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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT  OF 

UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 
BERKELEY 


r. 


PORTUGUESE 

DISCOVERIES  DEPENDENCIES 

AND 

MISSIONS   IN   ASIA   AND   AFRICA 


PORTUGUESE 

DISCOVERIES  DEPENDENCIES 


AND 


MISSIONS  IN  ASIA  AND  AFRICA 


COMPILED    BY    THE 


REV    ALEX    J    D    D'ORSEY    BD 

L__— — — 

CAMBRIDGE 

Knight  Commander  of  the  Portuguese  Order  of  Christ  late   Professor 
in  Kings  College  London 


LONDON 

W    H    ALLEN    &   CO    LIMITED 

13,    WATERLOO   PLACE,    S.W. 
1893- 


WYMAN  AND  SONS,  LIMITED,  LONDON  AND  REDH1LL. 


PREFACE. 


THERE  are  some  subjects  which,  at  first  sight,  seem 
to  present  little  difficulty,  and  to  demand  but  a  very 
moderate  amount  of  research.  When,  however,  the 
student  has  commenced  his  investigations,  he  sees 
new  fields  opening  up  on  every  side  ;  and  the  difficulty 
is  not  to  find  materials  for  his  work,  but  to  select  from 
the  vast  mass  before  him  such  elements  as  are  solely, 
or  chiefly,  suitable  for  his  enterprise.  This  has  been 
our  principal  embarrassment  in  the  preparation  of  the 
following  Essay  ;  for  it  was  soon  discovered  that  the 
volumes  bearing  upon  our  subject  would  have  furnished 
matter  for  a  history,  instead  of  contributing  to  the 
pages  of  a  monograph. 

In  writing  an  account  of"  The  Portuguese  Missions 
in  Southern  India  in  the  XVIth  Century,  with 
Special  Reference  to  the  Syrian  Christians,  and  to 
Modern  Missionary  Efforts  in  that  Quarter,"  the 


537837 


viii  Preface. 

Author  must  obviously  depend  more  upon  industry  in 
research,  accuracy  in  quotation,  and  judgment  in  selec- 
tion, than  on  the  more  brilliant  qualities  of  intellect 
and  imagination.     He  must  make  up  his  mind  not  to 
trust   to   second-hand  authorities,  ordinary  compila- 
tions  and   translations,  often  indifferently  rendered, 
but  to  go  at  once  to  the  fountain  head,  examine  care- 
fully  for    himself,    compare    conflicting    statements, 
verify  citations,  reconcile  discrepancies,   and  out   of 
chaos,  as  far  as  possible,  produce  order.     He  will,  of 
course,  have   to   study   many   a   ponderous   folio  in 
mediaeval    Latin,   in   singularly   quaint  and  difficult 
Portuguese,  in  Spanish,  Italian,  French,  and  English, 
all  more  or  less  differing  from  those  of  the  present 
day.     He  must  be  prepared  to  encounter  various,  and 
sometimes  contradictory,  versions  of  the  same  trans- 
action, according  to  the    national    or   political   bias 
of  the  writers  whom  he  consults.      And  above  all, 
he  will  find  himself  perplexed  by  the  strong  party 
colouring  given  by  antagonistic  religious  factions  to 
events  which  are  made  to  tell  for  or  against  a  theory, 
'in  proportion  to  the  light  in  which  they  are  repre- 
sented.    To  all  which  must  be  added  the  subjective 
difficulty,  for,  unless  perpetually  on  his  guard,  he  will 


Prejace.  ix 

be  prone  to  follow  the  example  of  those  Procrustean 
writers  who  allow  their  own  predilections  to  influence 
their  manner  of  recording  facts,  and  who  sometimes 
so  far  forget  what  is  due  to  truth  as  to  diminish, 
magnify,  or  suppress,  as  may  best  suit  the  party  they 
wish  to  serve.1 

In  the  particular  case  before  us  the  first  duty  was 
to  divide  the  general  theme  into  such  portions  as 
would  enable  the  reader  to  form  a  clear  idea  of  the 
whole  question.  The  next  object  was  to  obtain  from 
public  libraries,  from  official  reports,  political  and 
religious,  and  from  private  information,  such  authentic 
details  as  would  fill  in  this  outline,  selecting  such  por- 
tions as  are  calculated  by  their  shape,  size,  and  colour, 
to  combine  for  the  production  of  a  faithful  and  har- 
monious picture.  The  third  part  of  our  task,  subor- 
dinate, but  still  important,  was  to  indicate,  by  constant 
reference,  the  sources  from  which  we  derived  our 
information,  not  only  to  steer  clear  of  any  suspicion 
of  plagiarism,  but  to  afford  anyone  interested  in  our 
subject  the  means  of  verifying  our  quotations,  or  of 
following  up  the  stream  to  its  fountain-head. 

1  For  a  striking  illustration  of  dishonesty  in  quotation,  see  Marshall's 
"  History  of  the  Christian  Missions." 


x  Preface. 

The  First  Book  treats  of  the  Portuguese  themselves, 
and  gives  a  very  brief  sketch  of  the  circumstances 
which  led  to  their  maritime  discoveries  in  the 
XVth  Century,  as  preliminary  to  their  brilliant 
conquests  in  the  East  in  the  XVIth  Century.  It 
affords  also  an  outline  of  Portuguese  India  when  their 
Eastern  Empire  was  at  its  height,  and  concludes  with 
a  description  of  Southern  India  as  the  scene  of  the 
transactions  recorded  in  this  paper.  This  book  is,  of 
course,  merely  introductory,  and  may  be  omitted  by 
such  of  our  readers  as  are  familiar  with  the  subject. 

The  Second  Book  discusses  the  Portuguese  Missions, 
their  origin,  progress,  prosperous  and  adverse  circum- 
stances, first  in  reference  to  the  heathen,  and  then 
with  regard  to  the  Church  of  Malabar.  It  includes  a 
condensed  narrative  of  the  rise  of  the  Jesuits,  their 
settlement  in  Portugal,  and  their  subjugation  of  the 
heathen  in  Southern  India  by  Francis  Xavier  and  his 
successors  in  the  XVIth  and  early  portion  of  the 
XVIIth  Century. 

The  Third  Book  is  devoted  to  the  influence  of  the 
Portuguese  Missions  on  the  Syrian  Christians,  and 
records  the  various  attempts  made  by  Franciscans, 
Jesuits,  and  others,  during  the  last  forty  years  of  the 


Preface.  xi 

XVIth  Century,    concluding    with    the    triumph    of 
Rome  at  the  Synod  of  Diamper. 

In  the  Fourth  Book  an  attempt  is  made  to  bridge 
over  the  interval  between  the  subjugation  of  the 
Syrian  Church  under  Menezes,  and  the  modern  mis- 
sionary efforts  in  South  India.  Though  this  is  not 
included  in  the  title  of  the  paper,  the  link  seems 
absolutely  necessary  to  render  the  concluding  book 
intelligible.  This  Fourth  Book,  therefore,  compre- 
hends the  missionary  movements  from  the  College  of 
St.  Paul  at  Goa,  the  famous  Madura  Mission,  the 
conversion  by  Jesuits  and  Capuchins,  from  Pondi- 
cherry  to  Cape  Comorin,  and  the  struggles  of  the 
Syrian  Church  during  the  XVIIth  and  XVIIIth 
Centuries. 

The  Fifth  Book  relates  to  modern  missionary 
efforts  in  South  India,  and  exhibits,  in  an  extremely 
condensed  form,  the  history  of  the  first  Protestant 
Missions  in  the  Deccan,  the  temporary  union  between 
the  English  and  Syrian  Churches,  the  disruption  and 
its  results,  the  present  state  of  the  Syrian  Christians 
as  a  proof  of  the  still  existing  operation  of  Portuguese 
influence,  and  the  revival  of  the  Romish  Missions  in 
Madura,  and  surrounding  districts. 


xii  Preface. 

If  anyone  will  carefully  peruse  this  summary,  he 
will  have  no  difficulty,  without  our  encroaching  on  his 
patience,  or  tacitly  censuring  his  understanding,  in 
drawing  his  own  inferences,  and  making  his  own 
reflections.  If  "  one  fact  is  worth  a  thousand  argu- 
ments," this  historical  sketch,  full  of  facts,  will  afford 
the  most  ample  proof  of  the  extent  to  which  Portuguese 
Romanism  has  damaged  Syrian  Christianity,  and 
will  probably  suggest  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Church 
of  England  to  do  her  utmost  to  remedy  the  evil. 

Coatham,  Redcar, 
March,  1893. 


CONTENTS. 


BOOK    I. 
INTRODUCTORY. 

THE   PORTUGUESE    IN    EUROPE   AND   ASIA. 


CHAPTER  I. 
PORTUGAL  AND  THE  PORTUGUESE         3 

CHAPTER  II. 
PORTUGUESE  DISCOVERIES  IN  THE  XVth  CENTURY     13 

CHAPTER  III. 
PORTUGUESE  CONQUESTS  OF  INDIA  IN  THE  XVIth  CENTURY       28 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  PORTUGUESE  EMPIRE  IN  THE  XVIth  CENTURY 42 


BOOK    II. 

THE    PORTUGUESE    MISSIONS    IN    SOUTHERN 
INDIA. 


CHAPTER    I. 
EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  INDIA     59 


xiv  Contents. 

CHAPTER  II. 
FIRST  MEETING  OF  THE  PORTUGUESE  WITH  THE  SYRIANS  ...    72 

CHAPTER  III. 
PIONEERS  OF  THE  PORTUGUESE  MISSIONS         78 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  RISE  OF  THE  JESUITS 92 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE  JESUITS  IN  PORTUGAL  109 

CHAPTER  VI. 
ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER'S  MISSION  IN  INDIA         116 

CHAPTER  VII. 

SUBSEQUENT  MISSIONS  IN  THE  XVIth  CENTURY         137 


BOOK    III. 
THE  SUBJUGATION  OF  THE  SYRIAN  CHURCH. 


CHAPTER  I. 
ROMAN  CLAIM  OF  SUPREMACY      151 

CHAPTER  II. 
FIRST  ATTEMPT,  BY  THE  FRANCISCANS 157 

CHAPTER  III. 
SECOND  ATTEMPT,  BY  THE  JESUITS         166 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  STRUGGLE  AGAINST  ROME     176 

CHAPTER  V. 
THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  GOA ..  188 

CHAPTER  VI. 
THE  SYNOD  OF  DIAMPER .  212 


Contents.  xv 

CHAPTER  VII. 
THE  TRIUMPH  OF  ROME     232 


BOOK    IV. 

SUBSEQUENT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTHERN  INDIA, 
WITH  SPECIAL  REFERENCE  TO  THE  SYRIANS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
RADIATION  OF  MISSIONS  FROM  GOA       243 

.CHAPTER  II. 

THE  MADURA  MISSION        251 

CHAPTER  III. 
PORTUGUESE  MISSIONS  IN  THE  CARNATIC 


CHAPTER  IV. 
SYRIAN  CHRISTIANS  IN  THE  XVIIth  CENTURY 270 

CHAPTER  V. 
SYRIAN  CHRISTIANS  IN  THE  XVIIIIh  CENTURY  ...  282 


BOOK    V. 

THE   PORTUGUESE    MISSIONS,  WITH    SPECIAL 

REFERENCE  TO  MODERN  MISSIONARY 

EFFORTS  IN  SOUTH  INDIA. 

CHAPTER  I, 
THE  FIRST  PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  INDIA  ...        ..    293 

CHAPTER  II. 
ENGLISH  MISSIONS  TO  THE  SYRIANS,  1806-16  ...         ...         ...  302 


xvi  Contents. 

CHAPTER  III. 
ENGLISH  MISSIONS  AND  THE  SYRIAN  CHRISTIANS,  1816-38  ...  319 

CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  DISRUPTION  AND  ITS  RESULTS,  1838-58 333 

CHAPTER  V. 
PRESENT  STATE  OF  THE  SYRIAN  CHRISTIANS 347 

CHAPTER  VI. 
THE  REVIVAL  OF  THE  ROMISH  MISSIONS  IN  INDIA 362 


AUTHORITIES 379 

APPENDIX  A 3^7 

APPENDIX  B 391 

APPENDIX  C      4°7 

APPENDIX  D 412 

EXTRACTS         43l 


BOOK  I. 

THE    PORTUGUESE    IN    EUROPE 
AND   ASIA. 


THE    PORTUGUESE    IN    EUROPE 
AND    ASIA. 


CHAPTER   I. 

PORTUGAL  AND  THE  PORTUGUESE. 

"  II  n'y  avail  pas  quarante  mille  Portugais  sous  les  armes,  et  ils 
faisaient  trembler  1'Empire  de  Marve,  tons  les  barbares  d'  Afrique,  les 
Mammelus,  les  Arabes,  et  tout  1'Orient,  depuis  1'isle  d'  Ormuz  jusqu 
'a  la  Chine.  Ils  n'etaient  pas  un  centre  cent  ;  et  ils  attaquaient  des 
troupes,  qui  souvent  avec  des  armes  egales,  disputaient  leurs  biens  et 
leur  vie  jusqu  'a  1'extremite.  Quels  hommes  devaient  done  etre  alors  les 
Portugais,  et  quels  ressorts  extraordinaires  en  avaient  fait  un  peuple  de 
heros ? " — "Hist,  des  Indes."  Abbe  Raynal.  Tom.  I.,  p.  119. 

THE  kingdom  of  Portugal,  occupying  the  south- 
western extremity  of  Europe,  seemed  but  little 
entitled  to  play  a  leading  part  in  the  world's  drama. 
Yet  no  European  nation  can  exhibit  more  brilliant 
pages  than  those  to  which  the  Portuguese  proudly 
points  in  his  country's  annals  from  the  early  part  of 
the  XIIIth  to  the  end  of  the  XVIth  Century.  A 
rapid  survey  of  the  chief  features  will  form  a  fitting 
introduction  to  the  main  subject  of  this  Essay. 

B  2 


4  Portugal  and  the  Portuguese. 

For  many  centuries  the  Lusitanians  were  an 
obscure  people  of  the  Roman  Empire,  remarkable  for 
their  utter  want  of  civilisation.  During  the  Middle 
Ages  they  were  held  in  subjection  by  the  Moslem 
invaders,  till,  in  1 107,  Count  Henry,  after  severe 
conflicts,  laid  the  foundation  of  the  Portuguese  power. 
His  heroic  son  Alfonso  by  the  victory  of  Ourique  in 
1 1 39,1  secured  his  title  of  King  on  the  battle-field  ; 
but  the  country  was  not  completely  freed  from  the 
Moors  till  the  conquest  of  Algarve  in  1252,  by 
Alphonso  III.2  Under  the  fostering  care  of  Sancho  I.; 
and  especially  of  Diniz  the  Just,  peace  and  prosperity 
were  restored.  Manufactures,  commerce,  and  agri- 
culture revived,  and  by  his  construction  of  the  first 
Portuguese  fleet  at  Lisbon  in  1 293,  the  King  prepared 
the  way  for  the  glorious  work  of  a  later  age.  He 
founded  the  University  of  Lisbon,  granted  Municipal 
rights  to  newly-made  towns,  protected  the  merchants 
and  trading  classes  against  the  tyranny  of  the  nobles ; 
and,  while  building  cathedrals  and  monasteries, 
checked  with  a  strong  hand  the  arrogant  pretensions 
of  the  clergy.  Alphonso  IV.  reigned  from  1325  till 
1357,  formed  an  alliance  with  Castile  and  Aragon 
against  the  Moors,  caused  the  assassination  of  Ines  de 
Castro,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Pedro  I.  During 

1  La  bataille  de  campo  d'  Ourique  fut  livree  le  25  Juin,  1139,  et  c'est 
de  cette  grande  epoque  qu'il  faut  faire  dater  la  monarchic  Portugaise. — 
"Hist,  de  Port., "p.  7. 

2  Ribeiro-Dissertayoes  Chronologicas  Criticas. 


Portugal  and  the  Portuguese.  5 

these  reigns  perpetual  conflicts  raged  between  the 
crown  and  the  nobility,  often  in  combination  with  the 
military  orders  and  the  clergy.  Yet  all  the  efforts  of 
the  Kings,  though  occasionally  successful,  failed  to 
curb  the  turbulence  of  the  feudatories  till  the  battle 
of  Aljubarrota  in  1385,  gained  by  John  I.  over  the 
rebels,  effectually  crushed  insubordination,  and 
restored  the  dignity  of  the  crown.1 

Thus  for  many  centuries  the  Portuguese  had  been 
trained  to  war.  In  the  stern,  school  of  adversity  the 
latent  energies  of  the  race  had  been  gradually 
developed.  Religion,  or  rather  religious  fanaticism 
was  the  inspiring  principle,  the  very  mainspring  of 
every  movement,  of  every  heroic  exploit.  Their  wars 
were  rather  crusades  than  patriotic  struggles.  They 
fought  the  Moor  rather  as  an  enemy  to  the  faith,  than 
as  the  invader  of  their  country.  As  one  of  their  own 
historians  (De  Barros)  has  said,  "  The  kingdom  was 
founded  in  the  blood  of  martyrs  and  by  martyrs  was 
spread  over  the  globe  "  ;  for,  of  course,  he  considered 
all  who  fell  in  battle  against  the  infidel  as  perfectly 
entitled  to  the  crimson  crown. 

Portugal,  thus  formed  into  a  kingdom,  was  about 
1450  divided  into  five  provinces  : — (i)  Entre-Douro-e- 
Minho,  with  the  ancient  capital  Guimaraes,  Oporto 
and  Braga.  (2)  Tras-os-Montcs,  with  Braganca,  the 

1  "  Dialogos  cle   Varia  Historia,"    1648,   p.    127.      Faria    e    Souza 
"•'  Europa  Portugueza."     "  L'Univers  Pittoresque  Portugal,"  pp.  51-53. 


6  Portugal  and  the  Portuguese. 

cradle  of  the  Royal  House,  Castello  Rodrigo  and 
Almeida.  (3)  Beira,  containing  Visen  and  Laniego, 
the  latter  famous  for  the  Cortes  in  1143  and  1181, 
Coimbra  for  its  University  founded  in  1318.  (4) 
Estremadura,  the  most  important  and  populous 
province  of  the  Portuguese  realm.  Lisboa  had  a 
Moslem  population  long  after  the  time  of  Alphonso 
in  1147.  Beautifully  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Tagus,  it  afterwards  became  the  centre  of  Portuguese 
manufactures  and  commerce,  as  well  as  the  per- 
manent residence  of  the  King.  Santarem,  Torres 
Vedras,  Almada,  Restello  (now  Belem),  Cintra  Mafra, 
Leiria,  Aljubarrote,  Batalha,  Alcobaca,  are  all  famous 
in  the  history  of  the  Spanish  and  Moorish  wars. 
(5)  Entre-Tejo-e-Guadiana  or  Alem-Tejo,  possessing 
Evora,  Beja,  Ourique  and  Albuquerque. 

Besides  these  provinces,  there  was  the  kingdom  of 
Algarve  divided  into  D'Alem  Mar,  "  on  this  side  of 
the  sea,"  and  Aquem  Mar,  or  "  beyond  the  sea  "  ;  the 
former  containing  Lagos,  Faro,  and  Louie,  the  last 
strongholds  of  the  Arabs  in  Portugal.  On  Cape  St. 
Vincent  stood  Sagres,  where  Henry  the  Navigator 
erected  the  world-renowned  "Villa  do  Infante."1 

1  In  days  long  past  there  had  stood  upon  the  sister  headland  of  St. 
Vincent,  at  about  a  league's  distance,  a  circular  Druidical  temple, 
where,  as  Strabo  tells  us,  the  old  Iberians  believed  that  the  gods 
assembled  at  night,  and  from  the  ancient  name  of  Sacrum  Promon- 
torium,  hence  given  to  the  entire  promontory  by  the  Romans,  Cape 
Sagres  received  its  modern  appelation.  As  may  lie  imagined,  the 
motive  for  the  Prince's  choice  could  not  have  been  an  ordinary  one. — 
Major's  "  Prince  Henry  the  Navigator,"  p.  2. 


Portugal  and  the  Portuguese.  7 

Here  the  scientific  and  enterprising  Prince,  in  full 
view  of  the  broad  Atlantic,  planned  the  various 
expeditions  for  the  exploration  of  the  African  coast, 
and  the  discovery  of  Madeira  and  the  Western 
Islands.1  Algarve  (now  a  province)  was  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  and  fertile  portions  of  the  realm,  its 
ports  crowded  with  ships,  and  its  towns  full  of  war- 
like adventurers  thirsting  for  foreign  conquests.  The 
inhabitants,  Christians,  Jews,  and  Moors,  lived  happily 
together  till  the  Inquisition,  in  the  XVIth  Century, 
kindled  the  fires  of  persecution,  and  converted  that 
happy  region  into  a  desert.  The  other  Algarve 
("  beyond  the  sea  ")  stretched  from  Ceuta  (Abyla)  to 
Cape  Espartel,  and  contained  Almina,  Alcazar, 
Tanjier,  and  Arzilla.  The  African  conquests  began 
in  1415  (the  year  of  Agincourt)  with  the  capture  of 
Ceuta,  and  ended,  after  years  of  heroism  and  glory, 
with  the  terrible  defeat  at  Alcazar-el-Kebir,  in  1578, 
and  the  death  of  King  Sebastian. 

This  brief  summary  of  the  early  history  and  geo- 
graphical position  of  Portugal  will  enable  the  reader 
to  understand  the  circumstances  in  which  that  country 
stood  at  the  commencement  of  its  discoveries.  The 
warlike  character  of  the  population,  the  long  range 
of  coast  bordered  by  the  unknown  Atlantic,  and  the 
desire  to  avenge  the  thraldom  under  which  their 
native  land  had  groaned,  inspired  the  Portuguese 

1  Chronica  cle  Guine,  por  Gomez,  Eamez,  cle  Azurora,  p.  385. 


8  Portugal  and  the  Portuguese. 

with  a  desire  to  carry  the  war  into  the  enemy's 
country  and  to  subdue  the  territory  of  the  infidel 
to  the  Faith  of  the  Cross. 

In  confirmation  of  these  views  we  may  partly 
extract,  and  partly  condense,  the  opinion  of  a  great 
writer  on  India  a  hundred  years  ago.1  Speaking  of 
the  conquests  of  Albuquerque  and  his  followers  in 
Malabar  he  says,  "If  we  are  astonished  at  the  number 
of  his  victories  and  the  rapidity  of  his  conquests,  how 
much  more  should  the  brave  men  whom  he  com- 
manded excite  our  admiration  ?  Have  we  ever  seen 
a  nation,  apparently  so  powerless,  do  such  great 
deeds  ?  There  were  never  more  than  40,000  Portu- 
guese under  arms,  and  they  struck  terror  into  the 
empire  of  Morocco,  the  barbarians  of  Africa,  the 
Mamelukes,  the  Arabs,  and  all  the  East,  from  Ormuz 
to  China.  They  were  not  one  against  a  hundred,  and 
they  attacked  troops,  which,  as  well  armed  as  they 
were,  fought  for  their  lives  and  property  to  the  last 
extremity."  What  wonderful  men  must  the  Portu- 
guese of  that  period  have  been,  and  what  remarkable 
training  must  have  converted  them  into  a  nation  of 
heroes.  They  had  been  for  a  century  warring 
against  the  Moors,  when  Count  Henry  of  Burgundy 
landed  in  Portugal  with  some  French  Knicfhts 


1  Ilistoire  Philosophique  et  Politique  des  Etablissemens  et  clu 
Commerce  des  Europeans  dans  les  Deux  Indes. — A.  Paris  1778.  Par 
M.  Abbe  Raynal. 


Portugal  and  the  Portuguese.  9 

with  the  intention  of  fighting  in  Castile  under  the 
Banner  of  the  Cid,  whose  fame  had  attracted  them  ' 
to  the  theatre  of  war.  The  Portuguese  invited  these 
chivalrous  adventurers  to  assist  them  against  the 
infidels ;  the  knights  assented,  and  most  of  them 
settled  in  Portugal.  The  institution  of  chivalry,  one 
which  has  so  much  elevated  human  nature,  that  love 
of  glory  instead  of  mere  country,  that  spirit  purified 
from  the  contamination  of  surrounding  barbarism 
appeared  upon  the  banks  of  the  Tagus,  with  all  the 
splendour  which  had  characterised  its  origin  in  France 
and  England.  The  Portuguese  Monarchs  strove  to 
preserve  it,  and  to  extend  its  power  by  the  establish- 
ment of  various  orders  formed  upon  the  old  models, 
and  whose  spirit  was  the  same,  that  is  to  say,  a  union 
of  heroism,  gallantry,  and  devotion. 

The  Kings  of  Portugal  still  further  elevated  the 
spirit  of  the  nation  by  the  equality  with  which  they 
treated  the  nobility,  and  by  the  restrictions  which 
they  placed  on  their  own  authority.  They  often 
assembled  the  States-General,  without  which  there  is 
not  properly  a  nation.  It  was  from  these  States  that 
Alphonso  received  the  sceptre  after  the  capture  of 
Lisbon.  It  was  in  combination  with  these  States 
that  his  successors,  for  centuries  enacted  laws,  several 
of  which  seemed  peculiarly  calculated  to  inspire  the 
love  of  glory.  The  Peerage  was  granted  as  a  reward 
for  distinguished  services.  For  instance,  to  one  who 


io  Portugal  and  the  Portuguese. 

had  killed  or  taken  a  General  of  the  enemy,  or  to  one 
who,  when  prisoner  amongst  the  Moors,  had  refused 
to  purchase  his  liberty  by  the  sacrifice  of  his  faith. 
On  the  other  hand,  whoever  insulted  a  woman,  bore 
false  witness,  broke  his  word,  or  concealed  the  truth 
from  the  King,  forfeited  his  nobility. 

The  wars  which  the  Portuguese  had  carried  on  in 
defence  of  their  country  and  their  liberty,  were,  at 
the  same  time,  religious  wars.  They  were  full  of  that 
fierce  but  brilliant  fanaticism  which  the  Popes  had 
excited  during  the  Crusades.  The  Portuguese  then 
were  Chevaliers,  armed  in  defence  of  their  fortunes, 
their  wives,  their  childre~n,  and  their  kings,  Chevaliers 
like  themselves.  They  were,  in  fact,  Crusaders,  who, 
in  defending  Christianity,  fought  for  their  country 
too.  Add  to  this,  that  they  were  a  little  nation,  an 
extremely  feeble  power,  and  we  have  another  illustra- 
tion of  a  well-known  fact  that  small  States  often  in 
danger,  display  a  patriotic  enthusiasm,  rarely  felt  by 
great  nations,  enjoying  uninterrupted  security. 

The  principles  of  activity,  force,  elevation,  and 
grandeur,  which  characterised  the  nation  at  that 
period,  continued  after  the  expulsion  of  the  Moors. 
The  victorious  Portuguese,  not  satisfied  with  driving 
out  these  enemies  of  their  country  and  their  creed, 
pursued  them  into  Africa  itself.  Then  followed 
certain  conflicts,  more  or  less  important,  with  the 
Kings  of  Castile  and  Leon,  serving  to  maintain  the 


Portugal  and  the  Portuguese.  1 1 

spirit  and  the  training  required  in  war,  if  securing  no 
other  end.  At  last,  during  the  period  which 
immediately  preceded  the  expeditions  to  India,  the 
nobility,  retiring  from  the  court  and  the  great  towns, 
had  but  little  to  occupy  them  in  their  castles  but  the 
pictures  and  the  virtues  of  their  ancestors  j1  and 
they  naturally  longed  for  some  enterprise  worthy  of 
their  powers. 

As  soon  as  the  question  arose  of  attempting  con- 
quests in  Africa  and  in  Asia,  a  new  passion  was 
added  to  the  motives  of  which  we  have  just  spoken, 
to  give  additional  force  to  the  genius  of  the 
Portuguese.  This  passion,  which  at  first  had  the 
effect  of  stimulating  all  the  others,  but  which  soon 
annihilated  their  generous  principles,  was  cupidity. 
They  set  off  in  crowds  to  make  their  fortunes  to 
serve  the  State,  and  to  convert  the  heathen.  They 
appeared  in  India  as  superhuman  beings  down  to 
the  death  of  Albuquerque.  After  that  event,  the 
very  riches  which  were  the  object  and  fruit  of  their 
conquests,  corrupted  them  to  the  core.  Noble 
passions  gave  way  to  luxury  and  self-indulgence, 
which  never  failed  to  destroy  the  strength  of  the 
body,  and  the  virtues  of  the  soul.  The  weakness 
of  the  successors  of  the  great  Immanuel,  the  men 

1  Enfin,  pendant  les  terns  qui  precederent  les  expeditions  de  1'Inde, 
la  noblesse,  eloignee  des  Villes  et  de  la  Cour,  conservait  dans  ses 
chateaux  les  portraits  et  les  vertus  de  ses  peres. — Abbe  Raynal.  Vol. 
I.,  p.  122. 


12  Portugal  and  the  Portuguese. 

of  mediocre  talent,  selected  by  him  as  Viceroys  of 
India,  gradually  effected  the  utter  ruin  of  the  Portu- 
guese Empire  in  the  East. 

These  remarks  will  probably  suffice  to  introduce 
the  people  who  are  to  play  so  conspicuous  a  part  in 
our  narrative.  The  reader,  who  desires  more 
information,  is  referred  to  the  voluminous  works  of 
Joao  de  Barros,  to  the  elegantly  written  "  Historia  de 
Portugal,"  by  Ercolano  (the  Macaulay  of  his  country), 
or  to  an  exceedingly  interesting  compendium  in  the 
second  and  third  chapters  of  Prince  Henry  the 
Navigator,  by  Mr.  R.  H.  Major,  of  the  British 
Museum. 


CHAPTER  II. 

PORTUGUESE   DISCOVERIES  IN    THE   XVth    CENTURY. 

"The  mystery,  which  since  Creation  had  hung  over  the  Atlantic, 
and  hidden  from  man's  knowledge  one  half  of  the  surface  of  the 
globe,  had  reserved  a  field  of  noble  enterprise  for  Prince  Henry  the 
Navigator."— R.  H.  MAJOR. 

JOHN  I.,  who  reigned  from  1383  till  1433,  made  the 
first  attempt  at  discovery  on  a  very  limited  scale,  and 
in  connection  with  an  expedition  to  the  Coast  of 
Barbary.  In  1415,  Portugal,  assured  of  peace  with 
Castile,  had  reached  a  high  degree  of  prosperity,  and 
the  King  availed  himself  of  domestic  tranquility  to 
attack  the  northern  coast  of  Africa,  and  thus  lay  the 
foundation  of  an  empire  beyond  the  seas.  A  fleet 
was  soon  after  dispatched  to  survey  the  western 
shore  of  Morocco,  and,  if  possible,  to  trace  the  whole 
outline  of  the  African  Continent.  Unable  to  advance 
further  than  Cape  Bojador,  they  returned  without 
accomplishing  their  object  ;  though  this  attempt 
excited  them  to  further  researches  in  the  same 
direction.  These  efforts  were  now  systematically 


14     Portuguese  Discoveries  in  Fifteenth  Century. 

guided  by  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  his 
age,  Prince  Henry,  a  younger  son  of  John  I.,  by 
Philippa  of  Lancaster,  sister  of  Henry  IV.  of 
England.  In  early  life  he  had  devoted  himself  to 
mathematics,  and  he  continued  to  acquire  all  the 
information  which  geographical  and  nautical  science 
at  that  time  afforded.  He  fixed  his  residence,  as  we 
have  already  said,  at  Sagres ;  and  his  house  became 
a  sort  of  Naval  College,  wherein  knowledge  was 
communicated,  and  encouragement  given,  for  the 
prosecution  of  maritime  discovery.  Immediately 
after  his  return  from  the  victorious  expedition  to 
Ceuta  he  determined  to  realise  his  project,  and  at 
once  dispatched  two  young  officers  of  his  household, 
Gon^alvez  Zarco  and  Tristam  Vaz,  to  cruise  along 
the  coast,  and  to  penetrate  those  undiscovered 
regions,  of  which  but  vague  reports  had  occasionally 
reached  Europe.  Driven  out  to  sea  by  a  storm,  they 
lost  the  coast  line,  but  discovered  first  Porto  Santo 
and  then  Madeira.  The  chronicles  of  the  period  are 
filled  with  glowing  descriptions  of  the  beauty  of  "  The 
Pearl  of  the  Seas,"  which  space  forbids  us  to  tran- 
scribe. We  must  not  however  omit  one  important 
fact,  as  showing  the  religious  tendencies  of  the  Portu- 
guese, that  no  sooner  had  this  interesting  island  been 
partially  peopled,  than  Prince  Henry,  as  Grand 
Master  of  the  Order  of  Christ,  placed  the  whole 
under  his  powerful  institution.  Soon  after  the 


Portuguese  Discoveries  in  Fifteenth  Century.     15 

Franciscans   arrived,   and    founded    at    Funchal    the 
extensive  Convent  of  San  Bernardino. 

About  fourteen  years  after  the  discovery  of  Madeira, 
the  Azores  were  explored  for  the  first  time,  by 
Gonzalo  Cabral,  who  had  sailed  from  Sagres,  under 
the  Prince's  auspices.  But  these  successes,  interesting 
as  they  are,  form  but  the  prelude  to  the  explorations 
of  the  Portuguese  along  the  Coast  of  Africa.  There 
is  in  the  narrative  of  the  early  triumphs,  under  the 
influence  of  the  Prince,  one  fact  which  outshines  all 
the  rest — it  is  that  which  shows  us  the  Portuguese  on 
tJie  way  to  India — it  is  the  exact  history  of  those 
exploring  expeditions,  creeping  along  the  African 
Coast,  which,  preparing  the  downfall  of  Venetian 
commerce,  were  thereby  destined  to  raise  Portugal 
to  the  pitch  of  power  which  she  enjoyed  in  the 
XVIth  Century.  Tempting,  however,  as  this  theme 
is,  we  are  compelled  to  treat  it  superficially,  as  merely 
introductory  to  the  main  subject.  A  contemporary 
historian,  Gomez  Eannez  de  Azurara,  gives  five 
reasons  for  the  Prince's  desire  to  continue  his 
researches,  (i)  his  wish  to  know  what  land  existed 
beyond  the  Canaries  ;  (2)  that  he  might  find  out 
whether  there  was  any  Christian  Port  with  which 
he  might  maintain  a  profitable  trade  ;  (3)  that  he 
might  ascertain  precisely  the  extent  of  the  Moorish 
dominions  ;  (4)  that  he  might  discover  any  Chris- 
tian Potentate  who  would  aid  him  in  his  wars 


1 6    Portuguese  Discoveries  in  Fifteenth  Century. 

against  the  infidels  ;  (5)  that  he  might  extend  the  Holy 
religion  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  bring  to  Him 
all  the  souls  that  wished  to  be  saved. 
then,  by  this  desire,  and  guided  by  the 
aforesaid,  the  Prince  began  to  select  his  ships  and 
his  officers  suitable  to  the  nature  of  the  case.1  In 
1433,  Gil  Eannez  passed  the  famous  Bojador,  and 
thereby  proved  that  the  terror  which  this  Cape  in- 
spired was  simply  imaginary.  Baldaya,  in  1436,  com- 
manded a  second  expedition,  and  about  a  hundred 
and  twenty  leagues  south  of  the  Cape  saw,  for  the 
first  time,  the  inhabitants  of  the  land,  the  encounter 
being  prophetically  marked  by  bloodshed.  These 
expeditions  were  renewed  in  1441,  under  Goncalvez 
and  Nuno  Tristam,  who  returned  in  triumph  after 
having  discovered  Cape  Blanco.  "  The  Holy  Prince," 
as  he  is  called  by  Azurara,  wished  to  possess  the 
treasures  of  the  Church,  to  distribute  them  amongst 
these  bold  Captains  whom  he  intended  to  send  into 
these  desert  countries.  He  therefore  dispatched  an 
embassy  to  Pope  Martin  V.  to  inform  him  of  the 
marvellous  discoveries  just  made ;  and  his  suc- 
cessor, Eugene  IV.,  conceded  to  the  Prince  and  his 
successors  (1436)  not  only  t/ie  countries  which  he  had 
already  explored,  but  all  that  he  might  discover  beyond 
Cape  Bojador,  however  extensive  they  might  be. 
Nicholas  V.,  in  1450,  granted  a  second  bull 

1   Chronica  de  Guinee. 


Portuguese  Discoveries  in  Fifteenth  Century.    1 7 

confirming  the  first.  Between  1445  and  1450, 
explorations  were  continued  along  the  coast,  the 
,rj,yer  Senegal  and  Cape  Verde  being  then  discovered. 
.At  this  time  one  object  was  unquestionably  the 
capture  of  slaves — this  infamous  traffic  having  been 
begun  about  this  time,  the  first  victims  being  sold  at 
Lagos,  in  Portugal.  So  strangely  were  right  and 
wrong  confounded  by  these  pioneers  of  so-called 
Christianity  that  the  fifth  part  of  the  proceeds  of  the 
sale  of  human  beings  was  granted  to  the  Grand 
Master  of  the  Order  of  Christ ;  and  the  historian, 
though  indignant,  calms  himself  with  the  considera- 
tion that  the  end  justified  the  means,  inasmuch  as  the 
Negroes  zvould  thereby  be  converted. 

In  1448,  King  Edward  left  the  throne  to  his  Son, 
Alphonso  V.,  who,  furnishing  Prince  Henry  with  all 
the  means  required  for  pursuing  his  glorious  career, 
received  as  his  reward,  in  1460,  the  discovery  of  the 
Cape  Verde  and  adjacent  islands.  The  progress  of 
discovery  was  somewhat  checked  by  the  death  of 
Prince  Henry  in  1463,  but  it  soon  continued  to 
advance,  for  we  find  that  the  King  granted  to  Gomez 
a  monopoly  for  five  years,  on  condition  that  he  dis- 
covered, during  that  time,  five  hundred  leagues  more 
of  the  shores  of  Africa.  In  1471,  this  Navigator 
succeeded  in  exploring  the  Gold  Coast ;  the  Castle 
of  Elmina  was  erected,  and  the  King  of  Portugal 
assumed  the  title  of  Lord  of  Guinea. 

c 


1 8     Portuguese  Discoveries  in  Fifteenth  Century. 

John  II.  ascended  the  throne  in  1481,  and 
immediately  sent  ambassadors  to  Innocent  VIII.  to 
request  from  the  new  Pontiff  the  bull  of  the  "  Holy 
Crusade"  by  means  of  which  he  hoped  to  realise 
the  projects  of  his  Father  against  the  Mussulman 
States  of  the  Coast  of  Barbary.  About  1484  Diego 
Cam,  setting  sail  from  the  new  Castle  of  Elmina, 
advanced  towards  the  south,  and  found  himself, 
though  out  at  sea,  in  a  current  of  fresh  water. 
Inferring  that  this  indicated  the  near  neighbourhood 
of  a  large  river,  he  steered  towards  land,  and  dis- 
covered the  mouth  of  the  Congo.  We  next  hear  of 
settlements  made  by  Evora  and  Anez  in  1485-8  at 
Turcaral,  Tombul,  Congo,  and  in  the  country  of  the 
Zaloffes.  "  Christianity  was  preached  ^v^th  success" 
according  to  one  of  the  historians,  but  we  learn  from 
the  same  source  that  the  Portuguese  were  dis- 
tinguished by  a  "  burning  thirst "  for  gold,  by  corrupt 
morals,  by  constant  wars  with  the  natives,  and  by  the 
establishment  of  the  Slave  Trade.1 

Success  prompted  John  II.  to  further  efforts  for 
completing  his  exploration  of  the  African  Coast 
and,  in  1486,  he  appointed  B.  Diaz,  Commander  of 
an  Expedition,  under  orders  to  commence  his  in- 
vestigations at  the  mouth  of  the  Congo,  and  if 

1  "  L'histoire  cles  colonies  ne  nous  offrent  que  trop  souvent  un 
spectacle  de  cruautes,  que  inspire  1'horreur,  et  qui  fait  la  honte  de 
1'espece  humaine." — "  Lettres  Edifiantes."  Tom.  IV.,  p.  XVII. 


Portuguese  Discoveries  in  Fifteenth  Century.    19 

possible,  to  pass  the  southern  extremity  of  the  con- 
tinent. We  cannot  accompany  Diaz  in  his  long 
voyage,  the  details  of  which  are  given  with  extreme 
minuteness  by  Joao  de  Barros1 ;  but  we  may  mention 
that  he  gave  names  to  numerous  capes,  bays,  and 
islands,  and  erected  in  every  conspicuous  place  a 
"  Padaro,"  that  is  a  column  of  stone  .bearing  the  Cross 
and  the  Royal  Arms,  as  a  symbol  of  the  subjugation 
of  the  country  to  Christianity  and  Portugal.  A  storm 
drove  him  beyond  his  destination,  and  when,  after 
fourteen  days'  despair,  they  steered  eastward,  they 
found  that  they  had  overshot  the  mark,  and  uncon- 
sciously doubled  the  Cape.  Forced  by  his  mutinous 
crews  to  return  home,  he  steered  westward  and  dis- 
covered that  mighty  promontory  which  had  lain 
concealed  for  so  many  centuries,  and  which  formed, 
as  it  were,  the  boundary  between  two  worlds.  Diaz 
reached  Portugal  in  December,  1487  ;  and  his  "  Cape 
of  Storms "  was  changed  by  King  John  into  the 
"  Cape  of  Good  Hope,"  a  name  ever  since  retained. 

Desirous  of  affecting  the  discovery  of  the  mys- 
terious East,  and  of  forming  an  alliance  with  "  Prester 
John,"  the  King  sent  Covilham  and  Payra  overland 
in  May,  1487.  These  bold  travellers  determined  to 
go  by  way  of  the  Red  Sea.  Payra  died  in  Egypt, 
but  his  friend  succeeded  in  reaching  Sofala,  Ormuz, 
and  finally,  Calicut  and  Goa ;  and  Covilham  was 

1  Primeira  Decada.     L.  III.,  p.  42. 

C    2 


2O    Portuguese  Discoveries  in  Fifteenth  Century. 

thus  the  first  Portuguese  that  ever  landed  in  India. 
About  this  time  a  Yolof  prince  from  the  banks  of  the 
Senegal  arrived  at  the  Court  of  John  II.  to  ask  for 
aid  against  a  usurper  of  his  throne.  He  availed 
himself  of  this  favourable  circumstance  to  receive 
instructions ;  and,  surrounded  by  every  element  of 
regal  magnificence  and  ecclesiastical  pomp,  he  was 
baptised  by  the  name  of  John.  Soon  afterwards,  he 
did  homage  for  his  kingdom,  returned  to  Africa,  and, 
aided  by  by  the  Portuguese,  regained  possession  of 
his  throne.  But  poor  Bemohi  little  knew  the  price  to 
be  paid  for  the  blessings  of  civilisation  ;  for  though 
he  had  proved  himself  a  zealous  proselyte,  and  had 
persuaded  or  forced  twenty-five  thousand  of  his  sub- 
jects to  embrace  Christianity,  he  fell  beneath  the 
dagger  of  General  Bisagudo,  to  whose  care  he  had 
been  entrusted  by  the  Portuguese  King.1 

The  year  1492  is  famous  for  the  discovery  of 
America  by  Columbus,  whose  service,  offered,  in  the 
first  instance,  to  John  II.  as  the  great  promoter  of 
naval  enterprise,  had  been  unfortunately  declined. 
On  the  6th  of  March,  1493,  Columbus,  returning 
from  his  first  voyage,  put  into  the  Port  of  Lisbon, 
laden  with  the  trophies  of  the  New  World,  and  was 
received  by  the  dying  King  at  his  'palace  near 

1   Lorsque  Joam  II.  examina  serieusement  cette  affaire,  il  trouva  tan 
de   hauls  personnages  compromis  clans  ce  meurtre   abominable,   qu'il 
crut  devoir  garder  le  silence,  et  ne  put  decider  a  sevir.     Voy.  Vas- 
concellos.     "  Ilistoire  de  Jean  II." 


Portuguese  Discoveries  in  Fifteenth  Century.    21 

Santarcm.  John  II.,  deeply  mortified,  held  several 
Councils  with  the  object  of  advancing  a  claim  to  the 
glories  of  the  illustrious  Genoese ;  and  such  was  the 
intense  chagrin  of  the  courtiers,  that  they  offered  to 
assassinate  Columbus  on  the  spot.1 

Emmanuel,  or  Manoel  the  Great,  reigned  from 
1495  to  1521,  and  displayed  a  zeal  in  the  cause  of 
maritime  exploration  far  surpassing  that  of  his  pre- 
decessors. A  year  after  his  accession,  he  determined 
to  realise  the  immense  projects  which  his  father  had 
planned.  Diaz  was  charged  with  the  task  of  building 
three  vessels,  strong  enough  to  resist  the  stormy  seas 
of  the  south.  The  command  was  conferred  upon 
Vasco  da  Gama  who  sailed  from  Rastello  (now 
Belem)  on  7th  July,  1497,  amidst  religious  processions 
and  the  prayers  of  the  whole  population  of  Lisbon 
who  crowded  to  the  beach.  After  four  months  navi- 
gation, the  expedition  entered  St.  Helena  Bay,  and 
three  days  afterwards  came  in  sight  of  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope.  On  the  2Oth  of  November,  with  a  calm 
sea  and  gentle  breeze  Gama  doubled  the  Cape  amid 
the  sound  of  trumpets  and  the  ringing  cheers  of  the 
crews.  Before  him  lay  the  expanse  of  the  Indian 
.  Ocean,  and  the  road  was  now  open  to  that  unknown 
land,  the  object  of  all  their  hopes  and  expeditions. 
After  numerous  adventures  on  the  eastern  coast  of 
Africa,  during  which  he  discovered  Mozambique  and 

i  Barros,  Dec.  I.,  p.  56. 


22    Portuguese  Discoveries  in  Fifteenth  Century. 

many  other  places,  Gama  sailed  from  the  African 
Coast  on  the  26th  of  April,  to  steer  three  thousand 
miles  through  an  unknown  ocean.  On  the  twenty- 
third  day,  they  descried  the  peaks  of  the  Ghauts, 
which  their  African  pilot  declared  to  be  the  coast  of 
India,  and,  on  the  2Oth  of  May  he  made  the  land  at 
Capocate,  two  leagues  from  the  town  of  Calicut ; 
and  thus  was  this  great  adventure  crowned  with 
triumphant  success.  This  city  was  at  that  time  one 
of  the  most  powerful  of  the  East ;  commerce  flourished 
there  to  such  an  extent  that  the  merchants  of  Arabia, 
Persia,  and  all  India,  resorted  thither  in  crowds :  and 
the  King  of  Calicut  was  revered  as  the  sovereign  of 
all  Malabar. 

Da  Gama  waited  upon  the  King  (Rajah  or 
Zamorin)  to  inform  him  officially  of  his  arrival, 
of  the  object  of  his  voyage,  of  the  kingdom  to  which 
he  belonged,  of  his  position  as  ambassador,  of  his 
sovereign,  and  of  the  powers  with  which  he  was 
invested.  Everything  seemed  to  presage  the  greatest 
success  ;  the  Zamorin  formed  the  highest  opinion  of 
those  Europeans  who  had  been  bold  enough  to 
traverse  a  thousand  leagues,  and  to  brave  all  the 
perils  of  the  deep,  and  gave  the  leader  of  the  enter- 
prise the  most  gracious  reception,  ordering  that  he 
should  be  entertained  in  his  palace,  and  conceding  to 
him  and  his  people  liberty  to  trade  with  all  the  ports 
of  the  empire. 


Portuguese  Discoveries  in  Fifteenth  Century.    23 

This  moment  of  good  fortune  was  of  short 
duration.  The  Mohammedans,  monopolists  of  Indian 
commerce  for  many  ages,  foresaw  their  ruin  if  Gama 
remained  in  favour.  They  therefore  bribed  the 
ministers  of  the  King  to  denounce  the  Portuguese 
Admiral  as  a  piratical  adventurer.  After  much 
negotiation  and  vacillation,  mutual  distrust  broke 
into  open  war ;  and,  at  last,  Vasco  found  himself 
compelled,  though  unprepared,  to  re-cross  that  for- 
midable sea  which  lay  between  Malabar  and  Africa. 
After  a  passage  of  four  months  amidst  storms  and 
calms,  the  scurvy  decimating  his  crew,  he  reached 
Magadoxo  ;  but  finding  it  in  possession  of  the  Moors, 
he  anchored  in  the  friendly  harbour  of  Melinda. 
Supplied  with  provisions,  he  passed  the  Cape,  and  on 
the  29th  of  August,  1499,  entered  the  Tagus  with  but 
one  half  of  his  hundred  and  eight  men.  Transports 
of  admiration  welcomed  him  home ;  Emmanuel 
ordered  a  universal  thanksgiving,  and  honoured  the 
discoverer  with  the  new  title  of  Grand  Admiral  of 
the  East. 

Taking  advantage  of  this  general  enthusiasm 
Emmanuel  hastened  to  equip  thirteen  ships,  carrying 
twelve  hundred  men — a  force  sufficient  to  keep  the 
sea  against  all  the  navies  of  India  ;  and  on  the  8th  of 
March,  the  King,  having  heard  Mass,  in  the  Convent 
of  Belem,  placed  a  consecrated  banner  in  the  hands  of 
Cabral,  who,  accompanied  by  eiglit  Franciscan  Mission- 


24   Portuguese    Discoveries  in  Fifteenth  Century. 

aries,  was  instructed  to  destroy  all  infidels^  refusing  to 
listen  to  the  Christianity  which  the  Friars  preached. 

A  most  remarkable  event  distinguished  this  second 
expedition  to  the  East  Indies.  On  the  25th  of 
March,  when  the  fleet  had  doubled  Cape  Verde,  a 
tempest  completely  changed  the  course ;  and  on  the 
24th  of  April,  the  Portuguese  Admiral  suddenly 
found  himself  in  sight  of  a  finely- wooded  shore, 
which  he  rightly  conjectured  to  be  part  of  the 
Continent  recently  discovered  by  Columbus.  The 
Portuguese  Missionaries  then  celebrated  Mass  on  the 
flowery  turf  of  this  unknown  land,  amid  savage  tribes 
who  bent  before  the  Cross ;  and  thus  the  immense 
Empire  of  Brazil,  the  brightest  jewel  in  the  Portu- 
guese Crown,  "  was  won  in  a  single  day,  Providence 
requiring  merely  to  invoke  the  winds."1  Cabral  then 
steered  straight  for  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope ;  and, 
after  losing  four  of  his  ships  (in  one  of  which  Diaz 
perished)  rounded  the  promontory,  touched  at 
Mozambique,  Melinda,  and  Quiloa,  and  arrived  off 
Calicut  on  the  I3th  of  September.  His  arrival  was 
announced  by  several  salvos  of  artillery,  causing  the 
greatest  consternation  amongst  the  inhabitants. 
Recovering  from  their  fears,  the  natives  went  on 
board  the  Portuguese  vessels,  and  Cabral  was  received 
at  Court.  Dissimulation,  however,  prevailed  on  both 
sides,  and  open  war  broke  out.  Cabral,  everywhere 

1  "  Chroniques  Chevaleresques  cle  1'Espagne  et  clu  Portugal  "    T.  II. 


Portuguese  Discoveries  in  Fifteenth   Century.    25 

victorious,  forced  the  Zamorin  to  enter  into  alliance 
with  Portugal.  The  Arab  merchants,  alarmed  at  the 
approaching  ruin  of  their  commerce,  prevailed  on  the 
inhabitants  to  league  with  them  against  the  intruders. 
The  Admiral  avenged  himself  by  capturing  the 
richly-laden  vessels  of  the  Moslems,  who  appealed  to 
the  King,  declaring  that  the  Portuguese  had  now 
shown  themselves  in  their  true  colours  as  pirates. 
The  King  told  the  merchants  they  might  seek  redress 
as  they  pleased.  They  accordingly  took  the  law  into 
their  own  hands ;  and  heading  a  tumult,  stormed  the 
Portuguese  factory,  and  killed  Correa  and  forty  of  his 
men.  Cabral,  witnessing  this  terrible  scene,  took 
summary  vengeance.  He  attacked  ten  Moorish  ships, 
seized  their  crews  and  cargoes,  and  burnt  the  vessels 
in  full  view  of  the  citizens.  He  next  drew  up  his  fleet 
close  to  the  shore,  and  bombarded  the  city,  burying 
hundreds  of  the  inhabitants  under  the  ruins  of  their 
homes.  After  this  rupture,  Cabral  abandoned  Calicut, 
and  went  ninety  miles  south  to  Cochin,  whose  King 
was  a  reluctant  vassal  of  the  Zamorin.  He  therefore 
gave  the  strangers  a  hearty  welcome,  offered  them  full 
liberty  of  trading,  entered  into  an  alliance  with 
Portugal,  and  appointed  an  ambassador  to  ratify  the 
treaty  at  Lisbon.  While  Cabral  was  at  Cochin,  he 
heard  that  the  enraged  King  of  Calicut  had  fitted 
out  a  fleet  of  sixty  sail,  and  the  Admiral,  judging 
"  discretion  the  better  part  of  valour,"  and  avoiding 


26   Portuguese  Discoveries  in  Fifteenth  Century. 

the  conflict,  sailed  for  Lisbon,  and  left  the  Rajah  of 
Cochin  to  his  fate.  He  touched  at  Cananore,  and 
there  met,  for  the  first  time,  with  tivo  Christians  of  St. 
Tliomas  who  asked  him  to  grant  them  a  passage  to 
Rome.  The  Portuguese  fleet,  reduced  to  half  its 
original  number,  reached  Lisbon  on  the  3ist  of 
July,  1501. 

The  voyage  of  Cabral  completely  changed  Euro- 
pean ideas  of  the  East.  The  Christian  monarch, 
known  by  the  name  of  Prester  John,  invested  with 
imaginary  power  and  holiness,  disappeared  from  the 
scene.  People  began  to  form  a  more  sober  estimate  of 
tJie  Christians  of  St.  Thomas,  by  whom  these  rich 
countries  were  supposed  to  be  peopled,  reducing  the 
number  to  about  20,000,  being  tolerated,  rather  than 
enjoying  independence,  behind  the  mountains  of 
Cochin.  Men  began  to  admit  the  inflexibility  of  the 
Brahminical  institutions ;  and  the  severe  fasts  en- 
dured by  the  hostages  on  board  the  Christian  fleet, 
revealed  a  religious  antagonism  which  the  warlike 
Propagandists  were,  at  first,  far  from  suspecting. 
Caste,  with  its  unalterable  laws,  its  rigorous  principles, 
and  its  numerous  restraints,  presented  itself,  for  the 
first  time,  in  its  real  essence  to  European  eyes. 
Statesmen  too,  understood  better  than  before  the 
influence  exercised  by  the  Moslems  over  the  timid 
people  of  the  East ;  and,  when  the  Rajah,  forced  by 
the  demands  of  the  Portuguese  to  state  positively  the 


Portuguese  Discoveries  in  Fifteenth  Century.    27 

line  he  intended  to  take  with  regard  to  his  old  allies, 
declared  that  he  could  not  banish  five  thousand  Arab 
families  from  his  empire,  he  gave  the  Europeans  to 
understand  the  nature  of  the  contest  in  which  they 
would  have  to  engage,  in  order  to  crush  the  Moham- 
medan power,  and  to  establish  their  own  ascendancy. 
The  almost  harmless  arrows  of  the  Hindoos,  and  the 
rude  fire-arms  of  the  Moors,  were  no  match  for  the 
well-served  artillery  of  the  western  invaders,  and 
this  superiority  ultimately  decided  the  question. 

The  expedition  of  Cabral  closes  the  maritime 
discoveries  of  the  Portuguese  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
so  far  as  India  is  concerned,  several  minor  explora- 
tions in  other  regions  not  affecting  the  subject  of  this 
paper. 


CHAPTER  III. 

PORTUGUESE   CONQUESTS   OF   INDIA   IN    THE   XVIth 
CENTURY. 

' '  Vasco  da  Gama,  o  forte  capitao 

Que  a  tammanhas  empresas  se  offeree 
De  suberboede  altivo  coracao, 
A  quern  fortuna  sempre  favorece. 

CAMOENS. 

THE  XVIth  Century  opens  with  the  dispatch  in 
March,  1501,  of  a  squadron  of  four  vessels  under 
Nueva  to  reinforce  the  fleet  in  India.  He  was 
steering  for  Calicut,  but  found  at  St.  Bias  (an  African 
port)  a  letter  warning  him  of  what  had  taken  place, 
and  advising  him  to  go  to  Cochin.  On  his  arrival, 
the  Zamorin  attacked  him,  but  was  utterly  defeated. 

Meantime,  the  greatest  excitement  prevailed  in 
Lisbon.  The  first  enthusiastic  feeling  was  now  chilled 
by  the  critical  aspect  which  the  affairs  of  India  had 
assumed.  While  these  voyages  afforded  adventures, 
extended  knowledge,  formed  alliances,  augmented  the 
national  wealth,  exalted  the  honour  of  Portugal,  and, 
above  all,  enlarged  t/te  dominion  of  the  Romish 


Portuguese  Conquests  of  India.  29 

the  popular  voice  warmly  seconded  the  sovereign  will 
in   fitting  out   one   expedition    after  another.      But, 
now  when  hostilities  had  broken  out,  and  when  it  was 
evident  that  a  mighty  war  had  to  be  carried  on  against 
a  Monarch  almost  at  the  other  side  of  the  world,  it 
was  feared  that  the  resources  of  a  small  state  would 
certainly  be  exhausted  in  the  unequal  conflict.     King 
Manoel,    however,    was    inflexible.       Animated    by 
political  ambition  and  religious  zeal,  he  relied  on  the 
Papal  grant,  wliicJi  Jiad  placed  all  the  Eastern  nations 
beneath  his  sceptre ;  and  he  believed  it  both  his  right 
and  his  duty  to  follow  up  the  conquests  which  his 
admirals  had  begun.      Even  on  ordinary  policy  he 
calculated  that  the  coalition  of  Cochin  and  Cananore 
would,  in  union  with  his  own  forces,  be  more  than  a 
match  for  the  Rajah  of  Calicut.     In  a  word,  his  great 
aim  was  to  found  an  Empire  in  the  East  ;  and  we, 
therefore,  find  him  taking  the  proud  title  of  "  Lord  of 
the  Navigation,  Conquest,  and  Commerce  of  Ethiopia, 
Arabia,  Persia,  and  India."     To  justify  these  titles, 
and    to    accomplish    his   designs,   an    Armada    was 
equipped,   much    more   powerful    than    any   hitherto 
dispatched  to  the  East.      A  fleet  of  fifteen  sail  was 
destined  to  defend  the  Portuguese  factories  on  the 
Malabar  coast  ;  while  another  squadron  of  five  vessels 
was  to  intercept  the  Moorish  traders  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Red   Sea.      Vasco  da  Gama,  with  the  title   of 
Admiral  of  India,  was  invested  with  the  chief  com- 


30  Portuguese  Conquests  of  India. 

mand,    and   started    from    Lisbon    on   the     loth    of 
February,  1502. 

Independently  of  other  motives,  to  which  we  have 
already  referred,  da  Gama  appears  to  have  been 
prompted  by  a  desire  to  punish  the  Moslems  for  the 
death  of  his  friend  Correa,  as  well  as  for  the  insults 
offered  to  religion.  Chance  soon  furnished  him  with 
an  opportunity  of  gratifying  his  revenge ;  and  this 
instance  (unfortunately  but  a  specimen  of  many  such) 
serves  to  account  for  so  much  of  the  hatred  which 
Portuguese  cruelty  excited  in  the  East,  that  we  may, 
for  a  moment  digress,  to  give  an  outline  of  the 
details.  Da  Gama  encountered,  on  the  3rd  of 
October,  a  large  vessel  belonging  to  the  Sultan  of 
Egypt,  and  crowded  with  pilgrims  returning  from 
Mecca.  The  Arabs,  seeing  resistance  hopeless,  offered 
an  enormous  ransom,  which  the  admiral  accepted,  and 
yet  ordered  the  vessel  to  be  fired.  The  poor  wretches 
succeeded  in  extinguishing  the  flames,  but  the  merciless 
da  Gama  ordered  his  men  to  rekindle  them.  An  eye- 
witness1 relates  that  the  women  held  up  their  children 
towards  da  Gama,  and  that  in  this  scene  of  horror  "1'in- 
terieur  du  batiment  offrait  une  representation  visible  de 
1'enfer,"  and  that  "  ce  cruel  souvenir  lui  etait  reste  toute 
sa  vie."  This  terrible  episode  in  the  second  voyage 
of  Vasco  da  Gama  shows  the  spirit  with  which  he  was 
animated  in  his  voyage  to  Malabar.  And  yet  the 

1   Navegacas  as  Inclias  Orientaes  por  Thome  Lopes.     Chap.  XVIII. 


Portuguese  Conquests  of  India.  3 1 

Jesuits  treat  this  atrocity  but  liglitly — "  un  vaisseau 
d'Egypte  refuse  de  se  rendre,  il  le  crible  de  coups  de 
canon,  saute  a  horde,  n'epargne  que  les  enfans,  et  livre 
aux  flammes  le  vaisseau  et  tous  les  hommes  qui 
composaient  1'equipage  ;  ce  ne  fut  la  qu  'un  prelude  de 
ses  brillans  succes.1 

Da  Gama  then  steered  for  India,  and  touched  at 
Cananore,  where  he  had  an  interview  with  the  old 
Rajah,  marked  on  both  sides  by  great  magnificence. 
As  he  sailed  towards  the  hostile  Calicut,  he  met  a 
galley  conveying  noblemen  from  the  Zamorin,  as 
messengers  of  peace.  They  pleaded  that  his 
vengeance  on  the  unfortunate  ship  ought  to  be  accepted 
as  full  atonement  of  the  murder  of  Correa.  Gama 
haughtily  replied  that  he  would  only  treat  with  them 
on  condition  of  the  complete  expulsion  of  the  Moors. 
On  anchoring  before  Calicut,  the  admiral  received  the 
Rajah's  ultimatum,  that,  while  he  would  give  every 
advantage  to  the  Christians,  he  positively  refused  to 
banish  the  Moorish  residents.  This  answer  was  con- 
sidered a  declaration  of  war,  and  the  Portuguese 
commander  prepared  to  bombard  the  ill-fated  city. 
Before  making  the  attack,  he  wrote  to  the  Zamorin  by 
one  of  his  prisoners,  declaring  that  if  he  did  not 
receive  by  mid-day  a  satisfactory  response,  he  would 
burn  the  city.  The  time  being  past,  he  ordered  all 
his  captains  to  hang  their  Moorish  prisoners  at  the 

1   "  Lettres  Eclifiantes."     Tom.  IV.,  p.,  25. 


32  Portuguese  Conquests  of  India. 

• 

yard-arm  ;  and  then  commenced  a  bombardment 
which  lasted  all  day.  Towards  evening  he  sent  the 
heads,  feet,  and  hands  of  the  thirty-two  victims  on 
shore  with  a  letter  declaring  that  though  these  men 
were  not  the  murderers  of  Correa,  they  were  suffi- 
ciently related  to  justify  the  reprisal.  He  next  threw 
the  mutilated  trunks  into  the  sea,  that  they  might 
float  ashore,  and  strike  terror  into  the  people.  For 
two  days  more  he  continued  to  cannonade  the  town, 
and  then  sailed  for  Cochin,  which  he  reached  on  the 
7th  of  November.1 

It  is  unnecessary  to  multiply  these  frightful  recitals; 
but  it  was  requisite  to  give  some  idea  of  the  arrogance 
and  cruelty  of  the  Portuguese  conquerors.  Of  course, 
every  attempt  is  made  by  their  fellow  countrymen  to 
justify  or  palliate  such  atrocities  as  we  have  described. 
But  though  the  bad  faith  of  the  Hindoo  Monarchs, 
and  the  perfidious  insinuations  of  the  Moors,  may 
explain  the  conduct  of  the  admiral,  the  spirit  of  his 
age  can  alone  excuse  it.  The  summary  of  this 
expedition,  given  by  the  Jesuits,  is  characteristic : — 
"  Vasco  da  Gama  se  trouve  de  nouveau  aux  cotes  de 
Malabar  ;  il  parle  en  maitre,  il  veut  venger  la  mort  de 
Correa  et  de  ses  quarante  compatriotes  ;  on  lui  offre 
des  satisfactions,  il  les  rejette  avec  dedain,  s'empare 
d'un  grand  nombre  de  vaisseaux  arabes,  fait  pendre 

1  This  narrative  is  condensed  from  the  History  of  Joao  de  Barros, 
Dec.  I.,  B.  VI.,  p.  130. 


Portuguese  Conquests  in  India.  33 

trente  infidelcs,  detruit  a  coups  de  canon  la  plupart 
des  maisons  de  Calicut,  brule  les  vaisseaux  qui  etaient 
a  1'ancre,  laisse  Sodre  dans  les  Indes,  et  retourne  en 
Portugal  avec  ses  vaisseaux  richement  charges.1 

The  eyes  of  the  Malabar  princes  were  at  length 
opened.  Up  to  this  time  they  had  seen  in  their 
visitors  only  men  urged  by  the  desire  of  wealth,  and 
anxious  to  gratify  it  in  trading  with  India.  Experi- 
ence tore  away  the  veil,  and  exposed  the  secret 
machinery  of  Portuguese  policy.  The  alternative 
was  evident ;  the  Rajahs  must  either  conquer  the 
invader,  or  must  lay  their  crowns  at  the  feet  of  King 
Manoel.  The  Zamorin  made  every  effort  to  rouse 
the  apathetic  sovereigns  to  take  part  in  the  common 
cause.  It  was  too  late  ;  the  first  operations  made  the 
allies  only  the  more  sensible  of  their  political  weakness. 
And,  when  the  King  of  Cochin,  withdrawing  from  the 
coalition  from  policy,  or  in  disgust,  appeared  as  the 
ally  of  the  Europeans,  he  naturally  drew  on  himself 
the  vengeance  of  his  brother  Rajahs.  Too  weak  to 
offer  effectual  resistance,  he  was  compelled  to  abandon 
his  capital,  and  retire  to  the  fortified  island  of  Vipeen, 
where  he  would  have  been  crushed,  but  for  the 
opportune  arrival  of  succour  from  Europe. 

The  Portuguese  monarch  fully  resolved  to  maintain 
the  footing  which  he  had  thus  secured  at  Cochin,  dis- 
patched, in  1503,  three  squadrons  of  three  ships  each, 

1   Lettres  Edifiantes.   Tom.  IV.,  p.  25. 

D 


34  Portuguese  Conquests  in  India. 

under  the  two  Albuquerques,  Antonio  de  Saldanha, 
and  Duarte  Pacheco,  called  by  Camoens,  "  the  Portu- 
guese Achilles."  The  fleet  arrived  at  Malabar  just  in 
time,  as  already  stated,  to  save  the  Zamorin  and  res- 
tore him  to  his  throne.  The  Albuquerques  immedi- 
ately invaded  the  dominions  of  the  enemy,  and  after 
a  series  of  sharp  conflicts  forced  him  to  conclude  a 
hollow  peace.  They  then  set  sail  for  Lisbon,  leaving 
the  defence  of  Cochin  to  Pacheco,  with  a  handful  of 
nine  hundred  Portuguese.  The  Zamorin,  seeing  his 
enemy  thus  almost  defenceless,  raised  an  army  of 
50,000  men,  supported  by  a  fleet  of  160  vessels. 
Pacheco,  nevertheless,  resolved  to  protect  the  city  to 
the  last,  and,  after  prodigies  of  valour,  he  succeeded, 
at  the  end  of  six  months,  in  driving  back  the  enemy 
with  a  loss  of  15,000  men.  This  event  took  place  in 
1505,  and  may  be  regarded,  as  having  laid  the  found- 
ation of  t/ie  Portuguese  Empire,  in  India.  Hencefor- 
ward the  natives  were  convinced,  that  their  undisci- 
plined armies,  however  numerous,  could  not  resist  a 
handful  of  well-armed  soldiers,  thoroughly  trained  to 
war.  Pacheco  thus  pointed  out  the  road  to  victory  to 
his  successor  Albuquerque,  by  the  brilliancy  of  whose 
exploits  the  fame  of  all  other  Portuguese  leaders  has 
been  eclipsed. 

From  the  year  1 504,  King  Emmanuel  had  seen  the 
necessity  of  regulating  the  administration  of  the  East, 
and  of  establishing  a  permanent  governor  in  these 


Portuguese  Conquests  in  India.  35 

distant  regions.  He  accordingly  appointed  Francisco 
d'  Almeida,  as  first  Viceroy  of  India,  who  set  sail  in 
1505,  and  after  certain  petty  conquests  in  Eastern 
Africa,  sailed  for  Cochin,  and  soon  found  himself  en- 
gaged in  a  desperate  conflict  with  a  Mohammedan 
fleet,  dispatched  by  the  Sultan  of  Cairo,  to  exter- 
minate the  European  corsairs. 

In  the  year  1506,  fourteen  vessels  left  Lisbon, 
under  Tristam  Dacunha,  and  Alphonso  d'  Albu- 
querque. Sailing  first  to  Arabia,  they  reduced  Muscat 
and  other  cities ;  making  their  king  swear  alle- 
giance to  Emmanuel.  On  Alburquerque's  arrival 
at  Cochin,  Almeida  was  much  disgusted  at  find- 
ing himself  superseded  by  the  new  Governor- 
General  of  India  ;  and  persisted  in  retaining  his 
authority  till  he  had  vanquished  the  Egyptian  fleet, 
and  avenged  his  son.  After  a  dear  bought  victory, 
he  disgraced  his  triumph  by  a  general  massacre 
of  his  prisoners.  Almeida,  having  resigned,  Albu- 
querque entered  at  once  on  those  vast  schemes  of 
conquest  which  have  made  him  one  of  the  heroes  of 
Portugal.  His  first  object  was  the  reduction  of 
Calicut,  the  obnoxious  centre  of  the  Malabar  alliance. 
In  January,  1510,  the  town  was  taken  and  burnt;  but 
the  enemy,  rallying  at  the  palace,  drove  the  Portuguese 
to  their  ships.  Undeterred  by  this  comparative 
failure,  Albuquerque  still  resolved  to  secure  some 
strong  point  which  might  become  the  Metropolis  of 

D  2 


36  Portuguese  Conquests  in  India. 

India,  and  the  centre  of  conquest,  colonisation  and 
Christianity.  An  Indian  pirate  suggested  Goa,  a 
town  on  a  small  island  separated  by  fordable  salt 
marshes  from  the  mainland  ;  and  the  Viceroy,  with 
his  characteristic  promptitude,  cast  anchor  before  this 
famous  place  in  January,  1510.  The  outworks  being 
taken,  and  a  fleet  close  to  the  walls,  the  merchants, 
(Moslems,  Hindoos,  and  Parsees),  to  whom  commerce 
was  more  important  than  patriotism,  offered  to  sur- 
render on  conditon  of  full  protection.  Albuquerque 
accepted  these  terms,  fulfilled  them  strictly,  took 
possession  of  the  palace,  and  assumed  the  rank  of 
sovereign.  Meantime,  Adelschah,  the  native  Prince, 
hearing  that  his  capital  was  in  the  possession  of  the 
detested  Europeans,  raised  an  army  of  40,000  men, 
and,  on  the  I7th  of  May,  forced  the  enemy  to 
evacuate  the  city.  The  Rajah,  however,  did  not  long 
enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  coup  de  main.  Albuquerque 
appeared  before  Goa  on  Christmas  Day,  1510,  at  the 
head  of  a  force  of  1 ,800  men  to  attack  a  capital  de- 
fended by  9,000.  After  a  terrible  bombardment,  he 
stormed  the  city,  and  by  a  hand-to-hand  fight  of  six 
hours  in  the  streets,  he  won  it  a  second  time,  and  re- 
united it  definitely  to  the  Crown  of  Portugal.  Goa, 
being  thus  secured  as  the  Portuguese  Metropolis,  the 
Viceroy  took  effectual  measures  to  render  the  con- 
quest permanent  by  extensive  fortifications,  by  just 
administration,  by  matrimonial  alliances,  and  by  the 


Portuguese  Conquests  in  India.  37 

n  of  the  faith.  Then  followed  the  exped- 
itions to  Malacca  and  Ormuz,  and  the  discoveries,  in 
1511,  of  the  Moluccas  arid  other  islands  in  the  Indian 
seas,  but  as  these  do  not  bear  upon  our  subject  we 
may  pass  over  the  details. 

Albuquerque  died  on  i6th  December,  1516,  leaving 
the  Portuguese  empire  at  the  height  of  its  power 
"  stretching  .twelve  thousand  miles  from  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  to  the  frontier  of  China."1 

While  these  events  were  taking  place  in  the  East, 
King  Emmanuel  sent  an  embassy  (1514)  to  Leo.  X. 
presenting  him  with  an  elephant  from  Goa,  bearing 
the  richest  gifts.  The  Pontiff  received  the  Ambassa- 
dors with  extraordinary  honours.  Pacheco  made  a 
Latin  speech  and  had  a  reply  in  the  same  language : 
"  Portugal  offers  to  Christian  Rome  all  these  newly- 
explored  countries  ; "  and  the  Pope  granted  what  the 
Portuguese  required,  formal  possession,  in  the  face  of 
the  world,  of  these  Oriental  conquests, 

John  III.  ascended  the  throne  in  1521,  and  found 
himself  in  a  very  different  position  from  that  which 
had  marked  the  beginning  of  the  last  reign.  A  small 
fleet  had  grown  to  three  hundred  vessels,  the  trade  of 
Lisbon  at  home  and  abroad  had  been  prodigiously 
developed,  and  the  influence  of  this  little  kingdom 
felt  throughout  the  world.  The  new  Monarch,  was 
"  appetite  growing  with  what  it  fed  on,"  determined  to 

1  Faria  e  Souza. 


38  Portuguese  Conquests  in  India. 

pursue  his  conquests  in  India.  Were  we  writing  a 
history,  instead  of  an  introduction,  we  might  give  a 
long  list  of  the  Viceroys  and  Governors  who  succeeded 
Albuquerque,  and  enter  into  full  details  of  their 
achievements.  The  history  of  the  struggles  of  the 
Portuguese  with  the  natives,  who  were  goaded  by 
the  cruel  bigotry  of  their  oppressors  into  the  most 
determined  resistance,  is  too  monotonous  to  render  a 
circumstantial  narrative  of  sufficient  interest.  One  or 
two  contests  are,  however,  worthy  of  notice. 

The  Governor-General,  Da  Cunha,  received  the 
sanction  of  the  Rajah  to  erect  a  factory  and  fort  near 
the  important  city  of  Diu,  close  to  Cambay  and 
Guzerat.  Bahador,  Sultan  of  Cambay,  at  first  friendly, 
soon  became  jealous  ;  and  during  a  visit  to  the  port, 
lost  his  life  in  a  sudden  quarrel.  This  led  to  a 
combination  against  the  strangers  in  which  the 
Governor  of  Cairo  was  ordered  by  the  Turkish  Sultan 
to  co-operate.  Then  began  (1538)  the  first  siege  of  Diu, 
when  six  hundred  Portuguese  successfully  resisted 
twenty-thousand  troops,  sixty-five  ships,  and  a  splendid 
train  of  artillery.  Seven  years  afterwards,  Zofar,  the 
chief  of  Guzerat,  again  attacked  the  fortress  of  Diu 
which  was  gallantly  defended  by  two  hundred  men. 
In  October,  1545,  the  new  Viceroy,  the  famous  Joao 
de  Castro  arrived,  broke  through  the  enemy's  lines  and 
defeated  them  with  terrible  slaughter.  Taking  the 
neighbouring  city  of  Diu,  he  gave  it  up  to  plunder  and 


Portuguese  Conquests  in  India.  39 

massacre,  and  returned  to  Goa  in  triumph,  crowned 
with  laurel,  the  Royal  Standard  of  Cambay  trailing 
behind  him.  This  able  and  distinguished  Viceroy 
held  office  only  three  years,  and  was  so  disinterested 
that,  though  Governor  of  the  richest  provinces,  he 
died  in  extreme  poverty.  The  great  stain  on  his 
character  was  the  dreadful  barbarity  which  he  every- 
where exercised  over  the  conquered. 

The  Portuguese  historians  agree  that  at  this  period 
there  was  a  revival  of  prosperity,  similar  to  the  almost 
fabulous  success  of  the  Albuquerques.  This  prosperity, 
the  immediate  consequence  of  a  noble  spirit  and  of 
severe  integrity  was  but  of  short  duration.  Gradually, 
place-hunters  and  extortioners,  gained  the  ascendency, 
so,  that  sixty  years  afterwards,  an  author  writing  on 
statistics  could  say, "  such  is  the  number  of  lawyers 
who  besiege  the  Government  offices  at  Goa,  that  one 
might  call  it  a  city  of  pleaders,  and  not  a  city  of 
warriors."  This  political  decline  did  not,  however, 
arrive  all  at  once,  and  the  times  which  immediately 
followed  the  epoch  of  Joao  de  Castro  were  still  glorious 
under  Garcia  de  Sa,  during  whose  government  the 
Dominicans  arrived,  and  under  Cabral,  during  whose 
sway  the  Portuguese  gained  signal  victories  by  sea 
and  land. 

In  1570,  during  the  government  of  Luis  de  Ataide, 
the  Mogul  formed  an  alliance  with  the  Zamorin,  for 
the  purpose  of  expelling  the  Portuguese,  An  army  of 


40  Portuguese  Conquests  in  India. 

100,000  men  laid  siege  to  Goa,  defended  by  only  700 
troops  in  addition  to  1,300  monks  and  slaves.  After 
a  long  and  unsuccessful  siege,  a  desperate  assault  was 
made  on  the  I3th  of  April.  This  too,  failed,  and  the 
enemy  withdrew  with  the  loss  of  12,000  men.  Similar 
attacks  were  made  on  Chaul,  near  Bombay,  and  Chale 
near  Calicut ;  but  being  defended  with  the  usual  vigour, 
the  assailants  were  finally  discouraged,  and  the  coali- 
tion dissolved.  By  such  achievements  as  these,  the 
Portuguese  maintained  their  supremacy,  not  only  on 
the  coasts,  but  on  the  seas  of  India,  during  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  sixteenth  century.  But  the  high  degree  of 
power  and  prosperity  to  which  Portugal  had  attained, 
became  the  object  of  the  envy,  the  ambition,  and  the 
cupidity  of  other  nations.  Dutch,  French,  Danes,  and 
English  poured  into  India,  to  conquer  and  to  appro- 
priate a  share  of  its  territory,  its  commerce,  and  its 
riches.  In  the  autumn  of  1596,  Houtman  arrived  off 
Java.  In  1599,  a  fleet  of  eight  Dutch  vessels  returned 
from  Sumatra  and  Java,  laden  with  spices,  and  in 
1600,  several  Dutch  trading  companies  dispatched 
forty  large  vessels,  and  soon  succeeded  in  depriving 
the  Portuguese  of  nearly  all  their  lucrative  trade. 
During  the  next  fifty  years  there  was  a  long  and 
bloody  struggle  between  the  Portuguese  and  Dutch, 
in  which  the  latter  were  finally  victorious  ;  while  in 
the  western  provinces,  the  Portuguese  were  supplanted 
by  their  new  rivals  the  English.  The  successors  of 


Portuguese  Conquests  in  India.  41 

the  Albuquerques  and  de  Castros  were  stripped  of 
their  vast  dominions  almost  as  rapidly  as  they  had 
gained  them,  and  now  Goa,  Mozambique,  Diu,  Macao, 
and  a  few  minor  factories,  all  in  a  decayed  condition, 
are  the  sole  and  sad  remnants  of  that  colossal  power, 
which,  in  the  XVI11'  Century,  extended  over  so  large 
a  part  of  the  Eastern  Hemisphere. 

This  summary  of  the  chief  events  which  mark  the 
Portuguese  conquest  of  India  will,  we  trust,  prepare 
tlie  way  for  a  clear  tinderstanding  of  the  Portuguese 
Missions  in  tJie  XVIth  Century.  The  difficulty  has 
been  not  to  obtain  sufficient  information,  but  to  con- 
dense, with  discrimination,  the  enormous  mass  of 
materials  afforded  by  the  historians  of  that  age,  whose 
discursive  and  pompous  style  fills  page  after  page  of 
ponderous  folios  and  quartos,  rarely  taken  from  the 
shelves  of  our  public  libraries.  Should  any  reader 
care  to  have  a  more  detailed  account  of  this  interest- 
ing period,  he  may  consult,  with  advantage,  the  original 
authorities  named  in  the  appendix. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE   PORTUGUESE   EMPIRE   IN   THE  XVIth  CENTURY 

"To  understand  a  Mission  thoroughly,  we  should  know  something  of 
its  locality  ;  the  people  among  whom  it  is  carried  on  ;  their  former  con- 
dition and  history  ;  their  habits  of  life,  the  history  of  Missionary  effort 
among  them  ;  its  discouragements  and  pleasing  features;  its  present 
character  and  fruits." — "  South  India  Missions,"  p.  91. 

THOUGH  some  idea  may  be  gained  of  the  Portuguese 
acquisitions  from  the  narrative  already  given,  it  may 
be  useful  to  present  a  summary  of  the  geographical 
questions  relating  to  this  volume.  We  may  notice  in 
the  first  place  the  conquests  of  the  Portuguese  in  the 
XVIth  Century  with  reference  to  their  localities  ;  next 
the  political  divisions  of  India  at  that  period  ;  and 
lastly,  South  India,  especially  Malabar,  Cochin  and 
Travancore,  the  abodes  of  the  Syrian  Christians. 

I.  Omitting  the  settlements  on  the  West  Coast  of 
Africa,  mentioned  in  our  previous  pages,  we  may 
adopt  the  condensed  statement,  appended  to  the  Third 
Volume  of  "  Asia  Portuguesa,"  which  describes  the 
Portuguese  Empire  of  the  East  as  it  existed  at  the 


Portuguese  Empire  in  Sixteenth  Century.     43 

close  of  the  XVIth  Century.      The   learned    author, 
Faria  y  Sousa,  writing  with  the  advantage  which  a 
cotemporary  possesses,  informs  us  that  the  Lusitanian 
Settlements  actually  extended  1 ,200  miles  from  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  to  China,  and  that  these  vast  dominions 
were   thus    divided  : — (i)  From    the    Cape   of  Good 
Hope  to  Guardafui,  and  Socotra  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Red  Sea,  in  other  words  the  whole  range  of  the  East 
Coast  of  Africa — the  kingdoms  of   Sofala,   Mozam- 
bique, Zanquebar,   Magadoxo,   Ajan,    and    Somauli, 
with  the  splendid  island  of  Madagascar,  and  numerous 
ports  (Quiloa,  Melinda,  &c.)  enriched  with  the  com- 
merce of  Arabia,  and    adjacent  countries.      (2)  The 
coast  line  from  Mocha  to  Muscat,  i.e.,  from  the  mouth 
of   the    Red    Sea   to    the    Persian    Gulf,   embracing 
Hadramant,    Omaun    and   other   regions   of   Arabia 
Felix.      (3)  The  third    division  begins    at  Bosta  or 
Bussora,  where  the  Euphrates  enters  the  gulf,  passes 
Bussire,  and   other  emporia,  stretches   along   Beloo- 
chistan  and   Scinde,  to  the  gulf  of  Cambay.      This 
region  was  one  of  the  first  Portuguese  possessions, 
and  the  names  of  Ormuz,  Guadel,  Scinde,  Cambaya, 
Guzerat,  with  the  fort  of  Bandel  and  Diu,  so  famous 
for  its  siege,  occur  perpetually  in  their  early  histories. 
(4)  The  fourth  division  ranges  from  Cambaya  to  Cape 
Comorin,  and  includes  those  districts  to  which  our 
history  specially  refers,  the  coast  of  Bejapoor,  Coukan, 
Canara,  Malabar,  Cochin  and  Travancore.     The  forti- 


44     Portuguese  Empire  in  Sixteenth   Century. 

fied  factories  of  Damaun,  Assarim,  Danu,  Bassaim, 
St.  Gens,  Aga^aim,  Maini,  Trapor,  Cana,  Savanja, 
Chaul  and  Moro.  "  The  most  noble  city  Goa,"  says 
Faria,1  "  large,  strong  and  populous,  is  the  Metro- 
polis of  our  Eastern  Dominions,  and  contains  an 
Archbishopric,  whose  Prelate  is  the  Primate  of  all 
the  East.  This  is  the  residence  of  the  Viceroys,  and 
here  are  the  courts  of  the  Inquisition,  Exchequer, 
Chancery,  Custom  House,  Arsenals,  and  Magazines 
well  provided.  The  city  is  seated  on  an  island  girt 
with  strong  walls,  and  defended  by  six  mighty 
Castles "  and  much  more  to  the  same  effect,  which 
we  need  not  quote,  as  we  have  elsewhere  described 
the  capital  of  India.  (5)  This  lies  between  Cape 
Comorin  and  the  mouth  of  the  Ganges,  including 
what  was  then  called  Madura  (Tinnevelly,  Dindigul, 
Tanjore,  &c.)  the  Carnatic,  Golconda,  Narsinga,  Orissa, 
and  smaller  states.  Here  the  Portuguese  possessed 
many  factories,  the  chief  being  Negapatam,  Meliapour 
Masulipatam,  and  Vizagapatam,  with  smaller  settle- 
ments, as  far  as  the  spot  on  which  Calcutta  now 
stands.  (6)  This  division  has  little  or  no  reference  to 
our  present  subject  ;  but,  to  complete  the  list  we  may 
state  that  it  extends  from  Calcutta  to  Singapore,  and 
includes  part  of  Bengala,  with  Pegu,  Tenasserim,  and 
Malacca.  (7)  The  last  portion  of  this  extraordinary 
maritime  empire  swept  along  from  Singapore  to 

1  "  Asia   Portuguesa,"  Vol.  III. 


Portuguese  Empire  in  Sixteenth  Century.     45 

Macao,  thus  completing  one  of  the  most  singular  pheno- 
mena in  the  history  of  the  world  ;  for,  while  other 
nations  have  aspired  to  the  conquest  of  kingdoms 
or  continents,  it  was  the  peculiar  characteristic  of 
Portuguese  ambition  to  limit  its  colonial  dominion  to 
the  mere  sea-boards  of  the  countries  which  it  subdued. 
II.  The  Political  Divisions  of  India  in  the  XVIth 
Century,  are  sufficiently  intelligible  for  our  purpose, 
without  tracing  their  history  to  their  source.  Every 
classical  student  is  perfectly  aware,  that  at  a  very 
remote  period,  India  was  known  to  the  Egyptians 
and  Phoenicians,  and  possibly,  to  the  Hebrews  also.1 
As  far  back  as  1491  B.C.,  Sesostris,  King  of  Egypt, 
marched  through  Asia  to  the  banks  of  the  Ganges, 
and  even,  it  is  said  to  the  Eastern  Ocean.  And 
though  this  rapid  conquest  is  alleged  to  have  left 
no  permanent  impression,  it  is  plausibly  conjectured 
that  several  customs  now  prevailing  in  India  were 
introduced  at  the  time  of  the  Egyptian  invasion.2 
Passing  over  the  expedition  of  Darius,  in  510  B.C., 
which  seems  not  to  have  gone  beyond  the  Indus,  we 
may  observe  the  famous  invasion  of  Alexander  the 
Great  in  326  B.C.  which  may  certainly  be  considered 

1  Robertson  doubts  this,  saying  "The  Jews  then,  we  may  conclude, 
have  no  title  to  be  reckoned  among  the  nations  which  carried  on  inter- 
course with  India  by  sea."     Hist,  of  India,   p.  12.     Bruce's  Travels 
Book  II.,  C.  IV. 

2  Diud.  Sic.  Lib.  I.,  p.  64.     La  Croze  Hist.,  p.  434.     Rollin  Vol.  I., 
p  78.     Robertson's  India,  p.  7- 


46     Portuguese  Empire  in  Sixteenth  Century. 

the  first  disclosure  of  a  knowledge  of  India  to  the 
people  of  Europe.  His  successor,  Seleucus,  fruitlessly 
endeavoured  to  prosecute  Alexander's  schemes  of 
Oriental  Conquest ;  but,  Ptolemy  Soter,1  more  fortun- 
ate in  his  choice  of  means,  was  able  to  make  Egypt 
the  peaceful  centre  of  a  prosperous  trade  with  India. 
The  Persians,  hearing  of  this  success,  soon  followed 
the  example  set  by  the  Egyptians,  transporting  the 
commodities  of  India  by  land,  while  they  left  to  their 
rivals  the  monopoly  of  the  sea.  Very  early  in  the 
ist  Century,  B.C.  we  find  the  Romans  eagerly  pur- 
suing commercial  intercourse  with  the  East,  and 
opening  a  third  channel  through  Mesopotamia. 

Nothing  further  is  heard  as  to  change  of  route,  till 
the  Egyptian  Hippalus  (50  A.D.)  boldly  sailing  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Red  Sea,  crossed  with  the  monsoon 
in  forty  days  to  Musiris,  somewhere  near  Mangalore, 
on  the  coast  of  Canara.  The  student  is  referred  to 
"  Ptolemy's  Geography  of  India  "  for  a  description  of  the 
whole  region  as  then  known.  "  Strabo's  Geography," 
"  Arian's  History  of  the  Indies"  and  D'Anville's  well- 
known  work,  "  Antiquites  de  1'Inde  "  will  throw  further 
light  on  this  part  of  our  subject. 

In  the  year  200,  Pantcenus  is  said  to  have  visited 
India  as  its  first  Missionary;2  and,  in  325  Johannes, 

1  His  son  Ptolemy  Philadelphia  anticipated  Lesseps  in  the  idea  of 
the  Suez  canal.  Strabo.  Lib.  XVII.,  p.  1,156.  Plin.  Nat.  Hist.  Lib. 
VI.,  C.  XXIX. 

a  Eusebius.     Lib.  III.     Cap.  X. 


Portuguese  Empire  in  Sixteenth  Century.     47 

Bishop  of  Persia,  and  India,  signed  his  name  at  the 
Council  of  Nice.1  About  the  year  527,  in  the  reign  of 
Justinian,  one  Cosmas,  an  Alexandrian  merchant, 
called  Indo-Pleustes  (Indian  voyager)  published  some 
valuable  information  about  India  and  the  Indian 
Church,  especially  in  Malabar : — "  There  is  in  the 
island  of  Taprobranc,  in  the  farthermost  India,  in  the 
Indian  Sea,  a  Christian  Church,  with  Clergymen  and 
believers.  In  the  Malabar  country  also,  where  pepper 
grows,  there  arc  Christians,  and  in  Caliana,  as  they 
call  it,  there  is  a  Bishop  who  comes  from  Persia 
where  he  was  consecrated.2  The  VIIth  Century  is 
marked  by  the  rise  of  Mohammedanism,  which  soon 
spread  over  the  East  and  which,  to  this  hour,  affects 
the  condition — political,  moral,  and  intellectual — of 
Hindostan.  In  the  IXth  Century,  an  interesting 
episode  connects  England  with  India ;  for,  in  883, 
Alfred  the  Great  sent  Sighelm,  Bishop  of  Shcrborne, 
on  a  mission  to  the  shrine  of  St.  Thomas,  near 
Madras.3  Omitting  all  accounts  of  visits  to  Malabar, 
by  Persian  Ecclesiastics  in  the  Xth  Century,  and  other 
irrelevant  matters,  we  may  advert  to  the  Crusades  as 
powerfully  influencing  European  intercourse  with 

1  Eusebius.     Lib.  III.     Cap  VI.     Hough's  Christ,  Vol.  I.,  p.  61. 

2  Asseman.  Tom.  XIII.,  p.  2.     Robertson's  India,  p.  95.      Lardner 
Vol.  XI.,  C.  148.     La  Croge,  pp.  37-8.     Paulinus  Ind.  Orient.  Christ, 

P-  14- 

3  Saxon  Chron.,  p.  86.     "  William  of  Malmesbury  De  Gestis,"  Book 
II.,  Chap.  IV.,  p.  44.     Turner's,  Hist.  Ang.  Sax.,  Vol.  II.,  p.   145. 
Gibbon,  Chap.  XLVII. 


48     Portuguese  Empire  in  Sixteenth  Century. 

India,  and  as  preparing  the  way  for  the  extensive 
trade  which  favoured  the  Venetians  in  the  XIIIth 
Century,  the  Genoese  in  the  XIVth  and  the  Florentines 
in  the  XVth.  The  study  of  this  question  would  be 
incomplete  without  examining  the  travels  of  the 
famous  Venetian  Marco  Polo,  who,  for  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century  (1255-80)  explored  the  whole  of 
Asia  as  far  as  Pekin,  and  who  has  left  us  the  only 
trustworthy  account  of  the  East  at  the  time  of  his 
travels.1 

While  Prince  Henry  and  the  captains,  whom  his 
genius  and  energy  had  called  into  action  were  ex- 
ploring the  coast  of  Africa,  the  Mongols  and  Hindoos 
were  engaged  in  deadly  conflict  for  the  vast  prize  of 
Northern  India.  Timur,  the  Tartar,  after  desolating 
the  country,  destroyed  Delhi  and  reduced  the  whole 
empire  to  the  power  of  Mahomet.  Baber,  his  lineal 
descendant,  came  to  the  throne  in  1494  ;  and,  by  the 
decisive  battle  of  Panniput  in  1526,  succeeded  in 
establishing  the  Mogul  Dynasty  in  Delhi. 

At  this  time,  when  the  Portuguese  first  came  in 
contact  with  Indian  Princes,  the  whole  of  what  we 
now  call  India  contained  five  great  Mohammedan 
empires,  besides  many  Hindoo  kingdoms.  The  old 
Patan  sovereignty  of  Delhi  had  included  Hindostan 
and  the  Punjaub,  but  was  now  divided  into  two  main 

1  Herbelot  Bib.  Orient,  arctic  Khathai.  Voyage  of  A.  Jenkinson. 
Hakluyt,  Vol.  I.,  p.  333.  Robertson's  India,  p.  154  and  p.  395. 


Portuguese  Empire  in  Sixteenth  Century.     49 

principalities.  Guzerat,  Malvva,  and  Bengal,  had  each 
its  Sultan,  possessed  of  formidable  armies,  and  though 
brethren  in  the  Moslem  Faith,  perpetually  at  war  with 
each  other.  The  Hindoo  Princes  were  the  Rajah  of 
Beejanuggur  in  the  Deccan,  and  the  Rana  Sanka  of 
Mewar,  with  many  others  whose  dominions  were  not 
affected  by  the  Portuguese  invasions.  Of  course  the 
Zamorin  and  the  Rajahs  of  Cochin,  and  other  towns 
along  the  coast,  have  already  been  so  frequently 
mentioned,  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  refer  to  them 
again.  An  inspection  of  the  map  of  the  Deccan, 
about  1520,  will  give  a  better  idea  of  the  political 
divisions  of  India  as  they  then  were  than  any  verbal 
description.  Before  leaving  this  part  of  our  subject 
we  may  remark  that  the  accession  of  Akbar,  in  1554, 
produced  an  important  effect  on  the  political  divisions 
of  India.  Internal  dissensions  had  weakened  the 
great  Hindoo  Monarchy  of  Beejanuggur,  which  was 
finally  extinguished  by  a  coalition  of  the  surrounding 
states.  Availing  himself  of  this  condition  of  the 
Deccan,  Akbar  invaded  South  India,  and  incorporated 
the  greater  part  with  the  Mogul  Empire  in  1598. 
This  monarch  seemed  disposed  to  cultivate  friendly 
relations  with  the  King  of  Portugal,  encouraged 
Europeans  to  enter  his  service,  and  invited  the  Jesuits 
of  Goa  to  resort  to  his  Court.1  At  his  death  in  1605, 

1  Manonchi's  "Life  of  Akbar,"  p.  136.   Eraser's  "  History  of  the  Mogul 
Emperors,"  p.  12.      Hough's  "  Hist,  of  Christ,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  261. 


50     Portuguese  Empire  in  Sixteenth  Century. 

his  extensive  dominions  were  divided  into  fifteen 
Vice-royalties,  each  governed  by  a  Subardar.1  The 
reigns  of  Baber,  Humayan,  and  Akbar  covered  the 
XVIth  Century,  and  synchronise  very  nearly  with 
the  period  of  the  Portuguese  conquests  and  early 
missions. 

III.  South  India  demands  a  description  more  ex- 
tensive than  our  space  will  afford  as,  it  is  not  only  the 
scene  of  the  earliest  missionary  efforts  of  the  Portu- 
guese amongst  the  heathen  and  the  Syrian  Christians, 
but  it  is  by  far  the  most  interesting  field  of  modern 
operations  for  the  conversion  of  the  natives.  This 
division  includes  the  whole  of  the  Peninsula  of  India, 
south  of  what  we  now  call  the  Nizam's  dominions, 
but  was  very  little  known  to  the  Portuguese  settlers, 
with  the  exception  of  a  strip  of  land  ten  miles  broad 
along  the  coast.  In  the  XVIth  Century,  its  bound- 
aries differed  from  those  which  at  present  exist.  It 
had  Krishna  on  the  north,  and  comprehended  Bijna- 
gur,  Madura,  the  Empire  of  the  Zamorin,  subdivided 
into  a  number  of  petty  states,  such  as  Cannanore, 
Calicut,  Canganor,  Cochin,  Coulon,  Travancore,  &c. 
South  India  extends  from  the  sixteenth  to  the  eight- 
teenth  parallel  of  latitude.  The  area  is  200,000  square 
miles,  and  the  population  about  32,000,000.  The 
physical  aspect  of  the  country  is  that  of  a  large 

1  Tod's  "Annals  of  Rajasthan."      "  South  of  India,"  Col.  Wilkes, 
Vol.  I.,  p.  169. 


Portuguese  Empire  in  Sixteenth  Century.      5 1 

plateau,  or  table-land,  bounded  by  the  Eastern  and 
Western  Ghauts,  and  rising  into  Alpine  ridges  such 
as  the  Neilgherry  Hills  ;  while  the  Godavery,  the 
Khistna,  the  Cauvery,  and  many  other  streams,  supply 
abundant  water  for  irrigation  without  which  India 
would  be  a  desert.  The  climate  is  influenced  by  the 
mountains  and  the  monsoons;  and  though  in  tempera- 
ture, the  Madras  coast  is  undoubtedly  the  hottest 
part  of  the  peninsula,  a  climate,  almost  English,  may 
be  reached  by  railway  in  a  few  hours. 

One  of  the  common  errors  in  England  is  the  idea 
that  India  is  one  vast  country,  instead  of  being  like 
Europe,  a  union  of  many  states,  races,  languages, 
and  religions.  In  South  India  the  population  is  ex- 
tremely diversified  in  origin,  stature,  and  complexion. 
Most  of  these  races  profess  the  Hindoo  Faith,  and 
Brahmins  are  more  numerous  than  in  any  other  part 
of  the  peninsula.  Caste  still  holds  sway,  but  there 
are  decided  symptons  of  this  formidable  barrier  being 
broken  down,  in  spite  of  all  the  injudicious  concessions 
made  by  the  Romish  missioners.  Christian  effort, 
the  march  of  civilisation,  continued  intercourse  with 
Europeans,  and  that  remarkable  movement  among 
the  Hindoos  themselves,  called  the  Brahmo-Somaj, 
of  which  Chunder  Sen  is  the  leader,  seem  all  combining 
to  remove  this  obstacle  to  the  progress  of  India.  The 
English  language  is  now  more  than  supplanting  the 
Portuguese  ;  though  the  natives,  of  course,  still  use 

E  2 


52     Portuguese  Empire  in  Sixteenth  Century. 

Tamil,  Malayalim,  Canarcse,  and  Tclcgu,  besides 
Urdu,  employed  in  the  camp. 

Malabar  is  a  long  narrow  strip  between  the  Ghauts 
and  the  sea,  containing  6,000  square  miles  and  a 
million  and  a  half  of  people.  The  mountains  rise 
rapidly  to  the  height  of  5,000  feet,  and  are  covered 
with  magnificent  forests  of  teak  and  cedar.  The 
ravines  and  passes  present  scenes  of  romantic  beauty, 
while  the  low  grounds  are  laid  out  in  paddy-fields, 
and  the  flat,  sandy  shores,  are  fringed  with  groves  of 
cocoa-nut  palms,  the  graceful  arecas  surrounding  the 
small  groups  of  mud  cottages  scarcely  worthy  the 
name  of  villages.  The  soil  is  extremely  fertile,  and 
produces  rice,  cardamums,  coffee,  and  pepper,  in  great 
abundance  ;  the  latter,  as  far  back  as  the  days  of 
Cosmas,  was  the  characteristic  of  the  country,  and  it 
is  now  often  called  the  money  of  Malabar.  The  popu- 
lation of  this  coast  is  singularly  varied  :  Brahmins, 
Nairs,  Tiars,  Moplays,  Christians,  and  Jews,  besides 
numerous  foreigners,  Asiatic  and  European,  who  have 
settled  here  for  purposes  of  trade. 

Cochin  the  chief  seat  of  the  Syrian  Christians, 
though  often  included  under  the  name  of  Malabar,  is 
really  an  independent  state  of  1,100  square  miles,  and 
400,000  people.  This  irregularly  shaped  mountain 
tract  has  British  Malabar  on  the  north,  the  Rajah 
of  Travancore's  dominions  on  the  south,  Coimbatore 
and  Madura  on  the  cast.  The  physical  features 


Portuguese  Empire  in  Sixteenth   Century.      53 

climate  and  productions,  are  almost  the  same  as  those 
of  Malabar,  but  it  is  distinguished  by  a  peculiarity  in 
the  distribution  of  its  watercourses,  of  which  we  may 
quote  from  an  eye-witness  the  following  account  : — 
"  It  is  watered  by  numerous  streams,  which  descend 
from  the  mountains  towards  the  sea  ;  but  these  little 
rivers,  instead  of  pouring  their  waters  separately  into 
the  ocean,  spread  out  before  they  reach  it  into  wide 
channels  just  within  the  coast  line,  and  communicating 
with  one  another,  form  what  is  called  "  The  Back- 
water " — a  land  locked  lake  of  every  varying  depth 
and  width,  with  an  outlet  here  and  there,  through 
which  the  water  finds  its  way  into  the  ocean."1 
The  population  consists  of  Naimhoories,  or  Aboriginal 
Brahmins,  Nairs,  Pollayers  (a  wretched  race),  and 
Christians  of  various  nations  and  churches.  The 
inhabitants  are  generally  very  poor,  there  being  no 
middle-class  between  landowner  and  labourer.  On 
the  coast  many  find  employment  in  ship-building, 
rope-making,  fishing,  and  gathering  cocoa-nuts,  and 
are,  therefore,  somewhat  better  off.  With  rare  excep- 
tions the  clothing  of  the  upper  class  natives  consists  of 
nothing  more  than  a  few  yards  of  calico  or  muslin, 
wrapt  round  the  middle  ;  while  the  poorer  people  are 
scarcely  clad  at  all.  This,  of  course,  does  not  apply  to 
the  Christian  converts,  many  of  whom  have  been  per- 
suaded to  assume  more  ample  garments.  The 

1    Howard's  "Christians  of  S.  Thomas,"  p.  2. 


54      Portuguese  Empire  in  Sixteenth  Century. 

country  is  at  present  ruled  by  a  Rajah  under  the 
British  Government  ;  and  many  evidences  of  civilisa- 
tion, such  as  churches,  schools,  and  hospitals,  are 
everywhere  springing  into  existence. 

Travancore  is  a  very  important  government  under 
its  own  sovereign,  extending  from  Cochin  to  Cape 
Comorin,  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  miles.  The 
climate  is  extremely  hot  and  moist,  in  the  lowlands 
the  thermometer  rising  to  above  90°  ;  and  though  the 
heat  is  much  less  in  the  mountains,  the  air  is  not  so 
bracing  as  in  the  Neilgherries.  Animal  life  is  abun- 
dant, the  forests  teeming  with  tigers,  leopards,  snakes, 
and  an  immense  variety  of  birds.  The  soil  in  the 
level  districts  is  prolific  in  rice,  sago,  coffee,  &c. 
Like  Cochin  and  Malabar,  Travancore  possesses  a  re- 
markably diversified  population  in  race  and  creed. 
Christianity  is  professed  by  about  one-eighth  of  the 
population,  and  is  spreading  rapidly,  not  only  under 
the  English  and  other  Protestant  Societies,  but  also 
under  the  Romanists.  The  Rajah,  one  of  the  most 
enlightened  Princes,  has  established  police,  schools 
and  hospitals,  formed  excellent  roads,  granted  per- 
fect religious  toleration,  and  removed  all  restrict- 
ions on  commerce.  His  handsome  palace,  is  at  the 
modern  capital,  Trevandrum  ;  the  old  one,  Travan- 
core, being  now  deserted.  Allepi  and  Quilon  are 
also  important  harbours. 

Madura,  Tinnerelly,  and  other  districts  of   South 


Portuguese  Empire  in  Sixteenth  Century.     55 

India  are  so  well  known  from  the  reports  of  the 
Missionary  Societies,  "  Les  Annales  de  la  Foie  "  and 
similar  publications,  that  it  seems  quite  unnecessary 
to  notice  them  here.  Occasional  references  in  the 
following  chapters  will  be  sufficient  to  illustrate  geo- 
graphical names  as  they  occur.1 

1  Further  information  will  be  found  in  Thornton's  "  Gazetteer  of 
India,"  George  Duncan's  "  Geography  of  India,"  1868  ;  Professor 
Ansted's  "  Geography  of  India,"  1870  ;  the  Rev.  G.  Rowe's  "  Colonial 
Empire — The  East  Indian  Group."  S.P.C.K. ,  and  similar  works. 


BOOK    II. 

THE  PORTUGUESE  MISSIONS  IN 
SOUTHERN  INDIA. 


CHAPTER  I. 

EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE   CHURCH   IN    INDIA. 

"  That  St.  Thomas  was  the  Apostle  of  the  Indies  is  attested  by  all 
Ecclesiastical  Records,  Greek,  Latin  and  Syriac  " — Asseman,  "  Dissert 
de  Syris  Nestorianis,"  Tom.  IV.,  p.  439. 

"  Choraram  te,  Thorne,  o  Gange,  e  o  Indo  ; 
Choron-te-toda  a.  terra,  que  pizaste  ; 
Mais  te  choram  as  almas,  que  vestindo 
Se  iam  da  sancta  fe,  que  Ihe  ensinaste." 

CAMOENS. 

WE  have  hitherto  spoken  of  the  conquests  of  the 
sword,  the  only  ones  which,  generally  speaking, 
attract  the  attention  of  mankind,  and  furnish  themes 
for  the  historian.  There  are,  however,  other  victories 
which,  beginning  with  the  early  part  of  the  XVIth 
Century,  have  exercised  an  immense  influence  over 
Southern  India.  We  allude,  of  course,  to  the 
missions  established  there  soon  after  these  regions 
were  discovered  and  subdued. 

When  the  Portuguese  had  obtained  a  firm  footing 
upon  the  coasts  of  Malabar,  and  partially  penetrated 
into  the  interior  of  the  country,  they  found  those  vast 


60      Early  History  of  the  Church  in  India. 

tracts  peopled  by  three  sorts  of  inhabitants.  First, 
there  were  the  Christians  of  St.  Thomas,  who,  during 
at  least  eight  centuries,  had  been  cut  off  from  the  rest 
of  Christendom,  and  had,  according  to  some  writers, 
corrupted  the  true  faith  by  engrafting  on  it  the  errors 
of  Nestorius  and  the  superstitions  of  Paganism  ; 
secondly,  the  Moors,  or  Arabs,  fanatical  followers  of 
Mahomet,  divided  into  many  sects  ;  and  thirdly,  the 
Hindoo  population,  the  learned  men  believing  in 
various  systems  of  philosophy,  the  middle  and  lower 
classes  being  plunged  into  the  thick  darkness  of  the 
grossest  idolatry.  Our  business  being  briefly  to 
sketch  the  early  history  of  the  Indian  Church,  as 
introductory  to  the  Portuguese  Missions,  it  seems 
unnecessary  to  describe,  except  incidentally,  the 
errors  of  Mohammedanism,  or  the  superstitions  of 
the  heathen. 

The  Church  of  India  acknowledges  St.  Thomas  as 
its  first  founder.  This  Holy  Apostle  had  carried  the 
gift  of  religion  to  the  Parthians,  the  Hircanians,  the 
Persians,  and  the  Arabs.  In  the  ardour  of  his  zeal, 
he  counted  it  as  scarcely  anything  that  he  had 
announced  his  Divine  Master  in  all  the  places  which 
the  Grecian  hero  had  rendered  illustrious  by  his 
conquests.  Not  satisfied  with  finishing  his  course 
where  the  ambition  of  Alexander  the  Great  had 
ended  his,  he  penetrated  into  the  interior  of  India, 
preached  the  Gospel  to  nations  whose  very  names 


Early  History  of  the  Church  in  India.      6 1 

were  hardly  known,  and  founded,  amidst  tribes  where 
idolatry  had  been  hitherto  triumphant,  a  Church  of 
earnest  worshippers  of  the  true  God. 

There  is,  of  course,  much  discussion  on  this  point. 
While,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Roman  Catholics  and 
some  reformers  maintain  the  truth  of  what  we  have 
just  stated,  others  declare  that  the  Syrian  Church  was 
founded  by  another  St.  Thomas  of  the  IV"'  Century. 
According  to  one  view,  the  Apostolic  origin  of  this 
Church  is  not  one  of  those  obscure  traditions  which 
dread  the  severe  investigations  of  criticism,  as  it 
unites  in  its  favour  all  the  proofs  which  can  attest  its 
truth  :  the  accumulated  evidence  of  the  first  ages 
of  the  Church  of  St.  Jerome,  St.  Chrysostom,  St. 
Augustine,  St.  Athanasius,  and  amongst  the  his- 
torians nearest  to  this  epoch,  Eusebius,  Nicetas, 
Sophronius,  Abdias,  and  Nicephorous.  To  the 
authority  of  these  testimonies  may  be  joined  that  of 
usages  and  monuments  still  in  existence,  and  which 
ascend  to  the  period  when  the  name  of  Christian 
began  to  be  known  in  Hindostan.  St.  Chrysostom 
writes  that  from  the  earliest  times  of  Christianity,  the 
tomb  of  St.  Thomas  was,  in  the  East,  as  much 
venerated  as  that  of  St.  Peter  at  Rome.  To  this 
very  day,  and  from  time  immemorial,  the  city  of 
Meliapour,  to  which  the  Christians  of  India  have 
given  the  name  of  St.  Thomas,  sees,  every  year,  the 
two  neighbouring  hills  covered  by  a  multitude  of 


02    Early  History  of  the  Church  in  India. 

Christians,  old  and  new,  who  flock  thither  from  the 
coasts  of  Malabar,  from  Ceylon,  from  the  most  distant 
parts  of  India,  and  even  from  Arabia,  to  deposit  their 
offerings  and  to  pray  at  the  shrine  of  the  Holy 
Apostle.  The  Communion  office,  the  liturgy,  and 
all  the  services  of  this  Indian  Church  were  celebrated 
in  Syriac,  a  language  which,  as  all  students  know,  was 
much  used  in  the  Holy  Land  amongst  the  Jews  in 
the  time  of  Our  Lord.  This  may  be  considered  an 
additional  proof  that  the  faith  was  introduced  into 
India  by  St.  Thomas,  and  in  the  words  of  the  Jesuit 
historian,  "  on  ne  voit  pas  qu'il  soit  possible  de  trouver, 
dans  1'historie  de  cette  Eglise,  un  autre  fondateur  que 
Saint  Thomas  lui-mcme." l 

The  Portuguese,  on  their  first  expedition  into  India, 
found  there  200,000  Christians ;  the  wreck  of  a 
wretched  people,  plunged  into  gross  ignorance  and 
bending  under  the  yoke  of  slavery.  Interrogated  as 
to  their  faith,  these  Indians  could  give  no  other 
account  of  their  religion  than  that  they  bore  the 
name  of  Christians  of  St.  Thomas,  and  the  practice 
which  they  had,  following  the  example  of  their 
ancestors,  of  going  every  year  to  offer  their  homage 
to  their  protecting  saint,  on  the  very  spot  where, 
according  to  the  constant  tradition  of  their  Church, 
he  had  consummated  his  martyrdom.  These  Chris- 
tians of  St.  Thomas  related  marvellous  things  of  his 

1   "  Lettres  Edifiantes,"  Tom.  IV.,  p.  3. 


Early  History  of  the  Church  in  India.      63 

Apostolate,  taken  from  their  annals.  They  had 
composed  from  these  materials  canticles,  or  sacred 
songs,  translated  into  the  language  of  the  country, 
and  chanted  by  the  inhabitants  of  Ceylon,  and  of  the 
coasts  of  Malabar. 

The  traditions  of  an  ignorant  and  barbarous  people 
are  always  confused  and  often  mixed  with  fable. 
Amidst  the  clouds  which  cover  the  traditions  of  the 
Christians  of  St.  Thomas,  the  following  account  seems 
to  possess  the  greatest  amount  of  probability,  and  the 
nearest  approach  to  truth.  After  having  established 
Christianity  in  Arabia  Felix,  and  in  the  island  of 
Dioscorides  (now  called  Socotora),  the  Holy  Apostle 
landed  at  Cranganor,  at  that  time  the  residence  of 
the  most  powerful  King  on  the  Malabar  Coast.  We 
know,  from  the  historians  of  the  Christian  people, 
from  Josephus  and  from  the  Sacred  Books  them- 
selves, in  the  account  of  the  Miracle  of  Pentecost 
that  before  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ,  there  went  forth 
from  Judea  a  great  number  of  its  inhabitants,  and 
that  they  were  scattered  throughout  Egypt,  Greece, 
and  several  countries  of  Asia.  St.  Thomas  learnt 
that  one  of  these  little  colonies  had  settled  in  a 
country  adjacent  to  Cranganor.  Love  for  his  nation 
inflamed  his  zeal ;  and  faithful  to  the  command  of 
Jesus  Christ  who  had  enjoined  his  Apostles  to  pro- 
claim the  faith  to  the  Jews,  before  turning  to  the 
Gentiles,  he  repaired  to  the  country  which  his  com- 


64      Early  History  of  the  Church  in  India. 

patriots  had  chosen  for  their  asylum  ;  he  preached  to 
them  the  Gospel,  converted  them,  and  changed  their 
Synagogue  into  a  Christian  Church.  This  ivas  the 
cradle  of  Cliristianity  in  India,  Very  soon  this 
precious  seed,  cultivated  by  the  Holy  Apostle,  bore 
fruit  a  hundredfold  ;  the  faith  was  carried  to 
Cranganor,  to  Coulan,  a  celebrated  city  of  the  same 
coast,  and  to  several  kingdoms  of  Southern  India. 
The  converted  Gentiles  were  united  to  the  Jews ; 
Churches  were  multiplied,  and  the  Syriac  language 
was  adopted  in  Divine  Service.  St.  Thomas,  after 
having  given  a  constitution  to  these  infant  Churches, 
proceeded  to  new  conquests  ;  and,  directing  his  steps 
towards  the  coast  of  Coromandel,  reached  Meliapour. 
The  fame  of  his  miracles  and  of  his  wonderful  success 
had  preceded  him  ;  the  Rajah's  eyes  were  opened  to 
the  light  of  the  faith,  he  received  baptism  ;  and  by 
his  example,  a  part  of  his  subjects  embraced  the 
Gospel.  These  numerous  conversions  excited  the 
jealousy  and  hatred  of  the  Brahmins,  two  of  whom 
urged  the  populace  to  stone  the  Holy  Apostle.  One 
of  these  Priests  observing  some  trace  of  life  in  the 
Saint,  pierced  him  with  his  lance,  and  St.  Thomas 
thus  received  the  reward  of  his  love  and  devotion  as 
a  missionary,  the  crown  of  martyrdom.  The  Church 
of  Meliapour,  thus  founded  in  the  Apostle's  blood, 
flourished  for  centuries  ;  it  had  its  Bishops,  Priests, 
and  faithful  congregations  ;  but  a  time  came  when 


Early  History  of  the  Church  in  India.       65 

the  Gentile  Kings  took  possession  of  the  city  and  its 
dependent  provinces,  and  the  Christians  suffered  the 
most  violent  persecutions  from  the  destroying  Pagans. 
To  escape  from  their  cruelty,  the  greater  part  fled 
towards  Cape  Comorin ;  and  passing  thence  they 
took  refuge  in  ike  mountains  of  Malabar,  amongst  the 
other  Christians  wJiom  St.  Thomas  had  taught.  They 
spread  into  Cranganor,  Coulan  and  Travancore,  i.e., 
into  the  district  called  the  empire  of  the  Zamorin  in 
the  XVIth  Century. 

From  the  end  of  the  second  Century  of  the 
Christian  era,  an  evil,  much  more  to  be  feared  than 
persecutions,  afflicted  the  Church  of  India  ;  the 
divisions  which  arose  within  her  bosom  weakened  the 
purity  of  the  faith  and  the  vigour  of  primitive 
discipline.  At  this  period  the  school  of  Alexandria 
(founded  by  St.  Mark)  so  famous  throughout  the 
Roman  empire,  by  a  succession  of  such  men  as  the 
Clements  and  the  Origens,  spread  the  brilliancy  of  its 
knowledge  over  the  Christian  world.  The  Christians 
of  India,  groaning  under  internal  dissensions,  sent 
deputies  to  Demetrius  imploring  him  to  commission 
some  eminent  man  to  arbitrate  amongst  them  and  to 
restore  the  authority  of  their  Church.  Pantaenus,  being 
chosen  for  this  mission  passed  several  years  in  India  ; 
but  history  is  silent  as  to  the  success  of  his  visitation. 
There  is  only  one  tradition  which  has  been  preserved 
to  us  by  St.  Jerome  and  Eusebius,  that  Pantaenus 

F 


66        Early  History  of  the  Church  in  India. 

found  in  India  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  written  in 
Hebrew.  This  important  fact,  the  designation  of 
"  Christians  of  St.  Thomas,"  transmitted  from  age  to 
age  to  the  faithful  of  this  Church,  the  custom  of 
celebrating  public  worship  in  Syriac,  the  name  of  a 
bishop  amongst  the  signatures  at  the  first  general 
Council  of  Nice,  with  the  title  of  Bishop  of  Persia 
and  of  great  India — all  these  united  proofs  strongly 
confirmed  the  general  opinion  that  St.  Thomas  was 
the  first  Apostle  of  India. 

In  the  fourth  Century,  St.  Athanasius  also  came  to 
the  aid  of  this  Church.  St.  Fromentius  had  been,  for 
many  years,  reduced  to  slavery ;  but,  having  found 
means  of  effecting  his  escape,  he  succeeded  in 
reaching  Alexandria  and  there  fixed  his  abode.  St. 
Athanasius,  whom  Providence  had  placed  over  this 
great  See,  thoroughly  recognised  the  merits,  the 
virtues,  and  the  zeal,  of  the  illustrious  fugitive  whom 
he  therefore  raised  to  the  episcopate.  St.  Fromentius 
then  returned  to  his  old  companions  in  misfortune, 
preached  Jesus  Christ  to  them,  and  to  the  people  of 
India ;  and  received  the  reward  of  his  zealous  labours 
in  the  Crown  of  Martyrdom. 

The  Gospel  made  rapid  progress,  and  new  conquests 
in  India ;  Churches  were  multiplied  in  all  directions 
and  the  virtues  of  the  Christians  of  St.  Thomas  secured 
for  them  extensive  popularity,  and  even  the  favour  of 
the  monarchs  of  the  country.  Ceram  Peromal 


Early  History  of  the  Church  in  India.        67 

founder  of  Calicut,  became  Emperor  of  all  Malabar, 
divided  the  provinces  of  his  realm  amongst  his  relations 
and  favourites,  and  thereby  gave  origin  to  that 
multitude  of  small  states  with  which  the  coast  of 
Malabar  is  filled.  This  Prince,  though  an  infidel, 
granted  the  most  important  privileges  to  the  Christians, 
and  they  were  placed  on  a  level  with  the  superior 
Castes.  They  further  enjoyed  the  prerogative  of 
depending  solely  on  the  authority  of  their  Bishop,  even 
in  things  temporal.  These  privileges  were  renewed  to 
them  in  the  ninth  century,  and  time  has  preserved  to 
us  the  authentic  title-deeds  in  a  most  durable  form  ; 
for  they  were  written  upon  plates  of  copper  in 
characters  of  Malabar,  Canarin,  Bisnagare  and  Tamil, 
the  languages  most  in  use  on  these  coasts. 

This  continued  prosperity  had  the  effect  of  render- 
ing these  Christians  enterprising  and  ambitious. 
Powerful  enough  to  shake  off  the  yoke  of  the  infidel 
princes,  they  elected  a  monarch  of  their  own  religion  ; 
and  Baliartes  was  proclaimed  King  of  the  Christians 
of  St.  Thomas.  This  state  of  independence  was  but 
brief,  for  one  of  these  Kings,  having  adopted  the  Prince 
of  Diamper,  was  succeeded  by  this  youth.  A  similar 
adoption  placed  them  under  the  Rajah  of  Cochin,  who, 
being  a  Pagan,  persecuted  his  Christian  subjects. 
The  prosperity  of  the  Church  ended,  and  its  subsequent 
history  is  but  a  chain  of  misfortunes.  The  heresies 
predicted  by  Our  Lord  and  His  Apostles  were  at  that 

F  2 


68        Early  History  of  the  Church  in  India. 

time  rending  the  Catholic  Church  ;  the  faith  per- 
secuted by  Christian  Emperors  was  exposed  to  greater 
dangers  than  all  that  it  had  endured  under  the  Pagan 
Sovereigns  ;  in  fact  the  powers  of  darkness  were 
making  the  greatest  efforts  to  destroy,  by  their  own 
hand,  that  body  which  the  persecutions  of  the  Caesars 
had  but  strengthened.  Nestorianism,  originating  in 
the  Vth  Century  had  extended  its  ranges  throughout 
the  East.1  The  Church  of  India  had  long  groaned 
under  the  yoke  of  the  infidel  Princes,  the  successors 
of  the  Christian  Kings.  A  calm  indeed,  had  followed 
the  storm,  but  it  was  the  calm  of  spiritual  death. 
Deprived  of  the  Priesthood,  the  Indian  branch  was 
obliged  to  apply  to  the  Churches  of  the  North  West. 
The  Patriarch  of  Armenia,  a  Nestorian,  was  delighted 
to  embrace  the  opportunity  thus  presented,  and 
eagerly  sent  Priests  fitted  to  extend  his  jurisdiction.2 
The  Indians,  who  had  suffered  so  long  from  the  want 
of  pastors  welcomed  these  missionaries,  paid  them 
full  obedience,  and  received,  necessarily  from  such 
teachers  all  the  evils  of  heresy  and  schism.  "  As  a 
natural  consequence,  they  cut  themselves  off  from  the 
centre  of  Catholic  unity,  abjured  the  obedience  wJiicJi 

1  Neander,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  123.  Mosheim,  Cent.  V.,  Part  II.,  Chap.  V. 
Hough's  "  Hist,  of  Christ."  Vol.  I.,  p.  74.  Bishop  Browne,  XXXIX.  Art. 

3  "  Nestorianism  took  deep  root  in  many  soils,  and  the  Nestorians 
proved  themselves  zealous  missionaries.  Their  opinions  spread  rapidly 
into  Armenia,  Chaldea,  Syria,  Arabia  and  India."  —  Bishop  Browne, 
p.  63.  Bishop  Pearson,  p.  178. 


Early  History  of  the  Church  in  India.       69 

bound  them  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome  (/)  and  acknowledged 
no  other  Superior  than  the  Patriarch  of  Armenia.1 

The  misfortunes  of  the  Church  of  India  approached 
their  crisis.  Towards  the  VIIth  Century,  the 
Mahommedans  over-ran  all  India  to  the  East  of  the 
Ganges.  The  ferocious  Mahmoud  proclaimed  Islamism, 
and,  on  both  sides  of  his  march,  levelled  with  the  dust, 
or  committed  to  the  flames,  the  Churches  of  the 
Christians,  and  the  Pagodas  of  the  idolaters.  The 
victims  had  to  choose  between  the  acceptance  of  the 
Koran,  or  the  loss  of  liberty,  property,  nay  life  itself. 
The  Disciples  of  St.  Thomas  on  the  Malabar  Coast, 
as  well  as  those  near  Meliapour,  were  happily  at  a 
safe  distance  from  the  Moslem  invaders.  They  were 
thus  able  to  maintain,  in  most  cases,  the  religion 
of  their  Fathers,  and  to  read,  in  their  Churches,  their 
Syriac  Bibles.  The  worship  of  images  was  ignored, 
but  they  continued,  in  a  certain  sense,  to  "  venerate  " 
the  Cross.  They  asserted  the  dogma  of  the  real 
presence  of  the  Eucharist,  and  the  viaticum  was 
administered  to  the  sick.  The  fasts  of  Lent  and 
Advent,  and  the  eves  of  solemn  Festivals  were 
religiously  observed.  The  celibacy  of  the  Priesthood 
was  not  strictly  enforced,  but  second  marriages  were 
interdicted.  With  regard  to  the  remaining  rites  and 

1  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  inform  the  reader  that  this  extraordinary 
sentence  is  translated  from  a  Jesuit's  writings  in  the  "  Lettres  Edifiantes." 
Tom.  IV.,  p9. 


7O       Early  History  of  the  Church  in  India. 

ceremonies,  these  Indian  Christians  were  sufficiently 
in  conformity  with  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 

It  is  quite  impossible,  with  due  regard  to  the  main 
purpose  of  our  work,  to  say  more  on  this  part  of  the 
subject,  however  interesting  it  might  be  to  the  student 
of  Ecclesiastical  History.  We  must  therefore  remark, 
in  conclusion,  that  the  Syrian  Church  continued  for 
Centuries,  in  what  the  Jesuit  Fathers  called,  "  the 
depths  of  schism  and  heresy."  Renaudot,  in  his 
"  History  of  Liturgies,"  speaks  of  Nestorian  Patriarchs 
coming  from  Persia,  whose  See  was  first  established  at 
Modain — the  Seleucia  of  the  Parthians,  and,  he  adds 
that  after  the  destruction  of  that  city  by  the  Caliphs, 
they  retired  to  Bagdad,  and  thence  to  Mosul.  From 
this  source  the  Christians  of  St.  Thomas  received 
their  Bishops,  and  continued  to  yield  obedience  to 
this  distant  Patriarchate  till  1 599,  when,  under  circum- 
stances, to  be  narrated  in  a  future  book,  the  Syrian 
Church  was  forcibly  united  to  that  of  Rome.  Previously 
to  this,  many  of  the  outlying  Churches  had  fallen,  step 
by  step  into  a  lifeless  indifference,  if  not  apostacy, 
in  the  hope  of  averting  persecution  from  Moslem  and 
Pagan.  "  Thus  in  consequence  of  the  gross  ignorance 
to  which  they  became  more  and  more  enslaved,  they 
had  formed  an  extraordinary  compound  of  various 
faiths,  the  religion  of  their  ancestors,  blending  itself 
with  the  absurdities  of  idolatry,  and  the  superstitions 
of  Islamism,  so  that  nothing  remained  but  the  faintest 


Early  History  of  the  Church  in  India.       7  I 

trace  of  true  Christianity.  It  was  in  this  deplorable 
condition  that  our  Missionaries  found  them  on  arriv- 
ing in  Hindostan."  1 

In  compiling  this  chapter  we  have  done  our  best 
to  let  the  Romanists  state  their  views  of  the  early 
history  of  the  Syrian  Church,  as  they  came  first  in 
contact  with  its  members.  Even  their  own  writers, 
however,  (Tillemont,  Renaudot,  Trigant,  and  others) 
consider  much  of  the  account  apocryphal,  and  ex- 
press grave  doubts  of  the  legend  of  St.  Thomas. 
Several  members  of  our  own  Church,  on  the  other 
hand,  such  as  Bishop  Heber,  Archdeacon  Robinson, 
and  Dr.  Claudius  Buchanan,  see  no  improbability  in 
the  tradition,  and  "  favour  the  claim  of  the  Syro- 
Malabaric  Church  to  this  Apostolic  origin."2  La 
Croze,  Hough,  and  others,  treat  the  whole  as  a  myth, 
and  the  latter  certainly  adduces  most  powerful  argu- 
ments and  quotations  in  proof  of  his  opinion. 

The  chief  Roman  Catholic  authorities  are  Em- 
manuel Anger,  1571  ;  Martino  Martinez,  1615  ; 
Gothard  Artus,  1660;  Gouzales  d'Avila,  1649;  Urbano 
Cerri,  1716;  and,  of  course,  the  "Lettres  Edifiantes." 

1  This  sentence  is  of  course  the  opinion  of  a  Jesuit  writer,  and  many 
such  maybe  found  in  the  "  Lettres  Edifiantes:" 

2  "Dean  Pearson's  Life  of  Schwartz,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  2.  "Heber's  Journal," 
Vol.  II.,  p.  278.     "  Dr.  Claudius  Buchanan's  Christian  Researches,"  "I 
am  satisfied    that    we    have    as   good  authority  for  believing  that  the 
Apostle  Thomas  died  in  India  as  that  the  Apostle  Peter  died  at  Rome," 
p.  113.      Hough,  Vol.  I.,  p.  32. 


CHAPTER  II. 

FIRST    MEETING    OK    THE    PORTUGUESE    WITH    THE 
SYRIANS. 

"  The  Portuguese  entered  India  with  the  sword  in  one  hand  and  the 
Crucifix  in  the  other  ;  finding  much  gold,  they  laid  aside  the  Crucifix 
to  fill  their  pockets." — Joao  de  Castro  (Viceroy  of  India,  1548). 

THE  love  of  conquest,  the  thirst  for  gold,  the  flatter- 
ing hope  of  personal  or  political  aggrandizement, 
influenced  the  early  Portuguese  adventurers  to  such 
an  extent  that  all  restraint  on  their  passions  and 
conduct  was  abandoned.  Their  leaders  were  ordered 
to  invade  the  dominions  of  all  those  Princes  who 
refused  to  become  vassals  of  the  King  of  Portugal  ; 
and  the  pompous  titles  which  Emmanuel,  intoxi- 
cated by  success,  had  added  to  his  Crown,  showed 
the  area  which  he  proposed  to  cover  with  his  Empire. 
The  Portuguese  effectually  disguised  their  schemes 
and  objects.  They  represented  themselves  as  a  friendly 
nation,  coming  to  offer  a  commerce  reciprocally  advan- 
tageous, and  whose  chief  aim  was  to  propagate  the 
only  religion  acknowledged  by  Heaven  as  the  means 
of  man's  salvation. 


Meeting  of  the  Portuguese  with  the  Syrians.     73 

The  Christians  of  St.  Thomas  were  the  first  to  be 
ensnared  by  these  specious  appearances.  These 
people,  ignorant  and  credulous,  persuaded  them- 
selves that  Christians  who  had  travelled  1,200  leagues, 
braving  the  perils  of  a  painful  navigation,  to  extend 
the  empire  of  their  religion,  could  not  but  be  just  and 
benevolent  men.  These  poor  Syrians  were,  with  few 
exceptions,  miserable  wretches,  reduced  to  the  lowest 
servitude  by  Pagan  and  by  Moslem.  Naturally 
enough,  then,  they  saw  in  the  Portuguese,  envoys 
from  Heaven,  liberators  who  were  come  to  break 
their  chains,  and  restore  them  to  the  privileges  which 
their  ancestors  had  enjoyed.  The  first  meeting  took 
place  at  Cranganor  in  1501,  when  Pedro  Cabral 
succeeded  in  inducing  two  brothers,  Matthias  and 
Joseph,  to  accompany  him  to  Lisbon  ;  and  thus  com- 
municated to  Europe  the  interesting  fact  of  the 
existence  of  a  native  Christian  Church  amongst  the 
heathens  of  South  India.1  After  the  first  victories 
of  da  Gama,  30,000  of  these  Syrian  Christians  sent 
deputies  to  Cochin  to  render  homage  to  the  con- 
queror. According  to  Gouvea's  account,  they  pre- 
sented to  Vasco  da  Gama  a  sceptre  or  baton  of 
vermilion  wood,  the  ends  of  which  were  tipped  with 
silver,  and  surmounted  by  three  little  bells.  This 

1  ' '  Joseph  went  first  to  Rome  and  from  thence  to  Venice  where, 
upon  his  information,  a  tract  was  published  in  Latin  of  the  State 
of  the  Church  of  Malabar,  and  is  printed  at  the  end  of  '  Fasciculus 
Temporum.' "  Gouvea,  translated  by  Geddes,  p.  2.  La  Croze,  p.  49. 


74     Meeting  of  the  Portuguese  with  the  Syrians. 

was  the  sceptre  of  their  Kings,  the  last  of  whom  had 
died  shortly  before  the  arrival  of  the  Europeans. 
They  told  the  admiral  that  they  had  received  the 
gift  of  the  faith,  and  that  they  were  the  spiritual 
subjects  of  the  Assyrian  Patriarch  from  whom  their 
Bishops  received  consecration.  They  declared  in  the 
name  of  their  constituents,  that  they  believed  King 
Emmanuel  to  be  the  most  zealous  of  all  Princes  in 
the  propagation  of  the  Gospel ;  and,  therefore,  desiring 
to  have  him  as  their  sovereign,  they  begged  the 
admiral  to  effect  their  adoption,  and  to  take  them 
under  his  own  special  protection.1  The  number  of 
the  Christians  of  St.  Thomas  was  supposed  to  reach 
200,000 ;  and  Gama  was  astute  enough  to  perceive 
the  vast  gain  to  Portuguese  ascendency  that  would 
result  from  the  devoted  alliance  of  these  brave,  but 
oppressed  Christians.  He  replied  that  he  thanked 
Heaven  for  directing  his  steps  to  find,  amongst  the 
infidels,  so  many  servants  of  Jesus  Christ  ;  and  he 
assured  them  both  by  his  flattering  promises,  and  by 
his  distinguished  reception,  that  his  Royal  Master, 
who  only  made  war  to  promote  Christianity  and 
destroy  infidelity,  would  declare  himself  their  zealous 
protector,  and  would  defend  them  against  all  their 
enemies.  This  news,  spreading  through  the  mountain 

1  (iouvea's  "Jornada,"  p.  72.  Joao  cle  Barros,  Dec.  I.,  Liv.  III. 
Osorio,  Vol.  I.,  p.  134.  La  Croze,  p.  52.  Geddes,  p.  3.  Hough's 
History,  Vol.  I.,  p.  154. 


Meeting  of  the  Portuguese  with  the  Syrians.      75 

Churches  of  Malabar,  Cochin,  and  Travancore,  every- 
where excited  the  liveliest  joy.  Too  soon,  however, 
the  bitterest  disappointment  succeeded,  as  the  Portu- 
guese Ecclesiastics  gradually  discovered  the  Nestorian 
tenets1  of  their  new  friend ;  and  the  native  Christians 
began  to  experience  those  vexatious  persecutions 
which  culminated  at  the  close  of  the  century,  in  the 
Synod  of  Diamper. 

In  proportion  as  the  affairs  of  Portugal  prospered 
in  India,  King  Emmanuel  dispatched  new  fleets,  and 
augmented  the  number  of  their  crews.  The  European 
forces  then  became  truly  formidable,  and  everything 
on  the  coast  of  the  Deccan  was  compelled  to  yield  to 
their  valour.  But  what  was  the  composition  of  this 
army  of  adventurers.  They  were  men  too  much  re- 
sembling the  fillibusters  or  buccaneers,  who,  at  the 
same  period,  made  the  West  Indies  tremble,  and 
whose  chief  merit  was  reckless  courage.2  All  the 
historians  of  the  period  agree  in  painting  these 
marauders  in  the  blackest  colours.  At  the  time  of 
embarkation  in  Lisbon,  selection  was  impossible ; 
everyone  was  enrolled  who  wished  to  go,  vagrants, 
jail-birds,  debtors,  criminals  of  every  description, 
wretches,  incapable  by  immorality  and  loss  of 

1  Bishop  Osorio  gives  an  interesting  account  of  the  Syrian  Church 
as  to  its  creed,  ceremonies,  £c.,  in  Vol.  I.,p.2i2of  his  "  History  of  the 
Reign  of  Emmanuel."  He  mentions  the  Christians  also  at  p.  119. 

a  Towards  the  close  of  this  century  Drake,  Raleigh,  and  many  other  of 
our  own  countrymen  bore  too  close  a  resemblance  to  these  adventurers. 


7 6     Meeting  of  the  Portuguese  with  the  Syrians 

character  of  obtaining  employment  at  home,  whom 
Portugal  was  glad  to  banish  to  save  the  honour  of 
their  families.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the 
Portuguese  were  peculiar  in  this  respect ;  for  such 
seems  to  have  been  the  characteristic  of  most  of  the 
emigrants  of  every  nation.  The  English  were  not  a 
whit  better,  if  we  may  believe  the  description  of  one 
who  has  thoroughly  examined  the  condition  of  the 
early  settlers  in  British  India.  "  From  the  moment 
of  their  landing  on  the  shores  of  India  the  first 
settlers  cast  off  all  those  bonds  which  had  restrained 
them  in  their  native  villages  ;  they  regarded  them- 
selves as  privileged  beings — privileged  to  violate  all 
the  obligations  of  religion  and  morality,  and  to  out- 
rage all  the  decencies  of  life.  They  who  went  thither 
were  often  desperate  adventurers  who  sought  those 
golden  sands  of  the  East  to  repair  their  broken 
fortunes ;  to  bury  in  oblivion  a  sullied  name ;  or 
to  wring,  with  lawless  hand,  from  the  weak  and  un- 
suspecting, that  wealth  which  they  had  not  the 
character  or  capacity  to  obtain  by  honest  industry  at 
home.  They  cheated,  they  gambled,  they  drank  ; 
they  revelled  in  all  kinds  of  debauchery."  l  Without 
doubt  every  Portuguese  was  not  depraved  ;  the  annals 
of  the  country  exhibit  many  noble  specimens  of  the 
highest  virtue  ;  but  still  the  description  is,  in  the  main, 
correct,  and  such  was  the  miserable  aspect  under 

1  Kaye's  "  Christ  in  India,"  p.  46. 


Meeting  of  the  Portuguese  with  the  Syrians.     77 

which  European  Christianity  was  first  exhibited  to  the 
natives  of  India.  In  spite  of  vigorous  laws,  and  of  the 
wisest  regulations  published  by  the  Court  of  Lisbon, 
the  Portuguese  were  seen  on  all  sides  with  the  voracity 
of  vultures,  devouring  the  property  of  the  unhappy 
natives,  whose  countries  they  had  subdued.  The 
Christians  of  St.  Thomas  fared  no  better  than  their 
compatriots,  for  the  invaders,  giving  full  swing  to  their 
rapacity  were  not  likely  to  be  discriminating  in  their 
choice  of  victims,  or  to  recognise,  as  friends  and 
brethren,  those  who  professed  a  religion  so  nearly 
allied  to  their  own.  A  natural  re-action  took  place, 
for  the  Bishops  and  Clergy  of  the  Syrians,  aggrieved 
by  attempts,  even  thus  early  made,  to  interfere  with 
their  Church,  eagerly  took  advantage  of  the  mis- 
conduct of  the  Portuguese  settlers  to  hold  up  the 
Roman  Church  as  an  object  of  hatred,  and  thus  to 
hinder  the  union  which  the  European  missionaries 
so  ardently  desired  to  accomplish.  While  this  was 
the  condition  of  things  on  the  Malabar  Coast,  King 
Emmanuel  was  making  every  effort  at  Lisbon  to  give 
effect  to  his  zeal  in  the  propagation  of  the  faith,  for  he 
felt  that  it  was  no  less  a  policy  than  a  duty,  subjects 
being  always  better  disposed  to  obey  a  Sovereign 
who  cultivates  and  protects  their  religion.  How  the 
pioneers  of  the  Portuguese  missions  in  India  car- 
ried into  execution  the  benevolent  schemes  of  their 
monarch  will  be  seen  in  our  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER    III. 

PIONEERS   OF   THE   PORTUGUESE   MISSIONS. 

"  Only  when  the  Church  is  rich  internally  in  the  gifts  of  the  spirit 
will  the  Divine  fulness  flow  over  outwardly,  and  the  water  of  life,  while 
it  fructifies  the  heathen  world,  will  flow  back  with  a  blessing  to  the 
districts  from  which  it  issued  ;  but  where  the  Spiritual  life  is  wanting, 
no  salutary  influence  can  go  forth  on  those  who  are  without  the  pale 
of  the  Church."— NEANDER. 

WHEN  Cabral  returned  to  Europe  in  1501,  he  brought 
an  account,  as  we  have  already  stated,  of  the  exist- 
ence of  numerous  Christian  congregations  scattered 
amongst  the  mountains  of  Malabar.  The  natives, 
who  accompanied  him,  confirmed  his  statement,  and 
excited  the  liveliest  interest  amongst  the  Propagan- 
dists of  Lisbon,  who  not  only  desired  to  cultivate 
friendly  relations  with  their  Indian  fellow- Christians, 
thus  romantically  discovered,  but  to  make  use  of  the 
Syrian  Church  as  a  centre  of  missionary  operations 
amongst  the  surrounding  heathen. 

The  first  pioneers  of  the  Portuguese  Missions  to 
India  belonged  to  the  Order  of  the  Capuchins. 
"  His  Majesty,"  says  Bishop  Osorio,  "  sent  likewise,  in 


Pioneers  of  the  Portuguese  Missions.        79 

the  fleet,  five  Franciscan  Friars,  men  of  known  piety 
and  zeal  for  religion.  These  men  were  to  remain  at 
Calicut,  if  amicable  terms  could  be  agreed  upon  with 
the  Zamorin,  to  perform  divine  service  to  the  Portu- 
guese who  should  settle  there  on  account  of  trade, 
and  to  instruct  in  the  mysteries  of  our  Holy  Religion 
any  people  of  the  country  who  might  be  willing  to 
embrace  the  truth  of  Christianity.  The  chief  of 
these  religious  persons  was  Henry,  afterwards  Bishop 
of  Ceuta,  a  man  of  the  most  exemplary  piety  and 
sanctity  of  manners."  l  Another  account  by  Cordozo 
in  the  Agwlogio  Lusitano,  speaks  of  seven  monks 
having  embarked  in  1501,  and  states  that  three  of 
them  died  at  Calicut  a  month  after  their  arrival,  the 
other  four  sharing  the  same  fate  in  the  following 
spring.  Pedro  Covillam  is  said  to  have  been  the  first 
to  administer  baptism  in  India.2 

A  long  interval  exists  between  these  early  efforts 
and  subsequent  attempts  at  Evangelisation.  It  is 
quite  possible,  however,  that  the  work  was  going  on, 
though  no  record  has  come  down  to  us  of  the  number 
and  names  of  the  missionaries,  the  fields  of  their  opera- 
tions, and  their  successes  or  reverses.  Were  our  work 
designed  to  give  a  full  account  of  these  early  Crusaders, 

1  Osorio's  "  History  of  the  reign  of  Emmanuel,"  book  ii.,  p.  85. 

2  He  had  travelled  to  India  by  land  before  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
had  been  doubled  ;  and  he  has  published  his  adventures  under  the  title 
of  "  Relazao  do  Viage  de  Pedro  Covillam  de  Lisboa  a  India,  per  Terra> 
evolta  do  Cairo.'' 


8o       Pioneers  of  the  Portuguese  Missions. 

or  proselytiscrs  in  arms,  we  might  find  abundant 
materials  in  the  ponderous  volumes  of  the  Romanist 
Historians  to  fill  many  pages  of  our  book,  even  though 
the  annals  of  the  first  thirty  years  are  a  blank.  As 
our  purpose,  however,  is  to  condense  to  the  greatest 
extent  consistent  with  an  intelligible  narrative,  we 
must  rest  satisfied  with  stating  one  or  two  leading 
facts. 

In  1530  Miguel  Vaz  was  appointed  Vicar-General 
of  Goa,  and  seems  to  have  produced  an  extraordinary 
effect  on  his  victorious  countrymen  by  the  ardour  of 
his  zeal.  He  led  into  the  fields  of  Paganism  a  numer- 
ous and  devoted  body  of  missioners,  whose  names 
Cardosa,  that  indefatigable  Biographer  of  Saints,  has 
not  thought  worthy  of  enrolment  in  his  list.  It  is, 
however,  recorded  of  this  first  Vicar-General  that  he 
not  only  overthrew  the  pagodas  of  the  Brahmins,  but 
laid  the  foundations  of  the  famous  Missionary  College 
of  Goa  in  1546.  In  that  year  John  III.  sent  to  this 
Miguel  Vaz  a  letter  dated  the  8th  of  March,  addressed 
to  the  Viceroy  of  Goa,  in  which  he  commanded  him 
to  care  for  the  interests  of  Christianity,  and  to  protect 
the  Paravas  (fishermen)  and  other  Christians,  meeting 
the  expense  out  of  his  revenue.1  On  the  death  of 
Bishop  Vaz  in  1 548,  we  find  Diego  da  Barba,  Simao 
Vaz,  Francisco  Alvarez,  and  others,  carrying  on  the 

1  In  1537  Pope  Paul  III.  had  made  Goa  the  seat  of  a  Bishop,  of 
which  Vaz  was  the  first. 


Pioneers  of  the  Portuguese  Missions.       8 1 

work  of  the  mission,  as  yet  chiefly  limited  to  the 
Pagans.  Besides  these,  Caspar  Coelho,  ranking  with 
the  earliest  Apostles  of  India,  took  up  his  abode  at 
Meliapour  (near  the  modern  Madras),  and  it  was 
there  that  he  was  found  by  St.  Francis  Xavier  in  1 548. 
Geddes,  the  translator,  or  rather  paraphraser,  of 
Gouvea's  "  Jornada,"  says,  "  We  hear  no  more  of  these 
Christians  till  about  the  year  1545,  the  Portugueses 
being  all  that  while  too  busie  in  making  new  con- 
quests, and  the  Friars,  who  were  sent  thither,  too  much 
employed  in  building  and  providing  commodious 
seats  for  their  convents  to  attend  to  any  foreign  busi- 
ness, of  what  nature  soever.  This  forty  years'  neglect 
of  a  Christianity  which  was  just  under  their  noses 
puts  me  in  mind  of  what  a  Minister  of  State  said  of 
the  Portuguese  zeal  in  the  Indies.  '  It  is  a  vain 
conceit,  if  it  please  your  Majesty  (speaking  to  Philip 
IV.)  that  the  world  has  entertained  of  the  zeal  of  the 
Portuguese  upon  account  of  the  conversions  that  have 
been  made  by  them  in  the  Indies,  for  it  was  covetous- 
ness,  and  not  zeal,  that  engaged  them  to  make  all 
those  conquests.  The  conversions  that  have  been 
made  there  were  performed  by  the  Divine  Power,  and 
the  charity  of  a  few  particular  Friars,  the  Government 
and  Crown,  having  no  other  aim  therein  but  the  rob- 
bing of  kingdoms  and  cities  ;  and  there  were  still  the 
greatest  Conversions  where  there  was  most  to 
gratify  their  covetousness.  But  where  there  was 

G 


82       Pioneers  of  the  Portuguese  Missions. 

nothing  to  be  had,  there  the  people  were  obdurate,  and 
not  to  be  wrought  upon.  And  so  we  see  their  zeal 
expired  quickly  in  all  places,  where  it  was  not  ani- 
mated by  covetousness,  and  how  they  who  had  noth- 
ing else  to  say  but  Lord  open  unto  us,  were  not  thought 
fit  to  enter  into  Heaven.'"  l 

This  opinion  of  the  neglect  of  Christianity,  even  by 
the  early  missionaries  themselves,  is  confirmed  by  the 
testimony  of  Manoel  de  Faria,  who  says,  "  It  is  a 
shameful  thing  that  this  Church  should  continue  an 
hundred  years  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Portu- 
gueses without  being  reduced  to  the  Roman  Faith, 
and  which  makes  it  still  the  worse,  under  the  eye  of 
the  Bishops  of  Goa  ;  but  the  truth  is,  those  merchants 
whom  Christ  whipped  out  of  the  Temple,  were  such 
as  these."2 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  Portuguese  missionaries 
who  first  broke  ground  in  Southern  India  had  to 
encounter,  as  we  have  already  said,  three  distinct 
classes  of  opponents,  the  Christians  of  St.  Thomas, 
the  Mohammedans,  and  the  Pagans.  We  learn  that 
King  Emmanuel  sent  the  most  positive  orders  to  the 
missionaries  to  declare  to  the  Indian  Christians,  unless 
they  abjured  the  heresy  of  Nestorianism,  renounced 
all  communication  with  the  schismatic  Patriarch,  and 

1  Geddes,  pp.  4-5. 

2  Manoel  de  Faria  "  Asia  Portugucsa."     Vol.  Il\., passim.     Geddes's 
"  Translation  of  Gouvea,"  p.  6. 


Pioneers  uf  the  Portuguese  Missions.        83 

acknowledged  the  Holy  See  of  Rome,  as  the  centre 
of  Catholic  Unity,  he  would  neither  own  them  as  his 
faithful  subjects,  nor  interfere  to  protect  them  against 
their  enemies.  This  menace  was  a  part  of  that 
systematic  course  of  persecution  which  the  native 
Church  has  had  to  endure  from  her  Roman  Sister  for 
more  than  three  centuries.  As,  however,  we  shall 
give  an  account  of  this  in  its  proper  place,  we  may 
refer  at  present  to  pioneer  work  amongst  the  heathen, 
for  it  is  especially  in  the  conversion  of  the  Indian 
idolaters  that  the  triumph  of  Apostolic  virtue  shines 
most  conspicuously  in  the  really  good  members  of  the 
Portuguese  missions.  Every  organisation  has  some 
obstacle  to  overcome,  but  the  Indian  missions  seemed 
called  upon  at  this  period  to  encounter  not  single 
difficulties,  but  an  assemblage  of  every  special 
embarrassment,  the  Asiatic  races  clinging  with 
greater  pertinacity  to  their  customs,  to  their  social 
distinctions,  and  to  the  peculiarity  of  Caste,1  than 
to  fortune  and  liberty  itself.  The  Portuguese  saw 
at  first  in  the  Hindoos  merely  a  nation  of  slaves, 
whom  they  could  easily  master  by  frightening  them 
into  subjection  ;  they  sought  out  the  Pariahs  in 

1  The  Hindoos  are  divided  into  four  classes,  the  Brahmins,  sacer- 
dotal ;  the  Cshatrya,  or  military  ;  the  Vaisya,  or  industrial ;  and  the 
Sudras,  or  servile.  See  "Translation  of  the  Laws  of  Manu,"  by  Sir 
William  Jones.  Elphinstone's  "  History  of  India."  Trevor's  "  India," 
p.  38.  Irving's  "Theory  and  Practice  of  Caste,"  p.  7  ;  and,  in  con- 
firmation of  our  view,  p.  122. 

G   2 


84       Pioneers  of  the  Portuguese  Missions. 

preference  to  the  higher  class  associated  with  them, 
and  took  a  great  number  of  them  into  their  service. 
Ignorant  of   the  extraordinary  strength  of   Hindoo 
prejudice  with  regard  to  Caste,  the  missionaries  com- 
mitted an  error  by  this  step,  which  affects,  to  this  day, 
the  opinion  of  the  less  educated  natives,  not  only  with 
regard  to  European  religions,  or  the  original  Propa- 
gandists, but  also  with  reference  to  all  settlers,   no 
matter  of  what  race  or  creed.     For  when  the  high 
Caste   Hindoo  saw  the  Portuguese  in  familiar  inter- 
course  with    Pariahs,  his    contempt  was   transferred 
from  the  outcast  to  the  Portuguese  themselves,  and 
from  the  Portuguese  to  all  Europeans,  whom  they 
confound  to  this  day  with  them,  under  the  general 
name  of  Prangius — the  Hindoo  mode  of  pronouncing 
Franks.     To  this  well-meant  but  injudicious  move- 
ment on  the  part  of  the  missionaries  must  be  added 
an  obstacle  for  which  there  is  no  excuse.     The  con- 
fession is  a  sad  one,  but  the  security  of  historical 
truth  forces  from  us  the  admission  that  the  conduct 
of  most  Europeans,  whether  civil,  military,  or  com- 
mercial, in  India,  the  violence  and  vexations  to  which 
they  were  prompted  by  the  desire  of  making  rapid 
fortunes,    their    insulting    pride,     their     scandalous 
immorality,  have  but  too  powerfully  contributed  to 
render  natural  to  the  Hindoos  that  burning  hatred 
which  three  centuries  of  intercourse  have   not   been 
able  to  extinguish,  and  which  periodically  bursts  out 


Pioneers  of  the  Portuguese  Missions.       85 

in  such  terrible  forms  as  at  Vfllore,  Mecrut,  and 
Cawnpore.  That  this  conduct  was  not  limited  to  the 
Portuguese  we  have  already  shov/n,  and  but  too  much 
testimony  to  the  same  effect  may  be  gleaned  from 
works  on  India  in  the  XVIth  and  XVIIth  centuries.1 

Thus  it  happened  during  the  early  days  of  the 
Portuguese  missions  in  South  India,  that,  with  some 
remarkable  exceptions,  only  four  sorts  of  natives 
embraced  Christianity,  (i)  the  inhabitants  of  Salsettc, 
and  the  neighbourhood  of  Goa,  with  those  of  the 
Pescaria,  who  were  forced  to  take  the  European  .yoke 
as  a  protection  from  Moorish  tyranny,  (2)  Pariahs  or 
outcasts,  objects  of  contempt  to  all  the  Indian  popu- 
lation, (3)  a  certain  number  of  the  Malabars  who  were 
constrained  to  embrace  the  religion  of  their  oppressors 
to  renounce  their  Castes,  and  to  adopt  European 
customs,  and  lastly,  the  scum  of  the  people — pur- 
chased slaves,  and  degraded  Indians. 

Everything,  therefore,  conspired  against  the  spread 
of  the  Gospel,  everything  up  to  the  moment  of  its 
first  success.  The  missioners  sent  at  this  time  into 
the  heathen  lands  of  Southern  India  felt  this  keenly. 

1  "  There  had  been  two  Christian  nations  in  India  before  us.  We 
found  the  name  of  Christian  little  better  than  a  synonym  for  devil,  and 
for  some  time  we  did  nothing  to  disturb  the  popular  belief  in  the 
Satanic  origin  of  our  saving  faith,  and  so  not  only  was  nothing  done 
for  our  Christianity  during  the  first  century  of  our  connection  with 
India,  but  very  much  against  it.  We  made  for  ourselves  impediments 
to  the  diffusion  qf  Gospel  light." — Kaye's  "Christianity  in  India," 
P- 43- 


86       Pioneers  of  the  Portuguese  Missions. 

Strong  in  their  virtue,  and  in  their  ardour  for  the  faith, 
they  saw  clearly  that  the  only  hope  left  for  its  exten- 
sion was  to  adopt  a  policy  in  every  respect  opposed 
to  that  which  had  hitherto  been  employed  by  the 
Portuguese.  To  name  the  Great  Apostle  of  India, 
St.  Francis  Xavier,  is,  to  tell  in  one  word,  the  whole 
history  of  the  early  missions.  For  his  glorious 
example  was  the  sacred  model  on  which  nearly  all 
future  action  was  based.  In  the  vast  field  of 
missionary  enterprise,  the  most  successful  labourers 
were  but  imitators  of  this  great  leader,  as  he  himself 
was  of  the  first  founders  of  Christianity.  "  What 
marvellous  men  were  the  Barsees,  the  companions  of 
Xavier,  Lopez,  Bishop  of  St.  Thom£ — Robert  de 
Nobilibus,  nephew  of  the  celebrated  Cardinal  de 
Bcllarmin1  ;  Father  Borgese,  whose  illustrious  birth 
was  the  least  of  the  favours  which  this  new  Apostle 
had  received  from  heaven  !  But  we  must  not  rise  to 
the  style  of  the  panegyrist,  but  content  ourselves  with 
following  a  simple  narrative  of  facts." 

As  the  price  of  their  conquests,  the  first  Europeans 
had  to  endure  the  universal  hatred  of  the  races  whom 
they  had  subdued.  The  missionaries,  on  the  contrary, 
aimed  only  at  winning  the  affections  of  the  natives. 
Strict  observers  of  the  laws  and  customs  of  the 
countries  into  which  they  carried  the  light  of  the 

1  Roliert  is,  of  course,  an  admirable  missionary,  according  to  the 
Jesuit  view. 


Pioneers  of  the  Portuguese  Missions.       87 

Gospel,  they  became  "  all  things  to  all  men,"  in  order 
to  secure  the  great  end  which  their  constant  preach- 
ing had  in  view.  "They,  therefore,  respected  the 
prejudices  and  the  usages  of  the  tribes  amongst  whom 
they  laboured,  however  ridiculous  or  repulsive  they 
might  appear  to  European  sense  or  taste." 

The  Indian  idolaters  naturally  refused  to  believe  a 
religion  introduced  by  men  who  abused  their  power, 
to  violate  the  sacred  laws  of  hospitality,  to  press  them 
under  the  sceptre  of  tyranny,  to  deprive  them  of  their 
legitimate  sovereigns,  to  plunder  them  of  their  precious 
metals,  and  to  dishonour,  by  the  scandalous  immorality 
of  their  lives,  the  sanctity  of  the  doctrine  which  they 
proclaimed.  On  the  other  hand,  these  bewildered 
natives,  turning  to  the  missionaries,  beheld  in  them  all 
those  noble  and  estimable  qualities  which  could  attract 
their  love  and  secure  their  confidence ;  they  saw,  in 
the  heroes  of  the  Cross,  all  the  characteristics  of  a 
religion  fresh  from  Heaven.  "  No,"  said  they,  aston- 
ished by  the  moral  beauty  of  this  spectacle,  "it  is  only 
God,  the  supreme  God,  which  could  fill  the  hearts  of 
these  missionaries  with  zeal  and  charity,  who  could 

induce  them  to  tear  themselves  from  their  native  land 

» 

from  the  flattering  hopes  assured  to  them  by  their 
birth,  their  talents,  their  virtues,  in  order  to  come  to 
us,  crossing  the  boundless  ocean,  and  braving  every 
peril,  that  they  might  announce  to  us  the  oracles  of 
God,  and  make  us  partakers  of  the  happiness  of 


88       Pioneers  of  the  Portuguese  Missions. 

Heaven.  What  purity  in  their  manners,  what 
austerity  in  their  lives  !  What  ardour  in  teaching  us, 
what  sweetness  in  their  pathetic  exhortations,  what 
patience  in  listening  to  our  stories,  what  love  speaking 
in  the  eloquence  of  the  heart  in  bending  our  stubborn 
wills  !  What  a  life  of  disinterestedness,  of  privation, 
of  devotion  and  self-sacrifice !  All  that  they  could 
command  is  dedicated  to  us ;  their  talents,  their 
labours,  their  life  itself,  they  give  us  all.  They  share 
our  miseries  that  they  may  be  the  better  able  to  re- 
lieve them.  They  refuse  all  the  gifts  which  gratitude 
would  be  tempted  to  offer  them,  and  they  desire 
nothing  from  us  in  return  for  such  benefits,  but  the 
satisfaction  of  seeing  us  enjoy  the  truth  which  they 
preach  at  the  peril  of  their  lives."  Profoundly  modest, 
the  missionary  Priests,  thinking  nothing  even  of  their 
best  works,  were  only  raised  above  their  disciples  by 
their  greater  fidelity  to  the  sacred  dictates  of  religion ; 
and  if  the  Bishops  were  at  all  distinguished  from  the 
ordinary  Priests,  it  was  by  greater  simplicity  in  dress, 
greater  love  of  poverty,  and  greater  desire  for  martyr- 
dom. 

Such  are  the  outlines  presented  to  us  by  the  early 
history1  of  the  Portuguese  Missions  to  Southern  India 
in  the  XVIth  Century.  Their  first  Apostles  have 

1  The  reader  must  hear  in  mind  that  these  praises  of  the  missionaries  are 
put  into  the  mouths  of  the  converts  by  the  missionaries  themselves,  for  the 
greater  part  of  this  chapter  is  condensed  (often  literally  translated)  from 
the  original  letters  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers. 


Pioneers  of  the  Portuguese  Missions.       89 

shared  the  fate  of  men  superior  to  common  souls,  for 
they  have  suffered  from  the  malice  of  foes  and  the 
falsehood  of  detractors.  But  not  one  of  these  slan- 
derers has  presented  himself  before  the  severe  tribunal 
of  criticism  to  substantiate  his  charge,  and  to  invali- 
date the  facts  transmitted  to  Europe,  as  it  appears  in 
the  letters  of  Xavier  and  in  the  valuable  correspon- 
dence of  the  French  and  Portuguese  missionaries.1 
Every  lover  of  truth  should  read  therein  the  wonderful 
history  of  the  foundation  of  Churches,  the  progress  of 
the  Gospel,  the  change  in  the  manners  and  habits  of 
Indians  newly  Christianised — and  he  will  admit  that 
the  virtues  of  these  reformed  tribes  are  not  less  worthy 
of  exciting  the  curiosity,  and  attracting  the  attention 
of  the  true  philosopher,  than  is  the  admirable  life  of 
their  Apostles  and  Fathers  in  the  Christian  faith. 

The  ambition  of  the  first  conquerors  of  India  had 
roused  against  them  and  their  religion  the  feelings  of 
all  the  princes  who  had  not  yet  submitted  to  their 
yoke.  Every  Christian  was  to  them  an  object  of  sus- 
picion, and  if  we  find  them  frequently  wielding  the 
sword  of  persecution,  their  action  may  be  regarded  as 
the  result  less  of  religious  sentiment  than  of  state 

1  This  is  utterly  untrue,  for  at  least  a  hundred  volumes  have  been  pub- 
lished against  the  Jesuits  and  their  missions.  We  may  refer  the  reader  to 
the  letters  of  Abbe  Dubois,  whose  work  on  the  state  of  Christianity  in 
India  tells  many  an  unpleasant  tale  ;  also  to  the  admirable  account 
founded  on  the  Jesuits'  own  statements  by  the  Rev.  W.  S.  Mackay,  in  the 
"Calcutta  Review,"  Vol.  II. 


9O       Pioneers  of  the  Portuguese  Missions. 

policy.  Every  Hindoo  who  embraced  the  new  religion 
seemed  to  the  Rajah  an  enemy  of  his  throne,  a  traitor 
ready  to  yield  on  the  first  occasion  to  the  European 
power,  which  would  put  a  price  on  his  rebellion  against 
his  lawful  sovereign.  They  little  knew  the  spirit  of 
true  Christianity.  Experience,  in  due  time,  undeceived 
those  princes,  who,  by  an  ambitious  policy  on  the  part 
of  the  invaders,  had  been  forced  into  misconceptions 
which,  in  the  early  ages  of  missionary  efforts,  had 
given  so  many  martyrs  to  the  Church  of  India.  This 
change  of  feeling  was  the  fruit  of  the  life  and  lessons 
of  the  missionaries.  The  princes  not  only  ceased  to 
be  enemies,  but  actually  became  protectors  of  the 
Gospel  Teachers  against  the  jealousy  of  the  Brahmins 
and  the  Bonzes,  whose  prejudices  and  self-interest 
made  them  naturally  the  persecutors  of  Christianity  ; 
several  of  them  indeed  became  fervent  neophytes. 
These  Rajahs,  certain  of  the  fidelity  of  the  Christians, 
offered  them  every  inducement  to  serve  in  their 
armies,  and  many  granted  them  the  same  preroga- 
tives formerly  enjoyed  by  the  Christians  of  St. 
Thomas.1  Another  remarkable  fact  may  be  noticed 
as  a  proof  of  the  influence  thus  acquired.  The 
missionaries,  authorised  by  the  Sovereigns  of  the 
country,  administered  justice  to  the  members  of  their 
flock.  The  princes  thought  that  their  Christian  sub- 
jects would  be  better  governed,  even  in  temporal 

1  M.  Perrin,  Tom.  II.,  p.  197. 


Pioneers  of  the  Portuguese  Missions.       91 

matters,  by  their  Pastors  than  by  judges,  strangers  to 
their  faith.  The  Jesuits,  writing  in  1760,  say  "This 
custom  has  existed  for  more  than  two  centuries,  and 
far  from  regretting  the  surrender  which  they  have 
made  of  a  part  of  their  sovereign  authority,  the 
Nabobs  offer  daily  increased  proofs  of  their  con- 
fidence in  the  missionaries  of  their  states.  It  was 
doubtless  under  the  same  impression  that  the  first 
Christian  Emperors  invested  the  bishops  with  a  similar 
power  of  jurisdiction." x 

1  Choix  des  "  Lettres  Edifiantes,''  Tom.  IV. ,  p.  45.  This  is,  of  course, 
the  Jesuit  view  of  the  case,  but  it  is  not  borne  out  by  their  own  sad  ex- 
perience in  China,  Japan,  &c. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE   RISE   OF   THE   JESUITS. 

"  While  Alhurquerque  and  his  successors  were  prosecuting  their 
conquests  in  the  East,  and  the  Portuguese  power  was  extending  itself 
from  the  Arabian  Gulf  to  the  very  confines  of  China,  a  greater  than 
Alburquerque  was  achieving  that  greater  conquest  of  self,  and  a 
mightier  power  than  that  of  the  arms  of  Portugal  in  the  East  was 
rising  amongthe  peaceful  Colleges  of  the  West.'' — Kaye's"  Christianity." 

IT  is  impossible  to  obtain  a  clear  insight  into  the 
progress  of  the  Portuguese  Missions  in  Southern 
India,  without  thoroughly  understanding  the  nature 
of  that  singular  organisation  by  whose  agency  they 
were  mainly  conducted.  The  Society  of  Jesus,  the 
OrJsr  of  Jesuits,  or  the  "  Company,"  as  it  is  often 
called,  was  founded,  or  at  least  received  the  Papal 
sanction,  in  1540,  and,  as  no  institution  has,  in 
modern  times,  exercised  so  powerful  an  influence  as 
this  throughout  the  world,  we  may  here  give  a  brief 
outline  of  its  origin,  constitution,  history,  and  effects. 
Ignatius  Loyola,1  a  Spaniard,  was  descended  from 

1  Helyot.  "  Histoire  des  Ordres  Monastiques."  Vol.  VII  .  p.  452 
"  History  of  the  Jesuits,"  by  G.  B.  Nicolini.  Edin.  1853,  p.  10, 
Maflfei  Vita  Ignatii. 


The  Rise  of  the  Jesuits.  93 

an  illustrious  house  long  established  at  Loyola  in 
Biscay.  Born  about  1491,  he  received  an  imperfect 
education  and  entered  life  as  page  to  Ferdinand  V., 
a  career  common  at  that  age  to  scions  of  noble 
houses.  Entering  the  army  when  still  young,  he 
distinguished  himself  by  the  most  dauntless  courage, 
and,  after  several  years  of  a  soldier's  life,  he  was 
severely  wounded  at  the  seige  of  Pampeluna,  in 
1 52 1.1  His  French  captors,  instead  of  sending  him 
prisoner  to  France,  carried  him  to  his  father's  neigh- 
bouring castle  of  Loyola,  where  he  was,  of  course, 
watched  and  nursed  by  the  members  of  his  own 
family.  While  slowly  recovering  from  the  effects 
of  the  shot  which  had  wounded  both  legs,  Ignatius 
beguiled  his  weary  hours  with  the  "  Life  of  the 
Saints,"  and  his  ardent  mind  was  stirred  to  its  very 
depths  with  admiration  of  their  deeds  and  with  an 
enthusiastic  resolution  to  follow  their  example.' 
Abandoning  all  hope  of  ever  serving  again  under 
the  standard  of  Spain,  he  resolved,  with  God's  help, 
to  become,  not  only  a  soldier,  but  a  leader  in  the 

1  "  It  was  in  defending  the  ancient  citadel  on  the  Plaza  del  Castillo, 
(1521)  that  Ignacio  Loyola  was  wounded;  and  just  before  you  reach 
the  Puerta  de  San  Nicolas,  is  a  chapel,  founded  in  1691,  on  the  very 
site  which  some  paintings  illustrate." — Ford's  "  Spain,"  p.  954- 

a  The  tradition  runs  that  he  was  cured  by  St.  Peter,  who  came 
down  from  heaven  on  purpose ;  and  having  done  penance  for  a  year 
in  a  cave  within  view  of  the  "jagged  Moulserrat,"  he  dedicated  him- 
self to  the  Virgin,  collected  a  few  disciples  and  proceeded  to  Rome. — 
See  "  Ribad,"  II.,  407. 


94  The  Rise  of  the  Jesuits. 

army  of  Christ.  His  first  act  under  this  impression 
was  one  of  religious  chivalry.  He  prayed  to  the 
Virgin  Mary l  for  her  intercession  on  behalf  of  him- 
self and  his  nascent  scheme,  and  he  dedicated  him- 
self to  her  and  her  service  as  her  true  knight.  The 
practice  of  good  works  immediately  followed  this 
self  dedication,  for,  as  soon  as  he  was  sufficiently 
recovered,  we  find  him,  so  recently  a  sufferer  himself, 
becoming  the  kind  and  faithful  nurse  of  the  poor 
and  sick  in  the  Hospital  at  Marenza,  this  early 
reduction  of  theory  to  practice  giving  an  indication 
of  what  was  afterwards  to  be  one  of  the  salient 
features  of  the  Order.  Then  the  Spanish  soldier, 
whose  experience  of  men  and  things  had  been 
limited  to  his  native  land,  determined  to  visit  other 
countries,  and  selected,  as  the  first  object  of  his 
travels,  the  early  scenes  of  that  Christianity  which 
his  successors  were  to  spread  so  widely  over  those 
regions  of  east  and  west  then  just  made  known  to 
Europe.  Returning  from  the  Holy  Land,  he  resolved 
to  repair  the  defects  of  his  early  education  by  study- 
ing at  the  Universities  of  Spain,  and  subsequently  at 
Paris,  where,  it  is  believed,  he  laid  the  first  stones  of 
the  great  edifice  of  which  he  was  the  chief  founder. 
We  say  chief  founder,  because  there  is  no  doubt 
that  Loyola  himself  was  almost  a  tool  in  the  hands 
of  Laynez,  Salmeron,  and  Acqua  Viva  especially. 

1  Nicolini's  Hist.,  p.  14. 


The  Rise  of  the  Jesuits.  95 

This  committee  were  the  real  authors  of  the  Secreta 
Monita,  the  Disciplina  Arcana,  containing  some  rules 
for  the  conduct  of  the  members  which  have  been 
justly  stigmatised  as  diabolical.1  Ignatius  prepared 
two  sets  of  rules  for  his  followers,  one  for  their  per- 
sonal government  called  "  Spiritual  Exercises,"  the 
other  consisted  of  the  "  Constitutions  of  the  Order," 
containing  principles  opposed  not  only  to  other 
societies,  but  hostile  to  the  liberty  and  welfare  of 
the  human  race.  Loyola,  having  presented  his  in- 
stitutes to  Paul  III.,  the  Pontiff  consulted  the 
Cardinals,  and  was  advised  by  them  to  withhold  his 
sanction.  But  Loyola  proposing  that,  in  addition 
to  the  three  ordinary  vows,  the  members  of  his  new 
order  should  take  a  fourth,  pledging  themselves  to 
implicit  obedience  to  His  Holiness,  and  devoting 
themselves  to  him  absolutely  without  remuneration, 
offered  a  bait  which  the  Pontiff  could  not  resist. 
Paul  III.,  feeling  that  Luther's  movements  were 
shaking  the  Church  to  its  foundation,  accepted  with 
joy  the  services  of  enthusiasts  who  came  to  the 
rescue,  animated  by  burning  zeal  and  organised 
with  consummate  skill.  The  shrewd  old  man  con- 
firmed the  institutions  of  the  Order  by  the  Bull  of 
September  2yth,  1540;"  conferred  the  most  exten- 

1  Nicolini's  Hist.,  p.  15. 

2  This  was  the  famous  bull  "  Regimini  militantis  Ecclesice." — Nico- 
lini,  p.  28. 


96  The  Rise  of  the  Jesuits. 

sive  privileges  on  the  new  society,  and  appointed 
the  Biscayan  soldier  to  be  the  first  general  of  the 
new  religious  army.1  The  event  justified  the  Pope's 
decision,  for,  from  that  moment,  the  tide  of  battle 
turned.  The  Reformation,  which  for  twenty  years 
had  been  carrying  all  before  it,  was  checked  in 
its  career.  Within  half  a  century  the  Jesuits  had 
planted  the  Cross  in  every  part  of  the  world,  besides 
securing  permanent  establishments  in  all  European 
countries  that  acknowledged  the  Roman  obedience. 
Within  a  hundred  years  the  Order  had  filled  the 
earth  from  India  to  America,  with  memorials  of 
great  things  done  and  suffered  for  the  faith.  "  No 
religious  community  could  produce  a  list  of  men  so 
variously  distinguished  :  none  had  extended  its 
operations  over  so  vast  a  space :  yet  in  none  had 
there  ever  been  such  perfect  unity  of  feeling  and 
action.  There  was  no  region  of  the  globe,  no  walk 
of  speculative  or  of  active  life  in  which  Jesuits  were 
not  to  be  found." a 

The  condition,  constitution,  and  genius  of  this 
energetic  and  self-devoted  society  merit  particular 
attention,  not  only  from  the  student  of  general 

*  o 

history,  but  from  every  one  interested  in  Christian 
Missions.  The  Laws  of  the  Order,  if  not  originally 

1  On  Easter  Day,  1541,  he  became  General  of  the  Jesuits,  and  on 
the  following  Friday  renewed  his  vows  in  the  magnificent  Basilica  of 
St.  Paul's  at  Rome.—  Maffei  "  Vita  Ignatii,"  p.  90.     Nicolini.  p.  58. 

2  Macaulay's  "Hist,  of  Eng."  Vol.  I.,  p.  208. 


The  Rise  of  the  Jesuits.  97 

formed  by  Laynez  and  Acqua  Viva,  were  certainly 
brought  to  perfection  by  them,  and  reduced  to  that 
system  of  marvellous  policy  which  is  the  essential 
characteristic  of  this  powerful  organisation.1  Based 
on  the  old  Castilian  military  and  monastic  obedience, 
"  they  enlisted  soldiers  into  the  camp  of  Mary,"  for 
the  purpose  of  fighting  against  civil  and  religious 
liberty,  upholding  Popery,  not  Christianity,  governing 
the  human  race  by  means  of  superstition,  reviving 
the  spirit  and  in  many  respects  the  action  of  the  old 
Crusades,  and  compensating  the  Papal  tiara  for  losses 
in  the  old  world  by  enormous  acquisitions  in  the  new. 
There  is  a  marked  contrast  between  the  Order  of 
the  Jesuits  and  other  monastic  institutions,  which  has 
a  distinct  bearing  on  the  influence  which  this  Society 
at  once  exerted,  and  still  continues  to  exert  in  the 
propagation  of  Christianity.  The  monk  in  the  silence 
of  his  cloister,  devoted  to  self-mortification,  is  shut 
out  from  the  world,  and  possesses  no  influence,  except 
possibly  by  the  example  of  his  piety  and  prayers. 

1  "  These  famous  Constitutions  were  composed  by  Loyola  in  the 
Spanish  language.  They  were  not  at  first  the  perfect  system  we  now 
find  them,  and  it  was  not  till  about  the  year  1552,  that,  after  many 
alterations  and  improvements,  adapting  them  to  the  necessities  of  the 
times,  they  assumed  their  ultimate  form.  They  were  translated  into 
Latin  by  the  Jesuit  Father,  John  Polarcus,  and  printed  in  the  College 
of  the  Society  at  Rome  in  1558.  They  were  jealously  kept  secret,  the 
greater  part  of  the  Jesuits  themselves  knowing  only  extracts  from  them. 
They  were  never  produced  to  the  light  until  1701,  when  they  were 
published  by  order  of  the  French  Parliament,  in  the  famous  process  of 
Messieurs  Leonci  and  Father  Laralette." — Nicolini,  p.  30. 

H 


98  The  Rise  of  the  Jesuits. 

The  Jesuit,  on  the  other  hand,  is  from  his  earliest 
years  trained  as  the  Soldier  of  the  Cross,  sworn  to 
contend  zealously  for  the  service  of  God  and  of  the 
Pope,  God's  Vicar  upon  earth.  "  Whatever  might 
be  their  residence,  whatever  might  be  their  employ- 
ment, their  spirit  was  the  same,  entire  devotion  to  the 
common  cause,  unreasoning  obedience  to  the  central 
authority." l  The  instruction  of  the  ignorant,  the 
reclaiming  of  the  wanderer,  the  conversion  of  the 
heathen,  the  persecution  of  the  heretic,  formed  their 
chief  objects.  For  these  purposes,  they  claimed 
exemption  from  all  the  ordinary  duties  of  monas- 
ticism.  They  wasted  no  time  in  pompous  processions, 
or  in  tedious  repetitions  of  religious  offices.2  But 
they  made  it  their  leading  duty  to  enter  thoroughly 
into  the  business  of  life,  to  study  every  transaction 
that  might  influence  Hie  propagation  of  the  faith. 
They  were  ordered  to  insinuate  themselves  into  the 
society  of  men  of  rank  and  influence,  and  to  pene- 
trate the  secrets  of  every  Government  and  every 
family.  Deeply  impressed  with  the  importance  of 
education,  they  almost  entirely  monopolised  the 
training  of  the  young,  and  displayed  in  the  manage- 

1  Macaulay's  "  History  of  England,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  309.  Robertson's 
"  History  of  Charles  V.,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  430.  Macaulay  is  indebted  to 
Robertson  for  many  of  the  ideas,  and  even  the  language  in  his  descrip- 
tion of  the  Jesuits. 

*  "Compte  rendu  par  M.  de  Monibar,"  Part  XIII.,  p.  290.  "Sur 
la  Destruction  des  Jesuites,  Par  Mons.  d'Alembert,"  p.  42. 


The  Rise  of  the  Jesuits.  99 

mcnt  of  their  schools  and  colleges  an  amount  of 
tact  and  ability  worthy  of  a  better  cause.  Their 
bitterest  enemies  were  forced  to  admit  that  as 
teachers  they  had  no  rivals  ;  but  "  they  appear  to 
have  discovered  the  precise  point  to  which  intellectual 
culture  can  be  carried  without  intellectual  emancipa- 
tion." l  In  the  sixteenth  Century  the  pulpit  held  its 
own  against  the  rising  power  of  the  press  ;  and  the 
Jesuits,  without  neglecting  the  latter,  estimated  at  its 
full  value  the  influence  of  the  former,  and  prepared 
their  young  members  by  a  long  course  of  practical 
instruction  for  the  successful  exertion  of  sacred 
eloquence.  Every  other  instrumentality  which  could 
reduce  mankind  to  mental  and  moral  slavery  was 
pressed  into  the  service  of  this  despotic  order.  The 
ministry  of  the  Confessional  was  wielded  with  the 
greatest  craft,  assiduity,  and  success.  There  they 
became  "  all  things  to  all  men."  Casuistry  itself  was 
exhausted  to  supply  the  means  of  dealing  pleasantly 
with  men's  consciences.  Sins  of  the  most  trivial 
character  were  magnified,  if  it  suited  the  Confessor's 
purpose  to  terrify  the  penitent,  while  crimes  of  the 
deepest  dye  were  explained  away  if  the  interests  of 
"  the  Society  "  required  the  transgressor  to  be  secured 
as  a  victim  or  a  tool.  In  short,  the  religion  which 
they  inculcated  was  so  far  from  being  the  basis  of 
morals,  that  it  might  justly  be  regarded  as  a  system 

Macaulay's  History,  Vol.^II.,  p.  310. 

H    2 


ioo  The  Rise  of  the  Jesuits. 

of  iniquity,  having,  for  its  chief  end,  the  promotion  of 
the  Order,  utterly  regardless  of  the  destruction  of 
truth,  honour,  virtue,  law,  or  whatever  else  the  Jesuits 
might  consider  an  obstruction. 

Such  being  the  objects  of  this  famous  "  Company," 
the  form  of  its  Government1  was  no  less  remarkable. 
Voluntaryism  is,  in  a  certain  sense,  the  guiding 
principle  of  the  other  monastic  orders,  that  is,  the 
members  enter  of  their  own  free  will,  and,  though 
yielding  obedience  to  an  executive  head,  retain  a 
share  of  power  in  the  general  congregation  of  the 
community.  But  the  stern  spirit  of  Loyola,  trained 
in  the  military  school  of  implicit  obedience,  resolved 
that  the  government  of  his  new  order  should  be 
a  despotism,  pure  and  simple.  The  very  name 
"  General,"  by  which  this  religious  monarch  was 
designated,  represented  the  idea  of  absolutism.  The 
chief,  elected  by  representatives  from  different  pro- 
vinces, wielded  supreme  and  independent  power  over 
every  individual,  and  in  every  cause.  His  undisputed 
authority  appointed  and  removed  every  officer  in  the 
society.  No  Eastern  Potentate  ever  ruled  his  slaves 
more  absolutely  than  the  General  governed  his 

1  The  Government  is  purely  Monarchical,  and  the  General  is  itsabsolute 
and  uncontrollable  King.  The  members  of  the  Society  are  divided  into 
four  Classes,  the  Professed,  Coadjutors,  Scholars,  and  Novices. 

For  a  well- written  account  of  the  Hierarchy,  consult  Nicolini's 
History,  chap.  III.  ;  also,  Examen  IV.,  p.  10-15,  and  Const.,  part  V., 
cap.  IV. 


The  Rise  of  the  Jesuits.  101 

passive  instruments.  The  members  of  the  Order 
were  to  be  so  completely  at  his  disposal,  that  they 
were  to  give  up  their  own  wills,  and  even  their 
understandings  into  his  keeping,  and  to  hold  them- 
selves in  readiness  to  listen  to  his  commands  and  to 
execute  his  orders  as  if  uttered  by  Christ  himself. 
"  If  he  was  wanted  at  Lima,  he  was  on  the  Atlantic 
in  the  next  fleet.  If  he  was  wanted  at  Bagdad,  he 
was  toiling  through  the  desert  with  the  next 
Caravan."1  "In  short,  they  were  to  be  like  clay  in 
the  hands  of  the  potter,  or  like  dead  carcases, 
incapable  of  resistance."2  Such  centralisation  neces- 
sarily impressed  a  unity  of  purpose  and  a  decision  in 
action  on  all  the  members  of  this  singular  organisa- 
tion, and  contributed  to  crown  its  operations  with 
success.  History  furnishes  no  other  example  of  so 
absolute  a  despotism  not  ruling  slaves  in  a  court, 
soldiers  in  a  regiment,  or  monks  in  their  cells,  but 
stretching  its  mysterious  sway  over  its  subjects 
apparently  free  in  the  most  distant  parts  of  the 
world,  and  binding  them  all  with  invisible  chains  to 
the  central  throne. 

Thus  invested  with  absolute  and  irresponsible 
power,  the  General  of  the  Jesuits  possessed,  by  the 
laws  of  the  Order,  the  most  ample  means  of  studying 

1  Macaulay's  History,  Vol.  II.,  p.  309.  Nicolini's  "History  of  the 
Jesuits/'  Int.  II. 

-  Compte  renclu  au  1'arlein  cle  Bretagne  par  M.  cle  Chalotais,  p.  41. 
Robertson's  "  Charles  V.,"  Book  VI.,  p.  430. 


IO2  The  Rise  of  the  Jesuits. 

the  characters  of  his  subjects.     Every  novice  had  to 
"  manifest  his  conscience,"  that  is,  to  confess  his  sins, 
defects,  inclinations  and  passions — a  declaration  to  be 
renewed  every  six  months.1     During  the  novitiate,  a 
universal  system  of  espionage   is   established  ;    and 
when,  at  the  age  of  thirty-three,  they  take  the  full 
vows    and    become   "professed,"   the    superiors    are 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  disposition  and  talent 
of  every  pupil.     The  results  of  these  long-continued 
scrutinies  are  digested  in  the  form  of  regular  reports, 
transmitted    by    the    Provincials,    and     entered     in 
registers,  so  that  the  General  may,  at  a  glance,  see  the 
whole  state  of  the   society  in  every   region    of  the 
globe,  observe  the  abilities,  temper,  attainments  and 
experience   of  every   member,   and   thus   select   the 
most  suitable   instruments   for  employment   in   any 
duty  which  the  interests  of  the  Order  may  require.     A 
calculation  has  been  made  of  this  wonderful  system 
of  reports  which  the  General  annually  receives  ;  from 
which  it  appears  that  there  are  thirty-seven  provinces 
in  the  Order,  that  the  average  number  of  reports  from 
each  is  a  hundred-and-seventy-seven,  thus  making  the 
total  amount  six  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty- 
four.    The  reader  must  not  suppose  that  these  reports 
were  mere  dry  tables  of  figures  such  as  modern  statistics 
frequently  exhibit ;  they  were  rather  general  accounts, 
first,  of  the  Society  itself  in  all  its  departments,  and 

1  Complc  rcndu,  par  Mons.  de  Monelar,  p.  121. 


The  Rise  of  the  Jesuits.  103 

secondly,  of  the  affairs  of  the  country,  so  far  as  a 
knowledge  of  these  could  contribute  to  the  interests 
of  what  was  called  religion.  The  writers  entered  into 
the  most  minute  particulars,  and,  when  secresy  was 
important,  ciphers  were  employed,  each  Provincial,  or 
Rector  being  furnished  with  a  cipher  for  his  own 
special  use.1 

The  progress  of  the  new  Order  was  distinguished  as 
much  by  its  rapidity,  as  by  its  universality  and 
absolute  power.  When  Loyola,  early  in  1540,  humbly 
petitioned  the  Pope  to  recognise  his  new  Order,  he 
could  only  boast  of  ten  disciples.  But,  during  the 
period  to  which  our  Essay  refers,  that  feeble  band 
had  increased  to  10,581.  In  the  year  1710,  there 
were  twenty-four  professed  houses,  fifty-nine  houses 
of  probationers,  three  hundred  and  forty  residences, 
six  hundred  and  twelve  colleges,  two  hundred 
missions,  one  hundred  and  fifty  seminaries  and 
boarding-schools,  and  the  total  number  of  the  Jesuits 
was  twenty  thousand.2  The  ostensible  profession  of 
this  great  order  was  to  secure  the  salvation  of  man- 
kind, not  by  prayer  and  contemplation  solely,  but  by 
the  most  decided  and  vigorous  action.  We  have 
already  seen  their  employment  of  education,  the 
pulpit,  the  press,  the  confessional,  missions  to  the 

1  "  Hist,  des  Jesuites,"  Amsterdam,  1761,  Tom.  IV.,  p.  56.    Compte 
par  Mons.  de  Mond,  p.  431.    Compte  de  M.  Chalstais,  p.  52.    "  Lettres 
Edifiantes,"  passim. 

2  "  Hist,  des  Jesuites,"  Tom.  I.,  p.  20. 


IO4  The  Rise  of  the  Jesuits. 

heathen,  and  other  instrumentalities ;  and  to  these 
they  added  matchless  skill  and  tact  in  originating 
and  conducting  every  variety  of  intrigue,  which 
rendered  them  masters  of  the  situation  in  all  Courts 
of  Europe  and  Asia.  And  not  only  did  the  power 
of  the  Order  increase,  but  its  wealth  grew  in  pro- 
portion. One  calculation  shows  that  the  property  of 
the  Jesuits  in  Spain  alone,  under  Charles  III.  ex- 
ceeded three  millions  sterling.1  Plausible  subterfuges 
were  invented  to  reconcile  these  enormous  possessions 
with  the  monastic  vow  of  poverty.  Their  vast  estates, 
accumulated  treasures  of  coin,  plate,  and  jewels,  and 
the  architectural  grandeur  of  their  public  buildings, 
while  belying  their  professions,  added  immensely  to 
their  influence.  One  source  of  wealth  was  peculiar  to 
this  Order  —  a  monopoly  obtained  from  Rome  of 
trading  with  the  nations  which  they  desired  to  convert 
— their  plea  being  that  they  could  thereby  render 
their  mission  self-supporting.  These  priestly  mer- 
chants planted  the  warehouse  beside  the  Church  ; 
and,  so  far  from  considering  this  as  a  temporary 
expedient,  they  almost  invariably  aimed  at  the 
permanent  establishment  of  "  factories,"  or  com- 
mercial settlements,  like  those  of  trading  companies.'2 

1  Ford's  "  Spain,"  p  425. 

a  Ces  vastes  et  fertiles  contrees  sortiraient  bientot  cle  1'  obscurite  ou 
elles  sont  plongees,  si  1'Espagne  savait  profiler  de  1'ambition  active  des 
Jesuites.  On  sail  que  ces  homines  admirables  comme  societe,  dangereux 
comme  citoyens,  detestable*  comme  religieux,  etaient  parvenus  a  tire 
du  fond  des  forets  un  nombrc  considerable  de  sauvages  ;  a  les  fixer  sur 


The  Rise  of  the  Jesuits.  105 

We  find  this  the  characteristic  of  many  of  their 
operations  in  India  and  China,  while  in  South 
America,  they  secured  a  firm  footing  in  the  fertile 
province  of  Paraguay,  and  reigned  as  sovereigns  over 
a  hundred  thousand  converts.1 

While  rendering  justice  to  the  distinguished 
energy,  disinterestedness,  and  self-sacrifice,  which 
characterised  the  "  Society  of  Jesus,"  we  must  admit, 
unhappily  for  mankind,  that  great  vices  were  mingled 
with  great  virtues.  The  enormous  influence  which 
the  Order  had  acquired  before  the  close  of  the  XVIth 
Century  was  quite  as  often  employed  for  the  worst 
purposes,  as  for  the  best.  Every  Jesuit  was  trained 
to  consider  the  interests  of  the  "  Company  "  to  be  the 
sole  object  of  his  existence  to  which  all  considerations 
— ease,  liberty,  health,  life  itself,  must  be  unhesi- 
tatingly sacrificed.  Though  the  beautiful  expression 
"  ad  majorem  Dei  gloriam  "  was  his  motto,  "  the  end 
justifies  the  means "  was  practically  his  watchword. 
Attachment  to  his  Order  was  the  key  to  his  public 
policy,  as  well  as  to  individual  peculiarities  in 
character  and  conduct.  To  promote  the  honour  and 
interests  of  the  fraternity,  it  was,  of  course,  important 

les  bords  de  1'Orenoque,  et  des  rivieres  la  plupart  navigables,  qui  s'y 
jettent,  a  leur  dormer  quelques  principes  de  sociabilite  un  peu  de  gout 
pour  les  arts  les  plus  necessaires,  et  surtout  pour  1'agriculture. — Abbe 
Raynal  "  Hist,  des  deux  Indes,"  Vol.  IV.,  p.  278. 

1  Abbe  Raynal,  Vol.  III.,  p.  326.  Robertson's  "Charles  V.,"  Vol. 
II.,  p.  434.  Macaulay,  Vol.  II.,  p.  309,  and  "Hist,  des  Jesuites," 
Vol.  IV.,  p.  1 68. 


io6  The  Rise  of  the  Jesuits. 

that  every  brother  should  secure  an  ascendency  over 
the  Civil  Power,  Christian  or  Pagan  ;  and,  to  this  end, 
the  most  unscrupulous  use  of  means  was  made  to 
play  upon  the  passions  of  men,  to  apologise  for  vice, 
to  tolerate  imperfections,  and  to  authorise  violations 
of  every  law,  human  and  Divine.1  In  point  of  fact, 
the  Jesuits'  code  seems  to  have  been  composed,  less 
with  the  view  of  elevating  human  nature  to  the  level 
of  Divine  morality,  than  with  the  object  of  lowering 
the  standard  till  it  was  beneath  the  average  of 
ordinary  humanity.  Another  point  must  not  be 
omitted.  The  Jesuits  were  the  stoutest  champions 
of  the  Papacy,  we  might  almost  call  them  the 
Pontiff's  body-guards,  or  the  Papal  Zouaves  of  the 
XVIth  century.  The  tendency  of  all  their  teaching 
was  to  assert  and  to  strengthen  the  doctrine  of  un- 
limited obedience  to  the  Pope.  Their  aim  was  to 
erect  an  enduring  edifice  of  ecclesiastical  power  on 
the  ruins  of  civil  government  and  religious  freedom. 
They  therefore  claimed  for  Rome  absolute  jurisdic- 
tion, asserted  the  independence  of  the  clergy,  and 
maintained,  that  Sovereigns  who  opposed  the  Catholic 
faith,  might  lawfully  be  dethroned.2  As  a  natural 

1  "  Compte  par  M.  de  Monce.,"  p.  285.  Robertson's  "  Hist.  Charles 
V.,"  p.  415.  Macaulay's  "  Hist,  of  Eng.,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  310. 

a  Robertson's  "Hist.  Charles  V.,"  p.  435.  Macaulay's  "Hist,  of 
Eng.,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  13.  Cretineau,  Vol.  II.,  p.  269.  Bartoli  dell'  Ing., 
F.  101,  102,  104.  Ranke's  "  History  of  the  Popes,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  512. 
Nicolini's  "  History  of  the  Jesuits,"  p.  154. 


The  Rise  of  the  Jesuits.  107 

consequence  of  these  opinions,  the  Jesuits  considered 
themselves  the  especial  champions  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  against  the  Protestants.  Every  act  of  intrigue, 
every  weapon  of  violence,  every  measure  that  the 
most  bitter  hatred  could  dictate,  was  employed  with- 
out scruple  to  check  the  progress  of  the  Reformation. 
The  historian  of  the  centuries  which  have  elapsed 
since  Paul  III.,  armed  Loyola  and  his  ten  disciples 
with  his  fatal  sanction,  cannot  hesitate  to  acknow- 
ledge that  this  remarkable  Brotherhood  is  answerable 
for  many  a  dark  deed,  the  result  of  that  union  of 
ingenious  casuistry,  extravagant  despotism,  and 
intolerant  persecution  which  characterised  their 
system. 

But,  while  every  impartial  student  admits  the  truth 
of  our  description,  he  must  also  own  that  the  picture 
has  its  bright  side,  and  that  in  this  case  as  in  many 
others  "  none  are  all  evil."  We  have  already  said  that 
the  Jesuits  had  wisely  secured  the  almost  exclusive 
management  of  education,  not  so  much  in  its  elemen- 
tary as  in  its  superior  aspect.  The  Universities  were 
naturally  alarmed  at  the  threatened  loss  of  their 
ancient  supremacy ;  and  the  Jesuits  were  therefore 
bound  to  prove  their  claim  by  the  exhibition  of  a 
higher  grade  of  learning.  Hence  they  devoted  them- 
selves with  the  most  wonderful  ardour,  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  literature,  science,  and  art ;  to  the  revival  of 
ancient  learning,  as  well  as  to  the  acquisition  of 


io8  The  Rise  of  the  Jesuits. 

foreign  languages,  to  the  preparation  of  valuable  text- 
books, and  to  the  invention  of  improved  methods  of 
communicating  knowledge.  Nor  were  their  attain- 
ments limited  to  those  branches  which  are  generally 
considered  to  constitute  a  liberal  education  They 
were  equally  at  home  in  the  pursuit  of  the  ordinary 
and  humbler  duties  of  life.  As  one  historian  has  said 
"  the  Jesuits  set  themselves  to  instruct  and  to  civilise 
these  savages.  They  taught  them  to  cultivate  the 
ground,  to  rear  tame  animals,  and  to  build  houses, 
they  brought  them  to  live  together  in  villages.  They 
trained  them  to  arts  and  manufactures.  They  made 
them  taste  the  sweets  of  society ;  and  accustomed 
them  to  the  blessings  of  security  and  order."1 

1  Robertson's  "  History  of  Charles  V."  Book  VI.,  p.  438.    "  Hist,  du 
Paraguay."  par  Pere  de  Charleovix.  Tom  II.,  p.  42. 


CHAPTER     V. 

THE  JESUITS   IN    PORTUGAL. 

' '  So  strangely  were  good  and  evil  intermixed  in  the  character  of 
these  celebrated  brethren  ;  and  the  intermixture  was  the  secret  of  their 
gigantic  power." — MACAULAY. 

JOHN  III.  came  to  the  Portuguese  throne  at  the  age 
of  nineteen,  and  reigned  from  1521  till  1557.  His 
contemporaries  were  chiefly  Charles  V.  of  Germany, 
Francis  I.  of  France,  and  Henry  VIII.  of  England, 
and  the  great  events  of  European  History  which 
synchronise  with  his  reign,  were  the  civil  and 
religious  wars  which  sprang  from  the  Reformation. 
The  little  kingdom  which  John  governed  was,  how- 
ever, so  far  removed  from  the  centre  of  Europe,  as  to 
be  but  slightly  disturbed  by  these  movements,  and 
the  annals  of  his  reign  are  chiefly  filled  by  internal 
reforms  in  the  Cortes,  by  wars  with  the  Moors,  nego- 
ciations  with  Spain,  and,  above  all,  with  the  extension 
of  his  power  in  the  East. 

The  cares  of  diplomacy,  the  pursuit  of  commerce, 


1 1  o  The  Jesuits  in  Portugal. 

the  glories  of  war,  did  not,  however,  prevent  this  pious 
King  from  thinking  of  the  honour  of  God,  or,  from 
taking  what  he  believed  to  be  the  most  effectual 
measures  for  promoting  the  Kingdom  of  Christ.  He 
had  heard  a  rumour  that  a  new  institution,  entitled 
the  "  Company  of  Jesus,"  had  been  founded  at  Rome, 
or,  at  least  sanctioned  there,  by  Paul  III.,  and  that  its 
author  was  the  great  St.  Ignacio  de  Loyola,  the 
Soldier  Saint  of  Gui  puscoa.  The  King,  therefore, 
wrote  to  Mascarenhas,  his  Ambassador  at  Rome,  for 
further  information,  and  was  assured,  in  reply,  of  the 
great  good  that  the  Saint  and  his  companions  were 
doing  to  the  souls  of  men,  and  of  the  high  opinion 
which  the  Pontiff  entertained  of  their  labours.  He 
saw,  at  a  glance,  that  such  an  institution  was  the  very 
thing  which  he  most  ardently  desired  as  the  founda- 
tion of  a  mission  to  those  parts  of  the  East  which 
Portuguese  Navigators  had  discovered,  and  Portu- 
guese warriors  had  subdued.  He  believed  that  he 
should  now  be  able  to  have  his  vast  dominions  illumi- 
nated by  the  light  of  the  true  faith,  and  subject  to  the 
sweet  yoke  of  Christ  our  Redeemer,  and  of  His  Holy 
Church.1  It  appeared  to  him  that  to  create,  as  it  were, 
a  new  religion,  at  a  time  when  all  the  heathen  nations 
of  India  were  eagerly  seeking  for  Baptism,  would  be 

1  "  Allumiadas  com  a  luz  da  verdadeyra  fe,  e  svgeitas  av  jugo  suavis- 
simo  de  Christo  nosso  Redentor  e  de  su  Igreja  sagrada." — Annaes  de 
Elrei  Dei  Joao  Terceiro,  p.  321. 


The  Jesuits  in  Portugal.  \  1 1 

an  acceptable  offering  to  the  Supreme.  He  reflected 
that  as  the  wine  was  new,  it  should  therefore  have 
new  cultivators.  He  considered  this  fresh  field  of 
enterprise  so  vast  that  it  would  exhaust  the  energies 
of  the  religious  Orders  already  established  in  Portugal 
— an  additional  reason  for  his  seeking  the  co-operation 
of  the  recently  organised  missionary  power.  Im- 
pressed with  these  sentiments  he  wrote  again  to 
Mascarenhas,  requesting  him  to  communicate  with 
Ignatius,  and  to  submit  an  account  of  the  extensive 
field  which  God  offered  to  him  in  India  for  the 
exercise  of  the  great  mission  begun  by  himself  and 
his  companions,  adding  that,  though  he  was  aware 
that  the  new  Order  numbered  as  yet  but  few  adherents 
in  proportion  to  the  vast  work  that  had  to  be  accom- 
plished, he  trusted  that  Ignatius  would  send  him  at 
least  six  of  the  brethren,  the  most  zealous  that  he 
could  select,  and,  with  the  utmost  possible  dispatch. 
The  Ambassador  entered  warmly  into  the  views  of 
his  master ;  a  lively  correspondence  ensued,  and,  at 
last,  the  business  was  submitted  to  His  Holiness. 
Finally,  of  the  six  which  King  John  demanded,  St. 
Ignatius  could  only  spare  four,  who  arrived  at  Lisbon, 
accompanied  by  the  Ambassador,  at  the  very  moment 
when  the  new  Governor-General  of  India  was  on  the 
point  of  embarking.  This  was  on  the  3Oth  of  May, 
1 540,  in  point  of  fact,  nearly  four  months  before  the 
granting  of  the  Bull  which  confirmed  the  foundatio 


112  The  Jesuits  in  Portugal. 

of  the  Order.  In  the  words  of  the  old  Chronicler 
"  the  King  received  the  new  guests  with  the  same 
love  which  had  sought  them  and  brought  them."1 
He  rejoiced  greatly  when  he  became  more  intimately 
acquainted  with  the  missionaries,  for  he  found  much 
more  in  them  than  he  had  been  led  to  expect.  On 
their  arrival  they  were  lodged  at  All  Saints'  Hospital, 
close  to  the  Palace  at  that  time  known  by  the  name 
of  Estaos  ;  and  it  was  from  this  lowly  residence, 
significantly  near  the  throne  however,  that  the  Jesuits 
issued  forth  to  subjugate  the  Oriental  world  and  to 
civilise,  a  century  later,  the  solitudes  of  America. 
Although  all  the  brethren  that  came  from  Rome  had 
devoted  themselves  to  the  Missions  in  the  East,  the 
King  accepted  only  three  for  that  object,  and  retained 
one  in  Portugal.  The  three  that  embarked  were 
S.  Francis  Xavier,  Padre  Paulo,  and  the  Brother 
Francisco  de  Mausilhas,  liberally  provided  by  the 
King's  munificence  with  every  necessary  for  the 
voyage.  The  Jesuit  that  remained  was  a  Portuguese 
named  Rodriguez  de  Azevedo,  who  became  the  head 
and  founder  of  all  those  Houses  and  Colleges  which 
the  Company  possessed  in  Portugal,  and  in  all  the 
lands  subject  to  the  Portuguese  Crown  throughout 
the  world.  To  carry  into  effect  the  scheme  which  the 
King  had  formed,  he  determined  to  transfer  the  College 

1  Recebeo  El  Rey  os  novos  hospedes  com  o  mesmo  amor  e  voutade 
que os  buscara e  pedirn. — "  Luiz  de  Sousa,  Annaes  de  Joao,"  III.,  p.  322. 


The  Jesuits  in  Portugal.  113 

which  his  Father  Emmanuel  had  founded  in  Lisbon 
to  Coimbra,  with  the  same  statues  and  laws,  and  with 
the  King  as  its  President.  He  appropriated  to  this 
University  the  revenues  of  the  commandery  of  Car- 
quere.  These  endowments  entitled  Portugal  to  be 
considered  the  first  country  in  Europe  in  which  the 
Jesuits  possessed  their  own  property  —  substantial 
riches,  destined  to  increase  to  a  fabulous  amount. 
The  Father  P.  S.  Rodriguez,  whose  name  is  but  little 
known  in  history,  had  been  resident  in  Lisbon  for  two 
years  subsequent  to  his  arrival  from  Rome,  and  there 
filled  the  post  of  Rector  of  the  College  of  St. 
Anthony.  His  intimate  friend  was  Father  Medeiros, 
and  it  is  to  these  two  Ecclesiastics  that  one  must 
attribute  the  influence  which  the  Order  soon  began  to 
exercise  over  the  mind  of  John  III.  The  Portuguese 
historian,  Alvaro  de  Liamo,  who  seems  to  have  been 
ignorant  of  these  facts,  but  who  follows,  step  by  step, 
the  progress  of  the  Order  in  Portugal,  expresses 
himself  with  his  accustomed  energy  as  to  the  results 
of  this  skilful  seduction  which  changed  the  whole 
political  aspect,  and  which,  addressing  itself  at  first  to 
the  King,  in  a  short  time  subdued  the  country.  After 
referring  to  the  arrival  of  these  two  Founders  at 
Lisbon,  he  says  "The  first  was  always  a  stranger  to  the 
Court  and  avoided  the  honours  with  which  he  was 
loaded ;  he  had  no  rest  till  he  quitted  Lisbon  to 
embark  for  India,  Simon  Rodriguez  devoted  himself 

I 


1 14  The  Jesuits  in  Portugal. 

to  establish  in  Portugal  the  empire  of  the  ambitious 
Society  of  Loyola.  This  fanatic,  aided  by  ten  com- 
panions as  indefatigable  as  himself  succeeded  in 
usurping  the  rights  of  the  Episcopate,  seized  all  the 
sources  of  public  opinion,  of  the  Government  in 
Church  and  State,  and  of  the  education  of  the  young. 
Even  the  King  himself  (John  III.)  took  the  vows,  and 
the  Portuguese  nobility  saw  themselves  thenceforward 
surrounded,  if  not  oppressed,  by  the  corrupters  of 
Christian  morality."1 

It  does  not  enter  into  our  plan  to  follow,  in  minute 
detail,  the  encroachments  of  the  Jesuits  in  the  various 
Courts  and  countries  of  Europe.  We  have  noticed 
their  settlement  in  Portugal,  because  that  event  forms 
an  important  link  in  the  chain  which  we  are  attempt- 
ing to  construct.  Further  information  will  be  found 
in  Herculano's"  History  of  Portugal,"  Nicolini's  "  His- 
tory of  the  Jesuits,"  Ranke's  "History  of  the  Popes," 
Maffei's  "  Vita  Ignatii,"  the  "  Litterce  Annuce  Socie- 
tatis  Jesu,"  Pasquier's  "Catechisme  des  Jesuites," 
Michelsen's  "  Modern  Jesuitism,"  and  similar  works. 

We  may  conclude  this  chapter  by  reminding  the 
reader  that  two  centuries  after  the  foundation  of  the 
Order,  when  Pombal  undertook  to  crush  the  power  of 
the  successors  of  Rodriguez,  they  counted  twenty-four 
great  Colleges,  being  then  considered  the  richest  cor- 
poration in  the  kingdom,  and  that  then  was  verified 

1  Quoted  in  "  Portugal,"  par  M.  F.  Denis,  p.  412, 


The  Jesuits  in  Portugal.  115 

the  celebrated  prophecy  of  St.  Borja,  who  saw  in 
their  apparent  prosperity,  the  very  causes  of  their 
destruction — "  Veniet  tempus  cum  se  societas  multis 
quidem  hominibus  abundantem,  sed  spiritu  et  virtute 
destitutam,  mcerens  intuebitur." 


I  2 


CHAPTER    VI. 
ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER'S  MISSION  IN  INDIA. 

"  In  the  History  of  the  Jesuits  Missions  in  India,   Francis  Xavier 
stands  out  in  solitary  grandeur,  as  the  one  Apostolic  man." — KAYE. 

ABOUT  twenty  miles  from  Pampeluna1   at   the  foot 
of  the    Pyrennees,   and    in   the    midst    of  the  most 
romantic   scenery   of  Navarre,   stands    the    baronial 
castle  of  the  noble  family  of  Xavier.     Here  lived  Don 
Juan  de  Jasso,  and  his  wife  Mary  Xavier,  and  here 
their  youngest  son,  Francis,  was  born,  /th  April,  1 506. 
Thus  by  a  singular  coincidence  the  great  Apostle  of 
the  Indies,  and  the  first  great  missionary  of  the  new 
Order  was,  like  Loyola,  not  only  a  Spaniard,  but  a 
Navarese.     The  early  years  of  Xavier  were  spent  in 
solitary  wanderings  at  every  spare  moment  amidst 
the  romantic  scenery  of  his  mountain  home.     For  him 
the  rough  sports  of  the  field  had  no  charms.     Under 
several  private  tutors,  whom  the  wealth  of  his  parents 

1  "Pampeluna,  or  Pamplona,  the  ancient  Pompeiopolis  ("  Strabo," 
III.,  245)  was  founded  by  the  sons  of  Pompey,  68.  B.C.  and  the  Latin 
name  was  corrupted  by  the  Moors  into  Bambilonah." — Ford's  "Spain," 
p.  952. 


St.  Francis  Xavier  s  Mission  in  India.      I  \  J 

secured,  he  became  eminent  as  a  classic  and  meta- 
physician.   In  1524,  he  was  enrolled  as  a  student  of  the 
College  of  St.  Barba,  at  Paris,  and  while  still  a  mere 
youth  he  was  selected  to  fill  the  Chair  of  Lecturer  on 
the  philosophy  of  Aristotle.1       Here  he  might  have 
passed  his  life  in  academic  obscurity,  or  with   merely 
local    fame,  but   for   the  arrival   of  his   enthusiastic 
countryman  Loyola.     The  Founder  of  a  new  Order 
was  then  preparing  himself  for  his  great  work.     The 
schemes   first  dawning  on  his  mind   when  suffering 
from  his  wounds  at  Pampeluna  were  now  gradually 
gaining  strength.     Feeling  his  own  deficiencies,  he  too 
became  a  student  at  Paris,  and  there  heard  of  Xavier's 
reputation.     The  old  soldier  at  once  sought  the  ac- 
quaintance of  the  young  noble,  read  with  a  wonderful 
penetration  the  mind  of  his  future  disciple,  and  em- 
ployed    every   argument    to   convert    this   splendid 
intellect  and  powerful  will  into  instruments  for  the 
promotion  of  his  great  plan.     Philosophy,  casuistry, 
metaphysics,  were  to  give  way  to  action,  and  that  action 
was  to  be  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith.     For  a  long 
time  Ignatius  importuned  in  vain.     The  quiet  student 
clung  to  his  books  and  resisted  all  entreaties.     But 
one   day,  when  every    appeal    had   failed,    Ignatius, 

i  "He  was  about  the  middle  size,  had  a  lofty  forehead,  large,  blue, 
soft  eyes,  with  an  exquisitely  fine  complexion,  and  with  the  manners 
and  demeanour  of  a  prince."  Nicolini,  p.  88.  See  Lucena's  "  Life  of 
Xavier,"  "Life  of  S.  Francis  Xavier  "  by  Bartoli  and  Maffei,  trans- 
lated by  Faber,  "  Venu's  Life  of  Xavier,"  and  Nicolini's  "  Jesuits,"  pp. 

-106. 


1 1 8     S/.   Francis  Xavier  s  Mission  in  India. 

fixing  his  eyes  on  the  still  hesitating  scholar,  said, 
"  What  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole 
world  and  lose  his  own  soul  ? "  Then,  with  a  few 
rapid  strokes,  he  drew  a  picture  of  worldliness  as  con- 
trasted with  spiritual  blessings.  He  pointed  out  the 
hollowness  of  all  earthly  happiness,  the  privations  and 
self-sacrifice  which  must  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  disciples 
of  the  Cross,  and,  with  burning  eloquence,  exhibited 
the  glories  of  the  Martyr's  Crown.  Xavier  listened, 
wavered,  and  was  won. 

Montmartre,  a  short  walk  from  the  College  of  St. 
Barbe,  was,  soon  after  this  interview,  the  scene  of  a 
remarkable  act.  There,  in  the  Church  of  St.  Denis, 
on  Assumption  Day,  I5th  August,  I534,1  Ignatius 
Xavier,  and  five  other  proselytes,2  met  one  morn- 
ing, and,  in  circumstances  of  peculiar  solemnity,  after 
Mass,  dedicated  themselves  to  the  Holy  Father,  and 
to  the  Church  of  which  he  was  the  head.  How  much 
of  the  world's  history  depended  on  this  meeting  ! 

Six  years  passed.  Xavier,  true  to  his  vows,  had 
renounced  the  world,  and  was  spending  his  life  in 
toilsome  journeys,  suffering  every  hardship,  from 
poverty,  exposure,  and  fatigue,  when  he  was  sum- 
moned by  Ignatius  to  Rome.  The  scheme  was  now 
approaching  its  completion.  Nearly  nineteen  years 

1  "  This  day  was  ever  after  regarded  as  the  Birthday  of  the  Society." 
—  Bartoli  translated  by  Faber,  p.  II. 

a  These  were  Lainez,  Salmeron,  Rodriguez,  Bobadilla,  and 
Lefevre. 


St.  Francis  Xaviers  Mission  in  India.     119 

had  elapsed  since  the  cannon  shot  of  Pampeluna  had 
prepared  the  way  for  the  foundation  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus.  The  little  Company  numbered  but  seven 
when  they  mustered  to  be  presented  by  Ignatius  to 
Paul  III.  Two  circumstances  seemed  to  combine  to 
train  the  future  Apostle  for  his  Eastern  Mission — his 
appointment  to  the  Pulpit  of  St.  Lawrence,  where  he 
had  ample  training  in  extemporaneous  preaching,  and 
the  occurrence  of  a  terrible  famine  in  which  he  dis- 
played that  unselfish  devotion  to  the  sufferers,  which 
shone  forth  still  more  splendidly  in  the  regions  of  the 
East. 

While  these  things  were  passing  at  Rome,  an  old 
college  companion  of  Loyola  and  Xavier  happened 
to  be  sent  by  John  III.  as  Ambassador  to  the  Pope. 
Renewing  his  friendship  with  his  fellow-students, 
he  was  deeply  impressed  by  the  extraordinary  zeal 
and  energy  which  they  displayed.  He  saw  in  them 
the  very  Missionaries  whom  the  Portuguese  monarck 
was  engaged  in  seeking  to  plant  the  ChurcJi  in 
Southern  India.  In  our  last  chapter  we  gave  a 
brief  account  of  this  negotiation.  Ignatius  could  not 
accept  the  invitation,  as  he  was  head  of  the  Order, 
and  was,  of  course,  obliged  to  remain  at  Rome,  the 
centre  of  operations.  Rodriguez  headed  the  mission 
that  set  out  from  Rome,  though  he  was  destined  not 
to  visit  the  East.  The  stern  Loyola,  delighted  as  he 
was  with  this  first  indication  of  the  future  greatness  of 


I2O    St.  Francis  Xaviers  Mission  in  India. 

his  Order,  could  not  part  with  his  favourite  disciple 
without  emotion.  Clasping  his  hands,  he  exclaimed 
in  a  voice,  broken  by  sobs,  "  Go,  my  brother,  rejoice 
that  you  have  not  here  a  narrow  Palestine,  or  a  single 
province  of  Asia  in  prospect,  but  a  vast  extent  of 
ground — the  Indies,  a  ivhole  world  of  people  and 
nations.  This  is  reserved  for  your  endeavours  ;  and 
nothing  but  so  large  a  field  is  worthy  of  your  courage 
and  your  zeal.  The  voice  of  God  calls  you, 
kindle  those  unknown  nations  with  the  flame  that 
burns  within  you."  Xavier's  words  were,  "  It  is  im- 
possible for  me  to  forget  you,  Ignatius  ;  or  not  to 
recall  to  my  memory  that  sincere  and  holy  friendship 
which  you  have  shown  me.  Father  of  my  soul,  when 
I  am  afar,  I  will  think  that  you  are  still  present,  and 
that  I  behold  you"  with  my  eyes  ;  write  to  me  often. 
The  smallness  of  my  talent  is  known  to  you  ;  share 
with  me  those  abundant  treasures  which  Heaven  has 
heaped  upon  you." 

They  parted  for  ever,  Ignatius  remaining  in  the 
capital  of  the  Christian  world,  Xavier  setting  forth  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  unknown  nations  in  the  East. 
On  his  way  to  Lisbon,  the  Apostle  of  India  started 
from  Rome,  on  i6th  March,  1540,  travelled  by 
Loretto,  Bologna,  &c.,  crossed  the  Alps  and  the 
Pyrennees,  and,  it  is  said,  passed  within  sight  of  his 
Castle  Towers,  but  refused  to  stop,  or  even  to  make 
himself  known,  lest  an  interview  with  his  mother  (then 


St.  Francis  Xavier  s  Mission  in  India.     121 

dying)  and  family  might  shake  his  purpose.1  On 
arriving  at  the  Portuguese  Court  in  June  he  found  the 
next  fleet  for  India  was  not  to  weigh  anchor  till  the 
fallowing  spring,  and  he  spent  the  intervening  nine 
months  in  visiting  the  sick  and  dying  in  the  hospitals, 
and  the  prisoners  in  the  cells  of  the  Inquisition. 

In  April,  1541,  a  Portuguese  troop-ship  lay  ready 
for  sea  in  the  Tagus  opposite  Belem.  Her  des- 
tination was  Goa,  and  she  was  to  carry  out  a  new 
Viceroy,  and  a  reinforcement  of  a  thousand  men. 
But  one  was  to  sail  in  her  who  was  to  effect  a  revolu- 
tion in  the  Eastern  world,  as  well  as  to  immortalise 
his  name  amongst  the  great-hearted  workers  in  the 
cause  of  truth.  Xavier,  commissioned  as  Pope's 
Nuncio  in  the  East,  and  bearing  letters  of  recom- 
mendation to  all  the  princes  whom  he  might  encounter, 
went  silently  on  board  the  Flag  Ship  St.  James, 
and  bade  adieu  for  ever  to  his  home,  his  friends,  and 
the  first  brethren  of  that  Order  in  which  he  felt  so 
deep  an  interest.2  John  III.  had,  with  his  character- 
istic kindness,  ordered  a  cabin  to  be  fitted  up  for 
this  leader  of  the  Portuguese  Missions  ;  but  he,  faithful 
to  his  vow,  rejected  everything  in  the  shape  of  indul- 
gence. He  retained  merely  a  few  books,  a  warm  rug 

1  Lucena,  Liv.  I.,  p.  62.  Bartoli  by  Faber,  p.  36.  "  The  conduct 
attributed  to  Xavier  is,  however,  scarcely  consistent  with  his  generous 
character." — Venn's  Life,  p.  13. 

a  "  He  sailed  on  yth  April  with  the  Viceroy  (Martin  de  Souza),  on 
his  36th  birthday." — Lucena. 


122     Sf.  Francis  Xaviers  Mission  in  India. 

to  cover  him  during  chilly  nights,  he  made  his  pillow 
a  coil  of  ropes,  and  shared  the  coarsest  food  of  the 
common  sailors.  He  conversed  in  the  most  friendly 
way  with  all  around  him,  tended  the  sick,  instructed 
the  ignorant,  and  won  all  hearts.  The  rudest  soldier 
was  at  no  loss  to  recognise  the  gentleman  and  the 
scholar,  even  under  the  disguise  of  the  poor  raiment 
which  Xavier  felt  it  his  duty  to  wear,  and  when,  at 
the  end  of  a  tedious  thirteen  months'  voyage  (6th 
May,  1542)  the  battered  vessel  cast  anchor,  in  the 
roadstead  of  Goa,  he  felt  that  he  had  had  another 
course  of  probation  for  his  great  work  in  the  golden 
land  which  now  met  his  gaze.  His  parting  words  to 
Rodriguez,  who  escorted  him  on  board  at  Belem,  were 
(speaking  of  a  vision  of  various  forms  of  death  which 
had  appeared  to  him  at  Rome), "  I  then  beheld  all  I 
was  to  suffer  for  the  glory  of  Jesus  Christ ;  I  ex- 
claimed in  my  dream  '  Yet  more  oh  my  God  !  yet 
more  ! ' — and  I  hope,  that  God  will  grant  me  that  in 
India  which  he  has  foreshown  to  me  in  Italy."  On 
landing  he  presented  his  letters  to  the  Bishop  of  Goa 
by  whom  he  was  warmly  welcomed,  and  assured  of 
support  in  his  mission.  Declining  the  well-meant  offers 
of  Bishop  Vaz,  though  at  the  same  time  acknowledging 
his  authority,  and  delicately  proposing  to  keep  in  abey- 
ance his  office  of  Nuncio,  the  Apostle  resolved  to 
seek  in  prayer  encouragement  from  a  Higher  Power. 
It  is  recorded  that  he  retired  to  a  Church  and  spent 


St.   Francis  Xaviers  Mission  in  India.     123 

the  whole  of  his  first  night  in  India  in  earnest 
supplication — "  an  example  worthy  the  imitation  of 
missionaries  of  a  purer  creed."  l 

The  social  condition  of  his  countrymen  was  the 
first  thing  that  attracted  his  notice.  Merchants, 
soldiers,  sailors,  emigrants,  adventurers  of  all  kinds, 
had  crowded  into  Goa,  as  men  rush,  in  our  own  day, 
to  newly  discovered  diggings,  petroleum-wells,  or  any 
other  source  of  tempting  wealth.  The  love  of  gold 
and  the  gratification  of  passion  had  rendered  law  and 
order  almost  unmeaning  names,  and  though,  it  is  true 
that  the  Portuguese  Church  had,  at  a  very  early  period, 
sent  out  a  Bishop  with  a  full  staff  of  Clergy,2  yet  the 
voice  of  religion  received  but  little  heed  amidst  the 
distractions  of  commerce,  the  clash  of  arms,  and  the 
temptations  to  self-indulgence.  This  state  of  things, 
Xavier  saw,  would  entirely  neutralise  the  success  of 
his  mission  to  the  heathen  ;  and  he,  therefore,  devoted 
himself  with  a  wonderful  mixture  of  tact  and  courage 
to  reform  the  Christians  before  attempting  to  convert 
the  Pagans.  His  biographer3  narrates  the  means 
employed  (somewhat  childish  in  our  eyes)  and  recently 
to  a  certain  extent,  imitated  in  the  East  London 
Mission,  but  attended  with  remarkable  success,  inas- 
much as  a  great  reformation  of  manners  took  place, 

1  Hough's  "Christianity,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  173. 

2  "  Fernando  was  first  Bishop." — Lucena  p.  99. 

3  Lucena,  passim. 


124     St-  Francis  Xavicrs  Mission  in  India. 

and  the  heathen  could  no  longer  point  to  the  Christ- 
ians as  the  very  worst  specimens  of  the  religion  which 
they  professed. 

This  accomplished,  he  felt  himself  in  a  better  posi- 
tion to  devote  all  his  energies  to  the  primary  object  of, 
his  mission — tJte  conversion  of  the  heathen.  He,  there- 
fore.declined  the  Bishop's  offer  of  the  Rectorship  of  the 
new  College  at  Goa,  established  for  the  purpose  of 
educating  heathen  students.  Yet  he  saw  the  import- 
ance of  this  academy  as  an  instrument  for  the  promo- 
tion of  his  great  plan,  and  he  introduced  into  its 
constitution  several  salutary  reforms,  made  it  a 
missionary  college,  and  transferred  it  to  the  "  Society 
of  Jesus,"  under  the  title  of  "  the  College  of  St.  Paul."1 
Another  object  attracted  the  attention  of  Xavier. 
He  found  that  Christianity  made  very  slow  progress 
because  the  Hindoo  converts,  suffering  loss  and 
persecution  on  account  of  their  change  of  faith,  were 
neglected  by  the  very  Monks  who  had  won  them 
over.  On  his  solicitation,  the  wealthy  merchants  of 
the  Portuguese  "factory"  subscribed  a  large  sum  which 
enabled  him  to  support  destitute  proselytes,  and  to 
found  an  orphanage  for  the  children  of  deceased 
converts. 

During  all  this  time  he  missed  no  opportunity  of 
still  further  preparation  for  his  mission  to  the  heathen. 

1  "The  Jesuit  Missionaries  in  India  are  therefore  frequently  called 
the  Fathers  of  St.  Paul." — Hough,  Vol.  I.,  p.  175. 


St.  Francis  Xavier  s  Mission  in  India.      125 

India  was  then  but  little  known,  except  those  portions 
in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  European  settlements' 
scattered,  at  wide  intervals,  along  the  coast.  Xavier 
therefore,  without  guide-books,  maps,  dictionaries,  or 
any  knowledge  of  the  native  dialects1  had  to  obtain 
as  best  he  could  (and  one  wonders  how  he  did  it),  all 
the  information  as  to  manners  and  customs,  laws, 
religion,  and  language,  which  the  natives,  visiting  Goa, 
could  supply.  He  then  resolved  to  start  on  his  mission, 
and  we  must  try  to  picture  to  ourselves  the 
Spanish  Noble,  the  Parisian  Professor,  the  Papal 
Nuncio,  forsaking  all  dignities  and  honours  going 
forth  in  lowly  garb2  his  little  silver  bell  in  hand, 
summoning  the  apathetic  Indians  around  him,  and 
teaching  them,  in  broken  language,  and  with  foreign 
accent,  the  elements  of  a  strange  creed.  He  first 
visited  the  Paravars,  a  low  Caste,  chiefly  fishermen  on 
the  southern  coast,  who  had  been  defended  by  the 
Portuguese  against  the  Moslems,  and  who,  in 
gratitude,  had  adopted  the  religion  of  their  champions. 

1  "  '  I  find  it  a  most  inconvenient  position  to  be  in  the  midst  of  a  people 
of  unknown  tongue  without  the  assistance  of  an  interpreter,'  says  Xavier 
in  his  letter  of  2 1st  August,  1544  ;  yet  one  of  his  panegyrists,  John  Vaz, 
determined  to  magnify  his  powers,  declares  that '  he  spoke  the  language 
of  the  people  fluently,  though  he  had  never  learnt  it.'     Faber,  of  course, 
believes  the  miracle  ("  Life  of  Xavier,"  p.  98),  and  Marshall  'has  no 
doubt  that  he  could  converse  at  the  same  moment  with  men  of  various 
nations  and  dialects,  so  that  each  thought  he  heard  him  speak  his  own 
tongue.'" — "Christian  Missions,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  211. 

2  "Father  Xavier  always  went  barefoot,  wearing  an  old,  faded,  patched 
habit,  with  an  old  black  cloth  hat.'1 — Joao  Vaz. 


126    S/.  Francis  Xaviers  Mission  in  India. 

Believing  this  to  be  a  favourable  opening  he  sailed 
from  Goa  for  Cape  Comorin  in  October,  1542.  Two 
Priests,  who  fancied  they  knew  the  language  (Tamil) 
accompanied  him,  but  their  attainments  were  not 
equal  to  the  task.  Still,  he  managed  to  make  a 
translation,  imperfect,  no  doubt,  of  the  Apostles' 
Creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  other  portions  of  the 
Christian  faith.  One  almost  smiles,  when  reading 
the  narrative  of  his  biographer,  at  learning  that  he 
committed  to  memory  this  extraordinary  compound 
of  truth  and  error  in  religion,  of  right  and  wrong  in 
language  ;  and  that,  thus  armed,  he  positively  under- 
took to  preach  to  the  people  in  their  native  tongue.1 
Let  us  hear,  in  his  own  words,  his  extraordinary 
method  of  converting  the  heathen  : — "  I  went  about 
with  my  bell  in  my  hand,  and  gathering  together  all 
I  met,  both  men  and  children,  I  instructed  them  in 
the  Christian  doctrine.  The  children  learnt  it  easily 
by  heart,  in  the  compass  of  a  month  ;  and  when  they 
understood  it,  I  charged  them  to  teach  it  to  their 
fathers  and  mothers,  then  to  all  of  their  own  family, 
and  even  to  their  neighbours.  On  Sundays,  I 
assembled  the  men  and  women,  little  boys  and  girls, 
in  the  Chapel  ;  all  come  to  my  appointment  with  an 
incredible  joy,  and  most  ardent  desire  to  hear  the 
Word  of  God.  I  began  with  the  confessing  God  to 
be  one  in  nature,  and  triune  in  person.  I  afterwards 

1  Sec  Lucona.         Dr.  Faber's  Translation.          "  Venn's  Life." 


St.  Francis  Xavier's  Mission  in  India.     127 

repeated  distinctly,  and  with  an  audible  voice,  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  the  Angelical  Salutation,  and  the 
Apostles'  Creed.  All  of  them  together  repeated  after 
me  ;  and  it  is  hardly  to  be  imagined  what  pleasure 
they  took  in  it.  This  being  done,  I  repeated  the 
Creed  distinctly,  and,  insisting  on  every  particular 
Article,  asked  if  they  really  believed  it  ?  They  all 
protested  to  me,  with  loud  cries,  and  their  hands 
across  their  breasts,  that  they  firmly  believed  it.  My 
practice  is,  to  make  them  repeat  the  Creed  oftener 
than  the  other  prayers  ;  and  I  declare  to  them,  at  the 
same  time,  that  they  who  believe  the  contents  of  it  are 
true  Christians. 

"  From  the  Creed,  I  pass  to  the  Ten  Command- 
ments, and  give  them  to  understand,  that  the  Christian 
Law  is  comprised  in  these  precepts  ;  that  he  who 
keeps  them  all  according  to  his  duty,  is  a  good 
Christian  ;  and  that  eternal  life  is  decreed  to  him  : 
that,  on  the  contrary,  whoever  violates  one  of  these 
Commandments  is  a  bad  Christian,  and  that  he  shall 
be  damned  eternally,  in  case  he  repent  not  of  his  sin. 
Both  the  new  Christians,  and  the  Pagans,  admire  our 
law,  as  holy  and  reasonable,  and  consistent  with  itself. 

"  Having  done  as  I  told  you,  my  custom  is  to  repeat 
with  them,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the  Angels' 
Salutation.  Once  again  we  recite  the  Creed,  and,  at 
every  Article,. besides  the  Pater  Noster  and  the  Ave 
Maria,  we  intermingle  some  short  prayer :  for  having 


128    St.   Francis  Xavier's  Mission  in  India. 

pronounced  aloud  the  first  Article,  I  begin  thus,  and 
they  say  after  me  :  '  Jesus  thou  son  of  the  living  God, 
give  me  grace  to  believe  firmly  this  first  Article  of 
thy  Faith,  and  with  this  intention,  we  offer  unto  thee 
that  prayer,  of  which  thou  thyself  art  the  Author.' 
Then  we  add,  Holy  Mary,  Mother  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  obtain  for  us,  from  thy  Son,  that  we  may  have 
the  grace  to  keep  this  first  Commandment.  After 
which  we  say  the  Ave  Maria.  We  observe  the  same 
method  through  the  other  nine  Commandments,  with 
such  little  variations  as  the  matter  may  require."  l 

It  will  thus  be  evident  that  Xavier's  hopes  of  success 
rested  on  bare  rites  and  ceremonies,  baptisms  not  under- 
stood or  desired,  but  simply  performed  by  the  one  party 
and  endured  by  the  other,  dry  formularies  repeated  as  if 
the  mere  words  would  act  as  charms  or  spells  in  the 
work  of  conversion.  With  all  this,  however,  there  was 
combined  the  influence  which  arose  from  untiring 
zeal,  marvellous  activity,  and  unwearied  patience  in 
enduring  fasting,  fatigue,  poverty,  sickness,  and  every 
kind  of  misery.  To  this  we  must  add  one  characteristic 
feature  of  his  mission,  his  invariable  kindness  in  minis- 
tering to  the  wants  of  the  sick  and  the  poor. 

The  year  1 543  was  chiefly  spent  amongst  the  thirty 
villages  of  the  fishery  coast.  His  headquarters 
appear  to  have  been  the  little  town  of  Tuticorin,  to  the 

1  Hough's  "India,"  Vol.  I.,  pp.  178-9.  This  is  an  extract  from 
Xavier's  Letters  to  the  Jesuit's  Society  at  Rome. 


S/.  Francis  Xaviers  Missions  in  India.    129 

East  of  Tinnevelly,  but  his  biographers  represent  him 
as  being  constantly  on  the  move,  and  devoting  from 
one  to  three  weeks  to  each  village  according  to  its 
population.  During  this  time  he  sent  a  priest  to 
Manaar,  a  little  island  near  Ceylon,  and  succeeded  in 
converting  many  of  the  natives,  six  hundred  of  whom 
were  shortly  afterwards  massacred  by  the  King  of 
Jaffnapatam.  *  On  leaving  each  village  he  appointed 
the  cleverest  proselyte  to  drill  the  converts  regularly 
in  the  repetition  of  the  formularies  ;  and  that  they 
might  not  trust  to  religious  zeal  alone,  they  were 
handsomely  paid  by  certain  "  gold  fanams  "  from  the 
Portuguese  treasury  at  Goa.  When  he  left  these 
simple  people,  he  took  with  him  a  few  of  the  most 
promising  lads  to  be  trained  for  missionary  work 
in  the  College  of  St.  Paul.  We  have  no  space  to 
notice  his  unsuccessful  attempts  to  convert  the  sharp- 
witted  Brahmins,  but  the  reader  will  find  a  full  account 
in  Lucena,  Bartoli  and  Maffei,  and  in  the  Lives  by 
Faber  and  Venn. 

Early  in  1 544  he  returned  to  Goa,  secured  the  ser- 
vices of  three  missionaries,  and  went  back  to  South 
India,  dividing  the  coast  into  three  districts,  and 
assigning  a  priest  to  each.  He  advanced  alone  into 
the  interior,  pursuing  the  same  course  which  we  have 
already  described.  The  Rajah  of  Travancore  received 
him  kindly,  thousands  of  idolaters  were  baptised, 

1  Lucena,  Liv.  II.,  p.  238. 

K 


130   St.  Francis  Xavier  s  Missions  in  India. 

idols  and  their  temples  were  destroyed  by  the  pro- 
selytes, and  forty-five  churches  erected  for  the  new 
Christians.  His  own  words  are  :  "  In  the  kingdom  of 
Travancore,  in  the  space  of  one  month,  I  have  made 
ten  thousand  Christians."  1  This  work  of  conversion 
was  promoted  by  a  romantic  episode,  in  which  the 
chivalrous  courage  of  the  Spanish  noble  shone 
forth  from  the  squalid  garment  of  the  Jesuit.  A  band 
of  mountaineers  had  poured  down  upon  the  plains  of 
Travancore,  and  were  plundering  the  possessions. 
The  Rajah's  forces,  inferior  in  number,  went  out  to 
meet  the  invaders,  but  Xavier  resolved,  if  possible,  to 
save  their  lives  by  being  himself  their  champion. 
Raising  the  crucifix  aloft,  he  rushed  forward  to  meet 
the  advancing  foe,  and  exclaimed  in  a  voice  of  thun- 
der, "  I  forbid  you,  in  the  name  of  the  living  God,  to 
pass  further.  Return  to  your  homes,  and  leave  the 
land  in  peace."  Astounded  by  this  apparition,  the 
superstitious  multitude  broke  and  fled.  We  give  this 
story  as  it  is  recorded.  Though  improbable,  it  is  not 
impossible ;  and  there  must  be  some  foundation  for 
it,  as  the  Rajah,  grateful  for  this  heroic  deed,  did  all 
in  his  power  to  further  the  interests  of  Xavier  and  his 
mission.  Convinced  that  the  way  was  now  open,  we 

1  Xavier's  Letters,  45.  This  exaggeration  is  supposed  to  be  the 
work  of  a  copyist,  for  Xavier  writes  only  " plurimos  Christianos." 
Venn,  p.  65.  But  the  Roman  Catholic  writers  do  not  doubt  the  ten 
thousand.  See  Faber,  p.  74  ;  and  "  Marshall's  Missions,"  Vol.  I., 
p.  215 


St.  Francis  Xaviers  Missions  in  India.    131 

find  him  writing  the  most  urgent  letters  to  Europe, 
imploring  the  Jesuits  in  Italy,  France,  and  Portugal 
to  come  over  and  help  him.  "  I  take  God  to  witness," 
he  exclaims,  "that,  not  being  able  to  return  into 
Europe,  I  have  resolved  to  write  to  the  University  of 
Paris,  that  millions  of  idolaters  might  be  easily  con- 
verted, if  there  were  more  preachers  who  would 
sincerely  mind  the  interests  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  not 
their  own  concernments."  His  appeal  was  admired 
and  applauded,  but  no  action  followed.  Then,  as 
now,  approbation  was  easier  than  imitation. 

The  early  part  of  1 545  was  spent  at  Cochin  and 
Nagapatam  in  missionary  labours  of  the  same  kind, 
and  with  the  same  results.  We  find  him  writing  to 
the  Portuguese  king  (John  III.)  a  very  strong  letter 
against  the  administration  of  the  Viceroy,  conveyed  to 
Europe  by  the  hands  of  Michael  Vaz.1  The  effects 
of  this  appeal  were  the  recall  of  the  obnoxious  Viceroy, 
and  the  appointment  of  the  famous  Joao  -de  Castro. 
A  letter  from  the  King  to  the  new  Viceroy,  dated 
Almelrem,  8th  March,  1546,  is  printed  in  extenso, 
and  shows  how  deeply  interested  the  King  was,  not 
merely  for  the  promotion  of  his  dominions,  but  for 
the  co-extensive  propagation  of  the  faith.2  He  com- 
mands that  the  idols  should  be  broken  to  pieces,  the 

1  Lucena,  Liv.  II.,  p.  263.     Faber,  p.  112. 

2  Vicla  de  Joao  cle  Castro.      For  Andrade,    1651.      Edit,   por  Bispo 
Francisco  Leuz,  Lisboa,  1835,  p.  51-      "  Cnrta  d'el  Rcy  a  Don  Joao  de 
Castro." 

K    2 


132     St.  Francis  Xaviers  Missions  in  India. 

temples  destroyed,  and  every  effort  made  to  suppress 
idolatry.1  The  whole  document,  filling  seven  pages, 
is  far  too  long  to  quote  here,  but  we  may  cite  one 
passage.  "Above  all,  we  charge  you  that  in  whatever 
occurs,  you  consult  Father  Francisco  Xavier,  and 
principally  with  reference  to  the  growth  of  Christian- 
ity on  the  Fishery  Coast."  And  we  may  further 
notice  the  benevolent  provision  made  for  succouring 
the  newly-converted  Indians,  who  had  to  endure  great 
persecution  on  account  of  their  change  of  faith.  The 
historian  quoted  goes  on  to  say  that,  "  King  John 
effected  by  this  letter  what  his  arms  could  not 
achieve,"  and  that  "Heaven  blessed  his  exertions  with 
distinguished  success  "  in  the  Molucca  islands. 

Xavier,  disgusted  by  the  failure  of  his  efforts  to 
chastise  with  the  sword  the  king  who  had  massacred 
the  converts  of  Manaar,  or  perhaps,  seeing  the  hollow- 
ness  of  his  so-called  conversions,  resolved  to  leave 
India.  He  went,  however,  for  a  short  time  to  Melia- 
pour  or  St.  Thome,  near  Madras,  and  there,  according 
to  the  Roman  Catholic  writers,  he  underwent  a  series 
of  most  marvellous  persecutions,  being  waylaid  by 
devils  on  his  way  to  church  at  night,  and  severely 

1  "  Vos  mandamos,  que  descrol  rindo  todos  os  Idolos  por  ministros 
diligentes  os  extinguais,  et  fa9ais  em  pede9os  em  qualquer  lugar  onde 
forem  achados,  publicando  rigorosas  penas  contra  quresquer  pessvas  que 

atreverem  a  lavrar,  fundir,  esculpir,  debuxar,  pintar,  on  tirar  a'leoz 
qualquer  figura  de  Idolo  em  metal,  bronze,  madeira,  barro,  on  outra 
qualquer  materia,  &c.,  &c."— Vida  de  Joao  de  Castro,  pp.  51-2. 


St.  Francis  Xaviers  Missions  in  India.    133 

beaten.  We  must  refer  the  curious  on  this  point  to 
the  writer  already  cited,  who  evidently  believes  the 
whole  story.1  He  arrived  at  Malacca  on  the  25th  of 
September,  and  there  he  found  the  Portuguese  as 
depraved  as  their  countrymen  at  Goa,  though  some 
efforts  had  been  made  by  Antonia  Galvao,  a  noble 
governor  and  zealous  apostle  to  introduce  Christianity 
amongst  the  Pagans.  The  Europeans,  who,  for  more 
than  thirty  years  had  been  successfully  pursuing  the 
spice  trade,  seemed  to  imagine  that  the  Christian  faith 
was  already  theirs,  and  that  missionary  efforts  were 
only  required  by  surrounding  heathenism.  Xavier, 
after  many  efforts,  not  always  with  good  results,  pro- 
ceeded to  Amboyna,  and  thence  to  the  island  of 
Ternate,  the  Isle  del  Moro,  Java,  and  other  places. 
On  the  return  voyage,  he  arrived  at  Malacca  in  July, 
1 547,  where  he  met  with  three  priests,  Beyra,  Nunez, 
and  Ribeira,  who  had  come  out  as  members  of  the 
Portuguese  Missions,  to  test  their  qualifications,  to 
point  out  defects  in  their  plans,  and  to  suggest  greater 
attention  being  bestowed  on  the  study  of  the  native 
language.  Space  forbids  our  copying  his  address,  but 
one  cannot  help  admiring  the  wisdom  and  Christian 
love  which  seem  to  guide  him  in  discoursing  to  these 
Jesuit  missionaries.  Had  such  counsels  been  tlie  ruling 
principles  of  the  Portuguese  missions  in  Southern  India, 
the  labourers  of  tlie  sixteenth  century  would  have  been  a 

1   Faber's  Translation,  p.  121. 


134    $t-  Francis  Xaviers  Missions  in  India. 

help,  and  not  a  hindrance  to  tJieir  followers  in  the  nine- 
teenth. 

This  great  duty  performed,  he  visited  the  Rajah  of 
Jaffnapatam,  whom  his  eloquence  persuaded  to  treat 
the  converts  with  humanity.  Thence  he  went  to 
Ramisarim  and  Ceylon,  reaching  Goa  in  March,  1548. 
He  found  his  college  prosperous,  and  the  Japanese 
students  not  only  diligent  in  their  ordinary  work,  but 
so  fully  instructed  in  the  Christian  faith,  that  the 
bishop  baptised  him  as  Paulo  da  Santa  Fe.  Five 
more  Jesuits  had  arrived  from  Portugal ;  native  stud- 
ents had  received  the  priesthood,  and  even  a  few  of 
the  pearl  fishers  were  admitted  as  catechists.  So  that 
the  Portuguese  missions,  feebly  started  at  tJie  beginning 
of  tJie  century,  and  vigorously  revived  of ter  forty  years' 
torpor,  were  now  beginning  to  put  forth  their  energies. 
Having  sent  Barzaeus  as  missionary  to  Ormuz,  ap- 
pointed Paulo  de  Camerina  vicar-general,  and  Gomez 
warden  of  his  new  college,  he  set  sail  for  Japan  in 
1 549.  His  marvellous  labours  in  that  island,  crowned 
with  far  greater  success  than  his  efforts  in  Southern 
India,  would  cause  a  digression  from  our  theme. 
After  two  years'  toil,  he  visited  Goa  for  the  last  time 
in  1551.  He  then  sailed  for  China;  and  when  off  the 
island  of  Sancian,  feeling  ill,  he  asked  to  be  landed. 
Here  he  was  left  in  a  wretched  shed,  and  died  on  the 
2nd  of  December,  1552.  The  body  was  carried  to 
Goa,  and,  being  enclosed  in  a  coffin  enriched  with 


St.  Francis  Xavier  s  Missions  in  India.    135 

silver  and  gems,  was  placed  in  a  shrine  of  exquisite 
beauty,  the  resort  and  object  of  worship  of  numberless 
pilgrims. 

Thus  ended  the  life  of  Xavier.  But  the  effects  of 
his  ten  years  in  the  East  Indies  are  felt  for  good  and 
for  evil  to  the  present  hour.  It  is  scarcely  possible  for 
the  impartial  student  of  history  who  toils  through  a 
mass  of  conflicting  evidence  in  Latin,  Spanish,  French, 
and  Portuguese,  to  arrive  at  a  perfectly  satisfactory  con- 
clusion on  this  subject.  If  he  leans  towards  the 
supernatural,  he  will  find  abundance  of  support  in 
the  writings  of  nearly  all  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  in  the 
"  processes,"  that  is,  the  documents,  authorising  the 
canonization  of  Xavier,  and  in  the  recent  works  of 
Dryden,  Faber,  John  Mason  Neale,  Strickland, 
Marshall,  and  others  of  the  same  school.  If,  on  the 
contrary,  he  looks  upon  the  narrative  as  a  spiritual 
romance,  or  a  tale  of  religious  knight-errantry,  he  will 
find  himself  supported  by  sceptics  from  Gibbon  to 
Buckle,  by  disappointed  Romanists,  like  the  Abbe 
Dubois,  and  by  narrow-minded  Protestants  such  as 
some  of  our  modern  missionaries  to  the  east.  Truth, 
in  this  instance,  as  in  many  others,  lies  between,  and 
we  cannot  conclude  this  chapter  better  than  by  quoting 
the  eloquent  words  of  the  author  of  "  Christianity  in 
India  "  : — "  Protestant  zeal  is  only  contemptible  when 
it  denies  that  Francis  Xavier  was  a  great  man. 
Delusions  he  may  have  had,  strong  as  ever  yet 


136    St.   Francis  Xaviers  Missions  in  India. 

wrought  upon  the  human  soul  ;  but  the  true  nobility 
of  his  nature  is  not  to  be  gainsaid.  It  would  be  the 
vilest  injustice  to  fix  upon  the  first  Jesuit  missionary, 
the  charge  of  dishonesty  and  insincerity,  because, 
among  his  followers  have  been  liars  and  hypocrites  of 
the  worst  class.  He  met  the  last  summons  with 
rapture,  and  beneath  a  miserable  shed,  he  closed  a  life 
of  agony  and  bliss,  of  humiliation  and  of  triumph, 
with  scarcely  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  world." 


CHAPTER   VII. 

SUBSEQUENT   MISSIONS   IN   THE    XVIth.   CENTURY. 

"  The  history  of  modern  Roman  Catholic  Missions  to  heathen 
countries  forms  an  important  subject  of  enquiry  with  all  who  take  an 
interest  in  the  progress  of  Christianity.  One  of  the  most  remarkable 
periods  is  that  which  extends  from  the  middle  of  the  XVIth  to  the 
middle  of  the  XVIIth  century."— Venn's  "  Life  of  Xavier." 

XAVIER  fills  so  important  a  place  in  the  Portuguese 
Missions  of  the  XVIth  Century,  that  one  is  apt  to 
forget  the  efforts  of  others  before  and  after  his  career. 
We  have  already  noticed  the  very  early  move- 
ments connected  with  the  voyages  of  Cabral  and  Da 
Gama,  remarking  that  during  the  long  period  of 
forty  years,  the  Portuguese  had  been  too  much  occu- 
pied in  conquest  and  commerce  to  pay  attention  even 
to  their  own  Christianity,  and,  of  course,  they  took  no 
pains  to  secure  its  propagation  amongst  the  surround- 
ing heathen.  We  may  now  summarise  the  chief 
incidents  of  the  Portuguese  Missions,  so  far  as  the 
Pagans  are  concerned.  In  other  chapters  we  shall 
speak  of  the  influence  exerted  by  the  Jesuits  on  the 
Syrian  Christians. 


138    Subsequent  Missions  in  Sixteenth  Century. 

To  go  back  a  few  years.  In  1540,  a  preaching 
friar,  Bernard  de  la  Croix,  of  episcopal  rank  was  sent 
by  the  Dominicans  from  Europe  to  Meliapour.  This 
mission,  with  others  of  minor  importance,  affords 
proof  of  the  zeal  and  perseverance  of  that  Order  in 
the  cause  of  Indian  Missions.1  But  a  still  more 
decided  step  was  taken  in  1545,  when  the  Dominicans 
established  "  The  Congregation  of  the  Indies  " — a 
missionary  college  for  the  training  of  young  men,  as 
apostolic  labourers  bound  by  solemn  vows  to  dedicate 
themselves  to  the  conversion  of  the  heathen,  and  to 
shrink  from  no  danger,  privation,  or  toil,  resisting 
even  unto  blood.  The  first  fruits  of  this  new  "  congre- 
gation "  appeared  in  1 548,  when  twelve  Portuguese 
Dominicans,  under  Father  Bermudez,  arrived  in 
India.  These  new  preachers  were  charged  with  the 
conversion  of  fifteen  villages  in  the  islands  of  Goa, 
wherein,  it  is  said,  they  succeeded  in  erecting  four 
churches.  If  we  may  credit  the  accounts  given  by 
Fontana,  these  missionaries  saw  their  labours  crowned 
with  marvellous  success  within  a  year  of  their  arrival. 
He  speaks  in  the  "  Monumenta  Domenicana  "  of  eighteen 
churches  and  convents  in  Solor,  Flores,  Lamatta,  and 
Malacca  ;  and  he  computes  their  neophytes  at  60,000. 
In  the  famous  work  from  which  we  quote  (a  sort  of 
Annual  Report  of  the  Order)  minute  particulars  are 
given  of  the  energy  and  eloquence  of  their  preachers, 

1  Fontana,  "  Monumenta  Domenicana,"  Ann.  1540. 


Subsequent  Missions  in  Sixteenth  Century.     139 

especially  of  two,  named  Ignatius  and  Macedo,  con- 
tempories  of  Xavier — and  of  the  various  expedients 
for  securing  and  retaining  the  Indian  converts.  The 
zeal  of  the  Dominicans  was,  however,  by  no  means 
limited  to  Southern  India;  for  we  find  that  in  1555, 
Gaspard  de  la  Croix,  a  native  of  Evora,  one  of  the 
original  twelve  Portuguese  who  had  landed  in  1548, 
determined  to  set  out  for  China ;  but  his  adventures 
there  do  not  affect  our  present  question.  It  is  more 
to  our  purpose  to  notice  that  in  the  year  1557,  three 
of  the  Missionaries  of  these  Dominicans,  or  preaching 
friars,  were  promoted  to  the  sees  of  Goa,  Cochin,  and 
Malacca.  Attention  is  called  to  this  circumstance,  as 
it  is  a  prevalent  opinion  that  the  Jesuits  were  almost 
the  only  missionaries  in  the  East.  So  far,  indeed,  was 
this  from  being  the  case,  that,  towards  the  close  of  the 
XVIth  Century,  the  mission  field  of  Portuguese  India, 
was  divided  into  three  parts  in  order  that  there  might 
be  no  interference  of  operations.  To  the  Domi- 
nicans was  assigned  Ormuz,  with  its  dependencies  ;  to 
the  Franciscans,  Ceylon  ;  while  the  Jesuits  had,  after 
a  while,  the  chief  superintendence  of  Goa  and  its 
environs. 

Father  Du  Jarric,  S.J.,  is  our  chief  authority  for  this 
period  of  Missionary  history,  but  his  style  is  so  prolix, 
his  descriptions  so  minute,  and  his  bias  towards  the 
Jesuits  so  decided,  that  it  is  impossible  to  do  more 
than  to  give  one  brief  specimen,  not  a  translation,  but 


140    Subsequent  Missions  in  Sixteenth  Century. 

a  precis  of  his  narrative.  He  says  that  the  means 
employed  to  convert  the  Pagans  were  not  solely  or 
chiefly,  as  has  been  alleged,  certain  temporal  advan- 
tages with  promises  of  future  happiness.  All  that  the 
splendid  ceremonial  of  the  Roman  Church  could 
produce  was  employed  to  captivate  the  Gentiles. 
When  the  Jesuits  had  reason  to  believe  that  their 
missionary  fields  in  the  neighbouring  villages  were 
ripe  for  the  sickle,  they  proceeded  from  Goa,  not 
merely  in  Ecclesiastical  pomp,  but  also  escorted  by  a 
powerful  military  force,  for  the  double  purpose  of 
ostentation  and  protection.  Next  day  they  were  in  the 
habit  of  forming  a  procession  of  neophytes  in  two 
columns  ;  the  first  of  men  and  boys,  the  second  of 
women  and  girls.  On  their  arrival  at  the  Viceregal 
Metropolis,  they  were  lodged  in  the  House  of  the 
Catechumens,  and  carefully  taught  twice  a  day.1 
When  duly  prepared  they  were  taken  to  Church  on 

1  Hough  and  others  deny  that  instruction  as  a  rule  preceded  bap- 
tism. See  "Christianity  in  India,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  208.  But  the  Roman 
Catholic  writers  positively  assert  that  every  care  was  taken,  and  it  is  but 
fair  to  hear  their  own  words  on  this  much  disputed  point: — "  Une  cles 
choses  qui  contribue  le  plus  a  rendre  la  chretiente  de  la  cote  de  la 
Pecherie  si  distinguee  entre  toutes  les  autres,  c'est  le  soin  qu'on  prend 
d'enseigner  de  tres  bonne  heure  la  doctrine  chretienne  aux  plus  petits 
enfans.  Cette  sainte  coutume  s'est  conservee  inviolablement  en  ce  pays 
la  depuis  le  temps  de  S.  Fran£ois  Xavier,  il  etait  persuade  que  la  foi  ne 
pouvait  manquer  de  jeter  de  profondes  racines  dans  le  cceur  des  hab- 
itans,  si  des  la  premiere  enfance  on  les  instruisait  bien  des  mysteres  et 
des  preceptes  de  notre  religion."— Choix  cles  "  Lettres  Edifiantes,"  Vol. 
IV.,  p.  554- 


Subsequent  Missions  in  Sixteenth  Century.    141 

some  great  festival,  flags,  tapestry,  flowers,  and  ever- 
greens decorated  the  cathedral.  The  streets  had 
banners  and  carpets  hung  from  all  the  windows,  and 
triumphal  arches  were  erected  along  the  line  of 
procession.  The  Catechumens  received  new  clothes, 
generally  the  gifts  of  the  Viceroy,  the  Archbishop, 
and  the  leading  officials.  One  interesting  band,  the 
Children  of  St.  Xavier,  robed  in  white,  red  crosses  on 
their  breasts,  and  green  branches  in  their  hands 
followed  the  Candidates.  Next  came  the  students  of 
the  College  of  St.  Paul,  of  various  races  and  com- 
plexions, the  future  labourers  in  the  mission  field. 
Lastly,  the  Brethren  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  marched 
two  and  two  under  the  standard  of  the  crucifix.  On 
reaching  the  church  the  procession  divided  with  that 
perfect  regularity  which  is  characteristic  of  Roman 
ceremonial,  each  falling  into  his  proper  place.  The 
Viceroy,  surrounded  by  a  brilliant  staff,  in  naval 
and  military  uniforms,  the  Archbishop  and  his  clergy 
in  all  the  splendour  of  gold  jewels,  and  silk,  with 
everything  to  enhance  the  spectacle  which  the  wealth 
of  luxurious  Goa  could  produce,  welcomed  the  poor 
bewildered  Pagans  to  their  new  faith.  Music,  vocal 
and  instrumental,  prayers,  ceremonies,  statues,  pic- 
tures, flowers,  incense,  all  combined  to  render  the 
baptism  of  the  converts  a  sight  never  to  be  forgotten. 
After  the  administration,  they  proceeded  in  order  to 
the  "altar  on  which  was  exposed  the  Holy  Sacrament," 


142    Subsequent  Missions  in  Sixteenth  Century. 

to  render  thanks  to  Christ  that  he  had  made  them  his 
children.  The  men  and  boys  then  went  to  the  house 
of  the  Jesuits  to  dinner,  the  brethren  acting  as  ser- 
vants to  their  guests.  The  women  and  girls  were 
kindly  received  and  similarly  entertained  at  the 
houses  of  pious  ladies  of  high  rank,  who  vied  with 
each  other  in  their  attentions  to  the  new  Christians. 
Next  day  they  returned  to  the  same  church,  and 
received  their  first  communion,  going  back  to  their 
native  villages  with  joy.  The  good  fathers  took 
special  care  to  visit  them  in  their  homes  from  time  to 
time,  in  order  to  maintain  their  faith.  This  system  of 
conversion,  differing  in  many  respects  from  others, 
appears  to  have  worked  well  during  the  latter  half  of 
the  XVIth  Century  ;  for,  without  speaking  of  the 
Franciscans  and  Dominicans,  the  Jesuits  in  Goa  alone 
baptised  at  first  a  thousand,  then  nineteen  hundred, 
then  above  three  thousand,  and  lastly  the  astonishing 
number  of  twelve  thousand  every  year.1 

It  must  not  however  be  supposed  that  the  operations 
of  the  Propagandists  were  limited  to  the  lowest  of  the 
people,  or  to  those  who  might  be  fairly  classed  as 
idolaters.  True  to  their  principles,  these  missioners 
considered  all  beyond  the  pale  of  their  Church,  aliens 
to  the  faith,  and,  of  course,  needing  conversion. 
Hence  we  find  them,  at  one  time  working  against 

1  Du  Jarric  "Hist,  des  Choiscs"  plus  rtiemorables,  &c.,    Tom  I.,  p. 
3I5- 


Subsequent  Missions  in  Sixteenth  Century.     143 

Hindoo  idolatry,  at  another  attacking  Mahommedan 
deism,  and  at  a  third  interfering  with  Syrian  Christi- 
anity. Amongst  the  Moslems  their  success  was  not 
great,  though,  in  1557,  they  achieved  a  triumph  in  the 
baptism  of  the  daughter  of  Sultan  Meale  of  the  Deccan. 
From  Goa,  as  a  centre,  missionary  influence  con- 
tinued to  radiate,  and  expeditions  were  undertaken  for 
the  destruction  of  idolatry,  sometimes  by  moral  force, 
often  by  physical.  For  example,  the  islands  of 
Choran  and  Divar  to  the  north  of  Goa  were  famed  for 
a  multitude  of  idols.  In  the  second,  there  stood  the 
temple  of  Genesa,  a  popular  divinity,  attracting 
pilgrims  from  all  parts  of  India.  The  Jesuits  con- 
sidered this  sacred  spot  a  noble  field,  and  advanced  to 
the  conflict  with  all  the  ardour,  though  happily 
without  the  cruelty  of  the  old  Teutonic  knights,  and 
success  crowned  their  efforts.1  Another  instance 
may  be  found  when  Dom  Constantino  (twentieth 
Viceroy)  besieged  Daman,  in  Guzerat,  in  1599.  Con- 
vinced by  a  trifling  incident  of  the  superior  sanctity 
of  the  Jesuits  (at  least  so  says  du  Jarric)  he  handed 
over  the  mosque  of  the  captured  city  to  the  fathers  to 
be  purified  and  converted  into  a  church  ;  and  strange 
to  tell,  the  wife  of  the  Mohammedan  Governor  was 
suddenly  seized  with  so  strong  a  desire  for  baptism, 
that  the  rite  was  almost  immediately  administered. 

1  For    a    full  account  see  Du  Jarric,  Tom  I.,  p.  448,  and  Baron 
Ilerion's  "  Histoire  des  Missions." 


144     Subsequent  Missions  in  Sixteenth  Century. 

We  are  further  informed  that  the  new  Viceroy  had 
the  propagation  of  the  faith  so  warmly  at  heart  that 
he  never  ceased  to  exert  himself  in  the  Holy  cause. 
Close  to  Goa  lies  the  peninsula  of  Salsette,  then  con- 
taining 80,000  heathen  in  66  villages,  sunk  in  the 
grossest  ignorance,  and  a  prey  to  the  cupidity  of  the 
crafty  Brahmins.  To  this  stronghold  the  Viceroy 
Constantine  obtained  an  entrance  by  skilful  diplo- 
macy for  the  Jesuit  missioners,  and  in  a  short  time 
they  could  boast  of  two  thousand  converts  as  their 
first  fruits.  The  Brahmins,  frantic  at  the  double  loss 
of  influence  and  trade,  stirred  up  the  heathen  to  per- 
secute the  neophytes  ;  and  the  Jesuits,  in  self-defence, 
built  a  hospital  for  the  protection  of  their  disciples. 
This  measure,  though  absolutely  necessary,  still  further 
irritated  the  Indian  Priests  and  their  followers  to  such 
an  extent  that  they  attacked  the  Jesuits,  and  beat 
them  and  their  converts  most  cruelly.  Whereupon 
the  Viceroy,  by  landing  a  body  of  troops  and  destroy- 
ing all  the  temples,  proved  to  the  natives  that  such 
interference  with  the  propagation  of  Christianity 
would  be  severely  chastised. 

The  reader  may  remember  the  cruelty  of  the  Rajah 
of  Jaffnapatam,  and  the  disgust  of  Xavier  at  his 
escaping  with  impunity.  The  chastisement,  however, 
was  only  deferred,  for  in  1560  the  Viceroy  Constantine 
attacked  the  Rajah.  The  results  were  the  session 
of  Manaar,  the  capture  of  the  heir-apparent,  the  sack 


Subsequent  Missions  in  Sixteenth  Century.    145 

of  the  capital,  and  the  seizure  of  the  Royal  treasury, 
the  most  valuable  gem  being  the  tooth  of  a  white 
monkey  named  Anomna.1  So  highly  was  this  ridicu- 
lous object  venerated  that  the  King  of  Pegu  offered 
300,000  crowns  as  a  ransom  !  When  this  request 
reached  Goa  a  council  was  held,  and  a  long  and 
serious  debate  took  place  as  to  whether  or  not  the 
tooth  should  be  restored  and  the  money  accepted. 
The  result  was  a  negative,  and  the  Governor  ordered 
the  tooth  to  be  pounded  in  a  mortar  and  burnt  in  his 
presence. 

Goa  continued  to  be  the  focus  of  missionary  enter- 
prise, and  the  scene  of  numerous  conversions,  the 
harvest  demanding  more  labourers,  Alberto  Laertio, 
an  Italian  Jesuit,  set  out  from  Goa  for  Rome,  and 
brought  back  with  him  sixty-two  missionaries  of  the 
"  Company,"  who  were  soon  afterwards  followed  by 
fifteen  more. 

But  Goa  was  not  the  only  centre.  The  Jesuits' 
College  at  Cochin  had  three  dependent  residences  ; 
that  of  St.  James,  a  league  from  the  town,  where  two 
Brethren  had  charge  of  three  Churches — that  of 
Murterhe,  five  leagues  from  Cochin,  where  there  was 
no  Church  till  1581  ;  that  of  Vaipacota,  a  league  from 
Cranganor  in  the  midst  of  the  Christians  of  St. 
Thomas. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  XVIth  Century,  the  Jesuit 

1   Abbe  Dubois,  Moeurs,  &c.,  Tom.  II.,  p.  430. 


146    Subsequent  Missions  in  Sixteenth  Century. 

Francisco  Ros,  a  man  well  skilled  in  Syriac  and  Tamil, 
carried  on  a  successful  mission  in  the  kingdom  of 
Calicut.  The  story  is  too  long  to  tell  here,  but  the 
outline  is  this.  The  Zamorin,  fearing  the  power  of 
Portugal  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  extortions  of  a 
Moslem  Corsair  on  the  other,  implored  the  good 
offices  of  the  Jesuit  Acosta,  then  a  captive  at  Calicut, 
to  negotiate  a  peace  for  him  with  Matias  d'Albuquer- 
que.  The  Viceroy  sent  Acosta  back  to  the  Zamorin 
with  the  Jesuit  Ros,  at  that  time  engaged  in  convert- 
ing the  Syrian  Christians  in  the  Serra.  The  Indian 
Prince  not  only  gave  the  missionaries  a  hearty 
welcome,  but  granted  them  every  facility  for  preach- 
ing the  Gospel.  He,  moreover,  sent  Ambassadors 
to  Goa  to  request  from  the  Provincial  that  a 
colony  of  Jesuits  should  be  established  at  Calicut. 
The  request  was  agreed  to ;  the  site  of  a  Church 
was  chosen  close  to  the  town  ;  a  Cross  was  erected 
to  mark  the  sacred  spot ;  and  the  Zamorin  himself 
was  the  first  to  bend  before  the  sign  of  our  Re- 
demption. 

The  Portuguese  Missions  during  a  hundred  years 
had  made  little  or  no  progress  in  the  kingdom  of 
Cochin,  though  the  Sovereign  had  been  one  of  the 
first  allies  of  the  Portuguese  crown.  Nevertheless, 
Christianity  had  crept  in,  as  is  proved  by  the  violent 
persecution  that  raged  during  the  last  two  years  of 

'Du  Jarric,  Tom  I.,  p.  463. 


Subsequent  Missions  in  Sixteenth  Century.     147 

the  century.  In  Travancore  the  Jesuits  De  Veiga 
and  Bucerio  displayed  great  zeal,  and  in  a  short  time 
succeeded  in  securing  thousands  of  nominal  converts. 
A  violent  persecution  of  the  Christians  soon  followed, 
and  it  is  asserted  that  twenty  thousand  were  driven 
from  their  homes.  After  the  Mission  had  been  in 
abeyance  for  four  years,  it  was  restored  by  the 
energy  of  Father  Spinola  in  1607,  and  continued  to 
flourish. 

Turning  to  the  fishery  coast,  the  scene  of  Xavier's 
first  success,  we  find  the  faithful  Paravas  bearing 
witness  to  the  zeal  of  the  missionaries  who  followed 
the  Holy  pioneer.  Tutucurim,  the  chief  town,  was 
provided  with  an  excellent  hospital,  Church  and 
school.  Eighteen  Jesuits  had  charge  of  six  stations, 
the  entire  population  professed  Christianity,  and  the 
capital  itself  was  "si  adonnee  a  la  devotion  qu'on  cut 
dit  que  c'^tait  plutot  une  maison  religieuse  qu'une 
communaute  politique.1"  The  marvellous  conversions 
begun  by  Xavier  had  been  continued  for  fifty-three 
years  by  Father  Henriquez,  who  died  in  1600,  leaving 
more  than  135,0x30  converts  as  the  results  of  his  self- 
denying  labours.2 

The  first  step  in  the  famous  Madura  Mission  was 
taken  in  1595  by  Gonzala  Fernandez,  who  founded  a 
hospital  and  a  school  ;  but  nothing  effectual  was 

1  Du  Jarric,  Tom  III.,  p.  726. 

2  Du  Jarric,  Tom  III.,  p.  744. 

L    2 


148    Subsequent  Missions  in  Sixteenth  Century. 

done  till  1606,  when  Robert  de  Nobili  joined  the 
mission,  and  gave  it  new  life.  The  reader  who 
desires  more  information  than  this  outline  affords 
will  find  ample  details  in  the  ponderous  volumes 
cited  below. 


BOOK  III. 

THE    SUBJUGATION    OF    THE    SYRIAN 
CHURCH. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ROMAN   CLAIM  OF    SUPREMACY. 

"  We  are  of  the  true  faith,  whatever  you  from  the  West  may  be  ;  for 
we  come  from  the  place  where  the  followers  of  Christ  were  first  called 
Christians."  Reply  of  the  Syrians  to  the  Portuguese. — "Buchanan's 
Researches." 

SUCH  of  our  readers  as  are  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  history  of  the  pretensions  of  the  Romish 
Church  may  safely  pass  over  this  chapter.  But 
assuming  that  some  may  glance  at  our  pages  who 
are  not  familiar  with  the  rise  and  progress  of  her 
claims  to  universal  dominion,  it  may  be  necessary 
to  give  a  brief  sketch,  introductory  to  the  exertion  of 
Romish  tyranny  over  the  Malabar  Christians. 

Prior  to  the  sixth  Century  the  Pope's  jurisdiction 
was  extremely  limited.  He  asserted  no  secular 
authority ;  and  his  efforts  were  bent  on  promoting 
the  extension  of  spiritual  influence.1  We  read  that 
in  the  fourth  century,  the  Catholic  Church  contained 
fourteen  Patriarchates,2  whose  rulers  (Patriarchs  or 
Archbishops)  were  equal  and  independent ;  and  so  far 
from  "  Pope  "  being  a  word  indicating  pre-eminence, 

1  Abbe  Fleury  "  Ecc.  Hist.,  Lib.  XXII."  N.  45. 

2  Bingham  II.     XVII.  20.  "  Theophilus  Anglicanus,"  p.  112. 


1 5  2  Roman  Claim  of  Supremacy. 

it  was  then  the  common  designation  of  a  Bishop,  as 
"  Mar  "  is  in  the  Syrian  Church.  It  is  true  that  three 
of  the  Patriarchs,  viz.  :  those  of  Rome,  Alexandria,  and 
Antioch,  though  not  higher  in  order,  had  precedence 
of  the  others  in  place,  but  this  precedence  was  liable 
to  change,  if  a  city  rose  or  declined  in  civil  power 
and  importance.1  None  of  these  Bishops  ever  dreamed 
of  claiming  for  himself,  or  admitting  in  his  Brother 
Prelates  any  permanent  supremacy  ;  and  Pope 
Gregory  I.  denounced  the  title  of  Universal  Bishop 
as  arrogant,  wicked,  schismatical,  blasphemous,  and 
anti-christian.  "  Qeusquis  se  universalem  sacerdotem 
vocat,  Anti-Christum  prcecurrit."  2  "  On  account  of 
the  civil  eminence  of  Rome,  the  Bishop  of  Rome 
anciently  enjoyed  precedence  among  Bishops  by  the 
Canons  of  the  Catholic  Church  ;  but  his  jurisdiction 
as  Bishop,  Metropolitan,  and  Patriarch,  was  and  is 
limited  to  his  own  diocese,  province  and  patriarchate, 
in  the  same  manner  as  that  of  every  other  Bishop, 
Metropolitan,  and  Patriarch."3  It  is  therefore  per- 
fectly evident  that  the  national  churches  were  at  this 
period  independent  of  each  other,  and  that  there  was 
no  such  thing  as  an  admission  of  the  supremacy  of 
the  Church  of  Rome. 

In   the  year  533,  the  Emperor  Justinian  unfortu- 

1  "  Theophilus  Anglicanus,"  p.  116.     Bingham  IX.,  17. 

2  Lib.  VII.,  Epist.,  XXXIII.,  "Theoph.,  Anglicanus,"  p.  253. 

•'  Crankanthorpe  "Def.  Eccl.  Angl."  p.  176.    "Theoph.  Angl."  pp. 
255-6. 


Roman  Claim  of  Supremacy.  153 

nately  admitted  the  claim  of  the  Pontiff  to  be  the 
head  of  all  Christendom,  and  though  after  Justinian's 
death,  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  threw  off  the 
yoke,  and  asserted  his  own  right  to  the  title  of 
Universal  Bishop,  the  usurpation  of  the  Roman 
Bishop  was  confirmed  in  1606.  This  first  fatal  step 
led  to  an  immense  increase  of  priestly  influence 
during  the  middle  ages.  The  little  learning  that 
existed  was  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  clergy,  who 
thus  acquired  not  only  religious,  but  social  and 
political  power.  In  course  of  time  Papal  arrogance 
had  reached  such  a  pitch  that  Gregory  VII.  asserted 
his  supremacy,  not  merely  over  Bishops  and  Priests, 
but  also  above  Emperors  and  Kings.  He  boldly 
declared  that  crowns  were  held  of  the  Pope,  and  that 
therefore  all  Christian  sovereigns  were  his  vassals, 
bound  to  pay  him  tribute,  and  yield  him  entire 
obedience.  We  need  not  pause  here  to  tell  the  well- 
known  story  of  "  the  Decretals  of  Isidor,"  falsely 
asserted  to  be  ancient  documents  (conventions,  acts 
of  councils,  &c.),  proving  that  from  the  first  periods 
of  the  Church  the  Popes  were  invested  with  the  same 
supremacy  which  they  have  since  asserted.  These 
"decretals,"  being  in  reality  forgeries  of  the  seventh, 
eighth  or  ninth  century,  have  been  long  ago  shown 
to  be  utterly  worthless  as  evidence  on  the  point  in 
question.1 

1  Mosheim's  "  Ecc.  Hist."  Cent.  IX.,  CII.  Sec.  8.     Geddes  on  the 
"  Supremacy,"  p.  46.     Hough's  "  Christianity,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  141. 


154  Roman  Claim  of  Supremacy. 

The  structure  thus  founded  in  error  was  strengthened 
by  additional  frauds  as  time  rolled  on.  The  VIIIth 
Century  introduced  image  worship  under  Papal  sanc- 
tion. The  IXth  furnished  long  lives  of  Saints  full  of 
the  wildest  inventions,  all  tending  to  the  assertion  of 
the  unlimited  sway  of  the  Pope.  Closely  connected 
with  this  was  that  wonderful  device,  the  Canonisation 
of  Saints,  to  which  we  have  alluded  in  the  chapter  on 
Xavier.  The  Xth  Century  could  boast  of  important 
additions,  the  institution  of  the  rosary,  the  baptism 
of  bells,  and  many  superstitions  of  the  same  char- 
acter ;  but  the  XIth  eclipsed  its  predecessors  and 
seemed  to  soar  to  the  climax  of  assumption  for  we 
find  that  the  Pope,  not  satisfied  with  the  lofty  title 
of  Pontifex  Maximus,  blasphemously  assumed  the 
designation  of  divinity,  "  King  of  Kings  and  Lord  of 
Lords,"  laying  claim  to  absolute  infallibility,  and 
declaring  that  the  Church  of  Rome  never  had  erred, 
and  was  incapable  of  erring. 

The  Roman  Pontiffs  assumption  of  temporal  power 
and  jurisdiction  in  the  various  kingdoms  of  Europe, 
naturally  provoked  resistance  from  those  who  felt 
their  authority  invaded  and  undermined.  While  the 
Sovereigns  of  Germany,  France,  and  England  opposed 
the  Pope  chiefly  on  political  grounds,  the  national 
churches,  if  not  in  a  corporate  capacity,  at  least 
through  their  individual  members  struggled  hard,  and 
often  successfully,  for  religious  freedom.  To  crush 


Roman  Claim  of  Supremacy.  155 

these  attempts  the  Roman  Church  established  the 
Inquisition,  which  has  been  justly  characterised  as  the 
"  depth  of  Satan,  for  Satanical  it  is  by  the  conjunction 
of  three  qualities,  indefatigable  diligence,  profound 
subtlety,  and  inhuman  cruelty."1  The  XIIth  and 
XIIIth  Centuries  had  introduced  or  sanctioned  many 
superstitions  in  relation  to  the  Holy  Communion 
such  as  Transubstantiation,  and  the  adoration  of  the 
Host.  The  Confessional  too,  began  to  exert  its  bane- 
ful influence,  and,  at  a  later  period,  became  a  powerful 
instrument  in  the  hands  of  the  Jesuits. 

Historians  generally  consider  the  XIVth  century  as 
the  acme"  of  Papal  greatness.  The  remarkable  events 
were  the  open  war  between  Philip  the  Fair  and 
Boniface  VIIIth,  the  existence  of  rival  Popes  at  Rome 
and  Avignon,  the  preaching  of  John  Wickliffe  in 
England,  and,  above  all,  the  translation  of  the  Bible. 
But  in  the  next  century  the  spirit  of  religious  freedom 
fought  more  vigorously  than  ever  against  the 
encroachments  of  Rome  ;  and,  though  Huss  and 
Jerome  perished  at  the  stake,  though  the  laity  were 
deprived  of  the  cup  in  the  Communion,  though  the 
Council  of  Constance  declared  that  no  faith  was  to  be 
kept  with  heretics,  though,  in  short,  the  Papacy  made 
the  most  desperate  efforts  to  extinguish  the  light  of 
the  Reformation,  all  its  opposition  signally  failed. 

Superficial  as  this  summary  is,  it  will  at  least  serve 
1  Trappe's  "  Popery  Stated,"  p.  2.     Sect.  XII. 


156  Roman  Claim  of  Supremacy. 

to  refresh  the  reader's  memory,  and  to  afford  him  a 
key  to  the  principles  of  that  formidable  Ecclesiastical 
Power,  which,  by  means  of  the  Portuguese  Missions 
was  to  influence  Southern  India  in  the  X  VIth  century. 
Luther  was  a  lad  at  college  while  the  Portuguese 
vessels  were  doubling  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  ;  and, 
twenty  years  later,  when  he  inaugurated  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  deprived  Rome  of  many  of  her  subjects,  the 
Pontiffs  found  consolation  in  the  foreign  dominions 
which  maritime  discovery  had  brought  under  the 
sway  of  the  Church.  It  was  an  age  of  struggles,  and 
a  comparison  of  dates  would  exhibit  some  striking 
coincidences.  Thus,  for  example,  in  1521,  while  the 
German  champion  at  the  Diet  of  Worms  was  boldly 
acknowledging  all  his  public  opinions,  and  firmly 
establishing  the  Reformation,  the  Spanish  soldier  was 
lying  wounded  at  the  Pampeluna,  and  devoting  him- 
self to  that  long  course  of  dreaming  and  planning 
which  led  to  the  establishment  of  the  most  powerful 
counteraction  to  Protestantism — the  Order  of  the 
Jesuits. 

It  is  thus  abundantly  evident  from  the  whole 
history  of  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  Papacy,  that 
Rome  asserted  an  unqualified  supremacy  over  other 
Churches  throughout  the  world.  How  this  theory 
influenced  her  treatment  of  the  Syrian  Christians  in 
Malabar  will  appear  in  the  following  pages. 


CHAPTER  II. 

FIRST   ATTEMPT   BY   THE   FRANCISCANS. 

"'These  Churches,'  said  the  Portuguese,  'belong  to  the  Pope.' 
'  Who  is  the  Pope  ?  '  said  the  Syrians,  '  we  never  heard  of  him.'  " — 
Buchanan's  "  Christian  Researches,"  p.  89. 

As  a  natural  sequence  to  the  claims  of  the  Romish 
Church,  narrated  in  our  last  chapter,  the  Portuguese 
missionaries  proclaimed  their  undoubted  right  to 
subdue  the  Christians  of  St.  Thomas.  A  glance  at 
the  history  of  the  early  Church  in  Malabar,  whether 
founded  by  the  Apostle  himself  or  by  another  of  the 
same  name  at  a  later  period,  will  clearly  prove  to  the 
impartial  student  that  there  never  had  been  the 
slightest  connection  between  the  Italian  and  the 
Indian  branches.  Of  course,  on  the  theory  of  Papal 
supremacy  just  described,  the  attempts  made  by  the 
Portuguese  "  Missioners  "  were  not  only  allowable,  but 
highly  praiseworthy ;  for,  on  that  theory  due  subordi- 
nation to  the  Roman  centre  must  not  only  be 
asserted,  but  vigorously  enforced  at  whatever  cost. 
The  proof  of  this  dogma  failing,  as  all  history  shows 
that  it  does,  there  is  no  more  evidence  for  the  early 


158         First  Attempt  by  the  Franciscans. 

subordination  of  the  Christians  of  Malabar  to  the  See 
of  Rome,  than  for  the  subjection  of  the  Church  of 
England  at  the  dawn  of  her  existence,  or  at  the 
present  day. 

In  our  former  pages  it  has  been  made  evident  that 
the  true  ecclesiastical  head  of  the  Christians  of  St. 
Thomas  was  the  Patriarch  of  Mosul,  resident  at 
Seleucia,  on  the  distant  banks  of  the  Tigris.  An 
examination  of  the  testimony  so  laboriously  collected 
by  Gouvea,  Asseman,  Renaudot,  La  Croze,  and 
others,  clearly  proves  that  these  Christians  had,  from 
the  earliest  ages,  acknowledged  the  Bishops  of  the 
Church  in  Persia  as  their  Primates.  And,  though 
two  of  the  writers  just  named  are,  as  Romanists,  most 
anxious  to  show  a  different  origin  for  the  Church  of 
Malabar,  they  have  utterly  failed  in  establishing  the 
desired  resemblance  in  doctrine,  discipline,  and  cere- 
mony to  the  distinctive  pecularities  of  the  Romish 
Church.  For  instance,  the  Roman  service  has  always 
been  in  the  Latin  language,  whereas  the  Malabar 
prayers  were  constantly  recited  in  the  Syriac  tongue. 
Of  the  Pope  they  had  never  heard  ;  and  all  their 
traditions  pointed  to  the  Tigris,  not  to  the  Tiber,  as 
the  source  of  their  ecclesiastical  system.  Driven  from 
their  first  position,  some  unscrupulous  advocates  have 
attempted  to  show  that  the  parent  Church  of  Babylon 
itself  owed  allegiance  to  the  Roman  Pontiff,  and  that, 
therefore,  the  daughter  Church  of  Malabar  was  neces- 


First  Attempt  by  the  Franciscans.         159 

sarily  bound  to  yield  obedience  to  the  central  power. 
This  strange  assumption  is  founded  on  the  following 
legend.  In  the  year  1552,  one  Turn  Sind,  or  Simon 
Salacan,  a  monk  of  the  Order  of  St.  Pachomius,  who 
pretended  to  be  the  Patriarch  of  Mosul  (or  Seleucia, 
or  Babylon),  came  to  Rome  and  submitted  himself  to 
the  Pope.  His  Holiness  received  him  graciously,  and 
made  him  a  Bishop  ;  though,  according  to  others,  his 
former  consecration  was  reputed  valid,  and  the 
Pallium  was  conferred  The  said  Simon  delivered 
letters  and  a  confession  of  faith,  which  he  pretended 
all  the  Eastern  Bishops  had  commissioned  him  to 
present  to  the  Pontiff.  In  these  letters  the  very  point 
in  dispute — the  Papal  supremacy — was  as  plainly  set 
forth  as  if  they  had  been  written  by  the  most  bigoted 
Canonist.  This  Pseudo-missionary  also  asserted  that 
he  had  been  attended  by  a  cortege  of  seventy  distin- 
guished persons  as  far  as  Jerusalem,  but  that  only 
three  had  resumed  the  journey,  of  whom  one  had 
died,  another  had  stayed  behind  ill,  and  the  third  alone 
was  with  him.  This  very  questionable  Patriarch,  on 
leaving  the  Vatican,  instead  of  returning  to  Babylon, 
retired  to  Charamet,  where  he  was  slain  by  the 
Moslems — the  Christians  rather  rejoicing  than 
grieving,  for  they  evidently  considered  him  an 
impostor,  like  the  Bishop  of  lona,  and  others  of  the 
same  stamp  in  our  own  day.  The  fate  of  Simon  did 
not  deter  Abed  Jesu  from  making  a  similar  attempt. 


160        First  Attempt  by  the  Franciscans. 

This  monk,  author  of  several  defences  of  Nestorianism, 
on  arriving  at  Rome  in  1 562,  was  eagerly  seized  upon, 
and  sent  with  great  solemnity  to  the  Council  of  Trent, 
as  the  duly  accredited  representative  of  the  Chaldean 
Church.  Of  course,  the  great  object  was  to  make  use 
of  this  adventurer  as  a  living  proof  that  this  branch  of 
the  Eastern  Church  had,  in  its  corporate  capacity,  yielded 
entire  obedience  to  the  Pope.  A  third  actor  appears  in 
this  strange  performance,  one  Elias,  a  mock  Patriarch 
of  Babylon.  We  read  that  he  sent  several  special 
Nuncios  to  the  Pope  with  more  letters  of  submission  ; 
but  these  emissaries  rather  overacted  their  part ;  for, 
in  order  to  prove  the  identity  of  the  two  Churches, 
they  tore  several  pages  out  of  their  office  book.  The 
transparent  fraud  being  at  once  discovered,  they  were 
dismissed  with  disgrace ;  but,  nothing  daunted,  Elias 
sent  an  Archdeacon  in  1570  to  deliver  personally  to 
Paul  V.  a  treatise  on  the  "  Reconciliation  of  Chaldea  " 
with  Rome.  We  may  quote  one  passage  from  his 
letter  : — "  Let  heretics  do  what  they  will,  I,  for  my 
part,  am  resolved  never  to  go  against  the  holy 
precepts  of  the  Apostles  and  Orthodox  Fathers,  who 
have  all  affirmed  the  See  of  Rome  to  be  the  head  of  all 
other  Sees,  but  would  always  confess  that  the  Roman 
Church  was  the  mother  of  all  the  other  Churches  in 
the  world,  and  that  all  that  did  not  own  her  to  be  so 
are  accursed.1  Elias  went  rather  further,  for  he 

1  Gecldes's  "  Church  of  Malabar,"  p.  15. 


First  Attempt  by  the  Franciscans.         161 

assured  the  Pontiff  that  all  the  Chaldean  Clergy 
derived  their  orders  in  former  times  immediately  from 
Rome  ;  but  that  as  many  candidates  perished  on  their 
way  to  the  Holy  See,  the  Pope  graciously  consecrated 
a  Patriarch,  that  thenceforward  these  perils  might  be 
avoided,  and  the  clergy  ordained  at  home.  "And 
thus,"  reasoned  Elias,  "  we  received  all  our  authority 
from  the  Roman  source."  On  no  better  foundation 
than  such  childish  fictions  do  the  defenders  of  Papal 
supremacy  try  to  prove  that  the  Chaldean  prelates 
have  unreservedly  admitted  the  derivation  of  their 
orders  from  St.  Peter's,  and  that,  therefore,  all 
canonical  obedience  is  due  to  the  head  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church. 

A  full  refutation  of  these  idle  tales  is  foreign  to  our 
purpose.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  all  authorities,  worthy 
of  credit,  clearly  prove  that  the  Church  of  Seleucia, 
the  mother  of  the  Malabar  church,  was  formerly 
subject  to  the  Patriarch  of  Antioch.  One  of 
many  testimonies  may  be  found  in  the  thirty-third 
canon  of  the  Council  of  Nice  : — "  Let  the  See  of 
Seleucia  which  is  one  of  the  eastern  cities,  be  honoured 
likewise,  and  have  the  title  of  Catholicon  ;  and  let 
the  Prelate  thereof  ordain  Archbishops  as  the  other 
Patriarchs  do,  that  so  the  eastern  Christians  who  live 
under  heathens,  may  not  be  wronged  by  waiting  the 
Patriarch  of  Antioch's  leisure,  or  by  going  to  him, 
but  may  have  a  way  opened  to  them  to  supply  their 

M 


1 62         First  Attempt  by  the  Franciscans. 

own  necessities  ;  neither  will  any  injury  be  done  to 
the  Patriarch  of  Antioch  thereby,  seeing  he  has  con- 
sented to  its  being  thus,  upon  the  Synod's  having 
desired  it  of  him."  l 

Having  attempted  to  show  the  importance  attached 
by  the  Romish  Church  to  the  question  of  universal 
dominion  and  the  expedients  adopted  to  make  out  a 
case  in  reference  to  the  Church  of  India,  we  may 
proceed  to  sketch  the  first  attempt  to  convert  theory 
into  practice. 

The  reader  will  recollect  the  surprise  and  gratifica- 
tion of  Vasco  da  Gama  and  his  officers  when  they 
were  visited  in  1 502,  at  Cochin,  by  the  representa- 
tives of  the  Christians  of  St.  Thomas.  The  religion 
professed  by  these  visitors  won  for  them  the  cor- 
dial support  of  the  Europeans,  and  the  Portuguese 
missionaries  who,  years  afterwards,  formed  a  more 
intimate  acquaintance  with  this  interesting  people, 
would  have  received  them  into  Christian  fellowship, 
but  for  the  discovery  of  two  unpardonable  offences — 
the  heresy  of  Nestorius,  and  the  sin  of  schism,  in  not 
acknowledging  the  Roman  Pontiff.  They  immediately 
made  the  greatest  efforts  to  induce  the  Malabar  Chris- 
tians to  turn  from  Nestorianism  to  what  they  believed 
to  be  the  Catholic  faith,  and  to  swear  allegiance  to 
the  wearer  of  the  triple  crown.  To  accomplish  these 
objects  they  adopted  various  lines  of  policy.  Follow- 
1  This  version  is  from  the  Arabic  Canons  of  the  Council. 


First  Attempt  by  the  Franciscans.         163 

ing  the  example  of  Xavier,  they  preached  to  the 
Christians,  as  he  had  done  to  the  heathens,  they 
established  mission  stations,  and  held  discussions  with 
the  Syrian  clergy,  publicly  and  privately,  and  founded 
missionary  colleges  as  the  means  of  training  a  native 
ministry,  to  supplant  the  Syrian  priests.  Moral 
means  failing  to  produce  the  desired  effect,  they 
employed  alternately  fraud  and  force  during  a  long 
series  of  years,  ending  with  the  Synod  of  Diamper, 
which  extinguished  for  a  time  the  independence  of 
the  church  of  St.  Thomas.  A  still  more  decided 
form  of  compulsion  was  the  Inquisition  established  at 
Goa,  in  the  year  1560,  which  soon  made  itself  felt  by 
its  terrible  and  mysterious  punishments,  as  the  most 
effectual  instrument  in  the  conversion  of  "Jews,  Turks, 
and  Infidels,"  and  in  the  subjugation  of  Christian 
brethren. 

The  first  decided  attempt  in  which  persuasion  only 
was  employed,  was  made  by  the  Franciscans  in  the  year 
1545,  under  the  second  Bishop,  but  first  Archbishop 
of  Goa,  Dom  Joao  de  Albuquerque.  He  had  heard 
of  this  singular  body  of  Christians  dwelling  in  and 
near  the  mountains  far  to  the  south  of  Goa,  and  he 
felt  it  to  be  a  reproach  alike  to  Portuguese  power  and 
Romish  authority,  that  these  stray  sheep  had  not 
long  before  been  restored  to  the  true  fold.  He 
accordingly  selected  Father  Vincent,  a  brother  Fran- 
ciscan, and  sent  him  to  Cranganor  to  inquire  into 

M  2 


164         First  Attempt  by  the  Franciscans. 

the  condition  of  the  Syrian  Church,  and  to  use  his 
utmost  eloquence  in  trying  to  reduce  it  to  obedience. 
In  reading  the  history  of  his  labours,  as  given  by 
Gouvea,  one  is  at  a  loss  to  distinguish  between  histori- 
cal truth  and  "  pious  fraud."  It  seems  scarcely  possible 
that  one  man  could  accomplish  the  enormous  amount 
of  work  attributed  to  him  by  his  biographer.  From 
morning  till  night,  publicly  and  privately,  on  the  road- 
side, in  bazaars,  under  trees,  in  churches,  he  talked, 
exhorted,  argued,  preached  "  without  ceasing " — at 
least  so  we  are  told.  But  a  question  arises  as  to  the 
possibility  of  this  wonderful  command  of  a  foreign 
tongue.  The  worthy  Franciscan  had  been  but  a  year 
in  India,  during  the  greater  part  of  which  he  had  been 
at  Goa,  with  little  or  no  opportunity  of  studying 
Tamil ;  and  yet  we  find  him  all  at  once,  without  any 
miraculous  gift,  in  full  possession  of  this  marvellous 
fluency.  It  seems  impossible  to  admit  the  truth  of  a 
narrative  which  contains  within  it  so  damaging  an 
element  as  this  apocryphal  story.  Yet  we  glean  that, 
after  all,  the  good  Friar  was  no  Mezzofanti ;  for  his 
imperfect  attempts  were  almost,  if  not  quite,  unintelli- 
gible. He  candidly  admitted  that  no  success  had 
attended  his  preaching,  that  the  Cattanars  (i.e.,  priests) 
were  obdurate,  and  that,  without  their  hearty  co-opera- 
tion, there  was  no  hope  of  influencing  the  laity.  He 
therefore  wrote  to  the  Viceroy  and  to  the  Archbishop 
of  Goa  for  their  sanction  to  the  erection  at  Cranganor 


First  Attempt  by  the  Franciscans.         165 

of  a  college.1  Both  officials  gave  their  consent  and 
supplied  funds,  and  the  new  Seminary  was  ready 
within  the  year  (1546)  for  the  instruction  of  Syrian 
boys  in  the  Roman  tongue  and  ritual.  Thus  far  the 
scheme  had  been  prosperous.  But  when  the  young 
Syrians  were  ordained  by  the  Romish  priests,  the 
Cattanars  positively  refused  to  allow  them  to  officiate 
in  their  churches.  They  considered  these  youths  as 
the  dupes  and  tools  of  Rome,  as  renegades  from  the 
faith,  and  as  revolutionists  eager  to  destroy  the  Church 
of  their  fathers.  The  Syrian  Christians  had,  up  to  this 
time,  given  the  Romish  emissaries  the  most  friendly 
reception.  But  now,  thoroughly  roused,  and  clearly 
perceiving  the  real  object  of  the  Portuguese  mission- 
aries, they  broke  off  all  friendly  intercourse,  and  shut 
the  doors  of  their  churches,  not  only  against  the 
European  priests,  but  also  against  their  own  apostate 
sons. 

Thus  the    Franciscan  attempt  utterly  failed,  and 
here  the  first  act  of  this  singular  drama  closes. 

1Raulin,  "  Hist.  Ecc.  Malab."  La  Croze,  p  55.  Du  Jarric,  III.,  p.  552. 


CHAPTER    III. 

SECOND   ATTEMPT   BY   THE  JESUITS. 

"  A  strange  and  melancholy  chapter  in  the  annals  of  the  world  are 
these  same  missions  in  India,  and  not  tending,  it  must  be  confessed,  to 
lessen  the  feeling  of  distrust  so  universally  inspired  by  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  in  spite  of  the  zeal,  learning,  and  splendid  abilities  of  many  of 
its  members." — W.  S.  MACKAY  in  "  Calcutta  Review,"  Vol.  II. 

NEARLY  twenty  years  elapsed  between  the  failure  of 
the  Franciscans  and  the  aggression  of  the  Jesuits, 
during  which  the  Syrian  pastors  were  allowed  to  feed 
their  flocks  in  peace.  No  doubt,  during  this  lull, 
there  were  many  minor  efforts  which  history  has  not 
thought  it  worth  while  to  record  ;  and,  unquestionably, 
much  soreness  existed  between  the  oppressor  and  the 
oppressed.  The  crusade,  however,  was  suspended, 
not  abandoned  ;  for  the  Jesuits  were  not  the  men  to 
be  driven  from  their  purpose  by  disaster  or  failure. 
Reflecting  upon  the  causes  of  Father  Vincent's  defeat, 
the  Provincial  believed  that  he  had  discovered  it  in 
the  contempt  with  which  the  Franciscan  College  at 
Cranganor  had  treated  the  Syriac  language.  This 
tongue  the  Malabar  Christians  held  sacred  as  that  in 


Second  Attempt  by  the  Jesuits.  167 

which  our  blessed  Lord  preached  the  glad  tidings  of 
salvation,  as  that  which  He  probably  used  in  ordinary 
converse,  and  certainly  employed  on  several  remark- 
able occasions.1  They  therefore  made  it  the  vehicle 
of  all  the  offices  of  their  Church,  though  by  many  of 
the  Cattanars  it  was  imperfectly  understood ;  and 
they  naturally  resented  every  attempt  on  the  part  of 
the  Portuguese  missionaries  to  ignore  its  existence  or 
to  expel  it  from  the  services  of  the  Church.  The 
Jesuits,  admitting  the  force  of  these  sentiments,  varied 
their  mode  of  attack.  They  resolved  to  erect  a  new 
college ;  and,  in  order  to  destroy  unpleasant  associa- 
tions, three  miles  from  Cranganor,  the  scene  of  the 
former  conflict2  They  applied  to  Philip  II.  of  Spain 
(who  had  usurped  the  Crown  of  Portugal)  and 
received  a  large  contribution,  though  he  was  then 
preparing  his  famous  Armada  for  the  invasion  of 
England.  The  Rajah  of  Cochin,  too,  gave  his 
sanction,  though  not  a  convert  In  1 587,  the  buildings 
were  erected  and  the  work  of  education  commenced 
under  Antonio  Morales — as  Principal.  In  the  other 
school  at  Cranganor,  the  students  had  been  taunted 
by  their  countrymen  for  adopting  the  language  and 
dress  of  the  Portuguese,  and  thus  casting  contempt 

1  "  It  appears  that  He  spoke  Syriac  when  He  walked  by  the  way 
(Ephphatha)  and  when  He  sat  in  the  house  (Talitha  Cumi)  and  when 
He  was  upon  the  Cross  (Eli,  Eli,  lama  sabacthani)." — Buchanan,  p.  96. 

2  Raulin,  "  Hist.   Ecc.   Malab. ,"  p.    II.     La  Croze,    Hist.,  p.  56. 
Du  Jarric,  Tom.  III.,  p.  552.     Gouvea,  "Jornada,"  p.  7. 


1 68  Second  Attempt  by  the  Jesuits. 

upon  their  own.  The  policy  of  the  Propagandists 
easily  overcame  these  objections.  They  not  only 
permitted  the  use  of  the  Syriac  or  Chaldee,  but  made 
it  a  compulsory  part  of  the  curriculum,  teaching  it 
more  accurately  than  the  Syrians  themselves.  They 
conceded  also  the  question  of  costume  ;  and  hence 
the  new  college  began  its  career  with  the  fairest 
prospect  of  uniting  adverse  elements  on  its  neutral 
ground.  But  under  this  specious  appearance  of  im- 
partiality the  Jesuits  concealed  their  deep-laid  scheme. 
They  never  lost  sight  of  the  necessity  of  training  the 
students  in  the  Latin  language,  of  shaking  their  faitJi 
in  their  native  Church,  and  of  indoctrinating  them, 
slowly  but  surely,  in  the  principles  of  Rome.  But 
again  the  aggressors  were  doomed  to  disappointment. 
The  pupils,  who  had  been  sedulously  prepared  for 
years,  whose  allegiance  had  been,  to  all  appearance, 
firmly  secured,  were  no  sooner  ordained  than  they 
asserted  their  independence.  Nothing  that  the  Jesuits 
could  do,  by  threats  or  promises,  could  induce  these 
young  men  to  forsake  the  faith  of  their  fathers,  to 
preach  against  the  Syrian  Bishop,  to  alter  their  Prayer 
Books,  or  to  omit  the  name  of  the  Patriarch  of 
Seleucia. 

The  missionaries  of  Vaipacotta,  thus  once  more 
baffled,  met  to  determine  the  next  line  of  action. 
They  no  doubt  consulted  the  Provincial  at  Goa,  who 
in  turn  submitted  the  question  to  the  General  in  one 


Second  Attempt  by  the  Jesuits.  169 

of  those  reports  already  noticed.  The  result  was  the 
adoption  of  a  much  more  decided  policy.  Education 
failing,  they  desperately  resolved  to  resort  to  an  un- 
scrupulous combination  of  craft  and  violence  which 
outraged  every  principle  of  justice.  The  object  of 
the  Society  being  to  check  new  heresies  in  Europe 
and  to  crush  old  ones  in  Asia,  they  acted  on  the  con- 
viction that  the  end  would  justify  the  means,  and 
they  therefore  resolved  to  remove  the  only  obstacle 
which  impeded  their  onward  march. 

The  Bishop  who  at  that  time  filled  the  See  of  St. 
Thomas,  if  it  may  be  so  called,  was  named  Joseph,  or, 
according  to  their  custom,  Mar1- Joseph.  There  are 
conflicting  accounts  of  his  consecration  ;  one  speaking 
of  him  as  having  been  sent  to  Malabar  by  Andixa, 
another  giving  the  Patriarch's  name  as  Abdichio,  and 
a  third  calling  him  Abba,  or  Hebed-Jesus.2  The 
Portuguese  historian,  Gouvea,  to  whom  we  owe  the 
account  of  these  transactions,  speaks  in  high  terms 
of  the  Syrian  Bishop.  He  commends  him  for  his 
personal  piety,  his  enlightened  understanding,  and  his 
reforming  zeal  in  certain  doctrines  of  his  Church. 
But  we  must  read  this  commendation  in  the  light  of 
our  knowledge  of  the  antecedents  of  the  Patriarch 
Hebed-Jesus,  and  his  disciple  Mar-Joseph.  Of  the 

1  Mar  is  the  Syriac  for  Lord,  or  Lord  Bishop. 

2  Gouvea's    "Jornada,"   p.    7.      Asseman,   Tom.    I.,    pp.    536-542. 
Geddes's  "Church  of  Malabar,"  p.  n.     Hough's  "  Christianity,"  Vol. 
I.,  p.  351. 


170  Second  Attempt  by  the  Jesuits. 

former  we  have  already  heard,  as  making  certain 
important  concessions  at  the  Council  of  Trent. 
Supposing  this  statement  correct,  we  can  easily 
account  for  Gouvea's  applause ;  for,  if  Joseph  was 
influenced  by  his  Patriarch's  subserviency,  he  was 
already  more  than  half  way  to  Rome.  Nevertheless, 
his  temporising  conduct  did  not  save  him.  He  was 
still  a  Nestorian  at  heart,  though  he  wished  to  be 
thought  favourable  to  Romanism.  To  promote  this 
idea  he  entered  freely  into  Portuguese  society  ;  yet 
he  failed  to  impress  his  new  friends  with  an  opinion 
of  his  honesty.  Determined  to  bring  the  matter  to  a 
crisis,  the  crafty  Jesuits  set  a  trap  for  the  poor  Bishop. 
One  day  when  teaching  some  Portuguese  boys  (pro- 
bably spies)  he  cautioned  them  against  praying  to  the 
Virgin  Mary  as  the  Mother  of  God.  This  was  in- 
stantly reported  to  the  Bishop  of  Cochin,  who, 
delighted  to  catch  his  brother  in  so  dreadful  a  heresy, 
immediately  wrote  to  the  Archbishop.  An  order 
came  from  headquarters  for  the  arrest  of  Mar- Joseph, 
who  was  put  on  board  a  ship  and  dispatched  to  Goa. 
The  Viceroy,  perplexed  and  unwilling  to  adopt  ex- 
treme measures,  sent  the  Bishop  to  Europe ;  and  thus, 
the  shepherd  being  removed,  the  Jesuits  at  Cochin 
hoped  to  make  short  work  with  the  flock.  That  the 
whole  affair  was  a  deeply-laid  plot  is  frankly  admitted, 
the  old  watchword  stifling  all  scruples  of  conscience.1 

1  (jouvea's  "Jornada,"  Cap.  III.     La  Cro/.e,  Hist.,  Liv.  I.,  p.  58. 


Second  Attempt  by  the  Jesuits.  171 

On  his  arrival  at  Lisbon,  he  seems  to  have  assumed 
an  appearance  of  extraordinary  sanctity.  He  thereby 
won  the  favour  of  the  Queen  Regent,  Catarina,  by 
whom  he  was  sent  back  to  Goa  with  royal  letters  to 
the  Viceroy  to  see  that  he  was  instantly  restored  to 
his  Bishopric.  The  reason  of  this  sudden  change  in 
his  favour  is  at  once  apparent,  when  we  learn  that  he 
had  given  a  solemn  promise  to  the  Cardinal  Dom 
Henrique,  then  inquisitor-general,  to  do  all  in  his 
power  on  his  return  to  purify  his  Church  from 
Nestorian  heresy  and  to  secure  its  full  submission  to 
the  Roman  See. 

To  return  to  the  deserted  Church.  As  soon  as  the 
Syrian  Christians  saw  their  Bishop  thus  suddenly 
seized  and  shipped  off  without  trial,  they  sent  a  secret 
message  to  the  Patriarch  of  Babylon,  imploring  him 
to  consecrate,  without  loss  of  time,  a  new  prelate  to 
guard  them  against  the  assaults  of  the  Portuguese 
missionaries.  These  had  managed  to  penetrate  the 
secret,  and  took  every  precaution  by  searching  the 
ships  and  guarding  the  passes  to  prevent  the  new 
shepherd  from  reaching  his  mountain  diocese.1  But 
Mar-Abraham,  in  his  turn,  was  duly  informed  of  the 
snares,  and-  travelling  in  disguise,  arrived  at  the  Serra 
in  safety,  where  he  was  received  with  frantic  joy.  He 
had  hardly  made  the  acquaintance  of  his  flock,  when 

1  Gouvea,  "Jornada."  Getkles's  Hist.,  p.  18.  La  Croze.  Hough, 
Vol.  I. 


172  Second  Attempt  by  the  Jesuits. 

news  came  to  him  of  the  return  of  the  Bishop  Joseph 
to  Goa,  where  his  presence  was  as  embarrassing  to 
the  authorities,  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  as  it  would 
prove  to  be  in  Malabar.  Both  Viceroy  and  Archbishop 
were  bound  to  obey  the  royal  letters,  but  they  craftily 
requested  Bishop  Joseph  to  take  back  with  him  to 
Cochin  several  missionaries  to  instruct  his  flock  in 
the  Roman  doctrine,  language,  and  ritual.  The  vacil- 
lating Syrian  craved  time  to  consider  the  question  ; 
and  next  morning  gravely  informed  the  Archbishop 
that  a  vision  had  appeared  to  him  in  the  night,  for- 
bidding his  compliance.  The  Roman  prelate,  quickly 
detecting  the  imposture,  exclaimed,  "And  I,  too,  have 
had  a  revelation  far  better  than  yours.  Mine  is  in 
the  Bible,  in  the  words,  '  Ye  shall  know  them  by  their 
fruits.'  You  are  a  wolf  in  sheep's  clothing,  and  I  shall 
take  good  care  to  expose  you  to  the  royal  family  at  Lis- 
bon, on  whose  kindness  you  have  imposed."1  The  Arch- 
bishop, however,  offered  no  impediment  to  Bishop 
Joseph's  return  to  his  diocese,  for  he  sagaciously  per- 
ceived the  great  advantage  to  the  Roman  cause 
afforded  by  the  presence  of  rival  prelates.  The 
creation  of  a  schism  would,  he  foresaw,  be  a  golden 
opportunity  for  Papal  aggression.  The  event  proved 
the  correctness  of  his  judgment,  for  no  sooner  did 
Mar-Joseph  appear  on  the  scene,  than  the  moun- 
taineers were  divided  into  two  contending  factions.  Of 

1  Geddes's  "  Ch.  of  Malabar,"  p.  19. 


Second  Attempt  by  the  Jesuits.  173 

course  the  old  friends  of  the  first  Bishop  naturally 
supported  their  early  pastor ;  but  he  had  evidently 
lost  caste  with  the  influential  portion  of  the  Church, 
who  looked  on  him  as  at  least  tainted  by  Romish 
sympathies.  Finding  himself  thus  deserted  by  the 
majority  of  his  co-religionists,  he  was  compelled  to 
seek  for  support  from  the  very  Church  whose  dearest 
aspirations  were  for  the  subjugation  of  his  own.  He 
wrote  a  violent  letter  to  the  Archbishop  of  Goa, 
denouncing  his  popular  rival,  not  merely  as  a  usurper, 
but  as  an  implacable  enemy  to  the  Roman  Church. 
The  Viceroy,  influenced  by  the  prelate,  was  only  too 
glad  to  avail  himself  of  an  opportunity  so  long 
desired.  A  dispatch  was  immediately  sent  to  the 
Portuguese  governor,  ordering  the  arrest  of  Bishop 
Abraham.  As  the  troops  of  the  Rajah  were  com- 
bined with  those  of  the  Governor,  no  effectual  resis- 
tance could  be  offered  by  the  Christians  of  the  Serra. 
Bishop  Abraham  was  therefore  torn  from  his  flock, 
sent  first  to  Goa,  and  then  to  Lisbon,  whence  he  was 
to  proceed  to  Rome,  to  be  tried  by  the  Pope  himself. 
A  gale  of  wind,  however,  changed  all  this.  The  ship 
was  driven  into  Mozambique,  and  Bishop  Abraham 
effected  his  escape,  reaching  Mosul  in  safety.  The 
Patriarch  of  Babylon  conferred  on  him  new  briefs  to 
strengthen  his  claim,  and  urged  him  to  return  to  his 
diocese.  Mar- Abraham  considered  "discretion  the 
better  part  of  valour,"  and  foresaw  that  "  without  the 


174  Second  Attempt  by  the  Jesuits. 

Pope's  order,  the  Portuguezes  would  quickly  make 
the  Serra  too  hot  for  him."  l  Instead  of  returning  to 
Malabar,  he  set  out  for  Italy,  and  on  reaching  the 
capital,  he  abjured  Nestorianism,  professed  obedience 
to  Rome,  and  promised  to  bring  his  Indian  flock  to 
the  true  faith.  Pope  Pius  IV.  then  gave  him  all  the 
necessary  credentials,  with  the  title  of  Archbishop. 
Another  version  of  this  story  exists.  The  original 
ordination  of  Mar-Abraham  being  invalid,  the  Pope 
determined  that  he  should  receive  all  the  orders  from 
the  tonsure  to  the  priesthood.  This  done,  he  was 
sent  to  the  Patriarch  of  Venice,  and  consecrated  by 
the  Archbishop  to  the  see  of  Malabar.  The  object  of 
his  visit  to  Rome  being  thus  gained,  he  landed  in  India 
under  the  imposing  title  of  Archbishop  of  Angamale.2 
While  these  things  were  going  on  in  Italy,  the  other 
bishop,  Mar-Joseph,  resumed  his  public  functions,  and 
preached  the  very  doctrines  which  he  had  abjured  at 
Lisbon.  The  report  soon  flew  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Goa,  who  wrote  to  the  Regent,  Dom  Henrique,  who 
in  his  turn,  appealed  to  the  Pope.  Pius  V.  immedi- 
ately issued  an  order,  dated  I5th  January,  1567,  for 
the  apprehension  of  the  Bishop.  He  was  arrested  at 
Cochin,  and  sent  off  to  Portugal,  without  any  exami- 
nation. He  ended  his  life  at  Rome,3  but  when,  or 

1  Geddes's  Hist.,  p.  21. 

a  Gouvea,  "  Hist.  Orient."  Chap,  III. 

3  Gouvea,  p.  8.     La  Croze,  p.  62.    Raulin,  p.  14.    Dujarric,  p,  558. 


Second  Attempt  by  the  Jesuits.  175 

how,  we  know  not.  Gouvea,  our  chief  authority,  is 
ominously  silent  ;  and  La  Croze  says,  "  We  can  have 
little  doubt  that  this  unhappy  prelate  became,  at 
Rome,  the  victim  of  the  Portuguese  superstition,  and 
of  the  Pope's  inhumanity."  l 

The  leading  incidents  in  the  thirty  years'  struggle 
will  be  sketched  in  the  next  chapter. 

1  La  Croze,  Lib.  I.,  pp.  62-3, 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  STRUGGLE  AGAINST  ROME. 

"Soon  the  overbearing  policy  of  Rome  began  openly  to  assert  itself, 
and  the  Christians  of  St.  Thomas  saw  their  independence  threatened  by 
men  whom  they  regarded  as  little  better  than  idolators  in  religion,  and 
buccaneers  in  after  life." — Kaye's  "Christianity,"  p.  23. 

"THESE  repeated  tyrannies  of  the  Portuguezes  in 
the  Indies  of  dragging  ancient  Bishops  thus  out  of 
their  own  country  and  diocese,  and  tumbling  them  so 
about  the  world,  I  cannot  but  reckon  among  those 
violent  injustices  for  which  God  has  punished  them 
so  visibly."1  These  are  the  quaint  words  in  which 
the  translator,  or  rather  paraphraser,  of  Gouvea's 
"  Jornada  "  expresses  his  opinion  of  the  conduct  of  the 
Portuguese  to  their  Christian  brethren  ;  and  the  reader 
will  find  this  judgment  corroborated  by  another  well- 
known  historian.2  Similar  violence  was  exercised  in 
their  method  of  converting  the  heathen.  Insatiable 
in  their  thirst  for  gold,  and  not  satisfied  with  the 
numerous  concessions  they  had  obtained  from  the 

1  Geddes's  History,  p.  22. 

a  Manoel  De  Faria,   "Asia  Portuguesa,"  Vol.  III.,  last  chapter. 


77k'  Struggle  Against  Rome.  177 

native  princes,  they  were  perpetually  encroaching  on 
the  surrounding  states,  their  arrogance  and  rapacity 
augmenting  with  their  prosperity.  The  result  was  a 
deeply-rooted  and  widely-spread  feeling  of  resentment 
against  men  who,  professing  to  be  the  possessors  and 
propagators  of  a  pure  faith,  were  everywhere  con- 
spicuous for  avarice  and  tyranny,  robbery  and  in- 
solence. Portuguese  and  native  testimony  concur  to 
place  this  beyond  dispute.  In  the  Asiatic  researches 
there  is  an  interesting  article  showing  the  Mohamme- 
dan view  of  these  compulsory  conversions,  in  which 
the  following  passage  occurs  : — "  They  did  also  put 
Hajes  and  other  Mussulmans  to  a  variety  of  cruel 
deaths,  and  they  reviled  and  abused  with  unworthy 
epithets  the  Prophet  of  Goa ;  and  confined  the 
Mohammedans,  and  loaded  them  with  heavy  irons, 
carrying  them  about  for  sale  from  shop  to  shop  as 
slaves  ;  enhancing  their  ill-usage  on  these  occasions  in 
order  to  extort  the  larger  sum  for  their  release.  They 
confined  them  also  in  dark,  noisome,  and  hideous 
dungeons,  torturing  them  also  with  fire," l  and  much 
more  to  the  same  effect.  Further  proof  of  the  im- 
pression produced  by  the  Portuguese  may  be  found 
in  the  letters  and  speeches  of  a  Mohammedan  prince 
named  Hidalcon,  who  besieged  Goa  in  1570.  In  one 
of  his  letters  to  the  Viceroy  he  says  : — "  I  am  con- 

1   "Asiatic  Researches," Vol.  V.,  p.  20.    Hough's  History,  Vol.  I. 
p.  264. 

N 


178  The  Struggle  Against  Rome. 

fident  the  King  of  Portugal  will  not  thank  any  that 
shall  be  instrumental  in  making  a  breach  between  me 
and  him  by  compelling  my  subjects  against  their  wills 
to  turn  Christians,  a  practice  that  is  abominable  in  the 
sight  of  all  the  world  ;  nay,  I  am  confident  that  Jesus 
Christ  himself,  the  God  whom  you  adore,  cannot  be 
well  pleased  with  such  service  as  this  ;  force  and  com- 
pulsion in  all  such  cases  being  what  God,  Kings,  and 
all  the  people  of  the  world  do  abominate."  In 
another  letter  the  Prince  thanks  the  Portuguese 
Governor  for  having  issued  an  order  to  repress  these 
violent  measures,  but  complains  that  it  was  ineffectual, 
adding,  "  as  I  know  that  neither  God  nor  wise  Kings 
take  any  delight  in  discord,  so  I  am  certain  that  there 
is  no  religion  in  the  world  that  justifies  the  forcing  of 
people  from  one  religion  to  another."  Commenting 
on  these  remarkable  transactions,  Chancellor  Geddes 
says :  "  In  this  affair  the  Christian  and  Mahometan,  of 
which  sect  this  Hidalcon  was, seemed  to  have  changed 
parts,  the  Mahometan  writing  therein  like  a  Christian, 
and  the  Christians  behaving  themselves  like  Mahome- 
tans." *  The  reader  must  not  suppose  that  these 
atrocities  were  restricted  to  the  civil  and  military 
powers,  or  the  pirates  who,  under  the  name  of  mer- 
chants, robbed  as  often  as  they  traded.  The 
chronicles  of  the  time  afford  abundant  proof  that 
Ecclesiastics  were  no  longer  the  imitators  of  the 

1  Geddes's  "  Hist.  Mai.,"  p.  27. 


The  Struggle  Against  Rome.  i  79 

gentle  Xavier.  A  few  years  of  conquest  had  sufficed 
to  convince  them  that  the  arm  of  the  civil  power  was 
a  far  more  effectual  instrument  of  conversion  than  the 
tongue  or  bell  of  the  missionary.  The  Dominicans, 
for  example,  pretending  to  erect  a  convent,  built  a 
fortress  on  the  island  of  Solor,  which  was  soon  garri- 
soned by  a  strong  body  of  Portuguese.  The  unsus- 
pecting natives  were  enraged  at  this  deception  ; 
constant  skirmishes  took  place  between  the  intruders 
and  themselves,  and  not  a  few  of  the  monks  fell, 
sword  in  hand,  obtaining  what  they  were  pleased  to 
call  the  crown  of  martyrdom  in  this  singular  method 
of  converting  the  heathen.  Another  instance  may  be 
quoted.  One  of  the  missionaries,  appropriately  named 
Vinagre,  actually  commanded  a  fleet,  sent  by  Portugal 
to  aid  its  ally,  the  Rajah  of  Tidore,  in  the  Moluccas. 
He  is  said  to  have  been  quite  as  successful  in  the  art 
of  war  as  in  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel,  at  one 
time  in  full  armour,  at  another  in  full  -canonicals. 
And,  if  the  historian  does  not  over-colour  the  narra- 
tive, the  soldier-monk  was  in  such  haste  to  baptise  his 
converts  that  he  put  the  surplice  over  the  breast-plate- 
Antonio  Galvao,  an  eminent  Portuguese  navigator,  is 
said  to  have  assisted  Vinagre  in  this  work  ;  but  they 
appear  to  have  professionally  changed  places  ;  for 
Galvao,  though  he  introduced  Christianity  as  a  means 
of  civilisation,  made  himself  so  beloved  by  the  con- 
quered people  at  Tidore  and  Ternate,  that  popular 

N    2 


180  The  Struggle  Against  Rome. 

songs  were  composed  in  his  honour.  No  doubt  there 
were  many  pious  Christians  amongst  the  Portuguese, 
and  to  such  we  would  render  all  praise,  but  after  a 
careful  examination  of  evidence  on  both  sides,  we  are 
forced  to  the  conclusion,  fully  justified  by  the  History 
of  the  Inquisition  at  Goa,1  that  Christian  persuasion 
was  quite  the  exception  in  the  Portuguese  system  of 
conversion,  and  persecution  the  almost  universal  rule. 
This  digression  from  our  main  subject  is  more 
apparent  than  real,  our  object  being  to  show  the 
spirit  of  the  age,  and  especially  that  of  the  Portuguese 
nation.  The  people  of  India  live  upon  traditions.  An 
impression  once  made  is  rarely  effaced.  The  terrible 
tales  of  Portuguese  atrocities  have  been  handed  down 
from  father  to  son  in  the  mountains  and  valleys  of 
India  for  the  last  three  centuries.  Conquest  and 
Christianity,  cruelty  and  conversion,  are  linked 
together  indissolubly  in  the  Hindoo  mind.  And  if 
these  traditions  inspire  the  native  heart  with  abhor- 
rence and  disgust,  the  lamentable  exposure  of  the 
frauds  connected  with  the  Madura  mission  in  the 
XVIIth  Century  produced  unmitigated  contempt. 
The  considerations  cannot  be  omitted  in  estimating 
the  influence  which  the  Portuguese  missions  exerted 
in  Southern  India,  not  only  on  the  Syrian  Christians, 

'  Gecldes's  "  View  of  the  Inquisition  in  Portugal  ;  "  Dellon's  "  Rela- 
tion de  1'Inquisition  de  Goa."  Buchanan's  "  Christian  Researches," 
p.  166.  Canon  Trevor's  "India,"  p.  151.  Hough's  "Christ,"  Vol. 
I.,  p.  212. 


The  Struggle  Against  Rome.  181 

but  on  all  diasses  of  the  native  population  and  on 
modern  missionary  efforts  throughout  our  Eastern 
Empire. 

We  need  not  therefore  feel  surprised  that  the 
universal  indignation  found  vent  in  prophecies  of  the 
downfall  of  Portuguese  power.  "  Let  them  alone, 
said  a  Hindoo,  for  they  will  quickly  come  to  lose 
that,  as  covetous  merchants,  which  they  have  gained 
as  admirable  soldiers  ;  they  now  conquer  Asia,  but  it 
will  not  be  long  before  Asia  conquers  them."1  Nor 
was  it  long  ere  these  predictions  began  to  be  fulfilled, 
as  the  natives  of  Ito  succeeded  in  expelling  the 
Portuguese  from  their  island,  the  first  check  to  their 
hitherto  victorious  career,  and  the  first  step  in  the 
downward  path  to  the  present  melancholy  condition 
of  their  dominions  in  the  East. 

We  must  now  return  to  Mar- Abraham,  whom  we 
left  just  after  his  re-consecration  as  Bishop,  or  Arch- 
bishop, of  Augamale.  On  arriving  at  Goa,  he  was 
happy  to  find  his  rival  Mar-Joseph  "  shipped  off  for 
Portugal "  ;  and  he  therefore  flattered  himself  that  he 
would  be  able  to  pass  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  the 
quiet  possession  of  his  see.  This,  however,  was  no 
such  easy  matter.  The  Portuguese  no  longer  had 
any  use  for  him  as  an  instrument  in  maintaining  a 
schism.  So,  in  spite  of  his  credentials,  they  detained 
him  a,t  Goa,  on  pretence  of  examining  the  Papal 

1  Geckles,  p.  28. 


1 82  The  Struggle  Against  Rome. 

briefs.  The  crafty  canonists,  though  unable  to  deny 
the  validity  of  the  documents,  were  at  no  loss  to 
detect  certain  flaws,  and  the  Archbishop  decided  that 
his  appointment  was  null  and  void.  Mar-Abraham, 
instead  of  being  welcomed  by  his  Cattanars  and  his 
flocks  amid  the  green  hills  of  Malayalim  was  put 
under  arrest  in  the  Dominican  convent,  there  to  await 
the  Pope's  reply  to  the  Archbishop's  report  of  the 
case.  Fully  aware  that  this  was  only  another  form  of 
imprisonment  for  life,  he  took  the  law  into  his  own 
hands  ;  and  one  night  while  the  Dominicans  were  in 
chapel,  he  escaped  and  reached  his  diocese  in  safety.1 
Consternation  prevailed  at  Goa.  All  the  authorities 
on  the  coast  were  informed  of  the  flight  and  ordered 
to  secure  the  Bishop,  dead  or  alive.  But  he  took 
good  care  never  to  venture  near  any  of  the  Portuguese 
settlements.  His  conduct  as  a  Bishop  seems  to  have 
been  as  undecided  as  that  of  his  predecessor.  On 
the  one  hand  he  professed  himself  a  Romanist,  and 
re-ordained  all  the  Syrian  priests.  On  the  other  hand 
he  not  only  preached  the  Nestorian  doctrines,  but 
publicly  prayed  for  the  Bishop  of  Babylon  as  the 
Head  of  his  Church.  Intelligence  of  this  state  of 
affairs  soon  reached  Gregory  XIII.,2  who,  in  1578, 
commanded  the  Syrian  Bishop  to  attend  the  next 
Provincial  Council  at  Goa,  and  to  be  governed  by  its 

1  Gouvea,  p.  8.    La  Croze,  p.  63.    Raulin,  p.  15.     Du  Jarric,  p.  558. 

2  Raulin,  "  Hist.  Ecc.  Malab.,"  p.  15. 


The  Struggle  Against  Rome.  183 

decrees.  Whereupon,  the  fifth  Archbishop  of  Goa, 
Vincente  de  Fouseca,  called  a  council,  and  com- 
manded the  attendance  of  Mar-Abraham  under  letters 
of  safe  conduct.1  The  poor  Bishop  felt  that  he  had 
no  alternative ;  for,  if  he  resisted,  Portuguese  troops 
would  lay  waste  his  diocese.  He  therefore  attended 
the  council,  abjured  his  faith,  swore  to  Romanism 
and  to  the  punctual  execution  of  the  decrees  of  the 
Synod.  He  further  promised  to  alter  or  burn  all  the 
heretical  books,  and  to  re-ordain  all  his  clergy,  thus 
making  the  fatal  admission  that  the  Orders  of  the 
Syrian  Church  were  invalid.2  This  done,  his  next 
perplexity  was  how  to  justify  himself  before  his  own 
Patriarch.  He  wrote  a  sad  letter,  exhibiting  the 
straits  to  which  he  was  reduced,  "the  Portuguese 
hanging  over  his  head  as  a  hammer  over  an  anvil."  3 
He  alleged  that  the  Profession  of  Faith  which  he  had 
made  was  not  understood  (from  the  difference  of 
language)  by  the  council  at  Goa,  and  that  he  was  as 
firm  as  ever  in  his  fidelity  to  the  Syrian  Church.  He 
added  that  "  being  grown  ancient,  and  very  much  broke 
by  the  long  and  unintermitting  persecutions,  of  the 
Portuguezes,"  he  desired  the  assistance  of  a  coadjutor. 

1  La  Croze,  p.  65.     Geddes,  p.  32. 

2  The  reasons  given  by  the  Romanists  for  forcing  Bishop  Abraham  to 
take  this  step  are  stated  at  length  from  p.  33  to  p.  37  of  Geddes's 
"  Church  of  Malabar." 

3  "  Os   Portugueses  estavao   sobre   sua   cabeca   como  malhos  sobre 
bigorna." — Gouvea,  p.  9.     Raulin,  p.  16. 


184  The  Struggle  Against  Rome. 

The  Suffragan,  Mar-Simeon,  soon  became  so  popular 
with  the  Syrian  Christians,  on  account  of  his  freedom 
from  Romish  contamination,  that  he  felt  himself 
strong  enough  to  declare  his  independence  of  his 
superior,  and  to  set  up  a  rival  See  at  Carturte.1 
Again  a  schism  arose.  Anathemas  were  reciprocated. 
The  whole  diocese  was  in  a  ferment ;  and  Abraham, 
losing  ground,  complained  of  Simeon  as  a  usurper 
and  a  heretic.2  The  Viceroy,  though  by  no  means  a 
friend  of  Mar- Abraham's,  was  forced  to  acknowledge 
him  as  Bishop  of  Augamale  in  virtue  of  the  Papal 
appointment ;  and  therefore  determined  to  take  his 
part  against  Mar-Simeon.  Feeling,  however,  that  it 
would  be  difficult,  if  not  dangerous,  to  employ  force, 
he  induced  some  Franciscans  to  excite  in  Mar- 
Simeon's  mind  a  doubt  of  his  Ecclesiastical  position, 
so  as  to  render  a  journey  to  Rome  necessary  for 
security  and  peace.  He  went  with  the  Friars  to 
Cochin ;  and  thence  to  Goa,  Lisbon,  and  Rome, 
where,  to  his  intense  astonishment,  Sixtus  V.  declared 
him  not  to  be  in  Holy  Orders  at  all !  Thus  sentenced, 
or  deprived,  he  was  forwarded  to  Philip  II.,  at  that 
time  King  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  who  committed 
him  to  Alexis  de  Menezes,  then  starting  for  Goa  as 
Archbishop.  The  Syrian  Prelate,  however,  instead  of 

1  Raulin,  "Hist.  Ecc.  Mai.,"  p.  16.     Du  Jarric,  p.  561. 

2  "  Excommunicationes    inde    ac    anathcemeta    (res   ridicula    quasi 
missilia,  alter  in  alterum  mutuo  intorquet." — Raulin,  "  Hist.  Ecc.  Mai.," 
p.   II. 


The  Struggle  Against  Rome. 

accompanying  the  Portuguese  Metropolitan,  was 
thrown  into  the  Franciscan  convent  in  Lisbon. 
From  his  prison  he  wrote  to  his  Vicar-General,  Jacob, 
by  every  fleet  that  went  to  India,  professing  fidelity 
to  the  faith  of  his  fathers  and  claiming  his  Episcopal 
rank.  Years  afterwards  these  letters  fell  into  the 
hands  of  Archbishop  Menezes,  by  whom  they  were 
sent  to  the  Inquisitor-General  of  Portugal.  The 
result  is  not  recorded.  But  the  unfortunate  Syrian's 
fate  was,  no  doubt,  hastened  by  the  arrival  of  these 
letters,  the  dungeons  of  the  Inquisition  finishing 
what  the  Franciscan  convents  had  begun. 

Following  this  complicated  history  we  must  return 
to  Goa,  where,  in  1 590,  another  Provincial  Council  was 
convened,  and  Bishop  Abraham  summoned  to  attend. 
But  the  aged  Prelate,  taught  by  experience,  refused 
to  trust  the  Portuguese.  He  was  possibly  influenced 
in  his  determination  by  some  feeling  of  remorse  for 
his  former  conduct,  and  for  the  ruin  that  he  had 
brought  on  Joseph  and  Simeon.  Be  the  cause  what 
it  may,  he  stood  firm,  maintained  the  Chaldean  faith 
and  defied  the  Roman  power.  Clement  VIII.,  duly 
informed  of  this  contumacy,  commanded  the  Arch- 
bishop, in  1595,  to  enquire  into  the  crimes  of  the 
rebellious  Prelate,  and,  if  guilty,  to  commit  him  to 
prison.1  The  Papal  brief  further  ordered  that  a 

1  This  mandate  of  Clement  VIII.,  dated  2;th  January,  1595,  is  quoted 
at  length  in  Gouvea's  "Jornada,"  p.  10, 


1 86  The  Struggle  Against  Rome. 

Vicar-Apostolic  should  be  placed  over  the  diocese, 
and  that  no  Chaldean  bishop  should  be  suffered  to 
enter  Malabar.  Archbishop  Menezes  obeyed,  found 
Mar-Abraham  guilty,  without  going  through  the 
useless  form  of  summoning  the  bed-ridden  victim  to 
appear  at  Goa  ;  and  having  learnt  that  application 
had  been  made^to  Babylon  for  a  Suffragan  and 
successor,  he  ordered  all  the  passes  to  be  guarded,  so 
that  no  Chaldean  priest  should  enter.  Every  ex- 
pedient was  adopted  to  elude  his  vigilance.  Disguised 
as  Indians  they  came  by  land,  as  sailors  they  entered 
the  Port  of  Cochin,  but  were  always  stopped,  sent 
home  or  imprisoned,  and  thus  the  diocese  remained 
without  a  head. 

The  Archbishop,  delighted  by  this  success,  pursued 
his  enterprise  with  zeal.  He  first  addressed  himself 
to  Mar-Simeon's  Vicar-General,  imploring  him  to 
submit  and  promising  him  the  most  ample  rewards. 
But  Jacob  was  deaf  to  all  his  entreaties,  refused  to 
throw  away  his  commission,  and  inflamed  still  more 
his  excited  flock  against  their  relentless  tormentors. 
Menezes  was  equally  urgent  with  the  other  side, 
entreating  the  aged  Mar-Abraham  and  his  energetic 
representative,  the  Archdeacon,  to  reduce  the  diocese 
to  the  Roman  obedience,  but  with  no  better  success 
than  in  the  other  case. 

Two  deaths  now  cleared  the  way  for  the  Arch- 
bishop's triumph.  The  first  was  that  of  Jacob, 


The  Struggle  Against  Rome.  187 

Simeon's  Vicar-General,  whose  sudden  decease,  under 
singular  circumstances,  was  interpreted  as  a  judgment 
on  him  for  resistance  to  the  true  faith.1  The 
second  was  that  of  the  Syrian  Bishop  Abraham,  in 
February,  1597.  Worn  out  by  controversy,  but  still 
firm  in  his  religion,  he  refused  the  rites  of  the  Romish 
Church,  forced  upon  him  in  his  dying  moments  by 
two  Jesuits  from  Vaipacotta,  and  to  remove  all  doubts 
of  his  position,  he  left  express  orders  that  he  should 
be  buried  in  the  modest  cathedral  which  he  had  built 
amongst  the  woods  at  Augamale. 

Thus  ended  the  first  part  of  the  struggle. 

1  Gouvea,  "  Hist.  Jornada." 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE   ARCHBISHOP   OF   GOA. 

"Dom  Alexis  cle  Menezes  was  appointed  Archbishop  of  Goa.  It  was 
his  mission  less  to  make  new  converts  than  to  reduce  old  ones  to  sub- 
jection ;  and  he  flung  himself  into  the  work  of  persecution  with  an 
amount  of  zeal  and  heroism  that  must  have  greatly  endeared  him  to 
Rome." — KAYE. 

DOM  ALEXIS  DE  MENEZES,  whose  actions  form  the 
principal  subject  of  this  chapter,  was  an  Austin  Friar, 
and  was  the  seventh  Archbishop  of  Goa,  a  see  founded 
by  Paul  III.  in  1537.  He  was  Governor-General  ot 
India  for  three  years,  was  afterwards  translated  to  the 
Primacy  of  Braga,  was  Governor  of  Portugal  for  two 
years,  and  after  that  was  President  of  the  Council 
of  State  of  Portugal  at  Madrid,  where  he  died. 
It  would  be  foreign  to  our  purpose  to  give  his  bio- 
graphy here  ;  and  his  character,  no  ordinary  one,  will 
be  gleaned  by  the  intelligent  reader  from  our  brief 
sketch  of  his  trenchant  decision,  consummate  craft, 
and  dauntless  courage  in  overthrowing  the  Church  of 
St.  Thomas,  and  raising  that  of  St.  Peter  on  its  ruins. 
On  the  very  day  that  Archbishop  Menezes  received 


The  Archbishop  of  Goa.  189 

at  Damaon  the  news  of  Mar-Abraham's  death,  he 
appointed  the  Jesuit,  Francisco  Ros,  Governor  and 
Vicar- Apostolical  of  the  vacant  see.  Three  months 
afterwards,  the  Archbishop  held  a  meeting  at  Goa 
concerning  the  Syrian  Church,  and  the  result  was 
that,  in  spite  of  the  Pope's  orders  that  none  but  a 
Roman  Catholic  should  be  appointed,  it  was  deemed 
expedient  to  nominate  the  Archdeacon.1  To  please 
all  parties,  the  office  was  put  in  commission,  the 
three  officials  being  the  Archdeacon,  the  Jesuit  Ros, 
and  the  Rector  of  Vaipacotta.  But  when  the  Arch- 
deacon was  required  to  subscribe  to  the  creed  of  Pius 
IV.,  he  declined,  alleging  that  he  objected  to  the  other 
commissioners.  And  Menezes,  though  detecting  the 
pretext,  dissembled  for  the  present,  and  made  him 
sole  governor.  The  Archdeacon,  pursuing  a  temporary 
policy,  accepted  his  patent,  though  under  protest  that 
it  gave  him  no  more  authority  than  what  he  previously 
possessed,  and  still  declined  subscription,  hoping  for  a 
Bishop  from  the  Patriarch.  Pressed  still  further  by 
the  Romanists,  he  declared  positively  that  he  would 

1  The  Archdeacon  who  plays  so  conspicuous  a  part  in  the  following 
chapters  was  named  George,  and  is  thus  spoken  of  by  Raulin  : — 
' '  Georgius  homo  dolis  instructus,  et  vulpern  in  pectore  servans.  "- 
Raulin,  "Hist.  Ecc.  Mai.,"  p.  20.  There  was  but  one  of  this  title  amongst 
the  Malabar  Christians,  and  he  seems  to  have  exercised  the  office  of  a  sort 
of  deputy  during  the  life  of  the  Bishop,  and  that  of  substitute  or  re- 
presentative when  the  see  was  vacant.  Archdeacon  George  was  a  man 
of  the  highest  family,  and  had  exercised  quasi-episcopal  functions  during 
the  declining  years  of  Mar- Abraham,  who,  when  dying,  committed  the 
Church  of  the  Syrian  Christians  to  his  care. 


190  The  Archbishop  of  Goa. 

not  submit  to  the  Pontiff,  for  that  the  Church  of  St. 
Thomas  always  had  been,  and  always  should  be,  inde- 
pendent of  Rome.  To  strengthen  his  resistance,  he 
convened  a  Synod  at  Augamale.  There  Cattanars 
and  laymen  alike  swore  to  defend  the  faith  of  their 
fathers,  to  accept  none  but  a  Bishop  of  their  own 
Church,  and  to  maintain  this  solemn  league  and 
covenant  to  the  death. 

Popular  excitement  was  now  at  its  height.  The 
poor  mountaineers,  who  had  at  first  welcomed  their 
Roman  fellow-Christians  so  warmly,  were  thoroughly 
excited  against  their  oppressors.  They  looked  upon 
the  Portuguese  as  the  relentless  enemies  of  their 
ancient  faith,  and  as  the  barbarous  persecutors  of 
their  beloved  bishops  and  priests.  They  therefore 
rose  in  arms,  expelled  the  Jesuits  from  their  country, 
and  in  two  instances  were  barely  restrained  from 
putting  them  to  death.  The  news  of  this  terrible 
outbreak,  though  it  frightened  the  ordinary  "  Soldiers 
of  the  Pope,"  served  but  to  stimulate  the  resolute 
Archbishop,  who  determined  to  crush  this  rebellion  by 
his  personal  presence.  In  vain  did  the  Archbishop 
and  the  whole  clergy  of  Goa  implore  him  to  refrain 
from  so  perilous  an  enterprise.  He  resolved,  as  soon 
as  the  war  between  Mangate  and  Paru  (two  small 
Malabar  states)  had  ceased,  to  subdue  the  storm 
which  he  had  raised,  contenting  himself  mean- 
time with  an  appeal  to  the  Archdeacon.  That  dig- 


The  Archbishop  of  Goa.  191 

nitary,  alarmed  at  the  Archbishop's  announcement, 
pretended  that  he  had  refused  subscription  because 
the  Rector  of  Vaipacotta  was  commanded  to  receive 
it,  but  that  he  would  sign  before  any  other  priest  (not 
a  Jesuit)  duly  commissioned.  But  Menezes,  consider- 
ing this  an  attempt  to  render  the  Jesuits  unpopular, 
because  they  were  the  most  active  proselytisers, 
refused  to  comply.  This  refusal  gave  great  and  just 
offence,  not  only  to  the  Syrians,  but  also  to  the 
Romanists;  for  the  other  orders  loudly  declared  that 
the  Archbishop  was  so  infatuated  with  the  Jesuits 
that  he  would  rather  lose  the  Syrian  Church  than 
offend  the  Order.  The  brethren,  it  seems,  did  not  re- 
ciprocate the  Archbishop's  affection,  at  least  they  had 
done  their  best  (in  a  work  which  we  often  quote  in 
this  history)  to  deprive  him  of  what  he  believed  his 
chief  honour,  the  conversion  of  the  Syrian  Christians, 
or  rather,  the  reduction  of  their  Church  to  the  Roman 
obedience.1  In  this  historical  romance  we  have  an 
entirely  new  version  of  the  story  (a  Jesuit's,  be  it 
remembered)  to  the  effect  that  Mar-Abraham  loved 
the  Jesuits,  was  governed  by  them  in  all  things,  invited 
the  Rector  to  his  death-bed,  committed  his  flock  to 
the  care  of  the  Pope,  commanded  all  his  clergy  to 
obey  the  Brethren  of  the  Society,  and  to  accept  as  truth 
all  that  they  taught.  Furthermore,  this  veracious 

1  "History  of  the  Jesuits  in  India."    By  Pierre  du  Jarric,  Bordeaux, 
1608. 


192  The  Archbishop  of  Goa. 

narrative  asserts  that  the  Syrian  Church  was  so  com- 
pletely reconciled,  that  in  1 596  they  celebrated  with 
joy  the  Jubilee  of  Clement  VIII.,  crowding  the 
churches  till  midnight.  The  Archbishop  of  Goa  had 
therefore  no  conflict,  but  simply  enjoyed  a  triumph 
where  the  Jesuits  had  won  the  battle.1 

Trifles  often  lead  to  great  events  ;  and  an  incident 
occurred  at  this  time  which  plainly  proved  that  the 
Syrian  clergy  were  not  yet  the  slaves  of  the  Pope. 
One  of  the  boys  of  the  Jesuits'  College  had  been 
taught  to  pray  for  the  Pope  before  the  Patriarch. 
The  Cattanars,  overhearing  this  one  day  in  church, 
beat  him  and  turned  him  out.  They  spoke  also  to 
his  father  to  repeat  the  chastisement.  The  Arch- 
bishop, hearing  of  this,  wrote  to  Archdeacon  George, 
ordering  him  to  punish  those  impudent  heretics,  but, 
so  far  from  obeying  the  Roman  Prelate,  he  com- 
mended the  zeal  of  his  own  priests.  A  Franciscan 
Friar  was  therefore  sent  from  Goa  to  request  once 
more  the  Archdeacon's  subscription,  and  to  insist  on 
his  punishing  the  Cattanars.  The  Syrian,  anxious,  at 
any  price,  to  keep  the  Archbishop  out  of  the  Serra, 
at  last  subscribed  a  confession,  though  not  that  of 
Pius  IV.,  professing  himself  a  Catholic,  but  avoiding 
the  word  Roman.  It  is,  however,  affirmed  that  he 
afterwards  gave  his  assent  publicly  to  the  creed  of 
Pius  IV.,  read  to  him  in  Portuguese,  of  which  he 
1  Geddes's  "  Hist.  Ch.  Mai.,"  p.  49. 


The  Archbishop  of  Goa.  193 

knew  nothing.  Be  that  as  it  may,  he  everywhere 
taught  that  though  the  Pope  was  Head  of  the  Roman 
Church,  he  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the 
Syrian.  Irritated  by  these  vexatious  delays,  the 
indomitable  Prelate  fixed  a  day  for  his  personal  visit 
to  the  headquarters  of  these  rebellious  Christians. 
The  Viceroy's  remonstrance  was  answered  thus : — 
"  My  life  is  but  too  secure,  as  I  have  never  done 
enough  to  win  the  martyr's  crown." l  Still  he  did  not 
rely  too  much  on  his  want  of  merit,  and  therefore 
travelled  with  an  armed  escort.  His  journey,  too, 
was  partly  political,  as  the  Viceroy  wished  to  secure 
the  co-operation  of  the  Zamorin  in  destroying  a  nest 
of  pirates  at  Cunhale.  On  the  2/th  September, 
1598,  the  Archbishop  embarked  in  a  war  galley,  and 
on  Epiphany  was  saluted  at  Cunhale  by  the  guns 
and  music  of  the  Portuguese  Fleet.  Here  he  held  a 
Council  of  War,  sent  dispatches  to  Goa,  inspected  the 
siege  works,  and,  after  these  Apostolical  proceedings, 
set  sail  for  Cananore,  and  thence  to  Cochin.  The 
grandest  preparations  had  been  made  for  his  reception, 
richly  carpeted  stairs  had  been  expressly  constructed  ; 
the  Governor  and  a  brilliant  staff  were  at  the  landing 
place,  and  the  Prince  of  the  Church  disembarked  amid 
the  waving  of  flags,  the  clang  of  martial  music,  the 
shouts  of  the  people,  and  the  thunder  of  artillery. 

1  Gouvea,  "  Jornada,"  Cap.  IX.,  p.  26.   Raulin,  "  Hist.  Ecc.  Mai.," 
p.  22.    La  Croze,  p.  101.     Du  Jarric,  p.  574. 

O 


194  The  Archbishop  of  Goa. 

Gouvea,  with  his  characteristic  prolixity,  enters 
into  the  most  minute  details  of  councils,  negotia- 
tions, intrigues,  in  which  the  Archbishop,  the  King  of 
Cochin,  and  the  Zamorin  are  the  principal  actors. 
But  they  are  totally  uninteresting  to  the  general 
reader,  and  have  little  or  no  relation  to  our  subject.1 

The  Roman  Prelate,  having  discharged  his  political 
and  military  duties,  thought  himself  bound  to  devote 
some  attention  to  the  ostensible  object  of  his  mission. 
He  therefore  sent  for  Archdeacon  George  ;  and,  as  no 
notice  was  taken,  he  wrote  again,  enclosing  a  letter  of 
safe  conduct.  The  perplexed  Syrian  assembled  his 
Presbyters.  After  a  long  discussion,  they  were  forced 
to  admit  that  they  were  at  last  reduced  to  a  most 
painful  position.  They  saw  clearly  that  the  wily 
Archbishop  had  laid  his  measures  well,  and  that  the 
game  was  now  in  his  own  hands ;  for,  as  the  Rajahs, 
in  whose  dominions  the  Syrian  Churches  were,  had 
formed  an  alliance  with  the  Portuguese,  there  could 
be  no  difficulty  in  inducing  the  native  Princes  to 
destroy  their  Christian  subjects  if  they  attempted  to 
resist  their  oppressors.  They  therefore  resolved  to 
send  their  President  with  instructions  to  consent  to  the 
Archbishop's  saying  Mass,  and  preaching  in  their 
churches,  but  to  resist  all  his  claims  to  exercise 

1  The  curious  student  will  find  full  particulars  in  Gouvea,  and  in 
La  Croze  ;  in  decides,  an  abridgment,  pp.  54-5-6 ;  and  in  Ilughes's 
"Christ.,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  336. 


The  Archbishop  of  Goa.  195 

Episcopal  functions.  They  further  determined  that 
if  he  insisted  on  such  acts,  they  should  temporise 
until  they  exhausted  his  patience,  and  forced  him 
back  to  Goa.  They  then  sent  messengers  through 
the  mountains,  and  soon  mustered  a  force  of  three 
thousand  skilled  marksmen  for  the  defence  of  their 
Archdeacon  and  their  faith.  The  Archbishop,  too, 
appealed  to  force,  for  he  requested  the  presence  of 
the  Paniquais,1  chiefs  who  could  bring  four  thousand 
men  into  the  field,  but  they,  instead  of  going  to 
Cochin,  took  the  oath  of  Amongos,2  /.£.,  they  solemnly 
swore  to  defend  their  Archdeacon,  if  they  died  in 
his  cause.  Guarded  right  and  left  by  two  of  these 
champions,  and  at  the  head  of  an  imposing  force  of 
well-armed  mountaineers,  the  Archdeacon  appeared 
before  Cochin.  The  Portuguese  Governor,  with  a 
splendid  retinue,  courteously  received  the  Syrians 
outside  the  gates,  and  conducted  them  with  great 
ceremony  to  the  Episcopal  Palace.  The  scene  must 

1  Hough  explains  the  name  to  signify  "Captains  not  unlike  feudal 
lords,  or  independent  chieftains,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  341.      But  the  original 
authorities  give  a  different  account.  Gouvea  ("  Jornada,"  Chap.X.,  p.ap) 
gives  a  long  description  of  this  singular  institution,  the  substance  of 
which  is  that  these   Paniquais  were  a  caste  of  fencing  masters,  whose 
pupils  became  their  vassals  or  retainers,  and  whom  they  could  com- 
mand by  thousands.     "  Les  Malabars  appellent  Paniquais,  les  maistres 
d'escrime  auxquels  ils  portent  un  si  grand  respect  que  tous  ceux  qui  ont 
este  leurs  eleves,  leur  obeyissent  durant  toute  leur  vie." — Du  Jarric, 

P-  575- 

2  "  Amon9os  entre  les  Malabars  sont  des  gens  desesperez  qui  juret 

de  mourir  en  ce  qu'ils  enteprenne."— Du  Jarric. 

O   2 


196  The  Archbishop  of  Goa. 

have   been    very   striking.      The    Primate   of    India, 
seated  on  his  throne,  rose  to  receive  the  Archdeacon, 
who  knelt  and  kissed  his  hand.     The  long  train  of 
Syrian  priests  followed  his  example.      The  principal 
laity,  including  the  two  Paniquais  guards,  were  in 
turn   also   presented.     Faithful   to   their  oath,  these 
officers  stood  with  naked  broadswords,  close  to  their 
Archdeacon,  on  the  watch  for  the  slightest  indication 
of  treachery.     An  accident  had  nearly  led  to  fatal 
consequences,  for,  the  door  of  the  audience-chamber 
closing,  the   three   thousand    Syrians   who   crowded 
round  the  building  shouted  "  To  arms  !    to  arms  !  " 
thinking  that  their  Archdeacon  was  taken  prisoner. 
Swords    were    drawn,    arquebuses    loaded,   matches 
lighted,  and  the  doors  assailed  with  cries  of  "  Let  us 
die   for    the    Archdeacon    and    the    Church    of    St. 
Thomas,"  when  a  stentorian  voice  of  a   Latin  priest, 
who  understood  Tamil,  succeeded  in  convincing  them 
that    the    Archdeacon    was    safe    and    incurred    no 
danger  whatever.      This  stormy  episode  ended,  the 
conference  went  on  by  means  of  interpreters,  much 
as  in  a  modern  durbar ;    and  it .  was  finally  agreed 
that  the  Metropolitan  should  begin  his  visitation  at 
Vaipacotta,     and     that    the    Assyrian    ecclesiastics 
should    meet   him  there.     On  the  day  appointed,  a 
procession   of  Jesuit   professors   and    students   con- 
ducted the  Archbishop,  mitre  on  head  and  crozier  in 
hand,  to  the  church,  where  he  preached  from  John 


The  Archbishop  of  Goa.  197 

x.,  i. :  "  He  that  entereth  not  by  the  door,"  &C.1     His 
object,   of    course,   was   to   prove    that   the    Roman 
Church  was  the  only  true  one,  and  that,  therefore,  the 
bishops  and  priests  of  the  Syrian  Faith  were  thieves 
and  robbers,  that  the  whole  Church  was  in  deadly 
schism,   and   doomed    to  perdition  if  they   did    not 
accept     the     salvation     now    offered.       Archdeacon 
George,  for  obvious  reasons,  did  not  appear  till  two 
days    after    these    proceedings,    yet    he    was    most 
courteously    received    by    the    dissembling    Prelate. 
During  the  Archbishop's  stay  at  the  College  of  the 
Jesuit  missionaries,  he  of  course  attended  Matins  and 
Vespers,  but  these  being  sung  in  Chaldee  were  unin- 
telligible to  him.     Learning,  however,  that  the  Patri- 
arch of  Babylon  was  mentioned    in  the  prayers  by 
the    title    of   Universal    Pastor    of    the    Church, — a 
stroke   of    conciliatory   policy   on   the   part   of    the 
Jesuits — he  was  perfectly  horrified,  and  summoned 
the   professors   and    students,  the    Archdeacon    and 
Cattanars,  into  his  presence.     Addressing  them  with 
great  vehemence,  he  declared  that  the  Pope  alone 
was  supreme,  and  the  Patriarch  of  Babylon  a  heretic 
and  schismatic.      Then,  producing  a  formal  excom- 
munication, he  commanded  his  secretary  to  read  it 
aloud,  and  his  interpreter  to  translate  it,  enjoining 

1  Gouvea,  "Jornada,"  Cap.  X.,  p.  29.  Raulin,"  Hist.  Ecc.  Mai., "p. 
23.  La  Croze,  "  Hist.  Du  Christ.,"  p.  103.  Du  Jarric,  Hist.,  p. 
578. 


198  The  Archbishop  of  Goa. 

that  no  person  do  henceforward  presume  to  pray  for 
the  Patriarch  of  Babylon.  He  then  turned  sharply 
round  to  the  Archdeacon  with  the  brief  command, 
"  Sign  it."  The  terrified  Syrian  stood  aghast  and 
wavered.  Seizing  the  moment  of  hesitation,  the 
resolute  Primate  pressed  his  advantage — "  Sign  it, 
Father,  for  it  is  full  time  the  axe  were  laid  to  the 
root  of  the  tree."  The  Archdeacon  was  speechless. 
He  quailed  beneath  the  stern  eye  and  sharp  voice  of 
the  Roman  Primate.  Slowly  and  silently  he  took  the 
pen,  signed  the  deed,  and  with  it  the  doom  of  his 
Church.1 

The  report  of  this  cowardly  concession  spread  like 
wild-fire  through  the  village.  At  first  the  rumour  was 
utterly  "disbelieved,  but  when  the  excited  crowd  saw 
the  fatal  document  fixed  on  the  gates  of  the  church, 
there  was  no  longer  room  for  doubt.  They  rushed 
frantically  to  the  Archdeacon's  house,  when  they  cried 
out  that  the  Archbishop  of  Goa  and  his  Portuguese 
had  come  to  destroy  their  religion  and  to  insult  their 
Patriarch.  Railing  against  the  Archdeacon  as  a 
traitor,  they  implored  their  Cattanars  to  let  them  fight 
for  their  faith  and  take  vengeance  on  its  enemies. 
But,  on  his  raising  his  hand,  they  were  instantly  silent. 
"  There  was  a  time  for  all  things,"  he  said,  "  but  this 
was  the  time  for  dissimulation,  not  revenge  ;  that  he 

1  Gouvea,  "Jornada.  Cap.  X.,  p.  30.  La  Croze,  "  Hist.Du  Christ.," 
p.  106.  I)u  Jarric,  I<is'..,  p.  580.  Raulin,  "  Hist.,  Ecc.  Mai.,"  p.  24. 


The  Archbishop  of  Goa.  199 

had  signed  the  excommunication  through  fear  of  the 
joint  revenge  of  the  Archbishop  and  the  Rajah  of 
Cochin,  but  that  he  would  rather  die  than  consent  to 
change  his  old  religion  for  Popery,  that  he  clearly  saw 
that  the  Archbishop  of  Goa  wished  to  make  himself 
Primate  of  all  India,  but  that  he  hoped  all  the  Syrian 
Christians  would  resist  even  to  the  death."  A 
tremulous  shout  was  the  answer  to  this  address.  "  We 
would  die  sooner  than  yield  "  rang  a  thousand  times 
in  the  air,  and  struck  terror  into  the  hearts  of  all  the 
Portuguese,  except  the  Archbishop  himself.  His 
panic-stricken  attendants  implored  him  to  seek  safety 
in  flight,  upbraiding  him  with  his  rashness  ;  but  he 
calmly  replied  that  he  did  not  repent  of  a  single  step, 
and  that  so  far  from  retreating  to  Cochin  he  would 
advance  to  Paru.  At  this  little  metropolis,  the 
Christian  nobility  had  made  great  preparations  for  the 
reception  of  the  Portuguese  Primate,  but,  hearing  of 
his  conduct  at  Vaipacotta,  their  rage  knew  no  bounds  ; 
they  tore  down  their  triumphal  arches,  and  received 
him  with  stern  looks  and  fully  armed.  Alexis  de 
Menezes  was  equal  to  the  occasion.  Affecting  not  to 
see  the  sullen  aspect  of  the  citizens,  he  went  straight 
to  the  church,  his  Cross  borne  before  him.  There  an 
extraordinary  sight  presented  itself.  The  sacred 
edifice  was  crowded  to  excess,  but  not  a  woman  was 
to  be  seen.  Men  only,  armed  to  the  teeth,  sternly 
awaited  the  appearance  of  their  oppressor.  Nothing 


2Oo  The  Archbishop  of  Goa. 

daunted,  the  Archbishop,  to  prevent  a  collision,  sent 
all  his  guards  on  board,  retaining  but  two  priests  to 
assist  in  the  service.  Then,  calmly  robing  himself  in 
his  pontificals,  he  blessed  the  congregation,  and 
preached  for  an  hour  and  a  half.  All  listened  in 
respectful  silence,  till  he  invited  them  to  submit  to 
confirmation.  Then  their  suppressed  fury  burst  forth, 
and  they  called  out  tumultuously,  "  We  will  never  be 
confirmed  by  you — confirmation  is  no  Sacrament  of 
Christ's — we  will  not  be  slaves — you  shall  never  touch 
our  beards  or  our  wife's  faces.  Go  home  to  your 
Portuguese  and  let  us  alone,  if  you  continue  to  plague 
us,  it  will  cost  you  dear,"  and  much  more  to  the  same 
purpose.  This  storm  produced  no  effect  on  the 
preacher.  Quietly  sitting  down,  he  pursued  his 
subject  ;  but  when  they  refused  to  listen  he  rose  up, 
and,  advancing  firmly,  crozier  in  hand,  he  exclaimed, 
with  great  vehemence,  that  the  doctrine  he  preached 
was  the  Faith  of  Christ  and  of  St.  Thomas,  that  it  was 
believed  by  all  Christians,  and  that  he  was  ready  to 
die  in  •confirmation  of  its  truth.  After  much  more 
discussion,  the  time-serving  Archdeacon  left  the 
church,  picked  up  ten  boys  in  the  streets,  and  pre- 
sented them  for  confirmation.  This  noisy  service  over, 
the  Archbishop  was  forced  to  content  himself  with  this 
paltry  triumph,  and  retreated  angrily  to  his  galleys.1 

1  Gouvea,  "Jornada,"  Cap.  X.       La  Croze,  Hist.,  p.    108.     Kaiilin, 
"  Hist.  Ecc.  Mai.,"  p.  24.     Du  Jarric,  p.  582. 


The  Archbishop  of  Goa.  201 

We  should  utterly  exhaust  the  patience  of  the 
reader  if  we  were  to  insist  on  his  following  the  Arch- 
bishop through  his  visitation.  The  pages  of  Gouvea 
are  filled  with  minute  accounts  of  perpetual  fencing 
between  the  Primate  and  the  Syrian  Archdeacon,  each 
endeavouring  to  outwit  the  other.  The  Asiatic,  in 
this  case,  as  in  many  others,  was  no  match  for  the 
European,  and  the  whole  history  reminds  one  of  the 
ineffectual  flutterings  of  the  poor  bird  to  escape  from 
the  fascinating  gaze  of  the  serpent. 

The  historian  of  the  "Jornada"  is,  however,  worthy  of 
consultation  by  the  student  who  wishes  to  enjoy  a 
picturesque  narrative  in  the  curious  Portuguese  of  the 
XVIth  Century.  The  English  reader  may  consult 
Chancellor  Geddes's  equally  curious  translation,  or 
the  more  polished  English  of  Hough's  Paraphrase 
of  Geddes. 

We  shall  therefore  hasten  to  give  the  barest  possible 
outline  of  the  events  that  preceded  the  Synod  of 
Diamper,  noticing  only  such  incidents  as  serve  to 
indicate  the  irrepressible  determination  of  the  Primate, 
the  ever  varying  means  that  he  employed  to  effect  his 
purpose,  and  the  dangers  that  he  encountered  in  sub- 
duing the  Syrians  to  the  Roman  obedience.  Failing, 
as  we  have  seen,  at  Paru,1  he  set  out  for  Mangate, 
and  incurred,  on  two  occasions,  great  danger  from 
attempts  at  assassination,  at  least  according  to  Gouvea 

1   Often  spelt  Parour,  close  to  Cranganor. 


2O2  The  Archbishop  of  Goa. 

and  his  Jesuit  copyists  ; l  but  La  Croze  doubts  the 
stories  as  inconsistent  with  the  character  of  the 
Christians,  who  could  easily  have  dispatched  the 
Archbishop  on  many  occasions,  had  they  felt  so 
disposed.  During  the  night,  the  Primate's  barge 
conducted  him  to  Cheguree  in  the  kingdom  of  Cochin, 
where  he  found  the  church  door  shut  against  him.2 
He  waited  patiently  till  sunset,  and  then  ordered  his 
servants  to  force  open  the  doors  that  he  might  pray 
at  the  altar.  His  visit  to  Cheguree  being  thus  fruit- 
less, his  friends  implored  him  to  proceed  no  further  in 
his  visitation,  but  he  answered  resolutely  "  That  their 
remonstrance,  though  kindly  meant,  was  in  vain,  that 
he  was  determined  to  complete  his  visitation,  even  if 
he  should  travel  alone  throughout  the  diocese  ;  that 
he  was  not  only  Metropolitan  of  India,  but  the 
successor  of  St.  Thomas,  in  whose  powerful  inter- 
cession he  placed  all  his  hopes."  Violent  measures 
had  thus  been  attended  with  but  slight  success  ;  and 
Menezes  thought  it  prudent  to  make  some  attempt  at 
conciliation.  Retiring  to  his  cabin,  he  wrote  a  long 
letter  to  Archdeacon  George,  inviting  him  to  a  con- 
ference, and  promising  forgiveness  of  the  past,  and 
rewards  in  the  future.  Then  followed  a  public  dis- 
cussion, between  the  Archbishop  and  the  Archdeacon, 
in  which  the  whole  controversy  of  Nestorianism  was 

1  (iouvea,  Cap.  XI. 

a  (iouvea,   "Jornada,"   Chap.    X.,   p.    34.      Du  Jarric   "Hist.  .Ecc. 
Mai.,"  p.  587. 


The  Archbishop  of  Goa.  203 

passed  under  review.1  Of  course,  the  infallibility  and 
supremacy  of  the  Roman  Pontiff  were  stoutly  main- 
tained by  one  side,  and  as  stoutly  denied  by  the 
other.  The  disputants  came  at  last  to  this  agreement, 
that  as  soon  as  possible  a  Synod  should  be  convened 
to  settle  the  points  under  discussion,  that  meantime 
Archbishop  Menezes  should  be  courteously  received 
in  their  churches  and  allowed  to  preach,  but  that  he 
should  not  perform  any  episcopal  act  ;  that,  further, 
Archdeacon  George  should  refrain  from  exciting  the 
people,  and  should  dismiss  his  armed  escort.  This 
concordat  being  signed,  the  rivals  parted  at  Canhur, 
and  the  Archbishop  proceeded  to  the  south  on 
March  ist.  On  his  way,  at  a  castle  near  Cochin,  he 
received  a  visit  from  the  Rajah  late  at  night  in  the 
house  of  the  village  priest.  The  Indian  prince  came 
in  great  state,  with  a  large  retinue  in  shining  armour, 
attended  by  bearers  of  lanterns  and  torches.  The 
King  himself  naked  to  the  waist,  with  a  skirt  of 
gorgeous  silk,  his  head,  neck,  wrists  and  ankles  in 
golden  chains  studded  with  the  richest  jewels.2  All 
this  display  of  magnificence  had  an  object,  the  claim 
to  be  called  brother-in-arms  of  the  King  of  Portugal, 
like  his  neighbour  the  Rajah  of  Cochin.  The  Primate 
quickly  saw  that  this  was  another  instrument  ready 

1  Gouvea,    Cap.  XII.     Du  Jarric,  Hist.,  p.   589.    La  Croze  Hist., 
p.  118.    Hough,  Vol.  I.,  p.  366.    Gecldes,  Hist.,  p.  68. 

2  Gouvea,  "Jornada,"  p.  36.  Du  Jarric  Hist.,  p.  592.  Raulin,  "  Hist. 
Ecc.  Mai.,"  p.  527.     deckles,  "  Hist.  Ch.  Mai.,"  p.  72. 


204  The  Archbishop  of  Goa. 

for  use  when  wanted,  and  he  promised  to  obtain  the 
title  in  return  for  service  rendered.  Next  day  Menezes 
went  to  church,  where  he  took  the  first  opportunity 
of  breaking  the  agreement,  for  he  not  only  said  Mass, 
but  confirmed  the  whole  congregation.1  At  Molandurte 
the  Syrian  Christians  received  him  so  kindly  that  he 
again  broke  the  convention  of  Cheguree  by  confirming 
and  performing  other  episcopal  acts.  This  naturally 
irritated  the  Archdeacon,  who,  justly  considering  the 
compact  broken,  sent  circulars  to  all  the  churches  to 
hold  no  communion  with  the  Primate.  He  wrote  also 
to  the  Rajahs,  warning  them  of  the  design  of  Menezes 
to  take  away  their  subjects,  and  make  them  Portu- 
guese vassals.  The  King  of  Cochin  took  the  alarm, 
punished  the  Christians  of  Molandurte  for  their 
hospitality  to  Menezes,  and  ordered  them  to  go  to 
their  Archdeacon  at  Augamale.  We  next  find  the 
crusading  Archbishop  at  Diamper,2  where,  learning 
that  there  had  been  no  ordination  in  the  diocese  for 

1  This  wholesale  style  of  confirmation  implies  a  mere  opus  operatum  ; 
for,  of  course,  there  could  not  possibly  be  the  slightest  opportunity  of 
ascertaining  the  fitness  of  the  recipients      Yet  there  can  be  no  doubt  of 
the  fact,  for  Gouvea  repeatedly  uses  such  expressions  as  this,  "  Chrismon 
toe/o  o  povo  sem  contradiccao  alqua,"  p.  29.     And  the  Jesuit  compiler 
Du  Jarric  says,  "  Apres  le  serment,  il  leur  commandait  de  retourner  le 
lendemain  a  1'eglise  pour  recevoir  le  S.  Sacrajnent  de  la  confirmation. 
Ce  qu  'ils  firent,  sans  contredit,   tellement  qu'il  donna  a  tons  le  tel 
Sacrament." — Hist.,  p.  579. 

2  Geddes  is  evidently  at   fault  in   his  geography  when,  at   p.  78,  he 
says  the  Archbishop  "  set  sail  for  Diamper"  inasmuch  as  this  famous 
little  town  is  fourteen  miles  inland. 


The  Archbishop  of  Goa.  205 

more  than  two  years,  he  announced  his  intention  of 
ordaining  on  the  Saturday  before  the  fifth  Sunday  in 
Lent.1  The  Archdeacon  was  naturally  astounded  at 
this  intelligence,  and  wrote  to  the  Primate  in  the 
strongest  terms  protesting  against  this  flagrant  viola- 
tion of  their  compact,  and  declaring  that  if  he 
persevered  in  his  intention,  there  was  not  the  slightest 
use  in  convening  the  Synod.  The  artful  Portuguese, 
suspecting  the  Archdeacon  to  be  as  great  a  hypocrite 
as  himself,  replied  that  nothing  should  prevent  him 
from  ordaining  at  the  time  named,  nay  more,  that  he 
would  perform  all  the  other  functions  of  a  Bishop  in 
obedience  to  the  Papal  briefs.  The  Archdeacon 
rejoined  entreating  him  to  limit  the  ordination  to  the 
Latins.2  The  Archbishop's  answer  was  short,  sharp  > 
and  decisive  :  "  I  will  ordain  both  Latins  and  Syrians, 
for  it  is  my  duty  to  abolish  such  distinctions,  and 
make  one  fold  under  one  shepherd,  the  Pope."  The 
Archdeacon,  in  desperation,  wrote  again  to  the  Rajahs 
of  Cochin,  and  other  states,  conjuring  them  to  prevent 
this  monstrous  aggression  on  civil  as  well  as 
ecclesiastical  liberty.  The  Prince  of  Cochin,  in  whose 
dominions  Diamper  is,especially  requested  the  Primate 
to  refrain, but  Menezes  haughtily  replied, "  That  though 

1  Hough  calls  this  Palm  Sunday — History,  Vol.  I.,  p.  385. 

2  i.e.,   the  students  of  the  Jesuits'  College  whether  Portuguese  or 
natives  ;    "for   so  they  called  not  only  the  Portuguezes  but  all  the 
Malabars  who  were  bred  under  the  Jesuites." — Geddes,  '•  Hist.  Ch. 
Mai.,"  p.  78. 


206  The  Archbishop  of  Goa. 

he  should  obey  them  as  sovereigns,  he  would  brook 
no  interference  from  infidels  in  matters  of  faith."  The 
Archdeacon  also  published  an  edict  prohibiting  can- 
didates from  receiving  Roman  Orders,  and  forbidding 
the  parish  priests  to  hold  communion  with  the 
Primate.  He  sent  a  special  olla1  to  the  Cattanars  of 
Diamper,  ordering  them  to  prevent  the  threatened 
ordination.  A  popular  tumult  was  the  immediate 
result  The  Chief  Priest  went  to  the  Archbishop, 
and  commanded  him  instantly  to  leave  the  town.  The 
Primate,  unshaken  in  his  resolution,  smiled  at  the 
demonstration,  and  continued  his  work  as  if  nothing 
had  been  said.  The  Rajah  of  Cochin  sent  a  peremptory 
order  to  the  Governor  of  Diamper,  to  interrupt  the 
service  if  attempted  ;  and  the  Nairs  2  marched  up  to 
the  church,  and  dashed  their  shields  against  the  doors 
as  a  declaration  of  war.  These  threats  alarmed  the 
Portuguese,  who  implored  their  leader  to  save  his  life 
by  flight.  As  usual,  he  was  firm,  and  next  morning 
he  determined  to  proceed  with  the  ordination  in  spite 
of  the  Rajah's  prohibition.  At  daybreak  he  found 
that  an  order  had  been  issued  that  no  one  was  to  leave 
his  house,  enter  the  church,  or  have  any  communica- 
tion with  the  Portuguese.  A  singular  Malabar  custom 
accompanied  this  edict,  for  branches  of  trees  were 

1  i.e.,  leaf.     The  natives  of  Malabar  and  other  parts  of  India  write 
upon  palm  leaves  with  an  iron  pen. 

2  The  soldier  caste  or  fighting  men.     Gouvea,  "Jornada,"  Chap. 
XII.,  p.  39- 


The  Archbishop  of  Goa.  207 

placed  across  the  threshold  of  the  doors,  and  a  barrier 
of  bushes  formed    all   around    the    church.1      These 
measures  were  just  a  day  too  late.     Menezes,  ever  on 
the  alert,  suspected  the  trick,  or  perhaps  had  received 
private    information,    for   he   had    collected    all   the 
candidates  in  the  church  the  night  before,  and  next 
morning  ordained  thirty-seven  or  thirty-eight  of  them 
after  subscription  to   the  creed  of  Pius  IV.,  and   an 
oath  of  obedience  to  the  Pope.2     This  masterpiece  of 
policy  accomplished,  he  left  Diamper,  visited  several 
churches    in    the    small    kingdom    of  Pimenta ;    at 
Mangalan  was  in  danger,  it  is  said,  from  the  matchlocks 
of  the  Nairs,  and  reached  Carturte,  on   April   ist,  the 
Friday  before  Palm  Sunday.     On  Saturday  he  said 
Mass  and  preached.     In  the  afternoon  he  sent  for 
choristers  from  Cochin,  and  on  Palm  Sunday  had  High 
Mass    performed    with    all    the    magnificence   of  a 
Cathedral  service.     But  the  impression  produced  was 
not  admiration  but  aversion,  and  the  popular  resent- 
ment was  increased  by  the  ejection    of  the   regular 
Syrian  service  to  make  way  for  the  Roman,  by  his 
stopping  the  customary  offerings,  and  by  his  attempt 
to  introduce  auricular  confession.     A  popular  tumult 
was  the  result.     The  Portuguese  were  insulted  in  the 

1  La  Croze,  p.  131.   Du  Jarric,  p.  598.    Raulin,  "  Hist.  Ecc,  Mai," 
p.  29. 

2  Gouvea,  "Jornada,"  p.  40.    Du  Jarric,  Hist.,  p.  598.    La  Croze, 
p.  133.     Raulin,    "  Hist.    Ecc.     Mai.,"    p.  29.     Hough's    "  Hist,    of 
Christ.,"  Vol.   I.,p,  391.    Gechles,  "  Hist.  Mai."  p.  79. 


208  The  Archbishop  of  Goa. 

streets,  and  the  Archbishop  was  obliged  to  shut  him- 
self up  till  the  storm  passed  over.  One  body  of  the 
patriots  marched  off  to  the  Archdeacon  at  Augamale, 
another  werij:  to  the  Queen's  Palace,  six  miles  off,  to 
rouse  their  Sovereign's  indignation  against  the  invaders. 
The  Rannee  immediately  sent  an  officer  to  order  the 
Archbishop  out  of  the  kingdom  in  three  days  on  pain 
of  death.  As  she  could  command  30,000  men,  the 
Prelate  thought  it  expedient  to  send  away  part  of  his 
train,  and  by  dint  of  representing  himself  as  one  of  the 
Syrian  Prelates  who  had,  for  1,500  years,  enjoyed  the 
protection  of  her  ancestors,  he  felt  certain  that  she 
would  not  carry  her  threat  into  execution.  He  did 
not,  however,  place  all  his  trust  in  this  masterpiece  of 
dissimulation,  but  bribed  the  Governor  of  Carturte 
with  a  bag  of  gold  to  keep  a  watch  round  his  house. 
On  Wednesday,  in  the  presence  of  the  Cattanars,  he 
surprised  them  by  consecrating  the  holy  oils,  and  still 
more  by  enclosing  the  Host  in  a  pyx.  Robed  in  his 
pontificals,  crowned  with  his  mitre,  he  knelt  on  the 
ground,  washed  the  feet  of  the  Cattanars,  wiped  them 
with  a  towel,  and  then  kissed  them.  This  act  of 
humiliation  affected  the  beholders  to  tears,  excited  the 
warmest  devotion,  and  won  more  adherents  than  all 
that  the  pomp  and  music  had  secured.  The  adora- 
tion of  the  Cross  followed  on  Good  Friday,  and  several 
of  the  Cattanars,  deeply  impressed,  threw  themselves 
at- his  feet,  and  volunteered  to  swear  allegiance  to  the 


The  Archbishop  of  Goa.  209 

Roman  Church.  On  Easter  Eve,  the  Primate  held  a 
second  ordination,  and  the  same  day,  Francisco 
Rodriguez  (contracted  Ros),  afterwards  Bishop  of  the 
Scrra,  came  to  pay  his  respects  and  preached  in  the 
Malabar  language.  The  services  of  Easter  Day  were 
celebrated  with  the  greatest  pomp — processions, 
torches,  dances,  and  every  sort  of  display,  sacred  and 
profane,  of  which  a  long  account  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Chapter  XV.  of  Gouvea's  "Jornada."  On  the 
evening  of  the  day,  the  indefatigable  Archbishop 
walked  through  the  straggling  streets  of  Carturte, 
visiting  the  sick,  and  relieving  the  poor.  This  com- 
pleted the  victory,  and  the  author  of  the  "  Jornada  " 
might  well  say,  "Este  foy  o  principio  do  bem  de  toda 
esta  Christandade,  porque  foy  o  primeyro  povo  que  se 
sogcyton  ao  Arcebispo  e  a  Santa  Igreja  Romana." l 

We  may  dismiss  the  rest  of  the  Archbishop's  visita- 
tion in  a  few  sentences.  He  re-visited  Malandurte 
and  was  so  coldly  received  that  the  church  doors 
were  shut  against  him.2  After  complaining  of  the 
conduct  of  the  people,  and  of  that  of  the  Rajah  of 
Cochin,  he  succeeded  in  securing  the  allegiance  of  the 
inhabitants.  The  Archdeacon  still  held  out,  and 
more  correspondence  took  place  with  much  the  same 
result.3  Me'nezes  then  went  a  second  time  to 

1  Gouvea,  p.  46. 

2  Gouvea.    Du  Jarric,  p.  610.     La  Croze,  p.  149. 

3  Gouvea.     La  Croze,  p.  152. 


2io  The  Archbishop  of  Goa. 

Diamper,  and  had  a  violent  altercation .  with  the 
Premier  of  Cochin,  under  the  porch  of  the 'little 
church  now  so  famous.  His  next  determination  was 
to  excommunicate  the  Archdeacon,  whose  irresolution 
but  little  fitted  him  to  be  the  champion  of  his  falling 
Church  against  so  powerful  an  opponent.  At  last  the 
Portuguese  Prelate  received  a  submissive  letter  from 
the  poor  Archdeacon,  and  sent  him  in  reply  ten 
articles  for  his  subscription.  The  reader  will  find 
this  document  fully  quoted,  but  the  substance  was,  of 
course,  implicit  obedience  to  the  Pope  and  admission 
of  his  infallibility.  Twenty  days  were  granted  for 
consideration  of  these  articles,  which  the  Archbishop 
employed  in  negotiations  with  the  Rajah  for  troops 
to  assist  him  in  crushing  the  Syrians  if  necessity 
should  arise. 

The  result  of  all  this  discussion  was  that  the  Arch- 
deacon went  to  the  Archbishop's  house  at  Vaipacotta, 
knelt  down  before  a  crucifix,  and  swore  on  the  missal 
to  the  ten  articles  and  the  Profession  of  Faith.  It  was 
then  resolved  to  hold  the  Synod  at  Diamper  on  the 
2Oth  June,  1599,  the  third  Sunday  after  Pentecost. 
The  Archbishop  then  retired  to  Cranganor,  where, 
assisted  by  Francisco  Roz,  he  composed  the  cele- 
brated decrees  for  the  Synod.  He  next  secured  the 
co-operation  of  all  the  neighbouring  Rajahs,  and  in 
order  to  make  quite  certain  of  a  majority,  he  ordained 
fifty  more  priests  on  Trinity  Sunday. 


The  Archbishop  of  Goa.  211 

We  have  done  our  best  to  condense  many  a  long 
chapter  in  Gouvea,  the  only  original  authority,  so  as 
to  give  the  reader  a  connected  view  of  this  remarkable 
visitation,  that  he  may  be  incited  to  imbibe  more 
either  at  the  fountain  head,  or  in  the  various  trans- 
lations, compilations,  and  paraphrases  derived  from 
that  source. 


P  2 


CHAPTER     VI. 

THE   SYNOD   OF   DIAMPER. 

"  Alexius  Menezius  Goae  Archiepiscopus  Malabarium  visitavit ; 
Synodum  Diamperensem  habiut  liturgium  aliosque  Chaldeorum  libros 
ab  erroribus  purgavit  ;  Georgium  Archidiaconum,  aliosque  sive  Presby- 
teros,  sive  nobiles  viros  Chaldaeos  Nestorianire  hceresi  abremuntiare 
coegit ;  ac  proecipue  Babylonice  Patriarcham  anathematizare  ;  Romanum 
autem  pontificem,  Christi  Vicarium  et  Ecclesice  caput  agnoscere  ;  eique 
obedientiam  promittere." — ASSEMANUS. 

ON  the  banks  of  a  small  stream  issuing  from  the 
lofty  Ghauts  which  divide  the  Carnatic  from  Malayala, 
stands  the  little  but  now  celebrated  town,  or  rather 
village,  of  Diamper.1  The  surrounding  country  is  ex- 
tremely beautiful,  exhibiting  varied  scenery  of  hill 
and  dale,  and  winding  rivers.  The  valleys  are  clothed 

1  Diamper  is  called  Udiamper  by  the  natives.  It  is  omitted  in  Mr. 
Culloch's  "  Geographical  Dictionary,"  1866,  but  is  noticed  briefly  in 
Wright's  "Gazetteer  "  "  We  pass  the  Church  of  Udiamper,"  our  Syrian 
friend  Marcus  observed,  "that  a  divine  judgment  seemed  ever 
since  to  rest  upon  the  place,  for  they  had  now  no  worship  at  all  ;  the 
inhabitants  professed  Romanism,  but  the  church  is  in  ruins,  and  they 
have  no  priest."  "  The  justice  of  Marcus's  observation  is  not  to  be  de- 
fended, but  it  is  curious  as  showing  the  light  in  which  the  Syrians  still 
regard  the  transactions  of  those  days." — Major  Mackworth's  visit  to 
the  Syrian  Christians  in  1821. 


The  Synod  of  Diamper.  213 

with  perpetual  verdure,  and  the  mountains  are  not 
barren,  but  covered  with  forests  of  pine  timber  trees, 
the  teak,  jack  tree,  and  others.1  These  woods  are 
filled  with  the  most  beautiful  creepers,  such  as  the  pep- 
per vine,  which  adds  so  largely  to  the  commerce  of  the 
country.  Cardamums  and  cassia,  frankincense  and 
aromatic  gums,  grow  abundantly  on  all  sides,  while 
the  graceful  coca-nut  palms,  the  areca  palm,  the  sago 
palm,  add  beauty  to  the  picture,  and  form  the  pride  of 
these  tropical  groves.  The  view  is  bounded  on  the 
east  by  pinnacles  of  granite,  six  thousand  feet  high, 
running  northward  to  the  Neilgherries,  and  southward 
to  Cape  Comorin.  Diamper  lies  about  fourteen  miles 
east  from  Cochin  on  the  road  to  Madura.  It  was 
formerly  of  much  greater  importance  than  it  is  at 
present,  having  been  the  metropolis  of  the  Syrian 
Christians,  the  residence  of  Beliarte,  the  last  of  their 
kings,  and  containing  also  the  palace  of  the  Bishops 
of  the  Serra.2  A  town  of  this  description  in  the 
South  of  India  has  little  to  distinguish  it  from  others 
in  the  same  region.  The  central  feature  is  the  bazar, 
or  market  place,  surrounded  by  narrow  bye-lanes, 
little  alleys  enclosed  with  mud  walls,  and  often  more 
like  water-courses  than  roads. 

1  Buchanan's  "  Christian  Researches,"  p.  88.    Howard's  "  Christians 
of  St.  Thomas,"  p.  4. 

2  "Diamper  outrosi  lugardos  mais  principaes  dos  Christaos  de  Sam 
Thome  e  que   antigamente  ania  sido   residencia  de  algos   Bispos  da 
Serra." — Gouvea,  "Jornada,"  p.  38. 


2 1 4  The  Synod  of  Diamper. 

The  Church  of  All  Saints,  to  which  we  wish  to  con- 
duct the  reader,  stands  within  a  large  enclosure  of 
"  compound  "  surrounded  by  a  high,  dingy,  mud  wall. 
The  sacred  edifice  is  large,  substantial,  and  built  of  a 
reddish  stone,  squared  and  polished  at  the  quarry,  the 
front  wall  being  six  feet  thick.1  There  is  but  little  to 
attract  the  admirer  of  church  architecture,  but  the 
general  effect  is  good.  The  roof  is  high-pitched,  the 
windows  arched,  and  buttresses  support  the  walls,  the 
west  front  has  three  storeys,  an  arched  door-way  in 
the  centre,  three  recesses,  like  built-up  windows  in  the 
tier  above,  and  the  gables  are  generally  surmounted 
by  beautiful  stone  crosses.  We  may  now  look  at  the 
interior.  We  find  a  nave  and  chancel  without  tran- 
septs, the  eastern  portion  being  separated  by 
railings  about  ten  feet  from  the  chancel  arch. 
Within  the  rail  the  floor  is  raised,  and  near  the  wall 
on  the  south  side  stands  the  baptistery.  The  beams 
of  the  roof  are  highly  ornamented,  and  the  ceiling  of 
the  choir  is  circular  and  fretted.  A  splendid  brass 
lamp  hangs  over  the  chancel  steps  ;  and  as  this  was 
the  Cathedral  of  the  diocese,  the  shrines  of  the  de- 
parted bishops  are  on  each  side  of  the  altars.  The 
nave,  which  has  an  earthen  floor,  is  without  seats  or 
furniture  of  any  kind,  and  therefore  the  whole  beauty 

1  This  description  is  founded  on  personal  observation.  See  Bucha- 
nan's "Researches."  Howard's  "Syrians  of  St.  Thomas,"  and 
Day's  "  Land  of  the  Permauls." 


The  Synod  of  Diamper.  215 

of  the  church  centres  in  the  chancel,  containing  one 
principal  altar  and  two  minor  ones.1  The  great 
altar  is  ornamented  by  an  exquisitely  carved  frame- 
work, picked  out  in  colours  and  gold,  and  surmounted 
by  a  cross.  The  church  has  two  bells,  hung  within 
the  building.  These  are  cast  in  the  foundries  of  the 
country,  are  of  a  great  size,  and  lettered  in  Syriac  and 
Malayalim.  "  In  approaching  a  town  in  the  evening,  I 
once  heard  the  sound  of  the  bells  among  the  hills  ;  a 
circumstance  which  made  me  forget  for  a  moment 
that  I  was  in  Hindostan,  and  reminded  me  of  another 
country."  l  Such  was  the  scene  of  this  Synod,  so  fatal 
to  the  Church  of  St.  Thomas,  so  influential  for  good 
and  evil  on  succeeding  missionary  enterprises  in 
Southern  India. 

On  the  Qth  of  June,  eleven  days  before  the  time 
named  for  the  meeting,  the  Archbishop  of  Goa, 
attended  by  six  Jesuits,  and  several  of  the  Syrian 
clergy,  entered  Diamper.  His  first  act  was  to  hold  a 
Junto  of  the  most  enlightened  and  popular  Cattanars, 
to  revise,  and,  if  necessary,  amend  the  decrees  which 
he  was  about  to  lay  before  the  Assembly.  A  few 
suggestions  were  timidly  hinted,  and  a  very  few 
trifling  alterations  made,  but  the  Primate's  resolutions 

1  "  I  am  not  at  all  clear  as  to  the  use  of  these  quasi  altars.  Two 
of  them  may  possibly  be  protheses  or  credence  tables." — Benaudot, 
Lilor,  11.54.  "  Madras  Ch.  Miss.  Rec.,"  Vol.  III.,  p.  35.  Howard's 
"  Christians  of  St.  Thomas." 

*  Buchanan's  "  Researches,"  p.  85. 


2  1 6  The  Synod  of  D tamper. 

were  all  carefully  made,  his  consultation  with  the 
Cattanars  was  little  else  than  a  complimentary  form, 
and  yet  the  decrees  were  brought  before  the  Senate 
as  the  result  of  a  meeting  at  which  the  representatives 
of  the  Syrian  Church  were  invited  to  full  and  free 
deliberation. 

The  morning  of  the  2Oth  of  June1  dawned  upon  a 
crowded  and  excited  town.  The  Governor  of  Cochin, 
with  a  large  staff  of  officers,  in  the  rich  costume  of  the 
XVIth  Century,  silk,  velvet,  and  lace,  blending  in 
dazzling  colours  with  polished  mail  and  plumed 
helmets,  had  arrived  the  evening  before.  The  Dean, 
Chapter,  and  Choir  of  the  Portuguese  Church  at 
Cochin  came  in  the  cool  of  the  morning,  some  on  foot, 
and  some  in  the  well-known  palanquin  of  the  country. 
All  the  civil  authorities,  the  Camera,  or  Town  Council, 
felt  it  their  duty  to  attend,  and  even  merchants, 
captains  of  ships  in  the  ports,  all,  in  fact,  within 
travelling  distance,  forsook  their  ordinary  avocations 
in  order  to  be  present  on  the  opening  day.2  On  the 
part  of  the  Syrian  Christians,  too,  there  was  at  least  a 

1  There  is  much  contradiction  as  to  this  date.     Gduvea  says  in  one 
place  (Fol.   56)  "  20  cle  Julho  o  Domnigo  3  depois  de  Pontecoste,'' 
and  in  another  (Fol.  64)  "  O  Domingo  terceiro  depois  de  Pentecoste 
20  de  Junho."     La  Croze  has  "  20  de  Juin,  1599,"  p.  184  ;  and  Geddes, 
with  characteristic  inaccuracy,  has  not  only   the  2Oth  of  June  at  p.  108 
of  the  History,  contradicting  2Oth  of  July  in  the  Preface  to  the  Diocesan 
Synod,  but  positively,  by  one  of  the  numerous  blunders  of  the  Press, 
gives  1199  for  1599- 

2  Gouvea,  "Jornada,"  Chap.  XX. 


The  Synod  of  Diamper.  2 1 7 

corresponding  interest.  The  Archdeacon,  as  the  chief 
dignitary  of  his  Church,  came,  robed  in  a  splendid 
vestment  of  dark  red  silk,  a  large  golden  cross  hanging 
from  his  neck,  and  his  beard  reaching  below  his  girdle. 
He  was  attended  by  a  hundred  and  fifty-three  of 
his  Cattanars,  clad  in  their  long  white  vestments,  like 
cassocks  with  turn-down  collars,  the  ordinary  dress 
— the  officiating  vestments  being  of  silk  damask, 
yellow  pattern  on  a  scarlet  ground.  They  all 
wore  that  peculiar  head-dress  of  red  silk,  which 
they  retain  even  during  service,  and  which  bears 
a  slight  resemblance  to  the  biretta.  Six  hundred 
delegates  from  the  various  Malabar  Churches,  be- 
sides numerous  Shumshanas  or  Deacons,  swelled  the 
body  of  Syrian  representatives  to  nearly  a  thousand" 
men. 

On  that  memorable  third  Sunday  after  Whitsuntide 
in  the  Church  of  All  Saints,  in  the  Bishopric  of 
Augamale  of  the  Christians  of  St.  Thomas,  in  the 
Serra  of  Malabar,  the  See  being  vacant  by  the  death 
of  the  Archbishop  Mar- Abraham,  there  assembled  in 
a  Diocesan  Synod,  according  to  the  Holy  Canons,  the 
most  illustrious  and  Most  Reverend  Lord  Dom  Frey 
Aleixo  de  Menezes,  Archbishop  Metropolitan  of  Goa, 
Primate  of  the  Indies  and  the  Oriental  parts,  together 
with  all  the  priests  and  curates  of  the  said  bishopric, 
and  the  procurators  of  all  the  towns  and  corporations 
in  the  same,  with  great  numbers  of  other  persons 


218  The  Synod  oj  Diampcr. 

belonging  to  the  said  Church,  and  called  to  the  said 
Synod  by  the  Most  Reverend  Metropolitan.1 

The  little  Cathedral  was  crowded  to  excess,  the 
Archbishop,  the  Archdeacon  and  dignitaries  of  both 
Churches  occupying  the  sacrarium,  the  choir  and 
other  officials  filling  the  chancel,  the  ordinary  priests, 
deacons,  and  laity  standing  in  the  nave.  The  Primate 
commenced  the  proceedings  with  a  brief  address,  in 
which  he  urged  the  duty  of  thanking  God  for  the 
extinction  of  all  the  commotions  by  which  the  evil  one 
had  done  his  best  to  prevent  the  assembling  of  this 
Synod.  He  then  went  on  to  say  that  as  they  were  all 
filled  with  joy  at  this  splendid  and  crowded  meeting, 
assembled  for  the  promotion  of  the  glory  of  God,  the 
purity  of  the  faith,  and  the  good  of  their  own  souls, 
it  was  incumbent  upon  them  to  begin  the  important 
business  of  the  day,  by  the  highest  act  of  Christian 
worship,  the  celebration  of  a  solemn  Mass.  Using 
the  form  for  the  removal  of  schism2  as  given  in  the 
Roman  missal,  he  acted  as  celebrant,  without  in  the 
slightest  degree  recognising  the  claims  of  the  Syrian 

1  Geddes's    "Translation  of   Gouvea."      The   learned   reader  who 
desires   more    information  than    our    condensed    account  imparts,    is 
recommended  to  consult  Gouvea's  "Jornada"  in  Portuguese  (the  true 
source  of  all  the  compilations  and  paraphrases  ;  Raulin's  "  Historia  Ecc. 
Mai."  in  Latin  ;    Du  Jarric  (Vol.  III.,  p.  622)  in   French  ;  La  Croze, 
Historic  (Liv.  III.,  p.   185)    in  French,  Asia,  Portuguesa,  Tom.   III., 
part  II.  cap.  III.,  p.  126,  in  good  Spanish,  badly  translated  by  Stevens 
in  "  The  Portuguese  Asia,"  1695. 

2  Ad  tollendum  Schisma. 


The  Synod  of  Diampcr.  2 1 9 

Archdeacon  to  participate.  He  then  delivered  an 
energetic  discourse  on  the  usual  subject — the  obedience 
of  Christians  throughout  the  world  to  the  Roman 
Pontiff.  Re-assuming  his  robes,  he  read  the  office  for 
the  opening  of  a  Synod,1  as  in  the  Roman  Pontifical, 
and  then,  seating  himself  in  his  throne,2  surrounded 
by  all  the  authorities,  ecclesiastic,  military,  and  civil, 
he  declared,  in  a  loud  voice,  that  he  celebrated  this 
Holy  Synod  in  virtue  of  two  briefs  of  1595  and  1597, 
from  the  Holy  Father,  Pope  Clement  VIII.,  in  which 
his  Holiness,  as  Christ's  Vicar  upon  earth,  had  recom- 
mended him,  on  the  death  of  Archbishop  Abraham, 
to  take  possession  of  this  Church  and  Bishopric,  so  as 
not  to  suffer  any  Bishop  or  Prelate  to  come  into  it 
from  Babylon  until  this  diocese  shall  be  provided  by 
the  Holy  Roman  Church  with  a  proper  Pastor  ;  that, 
moreover,  the  same  belonged  now  to  him  as  the 
Metropolitan  thereof,  and  Primate  of  all  India, 
because  the  See  was  vacant,  and  was  without  any 
Dean  and  Chapter  to  govern  it  during  the  inter- 
regnum. All  this  was  in  Portuguese,  a  tongue  not 
understanded  of  the  people,  and  it  was  therefore 
immediately  translated  into  Malabar.  This  done,  the 
Primate  informed  the  Synod  that  the  next  business 
was  the  appointment  of  an  interpreter  enjoying  the 
confidence  of  both  parties.  Whereupon  one  Jacob, 

1  Ad  inchoandam  Synodum. 
*  Faldistorium. 


22O  The  Synod  of  Diamper. 

Vicar  of  the  little  Church  at  Pallurte,  famed  for  his 
knowledge  of  Portuguese  and  Malabar,  was  unani- 
mously elected,  and  sworn  upon  the  Holy  Gospels 
faithfully  to  discharge  the  duties  of  interpreter  to  the 
Holy  Synod.  For  greater  security,  two  assistants 
were  appointed,  Francisco  Roz  and  Antonio  Toscano, 
Portuguese  Jesuits  of  the  College  of  Vaipacotta, 
whose  long  residence  and  daily  intercourse  with  the 
students  had  made  them  proficient  in  the  native 
language.  Besides  these  there  were  many  others 
present,  both  Portuguese  and  Indians,  who  were 
thoroughly  competent  to  check  any  attempt  at  mis- 
interpretation. 

These  preliminaries  being  settled,  and  all  placed 
according  to  their  order,  the  Archbishop,  having 
solemnly  pronounced  "  In  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost,  three  persons,  and  one  only  true 
God,  Amen,"  delivered  the  following  address  :  "  My 
beloved  brethren,  you,  the  venerable  Priests,  and  my 
most  dear  sons  in  Christ,  you,  the  representatives  and 
Procurators  of  the  people.  Does  it  please  you,  that 
for  the  praise  and  glory  of  the  Holy  and  undivided 
Trinity,  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  and  for  the 
increase  and  exaltation  of  the  Catholic  faith,  and  the 
Christian  religion  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  Bishop- 
rick,  and  for  the  destruction  o"f  the  heresies  and  errors 
which  have  been  sown  therein  by  several  hereticks 
and  schismaticks,  and  for  the  purging  of  books  from 


The  Synod  of  Diamper.  221 

the  false  doctrines  contained  in  them,  and  for  the 
perfect  union  of  this  church  with  the  whole  church 
Catholic  and  Universal,  and  for  the  yielding  of 
obedience  to  the  supreme  Bishop  of  Rome,  the  Uni- 
versal Pastor  of  the  church,  and  successor  in  the  chair 
of  St.  Peter,  and  Vicar  of  Christ  upon  earth,  from 
whom  you  have  for  some  time  departed,  and  for  the 
extirpation  of  simony,  which  has  been  much  prac- 
tised in  this  Bishoprick,  and  for  the  regulating  of  the 
administration  of  the  Holy  Sacraments  of  the  church, 
and  the  necessary  use  of  them,  and  for  the  reforma- 
tion of  the  affairs  of  the  church  and  the  clergy,  and 
the  customs  of  all  the  Christian  people  of  this  diocese  ; 
we  should  begin  a  Diocesan  Synod  of  this  Bishoprick 
of  the  Serra." 

Pausing  here,  and  looking  round  upon  the  assem- 
bly, he  asked  in  Portuguese,  "  Does  it  please  you  ?  " 
which,  being  interpreted  by  Father  Jacob,  the  ad- 
herents of  the  Archbishop  shouted  with  one  accord,  "It 
pleaseth  us."  If  there  was  any  dissentient  voice,  it  was 
drowned  in  the  universal  acclaim.  Then  the  most 
Reverend  Metropolitan  addressed  them  thus:  "Vener- 
able brethren,  and  most  beloved  sons  in  Christ, 
since  you  are  pleased  to  begin  a  Synod,  after  having 
offered  prayers  to  God, from  whom  all  good  proceedeth, 
it  will  be  convenient  that  the  matters  to  be  treated 
of  appertaining  to  our  holy  faith,  the  church,  the 
divine  offices,  the  administration  of  the  Holy  Sacra- 


222  The  Synod  of  Diamper. 

ments,  and  the  customs  of  the  whole  people,  be 
entertained  by  you  with  benignity  and  charity,  and 
afterwards,  by  God's  assistance,  complied  with,  with 
much  reverence ;  and  that  everyone  of  you  should 
faithfully  procure  the  reformation  of  such  things  in 
this  Synod  as  you  know  to  be  amiss,  and  if  any  that 
are  present  should  happen  to  be  dissatisfied  with  any- 
thing that  shall  be  said  or  done  therein,  let  them 
without  any  scruple  declare  their  opinion  publickly, 
that  so,  by  God's  grace,  it  may  be  examined,  and  all 
things  may  be  truly  stated  as  is  desired,  but  let  not 
strife  or  contention  find  any  room  among  you  to  the 
perverting  of  justice  and  reason  ;  neither  be  ye  afraid 
of  searching  after  and  embracing  the  truth." 

The  second  decree  in  substance  commanded  all  per- 
sons, on  pain  of  excommunication,  not  to  depart  from 
the  town  of  Diamper  without  express  leave  from  the 
Metropolitan  till  the  Synod  had  ended,  and  the  decrees 
signed  by  their  own  hands.  The  third  decree  declared 
that  no  prejudice  should  be  done  to  any  town,  corpora- 
tion, or  village,  as  to  pre-eminence  from  the  holding  of 
this  Synod  in  the  town  of  Diamper ;  and  that,  should 
any  doubt  arise,  the  Metropolitan's  decision  was  to  be 
final.  The  fourth  decree  admonished  all  Christians 
to  resort  to  confession,  and  to  special  prayer  for  the 
success  of  the  Synod,  and  that  two  Masses  should  be 
said  in  the  church  daily,  during  the  sitting  of  the 
Synod,  one  of  the  Latins  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  other 


The  Synod  of  Diamper.  223 

of  the  Syrians  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary.  The 
fifth  decree  was  aimed  at  preventing  unnecessary  and 
hurtful  debates,  and  strictly  forbade  all  people  dis- 
cussing in  private  any  of  the  questions  in  the  pro- 
gramme of  the  Synod. 

The  reading  of  these  decrees  and  their  acceptance 
by  the  Synod  concluded  the  first  day's  work.  No 
public  disturbance  interrupted  the  harmony  of  the 
proceedings  ;  but  there  was  a  strong  feeling  of 
dissatisfaction  amongst  all  the  Cattanars,  who  still 
retained  attachment  to  the  Church  of  their  fathers. 
They  complained,  and  justly,  that  they  were  being 
severed  in  the  most  unceremonious  manner  from  com- 
munion with  their  Patriarch,  and  forced  into 
obedience  with  a  branch  of  the  Church  in  which  they 
had  no  concern.  Still,  these  feeble  murmurings  of 
the  struggling  captives  produced  no  result.  There 
was  no  Luther  to  lead  them  to  battle.  "  Divide  and 
conquer "  had  been  all  along  the  watchword  of 
Menczes ;  and  if  at  any  time  the  Syrians  had  been 
able  to  organise  effectual  resistance,  that  time  was 
now  past,  and  for  ever.  Thus  closed  the  fatal  Whit- 
Sunday  of  1 599. 

The  sun  of  the  2ist  of  June  had  not  yet  penetrated 
the  deep  valleys  of  the  Serra,  when  the  streets  of 
Diamper  were  filled  with  the  mingled  costumes  of 
Roman  and  Syrian  priests,  Portuguese  officers,  and 
Indian  chiefs,  hastening  to  the  Cathedral  of  All 


224  The  Synod  of  D  tamper. 

Saints.  At  seven  o'clock  precisely  the  Archbishop, 
with  his  usual  retinue,  entered  the  church  in  pro- 
cession, and  was  received  with  all  honours.  After  the 
customary  solemnities,  the  Antiphony,  Psalm,  Prayers, 
and  Hymn,  as  in  the  Pontifical,  he  assumed,  as  of 
right,  the  chair  or  throne  near  the  altar,  and  thus 
addressed  the  assembly  : — 

"  Venerable  and  beloved  brethren,  the  Priests,  and 
you,  my  dearest  sons  in  Christ,  the  Procurators  and 
representatives  of  the  people,  We  having  done  little 
more  yesterday  than  celebrate  the  Divine  Offices,  and 
preach  to  the  people,  it  is  fit  we  should  begin  to-day 
to  treat  of  matters  appertaining  to  the  Synod  ;  in  the 
first  place  of  those  that  belong  to  the  integrity  and 
truth  of  our  Holy  Catholic  Faith,  and  the  profession 
of  the  same ;  which,  before  we  go  about,  I  do  again 
admonish  you  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  all  such 
things  as  you  do  judge  to  stand  in  need  of  reforma- 
tion in  this  Bishopric  or  any  part  thereof,  may  be 
signified  to  us  or  to  the  congregation,  that  so  with  the 
Divine  favour  and  assistance  all  things  by  your  dili- 
gence and  charity  may  be  brought  into  so  good  estate 
as  is  desired  for  the  praise  of  the  name  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ."  Then  robing  himself  in  his  pontificals, 
but  laying  aside  his  mitre,  kneeling  before  the  Altar, 
and  placing  his  hands  upon  a  cross  on  the  Gospels, 
he  recited,  in  his  own  name,  and  in  tlie  name  of  the 
Synod,  the  following  Profession  of  Faith:— "In  the 


The  Synod  of  Diamper.  225 

name  of  the  Most  Holy  and  Undivided  Trinity,  the 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  one  only  true  God,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  1 599,  in  the  seventh  year  of  the 
Pontificate  of  our  most  Holy  Lord,  Clement  VIII., 
Bishop  of  Rome,  in  the  town  of  Diamper,  in  the  king- 
dom of  Malabar  in  the  East  Indies,  in  the  Church  of 
All  Saints,  on  the  2ist  of  June,  in  a  Diocesan  Synod 
of  the  Bishopric  of  Serra,  assembled  by  the  most 
Illustrious  and  Reverend  Lord  Dom  Alexio  de 
Menezes,  Archbishop  Metropolitan  of  Goa  and  the 
Oriental  parts,  and  the  See  being  vacant  of  the  said 
Bishopric,  I  (N.)  do  of  my  own  free  will,  without  any 
manner  of  force  and  constraint,  for  the  salvation  of 
my  soul,  believing  it  in  my  heart,  protest  that  with  a 
firm  faith,  I  do  believe  and  confess  all  and  every  one 
of  the  Articles  contained  in  the  Symbol  of  Faith 
which  is  used  in  Holy  Mother  Roman  Church." 

The  Archbishop  then  recited  the  Nicene  Creed.1 
Next  followed  a  series  of  declarations,  beginning  with 
"  I  do  firmly  receive  and  embrace,  I  do  confess,"  and 
such  formulae,  admitting  all  the  traditions,  observ- 
ances and  constitutions  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  ;  the  seven  Sacraments  with  their  accompany- 
ing customs,  rites  and  ceremonies,  the  Mass,  "  as  a 
true  and  proper  sacrifice  for  the  quick  and  dead,"  the 

1  In  this  we  follow  Gouvea  and  all  that  have  written  on  the  subject 
We  are  at  a  loss  to  know  from  what  source  Hough  derives  his  informa- 
tion when  he  says  in  his  account  of  this  transaction,  "  He  began  by  re- 
peating in  substance  the  Apostles'  Creed,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  26. 

Q 


226  The  Synod  of  Diamper. 

doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  purgatory,  the  worship 
of  Saints,  relics,  and  images,  the  doctrine  of  indul- 
gences, the  Papal  Supremacy,  and  above  all  the 
worship  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  He  concluded  by 
anathematising  all  who  taught  anything  contrary  to 
the  Council  of  Trent,  including,  of  course,  all  heretics, 
especially  mentioning  Nestorians  and  the  Patriarch 
of  Babylon.  These  last  words  of  the  Prelate  were 
drowned  in  murmurs  of  disapprobation.  The  dissen- 
tients loudly  declared  that  a  new  Confession  of  Faith 
was  altogether  unnecessary,  as,  of  course,  it  implied  that 
they  had  never  till  now  been  the  disciples  of  Christ. 
The  shrewd  Menezes,  never  off  his  guard,  promptly 
replied  that  all  good  Christians  should  be  ready  at 
any  time  to  make  a  Profession  of  their  Faith  ;  and 
that  as  he,  an  Archbishop,  had  done  it,  they  surely 
had  no  reason  to  complain  of  the  hardship.  The 
tumult  being  thus  dexterously  quelled,  the  Arch- 
bishop resumed  his  seat,  put  on  his  Mitre,  and  took 
the  Gospels  in  his  hands.  The  interpreter  Jacob  then 
mounted  the  pulpit,1  and  read  very  slowly,  in  a 
clear  voice,  the  Profession  of  Faith  which  we  have 
just  quoted,  while  the  Archdeacon  knelt  before  the 
Primate's  throne  and  repeated  the  whole  aloud  in  his 
own  name,  and  as  representative  of  the  Syrian  Church, 
all  the  assembly  joining.  And  as  if  this  had  not  been 
sufficient,  the  Priests  were  required,  one  by  one,  to 

1  The  Preacher's  Chair,  Hough.    Vol.  II.,  p.  30. 


The  Synod  of  Diamper.  227 

pass  in  front  of  the  Primate,  kneel  down,  and  swear 
on  Gospels  and  Crucifix,  that  they  would  conform  to 
their  lives'  end  to  all  that  they  had  promised.  The 
Synod  further  passed  a  decree  that  the  same  con- 
fession should  be  made  by  those  who  were  absent,  and 
that  none  should  be  admitted  to  Holy  Orders  who  de- 
clined to  take  these  oaths. 

These  proceedings  terminated  the  second  day's 
work,  which  has  been  justly  called  the  life  and  soul  of 
what  followed.1  For  it  was  really  the  crowning 
triumph  of  the  Archbishop's  persevering  energy  in  the 
subjugation  of  the  Syrian  Church. 

A  curious  transposition  occurred  in  the  order  of 
procedure.  The  work  assigned  for  the  third  day's 
meeting  was  postponed  at  the  request  of  the  Cattanars 
and  Syrian  deputies,  who,  aware  of  the  disagreeable 
subjects  to  be  discussed,  wished  to  take  advantage  of 
the  absence  of  the  Portuguese  visitors  from  the 
Synod.2 

The  third  day's  meeting  began  as  usual  at  seven 
o'clock,  with  the  same  religious  solemnities,  after 
which  the  Synod  proceeded,  amid  some  disturbance, 
easily  suppressed,  to  set  forth  the  doctrines  of  the 
Church  of  Rome  as  to  the  seven  Sacraments.  Twenty 
decrees  passed  the  house  on  the  subject  of  baptism  ; 

1  La  Croze,   "  Hist,  du  Christianisme,"  p.  193. 

2  They  were  about  to  attend  the  Festival  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  at 
a  village  a  few  miles  off. 

Q   2 


228  The  Synod  of  Diamper. 

the  Syrian  forms  were,  of  course,  abolished,  and  the 
Roman  introduced  ;  all  baptised  by  Syrians  to  be  re- 
baptised  by  Romans  ;  holy  oils  to  be  used,  and  many 
other  orders  to  the  same  effect.  Three  decrees  settled 
the  doctrine  and  ceremonies  of  confirmation. 

The  fourth  session  treated  of  the  Eucharist  and  the 
Mass,  and  the  Synod  passed  nine  decrees  with  regard 
to  the  first,  and  fifteen  with  regard  to  the  second,  all 
tending  to  the  extirpation  of  Syrian  peculiarities,  and 
to  the  introduction  of  the  Roman  doctrine  and  ritual, 
without  the  slighest  concession. 

The  fifth  session  treated  of  penance  and  extreme 
unction,  and  at  the  sixth  session  the  work  assigned 
for  the  third  meeting  (but  which  had  been  postponed) 
was  completed.  It  was  a  day  of  utter  extinction  of  the 
Syrian  Church.  The  errors  in  the  Syrian  scriptures 
were  to  be  corrected  ;  heathen  superstitions  that  had 
mingled  with  the  faith  were  to  be  expunged  ;  and 
every  trace  of  relation  to  the  Patriarch  of  Babylon,  or 
to  Syrian  tenets  was  entirely  condemned.  Syriac 
books  were  to  be  delivered  up,  emended,  or  destroyed  ; 
and  all  Syrian  Christians  were  declared  by  the  XXII. 
decree  to  be  subject  to  the  Inquisition  at  Goa. 

On  the  seventh  day  the  Synod  passed  twenty-three 
decrees  on  what  is  called  the  sacrament  of  orders,  and 
sixteen  on  the  so-called  sacrament  of  matrimony, 
prescribing  many  excellent  rules,  blended  with  certain 
superstitions. 


The  Synod  of  D tamper.  229 

The  work  of  the  eighth  session  referred  to  a  refor- 
mation in  church  affairs,  the  division  of  the  diocese 
into  parishes,  the  establishment  of  fasts  and  festivals, 
conveyed  in  forty-one  decrees. 

The  ninth,  and  last,  session  was  devoted  to  the 
reformation  of  manners,  and  enjoined  many  admirable 
regulations  against  heathenism,  fortune-telling,  immor- 
ality, false  weights  and  measures,  slavery,  and,  strange 
to  say,  against  the  use  and  sale  of  spirituous  liquors. 

These  decrees  being  read  and  passed,  the  diocese  was 
divided  into  seventy-five  parishes.  Vicars  were  nomi- 
nated to  each,  and  severally  introduced  to  kiss  the 
Primate's  hand.  Then,  kneeling  in  a  body  before  His 
Grace,  they  received,  in  presence  of  all  the  people,  a 
solemn  charge  as  to  their  obligations.1  The  Arch- 
bishop next  commanded  them  to  sign  the  Malabar 
translation  of  the  decrees  ;  after  which,  taking  his  seat 
on  the  Faldestorium,  Mitre  on  head,  he  attached  his 
own  signature,  which  was  immediately  followed  by 
the  subscriptions  of  the  eight  hundred  and  thirteen 
members  of  the  Synod.  This  important  act  finished, 
he  rose,  took  off  his  Mitre,  knelt  before  the  high  Altar, 
and  began  the  Te  Deum.  A  procession  was  then 
formed  which  marched  round  the  church,  the  choris- 
ters chanting  the  Psalms,  "  The  Latines  in  Latin,  and 

1  This  document  will  be  found  in  extenso  in  Gouvea's  "Jornada." 
La  Croze,  p.  278.  Geddes's  "  Trans,  of  Gouvea,"  p.  415  ;  and  in 
Hough's  "Christ.,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  120. 


230  The  Synod  of  Diamper. 

the  native  priests  in  Chaldee,  and  the  people  their 
festivity  in  Malabar."  l  Returning  to  the  church,  the 
Primate  stood  at  the  high  Altar,  and  said  the  prayer 
"  Exaudi  qucesumus  Domine  "  ;  then  re-seating  him- 
self, he  delivered  an  able  discourse  to  the  people, 
calling  upon  them  to  thank  God  for  the  great  success 
which  had  attended  the  Synod.  Finally,  rising  from 
his  throne,  he  advanced  with  his  pastoral  staff  in  hand, 
"  and  with  abundance  of  tears,"  solemnly  blessed  the 
people,  Archdeacon  George  adding  in  a  loud  voice 
"  Let  us  depart  in  peace  !  "  to  which  the  whole  Synod 
responded,  "  In  the  name  of  Christ,  Amen  ! " 

Thus  terminated  the  famous  Synod  of  Diamper.2 
Its  acts,  or  sessions,  are  nine  in  number,  and  comprise 
no  fewer  than  267  decrees,  most  of  them  of  consider- 
able length,  and,  if  fairly  treated,  demanding  long  and 
careful  discussion.  Yet  they  were  so  hurried  through 

1  Geddes's  Hist.  p.  243 

2  The  opinion  entertained  by  the  present  generation  of  the  Christians 
of  St.  Thomas  as  to  the  treatment  of  their  Church  by  the  Portuguese,  may 
be  seen  in  the  Rev.  G.  B.  Howard's  Translation  of  the  little  pamphlet 
by  Philipos.    Parker,  1869. — "  When  the  Syrian  Church  was  in  this 
state,  the  Portuguese  not  only  persecuted  and  killed  all  the  bishops  as 
they  came  from  Antioch,  but  their  Metran  Dom  Pre  Aleskes  de  Mene- 
sis,  residing  at  Goa,  came  to  the  Malayalim  country  in  1598,  and,  having 
visited  all  the  Syrian  churches,  he  bribed  the  petty  princes  then  ruling 
the  country,  and  some  Syrians,  in  order  to  gain  them  over  to  his  interest. 
And  those  Syrians  who  opposed  his  designs  were  persecuted  and  put  to 
death.     So,  by  main  force  he  assembled  all  the  Syrians  in  the  church  at 
Odyamperoor,  and  persuaded  them  to  embrace  Popery,  besides  burning 
all  the  Syriac  bibles  and  many  other  Syriac  books.    Then  all  the  married 
priests  were  separated  from  their  wives." 


The  Synod  of  Diamper.  231 

the  House,  that  the  business  was  closed  on  the  sixth 
day,  the  26th  of  June.  This  indecent  haste  clearly 
proves,  if  proof  were  necessary,  that  this  so-called 
Synod  possessed  nothing  but  the  outward  form  of  a 
deliberative  assembly,  and  that  its  real  purpose  was 
to  disguise  the  true  nature  of  the  proceeding,  to  pass 
without  amendment  the  decrees  carefully  prepared 
by  the  skilful  hand  of  Menezes,  and  to  bind,  as  he 
thought,  for  ever,  the  afflicted  Syrian  Church  to  the 
throne  of  the  triumphant  Pontiff. 


CHAPTER     VII. 

THE   TRIUMPH   OF   ROME. 

"Can  any  read  the  abstract  here  given  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
Synod,  without  being  convinced  that  the  creed  it  introduced  was  a 
system  of  darkness?  The  primary  object  of  these  men  was  to  assert 
the  dope's  supremacy,  and  not  to  extend  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ." 
— HOUGH. 

BEFORE  continuing  our  narrative  of  the  Primate's 
visitation  of  his  new  conquest,  we  may  present  a  very 
brief  view  of  the  main  points  of  doctrine  in  which  the 
Syrian  Christians  agreed  with  the  Reformed  Catholic 
Church  of  England,  and  differed  from  that  of  Rome 
before  the  passing  of  the  decrees  of  Diamper.  In  our 
succeeding  chapters  we  shall  have  to  notice  the  numer- 
ous changes  which  took  place  in  consequence  of  this  Papal 
aggression ;  and  we  shall  try  to  disentangle  the 
threads  of  conflicting  creeds  and  rituals  which  dis- 
tinguish the  Churches  of  Southern  India  at  this 
moment. 

The  Church  of  Malabar  held  the  following  doctrines : 
( i )  She  condemned  the  Pope's  supremacy ;  (2)  affirmed 
that  the  Roman  Church  had  departed  from  the 


The   Triumph  of  Rome.  233 

faith  ;  (3)  denied  Transubstantiation  ;  (4)  condemned 
the  worship  of  images  ;  (5)  made  no  use  of  oils  ; 
(6)  denied  purgatory  ;  (7)  would  not  admit  of  spiritual 
affinity ;  (8)  knew  nothing  of  auricular  confession  ; 
(9)  never  heard  of  extreme  unction  ;  (10)  permitted 
the  clergy  to  marry  ;  (i  i)  denied  that  matrimony  and 
consecration  were  sacraments;  (12)  celebrated  with 
leavened  bread,  and  consecrated  with  prayer.  l 

Gouvea's  account  in  the  XVIII.  chapter  of  the  first 
book  of  the  "  Jornada "  is,  in  substance,  this  :  The 
Church  of  Malabar  is  said  (i)  not  to  adore  images  ; 
(2)  to  hold  three  Sacraments,  Baptism,  the  Eucharist, 
and  Holy  Orders  ;  (3)  to  make  no  use  of  oils  ;  2  (4)  to 
have  no  knowledge  of  confirmation  or  extreme 
unction  ;  (5)  to  abhor  auricular  confession;  (6)  to  hold 
many  erroneous  doctrines  about  the  Eucharist,  so  that 
the  Protestants  seem  to  have  borrowed  their  heresies 
from  them  ;  (7)  to  approve  of  the  marriage  of  priests ; 

1  Geddes  singularly  adds  as  a  point  of  agreement  between  the  Church 
of  England  and  the  Church  of  Malabar  that  "She  holds  but  two 
orders,  Priesthood  and  Deaconate,"  whereas,  "It  is  evident  unto  all 
men  diligently  reading  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  ancient  authors  that 
from  the  Apostles'  time  there  have  been  orders  of  ministers  in  Christ's 
Church,  Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons."  Preface  to  Ordination  Service. 
In  point  of  fact,  however,  the  Malabar  Church  held  as  we  do  three  orders. 
P.  14  of  "The  .Syrian  Christians  of  Malabar."  By  Philipos  of 
Cottayam,  in  Travancore. 

'*  Gouvea  is  incorrect  in  this  statement  as  the  following  will  show  : — 
QUES.  27  :  Do  they  make  holy  oil,  and  anoint  men  with  it  ?  ANS.  :  Three 
ointments  are  ordained,  two  to  anoint  those  who  are  baptised,  and  one 
to  anoint  the  sick. 


234  The   Triumph  of  Rome. 

(8)  to  abhor  the  Pope  and  the  Church  of  Rome  as 
anti-Christian. 

Assuming  that  our  readers  are  fairly  acquainted 
with  dogmatic  theology  and  ecclesiastical  history,  we 
deem  it  quite  unnecessary  to  enter  into  lengthened 
explanations  of  the  points  in  dispute,  referring  the 
less  instructed  to  the  interesting  summary  in  Hough's 
"  Christianity  of  India."  l 

We  may  now  return  to  the  Archbishop,  whom  we 
left  dismissing  the  clergy  and  others  at  the  close  of 
the  Synod.  He  presented  each  of  the  new  vicars  with 
a  stone  Altar,  (duly  consecrated),  a  box  containing 
vessels  of  holy  oils,  a  missal  in  Chaldee  and  Syriac, 
a  digest  of  Christian  doctrine  for  the  instruction  of 
children,  a  surplice,  corporals,  frontals,  caps,  and  all 
other  ecclesiastical  requisites. 

These  matters  being  settled,  the  Archbishop  began 
his  visitation,  and  was  everywhere  received  in  the 
most  flattering  style.  An  ode,  composed  by  his 
sycophants,  was  chanted  in  his  presence  whenever  he 
halted.  Music  and  dancing,  flags  and  cheers,  wel- 
comed his  arrival.  The  villages  vied  with  each  other 
in  festive  decorations,  the  streets  being  covered  with 
matting,  bright  coloured  cloths  hanging  from  the 
windows,  and  triumphal  arches  spanning  the  road. 
His  mode  of  procedure  was  nearly  everywhere  the 
same.  Passing  through  the  kneeling  crowds  of  men 

1  Vol.  II.,  p.  13. 


The   Triumph  of  Rome.  235 

and  women,  who  reverentially  kissed  his  hands,  he 
entered  the  village  church,  where,  having  confessed 
himself,  he  said  Mass.  This  ended,  Father  Francisco 
Roz  and  a  committee  of  learned  Cattanars  assembled 
in  the  sacristy  to  receive  the  Syrian  books  belonging 
to  the  church,  or  to  private  individuals.  After  a  care- 
ful scrutiny,  some  were  emended  and  spared,  others 
that  were  reputed  too  hostile  to  Rome  were  mercilessly 
burnt,  and  thus  many  invaluable  Syrian  manuscripts 
were  sacrificed  by  this  Archiepiscopal  Vandal.  This 
dark  deed  accomplished,  the  Primate  assumed  his 
pontificals  and  preached  a  sermon  of  the  usual 
character,  and  on  the  usual  topics,  of  course,  through 
the  medium  of  an  interpreter.  The  chief  decrees  of 
the  Synod  were  then  read  aloud,  an  episode  of  a 
procession  took  place  round  the  church,  after  which 
refreshment,  the  indefatigable  Primate  gave  them  a 
second  sermon  on  the  sacrament  of  confirmation,  re- 
ducing theory  to  practice  by  anointing  all  without 
distinction.  All  this  pompous  display  in  a  quiet  little 
Indian  village  naturally  excited  the  curiosity  of  the 
surrounding  heathen,  and  "  such  vast  multitudes 
resorted  to  see  the  novelty  and  the  pontifical  vestments 
that  they  filled  the  churchyard  and  windows."1  Not  yet 
exhausted,  the  zealous  Primate  delivered  a  third 
discourse,  this  time  to  the  Nairs  and  other  pagans, 

1  Gouvea  "Jornada,"  Geddes's  "  Acts  and  Decrees  of  the  Synod  of 
Diamper,"  p.  429. 


236  The   Triumph  of  Rome. 

who  came  in  crowds  to  witness  the  ceremony  of 
baptism.  He  placed  before  them  in  energetic  lan- 
guage the  leading  doctrines  of  the  Christian  faith,  and 
denounced  with  unflinching  severity  the  follies  and 
superstitions  of  idol-worship.  The  mountain  warriors 
though  fully  armed,  endured  all  this  denunciation  with 
exemplary  patience,  but  whether  their  forbearance  is 
to  be  attributed  to  Indian  apathy,  or  to  their  inability 
to  understand  the  language  of  the  Primate  must  be 
left  to  conjecture.  One  singular  result  of  this 
exhortation  was,  that  several  of  the  Nairs,  if  we  may 
believe  Gouvea,  desired  baptism,  and  with  no  more 
instruction  than  what  they  had  thus  received,  were 
admitted  to  the  font.  The  next  part  of  this  busy  day's 
work  was  a  public  profession  of  faith  by  such  of  the 
clergy  as  had  not  attended  the  Synod,  followed  by  a 
gathering  of  all  the  children.  These  little  ones  he 
ordered  to  kneel  down  round  his  chair,  and  to  repeat 
the  Chamaz,  a  Malabar  prayer,  then  blessing  them,  he 
delivered  a  fourth  discourse  specially  to  them,  thus 
giving  great  delight  to  their  parents.  He  then 
inducted  the  vicar  in  presence  of  the  people  solemnly 
installing  him  as  pastor  of  the  flock.  The  remainder 
of  the  afternoon  was  spent  in  marriages,  confessions, 
and  other  duties.  Then  followed  a  few  hours'  well- 
earned  repose,  but  the  labours  of  the  day  did  not  end 
till  the  Primate  and  his  chaplains  had  examined  the 
Cattanars,  requiring  license  for  the  Confessional.  Now 


77*6'   Triumph  of  Rome.  237 

if  this  account  abridged  from  Gouvea  is  to  be  taken 
as  an  average  specimen  of  the  Primate's  work  during 
his  visitation,  one  may  cease  to  wonder  at  the  success 
which  attended  his  efforts  for  the  subjugation  of  the 
Church  of  St.  Thomas  to  the  obedience  of  St.  Peter. 
We  need  not  follow  the  Archbishop  from  town  to 
town,  as  his  biographer  does.  There  is  but  little 
interest  in  the  narrative,  the  original  of  which  will  be 
found  in  Gouvea's  work,  and  in  the  translations  or 
paraphrases  of  La  Croze,  Geddes,  and  Hough.  We 
learn  that  the  Archbishop  continued  his  progress, 
visiting  all  the  towns  on  the  Malabar  coast,  and  des- 
troying every  authentic  document  at  Augamale  and 
other  places.  At  Cape  Comorin,  he  found,  to  his 
great  dismay,  that  all  traces  of  the  Christianity  planted 
by  Xavier  had  disappeared.  On  his  return  he  received 
at  Carturte  news  of  the  death  of  Philip  II.,  which 
rendered  it  necessary  for  him  to  go  back  to  Goa  with- 
out delay.  The  Archdeacon  and  Cattanars  escorted 
him  to  his  war  galley,  and  farewells,  apparently 
sincere,  were  exchanged.  He  touched  at  the  Portu- 
guese "factories"  of  Mangalore,  Barcelore,  and  Omore, 
and  suppressed  a  cruel  festival,  like  that  of  Jugger- 
naut.1 He  landed  on  the  i6th  November  ;  and  as  the 
Viceroy  had  just  died,  he  found  himself,  by.  Portuguese 
rule,  head  of  both  State  and  Church  in  India.  Exten- 
sive preparations  were  made  to  give  him  a  hearty 

1  Buchanan's  "  Christian  Researches,"  p.  19. 


238  The  Triumph  of  Rome. 

welcome  as  Viceroy  and  as  a  victorious  crusader. 
These  intended  honours  he  firmly  declined,  attributing 
all  the  glory  to  Almighty  God. 

For  some  time  after  his  return  to  Goa,  he  continued 
to  receive  most  satisfactory  .accounts  from  the  scene 
of  his  ten  months'  labours.  Small  churches  had  been 
discovered  far  up  in  the  ravines  of  the  Ghauts,  which 
had  been  so  long  lost  sight  of  that  the  poor  nominal 
Christians  had  forgotten  almost  everything — creeds, 
sacraments,  and  prayers.  These  neglected  ones  had 
been  sought  out  by  active  missionaries,  and  had  been 
supplied  with  every  essential  according  to  the  Roman 
ritual.  Another  circumstance  occurred  at  this  time 
which  gave  unspeakable  satisfaction  to  the  Archbishop, 
as  it  realised  one  of  the  objects  which  he  had  most  at 
heart — the  consecration  of  a  Bishop  of  the  Latin  church 
as  head  of  the  church  of  Malabar.  In  1601,  Pope 
Clement  VIII.  sent  Bulls  to  constitute  Francisco 
Rodriguez  (or  Roz)  first  bishop  of  the  Serra,  and, 
four  years  afterwards,  Paul  V.  transferred  the  see  of 
Augamale  to  Cranganor,  making  the  Prelate  an 
Archbishop,  but  retaining  Goa  as  the  Metropolitical 
See. 

We  now  lose  sight  of  Menezes  in  his  connection 
with  the  church  of  India.  We  learn  that  he  returned 
to  Europe,  filled  the  exalted  positions  of  Primate  of 
Braga  and  Viceroy  of  Portugal  under  Philip  III.  His 
after  fate  is  obscure.  He  is  said  to  have  died  in  dis- 


The  Triumph  of  Rome.  239 

grace  ;  but  what  his  faults  were  are  concealed  in  the 
darkness  of  Spanish  diplomacy.  An  analysis  of  his 
character  is  unnecessary  ;  for  the  intelligent  reader 
cannot  fail  to  glean  it  even  from  our  imperfect  sketch 
of  his  marvellous  achievements. 


BOOK    IV. 


SUBSEQUENT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTHERN 
INDIA,  WITH  SPECIAL  REFERENCE 
TO  THE  SYRIAN  CHRISTIANS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

RADIATION   OF   MISSIONS   FROM   GOA. 

-"  Goa  vereis  aos  Mouros  ser  tornada 
A  qual  vira  despois  a  ser  senhora 
De  todo  o  Oriente,  e  sublimada 
Ce'os  triumphos  da  gente  vencedora  ; 
Alii  suberba,  altiva  e  exa^ada, 
Ao  geutio,  que  os  idolos  adora, 
Duro  freio  pora,  e  a  toda  a  terra, 
Que  cindar  de  fazer  aos  vossos  guerra. " 

CAMCENS. 

A  DIFFICULTY  here  presents  itself.  If  we  omit  all 
notice  of  missionary  effort  in  Southern  India  during 
the  XVIIth  and  XVIIIth  centuries,  we  effectually 
break  the  chain  of  events,  and  render  much  of 
the  subsequent  history  unintelligible.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  we  enter  into  minute  detail  of  all  the  contro- 
versies, successes,  and  defeats,  which  characterise  this 
period,  we  should  swell  our  treatise  beyond  all  ordinary 
bounds,  depart  from  the  prescribed  limits  of  the  sub- 
ject, and  exhaust  the  patience  of  all  but  the  most 
enthusiastic  student.  A  middle  course  seems,  there- 
fore, the  only  one  left  to  us.  Proceeding,  then,  with 
a  still  more  rigorous  plan  of  condensation,  we  shall 

R  2 


244        Radiation  of  Missions  from  Goa. 

give  only  such  salient  points  in  the  history  of  the 
Malabar  church  and  the  influence  of  the  Portuguese 
missions  as  will  serve  to  connect  the  causes  in  the 
XVIth  Century  with  the  effects  in  the  XIXth. 

At  the  close  of  the  fifty  years  in  which  the  Portu- 
guese missions  had  been  operating,  from  Xavier  to 
Menezes,  we  find  the  condition  of  Roman  Catholic 
Christianity  in  Southern  India  thus  stated  by  one  of 
the  Jesuit  writers  : — "  Catholic  and  Christian  India  is 
divided  into  four  great  Bishoprics — Goa,  Cranganor, 
Cochin,  and  St.  Thome.  The  Archbishop  of  Goa  is 
Primate  of  India.  The  primatial  chapter  is  composed 
of  European  canons  and  of  Indians  of  various  shades 
of  complexion,  a  combination  which  produces  a 
singular  effect  when  they  are  seen  in  the  choir,  or 
officiating  together  in  religious  ceremonies."  The 
Portuguese  Government,  which  felt  the  necessity  of 
forming  a  body  of  native  clergy,  had  recommended 
the  missionaries  to  give  every  encouragement  to  the 
Indians  to  take  Holy  Orders,  and  to  become  members 
of  the  religious  communities.  It  was  also  the  desire 
of  the  Central  Council  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  as  it  has 
been  part  of  the  policy  of  the  propaganda,  and  every 
subsequent  missionary  society.  The  project  had  been 
tried  again  and  again,  but  as  often  abandoned  from 
the  fear  that  the  Indian  priests,  retaining  the  national 
character,  and  slaves  to  their  customs,  would  not  dedi- 
cate themselves  to  that  purity  of  life  which  true 


Radiation  of  Missions  from  Goa.         245 

religion  demands.  We  shall  see  in  the  sequel,  not 
only  amongst  the  Roman  Catholics,  but  in  our  own 
missionary  colleges  at  home  and  in  the  colonies,  that 
this  difficulty  has  been  overcome. 

Goa  was  not  only  the  metropolis  of  Portuguese 
India,  the  seat  of  its  Government,  and  the  centre  of 
its  trade,  but  the  source  whence  flowed  the  streams  of 
missionary  influence  over  all  the  Peninsula  of  Hindo- 
stan.  The  College  of  St.  Paul,  to  which  we  have 
already  alluded  possessed  at  this  time  a  thorough 
organisation,  including  professors  of  the  native  lan- 
guages for  training  candidates,  not  simply  for 
ordinary  parish  work,  but  for  the  spread  of  Christianity. 
Nor  was  this  all.  The  power  of  the  Jesuits  at  home 
had  increased  to  an  amazing  extent ;  the  little  com- 
pany of  ten  had,  in  fifty  years,  grown  to  ten  thousand, 
and  their  emissaries  not  only  filled  all  the  countries 
of  Europe,  but  penetrated  into  the  most  distant  regions 
of  the  globe.  Portuguese  Asia  had  its  full  share  ;  for 
the  brethren  of  the  order  felt  that  Xavier  had  been  a 
noble  pioneer  amongst  the  Mohammedans  and  idol- 
aters, that  Menezes  had  opened  a  splendid  field  for 
tlieir  efforts  amongst  the  Syrian  Christians,  and  that 
the  powerful  and  wealthy  city  of  Goa  was  a  fortress 
from  which  their  forces  might  issue  to  subdue  the 
surrounding  nations,  and  to  which  they  might  retreat 
in  the  event  of  disaster. 

At  the  time  of  which  we  write  there  was  but  one 


246         Radiation  of  Missions  from  Goa. 

Goa,1  situated  on  an  island 2  and  separated  from  the 
mainland  by  marshy  grounds  frequently  covered  by 
the  sea.  The  city  is  first  mentioned  in  the  ancient 
history  of  the  Deccan,  in  speaking  of  the  reign  of 
Mujahid  Schah  in  1347.  According  to  the  tradition 
communicated  to  the  first  Portuguese  settlers,  Brah- 
minism  was  the  only  religion  professed  in  Tissuary, 
the  original  name  of  this  island.  In  1479,  the 
Mohammedans  erected  the  first  buildings  about  the 
centre  of  the  island,  and,  at  the  time  of  Vasco  da 
Gama's  arrival,  a  Mussulman  vassal  of  the  Emperor 
of  the  Deccan  resided  here.  Albuquerque  took  pos- 
session of  the  city  in  1510;  and  soon  afterwards  the 
island  was  covered  with  magnificent  public  edifices, 
splendid  churches,  palatial  residences  of  the  Vice- 
Regal  Court,  while  towards  the  sea,  there  were  exten- 
sive docks,  enormous  warehouses,  and  rich  arsenals 
of  naval  and  military  stores.  In  1567  Antonio  De 
Moronha  surrounded  it  with  a  vast  wall  so  that  in 
1571,  two  years  after  the  poet  Camoens  had  left  it, 
Goa  had  reached  the  highest  degree  of  its  splendour. 
The  city  of  this  period  had  completely  replaced  a 

1  "  There  are  now  two,  the  old  and  the  new,  the  former  being  about 
eight  miles  up  the  river,  abandoned  to  the  priests  by  the  viceroy  and 
chief  inhabitants,  who  reside  at  New  Goa." — Buchanan's  "Researches," 
p.  129. 

2  "  Situated  15°  27'  N.  and  73°  53'  E.  two  leagues  in  length  and 
above  six  leagues   in    circuit,   connected  with  the    mainland    by   the 
Isthmus  of  Ballagate.      The  island  is  well  watered,   and  filled  with 
numerous  gardens  and  orchards." — Barreti  De  Resende. 


Radiation  of  Missions  from  Goa.         247 

town  already  important  by  the  magnificence  of  its 
edifices.  In  the  time  of  John  III.  about  1530,  the 
beautiful  Indian  Pagodas  and  the  elegant  Moslem 
minarets  had  entirely  disappeared.  All  the  splendour 
of  the  the  capital  of  India  was  due  to  the  souvenirs 
of  Italy.  It  wore  the  aspect  of  a  glorious  city  of  the 
renaissance,  transplanted  to  the  shores  of  Hindostan. 
We  borrow  a  condensed  account  from  the  Prior  of 
one  of  the  monasteries  of  this  opulent  city,  a  writer 
whose  work  is  almost  forgotten.  After  a  minute 
description  of  the  town,  he  speaks  of  the  Governor's 
palace  as  "  tres  vaste  et  tres  haut,"  elevated  above  the 
river,  and  having  before  it  an  extensive  square  sur- 
rounded by  beautiful  private  residences.  The  Vice- 
regal mansion  contains  a  splendid  hall  and  suites  of 
magnificent  apartments,  decorated  with  portraits  of 
the  discoverers  of  India  and  the  successive  Viceroys, 
with  pictures  representing  the  early  scenes  of  the 
conquest.  Not  far  from  the  palace  is  the  Cathedral 
Church  of  the  Archbishopric,  dedicated  to  St. 
Catherine,  because  the  town  was  taken  on  the  day 
of  her  festival.  It  is  a  large  and  beautiful  edifice 
with  an  altar  piece  of  the  Saint's  martyrdom  and 
with  an  interior  combining  all  that  is  gorgeous  in 
European  art  and  Oriental  splendour.  The  other 
Churches  of  Goa  are  also  richly  decorated,  and  on 
feast  days  they  arc  resplendent  with  gold  and  silver, 
with  taffetas  of  divers  colours,  and  with  the  richest 


248         Radiation  of  Missions  from  Goa. 

carpets  of  India.  But  the  Church  of  Jesus  surpasses 
all  others.  The  chapel,  in  which  reposes  the  body  of 
St.  Francis  Xavier,  is  a  remarkable  specimen  of 
architecture  ;  the  door  is  made  of  valuable  wood,  and 
covered  with  plates  of  gold.  In  the  middle  of  the 
chapel  rises  a  pyramid  of  different  marbles  elaborately 
ornamented,  and  sculptured  with  the  principal  actions 
of  the  great  Apostle,  whose  body,  with  the  exception 
of  the  right  arm  (sent  to  Rome)  is  enclosed  in  a  shrine 
so  magnificient,  that  diamonds  and  rubies  sparkle 
without  number  in  pure  gold,  most  exquisitely  chased. 
The  statue  of  St.  Francis,  in  massive  silver,  ornaments 
the  high  altar  of  the  Church,  and,  what  is  still  more 
precious,  a  picture  represents  the  Saint  a  few  hours 
after  death.  The  upper  town  is  formed  of  the  Con- 
vents of  the  Dominicans,  Franciscans,  Augustines,  and 
Jesuits,  of  the  Archbishop's  palace,  the  Viceroy's,  and 
the  mansions  of  the  officials  and  merchant  princes. 
We  have  no  space  to  speak  of  the  great  street  of 
shops  full  of  gold,  silver,  and  precious  stones,  nor  to 
do  more  than  allude  to  the  immense  building  yards 
from  which  issued  the  vast  teak-built  galleons,  which 
bore  the  riches  of  India  to  the  quays  of  Lisbon — the 
enormous  magazines  destined  to  provision  the  Portu- 
guese Navy,  the  cannon  foundry,  which  furnished  an 
incessant  supply  of  guns  for  field,  fortress,  and  fleet, 
and  the  extensive  stables  in  which  were  kept,  not 
merely  the  cavalry  horses,  but  the  war-elephants,  so 


Radiation  of  Missions  from  Goa.         249 

essential  a  part  of  Oriental  pageantry.  Well  might 
such  a  city  be  called  "  Goa  the  Golden, "  and  well 
might  the  Jesuits  value  it  as  the  grand  centre  of  all 
their  missionary  movements  in  the  east. 

Our  picture  of  Goa,  at  the  close  of  the  XVIth  cen- 
tury, would  not  be  complete  if  we  omitted  all  mention 
of  the  Inquisition.  This  terrible  institution  founded 
by  the  Friar  Dominic  in  the  XIIth  Century  was  intro- 
duced by  John  III.  in  1557  into  the  kingdom  of  Por- 
tugal, and  three  years  afterwards  it  was  established  with 
a  complete  staff  of  officers  and  the  amplest  powers  of 
jurisdiction  in  the  capital  of  Portuguese  India.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  this  horrid  tribunal  formed  a  most 
powerful  instrument  in  the  hands  of  the  Portuguese 
missionaries,  which  they  knew  well  how  to  use,  not 
simply  in  its  terrible  reality  of  imprisonment,  torture, 
and  public  execution  by  fire,  but  also  in  the  terror 
which  it  inspired  amongst  men  of  all  ranks,  ages, 
and  creeds.  To  its  influence,  therefore,  may  be  fai.  ly 
attributed  no  small  portion  of 'the  rapid  success  attending 
on  the  Crusade  of  Menezes  amongst  the  churches  of  the 
Serra ;  for  the  Syrian  Christians  well  knew,  that,  had 
they  offered  any  decided  resistance,  the  arm  of  the 
Inquisition  was  long  enough  to  reach  them  even  in 
the  fastnesses  of  their  mountain  homes.1 


1  Limborch's  "  History  of  the  Inquisition."  "  Dellons  Relation  de 
L'Inquisition  de  Goa.''  Geddes's  "View  of  the  Inquisition  in  Portugal.'' 
Buchanan's  "  Christian  Researches." — Ed.  1811,  p.  129. 


250         Radiation  of  Missions  from  Goa. 

The  statistics  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in 
Portuguese  India  about  this  period  may  be  summed 
up  in  a  few  words  ;  our  authorities,  however,  being 
the  Jesuits  themselves.  The  Archbishopric  is  said  to 
have  had  400,000  souls  under  its  jurisdiction,  but 
what  was  the  precise  religious  condition  of  this 
population  is  not  stated.  The  Archbishopric  of  Cran- 
ganor  (that  is  the  Bishopric  of  the  Serra)  removed 
from  Augamale  is  affirmed  to  have  included  an  equal 
number,  though  the  Madura  mission  (of  which  more 
presently)  had  not  attained  its  full  growth.  The  Sec 
of  Cochin  which  comprehended  Travancore  and  the 
fishery  coast,  contained  50,000  Christians ;  while  the 
diocese  of  St.  Thome  embracing  an  immense  territory, 
from  Cape  Comorin  to  the  north  of  the  Ganges,  and 
thence  to  Pegu,  numbered  as  many  Catholics  as  all 
the  rest  of  India. 

The  Jesuits,  at  first  Portuguese,  but  afterwards  in- 
cluding French,  Italian  and  Spanish  brethren,  divided 
the  theatre  of  their  zealous  operations  into  several 
great  missions,  of  which  each  was  sub-divided  into 
minor  ones,  recognising  for  their  chief  the  superior  of 
the  principal  mission.  The  first  great  mission  is  that 
of  Madura  which  extends  from  Cape  Comorin  as  far  as 
Pondicherry ;  the  second  is  that  of  Maissour  (Mysore), 
a  large  kingdom  whose  monarch  is  a  tributary  of  the 
Great  Mogul  ;  the  third  is  that  of  the  Carnatic  which 
commences  at  Pondicherry,  and  stretches  to  the  north 
as  far  as  the  boundaries  of  the  Mogul  empire. 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE   MADURA   MISSION. 

"  The  Christianity  of  Madura  under  the  Jesuits  was  indeed  un- 
disguised idolatry." — KAYE. 

"  Every  Protestant  writer,  with  two  or  three  exceptions,  has  ascribed 
the  success  of  the  mission  of  Madura  to  a  guilty  connivance  with 
Pagan  superstitions.'7 — J.  W.  M.  MARSHALL. 

THE  kingdom  of  Madura  is  bounded  on  the  east  by 
Tanjore  and  the  Palk  Straits,  on  the  south  by 
Tinnevelly,  on  the  west  by  Travancore,  and  on  the 
north  by  Coimbatore  and  Trichinopoly.  It  is  about 
the  size  of  Portugal  ;  and,  at  the  time  of  which  we 
write  it  was  governed  by  seventy  Palleacarens,  or 
petty  princes,  the  vassals  of  the  Rajah.  This 
Sovereign  could  bring  into  the  field  25,000  men  and  a 
hundred  elephants.  The  capital  of  the  State  is  a  city 
of  the  same  name,  defended  by  a  fortress,  and  famed 
amongst  the  surrounding  idolaters  for  the  possession 
of  three  enormous  triumphal  cars.  One  of  these  can 
only  be  drawn  by  a  thousand  persons,  and,  when  it  is 
adorned  by  silks  of  various  colours,  flags,  and  festoons 


252  The  Madura  Mission. 

of  flowers,  and  dragged  during  the  night,  amid  the 
blaze  of  torches,  the  roll  of  drums,  the  clang  of 
cymbals  and  the  blast  of  trumpets,  "  it  cannot  be 
denied  the  spectacle  is  extremely  interesting."  l  On 
the  northern  side  of  the  town  were  the  churches  of 
the  Christians,  one  founded  by  Dei  Nobili,  and  the 
other,  more  ancient,  dedicated  to  Notre  Dame  and 
served  by  the  Jesuits.  These  Churches  were  utterly 
destroyed  when  the  town  was  sacked  by  the  Rajah  of 
Mysore,  but  since  then,  a  new  one  has  been  erected 
in  the  suburbs.2  After  this  irruption  the  King  trans- 
ferred his  Court  to  Trichinopoly,  a  hundred"  miles 
north  of  the  former  capital.  Here  the  Jesuits  founded 
several  churches,  though  at  a  later  period  of  the 
mission. 

There  are  few  questions  that  have  given  rise  to 
more  controversy  between  Roman  Catholics  and  Pro- 
testants, and  amongst  Romanists  themselves  than  the 
Jesuit  missions  in  Madura ; 3  and  although  the  date 
(i/th  century)  taken  strictly,  places  it  beyond  the 
boundary  line  of  our  subject,  yet  the  mission  is  so 
essential  an  off-shoot  from  the  Portuguese  centre  that 

1  At  least  in  the  opinion  of  the  Jesuit  writer,  whdse  precise  words 
are  "on  ne  pent  nier  que  le  spectacle  n'en  soit  agreable." — "  Lettres 
Edifiantes,"  Tom.  IV.,  p.  19. 

2  "  Madura  was  the  capital  of  the  Hindoo  kingdom  of  Madura,  and 
the  seat  of  learning  in  Southern  India.     It  is  of  great  antiquity  and 
contains   many   remarkable  pagodas.     The   province   contains   13,000 
square  miles  and  2,000,000  of  inhabitants." — Duncan's  Geog.,  p.  25. 

3  Du  Jarric  Hist.,  Tom.  III.,  p.  750. 


Madura  Mission.  253 

we  cannot,  with  safety,  omit  this  link.  The  conflicting 
testimony  is  so  extensive  that  we  can  only  afford  the 
barest  outline. 

Beginning,  as  is  just,  with  the  Roman  Catholic 
version  of  the  history,  we  may  say  that  it  is  founded 
on  the  letters  of  Pere  Robert  and  his  fellow-labourers, 
on  the  compilation  of  Du  Jarric,  from  whom  we  have 
so  largely  quoted,  on  the  "  Relation  Derinere  de  ce 
qui  s'est  pass£  dans  Madure,  par  le  Pere  Hyacinthe  de 
Magistris,  Paris  1633,"  and  on  "  La  Mission  du 
Madure  par  le  Pere  Bertrand,"  one  of  the  recent 
missionaries.  The  chief  Romanist  writers  on  whose 
testimony  the  general  opinion  is  founded  are  Norbert, 
and  Dubois,  both  hostile.  Marshall,  in  his  compila- 
tion, "  Christian  Missions  "  writes  with  all  the  bitter- 
ness of  a  neophyte,  to  prove  that  Romanist  missions 
have  always  been  successes,  and  Protestant  ones 
always  failures.  He  defends  the  conduct  of  Pere 
Robert  as  not  only  expedient  but  lawful,  fully  justified 
by  the  example  of  St.  Paul.  Speaking  of  Nobile's 
falsehoods  to  the  Brahmins,  he  says,  "  he  had  as  good 
a  right  to  make  them  as  St.  Paul  to  declare  at  one 
time  that  he  was  a  Hebrew,  and  at  another  that  he 
was  a  Roman  citizen."  *  Marshall  is  very  severe  on 
La  Croze,  Hough  and  Kaye,  denouncing  them  as 
slanderers  of  a  holy  man  whose  virtues  were  too 
sublime  for  their  appreciation  ;  and  he  indulges  in  a 

1  Marshall's  "  Christian  Missions,"  p.  219. 


254  The  Madura  Mission. 

sneer  at  their  credulity  in  accepting  "  the  mendacious 
narrative  of  the  renegade  Norbert"1  With  every 
desire  to  be  strictly  impartial,  we  think  that  the 
weight  of  testimony  is  decidedly  against  Dei  Nobili, 
even  if  we  were  to  decide  solely  from  his  own  account 
of  his  proceedings.2 

A  certain  Father  Fernandez  had  gone  to  Madura 
about  1592,  and  had  laboured  long  without  making  a 
single  convert.  Robert  dei  Nobili,  hearing  of  this, 
determined,  in  1806,  to  devote  himself  to  the  work 
on  new  principles:  "I  will  make  myself  an  Indian,  in 
order  to  save  the  Indians,"  was  the  watchword  of  his 
plan.  Discerning  the  cause  of  Xavier's  failure  or 
partial  success  even  with  the  lowest  Castes,  he 
resolved  to  disguise  himself  as  a  Brahmin  and  to  aim 
at  converting  the  highest.3  For  this  purpose  he 
devoted  himself  to  years  of  study  in  order  to  acquire 
not  merely  the  vernacular,  but  the  ancient  Sanscrit 
and  the  Vedas.  In  this  arduous  task  he  succeeded 

1  "  Memoires  Historiques,"  par  R.  P.  Norbert. 

2  Du  Jarric,  Tom.  Ill,  p.  71. — In  "  Catholic  Missions  "  in  South 
India  by  Father  Strickland,  the  disguises  and  forgeries  perpetrated  by 
the  Jesuits  are  defended  on  the  ground  that  ' '  ordinary  methods  had 
failed   and   that  the  imposture  was  sactioned  by  the  Pope!"  p.  48. 
Ranke's  "History  of  the  Popes,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  231.     Nicolini's  "History 
of  the  Jesuits,"  p.  108.     Juvenciu's  "Hist.  Soc.  Jesu.,"  Tom.  II.,  Lib. 
XVIII. 

3  "  That  Jesuit  being  arrived  in  the  East   Indies,   said   he  was  a 
Brahmin,  which  was  no  lie  (!)     After  the  death  of  that  Father  the  true 
method  of  keeping  and  increasing  the  number  of  the  new  converts  fell 
to  the  ground." — Urbano  Cerri. 


The  Madura  Mission.  255 

so  thoroughly  that  he  deceived  even  the  Brahmins 
themselves. 

Avoiding  a  long  digression  for  the  purpose  of 
explaining  the  Brahmin's  influence  over  the  other 
Hindoos,  we  may  briefly  say  that  this  sacerdotal 
Caste  claimed  direct  descent  from  the  God  Brahmak 
and  are  therefore  held  so  sacred,  that  the  natives  fall 
prostrate  at  their  feet.  Their  source  of  power  is  an 
ascetic  life,  while  their  scientific  attainments,  though 
unequal  to  ours,  are  by  no  means  despicable, 
especially  in  astrology  and  metaphysics.1 

To  imitate  these  men,  to  secure  the  love  of  the 
people,  and  thereby  effect  the  conversion,  first  of  the 
nobility,  and  then  of  the  masses,  formed  the  arduous 
task  on  which  Pere  Robert  now  entered.  "  I  am 
neither  a  Prangui  nor  a  Portuguese,  but  a  Roman 
Rajah.  I  am  also  a  Saniassi,  that  is  a  penitent."  His 
apologists  defend  these  assertions  as  strictly  true ; 
for,  say  they,  as  an  Italian  noble  he  was  a  Rajah,  and 
as  a  Jesuit  he  was,  of  course,  a  penitent.  But  Paley 
argues  that  "it  is  the  wilful  deceit  that  makes  the 
lie  "  ;  and  as  the  statements  of  Pere  Robert  were  not 

1  For  further  accounts,  see  the  Letters  of  the  Abbe  Dubois,  p.  88, 
and  Choix  cles  "  Lettres  Edifiantes,"  Tom.  IV.,  pp.  150,  197,  and  272. 
"The  Brahmins  are  often  erroneously  regarded  as  constituting  the 
Hindu  priesthood,  but  the  priestly  office  was  so  far  from  being  es- 
teemed their  first  and  most  distinctive  privilege,  that  to  the  present  day 
it  is  accounted  one  of  the  least  honourable  which  a  Brahmin  can 
discharge." — Trevor's  "  India,"  p.  40. 


256  The  Madura  Mission. 

literally  true,  and  as  they  practised  what  is  admittedly 
a   "pious   fraud,"   the   defence   falls   to   the  ground. 
For,  by  their  own  confession,  they  wore  the  Cavy,  or 
distinctive  yellow  cloth,  they  bore  on  their  foreheads 
the  sandal-wood  powder ;  they  fed  on  rice  and  bitter 
herbs,  and  drank  only  water ;  they  lived  in  the  most 
wretched  huts  ;  and  won  a  reputation  for  sanctity  by 
their  silence  and  solitude.     They  even  went  so  far  as 
to  assume  heathen  names  ;  and,  to  answer  objectors, 
Fere  Robert  applied  his  great  skill  to  the  production 
of  a  forgery  in  Sanscrit  on  an  old  bit  of  parchment. 
When   questioned    as    to    the    genuineness    of    this 
certificate  he  solemnly  swore  before  the  council  of 
Brahmins  at  Madura  that  the  document  was  authentic 
and  that  he,  like  all  Jesuits,  was  directly  descended 
from  their   Indian   Divinity !     Nor  was  this  all.     He 
forged  a  new  Veda  which  was  so  well  executed  that, 
for  nearly  two  centuries,  it  imposed  upon  the  natives 
themselves.     The  trick  was  at  last  discovered  ;  and  it 
has  recently  been  thoroughly  exposed  by  Mr.  Ellis  of 
Madras,  who  declares  that  the  Ezour-Vedam  was  a 
"  literary  forgery,"  or  rather  "  of  religious  imposition 
without  parallel." l 

By  these  and   similar  frauds'2   the    new   Brahmins 

1  See  Mr.  Ellis's  disquisition  in  "Asiatic  Researches,"  Vol.  XIV.,  p. 
35.     Hough's,  "Christianity  in  India,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  239. 

2  "  De  la  se  recontrans  les  uns  les  autres  a  la  presence  des  gentils 
pour  se  mieux  deguiser,  ils  ne  se  parloient  que  par  Truchement."— 
Hyacinthe  de  Magistris,  p.  407. 


The  Madura  Mission.  257 

secured  the  protection  of  the  Rajah  and  permission 
to    preach    throughout    Madura.     The    Franciscans, 
whose  feeble  efforts  had  been  so  unproductive,  were 
now  fairly  driven  from  the  field  by  their  daring  and 
unscrupulous  rivals.     The  Jesuits,  finding  the  coast 
clear,  pushed  concession  to  idolatry  to  its  utmost  limit. 
Observing  the  love  of  display  in  the  Hindoo  character, 
they  resolved  to  add  the  frivolous  and  disgusting  rites 
of   India   to   the   superstitious   pageantry  of  Rome. 
This,  of  course,  Marshall  denies,1  but  there  is  abund- 
ant proof  from  the  letters  of  the  Jesuits  (authority 
which  he  surely  cannot  dispute)  that  images  and  pic- 
tures, music,  fireworks,  flags,  flowers,  and  theatrical 
exhibitions  were  all  employed  as  means  of  conciliation 
and  conversion.     Having  secured  the  co-operation  of 
some  real  Brahmins,  the  Jesuits   made  rapid  strides. 
Thousands  were  added  to  the  Roman  Church,  upon 
the  easy  conditions  to  which  we  have  more  than  once 
referred.     Even   one   of    their   own    missioners    has 
acknowledged  that  they  were  justly  chargeable  with 
the  most  culpable  indulgence  in  winking  at  all  kinds 
of   idolatrous  superstitions  among  their  proselytes  ; 
and  with  having  themselves  rather  become  converts 
to  the  idolatrous  worship  of  the  Hindoos,  than  con- 
verters of  the  Hindoos  to  the  Christian  religion.2 
Such  proceedings  roused  the  indignation  of  all  the 

1  "  Christian  Missions,"  p.  226. 
1  Abbe  Dubois,  p.  7. 


258  The  Madura  Mission. 

other  religious  orders.  When  the  intelligence  reached 
Goa,  the  greatest  excitement  prevailed  ;  and  a  strong 
remonstrance  was  immediately  sent  to  Rome.  In 
1620,  Paul  V.  ordered  the  Archbishop  to  investigate 
the  case.  All  the  charges  were  fully  substantiated  ; 
and  when  the  report  was  laid  before  the  Pontiff  and 
Cardinals,  Bellarmine,  though  Uncle  of  Dei  Nobili, 
condemned  him  in  the  strongest  terms.  This  well- 
merited  rebuke  has,  with  singular  audacity,  been 
represented  by  the  apologists  from  Du  Jarric  to 
Marshall  as  "  the  persecution  of  innocent  men." x 
Unterrified  by  the  thunders  of  the  Vatican,  the 
Madura  missioners  continued  their  career  ;  and,  with- 
out denying  the  truth  of  the -accusations,  they  offered 
such  ingenious  explanations,  that  the  succeeding 
Pontiff,  Gregory  XV.,  somewhat  modified  the  terms  of 
censure.  Yet  he  distinctly  stated  in  a  dispatch  (1623) 
that  if  they  continued  in  the  slightest  degree  any 
practices  of  an  idolatrous  character,  they  were  to  give 
them  up  or  take  the  consequences.  This  document 
is  said  to  have  been  suppressed  till  1680,  during  which 
time  the  Jesuits  persevered  in  their  old  courses  utterly 
regardless  of  Papal  disapprobation.  But  we  need 
not  pursue  the  matter  further  at  present. 

The  principal  points  in  the  early  history  of  this 
famous  mission  are  the  labours  of  Fernandez  from 
1592  till  1606 — Pere  Robert's  conversion  of  the 

1  Du  Jarric,  Tom.  III.,  p.  770.     Marshall,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  227-229. 


The  Madura  Mission.  259 

Brahmins  from  1606  till  1610 — "the  persecution  from 
1611  to  1622  and  the  death  of  Pere  Robert  at  Melia- 
pour  in  1656."  The  influence  of  this  mission  would 
have  been  felt  directly  or  indirectly  in  Southern  India 
to  the  present  hour,  even  if  it  had  not  been  revived 
with  extraordinary  vigour  in  our  own  day.  We  may 
anticipate  certain  portions  of  our  history  by  mention- 
ing that  during  the  XVIIth  Century,  the  famous 
Portuguese  missionary,  John  de  Britto,1  made  numer- 
ous proselytes  between  1673  and  his  martyrdom  in 
1693  5  and  that  he  was  assisted  in  these  labours  by 
his  countrymen  Morato,  Martins,  Daresi  and  others.2 
From  causes  which  we  cannot  here  discuss,  the  mission 
of  Madura  died  out  last  century.  In  1837  it  was 
revived,  being  restored  to  the  Jesuits  by  Gregory 
XVI. ;  and,  in  1846,  a  bishopric  was  erected,  including 
Madura,  Marara  and  Tanjore.3  "  There  is  no  more 
pregnant  chapter  in  the  whole  history  of  human  im- 
posture, than  that  which  embraces  the  astonishing 
narrative  of  the  Jesuits'  Missions  in  Southern  India. 
For  a  time  the  Order  'stooped  into  a  dark  tremen- 
dous sea  of  cloud,'  and  the  Jesuits,  under  the  ban  in 
Europe,  disappeared  from  the  Indian  coasts.  But 
they  are  now  again  overrunning  India,  and  working 
mightily  as  of  old.  Great  as  is  their  apparent  activity, 

1  "  Histoire  du  Jean  de  Britto,"  par.  Prab.  1853. 

2  "  Hyacinthe  de  Magistris,"  p.  427. 

3  "  Les  Jesuits  dans  1'Inde,"  par.  Louis  St.  Cyr,  1863. 

S   2 


260  The  Madura  Mission, 

perhaps  the  full  extent  of  their  efforts  is  hardly  known, 
for,  although  they  may  not  now  simulate  Brahmins,  it 
is  more  than  suspected  that  they  have  not  yet 
abandoned  their  old  love  of  disguise."1 

1  Kayes,  " Christ,  in  India,"  pp.  36-7.  "Jesuit  Missions,"  by  the 
Rev.  W.  S.  Mackay,  in  "  Calcutta  Review,"  Vol.  II.  Nicolini's 
"  History  of  the  Jesuits,"  p.  113. 


CHAPTER  III. 

PORTUGUESE   MISSIONS  IN   THE  CARNATIC. 

;<  Toutes  les  Missions  de  1'Inde  etaient  des  Missions  Portugaises  ;  il 
est  vrai  qu'on  y  admettait  des  sujets  des  autres  nations  ;  mais  ces 
sujets  devaient  par  la  meme  perdre  pour  ainsi  dire  leur  nationalite." — 
BERTRAND,  Vol.  I.,  p.  323. 

"ALL  the  missions  of  India  were  Portuguese  missions," 
says  the  Jesuit  Father  from  whom  we  have  just 
quoted,  and  though  this  chapter  will  carry  us  to  the 
Eastern  side  of  the  great  peninsula  of  India,  and 
away  from  our  Syrian  friends,  yet,  "  Portuguese 
Missions  in  Southern  India,"  as  a  whole,  would  be 
incomplete  without  some  reference  to  their  operations 
on  the  coast  of  Coromandel. 

This  well-known  coast  extends  from  Cape  Comorin 
to  the  Northern  Circars,  or  from  lat.  8  to  lat.  16.  It 
is  otherwise  called  the  Carnatic,  and  is  distinguished 
by  the  possession  of  Madras,  Pondicherry,  and  many 
important  towns.  The  Eastern  Ghauts  rise  behind 
the  coast,  spread  into  numerous  branches,  and  leave 
a  broad  plain  between  their  feet  and  the  sea.  Into 
this  rich  and  fertile  district  the  Portuguese  Mission- 


262      Portuguese  Missions  in  the  Carnatic. 

aries  penetrated  from  Madura,  and  established  what 
was  technically  called  the  Mission  'of  the  Carnatic, 
including  not  merely  the  kingdom  of  that  name,  but 
stretching  over  a  vast  district,  nine  hundred  miles 
from  north  to  south,  and  one  hundred  and  thirty-four 
from  east  to  west.  The  principal  states  which  formed 
the  fields  of  their  operations  were  the  Carnatic,  Visa- 
pour,  Bijanacaron,  Ikkeri,  Golconda,  besides  many 
other  petty  principalities  chiefly  subject  to  the  Great 
Mogul. 

According  to  histories,  which  some  call  traditions, 
the  first  Christian  missionary  in  this  region  was  the 
Apostle  St.  Thomas.  It  is  confidently  stated  that 
after  planting  the  churches  on  the  Malabar  coast,  he' 
continued  his  journey  eastward  to  Meliapour,1  then 
the  chief  city  of  the  Carnatic.  Thence  he  went  to 
China,  and  returned  to  Meliapour ;  and  at  a  place 
now  called  St.  Thomas's  Mount,  about  eight  miles 
from  Madras,  suffered  martyrdom  at  the  hands  of  the 
Brahmins.  There  is  a  tradition  that  the  Apostle 
erected  a  pillar  here  with  an  inscription  to  the  effect 

1  Meliapour  or  Mailapoor,  is  now  one  of  the  suburbs  of  Madras. 
"  Aqui  a  cidade  foi,  que  se  chamava 
Meliapor,  fermosa,  grande  e  rica  : 
Os  idolos  antiguos  adorava, 
Como  inda  agora  faz  a  gente  inica. 
Louge  do  mar  n'aquelle  tempo  estava, 
Quando  a  fe,  que  no  numdo  se  publica, 
Thorme  vintra  pregando,  e  ja  passara 
Provincias  mil  do  mundo,  que  en  sinare." — CAMCENS. 


Portuguese  Missions  in  the  Carnatic.      263 

that  the  religion  which  he  had  planted  would  be 
revived  by  a  race  of  strangers  when  the  waves  should 
wash  the  base  of  the  column,  at  that  time  forty  miles 
from  the  sea.  Vasco  da  Gama,  it  is  said,  saw,  in 
1 502,  this  very  column  close  to  the  coast,  with  the 
prophecy  literally  fulfilled.1  In  1522,  the  Portuguese, 
when  exploring  the  Carnatic,  are  said  to  have  found  a 
cross  at  Meliapour  with  this  remarkable  inscription  : — 
"  At  the  time  when  Thomas  founded  this  temple  the 
King  of  Meliapour  made  him  a  grant  of  the  customs 
of  all  the  merchandises  that  were  brought  into  that 
port,  which  duty  was  the  tenth  part  of  the  goods." 
According  to  the  Portuguese  tradition,  the  bones  of 
St.  Thomas  were  also  found,  though  Geddes  dryly 
suggests  that  "they  were  reckoned  by  all  the  world 
before  to  have  been  lodged  at  Edessa." 2  An  ancient 
record  was  discovered  at  the  same  time,  stating  that 
St.  Thomas  had  converted  the  Rajah  by  a  miracle. 
We  next  find  a  tradition  that  another  cross  and  relics 
were  dug  out  in  1 544  by  some  Portuguese  who  were 
pulling  down  an  old  chapel,  and  who  add  the  wonder- 
ful statement  that  they  saw  all  the  earth  deeply 
stained  with  newly-shed  blood,  and  much  more  to  the 
same  effect.3  These  dates  are  quoted  to  show  that 
even  before  the  time  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  Portuguese 

1  Bruce's    "  Scenes  and    Lights   in   the    East,"   p.    75.      Howard's 
"  Christians  of  S.  Thomas,"  p.  10. 

2  Geddes's  "  Hist.  Ch.  Mai.,"  p.  7. 

3  Geddes's  "  Hist.  Ch.  Mai.,"  p.  6. 


264     Portuguese  Missions  in  the  Carnatic. 

adventurers,  including  missionaries,  were  exploring 
the  coast  of  the  Carnatic.  And,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  that  Xavier  effected  many  conversions  amongst 
the  natives  of  the  extreme  south,  and  that,  at  an 
early  period,  he  made  Tutucurin  his  headquarters, 
the  probability  is  that  he  travelled  to  the  north,  or 
appointed  some  of  his  converts  to  carry  the  Gospel 
along  the  coast  to  the  ancient  settlements  of  Indian 
Christianity.  During  the  fifty  years  which  succeeded 
the  establishment  of  the  Missionary  College  at  Goa, 
while  the  Portuguese  military  and  mercantile  powers 
were  approaching  their  climax,  many  enthusiastic 
followers  in  the  footsteps  of  St.  Francis  were  carrying 
the  cross  into  Madura,  the  Carnatic,  and  the  distant 
regions  of  Bengal.  To  enter  into  any  minute  detail 
of  these  transactions  would  be  to  repeat  much  of 
what  has  been  stated  in  previous  chapters,  and  we 
may,  therefore,  pass  over  the  operations  of  the  Portu- 
guese missionaries  on  the  east  coast,  and  allude  briefly 
to  the  work  performed  by  the  emissaries  of  another 
nation. 

We  must  take  it  for  granted  that  our  readers  are 
already  acquainted  with  the  events  which  took  place 
in  India  shortly  after  the  Synod  of  Diamper,  the 
establishment  of  the  East  India  Company,  the  wars 
between  French  and  English  in  India,  the  attacks  of 
the  Dutch  on  the  Portuguese  settlements,  and  the 
rapid  decline  of  an  empire  which  had  so  rapidly  risen. 


Portuguese  Missions  in  the  Carnatic.      265 

About  the  year  1660,  the  French  were  making 
great  efforts  to  obtain  a  share  in  the  commerce  of  the 
East  ;  and,  in  1664,  two  years  after  the  Portuguese 
cession  of  Bombay  to  the  English,1  they  took  Pondi- 
cherry,  and  made  it  the  centre  of  their  possessions  in 
the  Carnatic.  No  sooner  had  they  secured  a  firm 
footing  than  various  orders  of  monks  commenced 
their  labours  amongst  the  heathen.  They  were  not 
long  permitted  to  conduct  this  enterprise  alone. 
Irrespective  of  earlier  plantings  of  the  Cross  by  ex- 
plorers from  the  Central  Station  at  Madura,  the 
successors  of  Pere  Robert  resolved  to  thrust  them- 
selves into  the  field  which  was  now  certainly  the 
province  of  the  French  Capuchins.  The  Portuguese 
Jesuits  and  the  Pondicherry  Monks,  though  aiming  at 
the  same  end,  pursued  it  by  means  entirely  different; 
the  former,  as  we  have  seen,  bending  Christianity  to 
the  idolatry  of  Brahma,  the  latter  protesting  against 
such  wicked  degradation,  and  preaching,  in  compara- 
tive purity,  the  faith  of  Christ  on  its  own  merits. 
The  followers  of  Loyola  had  secured  the  "  Constitu- 
tion "  mentioned  in  our  last  chapter,  but  they  concealed 
it  for  sixty  years  ;  and,  assuring  the  Pope  that  the 
objectionable  rites  were  merely  civil  forms  without 
any  religious  reference,  they  contrived  to  evade  all 
obedience  to  the  Papal  injunction,  to  hoodwink  the 

1   Bombay,  Algiers,  and  .£500,000  formed  the  dowry  of  Catherine  of 
Portugal  on  her  marriage  with  Charles  II. 


266     Portuguese  Missions  in  the  Carnatic. 

Roman  Court  by  skilfully-contrived  and  specious 
reports,  and  thus  to  pursue  their  arrogant  course 
almost  unchecked.1  What  we  have  already  described 
at  Madura  was  repeated  at  Pondicherry.  The  image  of 
the  Virgin  was  borne  aloft  in  precisely  the  same  way 
in  which  the  Pagans  carry  their  idols.  Bands  of 
heathen  musicians  were  engaged  from  the  Pagodas  ; 
and  their  rude  drums,  gongs,  and  hautboys  mingled 
in  discord  with  the  cries  and  shouts  which  accompany 
a  Hindoo  procession. 

The  chief  of  the  French  Mission,  feeling  that  the 
Jesuits,  by  this  miserable  pandering  to  Pagan  folly, 
were  deeply  injuring  the  cause  of  true  religion  that 
they  might  promote  the  interests  of  their  Order,  pro- 
tested most  strongly  against  these  profane  exhibitions, 
and  wrote  to  the  Pontiff  to  invoke  his  interference. 
But  not  only  did  the  arrogant  ambition  of  the  Jesuits 
embroil  them  with  their  co-religionists,  but  it  involved 
them  also  in  serious  disputes  with  the  Brahmins, 
which,  early  in  the  XVIIIth  Century,  had  reached 
such  a  height  that  Pondicherry  itself  was  in  danger. 
Their  infatuation  was  conspicuously  displayed  in  their 
destruction  of  the  images  of  Brahma,  Vishnu,  and 
other  idols,2  an  extraordinary  deviation  from  their 

1  "  The  Jesuits  stirred  themselves  up  in  their  own  defence  and  repre- 
sented to  Gregory  XIII.,  Paul's  successor,  that  those  rites  were  merely 
civic  ceremonies  and  not  at  all  religious  ones." — Nicolini,  p.  113.     See 
also  "  Cretinean,"  Vol.  V.,  p.  47. 

2  A  parallel  case  occurs  in  the  case  of  Willchad.     His  discourses  here 


Portuguese  Missions  in  the  Camatic.      267 

general  subserviency.  The  natives  who  witnessed  this 
insult,  thus  publicly  offered  to  their  divinities,  re- 
solved to  avenge  the  wrong,  and  they  immediately 
sent  a  message  to  their  brethren  at  Tan j ore  to  aid 
them  in  their  purpose.  The  Rajah  eagerly  and  in- 
stantly responded,  the  Christians  were  everywhere 
openly  beaten,  and  starved  to  death  in  prison.  Many 
fled  to  the  Christians  of  the  coast,  many  more  re- 
nounced their  faith,  and  a  few  submitted  to  martyr- 
dom. One  Jesuit  died  in  prison,  another  was 
banished  ;  all  the  churches  were  demolished,  and 
Christianity  for  years  extinguished.1  Such  was  the 
result  of  Jesuit  zeal,  and  such  will  ever  be  the  effect 
of  the  lack  of  common  sense  in  dealing  with  the  pre- 
judices of  the  heathen. 

In  1702,  the  Pope  resolved  to  send  a  special  legate 
to  French  India  to  check  the  unruly  proceedings  of 
the  Jesuits.  When  Cardinal  Tournon  landed  in 
November,  1703,  he  was  kindly  received  by  the 
Brethren,  who  succeeded  in  making  him  suspend  his 
Edict  for  three  years.  At  last,  those  very  men  who, 
as  the  successors  of  Loyolo,  had,  of  course,  taken  an 
oath  of  implicit  obedience  to  the  Pope,  positively  re- 
had  begun  to  meet  with  much  acceptance,  when  some  of  his  scholars 
suffered  themselves  to  be  led  away  by  intemperate  zeal,  and  hastened 
to.  destroy  the  idolatrous  temples,  instead  of  first  banishing,  by  the 
power  of  Christ,  the  idols  from  the  heart  of  their  worshippers. — 
Neander's  "  Memorials  of  Christian  Life,"  p.  480. 

1   Condensed  from  Norbert's  "  Memoires  Historiques." 


268     Portuguese  Missions  in,  the  Car  italic. 

belled  and  refused  to  admit  the  legate's  right  to  con- 
trol their  foreign  missions.  They  even  went  so  far 
as  to  declare  that  their  Bishop  at  St.  Thome  had  a 
jurisdiction  in  India  equal  to  that  of  the  Pope  else- 
where.1 The  Cardinal,  finding  no  good  was  at  present 
to  be  done,  sailed  for  China  in  1704,  and,  in  1706,  the 
Council  of  Pondicherry  solemnly  protested  against 
his  jurisdiction  in  the  East.  His  tragical  death  at 
Macao,  in  1710,  is  attributed  to  the  intrigues  of  the 
Jesuits.2 

In  1714,  we  find  that  a  Monsieur  de  Visdelon,  a 
Jesuit,  was  appointed  Bishop  of  Clandiopolis,  and 
Vicar  Apostolic  of  India  with  full  power  front  the 
Pope  to  purify  tJie  Church  front  the  idolatrous  rites  by 
which  her  services  had  been  polluted.  Hence  another 
contest  arose  between  the  Pope's  Vicar  and  the  Bishop 
of  St.  Thome,  soon  after  which  the  Jesuits  obtained 
powers  from  the  King  of  France  for  the  suspension  of 
the  Vicar  and  two  Superiors  of  the  Capuchins.  It  is 
quite  impossible,  however,  to  describe  the  perpetual 
conflicts  which  disgrace  the  Roman  Church  at  Pon- 
dicherry, in  consequence  of  the  rebellious  spirit  of  the 
Jesuits.  In  conclusion,  we  may  briefly  mention  that, 
in  1742,  Benedict  XIV.  issued,  a  bull  demanding 
implicit  obedience ;  and,  at  last,  after  forty  years' 
contumacious  resistance,  the  refractory  Fathers  were 

1   Hough's  "  Christianity,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  442. 

-  "  Memoires  Historiques,"  par  Norbert,  Vol.  III.,   pp.  97,  149. 


Portuguese  Missions  in  the  Carnatic.      269 

obliged  to  yield.  From  that  time  their  hitherto  pros- 
perous missions  in  South  India  began  to  decline.  The 
arrogance  of  the  missionaries  had  rendered  the  very 
name  of  Christianity  odious,  the  detection  of  cunningly 
devised  imposture  had  shaken  all  faith  in  the  Jesuits, 
and  the  suppression  of  their  Order  in  Europe  had  been 
severely  felt  in  India,  especially  by  drying  up  the 
fountain  which  had  furnished  a  regular  supply  of 
educated  clergy.  Add  to  these  causes  the  com- 
mencement of  modern  missionary  efforts  by  men 
whose  lives  were  the  best  comments  on  their  doctrines, 
and  whose  method  of  teaching  was  the  strongest 
possible  contrast  to  that  of  the  Jesuits,  and  one  is  not 
at  all  at  a  loss  to  account  for  the  failure  of  the  Romish 
Missions  in  Southern  India,  and  for  the  odium,  which 
they  brought  on  the  Christian  name. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

SYRIAN    CHRISTIANS   IN   THE   XVIIth   CENTURY. 

"  If  any  man  teach  otherwise,  and  consent  not  to  wholesome  words, 
even  the  words  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  the  doctrine  which  is 
according  to  godliness ;  he  is  proud,  knowing  nothing,  but  doting  about 
questions  and  strifes  of  words,  whereof  cometh  envy,  strife,  railings, 
evil  surmisings,  perverse  disputings  of  men  of  corrupt  minds  and  desti- 
tute of  the  truth,  supposing  that  gain  is  godliness  :  from  such  withdraw 
thyself." — I  Tim.  vi. 

DURING  the  last  three  chapters  we  have  attempted 
to  give  some  idea  of  the  Portuguese  missions  in 
the  XVIth  Century,  with  brief  notices  of  important 
matters  during  the  XVIIth  and  XVIIIth  Centuries. 
It  is  true  that  some  of  the  events  therein  narrated  do 
not  directly  bear  on  the  Malabar  Church  ;  yet  it  is 
unquestionable  that  in  all  history  one  event  leans 
upon  another,  and  small  causes  frequently  produce 
great  results.  The  present  case  forms  no  exception. 
The  spirit  by  which  the  Portuguese  missionaries  were 
actuated  did  not  fail  to  excite  a  universal  feeling  of 
resentment ;  and  though  no  electric  spark  conveyed 
the  message  from  the  Carnatic  to  Malabar,  yet  every- 
one familiar  with  India  well  knows  the  mysterious 


Syrian   Christians  in  Seventeenth  Century .     271 

rapidity  with  which  reports  are  transmitted  to  the 
most  distant  regions.  Thus  the  whole  South  of  India 
was  filled  with  opposition  to  the  Portuguese  missionary 
efforts  and  to  the  Christianity  which  they  attempted 
to  propagate. 

The  standard  authorities  for  this  portion  of  our 
essay  are  Raulinus,  Urbano  Cerri,  La  Croze,  Barreto, 
and  Vincent  Maria.1  The  English  reader  will  find 
the  substance  of  these  narratives  in  Hough's  "  History 
of  Christianity  in  India,"  Book  VI.,  and,  in  a  briefer 
form,  in  Day's  "  Land  of  the  Permauls." 

After  the  signal  triumph  of  Rome  at  Diamper, 
accomplished  by  the  skill,  courage,  and  perseverance 
of  Menezes,  the  history  of  the  Syrian  Christians 
seems  to  lose  much  of  its  interest  Reduced  to  abject 
submission,  the  followers  of  St.  Thomas  appear  to 
have  had  no  heart  left  for  literary  work,  or  possibly 
they  were  only  too  glad  to  let  silence  cover  their 
defeat.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Jesuits,  though  vic- 
torious, exhibited  no  anxiety  to  proclaim  to  the  world 
the  misconduct  of  their  leaders,  which,  more  than 
anything  else,  contributed  to  their  ruin  in  the  East. 
Hence  the  obscurity  which  prevails  at  this  period  of 
our  history,  and  hence,  too,  the  conflicting  statements 
of  the  chroniclers  as  to  dates  and  names  which  render 
it  next  to  impossible  for  the  compiler  to  construct  a 

1  Barreto,  Relat.  Status  Christ.  Malabar  Romoe,  1645.  Vincent  Marie, 
II  viaggio  all'Inclie  Orientali  Fol.  Romoe. 


272      Syrian    Christians  in   Seventeenth   Century. 

consistent  narrative.     This  being  premised,  we  must 
make  the  best  of  the  material  at  our  command. 

The    first    Romish    Bishop,    Francisco    Rodriguez 
(Roz),  was  succeeded  by  another  Xavier,  who,  in  turn, 
was  followed  by  Stephen  de  Britto.     In  1634,  a  Jesuit 
prelate,  named  Garcia,  ruled  the  poor  Syrian  Chris- 
tians with  a  rod  of  iron.     He  attempted  to  abolish 
the  Syriac  language  and  to  introduce  Latin  in  the 
Church  Service,  and  he  persecuted  every  Syrian  who 
differed  in  the  minutest  trifle  from  the  ritual  of  Rome. 
He  enjoyed  a  "  bad  eminence  "  amongst  his  fellow- 
Churchmen,  avaricious,  as  nearly  all  of  them  were,  for 
his  intense  love  of  money,  and  his  unscrupulous  ex- 
tortion.    Such  oppression,  continuing  for  fifty  years, 
gradually  roused  the  patient  spirit  of  the  Syrians  into 
violent  action,  and  completely  undid  all  the  work  of 
Diamper.     They   complained   especially   of   the   en- 
forced celibacy  of  their  own  clergy,  of  the  seizure  of 
their  churches,  of  the  introduction  of  images,  of  the 
bribed  silence  of  the  Cattanars,  and  of  the  tyranny 
exercised  by  the  Romish  priests  over  both  clergy  and 
laity  of  the  Malabar  Church.     Their  numerous  over- 
tures to  the  Roman  Pontiff  were  treated  with  con- 
temptuous neglect,  for  the  Pope  could  not  afford  to 
quarrel  with  the  Jesuits.     The  exasperated  Syrians  at 
last  revolted,  threw  off  the  Roman  yoke,  and  resolved 
to   elect   a   bishop   of  their   own.      The    Portuguese 
missionaries,   terribly   alarmed,   applied    at    once    to 


Syrian  Christians  in  Seventeenth  Century.    273 

Alexander  VII.,  who,  well  aware  of  the  true  cause  of 
this  rebellion,  instantly  dispatched  four  Carmelites  to 
still  the  tempest.  But,  while  these  events  were  going 
on  in  Malabar,  an  unexpected  ally  was  contributing 
the  means  of  breaking  the  chains  which  Portuguese 
tyranny  had  forged.  The  Dutch,  who  had  for  half  a 
century  been  gradually  gaining  power  in  the  East,  in 
1656,  drove  the  Portuguese  out  of  Ceylon,  and,  en- 
couraged by  success,  soon  afterwards  attacked  the 
settlements  on  the  Malabar  coast. 

Once  fairly  roused  to  action,  the  Malabar  Christians 
took  the  decided  step  of  writing  to  the  three 
Patriarchs — the  Nestorian  at  Mosul,  the  Coptic  at 
Cairo,  and  the  Jacobite  in  Syria,  imploring  each  to  send 
them  a  Bishop  without  delay.  The  first  to  reply  was 
the  Primate  of  the  Copts,  who  immediately  dispatched 
Attala  (Theodore)1  to  Mosul,  that  he  might  receive 
his  commission  from  the  Nestorian  Patriarch.  But 
this  account  is  doubted ; 2  and  it  seems  impossible  to 
determine  whether  he  was  a  Nestorian  from  Mosul  or 
a  Jacobite  from  Antioch.3  Be  that  as  it  may,  on  his 
arrival  at  Surat,  he  incautiously  took  some  Capuchins 
into  his  confidence,  who  immediately  betrayed  him  to 
the  Inquisition.  On  his  journey  toward  the  south  he 
was  seized,  and,  notwithstanding  the  attempt  at  a 

1  Raulin,  "  Diss  V.  De  Incl.  Orient  Diocesi,"  p.  441.     Day's  "  Land 
of  the  Permauls,"  p.  234. 

2  La  Croze,  p.  358. 

8  Vincent  Maria,  L.  II.,  p.  163.     La  Croze,  p.  359. 

T 


274    Syrian  Christians  in  Seventeenth  Century. 

rescue  by  25,000  armed  men,  who  marched  upon 
Cochin,  he  was  detained  a  prisoner.  The  defeated 
Syrians  held  a  meeting  at  Alangat,  and  swore  a 
solemn  oath  to  drive  out  the  Jesuits  ;  and  a  second  at 
Mangate,  where  they  took  the  extraordinary  step  of 
requesting  twelve  Cattanars  to  consecrate  Archdeacon 
Thomas,  of  Palokamatta,  as  their  Bishop,1  imploring 
him  to  repent  of  his  mock  consecration,  but  in  vain. 
Fifty  years  of  suffering  had  forced  him  and  his 
followers  into  a  position  which  they  would  not  lightly 
abandon. 

Meantime,  the  captured  Attala  was  sent  from 
Cochin  to  Goa,  where  he  suffered  a  cruel  death  in  the 
dungeons  of  the  Inquisition.2  It  is  but  fair  to  say 
that  the  Jesuit  missionaries,  ashamed  of  this  murder, 
have  tried  to  prove  that  the  unhappy  Prelate  was 
drowned,  by  the  orders  of  the  Governor,  in  the 
harbour  of  Cochin,  when  the  Syrian  army  invested 
the  place.3 

We  left  the  Carmelites  on  their  way  from  Rome  to 
India.  On  their  arrival  at  Surat,  they  were  placed  in 
a  most  embarrassing  position,  for  they,  not  only 
encountered  the  resistance  of  the  civil  power,  but  the 
hostility  of  the  Jesuits  ;  the  former  pleading  their 
possession  of  the  sovereignty  of  India,  the  latter 

1  See  an  admirable  discussion  of  this  irregularity  in  Hough's  History, 
p.  306-7-8. 

2  Raulin,  "Hist.  Ecc.  Mai.,"  p.  442. 

3  La  Croze,  p.  362. 


Syrian  Christians  in  Seventeenth  Century.    275 

jealous  of  any  interference  with  the  interests  of  their 
Order.  The  Carmelites,  thus  checked,  applied  to  the 
Dutch  commander,  by  whose  intervention  they 
succeeded  in  reaching  Cananore,  early  in  1657. 
Thence  they  were  obliged  to  go  by  water,  in  order  to 
avoid  their  own  countrymen  and  co-religionists. 
They  found  their  mission  hedged  about  with  difficul- 
ties. The  Archdeacon  naturally  received  them  with 
distrust ;  and  the  Jesuits  exhausted  every  expedient 
to  obstruct  their  course.  The  Papal  commissioners, 
in  several  conferences,  attempted  to  influence  the 
Archdeacon  to  deny  his  consecration  and  resign  his 
office,  but  failing  in  this,  they  determined  to  apply 
for  aid  to  Francis  de  Mello,  at  Goa.  The  Governor, 
fully  alive  to  the  importance  of  conciliating  the  Syrian 
Christians,  that  their  co-operation  might  be  secured 
in  defending  Cochin  and  other  towns  against  the 
Dutch,  resolved  to  receive  the  Carmelites  as  the 
ambassadors  of  peace.  The  Jesuits,  perceiving  that 
their  influence  was  verging  to  its  close,  made  the  most 
desperate  efforts,  including  the  use  of  a  forged  letter, 
to  excite  the  suspicion  of  the  Governor  of  Goa 
against  the  Carmelites.  But  in  vain.  Father  Vincent, 
thus  protected,  waited  on  the  Jesuit  Bishop  at  Crang- 
anor,  who  received  him  kindly,  admitted  his  creden- 
tials, and  implored  the  Christians  of  St.  Thomas  to 
submit  to  his  authority.  Proceeding  on  his  mission, 

he   found    Carturte,   and    one   or   two   other   places, 

T  2 


276    Syrian  Christians  in  Seventeenth  Century. 

essentially  Roman  Catholic  ;  but  even  they  hated  the 
Jesuit  yoke.     This  complication  was  increased  by  the 
fact  that  the  Syrian  Christians  were  divided  into  two 
parties,  even  before  the  arrival  of  the  Romanists,  and 
that  since  that  time  there  had  been  an  augmented 
feeling  of   rivalry  in  consequence  of  the  adherence 
of  the  Southern  division  to  the  Roman  Communion. 
With  the  latter  section  of  the  Syrians  the  Carmelites 
succeeded,  and  the  Portuguese  authorities   were    so 
delighted  with  the  prospect  thus  afforded  of  securing 
the  alliance  of  40,000  well-armed  mountaineers,  that, 
in  their  gratitude,  they  gave  a  splendid  public  recep- 
tion to  the  Carmelites  at  Corolongate.     The  Northern 
division  of  the  Malabar  Church  still  held  out  under 
Archdeacon  Thomas.     Success  began  to  dawn  upon 
their  efforts  at  Mangate,  but  Jesuit  influence  again 
interfered,  and  was  potent  enough  to  extort  from  Goa 
a  letter,  ordering  the  Carmelites  to  quit  the  country. 
The  Governor  of  Cochin,  dreading  the  approach  of 
the  Dutch,  and  desirous  of  retaining  the  affection  of 
the  Syrians,  resolved    to  support  the  Carmelites  in 
their  mission  at  all  hazards.     And  so  for  years  this 
singularly  intricate  series  of   intrigues  went  on,  the 
chief  agencies  being,  as  we  have  already  seen,  the 
Portuguese  and  the  Dutch,  the  Romish   Syrians  and 
the    Christians  of  St.    Thomas,  the    rival    Orders  of 
Jesuits   and    Carmelites,   and    the    Inquisition    ever 
watchful  and  ready  to  interpose.     We  fear  that  few  of 


Syrian   Christians  in  Seventeenth  Century.    277 

our  readers  would  have  any  curiosity  to  know  how 
Bishop  Garcia  tried  to  ruin  the  Carmelites,  how  the 
latter  began  to  despair  of  their  mission,  and  how  they 
were  encouraged  by  the  dreaded  tribunal  at  Goa  to 
persevere,  how  four  different  assemblies  met  and 
discussed  the  question  of  the  Archdeacon's  consecra- 
tion, the  propriety  of  submitting  to  Rome,  and  many 
other  matters  deeply  interesting  to  them,  but  not 
directly  affecting  the  question  now  before  us.  One 
circumstance  only  is  perhaps  important.  In  an 
assembly  in  the  Church  of  St.  Thomas,  near  Cochin, 
Joseph,1  one  of  the  Carmelites,  was  elected  Bishop  of 
Malabar,  and  his  appointment  confirmed  by  the  Pope. 
The  Southern  Churches  were  then  united  ;  Garcia  in 
vain  tried  to  recover  his  diocese,  and  two  of  the 
Carmelites  returned  to  Rome  to  give  an  account  of 
their  operations. 

On  the  loth  of  March,  1658,  Father  Hyacinthe 
once  more  appeared  in  Malabar,  and,  finding  persua- 
sion ineffectual,  he  subdued  the  refractory  by  means 
of  fines  and  imprisonment,  which  he  caused  the  Rajahs 
to  inflict  on  his  fellow  Christians.  But  as  the  agency 
was  limited,  so  was  the  success.  The  northern  portion 
of  the  Syrian  Christians  supported  their  Archdeacon 
as  firmly  as  ever,  and,  to  add  to  the  perplexity  of  the 
case,  Bishop  Garcia  nominated  a  new  Archdeacon. 
A  change,  however,  soon  came  o'er  the  scene.  Garcia 

1  Day's  "  Land  of  the  Permauls,"  p.  237. 


278    Syrian  Christians  in  Seventeenth  Century. 

died  in  1659,  and,  the  year  after,  his  rival  Father 
Hyacinthe  expired  at  Cochin. 

Meantime,  the  Carmelite  Joseph,  who  had  been 
consecrated  at  Rome  as  Bishop  of  Hierapolis,  reached 
India  in  April,  1661,  and  was  welcomed  at  Cochin  by 
all  parties  of  his  countrymen,  except  the  Jesuits. 
The  Syrian  Archdeacon,  of  course,  endeavoured  to 
prejudice  the  people  against  the  new  Bishop,  and  did 
not  hesitate  to  follow  the  example  so  frequently  set 
by  the  Jesuits,  of  circulating  false  reports.  Bishop 
Joseph,  meantime,  disregarding  these  calumnies,  took 
possession  of  the  cathedral  at  Cranganor,  and,  on  the 
22nd  of  August,  commenced  the  visitation  of  his 
diocese  with  a  grand  display  of  ecclesiastical  magni- 
ficence. Then  followed  the  old  story  of  endless  con- 
ferences between  the  Bishop  and  the  Archdeacon,  who 
was  at  last  obliged,  dreading  the  fate  of  Attala,  to 
escape  to  the  mountains.  This  flight  left  the  Syrian 
Christians  at  the  mercy  of  the  new  Bishop,  who,  like 
a  second  Menezes,  forced  them  to  bend  to  his  authority 
on  the  battle-ground  of  Diamper.  This  effected, 
Bishop  Joseph  ordered  a  large  fire  to  be  kindled 
before  the  church,  in  which  he  burnt  the  Archdeacon's 
palanquin,  his  books  and  garments,  and  regretted  that 
his  body  was  not  there  also.1 

The  unholy  alliance  between  the  heathen  Prince 
Codormo  and  the  Romish  Bishop  had  enabled  the 

1  La  Croze,  p.  409. 


Syrian  Christians  in  Seventeenth  Century.    279 

latter  to  promote  bis  mission  by  force  of  arms.  But 
the  time  of  retribution  was  at  hand.  The  Eastern 
Empire  of  the  Portuguese  was  now  rapidly  crumbling 
before  the  advancing  power  of  the  Dutch.  In  1660 
they  captured  Negapatam,  and  thus  secured  the 
Coromandel  coast.  Advancing  to  Malabar,  they  took 
Coulan  in  1661,  and  Cranganor,  the  cathedral  city  of 
the  Jesuits,  in  1662.  Cochin  fell  before  the  arms  of 
the  invader  in  1663  ;  the  Portuguese  power  received 
its  death  blow,  and  the  Christians  of  St.  Thomas  once 
more  began  to  breathe  the  air  of  civil  and  religious 
freedom.  The  conquerors,  whose  experience  in  their 
native  land  had  taught  them  to  dread  the  presence  of 
the  Romish  priests,  insisted  on  the  immediate  de- 
parture of  all  the  Jesuits  and  Carmelites  from  Malabar. 
Bishop  Joseph,  thus  compelled  to  depart,  consecrated 
a  Cattanar, named  Alexander, to  act  as  Vicar- Apostolic 
during  his  absence.  The  new  Prelate  (the  first  native 
Indian  Bishop)  was  protected  by  the  Dutch  com- 
mander, whose  mind  was  strongly  prejudiced  against 
the  Archdeacon.  Bishop  Alexander,  who  persuaded 
forty-five  of  the  Syrian  Churches  to  return  to  the 
Communion  of  Rome,  ruled  the  diocese  till  1676 
when  he  was  succeeded,  according  to  one  report,  by  a 
Raphael  Figuredo ;  according  to  another  by  Dom 
Diego,  as  Archbishop  of  Cranganor. 

Our  readers  must  not  forget,  amid  this  confusion 
and   strife,   the   existence   of   that   body   of    Syrian 


280    Syrian  Christians  in  Seventeenth  Century. 

Christians  who  were  struggling  to  consolidate  their 
newly- won  freedom  under  Archdeacon,  or,  as  we 
perhaps  should  call  him,  Mar-Thomas.  We  learn 
that  about  the  year  1665,  Gregorius,  Bishop  of  Jeru- 
salem, arrived  at  Malabar,  and  consecrated  Archdeacon 
Thomas  to  be  the  Metropolitan  of  what  remained  of 
the  Syrian  Church.  And,  it  is  stated,  that  this  was 
the  occasion  on  which  the  Jacobite  liturgies  and 
ritual  were  adopted,  instead  of  the  Nestorian  in  use 
before  the  Synod  of  Diamper.  From  this  date  the 
Syrian  Christians  have  been  a  sadly  divided  Church, 
some  following  Rome,  acknowledging  one  of  three 
prelates  at  Cranganor,  Verapole,  or  Quilon,  but  all 
called  by  the  common  term  Romo-Syrians.  The 
remainder,  that  is,  those  that  preserved  their  ecclesias- 
tical independence,  are,  of  course,  stigmatised  by  their 
foes  as  schismatics,  heretics,  Jacobites,  or  Nestorians, 
but  are  generally  known  as  the  Christians  of  St. 
Thomas,  the  Church  of  Malabar,  or  simply  as  the 
Syrian  Christians.  On  the  death  of  Mar-Thomas,  in 
1678,  Mar- Andrew  succeeded,  and  governed  the 
diocese  till  1685.  From  that  period  till  the  close  of 
the  century,  there  is  a  dreary  record  of  petty  strife 
and  competition  for  the  bishopric,  with  all  the  pain- 
ful discussions  which  invariably  accompany  such  un- 
seemly struggles.  As  we  have  already  observed,  there 
is  nothing  in  the  history  of  the  Church  of  the  Serra  in 
the  least  calculated  to  interest  the  general  reader. 


Syrian  Christians  in  Seventeenth  Century.    281 

Still,  for  the  sake  of  continuity,  we  shall  be  obliged  to 
give  a  brief  summary  of  the  Church's  vicissitudes 
during  the  XVIIIth  Century. 


CHAPTER    V. 

SYRIAN   CHRISTIANS   IN   THE   XVIIIth     CENTURY. 

"  We  are  already  debtors  to  that  ancient  people,  the  Syrian  Christ- 
ians. By  their  long  and  energetic  defence  of  pure  doctrine  against  anti- 
Christian  error,  they  are  entitled  to  the  gratitude  and  thanks  of  the  rest 
of  the  Christian  world.  Their  Scriptures,  their  doctrine,  their  language, 
ln  short  their  very  existence,  all  add  something  to  the  evidence  of  the 
truth  of  Christianity." — BUCHANAN. 

DURING  the  century  which  we  have  just  sketched  in 
relation  to  the  small  but  interesting  Church  of  the 
Serra,  great  events  had  been  taking  place  all  over 
India.  The  East  India  Company  had  secured  their 
first  and  second  charters  and  laid  the  foundation-stone 
of  their  colossal  empire.  The  Dutch,1  entering  the 
Indian  Ocean  as  modest  traders,  had  succeeded  in 
dispossessing  the  Portuguese  of  their  richest  settle- 
ments, leaving  them  but  a  shadow  of  their  once 
splendid  dominions.  The  French,  eager  to  share  the 
glories  which  the  "  wealth  of  Ormuz  and  of  Ind " 
promised  to  the  adventurer  of  every  grade  had  se- 
cured the  Carnatic.  These  three  powers  were 

1   "  NiehofFs  Voyages,''  Valentyn's  "History,"  Baldaens's  "Descrip- 
ion  of  Malabar,"  Hough,  p.  52. 


Syrian  Christians  in  Eighteenth  Century.     283 

engaged,  as  every  student  of  history  knows,  in 
perpetual  intrigues,  diplomatic  contests,  and  open 
war  with  each  other,  and  with  the  native  princes. 
There  was,  therefore,  but  little  time  or  thought  to 
spend  on  missionary  enterprise,  and  but  little  taste 
or  talent  in  soldiers,  merchants,  or  buccaneers,  to 
record  conversions  among  the  heathen,  even  had  such 
existed.1  Nay,  more,  there  is  but  too  much  proof  that 
the  lives  which  Europeans  led,  when  freed  from  the 
restraints  of  Rome,  were  calculated  rather  to  impede 
than  to  promote  the  spread  of  Christianity  and 
civilisation  amongst  the  surrounding  tribes  of 
Hindostan.2 

These  great  events,  occurring  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  Malabar  Church,  affected  its  fate  in- 
directly, and  often  directly  ;  and  we  shall  frequently 
have  to  show  in  our  chronological  summary,  for  it  can 
be  little  else,  how  the  Portuguese  influence  still  continued 
to  operate,  modified  as  it  often  was  by  the  interference 
of  its  European  rivals.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
XVIIIth  Century  we  find  one  Didacus  abdicating  the 

1  "  They  had  no  grand  thoughts  of  the  diffusion  of  civilisation  and 
the  propagation  of  Christianity.     The  conversion  of  the  Moors  or  the 
Gentoos  was  assuredly  no  part  of  their  design." — Kaye's  "  Christianity," 
p.  38. 

2  "  His  doings  on  those  far  off  shores  were  unknown  to  his  country- 
men in  England  ;  perchance  there  may  have  been  a  parent  or  a  brother, 
or  a  friend  in  whose  eyes  the  adventurer  might  desire   to  wear  a  fair 
aspect  ;    but  in  India  he  was  far  beyond  observation  as  though   he 

welt  in  another  planet." — Kaye's  "Christianity,"  p.  45. 


284    Syrian  Christians  in  Eighteenth  Century. 

Romish  Bishopric  of  the  native  Christians  in  favour  of 
John  Ribeiro,  a  Jesuit.  This  gleam  of  triumph  for  the 
Order  would  have  been  still  more  evanescent  than*  it 
was,  but  for  the  fact  that  the  talents  of  the  Prelate 
were  of  use  to  the  Rajah  of  Calicut,  and  a  few  other 
neighbouring  chiefs.  Between  1707  and  1715  the 
Christians  of  St.  Thomas  seemed  to  have  been 
governed  by  two  Bishops — Mar-Thomas,  a  Monophy- 
site,  ruling  over  the  southern  portion  of  the  diocese, 
with  but  twenty-two  churches  ;  the  other,  Mar-Gabriel, 
a  Nestorian,  presiding  over  the  north.  These  two  were 
rivals  in  doctrine  and  office,  and,  of  course,  at  open 
war.  Into  all  the  petty  details  we  dare  not  enter,  but 
refer  our  reader  to  authorities  that  will  give  ample 
scope  to  his  investigations.1 

The  line  of  Romish  Prelates  seems  to  have  termin- 
ated about  the  year  1721,  when  Ribeiro,  Bishop  of 
Cranganor  died.2  Still,  the  Bishops  of  Cochin  and 
Verapoli  exercised  their  functions,  though  in  utter 
estrangement  from  each  other.  The  Syrian  Christians, 
about  the  year  1720,  were  equally  divided,  $0,000 
acknowledging  Rome,  and  as  many  adhering  faith- 
fully to  their  native  pastors.  In  1727  an  important 
event  occurred  in  the  history  of  their  Church,  pro- 
duced by  the  following  causes  : — As  far  back  as  1705 

1  "Lettres  Edifiantes"  (Dowzieme  Recueil),  p.  383.  La  Croze,  p.  420. 
Mosheim.  "Eccl.  Hist."  Cent.  VI., Part  II., Chap.  V.  Day's  "  Land  of 
the  Permauls,"  p.  246.  Asseman,  Tom.  III.,  Part  II.,  p.  464. 

-  Raulin,  "  De  Ind.  Orient.  Dio.  Dissert,"  V.,  p.  449. 


Syrian  Christians  in  Eighteenth   Century.     285 

the  Danes  had  formed  a  mission  at  Tranqucbar,1  on 
the  Eastern  coast,  under  the  sanction  of  Frederick 
IV.,2  and  in  1709  the  S.P.G.  (established  eight  years 
before)  sent  its  first  pecuniary  contribution  of  twenty 
pounds  towards  the  support  of  missionary  efforts  in 
the  East.  Soon  afterwards,  this  English  Society 
suggested  to  the  Danish  Mission  the  possibility  of 
effecting  a  union  with  the  independent  portion  of  the 
Syrian  Church,  with  the  hope  of  being  able  to  make 
it  a  nursery  of  missionaries  for  the  conversion  of 
India.  The  Danes  immediately  wrote  to  the  Dutch 
Chaplain  at  Cochin,  who,  however,  gave  no  encour- 
agement to  the  project,  declaring  that  the  education 
and  habits  of  the  Cattanars  wholly  unfitted  them  for 
missionary  life.  Undeterred  by  this  repulse,  the 
zealous  Danes  wrote,  in  1/27,  a  friendly  letter  to  Mar- 
Thomas,  expressing  their  desire  to  co-operate  with 
the  Syrian  Churches,  and  begging  him  to  state, 
without  reserve,  his  opinion  as  to  the  best  method  of 
improving  and  strengthening  his  own  Church,  so  as  to 
make  it  a  centre  from  which  the  Gospel  might  be 
spread  amongst  the  surrounding  nations.  The  Pre- 
late's answer  came  next  year,  and  afforded  no  satis- 
factory solution  of  the  question  ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
seemed  to  consider  the  Romish  usurpation  in  Malabar 

1  In  the  North  of  Tanjore. 

2  Hough's  "Christianity,"  Vol.    II.,  p.  390.      Kaye's  "Christianity 
India,"  p.  66. 


286    Syrian  Christians  in  Eighteenth  Century. 

and  the  unhappy  divisions  amongst  the  Syrians 
themselves  as  sufficient  excuses  for  taking  no  action 
in  the  matter.  On  the  death  of  this  Prelate,  in  1729, 
his  nephew,  of  the  same  name,  succeeded  ;  and  we 
read  that  he  almost  immediately  charged  the  other 
Syrian  Bishop  (Mar-Gabriel)  with  heresy,  and 
appealed  to  the  Dutch  Governor  of  Cochin,  requesting 
his  interposition.  The  Dutch  Chaplain  wrote  to  both 
the  Prelates  offering  to  act  as  mediator  ;  but  as  each 
believed  himself  right,  the  intercession  failed.  In 
1730,  Mar-Gabriel  died,  after  a  residence  of  more  than 
twenty  years  in  Malabar  ;  but  though  a  stranger 
(from  Jerusalem),  he  appears  to  have  so  identified 
himself  with  every  petty  dispute,  and  to  have  so 
completely  yielded  to  Roman  influence,  as  to  have 
done  no  permanent  good  during  this  long  episcopate 
to  the  churches  under  his  care.  A  new  Syrian  Bishop 
was  immediately  sent  from  Babylon,  and  succeeded 
in  reaching  Surat,  but  the  rival  Jesuit  and  Carmelite 
Prelates,  forgetting  their  animosities  for  a  time,  com- 
bined to  intercept  this  dangerous  opponent  ;  and  they 
appear  to  have  succeeded,  but  by  what  means  there  is 
no  evidence  to  show.  Their  reciprocal  anathemas 
were  then  resumed  with  as  much  heartiness  as  ever. 

The  Christian  Knowledge  Society's  reports  state 
that,  in  1732,  Cattanars  from  the  Serra  of  Malabar 
were  in  the  habit  of  performing  a  journey  of  six 
hundred  miles  across  the  peninsula  to  attend  as 


Syrian  Christians  in  Eighteenth  Century.     287 

pilgrims  at  the  great  festivals  held  at  St.  Thome,1 
near  Madras.  This  celebrated  shrine  has  been 
already  noticed  as  the  residence  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Bishop,  and  as  attracting  annually  crowds  of 
devotees  from  all  parts  of  India.  There  are  several 
churches,  of  which  the  most  remarkable  are  Notre 
Dame  Dumont  and  the  Resurrection.  The  former  is 
held  in  such  esteem  that,  when  the  Portuguese  ships 
first  perceive  it  on  approaching  land,  they  fire  a 
salute  in  its  honour.  Above  the  grand  altar  there  is 
a  Cross,  traditionally  reported  to  be  the  work  of  St. 
Thomas,  and  which  possesses  miraculous  powers, 
especially  in  healing  diseases.  Eight  days  before 
Christmas,  the  Portuguese  celebrate  with  much  solem- 
nity the  feast  which  they  call  the  expectation  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin.  During  this  festival,  the  grey  Cross 
changes  colour,  becoming  red,  brown,  and,  at  last,  a 
dazzling  white,  distilling  water  so  abundantly  that  it 
flows  over  the  altar.  This  prodigy  is  said  to  have 
been  witnessed  by  four  hundred  persons,  who  felt 
constrained  to  avow  that  it  bore  unmistakable  impress 
of  supernatural  power.2  Such  being  the  objects 

1  "  On  1'appelle  aussi  Meliapour,  ou,  pour  pnrler  les  Indiens,  Maila 
lxniram,c'est  a  dire  laville  des  paons." — "Choix  des  LettresEdifiantes," 
Tom.  IV.,  pp.  6,  68. 

2  "  Ce  prodige,  rapporte  par  des  missionaires  qui  en  ont  etc  deux 
fois  temoins.  est  d'  ailleurs  constate  par  le  temoignage  de  plus  de  quatre 
cents  personnes,  de  tout  age  et  de  tout  etat,  parmi  lesquelles  on  compte 
des  Anglais  Protestans  qui,  apres  avoir  examine,  avec  la   plus  severe 
attention,  si  ce  n'etait  point  la  quelque  prestige  employe  pour  surpendre 


288     Syrian  Christians  in  Eighteenth  Century. 

which  annually  attracted  Syrian  pilgrims  to  St. 
Thome,  no  doubt  can  exist  as  to  the  faith  which  these 
men  professed.  Indians  by  birth,  they  were  Roman- 
ists by  creed  ;  and  though  they  employed  Syriac  in 
the  service  of  the  Church,  they  hardly  possessed  suffi- 
cient knowledge  of  the  language  to  read  the  public 
prayers,  and  frequently  were  unable  to  explain  what 
they  had  recited. 

Between  the  years  1730  and  1750,  the  Danish 
Mission  at  Tranquebar  was  frequently  visited  by 
Cattanars  of  all  creeds  from  Cochin  and  Travancore. 
The  impression  which  these  priests  made  upon  the 
Danes  was  far  from  favourable.  They  seemed  to 
possess  little  or  no  theological  knowledge  ;  their 
literary  attainments  were  of  the  slenderest  character  ; 
their  whole  attention  seemed  to  be  devoted  to  con- 
troversies of  a  ritualistic  character  ;  and  their  preju- 
dices of  caste  were  so  strong  that  they  would  not  eat 
even  with  the  Christian  converts  at  Tranquebar.  One 
of  them  said,  that  though  he  admired  the  Danish 
missionaries  as  good  men,  he  objected  to  their  religion 
because  it  was  deficient  in  three  things,  viz.:  Fasting 
days,  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  and  the  adoration  of 
the  Virgin.  Nevertheless,  the  good  missionaries  tried 
to  take  the  most  charitable  views  of  their  fellow- 
la  credulite  des  peuples,  ont  etc  constraints  d'avouer  que  ce  prodige  ne 
pomait  etre  opere  par  aucun  moyen  natural,  et  que,  dans  toutes  ses 
circonstances,  il  porjait  les  caracteres  d'un  effet  surnaturel  et  divin." — 
"  Choix  des  Lettres  Edifiantes,"  Tom  IV.,  pp.  89  90. 


Syrian  Christians  in  Eighteenth  Century.      289 

Christians  ;  they  dwelt  upon  the  numerous  points  of 
agreement  between  the  Syrians  and  themselves,  and 
they  softened  as  much  as  possible  the  asperities 
produced  by  ritual  or  doctrinal  differences.  But  all 
in  vain.  Their  experience  agreed  with  that  of  Chap- 
lain Nicolai  at  Cochin.  They  concluded  that  the 
minds  of  these  Syrians  were  too  bigoted  to  admit  of 
any  reformation,  that  they  were  obstinately  attached 
to  their  ancient  traditions,  and  to  the  recently  intro- 
duced Romish  superstitions. 

After  this  failure,  no  further  attempt  seems  to  have 
been  made  for  many  years  ;  and  meantime  the  history 
of  the  Syrian  Church  is  shrouded  in  obscurity.  In 
1747,  a  Bishop  is  said  to  have  arrived  from  Babylon, 
and  three  years  later  several  Jacobites  came  from 
Antioch.  The  Maphrian  Basilius,  commissioned  by 
the  Patriarch  of  Antioch,  in  the  year  1750,  entered 
Travancore.  Furnished  with  crozier,  crucifix,  and 
ring,  he  intended  to  consecrate  Thomas  to  be  Metro- 
politan ;  but  a  dispute  arose ;  the  commissioner 
therefore  selecting  one  Cyril,  whose  learning  and 
general  religious  character  pointed  him  out  as  the 
more  suitable  person  for  this  dignity.  Nineteen  years 
of  incessant  dissension  followed  this  decision  ;  and  at 
last  order  was  restored  by  the  award  of  the  Rajah  in 
favour  of  the  native  Bishop,  Mar-Thomas,  who  suc- 
ceeded to  the  primacy  under  the  name  of  Mar- 
Dionysius. 


290     Syrian  Christians  in  Eighteenth  Century. 

In  1772,  new  discussions  arose,  in  which  Gregorius, 
Cyril,  and  others,  play  conspicuous  parts.  Cyril  soon 
afterwards  retired  ;  the  two  foreign  prelates  died  ; 
and  Mar-Dionysius  once  more  governed  in  peace. 
He  seems  to  have  been  in  every  respect  an  admirable 
man,  and  true  Christian.  His  government  was  firm, 
yet  gentle ;  he  did  his  utmost  to  promote  practical 
religion  amongst  the  poor  Syrians  ;  and  he  made 
every  effort  to  allay  the  ferment  of  theological  strife. 
He  lived  to  a  great  age,  and  was  visited,  in  1806,  by 
Dr.  Claudius  Buchanan,  who  has  left  us  an  interesting 
account  of  the  interview.  "  He  was  dressed,"  he  says, 
"  in  a  vestment  of  dark  red  silk  ;  a  golden  cross  hung 
from  his  neck,  and  his  venerable  beard  reached  below 
his  girdle.  Such,  thought  I,  was  the  appearance  of 
Chrysostom  in  the  fourth  century."  "  I  found  him," 
he  adds,  "  to  be  far  superior  in  general  learning  to  any 
of  his  clergy  whom  I  had  seen.  .  .  .  He  descanted 
with  great  satisfaction  on  the  hope  of  seeing  printed 
Syriac  Bibles  from  England,  and  said  they  would  be 
a  treasure  to  his  Church."  * 

Here  we  must  end  our  brief  resume  of  the  Syrian 
Church  in  the  eighteenth  century,  leaving  for  discus- 
sion, in  the  concluding  part  of  our  essay,  those 
portions  of  its  history  which  fill  above  sixty-five  years 
of  the  present  century. 

/ 

"  Christian  Researches,"  p.  105. 


BOOK   V. 


THE  PORTUGUESE  MISSIONS,  WITH 
SPECIAL  REFERENCE  TO  MODERN 
MISSIONARY  EFFORTS  IN  SOUTH 
INDIA. 


U    2 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE  FIRST  PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH    INDIA. 

"  The  experiment  has  been  made  now  for  upwards  of  a  century  by 
Protestant  missionaries  in  India,  and  with  a  measure  of  success  that 
warrants  the  inference  that  God  has  not  shut  against  His  people  the 
door  of  hope." — HOUGH. 

WE  propose  in  this,  the  concluding  book  of  our  Essay, 
to  lay  before  our  readers  a  brief,  but,  we  hope,  a 
distinct  outline  of  Modern  Missionary  Efforts  in 
Southern  India.  We  shall  attempt  to  show  how  the 
reformed  churches  inaugurated  their  missions  to  the 
nations  of  Hindostan  ;  how  the  Syrian  Christians  were 
affected  by  the  various  societies  ;  how  the  Romish 
Missions  gradually  died  out,  and  how  they  have  been 
revived.  And  we  shall  finish  our  work  by  submitting 
the  most  recent  accounts  of  the  actual  condition  of  the 
Malabar  Church,  with  a  few  suggestions  as  to  the  most 
promising  means  of  purifying  its  doctrine  and  ritual, 
contaminated  by  the  Portuguese,  and  receiving  it  into 
union  with  the  Reformed  Catholic  Church  of  England. 
It  would,  of  course,  be  foreign  to  our  purpose  to 
enter  upon  any  historical  sketch,  however  condensed, 


294    First  Protestant  Missions  in  South  India. 

of  the  early  English  settlements  in  India.  The 
achievements  of  Drake  and  Cavendish,  the  voyages 
of  Lancaster  and  Middleton,  the  conquests  and 
annexations  under  Clive,  Hastings,  Cornwallis,  Well- 
esley,  and  their  successors,  and  all  matters  of  ordinary 
history  must  be  studied  in  the  numerous  volumes 
which  record  the  origin  and  progress  of  our  Eastern 
Empire.  Our  business  is  to  treat  of  a  nobler  theme 
though  with  an  humbler  pen.  We  must,  therefore, 
assume  that  the  reader  is  already  in  possession  of  a 
sufficient  knowledge  of  the  history  of  India,  and  es- 
pecially of  the  South,  to  be  able  to  follow  our 
narrative  without  our  entering  into  such  explanations 
as  would  form  too  extensive  digressions  from  our 
main  subject. 

In  the  last  chapter,  reference  was  made  to  the 
Tranquebar  l  Mission,  founded  by  the  Danes  in  the 
year  1705.  The  two  pioneers  were  Ziegenbalg  and 
Plutscho,2  educated  at  Halle,  under  Professor 
Frank,  whose  greatest  pleasure  was  to  train  young 
men,  as  Dr.  Vaughan  does  in  our  own  day,  for  the 
work  of  the  ministry.  Their  theory  was  essentially 
different  from  that  of  the  Portuguese  missionaries.  The 

1  Tranquebar,  between  two  arms  of  the  Caveng  in  the  District  of 
Tanjore,    Diocese   of  Madras,    140  miles    S.S.W.  of  Madras.      Pop. 
20,000.     This  town  was  Danish  from  1621  to  1846,  when  it  was  ceded 
to  the  English.     The  Portuguese  Missions  had  a  church  there  from  a 
very  early  period. 

2  Dean  Pearson's  "Memoirs  of  Schwartz,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  14.   Niecamp's 
"  Histoire  de  Missions  Danoises,"  Tom.  I.   p.  4 


First  Protestant  Missions  in  South  India.    295 

/ 
young  Danes  had  sworn  no  allegiance  to  the  Pontiff, 

but  had  solemnly  dedicated  themselves  to  God.  They 
were  destitute  of  Papal  bulls  and  briefs,  but  they  car- 
ried the  Bible  in  their  hands,  their  heads,  and  their 
hearts.  They  put  no  faith  in  external  baptism  as  a 
mere  opus  operatum,  but  they  believed  in  it  as  one  of 
the  sacraments.  Firmly  resolved,  in  the  fervour  of 
youthful  enthusiasm,  to  do  and  suffer  all  things  for  the 
cause  of  Christ,  they  were  yet  entirely  free  from  any 
morbid  love  of  ostentatious  mortification  ;  and,  while 
ready  to  die,  if  necessary,  in  the  propagation  of  the 
faith,  they  felt  it  no  part  of  their  duty  to  seek  death 
for  the  glory  of  a  martyr's  crown.  In  one  respect 
they  pre-eminently  differed  from  some,  at  least,  of  the 
Roman  "  Missioners,"  for  they  were  thoroughly  con- 
scientious men,  acting  in  the  most  straightforward 
manner,  and,  therefore,  holding  in  abhorrence  the  policy 
of  Dei  Nobili  and  his  followers,  who  unscrupulously 
employed  disguises  and  forgeries  as  instrumentalities 
for  converting  the  heathen.  Landing  at  Tranquebar, 
they  met  with  a  cool  reception  from  their  cautious  and 
phlegmatic  countrymen,  who,  looking  on  the  enterprise 
from  a  commercial  platform,  ridiculed  the  young  men 
as  visionaries,  or  pitied  them  as  victims.  Unshaken 
in  their  resolve  by  this  welcome,  they  determined  to 
trust  in  God  and  use  means  to  ensure  success.  They 
saw  at  once  that  nothing  could  be  done  without  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  Tamil  (the  language  of  the 


296    First  Protestant  Missions  in  South  India. 

country),  and,  therefore,  without  dictionary,  grammar, 
or  Monshee,  they  sat  down  on  the  sand  with  the 
Hindoo  children  and  mastered  the  subject.  This 
gained,  they  had  still  to  face  the  apathy  of  the  Indian 
character,  the  bigotry  of  the  Brahmins,  the  hostility  of 
the  Romish  priests,  and,  above  all,  the  prejudice 
against  Christianity,  produced  by  the  scandalous  lives 
of  the  European  residents.1  In  spite  of  all  these 
obstacles,  they  made  way.  In  1707  they  baptised 
their  first  convert,  and  built  their  first  church.  Between 
1708  and  1711  the  New  Testament  was  translated 
into  Tamil,2  and,  at  a  later  period,  the  Hebrew 
Bible,  as  far  as  Ruth.  How  different  is  this  from  the 
methods  of  conversion  pursued  by  the  Portuguese 
missionaries,  who  relied  on  preaching  in  a  language 
which  the  natives  utterly  failed  to  understand,  and 
on  the  repetition  of  creeds  and  paternosters  which  the 
superstitious  heathen  were  apt  to  regard  as  incantations 
like  their  own.  The  Portuguese  never  dreamt  of  doing 
more  than  correcting  certain  alleged  errors  in  the 
Syrian  manuscripts  of  the  Cattanars  ;  but  it  was  no 
part  of  their  plan  to  diffuse  the  Scriptures  amongst  the 
people?  The  Danes,  on  the  contrary,  looked  upon 

1  Niecamp's  "  Histoire  des  Missions  Danoises,"  Tom.  I.,  p.  206. 
Kaye's  "  History  of  Christianity,"  p.  41. 

-  The  New  Testament  was  also  printed  in  Portuguese  bythe  S.P.C.K  , 
and  sent  out  to  Tranquebar  for  the  use  of  the  Mission — a  proof  of 
the  extent  of  the  Portuguese  population  in  this  district.  Pearson's 
"  Memoirs  of  Schwartz,"  p.  19. 

3  "Niecamp's  Hist.,"  Tom.  I.,  p.  214. 


First  Protestant  Missions  in  South  India.     297 

the  Church  and  the  Bible  as  the  two  great  pillars  of 
God's  truth  ;  and  while  not  neglecting  the  doctrines 
and  ceremonies  of  the  former,  they  felt  it  their  duty 
to  translate  the  Word  of  God  into  the  vulgar  tongue, 
to  employ  the  printing  press  as  a  means  of  cheap  and 
rapid  reproduction,  and  to  educate  the  young  in  a 
knowledge  of  the  sacred  volume.  The  experience  of 
more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  has  confirmed,  in 
a  remarkable  degree,  the  sagacity  of  the  two  students 
of  Halle,  in  devising  the  only  effectual  method  of 
converting  the  heathen. 

Ziegenbalg's  death,  in  1719,  left  the  Tranquebar 
Missions  to  the  charge  of  Griindler,  who  survived  him 
but  a  year.  Some  pleasant  intercourse  had  taken 
place  between  the  Danes  and  Mr.  Lewis,  the  English 
chaplain  at  Madras,1  who  wrote,  in  1712,  to  the 
Christian  Knowledge  Society  in  the  following  terms  : 
"The  Tranquebar  Mission  must  be  encouraged.  It 
is  the  first  attempt  the  Protestants  ever  made  in  that 
kind.  We  must  not  put  out  the  smoking  flax.  It 
would  give  our  adversaries  the  Papists,  who  boast  so 
much  of  their  congregations  De  Propaganda  Fide,  too 
much  cause  to  triumph  over  us."2  The  next  chaplain 
at  Madras  (Sterenson)  took  the  deepest  interest  in 
the  Danish  efforts,  assisted  them  with  money,  and 
wrote  an  interesting  account  of  a  visit  to  Tranquebar 

1  See  an  interesting  account  in  Pearson's  "  Memoirs,"  p.  18. 
-  Hough,  Vol.  III.     Kaye's  "Christianity,  p.  75. 


298     First  Protestant  Missions  in  South  India. 

in  1716.  Passing  over  several  eventful  years,  we  find 
the  Danish  Mission,  under  English  auspices,  extending 
itself  throughout  the  Presidency  of  Madras.  At  first 
success  was  small,  owing  to  their  cautious  and  con- 
scientions  system  of  conversion  ;  for,  as  we  have 
already  shown,  their  theory  did  not  contemplate  the 
possibility  of  baptising  the  battalions  of  nominal 
proselytes.  Still,  at  the  close  of  1756  (the  jubilee  of 
the  mission)  they  numbered  nearly  three  thousand 
disciples,  and  they  had  established  stations  at  Madras, 
Tanjore,1  Trichinopoly,  Negapatam,  and  other  towns. 
Nearly  half  a  cewtury  of  this  mission  (1750  to 
1798)  is  covered  by  the  life  of  Frederick  Schwartz,2 
one  of  the  greatest  heroes  of  the  missionary  cause  in 
the  East.  Like  Ziegenbalg,  he  was  a  graduate  of 
Halle  ;  but,  taught  by  his  predecessor's  experience,  he 
had  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  Tamil  before 
leaving  home.  He  was,  therefore,  able  to  preach  to 
the  natives  within  a  few  months  of  his  landing.  The 
name  of  Schwartz  is  always  associated  with  Tanjore, 
which  he  first  visited  in  1759,  and  where  his  inter- 
views with  the  Rajah3  read  almost  like  a  romance,  and, 
as  has  been  suggested,  would  afford  fine  scope  for  the 

1  Tanjore  Lat.  10°  47',  Long.  79°  127  ;  170  miles  S.E.  of  Madras. 
Pop.  40,000.  For  a  full  account  see  Niecamp's  "  Histoire  des  Mission 
Danoises,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  19,  and  McCulloch's  "  Geog.  Diet." 

'2  Pearson's  "  Life  of  Schwartz."  "  Life  of  Schwartz,"  published 
by  Religious  Tract  Society.  The  real  name  is  Schwartz,  but  he  allowed 
it  to  be  spelt  and  pronounced  Swartz,  as  it  was  found  to  be  easier. 

3  Pearson's  "Memoirs,"  Vol.  I  ,  p.  179. 


First  Protestant  Missions  in  South  India.    299 

genius  of  an  artist  great  in  the  expression  of  human 
character.1  In  1777,  while  Hyder  Ali  was  devastating 
the  Carnatic,  Schwartz  became  a  permanent  resident 
at  Tanjore ; 2  and  so  widely  diffused  was  the  fame  of 
his  virtue,  that  the  fierce  Rajah  of  Mysore  selected 
Scwhartz  as  the  only  one  with  whom  he  would  treat 
as  representative  of  England.  Though  his  mediation 
was  unsuccessful,  his  influence  was  not  diminished. 
Hyder3  issued  orders  that  the  Christian  missionary 
should  be  respected  ;  and,  after  the  peace  of  1784,  he 
was  no  less  conspicuous  for  his  administrative  ability 
than  for  his  devotion  to  the  great  duty  of  preaching 
the  Gospel.  His  friend,  the  Rajah  of  Tanjore,  was  so 
devoted  to  Schwartz,  that  he  appointed  him  the 
guardian  of  his  heir ;  and  though  there  is  no  proof 
that  Swajee  ever  openly  professed  Christianity,  it  is 
evident  that  the  lessons  of  his  guardian  had  sunk 
deep  into  his  heart,  and  had  produced,  not  only  a 
purity  of  life,  rare  in  Eastern  potentates,  but  that  still 
rarer  virtue,  toleration  for  other  forms  of  faith.  And 
not  only  had  the  German  missionary  succeeded  in 
winning  the  heart  of  the  enthusiastic  Rajah,  but  he 
had  accomplished  the  far  more  difficult  task  of  rooting 
out  the  prejudices  of  East  India  directors,  and  enlist- 
ing them  on  the  side  of  religion.  When  he  died  4 

1  Kaye's  "  Christianity,"  p.  79. 

2  Pearson's  "  Memoirs,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  289. 

3  Ib.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  318.' 

4  Pearson's  "Memoirs,"  Vol.  IT.,  p.  310.    Kaye's  "Christ.,"  p.  83. 


300    First  Protestant  Missions  in  South  India. 

these  merchant  princes,  who,  a  few  years  before,  would 
have  sneered  at  him  as  a  visionary,  now  ordered 
Bacon  and  Flaxman  to  sculpture  two  marble  statues, 
one  for  the  great  church  at  Madras,  the  other  for  the 
Mission  Church  at  Tanjore.  Sermons  were  preached 
in  his  honour,  and  great  companies  and  religious 
societies  vied  with  each  other  in  efforts  to  perpetuate 
the  memory  of  such  transcendent  worth,  and  to 
express  their  sense  of  the  benefit  which  Christianity 
and  civilisation  had  derived  from  his  exertions. 

Though  our  attention  has  been  fixed  on  the  grand 
central  figure  of  Frederick  Schwartz,  it  must  not  be 
supposed  that  he  was  the  only  one  in  the  missionary 
picture  Tanjore,  no  doubt,  was  the  focus  during  the 
latter  half  of  the  century,  as  Tranquebar  had  been 
during  the  former.  From  these  points,  lines  of  light 
were  continually  penetrating  the  surrounding  gloom. 
Gericke,  Kohloff,  and  many  others1  advanced  into 
Trichinopoly  to  the  north,  into  Madura,  Tinnevelly,2 
and  even  as  far  as  Travancore,  each  mission  becoming 
in  turn  the  centre  of  others.  In  fact,  the  progress  of 
the  first  Protestant  Missions  finds  a  fitting  illustration 


5 


in    that    magnificent     Indian    tree   which,   beginning 

1  Schultz,    Dahl,   Keistenmacher,   Bosse,   Pressier,    Walther,   Kier- 
nander,  Fabricius,  Zegler,  were  the  chief  missionaries  from  Halle  and 
Copenhagen.     See  Pearson's  "  Memoirs,"  pp.  25,  27,  29,  and  39;  also 
Niecamp's  "  Hist.,"  fassim. 

2  Tinnevelly,  to  the  S.W.  of  Madura  and  E.  of  Travancore.     Area 
5590  square  miles,  pop.  900,000.     Tinnevelly  is  the  chief  town. 


First  Protestant  Missions  in  South  Inaia.     301 

from  a  single  insignificant  stem,  throws  out  its  wide- 
spreading  branches  ;  and  as  each  droops  to  the  earth 
it  strikes  into  the  soil,  and  repeats  the  example  of  its 
parent  till  the  plain  is  arched  with  its  glorious  foliage, 
and  nations  seek  shelter  beneath  its  shade.  "  Quot 
rami  tot,  arbores." 


CHAPTER    II. 

ENGLISH    MISSIONS   TO   THE    SYRIANS. 
I8o6-l8l6. 

"  To  unite  them  to  the  Church  of  England  would  be,  in  my  opinion, 
a  most  noble  work ;  and  it  is  most  devoutly  to  be  wished  that  those 
who  have  been  driven  into  the  Roman  pale,  might  be  recalled  to  their 
ancient  Church." — -R.  H.  KERR. 

WE  are  not  writing  the  history  of  all  missionary  efforts 
to  convert  the  heathen  of  India  ;  nor  are  we  directing 
our  attention  to  the  operations  of  the  various  societies 
throughout  India.  Our  subject,  though  extensive 
enough  for  an  Essay  such  as  this,  is  limited  to  a 
narrower  field  ;  and  we  must,  therefore,  pass  over  the 
new  era  of  Protestant  Missions  with  which  the 
XIXth  Century  opened.  The  labours  of  Carey,  Ward, 
and  Marshman,  at  Seraripore,  in  translating  the 
Scriptures  ; l  the  efforts  of  the  London  Missionary 
Society,  beginning  in  1798  at  Chinsurah,  on  the 
Hooghly,  and  the  extensive  organisations  of  the  great 

1  "  From  the  year  1800  to  the  present  date,  the  Bible  has  been  trans- 
lated into  forty-seven  dialects  of  India,  Ceylon,  Malacca  Burmah, 
Java,  and  China  ;  while  above  a  million  of  copies  have  issued  from  the 
press  at  Calcutta  in  the  principal  languages  of  Northern  India." — 
Trevor's  "  India,"  p.  316. 


English  Missions  to  the  Syrians.         303 

Missionary  Societies  of  England,  America,  and  the 
Continent,  will  only  incidentally  be  noticed  as  they 
bear  upon  our  subject.  For  the  same  reason  the 
honoured  names  of  Brown,  Martyn,  Corrie,  Thomason, 
Duff,  Middleton,  Heber,  Wilson,  Hough,  and  many 
others  must  be  passed  over. 

Returning  to  the  Malabar  coast,  we  find  that  after 
the  failure  of  the  Danish  missionaries,  nothing  was 
done  in  relation  to  the  Syrian  Churches  till  the  year 
1806.  In  point  of  fact,  the  various  agencies  for  the 
conversion  of  the  natives  were  so  intent  upon  their 
new  and  interesting  work,  that  they  seemed  to  forget 
the  existence  of  the  ancient  Church  of  India,  and  to 
feel  it  no  affair  of  theirs  to  purify  her  from  the  errors 
which  she  had  been  forced  to  adopt  by  her  Portuguese 
oppressors.  And,  if  this  apathy  influenced  men  who 
were  devoting  their  lives  to  the  spread  of  Christianity, 
one  need  not  feel  surprised  at  the  slight  interest  which 
the  existence  of  this  early  Church  excited  in  the 
minds  of  the  politicians  and  merchants  of  our  Indian 
Empire.  Still,  there  were  some  distinguished  excep- 
tions, and  one  of  these,  Lord  William  Bentinck, 
Governor  of  Madras,  addressed  a  letter  to  Dr.  R.  H. 
Kerr,  then  Senior  Chaplain  of  Fort  St.  George,  to 
make  enquiries  as  to  the  state  of  the  native  Christians 
in  Cochin  and  Travancore.  Dr.  Kerr's  official  report1 

1  This  document  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  Buchanan's  "  Christian 
Researches."  Ed.,  1812. 


304          English  Missions  to  the  Syrians. 

is  dated  3rd  November,  1 806  ;  and  although  it  must 
be  admitted  that  it  is  hardly  minute  enough  to  give 
us  an  exact  idea  ot  the  position  of  the  Syrian 
Christians  at  that  date,  as  to  churches,  divisions, 
ritual,  doctrine,  members,  &c.,  still  it  possesses  a 
certain  interest  as  showing  that  the  Church  of  England 
was  desirous  of  effecting  a  union  with  a  body  of 
Christians  whose  creed  was,  in  all  essentials,  nearly 
identical  with  her  own.  His  testimony,  moreover, 
is  important  as  to  the  religious  and  moral  character  of 
these  mountaineers,  of  which  his  acquaintance  with 
the  ordinary  Indian  type  would  make  him  a  com- 
petent judge.  He  says :  "  The  character  of  these 
people  is  marked  by  striking  superiority  over  the 
heathens  in  every  moral  excellence,  and  they  are  re- 
markable for  their  veracity  and  plain  dealing.  They 
are  extremely  attentive  to  their  religious  duties,  and 
abide  by  the  decision  of  their  Metropolitan  in  all  cases, 
whether  in  temporal  or  spiritual  affairs."  He  ex- 
presses his  conviction  as  to  the  truth  of  the  tradition 
that  their  first  head  was  the  Apostle  St.  Thomas,  and 
adds,  "  There  can  be  no  doubt  whatever  that  the  St. 
Thome  Christians  settled  on  the  Malabar  coast  at  a 
very  early  period,  whence  they  spread  to  St.  Thomas's 
Mount,  near  Madras."  The  divisions  of  the  Malabar 
Church  at  this  period  are  thus  reported.1  First  the 
St.  TJwme  or  Jacobite  Christians,  preserving  their 

1  Dr.  Kerr's  Report  in  "  Christian  Researches,"  p.  147. 


English  Missions  to  the  Synans.         305 

original  independence,  in  consequence  of  the  revolt  of 
1.663,  a°d  enjoying  the  use  of  the  Syriac  language  in 
the  Church  Service.  They  do  not  permit  the  use  of 
images  as  objects  of  adoration,  but  every  Church  con- 
tains a  statue  of  the  Virgin  Mary  with  the  Infant 
Jesus  in  her  arms.  The  Metropolitan  at  this  time  was 
Mar-Dionysius,  of  whom  we  have  already  spoken, 
and  who  will  again  be  introduced.  This  division  con- 
tained, in  1806,  fifty-five  churches,  and  23,000  people, 
but  so  imperfect  were  the  statistics  that  another  re- 
port raises  the  number  to  /opoo.1  The  second 
division  Dr.  Kerr  calls  the  Syrian  Roman  Catholics, 
who  were  forced  to  join  Rome  at  Diamper.  They  are 
distinguished  from  their  Syrian  brethren  by  being 
under  Papal  government,  and  from  the  Latin  Roman 
Catholics  by  employing  the  Syriac  language  in  Divine 
Service,  in  virtue  of  a  dispensation  from  the  Pope. 
They  are  ecclesiastically  subject  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Cranganor  and  the  Bishop  of  Verapoli.  They  wear 
white  dresses,  while  the  Latin  priests  have  black. 
This  body  was  said  to  possess  86  parishes,  400  priests, 
and  90,000  people.  And  if  Dr.  Kerr's  information, 
gleaned  on  the  spot,  can  be  trusted,  these  so-called 
Christians  were  still  groaning  under  the  weight  of  the 
burden,  to  which  we  have  already  referred,  of  com- 
bined Roman  and  Pagan  superstitions,  using  a 
"  swamy "  coach  or  car,  like  the  heathens,  on  their 

1  Niecamp's  "  Hist.,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  64. 

X 


306         English  Missions  to  the  Syrians. 

grand  festivals.  This  is  a  striking  illustration  of  the 
influence  which  the  Portuguese  Missions  of  the 
XVIth  Century  still  continue  to  exercise  over  the 
Syrian  Christians  in  the  XIXth.  The  third  body  is  the 
Latin  Roman  Catholics,  then  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  local  Archbishops  of  Cranganor  and  Cochin, 
but  under  the  Primacy  of  the  Archbishop  of  Goa. 
These  Prelates  were  nominated  by  the  Sovereign  of 
Portugal,  and  sanctioned  by  the  Pope.  There  were 
only  seven  or  eight  European  priests,  but  a  great 
number  of  natives,  whose  education  appeared  ex- 
tremely imperfect,  many  of  them,  indeed,  being  hardly 
able  to  read  the  Service.  The  total  population  of 
Latin  Roman  Catholic  Christians,  Portuguese  and 
natives,  using  the  Latin  language,  was  estimated  at 
35,000.  These  dry  statistics  contain  the  essence  of 
Dr.  Kerr's  report,  and  we  shall  now  turn  to  one  of  a 
more  interesting  character. 

Dr.  Claudius  Buchanan1  says,  in  his  interesting 
"  Christian  Researches,"  that  "  Two  centuries  had 
elapsed  without  any  particular  information' concerning 
the  Syrian  Christians  in  the  interior  of  India.  It  was 

1  Dr.  Buchanan,  the  son  of  a  vScottish  schoolmaster,  was  born  at 
Cambuslang,  near  Glasgow,  in  1766,  educated  first  at  the  University  of 
Glasgow,  and  sent  by  Henry  Thornton  to  Cambridge,  in  1791.  Under 
the  influence  of  Simeon  his  mind  was  directed  to  Indian  labours,  and 
in  1797  he  landed  at  Calcutta.  In  1806  he  visited  the  Malabar  coast, 
made  many  interesting  discoveries,  obtained  valuable  Syriac  MSS. ,  and, 
returning  to  England,  printed  the  first  version  of  the  Scriptures  in  that 
language.  He  died  at  Broxbourne  in  1815. 


English  Missions  to  the  Syrians.         307 

doubted  by  many  whether  they  existed  at  all  ;  but  if 
they  did  exist,  it  was  thought  probable  that  they 
must  possess  some  valuable  monuments  of  Christian 
antiquity.  The  author  conceived  the  design  of  visiting 
them  in  his  tour  through  Hindostan.  He  presented  a 
short  memoir  on  the  subject,  in  1805,  to  Marquis 
Wellesley,  then  Governor-General  of  India,  who  was 
pleased  to  give  orders  that  every  facility  should  be 
afforded  to  him  in  the  prosecution  of  his  enquiries." l 
The  principal  objects  of  his  tour  were  to  investigate 
the  literature  and  history  of  this  ancient  Church,  and 
to  collect  MSS.  ;  also  to  employ  the  most  intelligent  of 
their  priests  as  translators  of  the  Bible  into  the 
languages  of  Southern  India,  and  as  missionaries  to 
preach  to  their  fellow-countrymen,  both  Christians  and 
pagans.  In  May,  1806,  he  started  for  the  south,  but 
it  was  October  before  he  reached  Travancore,2  where 
he  was  kindly  received  at  the  Palace  of  Trevandrum. 
Col.  Macaulay  obtained  an  audience  from  the  Rajah, 
who  was  very  anxious  to  know  the  precise  purpose 
of  his  visit.  "  When  I  told  the  Rajah  that  the  Syrian 
Christians  were  supposed  to  be  of  the  same  religion 
with  the  English,  he  said  he  thought  that  could  not 
be  the  case,  else  he  must  have  heard  of  it  before ;  if, 
however,  it  was  so,  he  considered  my  desire  to  visit 
them  as  being  very  reasonable.  He  said  he  would 

1  "  Christian  Researches,"  Cambridge,  1811,  p.  91. 

2  Pearson's  "Memoirs,"  Philad.,  1817,  p.  313. 

X    2 


308         English  Missions  to  the  Syrians. 

afford  me  every  facility  for  my  journey,  and  he  directed 
his  Dewan  to  furnish  me  with  guides."  l  From  Trav- 
ancore  he  proceeded,  early  in  November,  to  Mavely- 
car,'2  and  was  much  struck  by  the  grandeur  of  the 
mountain  scenery  in  this  sequestered  region  of  India, 
by  the  simple  beauty  of  the  churches,  surrounded  by 
woods,  and  by  one  circumstance,  which  we  quote  in 
his  own  words  :  "In  approaching  a  town  in  the 
evening  I  once  heard  the  sound  of  the  bells  among 
the  hills  ;  a  circumstance  which  made  me  forget  for  a 
moment  that  I  was  in  Hindostan,  and  reminded  me 
of  another  country." 

The  first  Syrian  church  Dr.  Buchanan  saw  was  at 
Mavelycar,  but  the  Syrians  here  are  close  to  the 
Romish  Christians,  and  had  been  often  visited  by 
Portuguese  and  other  Romish  emissaries.  The  Cat- 
tanars  had  heard  of  the  English,  but  so  little  did  they 
know  of  the  outer  world,  that  they  thought  the 
English  Church  was  under  the  Pope.  They  naturally 
looked  on  their  new  clerical  visitor  with  suspicion, 
especially  when  he  entered  on  a  discussion  as  to  the 
original  language  of  the  four  Gospels,  which  they,  of 
course,  maintained  to  be  Syriac.  After  a  time  their 
suspicions  subsided,  they  received  him  as  a  friend,  and 
appointed  one  of  their  number  to  accompany  him  to  the 

1  Letter  dated  "  Palace  of  Travancore,  9th  Oct.   1806." — "  Christian 
Researches,''  p.  93. 
-  Pearson's  "  Memoirs."  p.  319. 


English  Missions  to  the  Syrians.         309 

churches  of  the  interior.     At  Chinganoor  l  he  met  one 
of  the  Cattanars,  or  genuine  Syrian  clergy,  dressed  in  a 
white  loose  vestment,  a  little  like  a  surplice,  with  a  cap 
of  red  silk.    The  Englishman  saluted  him,  to  his  great 
surprise,  in    Syriac,  "  Peace    be   unto   you,"  and   he 
answered,  "  The  God  of  peace  be  with  you."    Turning 
to  the  guides,  the  Syrian  asked  them,  in  Malayalim, 
who  the  stranger  was,  and  then  accompanied  him  to 
the  door  of  the  church,  where  he  was  received  by  three 
Casheeshas,  similarly  vested.     The  eldest  was  a  very 
intelligent  man,  with  a  long  white  beard,  reverend 
and  courteous  in  his  demeanour.     The  people  of  the 
neighbouring  villages  flocked  around,  men  and  women, 
the  presence  of  the  latter  proving  that  the  country  was 
a  Christian  one.    Still,  though  the  whole  bearing  of  the 
villagers  indicated  intelligence  and  a  certain  amount 
of  moral  culture,  there  were   symptoms  of  poverty, 
depression,  and  fallen  greatness.     Dr.  Buchanan  said 
to  the  senior  priest,  "  You  appear  to  me  like  a  people 
who  have  known  better  days."     "It  is  even  so,"  said 
he.     "We  are  in  a  degenerate  state,  compared  with 
our  forefathers.     About  three  hundred  years  ago  an 
enemy  came  from  the  west  bearing  the  name  of  Christ, 
but  armed  with  the  Inquisition,  and  compelled  us  to 
seek  the  protection  of  the  native  princes.     And  the 
native  princes  have  kept  us  in  a  state  of  depression 

1  Pearson's  "  Memoirs,"  p.  322, 


310         English  Missions  to  the  Syrians. 

ever  since.  They,  indeed,  recognise  our  ancient  personal 
privileges,  for  we  rank  in  general  next  to  the  Nairs, 
the  nobility  of  the  country  ;  but  they  have  encroached 
by  degrees  on  our  property,  till  we  have  been  reduced 
to  the  humble  state  in  which  you  find  us.  The  glory 
of  our  Church  has  passed  away ;  but  we  hope  your 
nation  will  revive  it  again."  Then  followed  an  inter- 
esting conversation,  during  which  the  Syrian  said 
that  they  had  preserved  the  Bible,  that  the  Hindoo 
princes  had  never  touched  their  liberty  of  conscience, 
that  they  had  occasionally  made  converts,  but  that 
it  was  not  now  creditable  to  become  a  Christian. 
He  lamented  that  their  knowledge  of  the  Bible 
was  very  limited,  that  they  had  few  copies,  and  that, 
as  none  were  printed,  the  writing  out  was  enormous 
work,  with  little  or  no  profit.  On  this  Dr.  Buchanan 
produced  a  printed  copy  of  the  Syriac  New  Testa- 
ment. Nothing  could  exceed  their  astonishment. 
Each  eagerly  seized  it  in  turn,  and  began  to  read  with 
great  fluency.  They  all  professed  an  earnest  desire 
to  have  the  whole  Bible  printed  in  Syriac,  for,  added 
the  principal  speaker,  "Our  Church  languishes  for  want 
of  the  Scriptures."  They  then  discussed  the  practica- 
bility of  preparing  a  translation  in  the  Malayalim,  or 
Malabar,  the  language  of  the  people,  and  a  most 
interesting  conversation  closed  by  the  Englishman's 
giving,  at  their  request  an  account  of  the  Reformation 


English  Missions  to  the  Syrians.         311 

while  they  in  return  narrated  the  recent  history  of 
their  own  Church.1 

Dr.  Buchanan  attended  Divine  Service,  and  found 
the  liturgy  nearly  the  same  as  that  formerly  used  at 
Antioch.  During  the  prayers,  there  were  intervals  of 
silence  for  private  devotion.  Incense  was  employed, 
and  several  ceremonies  were  noticed  closely  resem- 
bling those  of  the  Greek  Church.  There  was  little  or 
no  preaching  ;  but  the  spirit  of  the  Church  had  been 
preserved  by  the  Bible,  and  by  a  Scriptural  liturgy.2 
Still,  there  was  too  much  formality  and  coldness  in 
the  service  ;  and  the  whole  tone  of  the  Syrian  worship 
indicated  a  want  of  spiritual  life. 

On  the  24th  of  November,  the  English  missionary 
had  a  kind  reception  from  the  Indian  Bishop  at  his 
residence  of  Candenad — the  Mar-Dionysius,  of  whom 
we  have  already  spoken.3  Between  fifty  and  sixty 
priests  had  been  assembled  to  meet  the  stranger  at 
the  humble  episcopal  palace.  "  You  have  come," 
said  the  prelate,  "  to  visit  a  declining  Church.  I  am 
now  an  old  man,  but  the  hopes  of  its  seeing  better 
days  cheer  my  old  age,  though  I  may  not  live  to  see 
them."  In  reply  to  Dr.  Buchanan's  proposal  to  trans- 

1  For  a  full  account  of  this  interview,  see  Dr.  Buchanan's  letter  of 
roth  November,  1806. 

2  This   was   Dr.    Buchanan's   impression,    but,  as   the   reader  will 
observe  later,  there  are  expressions  which  seem  scarcely  "Scriptural" 
in  several  of  the  liturgies.        See  "Asseman.  Bil.  Orient.,"  Hough's 
"  Hist.,"  Vol.  V.,  and  Howard's  "Syrian  Christians." 

3  Pearson's  "  Memoirs,"  p.  328. 


3 1 2          English  Missions  to  the  Syrians. 

late  and  print  the  Bible,  Dionysius  said  :  "  I  have 
already  fully  considered  the  subject,  and  have  deter- 
mined to  superintend  the  work  myself,  and  to  call  the 
most  learned  clergy  to  my  aid.  It  is  a  work  which 
will  illuminate  these  dark  regions,  and  God  will  give 
it  His  blessing."  The  Englishman  was  delighted  with 
this  declaration,  for  he  had  ascertained  that  there 
were  upwards  of  200,000  Christians  in  the  south  of 
India,  besides  the  Syrians  who  speak  Malabar. 

Next  day  there  was  another  important  conversation 
on  the  possibility  of  union  with  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land. The  influence  of  the  original  Portuguese  Missions, 
supported  by  constant  accessions  from  France  and  Italy, 
was  still  so  powerfully  felt  by  the  promoters  of  modern 
efforts  that  it  seemed  almost  impossible  to  arrest  the 
march  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  It  was,  therefore,  an 
object  of  the  greatest  consequence  to  secure  the  hearty 
co-operation  of  the  Syrian  Christians,  not  merely  on 
account  of  the  prestige  afforded  by  antiquity,  but 
because  of  the  peculiar  fitness  of  the  Cattanars  for 
preaching  a  pure  Gospel  in  a  pure  language.  Still,  it 
was  a  delicate  and  difficult  subject,  and  there  was 
evidently  much  reserve  on  both  sides.  The  Syrian 
clergy  had  been  designedly  led  to  doubt  the  validity 
of  English  Orders.  They  could  not  understand  the 
controversy  ;  and  Dr.  Buchanan  had  to  enter  into  full 
details,  with  which  the  Bishop  and  his  clergy  appeared 
to  be  satisfied.  He  said,  "  I  would  sacrifice  much  for 


English  Missions  to  the  Syrians.         313 

such  a  union  ;  only  let  me  not  be  called  to  compro- 
mise anything  of  the  dignity  and  purity  of  our 
Church."  Assured  on  this  point,  he  conferred  with  his 
Cattanars,  and  sent  an  answer  :  "  That  a,  union  with 
the  English  Church,  or,  at  least,  such  a  connection  as 
should  appear  to  both  Churches  practicable  and  ex- 
pedient, would  be  a  happy  event,  and  favourable  to 
the  progress  of  religion  in  India."  This  important 
document  was  signed  "  Mar-Dionysius,  Metropolitan 
of  Malabar." 

From  Candenad,  Dr.  Buchanan  went  to  visit  Col. 
Macaulay  (the  British  resident),  in  whose  company  he 
made  a  short  excursion  to  the  interior,  spending  a  few 
hours  at  the  too  famous  Diamper.1  He  then  paid  a 
second  visit  to  Dionysius,  who,  though  seventy-eight 
years  of  age,  had  actually  begun  the  translation  of  the 
Bible.  On  the  Qth  of  December  we  find  the  traveller 
at  the  ruined  tower  and  fortress  of  Cranganor,  where 
St.  Thomas  landed  from  Aden,  and  where  the  Portu- 
guese once  possessed  a  splendid  emporium.  One  relic 
still  exists.  The  descendants  of  the  Portuguese  mer- 
chants have  passed  away,  but  the  successors  of  the 
Portuguese  missionaries  hold  their  ground,  represented 
by  the  Archbishop  of  Cranganor  at  the  head  of  forty- 
five  churches. 

Dr.  Buchanan  resolved  to  secure  as  much  informa- 
tion as  possible  from  both  sides,  called  on  Bishop 

1   Pearson's  "  Memoirs,"  p.  239. 


314         English  Missions  to  the  Syrians. 

Raymondo,  the  Pope's  Apostolic  Vicar  over  the 
churches  of  Malabar.  This  prelate  was  warden  of  the 
Theological  College  at  Verapoli,  where  about  twenty 
students  were  instructed  in  Latin  and  Syriac  ;  while 
at  Pulingalla  there  was  another  college,  in  which 
Syriac  alone  was  taught  to  twelve  students.  The 
Papal  Bishop  superintended  sixty-four  churches  in  his 
own  diocese,  and  many  others  in  the  dioceses  of  Cran- 
ganor,  Quilon,  and  Cochin.  "  The  view  of  this 
assemblage  of  Christian  congregations,"  says  the 
traveller,  "  excited  in  my  mind  mingled  sensations  of 
pleasure  and  regret  ;  of  pleasure,  to  think  that  so 
many  of  the  Hindoos  had  been  rescued  from  the 
idolatry  of  Brahma  and  its  criminal  worship  ;  and  of 
regret,  when  I  reflected  that  there  was  not  to  be  found 
among  the  whole  body  one  copy  of  the  Holy  Bible."  x 
The  Apostolic  Vicar,  an  Italian,  and  one  of  the  Society 
De  Propaganda  Fide,  gave  his  visitor  free  access  to 
the  college  archives,  in  which  were  volumes  marked 
"  Liber  hereticus  prohibitus."  Here  again  was  an 
instance  of  Portuguese  influence  still  at  worfc.  "  Every 
step  I  take  in  Christian  India  I  meet  with  a  memento 
of  the  Inquisition,"  is  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Buchanan 
on  this  point.  The  Italian  prelate,  too,  confirmed  the 
impression,  for,  alluding  to  his  visitor's  intention  of 
translating  the  Scriptures  into  Malabar,  he  said,  "  I 
have  been  thinking  of  the  good  gift  you  are  meditat- 
1  "  Christian  Researches,'  Ed.  i8u,p.  114. 


English  Missions  to  the  Syrians.         315 

ing  for  rthe  native  Christians,  but,  believe  me,  the 
Inquisition  will  endeavour  to  counteract  your  purposes 
by  every  means  in  their  power."  When  these  words 
were  spoken,  the  Inquisition  still  held  sway  at  Goa, 
where  it  was  visited  by  Dr.  Buchanan  in  January, 
1808,  and  though  it  is  now  suppressed,  moral  influence 
continues  to  operate,  even  where  physical  force  is  no 
longer  feared. 

Early  in  January,  1807,  Dr.  Buchanan  penetrated 
once  more  inland,  and  visited  the  ancient  Church  of 
Angamale,1  once  the  residence  of  the  Syrian  Bishop, 
where  he  found  many  valuable  MSS.  Amongst  these 
was  discovered  a  splendid  folio,  containing  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments,  beautifully  engrossed  on 
strong  vellum,  in  Estrangelo  Syriac.  The  Bishop 
presented  this  precious  MS.  to  the  Englishman, 
saying,  "  It  will  be  safer  in  your  hands  than  in  our 
own,  and  yet  we  have  kept  it  for  near  a  thousand 
years."-  How  wonderful  to  reflect  that  during  the 
dark  ages  of  European  history,  the  Bible  should  have 
been  preserved  in  the  mountains  of  Malabar,  where  it 
was  then  freely  read  in  a  hundred  churches.3  After 

1  Pearson's  "  Memoirs,"  p.  333. 

2  "  Christian  Researches,"  Ed.  18 1 1,  p.  118,     Howard's  "  Christians 
pf  St.  Thomas,"  p.  59.     Bagster's  "Bible  of  every  Land,"  p.  44. 

3  Most  of  the  MSS.  which  I  collected  among  the  Syrian  Christians, 
I  have  presented  to  the  University  of  Cambridge ;  and  they  are  now 
deposited  in  the  Public  Library  of  that   University,  together  with  the 
copper-plate    fac-similes    of    the    Christian    and    Jewish    tablets.  — 
Buchanan's  "Christ.  Res.,"  Ed.  1811,  p.  121. 


316         English  Missions  to  the  Syrians. 

Dr.  Buchanan  left  Travancore,  the  aged  Bishop  perse- 
vered in  his  translation  of  the  Scriptures,  till  he  had 
completed  the  New  Testament  ;  and  next  year,  the 
first  edition  was  beautifully  printed  at  Bombay  and 
circulated  through  the  whole  of  the  churches  of  the 
Seira.  In  order  to  conclude  this  notice  we  may 
anticipate  part  of  our  narrative  by  stating  that  Dr. 
Buchanan  returned  to  England  in  1808;  but,  owing 
to  various  delays,  it  was  not  till  1815  that  the  first 
sheets  of  the  Syriac  New  Testament  issued  from  the 
press  at  Broxbourne.  On  the  good  doctor's  death, 
soon  afterwards,  Dr.  Lee,  of  Cambridge,  continued  the 
work  ;  the  New  Testament  complete  was  published 
in  1816,  and  in  1826  the  whole  Syriac  Bible  was 
circulated  in  Malabar. 

One  portion  of  Dr.  Buchanan's  experience  amongst 
the  Syrian  Christians  must  not  pass  unnoticed,  as  it 
bears  directly  on  the  subject  of  this  paper,  and  proves 
that  the  Portuguese  Missions  of  the  XVIth  century 
continued  to  exert  the  most  baneful  influence  on  the 
Churches  of  Malabar.  He  says  that  though  he  had 
heard  much  of  Papal  corruption,  he  certainly  did  not 
expect  to  see  Christianity  in  the  degraded  state  in 
which  he  found  it.  The  priests  were,  in  general, 
better  acquainted  with  the  Vedas  than  with  the 
Gospel !  At  Aughoor,  the  Tower  of  Juggernaut 
solemnised  a  Christian  festival ;  and  the  old  priest  of 
the  Syrian  Church  described  the  idolatrous  car,  the 


English  Missions  to  the  Syrians.          3 1  7 

painted  figures,  and  the  heathen  rites,  as  if  himself 
unconscious  of  any  wrong!  "Thus  by  the  intervention 
of  the  Papal  power  are  the  ceremonies  of  Moloch 
consecrated  in  a  manner  by  the  sacred  Syriac 
language.  What  a  heavy  responsibility  lies  on  Rome 
for  having  thus  corrupted  and  degraded  that  pure  and 
ancient  Church.  While  the  author  viewed  these 
Christian  corruptions  in  different  places,  and  in 
different  forms,  he  was  always  referred  to  the  Inquisi- 
tion at  Goa  as  the  fountain  head."  x 

An  incidental  proof  may  be  added  of  the  extent  to 
which  the  original  Portuguese  element  continues  to 
influence  this  part  of  India,  for  our  author  says  "  that 
the  Portuguese  language  prevails  wherever  there  are,  or 
have  been,  settlements  of  that  nation.  Their  descen- 
dants people  the  coasts  from  the  vicinity  of  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  to  the  Sea  of  China  "  ;  and  in  a  long  list 
of  places  he  mentions  Calicut,  Cochin,  Tranquebar, 
Tanjore,  &c.  He  founds  on  this  fact  an  argument  for 
the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures  in  a  language  so 
generally  known  in  the  European  settlements,  adding, 
'  the  Portuguese  language  is  certainly  a  most  favourable 
medium  for  diffusing  the  true  religion  in  the  maritime 
provinces  of  the  East."  In  another  part  of  his 
interesting  work  he  throws  out  the  important  sugges- 
tion that  as  Goa  is,  and  probably  will  long  be,  the 
centre  from  which  Portuguese  Missions  will  radiate 

1   "  Christian  Researches,"  p.    126.      Ed.  1811. 


318         English  Missions  to  the  Syrians. 

through  Southern  India,  every  effort  should  be  made 
to  purify  the  fountain  head.  And  he  has  reason  to 
believe  that  the  three  thousand  priests  connected  with 
Goa  would  gladly  receive  copies  of  the  Latin  and 
Portuguese  versions  of  their  authorised  Bible,  that  is 
the  Vulgate. 

We  have  thus  given  an  account,  necessarily  im- 
perfect, of  the  condition  of  the  Syrians  in  1806,  and 
we  strongly  advise  our  readers  to  peruse  the  whole  of 
the  Doctor's  work  if  they  desire  further  information. 
Great  as  was  his  success  in  securing  a  complete 
version  of  the  Bible  in  Syriac  for  the  use  of  churches, 
and  in  Malabar  for  general  circulation,  this  was  not 
the  only  result.  His  interesting  description  of  the 
Syrian  Christians  excited  much  sympathy  in  England, 
and  the  Church  Missionary  Society  organised  a 
mission  to  Travancore  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  the 
clergy  and  people,  counteracting  the  influence  of  the 
RoinisJi  Missionaries,  and  restoring  the  Church  to  its 
original  purity.  This  mission  will  form  the  subject 
of  our  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE   ENGLISH    MISSIONS   AND   THE   SYRIAN 
CHRISTIANS. 

1816-1838. 

"  I  hasten  to  remark  generally  what  charity  and  tender  sympathy  we 
should  cultivate  towards  these  and  similar  relics  of  Apostolical  Churches. 
I  low  readily  should  we  acknowledge  what  is  good  in  them  ;  without 
requiring  of  them  conformity  to  our  Protestant  models  of  liturgical  wor- 
ship or  our  Western  notions."  — BISHOP  WILSON  (of  Calcutta). 

IT  is  scarcely  possible  to  over-estimate  the  continu- 
ation of  an  influence,  however  trifling  or  remote,  in  the 
production  of  a  long  series  of  results.  All  the  great 
events  of  history  may  be  traced  to  comparatively 
insignificant  causes.  A  word,  a  gesture,  a  phrase 
misunderstood,  a  hasty  despatch,  an  intercepced  letter, 
may  be,  without  exaggeration,  considered  the  imme- 
diate cause  of  some  event,  which  in  turn  produces 
another,  and  that  a  third,  till  it  becomes  quite 
impossible  to  say  when  or  where  the  action  ceases. 
So  it  is,  in  the  history  before  us.  The  Portuguese 
Missions  of  the  XVI^  Century,  not  only  in  their  direct 
bearing  on  the  Syrian  CliurcJi  in  1599,  but  also  by 


320    English  Missions  and  Syrian   Christians. 

their  fomenting  unhappy  divisions  during  the  last  two 
hundred  years — divisions  still  in  activity — may  be 
fairly  held  responsible  for  the  difficulties  which  have 
since  arisen,  and  which  have  hitherto  frustrated  the 
well-meant  efforts  of  the  English  Church  to  restore 
peace  to  this  afflicted  portion  of  Christ's  vineyard.1 

We  have  just  seen  how  Dr.  Buchanan's  narrative 
had  the  effect  of  exciting  a  warm  interest  amongst 
English  Churchmen  in  favour  of  the  Syrian  Christians. 
But,  meanwhile,  the  old  difficulty  had  arisen  in  the 
Church  of  the  Serra.  The  aged  Dionysius  had,  some 
nine  years  before  Dr.  Buchanan's  visit,  consecrated 
Mar-Thomas  as  coadjutor  and  successor,  while  he 
nominated  his  own  nephew  to  be  his  successor.  Great 
dissatisfaction  prevailed.  But,  at  last,  a  sort  of  conse- 
cration was  performed  at  the  bedside  of  the  expiring 
Metropolitan,  and  Mar-Thomas  succeeded.  The 
irregularity  of  the  proceeding  strengthened  the  hands 
of  the  discontented  faction,  who  appealed  to  the 
British  resident,  and  wrote  to  Antioch  for  a  regularly 
consecrated  Bishop.  The  death  of  the  quiet  and 

1  "  These  people  were  also  fearfully  persecuted  some  three  hundred 
years  ago  by  the  crafty  and  bloodthirsty  Popish  agent,  Menezes,  who  by 
the  power  of  the  Portuguese,  not  only  stole  some  of  their  churches  and 
persecuted  numbers  to  death,  but  succeeded  also  in  corrupting  the  whole 
Syrian  Church  with  their  own  abominable  doctrines  and  id  >latrous 
practices.  So  that  if  you  wish  to  know  what  practically  the  Syrian 
Church  is  now,  I  have  but  to  refer  you  to  Indianised  Popery."  -Paper 
by  the  Rev.  J.  Peet,  of  Marelikara,  Tnvancore.  Read  at  the  South 
India  Miss.  Conf.  at  Ostacamund,  April  28th,  1858. 


English  Missions  and  Syrian  Christians.     321 

inoffensive  Mar-Thomas  terminated  the  dispute,  and 
the  Ramban  Joseph,  a  man  of  decided  piety,  succeeded 
for  a  time  in  restoring  tranquillity. 

At  this  favourable  juncture,  Colonel  Macaulay, 
resident  at  the  Court  of  Trevandrum,  took  a  deep 
interest  in  the  resuscitation  of  the  Syrian  Church,  in 
which  he  was  followed  by  his  successor,  Colonel 
Munro.  The  result  of  their  interposition,  and  of  the 
friendliness  manifested  by  the  Queen  or  Rani,  was  a 
decided  amelioration  in  the  political  condition  of  the 
oppressed  Syrians.  But  though  Colonel  Munro  did 
his  utmost  to  restore  peace,  his  mediation  was  fruitless 
till  the  period  of  which  we  are  now  speaking.  Un- 
deterred by  previous  failure,  the  Colonel  took  the 
decided  step  of  making  an  application  to  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  to  send  out  clergy  for  the  purpose 
of  instructing  these  Christians  whom  he  had  found  in 
a  sadly  debased  condition.1  The  expression  is  not 
too  strong,  for  as  we  have  already  seen,  the  word  of 
God,  though  nominally  possessed  by  the  people,  was 
in  Syriac,  while  the  vernacular  was  Malayalim  ;  the 
prayers  of  the  Church  were  chiefly  in  what  was,  prac- 
tically, an  unknown  tongue  ;  the  priests  were  almost 
entirely  uneducated,  and  there  was  little  or  no  vital 

1  Ch.  Miss.  Rep.  1815-16.,  South  Indian  Miss.  Conf.  Mullens's 
"South  Indian  Missions,"  p.  127.  Captain  Swanston's  "Rep."  Vol.  II., 
p.  66.  "Royal  Asiatic  Journal."  Day's  "Land  of  the  Permauls." 
Howards  "  Christians  of  S.  Thomas." 

y 


322     English  Missions  and  Syrian   Christians. 

religion  in  this  fallen  Church.  The  problem,  therefore, 
now  to  be  solved  was  how  the  Church  of  England 
missionaries  might >  with  God's  blessing,  impart  spiritual 
life  to  this  decaying  branch.  The  application  to  the 
parent  society  was  favourably  entertained,  and  in  1 8 1 61 
Messrs.  Bailey,  Baker,  and  Fenn  were  sent  out  to 
the  Syrians  in  Travancore,  while  Mr.  Norton  was 
settled  at  Allepie  among  the  Romanists  and  a  large 
heathen  population.  In  1817  Mr.  Bailey  opened  a 
mission  at  Cottayam,  where  the  Rani  of  Travancore 
had  largely  endowed  a  college,  built  in  1815  by  a 
rich  Syrian  noble,  for  the  residence  of  the  Bishop,  and 
for  the  education  of  the  clergy.  Colonel  Munro,  in 
order  to  effect  a  permanent  union  on  the  most  friendly 
basis,  formed  a  committee  of  management  of  the 
Metran  and  the  three  missionaries,  while  the  English 
resident  at  Travancore,  and  the  Dewan,  or  Prime 
Minister,  were  to  form  a  tribunal  of  appeal  in  all  civil 
matters.  The  collegiate  staff  included  the  Metropolitan 
as  principal,  two  English  clergymen,  two  Malpans 
(Syrian  doctors),  a  teacher  of  Hebrew,  and  two 
teachers  of  Sanskrit.  Nearly  fifty  students  soon 
joined  the  new  institution,  and  according  to  good 
authority  "  their  ability  seemed  high,  their  spirit  and 
conduct  excellent,  and  their  desire  for  learning  not 
inferior  to  what  is  found  in  English  lads  of  the  same 
age."  The  missionaries  appear  to  have  proceeded 
1  "Madras  Ch.  Miss.  Rec.,"  Nov.,  1837. 


English  Missions  and  Syrian  Christians.     323 

upon  a  thoroughly  matured  plan,  for  we  find  the  prin- 
ciple of  graded  schools  simultaneously  introduced. 
Three  free  grammar  schools  were  opened,  one  in  each 
division  of  the  diocese,  not  only  for  the  purpose  of 
affording  a  higher  education,  but  for  preparing  youths 
to  enter  at  Cottayam,  while  no  fewer  than  thirty-seven 
parish  schools  were  established  throughout  the  moun- 
tains, glens,  paddy-grounds,  and  coast  of  this  hitherto 
uneducated  land.  Another  important  duty  was 
undertaken  by  the  indefatigable  Mr.  Bailey  and  his 
zealous  coadjutors.  The  existing  translations  of  the 
Scriptures  were  so  defective  that  it  was  necessary  to 
prepare  a  new  version,  and,  therefore,  Messrs.  Bailey 
and  Thompson,  taking  the  Tamil  of  Fabricius  as  the 
basis,  completed  a  new  rendering  more  agreeable  to 
the  idiom  of  the  country.  This  done,  types  were 
founded,  a  press  constructed  with  the  aid  of  a  native 
blacksmith,  and  in  a  short  time  there  issued  from  it 
the  Scriptures,  the  Common  Prayer,  two  complete 
dictionaries,  and  many  religious  books.1  The  mis- 
sionaries felt  the  importance  of  the  maxim,  "Divide 
and  conquer,"  for  while  Mr.  Bailey  was  engaged  in  the 
literary  work,  Mr.  Baker's  sphere  was  the  constant 
visitation  of  seventy-two  Syrian  churches,  which  had 

1  See  a  most  interesting  description  of  "Mr  Bailey's  labours  in  South 
India  Missions"  by  Dr.  Mullens,  p.  128.  The  printing-office  at 
Cottayam  flourishes  still.  Howard's  "Christians  of  S.Thomas," 
p.  89,  and  "  Madras  Ch.  Miss.  Rec.,"  Sep.,  1834. 

Y   2 


324    English  Missions  and  Syrian   Christians. 

either  not  been  subdued  by  the  Portuguese  in  1599,  or 
had  thrown  off  the  yoke  in  1663.  To  Mr.  Fenn 
was  assigned  the  chief  direction  of  the  educational 
department  at  Cottayam,  wherein  he  was  assisted  by 
a  European  layman  and  a  staff  of  native  teachers  as 
already  stated.  The  public  worship  was  generally 
conducted  in  the  grammar  school  of  the  college,  or  in 
the  house  of  one  of  the  missionaries.  "  On  Sunday 
morning  I  collect  all  the  boys  from  the  grammar 
school,  at  ten,  into  the  college,  where  we  are  going 
through  the  Bible  in  the  presence  of  all  the  teachers 
and  boys  of  the  college  and  grammar  school.  At 
these  lectures  I  speak  the  pure  truth  in  love,  and 
often  when  they  have  closed,  have  taken  the  Malpan 
and  other  Cattanar  teachers  aside  to  ascertain  whether 
they  have  comprehended  all  that  has  been  said,  and 
what  has  been  their  opinion  about  it.  On  Sunday 
afternoon  we  have  full  service  in  Malayalim  in  the 
grammar  school.  I,  or  a  deacon,  read  the  morning 
prayers,  as  I  am  so  partial  to  the  Litany,  and  a 
Cattanar  preaches,  as  it  was  not  till  last  month  that  I 
was  enabled  to  perform  full  service,  on  which  occasion, 
after  reading,  I  commenced  my  preaching  course,  by 
addressing  them  from  the  words  '  Behold,  the  Lamb 
of  God.'  After  this  service  is  concluded,  I  have  been 
in  the  habit,  for  the  last  six  months,  of  collecting  the 
teachers,  boys,  i.e.,  those  who  know  anything  of  Eng- 
lish, and  preaching  to  them  in  English  in  a  familiar 


English  Missions  and  Syrian  Christians.     325 

style.  The  whole  number  at  this  service  does  not  ex- 
ceed nine."  x  Some  of  the  missionaries  seem  also  to 
have  preached  in  Malayalim  in  the  Syrian  churches, 
but  their  course  must  have  been  rather  difficult,  for 
though  the  Cattanars  were  liberal,  or  indifferent 
enough  to  allow  the  Englishmen  to  officiate,  the  latter 
could  not  conscientiously  take  part  in  the  Corbano 
(Eucharist),  as  it  too  nearly  resembled  the  Mass.  2 

For  a  time  everything  worked  smoothly.  The 
missionaries  took  the  deepest  interest  in  their  new 
duties  ;  and  we  have  several  independent  testimonies 
as  to  their  zeal,  prudence,  tact,  and  courteous  treat- 
ment of  the  Bishop  and  clergy  of  the  Syrian  Church. 
Thus  Principal  Mills  says  : — "  The  persons  to  whom  I 
was  chiefly  indebted  for  my  intercourse, both  with  the 
priests  and  laity  of  this  extraordinary  people  (of 
whose  Indian  language  I  was  wholly  ignorant),  were 
three  clergymen  of  the  Church  of  England,  resident  at 
Cotym,  in  Travancore,  and  actively  employed  in  super- 
intending the  college  of  the  parochial  schools ;  the 
former  of  which  by  the  grant  of  the  heathen  govern- 
ment of  that  country,  the  latter,  by  the  desire  and 
contribution  of  these  Christians  themselves,  have  been 
recently  established  in  their  community.  Singular  as 

1  "Madras  Ch.  Miss.  Rec.,"  1834. 

2  The  missionaries  seem  generally  to  have  acted  with  great  tact  and 
delicacy,  but  yet  it  was  hardly  prudent  of  one  of  them  to  speak  of  this 
part  of  the  Syrian  Service  as  "  a  most  wretched  piece  of  buffoonery." — 
Howard,  p.  92. 


326     English  Missions  and  Syrian  Christians. 

such  superintendence  may  appear,  and  almost  unpre- 
cedented, there'  is  nothing  in  it,  as  exercised  by  these 
clergymen,  which  they  visit,  or  as  far  as  I  am  capable 
of  judging  of  that  to  which  they  themselves  belong." 
And  again  :  "  They  do  nothing  but  by  the  express 
sanction  of  the  Metropolitan  consulting  and  em- 
ploying them  ;  their  use  of  the  Anglican  Service  for 
themselves  and  families  at  one  of  his  chapels  is  agree- 
able to  the  catholic  practice  of  these  Christians  (who 
allowed  the  same  250  years  ago  to  the  Portuguese 
priests,  as  to  persons  rightly  and  canonically  or- 
dained, even  while  they  were  resisting  their  usurpa- 
tions) and  is  totally  unconnected  with  any  purpose  of 
obtruding  even  that  Liturgy  upon  the  Syrian  Church  ; 
while  their  conduct  with  respect  to  those  parts  of  the 
Syrian  ritual  and  practice  which  all  Protestants  must 
condemn,  is  that  of  silence ;  which,  without  the 
appearance  of  approval,  leaves  it  to  the  gradual 
influence  of  the  knowledge  now  disseminating  itself 
to  undermine,  and  at  length  by  regular  authority  to 
remove  them." 1 

Similar  testimony  may  be  found  in  the  interesting 
diary  of  Major  Mackworth.  "  After  five  hours'  sail  and 
row  we  came  in  sight  of  the  several  houses  of  the  mis- 
sionaries at  Cottayam,  erected  on  some  rising  grounds, 
at  no  great  distance  from  each  other  ;  and  soon  after 

1  Professor  Mills'  Letter  of  29th  July,  1821,  quoted  in  "  Missionary 
Register  "  for  1823. 


English  Missions  and  Syrian  Christians.     327 

we  discovered  an  ancient  church  on  our  right  hand  in 
a  romantic  situation  amongst  the  trees,  and  slightly 
elevated  above  the  valley  through  which  flows  the 
stream  that  we  were  ascending.  A  little  further  to 
the  left,  and  in  the  valley,  was  the  Syrian  College.  I 
landed  about  half-a-mile  from  Mr.  Fenn's  house,  and 
proceeded  towards  it  on  foot ;  but,  before  I  entered 
his  ground,  he  came  himself  to  meet  me,  and  gave  me 
a  Christian  welcome."  ..."  All  the  missionaries 
and  their  wives  dined  this  evening  with  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Fenn,  and  I  was  a  delighted  spectator  of  their  mutual 
cordiality  and  Christian  friendship.  It  seems,  indeed, 
a  peculiar  blessing  from  the  Almighty  to  this  fallen 
Church,  that  those  whom,  I  hope  without  being  pre- 
sumptuous, we  may  venture  to  regard  as  sent  to  be  His 
honoured  instruments  in  restoring  her  to  her  pristine 
faith,  should  be  all  unquestionably  pious  men  ;  surely  it 
is  an  earnest  that  His  blessing  will  attend  their 
labours."  In  another  passage  he  says,  speaking  of  the 
Metropolitan,  "  Whenever  the  missionaries  express  a 
wish  he  gladly  accedes  to  it,  as  far  as  he  is  able  ;  but 
this  they  seldom  do,  in  a  direct  manner,  as  their  object 
is  rather  to  let  improvements  spring  from  their  sug- 
gestions, acting  on  the  gradually-increasing  light 
of  his  own  mind."  .  .  .  Major  Mackworth  describes 
his  interview  with  the  Metropolitan  in  a  most  interest- 
ing passage  too  long  to  quote,  and  he  adds,  "  When  he, 
at  length,  retired,  the  three  missionaries  accompanied 


328     English  Missions  and  Syrian   Christians. 

him  to  his  palanquin,  with  the  greatest  respect  and 
deference ;  by  which,  and  similar  means,  they  render 
him  venerable  in  the  eyes  of  his  people,  from  the 
honour  which  the  notice  of  Europeans  in  this  country 
always  confers."  l  We  may  add  one  brief  quotation 
from  Captain  Swanston  who,  five  years  after  Major 
Mackworth's  visit,  speaks  of  the  satisfactory  working 
of  the  College :  "  The  missionaries  conducting  them- 
selves with  great  prudence^  and  being  respected  and 
beloved  by  the  people?  z  We  consider  it  no  digression 
to  have  cited  these  authorities  in  favour  of  the  English 
missionaries,  because,  at  the  time  of  the  disruption 
in  1838,  they  were  severely  blamed  by  many  of  their 
fellow-countrymen  as  having  caused  the  separation  by 
their  own  officious  zeal. 

From  the  missionaries  we  may  turn  to  the  Syrian 
Church.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  at  first  all  was 
couleur  de  rose.  They  could  not  fail  to  see  the  deep 
interest  taken  in  their  welfare  by  their  English  fellow- 
Christians.  They  were  delighted  to  observe  the  kind 
and  conciliatory  spirit  of  the  missionaries  who  were 
more  anxious  to  infuse  tJie  real  principles  of  religion 
into  tlie  people  than  to  dictate  any  alterations  in  tfie 
ritual  or  doctrine  of  tJie  Church.  The  Metropolitan 

1  Diary  of  a  Tour  through  Southern  India  in  1821-22,  by  a  Field 
Officer  of  Cavalry. 

'2  Captain  Swanston's  Memoir  in  Vol.  II.  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Soc. 
Journal. 


English  Missions  and  Syrian  Christians.     329 

and  his  clergy  being,  on  the  whole,  interested  in  the 
promotion  of  the  Gospel,  felt,  at  first,  no  jealousy  of 
the  plans  which  the  English  clergymen  suggested  ; 
and,  as  the  head  of  their  Church  (a  religious  and 
amiable  man),  was  fully  recognised  in  his  official 
capacity,  and  duly  consulted  on  every  important  oc- 
casion, they  were  not  apprehensive  of  any  aggression 
on  their  rights  and  privileges,  or  of  any  attempt  to 
destroy  their  independent  existence.  Many  years 
passed  in  this  state  of  harmony.  The  College  and  the 
schools  did  the  work  of  education  effectively ;  the 
press  continued  to  pour  forth  numerous  contributions 
to  the  nascent  literature  of  Malayala  ;  the  pioneers  of 
peace  went  from  church  to  church  preaching  the 
Gospel  message  ;  and,  as  new  missionaries  joined, 
fresh  stations  were  opened  at  Cochin,  Trichur,  and 
Mavelicary.  After  a  time,  however,  all  these  bright 
prospects  were  clouded  over,  and  symptoms  of  dis- 
turbance began  to  appear ;  but  whether  this  interruption 
of  amicable  relations  must  be  attributed  to  the  Syrians 
or  to  the  Englishmen,  it  is  difficult,  perhaps  impossible, 
clearly  to  determine.  Those  who  lean  to  the  former 
say  that  "the  missionaries,  beginning  to  gain  a 
clearer  estimate  of  their  true  position,  saw  that  in 
relation  to  the  Syrian  Church  they  were  absolutely 
without  authority ;  they  were  mere  volunteers  in  the 
attempt  to  get  rid  of  existing  evils ;  they  were 
physicians  ready  to  assist  the  cure  of  a  disease  of 


330    English  Missions  and  Syrian  Christians. 

which  they  had  clear  perceptions,  but  which  the  patient 
scarcely  felt,  and  in  regard  to  which  he  might  at  any 
time  decline  their  services  in  toto.  They  found  that 
when  the  novelty  of  the  thing  had  worn  off  the  old 
Adam  in  the  people  had  greatly  revived.  They  saw 
that  the  spiritual  worth  of  the  Church,  and  the  task  of 
raising  it  up,  had  been  much  overrated.  They  found 
the  people  careless  about  real  religion  ;  they  found 
the  priesthood  unconverted,  looking  after  their  fees, 
formal  in  their  service  ;  the  whole  body  lifeless  and 
cold."  l  On  the  other  hand  it  is  confidently  affirmed 
that  the  missionaries  had  never  entered  heartily  into 
the  feelings  of  the  people  or  even  of  the  clergy  ;  they 
believed  them  sunk  in  ignorance  and  superstition,  and 
directed  their  efforts,  not  so  much  to  restore  that 
which  might  be  wanting,  as  to  persuade  them  to 
abolish,  en  masse,  all  that  was  offensive  to  their  own 
prejudices — and  this  comprehended  apparently  the 
entire  Syrian  ritual — and  to  substitute  what  are 
technically  called  Evangelical  principles  both  in  doc- 
trine and  in  worship,  in  place  of  the  ancient  usages 
and  doctrines  of  the  Church.2 

Of  course  different  views  will  be  taken  of  these 

1  Mullens's  "Missions  in  South  India,"  pp.  129-130. 

2  Howard's  "  Christians  of  S.  Thomas,"  p.  94.     The  curious  reader 
desirous  of  further  information  as  to  the  progress  of  this  lamentable 
quarrel  is  referred  to  the   "Madras  Church  Missionary  Record  "  for 
1836-7-8,  to  Hough's  "  Christianity  in  India,"  Vol.  V.,  p.  386,  and  to 
the  "  Missionary  Register"  for  1838. 


English  Missions  and  Syrian  Christians.     331 

transactions  according  to  the  ecclesiastical  bias  of  the 
reader.  Some  will  look  upon  the  rudeness  of  a  young 
missionary  fresh  from  Islington  x  to  the  Metropolitan 
of  the  Syrian  Church  as  an  outpouring  of  that  righteous 
indignation  which  should  characterise  a  true  reformer, 
while  others  will  be  ready  to  condemn  such  intemperate 
zeal  as  calculated  to  hinder,  rather  than  to  help,  the 
purification  of  the  Syrian  ritual  and  the  promotion  of 
true  religion.  Our  space  will  not  permit  us  to  discuss 
this  painful  question,  or  to  adjust  with  perfect  precision 
the  amount  of  right  and  wrong  on  each  side ;  but  we 
hasten  to  say  that  matters  had  gone  so  far  in  1835 
that  it  was  necessary  for  Bishop  Wilson  to  visit  the 
mission  stations,  for  the  purpose,  if  possible,  of  pour- 
ing oil  upon  the  waters.  At  the  conference  which  took 
place  at  Cottayam  2  six  points  were  submitted  by  the 
English  prelate  for  the  consideration  of  his  Syrian 
brother.  The  discussions  which  followed  were  con- 
ducted with  Christian  courtesy  ;  the  English  Bishop, 
at  the  Metran's  request,  preached  to  2,000  persons  for 
an  hour,  and  received  the  thanks  of  the  Syrian  prelate. 
In  a  charge  which  Bishop  Wilson  shortly  afterwards 
delivered  at  Bombay,  he  called  attention  to  the  distinc- 
tive peculiarities  of  the  Syrian  Church,  and  he  urged,  in 
the  spirit  of  the  extract  at  the  head  of  this  chapter, 
that  all  English  clergymen  should  deal  charitably  and 

1  Howard's  "  Christians  of  S.  Thomas,"  p.  99. 

2  See  the  2nd  Vol.  of  Bateman's  "Life  of  Bishop  Wilson." 


33 2     English  Missions  and  Syrian  Christians. 

tenderly  with  these  ancient  usages.  The  advice, 
unfortunately,  was  not  taken,  and  it  soon  became 
apparent  that  the  reformers  were  determined  to  rest 
satisfied  with  nothing  less  than  a  complete  change  in  the 
Communion  Office,  in  order  to  assimilate  the  Syrian 
Liturgy  to  tliat  of  the  Church  of  England.  The  most 
painful  scenes  occurred  between  1833  and  1838,  and 
the  opposition  to  the  missionaries  grew  stronger  every 
day.1  At  length  the  breach,  which  had  long  been 
imminent,  began  in  1836,  and  was  consummated  by  a 
complete  separation  in  1838.  This  must,  however, 
be  discussed  in  a  separate  chapter. 

1  "  Madras  Church  Missionary  Record,"  Vol  III.,  pp.  35-6-7. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE   DISRUPTION   AND   ITS   RESULTS.— 1838-1858. 

"  Now,  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  by  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  that  ye  all  speak  the  same  thing  and  that  there  be  no  divisions 
among  you  ;  but  that  ye  be  perfectly  joined  together  in  the  same  mind 
and  in  the  same  judgment." — S.  PAUL. 

BEFORE  resuming  the  narrative  in  our  last  chapter,  it 
will  be  necessary  to  refer  to  an  almost  forgotten  con- 
secration in  1772,  in  order  to  trace  the  causes  of  a 
dissension  which  tended  still  further  to  complicate  the 
condition  of  the  Syrian  Church.  We  allude  to  Cyril, 
created  Metropolitan  by  Mar-Gregorius.  In  1805, 
Cyril  had  consecrated  a  successor,  who  in  turn  ap- 
pointed his  successor,  named  Philoxenus,  in  1812.  All 
these  Bishops  had  lived  amongst  the  mountains  at 
Agugnur,  and  had  rarely  been  heard  of  on  the  Malabar 
coast.  When,  however,  Mar-Joseph  died,  and  the 
direct  line  became  extinct,  the  Prelate  of  the  Serra 
was  called  to  preside  over  the  whole  Church.  Again 
the  most  violent  controversy  raged  amongst  this  ex- 
citable race,  the  whole  question  turning,  as  usual,  on 
the  validity  of  the  consecration.  After  much  discus- 
sion his  rights  were  confirmed,  and  after  appointing  a 


334         The  Disruption  and  its  Results. 

coadjutor  and  successor,  he  retired  from  the  stormy 
scenes  of  the  coast  to  the  quiet  of  his  mountain  home. 
The  defeated  party  at  length  succeeded  in  inducing 
the  Patriarch  of  Antioch  to  send  two  Syrians,  named 
Athanasius  and  Abraham,  to  take  full  charge  of  the 
Malabar  Church.  On  their  road  they  were  kindly 
received  by  Bishop  Heber  at  Bombay,  who  implored 
the  new  Metropolitan  to  use  all  moderation,  and  en- 
joined the  missionaries  to  keep  as  free  as  possible  from 
the  coming  strife.1  Athanasius  arrived  at  Malabar  in 
1825,  and,  so  far  from  using  the  moderation  which 
Bishop  Heber  had  desired,  he  acted  in  the  most  arbi- 
trary manner,  summoned  the  native  Metropolitan  to 
appear  before  him,  declared  all  ordinations,  since  1810 
null  and  void,  threatened  all  opponents  with  excom- 
munication, and  obstinately  refused  to  listen  to  any 
advice.  In  the  midst  of  this  general  confusion,  Bishop 
Heber  was  appealed  to  as  a  mediator ;  and  he  was 
actually  at  Trichinopoly  on  his  way  to  the  south 
when  he  entered  the  fatal  bath.  Several  interesting 
letters  from  Bishop  Heber  and  Archdeacon  Robinson, 
too  long  for  quotation  here,  will  be  found  in  the  third 
volume  of  the  "  Journal."  2  The  dissensions  at  last 
reached  so  violent  a  pitch  that  the  English  Govern- 
ment was  obliged  to  interfere.  Athanasius  was  ex- 

1  Heber's  "Journal,"  Vol.  III.,  pp.  448-9.     Howard's  "  Christians 
of  S.  Thomas,"  p.  68. 
a  Also  in  Howard's  "  Christians  of  S.  Thomas,"  pp.  71-86. 


The  Disruption  and  its  Results.  335 

pellcd,  several  of  the  ringleaders  were  fined,  the  native 
Metropolitan  reinstated,  and  peace  restored.  This 
occurred  in  1826. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  union,  cordial  at 
first,  but  gradually  cooling,  between  the  Church  of 
England  missionaries  and  the  Syrian  Christians,  con- 
tinued from  1816  to  1838.  The  kind-hearted  Metran, 
Dionysius,  who  lived  on  such  friendly  terms  with  his 
English  visitors,  and  who  really  desired  to  resuscitate 
his  Church,  had  been  succeeded  by  one  whose  charac- 
ter was  not  so  good,  and  whose  Views  of  Church  ques- 
tions were  decidedly  opposed  to  any  approach  to 
union.  Colonel  Munro  had  left  Malabar,  and  the 
fickle  natives,  keenly  alive  to  the  influence  of  political 
power,  no  longer  respected  the  missionaries  as  they 
had  previously  done.  Superstitions  which  had  been 
shaken,  if  not  abolished,  began  to  reassert  their 
ascendency.  Prayers  for  the  dead  afforded  a  hand- 
some revenue  to  the  priests,  and  the  doctrines  of  the 
missionaries  on  this  point,  of  course,  made  them  feel 
that  their  craft  was  in  danger.  The  avarice  of  the  new 
Bishop  exhibited  itself  not  only  in  his  ordination  of 
uninstructed  lads,  but  in  his  letting  the  College  lands 
for  his  own  benefit.  "  On  more  than  one  occasion  a 
missionary  in  charge  of  the  College,  returning  suddenly 
to  his  class-room  after  going  homeward,  caught  the 
Metran,  or  one  of  the  native  professors,  in  the  act  of 
teaching  some  doctrine  the  very  opposite  of  that 


336          The  Disruption  and  its  Results. 

which  he  had  just  laid  down,  and  purposely  undoing 
all  the  good  which  the  missionary  had  just  endea- 
voured to  do."1  As  the  doctrine  in  dispute  is  not 
mentioned,  it  is  quite  impossible  for  an  impartial 
historian  to  determine  which  was  right,  the  Metran  or 
the  missionary ;  but  the  very  manner  in  which  this 
characteristic  anecdote  is  related,  proves  most  clearly 
that  suspicion  and  subterfuge  had  reached  such  a  pitch 
that  longer  co-operation  was  impossible.  Before, 
however,  taking  the  decided  step  of  abandoning  the 
Syrian  Church,  the  missionaries  prevailed  upon  the 
Bishop  of  Calcutta  to  expostulate  with  the  Metran 
and  clergy.  Dr.  Wilson  accordingly  proposed  that 
the  Church  should,  by  its  own  act,  purify  itself  of  all 
errors  that  had  been  derived  from  Nestorian  sources, 
and,  at  a  later  period,  from  the  Portuguese  mission- 
aries, beginning  with  Menezes. 

The  Syrian  Metropolitan,  acting  on  this  suggestion, 
convened  a  Synod,  ostensibly  for  the  purpose  of  dis- 
cussing the  points  at  issue  ;  but  if  the  missionary 
version  is  a  correct  one,  "  he  succeeded  by  bribes  and 
intimidation  in  preventing  the  reforming  party  from 
being  heard  ;  and  then,  by  means  of  a  majority  of 
his  own  followers,  dissolved  all  connection  with  the 
Church  Mission,  their  Church,  and  objects.  The 
engagements  made  between  the  Syrians  and  the 
Church  Mission  by  Colonel  Munro  were  thus  broken 

1  Mullen's  "  Missions  in  South  India,"  p.  130. 


The  Disruption  and  its  Results.         337 

by  the  Syrians.  I  would  particularly  notice  that  we 
did  not  leave  the  Syrians  to  their  own  blindness,  nor 
did  Bishop  Wilson  wish  to  force  them  to  adopt  our 
creed  or  forms  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  they  refused  our 
help,  and  determined  not  to  return  to  their  own  rules, 
tenets,  and  doctrines  of  centuries  gone  by."  l  On  the 
other  hand  it  is  alleged  that  attempts  were  made  in 
i82o,2  and  again  in  i836,3  to  introduce  the  English 
Communion  Service,  or  an  office  much  modified  from 
their  own  ;  and  one  of  the  missionaries,  in  the  report 
for  1838,  says  "it  was  hoped  that  the  people  would  be 
willing,  ere  long,  to  substitute  our  English  Sacrament 
Service  in  its  stead."  4  Now,  if  these  statements  are 
correct,  with  every  desire  to  do  justice  to  the  good 
intentions  of  the  zealous  missionaries,  one  cannot  help 
feeling  that  these  attempts  to  tamper  with  the  liturgy 
of  an  independent  Church  are  quite  indefensible. 
Granting  that  there  are  expressions  in  the  Syrian 
liturgy  which  demand  reform,  and  which  no  sound 
Churchman  would  desire  to  retain,  it  by  no  means 
follows  that  three  or  four  private  clergymen  of  another 
Communion  were  in  a  right  position  when  venturing 
to  alter,  without  due  authorisation,  the  service  of  a 
Church  into  which  they  had  been  admitted  by  courtesy. 
Make  the  case  our  own,  and  we  shall  see  the  question 

1  Rev.  Henry  Baker  in  "  South  India  Miss.  Conf.,"  1858,  p.  67. 

2  Hough's  "  Christ,  in  India,"  Vol.  V.,  p.  386. 

3  Madras  "Ch.  Miss.  Rec.,"  Vol.  IV.,  p.  60,  and  Vol.  V.,  p.  39. 

4  "  Madras  Ch.  Miss.  Rec.,"  Vol.,  VI.,  p.  45. 

Z 


33&  The  Disruption  and  its  Results. 

in  its  true  light.  The  conduct  of  these  missionaries, 
admirable  in  every  other  respect,  seems,  so  far  as  we 
can  judge  even  from  their  own  testimony,  to  have  been 
an  illustration  of  the  difficulty  of  doing  the  right  thing 
in  the  right  way. 

The  rupture,  so  long  imminent,  became  a  reality  in 
1838  ;  but  the  account  given  by  Dr.  Mullens  does  not 
perfectly  agree  with  that  just  quoted  from  Mr.  Baker's 
paper.  "  After  submitting  to  this  opposition  for  a 
long  time,  and  seeing  the  labours  of  the  missionaries 
set  at  nought,  the  Bishop  of  Calcutta,  a  few  years  ago, 
resolved  to  disconnect  the  Church  Missionary  Society 
from  the  Syrian  Church  altogether.  The  missionaries 
left  the  College,  their  assistants  left  the  Syrian  body ; 
their  converts  did  the  same  ;  and  the  whole  drew  off 
from  the  decayed  Church,  exactly  as  converts  in 
Bengal  or  Tinnevelly  separate  themselves  from  the 
heathen."  l  The  union  being  thus  dissolved,  an 
arbitration  was  appointed  by  the  Travancore  Govern- 
ment, arid  the  endowment  of  the  Syrian  College  was 
equitably  divided  ;  half  being  assigned  to  the  Metran 
for  educational  purposes,  and  half  to  the  C.M.S.  for 
training  native  Christians.  With  the  English  share, 
new  college  buildings  were  erected  at  Cottayam  ;  and 
the  most  recent  information  is,  that  the  new  institution 
flourishes  under  a  Cambridge  graduate  and  assistant 
tutors,  with  above  sixty  pupils.  The  Syrian  portion 

1   Mul'ens's  "  South  India,"  pp.  130-1. 


The  Disruption  and  its  Results.          339 

seems  as  yet  unemployed  owing  to  the  distracted 
condition  of  the  Church  and  the  conflicting  claims  of 
rival  Metropolitans. 

The  Travancore  Church  Mission  was  distinctly 
authorised  by  the  London  Committee  of  the  C.M.S. 
to  commence  direct  mission  work  under  the  Bishop 
of  Calcutta,  but  independent  of  the  Syrian  Metro- 
politan, in  whose  diocese  they  were  labouring.  A  few 
of  the  Syrian  clergy  and  a  small  body  of  the  laity 
seceded  with  the  English  party  ;  and  an  entirely  new 
system  of  operation  commenced.  The  field  was  by 
no  means  solely  or  chiefly  the  heathen  population. 
On  the  contrary,  the  English  clergymen  built  churches 
close  to  those  of  the  Syrians  at  Cottayam,  Trichoor, 
Pallam,  and  many  other  places,  and  began  a  course 
of  proselytising  amongst  the  members  of  the  Syrian 
Church  in  spite  of  the  sentences  of  excommunication 
pronounced  by  the  Metropolitan.  "  A  new  method 
of  proceeding  was  adopted.  From  1838  to  the  present 
time,  the  Gospel  has  been  preached  to  all  alike, 
Syrians  and  heathens,  and  all  have  been  exhorted  to 
come  out  and  separate  themselves  from  false  Com- 
munions and  join  themselves  with  a  pure  Scriptural 
Communion.  The  blessing  of  God  seems  to  have 
followed  the  new  plan.  Since  1838  twelve  thousand 
persons  have  come  out  and  joined  the  Protestant 
Church  of  England."  x 

1  "Ch.  Miss.  Intelligancer,"  Oct.,  1868,  p.  314. 

Z   2 


340          The  Disruption  and  its  Results. 

Space  forbids  our  tracing  the  progress  of  this 
Mission,  for  the  details  of  which  we  must  refer  to  the 
annual  reports  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society. 
Dr.  Mullens  also  says:  "  These  converts,  and  the 
Missions  founded  for  their  benefit,  have  since  greatly 
prospered ;  large  congregations  exist  at  every  station, 
including  no  fewer  than  4,000  persons,  young  and  old, 
of  whom  1,000  are  communicants.  Fifty  day-schools 
exist  for  boys,  and  150  girls  are  instructed  in  the 
boarding-schools.  The  chief  stations  are  six  in 
number,  of  which  five  are  in  most  important  locali- 
ties among  the  Syrian  Christians.  Trichoor  contains 
12,000  Syrians.  Cottayam,  Marelikare,  Tirmvella, 
and  Pallam  are  in  the  very  heart  of  the  churches,  and 
are  advancing  in  usefulness  every  year.  Their  hand- 
some Gothic  churches,  their  school  and  mission 
houses  bear  testimony  to  a  purer  faith  and  purer 
missionary  zeal  for  the  true  Head  of  the  redeemed 
Church,  than  their  dull  neighbours,  the  venerable 
buildings  of  former  times." l 

This  was  written  in  1858.  Since  that  time  the 
Travancore  and  Cochin  Mission  has  been  thoroughly 
worked  by  the  Church  Missionary  Society  with  con- 
stantly-increasing success.  The  field  is  divided  into 
nine  districts,  viz.,  Allepie,  Cottayam,  Cochin,  Mare- 
likare, Trichur,  Pallam,  Tirmvella,  Hunnankullam, 
and  Mundakayam,  to  which,  in  1869,  was  added  the 
1  Mullens's  "  South  India,"  pp.  130-1. 


The  Disruption  and  its  Results.          341 

new  district  of  Candanade.  The  most  recent  infor- 
mation speaks  of  the  Cambridge  Nicholson  Institu- 
tion, under  the  Rev.  J.  M.  Speechly,  as  having  been 
designed  for  the  preparation  of  an  Evangelistic  and 
educational  agency.  It  now  contains  thirty-one 
students,  who  seem  to  be  educated  chiefly  as  school- 
masters, catechists,  and  itinerants.  The  Cottayam 
College,  under  the  Rev.  J.  Bishop,  contains  nearly 
1 50  pupils,  in  the  two  departments,  the  college  proper 
(in  affiliation  with  the  University  of  Madras),  and 
the  grammar-school,  consisting  entirely  of  day 
scholars,  fifty  Syrians  and  eight  heathens.  Eight 
deacons  of  the  Syrian  Church  form  a  class  in  this 
College.  We  may  quote  one  fact  in  illustration  of  the 
hopes  of  a  reform  in  the  native  Church.  The  Rev.  G. 
Matthan  (native)  states  that  a  neighbouring  minister 
of  the  Syrian  Church,  "  having  had  his  education  in 
our  College  at  Cottayam,  is  prepared  to  support  the 
reformation  of  this  Church  to  the  fullest  extent  con- 
sistent with  its  distinct  existence.  He  has  discontinued 
the  Invocation  of  Saints,  Prayers  for  the  Dead,  and 
Auricular  Confession.  He  uses  the  vulgar  tongue  in 
the  Church  services,  solemnises  matrimony  on  week- 
days, and  administers  the  elements  in  both  kinds. 
Some  of  our  people  observed  to  me,  with  regret,  that 
the  better  portion  of  the  Syrians  in  this  neighbourhood 
would  ere  this  have  come  over  to  us  had  it  not  been 
for  the  faithful  ministry  of  this  man  among  them ;  but 


342  The  Disruption  and  its  Results. 

I  told  them  that  we  should  rather  rejoice  in  the  suc- 
cess of  all  Christian  ministers  if  they  did  indeed 
preach  Christ  and  Him  crucified,  as  this  man  did,  for 
the  object  of  our  Mission  was  not  so  much  to  gain 
proselytes  to  our  Cliurch  as  to  win  souls  to  Christ."1 
Yet,  in  spite  of  this  disclaimer,  we  find,  scattered 
throughout  the  recent  reports  of  the  Society,  constant 
allusions  to  the  "  conversion  "  of  the  Syrian  Christians 
from  their  own  Church  to  ours.  For  instance: 
"  Twelve  thousand  persons  of  all  classes  have  been 
brought  out  of  religious  error,  and  united  in  a  profes- 
sion of  Scriptural  Christianity.  To  this  body  of 
converts  the  Syrians,  Chogans,  and  slaves  have 
contributed  most  numerously."2  And  again:  "The 
Churches  of  Kollatta  and  Erecalta  now  consist  of 
Syrian  Christian  and  slave  converts,  and  that  of 
Thottakalta  is  composed  of  Syrian  and  Chogan 
Christians."3  Further :  "  At  Thalawadi  people  are 
converts  from  Syrians,  Roman  Catholics,  and  Chogans, 
At  Neranum  all  are  converts  from  Syrians.  The 
remaining  four  congregations  are  entirely  composed 
of  Pulayan  slaves.  Of  852  professing  Christians  of 
the  district,  200  are  Syrians  by  birth,  forty-seven  are 
converts  from  Chogans,  and  605  are  converts  from 
Pulayan  slaves."4  Nay,  more,  the  Rev.  G.  Matthan, 

1  Reports  of  Ch.  Missionary  Society,  1868-1869,  pp.  153-4. 

2  "  Church  Missionary  Record,"  Oct.,  1868,  p.  291. 

3  "Church  Missionary  Record,"  Oct.,  1869.  p.  305. 

4  "  Ch.  Miss.  Rec.,"  Oct.,  1868,  p.  298. 


The  Disruption  and  its  Results.          343 

already  quoted,  says  in  his  reports  of  November  25th, 
1 868,  that  "  the  members  of  the  congregation  here  and 
of  the  one  at  Niranem  are  composed  of  seceders  from 
the  Syrian  Church,  and  a  few  converts  from  the 
Izhamas."1 

Such  statements  as  these  will  be  approved  or  con- 
demned, as  the  reader  may  belong  to  one  or  other  of 
the  great  parties  into  which  the  Church  of  England  is 
divided.  Most  High  Churchmen  2  will  consider  that 
the  missionaries,  in  converting  so  few  of  the  heathen 
and  so  many  of  the  Syrian  Christians,  are  departing 
from  the  purpose  for  which  they  were  sent  out,  and 
that  in  doing  this  in  the  diocese  of  a  Christian  Bishop, 
in  the  face  of  his  distinct  prohibition,  they  are  guilty 
of  encouraging  secession  and  schism,  especially  when 
they  do  not  deny  that  saving  Christianity  is  to  be 
found  in  the  Syrian  Church  of  Travancore.3  Low 
Churchmen,  on  the  other  hand,  maintain  that  they 
have  abundant  justification  for  the  course  which  they 


1  "Ch.  Miss.  Rec.,  "  Oct.,  1869,  p.  306. 

-  "The  church  was  closed,  and  I  could  see  little  of  the  internal 
arrangements,  but  my  interest  in  it,  and  in  the  Mission  generally,  was 
much  diminished  when  I  learned  that  converts  were  invited,  not  only 
from  among  the  heathen,  but  from  the  Christian  population  around, 
and  that  the  Holy  Communion  was  celebrated  only  once  in  three 
months.'' — Howard's  "  Christians  of  S.  Thomas,"  p.  115. 

3  "  Her  errors  are  grievous,  but  she  is  not  an  apostate  Church,  and 
we  doubt  not  but  that  she  has  in  her  a  '  seed  which  shall  be  counted 
unto  the  Lord  for  a  generation.' " — Madras  "  Ch.  Miss.  Rec.,"  Vol.  IV., 
p.l. 


344  The  Disruption  and  its  Results. 

have  pursued  in  the  errors  which  still  exist  in  the 
Syrian  Church,  of  Nestorian  or  of  Romish  origin,  and 
they  enumerate  Transubstantiation,  the  Sacrifice  of 
the    Mass,    Prayers    for    the    Dead,    Purgatory,   the 
Worship  of  the  Virgin  and  of  Saints,  Prayers  in  an 
Unknown  Tongue,  Extreme  Unction,  &c.,  and  certain 
observances,  such  as  the  Elevation  of  the  Host,  burn- 
ing incense,  ringing  of  bells  at  the  Elevation,  &C.1 
The  great  problem,  then,  is  to  accomplish  the  refor- 
mation of  the  Syrian  Church  from  within  ;  and  though 
Bishop  Gell  says  that  "  for  many  years  nothing  has 
occurred  to  revive  those  bright  anticipations  of  refor- 
mation which  Bishop  Wilson  and  many  others  for  a 
time  entertained,"2  there  are,  according  to  last  year's 
Reports,  decided  indications  of  approaching  change. 
For  example,  Mr.  Maddox  reports  :  "  The  Syrians  do 
not  join  our  Church  in  such  large  numbers  as  they 
did  ;  and  there  is  a  reason  here  also  which  will  account 
for  the  fact.     The  Syrian  Church  itself  has  undergone 
a  wonderful  change  during  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years. 
In   the  south  of  Travancore,  and  especially  in  the 
eastern  part  of  my  district,  and  I  believe  the  neigh- 
bouring district  of  Tiruwella,  reform  has  been  carried 
out   to  a  considerable  extent.     Those  things  which 


1  "  Madras  Ch.  Miss.  Rec.,"  November,  1835.     The  original  Syrian 
Church  held  none  of  these  errors.  —See  Geddes's  "  Hist.  Mai.  Ch."— 
See  quotation  from  Philipos,  p.  17. 

2  Charge  of  the  Bishop  of  Madras,  1863. 


The  Disruption  and  its  Results.  345 

once  shocked  men  of  religious  principle  and  enlight- 
enment have  been  entirely  removed  in  many  churches. 
If  it  be  asked,  What,  under  God,  has  brought  about 
so  great  a  change  ?  we  answer,  The  wholesome  influence 
of  our  own  Church  in  its  midst,  with  its  printing  press, 
institutions,  educated  clergy,  and  European  manage- 
ment" x  To  the  same  purpose  we  may  cite,  "  Among 
the  Syrians  in  the  neighbourhood,  the  effect  of  our 
work  becomes  more  and  more  apparent.  The  reform- 
ing party  among  them  is  become  so  strong  that  the 
superstitious  party  is  contemplating  to  separate  and 
build  another  church  for  themselves,  where  they  can 
have  their  own  ways  without  molestation.  The  chief 
stumbling-block  with  them  is  communion  in  both 
kinds,  which  the  reforming  party  has  strenuously 
adhered  to  as  being  Scriptural,  and  which  the  super- 
stitious party  greatly  oppose,  as  being  an  innovation 
adopted  from  the  Protestant  mode  of  administering 
the  Lord's  Supper.  The  reforming  party  has,  in 
addition  to  the  force  of  truth  on  their  side,  the  support 
and  patronage  of  the  Syrian  Metropolitan,  who  advo- 
cates their  cause.  These  circumstances  contribute  to 
their  winning  the  day." 2 

When  the  English  missionaries  thus  speak  of  a 
reformation  in  the  Syrian  Church,  we  presume  that 
they  allude  to  the  original  Church  of  the  Serra, 

1  "  Ch.  Miss.  Rec.,"  1868  (Oct.),  p.  301. 

2  "Ch.  Miss.  Rec.,"  Oct.,  1868,  p.  298. 


346          The  Disruption  and  its  Results. 

though  it  is  evident  that  some  of  their  remarks 
refer  to  the  Rome-Syrians.  Even  of  them,  however, 
there  seems  some  hope,  despite  their  numerical 
superiority  ( 1 1 9,000),  for  Bishop  Cell  says:  "Amongst 
those  who  have  been  subject  to  the  Latin  Bishop,  i.e., 
in  the  Syro- Roman  Church,  there  is  a  dissatisfaction 
with  Romish  rule.  They  have  very  recently  received 
a  new  Bishop,  a  native  of  Travancore,  consecrated  by 
the  Syrian  Patriarch  of  the  East,  and  are  desirous  of 
being  allowed  to  read  the  Scriptures."  x 

We  have  endeavoured,  in  treating  of  this  difficult 
part  of  our  subject,  to  discuss  the  question  with  the 
strictest  impartiality.  Still,  we  have  viewed  it  from 
the  English  platform  ;  and  it  is  quite  possible  that 
with  all  our  efforts,  we  may  not  have  done  complete 
justice  to  the  native  Church.  We  shall  therefore,  in 
our  next  chapter,  allow  one  of  her  clergy  to  give  a 
Syrian's  view  of  her  history,  doctrines,  ritual,  and 
present  condition. 

1  "  Charge  of  the  Bishop  of  Madras,  1863,  "  p.  6. 


CHAPTER    V. 

PRESENT    STATE     OF     THE    SYRIAN     CHRISTIANS. 

"  It  is  not  necessary  that  Traditions  and  Ceremonies  be  in  all  places 
one,  and  utterly  like  ;  for  at  all  times  they  have  been  divers,  and  may 
be  changed  according  to  the  diversities  of  countries,  times,  and  men's 
manners,  so  that  nothing  be  ordained  against  God's  Word." — ARTICLE 
xxxiv. 

WE  are  fortunately  in  the  possession  of  a  treatise, 
written  two  years  ago,  by  the  Rev.  Edavalikel 
Philipos,  Chorepiscopus,  Cathanar  of  the  Great 
Church  of  Cottayam,  in  Travancore,  translated  from 
his  Malayalim  by  himself,  and  edited  by  the  Rev.  G. 
B.  Howard,  late  Assistant  Chaplain  in  the  Diocese 
of  Madras.  This  curious  document  is  in  the  form  of 
a  catechism,  and  explains  from  an  Eastern  Jacobite's 
point  of  view  the  first  four  general  Councils,  with 
much  information  as  to  the  ecclesiastical  observance, 
and  doctrines  of  his  co-religionists.  It  is  simply  im- 
possible, with  due  regard  to  the  main  object  of  our 
own  Essay,  to  enter  with  anything  like  a  discussion  of 
the  points  of  agreement  and  disagreement  between 
the  Church  of  England  and  the  Church  of  Malabar, 
especially  as  the  chief  doctrine  involved,  is  one  of 
such  deep  mystery  as  to  demand  a  volume  rather  than 


34^      Present  State  of  the  Syrian   Christians. 

a  chapter  for  its  investigation.  As  the  Editor  justly 
observes,  "  the  contention  between  the  orthodox  and 
the  Jacobites,  so  far  as  my  weakness  is  able  to  appre- 
hend its  nature,  is  one  that  none  but  the  most  pro- 
found theologians  could  enter  into.  Surely  this  con- 
sideration should  make  us  cautious  as  to  the  language 
we  use  in  reference  to  these  separated  Churches,  even 
while,  following  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Fathers, 
we  ourselves  adhere  rigidly  to  the  teaching  of  the 
Catholic  Church."  The  reader  is  referred  to  the 
treatise  itself  for  full  satisfaction  ;  it  must  be  our  pro- 
vince to  give  such  an  outline  as  will  convey  to  his 
mind  a  Syrian's  view  of  the  Syrian  Church. 

First,  then,  as  to  its  history.  "  In  A.D.  52,  the 
Apostle  Mar-Thomas  came  to  Malabar  in  the  reign 
of  Choshea.  He  was  so  successful  in  his  preaching 
that  seven  Christian  Churches  were  founded  by  him 
there.1  But  for  a  long  time  after  his  death  Christian- 
ity was  in  a  declining  state  in  Malabar.  But  as  India 
and  the  countries  in  the  East  fell  to  the  share  of  the 
Patriarch  of  Antioch  in  the  Nicene  Synod,  he  ap- 
pointed a  maphriana,  at  Tigris,  in  Bagdad,  to 
conduct  all  the  religious  affairs  of  the  Eastern 
Churches  under  the  care  of  the  Patriarch.  This 
maphriana,  coming  to  know  from  Thoma,  a 

1  The  Roman  coins  of  Augustus,  Tiberias,  and  others,  found  on  the 
Malabar  coast  are  a  strong  corroboration  of  the  general  tradition. 
— "  Madras  Journal  of  Literature  and  Sc.,"  Vol.  iv.,  p.  212. 


Present  State  of  the  Syrian   Christians.      349 

prince  of  Canan,  of  the  decline  of  the  Churches  in 
Malabar,  informed  the  Patriarch  of  the  same ;  when, 
in  pursuance  to  (of)  the  orders  of  the  Patriarch,  he 
sent  the  above-mentioned  prince  Thoma,  and  Joseph 
the  Bishop,  a  native  of  Orfa,  and  other  bishops, 
priests,  and  deacons,  and  a  colony  of  Syrians  with 
their  families.  They  landed  at  Kodingaloor  in  the 
reign  of  Chernan  (Cheruman)  Perumal,  A.D.  345, 
when  the  king  received  them  gladly,  and  gave  them 
certain  privileges  and  names  of  honour  as  accounted 
by  the  natives,  and  a  place  to  live  in.  By  them  and 
their  successors  to  the  office  of  Bishop  who  came 
from  Antioch  were  the  Syrian  Churches  founded 
(?  firmly  settled)  and  governed. 

"  When  the  Syrian  Church  was  in  this  state,  the 
Portuguese  not  only  persecuted  and  killed  all  the 
Bishops  as  they  came  from  Antioch,  but  their  Metran. 
Dom  Pre  Alleskes  de  Menesis  (Alexius  de  Menezes), 
residing  at  Goa,  came  to  the  Malayalim  country  in 
1598,  and  having  visited  all  the  Syrian  Churches  (he) 
bribed  the  petty  princes  then  ruling  the  country,  and 
some  Syrians,  in  order  to  gain  them  over  to  his 
interest.  And  those  Syrians  who  opposed  his  designs 
were  persecuted  and  put  to  death.  So  by  main  force 
he  assembled  all  the  Syrians  in  the  church  at  Ody- 
amperoor  and  persuaded  them  to  embrace  Popery, 
besides  burning  all  the  Syriac  Bibles,  and  many  other 
Syriac  books.  Then  all  the  married  priests  were 


350     Present  State  of  the  Syrian  Christians. 

separated  from  their  wives.  (Menezes)  also  drew  up 
a  book  regulating  their  future  mode  of  living,  and  en- 
joined a  strict  obedience  to  these  laws  on  the  part  of 
the  Syrians.  And  anyone  may  know  the  great 
enmity  and  wickedness  which  this  Alleskes  practised 
towards  the  Syrian  Church,  if  he  thoughtfully  reads 
that  book  containing  his  visit  news  (?  visit  news)  of 
the  different  Churches,  printed  in  Portuguese,  in  1606, 
in  the  office  of  Deogoo  Gomis  Low  Tire,  printer,  of 
a  place  called  Vui  Wersi  Dadi,1  in  the  country  Coem- 
pra,  in  Goa.  After  this,  in  1685,  Mar-Evanious,  the 
Bishop,  came  from  Antioch,  and  with  much  difficulty 
redeemed  the  now  existing  Syrian  Churches  from  the 
Portuguese  ;  and  those  Churches  which  could  not  be 
reclaimed  by  Mar-Evanious  still  continue  Romish ; 
yet  their  liturgy  is  to  this  day  in  the  Syriac."2 
Nothing  can  show  more  clearly  than  this  quotation 
the  opinions  which  the  Syrians  still  entertain  of  the 
conduct  of  the  Portuguese  missionaries.  Philipos 
goes  on  to  say  that  the  Malabar  Christians  rose 
against  the  Portuguese,  and  threw  off  their  yoke,  after 
eighty-six  years'  slavery  ;  but  that  a  large  party  still 

1  We  have  given  the  English  of  the  worthy  Cattanar  exactly  as  it 
stands  in  his  own  translation  (Mr.  Howard  being  only  the  Editor),  and 
we  must,  therefore,  explain  the  mysterious  account  of  the  book  which  he 
calls  the  "visit  news."     What  he  means  to  say  is  this  that  Gouvea's 
Jornada  was   printed  at  a  place   called  the   University  of  Coimbra, 
which  he  innocently  supposes  to  be  in  Goa,  instead  of  Portugal. 

2  Syrian  Christians  of  Malabar,  pp.  22-24. 


Present  State  of  the  Syrian  Christians.      351 

clung  to  Romanism.  He  divides  the  whole  Syrian 
Church  into  six  parts :  ist,  the  Jacobite  Syrians  ; 
2ndly,  the  Maronites,  once  Jacobites,  but  now 
Romanists  ;  3rdly,  the  small  Church  at  Bagdad,  also 
converted  to  Rome  ;  4thly,  the  old  Chaldees  of  Nes- 
torian  views  ;  5thly,  the  new  Chaldees,  or  Poothen- 
koorkar,  who  had  re-adopted  Syrianism,  and  6thly, 
the  Palayakoorkar,  that  is,  old  partisans  who  have 
adhered  to  Romanism. 

The  present  Bishop  of  the  Syrian  Church  in 
Malabar  is  Mar-Coorilos  Joyakim,  but  as  he  is  un- 
well, another  named  Mar-Devanasious  has  recently 
arrived  from  the  Patriarch  of  Antioch.  There  is, 
however,  as  has  been  already  stated,  a  rival  in  the 
person  of  Athanasius  Matthew,  of  whom  an  unfavour- 
able account  is  given  by  Philipos,  and  who  was 
deposed  by  the  Patriarch  from  all  his  offices.  Into 
these  particulars  we  need  not  enter. 

Secondly,  as  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Church.  The 
Syrians  "  believe  in  the  Holy  Trinity,  which  is  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  only  and 
true  God."  They  have  only  one  creed,  the  Nicene, 
though  not  verbatim  the  same  as  ours.  The  Syrians 
assert  of  the  union  of  Christ's  Divinity  with  His 
humanity.  "  Not  like  oil  and  water,  but  like  wine  and 
water  they  are  joined  together  and  are  become  One  ; 
and  they  believe  in  Him  as  perfect  God  and  perfect 
Man  both  at  His  conception  and  birth,  His  sufferings, 


352     Present  State  of  the  Syrian   Christians. 

death  and  resurrection,  and  at  His  coming  at  the 
last  Day  ;  and  that  He  did  not  destroy  His  humanity 
by  His  divinity,  nor  His  divinity  by  His  humanity."1 
The  Cattanar  next  gives  an  account  of  what  he  calls  the 
Synods  (that  is  the  Councils),  of  which  he  admits 
three,  viz. :  Nice,  Constantinople,  and  Ephesus,  but 
rejects  Chalcedon,  in  this  respect  differing  essentially 
from  the  Church  of  England,  which  recognises  the 
four  first  General  Councils.2  The  rejection  of  the 
Council  of  Chalcedon,  which  expressly  condemned 
Eutyches,  and  declared  the  Catholic  doctrine  to  be 
that  "  in  Christ  two  distinct  natures  are  united  in  one 
person  without  any  change,  mixture  or  confusion," 
seems  to  identify  the  present  Syrian  Church  with  the 
Eutychian  or  Monophosite  Doctrine,  if  we  assume 
that  the  Cattanar 's  statements  are  authoritative.  In 
reply  to  the  question,  "  Why  are  the  Syrians  called 
Jacobites  ?  "  he  gives  a  somewhat  confused  answer  to 
the  effect  that  Jacob  Boordana  (Baradceus)  opposed 
Nestorius,  but  he  does  not  seem  to  be  aware  that  the 
Jacobites,  in  escaping  from  Nestorianism,  were  led  into 
the  other  extreme,  maintaining  that  "  the  Divine  and 
human  natures  of  Christ  were  originally  distinct,  but 
after  their  union  they  became  but  one  nature,  the  human 
nature  being  transubstantiated  into  the  Divine." 3 

1  "  Philipos,"  p.  2. 

2  "  Theophilus  Anglicanus,"  pp.,  19,  39,  40,  73,  326,  343. 

3  Harold  Browne  on   the    Thirty-nine   Articles,  p.    63.      Mosheim 


Present  State  of  the  Syrian   Christians.    353 

With  regard  to  the  Eucharist,  "  they  believe  the 
offering  of  the  Kooroobana  to  be  a  holy  sacrifice,  and 
the  bread  and  wine  in  it  to  be  the  real  body  and  blood 
of  Christ." l  Of  course,  in  so  brief  a  definition  as  this, 
it  is  impossible  to  conjecture  the  exact  sense  in  which 
the  words  are  to  be  taken.  There  are  those  in  the 
Church  of  England  that  would  consider  them  perfectly 
correct,  and  even  others  of  different  Protestant  com- 
munions have  declared  that  Christ's  "  body  and  blood 
are  verily  and  indeed  taken."  2  On  the  other  hand, 
these  words  might  be  interpreted  to  mean  the  Sacrifice 
in  the  Mass,  and  Transubstantiation.  If  this  is  really 
the  doctrine  of  the  Syrian  Church,  there  must  have 
been  a  strong  infusion  of  Romanism  by  the  Portuguese 
missionaries,  for,  before  1599,  she  distinctly  denied 
Transubstantiation  and  all  the  concomitant  errors. 
This  is  clearly  proved  by  Action  V.  of  the  Synod  of 
Diamper.  3 

They  honour  and  worship  the  Virgin  Mary  and  the 
Saints,  but  they  do  not  give  them  that  praise  and 
worship  which  are  due  to  God  alone.  They  pray  to 
the  Saints,  and  they  also  pray  for  the  dead  (Questions 
22-23).  The  26th  Question  is,  "  Do  they  confess  their 

Cent.  v.  Pt.  ii.,  Cb.  v.    Neander,  Vol.  IV.  pp.  203-231.     "  Theophilus 
Anglicanus,"  p.  201. 

1  "  Philipos,"  p.  ii. 

2  Harold  Browne  on  the  Articles,  p.  680.     Bishop  Taylor  on  the 
Real  Presence,  Section  i.,  p.  9. 

3  Geddes's  "  Hist.  Ch.  Malabar,"  p.  217. 

A  A 


354  Present  State  of  the  Syrian   Christians. 

sins  before  the  priest?"  And  the  answer  is,  "  It  is 
commanded  that  all  persons,  above  seven  years  of  age 
should  confess  their  sins."  This  again  must  be  an 
instance  of  Portuguese  influence,  for  Geddes  states, 
speaking  of  the  original  Syrian  Church,  "She  denies 
the  necessity  of  Auricular  Confession."  A  further 
difference  between  the  ancient  and  modern  usages 
is  found  in  the  employment  of  oil.  Before  the  Synod 
of  Diamper  we  read  the  Church  of  Malabar  "  makes 
no  use  of  oils  in  the  administration  of  baptism," 
and  "  She  knows  nothing  of  Extreme  Unction  "  ; x 
whereas  the  present  Church  employs  two  anointings 
of  the  baptised,  and  one  of  the  sick  with  holy  oil.2  In 
the  account  given  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  of 
Malabar  in  the  XVIIIth  Chapter  of  the  ist  Book  of 
the  Visitation,3  it  is  made  matter  of  complaint  that 
"  she  ordains  such  as  have  been  married  several  times, 
and  that  she  allows  her  priests  to  marry  as  often  as 
they  please  ;  but  the  present  Syrian  Church  does  not 
allow  an  unmarried  deacon  to  be  married  after  his 
ordination  to  the  priesthood  ;  and,  if  a  priest  marries 
a  second  time,  he  is  considered  to  have  fallen  from  his 
office."  Further,  "they  consecrate  those  who  keep  the 
vow  of  celibacy,  and  those  who  keep  that  vow  on  the 


1  Geddes's  "Hist.  Ch.  Malabar,"  p.  117 

2  "  Philipos,"  p.  13. 

3  Gouvea's  "Jornada,"  Coimbra,  1606. 


Present  State  of  the  Syrian  Christians.    355 

death  of  their  first  wives,  to  the  office  of  bishops,  but 
only  those  who  keep  the  vow  of  perpetual  celibacy  to 
the  office  of  patriarchs." x 

The  Syrian  Church  recognises  the  usual  three 
orders  of  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  but  has  three 
degrees  in  each  of  these  offices.  First,  the  Episcopal 
Order  is  subdivided  thus  :  the  patriarch,  who  is  the 
"  over-ruler  and  lord  of  everything  connected  with  the 
Syrian  Church "  ;  secondly,  the  mapriana,  a  sort  of 
suffragan,  deputy,  and  heir  of  the  patriarch  ;  thirdly, 
the  metropolitan,  corresponding  to  our  bishop,  who 
governs  the  different  parishes  entrusted  to  his  care, 
and  ordains  both  priests  and  deacons.  The  three 
kinds  of  priests  are,  first,  prampan  living  in  convents 
under  a  vow  of  celibacy ;  second,  chor-episcopa,  a 
sort  of  inspector,  or  examining  chaplain  ;  thirdly, 
kashisha,  a  married  priest,  vicar  of  a  parish.  Of 
deacons  there  are  :  first,  the  archdeacon,  whose 
business  it  is  to  examine  the  deacons,  and  to  assist 
the  bishops ;  secondly,  meshamshana  ;  thirdly, 
hypodiaconon,  who  assist  the  priest  in  divine 
service  and  read  the  Old  Testament  and  Epistles,  but 
not  the  Gospels.  The  Syrian  priests  are  not,  how- 
ever, generally  called  by  these  titles,  but  by  the  word 
Cattanar,  as  the  bishops  are  more  frequently  called 
Metrans. 


Philipos,"  p.  14 

A  A   2 


356  Present  State  of  the  Syrian   Christians. 

The  allegation  made  in  the  "Madras  Church  Mis- 
sionary Record,"  that  the  Syrians  believed  in  the 
existence  of  Purgatory,  is  positively  denied  by  Phili- 
pos,  who  also  repudiates  the  charge  that  they  make 
images  and  worship  them.  The  only  way  of  recon- 
ciling these  discrepancies  is  to  suppose  either  that  the 
accuser  has  not  carefully  distinguished  between  the 
Syrian  and  the  Romo-Syrian  Churches ;  or  that  in 
some  special  instances  the  Portuguese  missionaries 
may  have  left  their  mark. 

Thirdly,  as  to  rites  and  ceremonies,  the  Cattanar 
gives  us  but  a  meagre  account,  taking  it  for  granted, 
probably,  that  the  forms  familiar  to  him  are  equally  so 
to  us.  He  merely  says  :  "  Every  morning  and  even- 
ing all  the  priests  assemble  in  the  church,  when  they 
pray  and  read  portions  of  the  Bible,  as  regulated  in 
their  office-book,  and  offer  incense.  But  on  certain 
festivals,  and  during  Lent,  and  on  other  fast  days, 
they  pray  thrice  a  day,  and  perform  the  other  rites  as 
explained  above."1  We  must,  therefore,  avail  our- 
selves of  the  narrative  by  Mr.  Howard,  and  en- 
deavour to  condense  a  few  of  its  interesting  state- 
ments. The  description  of  a  Syrian  church  will 
be  found  at  pp.  123  and  125  of  "The  Christians  of 
S.  Thomas."  The  author  describes  the  dress  of  the 
Cattanar  as  consisting  of  (i)  a  pair  of  shoes,  contrary 

1   "  Philipos,"  p.  17. 


Present  State  of  the  Syrian  Christians.    357 

to  Oriental  custom  ;  (2)  a  robe  of  black  serge,  or 
coarse  calico,  worn  in  compliance  with  the  former 
custom  of  the  Syrian  priests,  whereas  the  common 
dress  of  the  Malabar  Christian  is  white ;  (3)  the 
cut/iino,  like  a  surplice  ;  (4)  the  orro  or  stole ;  (5)  the 
zunro,  a  girdle  or  cord  ;  (6)  the  zando,  sleeves  or 
maniples  ;  (7)  the  phaino,  chasuble,  or  probably  cope, 
made  of  handsome  silk  damask,  sometimes  of  velvet, 
nearly  square,  fastened  over  the  shoulders  by  a  button 
in  front ;  (8)  the  cap.  Describing  a  visit  to  one  of 
their  churches,  Mr.  Howard  informs  us  that  the 
congregation  consisted  of  men  and  women,  on  diffe- 
rent sides,  of  dusky  complexion  of  course,  but  robed  in 
dazzling  white  dresses ;  and  while  waiting  for  the 
commencement  of  the  service,  gratifying  their  curiosity 
at  the  expense  of  their  visitor,  many  never  having 
seen  a  white  man.  The  service  followed  this  order : 
The  Cattanar,  standing  before  the  step  of  the  throne 
or  altar,  repeated  the  Gloria,  the  prayer  "  Make  us 
worthy,"  and  the  "  Sedra "  (order  or  series),  then 
putting  on  his  black  dress,  recited  the  5ist  Psalm. 
Kneeling  before  the  altar,  he  kissed  it,  repeating  ap- 
propriate ejaculations,  chiefly  from  the  Psalms,  and, 
assisted  by  his  deacon,  lighted  the  candles  on  the 
altar.  The  Trisagium  and  the  Lord's  Prayer  followed, 
and  thus  ended  the  first  service.  The  second  service, 
that  of  "  the  Corban  "  (oblation),  or  what  we  shall  call 
the  Communion  Service,  began  by  the  priest  vesting 


358  Present  State  of  the  Syrian  Christians. 

and  washing  his  hands,  after  which  the  bread  and 
wine  (the  latter  mixed}  were  brought  from  the  pro- 
thesis,  or  credence  table,  and  placed  on  the  altar. 
After  the  oblation  each  vessel  was  veiled,  and  a  large 
veil  thrown  over  all.  The  Cattanar  next  prostrates 
himself,  prays  silently,  rises  from  his  knees,  removes 
the  veils,  and,  crossing  his  right  hand  over  his  left, 
elevates  the  paten  and  cup,  with  the  accompanying 
prayers.  The  commemoration  ended,  the  deacon 
begins  the  exhortation,  "2rw/x.euKa8o)c," — i.e.,  "Let  us 
stand  in  seemly  order"  etc.,  the  people  immediately 
answering  with  a  loud  voice,  "  Kurielison  !  Kurielison  ! 
Kurielison  !  " — I  give  their  pronunciation  of  the  well- 
known  words — drawling  out  the  last  syllable  with  a 
peculiar  and  most  disagreeable  flattening  of  the 
voice."  x  The  officiating  priest,  placing  the  cup  and 
paten  on  the  altar,  covers  them  with  a  light  veil,  and 
then,  after  the  recitation  of  the  general  "  Sedra,"  censes 
the  altar,  and  proceeds  to  recite  the  Nicene  Creed,  and 
several  short  prayers.  The  large  bell  is  then  rung, 
and  the  people  sing  the  hymn  Kadisha  Aloha,  accom- 
panied by  the  clash  of  cymbals.  This  ended,  the 
curtain  was  drawn  across  the  chancel  arch,  and  two 
assistants  placed  a  small  table,  covered  with  red  cloth, 
in  the  middle  below  the  steps  ;  and  on  this  they  put 
a  small  cross,  a  bookstand,  and  two  lighted  tapers. 

1  Howard's  "  Syrians  of  S.  Thomas,"  p.  137. 


Present  State  of  the  Syrian   Christians.   359 

This  being  prepared,  the  curtain  was  drawn  aside,  and 
the  Cattanar  read  the  Epistle  and  Gospel  for  the  day, 
after  which  the  Cattanar  returned  to  the  altar,  the 
bells  and  cymbals  were  again  sounded,  and  a  short 
prayer  was  uttered  by  the  people.1 

We  have  thus  given  a  specimen  of  one  portion  of 
the  service,  referring  our  readers  to  the  volume  from 
which  we  have  condensed  this  account,  and  to  the 
authorities  cited  below.2  Our  object  has  been  to  state 
facts,  rather  than  opinions,  so  that  all  may  be  able  to 
judge  whether  it  is  probable  that  the  Syrians  can  be 
forced  into  uniformity  with  the  Church  of  England  in 
matters  of  ritual.  And  yet,  are  there  not  those  in 
our  own  Church  whose  ritualistic  practices  differ  but 
little  from  those  which  we  have  attempted  to  de- 
scribe ?  Nay,  more,  do  we  not  retain  in  our  ordinary 
service  many  significant  ceremonies  which,  to  the  Non- 
conformist, appear  as  unnecessary  as  those  of  the 
Syrians  do  to  us  ?  The  hope  that  must  be  cherished 
is  that  the  authorities  of  the  Syrian  Church  may  be 
prevailed  upon  in  Synod  to  purify  their  ceremonial 
from  merely  superstitious  observances,  retaining  such 


1  Howard's  "  Christians  of  S.  Thomas,"  pp.  139-147. 

2  Madras  "  Ch.  Miss.  Rec.,"  Vol.  IV.,  p.  134.     Asseman,  "  Biblio- 
theca  Orientalis,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  25.     Renandot  "Lit.  Orient.  Col., "Vol. 
II.,  pp.  12-21.     An  analysis  of  the  Ordo-Communis,  and  a  conspectus 
of  the  six  Anaphora  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  Mr.  Howard's  volume, 
translated  from  Syriac   MSS.  obtained  in  Travancore.      See  also  ap- 
pendix to  Vol.  V.  of  Hough's  "  Christ,  in  Ind." 


360  Present  State  of  the  Syrian  Christians. 

rites  and  ceremonies  as  are  fairly  representative  of 
Christian  truth. 

The  difference  in  ritual,  however,  between  the  two 
Churches  is  by  no  means  the  obstacle  in  the  way  of 
communion.  If  the  present  Malabar  Church  deter- 
mines to  use  theological  language  which  asserts 
Jacobite  error,  and  expressly  rejects  the  Council  of 
Chalcedon,  union  with  the  Church  of  England  is 
simply  impossible.  "  Even  if  the  Jacobite  heresy 
were  healed  by  explanations,  the  Filioque  clause 
would  still  remain  between  ourselves  and  the  Syrians 
of  Malabar,  as,  unhappily,  it  does  between  ourselves 
and  all  other  Easterns.  We  do  not  say  that  this,  too, 
could  not  be  explained.  But  it  would  need  explana- 
tion. However,  we  can  still  deal  with  them  in  charity 
and  brotherly  love,  remembering  our  own  shortcom- 
ings, not  to  add  their  weak  and  depressed  state,  and 
the  worldly  prosperity,  comparatively  speaking,  of 
our  own.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  we  have  not  always 
done  so." l 

From  a  careful  examination  of  the  whole  question, 
of  which  this  chapter  is  an  imperfect  summary,  there 
can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  the  errors  which  at 
present  afflict  this  unhappy  Church  are  due  in  doc- 
trine, if  not  in  ritual,  to  the  instruction  of  Nestorian, 
or  rather  of  Jacobite  teachers,  quite  as  much  as  to  the 

1  Review  of  the  Syrian  Christians  of  Malabar  in  "Guardian"  of 
Wednesday,  I3th  April,  1870. 


Present  State  of  the  Syrian  Christians.    361 

influence  of  the  Portuguese  missionaries  in  the  XVIth 
Century."  As  they  retain  all  their  ancient  dislike  of 
the  Church  of  Rome,  it  is  little  probable  that  these 
corruptions  have  been  imported  from  that  quarter  ;  it 
would  rather  appear  that  there  is  a  natural  tendency 
in  the  human  heart  to  engraft  them  on  the  Christian 
system,  when  not  continually  irradiated  with  the  light 
of  God's  Word.  It  may  still  be  not  impossible,  if  the 
Syrian  clergy  could  be  raised  from  their  depressed 
condition,  and  persuaded  to  embrace  the  means  of 
education,  that  their  teaching  should  be  reduced  to  a 
more  scriptural  standard,  without  any  disturbance  of 
their  ecclesiastical  system.  The  moral  character  of 
their  people  is  still  admitted  to  present  many  points 
of  superiority  over  other  natives.  A  simplicity  of 
manner,  accompanied  by  no  small  degree  of  honesty 
and  plain  dealing,  distinguishes  their  intercourse  with 
others,  and  renders  it  the  more  to  be  regretted  that 
designs  undertaken  for  their  spiritual  improvement 
should  for  the  present  be  so  unhappily  interrupted.1 

1  Trevor's  "  India,"  pp.  287-8. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE   REVIVAL   OF   THE   ROMISH    MISSIONS   IN 
INDIA. 

"We  must  also  remember  that  some  of  the  Hindostan  Missions  are 
of  recent  foundation,  and  others  date  from  the  Sixteenth  Century. 
Through  many  vicissitudes,  these  last  have  preserved  Christian  tradi- 
tions^ -which  rendered  the  apostleship  of  our  Missionaries  more  easy."  l 

Our  readers  will  recollect  that  the  Jesuits,  by  their 
disobedience  and  general  misconduct,  provoked  Pope 
Clement  XIVth  so  far,  that  in  1773,  he  suppressed 
their  Order.  A  general  restoration  took  place  under 
Pius  VIIth  in  1814,  and,  from  that  time  to  the  present, 
they  have  gradually  increased  until  they  are  said  to 
number  in  1834,2,684  members;  and,  in  1867,  they 
had  reached  the  extraordinary  number  of  7,956. 

Many  years  previously,  however,  to  the  abolition  of 
their  Order,  Pope  Benedict  XIVth  had  put  an  end  to 
their  refractory  policy  in  India  by  the  Bull  of  1741, 
in  which  he  calls  the  Jesuit  Fathers  "  incbedientes, 
contumaces,  captiosi,  et  perditi  homines,"2  and  in 

1  "Annals  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,:'  Vol.  XXVI.,  No.  161, 
p.  104. 

2  Nicolini's  "  History  of  the  Jesuits,"  Edin.,  1853,  p.  128. 


Revival  of  Romish  Missions  in  India.     363 

which  he  laid  down  such  clear  and  stringent  regula- 
tions that  the  prevaricating  sophistry  of  the  Jesuits 
could  find  no  plausible  means  of  evasion.  From  that 
moment  the  influence  of  the  Portuguese  missionaries 
and  their  followers  began  to  decline.  The  supplies 
from  Europe  were  stopped,  and,  so  far  were  the 
million  of  converts  which  the  Roman  Catholic  mis- 
sionaries had  made  from  showing  any  gratitude  to 
their  instructors  that,  according  to  Romish  evidence, 
the  Archbishop  of  Cranganor  and  the  Bishop  of 
Cochin  were  reduced  to  such  poverty  that  they  had 
to  live  upon  alms.1  The  Portuguese  Government,  in 
17SS>  under  Pombal,  seemed  impressed  with  the 
necessity  of  extinguishing  this  obnoxious  Order,  for 
we  learn  that  a  hundred  and  forty-seven  Jesuits  were 
seized  at  Goa  and  sent  to  Lisbon,  where  they  lan- 
guished in  prison  for  sixteen  years.  According  to 
the  authority  which  we  have  cited,  "  forty-five  Fathers 
survived,  sole  remnant  of  all  the  missionaries  of 
India,  China,  and  America,  amounting  to  many 
thousands.  About  the  time  when  this  suppression 
took  place,  the  success  of  their  efforts  in  India  had 
been  so  great  that  the  total  number  of  Christians  in 
the  Madura  Mission  must  have  amounted  to  more 
than  a  million.2  Yet,  no  sooner  had  the  Jesuits  been 
forcibly  carried  off  than  their  sheep,  left  without 

1  Marshall's  "  Catholic  Missions,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  244. 

2  "  Lettres  Edifiantes,"  Tom.  X.,  p.  54  and  p.  285. 


364     Revival  of  Romish  Missions  in  India. 

shepherds,  vanished  as  snow  before  the  sun  ;  for  we 
read  that  in  1776,  Fra  Paolim  found  but  18,000  in 
Madura,  and  10,000  in  Tanjore.1  For  nearly  sixty 
years  (1760-1820)  scarcely  any  care  was  taken  of  the 
Catholic  Missions  and  of  their  numerous  converts. 
The  older  missionaries  gradually  died  out,  while  none 
arrived  from  Europe  to  fill  their  place.2 

But  after  1822,  there  were  unmistakable  signs  of 
revival.  The  torpor  that  had  existed  for  more  than 
half-a-century  gave  way  to  sudden  activity.  The  few 
quiet,  inoffensive  priests  who  ministered  to  some  re- 
spectable families  of  middle  rank  and  a  numerous 
body  of  Indo-Portuguese  were  gradually  supplanted 
by  men  whose  energy  and  learning  contrasted  strongly 
with  the  feeble  powers  of  their  predecessors.  Colleges 
and  schools,  nunneries  and  other  institutions  sprang 
up  on  all  sides.  The  Roman  Catholic  clergy  during 
the  last  fifty  years  have  so  rapidly  increased  that 
they  far  outnumber  those  of  any  other  persuasion. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  wonderful  revival  is 
mainly  owing  to  the  re-establishment  of  the  far-famed 
Society  of  Jesus ;  and  here,  as  elsewhere,  we  find  these 
"vigorous  and  experienced  rowers,"  as  Pope  Pius  VII. 
happily  terms  them,  once  more  at  the  oar.3  The  glory 


1  Bartolomeo's  "Voyage  to  the  East  Indies,"  Lond. ,  i8oa,  p  65. 
"Calcutta  Review,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  95. 

2  Mullens,  p.  135. 

3  "  Calcutta  Review,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  74. 


Revival  of  Romish  Missions  in  India.     365 

of  the  Jesuits  was  unquestionably  their  missionary 
spirit,  and  the  glory  of  their  missions  was  that  of 
Southern  India.  Cardinal  Wiseman  says,  "  Although 
there  may  have  been  among  them  defects,  and  num- 
bers of  them  unworthy  of  their  character  (for  it 
would  not  be  a  human  institution  if  it  was  not  imper- 
fect), it  must  be  admitted  that  there  has  been 
maintained  among  them  a  degree  of  fervour  and 
purest  zeal  for  the  conversion  of  heathens  which  no 
other  body  has  ever  shown."1 

We  shall  attempt  to  exhibit  in  the  few  pages  which 
we  can  devote  to  this  subject  the  condition  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  in  Southern  India,  first  as  to 
its  statistics,  and  secondly,  as  to  the  state,  intellectual, 
moral,  and  religious,  of  its  converts,  deriving  our  in- 
formation chiefly,  though  not  exclusively,  from 
Romanist  sources. 

In  a  previous  chapter  it  was  stated  that  the  Arch- 
bishopric of  Goa  was  the  metropolitical  See  of  India, 
but  a  question,  too  long  for  discussion  here,  arose  as 
to  the  rights  of  patronage  enjoyed  by  the  Crown  of 
Portugal.  The  Archbishop  determined  to  adhere  to 
his  Portuguese  allegiance,  while  the  Pope  was  as 
determined  not  to  tolerate  State  interference  with  his 
prerogative.  He,  therefore,  sent  out  a  number  of 
vicars-apostolic,  who  were  regarded  as  intruders  by 

1   "  Lectures  on  Catholic  Church."      London,  1842,  Vol.  I.,  p.  218. 


366    Revival  of  Romish  Missions  in  India. 

the  Indian  Roman  Catholic  clergy.  The  representa- 
tives of  his  Holiness,  on  the  other  hand,  regarded 
with  European  contempt  the  claims  of  the  Archbishop 
of  Goa  and  his  subordinate  bishops.  A  schism  was 
the  result,  which  continues  to  the  present  hour,  for  we 
find  that  while  fourteen  bishops,  seven  hundred  and 
seventy-four  priests,  and  nine  hundred  and  eight 
thousand  Jaity,  acknowledge  the  Papal  authority  in 
India,  one  archbishop,  three  bishops,  a  hundred  and 
forty-one  priests,  and  a  hundred  and  twenty-nine  thou- 
sand laity  continue  to  yield  obedience  to  the  Indian 
primacy.1  "In  1837  a  furious  war  was  waged  between 
the  vicar-apostolic  (an  Irish  monk)  and  the  Bishop- 
elect  of  the  see  of  Meliapore.  The  former  having 
received  consecration  as  a  bishop  in  partibus  in- 
fidelium,  pressed  the  Portuguese  hard  with  his 
episcopal  and  apostolical  powers  ;  while  the  latter, 
though  rightfully  elected  by  the  chapter  of  Goa,  and 
in  possession  of  the  temporalities,  remained  without 
Papal  confirmation,  and  was  consequently  unable  to 
obtain  episcopal  consecration.  The  dispute  came  at 
last  into  the  British  courts,  which,  strangely  enough, 
were  employed  in  adjudicating  on  the  rival  pretensions 
of  two  foreign  potentates  to  exercise  jurisdiction 
within  the  dominions  of  the  English  crown." 2  Setting 
aside,  then,  the  Archbishop  of  Goa  and  his  adherents, 

1  "  Summary  of  Catholic  Statistics  of  India,"  &c.,   1 866,  quoted  in 
"Catholic  Directory"  for  1867.   "  Christian  Year  Book,"  1867,  p.  322. 
a  Trevor's  "  India,"  p.  296. 


Revival  of  Romish  Missions  in  India.     367 

we  observe  that  the  Catholic  missions  in  India  are 
divided  into  twenty  apostolic  vicariates,  each  under 
its  vicar  or  bishop,  of  which  a  complete  list  will  be 
found  in  the  authorised  directories.1  Of  these  vica- 
riates, Verapoli  or  Malabar  dates  as  far  back  as  1659; 
and  Northern  Bombay,  1669  ;  Ava  and  Pegu,  1721  ; 
Pondicherry,  1776;  Agra,  1820;  Western  Madras,  1 132; 
Bengal,  1834;  Eastern  Bengal,  Canara,  Coimbatore, 
Hyderabad,  Mysore,  Patna,  Quilon,  and  the  Malay 
Peninsula,  all  in  1845 ;  Madura,  1846  ;  Jaffna  in  1847; 
Vizagapatam  in  1849  ;  Poonah  in  1854;  so  that  the 
reader  will  be  able  to  see  at  a  glance,  by  a  comparison 
of  dates,  how  rapid  has  been  the  progress  of  revival. 
Roman  Catholic  writers  see  in  this  resuscitation  a 
convincing  proof  "  that  the  permanence  which  so 
wonderfully  distinguishes  these  missions  is  not  the 
privilege  of  one  or  two  places  only,  but  is  equally 
conspicuous  in  every  part  of  the  country.  It  will  be 
observed  that  the  Mission  of  Madura,  founded  by 
de'Nobili,  still  counts  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
Catholics  ;  while  that  of  Verapoli,  the  field  in  which 
so  many  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries  laboured,  numbers 
nearly  two  hundred  and  thirty  thousand." 2  Verapoli, 
it  will  be  remembered,  is  in  the  heart  of  the  Malabar 
Christians,  to  the  east  of  Cochin,  and,  of  course,  these 

1   "  Catholic  Directory"  for  1870.     London,  p.  67,  and  in  Ibid  tot 
1867,  p.  15. 
*  Marshall's  "Christian  Missions,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  247. 


368     Revival  of  Romish  Missions  in  India. 

figures  bear  directly  on  our  subject.  Another  Roman 
Catholic  authority  gives  the  number  in  Malabar  at 
228,000,  and  in  Quilon,  56,000  j1  but  in  1866  we  find 
it  thus  given,  230,000  under  the  Pope,  and  40,000 
subject  to  the  Portuguese  Archbishop  of  Goa.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Protestants  affirm  that  these 
numbers  are  grossly  exaggerated,  and  that  the  total 
Romanist  population  of  the  district  of  Travancore 
and  Cochin  amounts  to  about  140,000,  including  not 
merely  the  converts  from  heathenism,  but  those  who 
have  been  proselytised  from  Syrianism  to  Romanism.2 
The  total  Roman  Catholic  population  is  asserted  by 
Marshall  to  be  1,200,000  in  1857  ;  but  if  we  compare 
his  statement  with  that  of  the  "  Annales  de  la  Propaga- 
tion de  la  Foi"  (800,000),  we  are  forced  to  one  of  two 
conclusions,  either  that  Marshall,  with  the  characteristic 
zeal  of  a  pervert,  has  added  one  third  to  the  actual 
number,  or  that  between  1857  and  1866  the  numbers 
must  have  fallen  to  that  amount.3  Still  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that,  after  every  deduction  from  party 
exaggerations,  the  Roman  Catholic  population  is  very 
much  greater  than  Protestant  missionaries  seem  dis- 


1  "  Madras  Directory"  for  1857. 

2  '*  Ch.  Missionary  Intelligencer,"  Oct.  1868,  p.  313. 

3  A  total  of  1,200,000,   the  living   witnesses  of   the  labours  and 
triumphs  of  the  Missionaries  of  the  Catholic  Church.     Marshall,  Vol. 
I. ,  p.   248.     ' '  The  total  number  of  Catholics  in  Hindostan  rises  to 
about  800,000 ;    but  this,  when  divided  into  the  several  vicariates,  pre- 
sents very  considerable  variations."     "Annals,"  March  1866,  p.  103. 


Revival  of  Romish  Missions  in  India.     369 

posed  to  acknowledge,  and  that  if  any  reliance  can  be 
placed  in  official  documents,  in  the  year  1859  the 
converts  of  Madura  were  2,614,  while  in  the  diocese 
of  Verapoli  "  more  than  a  thousand  heathens  are 
baptised  yearly,  besides  many  Nestorians  and  some 
native  Protestants." l 

Though  our  enquiry  refers  more  immediately  to 
the  Syrian  Christians,  it  unquestionably  embraces 
missionary  efforts  in  South  India  generally,  and  we 
therefore  do  not  hesitate  to  refer  to  the  accounts  of 
Madura  by  Father  Saint-Cyr,  in  1859.  In  this  inte- 
resting volume  he  records  the  conversion  of  5,000 
schismatics,  500  idolaters,  and  400  Protestants,  the 
result  of  the  efforts  of  forty-three  Jesuit  Fathers.2 
This  is,  however,  not  quite  confirmed  by  the  list  of 
conversions  in  1864,  when  Coimbatore  furnished  100; 
Mangalore,  174;  Mysore,  200;  Vizagapatam,  300; 
and  Madura,  I4OO.3  A  similar  discrepancy  as  to  the 
number  of  converts  appears  in  the  letter  of  Mon- 
signor  Dufal,  vicar-apostolic  of  Eastern  Bengal, 
dated  2ist  February,  1865: — "  Notwithstanding  our 
constant  efforts,  the  number  of  conversions  is  very 
small,  almost  insignificant,  when  we  compare  them 
with  the  population  of  this  vast  country.  Seventy-six 


1  "  Madras  Catholic  Directory"  for  1860,  p.  154. 

2  "  La  Mission  de  Madure,"  par  Louis  Saint-Cyr,  S.  J.  Paris,  1859, 

P-S- 

3  "  Annals,"  March,  1866,  p.  96. 

B  B 


370    Revival  of  Romish  Missions  in  India. 

during  the  year  1864  !  Alas  !  it  is  indeed  so  difficult 
to  make  any  one  amongst  the  Hindoos,  that  the 
catechists  are  very  few."1  To  the  same  effect  the 
vicar-apostolic  of  Patna  writes  on  2Oth  November, 
1 864 :  "  To  preserve  the  faith  in  the  hearts  of  our 
Christian  flock  seems  to  be  the  only  thing  we  can 
hope  to  realise  at  present,  until  it  pleases  Almighty 
God  to  render  this  arid  and  immense  country  fruit- 
ful." 3  How  is  this  inequality  of  results  to  be  ac- 
counted for,  notwithstanding  the  equally  devoted  zeal 
of  the  missioners  in  each  of  those  districts.  The 
answer  is  to  be  found,  according  to  Roman  Catho- 
lic writers,  in  the  motto  at  the  head  of  this  chapter, 
and,  if  so,  we  may  consider  this  admission  as  direct 
testimony  to  the  influence  which  the  Portuguese 
missions  of  the  XVIth  Century  are  still  exerting  in 
Southern  India. 

The  condition  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Christians 
must  next  be  considered,  and  it  is  but  just  that  the 
missioners  themselves  should  be  first  heard.  These, 
of  course,  coming  fresh  from  Europe,  had  no  know- 
ledge whatever,  except  from  books,  of  the  Indian 
converts,  amongst  whom  they  were  to  labour ;  and 
they  therefore  may  be  supposed  to  give  their  opinions 
without  any  bias.  One  of  these  missioners  describes 
his  first  impression  in  the  simple  but  significant 


"  Annals,"  March,  1866,  p.  89. 
2  "  Annals,"  March,  1866,  p.  89. 


Revival  of  Romish  Missions  in  India.     371 

phrase,  "  I  am  astonished  at  the  faith  of  these 
Christians."1  In  1829,  M.  Bonnand  rejoices  that  half- 
a-century  of  trial  had  failed  to  destroy  the  faith  ;  and 
ten  years  later,  Father  Gamier  writes  that  "  the 
Christians  of  these  countries  are  in  general  well- 
disposed  and  strongly  attached  to  the  faith.  The 
usages  introduced  amongst  them  by  the  Jesuits  still 
subsist.  But  we  shall  have  a  good  deal  to  do  to  form 
them  into  a  people  of  true  Christians."  Father  Louis 
de  Saint-Cyr,  in  1842,  observes,  "Within  a  certain 
radius  around  the  centre  of  the  mission,  all  the  vil- 
lages, with  rare  exceptions,  are  Christian  ;  beyond 
this  circle  you  enter  the  region  of  Paganism.  This 
fact  proves  how  valuable  was  the  presence  of  the 
evangelical  labourers  in  this  country,  and  what  a 
vivifying  influence  has  been  diffused  by  the  exercise 
of  the  holy  ministry."  2  These  testimonies  are  suffi- 
cient to  prove  our  point,  that  the  revivalists  found  the 
influence  of  previous  labourers  by  no  means  extinct ; 
whether  for  good  or  evil,  is  another  question. 

Many  Protestant  writers  have  also  borne  testimony 
to  the  zeal  and  influence  of  the  Roman  missioners, 
as  well  as  to  the  faithfulness  and  good  conduct  of 
their  flocks.  Henry  Martyn  says  :  "  Certainly,  there 
is  infinitely  better  discipline  in  the  Romish  Church 
than  in  ours,  and  if  ever  I  am  to  be  the  pastor  of 

1  "  Annales,"  Tom.  IV.,  p.  152. 

2  "  Annales,"  Vol.  IV.,  p.  70.  . 

B   B  2 


372     Revival  of  Romish  Missions  in  India. 

native  Christians,  I  should  endeavour  to  govern  with 
equal  strictness."1  Dr.  Claudius  Buchanan  declares 
that  "  there  are  at  this  day  in  India  members  of  the 
Church  of  Rome  who  deserve  the  respect  and  affec- 
tion of  all  good  men,"  and  throughout  his  travels  in 
Southern  India  there  are  numerous  expressions  such 
as  these :  "  From  Cape  Comorin  to  Cochin  there  are 
about  one  hundred  churches  on  the  sea-shore  alone. 
Of  these,  the  chief  part  are  the  Syrian-Latin,  or,  more 
properly,  the  Syrian-Romish  Churches  ;  "  and  again, 
"  at  Manaar  they  were  all  Romish  Christians  ; "  and 
"  I  visited  Mane"  and  Calicut ;  the  Romish  Christians 
are  numerous." 2  Dr.  Kerr,  chaplain  at  Calcutta, 
confirms  this  account,  stating  that  "the  Roman 
Catholic  Syrians  are  much  more  numerous  than  the 
members  of  the  original  Church."3  Dr.  Middleton, 
first  Bishop  of  Calcutta,  remarks  that,  "  Protestants  as 
we  are,  it  were  bigotry  to  deny  that  the  Church  of 
Rome,  notwithstanding  that  she  may  have  exagge- 
rated her  successes,  has  done  wonders  in  the  East." 4 
Hough,  whom  we  have  so  often  quoted,  is  candid 
enough  to  admit  that  "  there  are  native  Christians  of 
the  Roman  Church  in  India,  whose  character  is 
unexceptionable,  and  who  occupy  stations  of  respon- 


1  Martyn's  "  Memoirs,"  IXth  Ed.,  p.  288. 

2  "Christian  Researches,"  p.  75,  et  passim. 

3  Dr.  Kerr's  "  Reports,"  p.  10. 

4  Webb  Le  Bas'  "  Life  of  Middleton,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  96. 


Revival  of  Romish  Missions  in  India.      373 

sibility  in  the  public  service.  Some  have  given  satis- 
factory reasons  to  believe  them  to  be  sincere 
Christians." x 

While  searching  for  authorities  in  illustration  of  this 
part  of  our  subject,  we  have  met  with  many  striking 
proofs — all  the  more  valuable  because  "  undesigned 
coincidences  " — of  the  deptJi  and  permanency  produced 
by  the  labours  of  the  early  Portuguese  Missions.  Mr. 
Thornton,  estimating  the  population  of  Goa  at  3 1 3,000, 
considers  that  two-thirds  are  Roman  Catholics.2  An 
officer,  generally  hostile  to  the  Romanists,  concedes 
that  "  in  their  whole  course  in  India,  the  Portuguese 
have  left  the  traces  of  conversion;  and  around  the 
coast,  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to  Canton,  the 
Portuguese  language  is  spoken,  and  the  Cross  of 
Christ  adored."  3  General  Parlby  writes  :  "  Amidst 
the  ruins  into  which  their  temporal  possessions  have 
fallen,  the  vestiges  wliich  they  have  left  of  their  faith 
seem  destined  to  survive  the  debris  of  their  earthly 
grandeur,  and  to  be  so  firmly  rooted  that  they  will 
never  be  wholly  effaced."4 

Witnesses  on  the  other  side  must  now  be  called 
into  court.  Of  course  there  can  be  no  question  that 
very  large  numbers  of  so-called  converts  have  been 
admitted  into  the  Romish  communion,  and  that,  even 

1  Hough's  "Hist,  of  Christ.,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  491. 

2  Thornton's  "  Gazetteer  of  India,"  vol.  ii.,  "Goa." 

3  "  Fifteen  Years  in  India,"  p.  360. 

4  "  The  Establishment  of  the  Anglican  Church  in  India,"  1851,  p.  19. 


374     Revival  of  Romish  Missions  in  India. 

supposing  the  probability  of  occasional  exaggeration, 
accessions  are  continually  made.  But  the  doubt 
which  we  have  expressed  in  previous  chapters,  on  the 
conversions  effected  by  Xavier,  and  in  Madura  by  de 
Nobili  and  his  successors,  recurs  at  the  present  hour. 
What  is  the  difference  of  the  word  "conversion"  as 
used  by  a  Roman  Catholic  and  a  Reformed  Catholic  ? 
On  tJiat  definition  the  wJtole  question  seems  to  Jiang. 
Nothing  can  be  easier  than  to  enrol  whole  battalions 
of  nominal  converts  if  due  care  is  taken  to  make 
the  change  from  one  faith  to  another  as  slight  as 
possible.  "  The  rules  of  caste,"  says  Mr.  Trevor, 
"were  retained  so  vigorously  that  churches  are  still 
found  in  the  south  of  India  divided  into  compart- 
ments, and  provided  with  separate  entrances,  for  the 
respective  orders  of  worshippers.  The  feasts  and 
ceremonies  of  the  new  religion  were  purposely  assimi- 
lated to  the  old  one,  so  that  while  acquiring  many 
substantial  advantages  of  a  temporal  character,  the 
neophytes  should  be  scarcely  conscious  of  parting 
with  a  single  rite  of  superstition."  x  Dr.  Allen,  an 
American  missionary  by  no  means  opposed  to  the 
Romanists,  thus  writes  :  "  In  other  matters,  also,  they 

1  "Trevor's  India,"  p.  290.  We  cannot  ascertain  if  this  division  of 
churches  into  compartments  still  continues,  for  the  most  recent  infor- 
mation merely  says ;  "  One  of  our  chief  obstacles  in  establishing  the 
Christian  religion  amongst  the  Hindoos  is  their  social  system  of  castes. 
The  missioners  are  endeavouring  to  put  an  end  to  this  exclusiveness  by 
means  of  orphanages  and  schools. — "Annals,"  March,  1866,  p.  91. 


Revival  of  Romish  Missions  in  India.     375 

retain  much  of  their  former  heathen  customs.  The 
Hindus  are  very  fond  of  show  and  noise  in  their  re- 
ligion ;  and  it  is  a  frequent  custom,  in  some  districts, 
to  put  the  idols  of  their  gods  on  a  car  or  carriage  of 
some  kind,  on  festival  days,  and  then  draw  it  about  in 
procession.  This  usage  has  been  retained  by  the  Roman 
Catholics,  only  substituting  the  images  of  their  saints 
for  the  idols  of  the  gods.  In  some  places  the  same 
car  is  used  on  Hindu  festival  days  for  the  idols  of  the 
gods,  and  on  Romish  festivals  for  the  images  of  the 
saints."  Similar  evidence  is  given  by  Dr.  Middleton, 
Bishop  of  Calcutta,  perfectly  applicable  to  the  system, 
though  in  a  different  part  of  India.  In  the  Island  of 
Salsette,  there  were  about  8,000  Romanists,  who, 
though  enrolled  as  Christians,  and  attending  divine 
worship  at  the  Portuguese  churches,  were  yet  wedded 
to  all  the  absurd  ceremonies  of  the  Hindoo  mytho- 
logy? °f  which  they  were  particularly  observant,  on 
births,  deaths,  and  marriages.  "  At  the  very  time  that 
they  were  in  the  habit  of  attending  a  Christian  sanc- 
tuary, and  professedly  acknowledging  Christianity, 
they  retained  in  their  houses  various  implements  of 
Hindoo  idolatry,  and  entered  indiscriminately  into  all 
the  pernicious  usages  of  that  deplorable  superstition."  - 
But,  possibly,  Mr.  Marshall,  who  so  dangerously 

1  Allen's  "  India,"  p.  320. 

1  "  Life  of  Bishop   Middleton,"  Vol.   I.,  p.   227.     Hough's   "Chris- 
tianity." Vol.  v.,  p.  226. 


376     Revival  of  Romish  Missions  in  India. 

avoids  quotations  of  the  above  character,  may  object 
to  Protestant  opinions  of  the  character  of  his  so-called 
converts.  We  will,  therefore,  make  one  or  two  brief 
extracts  from  Roman  Catholic  writers,  and  the  first 
shall  be  the  Jesuit  Father  Martin  :  "  On  Saturday 
evening  I  got  ready  a  small  triumphal  chariot,  which 
we  adorned  with  pieces  of  silk,  flowers,  and  fruits.  On 
it  was  placed  an  image  representing  our  Saviour  risen 
from  the  dead  ;  and  the  chariot  was  drawn  in  triumph 
round  the  church,  several  instruments  playing  at  the 
same  time.  The  festival  was  greatly  heightened  by 
illuminations,  lustres,  sky-rockets,  and  several  other 
fireworks,  in  which  the  Indians  excel ;  then  verses 
were  spoken  or  chanted  by  the  Christians,  in  honour 
of  our  Saviour's  triumphing  over  death  and  hell.  The 
chief  personage  of  the  settlement,  his  whole  family, 
and  the  rest  of  the  heathens  who  assisted  in  the  pro- 
cession, fell  prostrate  thrice  before  the  image  of  our 
Saviour  risen  from  the  dead,  and  worshipped  him  in 
such  a  manner  as  very  happily  blended  them  indis- 
criminately with  the  most  fervent  Christians."  *  The 
Abbe  Du  Bois,  after  a  life  spent  in  India,  writes  thus  : 
"For  my  part,  I  cannot  boast  of  my  successes  in  this  holy 
career  during  a  period  of  twenty-five  years,  and  that  I 
have  laboured  to  promote  the  interests  of  the  Christian 
religion.  The  restraints  and  privations  under  which  I 

1  "Lettres  Edifiantes  et  Curieuses,"  quoted  in  Trevor's  "India,"  p. 
290.     Tom.  x.,  pp.  168-182. 


Revival  of  Romish  Missions  in  India.      377 

have  lived,  by  conforming  myself  to  the  usages  of  the 
country  ;  embracing,  in  many  respects,  the  prejudices 
of  the  natives  ;  living  like  them,  and  becoming  almost 
a  Hindoo  myself;  in  short,  by  'being  made  all  things 
to  all  men,  that  I  might  by  all  means  save  some,' — 
all  this  has  proved  of  no  avail  to  me  to  make  pro- 
selytes." *  The  abbe,  a  Romish  missioner,  be  it  re- 
membered, gives  a  most  deplorable  account  of  the 
concessions  made  to  Hindoo  superstitions  of  every 
form,  asserts  that  he  does  not  believe  he  made  a 
single  convert  during  his  lengthened  ministry,  and 
abandons  the  whole  population  of  India  to  perdition. 
The  reader  can  now  judge,  even  from  the  limited 
amount  of  evidence  which  we  have  been  able  to  sub- 
mit, how  far  good  and  evil  are  mingled  in  the  mis- 
sionary operations  of  the  Romish  Church.  Truth,  no 
doubt,  lies  as  it  generally  does,  between  the  extreme 
statements  on  either  side.  Roman  converts  are,  un- 
questionably, in  many  instances,  as  well  conducted  as 
those  of  other  denominations  ;  and  it  would  be  hard 
to  prove  on  the  part  of  the  Protestants  that  all  their 
proselytes  were  paragons  of  virtue.  Ignorance,  super- 
stition, self-interest,  desire  of  imitation,  and  other  un- 
worthy motives,  may  prompt  Asiatics,  as  well  as 
Europeans,  to  profess  the  outward  form  of  religion  in 
which  they  have  no  real  belief.  But  it  by  no  means 
follows,  as  infidels  have  argued,  that  all  converts  are 

1  Letters  of  Abbe  Dubois.     Passim. 


378    Revival  of  Romish  Missions  in  India. 

hypocrites,  for  there  is  abundant  evidence  to  prove 
that  many  have  not  only  suffered  in  their  worldly 
fortunes  on  account  of  their  faith,  but  have  sealed 
their  testimony  with  their  blood. 

Our  general  conclusion  is,  that  the  impression  made 
by.tJte  Portuguese  in  the  XVIth  Century,  notwithstand- 
ing numerous  fluctuations,  still  continues  to  operate  in 
Southern  India,  not  only  on  the  Syrian  Christians, 
whether  Jacobite  or  Romanist,  but  also  on  the 
modern  missionary  efforts  in  that  quarter.  We  must 
express  a  hope  that,  amid  many  tares,  much  true 
wheat  has  been  scattered  in  the  soil  of  the  Deccan} 
and  that  should  a  reformation  take  place  amongst 
the  million  of  Roman  Catholics  in  India,  similar  to 
what  occurred  in  Germany,  great  indeed  would  be  the 
effect  throughout  the  whole  of  this  vast  region,  As  a 
writer  well  acquainted  with  India  has  said,  "  How 
soon  in  this  way  might  hundreds  of  native  mission- 
aries be  raised  up  to  preach,  each  in  his  own  language, 
the  wonderful  works,  and  the  yet  more  wonderful 
love,  of  God." * 

1  Allen's  "  India." 


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APPENDIX. 


A. — THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY'S  APPEAL  FOR  THK  AS- 
SYRIAN CHRISTIANS. 

B. — THE    CHRISTIANS    OF    ASSYRIA    COMMONLY    CALLED    NESTO- 
RIANS. 

C. — THE  CHURCH  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY'S  WORK  IN  TRAVANCORE 
AND  COCHIN. 

D. — THE    ROMAN    CATHOLIC     MISSIONS     IN     HINDOSTAN     AND 
SOUTHERN  INDIA. 


c  c 


APPEN  DIX    A. 


THE     ARCHBISHOP    OF    CANTERBURY'S    APPEAL     FOR 
THE  ASSYRIAN  CHRISTIANS. 

THE  following  "  Appeal  on  behalf  of  the  Christians  of  Assyria, 
commonly  called  the  Nestorians,"  has  been  put  forth  by  the  Primate 
of  All  England,  after  consultation  with  other  members  of  the  English 
Episcopate,  as  well  as  with  the  influential  Committee  which  his  Grace 
has  invited  to  assist  him  in  the  furtherance  of  the  contemplated 
measures  : — 

"  The  ancient  and  once  flourishing  community,  commonly  known  by 
the  name  of  Nestorians,  arid  now  comprised  chiefly  within  the  limits 
of  Assyria — the  modern  Kurdistan,  one  of  the  frontiers  of  Asiatic 
Turkey — have  recently  appealed  for  help  to  the  Church  of  England. 
The  appeal,  signed  by  several  Assyrian  bishops,  priests,  deacons,  and 
notables  of  the  laity,  and  ratified  with  the  seal  of  their  Catholicos  or 
Patriarch,  Mar  Shimiin,  was  addressed  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury and  the  Bishop  of  London  (Bishop  Tail).  It  has  already  been 
published  in  full,  but  its  purport  may  be  succinctly  stated  in  the 
following  quotation  from  a  speech  in  reference  to  it  by  the  late  Arch- 
bishop Longley  : — 

"'The  Nestorians,  in  this  touching  letter,  say  that  they  feel  they 
are  in  a  state  of  great  ignorance  and  darkness  ;  and  they  apply  to  us  to 
come  over  and  help  them — to  send  some  one  to  instruct  and  enlighten 
them.  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  they  are  not  at  all  wedded  to 
Nestorian  principles,  and  that  they  might  easily  be  led  to  abandon 
them.  I  cannot  but  hope,  therefore,  that  inasmuch  as  this  appeal  has 
been  made  to  us,  there  may  be  some  well-disposed  people  who  will 

c  c  2 


;88  Appendix. 


contribute  to  a  mission  to  these  poor  eastern  Christians.  It  is  a  very 
modest  petition  that  we  should  send  out  two  missionaries,  who  might 
bear  comfort  and  consolation  to  those  who  are  now  really  in  very 
great  distress.  Their  position  is  a  very  painful  one.  They  are 
between  two  hostile  forces,  the  Mohammedan  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  Papal  on  the  other  ;  and  they  are  persecuted  by  both.  They 
appeal  to  us.' 

"The  claims  of  these  Assyrian  Christians  upon  the  liberality  of 
English  Churchmen  are  too  obvious  to  require  any  lengthened  exposition. 
Isolated  from  the  great  body  of  Christendom,  they  cannot  look,  like 
other  eastern  Christians,  to  powerful  European  protectors.  With  the 
exception  of  one  alleged  theological  error  upon  a  cardinal  point — 
which,  however,  they  disclaim,  and  are  professedly  ready  to  repudiate 
— they  have  preserved,  throughout  centuries  of  severe  persecution,  the 
primitive  creed  and  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church. 
Among  them  the  eucharistic  cup  has  never  been  denied  to  the 
laity,  nor  the  right  of  marriage  to  the  priesthood  ;  there  is  no  super- 
stitious use  of  images  or  pictures  ;  purgatory  and  indulgences  are 
unknown  ;  while  the  reading  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  by  all  in  the 
vulgar  tongue  is,  so  far  as  their  scanty  supply  of  books  enables, 
diligently  practised. 

"To  our  own  communion,  brought  back,  through  God's  blessing 
upon  the  Reformation,  to  the  primitive  standard,  this  ancient  body  is 
especially  and  most  reasonably  attracted;  and  we  are  anxious  that 
their  hopes  of  obtaining  assistance  from  us  may  be  realised  as  they 
ought. 

"  I  am  not  unmindful  of  the  many  other  claims  which  press  on  the 
liberality  of  the  members  of  our  Church.  But  I  would  strongly  recom- 
mend this  request  from  the  Assyrians  as  constituting  one  of  the  most 
urgent  among  them  all. 

"  In  pursuance  of  the  intentions  of  the  late  Archbishop  Longley,  I 
now  invite  the  faithful  in  this  favoured  land  of  England  to  contribute 
towards  a  fund  by  means  of  which  candidates  for  the  native  ministry 
may  be  brought  over  hither  to  receive  a  better  education,  and 
delegates  may  be  sent  to  the  east  in  the  name  of  the  Church  of 
England  to  suggest  to  this  venerable  and  interesting  community  such 
counsels  of  wisdom  as  they  ask  at  our  hands  ;  the  object  being  not  to 
make  proselytes  to  the  English  Church,  but  to  aid  them  in  reforming 
heir  own  Church,  where  needful,  upon  a  primitive  basis  and  after 
primitive  models.  ."A.  C.  CANTUAR." 


Appendix.  389 

We  heartily  trust  that  this  Appeal  will  prove  the  means  of  eliciting  a 
substantial  and  adequate  response  from  all  members  of  the  Church  of 
England  who — to  adopt  the  language  of  the  resolution  on  the  subject 
passed  at  the  recent  meeting  of  the  Anglo-Continental  Society — 
"  reverence  the  Christendom  of  antiquity,  yearn  for  re-union  on  a 
primitive  basis,  and  are  anxious  to  extend  the  blessings  of  the  Gospel 
among  unbelievers."  It  is  announced  at  the  foot  of  this  Appeal  that 
subscriptions  may  be  paid  to  the  account  of  the  "  Assyrian  Christians' 
Fund,"  at  the  London  offices  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel. 

An  appreciative  notice  of  Mr.  Badger's  paper  on  the  so-called  Nes- 
torians — as  reprinted  from  our  pages — which  appeared  in  the  last 
number  of  the  S.P.G.  official  organ,  the  Mission  Field,  concludes  in 
terms  which  aptly  expound  and  reinforce  the  pleading  of  the  Lambeth 
Appeal  : — 

' '  Why,  it  may  be  asked,  is  this  ancient  Church,  which  has  kept  the 
light  of  Christianity  alive  amidst  Mohammedan  darkness,  in  outward 
separation  from  the  whole  of  Christendom  ?  The  reason  is  its  refusal  to 
accept  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Ephesus  :  the  Assyrian  Christians 
refuse  to  call  the  Blessed  Virgin  Theotokos  (her  who  gave  birth  to  God), 
and  they  commemorate  Nestorius  among  the  saints.  Their  isolaled 
position,  and  their  peculiar  language,  may  account  for  this.  The  word 
into  which  Theotokos  is  translated  implies  in  their  language  more  than 
it  does  in  Greek ;  and  if,  in  refusing  to  accept  that  word,  they  only 
mean  to  refuse  to  say  that  our  Blessed  Lord  is  God  of  the  substance  of 
His  Mother,  it  would  be  hard  to  blame  them.  Mr.  Badger  believes 
that  they  might  be  induced,  by  proper  explanations,  to  accept  the 
statements  made  at  Ephesus,  and  to  erase  the  name  of  Nestorius. 

"  To  the  reiterated  appeals  of  this  ancient  Church  for  help  to  educate 
her  people,  the  English  Church  has  hitherto  turned  a  deaf  ear.  Rome 
is  active  there,  but  cannot  win  their  confidence  :  they  abhor  images, 
and  the  few  invocations  of  saints  in  their  rituals  come  immeasurably 
short  of  the  language  sanctioned  by  the  Roman  Church.  Russia  might 
aid  them,  but  the  veneration  of  pictures  is  not  in  accordance  with  their 
ancient  customs.  American  Independent  missionaries  are  at  work 
there,  but  their  doctrine  (as  well  as  their  discipline)  is  utterly  at  variance 
with  that  of  this  ancient  Church.  They  still  look  to  us  for  help,  which 
is  at  present  limited  to  the  education  in  England  of  two  Assyrians  and 
one  Chaldsean.  But  we  trust  that  an  answer  more  suited  to  their  needs, 
and  to  our  opportunities,  may  now  speedily  be  given." 


39°  Appendix. 

The  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge  will  not,  we  believe, 
be  behind  her  younger  sister  in  contributing  assistance  to  this  move- 
ment. That  corporation  possesses,  besides  a  most  valuable  collection 
of  Nestorian,  Jacobite,  and  other  ecclesiastical  Syriac  and  Arabic  MSS., 
several  accurate  translations  of  works  pertaining  to  our  own  Church  and 
theology,  which  ought,  with  as  little  delay  as  possible,  to  be  printed 
and  put  in  circulation  among  the  Christians  of  the  East.  One  such  is 
a  version  of  our  Prayer-book  in  that  Syrian  dialect  in  which  the  rituals 
of  the  so-called  Nestorians  are  written.  This  work  would  obviously  be 
of  great  service  to  the  clergy  and  the  few  educated  laymen  of  that 
body  ;  it  would  also  be  of  some  use  to  the  Papal  Chaldaeans,  though 
these  for  the  most  part  are  as  familiar  with  Arabic ;  and  it  would  pro- 
bably find  currency,  moreover,  among  the  priesthood  of  the  Jacobites 
throughout  Asiatic  Turkey,  and  of  even  the  Christians  of  St.  Thomas 
in  India.  The  Society  possesses  also  an  Arabic  translation  of  Jewell's 
"  Apology,"  which  by  its  arguments  against  Romanism,  and  by  its  vindi- 
cation of  the  English  Reformation,  would  be  of  two-fold  Catholic 
advantage  to  all  Christians  from  Egypt  to  Mesopotamia,  and,  in  short, 
in  every  country  where  the  "French  of  the  East"  is  spoken.  We 
would  recommend  the  publication,  in  the  first  instance,  of  these  ver- 
sions of  the  Prayer-book  and  Jewell's  "  Apology  ;  "  but  it  should  not  be 
long  before  they  are  followed  by  the  Books  of  Homilies  and  by  Nelson's 
"  Fasts  and  Festivals,"  which  also  the  same  Society  has  nearly  in  readiness 
for  its  Arabic  press. 

Among  several  indications  which  we  have  noticed  of  the  new  interest 
which  is  everywhere  awaking  respecting  the  Christians  of  the  Far  East, 
we  may  specify  the  following  announcement  of  the  subject  proposed  by 
the  Paris  Academic  des  Inscriptions  for  the  Prix  Bordin  (of  which  the 
value  is  3,000  francs)  : — "  Faire  1'histoire  de  1'Eglise  et  des  popu- 
lations Nestoriennes  depuis  le  Concile  General  d'Ephese  (43.1)  jusqu'a 
nos  jours." 


APPENDIX    B. 


THE  CHRISTIANS  OF  ASSYRIA,  COMMONLY 
CALLED  "NESTORIANS." 

SUCH  are  the  lamentable  divergences  of  opinion  in  our  own  Church, 
and  such  the  pressing  claims  of  our  own  people  upon  her  zeal  and  de- 
votion, that  were  we  not  persuaded  that  concurrence  in  one  benevolent 
object  is  likely  to  promote  unity  amongst  ourselves  and  the  expansion 
of  our  sympathies,  I  should  not  be  here  to  plead  in  behalf  of  a  foreign 
Christian  community. 

The  so-called  "Nestorians"  of  the  present  day,  of  whom  I  am  to 
speak,  inhabit  the  mountains  of  Kurdistan  in  Turkey,  and  the  plains 
around  Urumiah  in  Persia.  In  the  early  ages  of  the  Christian  era  they 
were  spread  over  a  much  larger  portion  of  the  East,  including  Central 
Asia,  Tartary,  and  even  China  ;  and  until  within  the  last  three  centuries 
the  forefathers  of  those  people  who  inhabit  the  plains  bordering  on  the 
Tigris  in  and  around  Mosul,  now  called  "  Chaldceans  " — a  title  given 
them  on  their  submission  to  the  see  of  Rome — all  belonged  to  the  same 
community. 

They  trace  their  conversion  to  Christianity  to  Mar  Addai1  and  Mar 
Mari,  of  the  Seventy,  and  reckon  the  latter  as  their  first  patriarch, 
from  whom  and  his  fellow-apostle  they  derive  the  validity  of  their 
orders  in  an  unbroken  line  of  spiritual  descent.  Seleucia-and- 
Ctesiphon  was  the  title  of  the  patriarchal  seat  until  Ctesiphon  was 
destroyed  by  the  Saracens,  A.D.  637.  Under  the  Khalifs  it  was  re- 

1  The  title  of  "Mar"  is  equivalent  to  our  "  saint  "  and  "  lord  "  and  is 
applied  to  all  bishops  indiscriminately.  "  Addai "  is  the  Syriac  for 
Thaddreus. 


392  Appendvc. 

moved,  first  to  Baghdad  ;  then  to  Mosul,  near  ancient  Nineveh  ;  and 
eventually  to  Kochanes,  in  Kurdistan,  the  usual  residence  of  Mar 
Shimiin,  the  ruling  patriarch. 

The  alleged  source  of  their  evangelisation,  their  geographical  position, 
and  their  retention  of  the  Syriac  language,  are  presumptive  evidences  in 
favour  of  their  Aramreic  origin,  and  tend  to  corroborate  the  traditional 
account  preserved  among  them  that  their  three  patriarchs  in  succession 
to  Mar  Mari  were  consecrated,  the  first  two  at  Jerusalem,  and  the 
third  at  Antioch. 

Whilst  there  is  internal  evidence  against  the  authenticity  of  a  further 
tradition,  still  extant  in  the  shape  of  a  joint  epistle  from  the  four 
"  western  patriarchs" — that  is.  west  of  Mesopotamia — ascribed  to  the 
beginning  of  the  third  century,  raising  the  see  of  Seleucia-and-Ctesiphon 
into  a  separate  patriarchate,  on  account  of  the  mutual  jealousies  of  the 
Persians  and  Romans,  and  the  dangers  which  the  Assyrian  patriarchs- 
elect  incurred  in  going  beyond  the  Persian  boundary  for  consecration, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  frequent  wars  between  those  two  empires 
were  a  serious  hindrance  to  free  intercourse  between  the  Church  at 
Ctesiphon  and  the  Churches  within  Roman  tereitory. 

Apart  from  these  considerations,  however,  it  is  unquestionable  that 
the  metropolitan  of  Seleucia-and-Ctesiphon  was  axe<£aAos,  or  inde- 
pendent ;  and,  further,  that  considering  the  manner  in  which  the 
patriarchal  office  originated  in  the  Church — several  sees  having  adopted 
it  some  time  between  the  Councils  of  Nice  and  Chalcedon,  before  it 
was  formally  recognised — the  Churches  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
aforesaid  metropolitan  were  fully  warranted  in  establishing  the  institu- 
tion. The  right  to  a  patriarchate,  or  the  property  of  the  ecclesiastical 
government  which  it  involves,  is  indirectly  admitted  and  confirmed  by 
Pope  Julian  III.,  who  in  1533  consecrated  Sulaka,  an  Assyrian  convert, 
"  Patriarch  of  the  Chaldaeans" — the  designation  then  given  for  the  first 
time  to  the  so-called  Nestorians  who  had  seceded  to  Rome,  which 
patriarchate  has  been  continued  up  to  the  present  day. 

There  is  good  ground  for  believing  that  friendly  intercourse  and 
intercommunion,  as  far  as  the  political  animosities  between  the  Romans 
and  Persians  permitted,  were  maintained  between  the  patriarchs  of 
the  east  and  the  patriarchs  of  Constantinople  and  Antioch  up  to  the 
(Ecumenical  Council  of  Nice.  The  Syriac  chronicles  bear  witness  to 
the  fact,  and  the  commemoration  of  many  of  the  Roman  or  Greek 
fathers  in  the  Syrian  diptychs  corroborate  it.  Their  records  state  that 
Papa,  who  filled  the  see  of  Seleucia-and-Ctesiphon  at  the  time,  was  in- 


Appendix.  393 

vited  to  attend  that  council,  but  being  incapacitated  through  age  he 
deputed  Shimiin-ibn-Sabary  and  Shahdost  to  represent  him.  Then  came 
the  persecutions  under  Sapor,  who  rivalled  Nero  or  Diocletian  in  his 
efforts  to  uproot  Christianity  from  his  dominions.  The  Syriac  narrative 
of  his  cruelties,  especially  towards  the  clergy,  is  truly  appalling.  An 
instance  of  kindly  fellowship  between  the  Eastern  Church  and  that  of 
Antioch  is  recorded  during  this  period.  Sapor  having  ravaged  the  dis- 
trict around  Antioch,  carried  away  many  of  the  inhabitants  to  Ahwaz, 
and  among  them  Demetrianus,  their  patriarch,  and  several  bishops. 
Papa,  the  eastern  patriarch,  visited  his  captive  brother  there  and 
requested  him  to  occupy  his  sea,  but  Demetrianus  declined  the  fraternal 
compliment. 

The  next  recorded  instance  took  place  about  A.  D.  410,  during  the 
reign  of  Izdijerd,  who  applied  to  the  Roman  Emperor  to  send  him  a 
physician  to  heal  him  of  a  malady,  as  most  of  the  native  Christian 
doctors  had  fled  or  had  been  put  to  death  during  the  persecutions  under 
his  Sassanian  predecessors.  The  Emperor  accordingly  despatched 
Marutha,  Bishop  of  Mayapharkat,  in  Mesopotamia,  who,  having  suc- 
ceeded in  curing  the  Persian  sovereign,  obtained  much  greater  liberty  for 
his  Christian  subjects.  Is-hak,  who  was  patriarch  at  the  time,  showed 
Marutha  all  the  canons  which  had  been  drawn  up  for  the  Assyrian 
Church,  and  Marutha  presented  Is-hak  with  a  copy  of  the  western 
canons — an  interchange  of  courtesy  such  as  might  occur  between  the 
representatives  of  two  sister  Churches  at  the  present  day.  The  same 
Marutha,  accompanied  by  the  famous  Acacius,  Bishop  of  Amid,  the 
modern  Diarbekir,  was  sent  by  Theodosius  the  Younger  some  years 
later  to  heal  the  son  of  Izdijerd.  On  that  occasion  also  the  most 
friendly  relations  appear  to  have  existed  between  these  delegates  and 
Yau-Alaha,  who  then  filled  the  see  of  Seleucia-and-Ctesiphon.  Socra- 
tes Scholasticus  calls  him  "  Ablatus,  the  Persian  Bishop.''  and  records 
that  he,  in  conjunction  with  Marutha,  "published  unto  the  world 
another  proof  of  the  Christian  faith,  for  they  both,  being  continually 
given  to  watch  and  pray,  cast  a  devil  out  of  the  king's  son."1 

Having  thus  given  a  rapid  glance  at  the  "  Eastern  Patriarchate" — that, 
I  beg  to  remark,  is  the  designation  of  the  see  among  the  so-called 
Nestorians — and  shown  that  it  was  in  communion  with  the  other 
Churches  of  the  East  up  to  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century,  I  come 
now  to  the  Council  of  Ephesus,  assembled  by  order  of  Theodosius  II., 

1  Lib.  vii.  chap.  8. 


394-  Appendix. 

and  at  the  instigation  of  the  turbulent  Cyril,  Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  to 
try — no,  to  condemn — the  alleged  teaching  of  the  equally  factious  Nes- 
torius,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople.  (Most  gladly,  I  conceive,  would 
the  Christian  Church  in  general  draw  a  veil  over  the  scandalous 
proceedings  of  that  famous  Synod.)  In  an  assembly  like  the  present, 
I  need  not  enlarge  on  the  heresy  ascribed  to  Nestorius,  but  we  should 
bear  in  mind  when  approaching  the  subject  that  Cyril  had,  as  Hooker 
says,  "avouched,"  in  his  writings  against  the  Arians,  that  "the  Word, 
or  Wisdom  of  God,  hath  but  one  nature,  which  is  eternal,  and  where- 
unto  He  assumed  flesh  ; "  which  delcaration,  although  not  so  meant, 
was  "in  process  of  time  so  taken  as  though  it  had  been  his  drift  to 
teach  that,  even  as  in  the  body  and  soul,  so  in  Christ,  God  and  man 
make  but  one  nattire"  a — an  error  which  was  subsequently  condemned 
by  the  Council  of  Chalcedon.  Bearing  these  things  in  mind,  I  say,  and 
also  the  different  uses  which  conflicting  theologians  had  made  of  the 
almost  cognate  terms  ovma  and  {iTrocrrao-ts,  there  is  h  priori  ground  for 
believing  that  Nestorius'  formula  of  ' '  two  natures  and  two  uTrocrrao'eis 
in  Christ  "  was  designed  to  combat  the  fearful  error,  which  obtained  so 
extensively  afterwards,  of  the  confusion  of  the  divine  and  human 
natures  in  our  blessed  Lord.  Nestorius  denied  to  the  last  that  he  held 
two  distinct  persons  in  Christ ;  and  Basnage  La  Croze,  Thomas  a  Jesu, 
and  Mosheim  have  defended  him  against  the  charge  of  heresy. 

But  the  question  which  more  immediately  concerns  us  is,  whether 
the  so-called  Nestorians  of  the  present  day  hold  the  heresy  attri- 
buted to  Nestorius  ?  My  own  solemn  conviction,  after  a  careful  study  of 
their  standard  theology,  is  that  they  do  not.  Fortunately,  some  of  the 
most  eminent  divines  have  come  to  the  same  conclusion,  since  even 
Assemanni,  as  Gibbon  justly  remarks,  "  can  hardly  discern  the  guilt 
and  error  of  the  Nestorians  ;  "  2  and  our  own  learned  Richard  Field, 
writing  two  centuries  and  a  half  ago,  says:  "But  they  that  are  now 
named  Nestorians  acknowledge  that  Christ  was  perfect  God  and  perfect 
man  from  the  first  moment  of  his  conception,  and  that  Mary 
may  rightly  be  siid  to  be  the  mother  of  the  Son  of  God,  or  of  the 
Eternal  Word,  but  think  it  not  fit  to  call  her  the  mother  of  God,  lest  they 
might  be  thought  to  imagine  that  she  conceived  and  bare  the  divine 
nature  of  the  three  Persons — the  name  of  God  containing  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost."3  (That,  I  beg  to  remark  by  the  way,  is  the  main 

1  Book  v.  chap.  52. 

2  "  Decline  and  Fall,"  chap.  47,  note. 

3  "  Of  the  Church,"  book  iii.,  chap.  I. 


Appendix.  395 

argument  of  the  so-called  Nestorians  against  the  use  of  the  word 
$€OTOKOS,  which,  rendered  in  Syriac  into  "  Mother  of  God,"  is  much 
stronger  than  the  Greek  title  or  its  Latin  equivalent  Deipara,  implying 
that  the  Blessed  Virgin  was  as  much  the  parent  of  the  Divinity  as  of  the 
humanity  of  Christ.)  Field  then  goes  on  to  say  :  "  Neither  do  these 
Christians  so  say  there  are  two  persons  in  Christ,  as  if  the  human  nature 
did  actually  exist  in  itself,  but  only  to  imply  that  there  is  a  potential 
aptness  in  it  so  to  exist  if  it  were  left  unto  itself.  Yet  the  form  of  words 
which  they  use  is  not  to  be  allowed,  for  it  savoureth  of  heresy,  and  took 
beginning  from  heresy.  "l  Therein  also  I  fully  concur  with  the  profound 
divine,  and  I  have  every  reason  to  believe  that,  in  the  event  of  any  re- 
sponse on  our  part  to  their  overtures  for  intercommunion  with  us,  the 
so-called  Nestorians  would  forego  their  present  formula,  and  adopt  that 
of  the  Council  of  Ephesus. 

If  we  inquire  how  the  title  of  "  Nestorians  "  came  to  be  applied  to 
them,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  their  adoption  of  a  modified  form  of 
Nestorius'  questionable  phraseology,  saying  as  they  do  at  present  that 
there  are  in  Christ  two  natures,  two  VTroorcums,  and  one  parsopa? 
laid  them  open  to  the  implied  stigma  ;  but  it  is  equally  certain  that  it 
was  the  inveterate  malice  of  the  Monophysite  party — whose  signal 
success  at  the  second  Council  of  Ephesus,  the  ' '  Synod  of  Thieves  "  as 
it  was  called,  gave  them  an  overwhelming  influence  in  Egypt  and  the 
East — which  branded  them  with  the  epithet.  Such  is  the  opinion  of 
their  own  divines,  and  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  those  times  corro- 
borates it. 

The  Greeks,  however — for  distinction's  sake  I  shall  so  style  those 
who  depended  on  the  Constantinopolitan  patriarchate — do  not  appear 
to  have  shared  in  the  unchristian  rancour  of  the  followers  of  Eutyches 
and  Dioscorus  towards  the  Easterns.  The  chronicles  of  the  latter 
contain  a  circumstantial  account  of  two  embassies  sent  to  the  Emperor 
Zeno,  between  A.D.  481-485,  by  Firuz,  King  of  Persia,  entrusted  re- 
spectively to  the  famous  Barsoma,  metropolitan  of  Nisibis,  and  Acac, 
who  then  filled  the  see  of  Seleucia-and-Ctesiphon.  Both  were  most 
cordially  received  by  Zeno,  at  whose  request  Barsoma  drew  up  a 
statement  of  the  doctrines  respecting  the  divinity  and  humanity  of  our 
blessed  Lord,  which  was  highly  lauded  by  the  Greeks.  Nearly  a 

1   "  Of  the  Church,"  book  iii.,  chap.  I. 

-  For  the  Assyrian  definition  of  these  terms,  see  "  The  Nestorians  and 
their  Rituals,"  vol.  ii.,  pp.  62-65. 


396  Appendix. 

century  later — about  A.D.  581 — Hormuzd,  son  of  Chosroes  Anushirwan, 
despatched  the  patriarch,  Mar  Yeshua-yau,  to  the  Emperor  Maurice, 
on  a  similar  errand  ;  and  about  A.D.  628  another  Mar  Yeshua-yau, 
accompanied  by  several  metropolitans  and  bishops,  was  sent  to  the 
Emperor  Heraclius.  In  these  two  last-named  cases,  also,  the  visitors 
were  requested  to  draw  up  a  formal  declaration  of  their  creed,  which 
being  regarded  as  orthodox,  they  were  invited  to  celebrate  the  holy 
eucharist,  the  Greeks  communicating  with  them,  and  they  subsequently 
communicated  at  the  celebration  by  the  Greeks.  I  sincerely  wish  that 
time  permitted  me  to  read  over  a  translation  of  those  remarkable  creeds 
of  the  Eastern  bishops  which  were  submitted  to  the  Church  at  Constan- 
tinople in  the  sixth  and  seventh  centuries. 

The  names,  dates,  and  other  coincidences  in  these  narratives  leave  no 
doubt  on  my  mind  of  their  authenticity,  and  I  adduce  them  to  show 
that,  far  from  sympathising  with  the  Jacobites — as  the  Monophysites 
then  began  to  be  styled,  after  their  famous  leader  James,  or  Jacob 
Baraddreus — in  their  enmity  to  the  so-called  Nestorians,  the  Greeks 
actually  held  intercommunion  with  them  up  to  A.  P.  628.  The  subse- 
quent cessation  of  brotherly  intercourse  between  them  appears  to  have 
been  mainly  due  to  the  political  state  of  the  East,  which  ensued  very 
shortly  after,  on  the  irruption  of  the  Saracens. 

As  to  the  continued  commemoration  of  Nestorius  by  the  Assyrians, 
they  allege  that  it  was  usual  for  other  Churches  to  request  them  to  insert 
the  names  of  their  saints,  martyrs,  and  patriarchs  in  the  "  Book  of  Life" 
— that  is,  the  diptychs.  Especially  was  this  done  by  the  Constantino- 
politan  see  on  the  occasion  of  a  new  patriarch ;  and  to  this  custom  they 
attribute  their  commemoration,  up  to  this  day,  of  Ignatius,  Polycarp, 
Ambrose,  Athanasius,  Gregory,  Nazianzen,  John  Chrysostom,  and 
many  other  Fathers  of  the  East  and  West.  The  request  was  generally 
acceded  to,  after  the  names  were  approved  by  a  provincial  synod  ;  but 
they  point  out  several  instances,  including  Gregory  Nazianzen  and 
Chrysostom,  whose  names  the  Greeks  afterwards  begged  them  to  erase, 
which  they  refused.  The  same  took  place  on  the  elevation  and  subse- 
quent deposition  of  Nestorius ;  but  as  they  saw  no  just  reason  for  joining 
with  the  Greeks  in  their  condemnation  of  him,  more  especially  as  John, 
Patriarch  of  Antioch,  and  many  other  bishops,  had  not  concurred  in  the 
sentence  passed  upon  him  at  the  Council  of  Ephesus,  they  objected 
either  to  anathematise  him  or  to  remove  his  name  from  the  diptychs, 
and  sent  an  answer  to  the  following  effect  :  "Cursing  is  disallowed  by 
us,  as  being  contrary  to  the  injunction  of  C'nrist, ,'  Love  your  enemies, 


Appendix.  397 

and  bless  them  that  curse  you.'  "  Whatever  may  be  thought  of  such  a 
reply  in  this  particular  instance,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Christian 
Church  would  have  been  more  exemplary  had  it  been  less  profuse  of  its 
anathemas.  Nevertheless,  I  am  persuaded  that  if  that  were  the  only 
bar  to  intercommunion  with  ourselves,  the  reputed  followers  of  Nesto- 
rius  would  be  ready  to  abandon  his  commemoration,  on  the  reasonable 
condition  of  being  allowed  to  believe  that  his  formula  respecting  the 
divinity  and  humanity  of  Christ,  though  different  from  that  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  was  not  necessarily  heterodox  or  repugnant  to  the 
truth. 

This  my  persuasion  is  founded  as  well  on  the  opinions  and  practice 
of  the  so-called  Nestorians  of  the  present  day  as  on  the  reasoning  and 
procedure  of  their  old  divines.  The  latter  argue  that  Nestorius  was 
neither  their  spiritual  head  nor  fellow-countryman,  but  a  native  of  Ger- 
manicia  and  Patriarch  of  Constantinople ;  and  the  name  "Nestorian," 
as  designating  their  community,  like  the  term  "  Protestant  "  with  us,  is 
never  used  in  any  of  their  rituals.  The  existing  members  of  their 
Church  very  seldom  call  themselves  "Nestorians,"  except  out  of  bravado, 
or  to  distinguish  themselves  from  the  members  of  other  local  Christian 
communities,  preferring  the  national  designation  of  Surdye  (Syrians), 
or  the  more  comprehensive  title  of  Meshihaye  (Christians).  I  have 
chosen  to  call  them  "Assyrians"  in  order  to  distinguish  them  from 
other  "Syrians,"  such  as  the  Jacobites.  Field  styles  them  "the 
Assyrians,  unjustly  named  Nestorians."1 

The  gradual  cessation  of  intercourse  between  this  people  and  the 
other  Churches  in  the  east  and  west  appears  to  have  been  contempo- 
rary with  a  glorious  effort  on  their  part  to  extend  the  principles  of  the 
Gospel.  Alternately  persecuted  and  protected  by  the  Abbaside  Khalffs, 
and  while  the  Greek  patriarchates  were  content  to  remain  inactive,  as 
they  have  continued  up  to  the  present  day,  as  Dean  Stanley  says,  "like 
islands  in  the  barren  sea  of  Islam,"  evangelists  from  the  see  at  Baghdad 
carried  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  to  the  utmost  limits  of  Asia  and  to 
the  islands  of  the  Indian  sea.  "  From  the  conquest  of  Persia,"  writes 
the  captious  but  accurate  Gibbon,  "  they  carried  their  spiritual  arms  to 
the  north,  the  east,  and  the  south.  In  the  sixth  century,  according  to 
the  report  of  a  Nestorian  traveller,2  Christianity  was  successfully 


"  Of  the  Church,"  book  iii.,  chap.  I. 
Cosmas,  "  Indicopleustes." 


398  Appendix. 

preached  to  the  Bactrians,  the  Huns,  the  Persians,  the  Indian,,  the 
Pers-Armenians,  the  Medes,  and  the  Elamites  :  the  barbaric  Churches, 
from  the  Gulf  of  Persia  to  the  Caspian  Sea,  were  almost  infinite,  and 
their  recent  faith  was  conspicuous  in  the  number  and  sanctity  of  their 
monks  and  martyrs.  The  pepper  coast  of  Malabar,  and  the  isles  of  the 
ocean,  Socotra  and  Ceylon,  were  peopled  with  an  increasing  number  of 
Christians,  and  the  bishops  and  clergy  of  these  sequestered  regions  de- 
rived their  ordination  from  the  Catholic  of  Babylon  (Baghdad).  In  a 
subsequent  age,  the  zeal  of  the  Nestorians  overleaped  the  limits  which 
had  confined  the  ambition  and  curiosity  both  of  the  Greeks  and  Persians. 
The  missionaries  of  Balch  and  Samarcand  pursued  without  fear  the 
footsteps  of  the  roving  Tartar,  and  insinuated  themselves  into  the  camps 
of  the  valleys  of  Imaus  and  the  banks  of  the  Selinga  .  .  .  and  in 
their  progress  by  sea  and  land  the  Nestorians  entered  China  by  the  port 
of  Canton  and  the  northern  residence  of  Sigan  [near  Pekin].  .  .  . 
Under  the  reign  of  the  Caliphs,  the  Nestorian  Church  was  diffused  from 
China  to  Jerusalem  and  Cyprus  ;  and  their  numbers,  with  those  of  the 
Jacobites,  were  computed  to  surpass  the  Greek  and  Latin  communities. 
Twenty-five  metropolitans  or  archbishops  composed  their  hierarchy."1 
These  remote  branches,  like  the  once  flourishing  sees  of  Africa,  are  long 
since  withered,  and  the  community  at  present  consists  of  a  patriarch, 
seven  metropolitans,  ten  bishops,  250  presbyters,  and  about  15,000 
families,  of  which  one-third  occupy  the  district  around  Urumiah,  and 
the  remainder  the  mountains  of  Kurdistan. 

Apart  from  the  moot  point  of  the  Two  ffypostases,  the  doctrines  of 
the  Assyrians  are  in  general  accord  with  those  of  the  Greeks ;  wherein 
they  differ  from  the  latter,  their  teaching  and  practice  approach  more 
nearly  to  our  own.  Like  the  Greeks,  they  retain  the  Nicene  Creed 
without  the  Filioque  clause,  and  baptise  by  immersion— confirmation 
with  the  "oil  of  unction,"  as  a  subsidiary  part  of  that  ordinance,  being 
administered  at  the  same  time.  With  regard  to  the  Eucharist,  they 
believe  in  the  Real  Presence,  and  deny  transubstantiation  ;  administer 
in  both  kinds  to  the  laity  ;  never  reserve  any  of  the  consecrated  ele- 
ments ;  forbid  more  than  a  single  celebration  at  one  altar  on  the  same 
day ;  and,  like  the  Greeks,  use  leavened  bread,  and  allow  infants  to 
communicate. 

Besides  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  some  of  their  divines  reckon 
orders,  the  oil  of  unction,  absolution,  the  holy  leaven,  and  the  sign 

1  "  Decline  and  Fall,"  chap.  47. 


Appendix.  399 

of  the  cross,  as  sacraments,  thus  making  up  the  mystical  number  of 
seven;  nevertheless,  the  term  "sacrament"  is  only  applied  to  the 
latter  five  in  the  sense  in  which  marriage  is  so  denominated  in  our  own 
Homilies.  No  special  "outward  signs  "  of  "  ordained  by  Christ  Him- 
self "  accompany  their  transmission  of  holy  orders,  and  the  grace 
conferred  by  the  imposition  of  hands  is  regarded  as  one  of  ministration 
and  spiritual  authority,  not  a  gift  of  conveying  personal  sanctification 
upon  those  who  are  called  to  any  sacred  office  in  the  Church. 

The  "  oil  of  unction,"  which  is  used  in  holy  baptism,  is  styled  "an 
apostolical  tradition;"  "the  matter,"  says  Mar  Abd-Yeshua,  one  of 
their  most  eminent  theologians,  "  is  pure  oil ;  the  form,  the  apostolical 
benediction."  They  know  nothing,  happily,  of  the  Romish  doctrine  of 
extreme  unction.  They  also  annoint  a  new  altar — a  service  equivalent 
to  our  consecration  of  churches ;  but  it  is  specially  prescribed  that  a 
different  oil — not  that  of  baptism — shall  be  used  on  such  occasions. 

Absolution,  with  them,  has  nothing  in  common  with  the  Popish 
sacrament  of  penance.  Their  doctrine  regarding  confession  and  absolu- 
tion seems  to  be  in  perfect  accord  with  our  own.  Auricular  confession 
as  an  obligatory  duty  is  unknown  among  them.  Such  as  wish  to  com- 
municate of  the  holy  Eucharist  assemble  together,  or  individuals  consult 
the  priest  privately,  and  then  meet  in  the  porch  of  the  church,  and, 
whilst  kneeling  or  sitting  in  a  humble  posture,  the  priest  reads  over  one 
or  more  absolutions,  in  the  form  of  petitions,  from  the  "  Book  of 
Pardons,"  consisting  chiefly  of  prayers  that  God  would  mercifully 
pardon  his  penitent  children.  In  the  case  of  a  penitent  who  had 
denied  the  faith,  he  is  also  signed  with  oil  in  the  name  of  the  Trinity. 

In  the  belief  that  Mar  Mari  and  Mar  Addai  committed  to  the 
Easterns  a  "  holy  leaven,"  to  be  kept  for  the  perfecting  of  the  admini- 
stration of  the  Eucharist  until  our  Lord's  second  coming,  the  Assyrians 
observe  the  traditions  very  strictly,  and  the  renewal  of  the  leaven — for 
which  there  is  an  appropriate  office,  attributed  to  the  twelfth  century — 
takes  place  every  year  with  great  solemnity.  The  superstition  is  com- 
paratively harmless,  for,  although  it  tends  to  enhance  their  estimation 
of  the  sacramental  bread  used  by  themselves,  it  does  not  lead  them  to 
question  the  potentiality  of  the  ordinary  leavened  cakes  or  bread  used 
by  other  Churches  to  receive  consecration. 

The  sign  of  the  cross,  as  a  sacrament,  amounts  with  them  to  no 
more  than  this  :  that  the  use  of  signing  with  the  sign  of  the  cross — with 
which  the  invocation  of  the  Holy  Trinity  is  always  associated  among 
them — is  an  apostolical  tradition  most  fit  to  be  retained  in  the  Church ; 


4OO  Appendix. 

for  "  by  it,"  says  Mar  Abd-Yeshua,  "  Christians  are  ever  kept,  and  by 
it  all  the  other  sacraments  are  sealed  and  perfected." 

Passing  on  to  the  subject  of  our  Thirty-first  Article,  the  "Marriage 
of  Priests,"  it  it  unquestionable  that  in  the  early  ages  of  the  Eastern 
Church  under  notice  marriage  was  not  forbidden  to  any  ordained  per- 
son. Two  canons  of  the  so-called  Apostolical  Constitutions  preserved  by 
them  attest  the  fact ;  and    accordingly,    we   find   that   the    Patriarch 
Babai,  about  A.D.  498,  and  his  successor  Shila,  were  both  married  and 
had  children.     A  synod  convened  by  the  former  expressly  decreed  that 
"all  the  ministers  of  the  Church  should  marry,  each  having  one  pious 
and  well-conducted  wife,  agreeably  to  the  law,  in  order  that  they  may 
be  kept  from  falling  into  sin. "     That  decree  was  reversed  by  a  sub- 
sequent synod  under  Mar  Awa,  A.D.  536,  which  positively  forbade  any 
married  priest  being  raised  to  the  episcopate,  which  decree  has  been 
rigidly  observed  ever  since,  so  that  Dean  Stanley  is  at  fault  when  he 
says,  as  he  does  in  his  brilliant   "  Lectures  on  the  Eastern  Church," 
that  the  Nestorian  or  Chaldoean  patriarch  is  allowed  to  marry.     Equally 
mistaken  is  the  late  learned  Dr.  Neale,  who  in  his  notes  to  my  work  on 
the  Nestorians,  which  he  kindly  edited,  attempts  to  throw  discredit  on 
Babai   and   Shila,  calling  them  both   "men  of  infamous   character." 
The  slander  is  borrowed  from   Romanist   authorities,   and   is  utterly 
without  foundation  ;  for  the  Syriac  "  Lives  of  the  Patriarchs,"  which 
is  remarkably  impartial,  speaks  most  highly  of  the  piety  of  those  two 
prelates.     But  the  ambitious  aim  of  retaining  the  highest  office  in  the 
hierarchy  in  the  same  family — an  aim  which  was  kept  in  abeyance  for 
several  succeeding  centuries — eventually  prevailed,  and  in  A.D.    1450 
the  then    patriarch,  Mar  Shimun,  ordained  that  the  succession  should 
descend  from  uncle  to  nephew.     That  ordinance  still  obtains,  and  is, 
moreover,  not  unfrequently  carried  out  in  appointments  to  the  episco- 
pate also — an  arrangement  which  virtually  deprives  the  Church,  clergy 
and  laity  included,  of  their  ancient  right  to  elect  their  bishops,  and 
reduces  to  a  dead  letter  the  subsisting  canons  to  that  effect.     Vicious  as 
such  a  system  is,  it  has  a  counterpart  in  various  modified  forms  in  the 
West  as  well  as  in  other  Eastern  Churches,  and  I  trust  that  the  dis- 
established and  emancipated  Church  of  Ireland  will  insist  on  its  right 
to  elect  its  own  bishops. 

On  the  other  hand,  however,  it  is  lawful  for  all  Assyrian  priests  and 
deacons  to  marry,  after  ordination  as  well  as  before.  They  may  also 
marry  a  second  or  a  third  time,  being  widowers,  "  as^they  shall  judge 
the  same  conducive  to  godliness.''  In  former  times  they  possessed 


Appendix,  40 1 

many  convents,  and  some  of  the  clergy  and  laity  who  elected  to  live  a 
more  devotional  life  took  upon  them  certain  vows,  of  which  celibacy 
was  one.  At  the  present  day  they  have  no  such  convents,  and,  as  far 
as  I  could  learn,  no  such  conventual  establishments  ever  existed  among 
the  mountain  community,  although  a  church  is  occasionally  met  with, 
at  some  distance  from  a  town  or  village,  called  Daira  (convent),  occu- 
pied by  a  solitary  priest  who  has  taken  the  vow  of  celibacy  and  acts  as 
pastor  to  the  adjoining  parish.  But  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy  is  not 
necessarily  perpetual  ;  for  on  just  cause  being  shown,  the  bishop  is 
empowered  to  release  them  from  the  vow  and  permit  them  to  marry, 
with  this  simple  restriction,  that  the  marriage  shall  be  celebrated  in 
private.  Further,  there  are  no  nunneries  among  them  :  those  styled 
nuns  do  indeed  take  a  vow  of  celibacy,  but  they  reside  in  their  own 
homes,  and  are  expected,  until  loosed  from  their  vow,  to  devote  them- 
selves to  works  of  Christian  benevolence,  in  the  same  way  as  some  of 
our  Sisters  of  Mercy. 

Regarding  the  state  after  death,  the  Assyrians  are  in  accord  with  the 
Greeks;  and  whilst  repudiating  the  doctrine  of  Purgatory,  maintain  the 
efficacy  of  prayers  for  the  righteous  dead.  Pardons  and  indulgences, 
such  as  are  fabricated  and  sold  by  the  Church  of  Rome,  are  utterly 
repugnant  to  their  theology  and  practice  ;  and  with  respect  to  pictures 
and  carved  images,  they  vie  with  the  old  Iconoclasts  in  their  abhorrence 
for  them  as  objects  of  religious  worship.  I  have  known  them  to  wrench 
off  and  destroy  brazen  crucifixes— always,  however,  preserving  the 
cross,  which  they  hold  in  high  veneration  as  the  emblem  of  the  Cruci- 
fied One.  It  is  carved  at  the  entrance  of  all  their  churches,  and  is 
devoutly  kissed  by  the  in-coming  worshippers ;  it  is  placed  upon  the 
altar,  with  two  candles  symbolizing  the  Gospel  and  Epistles,  and  Christ 
in  His  divinity  and  humanity  the  Light  of  the  world ;  their  simple 
Church  vestments  are  ornamented  with  it ;  and,  in  fact,  its  use  is 
universal  among  them,  being  regarded,  as  I  have  already  remarked, 
as  "  the  sign  by  which  Christians  are  ever  kept,  and  by  which  all  the 
sacraments  are  sealed  and  perfected."  They  have  no  relics,  but  clay 
and  dust  taken  from  the  tombs  of  reputed  saints  are  frequently  carried 
away  by  the  more  ignorant,  and  preserved  as  antidotes  against  evil ; 
and  some  passages  of  one  of  their  service  books,  which  by  the  learned 
are  looked  upon  as  interpolations  of  a  recent  date,  attribute  super- 
natural virtues  to  the  remains  of  saints  and  martyrs.  Indirect  invoca- 
tion of  saints,  calling  upon  Christ  to  accept  their  intercessions  in 
behalf  of  His  earthly  worshippers,  are  of  frequent  occurrence  through- 

D   D 


4O2  Appendix. 

out  their  rituals  ;  but  direct  invocation  of  the  saints  is  comparatively 
rare,  and  the  addresses  come  immeasurably  short  of  the  language 
sanctioned  by  the  Church  of  Rome.  The  strongest  which  I  have  met 
with  is  the  following: — "O  thou  holy  Virgin,  through  whom  our 
race,  corrupted  by  the  deceitfulness  of  sin,  was  sanctified,  pray  with 
us  to  thy  Sanctifier  to  sanctify  us,  and  that  through  the  shadow  of  thy 
prayers  He  may  preserve  our  life,  spread  the  wings  of  His  pity  over 
our  frailty,  and  deliver  us  from  evil.  O  mother  of  Him  who  causes  us 
to  live,  thou  handmaid  of  our  Creator,  be  to  us  a  wall  of  refuge  at  all 
times." 

If  to  the  foregoing  sketch  of  the  tenets  of  the  Assyrians  I  subjoin 
that  their  copious  rituals  are  sublime  in  diction  and  teem  with  scriptural 
thought  and  language  ;  that  their  services,  like  their  churches,  though 
simple  in  the  extreme,  exhibit  all  the  features  of  primitive  order  and 
ancient  ecclesiastical  usage  ;  that  their  reverence  for  the  Word  of  God 
is  supreme  ;  that  although  the  old  Syriac  of  their  rituals  is  barely 
intelligible  to  them,  nevertheless  in  theory  they  recognise  the  principle 
that  all  the  services  should  be  conducted  in  a  language  "  understanded 
of  the  people  ; "  and,  further,  that  the  clergy  and  laity  generally  are 
decidedly  predisposed  to  religion — I  judge  that  enough  will  have  been 
said  to  convey  a  tolerably  comprehensive  account  of  the  existing 
Assyrian  Church. 

Our  first  intercourse  with  that  community  took  place  in  1842,  when 
I  was  delegated  by  the  then  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  the  Bishop 
of  London,1  under  the  joint  auspices  of  the  Gospel  Propagation  and 
Christian  Knowledge  Societies,  to  visit  their  Patriarch,  Mar  Shimiin, 
and  to  co-operate  with  him  for  the  general  welfare  of  his  people.  My 
interview  with  him  in  the  Tyari  country  was  eminently  satisfactory. 
He  was  surprised  and  gratified  to  find  that  the  Anglican  was  an  epis- 
copal Church  ;  that  we  had  ritual  services,  and  held  higher  views  of 
the  sacraments  than  he  had  heard  ascribed  to  us  ;  for  I  beg  to  observe 
that  even  in  that  secluded  region,  as  elsewhere  throughout  the  East,  our 
Church  had  been  identified,  as  it  still  is  to  a  great  extent,  with  Non- 
conformists, under  th  2  general  designations  of  "  English  "  and  "  Protes- 
tant." The  scheme  then  initiated  for  establishing  schools  throughout  the 
mountains  was  abruptly  thwarted  through  the  invasion  of  the  Christian 
villages  by  the  ferocious  Kurds  under  Bedr  Khan  Beg,  which  resulted 
in  the  flight  of  Mar  Shimun,  several  priests,  and  some  hundreds  of  his 

1  Archbishop  Howley  and  Bishop  Blomfield. 


Appendix.  403 

people  to  Mosul,  where  I  was  temporarily  located,  and  had  fitted  up  a 
room  for  daily  service  and  weekly  communion  in  English.  Deprived 
as  the  refugees  were  of  a  church,  I  readily  granted  them  the  use  of  my 
chapel,  in  which  the  patriarch  and  his  clergy  regularly  officiated,  and 
the  odour  of  the  incense  burnt  in  their  earlier  services  still  pervaded  the 
air  when  ours  commenced.  The  refugees,  as  well  as  a  sprinkling  of 
Jacobites  and  Chaldoeans,  were  generally  present  at  our  offices,  so  that 
the  room  was  literally  crammed  with  worshippers  ;  and  in  the  course  of 
a  few  weeks  the  Assyrians  became  so  well  acquainted  with  the  order  of 
our  English  ritual  that  they  always  uncovered  their  heads  at  the  reading 
of  the  Gospel,  as  they  do  in  their  own  churches.  In  daily  intercourse 
with  the  patriarch  and  his  learned  archdeacon  for  upwards  of  a  year, 
I  had  abundant  opportunity  of  explaining  to  them  the  doctrines  and 
discipline  of  the  Anglican  Church,  and  so  desirous  was  Mar  Shimun 
of  establishing  intercommunion  with  us,  that  he  eventually  requested 
me,  one  day  during  the  service,  to  receive  him  as  a  communicant.  If  I 
hesitated  to  do  so,  it  was  simply  from  prudential  motives,  and  lest  the 
action  might  be  misconstrued  by  gainsayers,  and  I  further  pointed  out 
to  him  the  propriety  of  deferring  the  step  until  some  definite  terms  of 
intercommunion  had  been  agreed  upon  by  our  respective  Churches. 
The  patriarch  fully  appreciated  the  wisdom  of  these  suggestions,  but 
from  that  time  forward,  notwithstanding  the  offer  held  out  to  him  of 
supremacy  over  all  the  Chaldreans  if  he  would  submit  to  Rome,  his  mind 
was  fully  bent  on  effecting  a  union  with  us.  Unfortunately,  the  Church 
at  home  was  not  prepared  to  entertain  the  overture  :  our  Convocation 
was  little  better  than  an  ecclesiastical  myth ;  no  mere  Church  society 
could  dispose  of  such  a  question,  nor  any  number  of  individual  bishops ; 
consequently,  the  proposal  fell  to  the  ground,  and  the  mission  was 
abandoned,  notwithstanding  the  repeated  and  urgent  appeals  of  the 
patriarch  that  it  might  be  continued.1 

Still,  I  have  reason  to  hope  that  our  transient  effort  was  not  wholly 
in  vain.  The  public  celebration  of  our  worship,  which  had  been  wit- 
nessed by  large  numbers  of  different  native  communities,  convinced 
them  of  our  ritual  order,  and  on  their  return  home  the  refugees  carried 
away  with  them  the  knowledge  which  they  had  acquired  of  our  doc- 
trines and  discipline,  and  scattered  it  far  and  wide  throughout  the 
mountain  villages,  from  whence  it  was  conveyed  to  their  brethren  in 
Persia.  Efforts  were  subsequently  made  to  induce  Mar  Shimun  to 

1  See  "  The  Nestorians  and  their  Rituals,"  vol.  i.,  pp.  289-296. 

D    D   2 


404  Append' x. 

accept  the  proffered  co-operation  of  the  Americans  at  Urumiah  to 
instruct  his  flock  ;  but  his  reply  to  Mr.  Layard,  six  years  after  my 
departure  from  Mosul,  was,  that  "  he  wished  to  be  helped  in  that  labour 
by  priests  of  the  Episcopal  Church  of  England,  whose  doctrine  and 
discipline  were  more  in  conformity  with  the  Nestorian  than  those  of  the 
American  missionaries."  l  I  visited  the  patriarch  again  in  1850,  while 
on  leave  of  absence  from  my  appointment  in  India,  and  was  re- 
ceived by  him  and  the  Christian  mountaineers  generally  with  the 
warmest  demonstrations  of  affection.  He  dilated  on  the  temporal  and 
spiritual  destitution  of  his  people,  and  complained  bitterly  that  our 
Church  had  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  his  prayers.  Alas  !  I  could  not  hold 
out  any  hope  that  we  were  then  better  prepared  than  formerly  to  come 
to  his  relief.  Since  then  the  good  old  man  has  been  gathered  to  his 
fathers,  and  his  nephew  has  succeeded  to  the  patriarchate,  under  the 
same  title.  Mar  Shimiin. 

One  almost  wonders  that,  after  such  treatment  at  our  hands,  the 
Assyrians  should  still  recur  to  us  for  aid.  Nevertheless,  as  recently 
as  November,  1867,  Mr.  Rassam,  the  British  Vice-Consul  at  Mosul, 
was  charged  to  deliver  a  letter,  signed  by  two  bishops,  several  pres- 
byters, deacons,  and  influential  laymen,  addressed  to  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury  and  the  Bishop  of  London,  begging  that  delegates 
might  be  sent  out  to  aid  them  in  promoting  the  spiritual  welfare  of 
the  mountain  community.  The  genuineness  of  that  document  was 
hastily  discredited  by  the  Urumiah  missionaries,  but  a  later  epistle 
from  the  patriarch  expressly  confirms  it,  and  reiterates  the  appeal  for 
help. 

The  practical  question  now  is,  What  ought  to  be  done  ?  This  is  a 
question  which  concerns  not  the  primate  alone,  but  the  whole  Church. 
It  is  a  subject,  moreover,  of  vast  importance,  involving  as  it  does  the 
necessity  of  an  appropriate  organisation  on  our  part  for  the  eventual 
restoration  of  this  ancient  community,  which  might  be  applicable  in 
similar  cases.  The  Church  of  Rome  possesses  su:h  an  organisation, 
and  has  largely  used  it,  not  to  build  up,  but  to  disintegrate  the  ancient 
Churches  of  the  East,  and  to  reduce  them  to  her  obedience.  Laying 
aside  her  ambition  for  supremacy,  it  is  high  time  that  we  placed  our- 
selves in  an  equally  advantageous  position — a  position  to  which,  as  a 
true  branch  of  the  Catholic  Church,  we  are  fully  entitled — to  restore  the 
lapsed  Oriental  communities,  including  those  on  the  western  coast  of 


"  Nineveh  and  Babylon,"  p.  425. 


Appendix.  405 

India  ;  and  whilst  leaving  them  in  full  possession  of  their  ecclesiastical 
status,  rites,  and  ceremonies,  to  promote  the  unity  of  Christ's  mystical 
Body  by  joining  them  to  ourselves  in  one  communion  and  fellowship, 
holding  one  Faith,  one  Lord,  one  Baptism. 

What  hinders,  indeed,  that,  in  due  subservience  to  more  urgent 
demands  upon  her  devotion  and  charity,  the  Church  of  England  should 
not  occupy  the  Assyrian  field  thus  providentially  opened  to  her  best 
energies?  One  objection  urged  is  that  we  should  thereby  be  interfering 
with  a  people  canonically  subject  to  the  Greek  patriarchates.  Even 
were  this  so,  the  argument  loses  all  its  force  from  the  simple  fact  that 
the  Greek  Church  is  utterly  powerless  to  undertake  the  task.  Moreover, 
it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  our  object  is  not  to  subject  a  foreign 
community  to  our  jurisdiction,  but  to  promote  Christian  union,  on  terms 
which  may  lead,  under  the  Divine  blessing,  to  eventual  intercommunion 
between  all  the  Eastern  Churches,  and  between  them  and  ourselves. 
But  I  maintain  that  the  Greek  Church  possesses  no  canonical  authority 
over  the  Assyrians,  and  never  did.  "  By  comparing,"  says  Bingham, 
"the  broken  fragments  that  remain  in  the  acts  and  superscriptions  of 
the  ancient  Councils  with  the  Notitia  of  the  Empire,  and  comparing 
both  with  the  later  Notitia  of  the  Church,  it  plainly  appears  that  the 
Church  was  divided  into  dioceses  and  provinces,  much  after  the  same 
manner  as  the  Empire."  The  territory  in  which  the  Eastern  patriar- 
chate, with  its  chief  see,  Seleucia-and-Ctesiphon,was  originally  situated, 
appertained  to  Persia  ;  and  as  it  never  formed  part  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  so  that  see  was  never  included  either  within  the  patriarchate 
of  Constantinople  or  that  of  Antioch.  A  reference  to  the  ancient 
dioceses  comprehended  within  those  patriarchates  will  fully  bear  out 
this  statement. 

A  somewhat  similar  objection  is  raised  in  an  opposite  quarter.  The 
American  Independent  or  Congregationalist  missionaries  at  Urumiah 
regarded  our  first  efforts  among  the  so-called  Nestorians — although 
strictly  confined  to  the  mountain  community — as  an  unjustifiable  inter- 
ference, and  they  have  not  hesitated  to  characterise  my  proceedings 
among  them  as  intolerant,  Popish,  Puseyite,  &c.,  for  no  other  reason 
than  because  my  replies  to  direct  questions  by  the  native  Christians 
indicated  the  differences  which  unfortunately  exist  between  Noncon- 
formists and  ourselves,  and  led  the  Assyrians  to  prefer  our  doctrine  and 
Church  government  to  theirs.  No  one  is  more  ready  than  I  am  to 
recognize  the  zealous  exertions  of  the  American  missionaries  at  Urumiah 
to  benefit  the  Nestorians  in  and  around  that  place  ;  for  besides  trans- 


406  Appendix. 

lating  the  Holy  .Scriptures  into  vulgar  Syriac,  they  have  established 
schools  among  them,  and  by  the  diffusion  of  light  and  knowledge  have 
undoubtedly  aided  them  to  resist  the  persevering  efforts  of  Papal  mis- 
sionaries to  bring  them  into  subjection  to  the  see  of  Rome.  Their 
success,  up  to  a  certain  point,  was  mainly  attributable  to  their  conserva- 
tive mode  of  procedure,  allowing  all  who  joined  them  to  retain  the  use 
of  their  rituals,  and  to  adhere  to  their  own  ecclesiastical  discipline. 
But,  unless  I  am  grossly  misinformed,  a  different  policy  has  been 
adopted  of  late  years,  whereby  those  who  become  associated  with  them 
are  required  to  renounce  their  ancient  use,  and  to  conform  to  the 
Presbyterian  or  Congregationalist  standard.  No  step  could  be  more 
impolitic  on  their  part,  or  more  fatal,  eventually,  to  the  permanence  of 
their  influence ;  for  such  is  the  tenacity  with  which  the  Eastern 
Churches  generally  adhere  to  episcopacy  and  their  ancient  ritual  ser- 
vices, that  any  attempt  to  substitute  the  Nonconformist  model  in  their 
stead  isS  sure  to  fail  in  the  long  run.  (The  movement  which  is  now 
going  on  among  the  so-called  Protestant  Armenians  in  Turkey  is  an 
example  in  point.)  It  is  mainly  owing  to  the  fear  of  similar  encroach- 
ments that  Mar  Shimun  refuses  to  sanction  the  labours  of  the  American 
missionaries  in  the  mountains  ;  and,  judging  from  a  recent  appeal  from  a 
bishop  and  several  of  the  clergy  at  Urumiah — some  of  them  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  missionaries — many  of  the  community  there  are  anxious  that 
their  Church  should  be  reformed  without  being  destroyed.  Would  that 
the  American  missionaries  could  join  heart  and  hand  with  us  in  so  noble 
a  work  ! 


APPENDIX    C. 


THE  CHURCH   MISSIONARY   SOCIETY'S   WORK   IN 
TRAVANCORE  AND   COCHIN. 

THE  Society's  work  in  this  field  is,  we  think,  very  interesting  and  very 
hopeful.  Whether  we  look  at  the  picturesque  region  in  the  south-west 
corner  of  all  India,  in  which  it  is  carried  on  ;  or  at  the  peculiarity  of 
the  elements  of  which  the  small  population  of  nearly  two  millions 
is  composed;  or  at  the  character  for  enlightenment  of  its  native  rulers, 
it  has  many  features  of  interest  ;  and  the  progress  of  the  mission  hitherto 
gives  us  every  reason  for  hope  for  the  future. 

We  know  not  where  else  in  all  India  we  should  look  for  the  same 
number  of  persons,  in  proportion  to  its  size,  who  call  themselves  by  the 
name  of  Christians,  as  in  the  territory  of  Travancore  and  Cochin.  There 
are  the  Christians  who  hold  communion  with  the  Jacobite  Patriarch  of 
Antioch,  in  number  some  120,000  persons.  They  have  been  there  since 
the  sixth  century  of  our  era,  unmolested  by  the  native  rulers,  and  even 
allowed  by  them  a  certain  social  status  in  the  country.  There  are  the 
Romanists,  who  date,  of  course,  since  the  arrival  in  India  of  the 
Portuguese,  somewhere  about  140,000  in  number.  They  consist  partly 
of  those  who,  through  the  violence  of  the  emissaries  of  Rome,  have 
been  proselytized  from  Syrianism  to  Romanism  ;  and  partly  of  those 
who  have  become  Romanists  from  heathenism.  Then  there  are  the 
Protestant  Christians  in  connexion  with  the  London  Missionary  Society 
in  the  extreme  south  of  Travancore,  somewhere  about  30,000  in  number. 
They  are  principally  Shanars,  of  the  same  race  as  those  amongst  whom 
our  Tinnevelly  Mission  has  been  so  successful.  They  speak  the  Tamil 
language,  and  their  affinity,  of  course,  would  be  much  more  with  the 
native  Protestant  Christians  in  Tinnevelly  than  with  the  Malayalim- 


408  Appendix. 

speaking  Protestant  Christians  of  their  own  kingdom  of  Travancore. 
Finally,  there  are  the  Christians  in  connexion  with  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society,  numbering  somewhere  about  13,000.  If  we  were  to 
count  together  all  who  bear  the  Christian  name  in  Travancore  and  Cochin, 
we  should  find  the  number  to  amount  to  not  far  short  of  one-fifth  of  the 
entire  population ;  and  to  these  we  might  add,  as  another  peculiar 
element  of  the  population,  somewhere  about  1,500  Jews,  who  reside  in 
the  important  town  of  Cochin. 

The  most  influential,  though  not  the  most  numerous  class  of  the 
heathen  population  is  the  Brahmin  class.  They  have  great  influence 
at  the  courts,  and  great  influence  everywhere  throughout  the  kingdom. 
They  are,  of  course,  the  class  who  are  deeply  interested  in  maintaining 
caste  and  retarding  the  progress  of  Christianity.  In  fact,  we  may  look 
upon  caste  as  a  priestly  idea  from  the  beginning,  cleverly  devised  for  the 
purpose  of  keeping  the  priestly  Brahmins  at  the  top  of  the  social  tree. 
It  is  a  matter  of  wonder  that,  with  princes  so  enlightened  as  the 
Travancore  princes  have  been  for  several  generations,  and  with  the 
Syrian  church  existing  so  long  amongst  them,  the  Travancore  Brahmins 
should  be,  of  all  Brahmins  in  India,  almost  the  most  privileged  race  of 
them.  One  cannot  but  fear  that  the  Syrian  Christians,  in  the  centuries 
of  the  past,  can  have  but  little  witnessed  for  Christ,  and  but  little 
declaimed  against  the  monstrosities  of  Brahminism.  If  they  had,  it  is 
very  probable  that  they  would  have  received  less  quarter  and  less 
toleration  from  the  native  princes.  At  present,  the  indigenous  Brahmins 
of  Travancore  and  Cochin  (Numboory  Brahmins,  as  they  are  called,) 
number  about  14,000.  Foreign  Brahmins  (especially  from  the  Tamil 
country),  who  do  not  rank  so  high,  and  are  not  at  all  privileged  in  the 
same  way  as  the  Numboories,  number  some  36,000.  The  Nairs,  who 
rank  next  to  the  Brahmins,  are  a  high-spirited  and  influential  class  of 
people.  The  reigning  family  of  Travancore  belongs  to  this  class,  and 
they  are  the  principal  landowners  of  the  country.  The  Chogans,  who 
are  generally  servants  to  the  Nairs  ;  the  slaves,  no  longer  legally  so,  but 
actually  slaves  to  the  other  classes  ;  the  Araans,  who  are  the  aboriginal 
dwellers  on  the  slopes  of  the  western  ghats,  cultivators  of  the  soil,  and 
worshippers  of  the  spirits  of  their  ancestors  ;  these  make  up  the  rest  of 
this  varied  population. 

There  could  not  have  been  a  more  interesting  experiment  made  than 
the  Church  Missionary  Society  was  induced  by  many  friends  to  make, 
in  the  Lord's  name,  in  Travancore.  The  experiment  was,  in  short,  to 
raise  up  into  a  living  and  witnessing  church  the  fallen  and  lifeless  church 


Appendix.  409 

of  the  Syrians.  Lifeless,  indeed,  that  church  might  have  been  called. 
The  fountain  of  life  was  closed  against  the  people  by  the  word  of  God 
being  in  a  language  (the  Syriac)  not  understood  by  the  Malayalim- 
speaking  people.  The  liturgical  services  of  the  Church  were  mostly  in 
the  same  language.  No  witness  for  Christ  was  borne  before  the  heathen. 
The  problem,  therefore,  which  the  missionaries,  on  arriving  in  Travan- 
core  in  1816,  had  to  deal  with  was  how  they  might,  with  God's  blessing 
on  their  efforts,  impart  spiritual  life  to  the  Syrian  church,  and  so  raise 
it.  It  was  to  try  this  experiment  they  were  sent  forth.  And  what  an 
interesting  experiment  it  was  !  If  God  should  enable  them  to  succeed, 
what  a  mighty  lever  for  working  India  they  would  have  prepared  !  But 
all  experience  shows  that  to  raise  into  life  a  dead  church  is  not  an  easy 
task.  They  translated  the  word  of  life  into  the  language  of  the  people. 
They  were  allowed  to  take,  and  they  took,  a  systematic  part  in  the 
education  of  the  young  priests  intended  for  ordination  in  the  Syrian 
Church.  They  preached  wherever  they  had  an  opportunity,  but  they 
asked  no  Syrian  to  abandon  the  communion  of  his  Church.  They 
laboured  in  the  education  of  the  young.  Twenty  years  were  allowed 
for  the  testing  of  this  experiment.  At  the  end  of  that  time  it  was 
perceived  on  all  hands  that  the  gravitation  downwards  of  a  fallen  Church 
was  greater  than  had  been  at  first  thought  of.  A  new  method  of  pro- 
ceeding was  adopted.  From  1838  to  the  present  time  the  Gospel  has 
been  preached  to  all  alike,  Syrians  and  heathens,  and  all  have  been 
exhorted  to  come  out,  and  separate  themselves  from  false  communions, 
and  join  themselves  with  a  pure  scriptural  communion. 

The  blessing  of  God  seems  to  have  followed  the  new  plan.  Since 
1838,  twelve  thousand  persons  of  all  classes  have  come  out  and  joined 
the  Protestant  Church  of  England.  Ten  young  men,  who  belonged  to 
the  Syrian  communion,  have  abandoned  it,  and  have  been  educated, 
trained,  and  admitted  to  the  ministry  of  the  Church  of  England.  One 
young  man,  a  member  of  a  Brahmin  family,  all  of  whom  became 
Christians  a  few  years  ago,  is  now  also  a  promising  native  clergyman. 
The  converts  are  from  all  classes,  those  from  the  Syrians  and  the  Chogans 
being  the  most  numerous,  the  mountain-men  and  the  slaves  helping 
considerably  to  swell  the  number.  Thus,  out  of  these  various  elements 
there  is  being  one  Protestant  Bible  Church  formed  in  the  land.  The 
same  thing  that  missionary  work  is  doing  everywhere  throughout  the 
world  is  going  on  here.  It  is  drawing  together  into  one  brotherhood  in 
Christ  races  and  tribes  once  altogether  separated,  the  uniting  power 
being  the  cross  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  Brahmin  party  have  been 


4 1  o  Appendix. 

greatly  incensed,  and  at  one  time  it  is  certain  that  the  missionaries 
could  not  have  held  their  ground  in  the  country  had  it  not  been  for  the 
influence  of  the  British  name.  The  work  has  steadily  held  on  its  way. 
May  the  Lord  cause  it  to  grow  more  and  more,  until  it  covers  the 
land  ! 

What  is  to  be  expected  from  this  native  Protestant  Church  in  Travan- 
core  and  Cochin  ?  What  is  their  distinct  Christian  influence  ?  Does 
the  word  of  the  Lord  sound  out  from  them  to  their  Syrian  and  heathen 
neighbours?  Could  their  pastors  thank  God  for  them,  "  remembering 
their  work  of  faith,  and  labour  of  love,  and  patience  of  hope  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  ? "  Is  there  amongst  them  an  anxiety  to  win  souls  to 
Christ?  Are  the  distinctions  of  caste  abolished,  and  are  they  of  one 
mind  in  the  Lord  ?  We  will  only  say  that  we  know  that  there  are 
native  clergymen  in  Travancore  who,  by  the  grace  of  God,  are  behind 
none  in  their  longing  desire  to  save  souls.  We  could  enumerate  many 
instances  where  the  Gospel  has  spread  simply  through  the  faith  and  love 
of  the  converts  themselves.  We  think,  on  the  whole,  that  the  questions 
above  asked  can  be  answered  in  the  affirmative  with  regard  to  the 
Travancore  mission  as  much  as  with  regard  to  any  mission  with  which 
we  are  acquainted.  This  native  Church  has,  we  think,  a  strong  claim 
on  the  prayers  of  the  friends  of  missions,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  might  be 
poured  upon  it,  that  so  its  witness  for  Christ  might  become  more  and 
more  decided,  and  that  the  converts  to  the  faith  might  be  more  and 
more  multiplied. 

We  have  to  ask  now  an  important  question  about  this  native  Church. 
When  may  we  expect  that  it  will  take  its  stand  as  an  independent 
Church,  i.e.,  a  Church  independent  of  pecuniary  aid  from  a  foreign 
Society  ?  When  may  we  expect  that  it  will  become,  under  a  bishop  or 
bishops  of  its  own,  an  independent  branch  of  the  Protestant  Church  of 
England  ?  We  think  that  this  is  a  question  which  ought  to  be  asked, 
and  which  all  who  are  interested  in  missions  are  asking  now.  Most 
dangerous  would  it  be  to  deprive  a  native  Church  of  our  aid  in  men  and 
means  before  it  is  ripe  for  standing  by  itself.  But  we  ought  not  to 
postpone  the  time  of  its  standing  alone  unnecessarily  by  a  day.  The 
vigour  of  a  native  Church  is  not  improved  by  an  excess  of  fostering.  If 
there  is  spiritual  life  in  it,  that  life  will  expand  itself  more  purely  and 
more  vigorously  when  human  aid  is  withdrawn,  and  it  is  led  to  cast 
itself  on  the  heavenly  comfort  and  strength  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  And, 
besides  this,  the  claims  of  all  India  are  too  great,  the  field  is  too  wide, 
to  admit  of  our  spending  more  time  than  is  necessary  on  any  one  point 


Appendix.  411 

of  it.  The  Church  Missionary  Society  thoroughly  realises  this  idea  to 
itself,  and  its  present  action  in  reference  to  the  Travancore  native  Church 
is  that  of  gradually  leading  it  on  to  realise  it  too.  The  Society  does  not 
forget  the  difficulties  of  the  native  Church,  composed  as  it  is  so  largely 
of  new  converts  from  so  many  classes,  and  it  does  not  expect  too  much. 
But  not  less  steadily  and  urgently  is  it  setting  the  idea  before  the  native 
Church  in  a  practical  way.  For  several  years  past  the  native  Church  has 
been  accustomed  to  look  upon  the  support  of  their  spiritual  and  other 
teachers  as  coming  out  of  a  Sustentation  Fund  raised  by  themselves, 
and  supplemented  by  the  Society  ;  and  they  are  taught  that  their  own 
contributions  must  increase  year  by  year,  and  the  Society's  supplemen- 
tary grant  decrease  year  by  year,  until  it  altogether  ceases  to  be  granted. 
It  is  pleasant  to  know  that  the  sum  raised  by  the  native  Church  is 
increasing  year  by  year.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  present  native 
pastors,  and  those  who  may  hereafter  be  ordained,  will  see  the  importance 
of  endeavouring  to  maintain  themselves  on  as  small  a  sum  as  possible,  in 
order  that  their  own  Christian  people  may  be  able  the  sooner  and  the 
more  easily  to  maintain  them  without  foreign  aid.  The  neighbour  Syrian 
Church  sets  an  example  in  this  respect  to  our  native  Protestant  Church. 
The  bishops,  catanars  and  deacons,  receive  no  pecuniary  aid  whatever. 
Their  support  comes  entirely  from  their  own  people.  We  think  that 
this  is  an  example  which  the  native  Protestant  Church  in  Travancore 
would  do  well  to  consider. 


APPENDIX    D. 


HINDOSTAN. 

THE  Catholic  Missions  in  Hindostan  do  not  offer,  as  those  in  China, 
the  grand  spectacle  of  entire  provinces  praying  to  be  baptized,  or  the 
still  more  exciting  interest  attached  to  the  persecuted  Christians,  as 
those  of  the  Annamite  kingdom  at  present.  In  Hindostan,  which  is 
the  most  important  district  of  all  Asia,  next  to  the  Chinese  empire, 
from  the  extent  of  its  territory  and  the  number  of  its  inhabitants,  there 
are  thousands  of  Christian  settlements  requiring  to  have  their  faith 
strengthened  and  enlivened  ;  also,  a  quiet  but  steady  movement  among 
the  pagans,  the  Mussulmans,  and  the  heretics  towards  Catholicity, 
which  claims  development ;  in  fine,  there  are  1 50  millions  of  souls  to  be 
enlightened  and  saved.  Eight  hundred  missioners,  under  the  direction 
of  seventeen  bishops,  are  combating  there  night  and  day,  sometimes 
struggling  against  the  inertness  of  whole  populations  retained  in  error 
by  their  habits  of  sensuality,  sometimes  righting  against  the  secular 
prejudices  of  the  different  races,  and  again,  often  pitted  against  the 
proselytism  of  heresy,  having  for  its  aid  political  supremacy  and  the 
power  of  gold ;  all  these  struggles  carried  on  in  obscurity,  without 
either  the  courage  inspired  by  the  prospect  of  martyrdom  or  the  hope 
of  a  near  and  general  victory.  And  yet  this  continual  struggle  requires 
an  untiring  devotedness  which  nothing  can  discourage,  not  even  its 
fruitlessness,  for  it  is  the  duty  of  a  missioner  to  give  himself  to  the  cause 
with  all  his  heart,  and  without  any  calculation  as  to  his  chances  of  suc- 
cess. He  must  work  as  if  the  entire  victory  depended  on  his  individual 
exertion.  This  is  a  noble  and  inspiring  position,  which  carries  with  it 
a  certain  consolation,  since  it  is  evident  that  God  alone  can  be  the 


Appendix.  4 1 3 

inspirer  of  all  the  ardour  and  perseverance  felt  by  the  missioner,  and 
that  He  bestows  these  gifts  in  order  to  further  and  hasten  His  own 
merciful  designs. 

In  Hindostan,  as  in  most  missionary  countries,  the  zeal  of  the 
missioner  has  a  double  object  to  attain  :  1st.  To  maintain  the  Chris- 
tians in  the  holiness  of  their  vocation  while  surrounded  by  an  infidel 
population  ;  2nd.  To  try  and  convert  the  pagans,  and  also  to  pre- 
serve the  Catholics  from  the  effect  of  Protestantism,  which,  having 
been  introduced  into  the  country  by  the  English  influence,  is  dangerous 
to  them,  as  it  is  also  an  obstacle  to  the  conversion  of  the  infidels  to 
Christianity,  even  though  the  natives  have  little  esteem  for  the  religion 
of  the  English. 


I. 

The  extent  of  each  of  the  vicariates,  and  the  insufficient  number  of 
evangelical  workers,  necessitates  a  special  organisation  in  order  to 
ensure  the  regular  service  of  the  missioners. 

M.  P.  M.,  Superior  of  the  Foreign  Missions,  has  made  known,  in  a 
letter  addressed  to  the  Central  Councils  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith, 
the  mode  employed  for  the  visitation  of  the  Christian  settlements  in  the 
Vicariate-Apostolic  of  Pondicherry,  where  there  is  a  population  of  108,000 
Catholics  dispersed  over  all  points  of  the  territory : 

' '  In  order  to  watch  over  the  faith  of  so  many  Christians,  and  to  bring 
from  the  darkness  of  paganism  the  great  number  of  souls,  the  mission 
has  been  divided  into  several  districts,  according  to  the  number  of 
Catholics,  and  also  to  the  number  of  missioners.  Each  district  is  com- 
posed of  several  villages,  whose  inhabitants  are  either  all,  or  at  least, 
the  greater  number  Catholics.  The  missioner  resides  in  the  centre  of 
the  district,  but  the  administration  of  sacraments,  which  obliges  him  to 
visit  continually  from  one  end  of  his  parish  to  the  other,  and,  above  all, 
the  immense  distances  of  certain  villages,  prevent  him  having  sufficient 
time  to  instruct  all  the  Catholics,  or  to  appease  the  quarrels  which  often 
arise  amongst  the  families.  It  was  in  order  to  remedy,  as  much  as 
possible,  these  inconveniences,  and  to  encourage  the  Catholics  in  fidelity 
to  their  faith  and  the  practice  of  virtue,  that  Monsignor  Godelle  resolved, 
some  few  years  since,  to  consecrate  two  missioners  to  the  office  of  con- 
tinually travelling  from  one  district  to  another,  preaching  retreats,  in 


4 1 4  Appendix. 

imitation  of  those  which  are  given  in  Europe."      (Letter  of  the  i$th 
October,  1864.) 

The  hopes  entertained  by  Monsignor  the  Vicar-Apostolic  of  Pondi- 
cherry  have  been  realised ;  for,  notwithstanding  their  natural  apathy  of 
character,  the  populations  have  been  roused,  and  abundant  fruits  have 
followed  the  holy  exercises.  The  Superior  charged  with  this  laborious 
ministry  gives  the  following  edifying  details  in  his  letter : 

"We  have,"  he  writes,  "begun  our  apostolic  journey  by  Selam,  a 
populous  and  pretty  considerable  commercial  town,  situated  at  the  foot 
of  the  chain  of  eastern  Ghauts,  forty-six  leagues  south-west  of  Pondi- 
cherry.  There  are  only  a  few  Christians  in  this  town,  but  there  are 
many  more  in  the  neighbouring  villages.  The  mission  lasted  for  twenty 
days,  in  order  to  give  sufficient  time  for  every  one  to  take  advantage 
of  it,  and  they  certainly  did  avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity.  Almost 
everywhere  I  passed,  several  Christians,  moved  by  the  instructions  they 
had  heard,  came  and  threw  themselves  at  my  feet,  saying,  '  Father,  I 
have  never  before  understood  all  that  you  have  just  told  us.  I  have  for 
ten,  fifteen,  twenty  years  led  a  wicked  life,  having  formerly  made  bad 
confessions,  but  the  good  God  has  sent  you  now  to  bring  me  salvation. 
Pardon  me. '  Then  they  commenced  their  general  confessions,  shedding 
tears  of  sorrow,  and  I  could  scarcely  contain  the  emotion  I  felt  in 
witnessing  the  deep  contrition  of  these  poor  strayed  sheep  thus  restored 
to  the  fold. 

"  From  Selam  we  went  to  Yedapadhy,  a  village  in  which,  from  time 
immemorial,  discord  has  reigned  supreme,  notwithstanding  the  efforts  of 
the  missioners  to  make  peace,  the  people  resisting  all  such  attempts. 
God  was  pleased  to  bestow  this  much-desired  blessing  as  a  fruit  of  the 
holy  exercise  of  the  mission.  The  retreat  had  only  commenced  two 
days  when  the  inhabitants,  of  their  own  accord,  made  peace,  and  came 
to  throw  themselves  at  our  feet,  promising  to  submit  humbly  to  whatever 
we  should  command.  A  banquet  was  given  as  a  pledge  of  the  reconci- 
liation. The  two  men  who  were  heads  of  each  faction,  and  had  made 
themselves  most  remarkable  by  their  animosity,  were  designated  to  be 
organisers  of  the  feast.  Men,  women,  and  children,  all  desired  to  take 
part  in  the  entertainment,  and,  as  there  was  no  house  large  enough  to 
hold  such  a  number  of  guests,  the  court  of  the  church  was  made  to  serve 
for  the  banquet-hall.  The  next  morning  all  began  to  attend  the  confes- 
sional ;  even  the  pagans  seemed  inclined  to  become  Christians.  Each 
time  that  I  walked  out  they  crowded  round  me.  '  Father,'  they  would 
say,  '  where  are  you  going  ?  We  will  accompany  you,  and  will  sit  at 


Appendix.  4 1 5 

your  feet  to  hear  your  good  advice.'  One  of  the  old  men  of  the  village 
one  day  accosted  me  in  a  friendly  manner,  and  when  I  passed  on  after 
speaking  a  few  words,  I  heard  him  say  to  his  neighbours,  '  Ah  !  if  we 
followed  the  good  advice  the  father  gives  us,  we  would  be  much  better 
than  we  are.' " 

In  Madura,  where  only  the  great  centres  possess  missioners,  the 
Christians  are  only  visited  from  time  to  time,  generally  about  once  a 
year.  The  greater  number,  therefore,  of  missioners  (they  number  about 
fifty  native  and  European)  pass  their  lives  travelling  through  the  vast 
districts  allotted  to  them,  trying  to  visit  all  the  Christians  dispersed  in 
the  middle  of  the  pagan  population. 

The  Rev.  Father  Ant.  Batut,  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  writes  to  his 
brother  the  following  description  of  these  apostolic  excursions  : 

' '  The  missioner's  suite  consists  of  three  persons — a  catechist  to 
instruct  the  Christians,  a  disciple  for  the  material  service,  and  a  man  for 
guiding  the  ox  or  the  horse  that  carries  our  conveyance.  When  the 
missioner  reaches  the  first  Christian  settlement  he  is  going  to  visit,  he 
at  once  installs  himself  and  his  suite  in  the  church.  They  give  this 
name  of  church  to  four  mud  walls  thatched  with  straw.  This  building 
is  made  to  serve  all  purposes.  It  is  the  church,  the  presbytery,  the 
refectory,  and  the  dormitory  ;  a  plank  of  timber,  supported  by  four  legs, 
is  made  to  answer  alternately  table  and  bed.  Each  day  the  charity  of 
the  Christians  supplies  a  ration  of  rice  for  the  support  of  the  Father  and 
his  suite,  the  preparation  for  confession  and  communion  is  made, 
baptism  is  given  to  the  children,  extreme-unction  administered  to  the 
dying,  abuses  are  corrected,  and  all  exhorted  to  a  more  fervent  life. 
This  labour  continues  for  eight,  ten,  and  fifteen  days,  according  to  the 
importance  of  the  locality ;  then  the  missioner  prepares  to  depart :  he 
bids  farewell  to  his  Christians,  after  having  advised  them  to  assemble 
every  day  for  prayers,  but,  above  all,  to  come  to  say  prayers  for  mass 
together  every  Sunday.  If  the  village  is  not  too  far  from  his  own  resi- 
dence, the  missioner  can  make  a  few  rare  visits  to  administer  the 
sacraments  to  the  sick,  but,  generally  speaking,  he  is  only  able  to  visit 
once  in  each  year."  (Letter  of  February,  1865.)  These  journeys  occupy 
the  missioner  for  two  or  three  months,  after  which  he  returns  to  his 
home  to  rest  for  a  few  days,  and  sets  out  for  some  other  point  in  the 
district. 

The  Rev.  Father  Serasset,  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  having  been  sent 
from  Dharwar  (vicariate-apostolic  of  Bombay)  to  Moudgal,  a  consider- 
able town,  situated  in  an  independent  territory,  has  enjoyed  the 


41 6  Appendix. 

consolation  of  discovering  the  last  vestiges  of  Christianity,  which  had 
been  formerly  flourishing,  but  is  now  reduced  to  a  few  hundred  Chris- 
tians. We  shall  make  extracts  of  the  accounts  of  his  mission,  written 
by  him  to  his  brother,  the  parish  priest  of  Develier,  near  Delemont 
(diocese  of  Bale). 

"  Moudgal  is  about  140  miles  distant  from  Dhawar.  Our  Fathers 
had  founded  there  a  Catholic  flock,  that  had  long  after  been  remarkable 
for  the  wisdom  of  their  laws.  This  mission  belongs  to  the  vicariate- 
apostolic  of  Madras,  but  as  it  is  without  a  pastor,  I  was  invited  to  visit 
it.  I  felt  inward  pleasure  at  the  idea  of  visiting  those  spots  that  had 
been  the  territory  where  the  zealous  devotedness  of  the  children  of  our 
Society  had  converted  so  many  pagans ;  but  on  arriving  there,  my 
anticipations  were  changed  into  sorrow  instead  of  consolation.  The 
dwelling  of  our  former  missioners  is  now  a  heap  of  ruins  ;  the  church, 
to  the  infinite  regret  of  the  Christians,  has  been  destroyed  lately,  in 
order  to  give  place  to  a  new  one,  and  the  traditions  and  memories  of 
the  old  building  have  all  disappeared.  All  that  now  remains  is  the  tomb 
of  the  most  celebrated  of  the  missioners  of  this  country,  Father  John 
Paradisi,  whose  memory  is  still  held  in  great  veneration  by  all  our 
Christians.  They  never  quit  the  church  without  blessing  the  tomb  of 
him  whom  they  call  their  father  in  the  faith.  The  epitaph  of  Father 
Paradisi  describes,  in  a  few  words,  his  life  and  his  eulogy.  Here  is  the 
translation  of  it  : 

"  Here  lies  the  body  of  John  Paradisi,  aged  88  years. 

He  had  the  care  of  this  Mission  for  41  years, 
and  converted  a  number  of  souls  to  the  t  me  faith. 

After  giving  us  an  example  of  every  virtue 
He  departed  this  life  on  the  \yh  of  January,  1793. 

"  I  arrived  at  Moudgal  a  few  days  before  the  festival  of  Christmas- 
day.  The  Christians  were  all  assembled  there,  and  numbered  about 
400.  They  are  generally  dispersed  about  the  district,  being  employed 
in  weaving  and  manufacturing  stuffs  ;  but  they  are  faithful  to  their  old 
traditions,  and  return  to  Moudgal  to  celebrate  together  the  feast  of 
Christmas  and  that  of  the  Epiphany  ;  they  number  about  600  when 
all  together.  Those  poor  Christians  were  sadly  in  want  of  a  mission, 
for  they  were  living  without  approaching  the  sacraments,  and  were 
afflicted  with  discord  and  division  amongst  each  other.  After  hesitating 
for  a  few  clays,  there  was  at  length  a  general  movement  in  favour  of  the 


Appendix.  4 1 7 

mission.      From  Christmas  to  the  Epiphany  a  continual  festival  was 
kept  up."     (Letter  of  the  3rd  September,  1864.) 

II 

The  conversion  of  the  idolaters  and  the  Mussulmans  is  impeded  by 
almost  insurmountable  obstacles,  notwithstanding  the  great  zeal  of  the 
missioners. 

"  To  preserve  the  faith  in  the  hearts  of  our  Christian  flock,"  writes 
the  secretary  of  Monsignor  Hartemann,  Vicar-Apostolic  of  Patna, 
"  seems  to  be  the  only  thing  we  can  hope  to  realise  at  present,  until  it 
pleases  Almighty  God  to  render  this  arid  and  immense  country  fruitful." 
(Letter  of  the  2oth  November,  1864.) 

Monsignor  Dufal,  Vicar-Apostolic  of  Eastern  Bengal,  expresses  the 
same  sad  regrets.  His  lordship  writes  as  follows  from  Noucolly  to  the 
Central  Councils  on  the  2lst  February,  1865  : 

"  Notwithstanding  our  constant  efforts,  the  number  of  conversions  is 
very  small,  almost  insignificant  when  we  compare  them  with  the  popu- 
lation of  this  vast  country.  Seventy-six  during  the  year  1864  !  Alas  ! 
it  is  indeed  so  difficult  to  make  any  amongst  the  Hindoos,  that  the 
catechists  are  very  few.  I  do  not  speak  of  the  Mussulmans,  who  come 
next  in  number  after  the  Hindoo  population,  and  who  are  nearly  all 
steeped  in  profound  ignorance,  and  without  any  desire  to  improve  them- 
selves. They  are  plunged  in  earthly  pleasures,  and  brutally  attached  to 
a  religion  that  encourages  their  sensuality.  If  by  chance  you  happen 
to  meet  some  who  appear  less  brutalised,  and  you  make  an  effort  to 
enlighten  them,  they  answer  you  by  a  smile  of  pity,  as  much  as  to  say 
that  you  are  losing  your  time  in  attempting  to  argue  on  such  subjects 
with  them.  One  of  them  said  to  me  a  few  days  since,  '  If  I  were  to 
join  the  Christians,  what  would  become  of  me  ?  I  should  inevitably  be 
banished  as  a  vile  miscreant  from  the  society  of  my  acquaintances, 
friends,  and  relations.  No,  I  shall  die  a  Mussulman  ;  and  I  hope  Allah 
will  have  mercy  upon  me.' 

"  The  Hindoos  are  not  so  entirely  debased  as  the  Mussulmans.  Their 
character  is  generally  more  noble,  and  they  seem  more  desirous  of 
instruction,  particularly  such  of  them  as  are  above  the  lower  ranks. 
From  a  mere  desire  of  knowledge,  they  consent  at  first  to  listen  to  you  ; 
and,  after  a  little  argument,  they  finish  by  esteeming  you,  as  they 
recognise  you  to  surpass  them  in  intelligence.  They  will  even  be  con- 
vinced, possibly,  of  the  holiness  and  truth  of  the  Christian  religion  ; 

E  E 


4 1 8  Appendix. 

they  will  admire  the  heroic  devotedness  and  virtues  that  the  Christians 
are  continually  displaying,  and  which  contrast  so  strongly  with  the 
superstitions  and  trickery  of  the  Brahmins,  all  which  they  acknowledge 
while  witnessing  the  folly  and  abominations  practised  by  these  Brah- 
mins, as  well  as  their  ceremonies,  stained  with  cruelty,  and  which 
constitute  their  exterior  worship.  They  understand  all  this,  but  there 
they  come  to  a  stand-still,  and  they  are  yet  far  from  conversion.  I 
believe  their  hour  of  grace  has  not  come  ;  but  still,  I  don't  despair,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  I  rely  hopefully,  and  even  rejoice  at  the  happy  symptoms 
of  progress  I  witness  ;  for,  a  few  years  since,  the  Hindoos  were  inacces- 
sible to  Europeans,  and  particularly  to  missioners.  It  is,  therefore,  a 
great  step  in  advance  to  be  able  to  speak  to  them  of  religion.  As  an 
additional  cause  for  hopefulness,  I  will  relate  a  significant  fact.  In  one 
district  the  Hindoos  of  rank  have  decided  on  sending  their  daughters  to 
a  Christian  school.  This  progress  has  been  brought  about  by  one  of 
themselves,  who  has  persuaded  his  companions  in  religion  that  it  would 
be  very  advantageous  to  secure  a  good  education,  even  for  their  women. 
Now,  if  those  in  the  higher  ranks,  who  pass  for  the  most  enlightened, 
give  this  example,  many  will  assuredly  follow  it." 

The  position  of  the  Hindoo  females  is  well  known.  The  Christian 
religion,  in  raising  woman  from  her  state  of  degradation  and  inferiority, 
can  alone  bestow  on  her  the  honour  and  dignity  that  Providence  has 
assigned  as  her  position  in  the  family.  The  Hindoo  women  are  well 
disposed  to  become  Christians. 

' '  At  the  termination  of  an  instruction  at  which  a  number  of  pagans 
had  assisted,"  writes  M.  Prieur,  in  the  letter  already  alluded  to, 
"  seeing  that  they  seemed  much  struck  with  what  they  had  heard,  for 
they  acknowledged  themselves  that  their  gods  are  no  more  than  demons, 
'Well,'  said  I,  'will  you  not  join  our  holy  religion,  and,  receiving 
baptism,  become  one  of  us,  and  adore  the  only  God  who  has  power  to 
make  you  happy  ?  '  The  women  looked  at  their  husbands  and  answered, 
'  If  they  wish,  we  consent  readily  ; '  but  the  husbands  did  not  evince 
equal  alacrity.  '  We  will  think  about  it  before  we  decide,'  they 
replied. 

"  Father  Bruni,  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  missioner  at  Negapatam 
(Madura),  gives  us  the  following  details :  A  Mahratta  widow  had 
become  the  slave  of  a  rich  pagan,  who  had  formerly  lent  her  husband 
fifteen  rupees ;  she  was,  according  to  the  laws  of  her  country,  obliged 
to  work  for  the  creditor  until  the  debt  should  be  liquidated.  Her  four 
children  were  obliged  to  suffer  with  their  mother.  I  had  sent  my 


Appendix.  419 

catechist  to  purchase  their  ransom.  He  worked  for  two  days  without 
taking  almost  any  nourishment.  After  long  discussions  on  the  subject, 
the  pagan  demanded  seventeen  rupees,  and  the  catechist  had  but 
fifteen ;  fortunately,  the  widow  was  still  possessed  of  a  sheep  and  a 
small  quantity  of  rice.  These  were  both  sold  for  two  rupees,  and  the 
entire  sum  required  was  forthcoming.  The  whole  family  have  just  been 
received  into  an  establishment  for  catechumens."  (Letter  of  the  31  st 
of  May,  1864,  addressed  to  Rev.  Father  Tassis). 

One  of  our  chief  obstacles  in  establishing  the  Christian  religion 
amongst  the  Hindoos  is  their  social  system  of  castes.  The  missioners 
are  endeavouring  to  put  an  end  to  this  exclusiveness  by  means  of 
orphanages  and  schools.  Besides  the  advantage  of  a  Christian  educa- 
tion obtained  in  all  these  establishments,  there  is  a  special  benefit 
gained  in  Hindostan — it  is,  that  these  schools  are  productive  of  Chris- 
tian marriages. 

In  most  vicariates  the  number  of  schools  is  considerable. 

Mangalore  possesses  n;  Coimbatour,  12;  and  these  two  repre- 
sent 400  pupils.  Mysore,  17  ;  Madura  and  Vizagapatam,  19  each  ; 
Bombay,  26 ;  Quilon,  35 ;  Pondicherry,  80 ;  attended  by  2,000 
scholars. 

To  these  elementary  schools  we  are  to  add  the  ecclesiastical  semi- 
naries, destined  for  the  education  of  native  priests,  and  also  for  the 
children  of  the  influential  classes.  Several  of  those  establishments  are 
in  full  activity.  For  example,  the  college  of  Negapatam  (Madura) 
contains  150  pupils.  The  college  of  St.  Francis  Xavier  at  Calcutta 
has  more  than  200.  ' '  The  high  reputation  of  this  latter  college,  and 
its  influence  in  spreading  the  Catholic  religion  in  India,  must  be  evi- 
dent to  you.  In  a  city  where  the  Protestant  sects  possess  so  many  and 
such  well-organised  schools,  as  far  as  material  advantages  are  in 
question,  added  to  their  scientific  and  literary  institutions,  it  is  of  the 
highest  importance  that  the  Catholic  religion  should  be  represented  by 
a  college  capable  of  sustaining  an  honourable  emulation."  (Report 
to  the  Central  Councils  on  the  Missions  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  6th 
May,  1865.) 

The  orphanages  are  destined  to  render  still  more  important  services 
to  the  country.  We  read  very  interesting  details  about  them  in  a 
letter  addressed  to  the  Central  Councils  by  the  Abbe  Pierron,  of  the 
Foreign  Missions,  and  Pro-Vicar  Apostolic  of  Coimbatour  : 

"  In  the  orphanage  for  boys,  established  at  Carmattampatty,  and  in 
the  other  for  girls  at  Coimbatour,  128  children  have  been  educated  and 


420  Appendix. 

instructed  during  the  year  1864.  Several  of  those  pupils  have  been 
married  or  placed  in  Christian  families.  These  are  children  of  pagans, 
the  greater  number  of  whom  belong  to  castes  that  have  never  allowed 
the  Christian  religion  to  penetrate  amongst  them.  When  they  leave 
the  orphanage,  they  become,  by  their  marriages,  little  centres  of 
Christianity,  and  the  newly-converted  group  round  them  by  degrees, 
and  many  are  thus  encouraged  to  enter  the  Catholic  religion  who  would 
otherwise  never  have  dreamed  of  quitting  paganism.  You  are  aware 
that  India  is  partitioned  into  divisions  and  sub-divisions  of  an  infinite 
number  of  castes,  who  never  intermarry,  and  of  their  entire  number 
there  are  many  in  which  there  is  not  a  single  Christian.  When,  there- 
fore, we  speak  of  conversion  to  the  pagans  belonging  to  the  latter 
castes,  the  objection  is  always  presented  to  us,  '  If  I  become  a  Chris- 
tian, who  will  marry  my  children  ?  If  all  my  caste  and  all  my  village 
are  willing  to  become  Christians,  I  shall  be  converted  also.'  How  can 
we  answer  these  objections  when  put  forward  by  people  who  have  but 
a  faint  idea  of  Christianity,  and  who  esteem  earthly  pleasures  their  only 
happiness?  But  when  we  can  point  out  some  of  their  compatriots 
already  married,  and  living  happily  in  the  Christian  religion,  all  these 
objections  about  marriage  disappear,  and  they  yield  easily  to  our 
representations  of  the  necessity  of  their  being  Christians."  (Letter  of 
25th  November,  1864). 

The  history  of  these  children  gathered  into  the  orphanages  reveals 
sometimes,  in  remarkably  striking  instances,  the  paternal  solicitude  of 
the  Almighty  for  these  poor  abandoned  souls.  The  following  are  the 
details  of  a  letter,  written  on  the  loth  of  last  June,  to  the  Abbe  Massar- 
dier,  Vicar  of  St.  Didier-le-Sceauve  (diocese  of  Puy),  by  the  Rev. 
Father  P.  L.  Verdier,  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  missioner  at  Palamcottah 
(Madura) : 

"  A  little  girl,  about  nine  years  of  age,  was  suddenly  deprived  of  her 
father  and  mother,  both  having  been  carried  off  by  cholera.  Being  far 
from  her  native  country,  and  without  protection,  she  fell  into  the  hands 
of  a  bayadere  (Indian  women  that  dance  before  the  pagodas,  and  are 
called  bayaiieres}.  This  wretched  woman,  incited  by  a  desire  worthy 
of  her  profession,  stamped,  with  a  hot  iron,  the  diabolical  mark  of  the 
trident  on  the  poor  child's  arms.  The  unfortunate  little  orphan,  in 
whose  soul  divine  grace  h«d  already  commenced  to  shine,  felt  herself 
seized  with  horror  of  this  strange  woman  who  had  so  quickly  become 
her  mistress  and  her  executioner,  and  she  escaped  from  her.  The  fury, 
having  discovered  where  the  child  was  hiding,  thought  to  carry  her 


Appendix.  421 

away  by  force ;  but  the  orphan  resisted,  and  the  affair  was  carried 
before  the  tribunal.  In  reply  to  the  exclamations  of  the  bayadere,  the 
little  victim  exhibited  her  arms,  burnt  as  they  were,  and  cried  out 
indignantly,  'Are  you  my  mother,  cruel  woman  ?  By  what  right  have 
you  been  guilty  of  such  extreme  cruelty  to  a  child  ?  No  !  no  !  I  shall 
never  consent  to  live  under  the  control  of  your  wicked  power. '  The 
English  magistrate  took  the  orphan  under  his  protection,  and  placed 
her  in  an  hospital.  For  a  year,  she  got  her  ration  of  rice  daily  there, 
and  attended  at  the  Protestant  school  ;  however,  as  no  one  took  care  of 
her  after  school  hours,  the  magistrate  began  to  fear  she  might  fall  into 
evil  ways.  He  had  heard  of  our  orphanage  at  Adeikalabouram,  and  he 
asked  me  to  receive  into  it  his  young  protegee  ;  I  accepted  the  charge 
readily.  After  a  little  time,  he  visited  the  establishment,  in  order  to 
see  the  orphan,  who  came  to  him  looking  as  merry  as  possible.  '  Well, 
are  you  happy  here  ?' he  said,  when  she  presented  herself.  '  O  yes,' 
she  replied,  '  I  am  happy,  thanks  to  your  goodness  in  having  sent  me 
here.'  '  Repeat  your  prayers  for  me,'  said  the  magistrate  (who  is  a 
Protestant) ;  the  child  recited  the  Lord's  prayer.  After  his  visit,  he 
never  met  me  without  inquiring  for  the  orphan,  and  expressing  his 
admiration  of  the  devotedness  of  the  Abbe  Bossan,  who  has  consecrated 
his  life  to  this  work,  so  pleasing  in  the  sight  of  God,  though  he  is  little 
known  or  appreciated  by  men.  The  magistrate  is  aware  that  this 
missioner  has  given  up  all  his  personal  property  for  the  support  of 
those  children,  and  that  for  their  sake  he  leads  a  life  of  privation  and 
penury. 

"  This  orphanage  of  Adeikalabouram  contains  eighty-five  little  girls 
and  forty  little  boys,  all  born  in  idolatry.  It  serves  also  as  an  asylum 
for  twenty-one  widows,  converted  from  paganism,  and  eleven  old  men, 
converts  also.  Since  the  foundation  of  the  establishment,  it  has  already 
sent  to  heaven  six  hundred  abandoned  infants.  All  this  good  work  is 
under  the  charge  of  nuns  of  the  order  of  Marie  Reparatrice  (Our 
Blessed  Lady  of  Reparation). 

"  The  four  principal  orphanages  of  Madura  educate  four  hundred  and 
seventy  orphans,  and  ithose  of  Bombay,  of  Poona,  and  of  Bandora,  in 
the  vicariate  of  Bombay,  contain  nearly  five  hundred.  They  are  not 
all  equally  considerable ;  for  these  kinds  of  institutions  are  very  ex- 
pensive, and  many  of  the  vicariates  are  too  poor  to  be  able  to  extend 
these  institutions  as  much  as  they  are  needed.  Agra  and  Calcutta  possess 
each  two  orphanages  ;  Mangalore  has  three  ;  Mysore  and  Patna,  four 
each  ;  Vizagapatam,  five;  and  Central  Bengal,  six. 


422  Appendix. 

"  At  Coimbatour,  the  girls' orphanage  is  directed  by  native  nuns; 
and  hpropos  of  these  religious,  the  Abbe  Pierron  remarks  that  the 
increasing  number  of  vocations  to  the  religious  life  is  a  striking  proof  of 
the  progress  of  Catholicity  in  Hindostan. 

"Amongst  the  pagans  (he  says),  the  general  question,  the  principal 
affair  which  occupies  their  thoughts,  is  marriage.  They  often  marry 
their  children  before  they  are  well  out  of  infancy.  For  us  Christians, 
who  live  in  the  midst  of  such  opinions,  how  much  virtue  and  grace  it 
continually  requires  to  surmount  these  prejudices  !  Nevertheless, 
amongst  our  nuns,  we  have  young  girls  belonging  to  the  richest  Chris- 
tian families.  During  the  past  year,  five  nuns  were  professed  into  the 
Third  Order  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisium,  two  young  ladies  have  entered 
the  novitiate,  and  three  have  become  postulants.  On  the  8th  of  last 
September,  the  chapel  of  the  convent  was  literally  crowded  with 
Christians,  amongst  whom  were  many  Protestants,  all  eager  to  assist  at 
the  profession,  this  being  a  ceremony  so  unusual  in  these  infidel 
countries.  The  nuns  are  twenty  in  number,  fourteen  of  whom  are 
professed/'  (Letter  of  25th  November,  1864.) 

Though  the  Indian  soil  seems  still  arid  after  all  the  clew  of  the  mis- 
sionary labours  and  fatigues,  yet  it  is  evident  that  sterility  is  not  over 
the  whole  land,  nor  by  any  means  is  it  hopelessly  unfruitful,  and  God 
sustains  the  missioners'  zeal  with  some  consolation.  The  work  of 
the  orphanages  and  the  schools  prepares  a  future  generation  of  Chris- 
tians. 

The  apostolate  of  the  pagan  adults  presents  so  many  obstacles, 
already  explained,  that  we  must  not  be  surprised  at  the  slight  results. 
The  following  is  a  list  of  the  conversions  brought  about  in  some  of  the 
vicariates  during  the  year  1864  : — 

Coimbatour,  one  hundred  ;  Mangalore,  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
four  ;  Mysore,  two  hundred  ;  Vizagapatam,  three  hundred ;  Madura, 
one  thousand  four  hundred  ;  and  more  than  three  thousand  children 
baptized  who  were  at  the  point  of  death. 

It  seems,  nevertheless,  that  in  the  vicariate  of  Pondicherry,  the  apos- 
tolate is  more  hopeful  and  more  fruitful  than  in  most  of  the  other  parts 
of  Hindostan.  We  read  the  following  details  in  a  letter  from  the  Abbe 
Ligeon,  of  the  Foreign  Missions,  addressed  to  the  Abbe  Maury, 
director  of  the  seminary  of  the  same  Society,  in  Paris  : — 

"  I  have  just  been  visiting  the  two  villages  of  Pandjalam  and  Vaila- 
mour,  the  inhabitants  of  which  were  baptized  about  four  years  since  ; 
those  are  all  my  children  in  Christ  Jesus.  I  begot  them  in  the  midst  of 


Appendix.  423 

privations  and  trials,  and  I  love  them  with  a  love  of  predilection. 
Amongst  the  pagans  who  came  to  see  me,  I  remarked  a  woman  whose 
child  I  had  baptized  when  it  was  so  ill  as  to  be  in  danger  of  death.  I 
nsked  news  of  it.  '  He  is  dead,'  she  replied. 

"  '  Say  rather  he  is  living,'  I  answered  ;  'for  though  his  little  lx>dy 
has  been  laid  in  the  earth,  his  soul  is  now  gone  to  heaven,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  blessing  I  gave  him.'  The  poor  woman  appeared 
consoled  and  happy. 

"  Two  families  of  Vailamour  came  to  visit  me,  and  asked  to  be 
baptized.  They  were  rich  in  children  of  all  ages,  from  a  baby  of  one  to 
twelve  years  old.  They  immediately  set  about  learning  their  prayers, 
and  followed  me  to  Nangattour.  Here  a  number  of  pagans  joined  the 
Christians  in  learning  their  prayers.  On  the  day  of  my  departure,  I 
blessed  ten  marriages  and  sent  home  seventeen  neophytes.  Scarcely 
had  I  baptized  the  latter,  when  ten  others  presented  themselves, 
entreating  I  would  baptize  them.  I  gave  a  catechist  the  care  of 
instructing  them  for  two  months,  and  desired  him  to  conduct  them  to 
me  at  the  end  of  that  time.  Since  this  visit,  I  have  had  a  continual 
arrival  of  catechumens.  At  Attipakam,  I  baptized  thre«  fathers  of 
families,  one  of  whom  belonged  to  the  pariah  caste,  and  has  since  been 
called  to  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  after  having  received 
the  white  robe  of  innocence.  All  his  relations  are  being  instructed, 
preparatory  to  their  receiving  the  same  grace  of  regeneration. 

"  Deviavaram,  where  I  gave  a  mission  with  the  Abbe  Prieur,  has 
given  also  its  share  of  converts  to  the  Faith.  I  baptized  there  seven 
idolaters,  and  a  few  days  afterwards  I  had  the  consolation  of  regenerat- 
ing thirteen  more. 

"  Those  details  give  clear  evidence  that  God  always  alleviates  the 
pains  and  trials  he  sends  us  by  adding  some  unlooked-for  blessing,  in 
order  to  excite  and  animate  our  courage  in  His  service.  If  the  vica- 
riate  of  Pondicherry  contains  still  five  millions  of  idolaters,  it  is  at  least 
consoling  to  the  labourers  in  this  mission  to  know  that  eight  hundred 
have  been  baptized  during  the  last  year.  The  pagans  are  in  general 
well-disposed  towards  Catholicity,  notwithstanding  the  prejudices  of 
the  castes  which  we  have  to  combat ;  and  we  have  every  reason  to  hope 
that  the  harvest  of  souls  would  be  still  more  abundant  amongst  them  if 
we  had  a  greater  number  of  apostolic  labourers."  (Letter  of  the  6th 
March,  1865.) 

The  vicariate  of  Quilon  is  more  than  hopeful ;  for  the  religious 
movement  there  seems  to  meet  with  neither  obstacle  nor  opposition. 


424  Appendix. 

The  Rev.  Father  Victor,  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus,  barefooted 
Carmelite,  writes,  on  the  I3th  of  last  September,  to  the  Abbe  Bize, 
Professor  at  the  Seminary  of  Palignon  (diocese  of  Toulouse) : — 

"  I  have  very  consoling  news  to  give  you  of  my  district.  They  con- 
tinue to  evince  the  same  eagerness  to  embrace  the  true  faith,  and  testify 
the  same  affection  for  the  missioner.  My  arrival  in  a  village  is  looked 
on  as  a  general  festival,  and  my  departure  causes  an  equal  sorrow.  My 
first  blessing  on  arrival  is  received  with  joy,  and  my  parting  one  with 
tears.  My  life  passes  in  crossing  mountains,  where  I  have  no  shelter 
except  the  shade  of  the  trees ;  but  everywhere  I  meet  penitents  that 
quite  surprise  me,  and  conversions  that  make  me  forget  all  my  fatigue 
and  labour.  In  one  of  the  small  pagan  towns,  where  a  Catholic  priest 
had  never  before  entered,  I  have  had  the  happiness  of  erecting  a  church 
dedicated  to  Our  Lady  of  Mount  Carmel. " 

Under  the  influence  of  divine  grace,  those  pagans  often  give  extra- 
ordinary edification,  and  make  the  most  heroic  sacrifices  that  they  may 
remain  faithful  to  their  vocation. 

"  In  the  month  of  August,  1864  (writes  the  Abbe  Pierron),  a  young 
man  belonging  to  the  caste  of  the  Vellalers  suddenly  quitted  the  village, 
accompanied  by  his  wife  and  two  children,  and  went  to  visit  the 
missioner  at  Carmattampatty,  saying  to  him  that  he  wished  to  become 
a  Christian,  no  matter  what  the  consequences  might  be  to  him.  As 
this  young  man  belonged  to  a  very  influential  family,  and  was  possessed 
of  a  certain  competency,  the  priest  received  him  at  first  with  great 
reserve,  fearing  that  he  had  only  yielded  to  some  sudden  and  rash  im- 
pulse in  coming  to  him ;  but  he  soon  gave  evident  proofs  of  the  sincerity 
of  his  conversion.  The  parents  of  the  young  man,  on  hearing  that  he 
had  joined  the  Christians,  and  that  he  was  learning  their  prayers,  were 
very  much  excited,  and  made  great  efforts  to  bring  him  back  to  the 
village.  They  went  so  far  as  even  to  threaten  the  missioner ;  and, 
finding  that  ineffective,  they  tried  to  coax  him.  But,  in  spite  of  all  the 
threats  of  the  pagans  and  the  supplications  of  his  wife,  he  came  to  him, 
accompanied  by  her  children  :  the  young  man  remained  firm  in  his 
resolution.  We  knew  he  would  be  expelled  from  his  caste,  disowned 
by  his  family,  despised  by  all ;  but  yet  he  was  ready  to  pay  this  price, 
and  Christian  he  would  be."  (Letter  of  the  25th  of  November, 
1864.) 

Sometimes  God  turns  even  their  most  bitter  sufferines  into  occasions 
of  drawing  souls  to  His  service  who  had  been  until  then  in  a  state  of 
utter  ignorance. 


Appendix.  425 

"  You  are  aware  (writes  the  Secretary  of  Mgr.  Hartemann),  that  the 
Hindoos  are  cruel  in  character,  and  that  they  throw  into  the  Ganges, 
under  pretext  of  making  them  drink  of  the  sacred  river,  all  their  sick 
and  infirm,  or  aged  relatives,  in  order  to  get  rid  of  them.  Some  years 
since,  a  water-carrier  brought  to  the  convent  a  Brahmin  woman  he  had 
found  half-dead  in  the  streets.  The  poor  creature  had  escaped  from 
her  relatives,  who  were  about  to  drown  her,  in  consequence  of  her 
being  so  infirm.  The  nuns  welcomed  her  with  tender  charity,  and 
took  such  care  of  her  that  she  recovered  her  health.  They  then  asked 
her  what  she  intended  to  do  with  herself.  'Ah  ! '  replied  she,  '  I  in- 
tend to  become  a  Christian  ;  I  desire  to  love  that  God  who  has  taken 
pity  on  me,  and  even  died  to  save  me. '  In  the  absence  of  the  Rev. 
Father  Vincent,  director  of  the  convent,  I  had  the  consolation  of 
baptizing  her,  as  well  as  a  young  Hindoo  girl,  of  eighteen  years  of  age, 
and  three  young  female  children. 

"  Recently,  an  old  Hindoo  woman  was  found  at  the  gate  of  the 
convent  in  a  deplorable  state.  The  good  sisters  brought  her  inside, 
and  lavished  kindness  on  her.  This  poor  woman  had  been  the  mother 
of  eighteen  children,  and  the  last  remaining  one  had  cast  her  into  the 
street.  The  sisters  spoke  to  her  of  God,  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  the 
sacrament  of  baptism.  Sufferings  had  prepared  the  unfortunate  woman 
to  receive  the  grace  of  God  ;  she  prayed  that  they  might  baptize  her, 
desiring  to  die  in  the  religion  of  Him  who  died  on  the  cross  for  her. 
They  thought  she  was  approaching  her  last  hour,  I  was  sent  for 
hastily,  and  I  baptized  her  :  but  she  is  recovered.''  (Letter  of  the  24th 
November,  1865.) 

III. 

In  some  parts  of  Hindostan,  the  Protestants  make  the  greatest  efforts 
to  place  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  Catholic  missioners  ;  but  we  thank 
God  that  the  result  of  the  enormous  expense  lavished  by  our  enemies 
has  been  a  total  failure  in  accomplishing  their  object. 

' '  The  number  of  conversions  this  year  amongst  the  Protestants  of 
Madura  is  most  consoling,  above  all,  when  we  remember  the  power 
brought  against  us  by  the  Protestants,  both  in  money  spent,  the  threats 
held  out  against  those  who  become  Catholics,  and  also  the  many  who 
had  been  made  Protestants  at  the  beginning  of  this  century.  The 
Mission  of  Madura  at  present  numbers  fifty-three  Protestant  European 
ministers  and  twenty-three  native  ones.  But  they  have  failed  in 
seducing  away  any  of  our  Christians,  whilst  we  have  gained  from  them 


426  Appendix. 

all  those  of  the  district  of  Surinam  who  had  been  enticed  into  error 
when  this  district  was  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  priests  of  Goa. 
Their  partisans  are  very  few  in  the  north  and  middle  districts,  notwith- 
standing the  number  of  their  schools  and  their  efforts  to  proselytise.  It 
is  in  the  southern  province  of  Tinnelly  that  Protestantism  has  most  life, 
because  it  has  been  for  a  long  time  established  there,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  the  English  Government."  (Annual  Report  of  the  Missions  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus,  5th  April,  1864.) 

During  the  year  1864,  there  were  one  hundred  heretics  converted  in 
Madura.  "All  the  missioners  agree  in  saying  that  the  twenty-five 
thousand  Hindoos  who  still  remain  of  the  fifty  thousand  that  had  em- 
braced the  Protestant  religion  towards  the  end  of  the  last  century  and 
the  commencement  of  this,  would  all  become  Catholics  if  we  could 
protect  them,  and  provide  means  for  their  being  established  elsewhere." 
(Annual  Report  of  the  Missions  under  the  care  of  the  Society  of  Jesus, 
6th  May,  1865.) 

"  In  the  vicariate  of  Hyderabad  (writes  Mgr.  Murphy),  the  colleges, 
schools,  orphanages,  and  other  institutions,  are  in  full  vigour  and 
prosperity.  They  have  become  the  sources  of  immense  benefit  to  our 
people  by  saving  them  from  Protestantism  and  instructing  them  in  the 
Catholic  faith."  (Letter  of  the  i6thjune,  1865.) 

There  were  sixty  conversions  of  Protestants  in  Hyderabad  during  the 
year  1864. 

Those  in  the-vicariate  of  Mysore  numbered  twelve  ;  and  Pondicherry, 
eighty-six. 

The  secretary  of  Monsignor  Hartemann  writes  from  Patna,  on  the 
2Oth  of  November,  1864  : — 

' '  The  mission  is  making  progress,  notwithstanding  the  obstacles. 
Our  establishments  of  education,  though  of  such  recent  creation,  have 
already  caused  a  panic  in  the  camps  of  Protestantism.  The  Anglican 
Bishop  of  Calcutta  is  journeying  through  India  at  the  present  moment, 
and  preaching  a  crusade  against  the  Catholic  institutions  destined  for 
the  youth  of  the  country.  His  want  of  success  at  Darjeeling  has  not 
caused  his  zeal  to  slacken.  Darjeeling  is  situated  at  the  foot  of  the 
Himalayan  mountains.  We  have  a  convent  of  Loretto  nuns  there,  with 
a  boarding-school.  At  great  expense,  a  Protestant  school  was  esta- 
blished to  destroy,  if  possible,  our  establishment.  The  Anglican  Bishop 
preached  in  Patna  with  the  same  object  in  view,  and  ordered  a  college 
to  be  founded  to  counterbalance  the  influence  of  our  institution  of 
English  ladies  of  St.  Marie  de  Baviere.  A  convent  of  the  same  order 


Appendix.  427 

is  about  to  be  established  at  Allahabad,  the  seat  of  the  government 
of  the  north-western  provinces,  and  one  of  the  four  principal  cities  of 
India." 

Another  letter,  written  from  Patna  by  the  same  missioner,  on  the 
24th  November  last,  from  which  we  have  already  given  extracts,  gives 
ull  details  of  the  immense  services  rendered  to  the  mission  by  the  nuns 
of  Saint  Marie  de  Baviere.  "It  is  through  their  influence  (says  the 
secretary  of  Mgr.  Hartemann)  that  we  hope  for  some  conversions  here. 
Their  devotedness  excites  the  admiration  of  the  Protestants  and  of  the 
thousands  of  pagans  surrounding  them.  How  much  sorrow  alleviated  ! 
How  many  souls  saved  by  their  exertions  !  Holy  sisters,  who  have 
left  all  to  consecrate  themselves  (under  the  burning  sun,  and  for  ever 
in  presence  of  an  incessant  enemy,  the  cholera)  to  the  education  of  the 
daughters  of  English  soldiers  and  of  pagans  !  " 

We  find  the  same  devotedness  of  the  nuns  of  Patna  amongst  all  the 
religious  sisters  who  consecrate  their  lives  to  the  care  of  children  and 
the  sick.  It  is  everywhere  the  same  abnegation,  the  same  zeal,  because 
it  is  the  same  spirit  which  animates  all  those  souls.  They  have  also 
their  share  in  the  sufferings  of  the  apostolate,  and  this  is  sometimes 
even  to  the  sacrifice  of  life.  They  fall  victims  to  this  great  labour,  and 
to  the  insalubrity  of  the  climate.  During  the  last  twenty  years,  in  the 
single  orphanage  of  Calcutta,  forty-two  Irish  sisters  have  died. 

IV. 

The  letters  that  we  have  just  laid  before  the  notice  of  our  associates 
give  us  a  pretty  good  idea  in  general  of  the  state  of  the  Catholic  mis- 
sions in  Hindostan.  They  inform  us  of  the  nature  of  the  obstacles 
which  oppose  the  more  extended  diffusion  of  the  Gospel — the  inertness 
of  the  native  Hindoos,  the  prejudices  of  caste,  Brahminism  and 
Mahometanism,  the  doctrines  of  which  encourage  sensual  habits,  and, 
in  fine,  though  of  course  in  an  inferior  degree,  the  Protestant  influence 
They  show  us  how,  instead  of  being  discouraged  and  hopeless  in  the 
face  of  so  many  obstacles,  the  missioners  redouble  their  zeal  for  the 
propagation  of  the  faith  in  the  mountains  of  Himalaya  and  on  the  coast 
of  Malabar. 

The  bishops  are  as  laborious  as  the  simple  missioners.  Here  it  is 
Mgr.  Godelle,  of  Pondicherry,  who  has  no  other  bed  to  lie  on  but 
the  bare  ground,  with  a  bag  for  his  pillow ;  there  it  is  Monsignor 
Hartemann,  of  Patna,  who  sets  out  for  a  three  months'  visitation,  with 
an  inflamed  and  ulcerated  leg,  traverses,  at  the  point  of  his  life,  dan- 


428  Appendix. 

gerous  torrents,  and  enters  immense  forests  infested  with  tigers,  and,  on 
his  return,  is  seized  with  an  attack  of  cholera. 

We  have  rapidly  indicated  some  of  the  trials  to  which  the  missioner 
is  exposed.  We  must  add  to  the  account  how  much  aggravated  all 
those  sufferings  are  in  a  country  ravaged  by  plagues  of  all  kinds.  Not 
to  speak  of  cholera,  which  is,  we  may  say,  a  permanent  plague  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ganges,  the  storms,  and  the  continued  aridity  and  famine, 
have  devastated  latterly,  and  completed  the  misery  of  a  population 
already  very  poor.  The  vicariates  of  Bengal,  both  central  and  east- 
ern, and  that  of  Hyderabad,  suffer  at  present  from  two  terrible  cyclones 
that  ravaged  parts  of  India  during  the  months  of  April  and  November, 
1864.  At  Mazulipatam,  for  example,  "neither  the  church,  the  mis- 
sioner's  house,  nor  the  schools  (all  destroyed  by  the  inundation),  have 
as  yet  been  rebuilt,  for  want  of  means."  (Letter  from  Mgr.  Murphy, 
of  the  1 6th  June,  1865.) 

An  exorbitant  increase  in  the  price  of  provisions  was  caused  by  the 
American  war,  in  consequence  of  the  grain  crops  having  been  given  up 
for  the  cultivation  of  cotton.  At  present,  famine  has  succeeded  to  the 
unusual  want  of  rain,  which  dried  up  the  earth  in  1865.  "  Since  the 
month  of  November,  1864,  there  has  been  a  complete  cessation  of  rain 
(writes  the  Abbe  Gouyon,  of  the  Foreign  Missions,  from  Pondicherry 
— letter  of  the  5th  of  August,  1865).  The  vicariate  is  entirely  de- 
stroyed :  large  trees .  are  dried  up  to  the  very  roots,  the  people  are 
perishing  from  hunger,  in  the  fullest  strength  of  the  term  ;  and  every, 
where  we  see  nothing  but  misery  and  nakedness,  for  the  price  of  cotton 
is  not  lowered." 

A  letter,  written  from  Patna,  on  the  24th  of  November  last,  to  the 
Central  Councils,  confirms  these  sad  details.  "The  famine  is  causing 
us  universal  desolation,  and  yet  we  have  so  many  children  to  support  in 
our  orphanages  !  Our  Hindoos  are  dying  of  hunger  ;  a  woman  in  the 
neighbourhood  has  devoured  her  own  child." 

The  total  number  of  Catholics  in  Hindostan  rises  to  about  800,000  ; 
but  this,  when  divided  into  the  several  vicariates,  presents  very  con- 
siderable variations.  For  instance,  in  Quilon,  there  are  52,000 
Catholics;  in  Pondicherry,  108,000;  Madura,  160,000;  Verapoly, 
200,000;  while  Agra  contains  only  12,000;  Patna,  8,000;  and 
Eastern  Bengal,  600.  How  is  this  inequality  of  results  to  be  accounted 
for,  notwithstanding  the  equally-devoted  zeal  of  the  missioners  in  each 
of  those  districts  ?  We  must  remark,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  impedi- 
ments to  the  progress  of  the  true  faith  are  not  everywhere  existing  with 


Appendix.  429 

the  same  force.  For  example,  the  northern  provinces  have  been  always 
remarkable  for  their  obstinate  attachment  to  pagan  superstition  and  the 
doctrines  of  the  Koran.  "  We  must  also  remember  that  some  of  the 
Hindostan  missions  are  of  recent  foundation,  and  others  date  from  the 
sixteenth  century.  Through  many  vicissitudes,  these  last  have  pre- 
served Christian  traditions,  which  rendered  the  apostleship  of  our 
missioners  more  easy."  In  fine,  without  seeking  to  penetrate  the 
secrets  of  Divine  Providence  in  the  distribution  of  its  graces,  "May  we 
not  be  permitted  to  believe  that  the  protection  of  St.  Francis  Xavier, 
the  great  Apostle  of  India,  has  been  especially  bestowed  upon  those 
countries  which  were  formerly  the  great  battle-field  of  his  conquests 
and  are  to-day  the  guardians  of  his  glorious  relics  ?  " 


EXTRACTS. 


THE  PRESENT  STATE  OF  THE  MISSIONS. 

"Taking  first  the  Syrians,  they  are  located  entirely  in  the  native 
States  of  Travancore  and  Cochin,  and  number  about  200,000.  They 
have  their  own  Metropolitan  Bishops  and  Clergy,  and  now  own 
allegiance  to  the  Jacobite  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem.  They  possess 
churches,  and  "  lands  and  funds"  to  a  limited  extent;  but  how  far  the 
latter  may  be  free  from  State  assessment  does  not  appear.  The  native 
government  does  not  interfere  in  any  way  with  their  affairs. " 

' '  The  Roman  Catholics,  among  whom  may  be  reckoned  at  least 
100,000  Syrians,  whose  submission  to  Rome  dates  back  to  days  of 
Portuguese  supremacy,  number  a  million  and  a  quarter,  of  whom 
550,000  are  in  the  Madras  British  Provinces,  and  nearly  half  a  million 
in  the  Madras  Native  States,  chiefly  Travancore  and  Cochin.  The  bulk 
of  the  remainder  are  in  Bombay  and  Bengal." — From  "  Church  and 
State  in  India,"  by  Sir  Theodore  C.  Hope,  K.C.S.I.,  C.I.E.,  pp. 
8,  10. 

BISHOPRICS  OF  ASIA. 

Calcutta,  1876 ;  Madras,  1861  ;  China,  1873 ;  Colombo,  1875  ; 
Bombay,  1875  '>  Lahore,  1888  ;  Travancore  and  Cochin,  1890  ;  Singa- 
pore, 1881  ;  Rangoon,  1882;  Chota  Nagpore,  1890;  Lucknow,  1892. 
— "Churchman's  Almanack,"  1893,  PP-  29>  3°- 

Goa :  Archiepiscopal  See  in  Portuguese  territory  (Patriarchate  of  the 
East  Indies).  Suffragan  Sees :  Cochin  (in  British  India),  Damaun, 
Macao,  and  Meliapur  (in  Portuguese  territory). — Fro,m  the  •'  Catholic 
Directory,  Ecclesiastical  Register  and  Almanack,"  for  1893,  PP- 
65,  66. 


43 2  Extracts. 

It  is  well-known  that  the  Baptists,  Wesleyans,  and  others  have 
established  numerous  and  successful  missionary  stations. 

An  excellent  paper  on  the  Eastern  Churches,  including  the  Syrians, 
was  read  at  the  Liverpool  Church  Congress  by  the  Rev.  F.  S. 
May,  D.D. 

PORTUGAL. 

The  most  westerly  Kingdom  of  Europe,  and  a  part  of  the  great 
Iberian  Peninsula,  lies  in  37°—  42°  8'  N.  lat.  and  6°  15'— 9°  30'  W. 
long.,  being  360  miles  in  length  from  N.  to  .S,  and  averaging  about  100 
in  breadth  from  E.  to  W.  Continental  Portugal  contains  an  area  of 
34,606  square  miles,  with  a  population  in  1881  of  4,306,554,  exclusive 
of  the  colonies.  The  Azores  and  Madeira  (1,237  square  miles,  pop. 
401,624)  form  part  of  the  kingdom,  which  thus  has  a  population  of 
4,708,178.  The  chief  products  are  wheat,  barley,  oats,  maize,  flax 
hemp,  and  the  vine  in  elevated  tracts ;  in  the  lowlands,  rice,  olives, 
oranges,  lemons,  citrons,  figs,  and  almonds.  There  are  extensive 
forests  of  oak,  chestnuts,  sea-pine,  and  cork,  the  cultivation  of  the  vine 
and  the  olive  being  among  the  chief  branches  of  industry  ;  the  rich  red 
wine  known  to  us  as  "  port  "  is  shipped  from  Oporto.  Its  mineral  pro- 
ducts are  important,  copper,  lead,  tin,  antimony,  coal,  manganese,  iron, 
slate,  and  bay-salt,  which  last,  from  its  hardness,  and  purity,  is  in 
demand.  Its  manufactures  consist  of  gloves,  silk,  woollen,  linen,  and 
cotton  fabrics,  metal  and  earthenware  goods,  tobacco,  cigars,  &c.  The 
exports  consist  to  the  extent  of  50  per  cent,  of  wine,  which  is  the  chief 
industrial  product  of  the  country,  cork,  cattle,  copper-ore,  fruits,  oil, 
sardines,  and  salt.  The  imports  are  manufactured  goods — hardware, 
cotton  and  woollen  stuffs,  machinery,  wheat,  sugar,  dried  fish,  coal,  &c. 
There  is  a  commercial  marine  of  36  steamers  and  433  sailing  vessels, 
about  110,000  tonnage.  Railways,  1,000  miles  in  extent,  are  open  for 
traffic.  For  many  years  the  national  income  has  been  considerably  less 
than  the  expenditure  ;  this  deficiency  has  added  to  the  national  debt, 
which  now  amounts  to  about  ^31  a  head  of  the  population. 

DEPENDENCIES. — These,  in  proportion  to  the  mother-country,  are  of 
very  great  extent.  They  include  the  Cape  Verd  Islands,  off  the  West 
Coast  of  Africa  (1,847  square  miles,  population  107,026);  Zighinchor 
on  the  Casamanza,  Bissao,  and  a  few  other  territories  to  the  south  of 
the  Gambia,  which  are  officially  known  as  "  Portuguese  Guinea  "  (350 
sq.  miles,  pop.  10,000) ;  the  Fort  of  San  Joao  Baptista  de  Ajuda,  at 
Whidah,  the  principal  port  of  the  Kingdom  of  Dahome,  where  the 


Extracts.  433 

Portuguese  are  allowed  to  remain  on  sufferance,  but  exercise  no  sort  of 
jurisdiction  ;  the  fertile  islands  of  St.  Thomas  and  Principe,  in  the  Gulf 
of  Guinea  (417  sq.  miles,  pop.  22,000) ;  the  Kingdom  of  Angola,  on 
the  West  Coast  of  South  Africa,  which  includes  the  territory  of 
Landana  and  Kabinda  to  the  north  of  the  Congo,  and  the  whole  of  the 
coast  to  the  south  of  that  river  as  far  as  Cape  Frio,  and  has  Loanda  for 
its  capital  (115,000  sq.  miles,  pop.  1,000,000);  the  Province  of 
Mozambique,  with  the  Lower  Zambezi  river,  Sofala,  and  Delagoa  Bay, 
on  the  East  Coast  of  Africa  (80,000  sq.  miles,  pop.  500,000) ;  Goa, 
Daman,  and  Diu  in  India  (1,295  scl-  miles,  pop.  481,467) ;  part  of  the 
island  of  Timor,  in  the  East  Indian  Archipelago  (6,294  sq.  miles,  pop. 
300,000),  and  Macao,  in  China,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Canton  river 
(5  sq.  miles,  pop.  68,086).  The  possessions  enumerated  have  an  area 
of  204,848  square  miles,  with  2,548,872  inhabitants.  In  this  estimate 
account  is  taken  only  of  territories  within  which  Portugal  actually 
exercises  some  jurisdiction.  Thus,  whilst  official  statements  give  an  ex- 
tension of  659,000  square  miles  to  Angola  and  Mozambique,  the  area 
is  here  reduced  to  195,200  square  miles. 

PORTUGUESE   AFRICA. 

Recent  treaties  with  France  (May  12,  1886),  Germany  (Dec.  30, 
1886),  Belgium  (May  25,  1891),  and  England  (May  28,  1891),  have 
considerably  curtailed  the  "possessions"  at  one  time  claimed  by 
Portugal.  But  even  thus  these  possessions  are  twenty-six  times  the 
size  of  the  mother  country,  their  "government"  entails  an  annual  loss 
of  ^135,000,  and  the  development  of  their  resources  is  quite  beyond 
the  means  of  so  small  a  country.  Much  wiser  had  it  been  had  Portugal 
divested  herself  of  a  considerable  slice  of  her  colonies,  and  employed 
the  resources  thus  obtained  towards  the  development  of  those  territories 
which  she  chose  to  retain. 

In  the  meantime  Portugal  has  not  unsuccessfully  striven  to  attract 
foreign  capital  to  her  colonies.  In  Angola,  a  railway  from  Loanda  to 
Ambaca  (188  miles)  has  been  nearly  completed  by  an  English  company. 
Another  railway  from  Delagoa  Bay  to  the  border  of  the  South  African 
Republic  (57  miles),  has  somewhat  arbitrarily  been  confiscated  by  the 
Portuguese  government,  and  the  English  and  American  shareholders 
now  claim  ,£2,000,000  damages,  and  250,000  acres  of  "  mineral  lands  " 
as  compensation. 

Among  the  companies  among  which  nearly  the  whole  of  the  province 
of  Mozambique  has  been  parcelled  out,  only  that  called  after  the 

F  F 


434 


Extracts. 


province,  but  confined  to  the  territory  between  the  Zambesi  and  Sabi 
rivers,  can  be  said  to  have  fairly  started  upon  its  career.  Among  its 
directors  are  the  Duke  of  Marlborough  and  Mr.  Moreing.  Colonel 
Machado,  a  very  able  Portuguese  engineer,  has  been  appointed  its  first 
"  governor,"  and  as  friendly  relations  have  been  established  with  the 
British  South  Africa  Company,  we  may  look  forward  to  the  speedy 
commencement  of  more  serious  work  than  that  of  establishing  "mining 
claims."  The  first  task  awaiting  the  company  is  the  construction  of  a 
railway  from  the  Pungwe  and  Busi  rivers  to  Manica  and  Fort  Salisbury. 
Charters  have  likewise  been  granted  to  the  well-known  Portuguese 
explorers  Serpa  Pinto  (Limpopo  to  the  Sabi)  and  Carvalho  (Rovuma  to 
the  Lurio),  and  Colonel  Pavia  de  Andrada  (Zambesi).  All  these 
charters  provide  for  the  construction  of  railways,  and,  if  only  a  portion 
of  what  is  hoped  for  can  be  realised,  Mozambique,  in  the  course  of  a 
few  years,  will  be  one  of  the  most  prosperous  parts  of  all  Africa.  The 
Portuguese  territories  in  Africa  are  as  follows  : — 


Square 

Inh.  to 

Miles. 

i  sq.  m. 

Madeira    

•JT  e 

/I2C 

Cape  Verde  Islands  

I  486 

III  OOO 

7/t 

Guinea  

1  1  600 

150  ooo 

17 

S.  Thome  a  Principe   

/icfi 

21   OOO 

46 

Angola  

7 

Mozambique  

i  500  ooo 

PORTUGUESE  AFRICA  

841  ozz 

5  416  ooo 

6 

— From  "  Whitaker's   Almanack,"    1893,   by  kind  permission  of  the 
Editor. 


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SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

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