Chapter VII: Book III (2)

Though all these conversions drew the public veneration on Father Francis, it seemed that God took pleasure in making the name of his servant yet more illustrious, by certain wonderful events. A merchant of Meliapor being just ready to embark for Malacca, went to take his leave of him. In receiving his blessing, he begged of him some little token of his friendship. The Father, who was very poor, could find nothing to give him but the chaplet which was hanging at his neck: "This chaplet,"[1] said he to the merchant, "shall not be unprofitable to you, provided you repose your trust in the Virgin Mary." The merchant went away in full assurance of the divine protection, and without fear of pirates, winds, or rocks; but God would make a trial of his faith. He had already almost crossed, without the least hazard, the great gulph which is betwixt Meliapor and Malacca, when suddenly there blew a furious storm, the sails were torn, the rudder broken, and the mast came by the board, and the vessel afterwards being driven against the rocks, was split: The greatest part of the seamen and passengers were drowned; some of them held upon the rocks, where they were cast away, and the merchant himself was of that number; but, being upon the wide sea, and not having wherewithal to supply nature, to avoid dying by hunger, they took a resolution which only despair could have inspired; having gathered up some floating planks of their wrecked vessel, and joining them together the best they could, they put themselves upon them, and abandoned their safety to the mercy of the waves, without other hope than of lighting on some current which might possibly carry them on shore.

[Footnote 1: Or beads.]

The merchant, full of confidence in the blessed Virgin, had still preserved the chaplet of Xavier, and feared not drowning while he held it in his hand. The float of planks was hardly adrift upon the waves, when he found he was transported out of himself, and believed he was at Meliapor with Father Francis. Returning from his extacy, he was strangely surprised to find himself on an unknown coast, and not to see about him the companions of his fortunes, nor the planks to which he had entrusted his life. He understood, from some people who casually came that way, that it was the coast of Negapatan, and, in a transport mixed with joy and amazement, he told them, in how miraculous a manner God had delivered him from death.

Another Portuguese, by profession a soldier, called Jerome Fernandez de Mendoza, received a considerable assistance from Xavier, in a different manner, but full as marvellous. Fernandez, having put off from the coast of Coromandel, in a ship belonging to him, wherein was all his wealth, to go to another coast more westward, was taken near the cape of Comorin, by the Malabar pirates, equally covetous and cruel. To save his life, in losing his goods, he threw himself into the sea, and was happy enough, in spite of his ill fortune, to swim to land, on the coast of Meliapor. Meeting there Father Francis, he related his misfortune to him, and begged an alms. The father was almost sorry, at that time, for his being so poor himself, that he had not wherewithal to relieve the miserable man; yet he put his hand into his pocket, as if he were searching there for something, but finding nothing, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and afterwards turning to Fernandez, with looks full of compassion, "have courage, brother," said he to him, "heaven will provide for you." After which, walking forward four or five paces, he once more put his hands into his pockets, and pulled out fifty pieces of gold: "receive," added he, "what heaven sends you; make use of it, but speak not of it." The surprise and joy of Fernandez were so great, that it was impossible for him to keep silence. He published, in all places, the bounty of his benefactor; and the pieces of gold were found to be so pure and fine, that it was not doubted but they were miraculous.

But perhaps nothing is more admirable, than what passed betwixt the Father and John Duro, or Deyro, as some have called him. He was a man of about five-and-thirty years of age, who had formerly borne arms; afterwards became a merchant and owner of a ship, very wealthy and fortunate in all his traffic; all which notwithstanding, he was ill satisfied with the world, uneasy to himself, unquiet in the midst of all his wealth, and persuaded that God alone could content his soul. He went one day to see the holy man, and told him, that for many years he had a desire of changing his condition, and of serving God as perfectly as he was able, but that two reasons had always hindered him: the one was, that he never yet could meet with any person, who was capable of shewing him the way of perfection; the other was, that he was afraid of falling into poverty. He added, that he was now out of pain concerning those two points. That for the first, he hoped he should walk surely in the way of heaven, having so able a guide as he; and for the second, he had got sufficiently for his maintenance in an honest and comfortable way, during the remainder of his life. He begged leave of Father Xavier, that he might follow him, and promised, on all occasions, to defray his charges.

The Father made Deyro understand, how far he was yet from the kingdom of heaven; that, to arrive at perfection, he must perform what our Saviour counselled the young man, who seemed willing to follow him, that is to say, he must practise these words in the literal sense, "sell all thou hast, and give it to the poor." Deyro, thus undeceived, immediately desired the Father to take all his goods, and distribute them amongst the poor; but the Father would neither do what Deyro had proposed to him, nor permit that he should himself dispose of any thing, before he had made confession to him. Foreseeing, without doubt, that being so rich, he should be obliged to make restitution of some part of that which he had gained.

The confession of the merchant was three days in making; after which, having sold his ship and his merchandise, he restored what he had got unjustly, and gave great alms. And in consequence of this, under the direction of the saint, he gave himself to the exercises of piety and penitence, thereby to lay a solid foundation of that perfection to which he aspired.

But these fair beginnings were not attended with any answerable fruit; and that spirit of retirement, of mortification, and of poverty, was soon extinguished in a man accustomed to the turmoils of the world, who had always lived in plenty, and who passionately loved his profit. He returned to the thoughts of his former condition, and having recovered some jewels, and bought a small vessel in secret, he set himself to follow his former way of living.

When he was just on the point of setting sail, a catechist, called Antonio, came and told him, that Father Xavier desired to speak with him. Deyro, who thought of nothing more than of making his escape, and who had not entrusted his design to the knowledge of any person, made as if he took him for another. But Antonio persisting in it, that it was himself whom the Father meant, he durst not dissemble any longer, and went to find him; resolved, however, of denying all, as thinking the Father at most could have but a bare suspicion of his change and intended flight. He therefore assumed an air of confidence, and presented himself boldly before the saint; but God had given him knowledge of Deyro's intentions. "You have sinned," said Xavier, as soon as he beheld him; "you have sinned." These few words so deeply struck him, that he threw himself at the feet of the Father, all trembling, and crying out, "it is true, my Father, I have sinned:" "Penitence then, my son," replied the Father, "penitence!" Deyro confessed himself immediately, went to sell off his ship, and distributed all the money to the poor. He returned afterwards, and put himself once more under the conduct of the Father, with a firm resolution of following his counsels more sincerely, and of serving God more faithfully.

How unfeigned soever the repentance of Deyro seemed, Xavier had no confidence in it; and these new fervours were suspected by him. He would not receive him into the company of Jesus, which requires solid spirits, and such as are firm to their vocation.

Yet he refused not to admit him for his companion, in quality of a catechist, and carried him with him to Malacca: for having continued four months at Meliapor, he parted thence in September 1545, notwithstanding the tears of the people, who were desirous of retaining him; and held the course of Malacca, designing from thence to pass to Macassar.

Before he went on board, he wrote to Father Paul de Camerine at Goa, that when the fathers of the society, who were daily expected from Portugal, should arrive, two of those new missioners should accompany the princes of Jafanatapan, whensoever the Portuguese should think fit to re-establish the lawful king. For there was a report, that the expedition should be renewed, which a base interest had set aside. But this project was not put in execution; and both the princes died, one after the other, in less than two years after their conversion, which was only profitable to their souls. While the ship that carried Xavier was crossing the Gulph of Ceylon, an occasion of charity was offered to the saint, which he would not suffer to escape. The mariners and soldiers passed their lime, according to their custom, in playing at cards. Two soldiers set themselves to it, more out of avarice than pleasure, and one of them played with such ill fortune, that he lost not only all his own money, but the stock which others had put into his hands to traffic for them. Having nothing more to lose, he withdrew, cursing his luck, and blaspheming God. His despair prevailed so far over him, that he had thrown himself into the sea, or run upon the point of his sword, if he had not been prevented. Xavier had notice of these his mad intentions and execrable behaviour, and immediately came to his relief. He embraced him tenderly, and said all he could to comfort him; but the soldier, who was still in the transports of his fury, thrust him away, and forbore not even ill language to him. Xavier stood recollected for some time, imploring God's assistance and counsel; then went and borrowed fifty royals of a passenger, brought them to the soldier, and advised him once more to try his fortune. At this the soldier took heart, and played so luckily, that he recovered all his losses with great advantage. The saint, who looked on, took out of the overplus of the winnings, what he had borrowed for him; and seeing the gamester now returned to a calm temper, wrought upon him so successfully, that he, who before refused to hear him, was now overpowered by his discourse, never after handled cards, and became exemplary in his life.

They arrived at Malacca the 25th of September. As this is one of those places in the Indies, where the saint, whose life I write, had most business, and whither he made many voyages, it will not be unprofitable to say somewhat of it. It is situate beyond the gulph of Bengal, towards the head of that great peninsula, which, from the mouth of the Ara, is extended to the south, almost to the equinoctial line; and is of two degrees and a half of elevation, over against the island of Sumatra, which the ancients, who had not frequented this channel, believed to be joined to the continent.

Malacca was under the dominion of the kings of Siam, until the Saracens, who traded thither, becoming powerful, first made it Mahometan, then caused it to revolt against the lawful prince, and set up a monarch of their own sect, called Mahomet. There was not, at that time, any more famous mart town than this, and where there was a greater concourse of different nations. For, besides the people of Guzuratte, Aracan, Malabar, Pegu, Sumatra, Java, and the Moluccas, the Arabs, the Persians, the Chinese, and the Japonians, trafficked there; and accordingly the town lay extended all along by the sea side, for the convenience of trade.

Amongst all the nations of Asia there is not any more inclined to pleasure; and this seems chiefly to proceed from the mild temper of the air. For there is an eternal spring, notwithstanding the neighbourhood of the line. The inhabitants follow the natural bent of their complexion; their whole business is perfumes, feasts, and music; to say nothing of carnal pleasures, to which they set no bound. Even the language which they speak participates of the softness of the country: It is called the Malaya tongue, and, of all the orient, it is the most delicate and sweet of pronunciation.

Don Alphonso Albuquerque conquered Malacca in the year 1511, and thirty thousand men, with eight thousand pieces of artillery, and an infinite number of elephants and ships, were not able to defend it. It was taken by force, at the second assault, by eight hundred brave Portuguese, seconded by some few Malabars. It was given up to pillage for three days; and the Moor king, after all his endeavours, was forced to fly with only fifty horsemen to attend him. The Portuguese built a citadel, which the succeeding governors took care to fortify; yet not so strongly, as to be proof against the attempts of the barbarians, who many times attacked it, and half ruined it.

As soon as Xavier came on shore, he went to visit the governor of the town, to inform him of his intended voyage to Macassar. The governor told him, that he had lately sent thither a priest of holy life, with some Portuguese soldiers, and that he expected to hear of them very suddenly: that, in the mean time, he was of opinion, that the Father and his companion should stay at Malacca, till the present condition of the Christians in Macassar were fully known. Xavier gave credit to the governor, and retired to the hospital, which he had chosen for the place of his abode. The people ran in crowds to behold the countenance of that great apostle, whose fame was spread through all the Indies, and over all the East. The parents showed him to their children; and it was observed, that the man of God, in caressing those little Portuguese, called every one of them by their proper names, as if he had been of their acquaintance, and were not a stranger newly come on shore.

For what remains, he found the town in a most horrible corruption of manners. The Portuguese who lived there, at a distance both from the Bishop and the viceroy of the Indies, committed all manner of crimes, without fear of laws, either ecclesiastical or civil. Avarice, intemperance, uncleanness, and forgetfulness of God, were every where predominant; and the habit only, or rather the excess and number of their vices, distinguished the Christians from the unbelievers.

This terrible prospect of a sinful town, gave Xavier to comprehend, that his stay in Malacca was necessary, and might possibly turn to a good account; but before he would undertake the reformation of a town so universally corrupted, he employed some days in serving of the sick; he passed many nights in prayer, and performed extraordinary austerities.

After these preparatives, he began his public instructions, according to the methods which he had frequently practised at Goa. Walking the streets at evening with his bell in his hand, he cried, with a loud voice, "Pray to God for those who are in the state of mortal sin;" and by this, he brought into the minds of sinners, the remembrance and consideration of their offences. For, seeing the ill habits of their minds, and that the disease was like to be inflamed, if violent remedies were applied, he tempered more than ever the ardour of his zeal. Though he had naturally a serene countenance, and was of a pleasing conversation, yet all the charms of his good humour seemed to be redoubled at Malacca, insomuch, that his companion, John Deyro, could not but wonder at his gaiety and soft behaviour.

By this procedure, the apostle gained the hearts of all and became in some manner, lord of the city. At the very first, he rooted out an established custom, which permitted the young maids to go in the habit of boys whenever they pleased, which occasioned a world of scandal. He drove out of doors the concubines, or turned them into lawful wives, according to his former method. As for the children, who had no knowledge of God, and who learnt songs of ribaldry and obsceneness as soon as they began to speak, he formed them so well in a little time, that they publicly recited the Christian doctrine, and set up little altars in the streets, about which they sung together the hymns of the Catholic church. But that in which he was most successful, was to restore the practice of confession, which was almost entirely lost. But now men and women crowded the tribunal of holy penitence, and the Father was not able to supply the necessities of so many.

He laboured in the knowledge of the Malaya tongue, which is spoken in all the isles beyond Malacca, and is as it were the universal language. His first care was to have a little catechism translated into it, being the same he had composed on the coast of Fishery; together with a more ample instruction, which treated of the principal duties of Christianity. He learnt all this without book; and, to make himself the better understood, he took a particular care of the pronunciation.

With these helps, and the assistance of interpreters, who were never wanting to him at his need, he converted many idolaters, as also Mahometans and Jews; amongst the rest, a famous rabbi, who made a public adjuration of Judaism. This rabbi, who before had taken for so many fables, or juggling tricks, all those wonders which are reported to have been done by Xavier, now acknowledged them for truths by the evidence of his own eyes: for the saint never wrought so many miracles as at Malacca. The juridical depositions of witnesses then living, have assured us, that all sick persons whom he did but touch, were immediately cured, and that his hands had an healing virtue against all distempers. One of his most famous cures, was that of Antonio Fernandez, a youth not above fifteen years of age, who was sick to death. His mother, a Christian by profession, but not without some remainders of paganism in her heart, seeing that all natural remedies were of no effect, had recourse to certain enchantments frequently practised amongst the heathens, and sent for an old sorceress, who was called Nai. The witch made her magical operations on a lace braided of many threads, and tied it about the arm of the patient. But instead of the expected cure, Fernandez lost his speech, and was taken with such violent convulsions, that the physicians were called again, who all despaired of his recovery. It was expected every moment he should breath his last, when a Christian lady, who happened to come in, said to the mother of the dying youth, "Why do you not send for the holy Father? he will infallibly cure him." She gave credit to her words, and sent for Xavier. He was immediately there: Fernandez, who had lost his senses, and lay gasping in death, began to cry out, and make violent motions, so soon as the Father had set his foot within the doors; but when he came into the room, and stood before the youth, he fell into howlings and dreadful wreathings of his body, which redoubled at the sight of the cross that was presented to him. Xavier doubted not but there was something of extraordinary in his disease, nor even that God, for the punishment of the mother, who had made use of diabolical remedies, had delivered her son to the evil spirits. He fell on his knees by the bed-side, read aloud the passion of our Lord, hung his reliquiary about the neck of the sick person, and sprinkled him with holy water. This made the fury of the devil cease; and the young man, half dead, lay without motion as before. Then Xavier rising up, "get him somewhat to eat," said he, and told them what nourishment he thought proper for him. After which, addressing himself to the father of the youth, "when your son," added he, "shall be in condition to walk, lead him yourself, for nine days successively, to the church of our Lady of the Mount, where to-morrow I will say mass for him." After this he departed, and the next day, while he was celebrating the divine sacrifice, Fernandez on the sudden came to himself, spoke very sensibly, and perfectly recovered his former health.

But how wonderful soever the cure of this youth appeared in the eyes of all men, the resurrection of a young maid was of greater admiration. Xavier was gone on a little journey, somewhere about the neighbourhood of Malacca, to do a work of charity when this girl died. Her mother, who had been in search of the holy man during her daughter's sickness, came to him after his return, and throwing herself at his feet all in tears, said almost the same words to him which Martha said formerly to our Lord, "That if he had been in town, she, who was now dead, had been alive; but if he would call upon the name of Jesus Christ, the dead might be restored to life." Xavier was overjoyed to behold so great faith in a woman, who was but lately baptized, and judged her worthy of that blessing which she begged. After having lifted up his eyes to heaven, and silently prayed to God some little space, he turned towards her, and said to her, with much assurance, "Go, your daughter is alive." The poor mother seeing the saint offered not to go with her to the place of burial, replied, betwixt hope and fear, "That it was three days since her daughter was interred." "It is no matter," answered Xavier, "open the sepulchre, and you shall find her living." The mother, without more reply, ran, full of confidence, to the church, and, in presence of many persons, having caused the grave-stone to be removed, found her daughter living.

While these things passed at Malacca, a ship from Goa brought letters to Father Xavier from Italy and Portugal; which informed him of the happy progress of the society of Jesus, and what it had already performed in Germany for the public service of the church. He was never weary of reading those letters; he kissed them, and bedewed them with his tears, imagining himself either with his brethren in Europe, or them present with himself in Asia. He had news at the same time, that there was arrived a supply of three missioners, whom Father Ignatius had sent him; and that Don John de Castro, who succeeded Alphonso de Sosa, in the government of the Indies, had brought them in his company. These missioners were Antonio Criminal, Nicholas Lancilotti, and John Beyra, all three priests; the two first Italians, and the last a Spaniard: apostolical men, and of eminent virtue, particularly Criminal, who, of all the children of Ignatius, was the first who was honoured with the crown of martyrdom. Xavier disposed of them immediately, commanding, by his letters, "That Lancilotti should remain in the seminary of holy faith, there to instruct the young Indians in the knowledge of the Latin tongue, and that the other two should go to accompany Francis Mansilla on the coast of Fishery."

For himself, having waited three months for news from Macassar, when he saw the season proper for the return of the ship, which the Governor of Malacca had sent, was now expired, and that no vessel was come from those parts, he judged, that Providence would not make use of him at present, for the instruction of those people, who had a priest already with them. Nevertheless, that he might be more at hand to succour them, whenever it pleased God to furnish him with an occasion, it was in his thoughts to go to the neighbouring islands of that coast, which were wholly destitute of gospel ministers.

God Almighty at that time revealed to him the calamities which threatened Malacca; both the pestilence and the war, with which it was to be afflicted in the years ensuing; and the utter desolation, to which it should one day be reduced for the punishment of its crimes. For the inhabitants, who, since the arrival of the Father, had reformed their mariners, relapsed insensibly into their vices, and became more dissolute than ever, as it commonly happens to men of a debauched life, who constrain themselves for a time, and whom the force of ill habits draws backward into sin. Xavier failed not to denounce the judgments of God to them, and to exhort them to piety, for their own interest. But his threatenings and exhortations were of no effect: and this it was that made him say of Malacca the quite contrary of what he had said concerning Meliapor, that he had not seen, in all the Indies, a more wicked town.

He embarked for Amboyna the 1st of January, 1546, with John Deyro, in a ship which was bound for the Isle of Banda. The captain of the vessel was a Portuguese; the rest, as well mariners as soldiers, were Indians; all of them almost of several countries, and the greatest part Mahometans, or Gentiles. The saint converted them to Jesus Christ during the voyage; and what convinced the infidels of the truth of Christianity, was, that when Father Xavier expounded to them the mysteries of Christianity in one tongue, they understood him severally, each in his own language, as if he had spoken at once in many tongues.

They had been already six weeks at sea, without discovering Amboyna; the pilot was of opinion they had passed it, and was in pain concerning it, not knowing how to tack about, because they had a full fore-wind. Xavier perceiving the trouble of the pilot, "Do not vex yourself," said he, "we are yet in the Gulph; and to-morrow, at break of day, we shall be in view of Amboyna." In effect, at the time mentioned, the next morning, they saw that island. The pilot being unwilling to cast anchor, Father Xavier, with some of the passengers, were put into a skiff, and the ship pursued its course. When the skiff was almost ready to land, two light vessels of pirates, which usually cruised on that coast, appeared on the sudden, and pursued them swiftly. Not hoping any succour from the ship, which was already at a great distance from them, and being also without defence, they were forced to put off from shore, and ply their oars towards the main sea, insomuch that the pirates soon lost sight of them. After they had escaped the danger, they durst not make to land again, for fear the two vessels should lie in wait to intercept them at their return. But the Father assured the mariners, they had no further cause of fear: turning therefore towards the island, they landed there in safety, on the 16th of February.

The Isle of Amboyna is distant from Malacca about two hundred and fifty leagues; it is near thirty leagues in compass, and is famous for the concourse of merchants, who frequent it from all parts. The Portuguese, who conquered it during the time that Antonio Galvan was governor of Ternate, had a garrison in it; besides which, there were in the island seven villages of Christians, natives of the place, but without any priest, because the only one in the island was just dead. Xavier began to visit these villages, and immediately baptized many infants, who died suddenly after they were christened. "As if," says he himself in one of his letters, "the Divine Providence had only so far prolonged their lives, till the gate of heaven were opened to them."

Having been informed, that sundry of the inhabitants had retired themselves from the sea-side into the midst of the woods, and caves of the mountains, to shelter themselves from the rage of the barbarians, their neighbours and their enemies, who robbed the coasts, and put to the sword, or made slaves of all who fell into their hands, he went in search of those poor savages, amidst the horror of their rocks and forests; and lived with them as much as was necessary, to make them understand the duties of Christianity, of which the greatest part of them was ignorant.

After having instructed the faithful, he applied himself to preach the gospel to the idolaters and Moors; and God so blessed the endeavours of his servant, that the greatest part of the island became Christians. He built churches in every village, and made choice of the most reasonable, the most able, and the most fervent, to be masters over the rest, till there should arrive a supply of missioners. To which purpose he wrote to Goa, and commanded Paul de Camerine to send him Francis Mansilla, John Beyra, and one or two more of the first missioners which should arrive from Europe: he charged Mansilla, in particular, to come. His design was to establish in one of those isles a house of the company, which should send out continual supplies of labourers, for the publication of the gospel, through all that Archipelago.

While Xavier laboured in this manner at Amboyna, two naval armies arrived there; one of Portugal with three ships, the other of Spaniards with six men of war. The Spaniards were come from Nueva Espagna, or Mexico, for the conquest of the Moluccas, in the name of the emperor Charles the Fifth, as they pretended; but their enterprise succeeded not. After two years cruising, and long stay with the king of Tidore, who received them, to give jealousy to the Portuguese, who were allied to the king of Ternate, his enemy, they took their way by Amboyna, to pass into the Indies, and from thence to Europe. They were engaged in an unjust expedition against the rights of Portugal, and without order from Charles the Fifth; for that emperor, to whom King John the Third addressed his complaints thereupon, disavowed the proceedings of his subjects, and gave permission, that they should be used like pirates.

Yet the Portuguese proceeded not against them with that severity. But it seems that God revenged their quarrel, in afflicting the Spaniards with a contagious fever, which destroyed the greatest part of their fleet. It was a sad spectacle to behold the mariners and soldiers, lying here and there in their ships, or on the shore, in cabins, covered only with leaves. The disease which consumed them, kept all men at a distance from them; and the more necessity they had of succour, the less they found from the people of the island.

At the first report which came to Xavier of this pestilence, he left all things to relieve them; and it is scarce to be imagined, to what actions his charity led him on this occasion. He was day and night in a continual motion, at the same time administering to their bodies and their souls; assisting the dying, burying the dead, and interring them even with his own hands. As the sick bad neither food nor physic, he procured both for them from every side; and he who furnished him the most, was a Portuguese, called John d'Araus, who came in his company from Malacca to Amboyna. Nevertheless the malady still increasing day by day, Araus began to fear he should impoverish himself by these charities; and from a tender-hearted man, became so hard, that nothing more was to be squeezed out of him. One day Xavier sent to him for some wine, for a sick man who had continual faintings: Araus gave it, but with great reluctance, and charged the messenger to trouble him no more; that he had need of the remainder for his own use; and when his own was at an end, whither should he go for a supply? These words were no sooner related to Father Francis, than inflamed with a holy indignation, "What," says he, "does Araus think of keeping his wine for himself, and refusing it to the members of Jesus Christ! the end of his life is very near, and after his death all his estate shall be distributed amongst the poor." He denounced death to him with his own mouth; and the event verified the prediction, as the sequel will make manifest.

Though the pestilence was not wholly ceased, and many sick were yet aboard the vessels, the Spanish fleet set sail for Goa, forced to it by the approach of winter, which begins about May in those quarters. Father Xavier made provisions for the necessities of the soldiers, and furnished them, before their departure, with all he could obtain from the charity of the Portuguese. He recommended them likewise to the charity of his friends at Malacca, where the navy was to touch; and wrote to Father Paul de Camerine at Goa, that he should not fail to lodge in the college of the company, those religious of the order of St Augustin, who came along with the army from Mexico, and that he should do them all the good offices, which their profession, and their virtue, claimed from him.

After the Spaniards were departed, Xavier made some little voyages to places near adjoining to Amboyna; and visited some islands, which were half unpeopled, and desart, waiting the convenience of a ship to transport him to the Moluccas, which are nearer to Macassar than Amboyna. One of those isles is Baranura, where he miraculously recovered his crucifix, in the manner I am going to relate, according to the account which was given of it by a Portuguese, called Fausto Rodriguez, who was a witness of the fact, has deposed it upon oath, and whose juridical testimony is in the process of the saint's canonization.

"We were at sea," says Rodriguez, "Father Francis, John Raposo, and myself, when there arose a tempest, which alarmed all the mariners. Then the Father drew from his bosom a little crucifix, which he always carried about him, and leaning over deck, intended to have dipt it into the sea; but the crucifix dropt out of his hand, and was carried off by the waves. This loss very sensibly afflicted him, and he concealed not his sorrow from us. The next morning we landed on the island of Baranura; from the time when the crucifix was lost, to that of our landing, it was near twenty-four hours, during which we were in perpetual danger. Being on shore, Father Francis and I walked along by the sea side, towards the town of Tamalo, and had already walked about 500 paces, when both of us beheld, arising out of the sea, a crab-fish, which carried betwixt his claws the same crucifix raised on high. I saw the crab-fish come directly to the Father, by whose side I was, and stopped before him. The Father, falling on his knees, took his crucifix, after which the crab-fish returned into the sea. But the Father still continuing in the same humble posture, hugging and kissing the crucifix, was half an hour praying with his hands across his breast, and myself joining with him in thanksgiving to God for so evident a miracle; after which we arose, and continued on our way." Thus you have the relation of Rodriguez.

They staid eight days upon the island, and afterwards set sail for Rosalao, where Xavier preached at his first coming, as he had done at Baranura. But the idolaters, who inhabited these two islands, being extremely vicious, altogether brutal, and having nothing of human in them besides the figure, gave no credit to his words; and only one man amongst them, more reasonable than all the rest, believed in Jesus Christ. Insomuch, that the holy apostle, at his departure from Rosalao, took off his shoes, and shook off the dust, that he might not carry any thing away with him, which belonged to that execrable land.

Truly speaking, the conversion of that one man was worth that of many. The saint gave him in baptism his own name of Francis; and foretold him, that he should die most piously, in calling upon the name of Jesus. The prophecy was taken notice of, which has recommended the fame of this new convert to posterity, and which was not accomplished till after forty years. For this Christian, forsaking his barbarous island, and turning soldier, served the Portuguese, on divers occasions, till in the year 1588 he was wounded to death in a battle given by Don Sancho Vasconcellos, governor of Amboyna, who made war with the Saracen Hiamo. Francis was carried off into the camp; and many, as well Indians as Portuguese, came about him, to see the accomplishment of the prediction, made by the blessed Francis Xavier. All of them beheld the soldier dying, with extraordinary signs of piety, and crying, without ceasing, "Jesus, assist me!"

The island of Ulate, which is better peopled, and less savage than those of Baranura and Rosalao, was not so deaf nor so rebellious to the voice of the holy man. He found it all in arms, and the king of it besieged in his town, ready to be surrendered, neither through want of courage, nor of defendants, but of water; because the enemy had cut off the springs, and there was no likelihood of rain; insomuch, that during the great heats, both men and horses were in danger of perishing by thirst.

The opportunity appeared favourable to Father Xavier, for gaining the vanquished party to Jesus Christ, and perhaps all the conquerors. Full of a noble confidence in God, he found means to get into the town; and being presented to the king, offered to supply him with what he most wanted. "Suffer me," said he, "to erect a cross, and trust in the God, whom I come to declare to you. He is the Lord and Governor of nature, who, whenever he pleases, can open the fountains of heaven, and water the earth. But, in case the rain should descend upon you, give me your promise, to acknowledge his power, and that you, with your subjects, will receive his law." In the extremity to which the king was then reduced, he consented readily to the Father's conditions; and also obliged himself, on the public faith, to keep his word, provided Xavier failed not on his part of the promised blessing. Then Xavier causing a great cross to be made, set it up, on the highest ground of all the town; and there, on his knees, amongst a crowd of soldiers, and men, women, and children, attracted by the novelty of the sight, as much as by the expected succour, he offered to God the death of his only son, and prayed him, by the merits of that crucified Saviour, who had poured out his blood for the sake of all mankind, not to deny a little water, for the salvation of an idolatrous people.

Scarcely had the saint begun his prayer, when the sky began to be overcast with clouds; and by that time he had ended it, there fell down rain in great abundance, which lasted so long, till they had made a plentiful provision of water. The enemy, now hopeless of taking the town, immediately decamped; and the king, with all his people, received baptism from the hand of Father Xavier. He commanded also, that all the neighbouring islands, who held of him should adore Christ Jesus, and engaged the saint to go and publish the faith amongst them. Xavier employed three months and more in these little voyages; after which, returning to Amboyna, where he had left his companion, John Deyro, to cultivate the new-growing Christianity, and where he left him also for the same intention, embarked on a Portuguese vessel, which was setting sail for the Moluccas.

That which is commonly called by the name of the Moluccas, is a country on the Oriental Ocean, divided into many little islands, situated near, the equator, exceeding fruitful in cloves, and famous for the trade of spices. There are five principal islands of them, Ternate, Tidor, Motir, Macian, and Bacian. The first of these is a degree and a half distant from the equinoctial to the north, the rest follow in the order above named, and all five are in sight of one another. These are those celebrated islands, concerning which Ferdinand Magellan raised so many disputes amongst the geographers, and so many quarrels betwixt Spain and Portugal. For the Portuguese having discovered them from the east, and the Spaniards from the west, each of them pretended to inclose them, within their conquests, according to the lines of longitude which they drew.

Ternate is the greatest of the Moluccas, and it was on that side that Father Xavier took his course. He had a gulph to pass of ninety leagues, exceedingly dangerous, both in regard of the strong tides, and the uncertain winds, which are still raising tempests, though the sea be never so calm. The ship which carried the Father was one of those vessels, which, in those parts, are called caracores, of a long and narrow built, like gallies, and which use indifferently sails and oars. Another vessel of the same make carried a Portuguese, called John Galvan, having aboard her all his goods. They set out together from Amboyna, keeping company by the way, and both of them bound for the port of Ternate.

In the midst of the gulph, they were surprised with a storm, which parted them so far, that they lost sight of each other. The caracore of Xavier, after having been in danger of perishing many times, was at length saved, and recovered the port of Ternate by a kind of miracle: as for that of Galvan, it was not known what became of her, and the news concerning her was only brought by an evident revelation.

The first saint's day, when the Father preached to the people, he stopped short in the middle of his discourse, and said, after a little pause, "Pray to God for the soul of John Galvan, who is drowned in the gulph." Some of the audience, who were friends of Galvan, and interested in the caracore, ran to the mariners, who had brought the Father, and demanded of them, if they knew any certain news of this tragical adventure? They answered, "that they knew no more than that the storm had separated the two vessels." The Portuguese recovered courage at those words, and imagined that Father Francis had no other knowledge than the seamen. But they were soon undeceived by the testimony of their own eyes; for three days after, they saw, washed on the shore, the corpse of Galvan, and the wreck of the vessel, which the sea had thrown upon the coast.

Very near this time, when Xavier was saying mass, turning to the people to say the Orate Fratres, he added, "pray also for John Araus, who is newly dead at Amboyna." They who were present observed punctually the day and hour, to see if what the Father had said would come to pass: ten or twelve days after, there arrived a ship from Amboyna, and the truth was known not only by divers letters, but confirmed also by a Portuguese, who had seen Araus die at the same moment when Xavier exhorted the people to pray to God to rest his soul. This Araus was the merchant which refused to give wine for the succour of the sick, in the Spanish fleet, and to whom the saint had denounced a sudden death. He fell sick after Xavier's departure; and having neither children nor heirs, all his goods were distributed amongst the poor, according to the custom of the country.

The shipwreck of Galvan, and the death of Araus, gave great authority to what they had heard at Ternate, concerning the holiness of Father Francis, and from the very first gained him an exceeding reputation. And indeed it was all necessary; I say not for the reformation of vice in that country, but to make him even heard with patience by a dissolute people, which committed, without shame, the most enormous crimes, and such as modesty forbids to name.

To understand how profitable the labours of Father Xavier were to those of Ternate, it is sufficient to tell what he has written himself: "That of an infinite number of debauched persons living in that island when he landed there, all excepting two had laid aside their wicked courses before his departure. The desire of riches was extinguished with the love of pleasures. Restitutions were frequently made, and such abundant alms were given, that the house of charity, set up for the relief of the necessitous, from very poor, which it was formerly, was put into stock, and more flourishing than ever."

The change of manners, which was visibly amongst the Christians, was of no little service to the conversion of Saracens and idolaters. Many of those infidels embraced Christianity. But the most illustrious conquest of the saint, was of a famous Saracen lady, called Neachile Pocaraga, daughter to Almanzor, king of Tidore, and wife to Boliefe, who was king of Ternate, before the Portuguese had conquered the island. She was a princess of great wit and generosity, but extremely bigotted to her sect, and a mortal enemy to the Christians, that is to say, to the Portuguese. Her hatred to them was justly grounded; for, having received them into her kingdom with great civility, and having also permitted them to establish themselves in one part of the island, for the convenience of their trade, she was dealt with so hardly by them, that, after the death of the king, her husband, she had nothing left her but the bare title of a queen; and by their intrigues, the three princes, her sons, lost the crown, their liberty, and their lives. Her unhappy fortune constrained her to lead a wandering life, from isle to isle. But Providence, which would accomplish on her its good designs, brought her back at last to Ternate, about the time when Xavier came thither. She lived there in the condition of a private person, without authority, yet with splendour; and retaining still in her countenance and behaviour, somewhat of that haughty air, which the great sometimes maintain, even in their fetters.

The saint gained access to her, and found an opportunity of conversing with her. In his first discourse, he gave her a great idea of the kingdom of God; yet withal informed her, that this kingdom, was not difficult to obtain; and that being once in possession of it, there was no fear of being after dispossessed. Insomuch, that the Saracen princess, who had no hopes remaining of aught on earth, turned her thoughts and her desires towards heaven. It is true, that, as she was endued with a great wit, and was very knowing in the law of Mahomet, there was some need of argumentation; but the Father still clearing all her doubts, the dispute only served to make her understand more certainly the falseness of the Alcoran, and the truth of the gospel. She submitted to the saint's reasons, or rather to the grace of Jesus Christ, and was publicly baptized by the apostle himself, who gave her the name of Isabella.

He was not satisfied with barely making her a Christian. He saw in her a great stock of piety, an upright heart, a tenderness of mind, inclinations truly great and noble, which he cultivated with admirable care, and set her forward, by degrees, in the most sublime and solid ways of a spiritual life: So that Neachile, under the conduct of Father Xavier, arrived to a singular devotion; that is to say, she grew humble and modest, from disdainful; and haughty as she was, mild to others, and severe to herself, suffering her misfortunes without complaint of injuries; united to God in her retirements, and not appearing publicly, but to exercise the deeds of charity to her neighbour; but more esteemed and honoured, both by the Indians and Portuguese, than when she sat upon the throne, in all the pomp and power of royalty.

During the abode which Xavier made in Ternate, he heard speak of certain isles, which are distant from it about sixty leagues eastward; and which take their name from the principal, commonly called the Isle del Moro. It was reported to him, that those islanders, barbarians as they were, had been most of them baptized, but that the faith had been abolished there immediately after it was introduced, and this account he heard of it.

The inhabitants of Momoya, which is a town in the Isle del Moro, would never embrace the law of Mahomet, though all the neighbouring villages had received it. And the prince, or lord of that town, who chose rather to continue an idolater, than to become a Mahometan, being molested by the Saracens, had recourse to the governor of Ternate, who was called Tristan d'Atayda, promising, that himself and his subjects would turn Christians, provided the Portuguese would take them into their protection. Atayda receiving favourably those propositions of the prince of Momoya, the prince came in person to Ternate, and desired baptism; taking then, the name of John, in honour of John III., king of Portugal. At his return to Momoya, he took along with him a Portuguese priest, called Simon Vaz, who converted many idolaters to the faith. The number of Christians, thus daily increasing more and more, another priest, called Francis Alvarez, came to second Vaz, and both of them laboured so happily in conjunction, that the whole people of Momoya renounced idolatry, and professed the faith of Jesus Christ.

In the mean time, the Portuguese soldiers, whom the governor of Ternate had promised to send, came from thence to defend the town against the enterprizes of the Saracens. But the cruelty which he exercised on the mother of Cacil Aerio, bastard son to King Boliefe, so far exasperated those princes and the neighbouring people, that they conspired the death of all the Portuguese, who were to be found in those quarters. The inhabitants of Momoya, naturally changeable and cruel, began the massacre by the murder of Simon Vaz, their first pastor; and had killed Alvarez, whom they pursued with flights of arrows to the sea side, if accidentally he had not found a bark in readiness, which bore him off, all wounded as he was, and saved him from the fury of those Christian barbarians.

The Saracens made their advantage of these disorders, and mastering Mamoya, changed the whole religion of the town. The prince himself was the only man, who continued firm in the Christian faith, notwithstanding all their threatening, and the cruel usage which he received from them. Not long after this, Antonio Galvan, that Portuguese, who was so illustrious for his prudence, his valour, and his piety, succeeding to Tristan d'Atayda in the government of Ternate, sent to the Isle del Moro a priest, who was both able and zealous, by whose ministry the people were once more reduced into the fold of Christ, and the affairs of the infidels were ruined. But this priest remained not long upon the island, and the people, destitute of all spiritual instructions, returned soon after, through their natural inconstancy, to their original barbarism.