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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)




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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"I therefore beg your Majesty, by that fervent zeal which you have for
the glory of our Lord, and by the care which you have always testified of
your eternal salvation, to send hither a vigilant and resolute minister,
who will bend his actions to nothing more than to the conversion of
souls; who may act independently to the officers of your treasury; and
who will not suffer himself to be led and governed by the politics of
worldly men, whose foresight is bounded with the profit of the state. May
your Majesty be pleased a little to inspect your incomes from the Indies,
and, after that, look over the expences which are made for the
advancement of religion; that, having weighed all things equally on
either side, you may make a judgment, if that which you bestow bears any
proportion with that which you receive; and then, perhaps, you will find
a just subject to apprehend, that, of those immense treasures, which the
Divine Goodness has heaped upon you, you have given to God but an
inconsiderable pittance.

"For what remains, let not your Majesty defer any longer the payment of
so just a debt, to so bountiful a giver, nor the healing of so many
public wounds. What remedy soever you can apply, what diligence soever
you can make, all will be too little, and of the latest. The sincere and
ardent charity of my heart, towards your Majesty, has constrained me to
write to you in this manner, especially when my imagination represents to
me, in a lively sort, the complaints which the poor Indians send up to
heaven, that out of so vast a treasure, with which your estate is
enriched by them, you employ so little for their spiritual necessities."
The letter ended, in begging this favour of Almighty God, "that the king,
in his lifetime, might have those considerations, and that conduct, which
he would wish to have had when he was dying."

Michael Vaz negotiated so well with King John the Third, pursuant to the
instructions of Father Xavier, that he obtained another governor of the
Indies, and carried back such orders and provisions, signed by his
Majesty's own hand, as were in a manner the same which the father had
desired.

These orders contained, That no toleration should be granted for the
superstition of the infidels in the isle of Goa, nor in that of Salseta;
that they should break in pieces all the pagods which were there, and
make search, in the houses of the Gentiles, for concealed idols, and
whosoever used or made them should be punished according to the quality
of his crime; that as many of the Brachmans as were found to oppose the
publication of the gospel, should be banished; that out of a yearly rent
of three thousand crowns, charged on a mosque at Bazain, a subsistence
should be made for the poor, newly converted from idolatry; that
hereafter no public employment should be given to Pagans; that no
exaction should remain unpunished; that no slaves should henceforth be
sold, either to Mahometans or Gentiles; that the pearl fishing should
only be in the hands of Christians, and that nothing should be taken from
them, without paying them the due value; that the king of Cochin should
not be suffered to despoil or oppress the baptized Indians; and, last of
all, that if Sosa had not already revenged the murder of the Christians
in Manar, who were massacred by the king of Jafanatapan's command,
Castro, who succeeded in his place, should not fail to see it done.

To return to Father Xavier;--he put to sea at Cochin, and sailed towards
Cambaya. In the ship there was a Portuguese gentleman, much a libertine,
and one of those declared atheists who make a boast of their impiety.
This was motive enough for the holy man to make acquaintance with him. He
kept him company, and was even so complaisant as to entertain him with
pleasant conversation. The Portuguese was much delighted with his good
humour, and took pleasure in hearing him discourse on many curious
subjects. But if Xavier offered to let fall a word concerning the
salvation of his soul, he laughed at it, and would hear no more. If
the father mildly reproved him for his profane and scandalous way of
living, he flew out into a fury against the holy practice of the church,
and swore he would never more come to confession.

These ill inclinations did not at all discourage Xavier from his
undertaking. He treated this hardened sinner after the manner that
physicians use a patient raving in his sickness, with all manner of
compassion and soft behaviour. In the meantime, they came to an anchor
before the port of Cananor, and, going ashore together, they took a walk
into a wood of palm-trees which was near their place of landing. After
they had made a turn or two, the saint stripped himself to the waist, and
taking a discipline, pointed at the ends with wire, struck so hard and so
often on his naked body, that, in a very little time, his back and
shoulders were all bloody. "It is for your sake," said he to the
gentleman who accompanied him, "that I do what you see, and all this is
nothing to what I would willingly suffer for you. But," added he, "you
have cost Christ Jesus a much dearer price. Will neither his passion,
his death, nor all his blood, suffice to soften the hardness of your
heart?" After this, addressing himself to our blessed Saviour, "O Lord,"
said he, "be pleased to look on thy own adorable blood, and not on that
of so vile a sinner as myself." The gentleman, amazed and confounded,
both at once, at such an excess of charity, cast himself at the feet of
Xavier, beseeching him to forbear, and promising to confess himself and
totally to change his former life. In effect, before they departed out of
the wood, he made a general confession to the father, with sincere
contrition for his sins, and afterwards lived with the exemplary
behaviour and practice of a good Christian.

Being returned to the port, they went again on shipboard, and continued
their voyage to Cambaya. When they were arrived at that place, Xavier
went to wait on the viceroy, and easily persuaded him to what he desired,
in reference to Jafanatapan; for, besides that Sosa reposed an entire
confidence in Father Xavier, and was himself zealous for the faith, the
expedition, which was proposed to him, was the most glorious that the
Portuguese could undertake, since the consequence of it was to punish a
tyrant, to dispossess an usurper, and to restore a lawful king.

The viceroy, therefore, wrote letters, and dispatched couriers, to the
captains of Comorin and of the Fishery, commanding them to assemble all
the forces they could make at Negapatan, and make a sudden irruption into
the tyrant's country, without giving him time to provide for his defence.
He gave them also in charge to take the tyrant alive, if possibly they
could, and put him into the hands of Father Francis, who desired his
conversion, not his death, and hoped the blood of the martyrs of Manar
might obtain the forgiveness of his crimes.

Xavier, encouraged by these hopes, returned towards Cochin, where he
proposed to himself to follow his ministerial vocation, while the
preparations of war were making. Coming back by Cananor, he lodged in the
house of a Christian, who himself was religious, but his son debauched,
and subject to all sorts of vices. The good man, sensibly afflicted at
the ill conduct of his graceless son, wept day and night; and Xavier
began at first to comfort him, saying, those vices were ordinary in
youth, and riper age would reclaim him from them. Having done speaking,
he stood mute awhile, and recollected himself; then, suddenly lifting up
his eyes to heaven, "Know," said he, "that you are the most happy father
in the world. This libertine son, who has given you so many disquiets,
shall one day change his manners, he shall be a religious of the order of
St Francis, and at last shall die a martyr." The event verified the
prediction. The young man afterwards took the habit of St Francis, and
went to preach the faith in the kingdom of Cande,[1] where he received
martyrdom from the barbarians.

[Footnote 1: Cande is a kingdom in the island of Ceylon.]

Father Xavier, being come back to Cochin, was very kindly received by the
secretary of state, Cosmo Annez, his intimate friend, who was there on
some important business. Being one day together, and talking familiarly,
Xavier asked Annez, if the year had been good for the Portugal merchants?
Annez answered him, that it could not have been better: that not long
since, seven vessels had been sent off, which were now in their passage
to Europe, and richly laden. He added, that himself had sent the king of
Portugal a rare diamond, which had cost six thousand ducats at Goa, and
Avould be worth more than thirty thousand at Lisbon. Xavier had a farther
curiosity to enquire, which of the ships had carried the diamond; and
Annez told him, it was the ship called the Atoghia, and that he had
entrusted the jewel to John Norogna, who was captain of the ship.

Xavier then entered into a profound meditation; and after he had kept
silence for some time, all on the sudden thus replied; "I could have
wished that a diamond of so great value had not been entrusted to that
ship." "And for what reason?" answered Annez; "is it not because the
Atoghia has once formerly sprung a leak? but, father, she is now so well
refitted, that she may be taken for a new vessel." The saint explained
himself no farther; and Annez, upon a second consideration, began to
conjecture, both from the father's words, and afterwards from, his
silence, that there was some danger in the matter, whereupon he desired
him to recommend that ship to the protection of almighty God; "for in
conclusion," said he, "the Atoghia cannot be lost without a very
considerable damage to me. I have had no order," said he, "to buy that
diamond; so that in case it should miscarry, the loss will be wholly
mine."

Sitting one day together at the table, and Xavier observing Annez to be
in great concernment, "give thanks to God," said he, "your diamond is
safe, and at this very time in the hands of the queen of Portugal." Annez
believed Xavier on his word; and understood afterwards, by letters from
Norogna, that the ship opened in the midst of her voyage, and let in so
much water, that being upon the point of sinking, the mariners had
resolved to have forsaken her, and thrown themselves into the sea, but
after having cut down the main mast, they changed their thoughts without
any apparent reason; that the leak stopped of itself, and the ship
pursuing her course, with only two sails, arrived safely in the port of
Lisbon.

The man of God remained about three months in Cochin, and towards the end
of May set sail for Negapatan, where the Portuguese fleet was now in
a readiness. Passing by the Isle of De las Vaccas, which is near the
flats of Ceylon, towards the north, he raised to life a Saracen's child,
which is all that is known of that miracle. He was desirous in his
passage to see the isle of Manar, where so many Christians had been
massacred for the faith; and going ashore, he often kissed the ground,
which had been sprinkled with the blood of martyrs at Pasim. While he
rejoiced at the happy destiny of the dead, he had cause to be afflicted
for the misfortune of the living: a contagious disease laid waste the
island, and there died an hundred every day.

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