supported 
him  loyally ;  perhaps  his  other  companion  hardly  rose 
to  the  occasion,  probably  he  was  too  ill  to  do  so  ;  one  does 
not  know.  But  it  is  noticeable  that  Francis  in  his  own 
letter  does  not  dwell  on  the  terrors  of  this  voyage,  and  gives 
but  a  brief  account  of  his  own  doings. 

At  last,  after  being  becalmed  for  forty  days,  the  wind  rose, 
and  soon  in  storm  and  tempest  they  swept  round  the  Cape. 
Had  it  struck  old  Tursellinus  he  would,  no  doubt,  have 
drawn  a  touching  picture  of  the  Saint  wrapping  that  one 
coarse  woollen  rug  of  his,  which  he  had  accepted  with  such 
reluctance,  around  some  poor  shivering  invalid,  while  he 
himself  ached  with  cold.  And  no  doubt  the  biographer's 
imagination  would  still  have  fallen  short  of  the  truth. 

From  Mozambique,  which  they  reached  on  September  3rd, 
Francis  writes  a  letter  to  Loyola. 

"  Mozambique. 

"  From  Lisbon  I  wrote  you  on  my  departure  of  all  that 
happened  there.  We  left  on  the  7th  April,  of  the  year 

*  Life,  English  edition,  p.  71  ff. 


FROM  LISBON  TO  GO  A  153 

1541.  I  was  sea-sick  for  two  months,  and  suffered  much 
annoyance  forty  days  on  the  coast  of  Guinea  through  great 
calms.  The  weather  was  against  us,  but  God  our  Lord  was 
pleased  to  show  us  great  grace  and  bring  us  to  an  island, 
where  we  are  to  the  present  day. 

"...  Immediately  on  our  arrival  here  we  took  charge  of 
the  poor  sick  who  came  in  the  armada.  My  time  has  been 
spent  in  confessing  them,  communicating  them,  and  helping 
them  to  die  well.  I  made  use  of  those  plenary  indulgences 
which  His  Holiness  granted  me  for  those  parts.  Almost  all 
died  contentedly  when  they  saw  how  fully  I  could  absolve 
them  at  the  hour  of  death.  Micer  Paulo  [Camerino]  and 
Micer  Mansillas  occupied  themselves  with  the  temporal.  All 
of  us  did  everything  for  the  poor,  according  to  our  small  and 
feeble  capacity,  engaging  ourselves  with  temporal  things  as 
well  as  with  spiritual.  As  for  the  fruit,  God  knows  about 
that,  for  He  does  it  all. 

"  It  is  no  small  comfort  to  us  that  at  last  the  Governor 
and  all  the  nobles  who  have  come  out  in  this  armada  are 
quite  convinced  that  all  we  do  is  for  God's  sake,  and  that 
we  do  not  seek  any  human  favour.  For  there  were  such 
difficulties  that  in  myself  I  would  not  have  dared  to  face 
them  a  single  day  for  all  the  world.  .  .  ." 

These  are  very  vague  complainings,  but  from  our  knowledge 
of  what  was  happening  at  the  time  we  can  be  fairly  sure 
of  their  origins.  There  was  in  command  of  one  of  the  ships 
of  this  outgoing  fleet  a  son  of  Vasco  da  Gama,  Alvaro 
d' Ataide.  It  was  his  brother  who  was  about  to  be  superseded 
by  the  new  Governor,  Sousa,  on  whose  ship  Xavier  was  sailing. 
Suddenly  at  Mozambique  Sousa  suspected,  with  what  founda- 
tion it  is  difficult  to  say,  that  Alvaro  was  sending  on  word 
to  his  brother  in  advance  that  his  rival  was  about  to  appear. 
He  at  once  deprived  Alvaro  of  his  ship,  and  kept  him  a 
prisoner  till  long  after  they  arrived  in  India.  This  was  the 
same  Alvaro  d' At  aide  who  afterwards  treated  Xavier  so 
cruelly  and  unfairly  on  the  eve  of  his  last  voyage,  in  1552.  It 
is  easy  to  imagine  that  his  conduct  then  may  have  been  partly 
at  least  inspired  by  his  associating  Xavier  in  his  mind  with 
the  Governor  Sousa,  who  had  dealt  him  such  a  hard  knock 
at  Mozambique.  For  we  can  see  by  Xavier' s  letters  that 
he  was  on  close  and  friendly  terms  with  Sousa.  Xavier's 


154  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

overflowing  admiration  for  this  man  shows  us  how  he  was 
too  easily  imposed  upon  by  outward  professions  of  piety. 
For  Sousa  was  in  reality  a  rascal  and  a  scoundrel,  and  became 
the  most  notorious  of  all  the  Portuguese  Governors  in 
India.  We  will  hear  of  him  again  later. 
The  letter  continues  : 

"  We  ask  you  all  by  the  love  of  our  Lord  that  in  your 
prayers  and  sacrifices  you  will  specially  remember  to  pray 
God  for  us,  since  you  recognise  and  know  of  what  poor  metal 
we  are. 

"  One  of  the  things  which  gives  us  much  comfort  and  a 
very  strong  hope  that  God  our  Lord  will  favour  us  is  the  full 
knowledge  we  have  of  ourselves.  We  see  how  we  lack  all  the 
things  needful  for  the  duty  of  declaring  the  faith  of  Jesus 
Christ :  and  since  what  we  do  is  only  to  serve  God  our  Lord, 
our  hope  and  confidence  keeps  growing  that  God  our  Lord 
will  give  us,  when  the  time  comes,  everything  that  is  necessary 
for  His  service  and  glory,  in  great  abundance.  .  .  . 

"  During  the  voyage  I  preached  every  Sunday,  and  here 
in  Mozambique  as  often  as  I  could.  ...  I  would  like  much 
to  go  on  writing,  but  at  present  sickness  will  not  allow  it. 
To-day  they  bled  me  for  the  seventh  time,  and  I  am  middling. 
Praise  God. 

"  Give  my  remembrances  to  all  our  acquaintances  and 
friends. 

"  Mozambique,  1st  Jan.,  1542. 

"  FRANCISCO."  * 

The  King's  ships  were  that  year  forced  to  winter  in  Mozam- 
bique, so  late  had  they  been  in  arriving  there.  The  place 
was  known  in  these  days  as  the  Portuguese  cemetery — a  title 
which  tells  its  own  tale. 

Just  after  they  had  arrived,  a  young  man,  one  of  Xavier*s 
fellow  passengers,  suddenly  died.  Had  he  known  Jesus 
Christ  ?  asked  Francis.  No,  he  was  told.  And  those 
present  were  astonished  at  the  sight  of  him  completely 
overcome  with  sorrow.  "  But  you  did  not  know  him," 
they  said.  "  That  is  what  distresses  me,"  he  replied.  "  If 
I  had  known  him  I  would  have  taught  him.  To  think," 
he  added,  "  that  I  should  have  been  in  the  same  ship  with 
him  all  those  months  and  not  have  told  him  of  Christ !  " 
*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  247. 


FROM  LISBON  TO  GOA  155 

In  Mozambique,  as  on  board  ship,  his  devotion  to  the 
sick  was  incessant,  and  while  he  nursed  and  comforted,  he 
taught  and  prayed.  He  himself  was  soon  attacked  by 
fever,  but  one  who  saw  him  *  tells  how  when  they  tried  to 
persuade  him  to  give  in  he  asked  for  one  more  night's  freedom 
so  that  he  might  pass  it  with  a  brother  who  was  very  ill  and 
in  need  of  spiritual  help.  Next  morning  they  found  the 
dying  sailor  on  the  Saint's  bed,  rid  of  his  delirium,  and  at 
peace  with  man  and  God. 

Francis  himself  was  soon  at  the  point  of  death.  A  doctor 
who  attended  him  afterwards  related  j*  that  he  was  three 
days  delirious,  but  that  there  was  interspersed  with  his 
ravings,  throughout  the  whole  time,  a  vein  of  clear  and 
coherent  talk  about  things  divine.  Be  that  as  it  may,  his 
mundane  sanity  was  soon  restored  to  him,  and  he  was 
hard  at  work  once  more. 

Toward  the  end  of  February  he  sailed  for  India  with 
Sousa,  leaving  his  two  companions  at  Mozambique  to 
follow  on  with  the  next  ships  from  Lisbon.  A  letter,  written 
a  little  later  from  Goa,  gives,  in  his  own  breathless,  vivid, 
yet  so  often  inchoate  and  incoherent  style,  pretty  full  accounts 
of  this  journey,  but,  as  usual,  does  not  dwell  on  his  own  good 
works.  Of  this  part  of  the  voyage  others  have  put  on  record 
that  Francis  in  whatever  he  did  was  gentle  and  full  of  good- 
ness towards  others,  but  hard  and  stern  with  himself,  that  he 
gave  up  his  bed  to  the  sick,  and  found  for  himself  a  nest  within 
the  hollow  of  an  anchor  cable — for  pillow,  the  anchor  itself 4 
It  was  a  hard  resting-place.  Yet  we  may  well  believe  that 
the  mystic  imagination  of  the  Saint  soon  wove  its  own 
dreams  and  delights  about  this  lovely  Christian  symbol,  and 
that  in  these  dark  starlit  hours  on  the  open  sea  he  found  the 
angels  of  Hope  and  Faith  ministering  to  him  in  unforgettable 
ways. 

The  journey  from  Mozambique  to  Goa  took  rather  over 
two  months.  The  first  pause  was  at  Melinda,  then  under 
Portuguese  suzerainty.  Xavier  tells  in  his  letter  of  a  con- 
versation he  had  with  a  thoughtful  Mohammedan  there, 
who  wished  to  know  if  Christianity  was  declining  in 
Europe  to  the  same  extent  as  the  faith  of  Islam  was  in 

*  "  Enquiry  at  Goa,"  1556,  in  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  ii.  p.  212. 

t  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.  p.  188. 

t  Teixeira,  Vita,  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  ii.  p.  840. 


156  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

Melinda,  where  out  of  seventeen  mosques  only  three  were 
now  in  use,  and  even  these  were  almost  empty.  Xavier, 
instead  of  giving  him  an  account  of  the  state  of  the  Church 
in  Europe,  which  at  that  particular  moment  would  have  been 
rather  an  undertaking,  pointed  out  to  him  that  the  state  of 
affairs  in  Melinda  was  only  the  natural  result  which  must 
follow  on  the  acceptance  of  the  false  teachings  of  Mahomet. 
He  seems  to  have  regarded  this  man  as  typical  of  the  more 
thoughtful  among  the  inhabitants.  He  also  tells  of  another 
who  confessed  that  he  had  given  the  Mahdi  two  more  years 
in  which  he  might  come  to  the  rescue,  failing  which  he  was 
going  to  renounce  the  Faith.  "  It  is  the  fate  of  infidels  and 
of  great  sinners,"  Xavier  concludes,  "  to  be  ill  at  ease." 

From  Melinda  they  proceeded  to  the  island  of  Socotra. 
The  Saint,  as  in  duty  bound,  sends  home  descriptions  of  the 
island  and  the  people,  but  we  feel  that  as  a  letter-writer  he 
has  hardly  yet  found  himself. 

"  From  this  city  of  Melinda,  coming  on  our  way  for  India, 
we  got  to  a  great  island  of  twenty-five  leagues,  called 
Socotora  (sic),  a  land  shelterless  and  poor  ;  and  in  it  is 
grown  neither  wheat,  rice,  nor  millet ;  no  wine  nor  fruit ;  it 
is  very  sterile  and  dry  ;  there  are  a  lot  of  dates  ;  the  bread 
there  is  made  of  dates  ;  there  are  plenty  of  cattle,  and  the 
people  live  on  milk,  dates,  and  meat.  It  is  a  windless  place. 
The  people  of  this  island  are  Christians  in  their  own  opinion  ; 
so  they  regard  themselves  ;  they  boast  a  lot  of  being  Chris- 
tians ;  in  their  names  they  show  it ;  they  are  a  very  ignorant 
folk  ;  they  can  neither  read  nor  write ;  they  have  no  books 
nor  writings  .  .  .  they  have  churches  and  crosses  and 
lamps.  Each  place  has  its  caciz,  he  is  like  a  cleric  among  us  ; 
these  caclzes  can  neither  read  nor  write,  and  have  neither 
books  nor  writings.  They  know  numbers  of  prayers  by 
heart.  They  go  to  church  at  midnight  and  in  the  morning, 
at  the  hour  of  vespers,  and  in  the  afternoons  at  the  hour  of 
compline — four  times  a  day.  They  have  no  bells,  they  call 
the  people  with  wooden  clappers  as  we  do  in  Holy  Week. 
Even  the  cacizes  do  not  understand  the  prayers,  for  they  are 
not  in  their  own  language ;  I  believe  they  are  in  Chaldean. 
I  wrote  down  three  or  four  of  the  prayers  that  they  use.  I 
was  twice  in  this  island.  They  are  devoted  to  St.  Thomas ; 
they  say  they  are  come  from  the  Christians  which  he  made 


FROM  LISBON  TO  GOA  157 

in  those  parts.  In  their  prayers  these  cacizes  sometimes 
say  Aleluya,  aleluya ;  they  pronounce  it  almost  as  we  do. 
They  do  not  baptize,  nor  do  they  know  what  baptism  is. 

"...  I  was  at  vespers  said  by  a  caciz  ;  he  took  an  hour 
to  say  them,  and  never  did  anything  but  cense  and  pray. 
Those  cacizes  are  married,  great  fasters  ;  when  they  fast  they 
do  not  eat  fish  nor  milk  nor  flesh — they  would  rather  die. 
Although  there  is  plenty  of  fish  on  the  island,  they  keep 
themselves  on  dates  and  herbs.  They  fast  two  lents,  and 
one  is  for  two  months.  Those  who  are  not  cacizes  do  not 
enter  the  church  if  they  are  eating  meat  in  these  lents,  nor 
do  the  women  go  there. 

"  There  was  a  woman  in  that  place,  a  Moor,  who  had  two 
small  sons  :  I  wished  to  baptize  them,  not  knowing  they  were 
of  Moorish  descent.  They  went  fleeing  from  me  to  their 
mother,  and  told  her  how  I  wished  to  baptize  them,  and  she 
came  weeping  to  me,  not  to  baptize  them,  for  she  was  a  Moor 
and  did  not  wish  to  be  a  Christian,  still  less  did  she  wish  her 
children  to  be  so.  The  native  Christians  told  me  certainly 
not  to  baptize  them,  even  if  their  mother  did  wish.  This 
was  because  they  did  not  hold  Moors  worthy  of  becoming 
Christians,  nor  would  they  consent  that  they  should  become 
so.  As  a  people  they  are  very  inimical  to  the  Moors."  * 

These  Christians  of  Socotra  were  Assyrian  Christians,  or 
Nestorians,  as  their  opponents  called  them.  Nestorius  was 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople  in  A.D.  428.  The  great  theo- 
logical discussion  of  that  hour  was  as  to  whether  Mary  should 
be  called  Mother  of  God  or  Mother  of  Man.  Nestorius  then 
said  she  should  be  called  Mother  of  Christ,  and  a  tremendous 
controversy  followed,  culminating  in  the  Council  of  Ephesus 
in  A.D.  431.  The  site  of  the  Council  was  possibly  an  unfor- 
tunate one  for  Nestorius.  It  may  be  that  the  people  there, 
deprived  of  the  worship  of  Diana,  the  virgin  of  Light  and  Life, 
were  not  content  to  call  her  successor  in  their  hearts  by 
any  lesser  name  than  that  of  "  Theotokos,"  the  Mother  of 
God.  That  is  mere  speculation.  The  immediate  cause  of 
his  condemnation  was  the  sharp  practice  of  his  enemy,  Cyril 
of  Alexandria,  who  rushed  through  the  business  of  the 
Council  before  the  friends  of  Nestorius  appeared.  When 
they  did  appear  they  held  a  rival  Council  and  condemned 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  254  ff. 


158  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

Cyril.  The  Emperor  impartially  deposed  both.  But  Cyril, 
through  his  astute  diplomacy,  got  his  own  sentence  removed. 
Nestorius,  condemned  and  deposed,  died  in  exile.  And  by 
the  end  of  the  fifth  century  the  persecution  against  him  and 
his  disciples  had  begun  to  bear  fruit.  Dishonoured  in  their 
own  country,  his  followers  went  farther  east,  and  Persia,  to 
which  Christ's  teaching  had  already  penetrated,  received 
them.  Settling  there,  they  spread  out  eastward  and  west- 
ward with  all  the  missionary  zeal  of  believers  whose  faith  has 
been  bought  and  held  at  a  high  price.  By  the  thirteenth 
century,  before  the  great  persecutions  of  Tamerlane,  they  had 
twenty-five  bishops  scattered  throughout  Eastern  Europe 
and  Asia.  Most  of  them  were  then  ignorant  of  their  origin, 
and  believed  that  they  were  descended  from  the  converts  of 
St.  Thomas  the  Apostle,  who  was  supposed  to  have  pene- 
trated far  into  Asia.  To  this  day  they  are  often  referred  to 
as  the  Thomists,  or  Christians  of  St.  Thomas. 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  that  Xavier  says  in  the  above 
letter:  "  They  do  not  baptize,  nor  do  they  know  what  baptism 
is."  It  is  possible  that  he  may  have  been  mistaken,  but  his 
other  information  about  them  is  so  accurate  that  it  is  more 
likely  that  they  had  by  that  time  given  up  the  rite  of  baptism 
in  Socotra.  That  the  sect  originally  used  to  baptize  is  certain, 
for  in  1908  Professor  Pelliot  discovered  a  very  beautiful 
Nestorian  baptismal  hymn  at  Sha-Chou  in  China.* 

The  word  caciz,  which  Xavier  uses,  is  a  form  of  the  Syrian 
word  for  priest,  and  he  is  quite  right  when  he  says  he  thinks 
the  prayers  are  in  Chaldean.  The  form  of  worship  in  Socotra 
must  have  been  very  similar,  according  to  this  description 
of  Xavier 's,  to  that  of  the  other  branches  of  the  Nestorian 
Church,  both  then  and  now.  "  They  call  the  people  with 
wooden  clappers,"  says  Francis.  On  the  Nestorian  monu- 
ment in  China,  erected  in  781  A.D.,  the  following  words 
occur  :  "  (His  ministers)  carry  the  Cross  with  them  as  a 
sign.  They  travel  about  wherever  the  sun  shines,  and  try 
to  reunite  those  that  are  beyond  the  pale — i.e.,  those  that 
are  lost.  Striking  the  wood,  they  proclaim  the  Glad  Tidings 
of  Love  and  Charity." 

The  little  picture  which  Xavier  gives  us  in  the  above 
letter  of  the  Moorish  woman  and  her  Nestorian  enemies  is  a 

*  A  translation  of  this  hymn  is  to  be  found  in  The  Nestorian  Monument 
in  China,  by  Professor  P.  Y.  Saeki,  London.  1916,  p.  66. 


FROM  LISBON  TO  GOA  159 

tragic  comment  on  those  last  words.  These  Christians  had 
been  cruelly  persecuted,  almost  exterminated,  by  the  Moors, 
and  the  bitter  hatred  between  persecutors  and  persecuted 
had  long  ago  drowned  the  message  of  glad  tidings,  so  that 
now  the  Striking  of  the  Wood  was  become  nothing  more 
than  a  meaningless  noise.  The  remembrance  of  what  he 
had  seen  in  that  island  made  more  than  a  mere  sentimental 
impression  on  the  traveller's  mind.  He  never  rested  till  he 
had  sent  them  further  light.  In  1549  he  writes  to  Loyola  that 
they  had  four  missionaries  there. 

The  ships  left  Socotra  at  the  end  of  January,  and  reached 
Goa  on  May  6th,  1542.  Francis  was  thirty-six  years  old, 
battered  and  worn  with  continual  hardship  and  frequent 
fever,  but  with  ardour  undiminished  and  eagerness  un- 
bounded. Between  him  and  the  horizon  of  his  days  there 
lay  now  but  ten  brief  years,  but  their  brevity  was  to  be 
enriched  by  a  stronger  hand  than  that  of  time,  and  this  last 
decade  of  his  life  was  to  burn  with  an  imperishable  flame. 


CHAPTER  XI 

IN    PORTUGUESE    INDIA 
(1542) 

ALL  that  Xavier  ever  saw  in  perspective  in  this  vivid  and 
complicated  maze  of  life  was  the  vineyard  of  souls. 

Oft  when  the  word  is  on  me  to  deliver, 
Lifts  the  illusion  and  the  truth  lies  bare  : 

Desert  or  throng,  the  city  or  the  river, 
Melts  in  a  lucid  Paradise  of  air, — 

Only  like  souls  I  see  the  folk  thereunder, 

Bound  who  should  conquer,  slaves  who  should  be  kings, 

Hearing  their  one  hope  with  an  empty  wonder, 
Sadly  contented  in  a  show  of  things.* 

These  lines  are  as  true  of  Francis  Xavier  as  they  are  of 
St.  Paul.  Take,  for  example,  Xavier's  first  descriptions  of 
Goa.  They  are  summary,  and  quite  uninforming.  He  was 
much  too  busy,  the  moment  he  set  foot  on  the  land  of  his 
evangelic  dreams,  baptizing  and  confessing  and  teaching, 
to  play  the  descriptive  traveller  and  historian.  We  have 
perhaps  a  little  more  leisure  than  he  had — God  forgive  us — 
and  can  pause  for  a  moment  to  look  upon  the  strange  pageant, 
the  grotesque  and  tragic  background  of  the  Saint's  earliest 
labours  in  India.  Although  by  no  means  so  imposing  a  city 
as  it  became  a  hundred  years  later,  Goa  was  already,  in  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  beginning  to  make  a  fine 
show.  So  long  as  four  months  after  his  arrival  Francis  had 
not  penetrated  the  sheep's  clothing  to  the  ravenous  wolf 
within. 

4 '  It  is  a  city  wholly  of  Christians,"  he  writes,  "  a  sight  for 
sore  eyes.  There  is  a  monastery  with  a  large  number  of 
Franciscan  monks,  and  a  cathedral,  very  fine,  and  with 
plenty  of  canons  ;  and  numerous  other  churches.  One  has 
reason  to  give  many  thanks  to  God  our  Lord  that  the  name 

*  F.  W.  H.  Myers,  Saint  Paul. 


IN  PORTUGUESE  INDIA  161 

of  Christ  flourishes  so  in  such  distant  lands,  among  so  many 
heathen."  * 

Descriptive  historians  of  the  period  call  Goa  the  Venice  of 
the  East,  but  the  town  can  only  have  had  the  shallowest 
pretensions  to  that  title.  Exterior  brilliance  and  even 
splendour  were  there  surely  enough,  and,  as  in  Venice,  the 
colours  and  contours  of  East  and  West  were  combined  and 
interspersed.  New  churches  had  been  built,  and  the  pagan 
temples  had  been  seized  by  the  Portuguese  and  their  altars 
redecorated  with  the  symbols  of  the  Christian  faith.  There 
were  a  Governor's  palace,  gardens,  villas  ;  wide  streets,  where 
the  richest  merchandise  of  India  lay  exposed  for  sale  ;  market- 
places, where  Portuguese  adventurers,  drunk  with  their 
sudden  wealth,  bought  for  themselves  silks  and  jewels  and 
beautiful  slave  girls.  The  churches  were  well  attended — for 
churchgoing  was,  then  as  now,  a  common  form  of  social 
parade.  The  favourites  of  the  rich  colonists  were  carried 
there  in  litters,  surrounded  by  slaves  and  admirers  ;  in  one 
dim  corner  the  priests  performed  their  unobtrusive  tasks, 
while  in  the  centre  of  the  church  the  riff-raff  of  Portugal 
in  their  silken  hose  and  feathered  hats  ("  le  Cap  de  Bonne 
Esperance  les  avail  tons  enoiblis"  says  one  writer)  laughed  and 
talked  with  their  latest  flames.  When  the  bell  rang,  and  the 
Host  was  elevated,  there  was  a  moment  of  pious  silence, 
hands  were  raised,  "  Good  Lord,  have  mercy  on  us ! "  they 
cried,  and  crossed  themselves,  as  they  resumed  the  broken 
thread  of  their  chatter. 

At  the  moment  of  Xavier's  arrival  the  titanic  famine  to 
which  we  have  already  referred  was  sweeping  over  the 
Eastern  world.  The  poorer  quarters  of  Goa  were  a  morass 
of  destitution.  But  the  hideousness  of  the  contrasted  social 
circumstances  in  so  small  a  space  \vas  unnoticed  except  by 
a  few.  Still,  men  and  women  alike  had  an  inkling  of  the 
desperate  brevity  of  those  hours  of  sensuous  splendour.  The 
new  colonists  demanded  a  fair  exchange  of  goods.  Had 
they  not  brought  the  Cross  to  India  ?  And  if  they  gave 
India  a  new  religion,  had  they  not  a  right  to  take  from  India 
a  new  morality  ?  Climate  and  custom  encouraged  them  ; 
there  were  no  Western  wives  near  enough  to  be  jealous,  and 
had  not  the  great  Albuquerque  encouraged  them  to  mate 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  252. 


162  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

with  the  native  women,  and  thus  loyally  provide  garrisons 
for  the  fortresses  and  navies  of  their  king  ?  Francis  found 
when  he  came  that  the  Portuguese  harem  was  a  common 
institution,  and  he  found  a  large  and  pitiful  population  of 
half-castes,  many  of  them  slaves,  and  all  of  them  ignorant 
and  uncared  for.  These  half-castes  fraternised  with  the 
lowest  native  class,  the  pariahs,  who  had  nothing  to  lose  by 
coming  into  contact  with  strangers.  There  were  not  many 
Brahmins  in  Goa  at  this  time,  and  the  artisan  class  was 
chiefly  composed  of  Hindoos.  The  Arabs  still  retained  a  large 
part  of  the  trade.  This  racial  and  religious  confusion,  whose 
only  tended  growth  was  the  desire  for  gain,  bore  in  itself  from 
the  first  the  seeds  of  decay. 

The  whole  scene  recalls  one  of  those  stagnant  pools  we 
sometimes  see  in  summer-time,  seething  with  grotesque  and 
hideous  forms,  that  reek  and  accumulate,  and  finally  dis- 
appear as  the  water  sinks  to  mud,  and  the  mud  cakes  into 
clay. 

There  were  those  in  the  city  who  foresaw  the  inevitable 
doom  and  called  out.  In  1552  the  judges  of  Goa  sent  this 
real  cri  de  cceur  to  the  King  of  Portugal : 

There  is  no  more  any  justice  in  India,  neither  from  the 
viceroy  [i.e.,  Don  Alphonse  of  Noronha]  nor  from  those  who  are 
supposed  to  dispense  it.  They  think  of  nothing  but  getting 
rich,  and  that  by  any  means.  Sire,  we  remind  you  of  the  death 
of  the  king  of  Coulam,  and  of  the  king  of  Pyllor  [?],  and  of  cruelties 
such  that  the  credit  of  the  Portuguese  is  lost.  There  is  not  a 
single  Moor  who  has  any  faith  in  us.  The  king  of  Ceylon  has 
been  killed,  and  his  treasure  seized.  The  Moors  speak  of  nothing 
else.  Sire,  we  ask  you  for  pity,  pity,  pity  !  Help,  sire,  help ! 
we  are  perishing.  .  .  .  Destroy  this  letter.  * 

Still  more  striking  than  the  above  letter  are  the  words 
with  which  Correa,  who  had  come  to  India  in  1512,  and  had 
been  Albuquerque's  secretary,  concludes,  in  1556,  his  Lendas : 

The  present  evils  are  caused  by  cruelty  and  cupidity ;  the 
prosperity  of  the  early  days  has  turned  to  public  calamity.  .  .  . 
I  hoped  that  my  work  would  have  a  happy  conclusion.  It  seemed 
to  me  that  some  of  the  ills  which  I  saw  growing  up  would  disap- 

*  India  Office,  London,  MSS.,  Portuguese  Records,  vol.  ii.,  quoted  by  Brou, 
Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  i.  p.  150.  I  have  not  been  able  to  trace  this 
passage  in  the  numerous  Port.  Records  at  the  India  Office,  but  that  is  no  doubt 
only  due  to  the  fact  that  the  reference  given  by  Brou  is  insufficient. 


IN  PORTUGUESE  INDIA  163 

pear  in  the  face  of  punishment.  But  .  .  .  here  murderers  go 
back  to  the  kingdom  without  the  least  fear  that  justice,  either 
human  or  divine,  will  punish  their  crimes  or  their  robbery  of 
Christians,  Moors,  natives,  and  foreigners.  How  many  offences 
against  God  and  incredible  crimes  have  I  seen  !  The  guilty  ones 
would  appear  before  the  king,  but  there  was  no  punishment.  .  .  . 
The  evil  is  that  the  governors  live  with  nothing  to  fear  ;  also 
captains  of  fortresses,  judges,  administrators  .  .  .  are  reckless 
and  go  to  great  excesses.  ...  I  have  seen  those  who.  are  deep 
in  guilt  and  clearly  condemned  arriving  in  Portugal  and  being 
honoured  there  because  they  came  back  with  great  wealth.  .  .  . 
As  for  the  robbers,  they  give  the  judges  part  of  the  stolen  money 
and  keep  the  rest  and  triumph  and  have  the  favours  of  the  court 
just  like  honest  men. 

Rewards  are  due  to  those  who  conquered  India  at  the  beginning. 
.  .  .  They  have  never  received  anything.  They  have  grown  old 
and  gone  to  die  in  the  hospital. 

Francis  Xavier  was  by  no  means  the  first  genuine  evange- 
list to  set  foot  on  this  continent.  Legend  has  it  that  it  was 
the  doubting  Apostle  who  led  the  way  thither.  History  does 
not  countenance  that  tale.  It  is  only  known  that  Nestorian 
missions  flourished  as  early  as  the  seventh  century,  and  that 
in  the  thirteenth  century,  before  the  overland  routes  were 
closed  by  the  Turks,  Franciscan  and  Dominican  friars  had 
penetrated  India. 

In  1500  eight  Franciscans  went  out  with  d' Alvarez  Cabal, 
and  in  1503  a  few  Dominicans  arrived.  Some  of  these  did 
noble  work,  but  the  religious  situation  was  an  impossible  one. 
Only  a  saint — that  is  to  say,  only  a  genius — could  make  any 
impression  on  Portuguese  India  in  the  sixteenth  century.  It 
is  usual  to  marvel  at  the  meagreness  of  the  results  of  Xavier 's 
works.  For  those  who  know  anything  of  the  circumstances 
the  amazing  thing  is,  not  how  little  he  did,  but  how  much. 
There  is  a  phrase  in  one  of  his  later  letters  that  gives  the 
key  to  his  work :  "  I  must  go  to  open  a  way.'*  When  we 
discover  that  he  opened  many  doors,  and  each  at  the  peril 
of  his  life  and  at  the  price  of  untold  privation  and  suffering, 
we  begin  to  realise  that  those  who  say  that  he  was  restless 
and  lacking  in  perseverance  and  patience  have  not  under- 
stood him.  There  were  more  men  willing  to  follow  him,  and 
to  continue  the  work  he  inaugurated,  than  there  were  men 
capable  of  opening  up  new  fields  and  seeking  out  the  waiting 
tribes. 

L2 


164  ST.   FRANCIS   XAVIER 

He  only  stayed  in  Goa  for  a  few  months,  although  the  con- 
dition of  that  town,  had  he  been  called  to  work  there,  would 
have  given  his  genius  ample  scope  till  the  end  of  his  days. 

One  man  writes  in  1547  : 

The  population  here  is  corrupt,  and  one  would  say  that  people 
have  lost  the  use  of  reason.  Those  who  are  Christians  are  so 
solely  because  of  their  temporal  aims,  and  very  often  bad  aims 
at  that.  It  cannot  be  otherwise  in  any  place  where  slavery  is 
the  custom.  Slaves  of  Mussulmen  or  idolaters  become  Christians 
in  order  to  get  emancipated,  or  to  get  protection  against  their 
tyrants  ;  others  turn  Christian  for  the  sake  of  a  new  hat,  or  a 
shirt,  or  some  trifle,  or  to  save  themselves  from  hanging  or  to 
marry  a  Christian  wife.* 

But  though  Francis  was  soon  to  leave  Goa,  he  poured  out 
all  his  strength  while  he  was  there,  in  the  tasks  he  loved. 
His  first  step  was  to  report  himself  to  the  episcopal  palace 
and  present  his  official  papers — the  papers  announcing  his 
privileges  and  powers  as  Papal  Nuncio,  to  the  Bishop.  "  I 
will  use  none  of  these  powers  without  your  authority,*'  he 
said,  with  a  seductive  humility  which  gained  for  him  the 
affection  of  his  bishop  from  that  time  forth. f  Immediately 
afterwards  he  went  to  the  Portuguese  hospital  which  stood  over 
the  harbour,  and  which  was  chiefly  used  to  shelter  the  stream 
of  sick  and  dying  travellers  who  disembarked  from  the 
European  ships.  There  he  found  a  lodging,  and  began  to 
nurse  the  patients  and  minister  to  their  needs.  Teixeira  tells 
us  that  when  he  was  there  he  used  to  sleep  on  the  floor  at  the 
foot  of  the  beds  of  those  who  were  dangerously  ill,  so  that  he 
might  reach  them  quickly  if  they  called.  J 

The  awful  contrasts  of  wealth  and  poverty  provoked  him 
to  go  from  villa  to  villa,  begging  for  the  lepers  and  the  desti- 
tute and  the  prisoners,  and  Goncalvez  says  he  gained  much 
help  by  this  means,  and  that  before  the  end  of  1542  the 
city  showed  some  change  for  the  better,  thanks  to  his  zeal. 
We  imagine  that  this  begging  from  door  to  door  for  those 

*  Selectee  Indiarum  Epistolce,  quoted  by  Brou.  Vie  de,  S,  Francois  Xavier 
vol.  i.  p.  133. 

•f  See  TurselHnus,  Book  II.,  cap.  2. 

J  "  Such  was  his  charity  that,  it  is  told  of  him  that  commonly  he  had  his 
bed  at  the  foot  of  the  bed  of  the  sick  man  who  was  most  needy  and  danger- 
ously ill,  so  as  to  be  able  to  help  him  at  night  .  .  .  and  this  we  were  told  by 
D.  Lewis  de  Tayde,  Ex-Viceroy  of  India,  who  was  then  Mayordomo  of  the 
hospital  "  (Teixeira,  Vita,  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  ii.  p.  842). 


IN  PORTUGUESE  INDIA  165 

in  need  was  not  quite  the  old  simple  mediaeval  proceeding, 
but  had  already  in  it  something  of  more  modern  methods, 
that  Xavier  made  a  reasonable  and  intellectual  appeal 
to  the  richest  citizens  for  large  sums  of  money,  and  laid 
it  out  with  care  and  precision  on  various  charities.  There 
is  much  in  that  isolated  poorly-clad  figure,  with  its  meek 
celestial  gestures,  of  the  spirit  with  which  the  primitive 
Italian  painters  have  made  us  familiar,  but  there  are  also 
tones  in  his  voice  and  hints  in  his  manner,  foreshadowing 
Arnold  Toynbee  or  Mrs.  Sidney  Webb. 

During  his  first  few  weeks  in  India  Francis  still  wore  the 
old  gown  which  he  had  had  when  he  left  Europe.  Then  he 
decided  to  dress  like  the  native  priests,  and  he  begged  the 
major-domo  of  the  hospital  to  supply  him  with  one  of  those 
cheap  sleeveless  garments  which  were  worn  there  by  the 
lowest  class  of  native  priest.  The  steward  gave  him  instead 
a  handsome  coat  of  silk,  but  Francis  refused  to  wear  it, 
and  insisted  in  getting  what  he  wanted.*  His  shoes  soon 
wore  through,  and  the  kindly  major-domo,  "  seeing  them  to 
be  worn  out  and  broken,  and  the  upper  leather  and  soles 
clownishly  sewn  together,  brought  him  a  new  payre.  But 
he,  being  everywhere  like  himself,  would  by  no  means  be 
entreated  to  change  his  old  shoes  for  new."  f  The  black 
cotton  tunic,  too,  wore  quickly  through,  for  it  was  not  often 
still,  but  Francis  paid  no  heed.  At  last  some  of  his  Portu- 
guese friends  stole  it  away  by  night,  and  replaced  it  by  a  new 
one.  In  the  morning  Francis  put  on  the  new  one,  and  wore 
it  all  clay  without  noticing  the  change.  Then  at  night  his 
friends  asked  him  to  supper.  Dryden,  in  his  translation  of 
Bouhours'  Life,  quaintly  tells  what  happened  : 

"  'Tis  perhaps  to  do  honour  to  our  table,"  said  one  among  them, 
"  that  you  are  so  Spruce  to-day  in  your  new  habit !  " 

Then  casting  his  eyes  upon  his  clothes,  he  was  much  surprised 
to  find  himself  in  so  strange  an  Equipage.  At  length  being  made 
sensible  of  the  Prank  which  they  had  plaid  him,  he  told  them 
smiling  that  it  was  no  great  wonder  that  this  rich  cassock,  looking 
for  a  Master  in  the  dark,  could  not  see  its  way  to  somebody  who 
deserved  it  better. I 

It  is  now  that  for  the  first  time  we  hear  of  his  favourite 

*  Teixeira,  Vita,  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  ii.  p.  843. 

f  Tursellinus,  Book  II.,  cap.  2. 

j  Bouhours,  Life,  translated  by  J.  Dryden,  p.  741. 


166  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

plan  of  carrying  with  him  a  little  bell,  to  gather  his  sheep 
together : 

He  went  up  and  down  the  streets,  a  little  bell  in  his  hand, 
crying,  "  Faithful  Christians,  send  your  boys  and  girls  and  slaves 
to  the  Santa  doctrina,  for  the  love  of  God  !  "  At  this  summons, 
a  crowd  of  people  of  all  sorts  would  gather  round,  and  he  would 
put  them  in  rows,  and  lead  them  to  the  Church  of  the  Rosary. 
There  all  that  he  did  delighted  his  hearers  and  the  onlookers. 
As  he  raised  his  eyes  to  heaven,  he  seemed  to  raise  their  souls. 
Making  the  sign  of  the  Cross,  he  spoke  to  them  in  a  loud  voice, 
with  such  devotion  that  the  people,  and,  above  all,  the  children, 
fell  into  complete  sympathy  with  him.  To  these  he  taught 
hymns  which  contained  the  holy  doctrine,  and  thus  he  fixed  the 
teaching  on  their  minds.  Then,  with  outstretched  arms,  he 
intoned  a  kind  of  Litany,  of  which  each  verse  held  very  briefly 
one  point  of  the  teaching  of  the  Church,  and  that  was  followed 
by  a  chanted  response,  explaining  an  act  of  faith.  Master 
Francis  finished  the  service  by  an  explanation  of  an  article  of 
the  Creed,  or  one  of  the  Commandments.  In  this  explanation 
Master  Francis  suited  his  words  to  the  intelligence  of  the  least 
of  his  listeners,  using  a  kind  of  Portuguese  patois,  the  only  language 
which  these  folk  understood.* 

On  September  20th,  1542,  the  Saint  wrote  to  Ignatius 
and  the  Fathers  at  Rome  some  account  of  the  work  in  Goa : 

"  Here  in  Goa  I  have  lodged  in  the  hospital.  I  confessed 
and  communicated  the  sick  who  were  there.  So  many  came 
to  be  confessed  that  if  I  had  been  in  ten  places  I  should  have 
had  to  confess  in  them  all.  After  I  finished  the  sick  I  con- 
fessed in  the  morning  the  sound  folk  who  came  to  seek  me, 
and  after  noon  I  went  to  the  jail  to  confess  the  prisoners. 
...  I  took  a  hermitage  of  Our  Lady  which  was  near  the 
hospital,  and  there  I  began  to  teach  the  prayers,  Creed  and 
Commandments  to  the  boys.  Well  over  three  hundred 
often  came  to  the  Christian  teaching.  The  Lord  Bishop 
ordered  that  the  same  should  be  done  in  the  other  churches, 
and  so  it  goes  on  now,  and  in  this  way  the  service  which  is  done 
to  God  is  greater  than  many  think.  ...  On  Sundays  and 
feast  days  after  dinner  I  preached  in  that  hermitage  of  Our 
Lady  on  an  article  of  the  faith  to  the  native  Christians.  So 
many  came  that  they  could  not  get  into  the  hermitage.  After 
*  Cros,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  i.  p.  216,  quotes  Gonyalvez. 


IN  PORTUGUESE  INDIA  167 

lid 

preaching  I  taught  the  Paternoster,  Ave  Maria,  Creed  and 
Commandments.  On  Sundays  I  went  out  of  the  city  to  say 
mass  to  the  sick  of  St.  Lazarus  evil  (leprosy).  .  .  . 

"  Now  the  Governor  is  sending  me  to  a  district  where 
everyone  says  many  Christians  ought  to  be  made.  I  am 
taking  three  natives  with  me,  two  are  in  deacons'  orders. 
They  know  Portuguese  very  well.  ...  I  believe  that  much 
work  has  got  to  be  done  there  for  God.  .  .  .  The  district 
where  I  am  going  is  called  the  Cape  of  Comorin.  Please  God 
our  Lord  that  with  the  favour  and  help  of  your  devout 
prayers  (God  our  Lord  not  looking  at  my  infinite  sin),  He  will 
give  me  His  most  holy  grace  so  that  there  I  may  serve  Him 
well." 

There  follows  a  page,  happy  and  obscure,  almost  impossible 
to  translate.  Grammar  is  flung  to  the  winds.  He  writes  in 
haste,  yet  his  hand  lags  far  behind  his  thought.  He  is 
confident  that  his  friends  will  understand.  He  turns  back  to 
the  time  he  left  Europe  and  reviews  the  inner  pilgrimage  of 
which  the  outward  journey  ings  are  only  a  shadow.  Faith, 
indeed,  sees  the  Guiding  Hand,  yet  Loneliness  cannot 
altogether  keep  silence. 

"  If  the  labours  of  so  long  a  voyage,  the  care  of  so  many 
spiritual  illnesses,  this  life  in  a  land  so  subject  to  sins  of 
idolatry,  and  because  of  the  great  heat  so  hard  to  live  in — 
if  all  this  is  undertaken  for  Whom  it  ought  to  be  undertaken, 
it  brings  great  refreshment,  and  many  and  great  comforts. 
I  believe  that  for  those  who  delight  in  the  Cross  of  Christ  our 
Lord  such  labours  are  rest,  and  the  ending  of  them,  or  the 
fleeing  from  them,  death.  What  death  is  so  great  as  after 
having  known  Christ  to  leave  Him,  and  go  on  living  in  the 
pursuit  of  one's  own  opinions  and  likings  !  There  is  no  toil 
like  that !  But  what  a  rest  to  live  dying  every  day  by  going 
against  our  own  will,  seeking  not  our  own  but  the  things  which 
are  Christ's.  By  the  love  and  service  of  God  our  Lord,  I  pray 
you,  dearest  brothers,  write  at  great  length  about  all  of  the 
Company,  for  now  I  do  not  hope  in  this  life  to  see  you  any 
more  face  to  face,  but,  at  least,  darkly,  that  is,  by  letter.  Do 
not  deny  me  this  grace,  tho'  I  am  unworthy  of  it.  Remem- 
ber that  God  our  Lord  made  you  worthy,  so  that  I,  through 
your  great  merit  and  refreshment,  may  hope  and  attain. 


168  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

"  Write  me  fully  of  the  methods  I  ought  to  use  with  these 
heathen  and  Moors  where  I  am  now  going,  for  by  your  means 
I  hope  that  the  Lord  will  teach  me  to  understand  how  I 
have  to  do  to  convert  them  to  His  holy  faith.  .  .  .  Thus  by 
the  merits  of  the  Holy  Mother  Church,  in  whom  I  have  my 
hope,  whose  living  members  ye  are,  I  trust  in  Christ  our 
Lord  that  He  will  hear  me  and  grant  me  this  grace  to  use  this 
my  useless  instrument  to  plant  His  faith  among  the  heathen. 
If  His  Majesty  makes  use  of  me,  great  confusion  will  come 
upon  those  that  are  mighty,  and  increase  of  strength  upon 
those  who  are  weak.  And  seeing  that  I,  being  dust  and  ashes, 
and  even  more  worthless,  am  fit  to  be  an  eye-witness  of  the 
need  here  of  workers,  I  would  be  perpetual  slave  to  all  who 
may  wish  to  come  out  here  to  labour  in  the  Lord's  great 
vineyard. 

"  So  I  finish,  and  pray  God  our  Lord  that  by  His  mercy 
He  may  unite  us  in  His  holy  glory,  since  for  it  we  were 
created.  And  may  He  in  this  life  increase  our  strength,  that 
in  all  and  for  all  we  may  serve  Him  as  He  commands,  and 
may  fulfil  His  holy  will. 

"  Your  useless  brother  in  Christ, 

"  FRANCISCO  DE  XAVIER."* 

On  the  same  day  Xavier  wrote  to  Loyola  some  details  about 
the  proposed  college  at  Goa.  It  was  to  be  twice  the  size  of 
the  chapel  of  the  Sorbonne,  and  they  had  already  enough 
money  to  keep  100  scholars.  The  funds  had  been  mainly 
supplied  by  the  revenues  of  the  Hindoo  temples  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood. (These  buildings  had,  by  a  royal  edict,  been 
forcibly  taken  over  by  the  Portuguese  Government  and 
converted  into  Christian  churches.)  In  six  years'  time, 
Xavier  hopes,  there  will  be  300  scholars  of  all  tongues  and 
nations.  The  Governor,  the  mercurial  Da  Sousa,  is  throwing 
himself  into  the  business  and  proving  of  great  help,  and  the 
Saint  asks  that  he  may  have  the  prayers  of  the  Company  in 
Europe.  The  line  along  which  he  suggested  these  prayers 
should  run  betrays  perhaps  a  deeper  insight  into  Sousa's 
character  than  we  are  apt  to  give  him  credit  for.  "  Pray,"  he 
says,  "  that  God  may  give  him  grace  to  govern  this  great 
India  well,  and  that  he  may  so  use  temporal  advantages  as 
not  to  lose  eternal"^ 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  256.  f  Ibid->  vo1-  *•  P-  262. 


IN  PORTUGUESE  INDIA  169 

Already  a  beginning  has  been  made  with  the  teaching, 
and  Diogo  de  Borba  has  a  class  of  60  native  scholars.  Xavier 
begs  for  men  of  good  education  and  a  good  preacher  to  be 
sent  out  to  train  the  young  priests,  and  he  also  begs  for  a 
various  assortment  of  indulgences  for  the  Governor  and  his 
wife  and  others.  It  is  singularly  disconcerting  to  hear  Francis 
beg  for  indulgences.  What  would  he  himself  have  done  with 
such  things  ?  He  must  have  felt  somewhat  like  an  over- 
indulgent  godparent  ordering  toys  and  sweets  for  the  children 
who  "  would  some  day  grow  out  of  those  childish  desires." 

There  are  some  pictures  of  the  Saint  at  this  time,  during 
what  might  be  called,  for  lack  of  a  better  name,  his  leisure 
hours,  that  we  must  not  altogether  pass  by.  "  Where  is 
this  wonderful  Xavier  ?  "  a  Spanish  newcomer  demanded. 
He  was  pointed  out,  seated  on  the  sea-front  at  a  gaming  table, 
playing  cards  with  a  notorious  libertine.  "  That  a  saint  ? 
Why,  that's  just  a  priest  like  the  rest !  "  But  a  little  later 
Xavier  left  his  companions,  and  he  was  followed  by  the 
grandee's  servant,  to  see  where  he  would  go  next.  This 
servant  tracked  him  to  a  quiet  palm  grove,  and  there  he  was 
on  his  knees,  his  uplifted  face  lit  with  a  burning  ecstasy  of 
adoration,  lost  in  joyful  communion  with  God.  And  from 
other  tales  of  the  same  kind  we  know  that  the  notorious 
libertine  would  leave  the  gaming-table  with  some  words 
singing  in  his  ears  that  were  not  very  easy  to  forget. 

He  made  many  friends  among  the  colonists  and  was  a 
popular  guest  in  their  houses.  But  there  always  came  a  day 
when  the  head  of  the  house,  thanks  to  Francis,  grew  dis- 
contented with  the  social  irregularity  of  his  manage,  and 
finally,  we  are  told,  the  Saint  himself  would  administer  the 
sacrament  of  marriage  to  his  chastened  host  and  the  most 
worthy  female  member  of  his  household.  So  consistently  did 
Francis  pursue  this  course  in  the  many  houses  which  he 
visited  that  the  moral  tone  of  the  city  is  said  to  have  altered 
visibly  during  those  summer  and  autumn  months  of  1542  : 
this  was,  of  course,  not  solely  due  to  his  own  efforts  ;  his 
energy  and  enthusiasm  shamed  the  listless  local  clergy  into 
some  sort  of  imitation  of  his  ardour,  and  a  genuine  revival 
of  morals  appears  to  have  taken  place.  Five  years  later 
Juan  de  Beira  writes  : 

Francis  Xavier's  methods  are  followed  here.     It  is  a  matter 


170  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

of  thankfulness  to  God  to  see  the  children  twice  a  day  gather 
together  to  hear  and  repeat  the  Christian  doctrine.  And  every 
Saturday  the  women,  and  every  Sunday  the  men,  spend  half  an 
hour  in  the  church  in  pious  exercises.* 

But  Xavier's  duties  as  Apostolic  Nuncio  in  the  largest 
diocese  in  the  world  called  him  farther  afield.  He  did  not 
even  wait  for  the  two  companions  of  the  earlier  part  of  his 
voyage,  Camerino  and  Mansillas,  to  arrive  from  Mozambique. 
In  the  end  of  September  1542  he  set  out  for  Cape  Comorin. 

*  Sel.  Indie.  Episl.,  p.  29,  quoted  by  Brou,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier, 
vol.  i.  p.  171. 


CHAPTER  XII 

CAPE    COMORIN 

(September,  1542— December,  1544) 

FOR  each  journey  Xavier  seems  to  have  allowed  himself  one 
luxury  :  the  last  had  been  a  travelling  rug  ;  this  time,  in 
addition  to  some  sheets  of  paper,  a  few  books,  and  a  bit  of 
leather  to  mend  his  shoes  with,  he  is  reported  to  have  carried 
a  parasol.  He  sailed  down  the  whole  length  of  Malabar,  and, 
landing  somewhere  near  Cape  Comorin,  proceeded  on  foot  up 
the  Piscarian  coast.  His  only  companions  were  three  native 
Christians  from  Goa.  The  Fishery  coast  to  the  north  of 
Comorin  is  a  burning  and  inhospitable  desert.  But  it  was  no 
random  whim  which  had  drawn  Francis  Xavier  thither.  He 
had  heard  in  Goa  how  eight  years  ago  they  had  been  "  con- 
verted," and  then  forsaken,  and  pity  had  brought  him  to 
their  succour. 

The  story  of  the  earlier  mission  is  a  curious  one.  This  mild 
and  harmless  race  of  pearl-fishers  had  been  suffering  much  at 
the  hands  of  extortionate  Arab  traders,  and  had  at  last  been 
goaded  into  serious  warfare  with  them.  The  immediate  cause 
of  the  war  was  the  cutting  of  a  Parava's  ear  by  a  Moor,  a 
deadly  affront.  While  this  struggle  was  at  its  height,  a 
Malabar  prince  or  nobleman,  Juan  de  la  Cruz,  who  had  come 
into  touch  with  the  Portuguese,  and  had  become  a  "  Chris- 
tian," volunteered  to  show  the  Paravas  a  way  out  of  all 
their  troubles.  "  You  must  change  into  Christians,"  he 
said,  "  and  then  the  Portuguese  will  come  to  your  help, 
and  you  will  see  no  more  of  these  Mussulmans."  So  a 
deputation  was  sent  up  to  Cochin,  and  all  turned  out  as 
Juan  de  la  Cruz  had  prophesied.  The  deputation  was 
baptized,  and  a  Portuguese  fleet  and  some  Franciscan  monks 
went  off  immediately  to  the  rescue.  At  the  first  boom  of 
the  cannon  the  Arabs  fled,  and  the  Franciscans  came  on 
shore  and  celebrated  the  occasion  by  baptizing  twenty 
thousand  natives  on  the  spot. 

In  this  way  [concludes  Teixeira]  from  a  cut  ear  our  Lord  drew 
the  salvation  of  many  souls  ;  for  it  is  His  custom  and  of  His 
infinite  goodness  from  our  small  ills  to  draw  for  Himself  great 


172  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

goods,  and  this  was  the  origin  and  cause  of  the  Christianity  and 
conversion  of  the  Fishery  coast  and  Cape  Comorin.* 

But  the  climate  and  the  food  were  not  to  the  liking  of  the 
Franciscans,  and  very  soon  they  left  the  neophytes — if  they 
even  might  merit  that  title — to  their  fate  and  to  the  coming 
of  Francis  Xavier  a  few  years  later.  The  Government  officials 
were  more  attentive.  They  sent  ships  at  regular  intervals  to 
ward  off  any  Arabs  who  might  be  threatening  to  return,  and 
for  this  protection  they  took  handsome  payment  in  pearls. 
The  episcopal  conscience  at  Goa,  however,  was  not  quite  at 
rest  about  this  distant  corner  of  the  diocese,  and  there  were 
several  young  Paravas,  at  the  time  Xavier  went  to  the 
Fishery  coast,  in  training  in  Goa  and  in  Lisbon,  who  were  to 
be  sent  back  later  on  to  tell  their  fellow  countrymen  why  they 
had  been  baptized.  Meanwhile  the  hamlets  and  villages 
along  the  coast  wrere  startled  by  the  visitations  of  a  white  man, 
dressed  like  their  own  native  priests,  and  carrying  in  one  hand 
a  little  bundle,  and  in  the  other  a  parasol ;  young,  fearless, 
gay,  singing,  as  he  walked  with  his  three  companions,  strange 
songs  in  a  strange  tongue.  Soon  he  was  gathering  round  him 
all  the  babies  and  little  children  he  could  find,  and  sprinkling 
their  faces  with  water  and  chanting  over  them  some  mys- 
terious incantation,  as  he  made  the  sign  of  a  cross  on  their 
foreheads.  This  was  what  the  white  men  had  done  eight 
years  ago,  and  since  then  the  Arabs  had  never  come  near,  so 
the  people  brought  their  children  to  Xavier  gladly. 

No  missionaries  have  spent  so  much  time  and  pains  over 
the  mystic — nay,  to  them  often  magical — rite  of  baptism,  as 
the  early  Jesuits.  In  this  they  showed  their  real  belief  in 
the  teaching  of  their  Church,  for  according  to  that  teaching  a 
priest  who  baptized  an  infant  saved  it,  in  the  event  of  its 
death  before  it  reached  maturity,  from  Limbo.  More  than 
that,  he  actually,  by  the  rite,  switched  it  on  to  powerful 
currents  of  grace.  Francis  Xavier  baptized  to  an  immense 
and  unprecedented  extent,  but  he  was  far  more  careful  to 
follow  up  this  work,  and  to  keep  his  converts  in  touch  with 
the  origins  of  their  faith,  than  has  often  been  supposed. 

As  far  as  infant  baptism  was  concerned,  his  untiring  and 
indiscriminating  zeal  was  of  course  perfectly  orthodox,  but 
the  expedition  with  which  he  baptized  older  persons  was — and 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  ii.  p.  848. 


CAPE  COMORIN  173 

this  is  admitted  by  the  Jesuits  themselves  * — not  in  keeping 
with  the  teaching  of  the  primitive  Church.  In  their  dis- 
regard for  this  procedure  Francis  Xavier  and  the  earlier 
Jesuit  missionaries  to  India  stand  almost  alone.  Their 
methods  are  more  akin  to  those  first  adopted  in  the  reign  of 
Constantine,  when  heathen  converts  began  to  pour  swiftly 
into  the  fold.  It  was  then  that  the  training  which  had  in 
earlier  days  preceded  baptism  began  to  be  given  after  the 
rite.  This  training  was  known  as  discipline,  and  was 
regarded  in  itself  almost  as  a  sacrament.t 

But  there  was  a  certain  degree  of  reasonableness,  as 
well  as  much  of  danger,  in  their  method.  An  adult  savage 
of  a  low  type  would  probably  learn  as  much  doctrine  in  a 
fortnight  as  he  would  in  two  years.  Was  it  right,  these 
missionaries  said,  to  hold  back  from  him  for  so  long  a  time 
as  two  years,  or  even  two  months,  after  he  had  been  moved 
and  attracted  by  the  new  teaching,  the  sacramental  grace 
which  baptism  bestowed  ?  No  human  teaching,  they  be- 
lieved, could  advance  him  so  much  as  could  the  mysterious 
ray  from  heaven  which  lighted  upon  everyone  who  partook 
of  this  sacrament. 

There  were  other  reasons  for  hastening  on  the  ceremony. 
By  baptism  the  native  of  India  became  a  subject  of  Por- 
tugal. A  sudden  break  was  made  in  his  life,  which  it  was 
very  difficult  to  go  back  upon.  His  name  was  changed,  his 
manner  of  dress,  sometimes,  perforce,  his  occupation.  Out- 
wardly, at  least,  he  had  become  a  new  creature.  Hence 
the  inward  change  may  have  been  made  more  easy,  the 
old  temptations  crippled  of  some  of  their  power,  and,  above 
all,  the  old  fears  exposed  and  defeated.  For  the  brief  phrase 
"  perfect  love  casteth  out  fear  "  is  a  beautiful  summary  of  the 
effect  of  Christian  teaching  upon  the  heathen  mind.  In  India, 
and  especially  among  the  lower  castes,  the  people  have  always 
been  under  the  spell  of  spiritual  terror.  The  Eastern  mind  is 
more  sensitive  to  the  Prince  of  the  power  of  the  air  and  his 
legions  than  the  Western,  and  often,  while  we  are  ignoring 
those  powers,  the  Oriental  is  constructing  a  fantastic  and 
gruesome  system  of  defences  against  them.  Xavier  found 
those  primitive  Paravas  living  in  a  state  of  perpetual  terror, 
haunted  and  harassed  by  demons,  night  and  day.  He  gave 

*  See  Brou,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  i.  p.  135. 
t  See  A.  G.  V.  Allen,  Christian  Institutions,  p.  409. 


174  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

them  a  perfunctory  enough  version  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  a  version  with  many  defects.  Most  fatal  of  all 
errors,  he  did  not  put  into  their  keeping  the  Gospel  writings 
themselves.  But  one  thing  he  undoubtedly  did,  he  brought 
an  immense  peace  and  joy  to  the  generation  who  knew 
him  personally,  he  came  to  them  like  a  friendly  voice  and  a 
friendly  hand  to  children  lost  in  a  dark  night. 

Francis  Xavier,  of  course,  knew  nothing  of  Comparative 
Religion,  nor  had  he  studied  the  psychology  of  the  Oriental. 
And  for  some  time,  at  least,  he  did  not  know  a  word  of  Tamil. 
But  his  transcendent  faith  and  imaginative  sympathy 
opened  up  channels  of  communication  between  him  and  his 
fellow  creatures  that  are  closed  to  lesser  men.  Not  that 
he  had  earned  his  saintship  lightly,  or  kept  the  fire  of  his 
genius  burning  without  effort.  The  moral  and  spiritual 
discipline  which  he  had  unceasingly  imposed  upon  himself 
since  first  he  had  come  under  the  influence  of  Loyola  in  Paris 
was  ihe  rightful  and  exacting  homage  which  genius  must 
ever  pay  for  its  true  heritage  of  saintship. 

His  letters  refer  to  his  linguistic  troubles.  Xavier  appears 
to  have  had  a  great  talent  for  languages,  and  to  have  been  a 
patient  and  hard-working  student.  Many  of  the  old  bio- 
graphers assert  that  he  had  a  miraculous  power  which  allowed 
him  to  speak  in  the  language  of  whoever  he  happened  to  be 
addressing.  There  is  absolutely  no  historical  justification 
for  this  assertion.  But  before  he  arrived  in  India  he  was 
already  proficient  in  at  least  six  or  seven  languages,  and  it  is 
well  known  that  every  new  tongue  acquired  makes  the  next 
one  easier  to  learn.  From  Xavier's  letters  one  gradually 
gathers  that,  like  the  Portuguese  colonists,  he  used  inter- 
preters freely,  but  that,  unlike  the  colonists,  he  picked  up 
a  great  deal  of  the  native  languages  as  he  went  along.  It  is 
not  at  all  a  miraculous  thing  for  a  talented  linguist  to  be 
able  to  converse  fairly  fluently  in  a  new  tongue  after  living 
in  the  country  for  a  few  weeks,  and  it  is  easy  to  believe  that 
Francis,  aided  by  his  Latin  versatility  and  subtlety  of 
gesture,  and  by  his  intense  sympathy  and  splendid  imagina- 
tion and  well-trained  mind,  was  able  to  pursue  a  course  which 
accounts  for  pages  both  of  Roman  Catholic  credulity  and  of 
Protestant  criticism. 

On  the  28th  of  October  the  Saint  wrote  to  Loyola  from 
Tuticorin  : 


CAPE  COMORIN  175 

"  On  our  way  here  we  came  through  some  villages  where 
the  people  had  become  Christians  eight  years  ago.  There  are 
no  Portuguese  living  there  now,  as  the  country  is  extremely 
sterile  and  very  poor.  As  they  have  no  one  to  teach  them 
our  faith,  the  Christians  of  these  villages  know  no  more  of  it 
than  to  say  that  they  are  Christians.  They  have  no  one  to 
say  Mass,  still  less  to  teach  them  the  Creed,  Pater  nosier ', 
Ave  Maria,  or  the  Commandments.  When  I  arrived  in  these 
places  I  baptized  all  the  children  who  were  not  baptized,  so 
that  I  baptized  a  great  multitude  of  infants  who  could  not 
distinguish  between  their  right  hand  and  their  left.  When  I 
came  to  these  places  the  children  would  not  let  me  read  my 
office  nor  eat  nor  sleep,  but  made  me  teach  them  some 
prayers.  I  began  to  understand  then  that  of  such  is  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  As  I  could  not  refuse  such  a  holy  petition, 
I  taught  them,  beginning  with  the  confession  of  the  Father, 
Son  and  Holy  Spirit,  with  the  Creed,  Pater  nosier,  Ave  Maria. 
I  recognised  great  gifts  in  them,  and  if  there  were  anyone  to 
teach  them  the  holy  faith,  I  am  very  sure  that  they  would  be 
good  Christians."* 

The  sentences  about  the  children  are  delightful :  they  would 
neither  let  him  eat  nor  read  his  office  nor  sleep,  and  so — was 
there  ever  a  more  charming  climax  penned  ? — he  began  to 
understand  that  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ! 

Between  this  letter  of  October  1542  and  the  ne*xt  existing 
letter  there  is  an  interval  of  fourteen  months,  and  probably 
Xavier  never  accomplished  so  much  as  in  that  time,  though 
it  is  impossible  to  follow  all  the  journeys  he  made  from  village 
to  village.  But  when  we  think  of  the  circumstances  under 
which  he  worked,  and  when  we  remember  how  largely, 
humanly  speaking,  he  was  his  own  master,  and  how  easily  he 
might  at  any  moment  have  made  a  good  excuse  for  returning 
to  easier  fields  of  labour,  we  know  this  at  least,  that  these  were 
months  of  unlimited  heroism.  He  travelled  continually 
backwards  and  forwards  over  a  large  district,  across  burning 
sands,  on  foot,  in  tropic  sunshine  or  in  tropic  rain.  He  had 
no  provisions  against  the  countless  pestiferous  creatures 
that  haunted  earth  and  air  in  those  regions.  The  drinking 
water  was  drawn  from  the  same  wells  in  which  the  natives 
washed  themselves  and  all  their  possessions.  The  food  was 
*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  273. 


176  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

scarce  and  monotonous — a  little  rice,  a  little  fish,  or,  for  a 
change,  a  bowl  of  soup  made  with  rice  and  peppercorns,  and 
on  Sundays  a  croquette  made  of  rice.  As  we  know,  he  was 
an  abstainer  on  principle,  and  in  those  parts  he  quenched  his 
thirst  with  sour  milk.  He  took  but  one  meal  in  the  day.  During 
this  meal,  we  read,  he  was  always  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of 
the  little  children  whom  he  loved  so  well.  Of  the  details  of 
his  missionary  work  his  own  letters  give  the  best  account. 
But  of  his  personal  habits  or  circumstances  these  letters  say 
little.  From  other  letters,  and  from  native  testimony,  it 
would  appear  that  he  usually  slept  no  longer  than  two  or 
three  hours  each  night,  and  that  all  the  time  that  was  not 
spent  in  travelling,  or  in  preaching  and  teaching  and  bap- 
tising and  in  works  of  mercy,  was  spent  in  prayer.  We  may 
say  that  it  is  impossible  that  he  slept  so  little  as  these  his- 
torians say.  But  perhaps  there  is  a  state — whether  in  the 
body  or  out  of  the  body  God  knoweth — when  the  servant  of 
God  is  caught  up  into  Paradise  and  given  to  feast  of  the 
heavenly  manna  to  the  rest  and  refreshment  of  the  body  as 
well  as  to  the  nourishment  of  the  soul.  Perhaps  in  these 
hours  of  still  rapture  the  unsleeping  body  may  yet  mysteriously 
reap  the  fruits  of  sleep.  God  knoweth. 

We  cannot  tell  how  long  he  prayed  by  night,  but  by  day 
he  worked  both  hard  and  long.  At  one  of  the  Enquiries  before 
his  canonisation  a  witness  who  had  known  him  said  that  at 
Cape  Comorin  Francis  worked  hard  :  he  drank  no  wine,  nor 
ate  bread  ;  but  when  he  went  to  the  homes  of  Portuguese  he 
ate  and  drank  what  they  gave  him.  His  common  food  was 
this  :  badly  cooked  rice  and  fish  badly  seasoned,  and  some- 
times some  milk  with  rice,  and  a  rice  dumpling.  And 
however  tired  the  Father  came  home  he  always  had  a  lesson 
with  the  boys. 

Another  witness  on  the  same  occasion  says  :  "  All  his  life 
he  was  very  humble  and  plain,  without  any  show.  And  if  he 
went  to  a  house  and  they  gave  him  food  he  ate  ;  and  if  they 
jested  with  him  he  jested  .  .  .  and  when  he  left  he  always 
gave  some  spiritual  comfort,  "f 

Those  simple  Paravas  had  many  amazing  tales  about  this 
great  teacher  who  had  sojourned  with  them,  who  had  been  so 
like  a  brother,  and  yet  so  like  a  god.  Their  attempts  to  pass 
on  their  impressions  of  a  life  which  was,  in  truth,  a  sustained 

*  Mon.  Xav.t  vol.  ii.  p.  372. 


CAPE  COMORIN  177 

miracle,  are  interesting.  A  half-blind  man  describes  other 
men  as  "  trees  walking,"  a  half -awakened  soul  describes  a 
saint  at  his  prayers  as  "  one  raised  from  the  ground."  A  man 
who  is  physically  dumb  conveys  his  meaning  by  grotesque 
gestures,  a  man  who  is  spiritually  dumb  by  strange  figures 
of  speech. 

The  primitive  way  of  picturing  a  man  in  whom  God  dwells 
is  to  paint  him  in  the  act  of  performing  in  the  material  world 
what  God  does  in  the  spiritual  world,  to  paint  him  healing 
the  sick  and  raising  the  dead.  These  Paravas  described 
Francis  in  those  terms,  and  in  doing  so  they  were  only 
struggling  to  express  the  truth  which  they  so  dimly  appre- 
hended. The  method  was  not  confined  to  the  natives. 
Wherever  Xavier  went  there  were  simple  souls  who  used  this 
language  in  speaking  or  writing  of  him. 

After  he  had  worked  for  over  a  year  in  the  pearl-fisheries, 
and  had  established  some  sort  of  system  of  native  supervision, 
Francis  left  his  new  converts  for  a  few  months  and  visited 
Goa  and  Cochin.  He  took  with  him  to  Goa  a  number  of 
young  Paravas,  to  be  trained  in  the  new  college  there.  He 
found  this  college  in  a  flourishing  state.  Besides  a  number  of 
other  priests  and  teachers,  the  two  companions  of  the  earlier 
part  of  Xavier's  voyage  out,  Francisco  Mansillas  and  Paulo 
Camerino,  were  working  there.  They  had  arrived  in  Goa  a 
few  days  after  Xavier  had  gone  south.  Camerino  was  fairly 
efficient,  perhaps  ;  Mansillas  appears  to  have  been  a  lovable 
but  feckless  youth.  He  was  no  use  in  the  college,  and  Xavier 
arranged  that  he  should  go  back  with  him  to  Cape  Comorin. 

The  visit  to  Goa  was  a  brief  one,  full  of  consultations, 
inspections,  reports,  and  plans  for  the  future.  There  was  a 
letter  waiting  from  Loyola,  written  two  years  before,  and 
announcing  that  he  had  been  elected  General  of  the  Society 
on  April  9th,  1541. 

Already  in  January  1544,  a  few  weeks  after  leaving  the 
Paravas,  we  find  the  Saint  on  his  return  voyage,  making  a 
halt  at  Cochin.  From  here  the  Portuguese  ships  were  about 
to  sail  for  Europe,  and  Francis  paused  to  write  several  letters 
for  the  mail. 

He  wrote  to  the  King  of  Portugal :  the  letter  is  lost,  but 
it  is  known  to  have  contained  a  special  appeal  for  the  people 
on  the  island  of  Socotra,  that  they  might  have  the  protection 
of  the  royal  fleet  against  the  Moors.  He  wrote  to  the  Queen, 

M 


178  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

and  this  letter  is  lost  too.  Tursellinus  tells  us  that  the  Saint 
had  remembered  how  that  lady  received  annually  the  sum  of 
four  hundred  crowns  to  buy  slippers  with,  and  bethought  him 
that  some  of  it  might  well  go  to  the  children  of  the  Fishery 
coast.  And  while  they  were  saying  in  Geneva  that  the  boys 
there  could  give  a  reason  for  their  faith  as  well  as  any  doctor 
in  the  Sorbonne — thanks  to  Calvin  and  his  children's 
catechism — Francis  Xavier  was  writing  to  the  Queen  of 
Portugal 

so  pleasantly  and  piously,  that  she  could  have  no  better  shoes  or 
pantoffles  to  climb  to  heaven  than  the  children  of  the  Piscarian 
coast,  and  their  instructors.  Wherefore,  he  humbly  entreated 
her  to  bestow  her  shoes  and  pantoffles,  as  a  tribute,  unto  their 
teachers  and  instructors,  thereby  to  make  herself  a  ladder  to 
heaven,  for  she  might  be  glad  of  such  an  occasion.* 

We  know  that  the  Queen  agreed  to  this  suggestion,  possibly 
at  the  same  time  making  others  on  her  own  behalf  to  the 
royal  treasury.  For  many  years  the  sum  was  sent  out 
annually,  and  after  Xavier's  death  we  find  Portuguese 
officers  trying  to  defraud  the  native  churches  of  this  chief 
source  of  their  revenue. 

Besides  these  two  lost  letters  to  the  King  and  Queen  of 
Portugal,  there  is  a  very  long  letter  written  to  the  Fathers  in 
Rome  giving  a  full  account  of  the  work  in  Cape  Comorin. 

Viewed  in  the  light  of  modern  missionary  methods, 
this  letter  is  deeply  interesting.  We  are  accustomed  to 
accept,  without  questioning,  some  very  severe  criticisms  of 
Xavier's  work  :  this  letter  is,  in  some  details,  antipathetic 
to  a  Protestant  reader,  but  it  proves  too  that  the  teaching  of 
the  great  Jesuit  missionary  was  not  so  misguided  as  our 
ignorance  may  have  led  us  to  suppose. 

A  study  of  the  Report  of  the  World  Missionary  Conference 
in  Edinburgh  shows  us  what  an  important  place  the  Apostles' 
Creed  has  occupied,  and  must  occupy,  in  the  work  of  evan- 
gelisation. Professor  MacEwenf  says  : 

In  the  Conference  Reports  you  will  discover  an  item  simple 
but  grand,  repeated  by  many  missionaries — Episcopalian,  Baptist, 
Wesleyan,  Presbyterian — that  the  statement  of  faith  which  they 

*  Tursellinus,  Book  II.  cap.  8. 

f  Report  of  the  World  Missionary  Conference,  vol.  ix.  p.  205. 


CAPE  COMORIN  179 

find  to  have  most  value,  and  on  which  they  lay  most  stress,  is 
that  same  Apostles'  Creed.  In  the  seventeen  centuries  that 
have  passed  since  it  was  shaped,  the  Holy  Spirit  has  taught  the 
Church  much.  He  will  teach  us  more  if  we  listen  to  His  voice, 
but  the  foundations  of  the  kingdom  stand,  although  the  things 
that  were  shaken  have  been  removed.  The  central  beliefs  which 
our  missionaries  teach  were  the  central  beliefs  of  the  men  through 
whose  mission  Christianity  first  expanded. 

Again  we  read  : 

The  choice  and  arrangement  of  catechetical  subjects  may,  on 
the  whole,  follow  the  example  of  the  ancient  Church — Bible 
History,  Old  and  New  Testament  lessons  on  the  life  of  Christ, 
the  Creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the  Sacraments.* 

The  great  Apostolic  teachers,  from  whose  midst  this  Creed 
emerged,  were  specially  fitted,  both  by  outward  circumstance 
and  by  inward  inspiration,  to  present  Christianity  in  a  form 
which,  by  its  simplicity  and  its  universality,  would  appeal  to 
East  and  to  West  alike. 

Outwardly,  by  their  geographical  position,  they  were  in 
touch  with  the  three  essential  sources  of  modern  civilisation, 
Judea,  Greece,  Rome,  and  they  were  among  these  peoples 
at  the  very  time  when  they  were  undergoing  a  process  of 
fusion. 

Inwardly,  the  makers  of  the  Apostles'  Creed  had  the 
greatest  and,  indeed,  the  only  reason  for  authority.  They 
were  convinced  that  they  had  in  themselves  no  wisdom,  that 
they  were  entirely  taught  of  God.  "  God  hath  spoken  unto 
us."  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  hear  ye  Him,"  "  I  that  speak 
unto  thee  am  He,"  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,"  "  If  any 
man  speak,  speak  as  it  were  oracles  of  God."  These  men  did 
not  master  a  faith,  a  faith  mastered  them — it  was  the  faith, 
Paul  said,  in  an  amazing  phrase,  "  to  which  ye  have  been 
delivered." 

And  while  Calvin  was  proving  to  the  Romanists  in  Europe 
that,  tested  by  this  Creed,  they  were  not  such  true  children  of 
the  Church  as  the  Protestants  were,  Francis  Xavier,  the 
greatest  missionary  of  the  Roman  Church,  was  teaching  this 
Creed  in  all  simplicity,  far  away  from  the  noise  and  clamour 
of  the  religious  wars.  It  is  but  another  illustration  of  the 
truth  which  is  being  emphasised  to-day  as  never  before,  that 
*  Report  of  the  World  Missionary  Conference,  vol.  ii.  p.  60. 

M2 


180  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

it  is  above  all  in  missionary  work  that  the  Church  must 
discover  the  secret  of  unity. 

"...  I  sought  some  people  who  knew  both  Malabar 
and  our  language.  Then  after  many  meetings  and  great 
travail  we  drew  up  a  form  of  worship.  First,  the  Sign  of 
the  Cross,  acknowledgment  of  the  Three  Persons  in  the 
Godhead.  Then  the  Creed  and  the  Commandments,  Our 
Father,  Ave  Maria,  Salve  Regina  and  the  General  Confession 
from  Latin  into  Malabar.  After  having  translated  them 
into  their  language  and  learned  them  by  heart,  I  went  all 
through  the  place  with  a  bell  in  my  hand,  gathering  all  the 
boys  and  men  that  I  could,  and  after  having  gathered  them 
I  taught  them  twice  each  day  ;  and  in  the  space  of  a  month 
taught  these  prayers,  arranging  so  that  the  boys  should 
teach  their  fathers  and  mothers  and  all  the  household  and 
neighbours  what  they  had  learned  in  the  school. 

"  On  Sundays  I  gather  together  all  the  folk,  men  and  women, 
old  and  young,  to  say  the  prayers  in  their  language ;  they  seem 
very  happy,  and  come  with  great  joy.  We  begin  with  the 
Confession  of  One  God,  Three  in  One,  with  loud  voices 
repeating  the  Creed  in  Malabar,  I  saying  it  first,  and  then 
they  all  repeating  it.  When  the  Creed  is  said,  I  by  myself 
go  over  it  again  article  by  article,  treating  each  of  the  twelve 
separately.  I  make  them  see  that  to  be  a  Christian  is 
nothing  if  it  is  not  to  believe  firmly  and  without  hesitation 
the  Twelve  Articles  :  then,  when  they  confess  themselves 
Christians,  I  ask  them  concerning  each  of  the  Articles  if 
they  firmly  believe  it.  ...  I  make  them  repeat  the  Creed 
oftener  than  the  other  formulas,  because  only  if  he  believes 
the  Twelve  Articles  can  a  man  call  himself  a  Christian. 

"  I  teach  them  the  Commandments  .  .  .  the  Creed, 
and  the  Our  Fathers,  and  the  Ave  Marias  said,  we  recite 
the  Commandments  in  the  following  way  : — to  begin  with, 
I  say  the  first  Commandment,  and  all  repeat  it  with  me, 
that  done  we  say  together,  '  Jesus  Christ,  Son  of  God,  grant 
us  grace  to  love  Thee  above  all  else.'  When  we  have  asked 
this  grace,  we  all  recite  Our  Father.  This  done,  we  say 
'  Holy  Mary,  Mother  of  Jesus  Christ,  obtain  for  us  grace 
rom  Thy  Son  that  we  may  be  able  to  keep  the  first  Com- 
mandment.' ...  In  this  way  we  go  through  the  remainder 
of  the  Commandments.  These  are  the  favours  which  I 


CAPE  COMORIN  181 

teach  them  to  ask  in  prayer,  saying  to  them  that  if  they 
obtain  these  graces  from  God,  in  addition  He  will  grant  to 
them  all  for  which  they  themselves  do  not  know  how  to 
ask.  .  .  .  Those  who  are  about  to  be  baptized  say  the 
General  Confession,  then  the  Creed.  At  each  Article  I  ask 
them  if  they  believe  it  firmly,  and  when  they  answer  yes, 
and  when  I  have  explained  to  them  the  law  of  Christ  which 
must  be  kept  unto  salvation,  I  baptize  them.  .  .  . 

"  I  hope  in  God  our  Lord  that  the  children  will  be  better 
than  their  fathers,  for  they  show  much  love  and  desire 
toward  our  Law,  and  toward  learning  the  prayers  and 
teaching  them.  .  .  . 

"...  Crowds  come  to  me,  asking  me  to  go  to  their 
houses  to  say  prayers  for  their  invalids,  and  the  sick  have 
come  to  me  themselves  in  such  numbers,  that  to  read  a 
portion  of  the  Gospel  to  them,  apart  from  anything  else, 
had  fully  occupied  me,  and  to  teach  the  children,  baptize, 
translate  the  prayers,  answer  questions,  bury  the  dead, 
respond  to  the  devotion  of  those  who  send  for  me,  and  those 
who  come  to  me  for  help — it  is  an  endless  occupation.  .  .  . 
I  could  not  reject  any  of  these  sacred  calls  upon  me,  without 
endangering  their  faith,  yet  it  became  impossible  for  me  to 
satisfy  everyone,  little  jealousies  arose,  everyone  wanted 
me  first,  so  I  made  use  of  this  expedient : — I  ordered  the 
children  who  know  the  prayers  to  go  to  the  houses  of  the 
sick,  to  bring  together  the  whole  household  and  the  neigh- 
bours, to  repeat  with  them  the  Creed,  and  tell  the  sick  to 
believe  and  they  shall  be  made  sound,  and  then  say  the  other 
prayers.  In  this  way  we  get  them  all  visited,  and  the 
Creed,  the  Commandments,  and  the  Prayers,  are  taught  in 
the  houses  and  in  the  streets  ;  and  besides,  toward  the  sick, 
through  the  faith  of  their  households,  their  neighbours  and 
themselves,  God  our  Lord  has  had  great  pity,  giving  to 
them  both  spiritual  and  corporal  healing.  God  used  much 
mercy  towards  those  who  were  ill,  in  leading  and  constraining 
them  through  their  infirmities  into  the  Faith. 

41 ...  Many  are  the  potential  Christians  in  those  parts, 
they  lack  only  those  ready  to  occupy  themselves  with  devout 
and  holy  things.  Often  I  have  had  a  mind  to  go  to  your 
Universities  and  shout  aloud,  like  a  man  who  has  lost  his 
senses — above  all  to  the  university  of  Paris,  and  tell  in  Sor- 
bonne  those  who  have  more  learning  than  will  to  make  use 


182  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

of  it ;  how  many  souls,  through  their  negligence,  fail  to  go 
to  glory  and  are  going  to  hell.  If,  while  they  studied  letters, 
they  would  study  too  the  account  which  God  our  Lord 
will  ask  of  them,  and  of  the  talent  which  He  has  given  them, 
many  would  say  : — '  Lord,  here  I  am :  what  wilt  Thou  have 
me  to  do  ?  Send  me  where  Thou  wilt,  if  even  to  India.9  ...  I 
fear  that  many  University  students  only  want,  with  the  aid 
of  letters,  to  gain  dignities,  benefices,  bishoprics,  and  that 
they  only  conform  to  rules  because  it  is  necessary,  to  get 
those  posts.  It  is  common  to  hear  a  student  say,  '  I  only 
wish  to  study  in  order  to  get  a  benefice  ;  that  attained,  I 
will  serve  God.'  So  their  calling  in  life  is  determined  by 
their  disordered  inclination  :  they  fear  God's  will  may  not 
be  their  will,  and  refuse  to  leave  their  calling  to  Him.  .  .  . 
So  great  is  the  number  of  those  who  have  turned  to  the 
Christian  faith  that  often  it  happens  to  me  to  have  my  arms 
tired  with  baptizing,  nor  have  I  any  voice  left,  so  often  I 
have  repeated  in  their  language  the  Creed,  the  Command- 
ments and  Prayers,  and  have  taught — also  in  their  language— 
what  it  is  to  be  a  Christian,  the  meaning  of  heaven  and  hell 
.  .  .  chiefly  I  repeat  the  Creed  and  the  Commandments.  .  .  ." 

"...  Among  the  heathen  here  are  certain  men  called 
Bragmens.  It  is  they  who  maintain  all  the  heathenism. 
They  have  charge  of  the  idol-houses.  They  are  the  most 
perverse  people  in  the  world.  They  make  one  understand 
the  Psalm,  '  Deliver  me  from  an  ungodly  nation  and  the 
deceitful  and  unjust  man."*  They  never  tell  the  truth  ; 
they  are  always  thinking  how  to  lie  subtilly  and  deceive  the 
simple  and  ignorant  poor,  saying  the  idols  order  them  to 
bring  an  offering  of  various  things — the  Bragmens  are  simply 
pretending — and  these  are  the  things  they  need  for  the 
upkeep  of  wives,  children  and  houses.  They  make  the 
simple  people  believe  that  the  idols  eat,  and  many  of  these 
before  they  dine  or  sup  make  an  offering  of  so  much  money 
for  the  idol.  They  eat  twice  daily,  with  a  great  palaver  of 
kettledrums,  and  make  the  poor  creatures  think  that  the 
idols  are  eating.  Rather  than  want,  the  Bragmens  tell  the 
people  that  the  idols  are  very  annoyed  with  them  for  not 
sending  what  was  demanded.  And  they  warn  the  people 

*  The  Psalm  Xavier  here  quotes  (Ps.  43)  is  the  first  Psalm  of  the  Ordinary 
in  the  Mass. 


CAPE  COMORIN  183 

that  if  they  don't  provide  these  things  the  idols  will  kill  them, 
or  cause  diseases,  or  send  devils  to  their  houses,  and  the 
wretched,  credulous  people  believe  it  will  be  so,  and  out  of 
fear  that  the  idols  will  harm  them,  do  what  the  Bragmens 
wish. 

"  These  Bragmens  are  men  of  little  learning,  and  what 
they  lack  in  virtue  they  make  up  in  iniquity  and  evil.  The 
Bragmens  of  this  coast  where  I  am  travelling  are  greatly 
annoyed  because  I  keep  on  exposing  their  wickedness.  They 
confess  the  truth  to  me  when  we  are  alone,  and  how  they 
deceive  the  people.  In  secret  they  confess  to  me  that  they 
have  no  other  means  of  living  but  those  stone  idols,  on  which 
they  live  by  manufacturing  lies.  They  admit  that  I  know 
more  than  all  of  them  put  together.  They  ask  me  to  visit 
them,  and  are  annoyed  that  I  will  not  accept  the  presents 
they  send  me.  They  do  all  this  so  that  I  may  not  disclose 
their  secrets. 

"  They  say  they  know  very  well  there  is  but  one  God,  and 
that  they  will  pray  God  for  me.  In  pay  of  all  this  I  tell  them 
what  I  on  my  part  think  of  them,  and  then  I  show  their 
miserable  deceits  and  mockeries  to  the  wretched,  credulous 
creatures  who  from  sheer  fear  are  their  devotees,  till  I  am 
weary.  As  a  result  of  what  I  say  many  lose  their  devotion  to 
the  devil  and  become  Christians.  If  there  were  no  Bragmens 
all  the  heathen  would  become  converted  to  our  faith.  The 
houses  where  the  Bragmens  and  idols  are  are  called  pagodas. 
None  of  the  heathen  of  these  parts  have  much  learning,  but 
they  are  learned  enough  in  evil.  Since  I  came  here  only  one 
Bragmen  has  become  a  Christian.  This  young  man  is  a  very 
fine  fellow.  He  has  taken  up  the  work  of  teaching  the  boys 
Christian  doctrine. 

"As  I  go  visiting  the  Christian  villages  I  pass  numerous 
pagodas.  I  once  passed  one  where  there  were  more  than 
200  Bragmens.  They  came  to  see  me,  and  among  other 
things  we  discussed  I  asked  one  question,  What  did  their 
gods  and  idols  whom  they  adored  command  them  to  do  in 
order  to  go  to  glory.  There  was  a  great  to-do  among  them 
as  to  who  was  to  reply.  One  of  the  oldest  of  them  was 
chosen.  The  old  man,  who  was  over  eighty,  told  me  to  say 
first  what  the  God  of  the  Christians  commanded  to  be  done. 
I  understood  his  meanness,  and  would  say  nothing  till  he 
had  spoken.  So  he  was  forced  to  exhibit  his  ignorance.  He 


184  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

replied  that  the  gods  commanded  them  to  do  two  things  in 
order  to  go  to  where  they  (the  gods)  are  :  the  first  was  not  to 
kill  cows,  whom  they  adore ;  the  second  was  to  do  alms,  giving 
these  to  the  Bragmens  who  serve  in  the  pagodas.  When 
I  heard  this  reply  it  grieved  me  that  the  devils  could  so  lord 
it  over  our  neighbours  as  to  make  themselves,  instead  of  God, 
adored  by  them.  So  I  rose,  and  telling  the  Bragmens  to  be 
seated,  I  said  the  creed  and  commandments  in  a  very  loud 
voice  in  their  language,  and  explained  the  nature  of  heaven 
and  hell,  and  told  them  who  go  to  the  one,  and  who  to  the 
other.  When  this  discourse  was  ended  all  the  Bragmens  rose 
and  embraced  me  and  told  me  that  truly  the  God  of  the 
Christians  was  the  true  God,  since  His  commandments  were 
so  conformable  to  natural  reason.  They  asked  me  if  our 
souls  died  along  with  our  bodies,  like  those  of  the  brutes. 
God  our  Lord  gave  me  arguments  so  suitable  to  their  capacities 
that  I  clearly  explained  to  them  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
and  they  seemed  to  be  thoroughly  pleased  and  satisfied.  The 
arguments  which  you  must  give  to  this  simple  people  [este 
genie  idiota]  must  not  be  so  subtle  as  those  written  by  very 
scholastic  doctors.  They  asked  me  whence  the  soul  issued 
when  a  man  died,  and  when  a  man  was  sleeping  and  dreamed 
that  he  was  in  a  land  with  his  friends  and  acquaintances 
(which  often  happens  to  me,  that  I  am  with  you,  dearest),  if 
his  soul,  going  there,  ceases  to  inhabit  his  body.  Moreover, 
they  asked  me  to  tell  them  if  God  were  black  or  white, 
according  to  the  diversity  of  colour  seen  among  men.  As  all 
the  people  here  are  black  and  approve  of  the  colour,  they  say 
that  God  is  black.  Most  of  the  idols  are  black.  They  anoint 
them  often  with  oil  and  they  stink  frightfully.  They  are  so 
ugly  that  the  sight  of  them  frightens  you.  In  the  Bragmens' 
opinion  I  gave  satisfactory  answers  to  all  the  questions  they 
put.  When  I  wound  up  by  saying  that  since  they  knew  the 
truth  they  should  become  Christians  they  answered — like  so 
many  among  ourselves — what  would  the  world  say  of  us  if 
we  made  this  change  in  our  way  of  living  ?  They  were  also 
kept  back  by  the  thought  that  they  would  lack  the  necessities 
of  life. 

" 1  came  across  a  solitary  Bragmen  in  a  village  on  this 
coast  who  had  some  education,  and  I  was  told  he  had  studied 
in  some  famous  places  of  learning.  I  tried  to  see  him,  and 
took  advantage  of  an  opportunity  of  meeting  him.  He  told 


CAPE  COMORIN  185 

me  as  a  great  secret  that  the  first  thing  those  who  teach  in 
those  places  of  learning  do  is  to  take  an  oath  from  the 
pupils  never  to  tell  certain  secrets  which  they  are  taught. 
Because  of  some  friendship  he  had  for  me  this  Bragmen  told 
me  those  secrets  as  a  grand  secret.  One  was  this  :  never  to 
tell  that  there  is  but  one  God,  creator  of  heaven  and  earth, 
and  that  this  God  should  be  adored,  and  not  idols,  who  are 
devils.  They  have  some  scriptures,  in  which  they  have  the 
commandments.  The  language  taught  in  these  places  of 
learning  is  like  what  Latin  is  among  us.  He  told  me  the 
commandments  very  well,  each  one  with  a  good  exposition. 
Those  who  are  learned  keep  the  Lord's  days — an  incredible 
thing.  The  only  prayer  they  say  on  the  Lord's  day  is  this, 
and  they  say  it  very  often,  Oncerii  naraina  noma,  which  means 
I  adore  Thee,  O  God,  with  Thy  grace  and  help  for  ever.  They 
say  this  prayer  very  slowly  and  quietly,  so  as  not  to  break 
their  oath.  .  .  . 

"  This  Bragmen  .  .  .  wanted  me  to  tell  him  the  principal 
tenets  of  the  Christian  religion  and  promised  me  to  make  them 
known  to  no  one.  I  said  to  him  that  I  should  not  tell  him 
if  he  did  not  first  promise  to  me  not  to  keep  those  principal 
tenets  hidden.  So  he  promised  me  to  publish  them.  Then 
I  said  and  expounded,  much  to  my  delight,  these  important 
words  of  our  religion,  who  believes  and  is  baptized  shall  be 
saved.  He  wrote  them  in  his  language  with  their  exposition, 
and  I  told  him  all  the  creed.  He  told  me  that  one  night  he 
had  dreamed  with  great  delight  that  he  had  to  become  a 
Christian  and  be  my  companion  and  go  with  me.  He  asked 
me  to  make  him  a  Christian  secretly,  and  moreover  with 
certain  conditions.  As  these  were  not  honourable  and 
permissible,  I  refused  to  do  it.  I  hope  in  God  that  he  will 
have  to  be  a  Christian  without  any  of  them.  I  bade  him  teach 
the  simple  folk  to  adore  one  God.  .  .  .  He  was  not  willing  to 
do  it  because  of  his  oath,  and  for  fear  lest  the  devil  should 
kill  him. 

44 1  don't  know  what  more  to  write  to  you  of  these  parts, 
except  that  such  are  the  consolations  which  God  our-  Lord 
communicates  to  those  who  go  among  the  heathen  and  convert 
them  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  that  if  there  be  contentment  in  this 
life,  it  means  this. 

44 1  often  happen  to  hear  a  person  who  goes  among  those 
Christians  say  :  O  Lord,  give  me  not  such  consolations,  and 


186  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

now  that  of  Thine  infinite  goodness  and  mercy  Thou  dost  give 
them,  take  me  to  Thy  holy  glory,  because  after  Thou  dost  give 
such  a  rich  inward  communion,  it  is  a  pain  for  Thy  creatures 
to  go  on  living  without  seeing  Thee.* 

"  O  if  those  who  studied  learning  would  only  devote  as 
much  labour  towards  the  enjoyment  of  it  as  they  spent 
toilsome  days  and  nights  in  acquiring  it  !  (He  means  that 
the  true  joy  of  learning  is  to  use  it  to  teach  others.)  A 
student  seeks  contentment  in  understanding  what  he  studies  : 

0  if  he  sought  that  contentment  in  telling  his  neighbours 
what  they  need  in  order  to  know  and  serve  God,  how  much 
more  consoled  they  would  be,  and  how  much  more  prepared 
to  give  an  account  when  Christ  said  to  them,  Render  now  an 
account  of  thy  stewardship. 

"  .  .  .  So  I  finish,  praying  God  our  Lord  that  since  in  His 
mercy  He  united  us,  and  in  His  service  separated  us  so  far 
from  one  another,  He  may  again  unite  us  in  His  holy  glory. 

"  And  to  attain  this  let  us  take  as  intercessors  and  advocates 
all  those  holy  souls  of  these  parts  where  I  am,  taken  by  God 
to  His  holy  glory  after  they  were  baptised  by  my  hands  and 
before  they  lost  the  state  of  innocence,  the  number  of  which 

1  believe  to  be  more  than  one  thousand."! 

This  sounds  as  if  Xavier  were  glad  that  these  children  had 
died  and  become  advocates  for  the  Company,  instead  of  being 
sorry  that  human  stupidity  and  carelessness  had  deprived 
them  of  life.  The  words  are  indeed  the  feverish  utterance  of 
a  fine  imagination,  hurt  and  bruised  with  the  sight  of  over 
much  sorrow.  The  mystical  mind  of  Francis  was  normally 
accustomed  to  dwell  on  the  borderland  regions  between  the 
psychical  and  the  physical  worlds,  and  to  think  comparatively 
little  of  physical  death  ;  and  in  moments  of  abnormal  feeling 
that  death  was  entirely  disregarded. 

In  February  1544,  after  an  absence  of  only  about  two 
months,  we  find  Francis  once  more  on  the  Fishery  coast. 
Besides  Francisco  Mansillas  he  had  with  him  a  few  obscure 
helpers,  native  and  European,  of  whom  the  most  useful 
appears  to  have  been  Francisco  Coelho.  But  "  the  early  dew 

*  This  passage  is  probably  the  origin  of  the  Latin  phrase  on  the  portrait  in 
our  frontispiece,  *'  Satis  est  Domine,  satis  esi."  The  phrase  in  its  Latin  form 
is  one  of  the  most  often  quoted  of  his  sayings. 

f  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  278  ff. 


CAPE  COMORIN  187 

of  morning  has  passed  away  at  noon."  Difficulties  of  all 
kinds  besieged  the  missionary  during  this  spring  of  1544. 
"It  is  the  morrow  of  conversions,"  a  French  writer  has  well 
said,  "  which  is  the  hardest  time  both  for  converts  and 
teachers."  And  this  mission  was  hopelessly  understaffed. 
The  letters  of  Xavier  to  Francisco  Mansillas,  which  begin  in 
February  and  cover  a  period  of  several  months,  show  us  that, 
though  this  missionary  should  have  been  the  Saint's  right 
hand,  he  was  but  a  broken  reed  to  lean  upon.  But,  worst  of 
all,  Portuguese  soldiers  and  traders,  of  whom  up  till  now  we 
have  heard  nothing  in  this  part  of  the  country,  began  to 
mingle  with  the  natives  on  their  own  errands,  which  were  not 
those  of  Francis  Xavier. 

The  situation  must  have  been  an  intolerable  one  for  the 
missionary.  Hardly  had  he  impressed  upon  these  childish 
tribes  the  simplest  rudiments  of  Christian  teaching,  when  his 
own  brothers,  professing  his  own  faith,  came  into  the  same 
villages  where  he  was  working  and  perpetrated  the  vilest  acts 
of  cruelty  and  dishonesty.  The  natives  were  incensed,  and 
no  wonder,  and  after  a  particularly  scandalous  slave-raid  at 
Punicale,  a  wild  tribe  of  horsemen  from  the  north,  the 
Badages,*  fearing  probably  that  the  raiding  would  spread 
into  their  own  territory,  swept  down  upon  the  innocent 
Paravas,  and  hundreds  of  them  were  killed  or  put  to  flight 
because  they  had  accepted  the  religion  of  those  "  Christians." 
There  is  a  story,  probably  authentic, |  of  how  a  troop  of  these 
wild  horsemen  one  day  rushed  upon  a  Parava  village  in 
which  the  Saint  happened  to  be  working.  The  villagers  fled 
in  terror,  but  Francis,  after  kneeling  a  few  moments  in  prayer, 
rose,  and  himself  alone  confronted  them  with  such  an  air  of 
gravity  and  authority  that  in  confusion  they  turned  their 
horses'  heads,  and  went  back  the  way  they  came. 

In  July  he  went  alone  on  foot  to  the  Cape,  throughout  this 
wildly  disturbed  country,  at  the  imminent  risk  of  his  life,  in 
order  to  organise  relief  for  the  hundreds  of  poor  fisher-folk 
who,  in  want  and  sickness,  were  sheltering  in  the  caves  and 
holes  of  the  earth.  In  the  letters  of  Xavier  to  Mansillas, 
which  are  given  in  the  next  chapter,  many  of  the  troubles  of 
this  tragic  spring  and  summer  are  reflected. 

*  Also  known  as  the  Vadakars,  or  Baddagfiars. 

f  See  Tursellinus,  Book  II.,  cap.  11  ;  also  Man.  Xav.,  vol.  ii.  p.  598  ;  also 
Acosta,  Lucena,  etc. 


188  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

In  the  middle  of  November  the  Saint  set  out  for  Travancore, 
at  the  urgent  invitation  of  the  Rajah  there.  He  made  this 
long  journey,  as  usual,  on  foot,  attended  this  time  by  two  or 
three  faithful  natives.  These,  we  read,  kept  guard  over  him 
every  night  while  he  slept,  for  the  country  was  still  disturbed 
and  full  of  enemies.  They  were  several  times  attacked,  and 
once,  it  is  said,  he  was  wounded  by  an  arrow.  Another  time 
they  set  fire  to  his  bed,  says  one  of  the  fanciful  biographers, 
but  he  was  praying,  and  noticed  nothing  until  he  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  little  heap  of  cinders  instead  of  a  mattress  ! 

The  visit  to  Travancore  was,  in  the  eyes  of  the  Rajah  at 
least,  probably  largely  political.  Portugal  was  a  dangerous 
enemy,  but  a  most  helpful  ally.  In  coming  here  Francis  was 
responding  to  a  series  of  pressing  invitations.  The  Rajah 
knew  that  the  Saint  was  out  for  souls,  and  the  acute  old 
diplomatist  dangled  his  unconverted  subjects  before  the 
missionary's  eyes,  much  as  a  European  king  might  dangle  his 
pretty  daughter  before  some  desirable  prince.  And  Francis 
was  only  too  pleased  to  pay  the  price  of  "  favourable  recom- 
mendations to  the  Governor,"  and  no  doubt  thought  he  had 
the  best  of  the  bargain.  For  he  was  publicly  proclaimed  the 
Great  Priest,  and  all  faithful  subjects  were  told  to  show  him 
the  same  obedience  which  they  showed  to  the  Rajah,  the 
Great  King. 

The  Rajah  himself,  and  the  Brahmins  and  Nairs  who  con- 
stituted the  upper  castes,  must  have  looked  on  the  whole 
movement  with  indifference,  if  not  with  scorn.  Xavier's 
message  was  nothing  to  them.  It  neither  touched  them  nor 
moved  them.  But  a  change  of  religion  could  do  the  poor 
outcast  Macuas  no  harm,  or  even  if  it  did  them  a  little  harm 
the  protection  of  the  Portuguese  cannon  was  cheap  at  the 
price. 

So,  for  one  month,  Francis  ploughed  and  sowed,  with 
unprecedented  and  titanic  energy.  It  was  the  rainy  season, 
and  he  went  barefoot  from  village  to  village,  his  tunic  in 
tatters  and  his  old  black  hood  a  lamentable  thing  to  see. 
Before  the  month  was  ended  he  had  baptized  ten  thousand 
persons,  and  to  each  one  he  baptized  he  gave  a  new  name, 
written  on  a  piece  of  paper.  This  piece  of  paper  came  to 
have  a  political  as  well  as  a  spiritual  significance.  It  was 
a  kind  of  passport,  and  gave  the  bearer  the  rights  of  protec- 
tion due  to  a  Portuguese  subject.  One  can  believe  that  the 


CAPE  COMORIN  189 

Rajah  scanned  these  little  tickets  with  a  smile  of  satisfaction, 
and  told  himself  that  the  Great  Priest  was  playing  a  fair  game. 
And  the  Great  Priest  smiled,  too,  as  he  looked  upon  the  little 
tickets  and  remembered  the  words  of  Jesus  :  "  Be  ye  wise  as 
serpents  and  harmless  as  doves."  Enthusiastic  crowds 
destroyed  the  idols  and  the  temples.  Churches  were  hastily 
built,  and  rude  crosses  placed  there.  The  Macuas  spoke  the 
same  language  as  the  Paravas,  so  Xavier  had  no  difficulty  in 
teaching  them  the  catechism  and  the  creed. 

One  can  hardly  explain  this  tremendous  conversion.  But 
the  contrast  between  the  outward  authority  of  the  representa- 
tive of  Portugal  and  of  Western  civilisation,  and  the  personal 
appearance  and  bearing  of  the  Saint,  must  have  been  a 
strangely  moving  one  and  may  account  for  much.  The 
astonishing  result  of  this  mission  appears  almost  to  have 
frightened  him.  Let  us  look  at  his  letter  of  January  of  the 
next  year  to  the  Fathers  in  Rome,  where  he  describes  what 
had  happened.  The  letter  opens  with  a  passage  of  heavenly 
wisdom  on  the  love  of  friends  : 

"  God  our  Lord  knows  how  much  my  soul  would  be  com- 
forted by  the  sight  of  you  instead  of  having  to  write  these 
letters,  letters  so  uncertain  because  of  the  great  distance  from 
here  to  Rome.  But  since  it  is  God  our  Lord  Who  has  sepa- 
rated us  so  widely,  tho'  we  were  so  united  in  love  and  spirit, 
the  bodily  distance,  if  I  am  not  deceived,  does  not  occasion 
any  lack  of  love  or  care,  in  those  who  love  one  another  in  the 
Lord.  For  we  see  each  other  almost  always,  to  my  mind, 
tho'  we  don't  converse  familiarly  as  once  we  did.  But  the 
memory  of  the  past,  when  it  is  founded  on  Christ,  has  this 
virtue,  that  it  almost  makes  what  the  mind  sees  a  reality." 

He  goes  on  to  speak  of  his  mission  work  : 

"  I  have  to  tell  you  how  God  our  Lord  moved  many  people 
in  a  kingdom  where  I  work  [i.e.,  Travancore]  to  become 
Christians.  ...  In  a  month  I  baptized  more  than  10,000  per- 
sons  Here  is  how  I  baptize  :  I  give  to  each  his  [Christian] 

name  in  writing.  Afterwards  these  men  go  home  and  send 
their  wives  and  families,  whom  I  baptize  in  the  same  way  as 
I  baptized  the  men.  When  the  baptisms  are  finished  I 
command  that  the  houses  where  they  have  their  idols 


190  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

are  to  be  thrown  down,  and  I  arrange  that  after  they  are 
Christians  they  are  to  break  the  images  of  the  idols  into  the 
smallest  pieces.  ...  In  each  place  I  leave  the  prayers 
written  in  their  language,  ordering  that  each  day  they  shall 
teach  them  once  in  the  morning,  and  again  at  the  hour  of 
vespers.  When  this  is  finished  in  one  place,  I  go  to  another, 
and  so  I  go  from  place  to  place  making  Christians,  and  this 
with  many  comforts,  greater  than  I  could  write  you  by  letter, 
or  explain  to  you  if  you  were  here."* 

The  licentiate  Joao  Vaz,  who  returned  to  Lisbon  this  same 
year,  has  left  an  interesting  account  of  Francis  as  he  knew 
him  in  Travancore. 

I  lived  six  months  with  the  Father  Master  Francis.  He 
went  bare-foot,  with  a  poor  torn  gown,  and  a  kind  of  hood  of 
black  stuff.  Every  one  loved  him  dearly.  He  so  gained  the 
heart  of  a  king,  that  this  sovereign  made  a  proclamation  that  the 
people  were  to  obey  his  brother,  the  Great  Father,  as  they  did 
himself :  he  permitted  all  his  subjects  to  become  Christians 
if  they  wished  to  do  so,  and  he  gave  him  large  sums  for  the 
succour  of  the  poor. 

The  Great  Father,  that  is  the  name  which  has  been  given  to 
Father  Master  Francis  in  these  lands.  He  has  caused  forty- 
four  or  forty-five  churches  to  be  built  along  the  coast  where  the 
new  Christians  are.  .  .  .  He  speaks  the  language  of  the  country 
very  well.  Often  in  that  flat  countryside,  followed  by  two  thou- 
sand, three  thousand,  six  thousand  people,  he  would  stop,  climb 
up  a  tree,  and  from  there  preach  to  the  people.t 


*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  366. 

f  Cros,  Documents  Nouveaux,  p.  405. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE    LETTERS    TO   FRANCISCO    MANSILLAS 
(1544) 

IN  this  chapter  are  gathered  together  the  simplest  and  in 
some  ways  the  most  interesting  of  all  Xavier's  letters, 
those  which  he  wrote  in  1544  to  Francisco  Mansillas.  Only 
as  great  a  man  as  Xavier  could  have  given  to  a  creature  so 
evidently  insignificant  as  Mansillas  such  a  wealth  of  love 
and  care  as  these  letters  reveal.  It  was  probably  a  love 
which  had  been  born  of  pity,  but  it  was  none  the  less  real  for 
that. 

Francisco  Mansillas,  as  we  know,  was  one  of  the  two 
companions  who  had  left  Lisbon  along  with  Xavier.  He 
was  a  Portuguese,  and  no  scholar.  Later,  Xavier  had  to  dis- 
miss him  for  disobedience.  There  are  no  records  left  which 
bear  witness  in  any  way  to  his  worth  or  charm,  if  we  except 
the  never-despairing  commendations  of  the  Saint.*  And  if 
Xavier  himself  at  last  despaired,  he  held  his  own  counsel  on 
the  subject,  and  has  left  us  no  bitter  words  about  benefits 
forgot,  or  man's  ingratitude. 

Most  of  these  letters  explain  themselves,  and  need  little 
comment.  Cros  has  called  them  a  "  sort  of  journal  of  Apos- 
tolic solicitudes,"  Brou  says  of  them  that  they  are  "  precious 
above  all  the  others."  Mansillas  had  at  least  the  grace  to 
treasure  them,  and  leave  them  to  the  Company  of  the  Name 
of  Jesus. 

These  letters  belong,  of  course,  chronologically,  to  the 
preceding  chapter,  but  we  have  followed  Cros'  example, 
and  collected  them  together  by  themselves. 

"  May  the  grace  and  love  of  Christ  our  Lord  help  and 
favour  us  always. 

"  Most  Dear  Brother, 

ic  I  am  very  anxious  to  know  your  news.     Do  by  the 

*  One  might  add  that  his  evidence  at  the  process  before  the  canonisation 
of  Xavier  has  more  sobriety  and  reality  than  most  of  the  others  (see  Mon. 
Xav.,  vol.  ii.  p.  366). 


192  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

love  of  Jesus  Christ  give  me  very  lengthy  news  of  yourself 
and  your  companions.  When  I  arrive  at  Manapar,  I  will 
let  you  know.  Remember  those  things  which  I  gave  you  in 
writing,  and  pray  God  that  He  may  give  you  plenty  of  patience 
to  deal  with  your  people  ;  and  reckon  that  you  are  in  Pur- 
gatory purging  your  sins,  and  that  God  does  you  a  great  favour 
in  purging  your  sins  here  in  this  life. 

"  Tell  Joao  d'Artiaga  that  the  Captain  has  written  me 
that  he  gave  him  10  crowns  for  me,  and  that  I  have  written 
to  the  Captain  that  neither  you  nor  JoSo  d'Artiaga  nor  I 
need  money  till  he  comes  from  Piscaria,  and  that  he  must 
return  the  money  to  the  Captain,  for  I  have  written  to  the 
Captain  that  it  would  be  returned  at  once.  And  if  the 
Captain  has  a  money-order  for  you  from  the  Governor, 
d'Artiaga  could  buy  an  interpreter  with  the  money  :  but 
if  the  money  is  not  sent  officially,  tell  him  to  return  it  at  once 
to  the  Captain. 

"  Our  Lord  give  you  grace  to  serve  Him,  and  as  much  as 
I  wish  for  myself. 

From  Punicale,  23rd  Feb.  1544. 

"  To  Joao  d'Artiaga  I  don't  write,  for  this  letter  goes  for 
you  and  for  him. 

"  Your  very  dear  brother, 

"  FRANCISCO." 

The  Joao  d'Artiaga  referred  to  above  had  formerly  been 
a  soldier,  but  at  this  time  he  acted  as  one  of  Xavier's  assistants 
in  Cape  Comorin.  His  enthusiasms,  unfortunately,  did  not 
last  long. 

From  the  Saint's  suggestion  that  d'Artiaga  might  buy  an 
interpreter,  we  see  that  he  was  untroubled  by  the  problem 
of  slavery.  In  another  letter  he  advises  the  College  in  Goa 
to  buy  a  slave  to  help  the  lay  brothers  to  keep  the  garden. 
Some  of  his  contemporaries  had  already  seen  that  the  system 
was  a  disastrous  one.  See  p.  164. 

"  Very  dear  Brother  in  Christ, 

"  I  am  very  pleased  with  your  letters.  I  beseech  you  to 
behave  toward  your  people  as  a  good  father  with  bad  sons. 
Do  not  weary  on  account  of  the  many  evils  you  see.  God, 
though  they  so  greatly  offend  Him,  does  not  kill  them, 
although  He  has  the  power  to  kill  them,  nor  let  them  be 


THE  LETTERS  TO  FRANCISCO  MANSILLAS    193 

deprived  of  all  needful  for  their  maintenance,  although  He 
has  the  power  to  remove  the  things  that  maintain  them. 

"  Do  not  weary.  You  are  gaining  more  fruit  than  you 
think.  And  if  you  do  not  do  all  you  wish,  be  content  with 
what  you  do,  for  the  fault  is  not  yours.  I  am  sending  you  a 
bailiff  who  will  serve  till  I  come.  I  will  give  him  a  fan&o  for 
every  woman  he  catches  drinking  arrack.  And  more,  she 
may  be  imprisoned  three  days.  Have  this  proclaimed  all 
over  the  place.  Tell  the  village  headmen  that  if  I  know 
that  more  arrack  is  drunk  henceforward  in  Punicale,  they 
will  have  to  pay  dearly  for  it. 

"  Tell  Matthew  [a  young  native  interpreter  who  accom- 
panied Mansillas  and  helped  with  the  singing]  to  be  a  good  boy, 
and  I  will  do  him  more  good  than  his  own  relatives  would. 
Before  I  come,  make  these  village  headmen  change  their  ways. 
Otherwise  I  shall  have  to  send  them  all  prisoners  to  Cochin, 
and  they  will  not  return  to  Punicale.  They  are  the  cause  of 
all  the  evils  done  there. 

"  Be  very  diligent  in  baptizing  new-born  children.  Teach 
the  children  as  I  have  recommended,  and  on  Sundays  teach 
the  prayers  to  all,  with  a  little  preachment.  Forbid  the 
pagodas  [this  word  is  used  for  images  as  well  as  for  temples] 
to  be  made.  Keep  that  letter  which  Alvaro  Fogaza  sent 
me  till  I  come.  God  our  Lord  give  you  as  much  comfort 
in  this  life  and  in  the  next  as  I  desire  for  myself. 

44  Manapar,  14th  March,  1544. 

"  Your  very  dear  Brother  in  Christ." 

'l  Very  dear  Brother  in  Christ, 

"  I  was  much  comforted  that  you  wrote  how  comforted 
you  were  [text  is  defective  here]  ....  Since  God  remembers 
you,  remember  Him,  and  do  not  weary  of  going  on  and 
persevering  in  what  you  have  begun.  Give  thanks  always  to 
God,  because  He  chose  you  for  so  great  a  task  as  yours  is. 
I  do  not  wish  to  burden  you  with  any  more  than  I  gave 
you  in  that  Memorandum.  Remember  me,  for  I  never  forget 
you.  Tell  Matthew  to  be  a  good  boy,  and  I  will  be  a  good 
father  to  him.  Watch  him  well.  Tell  him  to  speak  out 
on  Sundays  what  you  say  to  him,  that  all  may  hear  him, 
loud  enough  for  us  to  hear  him  in  Manapar  !  Let  me  know 
the  news  of  the  Christians  in  Tuticurim,  if  the  Portuguese 
who  stayed  there  did  them  any  injuries,  and  if  there  is 


194  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

news  of  the  Governor — if  he  is  coming  to  regulate  things  at 
Cochin. 

"  Here  a  great  thing  for  the  service  of  God  is  coming  out. 
Pray  to  the  Lord  God  that  this  may  develop.  I  pray  you 
earnestly  to  behave  very  lovingly  with  these  people,  I  mean 
with  the  most  eminent  people,  and  then  with  all  the  folk. 
If  the  folk  love  you  and  get  on  well  with  you,  you  will  do 
great  service  to  God.  Learn  to  forgive  their  weaknesses  very 
patiently.  Put  it  to  yourself  that  if  they  are  not  good  now, 
they  will  be  some  day.  And  if  you  don't  accomplish  with  them 
all  you  wish,  be  content  with  what  you  can.  I  do  so. 

"  The  Lord  God  be  always  with  you,  and  give  us  His  grace 
that  we  may  always  serve  Him. 

"  March  20th,  1544. 

"  Your  Brother  in  Christ." 

"  Very  dear  Brother  in  Christ, 

44 1  could  never  finish  writing  of  my  desire  to  go  along 
your  Coast.  I  assure  you  that  the  truth  is  that  if  I  could 
find  a  boat  to  take  me  to-day,  I  should  go  at  once.  Just 
now  three  heathen  came  to  me,  men  of  the  king,  with  com- 
plaints that  in  Patanao  a  Portuguese  had  seized  a  messenger 
of  the  Prince,  Iniquitibirim,*  carried  him  a  prisoner  to 
Punicale,  and  said  that  from  there  he  must  take  him  to 
Tuticurim.  When  you  know  the  facts,  write  to  the  Captain 
about  it.  If  the  Portuguese  is  there,  whoever  he  may  be, 
he  is  to  let  him  go  at  once.  If  this  heathen  owes  him  any- 
thing, let  him  [the  Portuguese]  come  before  the  Prince  to 
demand  justice.  He  must  not  stir  up  the  country  more 
than  it  is  stirred  up.  It  is  because  of  things  like  this  that  we 
are  not  making  more  progress.  If  not  [i.e.,  if  the  man  is 
not  released],  in  my  opinion  I  cannot  go  to  see  the  king. 
The  people  are  angry  that  they  are  thus  dishonoured  and 
seized  in  their  own  land.  This  was  never  done  in  the  time 
of  the  Pulas  [the  native  princes].  I  do  not  know  what  to  do — 
except  that  we  should  not  lose  more  time  in  living  among 

*  Iniquitibirim,  the  Rajah  of  Travancore.  His  real  name  was  Udaya- 
Marthauda-Varna,  but  Xayier,  hearing  him  called  "  Ennaku-tamburan," 
i.e.t  "  our  King,"  thought  this  his  proper  name  and  wrote  it  out  Iniquitibirum 
(with  many  variations).  The  kings  of  Travancore  were  at  this  time  among 
the  most  powerful  of  the  Indian  rulers,  and  were  known  as  the  Grand  Rajahs. 
Their  dominion  extended  over  Tinnevelly,  from  Cape  Comorin  to  Punicale  or 
Tuticorin. 


THE  LETTERS  TO  FRANCISCO  MANSILLAS    195 

people  [that  is,  the  Portuguese]  who  take  no  heed.  All  this 
is  from  want  of  punishment.  If  those  who  went  to  steal  that 
little  boat  had  been  punished,  the  Portuguese  would  not 
do  what  they  are  doing  now.  It  will  not  be  surprising  if 
the  Prince  does  some  harm  to  the  Christians  because  his 
servant  has  been  seized. 

"  Write  to  the  Captain  how  much  I  have  suffered  about  the 
seizure  of  the  Prince's  servant.  I  will  not  write  again,  for 
these  people  say  they  h  a  v  e  to  do  ill,  and  that  no  one  must 
say  an  ill  word  or  hinder  them.  If  the  man  whom  the  Portu- 
guese seized  is  in  Tuticurim,  go  at  once  for  the  love  of  God  to 
wherever  the  Captain  is,  and  get  him  set  free.  And  let  the 
Portuguese  come  here  to  demand  justice.  For  just  as  it 
would  seem  bad  if  a  heathen  went  to  where  the  Portuguese 
are,  and  then  seized  a  Portuguese,  though  the  Captain  was 
there,  and  brought  him  to  terra  firme  [the  Portuguese  forts 
were  generally  on  islands],  so  it  seems  bad  to  them  that  a 
Portuguese  should  seize  a  man  in  their  district  and  carry  him 
to  the  Captain,  when  they  have  courts  of  justice  of  their 
own,  and  we  are  in  a  state  of  peace.  If  you  are  not  able  to 
go,  send  Paulo  Vaz  with  your  letter  to  the  Captain. 

"  I  assure  you  that  the  suffering  I  have  endured  has  been 
such  as  I  do  not  know  how  to  describe.  May  our  Lord  give 
us  patience  to  put  up  with  such  unreasonable  injustice.  You 
must  write  me  at  once  what  happens  about  this  servant  of 
the  Prince,  and  if  it  is  true  that  a  Portuguese  seized  him,  and 
why,  and  if  he  took  him  to  Tuticurim.  And  write  about  the 
servants  and  how  much  this  people  resent  this  seizure  in  their 
own  country  ;  and  what  is  said  about  us.  For  if  this  be  the 
truth,  I  have  made  up  my  mind  not  to  go  to  the  king  Iniquiti- 
birim. 

"  In  order  to  get  out  of  earshot  of  such  things,  and  also  to 
go  where  I  desire,  to  the  Land  of  the  Priest  [Prester  John, 
i.e.,  to  Abyssinia],  where  you  can  serve  God  our  Lord  without 
anyone  to  persecute  you,  I  have  a  great  mind  to  get  a  native 
boat  in  Manapar  here,  and  go  to  India  without  more  delay. 

"  Our  Lord  give  you  His  help  and  grace. 

"  Manapar,  21st  March,  1544. 

"  Your  very  dear  Brother  in  Christ." 

.-•-  ?    i 

There  are  usually  just  one  or  two  friends  at  most  to  whom 
a  man  writes  in  this  mood  of  simple  abandon,  and  the  choice 

N2 


196  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

is  often,  as  here,  arbitrary  and  inexplicable.  Why  did 
Xavier  reveal  himself  to  Mansillas  in  these  moods  of  de- 
spondency as  to  no  one  else  ?  We  cannot  tell.  Only  we 
are  not  surprised  that  he  was  disheartened  :  the  knowledge 
that  a  man's  worst  foes  are  of  his  own  country  and  his  own 
faith  is  hard  to  bear. 

"  Very  dear  Brother, 

"  I  am  greatly  pleased  with  your  news  and  with  your 
letter,  and  to  see  the  fruit  you  are  gaining.  God  give  you 
force  always  to  persevere  from  good  to  better. 

"  I  cannot  stop  feeling  within  my  soul  the  injuries  which 
heathen  and  Portuguese  alike  are  doing  to  the  Christians, 
and  no  wonder.  I  am  already  so  accustomed  to  see  the 
wrongs  done  to  the  Christians,  and  yet  not  be  able  to  help 
that  it  is  a  bruise,  which  I  have  always  with  me.  I  have 
already  written  to  the  Vicar  of  Coulam,  and  to  the  Vicar 
of  Cochin  about  the  slaves  whom  the  Portuguese  stole  at 
Punicale  (see  previous  chapter,  p.  187),  that  they  may  learn 
by  means  of  the  great  excommunications  who  the  thieves 
were  [i.e.,  that  the  vicars  might  by  use  or  threatening  of  the 
greater  excommunication  come  to  know  who  were  the 
thieves].  I  sent  this  message  three  days  ago,  as  soon  as  I 
got  the  headman's  letter. 

"  Give  Matthew  everything  necessary  for  his  clothing. 
Be  hospitable  to  him  that  he  may  not  leave  you,  now  that 
he  is  freed.  Treat  him  very  lovingly,  for  so  I  did  when  he 
was  with  me,  that  he  might  not  leave  me. 

44  In  the  Creed,  when  you  say  enquevenum,  instead  of 
-venum  say  -vichuam,  for  venu  means  /  will,  and  vichuam 
means  /  believe.  It  is  better  to  say  /  believe  in  God  than  to 
say  /  will  in  God  [quero  in  Port,  means  I  will,  I  desire,  love, 
like].  Do  not  say  vao  pinale,  because  it  means  by  force,  and 
Christ  suffered  voluntarily,  and  not  by  force. 

"  When  you  come  from  Piscaria  visit  the  sick,  making 
some  of  the  children  say  the  prayers,  as  in  the  Memorandum 
I  gave  you.  And  finish  up  by  reading  part  of  a  Gospel 
yourself.  Always  deal  very  lovingly  with  your  people,  and 
do  your  best  that  they  may  love  you.  I  should  be  greatly 
pleased  to  know  that  they  do  not  drink  arrack,  nor  make 
pagodas  [or  images],  and  come  every  Sunday  to  the  prayers. 
If  at  the  time  they  became  Christians  there  had  been  anyone 


THE  LETTERS  TO  FRANCISCO  MANSILLAS    197 

to  teach  them,  as  you  now  teach  them,  they  would  have 
been  better  Christians  than  they  are. 

"  27th  March,  1544." 
"  Very  dear  Brother, 

"  I  was  greatly  pleased  with  your  coming  to  visit  the 
Christian  villages,  as  I  told  you,  and  I  am  more  pleased  with 
the  great  fruit  which  everybody  tells  me  you  gained.  I 
expect  to-day  or  to-morrow  a  message  from  the  Governor. 
If  it  is  as  I  expect,  I  will  not  fail  to  arrive.  I  will  direct 
myself  toward  you,  for  I  am  most  anxious  to  see  you,  though 
I  see  you  always  in  spirit. 

"  Joao  d'Artiaga  goes,  dismissed  by  me,  full  of  temptations 
without  knowing  them.  He  does  not  take  the  road  to  know 
them.  He  says  he  will  go  to  Combuture*  to  teach  that 
village,  so  as  to  be  near  you.  I  believe  little  in  his  plans, 
for,  as  you  know  well,  he  is  very  fickle.  If  he  comes  near 
you,  don't  waste  much  time  with  him. 

"  I  have  written  already  to  the  Captain  to  provide  you 
with  what  is  necessary.  I  also  told  Manoel  da  Cruz  to  lend 
you  money  as  often  as  you  have  need,  and  he  has  promised 
me  to  do  so,  with  very  good  will. 

"  Take  good  care  of  your  health,  since  with  it  you  serve  the 
Lord  God  so  well.  Tell  Matthew  from  me  to  serve  you  well. 
If  you  are  content  with  him,  he  has  in  me  father  and  mother. 
If  he  is  not  very  obedient  to  you,  I  don't  wish  to  see  him  nor 
watch  over  him.  Give  him  what  is  necessary  for  his  clothing. 

"  In  the  villages  where  you  go,  make  the  men  meet  one  day 
in  one  place,  and  the  women  another  day  in  another  place. 
And  make  them  say  the  prayers  in  every  house.  Baptize 
those  who  are  not  baptized,  children  and  adults  alike.* 

"  Our  Lord  help  and  guard  you  always. 

"  Manapar,  8th  April,  1544." 

4  Very  dear  Brother  in  Christ, 

"  I  am  most  anxious  to  see  you.  Please  God  that  it  will 
be  soon.  Yet  every  day  I  do  not  fail  to  see  you  in  spirit, 
which  you  do  also.  So  we  are  continually  with  each  other. 
By  the  love  of  God  write  me  your  news  of  all  the  Christians, 

*  The  rest  of  the  sentence  is  obscure  and  untranslatable  : — fazendo  esta 
conta  :  que  se  alguma  nova  for  ao  molin£,  que  va  ao  molinao  donde  ha  esta  agoa. 
The  words  in  italics  seem  to  be  a  corruption  of  a  proverb,  which  some  reader 
may  recognise  and  elucidate.  The  Editor  of  the  Mon.  Xav.  says  this  part 
of  the  sentence  "  nullum  sensum  habet." 


198  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

how  you  are.  Write  very  circumstantially.  I  expect  the 
chief  of  Travancore  this  week  without  fail,  for  so  he  has 
written  to  me.  I  hope  in  God  that  some  service  to  God  will 
be  done.  I  will  let  you  know  all  that  happens  that  you  may 
give  thanks  to  the  Lord  God.  I  have  already  written  to  the 
headmen  about  the  ramada.*  It  seems  that  it  would  be  well 
for  the  women  to  go  to  Church  on  Saturday  mornings,  as  they 
go  at  Manapar,  and  the  men  on  the  Sundays.  Do  about  this 
as  you  think  best.  When  you  need  to  write  to  the  Captain, 
let  it  be  in  time  that  he  may  provide  you. 

"Let  me  know  where  Joao  d'Artiaga  is,  and  if  he  serves 
God,  for  I  fear  me  much  that  he  will  not  persevere  in  serving 
Him.  He  is  very  mutable,  as  you  know.  The  Father  and 
I  are  well.  Tell  Mathew  to  be  a  good  boy,  and  to  speak 
loud,  and  to  say  in  good  style  what  you  say.  When  I  come, 
I  will  give  him  something  that  will  greatly  please  him.  Write 
me  if  the  children  come  to  prayers,  and  how  many  know 
them.  Write  me  at  length  about  everything  by  the  first 
messenger  who  comes. 

44  Livar,  23rd  April,  1544." 

"  Very  dear  Brother  in  Christ, 

"  To-day,  the  first  of  May,  I  got  a  letter  from  you,  which 
brought  me  such  comfort — I  could  never  finish  writing  how 
much.  For  let  me  tell  you  that  I  had  constant  fever  for 
four  or  five  days.  I  was  bled  twice.  Now  I  am  better.  I 
hope  in  God  to  go  to  see  you  in  Punicale  next  week.  I  hope 
that  the  chief  of  Treminancor  will  come  to-day  or  to-morrow. 
When  I  get  to  you,  we  shall  talk  of  what  is  going  on  here. 
Please  God  some  service  will  be  done  with  which  He  may  be 
pleased. 

"  Father  Francisco  Coelho  sends  you  two  hats.  And 
since  we  shall  see  you  soon,  I  say  no  more,  but  that  God  our 
Lord  give  us  His  holy  grace  with  which  we  may  serve  Him." 

44  Nao,  1st  May,  1544." 


44  Very  dear  Brother  in  Christ, 

44  God  knows  how  much  better  I  should  be  pleased  to  be 
a  few  days  with  you  than  to  stay  on  in  Tuticurim.     But  it  is 

*  A  church  made  of  ramos,  i.e.  branches,   a  wattle-built  church.      See 
Mow.  Xav.9  vol.  i.  p.  945. 


THE  LETTERS  TO  FRANCISCO  MANSILLAS    199 

necessary  to  be  here  for  some  days  to  pacify  the  people. 
Since  this  is  so  useful  to  our  Lord,  I  console  myself  with 
being  where  I  can  best  serve  God  our  Lord. 

"  I  beseech  you  not  to  fret  yourself  with  those  trouble- 
some people  on  any  account.  When  you  have  a  lot  of 
engagements,  and  can't  discharge  them  all,  comfort  yourself 
by  doing  what  you  can.  And  give  many  thanks  to  the 
Lord  that  you  are  in  a  place  where  the  many  engagements 
come  to  you,  and  all  in  the  service  of  the  Lord  God,  and  keep 
you  from  being  idle,  even  if  you  wished  to  be. 

"  I  send  you  Peter.  And  as  soon  as  Antony  is  well,  which 
may  be  in  six  or  eight  days,  I  will  send  him.  I  am  writing 
to  Manoel  da  Cruz  begging  him  to  build  the  church  soon. 

"  Send  me  my  little  box  by  the  first  boat  that  comes. 
When  I  finish  affairs  here,  I  will  come  to  see  you  at  once, 
for  I  am  more  anxious  to  be  with  you  for  a  few  days  than 
you  think.  Always  when  you  have  need  of  anything,  write 
me  by  those  who  come  from  there.  Do  always  as  much  as 
you  can  to  carry  on  with  your  people  very  patiently.  When 
they  do  not  care  for  good,  exercise  the  work  of  mercy  which 
says,  Punish  him  who  needs  punishment.  Our  Lord  help  you, 
as  I  desire  Him  to  help  me. 

"  Tuticurim,  14th  May,  1544." 

"  Very  dear  Brother  in  Christ, 

"  Yes,  with  the  Lord  God's  help,  I  am  very  well.  May  it 
please  Him  Who  gave  me  my  health  to  give  me  grace  to  serve 
Him  with  it.  Let  me  know  your  news  and  of  the  Christians 
constantly,  and  hasten  to  build  the  church,  and  when  it 
is  finished  let  me  know.  Those  letters  which  I  send  to  the 
Captain  you  must  send  on  by  some  safe  and  sure  hand.  I 
recommend  to  you  earnestly  the  teaching  of  the  children. 
Baptize  very  diligently  the  new-born.  Since  the  adults 
neither  for  good  nor  for  evil  wish  to  go  to  Paradise,  at  least 
let  the  babies  who  die  after  baptism  go.  Commend  me 
much  to  Manoel  da  Cruz.  Let  Matthew  be  a  good  boy,  I 
mean,  a  good  man.  Treat  your  people  always  lovingly,  both 
them  and  the  Adigars  [agents  of  the  king  of  Travancore]. 

"  Viranao,  Dianpatarnao, 

"  22nd  June,  1544."* 

*  This  date  is  almost  certainly  a  mistake  for  June  llth.  See  Mon.  Xav., 
vol.  i.  p.  966,  and  Brou,  Vie  de  S.  Frangois  Xavier,  vol.  i.  p.  254,  note. 


200  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 


"  Very  dear  Brother  in  Christ, 

"  I  arrived  on  Saturday  afternoon  at  Manapar.  In 
Combuture"  they  gave  me  a  lot  of  bad  news  about  the  Cape 
Comorm  Christians.  The  Badages  captured  them,  and  the 
Christians,  to  save  themselves,  made  for  those  rocks  which 
lie  out  in  the  sea.  There  they  are  dying  of  hunger  and 
thirst.  To-night  I  leave  with  twenty  boats  from  Manapar 
to  relieve  them.  Pray  to  God  for  them  and  us.  Make  the 
children  especially  pray  to  God  for  us." 

These  Badages  or  men  of  the  north  were  a  wild  marauding 
tribe,  noted  for  their  swift  raiding  expeditions  on  horse- 
back. 

"  They  promised  me  at  Combuture  to  put  up  a  church  : 
Manoel  de  Lima  promised  to  give  100  janoens  to  help  the 
cost.  Go  to  Combutur6  and  give  orders  how  this  church  is 
to  be  built.  You  can  go  on  Wednesday  or  Thursday.  Next 
week,  God  willing,  you  must  visit  the  Christians  of  Punicale 
as  far  as  Alendale.  Baptize  those  who  are  not  baptized. 
Visit  the  Christians  from  house  to  house.  Baptize  babies 
with  all  diligence.  Observe  if  those  who  teach  the  children 
and  those  who  assemble  them  do  their  duty  well. 

44  Charge  Manoel  da  Cruz,  who  is  at  Combuture,  to  watch 
carefully  over  those  two  villages  of  Carean  Christians,  both 
as  to  concord  between  enemies,  and  that  they  do  not  make 
images.  Also  that  they  don't  drink  arrack,  and  that  on 
Sundays  the  men  meet  in  the  afternoon  and  the  women  in 
the  morning,  to  say  their  prayers.  If  Francisco  Coelho  is 
there,  tell  him  that  I  say  he  is  to  come  soon.  God  be  your 
guard. 

44  Manapar,  Monday,  20th  June,  1544.* 

"  I  have  paid  the  man  who  takes  this  letter  of  mine  what  I 
promised  him  to  go  to  Vacarapatam." 

44  Very  dear  Brother  in  Christ, 

44  On  Tuesday  I  arrived  at  Manapar.  God  our  Lord  knows 
the  troubles  I  had  on  the  voyage.  I  went  with  twenty  boats 
to  relieve  the  Christians  who  had  fled  from  the  Badages  to 

*  This  letter  also  is  wrongly  dated.  The  20th  of  June,  1544,  fell  on 
a  Friday,  and  the  date  evidently  should  be  16th  June  (see  Brou,  Vie  de 
S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  i.  p.  254). 


THE  LETTERS  TO  FRANCISCO  MANSILLAS    201 

the  rocks  of  Cape  Comorin.  They  were  dying  of  hunger  and 
thirst.  The  wind  was  so  contrary  that  neither  by  rowing  nor 
by  towing  could  we  reach  the  Cape.  When  the  wind  fell  I 
went  back  again,  and  did  what  was  possible  to  help  them. 
It  was  the  most  pitiful  thing  in  the  world  to  see  those  wretched 
Christians  in  such  trouble.  A  lot  of  them  come  each  day 
to  Manapar.  They  arrive  robbed  and  needy,  and  have 
neither  food  nor  clothing.  I  wrote  to  the  headmen  of  Com- 
buture,  Punical,  and  Tuticurim  to  send  some  alms  for  the 
unhappy  Christians,  but  not  to  take  anything  from  the  poor. 
Let  the  small  ship-masters  who  wish  to  give  of  their  own  will, 
give.  But  nobody  is  to  be  forced.  Do  not  allow  anything 
to  be  taken  from  the  poor,  for  so  I  write  to  the  headmen.  I 
don't  expect  any  virtue  from  them.  Do  not  allow  any  alms 
to  be  taken  forcibly  from  anyone,  poor  or  rich.  Hope  is  in 
God  rather  than  in  the  headmen. 

"  Do,  I  beseech  you,  write  at  length,  if  the  church  at 
Combuture  is  now  made,  if  Manoel  de  Lima  gave  the 
100  fanoens,  and  how  you  got  on  in  your  visitation,  and  if  the 
children  are  taught  in  those  villages.  I  paid  all,  and  do  not 
know  what  is  done  in  my  absence.  Write  me  of  everything 
very  fully,  for  I  wish  to  have  news  of  you  and  of  your  village. 
I  was  eight  days  at  sea,  and  you  know  well  what  it  is  to  be  in 
those  small  boats  with  such  strong  winds  as  we  had. 

44  Manapar,  30th  June,  1544." 

With  a  good  wind  they  should  have  made  the  journey  in 
one  day.  Mansillas  said  later  in  the  Cochin  Process  that  the 
most  wretched  of  the  victims  were  gathered  together  at 
Manapar,  and  that  Francis  himself  went  from  village  to 
village  begging  help  for  them.  During  the  whole  of  July  he 
does  not  seem  to  have  found  time  even  to  write  to  Mansillas. 
The  next  letter  is  dated  August  1st. 

:t  Very  dear  Brother  in  Christ, 

"  Our  Lord  be  continually  your  guard  and  give  you 
abundant  strength  to  serve  Him.  I  was  greatly  pleased 
with  your  letter  which  they  gave  me  .  .  .  [words  wanting 
in  MS.]  .  .  .  your  diligence  in  watching  over  these  people 
that  the  Badages  may  not  catch  them  napping. 

11 1  went  the  Cape  road  by  land  to  visit  those  unhappy 
Christians  who  came  fugitiye  and  robbed  from  the  Badages, 


202  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

It  was  the  most  pitiful  thing  in  the  world  to  see  them.  Some 
had  nothing  to  eat,  others,  old  men,  could  not  walk,  numbers 
of  the  women  were  confined  on  the  road,  and  many  other 
moving  sights  there  were.  If  you  had  seen  them,  as  I  saw 
them  myself,  you  would  have  more  pity.  I  sent  those  poor 
people  to  Manapar,  and  now  there  are  a  lot  of  needy  folk 
here.  Pray  the  Lord  God  to  move  the  hearts  of  the  rich  that 
they  may  have  pity  on  these  poor  people. 

"  I  hope  to  go  to  Punicale  on  Wednesday.  Watch  care- 
fully over  your  people  till  those  Badages  go  to  their  own 
country.  Tell  Antonio  Fernandez  the  Fat,  and  the  other 
headmen  of  Old  Gael,  that  I  command  them  not  to  rebuild 
Old  Gael ;  if  they  do,  they  will  pay  me  dear  for  it.  Remember 
me  to  Manoel  da  Cruz  and  to  Matthew. 

44  Manapar,  1st  Aug.,  1544." 

"  Very  dear  Brother  in  Christ, 

"  God  always  with  you  [sic],  I  was  very  pleased  with 
part  of  your  letter.  I  was  pleased  to  see  the  comfort  you 
had  in  your  visitation.  But  I  was  very  sorry  about  your 
tribulation.  I  shall  be  sorry  till  the  Lord  God  frees  you  to  us 
[by  delivering  them  from  the  Badages].  Tribulations  are  not 
lacking  to  us.  Praised  be  God. 

"  I  have  sent  word  to  the  Father  [one  of  the  auxiliary 
priests]  to  launch  the  boats  in  the  sea,  all  through  these 
villages,  and  to  embark  before  it  is  too  late.  For  it  seems 
to  me  certain  that  they  [the  Badages]  must  surprise  you  and 
capture  the  Christians,  as  we  are  told  that  they  will  certainly 
come  to  the  shore.  I  got  this  news  from  a  judge  who  is 
friendly  to  the  Christians.  I  sent  a  man  to  this  judge, 
who  is  a  favourite  of  the  king  Iniquitibirim,  with  a  letter 
to  the  king.  I  wrote  that  since  he  was  friendly  with  the 
Governor  he  should  not  allow  the  Badages  to  do  us  harm, 
for  the  Governor  would  be  very  displeaesd  if  any  harm  came 
to  the  Christians.  The  judge,  who  is  my  friend,  and  who 
loves  me  because  I  am  so  friendly  to  the  Christians  of  the 
coast,  came  to  see  and  help  me,  as  he  has  a  lot  of  Christian 
relatives.  I  wrote  to  him  that  he  might  advise  me  as  to 
what  was  happening,  and  let  me  know  when  they  come  to 
the  shore,  that  we  might  have  time  to  withdraw  together 
to  the  sea. 

"  I  have  written  already  to  the  Captain  to  send  a  small 


THE  LETTERS  TO  FRANCISCO  MANSILLAS    203 

warship  to  guard  your  people  and  you.  Make  your  people 
keep  a  strong  watch  on  the  mainland.  The  Badages  come 
at  night,  on  horseback,  and  take  us  before  we  have  time  to 
embark.  Look  carefully  after  the  people,  for  they  have 
so  little  sense  that  to  save  two  fanoens  they  would  give  up 
setting  a  watch.  Make  them  launch  all  the  ships  at  once, 
and  put  their  goods  into  them.  And  make  the  women  and 
children  say  the  prayers,  now  more  than  ever,  for  we  have 
none  to  help  us  but  God. 

"  Send  me  the  paper  which  remains  in  the  box.  I  have 
nothing  to  write  on.  Send  this  to  me  at  once  by  a  coolie 
(culle).  Let  me  know  any  news ;  if  the  boats  are  launched, 
and  the  goods  placed  in  them,  and  how  they  get  on  with  this. 
Tell  Antonio  Fernandez  the  Fat  from  me  to  watch  carefully 
for  the  people,  if  he  wishes  to  be  my  friend.  These  people 
[Badages]  do  not  make  the  poor  wretches  prisoners,  except 
those  who  can  be  ransomed.  Above  all,  make  them  keep 
good  watch  at  night,  and  have  their  spies  on  the  mainland. 
I  have  great  fear  that  with  this  moonlight  they  may  come 
by  night  to  this  shore  and  rob  the  Christians.  Therefore 
command  them  to  watch  carefully  at  night.  Our  Lord  be 
your  guard. 

"  Manapar,  3rd  Aug.,  1544." 

"  Very  dear  Brother  in  Christ, 

"  This  morning  I  wrote  you  that  you  should  strengthen 
your  people  in  that  tribulation,  and  have  so  much  charity 
as  to  let  me  know  any  certain  news  from  Tuticurim.  I*m 
afraid  that  some  harm  may  come  to  those  poor  Christians 
from  the  cavalerias  from  Tuticurim." 

This  reference  to  the  cavalerias  from  Tuticurim  is  a  dark 
one.  The  Portuguese  Captain,  Cosmo  de  Pavia,  had  just 
come  from  Tuticurim,  officially  to  protect  the  Paravas, 
but  really  to  look  after  his  own  interests,  which  were  inti- 
mately bound  up  with  the  Badages.  He  was  in  the  habit 
of  buying  and  selling  their  fine  horses  for  the  increase  of  his 
private  fortune.  These  are  evidently  the  cavalerias  to  which 
Xavier  here  refers,  and  to  which  he  refers  more  explicitly 
in  a  later  letter  (see  p.  208). 

i4  This  people  is  more  afraid  than  I  can  say.  It  never 
struck  me  as  a  good  plan  to  forsake  them,  so  do  not  go  away 


204  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

with  Joao  d'Artiaga  till  the  country  is  free  from  those 
Badages  persecutions.  Do  let  me  know  at  once  when  you 
have  certain  news. 

44  Iniquitibirim  sends  a  Brahmin  with  the  Captain's 
interpreter  to  settle  [terms  of]  peace  with  your  people.  I  do 
not  know  what  they  will  do.  They  are  here  in  Manapar, 
and  leave  at  once  by  sea.  Please  write  me  very  detailed 
news  of  the  Portuguese  of  Tuticurim,  as  soon  as  you  know, 
to  relieve  my  great  anxiety.  Tell  me  if  any  Portuguese  are 
wounded  or  killed,  and  also  about  the  Christians.  As  for 
your  going,  we  shall  see,  or  I  shall  write  you  after  this  fury  of 
the  Badages  is  past.  Our  Lord  be  always  with  you.  Amen. 

44  Manapar,  19th  Aug.,  1544. 

*4  Just  now  I  have  got  a  letter  from  Guarim,  in  which  your 
very  dear  brother  lets  me  know  that  the  Christians  have  fled 
into  the  jungle,  and  that  the  Badages  have  plundered  them. 
They  have  killed  a  Christian  and  a  heathen.  From  all  parts 
we  have  bad  news.  Praised  be  the  Lord  God  for  ever." 

44  Very  dear  Brother, 

44  God  be  with  you  always,  Amen.  By  the  saying  of  the 
Lord,  He  who  is  not  with  me  is  against  me,  you  can  see  how 
many  friends  we  have  in  these  parts  who  help  us  to  make  this 
people  Christian  !  Let  us  not  despair.  God  gives  to  each 
his  pay  at  last.  If  He  please,  He  can  be  served  by  few  as 
by  many.  For  those  who  are  against  God  I  have  rather 
pity  than  any  desire  for  their  punishment,  for  at  the  last 
God  punishes  His  enemies  heavily,  as  we  can  see  by  those 
who  are  in  hell.  This  Brahmin  goes  with  a  dispatch  from  the 
Badages  to  king  Betibumal.  For  the  love  of  God  order  a  boat 
at  once  to  take  him  to  Tuticurim.  Let  me  have  the  news  of 
Tuticurim,  of  the  Captain  and  the  Portuguese  and  the 
Christians,  for  I  am  very  anxious.  Commend  me  much  to 
Joao  d'Artiaga  and  to  Manoel  da  Cruz.  Tell  Matthew  not  to 
weary,  that  he  is  not  working  in  vain,  that  I  will  do  better  for 
him  than  he  thinks.  Our  Lord  be  always  with  you.  Amen. 

44  Manapar,  20th  Aug.,  1544. 

44  For  the  love  of  God,  help  this  Brahmin  with  everything 
for  his  journey,  and  say  to  the  Captain,  at  least  to  do  him 
honour. 

"  Your  very  dear  brother  in  Christ." 


THE  LETTERS  TO  FRANCISCO  MANSILLAS    205 

"  Very  dear  Brother  in  Christ, 

"  God  help  you  always.  Amen.  Let  me  know  when 
your  district  will  be  safe  from  the  Badages,  so  that  without 
harm  to  your  people  I  can  send  them  Francisco  Coelho  in 
your  stead.  Then  you  could  go  and  do  great  service  to 
God  by  baptizing  those  of  the  village  of  Carea,  and  the 
Careas  of  Beadala,*  and  the  Mundaliar  [native  magistrate]." 

At  this  point  in  the  correspondence  we  are  just  beginning 
to  think  that  things  are  going  to  settle  down  a  little  at  last, 
when  suddenly  a  new  motif  is  heard  ;  the  fame  of  the  Saint 
has  been  spreading  quickly  throughout  the  islands,  and  he 
is  preparing  now  to  answer  a  new  call  from  the  oppressed 
subjects  of  the  Rajah  of  Jafnapatam,  in  Manar,  near  Ceylon, 
who  like  the  Macedonians  of  old  had  sent  a  messenger, 
saying,  "  Come  over  and  help  us."  The  letter  goes  on  : 

"  The  Captain  of  Negapatam  has  great  influence  with  the 
Rajah  of  Jafnapatam  to  whom  the  islands  of  Manar  belong. 
He  will  have  the  duty  of  helping  their  relations  with  the 
Rajah.  When  your  district  is  safe  from  the  Badages, 
send  the  boat  to  me  at  once  that  I  may  send  you  at  once 
Francisco  Coelho  with  money  and  letters  and  a  note  of  what 
you  have  to  do  in  Manar.  I  commend  our  Brother  Jo&o 
d'Artiaga  greatly  to  you.  Write  me  of  all  of  which  he  has 
need  that  I  may  provide  it,  as  that  is  only  right.  Here  I 
am  going  alone  among  this  people  without  interpreter. 
Antonio  remained  in  Manapar  ill ;  Rodrigo  and  Antonio 
are  my  interpreters.  So  you  can  see  the  life  I  am  leading 
and  the  sort  of  exhortations  I  can  make.  They  do  not  under- 
stand me.  I  understand  them  less.  [The  gift  of  tongues 
with  which  Xavier  has  so  often  been  accredited  would  have 
been  handy  here.]  Here  you  can  see  the  discourses  I  make 
to  these  people.  [Does  this  last  sentence  mean  that  he 
gesticulated  so  much  that  his  preaching  was  seen  rather 
than  heard  ?]  I  baptize  the  new-born  babies,  and  others 
whom  I  find  ready  for  baptism.  There  is  no  need  of  an 
interpreter  for  this.  The  poor  make  me  understand  their 
needs  without  an  interpreter ;  and  I  by  seeing  them  under- 
stand without  an  interpreter.  For  the  chief  things  I  have 

*  These  people  are  now  known  as  the  Kadeyers  or  Karaiyans,  a  class  of 
Tamil  fishermen  or  boatmen. 


206  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

no  need  of  one.  The  Badages  who  were  in  these  parts  are 
already  gone  to  Cabrecate.  This  district  is  now  secure 
against  them.  The  people  of  the  land  are  doing  what  harm 
they  can  till  things  are  settled  by  Iniquitibirim. 

44  Punical,  31st  Aug.,  1544. 

"  I  leave  to-night  for  Tale,  where  there  are  many  poor 
people." 

By  the  "  people  of  the  land  "  Xavier  probably  means  the 
Adigars,  agents  of  the  king  of  Travancore,  to  whom  he  refers 
again  in  the  next  letter.  Mansillas  has  evidently  been 
complaining  of  them. 

"  Very  dear  Brother  in  Christ, 

"  This  Prince  of  Tale,  a  nephew  of  Iniquitibirim,  is  so 
much  our  friend  that  at  once,  when  he  heard  of  the  wrongs 
which  the  Adigars  had  inflicted  on  the  Christians,  he  sent 
off  his  servant  with  a  letter  which  commanded  them  to  allow 
all  the  victuals  to  go  from  the  mainland,  and  ordering  these 
Adigars  to  show  kindness  to  the  Christians,  and  that  they 
should  tell  him  the  names  of  the  Adigars  and  give  them  to 
me,  so  that  if  I  went  to  the  king  I  could  tell  him  the  truth  of 
what  happened  there. 

44  As  this  servant  of  the  prince  goes  for  the  good  of  the 
Christians,  see  that  the  headmen  do  him  great  honour  and 
pay  for  his  trouble,  for  that  is  just.  What  they  spend  on 
women-dancers  is  wasted  money,  and  would  be  much  better 
spent  on  such  things,  for  it  is  right  and  supplies  all  the  folk. 
Give  you  him  something,  too,  so  that  with  the  better  will  he 
may  tell  the  Adigars  not  to  do  them  more  harm,  but  to  do 
them  good. 

44  Let  me  know  if  it  is  true  that  a  Portuguese  carried  off 
a  servant  of  the  Prince  prisoner  to  Tuticurim,  and  why.  I 
wrote  you  before  at  length  about  this  case.  If  it  be  true,  it 
seems  to  me  that  it  would  be  better  to  remain  than  to  go 
to  see  the  king.  The  people  make  the  case  look  very  ugly. 
They  resent  greatly  the  taking  of  the  prince's  man.  He  did 
much  honour  to  Father  Francisco  Coelho,  and  did  his  best 
for  the  advantage  of  these  Christians.  To  do  them  more 
honour,  he  made  four  men  of  Manapar  headmen,  without 
imposing  any  tax  on  the  folk,  as  used  to  be  customary  in  the 
time  of  the  Pulas  [native  princes].  From  other  villages  he 


THE  LETTERS  TO  FRANCISCO  MANSILLAS    207 

made  three  headmen,  without  anything.  To  do  honour  to 
the  Father,  who  went  to  see  him,  he  brought  a  great  proces- 
sion from  those  villages. 

"  For  the  love  of  God  write  to  the  Captain  from  me  that  I 
pray  him  earnestly  to  do  me  the  favour,  throughout  all  this 
month  of  September,  not  to  command,  nor  allow,  any  harm 
to  be  done  to  the  heathen  of  the  Great  King's  country.  They 
are  all  very  much  our  friends.  As  far  as  the  Christians  are 
concerned,  it  is  superfluous  to  ask  them  to  do  no  harm.  If 
I  have  to  go  to  see  this  king,  I  should  accomplish  the  going 
and  coming  and  leaving  for  Cochin  all  in  this  month,  and  I 
wish  that  during  this  time  there  should  be  no  complaints 
to  the  King  about  any  thing  against  us. 

"  Write  me  by  your  own  hand  why  you  wrote  that  you 
could  not  write  without  our  seeing  each  other.  If  there  is  any- 
thing of  great  importance  and  service  to  God,  which  I  could 
remedy,  whether  affairs  of  the  Captain  and  the  Portuguese 
or  of  the  Christians,  I  would  not  for  anything  go  to  Iniqui- 
tibirim,  at  Cochin,  without  trying,  if  possible,  to  put  your 
troubles  right. 

"  Manapar,  2nd  Sept.,  1544." 

In  the  above  letter  the  references  to  the  miserable  Portu- 
guese Captain  are  dark  and  inexplicit,  but  in  the  following 
letter  Xavier's  wrath  is  more  thinly  veiled.  "  Do  not  allow 
those  poor  people  to  die  for  Betibumal  and  his  horses,"  he 
says. 

The  position  of  the  native  Christians  in  these  districts 
had  become  an  almost  impossible  one.  The  unconverted 
heathen  looked  on  them  very  often  with  hatred  and  sus- 
picion, because  Christianity  was  the  religion  of  the  Portu- 
guese invaders,  and  the  Portuguese,  in  whom  the  converts 
naturally  expected  to  find  friendship  and  sympathy,  were 
represented  by  such  men  as  this  Captain. 

"  I  am  very  anxious  about  the  Christians  of  Tuticurim, 
as  they  are  destitute  of  anyone  to  look  after  them.  For  the 
love  of  our  Lord,  let  me  know  at  once  what  happens.  If 
you  see  that  it  will  serve  God,  go  with  a  lot  of  the  Combuture 
and  Punical  boats,  and  take  the  people  from  those  islands 
to  Combutur6,  Punical  and  Trincantur.  At  once  when  you 
get  this,  leave  with  all  the  Punical  boats,  ordering  those  at 
Combutur6  to  come  after  you  at  once. 


208  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

"  Don't  allow  those  poor  people  to  die  of  hunger  and  thirst 
for  love  of  Betibumal  and  his  horses.  It  would  be  reckoned 
better  to  the  Captain,  if  he  looked  after  the  Christians  and  not 
after  Betibumal  and  his  horses.  From  here  I  send  a  letter  to 
the  headmen  of  Punieal  and  Combuture,  in  which  I  order 
them  to  make  themselves  and  their  boats  ready  at  once  to  go 
with  you  to  fetch  the  Christians  of  Tuticurim,  who  are  dying 
of  hunger  and  thirst  in  those  islands. 

"  If  you  think  it  will  be  needful  for  you  to  go  and  send  for 
those  people,  give  the  letter  to  the  headmen,  and  go  to 
relieve  them.  But  if  you  think  it  is  not  necessary,  do  not 
go  ;  I  remit  it  altogether  to  your  judgment.  If  you  do  go, 
see  that  the  boats  take  water  and  victuals. 

"  Our  Lord  be  always  with  you.  Amen.  Let  me  know 
how  Manoel  da  Cruz  and  Matthew  are,  whom  I  left  dis- 
consolate. 

44  5th  Sept.,  1544." 


In  the  following  letter  we  see  how  Xavier  treats  his  enemy 
in  distress  : 

"  Sad  news  they  give  me  of  the  Captain.  They  have 
burnt  his  ship  and  houses.  He  has  withdrawn  to  the  islands. 
For  the  love  of  God,  go  at  once  with  all  your  people  from 
Punieal,  taking  all  the  water  that  all  the  boats  can  carry.  I 
write  very  strongly  to  the  headmen  to  go  at  once  with  you 
to  see  the  Captain,  and  to  take  plenty  of  water,  and  plenty 
of  boats  to  carry  the  people. 

44  If  I  thought  that  the  Captain  would  like  my  going,  I 
would  go,  and  you  could  remain  at  Punieal.  But  he  wrote 
me  a  letter  in  which  he  told  me  that  he  could  not  write  without 
making  a  very  great  scandal,  of  the  harm  I  had  done  him. 
God  and  all  the  world  knows  what  he  could  not  write  with- 
out scandal — I  don't  know  how  he  would  be  pleased  to  see 
me.  For  this  and  for  other  reasons  I  don't  go  to  him. 
I  write  to  the  headmen  of  Combuture  and  Vunbembar  to 
go  at  once  with  all  the  boats,  and  carry  water  and  victuals. 
For  the  love  of  God  do  it  quickly,  for  you  see  the  Captain  and 
all  those  Christians  are  in  great  distress.  For  the  love  of 
God  do  it  very  very  quickly. 

4t  Alendale,  5th  Sept.,  1544." 


THE  LETTERS  TO  FRANCISCO  MANSILLAS    209 

"  God  give  us  His  most  holy  grace,  for  in  this  country  we 
have  no  other  help  but  His.  I  was  in  Tiruchendur  on  my  way 
to  Varivandiao  to  visit  the  Christians,  as  I  did  in  Alendale, 
Pudicurim,  and  Trichantur.  They  have  great  need  of  being 
visited.  When  on  the  point  of  leaving  I  got  news  that  the 
country  was  rising  because  the  Portuguese  had  carried  off  a 
brother-in-law  of  Betibumal,  and  so  they  [the  natives]  may 
carry  off  the  Christians  of  Cape  Comorin. 

"  I  am  writing  to  Father  Francisco  Coelho  that  I  am  on  the 
point  of  leaving  for  the  place  where  the  Cape  Comorin  Christians 
are,  for  if  I  am  not  there  much  harm  is  likely  to  come  to 
them.  Besides,  he  has  written  to  me  that  a  prince,  nephew 
of  Iniquitibirim,  had  arrived  (to  settle)  about  those  miserable 
people,  and  would  be  doing  them  a  lot  of  harm  if  I  was  not 
there.  He  wrote  further  that  Iniquitibirim  was  sending  me 
a  letter  with  three  or  four  of  his  servants  who  remained  worn 
out  at  Manapar.  In  his  letters  he  asked  me  to  go  there  to  see 
him.  He  is  very  anxious  to  talk  with  me  about  things  very 
important  to  him.  It  seems  to  me  that  he  has  great  need  of 
the  Governor's  favour,  inasmuch  as  the  native  princes  are 
very  prosperous  and  have  plenty  of  money.  And  it  seems 
to  me  that  it  is  feared  that  the  native  princes  do  not  give  so 
much  money  to  the  Governor  in  order  that  he  may  help 
them. 

44  Iniquitibirim  writes  me  further :  that  the  Christians 
are  safe  in  his  lands,  and  that  he  will  show  them  hospitality. 
I  am  leaving  at  once  to-night  for  Manapar,  and  from  there, 
for  love  of  the  Christians  of  Tuticurim  and  Bembar,  and  that 
they  may  be  safe  in  the  country  of  the  Great  King,  I  will  go 
to  see  Iniquitibirim  and  arrange  with  him  how  they  may  be 
safe  in  his  country. 

"  Set  the  right  way  about  getting  those  Christians  of 
Tuticurim  who  are  dying  on  yonder  islands  to  come  to 
Combuture  and  Punical.  Write  me  full  details  of  their 
affairs,  and  especially  how  the  Captain  and  the  Portuguese 
are.  If  you  can  find  time  to  visit  the  Christians  of  Com- 
buture and  the  Careas  and  those  of  Thome  da  Molta  village, 
and  those  near  Patanoa,  I  should  be  greatly  pleased.  I 
know  they  are  in  great  need  of  being  visited.  I  should  like 
much  to  visit  those  places. 

44  Borrow  100  fanoens  from  your  friend  Manoel  da  Cruz  of 

o 


210  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

Punical,  for  teaching  the  children.  Spend  it  in  paying  for 
those  who  teach  the  children,  inquiring  from  them  what  I 
used  to  pay  them.  In  this  you  will  do  great  service  to  God. 
A  man  is  coming  to  you  from  here — a  fine  fellow,  I  think, 
and  anxious  to  serve  God.  Show  him  hospitality,  till  I 
return  from  Iniquitibirim.  If  you  think  he  will  serve  God, 
leave  him  there.  Write  fully  at  once  by  a  barber  about  your 
affairs,  for  I  am  very  anxious  about  both  Portuguese  and 
Christians.  Our  Lord  give  us  more  rest  in  the  other  life  than 
we  have  in  this. 

"  Tiruchendur,  7th  Sept.,  1544." 

"  Dearest  Brother  in  Christ, 

"  I  could  never  end  writing  how  pleased  I  was  with  your 
letter,  for  I  was  very  anxious  about  the  Captain  and  all  the 
other  people.  Our  Lord  be  always  with  them,  as  I  wish 
that  He  may  be  with  me.  On  Tuesday,  two  hours  before 
morning,  I  sent  Father  Francisco  Coelho  to  speak  with  the 
prince  at  Talla,  two  leagues  from  Manapar.  The  prince, 
Iniquitibirim's  nephew,  received  him  very  well.  It  seemed 
to  me  necessary  to  send  him  to  visit  so  that  this  district 
might  be  left  in  peace,  as  it  was  almost  half  in  insurrection. 
He  says  that  Betibumal  goes  by  sea  in  great  haste  to  the  king 
to  fight  against  Iniquitibirim. 

"  I  sent  him  also  to  order  the  Adigars  to  allow  the  fetching 
of  rice  and  victuals.  On  Tuesday  after  midday  I  got  your 
letters,  and  at  once  sent  a  man  with  a  letter  to  Father  Fran- 
cisco Coelho,  who  is  with  the  Prince,  bidding  him  send 
letters  ordering  the  Adigars  of  this  country  to  allow  victuals 
to  go  to  Punicale,  and  that  the  Christians  should  show  them 
hospitality." 

The  unfortunate  Parava  Christians  are  no  sooner  begin- 
ning to  recover  from  the  Badagar  invasion  than  those  tax- 
gatherers  of  the  Rajah  of  Travancore,  the  Adigars,  begin  to 
put  cruel  pressure  on  them  again.  Whether  they  did  so 
with  the  approval  of  their  master,  to  whom  Xavier  refers  as 
the  Great  King,  and  who  always  professed  much  friendship 
towards  the  Saint,  or  not,  is  impossible  to  say.  But  we  can 
see  from  these  letters  how  Xavier  himself,  as  the  most  dis- 
interested representative  of  justice  in  the  southern  districts 


THE  LETTERS  TO  FRANCISCO  MANSILLAS    211 

of   Portuguese   India,    was    acquiring   a   very   considerable 
authority  of  his  own. 

As  for  the  next  phrases  in  this  letter,  we  might  hardly 
notice  them,  but  they  are  very  significant,  for  they  record 
Xavier's  forgiveness  of  the  Portuguese  Captain,  and  his 
desire  to  be  on  friendly  terms  with  the  man  who  had  caused 
him  so  much  suffering  and  bitter  disillusionment,  and  had 
wrecked  the  happiness  of  so  many  of  his  hard-won  converts. 
Here  we  see  a  great  saint  very  meekly  forgiving  a  great 
sinner.  Later  letters  show  that  the  Captain  had  disregarded 
those  approaches.  They  were  pearls  flung  in  a  pig-stye. 

"  I  should  like  to  leave  this  shore  in  peace  somehow  or 
other  before  quitting  it  to  go  to  Iniquitibirim,  and  from  there 
going  prudently  to  oppose  the  Adigars.  I  will  write  to  the 
Captain  to-morrow.  I  cannot  just  now  on  account  of  this 
man's  great  haste. 

"  I  expect  Francisco  Coelho  to-night.  To-morrow  I  will 
write  you  more  fully.  Remember  me  to  Paulo  Vaz.  Tell 
Matthew  that  I  am  writing  to  Manoel  da  Cruz  to  give  him 
twelve  fanoens  which  he  asked  me  for  his  father,  and  a  poor 
brother  he  has.  When  the  Father  Francisco  Coelho  comes, 
I  will  write  you  very  fully. 

44  Our  Lord  unite  us  in  His  kingdom. 

"  Manapar,  10th  Sept.,  1544." 

ic  Very  dear  Brother  in  Christ, 

44  Antonio  is  still  ill,  and  cannot  serve  me.  Send  me  at 
once  Antonio  Parava  to  Manapar,  for  I  need  him  to  do  the 
cooking  [obviously  this  means  the  cooking  for  the  refugee 
Christians].  When  I  arrive  at  Iniquitibirim's  .  .  .  [text 
defective].  Pray  God  for  me.  Tell  the  children  to  remember 
in  their  prayers  to  pray  God  for  me. 

44 1  will  write  Manoel  da  Cruz  a  letter  to  give  you  a  hundred 
fanoens  for  the  instruction  of  the  children. 

14  Tuticurim,  20th  Sep.,  1544." 

c  When  I  arrived  in  Manapar,  and  was  just  leaving  to  go 
to  Aleixo  de  Sousa's,  two  Nairs  arrived  [men  of  the  ruling  and 
military  caste]  with  a  letter  from  a  Portuguese.  He  writes 
me  that  he  is  waiting  in  Bearime  and  has  a  letter  from  a 
Comptroller  of  Revenue  and  certain  dispatches  for  me.  So 

02 


212  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

I  am  forced  to  go  and  see  Iniquitibirim.  ...  I  go  the  Cape 
Comorin  road  by  land.  I  shall  visit  the  Christian  villages 
and  baptize  the  babies. 

"  On  Monday,  or  when  you  think  best,  I  should  be  pleased 
if  you  visited  Tuticurim  Christians  .  .  .  [text  defective]. 

"  I  commend  me  to  your  prayers  and  those  of  the  children. 
With  such  help  I  have  no  fear  of  the  fears  these  Christians  put 
into  me.  They  say  not  to  go  by  land,  for  all  who  wish  ill  to 
these  Christians  wish  much  worse  to  me.  I  am  so  sick  of  life 
that  I  count  it  more  worth  while  to  die  in  the  attempt  to 
help  our  religion  [ley]  and  faith  than  see  such  wrongs  as  I 
have  seen  without  being  able  to  help  or  prevent  them.  I 
am  sorry  for  nothing  but  that  I  was  not  in  a  better  position 
[to  deal  with]  those  whom  you  know,  who  so  cruelly  injure 
God. 

44  Manapar,  10th  Nov.,  1544. 

44 1  leave  at  once  for  Pudicare  and  Father  Francisco  Coelho 
goes  to  visit  the  Christians  at  Atapanoa." 

In  November  two  native  priests  were  sent  to  Xavier  by  the 
Bishop  of  Goa,  and  he  was  able  to  leave  them  at  the  Cape  and 
go  on  to  Travancore,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  previous  chapter. 
On  the  18th  of  December  he  writes  to  Mansillas  : 

"  On  Dec.  16th  I  arrived  in  Cochin.  Before  I  arrived  I 
baptized  all  the  Machuas  fishermen  who  live  in  the  kingdom  of 
Travancore.  God  knows  how  pleased  I  should  be  to  go  back 
at  once  to  finish  baptizing  the  rest.  But  the  Vicar-General 
thinks  it  is  a  greater  service  to  God  to  go  to  the  Governor  to 
deal  with  the  punishment  of  the  Rajah  of  Jafnapatam  (see 
pp.  216-18). 

44 1  shall  leave  here  for  Cambay  in  two  or  three  days  in  a 
very  well  fitted  brigantine.  I  hope  to  return  very  quickly 
with  all  the  dispatch  consistent  with  the  service  of  the  Lord 
God. 

44  The  Lord  Bishop  will  not  go  to  Cochin  this  year.  The 
Vicar-General  [Miguel  Vaz]  leaves  this  year  for  Portugal. 
I  hope  in  God  that  he  will  return  very  quickly.  Diogo  is  in 
St.  Paul's  [the  college].  He  was  very  anxious  to  go.  He 
and  Micer  Paulo  are  well,  and  all  at  the  College.  I  got  news 
from  Portugal  from  a  number  of  letters  which  came  to  me 
from  there.  I  see  your  licence  to  be  ordained  a  priest,  with- 


THE  LETTERS  TO  FRANCISCO  MANSILLAS    213 

out  your  having  a  patrimony  or  benefice.  It  seems  to  me 
that  you  have  no  need  of  this  licence,  for  the  Lord  Bishop  will 
ordain  you  without  a  licence  as  he  ordained  the  Fathers 
Manoel  and  Caspar.  They  are  in  Cochin  so  that  they  may 
go  on  to  you,  to  join  in  the  work  there.  Neither  the  ships 
nor  two  of  our  companions  [text  bad]  have  arrived  up  to  now, 
I  think  they  will  be  wintering  in  Mozambique  or  have  put 
back  to  Portugal.  One  of  them  is  Portuguese  and  the  other 
Italian.  The  king  writes  very  highly  of  these  two  Portuguese 
of  ours.  Please  God  that  they  reach  you  safely.  I  know 
neither  of  them.  They  were  not  among  those  we  left.  There 
are  more  than  60  students  of  our  Company  in  the  University 
of  Coimbra.  The  many  good  things  they  write  to  me  of 
them  is  a  matter  of  great  thanks  to  God  our  Lord.  Almost 
all  are  Portuguese,  which  pleases  me  greatly.  Of  the  Com- 
panions of  Italy  I  hear  very  good  news,  but  as  I  hope  we  shall 
see  each  other  within  a  month,  and  I  shall  show  you  all  the 
letters,  I  say  no  more. 

"  Whenever  you  get  this  letter,  for  the  love  and  service  of 
God  our  Lord  I  pray  you  earnestly  to  make  yourself  ready 
to  go  and  visit  the  Christians  of  the  Travancore  shore  whom 
I  have  just  baptized.  In  each  place  set  up  a  school  to  teach 
the  boys  [bad  text]  ...  up  to  150  fanoens.  In  all  these 
places  of  the  coast  leave  pay  for  those  who  teach  the  boys 
up  to  Pescaria  Grande.  Ask  the  Captain  for  money  for  your 
expenses. 

"  In  Manapar  take  a  boat  up  to  the  village  of  Carea.  Go 
to  Momchuri,  where  there  are  Machuas :  they  are  not  bap- 
tized :  the  place  is  about  a  good  league  from  Cape  Comorin. 
Baptize  them,  for  they  have  asked  for  it  repeatedly,  and  I 
could  not  go.  Antonio  Fernandez,  a  Malabar  Christian,  will 
go  in  a  brigantine  and  try  to  find  you  and  remain  with  you 
till  the  baptism  of  those  who  remain  is  finished.  He  is  a 
very  fine  man,  and  zealous  for  God's  honour.  He  knows  the 
people.  He  knows  well  how  we  ought  to  deal  with  them. 
Do  what  he  tells  you,  without  hindering  him  in  anything.  I 
did  so,  and  I  always  got  on  well.  I  beseech  you  that  you  do 
the  same. 

"  Take  Matthew  with  you,  and  the  bailiff  who  went  with  me 
from  Viranoa  to  Patanoa,  and  your  '  boys  '  [servants]  and  a 
canacapole,  \?ho  can  write,  that  the  written  prayers  may  be 
left  in  each  place  .  .  .  [text  defective].  Pay  this  canacapole 


214  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

with  the  king's  money,  which  the  Captain  will  give  you  for 
this  purpose.  * 

"  Give  Father  Joao  de  Licano  the  charge  of  baptizing  and 
teaching. 

"  Francisco  Mendez  is  in  a  hurry,  so  I  do  not  write  you  more. 
May  our  Lord  always  help  you,  as  I  wish  that  He  may  help 
me. 

"  Cochin,  18th  Dec.,  1544. 

"  Your  very  dear  Brother  in  Christ. "f 

*  Teixeira  (Vita,  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  ii.  p.  852)  explains  who  were  the  canaca- 
poles  :  "  He  (Xavier)  then  and  here  gave  a  beginning  to  the  order  of  the 
Canacapoles,  who  are  in  that  coast,  and  by  whom  our  Lord  is  so  well  served, 
and  souls  so  helped,  and  who,  if  it  were  possible,  were  a  necessity  in  all  new 
Christianity.  .  .  .  Seeing  himself  alone  almost,  in  that  great  coast,  where 
there  were  so  many  Christian  villages,  to  which  he  could  not  go  ...  he  chose 
in  each  village  one  or  two  Christians  of  the  most  intelligent  in  matters  of  the 
faith,  of  the  best  life  and  conscience,  and  taught  them  the  form  and  mode  of 
baptizing,  giving  them  orders  to  baptize  when  necessary  .  .  .  these  are  those 
who  now  in  each  village  have  charge  of  the  church,  and  are  as  sacristans  of  it, 
and  baptize  in  extreme  need,  and  teach  the  doctrine  twice  daily,  in  the  morning 
to  the  boys  and  in  the  afternoon  to  the  girls,  and  publish  the  banns  .  .  .  they 
keep  a  list  of  the  births,  etc.,  etc." 

|  The  text  of  these  letters  is  in  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  310  ff. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

CEYLON,  NEGAPATAM  AND  SAN  THOME^ 
(1545) 

[N   December,    1544,    Xavier   went   north   to   Coulam   and 
Cochin  to  arrange  with  the  authorities  there  for  the  official 

>rotection  and  favour  which  he  had  promised  to  his  new 
>n verts.     He  evidently  meant  to  return  to  the  Cape  as 

>oon    as    those    arrangements    were    made,    but    in    Cochin 
got  news  of  a  great  massacre  of  native  Christians  in 

"eylon.  The  situation  was  difficult  and  complicated,  but 
ivier  tackled  it  immediately.  His  first  step  was  to  inter- 
view the  Governor  of  India,  who  was  at  that  moment  far 
north  in  the  Gulf  of  Cambay.  The  Saint  embarked  in  a  catur, 
a  swift  native  boat,  and,  after  a  short  pause  at  Goa,  in  order 
to  arrange  for  missionaries  to  carry  on  his  work  at  the  Cape, 
he  reached  the  Governor,  and  gave  him  a  resume  of  the  state 
of  affairs  in  Ceylon.  It  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  get  a 
clear  idea  of  the  details  of  the  situation,  but  we  can  trace 
abundant  material  for  tragedy,  and  we  know  that  the  tragedy 
was  enacted. 

When,  in  1518,  the  Portuguese  first  landed  in  Ceylon,  they 
unconsciously  invaded  a  region  sacred  alike,  though  for 
different  reasons,  to  Hindoos,  Brahmins  and  Mussulmans.  So 
from  the  first  they  had  been  particularly  unwelcome  there. 
Nor  were  they  the  only  invaders.  Tamils  had  already 
crossed  from  the  mainland,  the  island  was  divided  up  into 
petty  kingdoms,  and  there  was  a  constant  competition  for 
these  little  thrones,  and  perpetual  war  between  Mussulmans, 
Cingalese  and  Tamils.  Politically,  the  moment  of  their 
invasion  was  an  opportune  one  for  the  Portuguese,  for  they 
came  upon  a  country  divided  against  itself.  A  fort  was  built 
at  Colombo,  and  Franciscan  monks  preached  the  Gospel  of 
peace.  It  would  take  an  experienced  reader  of  the  detective 
school  of  literature  to  follow  the  tale  of  intrigue  between  the 
various  petty  kings  and  their  rivals  and  the  Portuguese 
government.  Commonly,  the  native  bribe  was  the  promise 
to  become  a  Christian,  made  by  the  intriguing  king  on  behalf 


216  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

of  himself  or  the  heirs  for  whom  he  wished  to  secure  the 
protection  of  the  white  men. 

In  1545  the  king  of  Jafnapatam  emerges  before  us,  a 
sinister  and  hated  figure,  a  man  who  had  succeeded  to  his 
crown  by  murdering  his  master,  and  who  kept  himself  in 
affluence  by  secret  and  illegal  tradings  with  the  Portuguese 
commander  at  Negapatam,  over  on  the  mainland.  He  was 
especially  loathed  by  his  subjects  on  the  island  of  Manar. 
This  tribe  had  heard  rumours  of  the  coming  of  the  Saint  to 
the  Paravas,  and  of  his  life  among  them,  and  they  sent  over 
messengers  who  came  to  the  new  disciples  like  the  Greeks  of 
old,  saying  :  "  We  would  see  Jesus."  Xavier  had  sent  them 
a  native  priest,  and  he  had  made  six  hundred  converts.  But 
the  king  of  Jafnapatam  feared  that  open  dealings  with  the 
Portuguese  would  spoil  his  secret  dealings  with  the  Portu- 
guese commander,  so  he  gave  the  six  hundred  converts  their 
choice  between  a  return  to  idolatry  and  martyrdom.  They 
chose  the  latter.  A  few  months  earlier  neither  they  nor  their 
teacher,  who  died  with  them,  had  ever  heard  of  the  Christian 
faith.  It  is  a  striking  incident.* 

In  the  passion  of  his  righteous  anger,  Xavier  allowed  him- 
self to  be  caught  into  the  whirlpool  of  local  intrigue.  The 
brother  of  the  murderer,  who  had  himself  brought  the  story 
to  Xavier,  offered  to  become  a  Christian  if  the  Portuguese 
would  place  him  on  the  throne.  The  promise  appealed  to 
Francis,  who  was  always  anxious  to  be  as  wise  as  the  children 
of  this  world.  But  he  failed,  as  the  children  of  light  are  so 
apt  to  do  when  they  tread  the  debatable  ground  between 
religion  and  politics.  He  forgot,  or  was  ignorant  of,  a  more 
reasonable  claimant  who  was  already  a  Christian.  Sousa 
seems  also  to  have  been  ignorant  of  this  other  prince,  and  he 
sent  Xavier  off  to  Negapatam  with  full  authority  to  put  the 
offending  rajah  to  death,  and  establish  this  new  Christian 
brother  in  his  place.  Xavier  set  out  cheerfully  on  his  mission, 
and  in  full  confidence  he  wrote  that  the  prayers  of  the  martyrs 
of  Manar  would  bring  their  murderer  to  a  sense  of  his 
sins,  and  to  true  penitence,  before  he  laid  his  head  on  the 
block.f 

And  the  Saint's  hopes  for  this  new  field,  so  richly  sown 
with  the  blood  of  the  martyrs,  was  immense.  With  lightning 

*  See  Tursellinus,  Book  II.,  cap.  12, 
f  Man.  Xav.t  vol.  i.  p.  369. 


CEYLON,  NEGAPATAM  AND  SAN  THOME      217 

speed  he  returned  from  Cambay  to  Cochin,  wrote  his  letters 
for  the  home-going  mails,  and  proceeded  round  the  coast  to 
Negapatam. 

This  batch  of  letters  was  to  produce  a  great  impression  in 
Europe.  The  news  they  carried  was  sensational  enough. 
At  Travancore,  in  a  few  weeks,  ten  thousand  converts ;  in 
Ceylon,  hundreds  of  native  martyrs.  The  rector  of  the 
college  at  Coimbra  wrote  :  "  The  letters  of  Master  Francis 
have  just  come  in.  We  are  all  deeply  touched.  If  I  could 
send  every  man  in  this  college  out  to  India  I  would  do  it  at 
once."  *  King  John  commanded  that  twelve  new  mission- 
aries should  be  sent  out  that  year.  It  was  after  all  but  a 
small  response  on  his  part  to  the  solemn  and  prophetic 
charges  which  Francis  had  made  to  him. 

The  letter  to  Loyola  is  one  long  appeal  for  more  helpers 
in  the  fields  that  are  so  heavy  with  harvest.  And  Francis 
is  so  eager  for  help  of  any  kind  that  he  too  carelessly,  as  he 
afterwards  realised,  discounts  high  intellectual  and  religious 
qualifications. 

"  Men  who  have  no  talent  for  confessing,  preaching,  or 
doing  the  like  for  the  Company  could,  after  having  completed 
their  Exercises  and  having  served  some  months  in  humble 
duties,  do  much  service  in  these  parts,  if  they  had  bodily 
strength  as  well  as  spiritual.  For  in  these  heathen  districts 
learning  is  not  necessary,  except  to  teach  the  prayers  and 
visit  and  baptize  the  children.  ...  I  say  that  they  must 
have  bodily  strength  because  this  district  is  very  trouble- 
some on  account  of  the  great  heat  and  the  lack  of  good 
water.  There  is  little  for  bodily  sustenance  ;  indeed,  only 
rice,  fish,  and  fowls.  .  .  .  They  [the  men  who  come  out] 
must  be  healthy  and  not  delicate,  able  to  stand  the  constant 
labours  of  baptizing,  teaching,  walking  from  place  to  place 
.  .  .  but  they  must  go  through  dangers,  remembering  they 
were  born  to  die  for  their  Redeemer  and  Lord,  and  therefore 
they  must  have  spiritual  strength.  And  because  I  have  not, 
and  walk  where  I  have  much  need  of  it,  I  pray  you  to  have 
special  remembrance  of  me.  And  those  who  have  talent 
either  for  confessing  or  for  giving  the  Exercises,  though 
they  have  not  the  physique  to  bear  other  troubles,  you 

«*%*  Epistolce  Mixtce,  vol.  i.  p.  231,  quoted  bv  Broil,  Vie  de  S.  Franfois  Xavier, 
vol.  i.  p.  290. 


218  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

should  send  too,  for  they  can  go  to  Goa  or  Cochin,  where 
they  will  do  much  service  to  God.  .  .  . 

"It  is  four  years  since  I  left  Portugal.  All  this  time  I 
have  got  only  a  few  letters  from  you  from  Rome,  and  two 
from  Master  Simon  from  Portugal.  I  wish  every  year  to 
know  your  news  and  of  all  the  Company  in  detail.  I  know 
well  that  you  write  each  year  as  I  do,  but  I  fear  me  that  as 
I  do  not  get  your  letters,  you  may  not  get  mine."  * 

Meanwhile,  the  open  door  in  Ceylon  which  the  Manar 
massacre  so  abruptly  slammed  had  been  locked  and  bolted. 
Xavier  arrived  at  Negapatam  with  dispatches  from  Sousa, 
authorising  the  overthrow  of  the  wicked  Rajah  of  Jafnapatam, 
to  discover  that  the  whole  matter  was  evidently  being  hushed 
up  as  effectively  as  possible.  Instead  of  finding  the  Portu- 
guese commander  eagerly  waiting  for  him  with  a  fleet  pre- 
pared and  ready  to  avenge  the  martyrs,  as  he  had  expected, 
he  found  himself  coldly  received,  and  all  his  proposals  and 
those  of  the  Governor  pushed  aside.  What  had  happened  ? 
An  incident  which  Thomas  Hardy  would  call  one  of  the 
ironies  of  fate.  A  Portuguese  ship,  richly  laden  with  cargo, 
had  run  ashore  on  the  Ceylon  coast,  and  the  Rajah  of  Jafna- 
patam had  seized  it  and  announced  that  he  would  keep  it 
for  a  surety,  in  case  of  any  revenge  being  taken  upon  him  for 
the  murder  of  the  Christians.  The  Portuguese  commander 
at  Negapatam  had  evidently  a  good  share  in  this  valuable 
cargo,  so  he  found  it  convenient  to  forget  the  martyrs. 
Xavier  was  hopelessly  baffled ;  the  arduous  work  of  many 
weeks  had  come  to  nothing,  and  all  chances  of  establishing 
the  faith  in  Ceylon  blotted  out.  It  must  have  been  one  of 
the  most  bitter  and  humiliating  moments  of  his  life. 

None  of  his  letters  evince  such  strong  disgust  toward  the 
Portuguese  Government  as  that  written  at  this  time  to 
Rodriguez : 

"  Do  not  allow  any  friend  of  yours  to  come  to  India  in  the 
employment  and  service  of  the  king,  for  it  can  truly  be  said 
of  them  (i.e.,  the  king's  officers) : 

"  Let  them  be  blotted  out  of  the  book  of  life, 

"  And  not  be  written  with  the  righteous. 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  362. 


CEYLON,  NEGAPATAM  AND  SAN  THOME      219 

"  .  .  .  .  Wrong-doing  has  become  so  usual  that  no  one 
is  at  all  troubled  by  it.  Everyone  takes  the  same  road — 
rapio,  rapis.  And  I  am  terrified  to  see  how  many  moods 
and  tenses  and  participles  of  this  wretched  verb  those  who 
come  here  can  invent."  * 

It  is  not  likely  that  he  blamed  himself  for  having  used 
the  dubious  weapons  of  political  diplomacy.  He  had  done 
so  before,  and  he  would  do  so  again.  But  these  weapons 
were  sharpened  to  other  uses  than  his.  It  was  that  which 
revolted  and  angered  him.  He  thought  it  possible  to  have  a 
political  organisation  whose  sole  end  would  be  the  coming  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.  To  the  last  this  great  Saint  was 
also  a  man  of  the  world  and  a  diplomatist.  These  may  have 
been  the  stains  upon  his  garments,  but  he  never  washed  them 
out.  Later,  from  Japan,  we  find  him  writing  a  singular 
letter  to  Simon  Rodriguez  in  Lisbon.  The  Spaniards  had 
been  coming  from  Nueva  Espana  to  Japan.  Apparently  he 
thinks  this  is  not  for  the  greater  glory  of  God.  So  he  wishes 
them  to  be  told  that  the  voyage  is  very  dangerous  on  account 
of  reefs  in  the  sea,  and  that  all  the  Spaniards  have  been  lost. 
Even  if  they  got  there  it  would  do  them  no  good,  as  the 
Japanese  were  very  bellicose  and  covetous,  and  would  take 
them  all.  And  the  country  was  sterile,  and  they  could  not 
be  supplied,  and  so  would  die  of  starvation.  And  the 
Japanese  would  kill  them  all. 

Xavier  says  all  this  to  Simon  in  Portugal,  who  is  to  tell  the 
King  and  Queen,  and  they  are  to  discharge  their  conscience 
by  telling  the  Emperor  Charles  not  to  send  ships  to  Japan. 
Besides  pleasing  his  Portuguese  friends  in  the  East,  he  must 
have  known  it  would  please  the  Court  in  Portugal  to  see  this 
letter,  and  might  bring  him  some  helpers  and  money.  Other- 
wise he  could  just  as  well  have  sent  the  letter  direct  to 
Spain.  And,  of  course,  the  voyage  was  dangerous,  and  the 
Spanish  route  may  have  been  especially  so.  And,  of  course, 
it  is  possible  that  some  of  Xavier's  commercial  friends  got  him 
to  write  this  letter  for  their  own  interests,  and  he  did  it 
without  thinking  much  about  it.f 

But  let  us  return  to  Negapatam.  The  account  he  gives  of 
the  fiasco  is  restrained  to  a  degree  : 

"  I  was  some  days  in  Negapatam.     Jafnapatam  has  not 
*  Mon.  Xav.t  vol.  i.  p.  375.  f  Ibid;  vol.  i.  p.  780. 


220  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

been  taken,  nor  was  that  king  who  was  to  become  a  Christian 
put  into  possession  :  it  was  not  done  because  the  king's  ship 
which  came  from  Pegu  went  ashore,  and  the  king  of  Jafna- 
patam  took  the  cargo,  and  until  they  get  back  what  he  took, 
what  the  Governor  commanded  is  not  done.  May  it  please 
God  that  it  will  be  done,  if  it  be  to  His  service."* 

One  might  have  expected  that  at  this  point  Xavier  would 
have  returned  to  his  new  converts  in  the  South  :  he  would 
probabty  have  done  so,  but  the  winds  prevented  him.  These 
were  for  him  days  of  perplexity  and  uncertainty.  "  I  do 
not  know  what  will  become  of  me,"  he  writes  to  Mansillas. 
"  May  God  our  Lord  grant  us  at  the  right  time  knowledge 
of  His  most  holy  will,  and  make  us  always  ready  to  fulfil  it 
whenever  it  is  clearly  revealed  and  made  known  to  us.  For 
to  be  good  we  have  to  be  pilgrims  in  this  life,  ready  to  go 
wherever  we  can  best  serve  God  our  Lord."t 

He  did  not  forget  his  new  converts,  though  he  did  not  go 
back  to  them. 

The  same  letter  proceeds  : 

"  I  beseech  you  not  to  tire  of  working  with  these  people. 
Preach  continually  in  all  these  places,  baptize  the  babies 
diligently,  arrange  that  the  prayers  shall  be  taught.  You 
will  get  2,000  fanoens  from  Juan  da  Cruz,  which  have  been 
collected  in  this  Fishery  coast  for  teaching  the  children  .  .  . 
do  not  settle  in  any  one  place,  but  go  continually  from  place 
to  place,  visiting  all  those  Christians  as  I  did  when  I  was 
there,  for  in  that  way  you  will  best  serve  God. 

"  And  also  make  an  account  of  the  expenses  incurred  in  the 
church  at  Manapar,  for  I  have  remitted  2,000  fanoens  to 
Diogo  Rebello,  which  Iniquitibirim  gave  to  make  churches  in 
his  district.  Father  Coelho  knows  what  has  been  spent. 
Spend  what  is  over  in  teaching  the  children.  Visit  those  who 
become  Christians  on  the  coast  of  Travancore,  and  distribute 
these  Malabar  Fathers  all  over  the  country  as  seems  best  to 
you.  Be  a  very  careful  overseer.  .  .  . 

"  I  commend  two  things  to  you  specially  :  the  first  that 
you  go  pilgriming  from  place  to  place,  baptizing  the  new- 
born and  seeing  that  the  prayers  are  very  diligently  taught : 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  382.  f  Ibid.,  p.  377. 


CEYLON,  NEGAPATAM  AND  SAN  THOME      221 

next,  that  you  inspect  those  Malabar  Fathers  who  are  not 
[words  missing]  and  punish  them.  .  .  .  Help  Cosmo  de  Paiva 
[the  Captain  referred  to  in  the  other  letters  to  Mansillas]  to 
clear  his  conscience  of  the  many  robberies  he  has  committed 
on  this  coast,  and  of  the  evils  and  homicides  his  greed  wrought 
in  Tuticurim.  More,  counsel  him,  as  a  friend  of  his  honour, 
to  return  the  money  which  he  took  from  those  who  killed 
the  Portuguese,  for  it  is  a  most  ugly  thing  to  sell  Portuguese 
blood  for  money.  I  do  not  write  because  I  have  no 
hope  of  any  improvement  [this  is  what  Xavier  says,  but 
from  the  context  he  would  appear  to  mean  :  "  It  is  not 
because  I  am  hopeless  of  his  improvement  that  I  do  not 
write  "],  and  so  tell  him  from  me  that  I  must  send  a  written 
notice  to  the  Governor  that  he  may  punish  him,  and  to  the 
Infante  Dom  Henrique  that  by  means  of  the  Inquisition  he 
may  punish  those  who  persecute  the  converts  to  our  holy  law 
and  faith.  And  so  let  him  amend  ! 

"...  Welcome  Vasco  Fernandez  who  brings  my  letter,  for 
I  hope  in  God  our  Lord  that  he  will  join  our  Company.  He 
seems  to  be  a  very  fine  lad  and  anxious  to  serve  God,  and  it 
is  right  to  favour  him.  Write  me  fully  about  yourself  and 
your  Christians  and  about  Cosmo  de  Paiva,  as  to  whether  he 
makes  amends  and  restores  what  he  took  from  the  Christians. 

"  Our  Lord  help  you  always,  as  I  wish  Him  to  help  me. 

"  From  Negapatam,  7  April,  1545. 

44  Your  Brother  in  Christ, 

44  FRANCIS."  * 

But  the  days  of  darkness  and  perplexity  were  not  ended. 
Francis  had  come  to  one  of  the  great  spiritual  crises  of  his 
life,  and  yet  the  still  small  voice  had  not  spoken.  For  the 
first  time  since  his  conversion  we  see  him  hesitating,  uncertain, 
tentative.  For  days  he  waited,  but  no  light  came.  Then  he 
felt  the  need  for  complete  loneliness  and  silence.  44 1  was 
obliged,"  he  writes,  "to  go  to  St.  Thome." 

So  the  Saint  went  on  furlough  for  five  months.  He  set  out 
for  Meliapor  by  sea  ;  but  the  ship  was  driven  back  by  tempest, 
and  he  had  to  go  on  foot.  Close  by  Meliapor,  according  to 
the  Nestorian  traditions,  were  buried  the  actual  bones  of  the 
doubting  Apostle.  A  little  heap  of  ruins  marked  his  legendary 
tomb,  and  the  Portuguese  had  built  a  church  upon  the  spot, 
*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  377. 


222  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

where  pilgrims  might  come  and  pray.  And  here  they  were 
told  how  St.  Thomas  had  lost  his  life.  One  day  when  he  was 
in  his  hermitage  in  the  wood,  and  while  he  was  praying  to  God, 
surrounded  by  a  great  flock  of  peacocks,  an  idolater  passed 
by,  and,  not  seeing  the  Saint,  sent  an  arrow  from  his  bow 
towards  one  of  the  peacocks.  But,  instead  of  hitting  the 
bird,  the  arrow  lodged  in  the  side  of  St.  Thomas,  who  there- 
upon Tery  snectly  adored  his  Creator  and  gave  up  the  ghost. 

frauds  lodged  in  the  little  clergy  house  adjoining  the 
church,  and  the  priest  in  charge  has  left  a  written  account  of 
the  visit.  They  ate  at  the  same  table,  he  tells  us,  and  often 
talked  together.  But  St.  Francis  spoke  only  of  spiritual 
things.  It  was  not  a  formal  retreat  nor  a  complete  holiday. 
Xavier  could  not  keep  himself  back,  even  then,  from  doing 
his  Master's  work.  IDs  fa^limg  and  his  holy  life,  this  priest 
tells  us,  made  a  great  change  in  the  town  of  Meliapor.  He 
turned  away  many  from  mortal  sin,  and  married  a  great 
number  of  people.  The  social  life  in  this  Portuguese  colony 
was  very  much  like  that  in  Goa.  It  was  his  habit,  Codho 
goes  on  to  say,  to  go  out  of  the  house  every  night  secretly, 
cross  the  little  garden  and  enter  the  church.  Legends  of 
resounding  blows  with  the  devil  heard  in  there,  and  of 
miraculous  flhnninations  received,  suggest  that  here  was 
Xavier's  Penud,  and  that  the  record  of  the  struggle  and  the 
victory  were  somehow  visible  upon  his  body,  and  thus 
childishly  interpreted  by  the  uninitiated,  as  these  things  so 
often  are. 

But  we  must  turn  to  his  own  letter,  which  is  written  after 
his  discovery  of  the  will  of  God. 

M  In  this  holy  house  (of  San  Thome)  I  took  it  as  a  duty  to 
occupy  myself  in  praying  to  God  our  Lord  to  grant  me  to 
know  in  my  soul  His  most  holy  will,  and  to  give  me  the 
firm  resolution  to  fulfil  it,  and  the  firm  hope  that  He  who  has 
gasem  Ae  mZZ  wUH  gax  ike  pamer  to  fulfil  iL  It  pleased  God 
to  remember  me  with  His  accustomed  mercy,  and  with  much 
interior  comfort  I  felt  and  knew  that  it  was  His  wifl  that  I 
should  go  to  those  parts  of  Malacca  where  Christians  have 
lately  been  made.  ...  if  Portuguese  ships  do  not  go  this 
year  to  Jial^rrff,  I  wffl  go  in  some  Moorish  or  heathen  ship.  I 
have  such  faith  in  God  our  Lord,  dearest  brothers,  for  Whose 
love  alone  I  make  this  journey,  that  though  no  ship  at  all  left 


CEYLON,  NEGAPATAM  AND  SAN  THOME      223 

this  coast  this  year,  and  a  catarmaran  (a  small  and  rudely 
built  native  boat)  was  leaving,  I  would  go  in  it  confidently, 
with  all  my  hope  placed  in  God.  Dearest  brothers  in  Christ, 
I  pray  you  by  the  love  and  service  of  God  our  Lord,  that  you 
remember  me  a  sinner  in  your  sacrifices  and  continual 
prayers,  commending  me  to  God. 

"  At  the  end  of  August  I  hope  to  leave  for  Malacca,  for 
the  ships  which  have  to  go  are  waiting  for  that  monsoon 
( m  o  n  g  am ) .  I  am  writing  to  the  Governor  to  send  me  a  patent 
for  the  Captain  of  Malacca  that  he  may  give  me  a  boat  and 
everything  necessary  for  going  to  the  islands  of  Maquaca. 
For  the  love  of  our  Lord  see  that  you  get  it  from  his  Lordship, 
and  send  it  on  with  this  paiamar.* 

"  Send  me  with  him  a  small  Roman  Breviary.  .  .  .  From 
Malacca  I  will  write  you  at  length,  giving  you  accounts  of 
the  Christians  that  are  made,  and  of  the  opportunities,  so 
that  you  may  provide  men  who  may  increase  our  holy  faith. 
For  since  your  house  is  called  Holy  Faith  (the  college  of  St. 
Paul  at  Goa  was  also  known  as  the  college  of  the  Holy  Faith), 
it  is  necessary  that  the  deeds  and  name  should  correspond. 
.  .  .  May  our  Lord  unite  us  in  His  holy  glory,  for  I  do  not 
know  if  we  shall  see  each  other  again  here. 

"  Meliapar,  8th  May,  1545. 

"  Your  least  brother, 

"  FRANCISCO."t 
*  A  native  messenger.  t  Mon.  Xaon  vol.  L  p.  882. 


CHAPTER  XV 

"  ISLANDS    OF   HOPE    IN    GOD  " 

(1545—1547) 

AT  the  end  of  September  1545  Xavier  arrived  in  Malacca. 
His  fame  had  preceded  him.  "  When  I  was  a  child,"  an 
old  man  said  at  the  process  of  1616,  "  I  saw  Father  Xavier 
with  my  own  eyes  land  for  the  first  time  in  Malacca.  The 
people  ran  out  from  the  harbour  to  receive  him.  They 
shouted  with  joy,  '  The  Holy  Father  is  here  !  '  " 

The  Portuguese  had  established  themselves  in  Malacca  in 
1511.  Albuquerque  captured  the  town  from  the  Moors, 
erected  forts  and  churches,  and  made  it  a  base  for  his  military 
operations  in  the  East  Indies.  But  the  town  was  not  held 
without  a  bitter  struggle.  It  was  too  valuable  a  fort  to  be 
easily  lost  or  gained.  Through  Malacca  most  of  the  trade 
from  the  Far  East  came  westward ;  it  was  the  Singapore  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  Before  the  Western  invasion  it  had  been 
the  headquarters  of  a  powerful  Malay  dynasty  which  had 
adopted  the  faith  of  Islam. 

The  harbour  was  immense,  and,  when  Xavier  arrived  there, 
was  the  rendezvous  of  many  hundreds  of  trading  vessels- 
Indian,  Arabian,  Chinese,  Levantine,  Portuguese.  Already 
the  spires  of  Christian  churches  rose  from  among  the  Eastern 
mosques  and  domes.  But  hitherto  Christianity  had  been 
little  more  than  a  part  of  the  political  equipment  of  Portugal. 
It  was  not  a  religion  which  the  invaders  from  the  West  could 
easily  proclaim  with  any  dignity  or  sincerity  as  their  own. 
In  1521  the  Spaniards,  arriving  from  the  East,  had  annexed 
the  Philippines.  Since  then  it  had  been  difficult  to  decide 
where  their  property  ended  and  that  of  the  Portuguese 
began.  Added  to  this,  there  was  a  constant  intrigue  going  on 
between  the  native  sultans  and  one  or  other  of  the  newcomers. 

On  November  10th  Xavier  wrote  to  the  Fathers  in 
Portugal  : 

"...  I  preach  every  Sunday  in  the  Cathedral,  and  I 
am  not  so  content  with  my  sermons  as  those  who  have  the 
patience  to  hear  me.  Every  day,  for  an  hour  or  more,  I 


"  ISLANDS  OF  HOPE  IN  GOD  "  225 

teach  the  children  the  prayers.  I  stay  at  the  hospital, 
confess  the  poor  sick,  say  mass  and  communicate  them.  I 
am  so  importuned  with  confessions  that  it  is  not  possible  to 
take  them  all.  My  chief  occupation  is  to  translate  the 
prayers  from  Latin  into  language  that  can  be  understood  in 
the  Macacares  :  not  to  know  the  language  is  very  trouble- 
some. .  .  . 

"  While  waiting  in  San  Thome  for  weather  to  go  to  Malacca 
I  met  a  merchant,  who  had  a  ship  with  his  merchandise,  with 
whom  I  talked  of  the  things  of  God,  and  God  taught  him 
that  there  is  other  merchandise,  in  which  he  had  never 
dealt,  so  that  he  left  ship  and  merchandise,  and  came  with 
me  to  the  Macagares,  determined  to  live  all  his  life  in  poverty, 
serving  God  our  Lord.  He  is  a  man  of  35.  He  was  a  soldier 
all  his  worldly  life,  and  now  is  a  soldier  of  Christ.  He 
commends  himself  to  your  prayers,  he  is  called  Juan  d'Eyro. 

"  When  I  got  to  Malacca  a  number  of  letters  from  Rome 
and  Portugal  were  given  me,  from  which  I  got,  and  do  still 
get,  great  comfort.  I  read  them  so  often  that  it  seems  to  me 
that  I  am  there,  or  that  you,  most  dear  brothers,  are  here, 
and  if  not  in  body  at  least  in  spirit.  .  .  . 

"  Above  all,  most  dear  brothers,  I  pray  you  by  the  love  of 
God  to  send  out  a  number  of  our  Company  every  year,  for  they 
are  needed,  and  for  going  among  the  heathen  scholarship  is 
not  necessary,  but  that  they  should  come  very  well  drilled 
in  the  Exercises.  So  I  conclude  praying  that  our  Lord  may 
grant  us  to  feel  within  our  soul  the  power  to  fulfil  and  put 
into  practice  His  will. 

"  Malacca,  10th  Nov.,  1545. 

"  Your  least  brother  and  servant, 

"  FRANCISCO."  * 

"  In  going  among  the  heathen  scholarship  is  not  necessary," 
Xavier  writes  in  this  letter.  With  regard  to  this,  experience 
was  to  teach  him  a  lesson  which  is  still  needed. 

When  in  Lisbon  he  had  urged  Loyola  to  send  him  men 
even  if  they  had  not  much  letras,  and  he  repeats  himself 
continually  along  these  lines  till  after  his  return  from  the 
Moluccas.  The  collapse  of  Francisco  Mansillas  had  probably 
modified  Xavier's  views  on  the  subject.  For  the  Saint  had 
commanded  him  to  go  out  to  the  Maluccas,  and  Mansillas  had 
*  Mow.  Xav.t  vol.  i.  p.  387. 

P 


226  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

refused.  We  have  seen  the  wealth  of  the  outpouring  of  love 
which  Xavier  had  lavished  upon  this  candidate  of  "  holy 
simplicity." 

When  we  come  to  the  documents  of  1552  we  see  how  he 
expresses  several  times  the  need  of  more  than  holy  simplicity. 
For  instance,  in  a  letter  to  Caspar  Bar  zee*  he  says  :  "  Beware 
that  you  never  receive  [i.e.,  take  into  the  Company]  persons  of 
little  ability,  judgment  and  reason,  persons  weak  and  worth- 
less." Again,  in  the  same  document,  he  says  :  "  And  don't 
receive  men  who  have  not  great  parts  "  [that  is  the  word  he 
uses,  just  as  the  Scots  talk  of  a  "  lad  o'  pairts  "]  "  and  ability 
for  our  Company,  especially  when  they  lack  learning."  And, 
again  :  "  Take  care  that  you  never  make  any  of  them  priests  ; 
since  our  Father  Ignatius  forbids  it  so  strictly,  unless  they  have 
learning  and  a  life  approved  many  years.  Look  how  many 
scandals  result  from  the  imperfect  and  unlearned  who  are 
made  priests.  Therefore  take  care  not  to  make  anyone  a 
priest  unless  he  has  sufficient  learning.  For  a  man  at  last 
shows  what  he  is  made  of."  And  to  Gaspar  also  he  says 
the  same  again  ;  he  tells  him  to  take  into  the  Company 
few  and  good,  "  for  we  see  that  they  are  worth  more,  and 
do  more,  who  are  few  and  good,  than  many  who  are  not." 
And,  again,  "  Never  ordain  into  the  Company  persons 
without  knowledge "  [sem  scienciasj.t  The  Saint's  ten 
years'  experience  in  the  East  had  convinced  him  that  he 
could  not  have  too  good  men. 

There  is  another  interesting  remark  in  his  first  letter  from 
Malacca.  "  My  chief  occupation,"  he  says,  "  is  to  translate 
the  prayers  from  Latin  into  a  language  that  can  be  understood 
by  the  Maca^eres  ;  it  is  very  troublesome  not  to  know  the 
language."  Even  if  there  were  not  other  similar  passages 
scattered  throughout  the  letters,  which  the  reader  will  notice 
for  himself,  this  sentence  would  demolish  with  one  stroke 
the  theories  of  one  group  of  writers  who  affirm  that  Xavier 
possessed  the  gift  of  tongues,  and  the  jibes  of  another  group 
who  maintain  that  he  never  took  the  trouble  to  learn  the 
native  languages  or  to  translate  anything  into  them.  Some 
missionaries  of  the  Roman  obedience  who  teach  the  prayers 
to  their  converts  in  Latin  might  here  with  profit  take  a  page 
out  of  their  great  predecessor's  book. 

*  Mon.  Xav.y  vol.  i.  p.  914,  doc.  161,  par.  5 
t  Ibid.,  doc.  159,  p.  907. 


"  ISLANDS  OF  HOPE  IN  GOD  "  227 

A  month  later,  while  still  in  Malacca,  Francis  writes  to  his 
friends  in  the  college  at  Goa.  He  has  evidently  had  news  of 
some  sort  of  rebellion  on  Micer  Paulo  Camerino's  part,  and 
sends  him  some  personal  advice. 

"  Malacca, 

"  16th  Dec.,  1545. 

"  To  the  Fathers  Paulo  Camerino,  Juan  de  Beira  and  others 
at  Goa, — 

"...  Micer  Paulo,  I  pray  you  earnestly,  for  the  love  of 
Jesus  Christ,  to  hold  your  House  in  much  regard,  and,  above 
all,  I  charge  you  to  be  obedient  to  those  who  govern  it ;  your 
doing  this  will  give  me  the  greatest  pleasure,  for  if  I  were 
there  myself  I  should  do  nothing  against  the  will  of  those 
in  charge,  but  obey  them  in  everything  that  they  might 
command  me.  For  I  hope  in  God  that  He  has  given  you  to 
feel  within  your  soul  that  in  nothing  can  you  serve  Him  more 
than  to  deny  your  own  self-will  for  love  of  Him." 

In  this  same  letter  he  tells  those  men  who  are  working  in 
the  college  at  Goa  that  he  is  about  to  set  out  for  the  Moluccas, 
still  farther  eastward.  This  journey,  like  so  many  of  his  other 
journeys,  was  a  tour  of  exploration.  He  had  learned  now,  he 
says,  what  could  be  done  at  Goa  and  in  Cape  Comorin,  and 
soon  he  would  be  able  to  see  what  could  be  made  of  the 
Moluccas. 

Xavier's  work  in  Malacca  was  probably  almost  altogether, 
as  it  had  been  in  Goa,  among  the  Portuguese  and  the  half- 
castes. 

"  I  did  not  lack  spiritual  occupations,  both  in  preaching  on 
Sundays  and  feast  days,  and  in  confessing  many — the  sick  in 
the  hospital  where  I  stayed  as  well  as  numbers  of  sound  folk. 
All  this  time  I  taught  the  Christian  doctrine  to  the  children 
and  to  those  newly  converted  to  the  faith.  With  the  help  of 
God  our  Lord  I  made  peace  between  many  soldiers  and 
citizens,  and  at  night  I  went  through  the  city  with  a  bell, 
commending  the  souls  in  purgatory,  and  taking  with  me  a 
number  of  the  children  to  whom  I  was  teaching  the  Christian 
doctrine."* 

One  of  Xavier's  converts  here  in  Malacca  was  a  Jewish 

*  Mon.  Xav.>  vol.  i.  p.  398. 

P2 


228  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

doctor.  This  Jew  went  often  to  hear  him  preach  and  to 
mock  him,  and  spent  some  pains  in  warning  other  Jews 
against  the  missionary.  But  Francis  got  into  personal  touch 
with  him,  talked  with  him,  dined  in  his  house.  Soon  he  was 
converted,  and  kept  the  faith  to  the  end  of  his  days.  He  had 
been  so  clever  and  so  obstinate  that  his  conversion  made  a 
great  impression.* 

Accounts  of  how  the  Saint  went  about  in  the  vicious 
colonial  quarters  of  Malacca  and  reformed  the  morals  of 
those  whom  he  made  his  friends  are  very  like  the  accounts  of 
his  work  in  Goa.  His  manners  here,  as  there,  were  always 
joyful,  and  full  of  affection  and  sympathy.  When  some 
soldiers  put  away  their  cards  deferentially  at  his  approach  he 
told  them  to  go  on  with  their  game  ;  soldiers,  he  said,  need 
not  behave  like  monks.  But  neither,  he  said  to  himself, 
need  they  behave  like  beasts,  and  he  used  the  popularity  he 
knew  so  well  how  to  gain  for  the  furtherance  of  the  Gospel. 
For  that  end  he  made  himself,  as  the  old  historian  says,  "  a 
soldier  to  the  soldiers  and  a  merchant  to  the  merchants." 
Du  Jarric  tells  us  with  what  sweet  skill  he  had  converted  "  a 
man  of  very  loose  life  '*  on  the  way  to  Malacca  : 

The  pilot  of  the  ship  in  which  he  embarked  was  a  man  of  very 
loose  life,  and  not  one,  but  many  misfortunes  had  come  to  him 
because  of  this.  The  Father,  seeing  the  life  of  this  man,  set 
himself  to  meet  him,  and  went  often  to  the  helm  of  the  ship, 
where  he  stayed  talking  with  him  about  the  things  of  his  profession, 
always  letting  fall,  without  seeming  to  do  so,  some  word  which 
touched  his  heart,  and  taking  care  to  avoid  any  subject  which 
might  annoy  him.  The  pilot,  seeing  the  great  gentleness  and 
meekness  of  the  Father,  began  to  open  himself  to  him,  telling 
him  that  he  was  a  great  sinner  and  that  he  wished  to  make  his 
peace  with  God  by  making  a  good  confession,  if  he  would  be 
pleased  to  hear  him  as  soon  as  they  arrived  in  port.  The  Father 
replied  that  he  was  very  glad  to  hear  this,  and  meanwhile  enter- 
tained him  with  good  and  holy  talk.  Now,  when  they  had  landed 
the  pilot  did  not  seem  to  remember  his  promise  any  longer,  but 
put  off  his  confession  from  day  to  day,  and  avoided  the  presence 
of  the  Father  as  much  as  possible. 

But  one  day  as  Francis  was  walking  along  the  sea-shore,  his 
eyes  cast  up  towards  heaven  as  was  his  custom,  they  met  each 
other  by  chance,  or  rather  by  divine  providence.  The  pilot, 

*  Process,  1550,  Goa  (see  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  ii.  p.  236). 


"  ISLANDS  OF  HOPE  IN  GOD  "  229 

seeing  that  he  could  neither  hide  himself  nor  fly  from  the  Father, 
who  had  already  seen  him,  said  to  him  in  jest,  "  Well,  Father, 
when  will  you  hear  my  confession  ?  "  The  Father,  smiling, 
replied  thus  :  "  Jesus,  my  good  friend,  when  will  I  hear  you  ? 
Now  at  once  if  you  wish,  and  here  in  this  place  if  you  will,  walking 
together  on  this  shore  "  ;  and  as  soon  as  he  had  said  this  he 
began  to  make  the  sign  of  the  Cross,  in  order  to  begin  the 
confession.  The  pilot,  making  a  virtue  of  necessity,  followed, 
saying  the  Confiteor,  although  at  the  beginning  he  was  quite  put 
out,  like  a  man  seized  suddenly,  who  does  not  know  what  he  does  ; 
at  first  he  advanced  a  few  steps  and  then  halted,  but  soon  his 
spirit  quite  changed,  and  he  took  courage,  so  that  what  he  had 
begun  half  perforce,  or  from  shame,  he  continued  with  good 
will  and  devotion.  The  Father,  seeing  this,  took  him  to  a  little 
chapel  which  was  quite  near  by  the  shore ;  .  .  .  when  they  were 
there  alone,  the  Father,  who  had  heard  him  say  before  that 
he  suffered  with  his  knees,  brought  him  a  mat  to  sit  upon,  not 
asking  anything  but  that  he  should  have  sorrow  and  repentance 
for  his  sins  ;  and  the  pilot  had  these  in  such  great  measure  that 
he  could  not  continue  his  confession  for  the  abundance  of  his 
tears  and  sobs,  which  came  from  the  bottom  of  his  heart.  Then, 
having  thrown  himself  upon  his  knees  and  violently  beat  his 
breast,  he  asked  forgiveness  from  God  for  all  the  sins  he  had 
committed.  But  desiring  to  make  a  general  confession  of  his 
life  he  asked  the  Father  for  a  few  days  in  which  to  prepare  himself. 
During  these  he  did  many  acts  of  penitence  and  restitution  ; 
among  others  he  put  away  from  him  his  occasions  of  stumbling, 
and  from  that  time  on  gave  himself  up  to  virtue  and  especially 
to  frequenting  the  sacraments  of  confession  and  communion, 
in  such  a  manner  that  at  the  end  of  his  life,  full  of  divine 
succour,  he  departed  this  life  in  peace,  having  lived  an  exemplary 
life  after  this  change.  This  he  attributed,  after  God,  to  the 
gentleness  which  Father  Francis  had  had  towards  him  in  his 
weakness.* 

Valignano  says  that  Malacca  was  much  reformed  by 
Xavier's  visit.  But  here,  as  elsewhere,  we  see  him  to  have 
been  a  mighty  torrent,  ever  rushing  onward  to  a  further  goal. 
All  those  conversions  and  reforms  were  rather  a  kind  of 
inevitable  accompaniment  of  his  torrential  personality 
than,  as  those  who  know  him  vaguely  are  apt  to  think,  the 
first-fruits  of  harvests  which  he  too  soon  wearied  of  reaping. 
And  as  Papal  Nuncio  in  the  East  it  was  his  duty,  as  his 

*  P.  du  Jarric,  Hisloire  des  Choses  plus  memorables,  Bordeaux,  1610,  vol.  i. 
p.  122. 


230  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

French  biographer  says,  "  to  visit,  one  after  the  other,  all 
the  districts  where  the  faith  had  already  been  planted,  and 
to  see  with  his  own  eyes  what  ought  to  be  done,  what  mistakes 
should  be  rectified,  what  activities  established,  what  mis- 
sionaries sent  out."  * 

On  the  1st  of  January,  1546,  he  left  Malacca  for  the 
Moluccas,  and  on  the  14th  of  February  he  arrived  at  Amboina. 
During  the  whole  of  that  and  the  following  year  he  journeyed 
from  island  to  island,  searching  out  natives  who  had  already 
been  baptized  and  then  forsaken,  doing  social  work  among 
the  Portuguese  colonists,  and  preaching  and  teaching  and 
baptizing  wherever  he  went. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  in  Amboina  an  armada  from  New 
Spain  sailed  into  the  port.  He  writes  : 

"  I  was  very  busy  during  the  three  months  those  eight 
ships  were  here  in  preaching,  confessing,  visiting  the  sick,  and 
helping  them  to  a  good  death,  which  is  very  difficult  to  do 
with  persons  who  have  not  lived  in  great  conformity  with 
the  law  of  God,  because  they  lived  confidently  in  continual 
sins  without  wishing  to  break  the  habit  of  them.  With  God's 
help  I  reconciled  many  soldiers,  who  never  live  peaceably  in 
this  island  of  Amboina.  They  [the  ships]  left  for  India  in 
May,  and  my  companion  Juan  d'Eyro  and  I  left  for  Malucco, 
60  leagues  from  here." 

The  same  letter  goes  on  to  tell  why  he  had  come  to  these 
islands,  and  describes  the  voyage  eastward  from  Cape 
Comorin. 

"  On  the  coast  of  Malucco  is  a  place  called  Moro,  60  leagues 
away.  In  this  island  many  years  ago  a  great  lot  of  people 
became  Christians,  but  by  the  death  of  the  clerics  who" 
baptized  them  they  have  been  left  abandoned  and  without 
teaching.  The  land  of  Moro  is  very  dangerous,  because  its 
people  are  very  treacherous  and  put  poison  in  food  and  drink. 
So  the  people  who  should  have  looked  after  the  Christians 
stopped  going  there.  On  account  of  the  need  of  those 
Christians  of  Moro  for  spiritual  doctrine,  and  their  need  of 

*  Brou,  Vic  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  i.  p.  371. 


"  ISLANDS  OF  HOPE  IN  GOD  "  231 

somebody  to  baptize  them  for  the  salvation  of  their  souls,  and 
also  on  account  of  the  need  (necessidad)  I  have  of  losing  my 
temporal  life  to  succour  the  spiritual  life  of  my  neighbour,  I 
determined  to  go  myself  to  Moro  to  help  the  Christians  in 
spiritual  things.  Ready  for  any  danger  of  death,  with  all  my 
hope  and  confidence  in  God,  I  wished  to  be  conformed,  in  my 
own  small  and  weak  way,  to  the  saying  of  Christ  our  Redeemer 
and  Lord  :  He  who  would  save  his  soul  shall  lose  it ;  but  he 
who  has  lost  his  soul  for  My  sake  shall  find  it.  It  may  be 
easy  to  understand  the  Latin,  and  the  general  meaning  of 
this  saying  of  the  Lord,  but  when  dangers  arise,  in  which  the 
life  about  which  you  wish  to  decide  will  probably  be  lost, 
and  when,  in  order  to  prepare  yourself  to  decide  to  lose  your 
life  for  God's  sake  that  you  may  find  it  in  Him,  you  get  down 
to  details,  everything  else,  even  this  clear  Latin,  begins  to 
get  hazy.  And  in  such  a  case,  however  learned  you  may  be, 
you  can  understand  nothing,  it  seems  to  me,  unless  God 
our  Lord,  in  His  infinite  mercy,  makes  your  particular  case 
plain.  In  such  cases  we  know  our  flesh,  how  weak  and  infirm 
it  is.  Many  of  my  devoted  friends  tried  to  persuade  me 
against  going  to  such  a  dangerous  land,  and,  seeing  that 
they  could  not  keep  me  back,  they  gave  me  a  number  of 
antidotes  against  poison.  I  thanked  them  for  their  love  and 
good  will.  But  I  omitted  to  take  the  antidotes  which, 
with  such  love  and  tears,  they  gave  me.  I  did  not  wish  to 
load  myself  with  fear  which  I  did  not  have,  and  still  more, 
I  wished  to  lose  nothing  of  all  my  hope  which  I  had  placed  in 
God  ;  so  I  besought  them  to  remember  me  in  their  prayers, 
which  are  the  surest  remedies  against  poison  that  can  be 
found. 

"  In  this  voyage  from  Cape  Comorin  to  Malacca  I  was  in 
many  dangers,  both  from  storms  at  sea  and  from  enemies. 
I  remember  one  especially.  I  was  in  a  ship  of  400  tons.  We 
sailed  more  than  a  league  in  a  strong  wind  with  the  rudder 
scraping  the  ground  all  the  way.  If  we  had  touched  any 
rocks  during  that  time  the  ship  would  have  gone  to  pieces. 
If  we  had  found  low  water  anywhere  we  would  have  been 
stranded.  I  saw  then  many  tears.*  God  our  Lord  wished  to 
prove  us  by  those  dangers,  and  to  make  us  know  how  little  we 

*  The  literature  of  the  sixteenth  century  makes  plain  to  us  that  the  shedding 
of  tears  in  those  days  was  by  no  means  regarded  as  so  unmanly  a  proceeding  as 
it  is  nowadays. 


232  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

are  worth  if  we  hope  in  our  own  strength  or  trust  in  created 
things  ;  and  how  much  we  are  worth  when,  getting  out  of 
these  false  hopes  and  distrusting  them,  we  hope  in  the  Maker 
of  all  things,  in  Whose  hand  it  is  to  make  us  strong  when 
dangers  are  encountered  for  His  love.  Those  who  find 
themselves  in  such  dangers,  and  face  them  for  His  love  alone, 
believe  without  any  doubt  that  all  creation  is  in  obedience 
to  the  Creator,  and  know  clearly  that  the  consolation  at  such 
a  time  is  greater  than  the  fear  of  death,  since  man  must 
complete  his  days.  And  of  these  experiences,  when  the  work 
is  done  and  the  danger  past,  a  man  can  neither  write  nor  speak. 
But  an  impression  of  what  has  been  gone  through  remains 
on  the  memory,  and  forbids  us,  now  or  ever,  to  weary  in  the 
service  of  so  good  a  Lord,  and  bids  us  hope  in  the  Lord  that  He 
will  give  strength  for  His  service,  for  His  mercies  have  no  end.* 

"  I  give  you  this  detailed  account  that  you  may  keep  in 
special  sorrow  and  remembrance  this  great  loss  of  souls  which 
is  due  to  the  lack  of  spiritual  help.  Men  whose  learning  and 
gifts  are  not  enough  to  be  useful  to  the  Company  have  more 
than  enough  knowledge  and  gifts  for  those  parts,  if  they 
have  the  will  to  come  and  live  and  die  with  these  people. 
If  every  year  a  dozen  of  them  would  come,  in  a  short  time 
this  evil  sect  of  Mahomet  would  be  destroyed.  All  would 
become  Christians,  and  thus  God  our  Lord  would  not  be  dis- 
pleased so  much  as  He  is  displeased  now  by  there  being  no  one 
to  reprove  the  vices  and  sins  of  infidelity. 

"  I  pray  you,  my  most  dear  brothers  and  fathers,  by  the 
love  of  Christ  our  Lord  and  of  His  most  holy  Mother  and  of  all 
the  saints  that  are  in  the  glory  of  Paradise,  to  have  special 
remembrance  of  me  and  to  commend  me  to  God  continually, 
for  I  am  in  great  need  of  your  favour  and  help.  Through  this 
great  need  of  your  continual  spiritual  favour  I  have  come  to 
know  by  many  experiences  how  God  our  Lord  has  aided  and 
favoured  me  in  many  works  both  bodily  and  spiritual, 
through  your  invocations.  Let  me  tell  you  what  I  have 
done,  so  that  I  may  never  forget  you.  From  the  letters 
you  wrote  me,  I  have  taken  [cut  out],  dearest  brothers,  as  a 
continual  and  special  remembrance,  and  for  my  great  com- 
fort, your  names,  written  by  your  own  hands,  and  these  I 

*  This  is  the  passage  quoted  on  the  title-page. 


"  ISLANDS  OF  HOPE  IN  GOD  "  233 

always  carry  about  with  me,  together  with  the  vow  of  pro- 
fession I  made,*  for  the  comfort  I  get  from  them.  To  God 
our  Lord  I  give  thanks  first,  and  then  to  you,  most  sweet 
Brothers  and  Fathers.  For  God  made  you  such  that  to 
carry  your  names  comforts  me  much.  Now,  since  soon 
we  shall  see  each  other  in  the  next  life  more  restfully  than 
in  this,  I  say  no  more. 

"  Amboina,  10th  May,  1546. 

"  Your  least  brother  and 


To  this  letter  he  adds  the  following  vivid  postscript,  or 
hijuela  : 

"  The  people  of  these  islands  are  very  barbarous  and  full  of 
treachery.  They  are  baser  than  the  black  tribes  —  an  utterly 
thankless  people.  There  are  islands  here  in  which  men  eat 
one  another.  This  is  those  who  are  killed  in  battle  when  there 
is  war,  and  not  otherwise-  The  hands  and  heels  of  those 
who  die  naturally  are  eaten  at  a  great  banquet.  The  people 
are  such  barbarians  that  in  some  islands  a  man  who  wishes 
to  have  a  great  feast  will  ask  his  neighbour  for  the  loan  of  his 
father,  if  he  is  very  old,  for  eating,  and  promises  to  give  his 
own  father  when  he  is  old  and  the  neighbour  wants  to  have 
a  banquet.  I  hope  within  a  month  to  go  to  an  island  where 
those  killed  in  war  are  eaten,  and  in  it  also  men  lend  their 
fathers  when  they  are  old  for  banquets.  The  inhabitants 
wish  to  be  Christians,  and  this  is  why  I  am  going  there.  There 
are  abominable  fleshly  sins  among  them  that  you  could  not 
believe,  nor  do  I  dare  to  write. 

"  The  islands  are  temperate,  with  great  and  thick  woods 
and  plenty  of  rain.  They  are  so  mountainous  and  difficult 
to  travel  that  in  war  the  people  go  up  them  for  defence,  so 
that  they  are  their  forts.  There  are  no  horses,  nor  could 
riding  be  possible.  Land  and  sea  often  quake.  When  the 
sea  quakes  those  who  are  sailing  think  the  ship  has  struck  a 
rock.  To  see  the  earth  quake  is  frightful,  and  still  more  the 
sea.  Many  of  the  islands  cast  out  fire  with  a  greater  noise 
than  any  discharge  of  artillery,  however  heavy.  In  the 
places  where  the  fire  comes  out,  very  large  stones  are  carried 

*  This  was  the  vow  Xavier  made,  probably  in  Goa,  when  in  December 
1543  he  heard  from  Loyola  that  he  (Loyola)  had  been  appointed  General  of 
the  Society. 

|  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  399. 


234  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

with  it  by  the  great  impetus  with  which  it  comes.  For 
lack  of  anyone  to  preach  in  these  islands  the  torments  of 
hell,  God  permits  hell  to  open  for  the  confusion  of  the  infidels 
and  their  abominable  sins. 

"  Each  of  these  islands  has  a  language  of  its  own,  and  there 
is  an  island  where  nearly  every  village  has  a  different  language. 
The  Malay  language,  which  is  spoken  in  Malacca,  is  very 
general  here.  When  I  was  in  Malacca,  I  translated  with 
great  labour  into  this  language  the  Creed,  with  an  exposi- 
tion of  the  articles,  the  General  Confession,  Paternoster,  Ave 
Maria,  Salve  Regina,  and  the  Commandments,  so  that  they 
may  understand  when  I  speak  to  them  of  matters  of  import- 
ance. There  is  one  great  lack  in  all  these  islands :  they  have 
no  writings,  and  very  few  can  write.  They  write  in  Malay, 
and  the  letters  are  Arabic,  which  the  Moorish  cacizes  (priests) 
taught,  and  teach  at  present.  Before  they  became  Moors 
[Mohammedan]  they  could  not  write.  .  .  . 

"  I  met  a  Portuguese  merchant  in  Malacca,  who  was 
coming  from  a  busy  country  called  China  [this  is  Xavier's 
first  mention  of  China].  This  merchant  told  me  that  a  very 
honourable  Chinese  who  came  from  the  King's  Court  put 
many  questions  to  him.  Among  other  things,  he  asked 
if  Christians  ate  pork.  The  Portuguese  merchant  answered 
'  Yes,'  and  asked  why  he  wanted  to  know.  The  Chinese 
replied  that  in  his  country  there  are  many  people  who  live 
among  mountains,  separate  from  the  others,  who  do  not 
eat  pork,  and  keep  many  feasts.  I  do  not  know  what 
people  this  is,  whether  they  are  Christians  who  keep  the  old 
and  new  law,  like  those  of  Prester  John,  or  if  they  are  the 
tribes  of  the  Jews  of  whom  nothing  is  known.  They  are  not 
Moors,  as  all  say. 

"  Every  year  a  number  of  Portuguese  ships  go  from 
Malacca  to  Chinese  ports.  I  have  charged  several  to  learn 
about  this  people,  advising  them  to  get  information  about 
their  ceremonies  and  customs,  so  that  we  may  be  able  to 
know  if  they  are  Christians  or  Jews.  Many  say  that  St. 
Thomas  the  Apostle  went  to  China  and  made  many  Christians, 
and  that  the  Greek  Church,  before  the  Portuguese  mastered 
India,  used  to  send  bishops  to  teach  and  baptize  the  Christians 
whom  St.  Thomas  said  his  disciples  made  in  these  parts. 
When  the  Portuguese  gained  India,  one  of  these  bishops 
said  that,  after  coming  from  his  country  to  India,  he  heard 


"  ISLANDS  OF  HOPE  IN  GOD  "  235 

the  bishops  he  met  in  India  say  that  St.  Thomas  went  to 
China  and  made  Christians.  If  I  learn  anything  certain 
about  these  parts  of  China  or  others,  or  what  I  myself  may 
have  seen  and  known  by  experience,  I  will  write  to  you." 

These  speculations  of  Xavier's  about  the  people  who  live 
among  the  mountains  and  keep  many  feasts  and  do  not  eat 
pork  are  very  interesting.  It  is  possible  that  they  may  have 
been  Jews  ;  last  century  there  were  Jews  discovered  in  China 
who  had  been  settled  there  from  time  immemorial,  and  who 
had  lost  all  their  Scriptures,  and  had  no  Rabbis,  and  barely 
a  tradition  left,  but  who  still  "  ate  not  of  the  sinew  that 
shrank."* 

They  cannot  have  been  the  Nestorian  Christians  who  came 
to  China  in  A.D.  635,  for  there  were  no  Nestorians  left  in  China 
after  the  great  persecutions  of  Tamerlane  in  the  fourteenth 
century  ;  but  there  were — and  are  still — traces  of  the  Nes- 
torians left  among  the  quasi-Christian  secret  sects,  and 
especially  in  the  widespread  society  in  Northern  China  known 
as  the  "  Religion  of  the  Pill  of  Immortality."  The  real  name 
of  the  great  teacher  of  this  society  is  not  disclosed,  but  his 
period  is  that  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  his  symbolical  names  are 
"  The  Warning  Bell,  which  does  not  trust  physical  force," 
"  The  Quiet  Logos,"  "  The  King  of  the  Sons  of  God,"  "  The 
First  Teacher  of  the  True  Doctrine  of  Immortality,"  "  The 
Teacher  from  Above."! 

Again  from  Amboina  he  writes  to  the  recalcitrant  Paulo 
Camerino  : 

"  Amboina,  10  May,  1546. 
"  Micer  Paulo,  Brother, 

"  Many  times,  both  personally  and  by  letters,  I  have  prayed 
you  by  the  love  of  God  our  Lord,  and  again  now  once  more 
another  time  I  ask  you  as  strongly  as  I  can,  that  you  try  in 
everything  to  do  the  will  of  those  who  have  the  rule  in  your 
holy  college.  For  if  I  were  there  in  your  place,  in  nothing 
would  I  take  so  much  trouble  as  in  obeying  those  who  were 
in  charge  of  my  holy  house.  And  believe  me,  my  brother 
Micer  Paulo,  it  is  a  very  safe  rule  for  hitting  the  mark  in 

*  See  A  Bishop  in  the  Rough  (Diary  of  the  Bishop  of  Norwich),  London 
1909,  p.  256. 

t  See  P.  Y.  Saeki,  The  Nestorian  Monument  in  China,  pp.  54  ff. 


236  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

everything  to  wish  always  to  be  commanded  by  him  who 
commands  you,  without  contradicting  him.  And  on  the 
contrary,  it  is  very  dangerous  for  one  to  do  his  own  will 
against  orders.  And  even  though  you  hit  the  mark  when  you 
do  the  contrary  of  what  is  commanded  you,  believe  me,  my 
Brother  Micer  Paulo,  the  miss  is  greater  than  the  hit." 

To  both  Beira  and  Paulo  he  adds  : 

"  I  beseech  you  much  by  the  service  of  God  our  Lord,  that 
you  try  to  draw  into  your  Company  some  men  of  good  life  who 
will  help  us  to  teach  the  Christian  doctrine  throughout  these 
islands.  Let  each  of  you  try  to  draw  in  at  least  one  com- 
panion. If  he  is  not  a  priest,  let  it  be  some  layman  who 
desires  to  be  avenged  on  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil, 
who  have  injured  him  and  dishonoured  him  before  God  and 
His  saints. 

"  May  our  Lord  of  His  infinite  mercy  unite  us  in  His  holy 
kingdom.  More  pleasure  and  rest  will  be  there  than  we 
have  in  this  life. 

"  Your  least  brother."  * 

There  is  yet  another  letter  from  Amboina.  On  May  16th 
Xavier  wrote  to  John  III.  of  Portugal : 

"  I  have  already  written  to  your  Highness  about  the  great 
need  India  has  of  preachers.  ...  I  can  say  this  after  the 
great  experience  I  have  had  in  going  through  the  forts.  We 
have  such  constant  dealings  with  the  infidels  and  our  devo- 
tion is  so  small  that  men  concern  themselves  about  getting 
rich  quickly  more  than  about  the  mysteries  of  Christ  our 
Redeemer  and  Saviour.  The  native  wives  of  the  married, 
and  the  half-caste  sons  and  daughters,  are  content  to  say  that 
they  are  Portuguese  legally,  and  not  religiously  [portugeses 
de  jerac,ao  e  ndo  da  lei.  These  native  women,  this  means, 
acknowledged  that  they  were  Portuguese  as  distinct  from 
subjects  of  the  native  princes,  but  did  not  consider  themselves 
therefore  as  Christian.  If  asked  if  they  were  Christians,  they 
would  have  said,  "  Yes,"  because  they  were  subjects  of  the 
king,  but  not  otherwise].  The  cause  is  the  lack  of  preachers 
to  teach  the  religion  of  Christ. 

"  The  second  need  which  India  has  in  order  that  those  who 
*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  419  ff. 


"  ISLANDS  OF  HOPE  IN  GOD  "  237 

live  in  it  may  be  good  Christians  is  that  Your  Highness 
should  send  the  Holy  Inquisition.  For  there  are  many  who 
live  by  the  Mosaic  religion  and  the  Moorish  sect,  without 
any  fear  of  God  or  shame  of  the  world.  As  there  are  many  of 
them,  and  they  are  scattered  among  all  the  forts,  the  Holy 
Inquisition  and  many  preachers  are  needed.  Let  Your 
Highness  provide  your  loyal  and  faithful  vassals  of  India 
with  those  so  needful  things."  * 

Xavier  estimated,  we  see  here,  that  preachers  alone  could 
not  cope  with  the  Moors  and  Jews  who  overran  that  part  of 
the  world.  Here  he  made  a  fatal  mistake,  and  though  the 
greatness  of  his  life  and  character  overshadowed  this  mistake, 
yet  we  read  in  it  a  portentous  sign.  Here,  and  elsewhere  in 
this  letter,  we  see  that  tendency  to  trust  secular  and  political 
power  and  influence  which  developed  after  Xavier's  death, 
and  made  so  much  of  the  so-called  missionary  work  in 
Portuguese  India  despicable.  It  is  not  in  its  doctrines  that 
the  greatest  weakness  of  Roman  Catholicism  lies,  but  in  its 
trust  in  temporal  power.  If  everyone  concerned  had  as 
single  an  eye  for  the  glory  of  God  as  Francis  Xavier,  then 
Church  and  State  and  courts  of  law  and  Inquisitions  and 
governments  and  armies  and  navies  would  all  be  but 
synonyms  for  the  arm  of  the  Lord,  and  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
would  soon  come.  But  Francis  estimated  the  ideals  of  those 
institutions  too  highly,  and  so,  in  time,  the  vineyard  was 
wasted. 

Meanwhile,  thanks  very  largely  to  the  fact  that  he  was 
separated  so  much,  both  by  distance  and  difficult  transit, 
from  Goa  and  all  that  Goa  meant,  Xavier  appears  at  this 
period  to  be  developing  a  greater  air  of  authority,  a  new 
certainty  of  himself,  a  more  constant  serenity.  The  change 
can  already  be  felt  in  some  of  the  letters  quoted  in  this 
chapter. 

Joyfully  he  went  on  from  island  to  island,  amid  almost 
unparalleled  scenes  of  squalor  and  savagery.  In  the  little 
seaport  towns  there  drifted  hither  and  thither  the  wreckage 
of  humanity,  of  every  race  and  colour,  directed  only  by 
avarice  and  animal  desire  ;  and  farther  inland  the  native 
tribes  had  hardly  yet  emerged  from  the  level  to  which  their 
brothers  in  the  ports,  having  traversed  the  long  road  of 

*  Mon.  Xav.t  vol.  i.  p.  421. 


238  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

civilisation,  were  now  so  surely  returning.  Xavier  had 
entered  one  of  the  most  stinking  backwaters  of  the  world ; 
but  here,  more  than  anywhere  else  even,  he  comes  and  goes 
with  laughter  and  singing,  and  only  weeps  when  he  has  to 
leave  his  friends,  and  when  he  sees  them  weeping  at  having 
to  part  from  him. 

Of  Ternate,  where  he  arrived  in  July,  1546,  he  writes  : 

"  We  owe  thanks  to  God  for  the  fruit  He  has  produced 
through  imprinting  on  the  hearts  of  His  creatures  chants  in 
His  praise  and  honour  among  those  lately  converted  to  our 
faith.  It  was  the  custom  in  Malucca  for  the  boys  in  the 
streets  and  the  girls  and  women  in  the  houses,  day  and  night, 
the  farmers  in  the  fields,  and  the  fishers  at  sea,  to  sing,  instead 
of  vain  songs,  holy  chants,  such  as  the  Creed,  Paternoster,  Ave 
Maria,  Commandments,  the  Deeds  of  Mercy  and  the  General 
Confession,  and  many  other  prayers,  and  all  in  a  language 
that  all  could  understand,  both  those  lately  converted  to 
our  faith  and  those  who  were  not."* 

Of  these  same  times  Gaspar  Lopez,  at  the  Process  in  Goa 
in  1556,  said  : 

I  saw  myself  in  Malucca  how  the  Malay  natives,  while  carrying 
goods  to  the  ships,  sang  the  Paternoster  and  Ave.  Formerly, 
before  the  coming  of  the  Father,  they  sang  quite  other  things. 
And  more,  in  the  evenings  I  could  hear  those  same  prayers  being 
sung  in  all  the  houses.t 

These  descriptions  remind  us  of  the  Bishop  of  Nola's 
descriptions  of  Niceta's  missionary  work.  Niceta  wrote  the 
Te  Deum,  and  was  "  a  pioneer  spreading  abroad  the  Name  of 
Christ  throughout  the  earth  and  in  the  depth  of  the  sea." 
"  O  for  the  wings  of  a  dove,"  says  Nola,  "  that  I  might  listen 
to  those  choirs."  And  he  goes  on  to  describe  how  Niceta  had 
taught  the  sailors  so  that  as  they  rowed  they  filled  the  sea- 
breezes  with  their  godly  strains,  and  the  whales  heard  the  loud 
Amen.t 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  425. 

f  There  is  a  hymn  beginning  "  O  God,  1  love  Thee,  not  because"  which  is 
popularly  ascribed  to  Xavier.  There  is  no  foundation  for  this  supposition, 
though  it  is  very  likely  that  the  Saint  had  made  a  copy  of  the  Spanish  sonnet 
on  which  the  hymn  is  based,  and  carried  it  about  with  him.  For  an  exhaustive 
study  of  the  question  see  the  Revue  Hispanique,  vol.  1895.  See  also  Mon. 
Xav.,  vol.  i.  pp.  934-940. 

J  A.  E.  Burn,  D.D.,  Niceta  of  Remesiana,  1905,  p.  142,  infra. 


"  ISLANDS  OF  HOPE  IN  GOD  "  239 

The  king  of  Malucco,  Xavier  writes,  was  a  Moor,  and  he 
gives  us  a  humorous  little  portrait  of  him.  He  was  very 
proud  of  his  vassalage  to  the  king  of  Portugal,  and  always 
spoke  of  him  as  "  The  King  of  Portugal,  my  Lord." 

"  He  speaks  Portuguese  very  well.  If  he  does  not  become 
a  Christian  it  is  not  because  of  his  devotion  to  Mahomet  ; 
the  sins  of  the  flesh  hold  him  captive.  .  .  .  This  poor  king 
shows  me  such  signs  of  affection  that  the  Moors  of  his  court, 
important  men,  are  jealous.  He  wanted  me  to  be  his  friend, 
and  assured  me  that  in  time  he  would  become  a  Christian. 
He  besought  me  to  love  him,  though  he  was  a  Moor.  '  Chris- 
tians and  Moors/  said  he,  *  we  have  the  same  God  ;  the  time 
will  come  when  we  shall  be  all  one.'  He  took  great  pleasure  in 
my  visits,  but  I  could  not  persuade  him  to  become  a  Christian. 
He  promised  me  to  make  one  of  his  numerous  children  a 
Christian,  with  an  express  understanding  that  he  should  be 
the  one  to  succeed  him."* 

In  October  of  1546  the  Saint  passed  on  to  the  Islas  del  Moro. 
It  was  the  tale  which  he  had  heard  of  the  sufferings  there 
which,  as  we  have  already  seen,  had  drawn  him  out  to  the 
Moluccas.  The  Gospel  had  been  preached  in  these  islands, 
but  the  inconsistence  of  the  Portuguese  manners  with  the 
doctrines  they  preached  had  made  the  Gospel  of  none  effect. 
The  story  of  the  career  of  the  Portuguese  commander, 
Don  Jorge  de  Menezes,  who  went  to  the  Moluccas  in  1526  is 
typical.  He  landed  amiably,  bringing  with  him  as  a  present 
to  the  chief  a  tapestry  representing  the  marriage  of  the  Prince 
of  Wales  with  Katherine  of  Aragon.  When  this  was  hung 
up  the  chief  trembled  and  bade  them  take  it  down  and  put 
it  away,  for  he  believed  the  figures  were  enchanted,  and 
would  come  to  life  in  the  night  and  kill  him.  Don  Jorge, 
however,  took  the  rebuff  smiling,  and  proceeded  to  more 
important  business.  This  was  the  clearing  of  the  Spaniards 
out  of  the  Moluccas,  which,  according  to  Portuguese  inter- 
pretation of  the  Papal  division  of  the  New  World,  did  not 
belong  to  Spain,  and  therefore  belonged  to  Portugal.  Wrhen 
he  had  done  this  successfully  he  poisoned  this  native  king 
of  Ternate  and  shut  up  his  heirs  in  prison.  He  also  im- 
prisoned a  near  relative  of  the  murdered  king's,  because  he  sus- 
pected him  of  having  stolen  his  favourite  Chinese  pig.  The 
*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  430. 


240  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

native  population  revolted,  and  the  King's  relative,  who  was  a 
favourite  with  the  people,  had  to  be  released.  But  naturally 
the  ill-will  had  not  subsided.  Natives  attacked  the  colonists  ; 
Don  Jorge  replied  by  seizing  three  of  them,  cutting  off  the 
hands  of  two,  and  tying  up  the  other  alive  to  be  worried  to 
death  by  savage  dogs.  Next  he  captured  and  beheaded  the 
native  regent,  and  thereupon  all  the  islanders  left  the  island. 
Don  Jorge  was  then  considered  to  have  failed  in  his  office,  and 
was  recalled  and  banished  to  the  Brazils.  Missionaries  came 
to  Ternate,  and  some  converts  were  made.  In  1536  the 
imprisoned  king  was  sent  to  Goa,  where  he  purchased  a  clean 
bill  at  the  price  of  declaring  himself  a  Christian.  He  died  on 
the  return  journey,  leaving  his  island  by  will  to  the  king  of 
Portugal,  His  late  subjects,  in  disgust  j  abandoned  the 
religion  of  their  persecutors  and  reverted  to  the  faith  of  their 
fathers. 

The  sordid  tale  of  Portuguese  government  in  the  Moluccas 
has  one  bright  page,  the  page  which  records  the  administra- 
tion of  Antonio  GalvSo.  Of  him  Whiteway  says :  "  He  broke 
up  the  league  of  the  natives  against  the  Portuguese  by  dint  of 
sheer  hard  fighting,  and  then  he  won  over  his  defeated 
opponents  by  his  justice."  This  man  spent  the  last  seventeen 
years  of  his  life  in  his  native  land  in  an  almshouse,  because 
he  had  behaved  honestly  and  generously  during  his  term 
of  office.  But  it  is  said  that  he  was  never  made  haughty  by 
his  success  in  the  Moluccas,  nor  soured  by  his  neglect  in 
Portugal,  He  is  called  by  Jesuit  historians  the  soldier- 
missionary,  for  he  himself  toured  about  the  islands  visiting 
and  encouraging  the  Christians,  and  establishing  missionaries. 
But  even  this  man  could  not  atone  for  all  that  had  happened. 
Shortly  before  Xavier  arrived  in  the  Islas  del  Moro  the 
missionaries  had  all  been  poisoned,  and  the  natives  had,  for 
the  second  time,  reverted  to  their  old  religion. 

These  were  the  islands  which  Francis,  with  that  remote  and 
mystic  humour  which  is  so  characteristic  of  him,  called  the 
Islands  of  Hope  in  God : 

"  I  never  remember  having  had  so  great  and  so  continual 
spiritual  comfort  as  in  these  islands,  nor  so  little  sense  of 
bodily  troubles,  though  I  was  going  constantly  across  islands 
surrounded  by  enemies,  and  peopled  with  not  very  certain 
friends,  and  in  lands  where  all  remedies  for  bodily  sickness 


"  ISLANDS  OF  HOPE  IN  GOD  "  241 

were  wanting,  as  well  as  all  aids  of  secondary  causes,  for  the 
preservation  of  life.  Islands  of  Hope  in  God,  it  would  be 
better  to  call  them,  than  Islas  de  Moro."  * 

The  material  aspect  of  those  equatorial  islands  is  strange 
and  terrifying  enough.  By  day  the  air  is  heavy  with  smoke, 
and  by  night  the  ocean  is  lit  by  fire,  from  the  burning 
volcanoes. 

"  When  they  asked  me,"  Xavier  says,  "  where  that  was,  I 
told  them  it  is  the  hell  to  which  all  those  who  worship  idols  go."f 

Besides  working  on  the  coasts  of  the  islands,  Francis 
made  at  least  one  expedition  into  the  wild  interior.  No 
journey  could  have  been  more  perilous  or  more  difficult. 
He  went  on  foot  through  forests  and  jungles  where  to-day  a 
European  only  ventures  in  a  palanquin  hung  from  long 
bamboo  poles.  The  natives  were  not  easy  to  reach.  Partly 
from  choice,  and  partly  out  of  fear  of  their  Mohammedan 
enemies,  they  hid  themselves  in  the  very  depths  of  the 
forests.  If  a  traveller  approached,  they  all  fled  within 
doors,  and  the  village  became  silent  and  lifeless.  Even 
to-day,  a  modern  traveller  says,  a  visitor  to  those  villages 
produces  the  same  effect.  Xavier  passed  along  the  silent 
rows  of  huts,  singing  hymns  as  he  went,  till  gradually 
the  doors  were  withdrawn  a  little,  and  the  natives  peered 
out,  and  came  toward  him,  like  wild  birds  to  a  bird-charmer. 
And  then  he  smiled  on  them  and  touched  them  and  caressed 
them,  "  as  a  farther  does  his  children,"  says  old  Pere  Jarric. 

Of  his  success  among  those  people  Xavier  does  not  say 
much.  Valignano  says,  "  Francis  believed  that  the  seed  of 
the  word  of  God  then  sown  in  that  sterile  land  was  so  powerful 
that  it  would  bring  forth  fruit  and  be  reaped  in  abundance 
by  his  sons,  as  it  was  reaped  afterwards."}  And  Xavier, 
when  he  went  onward,  did  not  leave  this  difficult  field,  into 
which  he  had  cut  his  perilous  way  so  bravely,  without  help. 
Father  Beira  and  others  were  put  in  charge,  and  seven  years 
later  we  hear  of  persecutions  and  martyrdoms  at  the  hands  of 
neighbouring  native  tribes.  In  1569  we  read  that  in  the  Islas 
del  Moro  are  the  most  flourishing  missions  of  all  the  Moluccas. 

In  January,  1547,  Xavier  returned  to  Ternatc,  on  his  way 
back  to  India.  His  plan  was  to  go  straight  on  south  to 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  427.       f  Ibid.,  vol. i.  p.  428.       %  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  76. 


242  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

Amboina,  and  there  join  the  fleet  which  was  shortly  going 
westward  via  Malacca.  But  his  friends  in  Ternate  surrounded 
the  ship  on  which  he  was  about  to  embark,  and  would  not 
let  him  go.  They  promised  if  he  would  wait  with  them  a 
little  while  to  send  him  on  to  Amboina  in  a  fast  boat  in  time 
to  catch  the  fleet.  So  he  stayed  with  them  for  three  months. 
During  those  months,  besides  his  usual  labours,  Valignano 
tells  us  that  he  preached  every  Wednesday  and  Friday  to 
the  native  women  belonging  to  the  colonists.  He  spoke  in 
the  patois,  half-native,  half-Portuguese,  which  they  could 
most  easily  understand.  After  the  preaching  he  questioned 
them  and  taught  them  till  they  were  able  to  embrace  the 
"  law  of  God." 

It  was  probably  at  this  time  that  Xavier  composed  and 
wrote  down  in  the  Malay  tongue  the  following  exposition. 
It  was  designed,  Teixeira  says,  for  the  newly  converted, 
for  children  and  for  simple  folk.  He  repeated  it  and  taught 
it  to  those  islanders,  and  explained  one  part  or  other  of  it  to 
his  hearers  every  day.  This  document  is  more  characteristic 
of  Xavier  than  anything  else  he  has  left  except  the  Letters, 
and  is  very  valuable  in  helping  us  to  gain  an  idea  of  his 
missionary  methods. 

EXPOSITION  WHICH  THE  BLESSED  FATHER  FRANCIS  MADE 
OF  THE  APOSTLES'  CREED. 

1.  Christians,  rejoice  to  hear  and  know  how  God  in  creation 
made  everything  for  the  use  of  men.     First  He  created  heaven 
and  earth,  angels,  sun,  moon  and  stars,  birds  and  beasts  that 
live  in  the  land  and  the  rivers,  and  the  fish  that  live  in  the  waters  ; 
and  when  all  things  had  been  created  at  last  He  created  man  in 
His  likeness. 

2.  The  first  man  whom  God  created  was  Adam,  the  first  woman 
Eve ;    and  after  God  created  Adam  and  Eve  in  the  terrestrial 
Paradise,  He  blessed  and  married  them,  and  commanded  them 
to  have  children  and  to  people  the  land ;    and  from  Adam  and 
Eve  we,  all  the  peoples  of  the  world,  come ;   and  since  God  did 
not  give  Adam  more  than  one  wife,  clearly  it  is  in  opposition  to 
God  that  Moors  and  heathen  and  bad  Christians  have  many  wives. 

3.  And  also  it  is  true  that  fornicators  live  in  opposition  to 
God,  since  God  first  married  Adam  and  Eve  before  He  commanded 
them  to  increase  and  multiply  having  legitimate  children  [sons 
of  blessing].     And  thus  those  who  adore  idols  as  the  unbelievers 
do,  and  those  who  believe  in  witchcraft,  in  lots  and  in  diviners, 
sin  greatly  against  God,  for  they  adore  and  believe  in  the  devil 


"  ISLANDS  OF  HOPE  IN  GOD  "  243 

and  take  him  for  their  lord,  forsaking  the  God  who  created  them, 
and  gave  them  soul  and  life  and  body  and  all  they  have.  These 
miserable  creatures  by  their  idolatries  lose  heaven,  which  is  the 
place  of  souls,  and  the  glory  of  Paradise,  for  which  they  were 
created. 

4.  But  the  true  Christians  and  loyal  to  their  God  and  Lord 
believe  and  adore  willingly  and  heartily  the  one  God  and  Lord, 
true  creator  of  heaven  and  of  earth.     And  well  they  show  it  when 
they  go  to  the  churches  and  see  the  images  which  are  the  reminders 
of  the  Saints  who  are  with  God  in  the  Glory  of  Paradise. 

5.  So  Christians  put  their  knees  on  the  ground  when  they  are 
in  the  churches,  and  lift  their  hands  to  the  heavens  where  is  the 
Lord  God,  who  is  all  their  good  and  comfort,  and  confess  in  the 
words  of  St.  Peter,  "  /  believe  in  God,  Father  Almighty,  Creator 
of  Heaven  and  earth."     God  created  the  angels  in  the  heavens 
before  the  men  in  the  earth.     St.  Michael,  chief  of  all,  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  angels  at  once  adored  the  Lord  God,  giving 
Him  thanks  and  praises  that  He  had  created  them  :  Lucifer, 
on  the  contrary,  and  many  angels  with  him,  were  not  willing 
to  adore  their  Creator,  but  said  with  pride,  Let  us  go  up  and  be 
like  God  who  is  in  the  high  heavens  ;    and  for  the  sin  of  pride 
God  thrust  Lucifer  and  the  angels  with  him  from  Heaven  to 
hell. 

6.  Lucifer,  in  envy  of  Adam  and  Eve,  the  first  human  beings 
who  were  there  created  in  grace,  tempted  them  with  the  sin  of 
pride  in  the  terrestrial  Paradise,  telling  them  they  would  be  as 
gods  if  they  ate  of  the  fruit  which  their  Creator  had  forbidden 
them.     Adam  and  Eve,  desirous  of  being  as  gods,  consented  to 
the  temptation  of  the  enemy,   and   conquered   by  the  demon 
they  forthwith  ate  of  the  forbidden  fruit,  and  so  lost  the  grace 
in  which  they  were  created,  and  for  their  sins  the  Lord  God 
thrust  them  out  of  the  terrestrial  Paradise.     Outside  it  they 
lived  nine  hundred  years  in  trouble,  doing  penance  for  the  sin  they 
had  committed ;    and  so  great  was  their  sin  that  neither  Adam 
nor  his  sons  could  satisfy  it,  nor  again  gain  the  glory  of  Paradise, 
which  they  had  lost  by  their  pride  of  wishing  to  be  as  God  ; 
so  the  gates  of  Heaven  were  shut  upon  Adam  and  his  sons  because 
of  their  sin. 

7.  Oh,   Christians,    what   will   become   of  us   the   wretched  ? 
If  the  demons  for  a  sin  of  pride  were  thrust  from  the  heavens  to 
hell,  and  Adam  and  Eve  for  another  sin  of  pride  from  the  terrestrial 
Paradise,  how  shall  we,  miserable  sinners,  ascend  to  the  heavens 
with  such  sins,  and  we  so  clearly  lost  ? 

8.  The  High  God,  sovereign  and  powerful,  moved  with  pity 
and  compassion,  seeing    our    great  misery,   sent   the  angel  St. 
Gabriel  from  the  heavens  to  the  city  of   Nazareth,  where  was 

K2 


244  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

the  Virgin  Mary,  with  a  message  which  said :  "  God  hail  thee, 
Mary,  full  of  grace,  the  Lord  be  with  thee  :  blessed  art  thou 
among  women  :  the  Holy  Spirit  will  come  over  thee,  and  the 
virtue  of  the  highest  God  will  lighten  thee,  and  what  will  be 
born  of  thee  will  be  called  Jesus,  Son  of  God."  The  Virgin 
St.  Mary  answered  the  angel  St.  Gabriel :  tc  Behold  the  servant 
of  the  Lord  ;  be  His  will  done  in  me."  In  the  same  instant  that 
the  Virgin  St.  Mary  obeyed  the  message  which  St.  Gabriel  brought 
her  from  God,  the  Holy  Spirit  formed  in  the  womb  of  this  Virgin 
a  human  body  of  her  virgin  blood  ;  together  He  created  a  soul 
in  the  same  body,  and  the  second  Person  of  the  Most  Holy  Trinity, 
God  the  Son,  in  that  instant  was  incarnate  in  the  womb  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  thus  uniting  and  joining  that  soul  and  the  so  holy 
body  ;  and  from  the  day  that  the  Son  of  God  was  incarnate 
until  the  day  of  His  birth  nine  months  passed. 

9.  At  the  end  of   this  time  Jesus  Christ,  Saviour  of  all  the 
world,  being  God  and  true  man,  was  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary, 
remaining  virgin  in  the  birth  and  after  as  before  it :    And  St. 
Andrew  confessed  it,  saying,  /  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  Son  of  God, 
our  only  Lord ;  and  after  him  at  once  St.  John  said,  /  believe  that 
Jesus  Christ  was  conceived  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  born  of  the  Virgin 
Mary.     In  Bethlehem,  near  to  Jerusalem,  Christ  our  Redeemer 
was  born  :   then  the  angels  and  the  Virgin  His  mother,  with  her 
spouse   Joseph,  and  the  three  [Kings  inserted  in  one  MS.]  and 
many  others,  adored  Him  as  Lord. 

10.  But  Herod,  who  was  evil,  being  king  in  Jerusalem,  \vith 
the  covetousness  of  reigning,  desired  to  kill  Him.     Joseph  was 
advised   by  an  angel  to  flee  from  Bethlehem  to  Egypt,  and  he 
took  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Virgin  His  mother,  because  Herod 
desired  to  kill  Jesus.     St.  Joseph  went  to  Egypt  with  Christ  and 
His  mother,  where  he  was  until  Herod  died  of  an  evil  death ; 
for  he  was   so  cruel  that  in  Bethlehem  and  its  neighbouring 
villages  he  killed  all  the  men  children  from  two  years  down- 
wards, thinking  that  he  would  kill  Jesus  Christ  among  them. 
After  Herod  died  the  Virgin  and  St.  Joseph  with  the  Child  Jesus 
returned  to  their  own  country,  to  the  city  of  Nazareth,  by  command 
of  the  angel. 

11.  When  Christ  was  twelve  years  He  went  up  from  Nazareth 
to  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem,  where  were  the  doctors  of  the  law, 
and  He  expounded  to  them  the  Scriptures  of  the  Prophets  and 
Patriarchs,  who  spoke  of  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  all 
were   astonished   when   they   saw   His   wisdom.     Returning   to 
Nazareth,  He  was  there  until  the  age  of  nearly  thirty  years ; 
and  then  He  went  to  the  river  Jordan,  where  St.  John  Baptist 
was  baptizing  many  people  :    and  in  this  river  Jordan  St.  John 
baptized  Jesus  Christ ;   and  from  there  Christ  went  to  the  wilder- 


"  ISLANDS  OF  HOPE  IN  GOD  "  245 

ness,  where  for  forty  days  and  forty  nights  He  did  not  eat*  The 
demon  in  the  wilderness,  without  knowing  that  Jesus  Christ 
was  Son  of  God,  tempted  Him  with  three  sins — that  is  to  say, 
gluttony,  covetousness,  and  vainglory. 

12.  And  in  all  the  temptations  Christ  conquered  the  demon. 
And  from  the  wilderness  with  victory  He  descended  to  Galilee 
and  converted  many  people,   and  commanded  the  demons  to 
come  out  of  the  bodies  of  the  people,  and  the  demons  obeyed 
the  command  of  Jesus  Christ,  coming  out  of  the  bodies  of  the 
men   where   they   were ;     and   the   people   who   saw  this   were 
astonished  and  said  :    "  Who  is  this,  whom  the  demons  obey  ?  " 
So  the  fame  of  Jesus  Christ  grew  greatly  among  the  people, 
because  they  saw  that  the  demons  obeyed  Him,  and  that  He  did 
many   miracles.     The   men   who   heard   the   holy   preaching   of 
Jesus  Christ  and  saw  the  great  power  which  He  had  over  the 
demons  began  to  believe   in  Jesus  Christ,  and  brought  Him  the 
sick  :   He  cured  all  of  whatsoever  infirmity  they  had. 

13.  And  afterwards  Christ  called  the  twelve  Apostles  and  the 
seventy-two  Disciples,  and  took  them  in  His  company  around 
the  districts  where  He  was  teaching  the  mysteries  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God.     Christ  preached  to  the  people,  and  did  miracles  which 
proved  the  truth  of  what  He  preached.     In  the  presence  of  the 
Apostles  and  Disciples  Christ  gave  sight  to  the  blind,  speech  to 
the  dumb,  hearing  to  the  deaf,  and  life  to  the  dead  :   He  healed 
the  lame  and  the  maimed.     The  Apostles  and  Disciples  who  saw 
this  each  time  believed  more  and  more  in  Jesus  Christ.     Christ 
gave  them  such  wisdom  and  virtue  that  they  preached  to  the 
people,  though  they  were  fishers  who  had  no  learning  except 
what  the  Son  of  God  taught  them.     In  the  name  and  virtue  of 
Jesus  Christ  the  Apostles  did  miracles,  healing  many  infirmities, 
casting  the  demons  from  the  bodies  of  men  in  sign  that  what  they 
preached  of  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  God  was  the  truth. 

14.  Such  was  the  fame  of  Jesus  Christ  and  His  Disciples  among 
the  people  that  the  principal  Jews  agreed  to  kill  Him,  in  their 
envy  of  Him  and  His  works,  for  they  saw  that  all  followed  and 
praised  the  teaching  of  Jesus. 

15.  When  the  Pharisees  recognised  that  they  .were  losing  the 
honour  and  credit  which  they  formerly  had  among  the  Jews 
before  Jesus  Christ  was  manifested  to  the  world,  moved  with 
envy,  they  took  Jesus  Christ,  insulted  Him  freely,  carrying  Him 
from  one  house  to  another,   scorning  and  making  a  mock  of 
Him. 

16.  And  because  of  the  great  hate  the  Pharisees  had  of  Jesus 
Christ  they  carried  Him  to  the  house  of  Pontius  Pilate,  where  the 
Pharisees  accused  Him  with  false  witnesses,  and  Pilate,  to  please 
the  Jews,  scourged  Jesus  Christ  so  cruelly  that  from  the  feet  to 


246  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

the   head  all  His   holy  body  was  wounded  ;    and,  thus  cruelly 
scourged,  Pilate  handed  Him  to  the  Jews  to  crucify  Him. 

17.  And  before   they  crucified  Him   they  put  on  the  head  of 
Jesus  Christ  a  cruel  crown  of  thorns,  and  a  reed  in  His  right 
hand ;  and  the  soldiers,  to  make  a  mock  of  Jesus  Christ,  placed 
themselves  on  their  knees  before  Him,  saying,  "  God  hail  You, 
King  of  the  Jews,"  and  spitting  in  His  face  and  buffeting  Him  ; 
and  with  a  reed  He  carried  they  struck  Him  on  the  head,  and, 
finally,  on  Mount  Calvary,  near  Jerusalem,  the  Jews  crucified 
Jesus  Christ,  and  thus  Christ  died  on  the  Cross  to  save  sinners ; 
so  that  the  most  holy  Soul  of  Jesus  Christ  was  truly  separated 
from  His  most  precious  and  most  holy  body  when  He  expired  on 
the  Cross,  the  divinity  being  always  united  with  the  most  holy 
soul  of  our  Redeemer  Jesus  Christ,  the  same  divinity  remaining 
with  the  most  holy  and  precious  body  of  Christ  on  the  Cross  and 
in  the  sepulchre. 

18.  And  at  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ  the  sun  was  darkened, 
ceasing  to  give  its  light ;    the  whole  earth  trembled,  and  the 
rocks   divided,   striking   one   another ;    the   monuments   of  the 
dead  opened,  and  many  of  the  holy  men  rose  and  went  to  the  city 
of  Jerusalem,  where  they  appeared  to  many ;   and  those  who 
saw  these   signs  in  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ  said,  "  Truly  Jesus 
Christ  was  Son  of  God  "  ;    and  because  this  is  so  the  Apostle 
James  said  :   /  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  suffered  under  the  power  of 
Pontius  Pilate,  was  crucified.,  and  dead  and  buried."     Jesus  Christ 
was  God,  since  He  was  the  second  person  of  the  most  Holy 
Trinity,    and    also    He    was    true    man,    since    He    was    son 
of  the  Virgin  Mary  and  has  a  rational  soul  and  human  body  ;  and 
inasmuch  as  He  was  man,  truly  He  died  on  the  Cross  when 
He  was  crucified ;    for  death  is  nothing  else  but  a  separation  of 
the  soul,  leaving  the  body  to  which  it  gave  life,  and  the  most 
holy  soul  of  Jesus  Christ  was  separated  from  the  body  when  He 
expired  on  the  Cross. 

19.  Then,  having  expired,  the  most  holy  soul  of  Jesus  Christ, 
being  united  to  the  divinity  of  God  the  Son,  as  it  had  always  been 
from  the  instant  when  the  Lord  God  created  it,  descended  to 
Limbo,  which  is  a  place  below  the  ground,  where  were  the  Holy 
Fathers,  Prophets,  and   Patriarchs  and  many  other  just  men, 
waiting  for  the  Son  of  God,  Jesus  Christ,  who  was  to  withdraw 
them  from  Limbo  and  take  them  to  Paradise. 

20.  In  every  time,  beginning  with  Adam  and  Eve  until  now, 
were  men  good  and  bad  ;  the  good,  being  friends  of  God,  reproved 
with  words  of    truth  the  evil  for  their  vices  and  sins,  because 
they  offended  God,  their  Lord  and  Creator ;    and  the  bad,  being 
slaves  and  captives  of  the  demon,  persecuted  the  good,  friends  of 
God,  taking  them,  and  exiling  them,  and  wounding  them,  and 


"  ISLANDS  OF  HOPE  IN  GOD  "  247 

killing  them,  and  doing  them  many  evils  :  so  that  when  the  good 
died  their  souls  went  to  Limbo ;  and  the  Limbo  because  it  is 
below  the  ground  is  called  inferno  [hell]. 

21.  Lower  than  Limbo  is  a  place  called  Purgatory  :    to  this 
Purgatory  go  the  souls  of  those  who,  when  they  die,  are  without 
mortal  sin,  and  on  account  of  the  past  sins,  which  they  did  in 
their  life,  and  for  which  before  their  death  they  had  not  made 
complete  penance,  go  to  Purgatory,  where  are  very  great  torments 
of  fire,  in  order  to  pay  the  evils  and  sins  done  in  their  life  ;   and 
when  they  have  paid  the  penance  of  their  sins,  they  issue  from 
Purgatory,  and  go  at  once  to  Paradise. 

22.  The  last  place  which  is  below  the  ground  is  called  the 
infernal  hell  [inferno  infernal],  where  are  great  torments  of  fire 
and  miseries  :   if  men  would  think  on  this  for  an  hour  daily,  and 
if  they  knew  the  troubles  of  the  infernal  hell,  they  would  not  sin 
as  they  do  :   in  this  hell  is  Lucifer,  and  all  the  demons  who  were 
thrust  out  of  heaven,  and  all  who  die  in  mortal  sin.     Those  who 
go  to  this  hell  have  no  remedy  of  salvation  [nenhum  remedio  de 
salvagao},  but  for  ever  and  ever  and  without  end  of  ends  have  to 
be  in  it. 

23.  Oh,  brothers  !   how  is  it  that  we   have    so   little  fear  of 
going  to  hell,  since  every  day  we  do  the  greatest  sins  ?     It  is  a 
sign  that  we  have  little  faith,  since  we  live  like  men  who  do  not 
believe  in  the  inferno  infernal.     The  Church  and  the  Saints  who 
are  with  God  in  Heaven  never  pray  for  those  in  hell,  for  these 
have  no  remedy  to  go  to  Paradise  ;  but  the  Church  and  the  Saints 
pray  for  the  dead  who  are  in  Purgatory  and  for  the  living. 

24.  Jesus  Christ  died  on  Friday,  and  the  most  holy  soul  of  Jesus 
Christ,  always  united  with  the  divinity,   descended  to  Limbo, 
and  drew  all  the  souls  which  were  then  in  Limbo  waiting  for 
Him.     Then  on  the  third  day,  which  is  the  Lord's  Day,  He  rose 
from  among  the  dead,  His  most  holy  soul  again  taking  the  same 
body  which  it  left  when  He  died  on  the  Cross.     After  that  Jesus 
Christ  rose  again  in  a  glorious  body,  he  appeared  to  the  Virgin 
Mary,  His  Mother,  and  to  the  Apostles  and  Disciples,  and  to  His 
friends,  who  were  sad  for  His  death ;    and  with  His  Glorious 
Resurrection  He  consoled  the  sad  and  disconsolate,  pardoning 
sinners  their  sins  ;   and  many  believed  in  Jesus  Christ,  after  they 
saw  Him  rise  again  from  among  the  dead,  who  formerly  were 
not  willing  to  believe  that  He  should  die   and  rise  again.     And 
St.  Thomas  affirmed  that  this  is  true  when  he  said :  /  believe  that 
Jesus  Christ  descended  to  the  hells,  and  on  the  third  day  rose  again 
from  the  dead. 

25.  And  after  Jesus  Christ  rose  again  He  was  forty  days  in  this 
world,  teaching  the  Disciples  what   they  had  to  believe  and  do 
and  teach  the  world  in  order  to  go  to  Paradise  ;   and  in  this  time 


248  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

He  showed  His  Holy  Resurrection  to  be  true,  and  those  who 
doubted  in  His  death,  that  He  would  not  rise  again  :  and  in  those 
forty  days  He  appeared  to  the  Apostles  and  Disciples,  and  to 
many  other  His  friends,  who  doubted  that  He  would  not  rise 
again  when  they  saw  Him  die  on  Mount  Calvary  on  the  Cross. 
And  in  these  forty  days  those  who  did  not  believe  during  the 
Passion  and  Death  of  Jesus  Christ  that  He  was  to  rise  again  on 
the  third  day  completely  believed  without  ever  doubting  that 
He  was  true  Son  of  God,  Saviour  of  the  whole  world,  since  He 
rose  to  life  from  death. 

26.  At  the  end  of  the  forty  days   Jesus  Christ  went  to  the 
Mount  Olivet,  whence  He  was  to  ascend  to  the  high  heavens, 
and  with  Him  went  the  Virgin  Mary,  His  Mother,  and  His  Apostles 
and  Disciples,  and  many  others  ;    and  from  this  Mount  Olivet 
Jesus  ascended  to  the  high  heavens  in  body  and  in  soul,  and 
carried  in  His  company  to  the  glory  of  Paradise  all  the  souls  of 
the  Holy  Fathers  whom  He  drew  from  Limbo.      The  gates  of 
the  heavens  opened  when  Jesus  Christ  ascended  to  the  high 
heavens  ;  the  angels  of  Paradise  came  to  accompany  Jesus  Christ 
to  carry  Him  with  great  glory  to  God  the  Father,  whence  to 
save  sinners  He  descended  in  the  womb  of  the  glorious  Virgin 
Mary,  taking  human  flesh  to  pay  in  it  our  debts  ;    so  that  Jesus 
Christ,  Son  of  God,  for  sins  became  man,  was  born,  died,  rose 
again,  ascended  to  the  heavens,  where  He  is  seated  at  the  right 
hand  of  God  the  Father.     And  since  this  is  truth,  James  the  Less 
said :  /  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  ascended  to  the  heavens,  and  is 
seated  at  the  right  hand  of  God  the  Father  Almighty. 

27.  And  since  this  world  had  a  beginning,  it  is  bound  to  have 
an  end,  and  so  it  will  finish,  and  thus  as  Jesus  ascended  to  the 
heavens  so  He  will  descend  to  give  each  one  what  he  deserved  ; 
and  so  it  is  true  that  all  who  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  and  keep 
His  commandments  will  be  judged  that  they  may  go  to  the  glory 
of  Paradise  ;    and  those  who  would  not  believe  in  Jesus  Christ, 
such   as   the   Moors,  Jews,  and  heathen,   will  go  to  hell  with- 
out any  redemption.     Bad  Christians  who  would  not  keep  the 
ten  commandments   will   be  judged   by  Jesus  Christ  to  go  to 
hell. 

28.  At  the  end  of  the  world  all  then  living  will  die,  for  every 
man  is  born  with  this  condition  that  he  must  die  :    since  Jesus 
Christ  our  Redeemer  died  and  rose  again  for  sins,  we  all  must  die 
and  rise  again0   Besides  this,  the  bodies  of  good  men  who  may  be 
alive  at  the  end  of  the  world  will  not  be  holy  and  glorious,  or  ready 
to  ascend  with  them  to  heaven  ;    therefore  they  must  die  ;    and 
in  their  resurrection  they  will  take  the  same  bodies,  yet  not  subject 
to  suffering  as  formerly.     So  when  Jesus  Christ  descends  from 
heaven  on  the  day  of  judgment  to  judge  the  good  and  the  bad, 


"  ISLANDS  OF  HOPE  IN  GOD  "  249 

all  will  rise  again,  beginning  from  the  first  to  the  last  who  died. 
And  as  this  is  truth,  St.  Philip  said :  /  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  will 
come  from  Heaven  to  judge  the  living  and  the  dead, 

29.  When  we  Christians  bless  ourselves  we  confess  the  truth 
as  to  the  most  Holy  Trinity,  that  there  are  three  persons,  one  God. 
The  first  is  the  person  of  God  the  Father,  and  the  second  person 
of  God  the  Son,  and  the  third  person  of  God  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and 
all  three  persons  are  one  only  God,  threefold  and  one.     God  the 
Father  is  not  made  nor  created  nor  begotten.     The  Son  of  God 
the  Father  is  begotten  and  not  made  nor  created.     The  Holy 
Spirit  proceeds  from  the  Father  and  from  the  Son,  not  created, 
nor  made,  nor  begotten.     When  we  make  the  sign  of  the  Cross 
we  show  this  order  of  proceeding,  placing  the  right  hand  on  the 
head,  saying  in  Name  of  the  Father,  in  sign  that  God  the  Father 
is  not  made  nor  created    nor    begotten;    and  then  placing  the 
hand  on  the  breast,  saying  and  of  the  Son,  in  sign  that  the  Son 
was  begotten  of  the  Father,  and  not  made  nor  created ;  and  then 
placing  the  hand  on  the  left  shoulder,  saying  and  of  the  Spirit ; 
and  passing  the  right  hand  by  the  head  to  the   right  shoulder, 
saying  Holy,  in  sign  that  the  Holy  Spirit  proceeds  from  the  Son 
and  from  the  Father. 

30.  Every  good  Christian  is  obliged  to  believe  firmly,  without 
doubting,  in  the  Holy  Spirit  and  in  His  holy  inspirations,  which 
protect  us  from  doing  evil,  and  move  our  hearts  to  keep  the  ten 
commandments   of  God,   and   the   commandments   of  the   holy 
universal  Mother  Church,  and  to  fulfil  the  works  of  mercy,  cor- 
poral and  spiritual.     And  as  this  is  truth,  the  Apostle  St.  Bartho- 
lomew said :  /  believe  in  the  Holy  Spirit. 

31.  All  we  faithful  Christians  are  obliged  to  believe,  without 
doubting,  what  the  Apostles  and  Disciples  and  Martyrs  and  all 
the  Saints  of  Jesus  Christ  believed  of  Jesus  Christ  concerning  all 
that  is  necessary  to  believe  for  our  salvation,  as  to  His  divinity 
and  humanity,  for  Jesus  Christ  was  God  and  true  man.     Also 
in  general  we  are  obliged  to  believe  firmly,  without  doubting, 
in  all  that  those  who   rule  and  govern  the  universal  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ  believe,  for  they  are  inspired  and  ruled  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  what  they  have  to  do  as  to  the  government  of  the 
universal  Church  in  the  matters  of  our  holy  faith,  in  the  which 
they  cannot  err,  because  they  are  ruled  by  the  Holy  Spirit.     We 
must  also  believe  Scriptures  of  our  religion  [ley],  and  of  Jesus 
Christ ;    and  further  we  are  obliged  to  believe  such  of  the  holy 
canons    and  councils  as  are  ordered  by  the  Church,  and  the 
ordinances    made    by    the    Pope,    Cardinals,    Patriarchs,    Arch- 
bishops, and  Bishops,  and  Prelates  of  the  Church,  when  in  all 
these  things,  without  doubting,  we  believe  all  that  those  who  rule 
and  govern  the  universal  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  believe.     This 


250  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

is  what  the  Apostle  Evangelist  St.  Matthew  charged  when  he 
said :  /  believe  in  the  holy  Catholic  Church. 

32.  And  so  we  true  Christians  believe  that  the  good  works 
and  merits  of  Jesus  Christ  are  communicated  to  and  profit  all 
other  Christians  who  are  in  a  state  of  grace  :  and  as  in  the  natural 
body  the  works  of  one  member  profit  all  the  body,  so  it  is  in  the 
spiritual  body  (which  is  the  Church). 

33.  And  as  chiefly  from  the  head  there  descends  to  the  members 
and  is  communicated  to  them  their  sustentation,  so  from  Christ 
our  Lord,  only  begotten  Son  of  God,  who  is  Head  of  all  the  true 
faithful,  there  is  communicated  spiritual  sustentation  by  means 
of  the  seven  sacraments  of  the  Church — that  is  to  say,  by  baptism, 
by  confirmation  (which  we  call  chrism)  by  the  Most  Holy  Sacra- 
ment of  the  altar,  by  the  sacrament  of  penance,  by  the  extreme 
unction,  by  the  sacrament  of  the  orders,  by  matrimony.     For 
whoever   takes   duly   any   one   of  these   sacraments   is   granted 
grace  by  which  his  soul  lives  spiritual  life,   which  Christ  our 
Lord,  only  begotten  Son  of  God,  merited  by  the  most  holy  works 
He  did  in  this  world,  labouring  and  suffering  injuries  and  the 
death  of  the  Cross  to  free  sinners  from  the  captivity  of  the  demon, 
and  to  turn  them  to  the  true  knowledge  of  their  God,  commu- 
nicating to  them  His  own  merits.     And  not  only  are  the  merits 
of  the  Son  of  God  communicated,  as  from  the  head  to  the  other 
members,  but  further  those  of  the  other  saints  are  communicated 
to  all  the  faithful,  who  are  in  grace,  as  the  goods  of  one  member 
of  the  body  are  communicated  to  the  other  members  of  the  same 
body. 

34.  Christians  further  confess  and  believe  :   that  God  our  Lord 
has  power  to  pardon  the  sins  by  which  the  sinners  separate 
themselves  from  Him,  and  lose  the  grace  which  He  had  before 
communicated  to  them  :    and  that  this  power  He  gives   and 
communicates  to  the  priests  of  the  Catholic  Church,  by  which 
communication  they  now  have  power  to  absolve  from  sins  those 
whom  they  find  worthy  to  be  absolved  before  God. 

35.  And  accordingly  men  must  so  prepare  to  do  what  they 
are  obliged  for  the  safety  of  their  soul,  so  that  the  priests  may 
judge  them  (in  conformity  to  what  God  commands)  as  worthy  to 
be  absolved  ;    and  having  done  this  and  having  confessed  at  the 
obligatory  times,  and  being  absolved  by  the  priest,  they  again 
gain  the  grace  of  God,  and  are  pardoned  their  sins.     And  this  is 
what  St.  Mathias  said  :  I  believe  the  communion  of  Saints  and  the 
remission  of  sins. 

36.  And  because  it  is  a  just  thing  to  believe  in  the  goodness 
of  our  Lord  and  His  infinite  mercy  which  will  not  leave  without 
reward  those  who  serve  Him  in  this  life,  nor  without  chastisement 
those  who  offend  and  break  His  precepts  :    we  believe  in  the 


"  ISLANDS  OF  HOPE  IN  GOD  "  251 

resurrection  of  the  flesh,  which  is  to  say,  that  we  all  have  to  rise 
again  in  the  body,  the  very  same  as  we  are  now,  after  we  have 
passed  temporal  death,  and  that  it  is  certain  that  our  Lord, 
according  to  His  justice,  will  then  give  for  ever  the  reward  to  the 
bodies  which  in  this  world  for  His  love  suffered  troubles  and  per- 
secutions, and  were  afflicted  for  not  consenting  in  sins  ;  and  since 
their  souls  shared  in  trouble,  they  also  may  enjoy  glory  and 
rest. 

37.  And  on  the  contrary  (we  believe)  that  the  bodies  of  the 
bad,  who  in  this  life  cared  to  do  their  own  will  and  fulfil  their 
appetites  rather  than  keep  the  law  of  God  our  Lord,  should  be 
eternally  chastised  in  the  hells,  since  they  offended  the  eternal 
Lord  God,  their  resurrection  will  be  made  in  the  day  of  final 
judgment,  when  all  born  in  this  life  must  rise  in  body  and  soul : 
the  bad  to  be  cast  into  hell  for  their  sins,  and  the  good  to  enter  the 
glory  of  Paradise  with  God  our  Lord.     And  this  is  what  St. 
Thaddeus  said  :   /  believe  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh. 

38.  And  as  our  soul  is  like  God  almighty  and  eternal  in  so  far 
as  it  is  spiritual,  and  in  the  powers  which  God  Himself  gave  it — 
that  is  to  say,  will,  understanding  and  memory — and  the  desire 
of  men  is  to  last  for  ever,  it  is  meet  that  a  creature,  so  excellent 
as  is  man,  should  fulfil  this  longing,  and  so  all  we  Christians 
believe  that  it  will  be  fulfilled  ;   and  therefore  we  believe  in  the 
life  eternal,  which  we  confess  will  never  have  end ;    rather  after 
the  resurrection  of  the  flesh,  wherein  the  soul,  which  never  dies, 
has  again  to  take  its  body,  will  live  together  with  it,  as  they 
are  now  united,  and  by  a  much  better  mode,  eternally  with  God, 
and  will  enjoy  in  the  heavens,  together  with  the  angels,  the  Presence 
of  their  Creator  and  Lord,  and  of  all  the  celestial  benefits,  the 
which  are  so  great  that,  however  much  one  may  in  this  life  think 
of  them  and  imagine  them,  it  is  not  possible  to  reach  or  understand 
their  grandeur. 

39.  There   the   Saints   rest,    without   any   opposition ;     there 
nothing  is  lacking  of  all  they  can  desire ;   there  no  evil  is  found, 
nor  can  it  be  found  nor  exist,  nor  is  there  lacking,  nor  will  ever 
be  lacking,  all  good,  which  the  blessed  will  enjoy  eternally.     And 
this  is  what  St.  Matthias  said :  /  believe  in  the  life  eternal.* 

Many  copies  were  made  of  this  composition,  and  it  soon 
became  well  known  throughout  the  Maluccas.  After  Xavier's 
death  it  used  to  be  read  aloud  on  feast  days  in  places  where 
there  were  no  priests,  and  those  who  understood  it  explained 
it  to  the  others,  while  the  boys  and  girls  learned  it  by  heart. 
It  was  printed  in  Goa  in  1556. 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  pp.  831-44. 


252  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

At  last,  in  mid- April  of  1547,  just  after  Easter,  the  moment 
came  when  Xavier  had  to  leave  Malucco.  We  have  his  own 
description  of  the  parting  : 

"  When  I  left  Malucco  I  embarked  about  midnight  to 
avoid  the  weeping  and  mourning  of  friends — men  and  women 
devoted  to  me.  This  was  not  sufficient,  for  I  could  not  hide 
from  them.  So  the  night,  and  the  separation  from  my 
spiritual  sons  and  daughters,  suggested  to  me  that  perhaps 
my  absence  would  make  for  the  salvation  of  their  souls."* 

This,  in  the  original,  is  one  of  Xavier's  most  elliptical  and 
obscure  sentences,  but  it  seems  to  mean  that  as  he  himself, 
in  the  darkness  and  hour  of  separation,  had  felt  himself 
thrown  back  upon  God,  so  these  poor  folk,  left  in  the  dark 
without  him,  might  feel  the  same,  and  be  given  what  they 
sought. 

"  Before  I  left  Malucco  I  had  ordered  the  Christian  doctrine 
[i.e.,  teaching]  should  be  continued  in  a  church,  and  a  com- 
mentary which  I  made  shortly  on  the  articles  of  the  faith  to  be 
learned  by  the  new  converts  instead  of  the  prayers. 

"...  During  this  time  I  was  very  much  occupied  in  recon- 
ciling people  to  each  other,  for  the  Portuguese  are  very 
quarrelsome. "  f 

The  Saint  took  back  with  him  twenty  young  natives  to  be 
educated  in  the  college  at  Goa.  During  the  few  days  which 
he  spent  at  Amboina  on  his  westward  journey  he  revisited 
the  seven  Christian  districts  there,  and  had  a  little  chapel 
erected  in  each  of  them.  Not  long  afterwards  many  of  these 
Christians  suffered  martyrdom.  From  1558-62  they  were 
constantly  persecuted  by  the  Moors.  But  they  had  for 
leader  one  especially  brave  soul,  a  former  native  guide  of 
Xavier's  called  Manoel.  Gongalvez  tells  us  that  when  they 
threatened  him  he  replied  : 

I  am  a  poor  Amboinese  with  no  learning  :  I  don't  know  what 
it  is  to  be  a  Christian,  and  I  don't  know  what  God  is,  but  I  know 
one  thing  which  Father  Francis  taught  me,  that  it  is  good  to  die 
for  Jesus  Christ.  Because  the  Father  said  this  I  can't  become 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  429.  f  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  432. 


"  ISLANDS  OF  HOPE  IN  GOD  "  253 

a  Mohammedan.  If  he  had  not  said  it,  perhaps  I  would  be 
fallen  like  some  others,  but  thanks  to  that  saying,  my  heart  is 
so  fixed  that  it  cannot  accept  any  other  faith  or  any  other  law 
but  that  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Soon  after  this  some  villains  got  hold  of  him  and  were 
about  to  shoot  him  dead.  Manoel  asked  for  one  instant 
longer,  and  pulling  out  a  cross  which  was  planted  in  the 
ground,  he  stretched  out  his  arms  upon  it,  saying,  "  Father 
Francis  said  that  a  Christian  ought  to  die  on  a  cross.  Fire 
now."  But  the  murderers,  abashed  before  the  sacred  symbol, 
lowered  their  guns.* 

A  year  or  two  later  the  persecutions  began  again,  and  six 
hundred  converts  were  tortured  to  death  or  burnt  alive. 
One  of  them  whom  Francis  had  baptized  is  said  to  have  died 
saying  these  words  :  "  I  love  my  faith  better  than  life.  I  am 
a  Christian.  If  the  Moors  let  me  go  I  will  live  a  Christian,  and 
I  will  die  a  Christian  if  they  slay  me." 

In  July,  1547,  Xavier  was  back  in  Malacca,  and  he  stayed 
there  until  December  of  the  same  year.  In  September 
he  was  joined  by  three  members  of  the  Company — Beira, 
Nunez,  and  Ribeiro. 

"  During  the  month  we  were  together,"  he  writes,  "  I 
received  great  consolation  in  seeing  that  they  were  servants  of 
God,  very  well  suited  to  do  good  work  in  the  Moluccas  .  .  . 
helped  by  the  experience  I  gained  there  I  have  been  able  to 
instruct  them  as  to  how  they  would  have  to  manage. "f 

The  student  of  his  life  begins  now  to  have  a  growing 
impression  of  Francis  as  a  man  to  whom  prayer  has  become 
a  dominating  passion.  As  we  get  on  intimate  terms  with 
him  through  the  study  of  the  Letters,  we  instinctively  weed 
out  many  of  the  old  traditions  upon  which  our  impression 
of  his  character  used  to  be  so  largely  based.  But  there  are 
some  stories  which  remain,  beautiful  and  stately  and,  we 
cannot  but  see,  deeply  rooted  in  truth.  Among  these  are 
the  simple  accounts — belonging  chiefly  to  his  later  period— 
of  his  innumerable  trysts  with  God. 

*  Quoted  by  Cros,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vpl.  i.  p.  351 » 
f  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  431. 


254  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

During  this  visit  to  Malacca  he  usually  slept  in  the  sacristy, 
and  often,  by  night,  he  was  seen  to  enter  the  empty  church. 

Frequently,  while  he  and  his  friends  were  sitting  talking 
together,  he  would  unobtrusively  slip  away.  More  than 
once  they  followed  him  at  a  distance,  only  to  find  they  had 
intruded  upon  a  secret  and  sacred  communion. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Francis  first  heard  of  Japan. 
Of  the  Japanese  Yajiro,  to  whom  he  refers  in  the  following 
letter,  we  will  hear  more  fully  later. 

"  When  I  was  in  the  city  of  Malacca  some  Portuguese 
merchants  gave  me  great  news.  They  are  trustworthy 
men.  Some  very  large  islands  were  discovered,  a  little 
time  ago,  called  the  islands  of  Japon.  There,  according  to 
the  Portuguese,  much  fruit  might  be  gained  for  the  increase 
of  our  holy  faith,  more  than  in  any  other  parts  of  the  Indies, 
for  they  are  a  people  most  extremely  desirous  of  know- 
ledge, which  the  Indian  heathen  are  not.  A  Japon,  called 
Yajiro,  came  with  these  merchants  to  look  for  me,  as  the 
Portuguese  who  went  there  from  Malacca  had  talked  so  much 
about  me.  .  .  .  He  had  told  the  Portuguese  of  certain  sins 
done  in  his  youth,  and  had  asked  them  how  God  might  pardon 
him.  The  Portuguese  advised  him  to  come  with  them  to 
see  me.  He  did  so,  coming  to  Malacca  with  them.  When 
he  came  I  had  left  for  Malucco.  When  he  found  out  that 
I  had  gone  there,  he  embarked  again  to  go  to  his  own  country 
of  Japon.  When  within  sight  of  the  islands  of  Japon  they 
were  surprised  by  such  a  storm  of  wind  that  they  were  like 
to  perish.  Then  the  ship  returned  again  to  Malacca,  where 
he  found  me,  and  was  delighted.  He  came  to  seek  me  with 
a  great  desire  to  know  about  our  religion  [ley].  He  can 
speak  Portuguese  pretty  well,  so  he  understood  all  I  told  him, 
and  I  what  he  said  to  me. 

"  If  all  the  Japanese  are  like  this,  so  eager  to  learn  as 
Yajiro,  I  think  they  are  the  most  inquiring  people  in  all  the 
lands  hitherto  discovered.  This  Yajiro  wrote  down  the 
[teaching  on  the]  articles  of  faith  wilich  I  have  made, 
when  he  came  to  the  class.  He  went  very  often  to  the 
church  to  pray.  He  asked  me  numerous  questions.  He  is  a 
man  who  is  very  anxious  to  know,  and  that  is  the  mark  of 
a  man  who  will  profit  greatly,  and  will  quickly  come  to  a 
knowledge  of  the  truth. 


"  ISLANDS  OF  HOPE  IN  GOD  "  255 

"...  I  asked  Yajiro  whether  the  Japanese  would  become 
Christians  if  I  went  with  him  to  his  land.  He  answered  that 
his  countrymen  would  not  become  Christians  straight  away. 
First,  they  would  ask  many  questions,  and  would  see  what 
I  answered  and  what  I  knew,  and,  above  all,  whether  I  lived 
in  accordance  with  what  I  said.  If  I  did  these  two  things — 
spoke  well,  satisfying  their  questions,  and  lived  without  their 
finding  anything  to  blame  me,  then  half  a  year  after  they 
knew  me  the  king,  the  nobility,  and  all  the  other  people  of 
discretion  would  become  Christians.  He  tells  me  they  are  a 
people  who  rule  themselves  only  by  reason. 

"  .  .  .  I  think  by  what  I  am  feeling  within  my  soul 
that  I  or  some  one  of  the  Company  will  go  to  Japon  within 
two  years,  although  it  is  a  very  dangerous  voyage,  both 
because  of  great  tempests  and  of  Chinese  thieves  who  sail 
that  sea  to  rob.  Many  ships  are  lost  there.  Therefore 
pray  to  God,  my  very  dear  Fathers  and  Brothers,  for  those 
who  may  go  thither,  for  it  is  a  voyage  on  which  many  are 
lost.  Meanwhile  Yajiro  will  learn  the  Portuguese  language 
better,  and  see  India  and  the  Portuguese  there,  and  our 
style  and  way  of  living.  And  at  the  same  time  we  must 
catechise  him.  And  seeing  that  Yajiro  can  write  very  well 
in  Japanese,  we  shall  translate  all  the  Christian  doctrine  into 
that  language  with  a  commentary  on  the  articles  of  the 
faith  which  will  treat  fully  of  the  coming  of  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord.  ..."  * 

In  December  1547  the  Saint  left  Malacca  for  Cochin. 
*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  433  ff. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

INDIA    REVISITED 

(January,  1548 — April,  1549) 

ON  January  12th,  1548,  Francis  was  once  more  in  India. 
On  reaching  Cochin  he  found  the  ships  almost  ready  to  sail 
for  Europe,  so  he  paused  there  for  some  days  to  get  his 
letters  written  and  sent  off.  At  this  time  there  seems  to  have 
surged  over  him  a  great  wave  of  depression.  There  are 
passages  in  all  the  letters  from  Cochin  witnessing  to  it.  And 
there  are  words  in  a  letter  to  Loyola  which  record  that  his 
faith  and  ardour  were  flagging  beneath  the  strain. 

"  I  do  beg  of  you,  for  the  Lord  Jesus'  sake,  to  look  on  those 
children  of  yours  in  India,  and  send  out  some  man  pre- 
eminent in  virtue  and  sanctity  whose  vigour  and  ardour  may 
arouse  my  torpor."  * 

There  is  a  similar  note  of  profound  depression  in  the 
following  letter  to  the  King  of  Portugal.  The  preamble  is  a 
curious  impressionistic  record  of  a  mind  that  has  evidently 
been  in  great  misery  and  uncertainty. 

"...  I  have  been  wondering  whether  it  would  be  well  to 
write  to  your  Highness  what  I  feel  within  my  soul  to  be  the 
best  means  for  the  increase  of  our  holy  faith.  On  the  one 
hand  it  seemed  to  me  to  be  a  service  to  God  ;  and  on  the 
other  hand  I  judged  that  it  ought  not  to  come  to  light,  even 
though  I  wrote  it.  Not  to  write  seemed  to  me  a  burdening 
of  my  conscience.  Since  God  our  Lord  was  revealing  it  to 
me  for  some  purpose,  I  did  not  imagine  it  could  be  for  any- 
thing else  than  to  write  to  your  Highness,  so  I  write  what  I  am 
painfully  feeling  within  my  soul.  What  I  write  of  ought  not 
to  be  done.  And  now,  if  your  Highness  is  accused  by  my 
letters  at  the  hour  of  your  death  before  God,  the  excuse  that 
you  did  not  know  of  these  things  cannot  be  accepted. 

*  Only  a  Latin  version  of  this  letter  has,  so  far,  been  discovered  (see  Mon. 
Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  448). 


INDIA  REVISITED  257 

"  Let  your  Highness  believe  that  this  gives  me  great  pain, 
since  I  wish  for  nothing  else  but  to  live  and  die  here,  so  that 
I  may  help  to  clear  your  conscience,  seeing  you  have  such  a 
great  love  for  the  Company.  So,  Sire,  in  coming  to  the 
conclusion  that  I  ought  to  write  to  you,  I  found  myself  in 
great  confusion.  At  last  I  determined  to  clear  my  conscience 
by  writing  what  it  tells  me  as  a  result  of  the  experience  I 
have  gained  out  here,  in  India,  Malacca,  and  the  Moluccas. 

'  Your  Highness  must  know  that  here,  as  elsewhere, 
holy  jealousies  often  prevent  much  service  being  done  to  God 
our  Lord.  One  says,  '  I  will  do  it  '  ;  another  says,  '  No,  but  I 
will  '  ;  and  others,  '  Since  I  don't  do  it  I'm  not  pleased  that 
you  should';  others,  '  I  do  all  the  work,  and  another  gets  all  the 
thanks  and  advantage  ' ;  and  in  this  way  the  time  is  passed.  .  . . 

"  If  there  are  to  be  many  Christians  made  here,  and  if 
those  who  are  Christians  are  to  be  much  favoured,  and  to  be 
free  from  being  harmed  or  defrauded  by  anyone,  either 
Portuguese  or  unbelievers,  I  know  of  only  one  remedy  "  : — 

The  remedy  which  in  his  misery  and  disheartenment  he 
proposes,  both  in  this  letter  and  in  the  next  one  to  Rodriguez, 
makes  rather  painful  reading.  Of  course  we  must  remember 
Xavier  was  experiencing  what  nearly  all  missionaries  do, 
that  their  greatest  hindrance  is  the  godless  life  of  their 
fellow-countrymen ;  he  had  seen  the  injustices  done  by 
Portuguese  to  the  natives  ;  he  knew  the  abuses  everywhere 
among  Government  officials,  and  he  felt  the  king  was  re- 
sponsible for  his  officers,  as,  indeed,  under  such  absolute 
monarchy,  he  was. 

"  Let  your  Highness  inform  the  governor  who  is  here,  or 
whom  you  send  from  home,  that  you  entrust  him,  above  all 
religious  persons  here,  with  the  increase  of  our  holy  faith  in 
India,  naming  all  of  us  here,  and  saying  that  you  trust  in 
him  alone,  after  God,  for  the  unburdening  of  the  heavy 
conscience  which  you  carry,  because  owing  to  the  fault  of 
the  governors  so  few  Christians  are  being  made  in  India. 
And  direct  the  Governor  to  write  to  your  Highness  about 
the  Christians  made,  and  the  opportunities  for  making 
more  .  .  .  and  if  he  do  not  greatly  increase  our  holy  faith, 
assure  him  that  you  are  determined  to  punish  him,  and  say 
with  a  solemn  oath  that  you  will  hold  all  his  estates  as  forfeit 

s 


258  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

for  the  works  of  the  Santa  Misericordia,  when  he  comes  to 
Portugal,  and  further,  that  you  will  keep  him  in  irons  for 
many  years,  giving  him  plainly  to  understand  that  no 
excuses  will  be  accepted.  I  cannot  here  say  all  I  know,  it 
would  hurt  your  Highness  so  grievously,  and  I  dare  not  think 
of  all  I  have  suffered  and  suffer,  and  with  no  remedy  that 
I  can  see. 

"  If  the  Governor  understand  as  a  certainty  that  you 
mean  what  you  say,  and  will  fulfil  your  oath,  the  whole 
of  Ceylon  will  be  Christian  in  a  year,  and  many  kings  in 
Malabar  and  Cape  Comorin  and  many  other  places.  But 
so  long  as  the  governors  have  pot  this  fear  before  them  of 
being  dishonoured  and  punished,  you  need  not  count  on  any 

increase  of  our  holy  faith 

"  And  because  I  have  no  hope  that  this  will  be  done,  I 
am  almost  sorry  I  have  written.  ...  I  certify  that  I  would 
not  have  written  this  about  the  governors  if  I  had  thought 
that  with  a  good  conscience  I  could  satisfy  my  soul  in  keeping 
silence. 

"  I,  Sire,  am  not  quite  determined  to  go  to  Japan,  but  I 
am  thinking  that  I  will,  for  I  quite  despair  of  any  real  chance 
in  India  for  the  increase  of  our  holy  faith." 

The  letter  goes  on  to  implore  the  king  to  send  out  more 
workers,  and  then  Xavier  gives  a  report  of  his  work  in 
Malacca,  to  show,  as  he  says,  what  room  there  is  for  more 
missionaries.  He  signs  himself  "  Your  Highness'  useless 
servant."* 

He  writes  at  the  same  time,  and  on  the  same  subjects,  to 
Rodriguez.  He  literally  clamours  for  more  workers. 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  he  says  of  the  king,  "  that  at  the  hour 
of  his  death  he  will  find  that  he  has  fallen  very  far  short  with 
regard  to  India.  I  am  rather  afraid  that  in  heaven  God  and 
all  His  saints  will  say  of  him,  '  By  letters  the  king  shows  a 
friendly  interest  about  the  increase  of  My  honour  in  India, 
since  it  is  only  in  My  Name  and  for  this  cause  that  he  possesses 
it ;  yet,  while  he  apprehends  and  punishes  those  in  charge 
of  his  temporal  profit,  if  in  any  way  they  do  not  increase  his 
rents  and  revenues,  he  never  punishes  those  who  do  not 

*  Mon.  Xavi,  vol.  i.  p.  451  ff. 


INDIA  REVISITED  259 

comply   with   his    letters    and    commands   [about    spiritual 
things]/ 

"  If  I  were  convinced  that  the  king  perfectly  understood 
the  sincere  love  I  have  for  him,  I  would  ask  him  ...  to 
pray  every  day  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  to  God  to  give  him 
to  understand  well  and  feel  better  within  his  soul  that  saying 
of  Christ's,  What  does  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world, 
but  suffer  the  loss  of  his  own  soul  ?  ....  It  is  time,  very 
dear  brother  Master  Simon,  to  undeceive  the  king.  The 
hour  is  nearer  than  he  thinks  when  God  has  to  call  him  to 
give  account,  saying  to  him,  Give  an  account  of  thy  steward- 
ship. Therefore  see  that  he  provides  India  with  spiritual 
fundamentals." 

Xavier  goes  on  to  say  the  same  things  that  he  had  said 
to  the  king  about  forcing  the  governors  to  give  the  Gospel 
to  India.  The  force,  we  have  in  fairness  to  Xavier  to  observe, 
was  not  to  be  used  towards  the  converts — he  knew  well 
enough  that,  with  those  southern  tribes  of  which  he  was 
thinking,  the  Gospel  had  only  to  be  preached  in  order  to  be 
received — it  was  the  authorities  who  were  to  be  forced  to  give 
opportunities  of  hearing  the  Word. 

The  letter  concludes  : 

"  In  this  way  the  injustices  and  robberies  towards  the  poor 
Christians  will  cease,  and  those  who  are  ready  to  become 
Christians  will  get  good  courage  to  do  so.  For  in  this  matter 
of  making  Christians  you  need  expect  no  fruit  if  the  king 
makes  anyone  else  but  the  Governor  responsible.  I  If  now 
what  I  am  saying,  believe  me,  and  am  telling  you  the  truth."  * 

To  understand  these  letters,  we  must  recognise  the  intense 
emotion  which  lies  behind  them,  and  the  eagerness  and 
earnestness  with  which  every  line  is  surcharged.  Not  many 
will  think  these  proposals  practicable  or  wise,  but  there  are 
few  who  would  care  to  say  so  very  loudly  in  the  presence  of 
such  prophetic  passion  as  this.  Portuguese  India  was  in  an 
abominable  state,  and  Xavier  was  at  the  same  time  a  man  of 
vision  and  a  man  of  action.  Desperate  measures  were  called 
for.  In  the  light  of  calmer  days  desperate  measures  often 
seem  more  absurd  than  at  the  time  they  really  were.  We 

*  Man.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  457  ff. 

S2 


260  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

dare  hardly  judge  this  scheme.  Its  aims  were  after  all  very 
simple.  Here  stood  a  man  with  a  single  eye  for  the  glory  of 
God.  And  if,  from  the  vast  armoury  of  political  and 
ecclesiastical  intrigue  in  which  he  stood,  he  chose  a  weapon 
or  two,  saying,  "  These  will  help  me  in  my  battles,"  we 
condemn  his  judgment  rather  than  his  ideals.  These,  as 
outlined  in  this  letter,  were  three  :  an  end  to  the  persecution 
of  the  native  Christians  by  the  native  heathen,  justice  and 
liberty  for  the  native  Christians  from  the  Portuguese,  and 
opportunities  for  every  man  and  woman  in  India  to  embrace 
the  "  Law  of  God." 

We  have  no  evidence,  at  this  or  at  any  other  time,  of 
Francis'  inward  sorrow  telling  upon  his  outward  bearing. 
On  the  contrary,  when,  some  years  later,  a  pre-canonisation 
enquiry  was  held  here  in  Cochin,  nearly  all  the  witnesses  use 
the  same  expression.  They  say  "  He  was  very  candid  in  his 
conversation,  and  always  with  his  mouth  full  of  laughter."* 

But  Xavier  did  not  stay  long  in  Cochin.  Towards  the 
end  of  January  he  set  out  to  visit  the  Christians  in  the 
south.  In  the  country  of  the  Great  King,  where  he  had 
baptized  whole  populations  three  years  earlier,  he  found 
things  going  badly.  Francisco  Enriquez,  the  missionary  in 
charge,  had  given  up  in  despair.  The  Great  King  had  not 
maintained  his  former  goodwill  toward  the  Christians.  Probably 
he  found  that  his  patronage  of  the  Western  religion  had  not 
brought  him  all  the  advantages  which  he  had  hoped  for. 
Francisco  Enriquez/ s  versions  of  the  persecutions  were  highly 
coloured  and  pitiful,  but  that  may  have  been  partly  due  to 
his  desire  to  have  a  good  excuse  to  quit  an  uncongenial  field. 
In  any  case  Xavier  promptly  sent  him  back  to  the  work  he 
had  deserted. 

He  then  proceeded  to  the  Fishery  coast,  and  gathered  the 
workers  together  at  Manapar  for  review  and  counsel.  Brother 
Manoel  de  Moralez  wrote  from  there  : 

During  the  fifteen  days  which  he  spent  with  us  there  he 
talked  with  each  of  us  alone,  asking  us  about  all  those  things 
which  were  in  our  minds,  from  a  spiritual  point  of  view,  and 
talking  of  everything  which  might  help  to  keep  together  and 
increase  our  converts.  When  he  left  us  to  go  to  Goa.  he  gave 
us  some  written  instructions,  that  some  things  which  were  unsatis- 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  ii.  p.  270  :  see  also  p.  319. 


INDIA  REVISITED  261 

factory  might  be  improved,  and  that  we  might  know  how  to 
proceed  in  the  future.* 

These  written  instructions  begin  by  bidding  the  mis- 
sionaries baptize  infants  whenever  possible.  After  baptism, 
nothing,  he  goes  on,  is  more  important;  than  the  instruction  of 
the  children.  Each  village  is  to  have  a  teacher  of  its  own. 
The  women  are  to  meet  on  Saturdays,  the  men  on  Sundays, 
and  the  great  truths  are  to  be  preached  in  simple  language. 
The  missionaries  are  to  make  a  point  of  reconciling  enemies. 

When  Coelho  has  finished  his  translation  of  the  Articles  of 
the  Faith  into  Malabar  a  copy  is  to  be  given  to  each  village. 

The  people  are  to  be  instructed  to  tell  the  missionaries 
when  anyone  is  ill,  that  he  may  be  visited,  taught,  and  have 
the  Gospel  read  to  him.  At  funerals  they  are  to  address 
those  who  are  present,  reminding  them  that  they  too  have  to 
die,  and  that  if  they  wish  to  go  to  Paradise  they  must  live  a 
good  life. 

The  missionaries  are  not  to  get  mixed  up  in  law  cases  if 
they  can  avoid  it.  And  they  are  most  earnestly  urged  to  try  to 
keep  on  good  terms  with  the  Captain,  and  to  live  in  peace  and 
friendship  with  all  the  Portuguese,  and  return  them  good  for 
evil,  and  only  speak  with  them  about  the  things  of  God, 
exhorting  them  to  confess  and  communicate,  and  to  keep  the 
Ten  Commandments. 

They  are  to  help  the  native  priests  in  every  way,  and  never 
to  write  down  an  ill  report  of  any.  They  are  to  take  special 
care  never  to  run  down  the  native  Christians  in  the  presence 
of  the  Portuguese,  but  always  to  defend  them,  and  speak 
generously  of  them.  With  the  natives  themselves  they  are 
always  to  deal  as  lovingly  as  possible,  and  punishment  is  only 
to  be  given  with  the  sanction  of  Father  Antonio  Criminale, 
who  was  the  senior  missionary.  They  are  to  be  very  slow- 
even  when  they  think  they  deserve  it — in  punishing  the 
children,  to  beware  of  offending  them,  and  to  "  show  them 
much  love." 

Each  man  is  to  keep  to  his  own  district,  unless  with  the 
special  permission  of  Antonio  Criminale. 

Finally  he  says  : 

"  Again  I  charge  you  earnestly  to  strive  to  make  yourselves 

*  Cros,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  i.  p.  373. 


262  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

loved  wherever  you  go  or  are,  doing  kind  deeds  to  all,  and 
always  leaving  loving  words  behind  you  if  possible,  for  thus 
you  will  produce  much  fruit  in  their  souls.  The  Lord  grant 
this,  and  abide  with  all.  Amen."* 

After  spending  about  a  fortnight  on  the  Fishery  coast, 
Xavier  paid  a  flying  visit  to  Ceylon.  Of  this  visit  he  says 
nothing  in  any  of  his  letters  ;  he  was  probably  ordered  to  go 
by  the  Bishop,  and  found  the  task  little  to  his  taste.  The 
King  of  Kandy  appears  to  have  become  a  "  Christian  "  some 
time  previously,  from  political  motives,  and  to  have  been 
making  a  disturbance  because  he  had  not  been  given  all  that 
,he  had  been  promised.  In  March  the  Saint  was  once  more 
in  Goa,  and  had  brought  back  with  him  an  ambassador  from 
the  discontented  king  to  treat  with  the  Governor,  de  Castro. 
He  was  on  the  eve  of  a  journey,  and  received  Xavier  and  his 
friend  coldly.  He  could  do  nothing  for  Kandy  just  then,  and 
the  other  affairs  about  which  Xavier  wished  to  talk  to  him 
were  pushed  aside. 

Xavier  waited  eight  days  in  Goa,  and  then  set  out  after 
the  Governor,  for  both  the  affairs  of  Kandy  and  his  own 
business  were  urgent.  By  the  end  of  March  he  was  in 
Bassein,  and  de  Castro  was  there  too.  It  was  Lent,  and  the 
Saint,  instead  of  going  straight  to  interview  the  Governor, 
began  to  preach  in  the  town,  before  resting  an  hour  from  his 
journey.  De  Castro  saw  and  heard  him,  and,  for  Xavier, 
the  rest  appears  to  have  been  easy. 

They  met,  and  the  ambassador's  requests  were  granted. 
Kandy  was  to  become  a  tributary  of  Portugal,  and  in 
return  was  to  receive  Portuguese  protection  and  favour. 
The  foundation  of  a  Jesuit  college  at  Malacca  was  approved, 
and  the  Governor  gave  his  blessing  on  the  proposed  voyage 
to  Japan.  The  old  man  was  dying,  and  knew  it,  and  would 
fain  have  kept  Xavier  with  him  till  the  end  came.  But 
Francis  was  in  haste  to  return  to  Goa.  De  Castro  made  him 
promise  at  least  not  to  leave  Goa  during  the  next  year,  so  that 
he  might  come  to  him  and  give  him  the  last  rites  of  the 
Church.  This  Xavier  promised. 

From  Goa  he  wrote  to  his  friend,  Diego  Pereira  :— 

-  "  .  .  .  God  our  Lord  knows  how  pleased  I  should  have  beei 
*  Mon.  Xav,,  vol.  i.  p.  853. 


INDIA  REVISITED  263 

to  have  seen  you  before  taking  the  road  to  China,  but  the 
Governor  ordered  me  to  winter  here  in  Goa,  and  I  could  not 
do  anything  but  obey,  though  I  wanted  to  go  to  Cochin,  and 
from  there  on  to  Cape  Comorin,  where  my  companions  are. 
And  I  would  have  liked  so  much  to  have  had  a  talk  with  you, 
as  with  my  real  soul's  friend,  about  my  plans  for  a  voyage  and 
pilgrimage  to  Japan  which  I  hope  to  make  within  a  year.  For 
I  have  got  a  lot  of  information  about  the  amount  of  fruit 
which  may  be  gained  there  for  the  increase  of  our  holy  faith. 

"...  I  am  most  anxious  to  see  you  before  leaving  for 
China  in  order  to  recommend  a  very  rich  merchandise 
to  you.  Those  who  trade  in  Malacca  and  China  take  little 
stock  of  it.  This  merchandise  is  called  the  soul's  conscience. 
It  is  so  little  known  throughout  these  parts  that  all  the 
merchants  think  themselves  lost  if  they  use  it  much.  I  hope 
in  God  our  Lord  that  my  friend  Diego  Pereira  will  gain  in 
carrying  a  good  conscience  where  others  are  lost  for  want  of  it. 
I  continually  ask  in  my  poor  prayers  and  sacrifices  that  God 
our  Lord  may  take  and  draw  him  to  a  safe  haven  with  greater 
profit  in  soul  and  conscience  than  in  estate."  * 

The  letter  goes  on  to  ask  help  for  a  certain  Ramirez,  who 
wishes  to  get  back  to  his  native  country,  but  has  no  money 
to  take  him  there.  "  I  would  have  helped  if  I  could," 
Francis  writes,  "  but  I  am  so  poor  that  I  do  not  see  how  that 
is  possible.'* 

In  June  the  old  Governor  died,  and  Francis,  as  he  had 
promised,  was  at  his  bedside.  Nothing  now  detained  him  any 
longer  in  Goa,  except  the  affairs  of  the  college.  But  these 
occupied  him  for  some  months.  The  college  of  St.  Paul  must 
have  been  a  unique  and  curious  institution  in  those  days. 

Twelve  or  thirteen  different  languages  were  spoken  here. 
Besides  Indians  from  every  province,  there  were  Africans,  Malays, 
Chinese,  men  from  the  Moluccas,  Bonzes  from  Pegu  or  Siam, 
and  several  young  Ethiopians.  The  preceding  year  an  Abyssinian 
bishop  had  died  at  the  college  .  .  .  among  the  catechumens 
were  Cingalese  refugees,  the  ambassador  of  the  king  of  Kandy, 
and  the  three  Japanese  recently  arrived  from  Malacca.t 

The  Father  of  the  college  sent,  about  this  time,  a  bright 
account  of  the  life  there  to  the  King  of  Portugal. 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  460. 

t  Brou,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  i.  p.  35, 


264  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

Every  day,  teachers  and  scholars,  after  dinner,  go  in  procession 
from  the  refectory  to  the  hermitages  at  the  top  of  the  garden, 
and  there  make  most  special  prayers  for  the  Queen  our  lady, 
for  the  Prince,  and  for  the  Governors  of  India.  It  is  a  beautiful 
spectacle  to  see  them  thus  piously  advancing,  first  the  Fathers, 
then  the  oldest  pupils  who  are  already  grammarians,  then  those 
who  are  learning  the  psalter,  then  the  younger  ones.  Thus 
well  ordered,  two  by  two,  they  arrive  at  the  hermitage,  and  kneel 
down  and  respond  to  the  prayers  which  the  Fathers  recite,  and 
then  go  on,  in  the  same  order,  to  the  next  hermitage.  After 
this  they  separate  into  groups  in  the  garden,  in  times  of  great 
heat  or  of  rain  under  the  shelters,  at  other  times  on  the  benches 
in  the  allees.  Each  group  is  formed  of  boys  of  one  race  ;  they 
talk  in  their  own  language  or  discuss  what  they  have  heard  in 
class,  that  they  may  not  forget  it.  There  are  in  the  college  four 
very  clever  lads  who  preach  to  the  native  Christians.  One  of 
them,  from  Tutuan,  has  remarkable  talent ;  he  will  become  a 
great  preacher.  He  is  only  thirteen  or  fourteen  years  old  and 
already,  in  very  good  Portuguese,  he  has  composed  some  sermons, 
in  which  he  quotes  the  authorities  of  the  Fathers  with  such 
a  propos  that  they  who  hear  him  weep  with  joy  and  praise  God.* 

One  smiles  a  little  at  this  lovely  picture  when  one  reads  of 
another  letter  which  went  to  Rodriguez  about  the  same  time 
as  this  went  to  the  king,  asking  him  to  beg  for  indulgences 
for  the  college.  There  are  other  reports,  too,  from  the 
Fathers  of  the  college  which  are  not  so  glowing.  Most  of  the 
boys  came  to  the  place  too  old  to  have  their  morals  satis- 
factorily dealt  with.  Yet  this  seemed  at  the  time  an  unavoid- 
able evil,  for  if  they  came  to  the  college  too  young  they 
forgot  their  native  dialect,  and  were  unable  to  preach  to  their 
own  people  when  the  time  came  for  them  to  return.  The 
house  was  not  satisfactorily  governed.  Xavier  knew  this, 
and  had  already  written  to  Europe  begging  for  a  more  capable 
Head.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  friction  among  the  various 
priests  and  instructors,  and  Xavier  seems  to  have  spent  most 
of  his  time,  from  April  until  September,  in  trying  to  get  things 
into  better  order. 

At  the  beginning  of  September  two  new  workers  arrived 
from  Portugal,  Gasper  Barzee  and  Melchior  Goncalez. 
Before  their  ships  had  cast  anchor  in  the  harbour,  Francis, 
eager  as  always  for  tidings  from  home,  had  sent  out  messengers 

*  Quoted  by  Cros,  Vie  de  S,  Francois  Xavier,  yol,  i.  p.  340. 


INDIA  REVISITED  265 

with  refreshments  and  requests  that  they  might  land  as  soon 
as  possible,  for  he  longed  to  see  them. 

Writing  of  his  first  meeting  with  the  Saint,  Barzee  says  : 

The  joy  which  fills  our  soul  is  indescribable.  I  cannot  tell  you 
of  the  goodness  of  Father  Francis.  At  first  it  was,  for  the  Fathers 
and  Brothers,  like  a  whirlwind  of  love.  When  he  had  settled 
down,  after  mutual  greetings,  and  a  meal  which  restored  us, 
Father  Francis  set  himself  to  question  us  about  the  state  of  the 
Company  in  Europe.  He  never  could  end  talking  of  Father 
Ignatius,  Father  Simon  [Rodriguez],  the  other  Fathers,  the 
colleges,  the  number  of  the  Companions,  but,  above  all,  of  their 
virtues.  It  was  touching  to  see  how  he  lovingly  praised  God, 
in  speaking,  or  listening  to  us  speak  of  the  fruits  of  salvation  which 
God,  through  the  Company,  had  gained  in  Portugal  and  elsewhere. 
As  to  the  other  Fathers  and  Brothers,  they  are  God's  elect ;  I 
cannot  say  any  more  of  them.* 

Caspar  was  a  humble  soul  and  had  a  sense  of  humour.  He 
wrote  to  his  friends  an  account  of  how  he  preached  before  the 
Saint : 

Soon  Father  Francis  told  me  to  be  ready  to  preach  at  St. 
Paul's  on  the  Day  of  our  Lady  in  September,  and  he  warned 
me  well  to  speak  distinctly,  because,  by  what  the  people  in  our 
ship  had  said,  there  would  be  a  great  crowd.  But  I  spoke  so  low 
that  they  were  very  displeased,  Father  Francis  among  the  others. 
Several  of  them  had  hardly  heard  me.  Then  he  (Francis)  went 
away,  leaving  me  orders  to  practise  speaking  during  the  night  in 
the  church.  I  did  this  till  the  brothers  were  satisfied  with  me. 
Since  then  I  have  been  preaching,  and  the  people  are  quite 
pleased.f 

Melchior  Goncalez  also  leaves  us  an  interesting  account  of 
his  first  impressions  of  the  Saint : 

He  is  not  old,  and  his  health  seems  good,  although  he  is  ascetic 
in  appearance.  I  note  that  he  does  not  drink  any  kind  of  wine. 
Privations  are  nothing  to  him,  for  he  is  a  brave  soldier  of  Jesus 
Christ,  forgetting  himself,  and  thinking  of  nothing  but  his  King. 
One  can  apply  to  him  the  words  of  St.  Bernard :  "  The  faithful 
soldier  does  not  feel  his  own  wounds  when  he  looks  with  love  on  those 
of  his  King."%  Truly,  dear  brothers,  there  is  a  living  martyr  in 

*  Brou,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  ii.  p.  48. 
f  Cros,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  i.  p.  384. 
j  Fidelis    miles  vulrjera   sua  non  sentit  tfum  benigne    sui  Regis 
jptuetur, 


2'*,  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

»h.  mid:  t  ol  ui    and  I  am  mnviju  •  -I  l.liul  hr  \vi!l  bwu  'J"  ;i  MMtV* 

:I|M;I<!V  :itc>\\;  h:iv<  h'  <'H  |c-(  lly  ;i,|  him  !  Ari'.l  rn:r  .  :  •  rr 
iJii-y  liiiv*  :,'•!  h?i  l.o  I  h<  |r.f!;nn"  \\hrri  hi  pUNM.:d  tlt<  flight,  Thf< 
or  |f  n  it  l.irri'':  in  (hi  :,:i  rri'  n  r»  r  1 1  t  h'  a  t  l.i-rnpi  h:  f  ,.-:••  ••:,-.•  !  T  <  •• 
whi'-h  yon  '-M.II  |ii»l«"  wh:.ii  f.orj  ol  :.!<  i-p  he  Itti  IttdL  TfWC  J 
r.,rj. •:..!:  Chn;;{  r.  ;,  (ill-  whi'-h  \v  II  :.r,j,l..-.v  (o  h,rr,.* 

On  Ji.rnvin^'  •(!  f«o;i  numbfrs  oj  tli' 
to  llllow  tll^'ffl  t»O  ''rit'T  I  h'  (JoJnpiU 
lh«-:,'  r:uncli.|;i.l«^,  in.-lu.li-H  Ihr-  r-;,.p> :',  in  of  r,r',,  nl 

tfcg  yy«mqff  <rf  «M»  <<  tibf  fcfiij  fpyfwl  anMr  IMC  «, 

:.l   o'oi-l.or  .   :iri'l    :<    •'".'?.'    rn::,n\'    f|Umbl':M    lf''!  /,:;'»'   r  ' 

all  t '  . 

only  f »M'     I >'ii'    r<r 

Soulh  J II' I  it!   -i    f<-w   yi  •.•!?••.  l:i,t,i-r. 

In     '-.i-pr'-rnriff     \,:\.'\     nr-uv    f-nrtK      horn    (  orrinrin 

r,on*h          Ifi    \v:i : ,  ;"  i  \( -n  ;i   f  o  y;i  I   \\'«  1' 'orn*.    |>y   h  r.  I  •»>10Wi0fl0MK 

MI  ttf  ffhtfiy  fflMt    jli  fir  rtiif ••ilnr^oil  rtbc | 

the  fiV'nns   whieh    hi     h:i'l  taught    Mii-rn,  ;i,n'l    I  hi-ri   Mfliftd    nirn 

on  1li«  "   :.hon|i|i  ?-,   1,0  I  hi    ehureh.     Jri  r}iy.p^ 

t:i.lh«-»  ;;l  f  i-ti«r|  h*-ru  'I  I  r»  [>(  -f :,'  '•'  .H  i'  »n  ;i.Tir|  flclMship,  Hk»- 
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rr  i  r.:.i'  >n  h'-r '  \\:  -,-••;•  •-  :  •  •  .-  ',.-••  r-|  <nt\i-i  t  -t\  :m'\  f  hs- 

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Uli'l  I  » :i.ri:.l:tl  inj.'  mc.rt-hodicul  Jl-*f 

From  t  lie  J4  V  -h«'ry  *•'  >a:.l  yV:i\   <•  •.•••.-   ••    ?  •  a.rxc'isoo  JCnri'-juexi. 

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run    ;iway    from    hi:,    vvorl:     in    'J'r;.i va.r,'  •   r<          -  'I    ha,'.l    I 

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J  f 


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< 

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INPM   KKVISITKP  Ml 

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,,  ,  N   u,(  ,    |t'u- 


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>  t^iuif  t  ho 

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*     U,./,     \,,,.  .   x,,|     j     ,,     i,.,. 


268  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

Cochin.     Besides  his  usual  works  he  was  occupied  in  the 
founding  of  a  college  or  seminary  there. 

A  very  revealing  letter  to  Loyola  is  dated  January  12th  : 

"  By  the  principal  letters  which  all  we  the  least  of  your 
sons  in  India  wrote  by  Master  Simon,  your  holy  Charity  will 
be  informed  of  the  fruit  (gained)  and  service  which,  with  the 
help  of  God  our  Lord  and  of  your  devout  and  holy  sacrifices 
and  prayers,  is  done  in  these  parts  of  India,  and  will  be  done  in 
future.  By  this  letter  I  will  give  you  details  of  some  affairs 
of  this  land  so  remote  from  Rome.  First,  the  native  Indians, 
so  far  as  I  have  seen,  and  speaking  generally,  are  barbarians. 
We  of  the  Company  are  carrying  on  a  great  deal  of  work  with 
those  who  are  and  daily  become  Christians.  It  is  necessary 
that  your  Charity  should  have  special  care  for  all  your  sons 
in  India  in  commending  them  to  God  our  Lord  continually, 
for  you  know  what  a  great  toil  it  is  to  have  to  do  with  people 
who  through  their  very  habitual  evil  living  neither  know  God 
nor  obey  reason. 

44  The  great  heat  in  summer,  and  the  winds  and  rains  in 
winter,  make  life  in  these  lands  very  troublesome.  There  is 
little  to  maintain  the  body  either  in  the  Moluccas,  Socotra 
or  Cape  Comorin.  The  spiritual  and  bodily  toil  is  marvel- 
lously great  when  one  has  to  deal  with  such  people.  Their 
languages  are  hard  to  get  hold  of.  ...  All  the  Indians  whom 
we  have  seen  up  to  now,  both  Mohammedan  and  heathen,  are 
very  ignorant.  Those  who  have  to  live  among  these  un- 
believers and  in  the  work  of  converting  them  need  many 
virtues  :  obedience,  humility,  perseverance,  patience,  neigh- 
bourly love,  and  great  chastity.  For  there  are  many  oppor- 
tunities for  sinning.  They  need  too,  sound  judgment  and 
strong  bodies  to  carry  on  the  work.  I  give  your  Charity  this 
account  because  of  the  need  there  is,  in  my  opinion,  of  testing 
the  spirits  of  those  you  are  going  to  send  to  this  country.  .  .  . 

"  The  man  whom  you,  my  Father,  will  have  to  send  to 
take  charge  of  the  College  of  Santa  Fe  at  Goa,  and  of  the 
native  students  and  of  the  Companions,  will  need,  not  to 
speak  of  all  the  other  things  necessary  to  a  man  who  has 
to  rule  and  command,  these  two  qualities :  first,  great 
obedience,  so  as  to  make  himself  beloved,  both  by  all  our 
greater  ecclesiastics  and  by  the  laymen  who  rule  the  district, 
so  that  they  may  not  be  conscious  of  his  pride,  but  rather  of 


INDIA  REVISITED  269 

his  great  humility  .  .  .  second,  to  be  affable  and  calm  in 
dealing  with  others,  and  not  strict,  using  every  means  he  can 
to  make  himself  loved,  firstly  by  those  whom  he  has  to 
command,  both  natives  and  those  of  the  Company  who  are 
here  and  are  to  come,  so  that  they  may  not  feel  that  he  wishes 
to  make  himself  obeyed  by  strictness  or  servile  fear." 

The  following  passage  gives  a  curious  insight  into  the 
vigorous  discipline  of  some  of  the  Jesuits.  N.,  the  Editor 
of  the  Monumenta  says,  was  Antonio  Gomez.  He  alleged 
authority  from  Simon  Rodriguez : — 

"  I  say  this,  Father  of  my  soul,  because  the  companions 
here  were  little  edified  by  a  command  N.  brought  to  seize 
and  send  as  prisoners  in  irons  to  Portugal  those  whom  he 
thought  did  not  edify  here.  Until  now  I  never  thought  of 
keeping  anyone  in  the  Company  by  force,  if  it  were  not  by 
force  of  love  and  charity.  .  .  .  Those  who  seemed  to  me  fit 
for  the  Company  I  treated  with  love  and  charity  to  confirm 
them  the  more  in  it,  since  they  endure  such  trouble  in  these 
parts  in  the  service  of  God  our  Lord,  and  also  because  it 
seems  to  me  the  Company  of  Jesus  means  Company  of  love 
and  conformity  of  minds,  and  not  of  strictness  nor  of  servile 
fear.  .  .  . 

"  I  see  clearly,  my  only  Father,  by  my  experience  here, 
that  no  road  is  opening  for  the  perpetuation  of  the  Company 
by  the  natives  among  the  natives.  Christianity  will  last 
among  them  only  as  long  as  we  who  are  here  or  those  whom 
you  will  send  from  home  will  last  and  live.  The  reason  for 
this  is  the  great  persecutions  suffered  by  those  who  become 
Christians,  of  which  it  would  take  too  long  to  tell.  I  refrain 
from  writing  them  as  I  do  not  know  into  whose  hands  these 
letters  may  come. 

"  In  all  the  parts  of  this  India  where  there  are  Christians 
there  are  Fathers  of  the  Company.  In  Malucco  there  are 
four  ;  in  Malacca  two  ;  in  Cape  Comorin  six  ;  in  Colon  two  ; 
in  Bassein  two  ;  in  Socotra  four.  As  these  places  are  very 
remote  from  each  other,  as  Malucco  more  than  a  thousand 
leagues  from  Goa,  Malacca  five  hundred,  Cape  Comorin  two 
hundred,  Colon  a  hundred  and  twenty-five,  Bassein  sixty, 
Socotra  three  hundred  ;  and  as  in  all  these  places  there  are 
Fathers  of  the  Company  to  whom  the  others  of  the  same 
Company  who  are  with  them  give  obedience,  since  they  are 


270  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

persons  of  good  edification  ;  and  where  these  persons  of  the 
Company  are  to  whom  those  with  them  give  obedience, 
I  am  not  at  all  needed. 

"  The  Portuguese  here  control  only  the  sea  and  the  places 
on  the  sea-shore,  and  so  they  are  not  masters  on  terra  firma, 
but  in  the  places  where  they  live.  The  native  Indians  are  of 
this  kind  :  through  their  great  sins  they  are  not  at  all  inclined 
to  the  things  of  our  holy  faith,  but  rather  abhor  them  greatly. 
It  bores  them  mortally  when  we  speak  to  them  and  ask  them 
to  become  Christians.  .  .  .  With  all  this,  if  the  unbelievers 
here  were  favoured  by  the  Portuguese,  many  would  become 
Christians.  But  the  heathen  see  that  those  who  are  Christians 
are  in  disfavour  and  persecuted,  and  so  they  are  unwilling  to 
become  Christians. 

"  For  these  and  many  other  causes,  too  long  to  relate,  and 
because  of  a  great  deal  of  information  received  about  Japan, 
which  is  an  island  near  China,  and  because  all  in  Japan  are 
heathen,  and  there  are  no  Mohammedans  or  Jews,  and  they 
are  curious  and  eager  to  know  new  things,  alike  of  God  as  of 
natural  things,  I  determined,  with  much  inward  satisfaction, 
to  go  to  this  land.  It  seemed  to  me  that  among  such  a  people 
it  would  be  possible  that  they  themselves  might  perpetuate 
the  fruit  which  we  of  the  Company  might  gain  in  our  lifetime. 
"  There  are  three  Japanese  youths  at  the  College  of  Santa 
Fe.  They  came  back  with  me  in  1548  from  Malacca.  They 
told  me  a  lot  about  Japan.  They  are  men  of  good  customs 
and  great  gifts,  especially  Paul.  .  .  .  Paul  learnt  to  read, 
write  and  speak  Portuguese  in  eight  months.  He  is  now 
taking  the  Exercises,  and  is  sure  to  profit  much.  He  is  far 
advanced  in  matters  of  the  faith. 

"  I  have  great  hope,  and  that  all  in  God  our  Lord,  that 
many  will  become  Christians  in  Japan.  I  am  determined  to 
go  first  to  the  king's  court  and  afterwards  to  the  universities 
where  they  have  their  studies,  with  great  hope  in  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord  that  He  will  help  me.  Paul  says  their 
religion  was  brought  from  a  country  called  Chengico,  which 
is  beyond  China,  and  after  Tartary.  .  .  . 

"  When  I  see  the  Japanese  writings  [or  scriptures]  and  deal 
with  the  men  of  their  universities,  I  will  write  fully  of  every- 
thing, and  I  will  not  fail  to  write  to  the  university  of  Paris, 
and  through  it  all  the  other  universities  of  Europe  will  get 
word.  I  am  taking  a  priest  with  me,  a  Valencian,  Cosmo 


Gx:  Iris _BX  auemi .  ad  lanatiwn  ex  India  saivtis 
GRATIA  ETCAMTAS  X'DX/LMI  pater  mXVjfcer&v 
Teego  voter  anime  me<e,svmc$  rtuhi  vemranie  vofitis  haraqs 
mtnisTsicnlianc  tili  eptam  scrilp)s\x^lidter  aro,vt  mim,  a 
I*  to  impetres  ,vt  dumviuam  sanctisrima  vohmtatisjua  mhi  dtt 
etjilanc  cgncfcenAa.et  ammo  exequenfafeultatemVale 
THUS  minimus filius ,l<nujipme%  exultms.  Fjvwdlx/viRivs  s$ 


ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER  WRITING  TO  LOYOLA 
FROM  INDIA 


INDIA  REVISITED  271 

de  Torres  .  .  .  and  also  the  three  Japanese  youths.     We 
leave,  with  God's  help,  this  month  of  April,  1549. 

"  .  .  .  In  making  this  voyage  I  could  never  finish  writing 
of  the  inward  comfort  I  feel,  though  there  are  many  and  great 
dangers  of  death,  of  great  tempests,  winds,  reefs,  and  many 
pirates.  When  two  out  of  four  ships  are  saved  it  is  a  great 
success.  I  would  not  give  up  going  to  Japan  though  it  were 
certain  that  I  should  be  in  greater  danger  than  ever,  so 
strongly  have  I  felt  within  my  soul,  -and  so  very  great  hope 
I  have  in  God  our  Lord  that  our  holy  faith  will  be  greatly 
increased.  By  the  report  that  Paul  gave  us  you  will  see  the 
opportunities  there  are  of  serving  God  our  Lord  there.  I 
enclose  it. 

"...  Your  Charity  would  do  a  great  service  to  God  our 
Lord  if  you  would  write  to  us,  your  least  sons  of  India,  a 
letter  of  doctrine  and  spiritual  advice,  as  a  will  in  which  you 
would  divide  with  these,  your  exiled  sons,  so  far  from  the 
bodily  sight,  the  riches  which  God  our  Lord  has  given  to  you. 
For  the  love  and  service  of  God  our  Lord,  write  us,  if  it  is 
possible. 

"  A  priest  of  the  Company  is  at  Cape  Comorin,  who  came 
from  Portugal,  Enrico  Enriquez  by  name,  a  very  virtuous 
man,  and  of  great  edification.  He  can  speak  and  write 
Malabar,  and  gains  more  fruit  than  any  other  two,  as  he 
knows  the  language.  The  native  Christians  love  him  fright- 
fully, and  he  has  a  great  name  with  them  for  the  sermons  and 
talks  he  gives  them  in  their  own  language.  For  the  love  of 
God  our  Lord  write  and  comfort  him,  for  he  is  so  good  and 
gains  so  much  fruit." 

The  long  letter  concludes  thus  : 

'  ...  So  I  stop,  praying  your  Holy  Charity,  tender est 
Father  of  my  soul,  my  knees  placed  on  the  ground  as  I  write 
this,  as  if  I  had  you  here,  to  commend  me  much  to  God  our 
Lord  in  your  holy  and  devout  sacrifices  and  prayers,  that  He 
may  reveal  His  holy  Will  to  me  in  this  present  life,  and  give 
me  grace  to  fulfil  it  perfectly.  Amen.  And  the  same  I 
commend  to  all  those  of  the  Company. 

"  Cochin,  12th  Jan.,  1549. 

"  Your  least  and  most  useless  son, 

"  FRANCISCO."  * 

*  Mon.Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  473  ff.    There  is  an  old  MS.  copy  of  this  letter  in  the 
British  Museum,  but  not,  of  course,  an  original. 


272  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

A  few  days  later  he  writes  to  Rodriguez  : 

"  The  Chinese  ports  have  all  risen  against  the  Portuguese. 
But  not  for  that  will  I  give  up  going  to  Japan,  as  I  have 
written  you.  Since  there  is  no  greater  rest  in  this  laborious 
life  than  to  live  in  great  danger  of  death  when  it  is  all  under- 
taken without  any  other  motive  than  the  love  and  service 
of  God  our  Lord,  and  the  increase  of  our  holy  faith."  * 

And  in  another  letter  to  Rodriguez  he  writes  : 

"  All  my  devotees  and  friends  are  frightened  at  my  taking 
such  a  long  and  dangerous  voyage.  It  puzzles  me  to  see 
how  little  faith  they  have.  For  God  our  Lord  has  command 
and  power  over  the  tempests  of  the  Chinese  and  Japanese 
seas — which  are  the  greatest  known — and  has  control  over 
all  the  sea  robbers.  ...  I  have  no  fear  of  any  but  of  God, 
lest  He  give  me  some  chastisement  for  being  negligent  in 
His  service,  unfit  and  useless  for  the  increase  of  the  Name  of 
Jesus  Christ  among  men  who  do  not  know  Him."f 

Before  leaving  India  for  Malacca  en  route  for  Japan, 
Xavier  sent  one  more  letter  to  the  King  of  Portugal.  Much 
of  it  is  a  repetition  of  what  he  had  said  before,  put  even  more 
strongly : 

"It  is  almost  a  kind  of  martyrdom  to  look  with  patience 
on  the  destruction  of  what  one  has  gained  with  so  much 
labour.'* 

And  again  : 

"  At  last  experience  has  taught  me  that  your  Highness  is 
not  powerful  in  India  for  the  increase  of  Christ's  faith,  and  is 
powerful  for  carrying  off  and  keeping  all  the  temporal  riches 
of  India." 

And  again  : 

"  I,  Sire,  because  I  know  what  goes  on  here,  have  no  hope 
that  commands  or  prescripts  sent  in  favour  of  Christianity 
will  be  fulfilled  in  India ;  and  therefore  I  am  almost  fleeing 
to  Japan,  not  to  waste  any  more  time." 

*  Mon.  Xav.t  vol.  i.  p.  508.  f  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  513. 


INDIA  REVISITED  273 


And  finally  : 


"  Be  prepared,  for  kingdoms  and  lordships  finish  and  have 
end.  A  new  thing  it  will  be,  and  something  that  never 
happened  to  your  Highness  before,  to  find  yourself  dis- 
possessed at  the  hour  of  your  death  of  your  kingdoms  and 
lordships,  and  to  have  to  enter  into  others,  where  this  new 
thing  must  happen  to  you,  to  be  sent,  may  God  forbid  it  ! 
out  of  Paradise."  * 

One  of  Xavier's  chief  anxieties  in  leaving  India  was  the 
college  at  Goa.  The  new  Rector,  Antonio  Gomez,  who  had 
just  arrived  with  great  eclat  from  Coimbra,  was  proving 
himself  a  thorn  in  the  flesh  to  all  concerned.  Before  leaving 
for  Japan  Xavier  tried  to  get  him  to  go,  but  without  success. 
He  then  arranged  that  the  more  popular  Camerino  should  be 
superior  over  all  the  missionaries  who  were  not  actually 
living  in  the  college,  and  Gomez  was  to  have  no  authority 
over  Camerino.  There  are  some  pages  of  instructions  to 
Camerino,  written  out  at  this  time  by  Xavier.  Their  chief 
burden  is  that  peace  should  be  kept  with  Gomez. 

"  Above  everything  else  live  with  much  prudence,  humility, 
and  sense,  in  love  and  charity  with  Antonio  Gomez  and  all 
the  Fathers  ...  do  not  order  him  in  anything  by  obedience, 
but  as  by  love  and  advice  ...  let  there  be  between  you 
and  Antonio  Gomez  neither  discords  nor  quarrels,  but  much 
love  and  charity.  .  .  .  Write  me  fully  of  your  news,  and 
of  all  the  house,  and  of  the  love  and  charity  between  you  and 
Antonio  Gomez. "t 

In  April  Xavier  left  Goa  for  Malacca  and  Japan.  With 
him  were  Cosmo  de  Torres  and  Fernandez,  the  three  Japanese 
youths,  and  three  missionaries  who  were  going  to  the 
Moluccas. 

On  Easter  Day  they  came  to  Cochin,  and  there  made  a 
short  halt.  They  preached  in  the  town,  and  were  lodged  by 
the  Franciscans  there.  By  the  end  of  May  they  were  in 
Malacca,  where  they  were  very  joyfully  welcomed  by  their 
friends.  From  there  Xavier  wrote  a  large  budget  of  letters. 

From  his  friends  in  the  college  he  begs  and  begs  again  for 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  510  ff.  f  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  881,  882,  883. 

T 


274  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

long  and  full  letters  ;  he  wants  to  know  all  about  them,  and 
especially  about  the  fruit  which  they  are  gaining. 
To  the  troublesome  Antonio  Gomez  he  writes  : 

"  Antonio  Gomez,  I  commend  you  much  to  charity, 
friendship,  and  love  with  all  the  blessed  friars  of  the  Order 
of  St.  Francis,  and  of  St.  Dominic.  Be  very  devoted  to  them 
all.  Beware  of  having  any  disedifying  thing  with  them.  I 
hope  you  will  always  fulfil  this,  great  humility  dwelling  in 
you.  Now  and  then  you  will  visit  them,  so  that  they  may 
recognise  in  you  that  you  love  them,  and  the  people,  lovers 
of  discord,  may  see  the  charity  which  is  among  you  towards 
all."  * 

In  the  same  letter  he  begs  that  they  may  pray  for  his 
companions  and  himself : 

"  Let  all  of  the  house  have  special  care  to  commend  us  to 
God,  Father  Cosmo  de  Torres,  Juan  Fernandez,  and  Paul 
Japan  with  his  companions,  and  Manoel  China,  and  Amador, 
and  me,  since  we  have  such  need  in  this  dangerous  and 
difficult  voyage  in  which  we  go.'*  f 

In  another  letter  he  reports  on  the  school  work  in  Malacca  : 

"  Roque  de  Oliveira  teaches  the  children  to  read  and 
write,  and  he  makes  no  less  progress  here,  as  the  trouble  he 
takes  in  teaching  them  is  great.  He  has  a  great  number  of 
youths  ;  to  some  he  teaches  reading  and  writing,  and  to 
others  grammar.  A  few  have  now  gone,  as  they  are  more 
advanced,  and  have  learnt  all  they  wished.  They  read  by 
primers  and  prayer  books.  They  behave  (as  well)  as  if  they 
were  friars  :  it  is  a  thing  to  give  thanks  to  God  our  Lord 
when  one  sees  their  modesty.  Never  an  oath,  however 
little,  is  heard  in  their  mouth."  { 

Writing  to  Loyola  about  the  Japanese  youths  who  were 
with  him,  he  says  : 

"  I  asked  them  often  in  which  prayers  they  found  most 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  522.  f  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  525. 

J  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  559. 


INDIA  REVISITED  275 

delight  and  spiritual  comfort,  and  they  told  me  in  the  Exer- 
cises on  the  Passion,  to  which  they  are  very  devoted. 

"  During  these  Exercises  they  experienced  great  grief, 
comforts,  and  tears.  For  several  months  before  the  Exer- 
cises we  occupied  them  in  explaining  to  them  the  articles  of 
the  faith  and  the  mysteries  of  the  life  of  Christ,  and  the 
cause  of  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God  in  the  womb  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  and  of  the  redemption  of  all  the  human  kind 
made  by  Christ.  I  asked  them  often  what  in  their  opinion 
was  the  best  in  our  religion  [ley].  They  always  answered  me 
that  it  was  confession  and  Communion,  and  that  no  reason- 
able man,  it  seemed  to  them,  could  fail  to  be  a  Christian 
after  our  holy  faith  had  been  explained  to  him.  I  heard  one 
of  them,  Paul  de  Santa  Fe  by  name,  say  with  many  sighs, 
'  O  people  of  Japan,  how  wretched  are  you  who  adore  as 
gods  the  creatures  which  God  made  for  the  service  of  men/ 
I  asked  him  why  he  was  saying  this.  He  answered  me  that 
he  was  saying  it  on  account  of  the  people  of  his  country  who 
were  adoring  the  sun  and  the  moon,  while  the  sun  and  the 
moon  were  like  ministers  and  servants  of  those  who  know 
Jesus  Christ,  and  are  6nly  of  use  to  lighten  the  day  and  night 
that  men  by  their  brightness  may  serve  God,  and  glorify 
His  Son  Jesus  Christ  in  the  land."  * 

He  goes  on  to  speak  of  the  work  which  lies  before  them  : 

"  We  are  not  afraid  of  meeting  the  learned  of  those  parts, 
for  what  can  he  know  who  does  not  know  God  nor  Jesus 
Christ  ?  And  those  who  desire  nothing  but  the  glory  of 
God  and  the  manifestation  of  Jesus  Christ  with  the  salva- 
tion of  souls,  what  can  they  be  afraid  of  or  fear  ?  Not  only 
going  among  unbelievers,  but,  moreover,  where  there  is  a 
multitude  of  demons,  why  should  we  fear,  since  the  bar- 
barous people  and  the  winds  and  the  demons  can  do  us  no 
more  evil  or  annoyance  save  so  far  as  God  gives  permission 
and  licence  ? 

"  Only  one  dread  and  terror  we  bear,  which  is  fear  to 
offend  God  our  Lord.  For  we  have  certain  victory  against 
our  enemies,  if  we  keep  us  from  offending  God  our  Lord. 
And  since  God  gives  to  all  grace  sufficient  to  serve  Him  and 
to  keep  them  from  sinning,  we  thus  hope  in  His  Divine 
*  Mon.  Xav.t  vol.  i.  p.  544. 

T2 


276  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

Majesty  that  He  will  give  it  to  us.  And  since  all  our  good  or 
evil  is  in  the  good  or  bad  use  of  His  grace,  we  trust  greatly 
in  the  merits  of  the  holy  mother  Church,  the  Spouse  of 
Christ  our  Lord,  and  particularly  in  the  merits  of  the  Com- 
panions of  the  name  of  Jesus,  and  of  all  their  devotees,  male 
and  female,  that  their  merits  will  extend  even  to  us,  and  we 
shall  come  to  use  well  the  grace  of  the  Lord  God. 

"  It  has  often  struck  me  that  our  very  learned  companions 
who  may  come  out  here  will  have  to  put  up  with  no  small 
hardships  in  those  dangerous  voyages,  and  they  may  think 
that  to  face  such  obvious  peril,  in  which  so  many  ships  are 
lost,  will  be  tempting  God.  But  then  I  have  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  there  is  nothing  in  that.  For  I  feel  sure  in 
God  our  Lord  that  the  learning  of  our  companions  must 
be  dominated  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  Who  abides  in  them. 
For  otherwise  they  will  have  trouble,  and  not  a  little.  Nearly 
always  I  carry  before  my  eyes  and  mind  what  I  often  heard 
our  blessed  Father  Ignatius  say,  that  those  who  were  of 
our  Company  ought  to  strive  hard  to  vanquish  themselves, 
and,  by  taking  the  proper  means,  to  cast  out  all  those  fears 
which  hindered  their  faith,  hope,  and  confidence  in  God.  .  .  . 
And  although  all  faith,  hope,  and  confidence  are  the  gift  of 
God,  and  the  Lord  gives  this  to  whom  He  pleases,  He  gives 
commonly  to  those  who  force  and  conquer  themselves  by 
taking  the  proper  means.  .  .  ."* 

Xavier  then  proceeds  to  less  abstract  topics  : 

"  The  Japanese,  our  brothers  and  companions  who  go 
with  us  to  Japan,  tell  me  that  the  Japanese  Priests  [Padres] 
will  be  scandalised  if  they  see  us  eating  flesh  and  fish.  So 
we  go  determined  to  be  vegetarians  [comer  continuamente 
dieta]  always  [evidently  Paul's  friends  were  Buddhists] 
rather  than  give  scandal  to  anyone."t 

On  June  23rd,  1549,  he  writes  a  very  characteristic  letter, 
evidently  in  even  more  of  a  hurry  than  usual,  to  Rodriguez. 

"  The  grace  and  eternal  love  of  Christ  our  Lord  be 
always  in  our  aid  and  favour.  Amen. 

*  Man.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  548.  f  MM.,  vol.  i.  p.  549. 


INDIA  REVISITED  277 

"  This  January  of  1549  I  wrote  you  a  long  letter  from 
Cochin,  both  I  and  all  the  Brothers  of  the  Company.  By 
this  letter  I  let  you  know  that  it  would  be  a  great  service  of 
God  our  Lord  if  you  would  send  some  man  who  had  served 
in  the  College  of  Coimbra  as  Rector,  or  who  was  fit  for  it, 
and  a  man  to  whom  neither  the  duty  would  cause  qualms 
in  his  conscience  [he  puts  in  "  neither,"  meaning,  no 
doubt,  to  come  in  with  a  "  nor "  farther  on,  but  he 
jumps  away  in  the  idea  of  the  dangers  of  commanding, 
and  never  gets  on  the  grammatical  rail  again]  as  the 
office  of  command  is  very  dangerous  for  those  who  are 
not  perfect,  and  of  great  perfection,  as  you  know  very 
well,  and  who  was  a  man  who' knew  how  to  watch  for  all 
the  Brothers  in  India  with  great  prudence  and  discretion, 
knowing  how  to  have  compassion,  to  lead,  and  deal  with  the 
Brothers  of  the  Company.  You  must  therefore  send  a  man 
whom  you  have  seen  tried  in  such  positions.  Antonio 
Gomez  has  a  great  gift  for  preaching,  and  produces  fine 
results  in  his  preachings,  but  he  has  not  such  qualities  as 
I  desire  for  him  who  has  to  take  charge  of  the  Brothers  in 
India,  and  of  the  College.  Antonio  Gomez  would  do  great 
service  to  God  by  going  about  and  preaching  in  the  forts 
of  India. 

"  For  the  love  of  our  Lord  send  me  some  Fathers  preachers, 
for  the  forts  of  India  have  great  need  of  instruction.  We 
are  greatly  in  debt  to  the  king  and  to  the  Portuguese 
of  these  parts,  and  we  cannot  pay  our  great  debt  with 
anything  but  by  watching  over  their  consciences,  and  by 
watching  over  the  many  obligations  of  the  king,  and  unbur- 
dening his  conscience  in  these  parts.  For  the  love  of  our 
Lord  let  the  men  you  send  here,  whether  preachers  or  not, 
be  men  well  proven  in  their  life  and  virtues,  for  occasions 
and  opportunities  for  evil  are  many  here.  Though  the 
preachers  you  will  send  here  may  not  have  much  learning, 
for  the  love  of  our  Lord  let  them  be  men  of  great  life  (de 
grande  vida),  for  here  thev  look  little  to  learning  and  much 
to  life."* 

In  the  letter  that  follows  we  have  a  delicious  exhibition 
of  our  Saint  as  a  match-maker.  It  is  addressed  to  Paul 
Camerino  and  Antonio  Gomez  at  Goa  : 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol,  i.  p.  5G3. 


2T8  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

"  Malacca,  23  June,  1549. 

"  After  having  written  you  a  very  long  letter  about  every- 
thing, it  seems  well  to  me  to  send  you  these  lines  to  tell 
you  how  I  met  here  in  Malacca  a  great  friend  of  mine, 
Christopher  Carvalho. 

"  He  is  a  bachelor,  far  advanced  in  virtue,  rich,  honourable, 
and  of  very  good  parts.  I  asked  him  in  the  zeal  I  have  for 
the  salvation  of  all,  and  for  the  great  friendship  there  was 
between  us,  to  try  for  the  love  of  our  Lord  to  take  and  choose 
some  method  of  living  in  the  service  of  God,  and  for  repose, 
since  he  knew  well  in  what  dangers  men  walk  who  do  not 
have  method  in  their  living.  He  told  me  that  he  now  greatly 
desired  to  repose  in  some  good  state  of  life,  which  might  be 
service  to  God  our  Lord,  and  to  enjoy  the  favours  and  alms 
which  our  Lord  God  of  His  mercy  had  done  him. 

"  And  thus  going  on  from  one  subject  to  another,  I  began 
to  remember  the  many  kind  deeds  which  we  have  all  received 
from  our  '  Mother.'*  I  spoke  to  him  about  marrying  some 
girl.  I  told  him  all  about  her  customs  and  virtue,  and  he 
was  very  pleased  with  the  veracious  story  of  her  virtue. 
He  became  quite  seized  and  gave  me  his  word.  I  believe  he 
will  fulfil  it  as  my  sincere  friend,  a.nd  because  it  is  a  matter 
of  so  much  honour,  advantage  and  repose  to  him.  I  have 
written  about  this  to  our  '  Mother.' 

"  And  as  I  think  your  help  will  be  very  necessary,  I  beg  and 
pray  you  to  remember  the  hospitality  and  kindness  which 
all  of  us  have  always  received  from  our  '  Mother.'  You 
and  the  Comptroller  of  Revenue  put  your  heads  together, 
and  arrange  so  that  this  honoured  widow  may  be  relieved, 
and  her  daughter  get  shelter  and  protection. 

"My  friend  Christopher  Carvalho  is  going  there  (to  Goa). 
You  will  make  his  acquaintance,  and  you  will  know  his  wish 
and  the  word  given  me.  You  will  speak  to  the  Comptroller 
of  Revenue  and  place  before  him  the  great  service  to  God 
our  Lord  to  be  done  in  this  matter,  and  the  great  honour 
and  repose  which  will  result  to  him  from  it,  by  protecting 
the  orphan  and  comforting  the  widow.  And  I  trust  in  God 
our  Lord  that  it  will  be  done,  for  he  is  a  good  and  honourable 
man. 

*  Ed.  of  Mon.  Xav.  gives  a  note  from  Filipucci :  "  In  India  the  old  women 
are  called  May  [i.e.,  Mother].  This  one  so  called  by  the  Saint  was  a  Bene- 
factress of  ours." 


INDIA  REVISITED  279 

"  And  you  are  aware  that  the  King  our  Lord  by  letter-patent 
gifted  to  our  '  Mother  '  the  office  vacated  by  Diogo  Froes, 
who  is  now  in  glory,  for  whoever  should  marry  her  daughter. 
Now  Christopher  Carvalho  is  honourable  and  rich  and  in 
easy  circumstances,  and  does  not  need  to  serve  offices.  So 
I  recommend  and  beseech  you  earnestly  for  the  love  of  God 
our  Lord,  and  for  the  great  and  many  obligations  of  us  all  to 
our  '  Mother/  that  you  two  with  the  Comptroller  of  Revenue 
get  licence  from  the  Lord  Governor  that  Christopher  Carvalho 
may  be  able  to  sell  the  said  office,  since,  as  I  have  said,  he 
is  in  easy  circumstances  through  the  favour  of  the  Lord 
God.  I  make  no  more  recommendations  or  charges  about 
this,  for  I  know  the  special  care  which  you  will  take  of  it, 
as  every  day  you  will  see  reasons  obliging  you  to  it.  And  I 
pray  you  to  arrange  that  the  marriage  may  come  off,  for  I 
shall  be  most  glad  and  contented  when  I  see  this  orphan, 
such  a  good  girl,  protected,  and  our  '  Mother '  relieved. 
For  I  know  and  am  sure  that  my  friend  Christopher  Carvalho 
is  a  man  who  will  stay  and  be  very  kind  to  our  '  Mother.' 

"  And  therefore  I  am  so  pressing.  For  I  have  already  his 
word,  and  he  promised  me  to  do  it  and  recognised  that  it 
was  a  great  favour  which  the  Lord  was  doing  him  in  my 
thinking  of  such  a  good  plan.  And  thus  I  have  written  to 
our  '  Mother.'  And  yet  it  seems  to  me  that  it  will  not 
take  place  if  there  is  nobody  to  hasten  it,  and  take  special 
care  of  it.  And  therefore  I  pray  you  to  have  great  care  of  it. 

"  Our  Lord  unite  us  in  His  holy  glory,  for  in  this  life  I 
do  not  know  when  we  shall  see  each  other. 

"  Malacca,  Eve  of  St.  John,  1549. 

"  Your  Brother  in  Christ."* 

One  wonders  what  the  may  said  !  And  the  t&o  boa  filha, 
did  she  shut  her  eyes  and  open  her  mouth  and  take  what 
Xavier  sent  her  ? 

There  is  another  very  interesting  document  written  at 
this  time — the  Instructions  to  Preachers  in  the  Forts. 

These  Instructions  are  full  of  very  self-revealing  passages, 
and  valuable  on  that  account  to  the  student  of  Xavier. 
And  twentieth-century  preachers  will  find  here  much  good 
advice  that  is  by  no  means  out  of  date.  We  give  a  few 
extracts  : 

*  Mon.  Xav.j  vol.  i.  p.  566. 


280  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

5.  Visit  the  poor  in  the  Hospital  and  from  time  to  time  preach 
to  them  to  discharge  their  conscience,  and  exhort  them  to  confess 
and  communicate,  for  diseases  generally  rise  from  sins,  and  you 
yourself  will  confess  it  when  you  can. 

6.  Let  all  your  conversation  be  spiritual.     And  yet  in  this 
take  care  to  deal  with  the  greatest  friends  as  if  they  might  come 
to  be  your  enemies.     Avail  yourself  of  this  reflection  :    on  your 
part  to  edify  them  in  all  your  deeds  and  talk,  and  on  their  part 
when  they  give  up  your  friendship,  that  they  may  be  blamed, 
and  confound  themselves. 

8  and  9.  Preach  constantly  and  as  often  as  possible,  for  this 
is  a  universal  good  of  great  service  to  God  and  advantage  to  souls. 
You  will  beware  of  preaching  doubtful  matters  and  Doctors' 
[scholars']  difficulties.  Let  your  teaching  be  clear,  acceptable, 
and  moral.  Reprove  vice  ;  grieve  over  the  offences  against  God  ; 
be  compassionate  about  the  eternal  condemnation  of  sinners  to 
the  pains  of  hell ;  treat  of  sudden  death  which  takes  men  un- 
prepared, and  touch  at  the  same  time  on  some  point  of  the  passion, 
by  way  of  a  colloquy  or  talk  of  a  sinner  with  God,  or  of  God's 
wrath  against  the  sinner  :  move  your  hearers  with  all  your  power 
to  contrition,  grief,  and  tears  for  their  fault,  exhorting  to  confess 
and  receive  the  most  holy  Sacrament. 

10.  And  beware  particularly  of  blaming  from  the  pulpit  the 
person   or  persons   who   have   command    in  the   same  district. 
For  men  of  that  kind  when  publicly  reprimanded  become  worse 
more  quickly  rather  than  amend.     If  it  is  necessary,  preach  to 
them  in  their  own  houses.     Take  them  apart,  and  speak  with  a 
pleasant   countenance.     Do   not   use   harsh   words,    but   loving 
and    mild.     Embrace    some,    humble    yourself    before    others, 
according  to  their  nature.     If  they  come  to  be  friendly,  then  you 
can  blame  them  with  more  confidence,  and  more  or  less  as  the 
friendship  is  greater  or  less.     In  short,  harshness  is  taken  badly 
by  the  rich  and  powerful.     They  easily  lose  patience  and  respect 
and  think  it  does  not  matter  at  all  to  them  to  have  us  as  enemies. 

11.  When  men  of  affairs  confess,  and  those  who  live  in  hate 
or  sensuality,  you  will  try  two  things :  first,  they  should  take  some 
days  to  think  carefully  of  their  past,  and  put  down  exactly  all 
their  sins ;    and  it  would  be  better  to  have  them  in  writing. 
Secondly,  to  do  before  you  absolve  them  what  they  are  obliged 
to   do   afterwards,    making   restitution,    withdrawing   from   the 
occasions  of  vice,  and  being  reconciled  with  neighbours.     For, 
generally,  to  get  absolution  they  make  great  promises  in  confes- 
sion, and  when  absolved  do  nothing.     That  they  may  put  up 
with  the  delay  in  absolving  them,  and  fulfil  their  duties,  give 
them  during  some  days  while  they  are  waiting  some  of  the  medi- 
tations we  call  "  of  the  first  week,"  that  they  may  understand 


INDIA  REVISITED  281 

the  end  for  which  God  made  them,  and  how  they  have  erred 
from  it  by  so  innumerable  sins,  by  the  heinousness  and  ugliness 
of  these  same  sins  ;  how  much  God  resents  them,  and  how  He 
punishes  them  ;  the  certainty  and  uncertainty  of  death,  the 
account  which  must  be  made,  the  greatness  and  eternity  of  the 
pains  of  hell. 

12.  The  devil  embarrasses  many  with  a  false  shame  of  their 
base  and  ugly  faults  so  that  they  never  completely  disclose  them, 
as  is  proper,  to  the  confessor.     He  disheartens  and  fills  with 
want  of  confidence  others  by  the  same  means. 

13.  With  all  these  it  is  proper  to  use  great  sweetness  until 
they  have  completely  confessed,  not  putting  on  them  fear  of  the 
divine  justice,  but  making  everything  easy  for  them  with  the 
divine  mercy.      It  will  often  help  to  overcome  this  temptation 
that  they  should  understand  from  you  that  those  things  are  not 
news  to  you,  nor  other  greater  sins. 

15.  When  you  confess  Captains,  Factors,  or  any  other  officials 
of  the  King,  and  persons  who  act  as  Factors  in  the  affairs  of 
others,  take  the  greatest  care  to  get  complete  information  of  the 
way  in  which  they  gain  their  living.     You  will  ask  them  if  they 
pay  paries  [taxes  ?],  if  they  make  monopolies,  if  they  help  them- 
selves with  the  King's  money  for  their  own  business,  and  the 
like  details.     Do  not  be  satisfied  with  asking  them  in  general  if 
they  are  holding  what  is  of  others.     They  will  answer  you  that 
they  owe  nothing  to  anybody,  for  they  easily  take  no  notice 
of  such  things,  as  they  are  now  well  established,  and  they  are 
so  little  affected  by  the  many  injustices  involved.     Really  they 
are  under  obligation  to  restore  much  to  many,  as  you  will  under- 
stand and  make  plain  to  them,  if  you  proceed  in  your  questioning 
in  the  manner  I  indicate. 

16.  Be  extremely  obedient  to  the  Vicar  of  the  city,  to  whom  you 
will  go  at  once  on  arrival  to  kiss  his  hands,  with  both  knees  on 
the  ground.     You  will  preach  and  confess  and  exercise  spiritual 
functions  by  his  licence.     Never  break  with  him  in  any  case. 
Rather  strive  to  make  him  your  friend,  with  a  view  to  give  him 
the  spiritual  exercises,  at  the  least,  when  you  cannot  manage  more, 
those  of  the  first  week.     Deal  with  the  priests  of  the  district  in 
the  same  way,  endeavouring  to  keep  friendly  with  all,  having 
and  showing  great  respect  to  them  and  leading  them  to  make  a 
retreat  for  some  days  and  to  take  these  same  meditations. 

17.  I  charge  you  to  have  no  less  obedience,  humility,  and  respect 
to  the  Captain.      Do  not  break  with  him,  however  badly  you  see 
him  doing.     But  when  you  have  got  him  to  be  friends,  and  hope 
that  you  may  be  able  to  be  of  use,  then  with  a  pleasant  face,  with 
mildness  and  humility  and  love,  so  that  he  may  understand  that 


282  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

you  do  it  because  you  are  pained  at  seeing  his  soul  and  honour 
tainted,  represent  to  him  what  is  said  of  him  in  the  district. 

18.  But  as  many  are  sure  to  come  to  you  with  complaints 
and  importune  you  to  speak  to  him,  be  very  cautious  about  this. 
It  is  best  to  excuse  yourself,  and  say  that  you  are  engaged  in 
spiritual  affairs,  and  that  if  he  does  not  make  account  of  God, 
and  of  his  own  conscience,  still  less  will  he  with  you. 

20.  And  remember,  always  go,  you  or  your  companion, 
about  the  streets  with  a  bell,  calling  the  people  to  the  holy  doctrine 
an  hour  before  you  begin  teaching. 

24.  In  conversation  be  pleasant  and  merry  that  fear  may  not 
keep  people  from  profiting  by  you.  Let  your  words  be  affable 
and  mild,  and  even  when  it  may  be  necessary  to  reprove  some  one 
in  private,  let  it  be  with  love  and  good  grace,  so  that  it  may  be 
seen  that  you  abhor  not  the  person  but  the  fault. 

27.  If  any  come  to  you  with  desires  to  be  received  into  our 
Company,  and  you  think  him  fit,  take  charge  of  him.  Be  cautious 
that  the  works  of  abstinence  are  not  beyond  his  capacity  and 
spiritual  power,  and  instead  of  feeding  and  strengthening  the 
spirit  make  him  lose  courage.  Do  not  use  novelties  in  this,  for 
these  make  laymen  mock  rather  than  be  edified. 

35.  If  you  wish  to  gain  much  fruit,  alike  in  your  own  soul  and 
in  those  of  the  neighbours,  and  to  live  in  spiritual  comfort,  converse 
with  sinners  so  that  they  may  come  to  trust  you,  and  disclose 
their  conscience  to  you.     These  are  the  living  books  which  teach 
more  than  the  dead.     You  must  study  them  not  only  for  your 
sermons,  but  for  your  own  private  comfort.     Here  you  will  find 
the  points  on  which  you  ought  chiefly  to  preach.     I  do  not  mean 
that  you  are  not  to  read  written  books,  rather  you  ought  to  do  that, 
and  to  seek  places  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  examples  from  the 
Fathers,  with  which  you  will  give  authority  to  the  remedies 
against  vice  and  sin  which  you  see  and  read  in  the  living  books. 

36.  Advises  not  to  take  gifts — i.e.,  big  things — but  the  small, 
such  as  a  little  fruit,  ought  to  be  taken.     Yet  even  these  should 
be  sent  to  the  hospitals  or  prisons.     People  take  it  as  an  insult 
not  to  accept  what  is  sent  you  when  the  things  are  small.     The 
Portuguese  of  India  are  offended  if  you  take  nothing  at  all  from 
them.     And  this  is  enough  for  the  present.     The  Lord  go  with  you, 
and  remain  with  us.     Amen. 

Goa,  Jan.,  1549.* 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  870  ff.  There  are  two  versions  of  this  document. 
The  above  is  a  translation  of  the  second,  except  the  last  paragraph. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

JAPAN 

(August,  1549 — -November,  1551) 

WE  have  seen  from  Xavier's  letter  from  Cochin  of  January, 

1548,  how  the  earliest  intimations  of  his  mission  to  Japan 
came  to  him.     A  year  and  five  months  later,  on  June  24th, 

1549,  he   left   Malacca,    and    on    August    15th   arrived    at 
Kagoshima. 

Francis  Xavier's  letters  from  Japan  were  the  earliest 
first-hand  reports  of  that  country  to  come  to  Europe.  A 
Portuguese  captain  had  sent  home  some  descriptions  of  it 
in  1547  *  gleaned  torn  one  of  his  passengers,  the  Japanese 
Yajiro,  who  a  few  months  later  was  to  meet  Xavier  in 
Malacca,  be  converted  by  him,  and  accompany  him  on  this 
voyage.  Marco  Polo  had  brought  rumours  of  Zipango, 
as  he  called  it,  to  Italy,  but  he  had  not  been  there.  Mendez 
Pinto,  in  his  Travels,  claims  to  have  witnessed  many  of  the 
scenes  that  Xavier  describes,  but  his  claims  are  unauthen- 
ticated.  The  first  Europeans  actually  to  touch  Japanese 
soil  were  probably  some  Portuguese  sailors  who  were  driven 
ashore  in  a  storm  in  1542.  Since  then,  before  the  arrival 
of  Xavier,  Europeans  had  called  at  the  ports  occasionally, 
but  no  one  appears  to  have  landed,  or  at  least  gone  beyond 
the  harbours.  That  adventure  was  reserved  for  Francis 
and  his  friends. 

The  little  party  numbered  nine  in  all.  Besides  Xavier 
there  were  three  other  Jesuits — Cosmo  Torres,  Juan  Fer- 
nandez, and  Dominic  Diaz.  There  was  also  the  Japanese 
Yajiro,  or,  as  he  was  now  called,  Paul  of  the  Holy  Faith, 
two  other  Japanese,  and  two  "  boys,"  one  a  native  of  Malabar, 
and  the  other  a  Chinese. 

Of  the  Portuguese  Dominic  Diaz  we  know  little.  Cosmo 
Torres  was  a  Spanish  priest  from  Valencia.  For  ten  years 
he  had  been  an  adventurer  and  a  wanderer,  but  the  sight  of 
Xavier  at  work  in  the  Moluccas  had  rekindled  the  ardours 

*  The  text  of  these  letters  is  in  C.  Manoel,  Missoas  dos  Jesuitas  no  Oriente, 
p.  112. 


284  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

of  his  youth,  and  in  Goa,  after  due  probation,  he  had  been 
admitted  to  the  Society.  Juan  Fernandez  had  come  out 
in  1548  from  Cordova,  where  he  had  been  a  wealthy  silk- 
merchant.  He  had  been  "  hardened  "  for  missionary  life 
by  the  bizarre  methods  at  that  time  in  usage  at  the  College 
of  Coimbra,  and  his  earnestness  and  sincerity  tested  in  a 
way  thought  to  be  very  searching  to  an  elegant  young 
mondain  :  he  was  bidden  to  ride  upon  a  donkey  with  his 
face  towards  the  tail,  dressed  in  fantastic  silks,  through 
the  chief  streets  of  Lisbon.  Nine  months  later  he  was  sent 
to  India.  Xavier  wished  to  ordain  him,  but  he  preferred  to 
remain  a  lay  brother. 

Of  Yajiro  we  already  know  something  from  Xavier' s 
letter  on  p.  254.  He  was  the  first  Japanese  convert  to 
Christianity.* 

The  voyage  was  not  without  adventure,  and  in  a  letter 
written  from  Kagoshima  on  November  5th  Xavier  gives  a 
very  full  account  of  it. 

".  .  .  On  the  afternoon  of  St.  John's  Day,  1549,  we 
embarked  [from  Malacca]  in  a  heathen  Chinese  merchant 
ship.  .  .  .  When  we  left,  God  did  us  great  favour,  giving 
us  very  good  weather  and  wind.  Then  the  captain  began  to 
change  his  mind,  as  the  heathen  are  very  inconstant,  and 
not  to  wish  to  go  on  to  Japan,  and  to  stop  unnecessarily  in 
the  islands  he  found. 

"  What  irritated  us  most  in  this  voyage  were  two  things — 
first,* to  see  that  we  were  not  taking  advantage  of  the  good 
weather  and  wind  which  God  our  Lord  was  giving  us,  and 
that  the  monsoon  taking  us  to  Japan  was  ending,  and  we 
were  thus  being  forced  to  wait  a  year  and  to  winter  in  China 
till  the  next  monsoon  ;  and,  second,  the  great  and  continual 
idolatries  and  sacrifices  made,  without  our  being  able  to 
binder  it,  by  the  captain  and  the  heathen  to  the  idol  which 
they  carried  in  the  ship.  They  often  cast  lots,  and  made 
inquiries  if  we  could  go  to  Japan  or  no,  and  if  the  favourable 
winds  would  last.  Sometimes  the  lots  fell  out  well,  and 
sometimes  badly.  .  .  . 

"On    the  way  to  China,   100  leagues  from  Malacca  we 

*  Less  than  a  year  after  his  conversion  he  wrote  a  very  remarkable  letter 
to  the  Society  in  Europe,  the  full  text  of  which  may  be  found  in  Cary's 
History  of  Christianity  in  Japan. 


JAPAN  285 

touched  at  an  island  and  provided  ourselves  with  rudders 
and  the  wood  necessary  for  the  great  tempests  and  seas  of 
China.  After  this  was  done,  they  cast  lots,  first  making 
numerous  sacrifices  and  feasts  to  the  idol.  .  .  .  The  lot  fell 
that  we  were  to  have  good  weather,  and  should  not  wait 
longer.  So  we  weighed  anchor  and  set  sail  with  much 
pleasure,  the  heathen  trusting  in  the  idol  which,  with  great 
veneration  and  lighted  candles,  and  perfumings  and  odours 
of  eagles'  wood  [a  kind  of  incense],  they  carried  in  the  ship's 
poop  ;  and  we  trusting  in  God,  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth, 
and  in  Jesus  Christ  His  Son.  ...  As  we  came  along  the 
heathen  began  to  cast  lots  and  make  inquiries  of  the  idol 
whether  the  ship  would  return  again  from  Japan  to  Malacca. 
The  lot  fell  out  that  she  would  go  to  Japan,  but  not  return 
to  Malacca.  As  a  result  .  .  .  they  resolved  to  winter  in 
China  and  wait  till  next  year.  You  see  what  we  had  to 
put  up  with  on  this  voyage— our  getting  to  Japan  was  at 
the  discretion  of  the  demon  and  his  servants.  .  .  . 

"  Coming  slowly  along,  before  reaching  China  and  while 
close  to  Cochin-China,  near  China,  we  had  two  disasters  in 
one  day,  the  Eve  of  the  Magdalen.  Heavy  seas  were  running, 
and  there  was  a  high  wind,  and  we  were  full  of  water.  The 
well  of  the  ship  happened  to  be  open  through  carelessness  ; 
Manuel  China,  our  companion,  was  passing  it,  and  not 
having  a  good  hold,  owing  to  the  heavy  rolling  of  the  ship, 
fell  down  the  well.  We  all  thought  he  was  dead  from  the 
great  fall,  and  because  there  was  so  much  water  in  the 
bottom  :  God  our  Lord  willed  that  he  did  not  die.  His  head 
and  more  than  half  his  body  were  below  water  for  some  time, 
and  he  suffered  for  a  good  many  days  from  a  wound  in  his 
head.  .  .  .  With  great  trouble  we  drew  him  from  the  well, 
and  he  was  unconscious  a  good  while.  .  .  .  When  he  had 
recovered  the  storm  continued,  and  with  the  tossing  of  the 
ship  a  daughter  of  the  captain  happened  to  fall  into  the  sea: 
We  could  do  nothing  to  help  her  owing  to  the  heavy  seas, 
and  so,  in  the  presence  of  her  father  and  close  to  the  ship, 
she  was  drowned.  The  cries  and  lamentations  that  day  and 
night  were  very  pitiable,  and  the  sight  of  so  much  misery  in 
the  souls  of  the  heathen.  .  .  .  All  that  day  and  night, 
without  rest,  they  made  great  sacrifices  and  feasts  to  their 
idol,  killing  many  birds,  and  giving  it  food  and  drink.  Then 
they  cast  lots,  and  asked  it  why  the  captain's  daughter  had 


286  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

died.*  The  lot  fell  out  that  she  would  not  have  died  or 
fallen  into  the  sea  if  our  Manuel,  who  fell  into  the  well,  had 
died. 

"  You  see  the  peril  our  lives  were  put  in  by  the  demon's 
lots  and  the  power  of  his  servants  and  ministers.  What 
would  become  of  us  if  God  allowed  the  demon  to  do  us  the 
harm  he  wanted  to  do  us  ?  .  .  . 

"  The  day  these  disasters  happened,  and  all  that  night, 
it  pleased  God  our  Lord  to  do  me  much  grace.  He  was 
pleased  to  cause  me  to  feel  and  experience  many  things  anent 
those  fierce  and  frightful  fears  imposed  by  the  enemy  when 
God  permits  him,  and  he  finds  a  chance  of  causing  them  ; 
and  also  anent  the  remedies  against  the  temptations  of  the 
enemy  which  a  man  ought  to  use  when  he  finds  himself  in 
such  trouble  .  .  .  The  sum  of  all  these  remedies  is  to  show 
very  great  courage  against  the  enemy  ;  for  a  man  must 
distrust  himself  totally,  and  trust  in  God  grandly,  placing  in 
Him  all  the  force  and  hope  he  possesses,  and  then,  having  so 
great  a  Defender  and  Protector,  he  must  show  no  cowardice, 
and  not  doubt  but  that  he  will  be  victor.  Many  a  time  I  thought 
that  it  was  as  if  God  our  Lord  had  increased  the  demon's 
sufferings  to  a  greater  pitch  than  before,  and  that  he  was  out 
that  day  and  night  to  revenge  himself,  for  he  seemed  to  be 
keeping  on  saying  to  me  that  we  were  in  his  time  of  vengeance." 

Xavier,  we  gather,  had  prayed  that  God  would  come 
down  on  the  devil  every  time  the  devil  moved  the  captain 
to  cast  lots,  as  it  was  the  lots  which  made  the  captain 
hesitate  about  going  on  to  Japan.  And  now  Xavier  believed 
that  God  had  answered  his  prayers,  and  that  the  devil, 
having  a  bad  time  of  it,  naturally  wanted  to  get  back  a  bit 
of  his  own.  So  often,  in  that  day  and  night  of  the  two 
disasters,  he  had  before  his  mind  that  the  devil  was  taking 
his  revenge.  The  letter  goes  on  : 

"  And  in  such  times  want  of  confidence  in  God  is  more 
to  be  dreaded  than  fear  of  the  enemy,  for  the  demon  cannot 
do  any  more  harm  than  God  allows.  God  allows  the  demon 
to  discomfort  and  vex  those  creatures  who  through  pusil- 
lanimity stop  trusting  in  their  Creator,  and  do  not  force 
themselves  to  hope  in  Him.  Many  who  began  by  serving 
*  Compare  Jonah  i.  7. 


JAPAN  287 

God  have  comfortless  lives  .  .  .  because  they  do  not  keep 
on  carrying  the  sweet  Cross  of  Christ  with  perseverance. 
.  .  .  These  do  not  know  their  own  weaknesses,  and  put 
them  down  to  the  Cross  of  Christ,  and  say  it  is  troublesome 
to  keep  on  carrying  it.  O  Brothers,  what  will  become  of 
us  at  the  hour  of  death,  if  in  life  we  do  not  prepare  and  set 
ourselves  to  learn  to  hope  and  trust  in  God  ?  For  in  that 
hour  we  shall  find  ourselves  in  greater  temptations  and 
troubles  and  dangers  than  ever  we  have  seen,  both  spiritual 
and  bodily.  Therefore  let  those  who  live  with  the  desire 
to  serve  God  strive  to  be  humble  in  small  things,  always 
distrusting  themselves,  and  establishing  themselves  entirely 
on  God.  .  .  . 

"  If  men  would  only  regard  it  as  certain  that  to  fail  in 
duty  to  God  must  bring  them  more  harm  than  could  happen 
to  them  from  the  demon's  side,  what  consolation  they  would 
experience  !  How  much  they  would  profit  when  they  knew 
their  own  little  worth  from  their  own  experience,  and  yet 
saw  clearly  their  great  worth  when  they  closed  entirely  with 
God  !  And  how  confounded  and  weak  the  demon  would  be 
on  finding  himself  conquered  by  those  whose  conqueror  he 
once  had  been  I 

"  To  return  now  to  our  voyage.  The  seas  went  down,  we 
weighed  anchor  and  set  sail  with  much  sadness  [because  the 
captain  had  decided  not  to  make  direct  for  Japan].  ...  In 
a  few  days  we  arrived  in  China  at  the  port  of  Canton.  All 
thought  it  well  to  winter  at  that  port,  the  sailors  as  well  as 
the  captain  ;  we  were  the  only  ones  to  oppose  this  plan, 
which  we  did  with  petitions  and  with  some  threats  [to  report 
the  shipmaster  to  the  Captain  in  Malacca]  .  .  .  God  our 
Lord  was  pleased  to  make  them  unwilling  to  remain  in  the 
isles  of  Canton,  so  we  weighed  anchor  .  .  .  and  in  a  few 
days,  with  a  good  wind,  which  God  was  giving  us  con- 
tinually, we  reached  Chimceo  [Tchintcheo],  another  Chinese 
port.  We  were  just  entering  it  with  the  intention  of  winter- 
ing there,  as  the  monsoon  to  take  us  to  Japan  was  coming  to 
an  end,  when  a  sail  came  to  us.  They  gave  us  the  news  that 
the  port  was  full  of  pirates,  and  that  if  we  entered  we  were 
lost.  ...  It  was  a  head  wind  to  go  back  to  Canton,  and  a 
stern  wind  to  come  to  Japan.  Thus,  against  the  will  of  the 
captain  of  the  ship  and  the  sailors,  they  were  forced  to  come 
to  Japan.  So  neither  the  demon  nor  his  ministers  were  able 


288  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

to  prevent  our  coming,  and  so  God  brought  us  to  this  so- 
longed-for  land. 

"  I  arrived  on  the  Feast  of  the  Assumption,  August,  1549. 
Without  being  able  to  touch  any  other  Japanese  port,  we 
came  to  Kagoshima,*  which  is  the  home  of  Paul  of  the 
Holy  Faith.  There  all,  both  his  relatives  and  those  who  were 
not,  received  us  with  much  love."  f 

Kagoshima,  the  port  at  which  Francis  and  his  companions 
landed,  was  the  native  town  of  Paul  of  the  Holy  Faith, 
and  his  return  was  the  occasion  of  a  great  welcome,  both  to 
himself  and  those  whom  he  brought  with  him.  They  were 
not  at  all  scandalised  that  he  had  become  a  Christian ;  the 
fact  that  he  had  embraced  a  new  religion  only  added  to  the 
interest  aroused  by  his  reappearance.  He  introduced  Xavier 
to  the  Governor  of  the  town,  who  received  the  missionary 
witli  much  kindness.  This  kindness  was  doubtless  rein- 
forced by  commercial  instincts,  for  the  merchants  of  Japan 
were  just  awaking  to  the  fact  that  it  was  desirable  that  the 
Portuguese  ships  should  visit  them,  and  the  different  ports 
were  ready  to  vie  with  one  another  in  hospitality  toward 
strangers  from  the  West. 

As  an  interpreter,  Paul  was  indispensable,  and  he  took 
great  pains  to  teach  his  Western  friends  the  language. 
Already,  during  the  voyage,  Juan  Fernandez  had  made  good 
progress. 

After  six  weeks  the  daimio  of  the  province  invited  them  to 
appear  before  him.  He  received  them  kindly.  Francis 
expressed  his  desire  to  go  on  to  Kioto,  f  the  capital,  but 
the  daimio  dissuaded  him,  telling  him  the  weather  and 
the  wars  would  make  his  passage  quite  impossible  until 
later  on.  At  the  same  time  he  put  a  house  at  the  disposal  of 
the  missionaries.  There  Francis  occupied  his  leisure  moments 
in  composing,  with  the  help  of  Paul,  a  document  similar  to 
that  which  he  had  composed  at  Ternate  (see  p.  242). 

The  first  converts  in  Kagoshima  were  the  relatives  of  Paul 
of  the  Holy  Faith.  Another  of  the  earliest  converts  was  one 
who  received  the  Christian  name  of  Bernard.  This  man 
became  one  of  Francis'  most  faithful  helpers,  accompanied 
him  in  all  his  journeys  through  Japan,  followed  him  to 

*  Spelt  throughout  by  Xavier  Cangoxima.       f  Mon.  Xav..  vol.  i.  p.  572  ff. 
Then  known  as  JMiaco. 


JAPAN  289 

India,  and  after  the  Saint's  death  went  to  Europe,  visited 
the  Jesuits  in  Spain  and  Italy,  and  finally  died  in  the  college 
at  Coimbra. 

But  Francis,  in  Japan,  made  no  attempts  to  repeat  the 
methods  which  he  had  used  in  Southern  India.  There,  as  an 
old  chronicler  has  said,  he  had  fished  with  a  drag-net,  but 
here  he  had  to  fish  with  a  line.  The  first  three  months  were 
chiefly  spent  in  preparation.  Fernandez,  evidently  a  brilliant 
linguist,  Cosmo  de  Torres  and  Francis  became  the  industrious 
pupils  of  Paul  of  the  Holy  Faith.  Besides  studying  the 
language,  Francis  studied  the  people,  with  whole-hearted 
gusto. 

In  the  letter  written  on  November  5th,  of  which  we  have 
already  quoted  a  part,  he  goes  on  to  give  his  first  impressions 
of  the  Japanese,  or  rather  of  the  Japanese  of  the  province 
of  Satsuma : 

"  The  people  with  whom  we  have  conversed  so  far  are  the 
best  yet  discovered.  In  my  opinion  no  people  superior  to 
the  Japanese  will  be  found  among  unbelievers.  They  are 
of  good  behaviour,  ahd  good  generally,  and  not  malicious, 
marvellously  honourable.  They  esteem  honour  more  than 
anything.  They  are  mostly  poor,  and  neither  the  nobles  nor 
those  who  are  not  esteem  poverty  as  a  reproach.  They 
have  one  quality  which  I  do  not  think  is  to  be  found  among 
any  Christians,  and  it  is  this — the  nobles,  however  poor  they 
may  be,  and  those  who  are  not  nobles,  however  rich,  honour 
a  very  poor  noble  as  much  as  if  he  were  rich ;  and  not 
for  any  price  would  a  very  poor  noble  marry  into  another 
caste  if  it  were  not  noble.  ...  So  they  esteem  honour  more 
than  riches.  They  are  very  courteous  among  themselves. 
They  prize  arms  greatly  and  trust  much  in  them.  They 
always  carry  swords  and  daggers — all  the  people,  high  and 
low  alike,  from  the  age  of  14  years,  they  carry  sword  and 
dagger. 

14  They  will  stand  no  insults  nor  slighting  words.  The 
people  who  are  not  noble  have  great  reverence  for  the  nobles, 
and  all  the  nobles  are  very  proud  to  serve  the  lord  of  the  land, 
and  are  very  obedient  to  him.  This  I  think  they  do  because 
they  hold  that  if  they  did  the  contrary  they  should  lose 
their  honour.  .  .  . 

"  They  are  abstemious  in  eating,  though  they  drink  a 

u 


290  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

good  deal.  They  drink  rice  wine,  as  there  are  no  vines  in 
these  parts.  They  never  gamble,  because  in  their  opinion 
it  is  very  dishonourable,  for  gamblers  desire  what  is  not 
their  own,  and  thence  may  come  to  be  thieves.  They  swear 
little,  and  when  they  do  it  is  by  the  sun.  A  great  part  of  the 
people  can  read  and  write,  which  is  a  great  help  for  learning 
the  prayers  and  things  of  God  quickly. 

"  They  have  not  more  than  one  wife.  It  is  a  land  of  few 
thieves,  because  severe  justice  is  meted  out  to  those  who  are 
found  to  be  thieves,  and  none  of  their  lives  spared.  They 
are  kindly,  very  conversable,  and  eager  for  knowledge.  They 
rejoice  much  to  hear  of  God  .  .  .  most  of  them  believe  in 
men  of  ancient  times,  who,  as  I  have  managed  to  under- 
stand, were  men  who  lived  as  philosophers.  Many  of  them 
adore  the  sun,  others  the  moon.  They  rejoice  to  hear  things 
conformable  to  reason,  and  though  there  are  vices  and 
sins  among  them,  yet  when  they  are  given  reasons,  and 
shown  that  what  they  do  is  ill  done,  then  what  reason 
defends  seems  good  to  them. 

"  Among  the  secular  I  find  less  sin,  and  see  more  obedience 
to  reason,  than  among  those  whom  they  regard  as  Fathers. 
They  call  them  bonzes  [bonjos].  They  are  inclined  to  sins 
which  Nature  abhors.  They  confess  and  do  not  deny  it.  ... 
Among  these  bonzes  are  some  who  live  like  friars.  They  go 
clothed  in  grey  gowns.  They  are  clean-shaven,  head  as  well 
as  beard.  .  .  .  They  are  very  licentious,  and  have  nuns  of 
the  same  order  living  together  with  them.  The  populace 
have  a  very  evil  opinion  of  them.  .  .  . 

"  I  can  tell  you  one  thing  for  which  you  may  give  thanks 
to  God  our  Lord  :  this  island  of  Japan  is  very  ready  for  the 
great  increase  of  our  holy  faith  in  it.  If  we  could  speak  the 
language  I  have  no  hesitation  whatever  in  believing  that  many 
would  become  Christians.  May  it  please  God  our  Lord  that 
we  shall  learn  it  in  a  short  time,  for  already  we  begin  to  have 
a  smattering  of  it,  and  we  have  expounded  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments in  forty  days  which  we  gave  to  learn  them.  I 
give  you  this  so  detailed  account  that  you  may  all  give  thanks 
to  God  our  Lord  for  the  discovery  of  this  country  in  which 
your  holy  desires  can  be  employed  and  fulfilled  ;  and  also 
that  you  may  apparel  yourselves  with  great  virtue  and  with 
the  desire  to  suffer  greatly  in  the  service  of  Christ  our 
Redeemer  and  Lord.  And  remember  that  God  sets  more 


JAPAN  291 

value  on  the  offering  of  a  good  will  full  of  humility  presented 
for  His  sole  love  and  glory  than  He  prizes  and  esteems  the 
actual  services  done  Him,  however  many  they  may  be. 

"  Be  prepared,  for  likely  in  less  than  two  years  I  may  write 
to  you  that  a  number  of  you  should  come  to  Japan.  So 
strive  after  great  humility,  persecuting  your  own  selves  in 
the  things  for  which  you  feel  repugnance.  Strive  with  all 
the  power  God  gives  you  to  know  yourselves  as  you  are. 
Thus  you  will  grow  in  faith  and  hope,  and  confidence  and 
love  toward  God,  and  charity  with  your  neighbours.  From 
distrust  of  oneself  is  born  the  trust  in  God  that  is  real.  .  .  . 
Take  care  not  to  plume  yourselves  upon  the  good  opinion 
others  may  have  of  you,  or  you  will  be  confounded.  For 
some  by  their  carelessness  in  this  come  to  lose  inward 
humility,  and  grow  in  pride.  ...  In  all  your  affairs  establish 
yourselves  altogether  in  God,  without  trusting  in  your  own 
powers  or  knowledge,  or  in  human  opinion,  and  so  I  reckon 
you  will  be  prepared  for  all  the  great  adversities,  whether 
bodily  or  spiritual,  that  may  come  upon  you,  for  God  lifts  up 
and  strengthens  the  humble,  and  chiefly  those  who  in  small 
and  lowly  things  have  seen,  as  in  a  clear  mirror,  their  own 
weaknesses,  and  have  conquered  themselves.  Neither  the 
devil  and  his  ministers,  nor  the  great  sea  tempests  nor  the 
evil  barbarians,  nor  any  other  creature  can  harm  such  as 
these.  For  their  confidence  is  all  in  God,  and  they  know 
for  certain,  even  when  facing  tribulations  greater  than  ever 
they  saw,  that  without  His  leave  all  these  can  do  nothing  .  .  . 

"  I  know  a  person  to  whom  God  did  great  favour,  who 
occupied  himself  often,  both  in  peril  and  out  of  it,  in  placing 
all  his  hope  and  confidence  in  Him,  and  the  advantage  that 
came  to  him  from  this  would  take  too  long  to  write.  And 
because  all  these  troubles  which  you  have  hitherto  had  to 
endure  are  small  compared  to  those  which  you  will  have  to 
put  up  with  when  you  come  to  Japan,  I  pray  and  beseech 
you  as  much  as  I  can  by  the  love  and  service  of  God  our  Lord, 
to  make  yourselves  ready  for  much,  overthrowing  your  own 
affections  since  they  are  a  hindrance  to  good.  And  look 
well  to  yourselves,  my  brothers  in  Jesus  Christ,  for  many  are 
in  hell  who  when  they  were  in  this  life  were  the  cause  and 
instrument  through  which  others,  by  their  words,  were 
saved  and  went  to  glory.  .  .  . 

"  Remember  that  saying  of  the  Lord,  What  does  it  profit  a 

U2 


292  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world,  and  suffer  the  loss  of  his  own 
soul  ?  Let  none  of  you  build  on  its  seeming  to  you  that 
you  have  been  a  long  time  in  the  Company,  and  that  you  are 
older  than  others,  and  that  therefore  you  are  more  worth 
than  those  that  have  not  been  so  long.  ...  I  do  not  tell 
you  these  things  to  make  you  think  the  service  of  God 
troublesome,  and  the  yoke  of  the  Lord  not  light  and  sweet 
[suave].  For  if  men  set  themselves  to  seek  God,  and  take 
and  embrace  the  means  to  do  it,  they  will  find  sweetness  and 
comfort  enough  in  His  service,  to  make  it  easy  to  overcome 
all  the  repugnance  they  feel  to  conquering  themselves. 
What  delight  and  contentment  of  spirit  men  lose,  because 
they  do  not  master  themselves  in  those  temptations  which 
are  wont  to  keep  back  the  weak  from  good  and  from  the 
knowledge  of  the  infinite  (suma)  goodness  of  God,  and  from 
rest  in  this  troubled  life  I  For  to  live  here  without  enjoying 
God  is  not  life,  but  one  continued  death."* 

"...  And  be  well  assured  that  you  will  undergo  many 
kinds  of  temptations  ;  when  you  go  alone,  or  two  by  two, 
placed  in  many  trials,  in  countries  of  the  unbelievers,  or 
in  storms  at  sea.  You  had  not  such  things  when  you  were  in 
College.  If  you  are  not  well  exercised  [i.e.,  drilled  in  the 
Spiritual  Exercises  of  Loyola],  and  experienced  in  knowing 
how  to  conquer  your  own  inordinate  affections  and  in  great 
knowledge  of  the  deceits  of  the  enemy,  judge,  brothers,  the 
dangers  you  will  run  when  you  are  exposed  to  the  world, 
which  is  founded  on  wickedness,  and  how  you  will  resist  it 
if  you  are  not  very  humble.  .  .  .f 

"  May  it  please  God  our  Lord  to  give  us  language,  so  that  we 
may  be  able  to  speak  of  the  things  of  God,  for  then  with  His 
aid,  grace,  and  favour  we  shall  gain  much  fruit.  Now  we 
are  among  them  like  statues.  They  speak  and  talk  a  lot, 
and  we,  as  we  don't  understand  the  lingoa,  are  silent.  And 
now  we  must  be  as  infants,  in  learning  the  language.  God 
grant  that  we  may  imitate  them,  too,  in  simplicity  and 
pureness  of  mind.  .  .  .t 

"I  think  that  we  shall  this  winter  be  busy  in  making  an 
explanation  of  the  articles  of  the  faith  somewhat  fully,  in 
Japanese,  for  printing.  All  the  principal  people  here  can 
read  and  write,  and  so  this  will  be  a  way  of  spreading  our 
*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  570  ff.  f  *&*<*•»  vol.  i.  p.  587.  J  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  591. 


JAPAN  293 

holy  faith,  as  we  can't  go  everywhere.  Paul,  our  very  dear 
brother,  is  going  to  translate  faithfully  into  their  language  all 
that  is  needful  for  the  salvation  of  their  souls.  .  .  .* 

"  I  pray  you  earnestly  [he  concludes]  that  there  may  be 
true  love  among  you  ;  and  do  not  bear  any  bitterness  of  mind. 
Convert  part  of  your  fervours  into  love  one  towards  another, 
and  part  of  your  desires  to  suffer  for  Christ's  sake  into 
suffering  [one  another]  and  conquering  all  the  aversions  which 
do  not  allow  this  love  to  grow.  You  know  what  Christ  said, 
that  in  this  He  would  know  His  own  if  they  loved  one  another. 
God  our  Lord  grant  us  to  know  within  our  souls  His  most 
holy  will,  and  grace  to  fulfil  it  perfectly. 

44  Kagoshima,  5th  Nov.,  1549. 

"  Your  Brother  in  Christ." 

In  another  letter  written  on  the  same  day  he  says  to  the 
heads  of  the  college  at  Goa  : 

"  Work  hard  at  teaching  and  instructing  in  your  college, 
especially  ChineseT~andr~Jspanese  youths.  Be  careful  for 
them  spiritually.  See  that  they  can  read,  write,  and  speak 
Portuguese,  so  that  they  may  act  as  interpreters  for  the 
fathers  who,  please  God  our  Lord,  will  come  before  many 
years  are  out  to  Japan  and  China.  For  in  my  opinion  there 
is  a  finer  harvest  to  be  reaped  in  Japan  and  China  than  in  any 
of  the  other  newly  discovered  countries.  Therefore  I  charge 
you  earnestly  to  care  for  the  Chinese  and  Japanese.  ...  If 
the  two  bonzes  who  are  going  to  Malacca  this  year  get  to 
Goa  do  your  best  to  make  them  welcome  among  the  Portu- 
guese. Show  them  much  love,  as  I  did  to  Paul  when  he  was 
there.  For  they  are  a  people  who  will  be  attracted  only  by 
love.  Don't  be  at  all  hard  on  them."t 

On  the  same  day  Xavier  despatched  a  letter  to  three  of 
the  Fathers  at  Goa,  bidding  them  come  out  to  Japan.  He 
hopes  to  meet  them  at  Kioto.  To  Gomez,  the  Superior  of 
the  College,  he  writes  : 

''  When  the  Fathers  come,  arrange  with  the  Governor  to 
send  out  some  objects  as  presents  for  the  King  of  Japan, 
with  a  letter.  For  I  trust  in  God  that  if  he  were  converted 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  600.  f  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  pp.  644  and  646. 


294  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

to  our  holy  Faith  great  temporal  advantage  would  result 
to  the  King  of  Portugal  by  making  a  factory  in  Sakay.* 
This  is  a  very  large  port,  and  is  a  city  where  there  are  numbers 
of  rich  merchants,  and  plenty  of  silver  and  gold,  more  than 
in  any  other  part  of  Japan.  Judging  by  my  experience  of 
India,  I  am  not  so  sure  that  they  would  send  a  ship  [here] 
with  the  Fathers,  if  they  had  nothing  else  to  look  to  but 
the  mere  love  of  God.  It  may  be  that  I  am  wrong,  and  if 
so  I  should  be  glad.  So  in  forwarding  the  Fathers,  go  about 
it  in  this  way.  Let  the  Lord  Governor,  if  he  wishes  to  do  a 
great  favour  to  some  relative  or  friend,  and  secure  him 
considerable  profit,  give  him  a  licence  to  send  a  ship  to  Japan 
with  the  Fathers.  For  this  I  am  writing  a  list  of  the  things 
most  valuable  at  the  port  of  Sakay.  It  is  two  days'  journey 
by  land  from  Kioto  [i.e.,  Kioto  is  two  days'  journey  inland]. 

"  Whoever  conveys  the  Fathers  will  gain  plenty  of  silver 
and  gold,  if  he  brings  the  merchandise  entered  in  this  list. 
In  this  way  the  Fathers  will  be  able  to  come  very  comfort- 
ably and  safely,  for  this  ship  will  come  well  armed,  and  pro- 
vided with  everything  needful. 

"  Give  a  warning  that  the  Fathers  come  very  soon  to  Japan. 
The  ship  that  comes  from  Goa  must  leave  Goa  with  all  its 
cargo  in  April,  and  has  to  leave  Malacca  in  June.  It  must 
take  all  needful  provisions,  and  must  not  touch  at  China  at 
all,  however  much  they  may  hope  to  do  business  there. 
Nor  must  it  take  in  provisions,  save  water,  from  any  of  the 
islands,  but  must  make  a  straight  course  for  Japan.  For 
if  it  touch  at  China  to  do  business  there,  you  must  understand 
that  it  will  spend  seventeen  months  between  Goa  and  Japan, 
but,  not  touching  at  China,  it  will  be  in  Japan  in  four  and  a 
half  months. 

"  It  is  necessary  that  the  ship  should  not  bring  much 
pepper,  but  at  the  most  eighty  bares.  For,  bringing  little, 
they  are  sure  to  sell  it  very  well  in  Japan,  and  they  will  gain 
plenty  of  money,  as  I  have  said,  if  they  come  to  the  port  of 
Sakay. 

"  And  see  that  you  are  cautious  about  the  licence  which 
the  Governor  gives  to  the  man  who  has  to  bring  the  Fathers. 
It  must  stipulate  that  he  does  not  touch  at  China  to  do 
business  ...  if  they  don't  leave  China  for  Japan  on  August 
1st  there  is  no  monsoon  for  a  year.  The  priests  who  come 

*  Near  the  modern  port  of  Osaka. 


JAPAN  295 

should  be  well  provided  with  Portuguese  clothing  and  with 
boots,  for  here  we  are  dying  of  cold."* 

Xavier  was  very  full  of  this  project,  for  sent  off  at  the 
same  time  as  the  above  letter  is  one  to  his  friend  Pedro  da 
Silva  da  Gama,  son  of  the  great  Vasco  da  Gama,  and  at 
this  time  Captain  or  Commandant  of  Malacca. 

"'  In  Sakay,  which  is  the  principal  port  of  Japan,  two 
days'  journey  by  land  from  Kioto,  a  factory  will  be  erected, 
which,  please  God,  should  pay  very  well.  ...  If  you  would 
trust  me,  and  make  me  your  factor  in  these  parts  of  all  the 
merchandise  you  send,  I  assure  you  of  one  thing,  you  will 
by  a  sure  way  make  more  than  10,000  per  cent,  profit,  which 
no  Captain  in  Malacca  has  done  hitherto.  Here  is  the 
way  :  Give  all  to  the  poor  who  become  Christians.  The 
gain  will  be  most  secure,  and  there  will  be  no  risks,  for 
it  is  certain  that  for  him  who  gives  one  for  Christ's  sake 
a  hundred  is  kept  in  the  other  life.  I'm  much  afraid  that 
you  don't  approve  of  so  much  profit.  The  Captains  of 
Malacca  have  this  fault,  that  they  are  not  disposed  towards 
the  largest  merchandise." 

We  know  that  Pedro  da  Silva  liked  to  do  things  in  great 
style.  He  had  wished  to  send  Xavier  and  his  party  off  to 
Japan  much  more  magnificently  than  they  chose  to  go. 
Later  on  Xavier  sighed  for  him,  when  he  was  finding  difficulty 
in  getting  a  ship  to  take  him  to  China.  The  two  hidalgos  had 
always  got  on  well  together.  But  here  Xavier  seems  to  be 
"  taking  off  "  his  friend's  way  of  talking  about  things,  and  of 
calculating  the  profits  and  losses  of  mercantile  enterprises. 

The  letter  goes  on  to  report  the  death  of  the  man  who 
had  shipped  them  to  Japan,  the  most  famous  Eastern  pirate 
of  these  days  : — 

"  The  Pirate  died  here  in  Kagoshima.  He  was  kind  to 
us  all  the  voyage,  and  we  could  not  be  kind  to  him,  for  he 
died  in  his  unbelief.  Nor  could  we  be  kind  to  him  after 
death,  for  his  soul  is  in  hell."t 

Xavier  was  very  sure  of  God,  but  here,  as  so  often  else- 
where, we  see  how  very  sure  of  hell  he  was  too. 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  648.  t  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  654. 


296  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

A  little  later  the  Saint  writes  : 

"  We  are  engaged  in  teaching  the  Christians  and  learning 
the  language  of  Japan,  and  in  translating  some  articles  of 
our  holy  faith,  beginning  from  the  creation  of  the  world 
to  the  final  judgment,  and  the  life  of  Christ  our  Lord,  and 
His  Sacred  Passion.  From  all  this  we  have  made  a  book 
in  Japanese,  and  we  read  from  it  to  those  who  wish  to  become 
Christians,  that  they  may  know  what  they  have  to  believe 
and  do.  They  are  glad  to  hear  these  things,  for  they  begin 
to  see  they  are  all  truth.  This  shows  that  the  Japanese 
have  good  brains.  This  year  about  six  hundred  have 
become  Christians.  Many  more  gave  up,  not  because 
they  did  not  understand  that  our  faith  was  true,  but  because 
they  were  afraid  of  the  Duke  [the  daimio]."  * 

Among  the  bonzes  with  whom  Xavier  used  to  talk  in 
Kagoshima  was  one  old  man  called  Ninjit,  the  superior  of 
the  chief  monastery  of  the  place.  One  day  Xavier,  seeing  a 
number  of  them  engaged  in  meditation,  asked  Ninjit  what 
was  the  subject  of  their  thoughts.  The  old  man,  smiling, 
replied,  "  Some  of  them  are  calculating  how  much  they 
have  got  out  of  their  parishioners  during  the  last  month, 
others  are  planning  how  to  dress  themselves  and  feed  them- 
selves, others  how  they  are  going  to  amuse  themselves. 
None  of  them  are  dreaming  about  anything  important." 

Another  time  Francis  asked  Ninjit  which  period  of  life 
he  preferred,  and  Ninjit  answered  "  Youth."  And  then 
Francis  said,  "  When  sailors  leave  one  port  for  another, 
which  hour  is  the  happier  for  them,  the  hour  when  they  are 
in  mid-ocean,  or  the  hour  when  they  are  almost  in  haven  ?  " 
44  All  that  is  not  for  me,"  said  Ninjit,  "  for  I  do  not  know  to 
what  port  my  ship  is  going." 

Other  bonzes  were  less  ready  to  talk  with  the  strangers, 
especially  when  they  saw  that  some  of  the  townspeople 
were  becoming  Christians.  They  knew  that  if  all  the  town 
were  converted  their  living  would  be  gone.  So  they  began 
a  kind  of  underhand  persecution.  They  circulated  gruesome 
tales  about  the  missionaries,  saying  that  they  lived  on  human 
flesh,  and  to  confirm  this  they  strewed  blood-stained  garments 
about  the  place  where  they  lodged.  At  the  same  time  the 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  659. 


JAPAN  297 

daimio  heard  that  a  Portuguese  ship  which  he  had  been 
hoping  would  visit  Kagoshima  had  passed  them  by,  and  he 
suddenly  wearied  of  his  calculated  friendship  for  the  "  bar- 
barians of  the  south."  He  published  an  edict,  saying  that 
whoever  in  the  future  became  a  Christian  would  be  killed, 
but  that  those  who  had  already  been  baptized  would  not 
be  harmed.  Xavier  thought  it  time  to  seek  out  a  more 
hopeful  soil.  "When  we  saw,"  he  writes,  "  that  we  could  not 
in  the  meantime  gain  any  more  fruit  we  went  to  another 
district.  We  took  leave  of  the  Christians,  and  they  took 
leave  of  us,  with  many  tears  and  much  sorrow."* 

This  was  in  September,  1550,  after  a  sojourn  of  thirteen 
months  in  Kagoshima. 

Paul  of  the  Holy  Faith  was  left  in  charge  of  the  little 
Christian  community,  and  for  five  months  he  was  faithful 
to  them.  Then,  harassed  and  persecuted  beyond  the  limits 
of  his  patience,  he  retired  from  all  spiritual  conflicts,  bought 
himself  a  ship,  and  spent  the  rest  of  his  days  as  a  bafan,  or 
pirate,  on  the  Chinese  coast. 

Juan  Fernandez  and  Cosmo  de  Torres  went  with  Xavier. 
As  they  left  the  outskirts  of  Kagoshima  they  came  to  the  fort 
of  Ycicu,  where  they  had  already  made  a  number  of  converts. 
These  they  visited,  and  before  they  left,  taught  how  to 
baptize,  and  gave  away  some  of  the  literature  which  they 
had  been  so  much  occupied  in  composing — some  prayers,  a 
Calendar,  the  Seven  Psalms  of  Penitence,  and  the  Story  of 
the  Passion,  all  in  the  Japanese  language.  Ten  years 
later  a  Jesuit  brother  visited  these  people.  They  had  not 
seen  a  European  since  Xavier  left  them,  but  they  still  kept 
the  faith. 

By  the  beginning  of  -  October  the  missionaries  found 
themselves  in  Hirado.  There  were  Portuguese  ships  in  the 
harbour,  and  thanks  to  that  fact,  probably,  Xavier  was  able 
to  record  that  the  daimio  had  received  them  with  great  affec- 
tion. But  this  was  not  their  goal.  Xavier  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  go  on  to  the  capital,  "  to  plant  there  the  law  of  God." 
"  Such  an  attempt,"  says  Valignano,  "  needed  a  truly  great 
and  confident  spirit.  To  penetrate  a  country  thus,  dressed 
in  so  new  and  strange  a  manner,  and  thus  attired  having  to 
meet  all  the  heathendom  of  Japan,  with  no  other  guide  and  no 
other  hope  but  in  God,  was  a  proceeding  which  those  who 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  659. 


298  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

know  what  Japan  was  then  would  call  one  of  supernatural 
and  heroic  faith."  * 

The  old  chronicler  Frois  had  a  first-hand  account  of  this 
journey  from  Juan  Fernandez. 

Neither  the  cold,  nor  the  snow,  nor  the  fear  of  unknown  peoples 
hindered  the  Father  Master  Francis  in  carrying  out  his  plans  for 
the  service  of  God.  On  the  sea  the  pirates  were  everywhere, 
and  we  had  often  to  remain  hidden  at  the  bottom  of  the  hold, 
so  as  to  escape  them.  Going  by  land,  our  troubles  increased. 
We  carried  all  our  luggage  in  two  wallets,  like  those  of  the 
mendicant  brothers.  It  consisted  of  a  surplice,  three  or  four 
shirts,  and  an  old  blanket  which  we  both  used  at  night.  For 
there  are  no  beds  in  the  Japanese  inns.  We  did  very  well  if 
they  lent  us  a  straw  mat,  or  a  wooden  pillow.  Sometimes  when 
we  arrived  in  the  evenings,  frozen  with  cold  and  famished,  there 
was  no  kind  of  shelter  for  us.  At  other  times,  owing  to  the  deep 
snow,  our  legs  swelled,  and  we  fell  in  these  bitter  mountain 
paths.  Poor,  badly  clad,  strangers,  and  recognised  as  such, 
we  were  very  badly  received  in  certain  places,  jeered  at  by  the 
children,  and  even  stoned. 

We  arrived  thus  at  Facata,  a  populous  trading  city  in  the 
kingdom  of  Chicugen.  The  Father  went  to  visit  a  large  monastery 
of  bonzes  of  the  sect  of  the  Jenxus,  who  believe  only  in  the  present 
life.  These  people  were  notorious  for  their  evil  living.  .  .  .  The 
bonzes  imagined  that  the  Father  came  from  Siam,  from  where 
they  believe  their  gods  to  have  come  ;  they  received  him  with 
great  demonstrations  of  joy.  and  took  him  to  their  superior, 
who  was  like  a  bishop.  He  received  us  with  pleasure  and  had 
some  fruit  served  to  us. 

The  Father  at  once  raised  his  voice,  and  speaking  very  dis- 
tinctly reproached  the  superior  and  the  others  with  great  severity 
for  the  abominable  vice  which  reigned  among  them.  He  also 
rebuked  them  for  letting  the  people  believe  that  there  is  nothing 
after  this  life,  and,  again,  for  deceiving  them  by  exhorting  them 
to  make  offerings  to  the  dead  by  which  they  (the  bonzes)  alone 
profited.  As  they  listened  to  him  the  bonzes  were  stupefied  to 
think  that  a  man  whom  they  had  never  seen  should  reprove 
them  with  such  energy.  Some  of  them,  it  is  true,  laughed  at 
him  ;  the  others  were  amazed.  Without  further  formality  the 
Father  left  them  and  we  continued  on  our  road. 

The  five  or  six  days  which  followed  our  departure  from  Facata 
were  very  rough.  Yet  all  the  way  the  Father  added  to  the 
troubles  of  the  road  a  continual  voluntary  mortification.  One 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  123. 


JAPAN  299 

would  have  to  have  seen  him  as  I  did,  with  my  own  eyes,  to  get 
an  idea  of  the  details  of  this  mortification.  Even  his  way  of 
saying  prayers  on  the  road  had  this  mark  of  penitence.  Medi- 
tation and  contemplation  were  so  familiar  to  him  that  the  snow- 
covered  mountains  and  valleys  all  around  could  not  distract 
him  ;  all  the  time  of  prayer  Father  Francis  did  not  raise  his  eyes 
or  turn  his  head  ;  his  arms  and  hands  were  motionless,  only  his 
feet  moved,  and  that  with  difficulty.  Truly  he  showed  by  this 
humility  and  reverence  of  bearing  that  he  walked  in  the  presence 
of  God. 

Also  at  the  inns,  which  were  hardly  more  than  stables,  he  was 
so  temperate  at  table  that,  fatigued  by  the  journey  as  he  was, 
he  appeared  more  like  a  slave  whom  his  lord  has  condescended 
to  invite  to  eat  with  him,  and  who  cannot  forget  how  unworthy 
he  is  to  receive  food  from  the  hand  of  his  master.* 

Of  Yamaguchi,  the  next  town  which  they  came  to,  Xavier 
writes  : 

"It  is  a  city  of  more  than  a  thousand  heads  of  families. 
The  houses  are  of  wood.  There  were  many  gentlemen  and 
others  anxious  to  know  about  the  religion  we  were  preaching. 
So  we  stayed  some  time  and  preached  twice  daily  in  the 
streets.  We  read  from  the  book  we  carried,  making  short 
discourses  on  what  we  read.  Crowds  came  to  the  sermons. 
We  were  also  invited  to  the  houses  of  the  principal  gentlemen, 
they  asking  us  to  explain  that  religion  which  we  were 
preaching.  They  told  us  that  if  it  were  better  than  their  own 
they  would  adopt  it.  Some  of  them  showed  great  satisfaction 
in  hearing  the  law  of  God.  Others  made  game  of  it.  Others 
were  bored  by  it.  When  we  went  into  the  streets  the  children 
and  others  followed,  making  game  of  us.  ..." 

The  daimio  then  sent  for  them  and  commanded  them  to 
declare  the  "  law  of  God." 

44  So  we  read  a  great  part  of  the  book.  He  was  very 
attentive  all  the  time  we  were  reading,  which  would  be 
more  than  an  hour.  Then  he  sent  us  away.  WTe  persevered 
in  this  city  many  days,  and  preached  in  the  streets  and  houses, 
and  many  were  glad  to  hear  the  life  of  Christ  our  Lord, 
and  wept  when  they  heard  some  passages  from  the  Passion."  t 

*  Primera  parte  da  Historia  de  Japam  (1549-1578),  MSS.,  by  P.  Louis  Frois, 
quoted  by  Cros,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  ii.  p.  99  ff. 
j  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  G60  f. 


300  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

The  Annalist  of  Macao*  gives  more  details  of  this  visit 
than  Francis  does. 

He  tells  us  that  when  the  Saint  and  his  companions  arrived 
in  the  town  they  looked  so  poor  and  wretched  that  no  one 
would  give  them  a  lodging.  They  at  once  began  to  preach 
in  the  open  streets.  Crowds  gathered,  and  they  were  rudely 
treated,  but  they  would  take  no  rebuff  and  went  on  preaching. 
Besides  preaching  Francis  would  read  aloud  to  them  from  the 
little  book  which  he  had  made.  Some  continued  to  laugh 
at  his  pronunciation  and  at  the  expressions  he  used,  but 
others  showed  interest  in  what  he  said.  So  he  went  on, 
never  showing  any  impatience,  but  declaring  the  truth 
and  condemning  their  sins,  till  the  Japanese,  who,  the  old 
Annalist  says,  are  experts  in  judging  men,  saw  that  they 
were  irreproachable,  and  began  to  venerate  them.  But 
this  veneration  did  not  come  to  much.  There  were  very 
few  conversions.  The  interviews  with  the  fidalgos  of  the 
town,  as  Fernandez  calls  them,  were  for  him,  if  not  for  Francis, 
full  of  trepidating  anxiety.  Francis  frankly  and  fearlessly 
denounced  their  vices,  and  warned  them  of  judgments  to 
come.  And  when  their  hosts  upon  this  thee-and-thou'd 
them,  or  used  other  such  impolite  forms  of  speech,  the  Saint 
said  to  Fernandez,  "  Thee-and-thou  them  too,"  till  the  poor 
Brother  expected  each  moment  to  see  one  of  those  long 
swords  their  hosts  were  wearing  flash  in  front  of  his  owri 
neck.  But  Francis  cheered  him  on  with  the  words,  "  There 
is  nothing  in  you  you  so  much  need  to  mortify  as  this  fear  of 
death.  Despise  death  and  these  men  will  respect  you,  and 
know  our  teaching  is  from  God." 

"  With  all  this,"  Xavier  writes,  "  very  few  became 
Christians.  Seeing  the  small  amount  of  fruit  gained  we 
determined  to  go  on  to  Meaco  [Kioto],  the  principal  city  of 
all  Japan.  We  spent  two  months  on  the  road,  and  under- 
went many  dangers  and  travails."! 

Neither  Francis  nor  his  companions  knew  the  roads,  and 
the  country  was  at  war  and  overrun  with  soldiers.  The 
cold  for  them  was  very  trying.  Often  in  the  inns  there  was 

*  This  title  is  given  by  Cros  to  the  author  of  an  old  contemporary  MS.     See 
Cros,  Vie  dt  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  ii.  p.  37. 
t  Mon,  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  661. 


JAPAN  301 

nothing  to  eat,  and  they  had  to  fall  back  upon  the  little  wallet 
of  rice  which  they  had  brought  for  emergencies.  Francis 
and  Fernandez  carried  on  their  backs  the  silver  for  the 
celebration  of  Mass,  and  a  blanket  for  night.  Several 
times  they  met  travellers  going  towards  the  capital  on  horse- 
back, and  they  used  to  run  after  them  on  foot  as  long  as  they 
could  so  as  not  to  lose  the  way.  Soon  their  appearance 
became  so  disreputable  that  the  innkeepers  would  not  give 
them  any  other  shelter  than  that  of  a  shed  in  the  garden. 
In  spite  of  their  woes,  Fernandez  tells  us  that  Francis  was 
joyful  all  the  time,  and  would  tramp  along  with  his  eyes 
turned  heavenwards,  and  his  bare  feet  among  the  sharp 
stones,  feeling  nothing.  Then  later  on  he  would  see  the  blood 
on  his  feet  and  say  with  surprise,  "  Whatever  is  this  ?  How 
did  this  happen  ?  " 

At  last  they  came  to  Sakay,  the  town  where  Xavier  had 
hoped  to  help  his  Portuguese  friends  to  get  a  factory  put 
up.  No  one  would  take  them  in,  and  the  whole  town  seemed 
to  have  turned  out  to  mock  them  :  they  tried  to  preach, 
but  it  was  hopeless.  Then  they  went  just  beyond  the  town, 
into  a  pine-wood,  and  there  they  made  themselves  a  little 
cabin  of  fir-branches.  But  even  there  they  could  not  rest, 
for  bands  of  children  came  running  out  to  see  them,  and  flung 
stones  at  them.  "  Here  one  thing  alone  mars  my  delight," 
said  Francis  ;  "  it  is  that  I  cannot  preach." 

The  Saint  had  brought  with  him  an  introduction  to  a  citizen 
of  Sakay :  at  first  he  had  not  been  able  to  find  this  man, 
but  he  discovered  him  later  and  was  hospitably  received 
by  him,  and  given  an  introduction  to  a  Japanese  nobleman 
who  was  travelling  to  Kioto.  Without  this  it  would  have 
been  impossible  for  the  travellers  to  enter  the  capital,  as  all 
the  surrounding  country  was  in  a  state  of  war.  The  nobleman 
and  his  pages  were  carried  in  litters,  and  the  servants  ran 
behind  on  foot.  With  these  ran  Francis  and  his  companions. 
"  Never,"  says  Fernandez,  "  have  I  seen  Francis  so  gay  as 
on  this  occasion.  He  wore  a  Siamese  hat.  And  thus,  a 
galope,  we  covered  the  eighteen  leagues  which  separate 
Sakay  and  Kioto."* 

Xavier's  reception  in  the  capital  of  Japan  must  have  been 
one  of  the  most  disappointing  experiences  of  his  life.  In 
his  dreams  he  had  seen  Kioto  as  the  Paris  of  the  East,  and 
*  See  Cros,  Vie,  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  ii.  p.  117. 


302  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

had  thought  to  discover  there  another  Sorbonne,  ready  to 
open  its  doors  to  his  sweet  and  reasonable  appeal.  But 
it  was  not  to  be  in  the  capital  that  the  first  foundations  of 
the  great  Roman  Catholic  missions  in  Japan  were  to  be 
laid.  His  own  account  is  brief,  for  he  never  spent  his  eloquence 
over  his  disappointments  : 

"  On  our  arrival  at  Kioto  we  tried  for  some  days  to  get 
speech  with  the  king  [the  Mikado],  so  as  to  ask  him  for  leave 
to  preach  in  his  kingdom  the  law  of  God.  But  we  could 
not  get  speech  with  him.  After  we  had  been  told  that 
even  his  own  people  did  not  obey  him,  we  gave  up  trying  to 
get  leave.  We  looked  to  see  if  there  was  any  inclination 
among  that  people  (to  listen)  to  the  manifestation  of  the  law 
of  God  our  Lord.  We  found  none,  on  account  of  war  being 
expected;  This  city  of  Kioto  was  once  very  great ;  now  it  is 
much  ruined  with  wars.  They  say  that  in  old  days  there  were 
more  than  180,000  houses,  and  I  think  that  there  would  be 
from  the  site.  At  present,  though  it  is  greatly  ruined  and 
burnt,  yet  I  think  there  will  be  more  than  100,000  houses. 

"  When  we  saw  that  the  land  was  not  peaceful  enoiigh  to 
allow  the  manifestation  of  the  law  of  God  in 'it,  we  returned 
again  to  Yamaguchi."  * 

"  As  the  boat  sailed  down  the  river,"  says  Fernandez, 
"  the  blessed  Father  could  not  take  his  eyes  from  off  the 
city,  but  looked  towards  it,  repeating  with  great  emotion  In 
exitu  Israel  de  Egypto  .  .  .  and  several  verses  from  the  same 
Psalm." 

The  great  emotion  with  which  Fernandez  says  he  repeated 
this  Psalm  was  far  from  a  feeling  of  anger  or  despair.  Even 
in  this  bitter  moment  we  hear  the  same  undaunted  faith 
ringing  in  his  voice,  and  see  the  same  mysterious  smile 
lighting  his  lips  and  eyes,  that  we  have  hea-rd  and  seen  at 
every  crisis  since  his  conversion.  And  he  goes  down  the 
river  singing  like  a  troubadour  : 

When  Israel  went  forth  out  of  Egypt, 

The  house  of  Jacob  from  a  people  of  strange  language, 

Judah  became  his  sanctuary, 

Israel  his  dominion. 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  661. 


JAPAN  303 

The  sea  saw  it  and  fled  ; 

Jordan  was  driven  back. 

The  mountains  skipped  like  rams, 

The  little  hills  like  young  sheep. 

What  aileth  thee,  O  thou  sea,  that  thou  fleest  ? 

Thou  Jordan,  that  thou  turnest  back  ? 

Ye  mountains,  that  ye  skip  like  rams, 

Ye  little  hills,  like  young  sheep  ? 

Tremble,  thou  earth,  at  the  presence  of  the  Lord, 

At  the  presence  of  the  God  of  Jacob  ; 

Which  turned  the  rock  into  a  pool  of  water, 

The  flint  into  a  fountain  of  waters  ! 

Xavier  never  returned  to  Kioto,  but  in  1577  the  first 
Christian  Church  was  built  there.  It  was  called  the  Church 
of  the  Assumption  of  Our  Lady,  because  on  that  feast-day* 
Xavier  had  first  landed  on  Japanese  soil. 

An  account  of  how  they  came  back  from  Sakay  to  Hirado 
has  been  left  us  by  Fernandez: 

The  hardships  were  greatest  on  our  return  journey.  It  was 
February,  the  time  of  the  greatest  cold,  snow,  frost,  and  wind, 
and  for  us  there  was  neither  shelter  nor  succour. 

The  Father  used  to  buy  dried  fruits  at  the  inns  and  carry 
them  in  his  breast  or  in  his  sleeves,  and  then  when,  by  the  roadside 
or  in  the  villages,  we  came  across  little  children,  he  gave  them 
some  of  the  fruits  and  his  blessing,  f 

This  little  fragment  is  surely  very  touching.  On  the 
outward  journey  Francis  had  constantly  been  hooted  and 
jeered  at  by  the  children.  We  fancy  he  had  found  that 
harder  to  bear  than  anything  else — for  he  was  a  very  great 
lover  of  children — and  so  he  had  thus  tenderly  provided 
against  the  same  thing  happening  on  his  returning  way. 

By  the  end  of  February,  1551,  they  were  once  more  in 
Hirado.  They  had  been  away  four  or  five  months,  and  had 
been  walking  almost  all  that  time,  very  often  with  bare  feet, 
and  they  had  brought  back  no  bright  tale  of  success. 

Cosmo  de  Torres  was  able  to  give  a  cheering  report  of 
his  work  in  Hirado  ;  the  household  with  whom  he  lodged 
were  converted,  and  many  of  their  relatives  and  friends. 
But  Xavier  did  not  stay  there  more  than  a  few  days.  He 

*  August  15th,  The  Day  of  Our  Lady  in  Summer,  it  used  to  be  called, 
t  Cros,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  ii.  p.  122. 


304  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  in  Yamaguchi  the  soil  was 
better  prepared  to  receive  the  Gospel  than  in  any  other  part 
of  Japan.  Before  he  set  out  on  this  new  journey  he  procured 
for  himself  some  richer  garments  than  hitherto,  as  a  mis- 
sionary, he  had  worn.  He  had  learned  by  experience  that 
in  Japan  people  would  not  listen  to  his  message  with  much 
respect  if  he  were  poorly  and  strangely  clad.  So  the  Siamese 
hat  and  the  ragged  cotton  cassock  were  laid  aside,  and  he 
donned  instead  a  handsome  Japanese  gown,  and  set  out  for 
Yamaguchi. 

The  change  of  dress  was  significant  of  a  complete  change 
of  policy.  For  in  his  pocket  he  put  letters  from  the  Governor 
and  from  the  Bishop  of  Goa,  which  he  had  not  hitherto  used, 
offering  the  King  of  Portugal's  friendship  to  Japan,  and  asking 
protection  for  the  missionaries. 

Besides  these  he  carried  with  him  several  European  books, 
some  spectacles,  a  musical  instrument  with  a  range  of  70 
notes,  called  a  manicordia,  a  piece  of  brocade,  a  Portuguese 
dress,  an  arquebuse,  three  beautiful  crystal  vases,  some 
mirrors,  a  richly  decorated  striking  clock,  and  various  other 
attractive  articles.  s~ 

The^daimio  of  ^amaguchL^ras  delighted  with  the  pre- 
sents, gave  them  Ibrmal  permission  to  preach,  and  put 
an  empty  monastery  at  their  disposal. 

"  While  we  stayed  in  this  monastery  many  came  to  hear 
the  sermons.  Generally  there  was  preaching  twice  daily. 
At  the  end  of  the  sermon  there  were  discussions,  which  lasted 
a  long  time.  We  were  continually  taken  up  with  answer- 
ing questions  and  preaching.  Numbers  of  bonzesJL_jiunsJ 
gentlemeji^.and  crowds  of  other^eople  came  to  the  sermon, 
"soTHatthe  house  was  almost  always~^Ts~Tull  as  it  couTSHoTd. 
The  questions  they  put  to  us  were  such  that  by  our  replies 
they  knew  that  their  laws  and  the  saints  in  which  they 
believed  were  false,  and  the  law  of  God  true.  They  kept 
up  the  discussions  for  many  days,  and  then  they  began  to 
become  Christians.  Many  of  them  were  gentlemen.  After 
having  become  Christians,  they  grew  more  friendly  than  can 
be  told. 

"  Those  who  became  Christians  showed  us  very  faithfully 
all  the  things  the  heathen  have  in  their  religions  .  .  . 
After  getting  correct  information  about  their  religions,  we 


JAPAN  305 

began  to  seek  reasons  for  proving  them  false.  So  every  day 
we  smashed  up  some  points  of  their  laws,  and  put  before  them 
arguments  which  neither  the  bonzes  nor  monks  nor  wizards 
nor  any  of  the  people  who  abhorred  the  law  of  God  could 
answer. 

"When— the  Christians— sajaL-ihat  thebonzes  Jguld  not 
ariswer.  they  were  greatly  delighted,  and  became  cojafirmed 
ISorcLevery  day  in_the  taith  oi r  God  ^y-j^o^  Ttielieathen 
present  at  the  discussions  lost  belief  in  their  former  sects  and 
errors.  .  .  . 

'  The  Japanese  are  full  of  curious  questions,  with  a  keen 
desire  for  knowledge.  So  much  is  this  the  case  that  they 
never  stop  discussing  with  others  about  the  questions  they 
put  to  us,  and  the  answers  we  give  them.  They  are  very 
inquisitive,  especially  about  religions.  They  say  that  before 
we  came  here  they  were  always  discussing  which  of  their 
religions  "wjs  tnje^best.  ""]  7""*": — It  is  U  "'wonderful  thing 
to  see,  in  a  city  so  large  as  this,  people  speaking  of  the  law  of 
God  in  every  street  and  house.  .  .  . 

"  The  Japanese  regard  the  Chinese  as  very  wise,  both 
about  religions  and  the  other  world,  and  about  the  govern- 
ment of  the  commonwealth.  So  one  of  the  questions  they 
put  to  us  ...  was,  How  did  the  Chinese  not  know,  if  these 
things  were  so  ?  ....  In  the  space  of  two  months 
more  than  500  Christians  have  been  made,  and  so  it  goes  on 
every  day.  ...  It  is  wonderful  how  truly  friendly  the 
Christians  are.  They  are  always  coming  to  visit  us,  and  to 
see  if  we  want  anything.  The  whole  nation  in  general  is 
much  given  to  compliments  and  courtesies,  and  the  Christians 
seem  to  give  all  the  greater  care  and  attention  to  this,  especi- 
ally with  us,  for  the  great  love  they  have  to  us."  * 

After  the  fiasco  in  Kioto  all  this  is  very  cheering.  Among 
the  converts  was  a  man  to  whom  the  name  of  Laurence  was 
given  in  baptism.  Frois  gives  a  vivid  little  sketch  of  him  : 

In  the  streets  of  Yamaguchi  there  was  a  blind  man  who  earned 
his  living,  as  many  do  in  Japan,  by  singing  and  playing  the 
violin.  He  was  quite  blind  in  one  eye  and  nearly  so  in  the 
other.  He  used  to  go  often  from  house  to  house  among  the 
rich  folk,  to  tell  old  stories  and  entertain  them  by  his  wit,  and  he 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  662. 


306  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

was  well  received.  Besides  the  qualities  which  he  would  naturally 
acquire  by  such  a  life  this  blind  man  had  also  a  quick  and  pene- 
trating intelligence  and  an  excellent  memory.  Having  heard, 
then,  quite  soon  of  the  arrival  of  strangers  who  were  preaching 
a  new  religion,  he  presented  himself  to  Father  Master  Francis,  and 
asked  him  many  questions.  Satisfied  with  the  replies,  he  came 
back  and  asked  others,  and  every  day  he  learnt  something  and 
became  more  capable  of  better  teaching.  In  this  way  he  was 
soon  well  informed  on  the  things  of  tJae^fSitri.  and  the  Father 
baptized  him  and  gave  him  the  name  ^ofLaurence.  The  charity 
of  Father  Francis  delighted  him,  and  he  was  struck  with  the 
greatness  of  his  plans  for  converting  souls  to  the  true  God.  He 
admired  the  way  in  which  the  strangers  had  come  over  thousands 
of  leagues,  through  many  dangers,  and  without  seeking  any 
temporal  gain,  for  this  beautiful  and  unique  end.  So  he  left  his 
songs,  his  violin,  his  stories,  and  the  vain  amusements  of  men, 
and  begged  for  the  favour  of  being  allowed  to  work,  according  to 
his  gifts,  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  souls ;  and  God, 
who  is  pleased  to  choose  the  weak  things  for  his  great  works, 
chose  this  man  who  was  blind,  and  whose  face  was  of  a  ridiculous 
appearance,  to  be  the  first  lay  bmjJTfj_  pf  t.fcp.  Cnmjffiny  of  Jesus  _ 
in  Japan  and  the  first  preacher  and  missionary  of  the  Holy 
Gospel  in  the  town  of  Mia co'  and  the  scigncurics  'roun"d"about ;  j 
there  he  worked  with  such  abundant  and  special  grace  that  he 
has  a  noted  place  among  all  the  eminent  preachers  of  the  Faith 
in  these  lands.  His  words  have  converted  many  thousands  of 
souls  ;  he  used  to  argue  in  public  with  the  most  learned  of  the 
bonzes,  and  with  the  most  cultured  of  the  nobility,  and  he  was 
never  worsted,.  Indeed,  the  power  of  his  teaching  was  so  great 
that  the  proud  men  of  letters  humbled  themselves  at  his  feet, 
and  many  of  them  were  won  over  by  him  and  embraced  the 
Gospel. 

While  he  was  an  unconquerable  preacher  of  the  truth,  Laurence 
was  no  less  exemplary  in  fulfilling  all  the  duties  of  a  religious  and 
holy  life  ;  in  this  he  came  behind  none  of  those  who  had  grown 
up  in  Europe  at  the  heart  of  light  and  Christianity.  All  those  of 
the  Company  who  have  lived  beside  him  have  admired  his  virtues, 
and  even  now,  although  he  is  more  than  sixty-five  years  old, 
very  infirm,  and  weakened  by  forty  years  of  hard  toil,  he  still 
preaches  in  the  kingdom  of  Nixo  on  the  territory  of  D.  Bartolomeo. 
Two  or  three  times  a  day,  when  it  is  necessary,  Brother  Laurence 
preaches  to  the  Christians  and  to  the  heathen.* 

The  Annalist  of  Macao  gives  some  other  interesting  details 
of  the  sojourn  at  Yamaguchi.     The  bills  which  were  put  up 
*  Cros,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  ii.  p.  148. 


JAPAN  307 

in  the  town  authorising  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  ran,  he 
says,  as  follows  : 

I  (the  Daimio)  am  pleased  to  allow  that  the  Law  of  God  may  be 
taught  and  preached  throughout  my  territories  and  that  those 
who  wish  to  embrace  it  may  do  so  freely.  My  vassals  are  all 
forbidden  under  grave  penalties  to  hinder  or  molest  any  of  the 
Fathers  who  preach  the  Law  of  Deos. 

At  first,  the  Annalist  says,  they  had  no  converts. 
But  one  day,  when  Fernandez  was  preaching,  surrounded 
by  a  great  crowd,  a  rough  fellow  came  up  and  began  to 
mock  him,  and  then  spat  on  his  face.  Fernandez,  showing 
no  resentment,  quietly  went  on  with  what  he  had  to  say. 
This  behaviour  so  impressed  the  people  that  from  that  hour 
they  began  to  ask  for  baptism.  Two  months  later  there 
were  a  hundred  Christians  in  the  town,  many  of  them  belong- 
ing to  the  nobility. 

Xavier  worked  on  in  Yamaguchi  for  six  months,  and  then 
he  summoned  Cosmo  de  Torres  from  Hirado,  and  put  him 
and  Fernandez  in  charge  of  the  new  community,  and  set 
out  for  the  province  ,of  Bungo,  where  he  had  heard  that 
there  was  a  Portuguese  ship  ready  to  sail  for  India.  "  I 
leave  you  good  guardians  in  Father  Torres  and  Brother 
Fernandez,"  he  is  reported  by  a  Japanese  chronicler  to  have 
said,  "  but  remember  to  put  all  your  trust  in  God  alone." 

He  then  knelt  down  and  all  the  Christians  with  him,  and  they 
all  prayed  with  tears  and  groans,  and  Father  Francis  commended 
them  to  God.  When  the  prayers  were  finished  Father  Francis 
tenderly  kissed  Father  Cosmo  de  Torres  and  Brother  Juan 
Fernandez,  holding  them  in  his  embrace,  while  the  tears  ran  down 
his  cheeks.  Then,  raising  his  eyes  to  Heaven,  he  said,  "  Now, 
more  than  ever  before,  I  commend  you  to  God  from  the  bottom 
of  my  heart.  It  is  He  who  will  give  you  all  the  spiritual  strength 
that  you  need,  it  is  He  who  can  protect  you."  * 

Earlier  in  his  life  the  Saint  would  have  bid  them  call  on 
other  names  as  well ;  since  then  experience  had  taught  him 
a  simpler  and  grander  faith. 

In  November,  1551,  Xavier  left  Japan.     He  took  with  him 

to  India  an  ambassador  from  the  daimio  of    Bungo,  two 

samurai  who  had  followed  him  from  Yamaguchi,  and  who  were 

to  go  to  the  college  at  Goa,  and  two  of  his  Japanese  converts. 

*  Cros,  Vie  de  S.  Francois  Xavier,  vol.  ii.  p.  153. 

X2 


308  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

It  was  a  fortunate  thing  for  the  Roman  Catholic  mis- 
sions that  Xavier  left  behind  him  so  capable  a  man  as 
Fernandez.  Cary,  in  his  History  of  Christianity  in  Japan, 
estimates  that  he  did  more  for  Japan  than  Xavier  did,  and 
in  many  ways  this  is  true.  Xavier,  here  ~a&._£ke  where. 
opened  up  the  way,  and  searched  out  the  fruitful  soil,  and 
to  plant  and  water;-  while  h 


to  go  forward  into  the  unknown. 

From  Cochin  the  Saint  despatched  a  letter  to  Ignatius, 
which  is  full  of  references  to  his  work  in  Japan  : 

"  Those  who  come  out  will  be  much  harassed,  for  they 
will  have  to  oppose  all  the  Japanese  sects,  and  will  have  to 
jxs  e  to  theworJiLtte-dcccitful  way^by  which  the  bonzes_ 

And  inthis  our  people  must" 


oo  patient,  specially  in  affirming  that  they  cannot 
get  souls  out  of  hell  .  .  .  They  will  be  much  more  put  to 
it  than  many  think.  They  will  be  very  bothered  with  visits 
and  questions  at  all  hours  of  the  day,  and  even  of  the  night. 
.  .  .  They  will  not  have  time  for  prayer,  meditation,  or 
contemplation,  nor  for  any  spiritual  recollection.  They  will 
not  be  able  to  say  mass,  at  least  at  first.  .  .  .  They  will 
not  have  time  to  say  their  office,  or  even  to  eat  or  to  sleep. 
The  Japanese  are  very  importunate,  especially  with  foreigners. 
Of  these  they  make  little  account,  and  are  always  making 
game  of  them.  .  .  .  Learned  men  are  needed  to  reply 
to  their  questions,  chiefly  those  who  have  done  well  in  Arts, 
and  those  who  were  sophists,  and  who  can  catch  them  at 
once  in  obvious  contradictions.  .  .  .* 

"  I  hope  this  year  of  '52  to  go  to  China  ;  our  God  might 
be  greatly  served  thereby,  both  in  China  and  Japan.  For 
when  the  Japanese  learn  that  the  Chinese  are  adopting  the 
law  of  God,  they  will  lose  faith  in  their  own  sects  more 
quicklyf  .  .  .  .  We  made  a  book  in  Japanese,  treating  of  the 
creation  of  the  world  and  of  all  the  mysteries  of  Christ's 
life.  Afterwards  we  wrote  this  same  book  in  Chinese  letters, 
to  be  ready  when  I  go  to  China,  that  it  may  be  understood 
till  I  can  speak  Chinese."  Xavier  concludes  by  signing 
himself  Your  least  and  most  exiled  son  (menor  hijo  y  en  des- 
tierro  may  or).  J 

*  Man.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  669  f.  f  Mid.,  vol.  i.  p.  672. 

J  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  674. 


SPECIMEN    OF   ST.    FRANCIS    XAVIER'S 
HANDWRITING 

(Part  of  this  is  translated  on  page  308) 


f^^>r^-v\v^ 
iM|I  *  f4^-§:^ 


JAPAN  309 

At  the  same  time  he  wrote  to  the  Companions  in  Europe  : 

"  The  Japanese  are  strongly  of  opinion  that  there  is  none 
to  match  them  in  arms  and  chivalry.  They  despise  all 
foreigners.  They  are  proud  of  nothing  so  much  as  having 
good  arms,  well  garnished  with  gold  and  silver.  Constantly 
they  wear  sword  and  dagger  at  home  and  abroad,  and  sleep 
with  them  at  their  pillow.  .  .  .  They  are  very  good  bowmen. 
They  fight  on  foot,  though  they  use  horses  on  the  land. 
They  are  a  people  of  great  courtesy  between  themselves, 
but  they  do  not  use  courtesies  to  foreigners,  because  they 
despise  them.  They  spend  all  they  have  on  clothes,  arms,  and 
servants,  and  save  nothing.  .  .  .* 

"  I  arrived  from  Japan  with  plenty  of  bodily  and  no 
spiritual  strength.  Nevertheless  I  hope  in  the  mercy  of 
God  our  Lord,  and  in  the  infinite  merits  of  the  death  and 
Passion  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  that  He  will  give  me  grace  to  make 
this  troublesome  voyage  to  China.  I  am  now  white-haired. 
But  it  seems  to  me  that  I  was  never  so  strong  bodily  as  now. 
Work  among  an  intelligent  people,  who  are  eager  to  know 
in  what  religion  they  can  find  salvation,  carries  with  it  a 
grand  contentment.  .  .  . 

"  Would  to  God  that,  as  I  write  here  these  joyful  and  happy 
details,  I  might  actually  send  to  the  universities  of  Europe 
the  pleasures  and  comforts  given  to  us  by  the  sole  mercy 
of  God.  I  well  believe  that  many  and  learned  persons  would 
fundamentally  change  their  way  of  life  then,  and  use  their 
great  talents  for  the  conversion  of  the  heathen.  If  they 
only  felt  the  spiritual  delight  and  comfort  which  follow 
such  labours,  and  knew  the  great  opportunity  here  in 
Japan  for  the  increase  of  our  faith,  I  think  that  many  of 
the  learned  men  would  give  up  their  studies,  many  canons 
and  other  prelates  would  leave  their  dignities  and  their 
revenues  for  another  and  a  richer  life,  and  come  and  seek 
the  Japanese. 

"...  I  have  so  much  to  write  about  Japan  that  I  could 
go  on  for  ever.  I  fear  lest  what  I  have  written  may  be  a 
nuisance  as  there  is  so  much  to  read.  I  console  myself 
with  this,  that  those  who  are  annoyed  can  throw  it  away 
and  stop  reading.  W7ith  this  I  finish,  though  I  can't  finish 

*  Mon.  Xav.t  vol.  i.  p.  676. 


810  ST.   FRANCIS  XAVIER 

when  I  am  writing  to  my  Fathers  and  Brothers  so  dear  and 
beloved,  and  of  friends  so  dear  as  the  Christians  of  Japan. 
"  May  God  our  Lord  unite  us  in  the  glory  of  His  Paradise. 
"  Entirely  yours  in  Christ, 

"  FRANCISCO."* 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  695  ff. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE   LAST   MONTHS    IN   INDIA 

(January — April,  1552) 

XAVIER  left  Japan  in  November,  1551,  and  by  January  24 
he  was  once  more  in  India.  He  paused  at  Cochin  to  despatch 
his  letters  to  Europe,  and  to  visit  the  new  Governor-General 
of  India,  Norofiha.  He  told  Norofiha  he  wanted  to  go  to 
China  as  soon  as  possible,  to  open  up  a  way  there  for  the 
Gospel.  He  then  laid  before  him  his  proposed  method  of 
getting  into  that  closed  country,  where  the  only  Europeans 
were  those  who  had  been  taken  captive  in  attempting  to  land 
there.  The  first  visit,  Xavier  maintained,  must  be  made  on  a 
magnificent  scale.  An  ambassador  must  be  sent  from  the 
King  of  Portugal  to  the  King  of  China,  bearing  rich  presents. 
He  had  already  found  a  man  willing  to  act  as  ambassador. 
This  man  was  his  friend  Diego  Pereira,  a  Portuguese  merchant, 
on  whose  ship  he  had  made  part  of  the  homeward  voyage  from 
Japan.  This  merchant  had  given  Xavier  letters  of  credit  on 
his  agent  in  Goa  for  thirty  thousand  ducats,  to  expend  on 
presents  and  other  expenses  of  the  voyage.  Yet  even  that 
would  not  be  enough.  He  begged  for  more  from  the  royal 
treasuries  :  money  spent  in  opening  up  so  rich  a  land  as  China 
would  be  well  spent ;  Portugal  would  profit  immensely  in  the 
end.  The  Governor  smiled  upon  these  proposals,  and 
promised  that  the  expedition  should  have  every  possible 
assistance,  and  that  Diego  Pereira  should  be  allowed  to  go  as 
ambassador  of  the  king. 

From  Cochin  Xavier  went  on  to  Goa  to  visit  the  college 
and  set  his  affairs  in  order  before  leaving  for  China.  It 
was  there  that  Teixeira,  his  oldest  biographer,  saw  the  Saint 
for  the  first  and  last  time.  Teixeira  had  been  ill,  and  was  in 
the  hospital  of  the  college.  He  writes  : 

He  had  a  very  particular  care  for  the  sick,  toward  whom  he 
had  great  charity,  as  he  showed  as  soon  as  he  arrived.  When 
he  had  embraced  the  brothers  he  asked  at  once  if  anv  were  sick. 


312  ST.   FRANCIS  XAVIER 

Being  told  there  were,  at  once  before  entering  his  own  room  he 
went  to  visit  them.  We  had  at  the  time  a  brother  very  near 
the  end,  and  given  up  by  the  doctors.  They  watched  him  at 
night  and  had  prepared  everything  for  the  burial.  But  the 
brother  nevertheless  had  such  faith  and  trust  in  God,  and  devotion 
to  Father  Master  Francisco,  whom  we  were  expecting  every  day, 
that  he  thought  that  if  the  Father  Master  Francisco  found  him 
living,  he  would  not  die  of  that  illness.  And  so  it  was,  for, 
finding  him  alive  and  going  at  once  to  visit  and  comfort  him,  he 
(Francisco)  said  a  Gospel,  and  placed  his  hands  on  his  head.  And 
it  pleased  the  Lord  that  from  thenceforward  he  went  on  getting 
better,  and  is  still  alive.* 

Then  Teixeira  goes  on  to  give  us  the  most  authentic  de- 
scription of  Xavier's  appearance  which  we  possess  : 

The  Father  Master  Francisco  was  tall  rather  than  small  in 
stature,  his  face  well  proportioned,  white  and  ruddy,  happy 
and  very  attractive  (alegre  y  de  muy  buena  gratia),  the  eyes 
black,  the  brow  high,  the  hair  and  beard  black.  He  wore 
poor  and  clean  clothes,  the  gown  loose  without  a  cloak  nor 
any  other  garment,  for  this  was  the  mode  of  the  dress  of  the 
poor  priests  in  India,  and  when  he  walked  he  lifted  it  up  a 
little  with  both  hands.  He  went  almost  always  with  his 
eyes  placed  on  the  sky,  with  the  sight  of  which  they  say  he 
found  particular  comfort  and  joy,  as  of  the  Fatherland  to 
which  he  thought  to  go.  Arid  thus  he  walked  with  his  face 
so  happy  and  ardent  (alegre  y  inflamado)  that  it  caused  much 
happiness  to  all  who  saw  him.  And  sometimes  it  happened 
that  if  any  of  the  brothers  were  sad  the  way  they  took  to 
become  happy  was  to  go  and  look  at  him.  He  was  very 
affable  with  outside  people,  happy  and  familiar  with  those 
of  the  house,  especially  with  those  whom  he  knew  to  be 
humble  and  simple,  and  with  little  opinion  or  thought  of 
themselves.  But,  on  the  contrary,  he  showed  himself  severe, 
grave,  and  at  times  rough  with  the  proud  and  those  who  had 
a  great  conceit  and  opinion  of  themselves,  until  they  knew 
and  humbled  themselves.  He  was  a  man  of  small  appetite, 

*  Teixeira  says  in  his  preface  to  the  Vita  (Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  ii.  p.  815)  that  he, 
when  he  wrote,  was  the  only  one  of  the  Company  left  of  those  who  had  known 
Xavier  in  India.  This  proves  that  it  was  he  whom  Xavier  visited  and  revived 
on  this  occasion.  ;/ 


THE  LAST  MONTHS  IN  INDIA  313 

although  to  avoid  singularity  he  ate  of  all  they  put  before  him 
when  he  was  with  others.* 

One  of  the  new  missionaries  who  had  just  arrived  at  Goa 
wrote  home  his  impressions  of  the  Saint  at  this  time  : 

Imagine,  my  brothers,  what  it  is  to  see,  coming  and  going 
in  this  earth,  one  whose  conversation  is  in  heaven.  .  .  .  His 
smiling  face  is  so  joyful  and  peaceful !  He  is  always  smiling ; 
yet  no,  he  does  not  smile,  it  is  a  spiritual  joy  that  is  on  his  face.f 

It  was  either  at  this  time  or  just  before  he  left  Japan 
that  Francis  got  the  letter  announcing  his  appointment  as 
Provincial  in  India.  This  position  gave  him  complete 
authority  over  all  the  affairs  of  the  college  at  Goa,  as  well  as 
over  all  the  missions  throughout  the  East.  During  his 
absence  in  Japan  the  affairs  of  the  Society,  both  in  Cochin 
and  in  Goa,  had  got  pretty  thoroughly  out  of  hand.  Antonio 
Gomez,  the  Superior  at  Goa,  appears  to  have  been  original 
rather  than  discreet,  ardent  rather  than  wise,  and  persistently 
obstinate  and  autocratic.  Xavier  did  not  hesitate  to  use 
his  new  powers.  Various  novices,  too  hastily  accepted,  were 
dismissed.  Gomez  himself  was  directed  to  go  off  immediately 
to  Diu,  some  hundreds  of  miles  away,  and  found  a  House 
there. 

Besides  Xavier  himself  there  were  in  the  East  at  this  time 
three  Jesuits  of  especially  outstanding  character  and  capacity  ; 
to  wit,  Fernandez  in  Japan,  Enrico  Enriquez  in  Cape  Comorin, 
and  Gaspar  Barzee,  who  had  just  returned  from  Ormuz 
in  order  to  go  to  Japan.  Xavier  chose  the  last  of  these  three 
to  be  the  new  Superior  of  the  college  at  Goa.  The  position 
had  become  an  important  one.  The  college  had  an  income 
of  2,500  ducats,  a  chapel,  a  hospital,  a  large  garden,  accom- 
modation for  at  least  thirty  Europeans,  besides  a  considerable 
number  of  native  boys. 

Gaspar  Barzee,  the  Fleming,  chosen  by  Xavier  to  look  after 
this  work,  had  been  in  Ormuz  for  over  two  years. I  Xavier 
had  no  disciple  who  followed  his  methods  more  closely. 

*  Teixeira,  Vita,  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  ii.  p.  882. 

t  Melchior  Nunez,  Sel.  2nd.  Epist.,  pp.  161-2,  quoted  by  Brou,  Vie  de 
S.  Frangois  Xavier,  vol.  ii.  p.  277. 

$  In  a  letter  to  Loyola,  giving  an  account  of  himself,  he  says  :  *'  I  am 
Flemish,  of  the  islands  of  Zeeland  ;  I  took  the  ajrts  course  in  the  university  of 
Louvain"  (Mon.  Xav.t  vol.  i.  p.  486,  note). 


314  ST.   FRANCIS   XAVIER 

In  Ormuz  he  had  lived  and  worked  in  the  hospital.  On 
Fridays  he  preached  to  the  Mohammedans,  on  Saturdays 
to  the  Jews,  on  Sundays  to  the  Christians,  on  Mondays  to 
the  idolaters,  and  on  the  remaining  days  to  those  in  prison. 
He  had  a  most  outstanding  gift  of  eloquence,  and  soon 
crowds  came  to  the  confessional.  Of  what  he  heard  there 
he  says,  "  It  is  enough  to  keep  one  in  tears  day  and  night." 
His  boldness  in  preaching  amazed  the  colonists,  who  compared 
his  sermons  to  thunderstorms.  He  is  said  to  have  rid  the 
town  of  public  prostitution,  and  to  have  given  a  course  of 
Saturday  lectures  on  the  immorality  of  usury  and  founded 
an  orphanage  with  the  conscience -money  which  the  lectures 
brought  in.  His  encounters  with  the  Mohammedans  were 
perhaps  more  humorous  than  practical.  One  morning  they 
woke  up  to  find  an  immense  cross  crowning  the  minaret  of 
one  of  their  mosques. 

Besides  reorganising  the  college  at  Goa  Xavier  made  a 
number  of  changes  in  the  various  mission  stations.  Two 
missionaries  took  up  Barzee's  work  in  Ormuz,  Gonzalvez 
Rodriguez  and  Alvaro  Mendez.  Melchior  Nunez  went  to 
Bassein,  in  the  Gulf  of  Cambay,  where  there  was  a  flourishing 
house  with  an  income  of  a  thousand  ducats.  Lancilotti 
remained  at  Coulam,  where  he  had  been  for  some  time, 
instructing  fifty  children  whose  parents  had  been  converted, 
and  preaching  to  natives  and  to  the  Portuguese.  Antonio 
de  Eredia  was  sent  to  Cochin,  Francisco  Enriquez  to  Tana. 
There  were  two  missionaries  in  Malacca,  and  about  seven 
in  the  Moluccas.  Perhaps  the  most  prosperous  of  all  the 
missions  was  in  Cape  Comorin,  to  which  Xavier  now  sent 
the  Brothers  Madeira  and  Antonio  Fernandez,  to  take 
the  place  of  Mendez,  who  had  just  been  killed.  Polanco 
says  there  were  in  1552  60,000  Christians  in  the  Cape,  and 
thirty  churches.*  The  success  of  this  mission  was  largely 
due  to  the  work  of  the  Father  Enrico  Enriquez.  He  was  a 

*  We  recollect,  of  course,  that  South  India  was  then,  as  it  still  is,  a  country 
of  "  mass  conversions."  On  Tuticorin  and  other  places  on  the  coast  of  Cape 
Comorin,  where  this  flourishing  mission  existed  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
there  was  little  trace  left,  says  Sharrock  (South  Indian  Missions),  in  1771. 
In  1785  a  church  was  opened  for  about  forty  Christians  in  Tinnyvelly.  Then 
the  "  mass  conversions  "  of  Xavier's  time  began  again.  "  In  one  short  tour 
in  1803  Gericke  baptized  no  less  than  1,300  people,  and  Sattianathan  shortly 
afterwards  baptized  2,700  more.  When  they  visited  a  village  they  would 
find  as  many  as  500  people  waiting  for  baptism.  The  missionary  would  be 
engaged  til)  near  midnight  in  preaching  and  baptizing  "  (p.  48). 


THE  LAST  MONTHS  IN  INDIA  315 

man  of  Jewish  origin,  and  brought  good  brains,  as  well  as 
a  good  heart,  to  his  work.  He  was  the  first  of  the  mission- 
aries to  make  a  serious  study  of  the  Tamil  language,  and 
he  composed  a  Tamil  grammar  and  dictionary. 

In  San  Thome,  the  only  other  mission  in  India  besides 
those  mentioned  above,  no  change  was  made,  but  Father 
Cyprian,  who  was  in  charge  there,  seems  narrowly  to  have 
escaped  being  dismissed  with  some  of  the  others.  We  feel 
rather  grateful  to  Cyprian  for  having  quarrelled  with  the 
Vicar  at  San  Thome,  since  it  has  left  us  the  following  gem 
of  admonishment. 

"  To  Father  Alfonso  Cyprian,  Meliapor,  from  Goa  (about) 
April  14th,  1552. 

"You  have  badly  understood  the  note  of  instruction  I 
gave  you  as  to  what  to  do  at  San  Thome.  It  is  plain  how 
little  remains  to  you  of  the  conversation  of  our  blessed  Father 
Ignatius.  In  my  opinion  your  demands  on  the  Vicar  show 
small  respect  to  the  Articles.  You  always  bring  your  harsh 
temperament  to  bear  on  things.  All  you  do  on  one  side,  on 
another  you  undo.  I  tell  you  I  am  disgusted  with  the 
dissensions  you  bring  about  there.  If  the  Vicar  does  what  he 
ought  not,  he  is  not  to  be  corrected  by  your  reprimands, 
especially  when  they  are  made  with  as  little  prudence  as  you 
make  them.  You  have  so  got  into  the  habit  of  doing  your 
own  will  that,  wherever  you  are,  you  scandalise  everybody 
with  your  ways,  and  you  give  others  to  understand  that  it  is 
your  temperament  that  is  harsh.  Please  God  that  you  may 
do  penance  one  day  for  these  imprudences. 

"  By  the  love  of  our  Lord  I  pray  you  to  put  your  will  under 
restraint,  and  in  the  future  correct  the  past.  For  to  be  so 
passionate  is  not  a  matter  of  temperament,  but  comes  from  a 
great  carelessness  you  have  of  God,  and  of  your  conscience 
and  of  love  to  your  neighbours.  I  assure  you  that  at  the 
hour  of  death  you  wrill  certainly  find  that  what  I  tell  you  is 
true.  I  do  pray  you  in  the  name  of  our  blessed  Father 
Ignatius  that  in  these  few  days  remaining  to  you,  you  may 
correct  yourself  and  be  tolerant,  meek,  patient,  humble. 
And  you  may  be  sure  that  humility  achieves  everything. 
If  you  are  not  able  to  do  as  much  as  you  would  like,  do 
willingly  what  you  can.  Nothing  is  achieved  by  violence  in 
these  parts  of  India,  and  the  good  which  would  be  done  by 


316  ST.   FRANCIS   XAVIER 

humility  ends  when  you  try  to  do  things  with  shoutings 
and  impatience.  .  .  . 

"  Gonzalo  Fernandez  also,  it  seems  to  me,  has  your  tem- 
perament, intolerant  and  impatient.  And  you  cover  your 
impatiences  with  the  pretext  of  serving  God  our  Lord.  You 
say  that  what  moves  you  to  do  what  you  do  is  the  zeal  of  God 
and  for  souls.  What  you  can't  achieve  with  the  Vicar 
through  humility,  you  will  not  achieve  by  dissensions. 

"  By  the  love  and  obedience  you  owe  to  Father  Ignatius, 
I  pray  you  when  you  see  this  letter  to  go  to  the  Vicar  and 
place  both  your  knees  on  the  ground  and  seek  his  pardon  for 
all  the  past  and  kiss  his  hand — I  should  be  more  comforted 
if  you  kissed  his  feet — and  promise  him,  all  the  time  you  are 
to  be  there,  not  to  go  against  his  will  in  anything.  And 
believe  me,  at  the  hour  of  your  death  you  will  be  glad  that 
you  did  this.  And  trust  in  God  our  Lord,  and  do  not  doubt 
but  that,  when  your  humility  is  seen  and  becomes  manifest, 
all  you  ask  for  the  service  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  souls 
will  be  granted  you. 

"  You  and  others  clearly  err  in  this — that  without  having 
much  humility,  or  giving  great  signs  of  it  to  those  with  whom 
you  deal,  you  wish  the  people  to  do  what  you  ask,  just  be- 
cause you  are  brothers  of  the  Company.  And  you  do  not 
remember  to  imitate  the  virtues  of  our  Father  Ignatius,  to 
whom  God  gave  such  great  authority  with  the  people,  because 
he  laid  a  good  foundation.  So  you  wish  to  make  use  of 
authority  over  the  people  and  to  neglect  the  virtues  which 
are  needful  before  the  people  will  obey  you. 

"  I  am  very  sure  that  if  we  were  together  you  would  tell 
me  that  there  was  no  fault  in  what  you  had  done,  but  that 
you  did  it  for  the  love  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  souls. 
You  may  be  sure,  and  do  not  doubt  it,  that  I  should  take  no 
such  excuse  from  you.  Nothing  would  make  me  so  dis- 
consolate as  your  justifying  yourself.  But  I  also  confess 
that  you  could  not  comfort  me  so  much  by  anything  as  by 
your  accusing  yourself. 

"  Above  all,  I  pray  you  to  have  no  more  dissensions  with 
the  Vicar,  Fathers,  Captains,  or  authorities,  in  the. country, 
though  you  may  see  things  done  badly.  What  you  can  put 
right  in  a  kindly  way,  do  so,  and  do  not  risk  losing  with 
quarrels  what  you  can  achieve  kindly  through  humility  and 
meekness. 


THE  LAST  MONTHS  IN  INDIA  317 

[What  follows  is  in  Francis'  own  handwriting.] 

"  O  Cyprian,  if  you  knew  the  love  with  which  I  write 
you  these  things,  you  would  remember  me  day  and  night,  and 
perhaps  you  would  weep  when  you  remembered  the  great 
love  I  have  to  you.  And  if  the  hearts  of  men  could  be  seen 
in  this  life,  I  believe,  my  brother  Cyprian,  that  you  would 
see  clearly  into  my  soul. 

"  Entirely  yours,  without  my  ever  being  able  to  forget  you, 

"  FRANCISCO."  * 

The  ending  formula  is  an  unusual  one  for  Xavier.  But 
perhaps  we  understand  why  he  used  it.  The  words  are 
almost  the  same  as  those  with  which  Loyola  had  ended 
his  last  letter  to  Francis,  and  we  remember  how  deeply  the 
phrase  had  moved  the  Saint. 

Almost  the  whole  of  the  two  months  which  Xavier  now 
spent  in  Goa  before  setting  out  on  his  last  journey  must 
have  been  spent  in  rearranging  the  college  and  missions,  and 
in  writing  out  instructions  and  letters  of  counsel  to  those 
under  his  charge. 

His  position  was  now  one  which  is  more  common  to 
women  than  to  men.  For  he  had  two  great  spheres  of 
work,  either  of  which  could  easily  have  occupied  his  whole 
attention.  As  domestic  cares  he  had  all  his  duties  as  Pro- 
vincial ;  as  outside  work,  the  mysterious  Farther  East, 
where  he  was  going  to  "open  up  away"  for  the  "Law  of 
God,"  and  to  obtain  release  for  the  European  captives  who 
were  there.  And  while  he  was  planning  with  Diego  Pereira 
and  the  Governor  for  the  imposing  embassage  to  China,  he 
was  also  spending  infinite  time  and  care  and  thought  on  the 
setting  in  order  of  his  own  house  in  India. 

At  mealtimes  in  the  college  the  brothers,  Frois  tells  us, 
gave  him,  each  in  turn,  the  story  of  his  past  life.  Francis 
then  asked  them  about  the  difficulties  they  had  met  with,  and 
the  mistakes  they  had  made,  and  would  talk  to  them  in  a 
way  that  humbled  them  to  the  dust,  and  then  he  would  begin 
"  to  speak  and  to  dwell  upon  the  hope  of  the  eternal  glory." 

From  his  many  letters  and  notes  of  advice  written  during 
those  weeks,  the  following  extracts  are  taken.     To  Father 
Gonzalvez  Rodriguez,  at  Ormuz,  he  wrote  : 
*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  745. 


318  ST.   FRANCIS   XAVIER 

"  Preserve  yourself  from  trying  to  impress  the  world  by 
your  singularity.  Abhor  all  vain  opinion.  .  .  .  Beware  in 
your  preaching  of  scandalising  anyone.  Don't  try  to  preach 
subtle  matters  of  learning,  but  morals.  Reprove  the  sins 
of  the  people  with  great  modesty  and  piety.  Fraternally 
reprove  in  secret  those  who  are  public  sinners.  And  know 
well  that  I  should  be  better  pleased  by  your  reaping  as  much 

fruit  as  might  be  contained  in  this  space  of  line without 

scandal,  than  I  should  be  delighted  if  you  reaped  as  much 
fruit  as  would  be  contained  in  a  full  line  with  some  scandal 
or  scandals."  * 

And  to  Barret o,  at  the  College  of  Bassein,  he  writes  : 

"  .  .  .  Look  well  to  it  that  you  are  very  watchful  over 
yourself,  and  then  over  others.  And  be  careful  to  dismiss 
at  once  from  the  Company  those  whom  you  find  caught  in 
public  sin  or  in  grave  scandal.  I  will  regard  as  dismissed 
any  whom  you  dismiss  from  the  Company.  ...  As  for  the 
rents  of  the  college,  arrange  to  spend  them  in  spiritual 
temples  rather  than  in  material.  ...  I  command  you  to 
take  the  native  children  when  they  are  small,  and  teach 
them,  so  that  when  they  are  big  they  may  bear  fruit."  | 

To  Antonio  de  Eredia,  in  Cochin,  he  wrote  : 

"  In  dealing  with  your  people  do  not  show  yourself  as  a 
solemn  person  who  desires  to  have  authority  over  them,  or 
as  if  they  were  beneath  you.  ...  Be  affable  in  your  visits 
and  talks.  And  in  preaching  to  religious  and  to  the  general 
public,  undeceive  them  about  two  errors  in  which  they  live, 
speak  of  the  justice  of  God  towards  those  who  do  not  wish 
to  amend,  and  of  the  mercy  of  God  towards  those  who  give 
up  running  after  sin.  Thus  be  rigorous  against  those  who 
persevere  in  sin,  but  that  they  may  not  say  that  you  put 
them  to  desperation,  speak  of  mercy,  as  I  said  before.  In 
conversing  with  the  people,  which  you  must  do  constantly, 
let  it  be  in  all  humility,  taking  account  of  all,  both  ecclesiastic 
and  lay.  And  if  some  good  is  done,  attribute  it  to  them,  and 
then  you  will  form  them  into  supporters  of  good  works. 

".  .  .  Do  not  do  what  many  do.     They  seek  artificial 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  pp.  707  and  709.  f  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  717. 


THE  LAST  MONTHS  IN  INDIA  319 

means  of  making  themselves  acceptable  to  the  people,  and 
think  and  hope  that  they  will  succeed.  All  such  are  more 
concerned  to  be  in  the  good  books  of  the  people  than  they 
are  with  God's  honour  or  zeal  for  souls.  This  way  is 
very  dangerous,  for  it  is  inevitably  accompanied  by  pride 
in  having  a  good  name  among  the  people,  and  of  being 
believed  in  by  them.  .  .  . 

"  What  the  saints  wrote  comes  infinitely  short  of  the 
pleasure  and  the  experience  which  they  had  when  they  wrote ; 
and  men  who  do  not  have  this  inward  contentment  find 
little  profit  in  the  saints'  descriptions.  So  I  advise  you  to 
write  down,  and  keep  in  the  greatest  esteem,  your  spiritual 
experiences  and  to  humble  and  abase  yourself  more  and  more 
while  the  Lord  increases  you." 

Xavier  recommends  him  to  keep  a  record  of  his  spiritual 
experiences,  because  the  record  may  make  them  permanent 
and  help  the  inward  spiritual  life.  It  is  not  things  that 
matter,  but  the  inward  experiences  they  occasion  ;  and  one 
cannot  understand  the  things,  still  less  the  description  of  them 
by  the  godly,  unless  one  ponders  them  in  the  heart,  like 
Mary.  And  the  written  word  is  cold,  unless  one  has  the 
inward  spiritual  feeling.  It  is  a  recommendation  of  spiritual 
biography  like  Bunyan's  Grace  Abounding,  to  name  but  one 
of  many. 

The  letter  goes  on  : 

"  In  confessions,  if  there  is  any  impediment,  before  you 
absolve,  see  that  promises — such  as  of  reconciliations, 
restitutions,  or  weaknesses,  of  sensuality  and  the  like — are 
fulfilled  before  you  absolve.  For  the  men  of  these  parts 
are  generous  in  promises,  but  slow  in  fulfilments."  * 

To  Father  Caspar  Barzee,  the  new  Rector  of  the  College, 
he  left  some  Rules  for  Humility.  The  copy,  which  is  repro- 
duced by  the  Editors  of  the  Monumenta,  has  evidently, 
they  say,  been  a  copy  made  by  Barzee,  and  modified  for  his 
own  personal  use.  This  accounts  for  the  confusion  of  mood 
and  person  in  the  grammar. 

Xavier,  it  is  clear,  has  had  a  lively  fear  that  Barzee's  grand 
reputation  as  a  preacher  might  be  his  undoing. 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  897  ff. 


820  ST.   FRANCIS   XAVIER 

RULES  FOR  HUMILITY  WHICH  FRANCIS  LEFT  FOR  FATHER  CASPAR 
WHEN  HE  WENT  TO  CHINA  IN  THE  YEAR  '52. 

1.  Seek  great  humility  as  to  preaching,  first  attributing  every- 
thing to  God  very  perfectly. 

2.  Have  before  my  eyes  the  people,  that  God  may  give  devotion 
to  the  people  to  hear  His  Word,  and  in  respect  of  this  devotion 
give  me  grace  to  preach,  and  to  the  people  devotion  to  hear. 

3.  Labour  to  love  the  people  much,  considering  the  obligation 
I  owe  them,  since  God  by  their  intercession  gives  me  grace  to 
preach. 

4.  Also  I  shall  consider  that  I  possess  this  virtue  because  of 
the  prayers  and  merits  of  those  of  the  Company,  who  with  great 
charity,  love,  and  humility,  seek  grace  and  gifts  from  God  for  the 
Companions,  and  this  for  the  greater  glory  of  God  and  the  salvation 
of  souls. 

5.  Take  care  continually  that  I  have  plenty  of  humility,  since 
what  I  preach  is  not  mine  at  all,  but  liberally  given  by  God.     And 
seek  with  love  and  fear  this  grace,  of  which  strict  account  has 
to  be  given  to  God  our  Lord,  guarding  myself  from  attributing 
anything  to  myself  if  it  be  not  many  faults,  and  sins,  and  much 
pride,  and  negligence,  and  ingratitude,  as  well  against  God  as 
against  the  people  and  the  Company,  for  whose  sake  God  gives  me 
this  grace. 

6.  Entreat  God  to  reveal  to  me  the  hindrances  caused  by  me 
which  keep  Him  from  doing  me  greater  favours,  and  making  use 
of  me  in  great  things. 

No.  7  is  a  warning  to  beware  of  causing  any  kind  of  scandal, 
in  preaching,  speaking,  or  acting. 

8.  What,   above   all,   you   have   to   do  ...  is   to   note   very 
carefully  the  things  which  God  our  Lord  reveals  to  your  soul, 
writing  them  in  a  little  book,  printing  them  on  your  soul,  for  this 
is  fruitful.  .  .  . 

9.  Do  not  ever  forget  to  reflect  that  many  preachers  are  in  hell. 
They  had  more  grace  for  preaching  than  you,  and  in  their  sermons 
they  reaped  more  fruit  than  you.     And — most  frightful  of  all ! — 
they  were  the  instruments  which  sent  many  to  glory  while  they, 
the    miserable,    went   to    hell.     They   attributed   to    themselves 
that  which  was  of  God  :    they  laid  hold  of  the  world  :    they 
delighted  to  be  praised  by  it :  they  grew  in  vain  opinion  of  them- 
selves and  in  great  pride.     So  they  were  lost.     Therefore,  let 
each  one   watch  over  himself,   for  if  we   watch  well  we  have 
nothing  to  boast  about  but  our  evils,  which  are  all  we  do  by 
ourselves.  .  .  . 

10.  Mind  not  to  despise  the  brothers  of  the  Company,  when 
it  seems  to  you  that  you  are  doing  more  than  they  are,  and 
that  they  do  nothing.     Be  very  sure  that  it  is  for  the  sake  of  the 


THE  LAST  MONTHS  IN  INDIA  321 

brothers  who  are  serving  in  lowly  and  humble  duties  that  God 
chiefly  favours  you  and  gives  you  grace  to  work  well.  So  you  are 
more  indebted  to  them  than  they  to  you.  This  inward  knowledge 
will  help  you  never  to  despise  them,  but  rather  love  them,  and 
always  keep  yourself  humble.* 

To  Caspar  he  also  leaves  some  directions  on  the  "way  to 
converse  with  the  world  so  as  to  avoid  scandals." 

In  what  he  says  about  women  we  have  to  remember  that 
the  wives  referred  to  were  the  native  women,  generally  of  a 
low  caste,  belonging  to  the  Portuguese  colonists.  These 
were  very  apt  to  be  badly  affected  by  the  freedom  which 
they  had  gained  from  Hindoo  restrictions.  We  have  also 
to  remember  that  the  etiquette  in  Spain  and  Portugal 
between  men  and  women  was,  as  it  still  is,  very  different 
from  that  in  England. 

.  .  .  These  visits  (to  women  in  their  houses)  you  will  make  as 
seldom  as  possible,  for  much  is  risked,  little  gained,  for  the 
increase  of  the  service  of  God,  and  women  are  generally  inconstant, 
and  unper severing,  and  take  up  a  lot  of  time.  Behave  with  them 
as  follows  : 

If  they  are  married  do  your  best  that  their  husbands  draw 
near  to  God.  Spend  more  time  over  the  husbands  than  over  the 
wives,  for  more  fruit  may  be  reaped,  since  men  are  more  constant 
and  the  government  of  the  house  depends  on  them.  .  .  . 

When  there  are  discords  between  a  wife  and  a  husband  which 
are  leading  to  separation,  be  always  for  bringing  them  together. 
Have  more  converse  with  the  husband  than  with  the  wife,  strive 
to  get  them  to  make  a  General  Confession,  and  give  them  some 
meditations  of  the  First  Week  before  absolving  them.  .  .  . 

Do  not  trust  the  devotion  of  wives  when  they  say  that  they 
will  serve  God  better  separate  from  their  husbands  than  with 
them.  That  is  a  kind  of  devotion  which  does  not  last  long,  and 
is  seldom  without  scandal. 

Guard  against  putting  the  blame  on  the  husband  in  public, 
though  he  be  in  the  wrong.  Counsel  him  in  secret  to  make 
general  confession,  and  in  confession  blame  him  with  muchmodesty. 
Do  not  allow  him  to  feel  that  you  favour  his  wife  more  than  him, 
even  though  he  be  guilty.  Rather  provoke  him  to  accuse  himself, 
and  by  his  own  accusation  condemn  him  with  much  love,  charity, 
and  meekness.  With  these  men  of  India  much  is  accomplished 
by  asking,  but  nothing  by  force. 

Watch,  I  repeat,  that  you  never  lay  the  blame  on  the  husband 

*  Mon.  Xav.t  vol.  i.  p.  908  ff. 


322  ST.   FRANCIS   XAVIER 

in  public.  Women  are  so  untamable*  that  they  seek  occasions  to 
slight  their  husbands,  alleging  to  religious  persons  [i.e.,  priests, 
etc.]  that  their  husbands  are  the  culprits  and  not  they.  Even 
though  the  wives  are  not  the  culprits,  do  not  excuse  them,  for 
they  excuse  themselves  :  rather  show  them  the  obligation  they 
are  under  to  bear  with  their  husbands.  Often  they  deserve 
[punishment]  because  they  have  behaved  unmannerly  to  them. 
Show  them  that  they  should  take  their  present  troubles  patiently, 
and  provoke  them  to  patience  and  humility  and  obedience  to 
their  husbands.  Do  not  believe  all  they  tell  you,  whether  the 
husband  or  the  wife.  Hear  both  of  them  before  you  lay  the 
blame  on  either.  Don't  show  yourself  to  side  more  with  one 
than  with  the  other.  .  .  . 

And  watch  that  you  use  great  prudence  with  this  evil  world, 
keeping  your  eye  on  what  may  happen,  for  the  devil  never 
sleeps.  .  .  . 

And  be  watchful  never  to  rebuke  anyone  in  anger  .  .  .  Always 
humble  and  abase  yourself  to  friars  and  Fathers,  giving  place 
to  anger  and  passion.  I  mean  this  not  only  when  you  are  the 
culprit,  but  much  rather  when  you  are  blameless  and  they  are 
the  culprits.  You  will  not  wish  a  greater  vengeance  than  to  be 
silent  with  reason,  when  reason  is  not  heard  nor  valued.  Have 
pity  on  them  when  they  do  what  they  ought  not,  for  late  or  early 
the  punishment  has  to  come  to  them  from  God,  much  greater 
than  you  or  they  think.  So  keep  praying  to  God  for  them,  out  of 
pity  for  them.  Seek  no  other  vengeance,  either  of  thought  or 
speech  or  deed.  These  are  dangerous  and  harmful,  as  is  all 
else  of  flesh  and  blood,  f 

In  a  letter  to  Rodriguez  in  Portugal  we  have  a  document 
which  might  be  useful  as  a  model  to  anyone  who  wished  to 
effect  a  dismission  gracefully. 

"By  the  present  I  shall  be  brief,  as  I  have  to  be  lengthy 
in  a  lot  of  other  letters.  ...  It  seems  to  me  well  to  send 
Andre  Carvalho,  the  bearer  of  this,  to  Portugal.  He  is 
ailing  in  these  parts,  and  in  his  native  air  might  become 
better.  He  is  a  man  of  importance  in  your  kingdom,  accord- 
ing to  what  everyone  tells  me,  and  one  of  whom  much  is 
expected,  because  of  the  many  virtues  with  which  God  our 
Lord  has  endowed  him — and  which  by  His  mercy  will  increase. 

*  The  text  in  Man.  Xav.  is  :  molheres  sao  too  yndomabeles.  But  Cros  (Vie 
de  S.  Frangois  Xavier,  vol.  ii.  p.  292)  has  used  a  different  text,  which  gives 
endemonaveis,  translated  by  Cros  endiabltes. 

t  Mon.  Xav.t  vol.  i.  p.  924  ff. 


THE  LAST  MONTHS  IN  INDIA  323 

I  cannot  write  anything  but  good  about  him.  I  hope  in  God 
our  Lord  that  after  he  has  increased  in  learning  and  virtue  he 
will  gain  much  fruit  in  the  Company.  I  pray  you  by  the  love 
of  God  our  Lord,  my  brother  Master  Simon,  to  receive  him 
with  that  love  and  charity  with  which  both  himself  and  I  hope 
he  will  be  received  and  comforted."  * 

Ten  years  later,  Cros  tells  us,  Carvalho  died  a  captive  in 
the  hands  of  the  Moors  in  Africa.  His  ransom  money  had 
been  sent  to  him  from  Portugal,  but  he  had  given  it  up  to 
another  Christian  captive,  who  was  his  friend. 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  714. 


Y2 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE   FINAL   VOYAGE 

(April — November,  1552) 

ON  Maundy  Thursday,  the  day  of  the  institution  of  the 
Lord's  Supper,  Francis  and  his  friends  sang  together  the 
Gloria  in  Excelsis,  before  the  white-decked  altar  of  the 
college  chapel  in  Goa,  and  there  received  the  Blessed 
Sacrament. 

From  the  choir  of  the  chapel  the  Saint  then  spoke  \vith  so 
much  grace  and  power  to  those  whom  he  was  about  to  leave 
that  Frois  says  they  felt  themselves  like  new  men. 

A  few  of  the  brothers  accompanied  him  as  far  as  the 
harbour.  The  others  waited  in  the  chapel,  kneeling  before 
the  altar  of  the  Sepulchre  to  adore  the  Presence  of  Jesus, 
and  to  pray  for  those  about  to  put  to  sea. 

The  companions  chosen  by  Francis  for  this  journey  were 
three — Brother  Alvaro  Fereira,  a  Portuguese  ;  a  Chinese 
youth  called  Antonio,  who  had  been  trained  at  the  college  ; 
and  Christopher,  a  Malabar  coolie.  The  appointed  ambas- 
sador, Diego  Pereira,  and  his  rich  cargoes,  awaited  the 
missionaries  at  Malacca.  To  add  to  the  splendours  of  the 
embassage,  Francis  carried  with  him  some  brocades  and 
tapestries  and  pictures  which  Caspar  Barzee  had  brought 
back  from  Ormuz. 

Bad  news,  involving  a  complete  rearrangement  of  the 
missionary  staff  at  Cape  Comorin,  awaited  the  Saint  at 
Cochin,  and  the  halt  there  was  fully  occupied  by  the  letter- 
writing  which  these  rearrangements  demanded. 

The  ship  reached  Malacca  at  the  end  of  May,  and  there 
Xavier's  battle  to  enter  China  began  in  earnest. 

Pedro  da  Silva  da  Gama,  Xavier's  friend,  was  in  the  act 
of  resigning  his  post  as  Captain  of  the  Fort  to  his  brother 
Alvaro.  This  was  that  Alvaro  d'Ataide  who  had  come  out 
to  India  in  the  same  fleet  as  Xavier.  A  letter  from  Mozam- 
bique gave  us  hints  of  some  kind  of  storm  there  (see  p.  153). 
Some  men  can  treasure  a  grudge  for  many  years.  Perhaps 
Alvaro  d'Ataide  was  one  of  these.  Perhaps  his  heart  had 
found  a  new  occasion  of  mischief.  Valignano  and  Teixeira 


THE  FINAL  VOYAGE  325 

put  down  his  behaviour  to  greed  and  self-interest.  The 
Embassy  would  probably  have  interfered  with  his  own  pri- 
vate smuggling  affairs.  In  any  case  he  ruined  all  Xavier's 
fine  plans  for  entering  China  with  Diego  Pereira.  He  is 
said  to  have  been  jealous  of  the  honour  shown  to  that 
merchant,  and  to  have  thought  that  he  himself  should  have 
been  appointed  the  ambassador  to  China.  He  took  advan- 
tage of  his  position  as  Captain-General  of  the  Sea  to  forbid 
Diego  Pereira  to  sail,  and  there  was  a  great  uproar.  The 
Captain  of  the  Sea  got  hold  of  the  rudder  of  the  ambassador's 
ship,  hung  it  up  over  his  door,  and  set  a  guard  before  it. 
Diego  Pereira  had  his  men  too,  and  they  prepared  to  fight. 
But  at  this  point  Francis  intervened.  They  must  not,  he 
said,  shed  blood  in  such  a  cause.  In  place  of  their  swords, 
he  drew  forth  his  pen,  and  wrote  to  Alvaro,  through  the 
episcopal  vicar,  reminding  him  that  he  was  exposing  himself 
to  excommunication  by  thus  hindering  the  apostolic  mission 
of  the  Papal  Nuncio.  He  also  reminded  him  that  Diego 
Pereira  was  the  officially  appointed  ambassador  to  China, 
and  that  he,  Alvaro,  had  no  right  to  interfere  with  him. 
Xavier  thought  that  the  very  word  excommunication  would 
have  frightened  the  Captain  into  amiability,  but  it  had  no 
such  effect.  Alvaro  accused  the  Saint  (who  had  left  his 
Papal  briefs  in  Goa)  of  having  forged  his  claims,  and  worked 
himself  and  all  his  household  into  a  great  state  of  rage 
against  "  that  perverter  and  hypocrite."  The  affair  spread 
over  the  town,  and  for  days  the  great  adventurer  had  not 
the  heart  to  stir  beyond  his  own  lodgings,  except  after 
dark.  We  read  of  him  spending  long  nights  in  the  church 
of  Our  Lady,  and  in  the  early  morning  being  seen  there 
saying  a  Mass  for  Don  Alvaro.  Valignano  says  that  against 
the  demon  who  had  taken  the  Captain  Alvaro  for  his  medium, 
Francis  armed  himself  with  the  Love  of  God. 

Nevertheless  Alvaro  carried  his  point.  He  forced  Diego 
Pereira  to  stay  in  Malacca,  and  allowed  Francis  to  go  on  if 
he  liked  in  his  friend's  ship,  and  make  his  way  alone  into 
China  as  best  he  might.  Valignano  says  that  the  Saint's  heart 
"remained  entire  and  victorious";  but  this  letter  to  Diego 
Pereira  is  not  very  cheerful : 

"  Since  your  sins  and  mine  are  so  great  that  on  this  account 
God  our  Lord  was  not  willing  to  make  use  of  us,  there  is 


326  ST.   FRANCIS  XAVIER 

nobody  we  can  blame  but  them.  And  mine  were  so  huge 
that  they  sufficed  for  my  perdition  and  your  ruin.  You  may 
well  accuse  me,  Sir,  of  having  ruined  you  and  all  who  came  in 
our  company.  I've  ruined  you,  Sir,  to  the  extent  of  four  or 
five  thousand  pardoas,  which  at  my  request  you  spent  in 
presents  for  the  King  of  China.  .  .  I  beseech  you,  Sir,  to 
remember  that  my  intention  was  always  to  serve  you,  as 
you  and  God  our  Lord  know.  If  this  were  not  so,  I  should  die 
of  pain.  I  beseech  you,  Sir,  not  to  come  here,  it  would  only 
make  my  pain  worse,  for  it  would  be  renewed  and  intensified 
to  greater  sorrow  through  seeing  you,  when  I  remembered 
that  I  had  ruined  you.  I  am  going  out  to  the  ship,  that 
the  men  may  not  come  to  my  lodging  and  tell  me  with  tears 
in  their  eyes  that  I  have  ruined  them  [i.e.,  the  men  who  were 
to  have  shared  in  the  mercantile  side  of  Diego  Pereira's 
enterprise].  ...  I  have  already  taken  leave  of  Senhor 
Don  Alvaro,  since  he  was  pleased  to  think  it  well  to  prevent 
our  going." 

Xavier  goes  on  to  say  that  he  is  writing  to  the  King  of 
Portugal  to  explain  the  catastrophe,  and  to  point  out  to  him 
that  he  ought  to  recoup  Diego  Pereira  for  all  he  has  lost, 
as  the  expedition  was  to  have  been  for  his  honour  and  the 
increase  of  his  state.  He  concludes  : 

"  It  grieves  me  for  the  punishment  from  our  Lord  which 
must  come  on  him  (Alvaro),  greater  than  he  thinks." 

And  he  signs  himself,  "  Your  sad  and  disconsolate  friend, 
FRANCISCO."  * 

About  July  15th,  accompanied  by  Alvaro  Fereira  and 
Antonio  the  Chinese,  and  the  Malabar  coolie,  Xavier  left 
Malacca.  As  he  bade  his  friends  farewell  he  is  reported  to 
have  said,  "  Take  care  that  we  meet  each  other  in  heaven, 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  p.  757  f.  There  are  two  copies  of  this  letter  with  very  little 
difference.  The  second  copy  has  this  docket :  "  Copy  of  a  letter  of  S.  Francis 
Xavier  all  written  in  his  own  hand  :  Malacca  :  to  Diego  Pereira  :  also  in 
Malacca,  January  25th,  1551.  Addressed  to  my  special  Senhor  and  friend  the 
Senhor  D.  Pereira."  Teixeira  says  that  the  Captain  Alvaro  afterwards  became 
a  leper,  and  was  taken  from  Malacca  to  India,  and  thence  to  Portugal,  where 
he  died  (see  Teixeira,  Vita,  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  ii.  p.  893,  and  Valignano's  Vita, 
Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  pp.  149  and  151). 


THE  FINAL  VOYAGE  327 

for  here  we  shall  meet  no  more.  Live  in  peace  :  you  will 
see  me  next  in  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat."  * 

Some  of  the  old  historians  say  that  the  vicar  of  the  town 
came  to  him  and  asked  him  to  salute  Alvaro  d'Ataide  before 
he  left,  and  that  Francis  replied,  "  Don  Alvaro  will  never 
see  me  again.  I  will  wait  for  him  at  the  judgment -bar  of 
God,  where  he  will  have  to  render  an  account  of  that  which 
he  has  done."  He  stood  still  and  lifted  up  his  arms  and 
prayed  for  his  persecutor,  but  sobs  choked  his  voice  and  so 
he  knelt  down  in  silence.  When  he  rose  he  took  off  his 
shoes  and  shook  the  dust  from  them.  Then,  without  another 
word,  he  boarded  the  ship. 

He  had  planned  that  this  should  be  a  triumphal  voyage. 
It  was,  indeed.  But  the  triumph  was  quite  hidden  from 
men's  eyes,  for  it  now  consisted  in  his  going  on  in  spite  of  a 
complete  outward  collapse  of  his  plans.  "  As  for  me,"  he 
writes,  "  unmoored  from  any  human  help,  I  am  going  to 
the  islands  of  Canton."  f 

From  Singapore  he  despatched  several  letters.  The  only 
reference  to  the  debacle  at  Malacca  is  found  in  these  words 
to  Gaspar  Bar  zee :  "  You  could  not  believe,  Master  Gaspar, 
how  I  was  persecuted  in  Malacca.  I  will  write  you  no 
details.  Francis  Perez  will  do  that."!  The  letter  then 
speaks  of  more  practical  matters.  The  following  is  a  fac- 
simile of  his  signature  at  the  end  of  this  letter  : 


Next  day  he  writes  again  to  Barzee  : 

"  The  alms  which  you  have  to  send  to  the  Brothers  in 
Japan,  let  it  be  only  in  gold,  and  this  gold  the  best  you  can 
get,  like  the  Venetian.  For  the  Japanese  like  the  best  gold 
for  working  and  gilding  their  arms,  and  gold  is  put  to  no  other 
use  in  Japan.  If  anyone  comes  out  in  '52  for  Japan,  nothing 
is  needed  so  much  as  to  come  prepared  for  many  troubles, 

*  "  Let  the  nations  bestir  themselves,  and  come  up  to  the  valley  of  Jehosha- 
phat (that  is,  for  the  Lord  judgeth),  for  there  will  I  sit  to  judge  all  the  nations 
round  about  "  (Joel  iii.  12). 

t  Mem.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  767.  J  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  765. 


328  ST.   FRANCIS   XAVIER 

both  at  sea  before  getting  there,  and  then  on  landing.  He 
must  be  well  equipped  against  the  cold,  and  take  Portuguese 
cloth  for  himself,  as  well  as  for  those  already  there."* 

In  another  letter  Xavier  advises  Flemings  or  Germans  to 
be  chosen  for  Japan,  as  they  would  be  better  hardened  against 
the  cold  than  men  from  Southern  Europe. 

In  August  the  Santa  Croce  arrived  at  Sanchian.  In  those 
days,  when  foreign  ships  were  not  allowed  to  touch  at  Chinese 
ports,  this  barren  little  island  was  used  by  the  Portuguese 
and  Chinese  traders  as  a  rendezvous.  It  lies  a  little  west 
of  Hong  Kong.  Even  here  the  Portuguese  were  not  allowed 
to  build  themselves  stores  or  houses.  Very  daring,  they  used 
to  erect  huts  of  wood  or  branches,  where  they  ate  and 
drank  and  gambled  in  the  intervals  of  doing  business.  But 
these  they  always  burned  before  they  left,  to  show  that  they 
made  no  claim  to  the  island.  They  had  good  reason  to 
beware  of  offending  the  Chinese.  There  were  horrible  tales 
of  how  those  who  had  ventured  too  far  were  kept  imprisoned 
in  dungeons.  We  read  of  one  de  Britto,  a  gentleman, 
hung  about  with  chains,  and  a  log  tied  round  his  chest, 
who  about  1555  was  seen  by  a  Portuguese  captain  and  a 
priest,  greatly  disfigured,  and  in  deep  misery. 

In  1556  the  Dominican  Gaspard  da  Cruz  visited  the  same  prison  ; 
he  describes  for  us  the  long  galleries  where  in  the  evening  hundreds 
of  prisoners  filed  in  to  sleep.  A  thick  iron  chain  which  went 
through  rings  fixed  in  the  ground  and  over  their  chests  prevented 
them  from  moving,  all  through  the  night.  A  heavy  wooden 
lierse  weighed  them  down  and  made  any  movement  almost 
impossible.  These  were  a  small  part  of  the  tortures  which  awaited 
unfortunate  strangers  who  were  bold  enough  to  violate  the 
frontier  :  this  hell  was  accepted  by  Saint  Francis  Xavier  as  he 
went  to  carry  to  the  captives  the  comfort,  if  not  the  liberty,  of 
the  faith.f 

On  October  22nd  Francis  wrote  to  Father  Perez  at  Malacca : 

44  By  the  mercy  and  pity  of  God  our  Lord  Diego  Pereira's 
ship  and  all  we  who  came  in  it  arrived  safely  at  this  port  of 
San  Chan,  where  we  found  a  lot  of  other  merchant  ships.  This 
port  is  thirty  leagues  from  Canton.  Numbers  of  merchants 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  774. 

t  Brou,  Vie  de  S.  Franfois  Xavier,  vol.  ii.  p.  341. 


THE  FINAL  VOYAGE  329 

from  Canton  come  here  to  trade  with  the  Portuguese.  The 
Portuguese  have  done  their  best  to  see  if  some  Cantonese 
merchants  would  convey  me.  All  decline.  They  said  they 
would  put  their  lives  and  estate  in  great  danger  if  the  Governor 
of  Canton  knew  that  they  had  taken  me.  So  they  would 
not  take  me  at  any  price. 

44  It  pleased  God  our  Lord  that  an  honourable  man,  an 
inhabitant  of  Canton,  offered  for  200  cruzados  to  take  me  in  a 
small  boat  in  which  there  would  be  no  sailors  but  his  sons  and 
servants,  that  the  Governor  might  not  come  to  know  from 
the  sailors  what  merchant  took  me.  And  more  than  that, 
he  has  offered  to  put  me  in  his  house,  and  hide  me  for  three 
or  four  days,  and  from  there  to  place  me  some  day  before 
daylight,  with  my  books  and  little  bundle,  at  the  gate  of  the 
city.  From  there  I  would  go  at  once  to  the  house  of  the 
Governor.  I  would  tell  him  that  we  came  in  order  to  go  to 
the  king  of  China  and  I  would  show  him  the  letter  which 
we  bear  from  the  bishop,  telling  him  that  we  are  sent  from  His 
Highness  to  explain  the  Law  of  God. 

44  The  dangers  we  run  are  two,  according  to  what  the 
Chinese  say.  The  first  is  that  the  man  who  takes  us,  after 
having  received  the  200  cruzados,  may  leave  us  on  some 
desert  island,  or  throw  us  into  the  sea,  that  he  may  not  risk 
being  discovered  by  the  Governor  of  Canton.  The  second 
danger  is  that  if  we  are  taken  to  Canton,  and  get  before  the 
Governor,  he  will  order  us  to  be  tortured  or  make  us  prisoners. 
(This  may  well  be)  because  this  (our  attempt)  is  such  an 
innovation,  and  because  there  are  in  China  such  prohibitions 
that  no  one  goes  there  without  the  king's  safe-conduct  and  the 
king  strictly  forbids  foreigners  to  enter  his  country  without 
his  safe-conduct. 

44 ...  Besides  these  two  dangers,  there  are  man}'-  others, 
and  greater,  which  do  not  concern  the  Chinese.  To  count 
them  would  be  tedious,  nevertheless  I  will  mention  some. 

44  The  first  is  the  loss  of  hope  and  trust  in  the  mercy  of 
God.  By  His  love  and  for  His  service  we  go  to  declare  His 
Law  and  Jesus  Christ  His  Son,  our  Redeemer  and  Lord. 
This,  indeed,  He  knows,  since  by  His  holy  mercy  He  gave 
us  these  desires.  Now,  to  distrust  His  mercy  and  power 
on  account  of  the  danger  in  which  we  may  possibly  find 
ourselves  in  His  service  is  a  much  greater  danger  than  all 
the  ill  that  the  enemies  of  God  could  do  us.  For,  without 


330  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

the  licence  and  permission  of  God,  the  devil  and  his  ministers 
can  do  us  no  harm  at  all. 

u  And  also  we  confirm  ourselves  with  the  saying  of  the  Lord, 
4  Who  loves  his  life  in  this  world  will  lose  it,  and  he  who  loses 
his  life  for  God's  sake  will  gain  it.'  Which  agrees  with  what 
also  Christ  our  Lord  said, '  He  who  puts  his  hand  to  the  plough 
and  looks  back  is  not  fit  for  the  kingdom  of  God.' 

"  Considering  these  dangers  of  the  soul,  which  are  much 
greater  than  those  of  the  body,  we  find  that  it  is  safer  and 
surer  to  pass  through  the  bodily  dangers  than  that  we  should 
be  convicted  before  God  of  spiritual  dangers  [i.e.,  defeats]. 
So,  by  whatever  way,  we  are  determined  to  go  to  China.  I 
hope  in  God  our  Lord  that  the  issue  of  our  voyage  will  be  for 
the  increase  of  our  holy  faith,  however  much  the  enemies  and 
their  ministers  persecute  us,  for  c  If  God  be  for  us,  who  will 
have  victory  against  us  ?  '  "  * 

We  do  not  wonder  at  the  fighting  tone  of  this  letter,  of 
all  the  letters  of  this  time.  We  feel  with  Francis  that  the 
Devil  is  determined  to  hinder  him  if  he  can  ;  in  a  Spanish 
version  of  the  above  letter,  Xavier  mentions  at  the  beginning 
that  he  had  been  ill  for  fifteen  days.  His  companions,  he 
adds,  are  recovered  from  their  fever ;  but  Antonio,  from 
whom  he  had  hoped  for  so  much  as  an  interpreter,  had  had 
all  the  Chinese  knocked  out  of  his  head  by  his  education  in 
Goa.  He  had,  indeed,  got  someone  else  instead,  a  certain 
Peter  Lopez,  of  what  race  we  are  not  told,  but  he  could  read 
and  write  Portuguese,  and  "read  well,  and  write  a  little 
Chinese,"  but  a  little  later  this  man  lost  courage,  and  deserted 
his  master. 

Barzee,  Xavier's  locum  tenem  in  India,  continues  to  receive 
numerous  letters  of  careful  advice  and  help.  "  I  greatly 
commend  you  to  take  very  special  care  of  yourself,  for  if 
you  do  the  contrary,  I  hope  for  nothing  from  you.  Do  not 
neglect  to  read  and  fulfil  the  memoranda  which  I  left  you, 
especially  that  in  which  I  recommended  you  to  exercise  your- 
self every  day."  He  goes  on  to  say  that  the  three  new  mis- 
sionaries have  left  Malacca  for  Japan,  and  in  another  letter, 
written  a  few  days  later,  he  advises  the  complete  withdrawal 
of  the  mission  from  Malacca.  The  city,  he  writes,  no  longer 
deserves  them,  because  of  her  opposition  to  his  going  to 

*  Mew.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  783  ff. 


THE  FINAL  VOYAGE  331 

China.  And  he  hopes  that  the  Bishop  will  be  persuaded  to 
excommunicate  Alvaro  for  his  interference  with  the  Nuncio 
and  legate  of  the  Pope.  There  was  something  of  the  haughty 
Spanish  hidalgo  left  in  Francis  still.* 

On  November  12th  he  writes  to  Father  Perez  in  Malacca 
that  he  has  at  last  arranged  with  a  Chinese  merchant  to  take 
him  to  Canton  eight  days  hence.  He  (the  merchant)  is  sure 
to  go,  Xavier  says,  for  he  is  giving  him  enough  pepper 
to  allow  him  to  make  a  profit  of  350  cruzados.  The  letter 
goes  on  : 

"  Pray  much  to  God  for  us,  for  we  run  the  very  greatest 
risk  of  being  made  captives.  Nevertheless,  we  comfort 
ourselves  by  thinking  that  it  is  much  better  to  be  a  captive 
simply  for  the  love  of  God  than  to  be  free  by  fleeing  the 
labours  of  the  Cross.  And  if  it  happens  that  he  who  is  to 
take  us  changes  his  mind,  because  of  the  great  risk  he  runs 
...  in  that  case  I  will  go  to  Siam,  so  as  to  go  from  there  to 
Canton  in  the  ships  which  the  king  of  Siam  sends.  Please 
God  we  shall  get  to  Canton  this  year."  f 

Meanwhile  this  little  company  of  Christ's  adventurers  is 
thinning  down.  "  I  have  dismissed  Fereira  from  the  Com- 
pany," Francis  now  writes,  "  because  he  is  not  fit  for  it."{ 
Valignano  says  his  health  had  failed  him.  Christopher,  the 
Malabar  boy,  was  of  little  use.  But  Antonio  the  Chinese  was 
a  very  faithful  servant. 

On  November  13th  Francis  dictated  his  last  letter,  and 
we  seem  to  hear  the  beating  of  the  demons'  wings  around 
him  as  he  writes.  It  is  addressed  to  Father  Perez,  who  is 
to  send  it  on  to  Gaspar  Barzee  at  Goa. 

"...  Since  this  voyage  to  go  from  this  port  to  China  is 
difficult  and  dangerous,  I  do  not  know  what  will  fall  out,  yet 
I  hope  that  it  will  fall  out  well.  If  by  chance  I  do  not  enter 
Canton  this  year,  I  will  go,  as  I  have  already  said,  to  Siam. 
And  if  I  do  not  go  from  Siam  to  China  within  the  year,  I  will 
go  to  India.  Yet  I  have  much  hope  of  getting  to  China. 

"  Know  assuredly  one  thing,  and  don't  doubt  it.     The 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  pp.  793  and  805.  f  Ibid->  vo1-  *•  P-  80°- 

J  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  799. 


332  ST.   FRANCIS   XAVIER 

devil  will  be  tremendously  sorry  that  those  of  the  Company 
of  the  Name  of  Jesus  should  enter  China.  I  give  you  this 
certain  news  from  the  port  of  Sanchian.  Be  in  no  doubt  of 
this.  For  the  hindrances  which  he  put  in  my  way,  and  puts 
every  day — I  could  never  tell  you  all  of  them.  Be  sure  of 
one  thing.  With  aid,  favour,  and  grace  of  God  our  Lord  I 
will  confound  the  devil  on  this  point.  What  great  glory  to 
God,  to  confound  by  a  thing  so  vile  as  I  am  such  a  grand 
reputation  as  the  devil's  !  " 

"  Master  Gaspar,  remember  the  counsels  I  left  you  on 
my  departure,  and  those  which  I  have  written  to  you.  Do 
not  neglect  to  keep  them,  if  presently  you  think,  as  others 
have  done,  that  I  am  dead.  For,  if  God  will,  I  shall  not  die, 
though  it  is  a  long  time  since  I  felt  so  little  inclined  to  live 
as  I  do  now.  .  .  .  Notice  that  I  charge  you  to  receive  very 
few  men  into  the  Company.  Pass  those  that  are  already 
received  through  many  proofs.  I  fear  that  it  would  be  better 
to  dismiss  some  who  are  received  already,  as  I  did  Alvaro 
Ferreira.  Do  not  receive  him  into  the  college,  if  he  go  (to 
Goa).  Speak  to  him  in  the  lodge,  or  in  the  church.  If  he 
wishes  to  be  a  friar,  help  him.  .  .  . 

44  Sanchian,  13th  Nov.,  1552. 
"  FRANCISCO."* 

The  end  had  almost  come,  and  the  gates  of  China  were  still 
closed.  We  find  the  history  of  the  last  days  in  a  letter  written 
a  few  years  later  by  his  companion  Antonio  to  Teixeira,f  and 
also  in  a  report  which  Antonio  made  to  Valignano.t 

Antonio  says  that  one  of  the  Portuguese  merchants  had 
given  his  companions  shelter  in  his  cabin.  The  Saint  had 
asked  the  merchants  to  erect  a  little  chapel  of  wood  and 
straw  where  he  might  say  mass  and  teach  the  native  children 
so  long  as  he  had  to  wait  on  the  island.  He  had  talked  very 
often  with  the  Chinese  merchants,  either  in  Portuguese, 
which  some  of  them  knew,  or  by  means  of  an  interpreter. 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  808  f. 

t  Vita,  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  ii.  p.  894,  and  vol.  i.  p.  190. 

i  These  accounts  are  simple  and  convincing;,  and  can,  in  the  main,  be 
easily  believed.  Antonio  was  not  illiterate.  He  had  been  in  the  college  at 
Goa  for  seven  or  eight  years.  Fro  is  says  he  was  one  of  the  ablest  of  all  the 
boys  they  had  at  that  time.  When  they  went  to  Sanchian  he  was  about 
twenty  years  old. 


THE  FINAL  VOYAGE  333 

He  had  not  spoken  about  Christianity,  but  of  ordinary 
affairs,  so  as  to  get  into  friendly  terms  with  them.  They 
had  questioned  him  much  about  the  origin  of  the  soul 
and  the  meaning  of  life,  and  were  pleased  with  his  answers, 
saying  among  themselves  that  he  was  a  good  and  a  wise 
man. 

All  the  time  that  he  was  there,  his  one  anxiety  had  been 
as  to  how  he  was  to  get  on  to  the  mainland,  and  he  discussed 
his  hopes  with  all  the  merchants,  and  made  great  efforts  to 
get  one  of  them  to  take  him.  At  last,  as  we  have  seen  from 
his  own  letter,  the  matter  had  been  arranged,  but  the  expedi- 
tion was  put  off  till  all  the  ships  had  left  Sanchian,  so  that,  if 
the  Chinese  were  over-annoyed  by  his  visit,  they  could  not 
wreak  their  vengeance  on  the  merchants. 

At  last  all  the  ships  except  the  Santa  Croce  had  left  the 
harbour.  Francis'  host,  who  had  given  him  shelter,  was 
gone  with  the  rest.  There  was  no  one  left,  says  Antonio,  to 
give  the  Father  Master  Francis  food  or  shelter.  Often, 
being  hungry,  he  sent  the  Chinese  lad  out  to  the  ship  to  ask 
them  for  the  love  of  God  to  give  them  a  little  bread. 

The  nineteenth  of  December,  the  day  appointed  for  the 
entry  into  China,  came  and  went,  and  the  junk  which  was 
to  have  taken  them  did  not  appear.  Day  after  day  passed, 
but  it  never  came. 

It  was  then  that  Francis  began  to  feel  ill.  He  was  deter- 
mined to  get  to  China,  with  a  determination  that  even  he  had 
never  before  known.  But  the  body,  as  well  as  the  heart,  was 
sick  with  uncertainty  and  with  the  postponement  of  his 
desperate  hope.  There  was  no  food  such  as  he  could  enjoy, 
and  no  decent  shelter.  He  and  Antonio  resolved  to  go 
out  to  the  ship.  On  the  evening  of  the  22nd  they  rowed 
out.  For  Francis  a  night  of  great  misery  followed.  He  was 
in  a  high  fever,  the  ship  was  cold,  and  the  waves  were  high. 
In  the  morning  he  said  he  must  go  back  to  land.  So  the 
two  returned,  Francis  carrying  with  him  a  pair  of  cloth 
boots  and  a  few  almonds,  the  gift  of  some  kindly  sailor. 
When  they  reached  the  shore  he  sat  down,  almost  overcome 
with  weakness  and  cold. 

Presently  a  friendly  Portuguese  came  along  and,  seeing 
him  in  this  plight,  rowed  him  across  the  bay  to  his  little 
cabin.  This  Portuguese  advised  Francis  to  allow  himself 
to  be  bled.  So  they  bled  him,  and  he  fainted,  for  it  had  been 


334  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

badly  done  ;  but  when  they  threw  some  water  on  his  face  he 
came  to  himself  again. 

He  could  eat  nothing.  Next  day  they  bled  him  again,  and 
again  he  fainted.  He  was  tormented  with  the  fever  and 
sickness  ;  but  all  the  time,  Antonio  says,  he  was  so  patient 
and  enduring  that  not  a  word  escaped  his  lips. 

That  evening,  Thursday  the  24th,  he  became  delirious. 
His  face  was  then  very  joyful  and  beautiful,  and  he  talked 
aloud  in  a  high  voice  as  if  he  were  preaching. 

Toward  the  end  he  spoke  in  a  language  that  Antonio  did 
not  understand.  It  was  not  Latin  nor  Spanish  nor  Portu- 
guese, for  he  knew  all  these.  It  often  happens  that  at  the 
hour  of  death,  the  mind  returns  to  its  native  haunts,  and  the 
last  words  and  recollections  are  those  of  far-off  days  of  child- 
hood. "  My  language,"  Xavier  had  written  in  1544,  "  is 
Basque."  *  Had  the  rude  walls  of  that  little  hut  on  the 
desolate  beach  of  Sanchian  been  transformed  in  the  eyes  of 
the  dying  saint  into  the  tapestried  hangings  of  his  old  nursery 
in  Xavier,  and  the  rich  murmur  of  the  waves  hard  by  re- 
awakened hi  his  fevered  mind  the  tones  of  his  mother's  voice, 
telling  him,  ere  she  bade  him  a  final  good-night,  some  old 
Basque  fairy  tale  ? 

On  the  25th,  two  days  before  he  died,  Antonio  heard  him 
repeating  some  of  the  Psalms  to  himself,  and  remembered 
one  line  : 

Tu  autem  meorum  peccatorum  et  delictorum  miserere  ! 

These  words  seem  already  to  fall  upon  our  ears  from  be- 
yond the  veil.  They  are  the  first  utterances  of  the  Supreme 
Encounter.  Thus  it  is  that  man  always  speaks  when  he 
looks  upon  God. 

"  Woe  is  me,"  cried  Isaiah  the  prophet,  "  for  I  am  undone  ; 
because  I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips,  and  I  dwell  in  the  midst 
of  a  people  of  unclean  lips ;  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  the 
King,  the  Lord  of  hosts  !  " 

And  Peter,  when  he  knew  that  he  looked  upon  the  Son 
of  God,  said,  "  Depart  from  me,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  O 
Lord  !  " 

"  A  broken  and  a  contrite  heart,  O  God,  Thou  wilt  not 
despise,"  murmurs  Santa  Teresa  with  her  latest  breath,  and 
we  know  that  she  is  at  last  face  to  face  with  her  Love. 
*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  279. 


THE  FINAL  VOYAGE  335 

And  now  the  Very  Hand  of  Love  has  touched  Francis' 
quivering  flesh,  and  we  hear  once  more  this  old  cry  of  human 
anguish  at  the  revelation  of  the  Purity  of  God. 

Tu  autem  meorum  peccatorum  et  delictorum  miserere  I 
And  then  there  is  silence,  while  the  heavenly  Father  wipes 
away  the  first  and  the  last  tears  that  His  child  ever  sheds  in 
Heaven,  and  while  with  His  own  lips  he  sets  upon  the  brow 
of  His  saint  the  everlasting  seal  of  His  Love. 


FINIS 


APPENDIX  I 

THE    MIRACLE-STORIES 

WHEN  the  student  of  the  life  of  Xavier  comes  to  examine  the 
miracle-stories  he  makes  a  pleasing  discovery.  He  finds  that 
his  poetic  sense  and  his  historic  sense  are  always  satisfied  or 
outraged  at  the  same  points.  Both  history  and  poetry  protest 
if  they  are  asked  to  see  heaven  in  a  grain  of  sand,  or  a  world  in  a 
wild  flower. 

The  common  affront  is  felt  most  keenly  in  the  later  biographies, 
from  the  seventeenth  century  onward  ;  and  of  these  Bouhours' 
Life  (1682)  is  the  most  notorious  example.  Here  we  have 
numerous  instances  of  every  conventional  and  fashionable  type 
of  miracle,  told  with  every  possible  flourish  and  accompanied 
by  every  conceivable  platitude  of  piety.  None  of  these  tales  are 
succinct  enough  to  excuse  quotation,  but  the  picture  facing  p.  342, 
of  a  crab  bringing  back  a  crucifix  which  the  Saint  had  some  time 
before  thrown  into  the  sea  to  quiet  a  tempest,  is  a  typical  example.* 
It  sometimes  happens  that  as  time  goes  on  reliable  material  for  a 
biography  becomes  increasingly  available,  and  the  later  life  is 
therefore  more  authoritative  than  the  earlier.  In  Bouhours' 
time  that  point  had  not  yet  been  reached  with  regard  to  Xavier. 
He  had  access  to  no  information  that  was  not  at  the  disposal 
of  the  earlier  writers,  so  his  work  is  simply  an  example  of  "  how 
stories  grow."  With  nothing  fresh  to  help  him  but  his  own  and 
other  people's  fanciful  imaginings,  he  relates  tale  after  talc,  neither 
lovely  nor  true.  Going  back  still  farther,  we  come  to  Tursellinus 
(1594),  who,  though  a  much  less  muddy  source  than  Bouhours, 
is  nevertheless  infected  with  the  germs  of  inaccuracy,  which, 
when  transferred  to  Bouhours'  pages,  multiplied  so  abundantly. 
Where  Tursellinus  makes  the  Saint  raise  four  people  from  the 
dead,  Bouhours  adds  other  ten.f  Tursellinus  says  Xavier  was 
transfigured  twice;  Bouhours  says  four  times.  And  Bouhours 
throws  in  a  miraculous  draught  of  fishes  and  two  extra  miraculous 
supplies  of  fresh  water.  Yes,  here  History  and  Poetry  have 
withdrawn  together,  and  Sanctimoniousness  and  Credulity  have 
met  and  kissed.  And  with  regard  to  the  gift  of  tongues,  let  us 
take  one  example  from  Bouhours,  and  then  see  what  Tursellinus 
says  on  the  same  matter.  "  He  preached  in  the  afternoon  to  the 
Japanese  in  their  language,  but  so  naturally  and  with  so  much 

*  The  earliest  versions  simply  say  Xavier  lost  the  crucifix  and  was  very 
upset  about  it. 

f  See  the  Life  of  Francis  Xavier,  by  P.  Dominic  Bouhours,  translated  by 
J.  Dryden, 


APPENDIX  I  387 

ease  that  he  could  not  be  taken  for  a  foreigner."  *  Thus  Bouhours. 
But  Tursellinus  says:  "Nothing  was  a  greater  impediment  to 
him  than  his  ignorance  of  the  Japanese  tongues  ;  for  ever  and 
anon,  when  some  uncouth  expression  offended  their  fastidious 
and  delicate  ears,  the  awkward  speech  of  Francis  was  a  cause  of 
laughter." 

On  the  whole,  Tursellinus  (1594)  is  much  more  beautiful  than 
Bouhours  ;  a  mediaeval  naivete  and  glamour  still  lingers  on  his 
pages,  and  there  is  a  child-like  fervour  about  his  adoration  of  the 
Saint  for  the  sake  of  which  we  can  forgive  him  much.  Moreover, 
quite  a  number  of  his  miracle-stories  can  be  traced  back  to  a  real 
incident,  and  many  of  these  stories  are  quite  accurately  founded 
on  the  Letters.  For  example,  we  saw  how  the  Badages  had 
suddenly  retired  from  one  of  their  marauding  expeditions. 
Tursellinus  says  that  as  they  came  riding  up  "  they  could  not 
endure  the  majesty  of  his  countenance,  and  the  splendour  and 
rays  which  issued  from  his  eyes,  and  out  of  reverence  for  him 
they  spared  the  others."  And  when  Francis  arrived  at  Lisbon 
on  his  way  to  India  he  writes  (p.  127)  that  though  Rodriguez 
was  ill  when  he  (Francis)  got  there,  their  united  joy  at  meeting 
quite  chased  the  fever  away.f  But  Tursellinus  when  he  tells 
us  about  this  says  the  cure  was  either  brought  about  by  joy 
"  or  much  more  through  the  virtue  of  Xavier,  which  drove  away 
all  sickness."  J 

In  addition  to  this  comparatively  quiet  and  unextravagant  vein, 
Tursellinus  has  times  when  he  must  needs  give  a  fuller  scope  to  his 
fancy.  He  too,  like  Bouhours,  records  how  the  Saint  stilled  a 
raging  tempest,  raised  the  dead,  cast  out  devils,  and  prophesied  ; 
and  yet,  as  we  have  said,  there  is  a  certain  artistic  decency  about 
the  way  he  tells  those  stories  that  does  not  offend  us  as  the  later 
writers  offend.  And  when  we  keep  in  view  that  the  conventional 
attitude  of  that  time  toward  the  miraculous  was  different  from 
what  it  is  to-day  >  and  that  for  Tursellinus  to  have  written  a  life 
of  Xavier  with  no  mention  of  miracles  in  it  would  in  itself  have 
been  a  miracle,  we  find  ourselves  able  frankly  to  appreciate  a 
really  beautiful  biography. 

It  may  surprise  to  find  that  the  miracle-stories,  which  so  far 

*  The  belief  in  this  so-called  gift  of  tongues  (a  gift  evidently  far  removed 
from  that  gift  of  tongues  which  St.  Paul  gives  directions  about)  is  firmly 
rooted  in  the  minds  of  most  of  Xavier's  biographers  right  up  to  the  present 
time,  though  his  own  Letters,  as  we  have  seen,  say  enough  to  make  very 
small  change  of  the  whole  thing.  Father  Coleridge,  in  his  Life  (1872),  says 
of  Xavier  in  Japan  :  "  He  spoke  freely,  flowingly,  elegantly,  as  if  he  had  lived 
in  Japan  all  his  life." 

f  His  words  remind  us  of  the  story  of  how  once,  when  Melanchthon  was 
very  ill,  and  thought  to  be  dying,  a  long-delayed  visit  of  Martin  Luther 
eompletelv  restored  him. 

J  Ftta,  Book  I.  cap.  10,  par.  1. 


338  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 

have  diminished  as  we  have  pursued  them  toward  the  earlier 
sources,  should  suddenly  increase  when  we  come  to  the  various 
Enquiries  or  pre-canonisation  processes  (1556-1616).  Here  we 
find  the  artistic  coherence  and  dignity  of  Tursellinus  entirely 
absent :  here  we  literally  wallow  in  the  miraculous.  There  are 
several  clear  enough  reasons  for  this.  First,  these  witnesses  were 
expected  to  relate  miracles ;  that  was  chiefly  what  they  were 
there  for  :  the  psychological  effect  of  such  a  necessity  is,  of  course, 
considerable.  Second,  many  of  them,  though  not  all,  were  old 
men  and  women,  come  to  a  time  of  life  at  which  reminiscence 
is  apt  to  be  fanciful ;  and  few  of  them  were  real  "  witnesses  " 
at  all.  They  had  "heard  it  said,"  or  So-and-so  "had  told 
them."  Third,  most  of  these  people  had  very  elementary  ideas 
of  miracles,  and  none  of  science,  as  it  presents  itself  to  our  minds, 
and  they  clutched  at  the  crude  and  figurative  language  which 
seemed  most  quickly  to  convey  to  their  hearers  their  conviction 
that  God  was  working  in  and  through  the  Saint.  They  knew 
that  they  could  not  work  miracles,  and  they  knew  rightly  enough 
that  they  were  not  good  enough  to  work  them.  Here  was  a 
man  really  better  than  they  were,  and  he  must  have  done  them. 
Such  minds  represent  a  stage  :  they  would  like  to  see  God  every- 
where, and  they  felt  He  was  everywhere.  The  definitions  of 
miracles  given  by  the  witnesses  at  the  Enquiry  at  Pampeluna* 
amount  to  no  more  than  that  they  were  astonishing  and  un- 
expected events  :  the  word  "  miraculous  "  was,  then  as  now, 
used  in  a  loose  and  popular  sense.  The  witnesses  were  not 
trying  to  prove  that  miracles  "  happened  " — for  them  there 
was  no  "  problem  of  miracles  "  ;  they  only  wanted  to  say  they 
were  sure  that  Francis  had  been  a  great  saint  and  had  lived  very 
near  to  God.  They,  or  their  friends  who  had  told  them  of  him, 
would  never  have  had  these  crude  little  stories  if  they  had  not 
had  Francis,  though  the  crudeness  was  their  own.  And  it  is, 
after  all,  to  the  credit  of  these  men  that  saintship  was  a  condition 
of  the  miracles,  not  the  miracles  a  condition  of  saintship. 

And  even  here  among  those  crude  records  we  find  gleams 
of  light  and  notes  of  questioning.  The  tales  about  the  raising  of 
the  dead  are  not  always  so  convincing  as  the  occasion  demanded. 
A  witness  at  Goa  says  that  the  Father  Master  Diego  told  him  that 
he  had  asked  Father  Master  Francis  about  the  story  of  his  having 
raised  a  boy  from  the  dead,  going  up  to  him  and  saying,  "  O 
Father  Master  Francis,  for  the  glory  and  praise  of  God,  what 
happened  about  that  youth  you  raised  from  the  dead  at  Cape 
Comorin  ?  "  To  this  he  replied,  very  shamefaced  and  smiling, 
embracing  him,  "  Jesus !  Senhor  Padre  Maestro  Diego,  I  raise 
from  the  dead !  Ho  peccador  de  mim !  A  sinner  like  me ! 
They  brought  the  boy  so,  and  he  came  living,  and  I  told  him  to 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  ii.  pp.  667,  673,  678, 


APPENDIX  I  339 

rise  in  the  name  of  God,  and  he  rose,  and  the  people  made  a  story 
of  it."  (A  gente  fary  ad'eso  admiracao,  the  people  wondered.) 
The  witness  adds  that  Diego  said  to  him :  "  Doubt  not  that  the 
Father,  by  the  grace  of  our  Lord,  raised  that  dead  youth."  * 

At  Cochin  one  witness  said  that  he  knew  nothing  about  Xavier's 
miracles,  but  he  had  heard  of  a  youth  who  was  dead,  and  Xavier 
came  to  him  and  knelt  down  and  prayed  to  our  Lord  and  the  child 
came  to  himself  and  rose  well.  All  then  began  to  shout  "  A 
miracle  !  A  miracle  !  "  and  Francis  said  to  them :  "Be  silent 
you,  and  do  not  speak ;  the  child  was  not  dead,  and  it  was  our 
Lord's  will  to  give  him  health."  f  Mansillas  tells  the  same 
story,  of  which  he  had  knowledge  only  by  hearsay,  and  he  adds  : 
"  The  Father  Maestro  Francis,  with  great  humility,  said  the 
youth  was  not  dead."  J 

About  the  same  tale  Juan  de  Cruz,  a  native  Christian  of  the 
Fishery  Coast,  and  "  one  of  the  principal  men  of  that  land,"  has 
nothing  to  say,  and  nothing  to  say  of  any  other  miracle  except 
this,  "  that  he  did  indeed  much  and  very  miraculously  (e  de 
grande  mylagre)  in  separating  the  Christians  from  their  sins  and 
vices,  so  that  after  becoming  Christians  they  might  not  go  the  way 
to  hell,  for  few  and  good  is  better  than  many  and  bad."  § 

This  creditable  testimony  sounds  like  an  echo  of  Xavier's  own 
judgment  ||  and  unconsciously  rebukes  his  interlocutors  :  Francis 
had  given  to  this  Parava  convert  a  fair  grip  of  the  "  Law  of 
God  our  Lord." 

But,  finally,  let  us  turn  to  the  earliest  Lives  of  all,  Valignano's 
and  Teixeira's,  and  to  Xavier's  own  Letters. 

From  the  Saint's  contemporary,  Teixeira,^  we  have  stories 
recording  the  impression  made  on  a  sober  and  educated  mind  in 
an  age  and  of  a  faith  which  expected  a  holy  personality  to  express 
itself  by  deeds  transcending  those  of  common  men.  Teixeira's 
intellectual  attitude  is  fundamentally  much  the  same  as  that  of  the 
less  educated  witnesses  at  the  Enquiries.  To  him  miracles  were 
quite  simple  and  possible,  yet — and  this  is  important — those  he 
relates  (and  he  relates  far  fewer  than  Tursellinus  does)  have,  we 
recognise,  come  to  us  through  a  mind  which  already  has  certain 
standards  of  criticism  with  regard  to  the  miraculous.  He  has 
rejected  numerous  grotesque  stories  which,  as  we  see  from  the 
Enquiries,  were  already  drifting  about;  he  is  very  cautious  in  his 
accounts  of  a  tale  of  raising  from  the  dead;  and  all  the  other 
incidents  have,  we  are  made  to  feel,  received  the  sanction  of  his 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  ii.  p.  185.  f  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.  p.  303. 

J  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.  p.  319.  §  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.  p.  311. 

|f  "  We  see  that  a  few  good  people  are  worth  more,  and  do  more,  than  many 
people  who  are  not  good  "  (Xavier.  See  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  906). 

3  Teixeira  had  been  sent  to  Goa  towards  the  end  of  1551  or  beginning  of 
1552.  When  he  wrote  he  was  the  only  survivor  of  the  Jesuits  who  had 
known  Xavier.  He  died  in  1590. 

Z2 


340  ST.   FRANCIS   XAVIER 

own  belief — an  advanced  one  for  his  times — in  the  limitation  of 
miraculous  powers  to  healing  the  sick,  and  to  the  gifts  of  prophecy, 
second-sight,  and  "  exorcism."  There  is  a  remarkable  reticence 
about  all  his  pages.  For  example,  where  later  writers  give  an 
elaborate  miracle-story,  Teixeira  tells  of  a  ship  almost  ["  casi  "] 
wrecked,  and  saved  almost  miraculously  ["casi  milagrosamente  "]. 
His  account  of  how  the  brother  at  Goa  (which  it  is  pretty  certain 
was  Teixeira  himself;  see  p.  312)  was  cured,  is  simply  and 
naturally  told.  When  Francis  returned  to  Goa,  and  when  he 
got  to  the  house  and  had  embraced  the  brothers,  he  asked  if  there 
were  any  sick  in  the  house.  Hearing  that  there  was  one,  he  went 
to  visit  him  before  entering  his  room.  This  brother  was  far 
through  and  had  been  given  up  by  the  doctors,  and  everything 
had  been  prepared  for  his  burial.  But  he  had  such  faith  and 
confidence  in  God  our  Lord,  and  devotion  to  Father  Master 
Francis,  "  whom  we  were  expecting  every  day,"  that  he  thought 
that  he  would  not  die  if  Father  Master  Francis  found  him  living. 
"  And  so  it  was,  for,  finding  him  alive  and  at  once  going  to  visit 
him,  he  said  a  Gospel,  putting  his  hands  on  his  head,  and  it  pleased 
the  Lord  that  from  then  he  went  on  improving,  and  he  is  still 
alive."* 

Again,  Teixeira  tells  of  a  young  man  who  "  had  a  devil." 
Diseases  of  the  mind  were  not  then  recognised  as  physical.  The 
relatives  of  this  boy  sent  for  Francis,  and  when  he  came  into 
the  room  the  boy  began  to  make  strange  gesticulations  like  one 
possessed,  and  Francis  lowered  his  eyes  and  read  in  a  prayer  book, 
and  then  exorcised  the  demon  and  the  boy  was  quieted. "j* 

Along  with  these  stories  of  healing,  so  simple,  so  natural, 
we  should  look  at  Xavier's  own  account  of  the  cures  at  Cape 
Comorin,  which  he  believed  to  have  followed  on  the  preaching  of 
the  Gospel  there.t  The  barometer  of  life  and  vitality  rose  when 
this  great  Saint  and  his  great  Gospel  came  near. 

Teixeira  also  gives  a  number  of  instances  of  second-sight, 
and  some  of  these  are  confirmed  by  the  Letters  themselves. 
For  example,  Francis  foretold  a  miserable  ending  to  d'Alvaro 
d'Ataide,  and  afterwards  the  man  died  a  leper  in  Portugal.  There 
are  various  other  pretty  well  authenticated  instances — instances 
very  similar  to  the  stories  of  second-sight  which  are  often  heard, 
for  example,  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland  at  the  present  day.§ 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  ii.  p.  882.  f  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.  p.  862. 

$  See  p.  181.  The  incident  which  Xavier  records  in  another  letter  (see 
Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  274)  is  the  only  other  reference  he  himself  makes  to 
anything  which  might  possibly  come  under  the  definition  of  miracle,  and  it 
certainly  need  not  be  interpreted  in  that  way,  though  there  are  many  devout 
minds  which  would  accept  it  as  such,  and  fortify  their  position  by  quoting 
present-day  instances  of  the  same  kind. 

§  A  typical  tale  is  that  recounted  by  R.  L.  S.  in  his  ballad  Ticonderoga. 


APPENDIX  I  341 

This  gift,  or,  as  some  might  call  it,  affliction,  has,  of  course,  no 
particular  relation  to  saintship,  but  the  likelihood  that  Francis 
possessed  it,  added  to  the  fact  that  he  was  a  saint,  probably  gave 
the  start  to  many  of  the  wilder  tales. 

On  the  whole,  then,  if  we  compare  the  records  of  the  Enquiries 
with  Teixeira's  accounts,  the  upshot  is  this :  that  whereas 
Teixeira's  quiet  little  stories  have  a  considerable  artistic  and 
spiritual  coherence  with  the  impression  given  by  the  Letters 
and  by  authenticated  facts,  the  stories  told  at  the  Enquiries 
picture  a  figure  too  abnormal  to  be  real  and  too  conventionally 
marvellous  to  be  interesting ;  and  anyone  who  wishes  to  study 
this  side  of  Xavier's  history  more  closely  must  go  back  to 
Teixeira  (and  Valignano  is  nearly  as  good)  and  examine  their 
accounts  for  himself.  We  cannot  get  any  farther  back,  for  Xavier 
himself  was  far  too  true  a  mystic  to  have  been  interested  in  miracles, 
even  if  he  had  performed  them,  and  his  experience  of  religion  was 
too  real  to  need  any  such  support.  Some  parts  of  his  Letters 
are  written  in  a  language  in  which  the  very  word  miracle — at 
least  as  applied  to  his  own  doings — would  appear  strange  and 
out  of  place,  for  each  day  brought  to  him  a  revelation  of  the 
special  Providence  of  God  through  deeper  channels  than  that 
little  word  can  plumb. 

Doubtless  most  of  us  are  happier  to  believe  it  so.  Nowadays 
even  biographers  prefer  to  record  greatness  of  character  in  terms 
of  psychology  rather  than  in  terms  of  miracle.  And  Bouhours 
and  his  fellows  have  done  a  great  injustice  to  Xavier  in  this 
matter.  A  list  of  miracles  to  his  name  robs  a  saint  of  character 
and  individuality  just  as  paint  and  powder  rob  a  woman  of  her 
most  distinctive  charms. 

The  earliest  authorities  were  the  first  to  criticise  the  acceptance 
of  these  deviations  from  history  and  poetry.  Already  in  1583 
Valignano,  at  the  close  of  his  Vita,  draws  the  attention  of  his 
readers  to  the  fact  that  many  miracles  have  been  related  at 
the  Enquiries  which  he  does  not  mention,  and  he  goes  on  to  warn 
them  to  imitate  Father  Francis  rather  in  their  labours  and  works 
and  sufferings  than  in  prophesying  and  miracle-mongering,  for 
"  in  this  we  can  and  should  imitate  them  (i.e.,  the  saints),  and  not 
in  prophesying  or  in  miracles,  in  the  which  holiness  does  not 
essentially  consist,  since  they  are  graces,  given  for  the  good  of  the 
community,  which  God  communicates  when  and  to  whom  He 
thinks  fitting."* 

Still  more  interesting  are  some  notes  on  Ribadeneira's  Life 
of  Loyola  sent  to  Rome  by  Valignano  and  Teixeira,  with  correc- 
tions of  some  references  to  Xavier.  At  one  point  Valignano 
says :  "  Item  :  page  202  and  over— lines  10  to  14  are  a  very  great 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  198. 


842  ST.   FRANCIS   XAVIER 

exaggeration,  and  in  my  opinion  should  be  altogether  cut  out. 
Indeed,  however  true  many  of  the  facts  related  may  be,  there  is 
nothing  to  be  certain  about  regarding  the  miracles  in  India  and 
Japan  except  what  is  told  in  the  first  part  of  the  Historia  Indica  " 
[i.e.,  in  Valignano's  Vita].* 

Teixeira's  comments  are  even  more  pointed.  He  says  :  "  What 
is  said  in  the  same  chapter  [of  Ribadeneira's  book]  that  the  Lord 
raised  the  dead  by  Father  Master  Francis — although  his  virtue 
and  sanctity  were  such  that  our  Lord  of  His  infinite  goodness 
and  power  could  have  done  it  by  him — yet,  on  enquiry,  no  certainty 
of  this  is  found,  but  it  is  commonly  said  that  our  Lord  did  it  by 
him.  The  most  that  is  said  on  this  matter  was  that  in  Cape 
Comorin  our  Lord  raised  one  from  the  dead  by  him.  But  when 
it  was  wished  to  settle  this,  no  one  could  be  found  who  had  seen 
it.  The  Brother  Amrique  of  the  Company,  who  was  in  the 
Pescaria  for  forty  years  and  more,  told  me  that  he  had  purposely 
and  by  order  of  obedience  inquired,  and  that  he  did  not  find 
anything  that  could  with  certainty  be  affirmed.  This  is  not 
said  because  there  was  no  virtue  and  sanctity  in  the  Blessed 
Father  that  the  Lord  might  do  all  that  is  said,  but  because  to 
assert  a  thing  of  such  importance  certainty  seems  necessary, 
or,  at  the  least,  evident  probability ;  since,  as  your  Reverence 
well  says  in  the  Preface  of  your  book  of  the  life  of  our  Father 
Ignatius,  '  If  all  lying  in  anything  whatever  is  unworthy  of  a 
Christian  man,  much  more  in  the  lives  of  the  Saints.  Non  indiget 
Deus  no  sir  is  mendaciis.'  "  f 

With  this  wise  and  trenchant  conclusion  of  old  Teixeira,  and 
with  the  following  distich,  which  is  inscribed  on  the  documents 
of  canonisation  at  Rome,  we  may  leave  the  subject : 

"  Sunt  plurima,  et  sunt  maxima 
Xaverii  miracula  : 
Ignatii  miraculum 
Est  maximum  :  Xaverius." 

*  The  following  is  evidently  the  passage  referred  to  :  "  Such  things  were 
said  of  the  miracles  he  did  on  that  coast  as  quite  exceeded  the  truth  :  and  it  is 
commonly  said  all  over  India,  that  among  other  things  he  did,  he  had  raised 
one  from  the  dead,  of  which  case,  although  the  certainty  cannot  be  known, 
this  was  public  rumour  then  and  still  current  "  (Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  53). 
These  remarks  are  especially  interesting  when  we  know  that  Valignano  had 
no  objection  to  miracles  a  priori  ;  he  relates  ridiculous  ones  about  St.  Thomas 
and  his  grave. 

f  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  ii.  p.  805.  The  Editor  of  the  Monumenta  blames  Teixeira 
for  saying  that  there  is  no  certainty  about  the  raising  from  the  dead,  and  he 
(the  Editor)  prefers  the  testimony  of  a  Cardinal  at  the  canonisation,  and  the 
evidence  of  the  Jesuit  General,  the  6th  from  Ignatius,  who  "  asserted  in  the 
presence  of  18  Cardinals  that  among  Francis's  miracles  was  the  raising  of  23 
or  24  from  the  dead :  and  of  17  the  evidence  was  so  clear  and  irrefutable  that 
there  could  not  be  the  least  shadow  of  doubt."  And  that  settles  it. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  CRAB  AND 
THE   CRUCIFIX 


f  cue  0  fa  /o  ??ca  a/uda 


APPENDIX  II 

NOTE  ON  XAVIER'S 

THE  Dictionary  of  the  Royal  Spanish  Academy  defines 
rtibrica  as  a  stroke  or  combination  of  strokes  of  a  fixed  form 
which  as  part  of  the  signature  anyone  puts  after  his  name 
or  style.  It  may  take  the  place  of  a  signature.  It  is,  there- 
fore, important.  It  may  be  intricate ;  often  it  is  neat ; 
now  and  then  it  achieves  beauty.  It  is  very  different  from 
the  hasty  scrawl  or  careless  flourish  with  which  some  of  us 
disguise  our  signature.  Xavier's  rtibrica  (see  cover  of  book) 
is  characteristic.  It  has  one  peculiarity  :  it  is  double,  being 
placed  before  as  well  as  after  his  signature.  In  his  time  this 
was  not  so  uncommon  as  it  is  now. 

It  is  a  simple  affair.  It  consists  of  three  strokes  sloping 
from  right  to  left  parallel  with  his  writing.  In  the  earlier 
forms  each  stroke  is  separate,  but  later  he  formed  them  more 
hastily,  without  lifting  his  pen  from  the  paper.  After 
making  these  strokes,  he  wrote  the  "  F,"  and  then  drew  his 
pen  horizontally  across  the  strokes  to  form  the  cross  of  the 
"  F,'*  and  went  on  without  lifting  his  pen  to  write  the  "r," 
etc.  He  then  drew  two  other  horizontal  strokes,  and 
repeated  the  operation  at  the  end  of  his  signature.  Some- 
times he  added  a  hasty  stroke  beneath.  The  whole  is  simple, 
it  is  done  hastily,  and  is  quite  individual.  One  cannot 
mistake  it,  but  it  is  done  without  any  thought  of  form  or  of 
pride  in  it,  or  even  of  pleasure.  It  has  only  one  object — to 
be  his  rtibrica.  The  haste  is  not  carelessness  ;  it  is  eagerness, 
the  desire  to  get  on  to  something  further.  $53 

The  rubrica  characterises  the  Letters.  They  are  hasty, 
simple,  formless,  and  unmistakable.  Each  has  a  pur- 
pose and  achieves  it.  Here  is  an  example  of  his 
hasty  writing  from  a  letter  to  the  King  of  Portugal : 
"  Your  Highness  ought  to  give  him  many  thanks  for 
the  many  labours  which  in  these  parts  of  India  he  has 
taken  for  the  service  of  God  and  discharge  of  your  Highness* 
conscience ;  for  the  bodily  labours  which  the  Father  Friar 
John  has  endured  in  these  parts  of  India,  although  they 
are  many  and  great  and  continual,  in  comparison  with  the 


344  ST.   FRANCIS   XAVIER 

labours  of  the  spirit  in  seeing  the  bad  treatment  which  the 
captains  and  factors  do  to  the  newly  converted,  they  who 
ought  to  help  them,  are  intolerable  and  almost  a  kind  of 
martyrdom  to  have  patience  and  see  being  destroyed  what 
with  such  labour  he  has  gained."  -  The  meaning  is  unmis- 
takable, but  the  form His  incorrect  quotations  of 

Scripture  exhibit  the  same  qualities. 

Yet  he  was  careful  of  his  letters,  because  they  were  to  his 
beloved  brothers  from  whom  he  wanted  letters.  He  is 
constantly  asking  for  news.  He  gives  frequent  instructions 
about  sending  letters,  and  makes  careful  plans  both  as 
to  their  being  written  and  forwarded.  He  wants  to  know 
everything  about  everyone.  It  is  the  personal  spiritual 
news,  never  literature,  that  is  always  in  his  mind.  There  is 
only  one  limitation — "  Things  which  are  not  edifying,  beware 
that  you  do  not  write  them."  *  And  this  warning  is  given 
when  he  is  instructing  the  Companions  in  Molucca  to  write 
to  Loyola.  He  observed  this  limitation  himself.  Reading 
between  the  lines  of  his  letters  to  Rome  or  Coimbra  as  to 
the  kind  of  man  he  wants,  we  can  see  the  character  of  the 
"  unedifying  things  "  and  how  they  tried  him.  As  to  every- 
thing else,  he  wrote,  as  the  lark  sings,  because  he  must.  And 
so  these  letters  are  marked  by  the  intense  affection  they 
express  and  desire.  There  are  no  letters  less  literary  than 
Xavier's,  yet  their  intensity,  with  their  eager,  simple  individu- 
ality, achieves  that  reality  which,  after  all,  is  the  aim  of 
literature. 

D.M. 

*  Mon.  Xav.,  vol.  i.  p.  516. 


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LOYOLA.     The  text  of  the  Spiritual  Exercises  of  St.   Ignatius 

Loyola.     London.     1908. 
LUCENA.     Hisioria  da  vida  do  P.  Francisco  de  Xavier,  etc.    Lisbon. 

1600. 
MACLEAN,  M.  H.     Francis  Xavier,  the  Story  of  His  Life.     London. 

1895. 

MALSAC,  M.     Ignace  de  Loyola.     Paris.     1898. 
MONTAIGNE.     Essays. 
MONUMENTA  HISTORICA  SOCIETATIS  JESU.     Chronicon  societatis 

Jesu,  par  Polanco.    Epistolae  Mixtae.    Monumenta  Xaveriana. 

Monumenta  Ignatiana.     Madrid.     1894-1914. 
MURRAY.    Dictionary  of  Christian  Biography.     London.     1911. 
PHILIPPSON,   M.    La   Contre-Revolution  religieuse  de  \6e  siecle. 

Brussels.     1884. 
Pi  ALE,    S.     Fatti  pui  rimarchevoli   della  vita  di  S.    Francesco. 

Rome.     1793. 

PLUMMER,  A.     The  Continental  Reformation.     London.     1912. 
POLANCO.    See  MONUMENTA  HISTORICA.     Historia  Societatis  Jesu. 

Vol.  I. 


CONTEMPORARY  CHRONOLOGY 

1506  Francis  Xavier  born. 

1506  Death  of  Christopher  Columbus. 

1506  Bramante  began  building  St.  Peter's,  Rome. 

1509  Henry  VIII.  became  King  of  England. 

1509  John  Calvin  born. 

1510  Erasmus  teaches  Greek  at  Cambridge. 

1511  Machiavelli  Secretary  of  State  at  Florence. 
1513  Battle  of  Flodden. 

1513  Leo  X.  first  Medici  Pope. 

1515  Santa  Teresa  born. 

1515  Francis  I.  became  King  of  France. 

1517  Reformation  in  Germany. 

1517  Luther  nailed  his  Theses  to  church  door  at  Wittenberg. 

1519  Leonardo  da  Vinci  died. 

1519  Charles  V.  became  Emperor  of  Holy  Roman  Empire. 

1520  Raphael  died. 

1520  Field  of  Cloth  of  Gold. 

1520  Straits  of  Magellan  discovered. 

1521  Diet  of  Worms. 

1522  Adrian  VI.  Pope. 

1522  Michael  Angelo  yZorwi/  (1475-1564). 

1523  Clement  VII.,  Pope. 

1527  Constable  Bourbon  at  Rome. 

1528  Death  of  Albrecht  Durer. 

1529  Birth  of  Palestrina. 
1529  Diet  of  Spires. 

1529  Reformation  in  England. 

1530  Confession  of  Augsburg. 

1533  Titian  floruit  (1477-1576). 

1534  Copernicus  studies  true  system  of  Universe. 

1535  Cromwell  Vicar-General. 

1538  Suppression  of  monasteries  in  England. 

1540  Execution  of  Cromwell. 

1540  Calvin  at  Geneva. 

1541  Death  of  Paracelsus. 

1543     Mary  Stuart  crowned  (at.  1  year). 

1545  Council  of  Trent  began. 

1546  Burning  of  Wishart. 

1546  Murder  of  Cardinal  Beaton. 

1546  Death  of  Luther. 

1547  Succession  of  Edward  VI. 
1547  Birth  of  Cervantes, 

1547  Henri  II.  King  of  France. 

1548  Benvenuto  Cellini  floruit  (1500-1571). 

1550     Vasari  published  his  Lives  of  the  Italian  Painters. 
1552     Metz  taken  by  France. 
1552    Francis  Xavier  died. 


INDEX 


Abelard,  43 

Adigars,  agents  of  Rajah  of  Travancore, 

206,  210 

Africa,  Raymond  Lull  in,  23,  24 
Aiyaz,   Malik,   opponent  of   Portuguese 

colonists,  147 

Albertus  Magnus,  43,  44,  66 
Albuquerque,   Alfonso   d',    Governor   of 

India  (1509-1515),  143-4,  147 
Alcald,  Jesuit  College  at,  62  ;  University 

of,  29 

Alendale  (Cape  Comorin),  200,  208 
Alexander  VI.,  Pope,  29 
Almeida,    D.    Francisco   d'.   Viceroy   of 

India  (1505-1509),  147 
Alumbrados,  the,  or  Spanish  Illuminati, 

61 

Alva,  Duke  of,  36 
Amadis  of  Gaul,  Spanish  Romance,  40, 

59,  60 
Amboina  (The  Moluccas),  230,  233,  235, 

236,  242,  252 
Ancient  Languages,  Chairs  of,  founded  by 

Lull,  24 

Ancolina,  Faustina  and  Vicentio,  121-2 
Antonio,  the  Chinese,  324,  326,  332  ff. 
Aquinas,  St.  Thomas,  43,  44,  46. 
Arab-traders  in  the  East,  141 
Aragon,  Kingdom  of,  33,  35 
Aristotle,  44,  66,  84 

Artiaga,  Joao  d',  192,  197,  198,  204,  205 
Ataide,  D.  Alvaro  d',  son  of   Vasco   da 

Gama,  153,  324,  326,  331,  340 
Atapanoa  (Cape  Comorin),  212 
Aznar,  Duke  of,  ancestor  of  St.  Francis 

Xavier,  33 


Badages,  South  Indian  tribe,  187,  200, 
201,  202,  203,  204,  205,  210,  266,  337 

Bagdad,  141 

Baptism,  the  rite  of,  as  practised  by  the 
Jesuits,  172-3 

Barcelona,  61,  62 

Barres,  Maurice,  88 

Barreto,  Melchior  Nunez,  Jesuit  mis- 
sionary (Portuguese),  318 

Barzee,  Gasper,  Jesuit  missionary  (Flem- 
ing), 226,  264,  265,  313-14,  319  ff.,  324, 
327,  330,  331 

Basil,  St.,  114 

Basques,  33,  59 

Bassein,  269,  314,  318 

Beauvais,  College  of,  65,  68 

Beda,  Noel,  Principal  of  College  Mon- 
taigu  in  Paris,  55 

Beira,  Juan  de,  Jesuit  missionary  (Portu- 
guese or  Galician),  169,  227,  236,  241, 
253 


Bembar  (Cape  Comorin),  209 

Bernard,  St.,  265 

Betibumal,  native  Indian  chief,  204,  207, 

208 
Bobadilla,  Nicolas,  one  of  the  original 

members  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  73, 

106,  118 

Bologna,  32,  106-7,  121 
Bonaventura,  St.,  43,  87,  115 
Brahmins,  182  ff. 
Briconnet,  Guillaume,  Bishop  of  Meaux, 

47 

Brouet,  Paul,  Jesuit,  73 
Buchanan,  George,  Humanist,  64,  55,  65 
Bulla  Regimini  Militantis  Ecdesias,  1 10  ff ., 

134 

Bungo,  307 
Bunyan,  John,  86,  319 


Calicut,  146 

Calvin,  Jean,  44,  55,  62,  78,  93,  179 
Cambay,  Gulf  of,  212,  215,  314 
Camerino,     Paulo,     Jesuit     missionary 

(Italian),  118,  153,  212,  227,  235,  273, 

277 

Canacapoles,  native  helpers,  214 
Canton,  287,  327,  329,  331 
Caraffa,  Giovanni  Pietro,  Cardinal,  and 

late  Pope  Paul  IV.,  102-3 
Careas  of  Beadala,  Tamil  fishermen,  200, 

205,  209,  213 
Carmelites,  115 
Carvalho,  Andre,  Jesuit  missionary 

(Portuguese),  322-3 
Carvalho,  Christopher,  278  f. 
Casilina,  Jerome  and  Isabella,  106-7 
Castanheira,    Count,    Don    Antonio    de 

Ataide,  139 

Castile,  Kingdom  of,  35 
Castro,  D.  JoSo  de,  Governor  of  India 

(1545-48),  215,  223,  262 
Cervantes,  Miguel,  101 
Ceylon,  215ft,  262 
Charnines,  D.,  Loyola's  spiritual  director 

at  Montserrat,  87 
Charles  V.,  Emperor,  35,  98 
Chartreuse,  Monks  of,  114 
China,  234,  235,  263,  270  ff.,  285,  287, 

293,  305,  308,  311,  317,  324  ff. 
Christopher,    Malabar  coolie,   324,    326, 

331 

Cisneros,  Garcia  de,  61,  62,  86 
Cochin,  142,  145,  177,  196,  212,  214,  215, 

255,  256,  260,  268,  271,  277,  308,  311, 

314,  318,  324 
Codure,  J.,  Jesuit,  73 
Coelho,   Francisco,   native   helper,    186, 

200,  205,  206,  209,  210,  220,  261 


352 


ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 


Coimbra,  Jesuit  College  at,   130-1,   135, 

213,  284 
Colleges  in  Paris,  see  Ste.  Barbe,  Mon- 

taigu,  etc. 
College  of  St.  Paul  (College  of  the  Holy 

Faith),   168,  212,  223,  263,  265,   268, 

270,  273,  293,  311,  313,  325 
Colombo,  215 
Combutur6   (Cape   Comorin),    197,    200, 

207,  208,  209 
Comorin,  Cape,  171-190,  266,  269,  314, 

324,  338,  340 
Company  of  Jesus,  meets  for  first  time, 

30,  59  if. 

Complutensian  Bible,  29 
Compostela,  18,  19,  22 
Conference  in  Venice,  101 
Coplas  de  Manrique,  63 
Cordier,  Mathurin,  teacher  of  Calvin  and 

of  Xavier,  54 
Cortes,  Spanish,  17 
Coulam,  196,  215,  314 
Council  of  Vienne,  24 
Counter-Reformation,  28  £f. 
Creed,  The  Apostles',  179,  196 
Criminale,    Antonio,    Jesuit   missionary 

(Italian),  261 

Cruz,  Gaspard  da,  Dominican,  328 
Cruz,  Juan  da,  native  Christian,  220,  339 
Cruz,  Manoel  da,  native  helper,  199,  200, 

202,  204,  208,  209,  211 
Cyprian,     Alfonso,     Jesuit     missionary 

(Spaniard),  315-16 
Cyprus,  24 
Cyril  of  Alexandria,  157 

Damascus,  141 

Degrees,  value  of,  in  XVI th  century,  51 

Diaz,  Bartholomew,  125 

Diaz,  Dominic,  Jesuit  missionary  (Portu- 
guese), 283 

Diet  of  Worms,  30 

Diu,  313 

Doctor  of  Navarre,  uncle  of  St.  Francis 
Xavier,  33,  52,  132 

Dominic,  St.,  20  ff .,  106 

Dominicans,  in  India,  163 

Ecclesiastical  Music,  The,  of   Thomas  a 

Kempis,  62 

Education  of  Missionaries,  217,  225  ff. 
Enriquez,     Enrico,     Jesuit     missionary 

(Portuguese),  271,  313 
Enriquez,  Francisco,  Jesuit  missionary 

(Portuguese),  260,  266,  314 
Ephesus,  Council  of,  157 
Erasmus,  30,  43,  55,  56,  97 
Eredia,   Antonio   de,   Jesuit  missionary 

(Portuguese),  314,  318 
Etaples,   Jacques   Le    Fevre   d'    (Faber 

Stapulensis),  44,  45,  66 
Euganean  Hills,  104 
Exposition  of  the  Creed,   Xavier's,   234, 

242  ff. 
Eyr6,  Juan  d',  225 


Faber,    Peter,    original   member   of   the 

Society  of  Jesus,  53,  54,  62,  64,  67,  71, 

73,  106,  116,  119,  122 
Faber  Stapulensis,  see  Etaples 
Fabrian  Protestantism,  44 
Facata  (Japan),  298 
Facel,  one  of  the  Group  of  Meaux,  47, 

note 

Family  Life  in  XVIth  century,  31 
Farewell  Rock,  The,  123 
Ferdinand    and    Isabella,    The    Catholic 

Sovereigns,  17,  27,  29,  35,  40 
Fereira,  Alvaro,  Jesuit  missionary,  324, 

326,  331 

Feria,  Duke  of,  39 
Fernandez,  Antonio,  a  native  Christian, 

202,  203,  213,  314 
Fernandez,  Gonzalo,  316 
Fernandez,  Juan  de,  Jesuit  missionary 

(Spaniard),  273,  274,  283-4,  297,  298, 

300,  301,  302,  303,  307-8,  313 
Fernandez,  Vasco,  221 
Fishery  Coast  (Pescaria),   171,   196,  260 

(see  also  Cape  Comorin) 
Foundation  of  the  Order  of  Jesus,  71-74 
Francis,  St.,  of  Assisi,  25,  35,  115 
Francis  I.  of  France,  41,  47,  53,  55,  98, 

note. 
Franciscans,     Order    of,    29,    163,     171, 

215 
Fuenterrabia,  42 


Gaetano     da     Tiene,     founder     of     the 

Theatines,  102 
Galvao,     Antonio,     Governor     of     the 

Moluccas,  240 

Gama,  Pedro  da  Silva  da,  295,  324 
Gandia,  Abbess  of,  see  Madeline. 
Gerard  van  Ziitphen,  87 
Gerson,  supposed  author  of  the  Imitation, 

63 

Gia,  Cardinal,  110 
"  Gift  of  Tongues,"  Xavier's,   174,  292, 

336 
Goa,  160  ff.,  177,  262,  263,  266,  267,  273, 

317 

Goethe,  101 
Gomez,     Antonio,     Jesuit      missionary 

(Portuguese),  269,  273,  274,  277,  293, 

313 
Goncalez,    Melchior,    Jesuit    missionary 

(Portuguese),  264,  266 
Gonzalez,  Cardinal,  29 
Gouvea,  Jacques  de,  Principal  of  College 

of  Ste.  Barbe,  52,  65,  116 
Graduation  ceremonies  in  Paris,  51 
Granada,  17,  35 
Gregory  VII.,  Pope,  19 
Group  of  Meaux,  47 


Henri  d'Albret,  Henry  II.  of  Navarre 

(1503-1555),  41 
Hirado  (Japan),  297,  303,  307 
Holy  League,  against  France,  35 


INDEX 


253 


Hong  Kong,  328 
Humanism,  45,  70 
Hus,  John,  45,  note. 
Hymn   ascribed   to   St.    Francis   Xavier, 
238,  note. 


Ignatius  Loyola,  his  faithfulness  to  the 
Church,  18  ;  wounded  at  Pampeluna, 
41  ;  comes  to  Paris,  59 ;  earlier  history, 
60-2  ;  enters  College  of  Ste.  Barbe, 
62  ;  the  Beginnings  of  the  Order  of 
Jesus,  62-74  ;  the  Spiritual  Exercises 
of,  75-90 ;  suspected  by  the  re- 
actionaries, 91  f.  ;  goes  to  Spain,  91  ; 
in  Italy,  101  ff.  ;  definite  formation  of 
the  Order  of  Jesus,  108  ff .  ;  asked  to 
send  missionaries  to  India,  116f.  ; 
offers  mission  work  in  India  to 
Francis  Xavier,  118;  letters  from 
Xavier  to,  127,  130,  135  ;  his  counsel 
quoted,  150  ;  letters  from  Xavier  to, 
152,  166,  168,  175,  217  ;  his  counsel 
quoted,  276  ;  letters  from  Xavier  to, 
256,  268,  274,  308  ;  his  example  is 
recalled  by  Xavier,  315  ;  the  distich 
in  Rome,  342 

Iniquitibirim,  see  Rajah  of  Travancore. 

Inquisition,  in  India,  236,  257  ff . 

Inquisition,  in  Spain,  20,  25,  26,  27,  30, 
125,  133,  134 

Isabella  the  Catholic,  25,  26,  29,  35,  39 

"  Islands  of  Hope  in  God  "  (Islas  de 
Moro),  224-255 

Italy,  101  ff. 


Jafnapatam  (Ceylon),  King  of,  205,  212, 

216,  218 
Japan,  219,  254,  262  f.,  270  f.,  283-310, 

327 

Jasso,  house  of,  32,  33. 
Jay,  Claude,  one  of  the  original  members 

of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  73,  137 
Jerusalem,  Loyola  in,  61 
Jews  in  China,  235 
Jews  in  Spain,  20,  26 
John  of  the  Cross,  Juan  de  la  Cruz,  61 
John  of  Navarre,  father  of  Henry  II.  of 

Navarre,  32,  36 
John  III.  of  Portugal   (1502-1557),   28, 

52,  110,  116,  127,  131,  135-9,  163,  217, 

236,  256,  263,  272,  304,  311,  326 
Juana,  wife  of  Philip  of  Austria,  35 
Juan  de  Beira,  see  Beira. 
Juan  de  la  Cruz,  Malabar  prince,  171 
Juan   de   Jasso,   father   of   St.    Francis 

Xavier,  34,  36 
Juan  de  Jasso  y  Xavier,  brother  of  St. 

Francis  Xavier,  35,  39,  42,  92  ff . 


Kagoshima  (Japan),  284,  288  ff. 
Kandy  (Ceylon),  262 
Kempis,  Thomas  a,  61,  62,  87 
Kioto  (Miaco),  294,  300,  303 


La  Celestina,  Spanish  drama,  63 

La  Marche,  College  of,  in  Paris,  55 

La  Salle,  form  of  punishment  at   Ste. 

Barbe,  65 
Lainez,     Diego,     one     of    the     original 

members  of  the  Society  of   Jesus,  73, 

75,  106,  110,  119,  137 
Lancilloti,    Nicolas,    Jesuit    missionary 

(Italian),  314 
Laurence,    Brother,    Japanese    convert, 

305  f. 

Le  Fevre,  Jacques,  see  Etaples. 
Lebrija,  grammarian,  63 
Lenormant,  Geoffrey,  founder  of  College 

of  Ste.  Barbe,  52 
Lima,  Manoel  de,  native  helper,  201 
Lisbon,  63,  139-40,  198 
Livar  (Cape  Comorin),  198 
Lopez,    Gaspar,    witness    at    the     Ooa 

Process,  238 

Lopez,  Peter,  interpreter,  330 
Loretto,  121 
Louis  XII.  of  France,  his  alliance  with 

John  of  Navarre,  36 
Loyola,  see  Ignatius. 
Ludolf  of  Saxony,  87 
Lull,  Raymond,  20  ff . 
Luther,  Martin,  28,   60 
Lutherans  in  Paris,  44,  45,  57,  63,  70 


Macuas,  South  Indian  tribe,  188,  213 
Madeira,      Aleixo,      Jesuit     missionary 

(Portuguese),  314 
Madeline,   Abbess   of   Gandia,   sister  of 

St.  Francis  Xavier,  39,  57,  69 
Madrid,  118 
Major,   John,    Scottish   theological   and 

historical  writer,  55 
Majorca,  22,  24 
Malacca,    222,    2243.,    253,    254,    257, 

262,    263,    268,    269,    273,    278,    283, 

284,   314,   324,   326,   330 
Malucca,  238,  239,  252 
Manapar  (Cape  Comorin),  193,  195,  197, 

200,  201,  202,  204,  206,  207,  209,  210, 

211,  212,   213,   220,   260 
Manar  (Ceylon),  205 
Manoel,  of  Amboina,  252 
Manresa,  Dominican  Convent  of,  60 
Mansillas,  Francisco,  Jesuit  missionary 

(Portuguese),  138,   153,   188-214,  220, 

225,  267 

Manuel,  China,  285 
Marco  Polo,  283 
Margaret     of      Angouleme,     sister      of 

Francis  I.  of  France,  47 
Maria  de  Azpilcueta  y  Xavier,    mother 

of    St.    Francis    Xavier,    33,    34,    40, 

41 
Maria  Periz,  sister  of  St.  Francis  Xavier, 

39 

Maria  Perez  de  Herice,  39 
Martin   de   Azpilcueta,   ancestor  of   St. 

Francis  Xavier,  33 

AA 


354 


ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 


Mascarenhas,     D.     Pedro,     Portuguese 

ambassador,  120-1,   130,   137 
Mass  conversions,  181,   189,  314,  note. 
Matthew,  a  native  interpreter,  193,  196, 

197,  198,  199,  202,  204,  208,  213 
Mauburnus,  87 

Meliapor  (India),  56,  221  ff.,  315 
Melinda,  155 
Memorandum  left  by  Xavier  in  Rome, 

119 

Mendez,  Alvaro,  Jesuit  missionary,  314 
Mendez,  Luis,  Jesuit  missionary,  266 
Mendoza,  Cardinal,  28,  29 
Menezes,     Don     Jorge     de,     Portuguese 

commander  in  the  Moluccas,  239 
Miaco,  see  Kioto. 
Miguel,  brother  of  St.  Francis  Xavier, 

35,  39,  41,   42 
Miguel,  the  Navarrese,  Xavier  servant 

at  College,  51,  71 

Miracle  stories,  relating  to  Xavier,  336  ff . 
Modena,   122 

Mohammedan  power  in  the  East,  141  ff. 
Moluccas,  225,  227,  230,  253,  257,  268, 

269,  314 

Momchuri  (Cape  Comorin),  213 
Monselice  (Italy),   104 
Montaigne,  43,  49,  97 
Montaigu,  College  of,  in  Paris,  55,  62 
Montmartre  (Mons  Marty  rum),  Church  of 

Our  Lady  on,  48,  72-3 
Montserrat,  Church  of  Our  Lady  at,  60 
Moorish  invasions  of  Spain,   17 
Moralez,   Manoel  de,  Jesuit  missionary 

(Portuguese),  260 
Mozambique,   152  ff . 
Myers,  F.  W.  EL,  160 
Mysticism,  18,  61 


Naharro,  Torres  de,  Spanish  writer  of 
XVIth  century,  63 

Navarre,  Kingdom  of,  17,  32,  33,  34,  36 

Navigator  Prince,  the,  Henry  of  Por- 
tugal, 125 

Negapatam  (India),  205,  216,  218,  219, 
221 

Nestorians,  66,  156-9,  163,  221,  235 

Niceta,  author  of  the  Te  Deum,  238 

Ninjit,  Japanese  priest,  296 

Noain,  battle  of,  42 

Nola,  Bishop  of,  238 

Noronha,  D.  Garcia  de,  Governor  of 
India,  311,  317 

Notre  Dame  de  Paris,  46-7,  69 

Nueva  Espana,  219 

Nunez,  Melchior,  Jesuit  missionary 
(Portuguese),  253,  314 


Obedience,    idea    of,    in    various    orders, 

114-15 
Oliveira,   Roque  de,   Jesuit  missionary, 

274 

Olivetan,  cousin  of  Calvin,  44 
Oratory  of  Divine  Love,  The,  102-3 


Order   of  Jesus,   its   definite   formation, 

108  ff. 

Ormuz,  141,  313,  314,  317,  324 
Our   Lady   of  Nazareth,    Church    of,    in 

Lisbon,  139 


Palestine,  61 

Palma  (Majorca),  22 

Pampeluna,  36,  40,  41,  94 

Pantagruel,  43 

Paravas,  South  Indian  tribe,  171-190 

Paris,  University  of,  43  ff. 

Parma,  122 

Patarioa  (Cape  Comorin),  213 

Paul  III.,  Pope,  Alexander  Farnese, 
109 

Pavia,  Cosmo  de,  The  Captain,  a  dis- 
honest Portuguese  official,  192,  195, 
202,  203,  204,  206,  207,  208,  210,  211, 
213,  221,  261,  267 

Pedro,  uncle  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  39 

Pereira,  Diego,  merchant,  262,  311,  317, 
324-6,  328 

Perez,  Francis,  Jesuit  missionary  (Cas- 
tilian),  327,  328,  331 

Peter  Lombard,  63 

Peter  the  Spaniard  (Petrus  Hispanus),  63 

Philip  of  Austria,  35 

Philippines,  the,  224 

Pico  of  Mirandola,  70 

Pinto,  Mendez,  283 

Piscaria,  see  Fishery  Coast. 

Pius  V.,  Pope,  30 

Place  of  Tears,  The,  in  Lisbon,  139,  140 

Ponce  de  Leon,  Luis,  Spanish  poet,  19 

Portugal,  Queen  of,  178 

Portugal,  King  of,  see  John  III. 

Portugal  in  1540,  125 

Portuguese  as  colonists,  142-8,  161  ff. 

Preachers  in  the  Forts,  Xavier' 8  Instruc- 
tions to,  280  ff. 

Prester  John,  195 

Processes  of  Canonisation,  338  ff. 

Pudicare  (Cape  Comorin),  212 

Pudicurim  (Cape  Comorin),  209 

Punicale  (Capo  Comorin),  192,  193,  200, 
201,  202,  206,  207,  208,  209,  210 

Pyrenees,  19,  32,  34,  35,  123 


Rabelais,  43,  63,  97 

Rajah  of  Travancore,  Iniquitibirim,  188, 
194,  202,  204,  206,  207,  209,  210,  211, 
212,  220 

Reformation,  in  Paris,  64,  see  also 
Lutherans. 

Reggio,  122 

Religion  of  the  Pill  of  Immortality, 
Chinese  sect,  235 

Ribeiro,  Nuno,  Jesuit  missionary  (Portu- 
guese), 253 

Richard  of  Bury,  43 

Robert  Sorbonne,  67 

Rodriguez,  Gonzalvez,  Jesuit  missionary 
(Portuguese),  314,  317 


INDEX 


355 


Rodriguez,  Simon,  original  member  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus,  72,  73,  74,  103, 
105,  107,  118,  127,  132,  218,  219,  258, 
264,  265,  269,  276,  322,  337 

Rojas,  Ferdinand  de,  Spanish  dramatist, 
63 

Rome,  69,  107,  108,  120 

Roussel,  Gerard,  friend  of  Calvin's,  47, 
note 

Rubrica,  note  on  Xavier's,  343  f . 

Sakay  (Sakai,  Japan),  294,  295,  301 
Salmeron,   Alonso,   original   member   of 

the  Society  of  Jesus,  73,  104,  117 
Sancian,  China,  328  ff. 
Sanctuary,  rights  of,  in  Xavier,  36 
Sanguessa,  34,  40 
Santiago,  ship  on  which  Xavier  sailed  to 

India,  148 
Santiago  (St.  James),  national  saint  of 

Spain,  18ff. 

San  Nicolas,  church  of,  at  Pampeluna,  39 
San  Thome,  Meliapor,  221-3,  225 
Santa  Croce,  ship  on  which  Xavier  sailed 

for  China,  328,  333 
Ste.  Barbe,  college  of,  45,  48,  55 
Scholasticism,  in  Paris,  44  ff. 
Sea  Route  to  India  in  XVIth  century, 

141  ff.,  149,  150 
Seville,  University  of,  30 
Siam,  331 
Singapore,  327 
Sixtus  IV.,  Pope,  29 
Society  of  Jesus,  30,  59  ff . 
Socotra,  island  of,  156-9,  177,  268,  269 
Somascenes,  Order  of,  102 
Sorbonne,  doctors  of,  91 
Sousa,  Martim  Afonsa  da,  Governor  of 

India  (1542-5),  136,  145,  153,  168 
Spain,  Makers  of,  17-30 
Spiritual  Exercises,  The,  63,  71,  74,  75-90, 

127,  130,  133,  292 

Tale  (Cape  Comorin),  206,  210 

Tamerlane,  persecutions  of,  158 

Tana,  314 

Tchintcheo,  287 

Teixeira,  his  illness  at  Goa,  311,  312 

Teresa,  Santa,  25,  334 

Ternate   (the  Moluccas),   238,   239,   240, 

241 

Theatines,  The,  102-3 
Theological   Course   at   the    University  of 

Paris,  66-7 

Thomas,  the  Apostle,  222,  234 
Thome  da  Molte  (Cape  Comorin),  209 
Thomists,  221 

Tiruchendur  (Cape  Comorin),  209,  210 
Toledo,  Friary  of  St.  John  at,  29 
Toledo,  University  of,  30 
Torquemada,  Spanish  Inquisitor-General, 

27 
Torres,    Cosmo    de,    Jesuit    missionary 

(Spaniard),    270,    273,    274,    283,    284, 

297,  303,  307 


Travancore,  188,  217,  220,  260,  267 
Trichantur  (Cape  Comorin),  209 
Tuticurim  (Cape  Comorin),  193,  195,  199, 

201,  203,  204,  206,  207,  208,  209,  212, 

221 

Turkey,  war  with  Venice,  105 
Two  Standards,  Meditation  of,  75,  79 
Tyrrell,  George,  86 


Useda  (New  Castile),  29 


Vacarapatam  (Cape  Comorin),  200 

Varivandiao  (Cape  Comorin),  209 

Vasco  da  Gama,  125,  141,  142,  148 

Vatable,  a  royal  lecturer  in  Paris,  47,  note 

Vatican,  The,  104,  119 

Vaz,  Joao.  Jesuit  missionary,  190 

Vaz,  Miguel,  Vicar-General,  212 

Vaz,  Paulo,  195 

Venice,  97,  102,  141 

Vicente,  Gil,  Spanish  dramatist,  63 

Vicenza,  105 

Viranao  (Cape  Comorin),  199,  213 

Vives,  J.  L.,  49,  63 

Vunbembar  (Cape  Comorin),  208 


Wilson,  Florence,  55 

Women,  list  of  directions  for  visiting,  321 

Wordsworth,  46 


Ximenes  da  Cisneros,  Francisco,  Cardi- 
nal, 25,  28  ff. 

Xavier,  St.  Francis.  Birth,  35  ;  death 
of  his  father,  36  ;  demolishment  of 
Xavier,  40  ;  departure  for  Paris,  42  ; 
life  in  Paris,  43 ;  meets  with  the 
Lutherans,  57  ;  Ignatius  Loyola 
shares  his  college  quarters,  Xavier 
takes  his  Arts  degree  and  teaches  at 
Beauvais  College,  66  ;  he  becomes 
Loyola's  second  disciple,  71  ;  the 
consecration  at  Montmartre,  72 ; 
takes  the  Spiritual  Exercises,  74  ;  letter 
to  his  brother,  92 ;  offered  a  canonry 
at  Pampeluna,  94 ;  the  journey  to 
Venice,  97  ;  on  to  Rome,  103 ; 
preaches  before  the  Pope,  104  ;  back 
to  Venice,  ordination  ;  retreat  at 
Monselice,  104 ;  Vicenza,  the  first 
mass,  105  ;  Bologna,  illness  there, 
106  ;  Rome,  the  call  from  the  East, 
the  formation  of  the  Order,  108  ;  the 
Pope  gives  his  oral  approbation, 
Xavier  '  becomes  Loyola's  secretary, 
115;  Loyola  offers  him  work  in 
India,  he  accepts,  departure  for 
Lisbon,  118  ;  the  three  memoranda  left 
in  Rome,  119  ;  the  journey  to  Lisbon, 
120  ;  work  in  Lisbon,  125  ;  his  own 
account  of  it,  127  ;  his  correspondence 
with  the  Doctor  of  Navarre,  132 ; 
visits  the  prisoners  of  the  Inquisition, 


356 


ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER 


134  ;  farewell  letters  to  Rome,  135  ; 
departure  for  India,  139  ;  the  voyage 
to  Mozambique,  141  ;  work  in  Mozam- 
bique, 154 ;  Melinda,  156 ;  Socotra, 
157  ;  Goa,  159  ;  his  descriptions  of  Goa, 
160  ;  presents  himself  to  his  bishop, 
164  ;  work  among  the  colonists,  165  ; 
helps  to  found  the  college  at  Goa,  168  ; 
sets  out  for  Cape  Comorin,  170 ; 
among  the  Paravas,  172 ;  methods 
of  baptism,  173  ;  "  gift  of  tongues," 
174  ;  return  to  Goa,  177  ;  his  accounts 
of  the  work  at  Cape  Comorin,  178  ; 
return  to  the  Cape,  187  ;  the  mission 
in  Travancore,  188 ;  the  letters  to 
Francisco  Mansillas,  191  ;  visit  to 
Coulam  and  Cochin,  the  affairs  of 
Ceylon,  215 ;  batch  of  letters  to 
Europe,  217  ;  the  Retreat  in  San 
Thome,  222  ;  Malacca,  224 ;  letters 
from  Malacca,  225  ;  proceeds  to  the 
Moluccas,  230  ;  the  "  Islands  of  Hope 
in  God,"  231  ;  reports  of  China,  234  ; 
Exposition  of  the  Creed,  242  ;  departure 
from  the  Moluccas,  252 ;  stay  in 
Malacca,  253  ;  leaves  Malacca,  255  ; 
Cochin,  depressed  letters  from,  256  ; 
asks  for  the  Inquisition  for  India,  257  ; 
returns  to  Cape  Comorin,  260  ;  visit 
to  Ceylon,  return  to  Goa,  262  ;  re- 
visits the  Cape,  266  ;  Goa,  267  ;  two 
months  in  Cochin,  account  of  the 
work  sent  to  Loyola,  268  ;  announces 
his  intention  of  going  to  Japan,  270  ; 
letters  of  reproach  to  John  III.  of 


Portugal,  272  ;  leaves  Goa  for  Malacca 
and  Japan,  273  ;  letters  from  Malacca, 
274 ;  the  Instructions  to  preachers, 
279  ;  arrival  in  Japan,  283  ;  letter 
describing  the  voyage,  284  ;  the  work 
in  Kagoshima,  288  ;  letters  about  the 
Japanese  people,  289  ;  letter  to  Goa 
about  preparing  men  for  Japan  and 
China,  293  ;  the  journey  to  Kioto, 
298  ;  failure  there,  303  ;  the  mission 
in  Yamaguchi,  304  ;  he  leaves  Japan, 
307  ;  letter  to  Loyola,  308  ;  the  last 
months  in  India,  311  ;  Teixeira's 
description  of  his  appearance,  312 ; 
appointed  Provincial  in  India,  313 ; 
his  organising  work  in  Goa,  314 ; 
letters  and  instructions,  315  ;  the 
Rules  for  Humility,  320  ;  directions 
on  how  to  avoid  scandals,  321  ; 
leaves  Goa  for  the  last  time,  324  ; 
the  voyage  toward  China,  Malacca, 
the  uproar  there,  325  ;  leaves  Malacca, 
326 ;  letters  from  Singapore,  327  ; 
arrival  at  Sanchian,  328  ;  failure  to 
enter  China,  332  ;  illness,  333  ;  death, 
334 ;  study  of  the  miracle -stories 
relating  to,  336  ;  note  on  his  Rubrica 
and  letters,  343 
Xavier,  castle  of,  34,  40 


Yajiro,  254,  270,  274,  283,  288,  297 
Yamaguchi  (Japan),  299,  300,  304  ft 
Ycicu  (Japan),  297 
Ydocin,  33 


W.  H.  SMITH  &  SON,  The  Arden  Press,  Stamford  Street,  London,  S.E, 


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