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The Works of John Dryden, Volume XVI. (of 18) by John Dryden

J >> John Dryden >> The Works of John Dryden, Volume XVI. (of 18)




This apparition fortified Xavier so much, that he recovered suddenly; yet
whether he had some doubts concerning it, or was of opinion that he
ought to keep it secret, he said nothing of it at that time. But that
which then happened to him made it evident, that the vision was of God:
for Ignatius, who was ignorant of what had been revealed to Xavier,
having assembled his disciples, gave them to understand, that since the
gate of the Holy Land was shut against them, they ought not any longer to
defer the offering of their service to the Pope; that it was sufficient
if some of them went to Rome, while the rest of them dispersed themselves
in the universities of Italy, to the end, they might inspire the fear of
God into the scholars, and gather up into their number some young
students of the greatest parts. Ignatius appointed them their several
stations, just as they had been foreshewn by St Jerome; and that of
Bolognia fell to the share of Xavier and Bobadilla.

After their arrival at Bolognia, Xavier went to say a mass at the tomb of
St Dominic; for he had a particular veneration for the founder of that
order, whose institution was for the preaching of the gospel.

A devout virgin, whose name was Isabella Casalini, seeing him at the
altar, judged him to be a man of God; and was led by some interior motion
to speak to this stranger priest when his mass was ended. She was so much
edified, and so satisfied with the discourse of Xavier, that she
immediately informed her uncle, at whose house she lodged, of this
treasure which she had discovered.

Jerome Casalini, who was a very considerable clergyman, both in regard of
his noble blood, and of his virtue, went in search of this Spanish
priest, upon the account which was given of him by his niece; and, having
found him at the hospital, he importuned him so much to take a lodging in
his house, that Xavier could not in civility refuse him. But the holy man
would never accept of his table, of whose house he had accepted. He
begged his bread from door to door according to his usual custom; and
lived on nothing but the alms which was given him in the town.

Every day, after having celebrated the divine mysteries in St Lucy's
church, of which Casalini was curate, he there heard the confessions of
such as presented themselves before him: after which he visited the
prisons and the hospitals, catechised the children, and preached to the
people.

'Tis true, he spoke but very ill; and his language was only a kind of
Lingua Franca, a confused medley of Italian, French, and Spanish: but he
pronounced it with so much vehemence, and the matter of his sermons was
so solid, that his ill accent and his improper phrases were past by. His
audience attended to him, as to a man descended from above, and his
sermon being ended, came to cast themselves at his feet, and make
confession.

These continual labours, during a very sharp winter, threw him into a
relapse of sickness, much more dangerous than the former; as it were to
verify the prediction of St Jerome; for he was seized with a quartan
ague, which was both malignant and obstinate; insomuch that it cast him
into an extreme faintness, and made him as meagre as a skeleton. In the
mean time, lean and languishing as he was, he ceased not to crawl to the
public places, and excite passengers to repentance. When his voice failed
him, his wan and mortified face, the very picture of death, seemed to
speak for him, and his presence alone had admirable effects.

Jerome Casalini profited so well by the instructions and example of the
holy man, that he arrived in a short space to a high degree of holiness:
the greater knowledge he had of him, he the more admired him, as he
himself related. And it is from this virtuous churchman chiefly, that we
have this account of Xavier, that having laboured all the day, he passed
the night in prayer; that on Friday saying the mass of the passion, he
melted into tears, and was often ravished in his soul; that he spoke but
seldom, but that all his words were full of sound reason, and heavenly
grace.

While Xavier was thus employing his labours at Bolognia, he was recalled
to Rome by Father Ignatius; who had already presented himself before the
Pope, and offered him the service both of himself and his companions.
Pope Paul the Third accepted the good will of these new labourers;
enjoining them to begin their work in Rome, and preach under the
authority of the Holy See. The principal churches were assigned them; and
that of St Laurence in Damaso was allotted to Xavier.

Being now freed from his quartan ague, and his strength being again
restored, he preached with more vigour and vehemence than ever.

Death, the last judgment, and the pains of hell, were the common subject
of his sermons. He proposed those terrible truths after a plain manner,
but withal so movingly, that the people, who came in crowds to hear him
preach, departed out of the church in a profound silence; and thought
less of giving praises to the preacher, than of converting their own
souls to God.

The famine, which laid waste the city of Rome at that time, gave
opportunity to the ten stranger-priests, to relieve an infinite number of
miserable people, oppressed with want, and unregarded. Xavier was ardent
above the rest, to find them places of accommodation, and to procure alms
for their subsistence. He bore them even upon his shoulders to the places
which were provided for them, and attended them with all imaginable care.

In the mean time, James Govea, a Portuguese, who had been acquainted with
Ignatius, Xavier, and Le Fevre, at Paris, and who was principal of the
college of Saint Barbe, when they lived together there, being come to
Rome on some in portant business, for which he was sent thither by John
III. King of Portugal, and seeing the wonderful effects of their
ministry, wrote to the king, as he had formerly done from Paris, on the
reports which were spread of them, that such men as these, knowing,
humble, charitable, inflamed with zeal, indefatigable in labour, lovers
of the cross, and who aimed at nothing but the honour of Almighty God,
were fit to be employed in the East-Indies, to plant and propagate the
faith. He adjoined, that if his majesty were desirous of these excellent
men, he had only to ask them from the Pope, who had the absolute
disposition of them.

John III., the most religious prince then living, wrote thereupon to his
ambassador, Don Pedro Mascaregnas, and ordered him to obtain from his
Holiness, six at least of those apostolic men, which had been commended
to him by Govea. The Pope having heard the proposition of Mascaregnas,
remitted the whole business to Father Ignatius, for whom he had already a
great consideration, and who had lately presented to his Holiness the
model of the new order, which he and his companions were desirous to
establish.

Ignatius, who had proposed to himself no less a design than the
reformation of the whole world, and who saw the urgent necessities of
Europe, infected with heresy on every side, returned this answer to
Mascaregnas, that often, which was their whole number, he could spare him
at the most but two persons. The Pope approved this answer, and ordered
Ignatius to make the choice himself. Thereupon Ignatius named Simon
Rodriguez, a Portuguese, and Nicholas Bobadilla, a Spaniard. The first of
these was, at that time, employed at Sienna, and the other in the kingdom
of Naples, as they had been commissioned by the Holy Father. Though
Rodriguez was languishing under a quartan ague, when he was recalled from
Sienna, yet he failed not to obey the summons; and shortly after
embarking on a ship of Lisbon which went off from Civita Vecchia, carried
with him Paul de Camerin, who, some months before, had joined himself to
their society.

As for Bobadilla, he was no sooner come to Rome, than he fell sick of a
continued fever; and it may be said, that his distemper was the hand of
heaven, which had ordained another in his stead for the mission of the
Indies. For sometimes that which appears but chance, or a purely natural
effect in the lives of men, is a disposition of the Divine Providence
which moves by secret ways to its own proposed ends; and is pleased to
execute those designs, by means as easy as they are powerful.

Mascaregnas, who had finished his embassy, and was desirous to carry with
him into Portugal the second missioner who had been promised him, was
within a day of his departure, when Bobadilla arrived. Ignatius seeing
him in no condition to undertake a voyage, applied himself to God for his
direction, in the choice of one to fill his place, or rather to make
choice of him whom God had chosen; for he was immediately enlightened
from above, and made to understand, that Xavier was that vessel of
election. He called for him at the same instant, and being filled with
the Divine Spirit, "Xavier," said he, "I had named Bobadilla for the
Indies, but the Almighty has nominated you this day. I declare it to you
from the vicar of Jesus Christ. Receive an employment committed to your
charge by his Holiness, and delivered by my mouth, as if it were
conferred on you by our blessed Saviour in person. And rejoice for your
finding an opportunity, to satisfy that fervent desire, which we all
have, of carrying the faith into remote countries. You have not here a
narrow Palestine, or a province of Asia, in prospect, but a vast extent
of ground, and innumerable kingdoms. An entire world is reserved for your
endeavours, and nothing but so large a field is worthy of your courage
and your zeal. Go, my brother, where the voice of God has called you;
where the Holy See has sent you, and kindle those unknown nations, with
the flame that burns within you."

Xavier, wholly confounded in himself with these expressions of Ignatius,
with tears of a tender affection in his eyes, and blushing in his
countenance, answered him, that he could not but be astonished, that he
should pitch upon a man, so weak, and pusillanimous as himself, for an
enterprize which required no less than an apostle: that nevertheless he
was ready to obey the commands of heaven; and that he offered himself,
with the whole power of his soul, to do and suffer all things for the
salvation of the Indies. After which, giving leave to his internal joy to
break out, and to diffuse itself, he more confidently said to Father
Ignatius, that his desires were now accomplished; that for a long time he
had sighed after the Indies without daring to declare it; and that he
hoped, from those idolatrous nations, to have the honour of dying for
Jesus Christ, which had been denied him in the Holy Land.

He added, in the height of these transports, that at length he saw that
clearly, of which God had often given him a glimpse, under some
mysterious figures. In effect, Xavier had frequently dreamed by night,
that he carried on his shoulders a gigantic and very swarthy Indian; and
opprest with this strong imagination, he groaned and sighed, in that
uneasy slumber, as one out of breath, and labouring under an intolerable
burden; insomuch that the noise of his groans and heavings waked those
who were lodged in the same chamber; and, one night it happening that
Father Laynez being awakened by it, asked him what it was that troubled
him: Xavier immediately told his dream, and added, that it put him into a
sweat, with big drops over all his body.

Besides this, he once beheld, either in a dream, or in a trance, vast
oceans full of tempests and of rocks, desart islands, barbarous
countries, hunger and thirst raging every where, nakedness, multiplicity
of labours, with bloody persecution, and imminent dangers of death and of
destruction. In the midst of this ghastly apparition, he cried aloud,
"yet more, O my God, yet more!" and Father Simon Rodriguez heard these
words distinctly; but however he importuned him to declare their meaning,
he would discover nothing at that time, till embarking for the Indies, he
revealed the mystery.

Such ideas, always present in his imagination, filled his familiar
discourses with notions of a new world, and the conversion of infidels.
While he was speaking on that subject, his face was on a fire, and the
tears came into his eyes. This was testified of him by Father Jerome
Dominic, who, before he entered into the Society, had conversed with him
at Bolognia, where a strict friendship was made betwixt them.

As Xavier was advertised of this voyage to the Indies but the day before
Mascaregnas departed, he had but time enough to piece up his cassock, bid
his friends farewell, and go to kiss the feet of our Holy Father.

Paul III., overjoyed, that under his pontificate a gate should be opened
to the gospel, in the Oriental Indies, received him with a most fatherly
affection, and excited him to assume such thoughts, as were worthy of so
high an undertaking; telling him for his encouragement, that the Eternal
Wisdom is never failing to supply us with strength, to prosecute the
labours to which it has ordained us, even though they should surpass all
human abilities. He must, indeed, prepare himself for many sufferings;
but the affairs of God succeeded not but by the ways of suffering, and
that none could pretend to the honour of an apostleship, but by treading
in the steps of the apostles, whose lives were but one continual cross,
and a daily death; that heaven had employed him in the mission of St
Thomas, the apostle of the Indies, for the conquest of souls; that it
became him to labour generously, in reviving the faith in those
countries, where it had been planted by that great apostle; and that if
it were necessary for him to shed his blood, for the glory of Christ
Jesus, he should account it his happiness to die a martyr.

It seemed that God himself had spoken by the mouth of his vicegerent,
such impression had these words on the mind and heart of Xavier. They
inspired into him a divine vigour; and in his answer to his Holiness,
there shone through a profound humility such a magnanimity of soul, that
Paul III. had from that very minute a certain presage of those wonderful
events which afterwards arrived. Therefore the most Holy Father, having
wished him the special assistance of God in all his labours, tenderly
embraced him, more than once, and gave him a most ample benediction.

Xavier departed in the company of Mascaregnas the 15th of March, in the
year 1540, without any other equipage besides his breviary. In giving his
last adieu to Father Ignatius, he cast himself at his feet, and with all
humility desired his blessing; and, in taking leave of Laynez, he put
into his hands a small memorial, which he had written, and signed.

This memorial, which is still preserved at Rome, contains, that he
approves, as much as depends on him, the rules and constitutions, which
shall be drawn up, by Ignatius and his companions; that he elects
Ignatius to be their general, and, in failure of him, Le Fevre; that he
consecrates himself to God, by the three vows, of poverty, chastity,
and obedience, in the Society of Jesus, when it shall be raised into a
religious order, by the apostolical authority.

The conclusion of that affair was daily expected; and indeed it was
happily finished, before the ending of the year, in that almost
miraculous manner, as is related in the Life of St Ignatius.

His journey from Rome to Lisbon was all the way by land, and was above
three months. Xavier had a horse allowed him, by order from the
ambassador; but they were no sooner on their way, than he made him
common. The Father often alighted to ease the servants who followed on
foot; or exchanged his horse with others, who were not so well mounted.
At the inns he was every man's servant, even to the rubbing of the
horses, by an excess of humility, which, on those occasions, caused him
to forget the dignity of his character. He resigned his chamber and his
bed to those who wanted them; and never lodged but either on the ground,
or on the litter in the stable. In the rest of his actions, ever
cheerful, and pleasant in discourse, which made all men desirous of his
company; but always mixing somewhat with that gaiety, which was edifying
both to the masters and the servants, and inspired them alike with
thoughts of piety.

They went by Loretto, where they rested at the least eight days; after
which they continued their journey by Bolognia. From thence, Xavier wrote
to Ignatius, in this manner:

"I received, on the holiday of Easter, the letter which you wrote and
inclosed in the packet of my lord ambassador. God only knows my joy in
receiving it. Believing, as I do, that we shall never entertain each
other in this world, by any other way than that of writing, and that we
shall never see each other but in heaven, it concerns us, that little
time we have to live in this place of exile, to give ourselves the mutual
consolation of frequent letters. The correspondence, on my part, shall be
exactly kept; for being convinced, by the reasons which you gave me at
our parting, that a commerce of this nature ought to be established, in a
regular method, betwixt the colonies and the mother country, I have
resolved, that in whatever parts of the world I shall reside, or any
members of our Society with me, to maintain a strict communication with
you, and with the fathers at Rome, and send you as large an account, as
possibly I can, of any news concerning us. I have taken my opportunity of
seeing the Cardinal of Invrea, as you gave me in command, and have
discoursed at leisure with him. He received me with much goodness, and
offered me, with great civility, his interest, for our common cause. In
the midst of the discourse, which we had together, I threw myself at his
feet, and kissed his hand, in the name of all our Society. As much as I
can gather by his words, he extremely approves the manner of our living.

"As concerning my lord ambassador, he loads me with so many favours, that
I should never conclude, if I began to relate them. And I know not
how I could suffer the many good offices he does me, if I had not some
hope of repaying him in the Indies, at the expence of my life itself. On
Palm-Sunday I heard his confession, and after him many of his domestic
servants; I communicated them afterwards, in the holy chapel of Loretto,
where I said mass. I likewise confessed them, and gave them the
communion, on Easter Sunday. My lord ambassador's almoner recommends
himself to your good prayers, and has promised to bear me company to the
Indies. I am more taken up with confessions here, than I was in Rome, at
St Lewis. I heartily salute all our fathers; and if I name not every one
of them in particular, I desire them to believe, 'tis neither from my
want of memory, or affection.

"Your brother and servant in Jesus Christ,
FRANCIS."
_from Bolognia, March_ 31. 1540.

The whole town of Bolognia was in motion at the approach of Father
Xavier: they were wonderfully affected to him, and in a manner esteemed
him their apostle: both great and small were desirous of seeing him, and
most of them discovered the state of their conscience to him; many of
them proffered themselves to go along with him to the Indies; all of them
shed tears at his departure, as thinking they should never more behold
him.

Jerome Casalini, curate of St Lucy, who had lodged him the year before,
was most particularly kind to him at his return: he obliged him to accept
of his house once more; and his church became as it were the public
rendezvous, where Xavier heard an infinite number of confessions.

In the rest of this long journey, there happened two or three passages,
which were sufficiently remarkable. A domestic servant to the ambassador,
who rode before as harbinger, to take up lodgings for the train, a
violent and brutal man, being reprehended by his lord for having been
negligent in his duty, fell into a horrible fit of passion, as soon as he
was out of Mascaregnas his presence. Xavier heard him, but took no notice
of it at that time, for fear of provoking him to any farther
extravagance. But the next morning, when the same person set out before
the company, according to his custom, he spurred after him at full speed.
He found him lying under his horse, who was fallen with him from a
precipice, the man sorely bruised, and the horse killed outright.
"Wretched creature," said the father to him, "what had become of thee, if
thou hadst died of this fall?" These few words made him sensible of his
furious expressions, for which he sincerely asked pardon of Almighty God;
and Xavier alighting, mounted him on his own horse, and walked on foot by
him, to their lodging.

Another time, the gentleman of the horse attempting to pass a small
river, which was very deep and rapid, the current carried away both man
and horse, and the whole company gave him for lost. Xavier, moved with
compassion for the danger of his soul, because, having had a call from
heaven to enter into a religious life, he had not followed the motions of
grace, but remained in the world, began to implore God in his behalf. The
ambassador, who had a great kindness for him, joined in that devout
action, and commanded the whole train to follow their example. They had
scarcely opened their mouths for him, when the man and horse, who were
both drowning, came again above water, and were carried to the bank. The
gentleman was drawn out, pale in his countenance, and half dead. When he
had recovered his senses, Xavier demanded of him, what thoughts he had,
when he was at the point of perishing? He freely acknowledged, that the
religious life, to which God had called him, then struck upon his soul;
with dismal apprehensions, for having neglected the means of his
salvation. He protested afterwards, as Xavier himself relates, in one of
his letters, that, in that dreadful moment, the remorse of his
conscience, and the sense of God's judgments on souls unfaithful to their
vocation, were more terrible to him, than the horrors even of death
itself. He spoke of eternal punishments, with expressions so lively and
so strong, as if he had already felt them, and was returned from hell. He
frequently said, (as the saint has assured us,) that, by a just judgment
of eternal God, those who, during their life, made no preparations for
their death, had not the leisure to think on God when death surprised
them.

The ambassador, and all his people, doubted not, but the safety of this
gentleman was to be ascribed to the merits of the saint: but Xavier
himself believed it to be the pure effect of the ambassador's devotion;
for thus he writes to father Ignatius concerning it--"Our Lord was
pleased to give ear to the fervent prayers of his servant Mascaregnas,
which he made with tears in his eyes, for the deliverance of the poor
creature, whom he looked upon as lost; and who was taken from the jaws of
death by a most evident miracle."

In passing over the Alps, the ambassador's secretary alighting to walk in
a difficult way, which he could not well observe, by reason of the snows,
his foot happened to slip on a sharp descent, and he rolled down into a
precipice: he had tumbled to the very bottom, if, in falling, his clothes
had not taken hold on one of the crags of the rock, where he remained
hanging over the depths without ability, either to disengage himself, or
get up again. Those who followed, made towards him, but the horror of
that abyss stopt short the most daring: Xavier only made not the least
demur; he descended the precipice, and lending his hand to the secretary,
by little and little dragged him up.

Being gotten out of France, and having passed the Pyreneans, on the side
of Navarre, when they were now approaching Pampeluna, Mascaregnas
bethought himself, that Father Francis, for by that name Xavier was
usually called, had not spoken one word of going to the castle of Xavier,
which was but little distant from their road: he remembered him of it,
and was even so importunate with him, as to say, that since he was about
to leave Europe, and perhaps never more to see it, he could not in
decency dispense with giving a visit to his family, and taking his last
leave of his mother, who was yet living.

But all the arguments of Mascaregnas wrought no effect upon a man, who,
having forsaken all things for the love of God, was of opinion, that he
had nothing remaining in this world; and who also was persuaded, that
flesh and blood are enemies to the apostolical spirit. He turned not out
of the road, but only said to the ambassador, that he deferred the sight
of his relations till he should visit them in heaven; that this transient
view would be accompanied but with melancholy and sadness, the common
products of a last farewell, but in heaven he should eternally behold
them with pleasure, and without the least allay of sorrow.

Mascaregnas had already a high idea of Xavier's virtue; but this
wonderful disengagement from the world yet more increased the esteem
which he had of him; insomuch, that before they reached Portugal, he sent
an express to King John III. with no other errand, than to inform him of
the holiness of this second missioner to the Indies.

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