THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES CATHOLIC MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA TO 1865. BY REV. W. STRICKLAND, S.J. TWELVE TEARS MILITARY CHAPLAIN IN INDIA ; AND T. W. M. MARSHALL, Esq. LONDON: LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. MDCCCLXV. LONDON : LliVKV AND CO., VRINTKUS, GREAT SEW STKEKT, rETTER LANE, K.C. 5V SI lie TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE UP TO THIS TIME GENEROUSLY CONTRIBUTED TO ASSIST THE MISSION OF MADURA IN SOUTHERN INDIA, IN ORDER TO SHOW THE GOOD FRUIT PRODUCED BY THEIR ALMS, AND TO SOLICIT FLTITHER CHARITIES FROM ALL INTERESTED IN CATHOLIC FOREIGN MISSIONS, THIS LITTLE BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, BY THEIR OBEDIENT SERVANTS, LOUIS ST. CYR, S.J,, Twenty-three years Missioner, Madura ; AND WILLIAM STRICKLAND, S.J., Twelve years Military Chaplain. CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE I. THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. (w. S.) . . . .1 II. IDOLATRY IN INDIA AND IN THE MADURA MIS- SION. (W. S.) 13 III. INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. (W.S.) 31 IV. SHORT NOTICE OF PROTESTANTISM IN SOUTHERN INDIA. (W. S.) 62 V. HISTORY OF THE NEW MISSION OF MADURA, AND OF THE INDO-POETUGUESE SCHISM. (W. S.) . 65 VI. DAILY LIFE AND JOURNEYS OF THE MISSIONERS CONSEQUENT MORTALITY AMONGST THEM. (w. S.) 77 VII. NOTICE ON THE LIVES OF F. MARTIN, F. LOUIS GARNIER, F. CLIFFORD, F. P. PERRIN, F. JACQUES WILMET. (W. S.) 84 VIII. COLLEGE AND SEMINARY OFNEGAPATAM AND NATIVE CLERGY. (W. S.) 116 IX. CHRISTIAN CONGREGATIONS IN THE MADURA MIS- SION. (W. S.) 126 X. LITERARY WORKS OF THE MISSIONERS. (t. W. M.) 134 XI. CATECHISMS AND PRAYERS USED IN THE MIS- SION. (W. S.) 144 XII. CONDITION OF WOMEN IN INDIA. (t. W. M.) . 158 Vlll INTRODUCTION. materials have also been furnished by Mr. Marshall, author of Christian Missions, and are incorporated in some of the chapters, which, in compliance with the request made to him, he has been kind enough to write. The time available for the actual writing of the book has been, by miforeseen circumstances, reduced to a very few weeks, so as to secure its appearance before the end of the month of June. It is, therefore, hoped that im- jierfections of style, which will doubtless appear in some of the chapters, will be kindly pardoned by an indul- gent public, more interested in the facts related than in the manner in which they are told. The respective writers of the various chapters are indicated by their initials in the table of contents. TO 1865. CHAPTER I. THE ENGLISH EST INDIA. In looking at the Map of the World, there is something astonishing in the consideration that the small spots called the British Islands should contain a people whose influence is felt all over the universe, and whose empire and possessions extend into every climate and into every part of the known world. By far the most valuable of these possessions, both for wealth and population, is the peninsula of Hindostan, containing at least 150,000,000 inhabitants in its vast plains, forests, and mountains. This immense country is peopled by a number of different races and nations, as distinct in personal appearance and language as the various nations of Europe ; yet throughout there is a great similarity in manners and customs induced by the influence of the Brahminical religion, which prevails more or less over the whole continent of Hindostan. The subdivision of the nation into castes, though under different names, prevails every where, and is every where materially the same. The caste of an indi- vidual is determined by liis birth, and by birth alone ; and it is this system of caste which is, as it were, the keystone of Hindoo social life. It has enabled the Hindoos to preserve their nationality, in spite of re- B 2 THE ENGLISH EsT INDIA. peated conquest, and has hindered their being absorbed by their conquerors. Although centuries have elapsed since the Mahommedan conquest, and the Mussulmans have been settled in large numbers over the face of the country, yet they remain quite a distinct and separate people. Though they have domineered and tyrannised over the Hindoos, though they have robbed and plun- dered them, still the follower of Brahma has kept aloof from the despised Moslem, and no relationship or inter- course of family life has ever existed between the two races. The assertion may appear strange, yet indisputably this division of the people into different castes has contri- buted immensely to the preservation of public morality, and the conservation of the patriarchal customs which still exist in the country. Those who would allow no fear of God or man to check them in their evil courses, tremble before their caste, and dread that sentence of exclusion which would at once deprive them of the friendship and intercourse of their nearest kindi'ed, and send them as vagrants through the land. In vain the Mahommedan power strove to crush this system — the English were too politic to attempt to meddle with it. No doubt caste has its disadvantages, for when pushed too far it engenders egotism, it destroys true patriotism, and hinders the development of talent. At the same time, it is a salutary check to ambition, an insurmount- able barrier to communism and all its attendant evils, and gives a powerful support to those social distinc- tions which constitute society.* Those who have studied * In many nations, social distinctions have been deter- mined by military service. Amongst the Chinese, learning is the only introduction to rank and position; amongst the North-American Indians, it was the number of scalps taken in battle ; but amongst the Hindoos only has birth alone been at all times sufEcient to secure the social position. THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. 3 the Hindoo in his own country will agree with the remark made by a distinguished English magistrate in India, that without the institution of caste, the Hindoos would long ago have been sunk down to the lowest degree of barbarism, and have literally devoured one another. It would therefore be a mistake for Chris- tianity to attempt to destroy what is good in the cus- toms of caste ; the good should rather be developed and improved, whilst so much of these customs only should be rejected as is really inconsistent with the holiness and charity of the Gospel. The study of this question of caste will throw a great light on many periods of Hindoo history, which it would otherwise be difficult to understand. As, for instance, their early civilisation, at a time when Europe was entirely biiried in barbarism, may be explained by the gradual development of knowledge in a family, the fathers teaching their children all they knew, and the children, in their turn, having no idea, or even wish, bevond those thino-s which belono-ed to their caste and family. This may, probably, have been fatal to the development of great genius, but it certainly contri- buted to domestic peace and prosperity, whilst at the same time it admitted an amount of development, both in learning and handicraft, which is the more admired the more it is known. The wisest sages of antiquity drew their knowledge from India ; and the architectural and mechanical skill of the Hindoos must have been great to raise the buildings which exist, constructed of enormous stones, and to cast the cannon which, only a few years ago, were beyond the skill of our best foundries in Europe. On the other hand, the existence of caste, inasmuch as it prevents national unity, has certainly made the Hindoo an easy prey to the conqueror, invited to invasion by the richness of the country. 4 THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. From the very earliest times down to the present day, the history of India consists of a succession of con- quests : the conquerors have overrun the country, plun- dered its inhabitants, dwelt for a time dominant amongst them, and then have been swept away, each in their turn, by some subsequent invasion ; the Hindoo people, forming all along the great mass of the population, remaining as a body entirely distinct from their suc- cessive conquerors. Since the early, and not quite fabulous, expeditions of Bacchus and Hercules down to the present English occupation, there is thus a great similarity in the various chapters of Indian history. Now, as in former times, the races remain separate ; and the high-caste Hindoos, whilst submitting to the con- queror, despise him, and await the time when, as has so often happened before, they shall see their present mas- ters told to " move on," and make place for others. How has the English power been formed in India? — how have their small mercantile stations developed into the immense empire of 150,000,000 who now own the rule of Great Britain and submit to her power, — a power which she has wonderfully shown in upholding her sway in the midst of the most sudden and violent storm of well-organised revolt M'hich history makes mention of? There is a passage in Scripture, in the Book of Maechabees, which, speaking of the Roman power of tluit time, gives so correct a description of the ways and means by which Great Britain has acquired her Indian territories, that it is worth recording : " Possederunt omnem tcrram consilio suo et patientia." And it is by wisdom in council, and by patiently watch- ing their opportunity, that the Englisli have obtained and kept their hold upon India : wisdom, which cer- tainly has" often degenerated into IMachiavellism, but has never neglected a single opportunity of aggrandisement; THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. patience, which has always known how to " bide its time," and to avoid precipitation, which has so often ruined the most brilliant prospects, — waiting for the right moment to strike, and then giving full play to their national energy by striking home at once. It is about 200 vears since the English first landed in India, with the intention of holding a mercantile footing in the country, but without the least dream then of realising the empire they now possess. From 1650 to 1750 the English comptoirs or factories gradually developed into citadels and powerful forts; being thus consohdated, from 1750 to 1800 England mixed herself up on every possible occasion Avith the quarrels of the native princes, always keeping her given word for the time being, but chauffincT sides as interest dictated, so as to weaken each party in succession ; at the same time selling her help, where it was afforded, as dearly as possible, — an acces- sion of territory being always a part of the bargain. Edmund Burke declares that she never made an Indian treaty which, at least in spirit, she did not break. Eng- land was thus able, as it were, bj' means of the Indians themselves, to conquer India ; for during many of her wars the number of European soldiers, though a neces- sary element of success, Avas usually very small. Nothing is more remarkable in the diplomatic history of British India than the skill with which the English Govern- ment in the country was always able, even in their ut- most need, either by promises or threats, to persuade one or other of the numerous parties in the country to espouse their cause. Being always eventually successful, in spite of some partial reverses, so she was always most careful to keep for a season her promises and fulfil her engagements. When the might of Hyder Ali and the power of Tippoo Saib were arrayed against them, the English were able to persuade the Nizam and the King of Tra- 6 THE ENGLISH m INDIA. vancore to espouse their quarrel ; aucl iu return, up to the present day, the descendants of these princes enjoy their kingdoms in nominal independence, whilst the territories of Tippoo and Hyder have long since been absorbed into the British empire, or in part bestowed as rewards on the ancient dynasty and others who stood by the English in their day of trial. During this time of Indo-British history there were many remarkable men — Lord Clive, the real founder of the present gigantic power of England in India ; also Sir Arthur Wellesley, afterwards the Duke of Wellington — who, by their skill both in council and in the field, contributed to consolidate those schemes of aggrandisement which the successes of Clive first made tangible, or even possible. It would be as impossible to defend all that was done then, and the way in which some of the Indian princes were treated, as it would be to defend many other political histories of the growth of nations. One thing may be, however, urged in palliation, — which is, that there has been more idea of right, more safety to property, and more effort to dispense real justice in India, since she came under British power, than in the whole of her previous history. There is an important question, however, to Avhich a few words are due — Has India, as a nation, been a gainer or a loser by the English occupation ? There is little doubt that the knowledo;e of the arts and sciences which existed formerly in the country has very much diminished ; some few may possess a more varied learn- ing, and a smattering of Euro})ean knowledge ; but edu- cation has certainly not gained on the whole. Commerce also has suft'ered immensely ; the country becomes every year more and more impoverished,* and native manufac- * The Times correspondent duiiiig the Mutiny said that in India each day the i)Oor were poorer and the rich were richer. THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. 7 tures, which from time immemorial astonished the world for their skill, have died out, and been supplemented bv the large importation of British manufactures. The looms of India, for instance, formerly worked with such wonderful dexterity, considering their very simple con- struction, are now nearly all idle. The cotton grown in India can be sent in its raw state to Europe, and there manufactured by the aid of machinery, and re- imported, after all the expense of double transport and labour, at a rate so low as to undersell the native weaver. The native cloth, it is true, is far more lasting ; but the English calicoes are cheaper, and supply the present want at a smaller price. The same might be said of a number of other manufactures. How, then, has the country gained ? In this, — that the people enjoy more peace and tranquillity ; that law is administered with far greater justice ; that wars cannot go on at the will and caprice of each petty prince, as in former times. The Indian who possesses a field can hope to sow and reap his crops in peace ; the man who builds a house can hope to dwell in it ; and the merchant who is known to have made a successful speculation can safely possess his gold, without being imprisoned and tortured till he discloses the place where his hoards are concealed. The Indian has, through his whole history, been always a prey to those who were strongest and boldest amongst themselves, or to the conquerors who successively over- ran their country. Robbery and plunder were an every- day occurrence ; and society could never have held too-ether, but for the strange power of passive resistance which the internal organisation, and consequently strong cohesiveness, of caste bestowed on the different bodies, which thus constituted at all times, and with very little change, the mass of the race — for nation it can scarcely be called, nationality, as felt and fostered in Eiu-ope, 8 THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. being almost unknown amongst them. The caste cus- toms established by the great Hindoo legislator Ma- nou, all interwoven with and supported by their ideas of relicrion, have remained almost unchano-ed from their first institution. On the other hand, the heavy taxes levied on the people by the English Government, amount- ing often to fifty per cent on the produce of the soil, are too burdensome for the country to bear, and are too high a price to pay for the safety in which they may enjoy what remains to them ; yet, on the whole, the amount of order and law which the dominant power and skilful police of the English preserve in the country is so highly appreciated by the people, that, unless they were worked up and excited by emissaries of evil, they would have neither wish nor desire to shake off the British yoke. This was almost unmistakably shown in the late outbreak, which was much more a military re- bellion than a popular movement. If it had been heartily supported by the people, it is doubtful if all the power and courage of Great Britain could have regained pos- session of the country in the very short time in which it was effected. On the other hand, the advantages wdiich England draws from India are immense ; for, granting that the revenues of India scarcely suffice for the expenses of her government, — which is very nearly correct, altliough the various imports reach the enormous sum of seventy millions sterling, — still the very large field open to her commerce causes incalculable wealth to flow back upon the mother-countrv of the Encj-lish who rule and trade in India. Besides this, it is no small advantage to have so fine a field for the expenditure of energy and ambition abroad ; for this keeps things quiet at home; and the life, talent, and capital used up and employed in her vast colonies has enabled England to ride peaceably tlu'ougli THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. V those great changes in government Avhich have taken place in all countries of late years, and have caused wars and rebellions in the other nations of Europe. In England, every ambitious spirit could find a field for exertion, and every strong hand could earn an honest living — and this, in a great measure, because, by the gradual decay of Indian manufacture, it vras so brought about that the 25,000,000 at home had to furnish the 150,000,000 in India with almost every thing they needed beyond their daily food. In addition to this must be considered the large number of people, highly salaried and pensioned for their services to the Govern- ment in India, returning home after twenty or twenty- five years' service with a comfortable independence. Taking all these things into account, it shows how immense an advantage, and what a great source of wealth, India has been to England. From the few preceding pages some slight idea may be formed of the social and political efiect of the presence of the English in India. But what most immediately concerns the present purpose is to inquire, briefly. What is the position of the Catholic Church and her clergy in their efforts to preach the faith of Jesus Christ, and preserve their converts amongst the Hindoos thus go- verned by British rule? It will suffice at present to answer this query in general terms, for it is a constantly recurring subject, and has so many different bearings, that it will reappear more or less directly in several of the chapters of this book. It has been often imputed to the English, and with much truth, that during the earlier part of their domina- tion in India they so entirely neglected all exteriors of religion, as to be looked upon by the natives as a race without any religion whatever. During this period also they professedly and avowedly abstained from all effort 10 THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. to spread the holy and civihsiiig influence of Christianity amongst their Hindoo subjects, insomuch that the mis- sionaries of the various Protestant societies were strictly forbidden to settle in the country. On various occasions, when some had eluded the vigilance of the Government, and penetrated into the interior, they Avere most uncere- moniously seized, transported to the nearest coast, and put on board ship. Nor was this all ; for it is a fact of public history, that until the year 1800 the Government openly and actively supported Paganism as one of the institu- tions of the country, giving large sums out of the public taxes for carrying out the heathen sacrifices with splen- dour, because such had previously been the custom of the native princes whom they had supplanted. Up to this time, except where human life was positively concerned, no check whatever was put upon the revolting ceremonies of Hindoo worship, but rather even they were often sanc- tioned by the presence of the English ofiicials, both civil and military. During the forty succeeding years all open concurrence and participation nearly ceased — though the administration of the funds of the Hindoo temples was still under the supervision of the Government, which also drew a considerable revenue from this source. This official supervision had a conservative effect on Hindoo- ism, inasmuch as it hindered the funds from diminishing either by peculation or extravagance, and provided for all due repairs of the temples and other places connected with them. Since 1840 the Government ostensibly holds aloof from all interference in religious affairs or properties, and the result has been a great diminution in the a\ail- able funds, and consequently in the splendom* of the Pagan ceremonial. All Hindoo prejudices and customs are still rcs])ected with the utmost scruj)]c, and all lands dedicated to the support of the temples are exempt from THE ENGLISH EN IXDIA. 11 taxation — no inconsiderable privilege, when their extent is taken into account. If England, during her long sway in India, had quietly discountenanced all acts of idolatry, and officially ignored its existence, except where the civil law required it, she might have done much, without the semblance of persecution or oppression, to prepare the Hindoo for the profession of Christianity, and introduce him to the civilisation insepai'able from it. This passive policy is now generally being adopted, and has already produced its fruits. The probable ultimate result of this passive abstention fi'om all support of heathenism on the part of Govern- ment will be its rapid decadence. On the other hand, the same system of indifference observed towards Chris- tianity is producing exactly opposite results. . The position of the Catholic Church at present in India is one of the utmost liberty : she is entirely unaided and unsupported by the Government, but there are now no exceptional restrictions, no penal laws. By the laws of the country now existing, both life and property are secure ; so that those who, from a spirit of hostility to the Catholic religion, would wish to be aggressive, can never venture on open acts of persecution either against the missioners or their flocks. This is an immense advantage, and cannot be too highly appreciated. The Catholic missioner, from whatever country he may come to devote his life to the conversion and instruction of the Hindoos, appreciates to the full this great blessing, soon feels cordially loyal to the Government which secures it to him, and inspires this loyalty to his flock. At the time that the Eno;lish rule became dominant in India, the Catholic Church was at its lowest ebb. By the suppression of the Society of Jesus in Europe, and the reigning spirit of infidelity, the supply of European missioners was nearly cut off; the Christians were poor, 12 THE ENGLISH IN TSDIX. and their priests for the most part without zeal. Tlie very existence of Catholicity seemed almost ignored by Government — it was no advantage to be a Christian ; nearly all employments were given in preference to Hindoos and Mussulmans, or Protestant converts. Yet this very obscurity was a protection and a source of liberty. As soon as a fresh vigour was infused into the Catholic body by the renewed labours of zealous Euro- pean priests, it began to consolidate and develop itself. At the time of the Mutiny there was a moment of alarm lest, by the success of tlie insurgents, the old times of Pagan domination and Christian suffering might be re- newed ; and earnest prayers were raised to God from every Catholic home and church in India to avert the scourge. Government, too, in its moment of alarm, re- membered its Catholic subjects, and acknowledged their existence by sending officiously to inquire of the missioners how their congregations were disposed, and how many men might be available in an emergency. The answer so far exceeded their expectations, that since then the Catholic body in Southern India has enjoyed a little more consideration and respect. They were told that 30,000 able-bodied men were available, who knew the nature and obligation of an oath. At their first return to India, the European Fathers found themselves treated with very scant courtesy by the officials, both civil and military, for the new-comers were priests and foreigners ; but as they became better known, they were more appreciated and esteemed ; their position is now at least one of acknowledged respectability, and their great influence over their rapidly increasing congregations gives them a position which, joined to tlicir blameless and laborious lives, commands the respect, not only of the Europeans, but also of the Hindoos, amongst whom they dwell. CHAPTER 11. IDOLATRY IN INDIA AND IN THE IIADUEA MISSION. The Vicariate-Apostolic of Madura is situated in the southernmost part of the peninsula of British India, and contains part of the Southern Carnatic, the provinces of Tanjore, the small but nominally independent terri- tory of the Tondimau, Marava, Madura, and the coun- try down to Cape Comorin. It is bounded on the north by a branch of the river Cauvery, which falls into the sea a little north of Negapatani ; on the west by the Coorg chain of hills ; on the south and east by the sea. Thus the district extends from about 7° 57' to 11^50' north latitude, and in the widest part is nearly three degrees of longitude. The climate is very relaxing, as the heat is almost continual, even in the months equivalent to ovu' winter; but it is usually dry, except in the periodical rainy seasons. The months of March and April, when the sun is going northward, are so intolerably hot, that every thing that is touched, even in-doors, feels hotter than the hand, and exertion of mind or body is most difficult, except very early in the morning or after sun- set. The heat often exceeds 100° Fain*, by day in-doors, and does not fall below 72° in the night; yet this is the healthiest season of the year. In January and February the cholera is very common, arising apparently from the frequent chills, which, though never amounting to cold, are most trying to constitutions enervated by the constant heats. The population may be rated at nearly four millions, partly Hindoos and partly Mussulmans; of 14 IDOLATRY IN INDIA AND IN the former, about 150,000 are Christians, but the latter uniformly refuse to listen to instruction. The following anecdote will give some idea of their prejudice against Christianity. "A native Christian priest occasionally visited the College at Negapatam ; like our European missionaries in India, he wore his beard, which his caste among the Hindoos do not, so that at a short distance he looked more like a Mussulman than a Hindoo. One day he came towards the place where a Mahommcdan teacher Avas giving lessons in Telingoo to some pupils of the College; as he came in sight, the teacher eagerly asked who he was. ' One of our priests,' w^as the answ^er. ^ But what was he before ? was he ever a Mus- sulman?' asked the moonshee with eagerness. 'No, a Hindoo.' ' Oh ! well, I am glad. If he had ever been a Mussulman, I would have stabbed him this instant, though I know I should have been hanged for it.' " A slight sketch of the creed of the Hindoos, by far the most numerous inhabitants of this large district, may be thought interesting, and indeed will be most appro- priate as a preface to our account of the introduction and present state and prospects of Christianity in the Vicariate of Madura. The more learned and sensible among the Hindoos believe in one only God, called by some Chivem, but more commonly Vishnou. They look on him as almighty, and as the source of all life ; as the origin of time, the creator of all, the preserver of all, and at last to be the destroyer of all. They even call him the God of gods, the only Lord. He is immense, and, like the light, is present every where ; he is eternal, and born of none ; he is all things, and will exist in all times ; he is inti- nitely happy, and free from grief and care ; truth itselt ; the soiu'cc of all justice; the ruler and disposer of all ; infinitely wise; without form, without figure, without THE MADURA MISSION. 15 nature, or name, or caste, or parentage ; pure to the exclusion of passion or inclination. He knows himself, and is incomprehensible to all but himself; so that the other deities, who are but his creatm'es, do not even comprehend his essence. To him the sun and moon owe their light ; and his tlu'eefold power of Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer are represented in the triple figm'e called Trimourti. The nmnberless gods worshiped by the populace are but imagined for minds too rude and weak to do without material and palpable objects of adoration. All this is distinctly contained in their sacred books ; and were it practically held, one could scarcely wish a better foundation for Christianity; but not only are the mass of the people bm'ied in perhaps the grossest idolatry recorded in the annals of the human race, but even the very Brahmins, who profess to believe all they iiud in these books, draw from them ideas strangely similar to that Pantheism now so rapidly spreading in Germany, and which many look upon as the new form of attack planned by the enemy of man against Chris- tian Em'ope. " All," say the Brahmins, " is Brahm" (another name of the Supreme Being described above) ; " he is the soul of the world, and of each being in par- ticular; this universe is JBtxihm, it springs from him, subsists in him, and will return to liim. He is the self- existent Being, the form of endless worlds, which are all one with him, as they exist through his will, which is revealed alike in the creation, in the preservation, and in the destruction of things, in the movements and in the forms of time and space." It is not difficult to see how inevitably this doctrine must, in micultivated minds, lead to the grossest idolatry, and such Ave find to be the fact ; for the Hindoos in general have lost all idea of the Unity of God, and have multiplied divinities accord- ing to every wild caprice of imagination or passion ; 16 IDOLATRY m INDIA AND IN some of them being such as decency will not allow the mind to rest on for an instant. Those that can be described may be briefly detailed as follows : It has been stated that the Trimourti, o/- triple idol, is originally but the representation of the threefold action of the one supreme God, symbolised in the sacred word Om, so holy that few will pronounce it, though it is held as the subject of silent meditation ; but it usually bears three names : Brahma, the Creator ; Vishnou, the Preserver ; and Siva or Chivem, the Destroyer ; repre- sented as a figure with three heads, and usually three bodies more or less separated. Most Hindoos adore only one of these powers, but some worship the tlu-ee- fold power. Brahma, the invisible head of the Brahmins, is an emanation of the supreme, self-existent Brahma above described, and is the priest and lawgiver. He is said to have married Sarassavadi, the goddess of science and of harmony, and is represented with four heads and four arms ; in one hand he holds a circle, representing im- mortality ; and in another, fire, the emblem of strength ; with a third he writes in a book which he holds in the fourth, to designate legislative power. Some Hindoos think that these represent the four Vedams, or sacred books, which he is said to have written with his own hands on leaves of gold. He has neither temples nor worship nor disciples, having by an impudent lie, to be related hereafter, drawn on himself the anger of Siva, who deprived him of the homage of mortals ; but his repentance obtained for him the worsliip of the Brah- mins, who pray to him every morning. Vishnou is more celebrated ; he is represented with four arms, riding on the bird Garouda ; his wives are Latchimi, the goddess of riches, and Boumidevi, the goddess of earth. The former bore him Monmadi, who THE 3IADURA MISSION. 17 is the Cupid of the Greek mythology, and who is armed with a sugar-cane bow and arrows tipped with flowers, and is mounted on a parrot. He and his wife lladi have no separate temples, but their figures are carved in those of Vishnou. The sacred books record no fewer than twenty-one incarnations or avatars of Vishnou, but nine of these are specially noted ; they are too wild and foolish to be worth narrating at length in this place. In the first he became a fish ; in the second, a tortoise ; in the third, a wild boar ; in the fourth, a monster, half-man, half-lion ; in the fifth, a Brahmin dwarf, to humble the pride of the giant Bely ; in the sixth, a man, to put down the giant Ravanen, King of Ceylon, who made himself be worshiped as a god ; in the seventh, a man again, to live in solitude and penance, silently destroying the wicked whom he met with ; in the eighth, once more a man, to teach mortals the practice of virtue and detach- ment from the world ; in the ninth, a black shepherd, to exterminate wicked and cruel kino-s. The tenth avatar is expected impatiently, as the end of the dominion of sin, and the becinninfr of a new ao-e, in which virtue and happiness will reign alone on earth. Ridiculous as are these transformations, their details would be far more so; yet one finds in them m.any points of resemblance with the history of Christianity, so striking as to leave no doubt of their being borrowed in part from the reli- gion of Christ or the prophecies of the Old Testament. Vishnou is the second person of their Trinity, taking flesh to free the world from evil, which had spread so widely as to touch him with pity. He says in one place, " Though by nature not subject to be born or to die, — though I rule all creation, — I yet command my own na- ture, and make myself visible by my own power; and as often as virtue becomes weak in the world, and vice and /^ c 18 IDOLATRY IN INDIA AND IN injustice rise up, so often I am seen. Thus I appear from age to age to save the just, to destroy the wicked, and to reestablish tottering virtue." He came on earth by a sacrifice of which he alone was capable, to save it from certain destruction ; he subjected himself to all the weaknesses and miseries of humanity, and to a cruel death, to destroy evil, and to make virtue reign ; he be- came a shepherd, a warrior, and a prophet, to leave a pattern to mankind ; yet he is all the time the God of all, the representative of the invisible Being by whom he was sent, and powerful, just, good, and merciful like him ; compassionate even to his enemies, and requiring from his followers faith and love, and a true and spiritual worship, a desire of being united to him, self-denial, and a contempt of the world ; he alone can make people holy, and give eternal happiness. Here again we have ideas which would make the introduction of Christianity easy, were they really current among the people ; but unfortunately they are known only to the more learned amono; them, and even with them have little influence on their practice ; they are therefore no check to the grossest idolatry, and all its consequences of systematised sensu- ality. To continue our sketch of their better known fables : Brahma and Vishnou were struggling for preemi- nence, and the universe shook with the combat, when the supreme God ajipcared in the form of an endless column of fire, and, being terrified, they i)aused. He promised superiority to whichever should first find the extremity of this column, and Vishnou, in the form of a wild boar, spent a thousand years in digging, but in vain. Brahma meanwhile, in the form of a swan, soared upwards for one hundred thousand years, but without success ; tired, he went to Vishnou, and told him he had reached the summit of the column, showing, as proof, a flower, which spoke, and confirmed his falsehood ; but the column THE MADURA MISSION. 19 opened, the eight elephants who support the earth spouted blood, the clouds were burned, and the supreme God appeared, laughing derisively, and cursing Brahma, who cast himself at Siva's feet, and received pardon so far as to be worshiped by the Brahmins. Had we space, we might multiply such tales almost infinitely ; but we have said enoufjli to excite the gratitude of those to whom truth has been revealed, and to make them pity the mil- lions who are biu-ied in such gross darkness. A petrified shell, called Salagranan, is often worshiped as an idol of Vishnou, because it sometimes has nine different shades of colour, which are considered emblems of these nine avatars. It is carried on a white linen cloth, with the greatest respect, bathed with many ceremonies, and the water is drunk as a means of purification. Siva, the third god of the Trimourti, has two opposite aspects : under the names of Bliava, Baghis, Bhogovan, &c., he is the father and benefactor of all; his forehead is adorned with a crescent, he rides on the bull Nandi, and holds in his hands the lotus and the good serpent ; but under the names of Cala, Hara, Ougra, &c., he seems to change his nature ; he is the god of destruction, the conqueror of death and of demons, fearful of aspect, with long, sharp teeth, flames for hair, and human skulls for a necklace ; while his girdle, and the bracelets of his many anns, are fierce serpents. He delights in blood and tears and in the most cruel vengeance, and he rides a tiger. The Hindoos of his sect look on him as the only god, and give him a wife named Parvati, who re- sembles the Phrygian Cybele : she is often worshiped together with him, but sometimes has separate temples. Their son Pollcar presides over marriages ; he is re- presented under the most monstrous forms, and is so venerated that his image appears in every temple, under trees, by tlie roadsides; and our missionaries have some- 20 IDOLATRY TN INDIA AND IN times difficulty in dissuading Christian women from wearing it among their ornaments. But we cannot pur- sue to their full extent the degrading idolatries of these poor people ; their divinities have been said to amount to 33,000,000, and many animals are among the num- ber, especially the monkey, for whom the worshipers of Vishnou have a peculiar regard, — so much so, that they consider it a most meritorious act to give him food, and they salam* to him every morning when they first meet him. The Garouda, or Malabar eagle, is also adored by Yishnou's followers ; and on the holyday which Chris- tians give to the divine worship, they often meet to adore the Garoudas, and feed them with meat. To kill one of them would be considered a crime equal to manslaughter, Siva's followers venerate the bull, which is sacred all over India. The serpent, too, especially the cobra ca- pella, is held in great respect; temj)les are erected to these reptiles, and those which find their way into houses often receive sacrifices, and, what they prefer, food. But not content with adoring brute creatures, they make gods of rough stones. Frequently, in travelling through the country, one may perceive a number of rough stones arranged in a straight line or a circle by some devotee, who has rubbed them over with saffron ; another takes it into his head to offer up a sacrifice of a cock or a lamb to these stones, and smears them over with the blood ; this is sufficient to render these stones holy in the eyes of the neighbouring people, who immediately begin to worship them, and perhaps before long some rich native builds a temple on the spot. Such has been the origin * ' Salam' is originally an Arabic word, and is a general word of salutation of the Mussulman pojuilntion in India. The term is in some measure adopted by the Hindoos, and the way of offering it is different according to the caste of the person pre- senting it and the rank of the person receiving it. THE MADURA MISSION. 21 of many of the most famous temples in India. Others have arisen from a suniassi, or penitent, affixing a rag of his clothes to a bush, in token of the holy emotion he felt accidentally in the spot ; seeing this, others imitate his example, and soon the bush is counted sacred, and all hung Avith rags ; a stone is placed before it, reddened with the juice of the betel-nut ; perhaps a wall is built around ; and if a rich man take a fancy to build a temple there, idle Brahmins will crowd to it, festivals will be held, and it becomes a celebrated place. Many Europeans would willingly persuade them- selves that all this is but symbolical, and that God is thus honoured in His works ; but the testimony of the learned Brahmin Ramohun Rov should be conclusive to the contrary. He devoted much time to the study of Hin- dooism, in order to assist in the propagation of that Christianity which he cannot be said to have himself learned (since he died a Unitarian) ; but in his endea- vours to convince his countrymen of the folly of idolatry, he showed the additions continually made by the Brah- mins to their sacred books, and he testifies to their com- plete forgetfulness of all idea of one Supreme Being, He says they do not look on their idols as emblems of Him or His power, but firmly believe in the reality of their numberless gods and goddesses, all possessing com- plete and independent power ; to make them propitious the temples are erected and the ceremonies performed, and it would be considered a heresy to think otherwise. The morality of their sacred books is higher than would be supposed from the preceding sketch, and in several respects approaches to the Christian law. They require prayer, fasting, works of benevolence, patience in suffering. Frequent bathing, which in such a cli- mate is necessary for health, is also enjoined. In the details regarding the obligations of each caste are some 22 IDOLATRY IN INDIA AND IN wise regulations, mingled with much foolish super- stition. Those who execute works useful to the public, such as tanks, temples, places of shelter for travellers, will be reckoned among the good and rewarded ; those who burn with love and wisdom will go to the heaven of Brahma himself, and will share the delights of the gods. The wicked will endm-e indescribable torments : those who are disrespectful to their parents, or to the Brah- mins, will bum in fire ; calumniators and slanderers will be stretched on beds of red-hot iron, and forced to feed on ordm'e; the voluptuous, the indolent, and the hard- hearted will be cast into burning caverns, and trampled by elephants, who will feed on their flesh. But these torments, though of immense duration, will not be eternal ; at length their bodies will be resuscitated, and they will live again, unless they have drunk of the water of the Ganges, which exemi:)ts from a fresh trial of this pamful life. The reward of the good will never end. They believe in the doctrine of metempsychosis ; that is, the transmigration of souls. They think that, after more or less punishment, a soul will live again in a form suited to its deserts, rich or poor, of high or low caste, often even that of a beast; and therefore many of the natives will not destroy life in any shape. Before the introduction of this doctrine, there is no doubt that human sacrifices had been offered in all parts of Lidia ; now they show their devotion to their gods and god- desses by offerings of fruits and flowers, by performing works of penance or of usefulness to their fellow-crea- tures, and by celebrating splendid festivals iigi honour of their divinities. The magnificence of their temples, and the riches amassed in them, are perfectly astonishing. Amono- other ceremonies of their festivals, the idol is sometimes placed on an enormous car, and di'agged in THE MADURA MISSION. 23 procession through the streets; and fanatics have fre- quently been known to throw themselves before this chariot, that they might be crushed under its wheels. This has, however, become rare of late years, in con- sequence of the active interference of the British Go- vernment, and the number of pilgrims has consequently very much diminished. Europeans who think so much of the light and easy practices required or recommended by Catholicity to remind us of the sufferings of Christ, would hardly believe what the Hindoos endure in honour of their false gods. Some will, at certain festivals, allow them- selves to be suspended from a height by iron hooks passed through the muscles of the back ; others will walk on burning embers barefoot ; some go almost or quite naked, wandering about, eating only enough to preserve life, and subsisting on alms ; others have made a vow of silence ; some travel about bearing Ganges water, others dancing and singing the praises of Vishnou ; some penitents tear themselves with whips, or have themselves chained for life to the foot of a tree, or preserve for years some painful attitude, such as holding their arms raised above their heads so that they cannot feed themselves, or keeping the hands clenched till the nails have been known to grow out tlu'ough the palm to the back. But it would be endless to relate the ingenious tortures which are practised by these unhappy creatures, and in wdiich they glory, considering themselves happy beyond all others, and exalted by their performance. The custom of Suttee, or the burn- ing of widows on the funeral-pile of their deceased hus- bands, need not here be alluded to, as the English Government make every effort to check it, and for many years it has ceased in the south of India, with which our Mission is principally interested. Of the frightful 24 IDOLATRY IN INDIA AND IN licentiousness authorised and encouraged under the name of religion, we will not speak ; but this we may say, that nothing in the annals of heathen Greece or Rome, nothing among the j^i'^ctices of the earl}' heretics, ex- ceeded it. A brief mention of the castes into which the Hindoos are well known to be divided may be interesting. The chief of these are the Brahmins, said to have sprung from the head of Brahma, and therefore superior to all others, and enjoying many privileges. They are consi- dered the interpreters of the gods, and are the deposi- taries of all knowledge ; but they usually lead a very idle and evil life. Many of them hold small civil ap- pointments under the English Grovernment, and they are certainly the cleverest and most intriguing race in India, but comparatively few of them have become Christians. The next caste is that of the Chatrias, or warriors, who are said to have sprung from the arms of Brahma ; then the Vissias, labourers and merchants, who came from his body ; and the Soudas, or artisans, from his feet. The names of the castes vary somewhat in different parts of the country : in Madura, the next to the Brahmins are the Moodeliars and Vellalers, and some of both castes have become Christians, — some of them even are among the most fervent. Their rank makes them very useful as an encouragement to others. After them come the Maravers, who are considered noble, and among whom many were converted by the early missionaries ; but latterly the entire privation of spiritual instruction and aid, and the violence of evil passions, have made most of them relapse into idolatry. They are the robber caste — fierce and harsh. Their numbers have rapidly diminished, and they are not now a large caste, or by any means rich. The Odiages, or labourers, rank next, and are both numerous and THE MADURA MISSION. 25 wealthy. All these castes are subclividedi^ as the ditFerent names which one caste frequently bears will sufficiently indicate. The Soudras are the most numerous, and the subdivisions of this caste are endless. Every one is obliged to follow the calling of his father. Military ser- vice, commerce, agriculture, and weaving are honoured in all castes, and the first three trades may be followed even by Brahmins ; while the Paria is not forbidden to weave. There are priests in every caste, as well as among the Brahmins. There are also many tribes not strictly counted as castes at all ; the chief of these is the outcast tribe — called Paria : they form one-fourth of the whole population, and are almost universally looked down upon and shunned. Some think them the remains of a conquered nation, the original inhabitants of the country ; but it is much more probable that they con- sist of persons whose ancestors were banished for crimes from the other castes. Some of them are intelligent, and contrive to amass considerable wealth : from amongst them Europeans take the greater number of their servants ; which fact alone has immensely contri- buted to the prejudices of the higher castes against Europeans and their creed. The excessive humiliation to which they used to be subjected by the superior castes is wearing away rapidly. It would be impos- sible here to enter into the many mmor details of these great divisions. There are other religions beside Brahminism in India, as Bouddhism, the sect called Djamas, the followers of Nawik, and, finally, Mahommedanism. This last, the most numerous next to Brahminism in India, is too well known to need any notice here ; but of the three others it may perhaps be interesting to say a few words. Bonddha is said to have been born in the north of India, of the family of Sakya — one of the most noble of 26 IDOLATRY IN INDIA AKD IN the Brahmin e.iete. Many wonders attended his birth, and prophets called him the God of gods. His wisdom and beanty were superhuman, and the people were never weary of listening to him. Touched at the woes of the human race, he withdrew to a desert, where he led so austere a life that his health suffered, and the milk of 500 cows was necessary to restore him. He then, at the request of the gods themselves, began to preach, over- came the five worshipers who opposed him, and spread his doctrines widely in India. They appear to be merely a reformation of Brahminism, from which Bouddhism differs principally in having a regular hierarchy, governed by a spiritual prince, in each country where it exists : it is sometimes a complete ecclesiastical empire — as, for instance, that of the Lamas of Thibet. The Brahmins violently opposed it, and between the third and seventh centuries of our era India was deluged with blood by the two sects, till at length the Bouddhists were driven from the country. Their creed, however, prevails widely in Thibet, China, &c., and in the Island of Ceylon. Some learned writers are much inclined to identify Bouddha with the early heresiarch Manes, who certainly took refuge in India during a portion of his career. The sect of the Djainas appears also to be an attempt to bring back the religion of India to its original form ; they reject with horror the Trimourti and all the fables connected with it, the worship of animals, and all the Brahminical superstitions. They believe in one Supreme Being, who is absorbed in the contemplation of his own perfections, and in no way interferes w'ith this world; they believe matter to be eternal, and admit the metempsy- chosis, and the reward and punishment of men according to their actions, but without any intervention of the divi- nity. They never take food when the sun is below the horizon, and always have bclLs ringing or gongs sound- THE LIADTJEA MISSION. 27 ing, to prevent their ears being polluted with the words of passers-by ; they scrupulously clean their vegetables, lest they should destroy animal life. They have some well-endow^ed temples ; one in the Mysore is in the centre of three mountains, — on the summit of one of them is a colossal statue of the celebrated penitent Goumatta, seventy feet high, sculptured out of a single piece of rock. The religion of Nanuk is professed by the Sikhs. They too reject the Trimourti, and worship one Supreme Being, to whom they address their prayers directly. "Warriors by profession, they nevertheless cultivate the earth and keep flocks. There are also a few Parsees, followers of Zoroaster, scattered tlu'ough the country of Southern India. In Bombay they are more numerous, and several of the richest merchants and most skilfiil tradesmen are of this race. Here and there a few thousand Jews are to be found in different parts of India. Were it possible in this short sketch to dwell at greater length on this subject, it would be interesting to point out the extraordinary resemblances between Hindoo tra- ditions and Scriptm"e history; we find, disfigured by their wild idolatry, traces of the lives of Abraham, Moses, Job, Samson, and others ; and several of the sacrifices have clearly been borrowed fi'om the Jewish law. Some of their accounts of the creation and of the deluge strongly recall, and almost repeat, the words of the Book of Genesis. They speak of the first man and woman being created in- nocent and falling into sin, as also of an eai'thly paradise ; the history of Chrislma, for instance, has a singulai' re- semblance to that of Moses ; but our space forbids us to pursue the parallel. The Hindoos are supposed to be descended from Shem,* though it is probable that the * Some modern pliilologists, from new researches, are of opinion that the Hindoo race is descended fi-om the same stock 28 IDOLATRY IN ESTDIA AND IN race of Ham is mingled with them ; and as Jews were certainly settled in India and China as early as three centuries before the Christian era, they might have bor- rowed much from them. We even find a distinct pro- phecy of an expected Saviour, containing the very name of Jesus, and certainly more ancient than the coming of our Lord. The great antiquity once attributed to Hindoo records, which carried them back far beyond the Mosaic era of the creation, has been distinctly disproved, and is now abandoned by all. Of the four yougarus, or periods, into which they divide their history, the first three are clearly fabulous, and are in fact so reckoned by them- selves, as they date every thing from the conmiencement of the fourth, or iron age, in which we now live ; it goes back to the period of the deluge, and agrees wonderfully with our common chronology, the diiference being only sixty years. Many writers, whose acquaintance with this subject Avill not be questioned, declare that all the histories and antiquities of India confirm what is related in our Scriptures. Although the preceding sketch of Hindoo mythology is taken from the most approved Brahminical records, it must not be imagined that this is commonly known or received amongst the people. Such Hindoo lore is now far less known and cared for than in former times. The oreat schools and centres of Brahminical learnino^ have long since almost ceased to exist ; very few read their ancient records, and still fewer care for what they contain. In a word, Paganism in all parts of India, but specially in the south, is an affair of usage, of cus- tom, of routine; the people neither examine nor ques- tion about it, they simply accept it. Their foi'efatlicrs were Pagans, — they are the same. Their religion is sim- as the Eiiroppan, and belongs to the great family termed by them Indo-Germanic. THE MADURA MISSION. 2D ply gross idolatry, with all its absurdities and aberra- tions. They neither examine, reason, nor reflect about it. A yery small number of the most intellectual amonofst them, whilst they observe all the exterior cere- monies, and follow the public in their idolatrous worship, admit a sort of universal Pantheism. In their ideas, every existing being is an emanation from the Universal or Essential Being, and must one day be reabsorbed by him. Every existing thing, then, partakes of the Divine nature. The Pagan temples are still frequented by the people, and kept up by the priests on account of the great wealth they possess. The . idolatrous festivals are still celebrated with very considerable pomp, and attract a large number of worshipers. Nevertheless, it is ma- nifest to any one who has li^^ed for some years in the country and watched what was going on around him, that the influence of Paganism is on the wane, and that it no longer possesses, especially in the south, where some of the most magnificent temples exist, the same empire and prestige over the minds of the people that it did in former times. There is a slow but irresistible work going on amongst the masses, which is gradually detachincr them from their former ideas. As the Encr- lish Government no longer allow the contributions to the temples, sanctioned by ancient custom, to be levied by force, these contributions rapidly diminish ; and as attendance at the great Brahminical ceremonies can no longer be made compulsory, the affluence of the people to these festivals is much decreased. From these two reasons, the pomp and brilliancy of the old Pagan cere- monial is fading away, and the people are becoming comparatively indifferent to their religious festivals, which in some places are actually no longer celebrated, and have fallen into complete disuse. On the other hand. 30 IDOLATRY IN DvDIA AND IN THE MADURA MISSION. the number of Catliolies is rapidly, and in some districts sensibly, increasing. Christian churches are rising in towns, in villages, and in hamlets, and their festivals are being celebrated with a degi*ee of splendour unknown before, and Avith a concourse of people which strikes the oldest Pagans with surprise. Diverse Christian works of charity are being also gradually introduced into the country, and in their development command the esteem and attract the hearts of those who witness them. A Brahmin of the old school lately remarked, with a sigh, " Yes, we clearly see that the people are beginning to draw away from us ; the true religion is spreading all around us ; and we too shall have to yield in our turn." Thus Providence ordains that exterior circumstances should in so many ways contribute to favour the work of Divine Grace, and lead to the numerous conversions which are now annually taking place. How all-important is it for those who have the glory of God at heart to help fonvard this movement by their alms, deeds, and prayers ! CHAPTER III. INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. From the earliest Christian writers and traditions, we find that the apostle St. Tliomas preached in India ; on this point the testimony of St. Gregory Nazianzen, St. Jerome, Theodoret, and others, is quite clear; and the traces of Christianity found by the Portuguese confirm the fact. Among others, a plate of copper, engraved with half-obliterated letters, was dug up in 1543, and presented to Alphonsus de Sousa, the Portuguese governor. A learned Jew deciphered it as a donation from a king to the Apostle St. Thomas of land on which to build a church. When the foundations of the fortress of Goa were being dug, they discovered ruins of an old building, and among them a bvonze cross, with a figm'e of our Saviour fastened on it. And what is yet more curious, in 1568 some Portuguese at Meliapore, wishing to build a chapel on a hill near the tower where tradition said the Apostle had been martyred by the Brahmins, they dis- covered in digging a Avhite marble slab, two feet long by one six inches foot wide, on which was carved in relief a cross, whose four points were flowers. It was surmounted by a dove, which seemed to peck at the top of the cross. Around it was a triple arch, and beyond that were strange characters. The cross and the stone were stained with blood. After some time, a learned Brahmin was found, who read the inscription in the following words : " Since the Christian law appeared in the world, thirty years 32 INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. after the 21st of tlic month of December, the Apostle St. Thomas died at Meliaj)ore, -where there was a know- ledge of God, and a change of law, and the destruction of the devil. God was born of the Virgin ]\Iary, was obedient to her for the space of thirty years, and was God eternal. This God taught His law to twelve apostles, and one of them came to Meliapore with his staff in his hand, and built a cliurch there ; and the Kings oi' Malabar, and of Coromandel, and of Pandi, and of several other nations, willinolv resolved, ao-reeino; together, to submit them- selves to the law of St. Thomas, a holy and ])enitent man. The time came wlien St. Thomas died by the hands of a Brahmin, and made a cross with his blood." Another Brahmin from a distant country gave a similar transla- tion of it, without concert with the first. All this Avas attested at the time, and sent to Portugal to Cardinal Henry, afterwards king. In 1521 a sepulchre was found at Meliapore, containing bones and the head of a lance, part of an iron-shod stick, and an earthen vessel; the traditions of the place left little doubt that these were relics of the holy apostle. AVe dwell on these facts prin- cipally because they confirm what we have said above of the traces of Judaism and Christianity in the religion of the Hindoos ; if Jews were settled in India three centuries before our era, and if St. Thomas preached Christianity there, it is easy to see how disfigured portions of Judaism and Christianity might have been mingled with the re- lio-ion of the country. There is every reason to believe the ancient traditions which assert the early preachings of St. Thomas, and the conversion of a large number of the inhabitants of several parts of India by this apostle. It is impossible to say at ■what time these first Christians disappeared, or when the faith planted by St. Thomas ceased to exist in the vari- ous places where he preached. It is, however, probable INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. 33 tliat Christianity was rooted out in the plains and open country durin^^ the wars of extermination between the Brahmins and Bouddliists durino; tlie first centuries of the Christian era. But in the hilly and mountainous districts, which now constitute a portion of the kin<>(loms of Travancore and Cochin, there are to this day a large number of Christians of the Syriac rite, whose very existence is one of the most curious phenomena of eccle- siastical historv. Lost in a maze of marsh and forest, and amidst the hills of Southern India, a population of 200,000 souls of Hindoo race have preserved the Christian fiitli without any communication Avith Europe, whilst all the sur- roundinti; and interveiiinresidcd over hy the Archbishop of Goa, s to remain secluded, he several times sent his reliquary by some of the converts to sick persons, who were healed at its touch. After a time his great success excited the terror of the Pagans, and a persecution was raised against him ; but he quietly continued his proceedings, availing him- self of the protection of some powerful friends whom he had secured, and the storm passed away, as did others at different times. Bv decrees F. de Nobili showed himself more in public, as he found he could venture to do so with- out shocking the prejudices of those whom he wished to gain to Christ. In one of his letters Ave find the follow- ing account of his day. 1st, The usual exercises of the Society: that is, meditation. Holy Mass, self-examina- tion, spiritual reading. Divine Office, &c. 2d, Study of the Sanscrit and Badage tongues, and of the Vedams, or Sacred Writings of the Hindoos. 3d, Composition of a large Catechism suited to the people. 4th, Four instructions daily to catechumens and to Christians. 5th, Audiences given to friends and to those curious to see him, in Avhich he had to listen patiently to the most ridiculous tales. For forty-five years he led -this life, converting immense numbers, and gradually associating other missioners in his labours. At one time a ridi- culous report reached Europe that he had turned Pagan ; and his uncle, Cardinal Bcllarmin, wrote him a long letter to remonstrate with him against such a crime ; to which he replied by showing the great influence he had 40 INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. gained by his way of life, and giving a fidl account of liis motives, which entirely satisfied his holy and learned uncle. F, de Nobili's reasons for thus adopting native cus- toms, and mingling among the natives as one of them- selves, have been much questioned, not only by Protes- tants, but even by Catholics, apparently incapable of un- derstanding the difficulties he had to contend with, or of appreciating his success. The contrast between the use- lessness of all the efforts of his holy and zealous prede- cessor, F. Gonzales, and the uumerous converts made by him and those who trod in his footsteps, ought alone to be a sufficient reply ; but when it is added that the good thus done has not been effaced by the long years of spiritual destitution M^hich followed the destruction of the Society of Jesus, and that he acted throughout with the permission of his Bishop, we think every cavil must be silenced. So clear and forcible was his explanation, that it had great weight in inducing Pope Gregory XV., at a later pe- riod, to allow the converted Brahmins to retain certain caste distinctions and customs, which, though appar- ently superstitious, were by themselves looked u])on merely as marks of their nobility. The indomitable pride of the Brahmins, which seems born with them, and nurtured from their earliest breath, has always been a great bar to their conversion. The system followed by F. de Nobili was the only method which ever met with success amono;st them. Their dread of lowerinxr themselves among their fellows by a change of religion, and being looked upon as Parias for associating with Europeans or Parias, was to most an insuperable bar- rier, which F. de Nobili removed in a groat measure bv the maimer of life which he led. This distinction of castes, and the contempt felt by the members of the higher castes for all beneath them, is still a great bin- INTEODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. 41 drance to the spread of Christianity ; so much so, that even catechists have been known to object to instruct those of a caste inferior to their own ; and when native Hindoos have been educated and ordained at Rome, those of a hifiher caste have found it difficult to acknow- ledge their sacred character. F. de Nobili and a few others laboured, as we have described, for five-and-forty years. The Mission was supported entirely by the resources spared with extreme difficulty by the establishments in the province of Ma- labar ; for as Madura did not belong to Portugal, it received no funds from that country. The strict poverty practised by the missioners enabled four individuals to subsist on a sum calculated for only two : one was main- tained by a small pension from his family ; and two others by the rector of the college on the fishery coast ; and by a house at Goa, with a little occasional help from the General of the Order. Had their resom'ces been greater, could F. de Nobili have carried out his plan of establishing a college for Brahmin converts, and have been seconded by a greater number of missioners, perhaps Paganism might have been destroyed in South- ern India. As it was, these hardworking missioners converted and baptised fully 100,000 idolaters. At length, sinking beneath his toils and privations, and nearly blind, F. de Nobili was recalled by his superiors, first to Jaffnapatam, and then to Meliapore, where he lived five years longer, exerting what strength and sight he had left in composing and dictating books in the native tongue for the assistance of his fellow-missioners. Throughout his career he had been particularly devout to the Blessed Virgin, under wdiose protection he placed his mission. To spread this devotion among his converts, he composed Tamul verses in her praise. He died at Meliapore in 1656, aged eighty. 42 INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. The loss wliieli the Mission experienced in him was some years later compensated by the labours of F. John de Brito, a Portuguese Jesuit, son of a viceroy of Brazil, who chose the Madura Mission as the most laborious, and who toiled in it and in the neio-hbouring districts with almost incredible success. He may be called the founder of the Mission of Marava, and is supposed to have brought nearly 60,000 Hindoos to the faith. He had made many converts in the province of Marava, when the Prince Ranganadadeven forbade him, under pain of death, to remain in the country, or to preach to his subjects. He withdrew for the time, intending to return very shortly, as he could not resolve to aban- don his converts, and looked on martyrdom as a great happiness. He was, however, ordered by his superiors to go to Europe as their Procurat6r- General, and he reached Lisbon in 1687. The Kino; of Portugal endea- voured to detain him in Europe, but he replied that many were capable of filling the high posts offered him at home, but in Madura there were few mis- sioners; and even if many should be willing to go thither, they had not the advantage of knowing the lan- guage and manners of the people as he did. On his return to Goa, he did not even wait to recover from a severe illness he had contracted on the voyage, but pro- ceeded at once to all the Jesuit establishments in Madura, of which Mission he had been appointed visitor. He then Avent to Marava, where there were several churches scattered amoiio; the forests. The heathen priests soon put his life in such danger that he could not remain two days in one place without great risk ; but the blessing granted by God to his labours in the baptism of 8000 converts supported and consoled him during the fifteen months which elapsed before his martyrdom. Prince Teriadcven, one of the principal IXTRODrCTIOX OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. 43 lords of that conntrv, wliieli his ancestors had once ruled, was seized with a mortal disease, and reduced to extremity ; finding no benefit fi-om his false gods, he sent to beg F. de Brito either to come to him, or to send a catechist to teach him the doctrines of the Gospel ; a catechist was sent, who repeated a portion of Scripture over him, and he was instantly cured. He again entreated F. de Brito to come to him, which the holy missioner ventured to do, and celebrated with him the Feast of the Epiphany, in company with 200 newly baptised converts. His zeal, his powerful preaching, and the joy displayed by the new Christians, so struck Teriadeven, that he begged to be baptised also ; but F. de Brito told him he did not yet know the pure life required by Christianity, and that it would be a sin before God. to baptise him till he was duly instructed and prepared. He then explained to him the Gospel law regarding marriage, which was very necessary, as Teriadeven had five wives, and a multitude of concu- bines. He answered, that this difiiculty would soon be removed, and instantly went to his palace, summoned all his women, declared to them that he was resolved to spend the rest of his life in the service of so good and powerful a IMaster as the God of the Christians, and that, as His law forbade more than one wife, the others should receive a suitable maintenance, but he must separate from them entirely. They tried to move him bv prayers and tears, but he was firm. His vouno-est wife, who was a niece of Ranganadadeven, went to her uncle with bitter complaints, in which she was sup- ported by the heathen priests, who had long hated F. de Brito, because the number of his converts much less- ened their income. They told the king that the greater part of the temples were abandoned, no sacrifices offered, no festivals held in them, and that they intended to 44 INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. "vvitlidraw from the kingdom, that they might not witness the vengeance which the offended gods would take on all who countenanced such wickedness. Ransanada- deven immediately ordered all the churches to be burned, all the houses of the Christians to be pillaged, and a heavy fine levied from all who persisted in this creed ; which orders were so strictly obeyed, that many Christians were completely ruined. On the 8th Janu- ary 1693, F. de Brito was seized, together with a Christian Brahmin, named John, and two boys, who would not leave him. Exhausted in health by the hard- ships of the twenty years he had spent in Madura, he was so weak that he fell repeatedly ; but was forced by blows to rise and walk on, thono-h his feet were bleedino; and greatly swollen. At one village they were exposed for a day and a half to the mockeries of the people, placed on one of the idol cars ; and before they reached the court a catechist, to whom F. de Brito had given charge of one of the churches, was added to their number. Prince Teriadeven succeeded for a time in lessening the harshness with which they were treated ; but, notwithstanding his efforts, days passed in which no food was given them but a little milk once in the twenty-four hours. He also tried to induce Rangana- dadeven to make some of his leading Brahmins dispute publicly with F. de Brito, but was answered by a com- mand instantly to worship some idols which were in the room. He refused, saying he had lately been healed of a severe illness by the holy Gospel, and could not renounce it to the destruction of both soul and body. A young lord present, who had also been healed by F. de Brito, obeyed the king's command, and was instantly attacked again with his disease, so violently that he was soon at the point of death. Ho entreated to have a crucifix brought him, and cast himself before it, beg- INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. 45 ging God's pardon for his sin. Hardly had he finisliod his prayer, when he found himself quite well, lian- ganadadeven next had recourse to magic arts, to com- pass F. de Brito's death by the power of the gods ; but he thrice repeated ceremonies which were believed all over the country to be inevitably fatal to any one aoainst whom they were used, and of course tliey had no effect on the holy confessor. Another ceremonial, believed to be all-powerful over gods as well as men, was then tried, but equally in vain. Still the king and the Brahmins only repeated that F. de Brito was the most powerful enchanter ever seen, and they asked him if his Breviary, \yhich had been taken from him, were not the source of his power, and whether it would save him from their muskets. They were just going to fire on him, when Teriadeven threw himself among the soldiers, and said he would die too if they killed his beloved master. He was so much respected that Ran- ganadadeven dared not persevere, but sent F. de Brito secretly to his brother, who lived at Orejour, a distance of two days' journey. His sufferings before he reached this town were frightful ; for, as he was too w^eak to walk, he was literally dragged most of the way, and was fed on nothing but a little milk. Ouriardeven, the king's brother, first commanded him to heal him, for he was blind and paralytic ; but F. de Brito replied that God alone could do this. He was kept in j)rison three days, almost without food, and at length was led to Avhere a high post had been fixed in the ground. A o-reat crowd soon collected. He was allowed time to pray in silence, and then he embraced and pardoned his executioners. They seized him, tore off his dress, and seeing his reliquary hanging by a string from his neck, and fancying it some charm, cut it off by a blow of the sword, which wounded him severely. They then 46 INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. tied a cord to his beard, fastening it round his waist, to bend his head forward, and were about to cut olf his head, when two Christians rushed forward, and threw themselves at his feet, protesting they would die with him ; they were di'agged away, and the holy missioner's head struck off with a heavy hatchet, February 8th, 1G93. To their -astonishment, the body, though placed so as to bend forward, fell backward, and the almost severed head lay with the face upwards ; they hastened to cut it oflP entirely, as well as his hands and feet ; they then fastened the body to the post. The two Christians had their ears and noses cut off. We have related the career and death of F. de Brito at some length, because his canonisation is now under consideration, and he was solemnly beatified by his Holi- ness Pope Pius IX. in 1853. He is well remembered even yet in this country ; and there is great devotion to- wards him, and confidence in his power with Christ. The next remarkable name which appears in the annals of the Mission is that of Father Bouchet, who was the founder and builder of the handsome church of Aour, about 1690. Till his time the missioners had in general con(;ealed themselves as much as possible, living comj)letely among the natives, and following their cus- toms. Even with the greatest precautions, they were afraid to enter any considerable village except by night. But F. Bouchet so endeared himself to the people, that ho thouolit he might venture to l)uild a finer church than had yet been attempted, and to serve it more openly. The church of Aour stands in a large covu't- yard, the inner walls of which are painted, and orna- mented at C(|ual distances by high pillars, on which rests a cornice surroundinii; the buildino;. The altar is at the intersection of the cross, and eight tall columns support an imperial crown, its sole ornament. Gold and INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTLAJNITY INTO Es^DIA. 47 azure abound in the inside, and the whole architecture is a mixture of European and Indian, which produces a very good effect. The church is under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin, and was much frequented as a pilgrimage. It is still a place of great resort, but is one of the many churches founded by the Jesuits, and served by them till the suppression of the Society, which is now in the hands of the Goanese clergy. Experience, and the example of these Fathers, proved that missioners in the interior must practise the austeri- ties displayed by the Hindoo penitents ; and accordingly they dressed, as F. de Nobili had first done, in a piece of yellow cotton, with wooden sandals. They lived on rice boiled in water, with a few tasteless vegetables, and sometimes a little milk ; they drank nothing but water, often muddy and bad, and slept on the bare ground, or at most on a tiger-skin spread on boards. They lived in mud cabins thatched with straw, which, in the rainy seasons, were often very damp ; and their whole furni- ture consisted of a few earthen vessels, with palm-loaves for plates and dishes. God blessed their zeal ; some of the pi'inces granted them protection, and the people crowded to hear them and to be baptised. The fatigues they underwent, living on such bad food, are almost incredible. It was usual to prepare the Clu'istians for each confession as if they had never made one before, by repeating for them detailed acts of faith, hope, charity, and contrition ; and the numbers of penitents were often so great that the missioner could hardly find time to say his Breviary. Often troops of two and three hundred would come down, with their wives and children, having brought with them barely rice enough to support them on their journey, and allowed by their masters but a limited time of absence. The missioner was frequently obliged to spend the whole night hearing 48 INTEODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. the confessions of the men, after having listened all day to the women, till, between want of sleep and want of proper food, he could hardly bring himself to eat when there was a moment to do so. The fervour of these poor Christians was most edifying; they Avould often travel two days' journey or more, to receive the Sacra- ments, and attend some religious festival : many of them perhaps might fall short of provisions before it was over, being very poor, and the richer ones would subscribe to purchase rice enough to enable them to reach their homes. The devotion displayed at these festivals was often most delightful to the missioner, who saw by it that his sacrifices and labours had not been in vain. In the beginning of the last century the Jesuits had added to the Missions of Tanjore, Marava, and Madura, that of the Carnatic, which extended nearly 200 leagues in length, and contained sixteen flourishino; cono;reo;a- tions ; there were also many Christians in Bengal, and in the dominions of the Great Mogul. The French Mis- sion of Pondicherry alone numbered fully 60,000 native Christians, and was increasing daily ; and without count- ing the northern districts, there were at least 1,200,000 Christians in the peninsula. Nor were these conversions ephemeral. The missioners, treading in the footsteps of St. Francis Xavier, spared neither time nor toil, and never baptised without am})le preparation, and repeated entreaties on the part of the neophytes. The innocent lives of the Christiaiis, and their firmness under perse- cution, showed them worthy of the graces they received. The change of life pi'oduecd by baptism was truly won- derful, and so astonished the heathens, that they imagined the holy oils were some magic charm — so little could they compreliend such a complete alteration. Hereditary crimes were eradicated ; converts from the robber castes INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. 49 ceased to steal ; and missioners have declared that they have heard the confessions of whole villages of Christians without finding one individual guilty of a mortal sin. Their firmness under persecution was even more extra- ordinarv, for the Hindoos are a cowardly people, and very accessible to flattery ; but Christianity seemed to change their nature, and to inspire them with the most o-enerous and heroic faith. One instance of the fortitude displayed under perse- cution by a Christian convert is too remarkable to be omitted, though it was by no means a solitary case; but it is told in considerable detail in the letters of the mis- sioners. Nilen Pilley was of the Vellala caste, and born a heathen. His penetrating mind and his good qualities won the esteem of all who knew him, and he was very religious in his own way. God, who intended to call him to a knowledge of the truth, tried him with heavy losses, which grieved him the more because he was married. He had formed a friendship with a French officer, named Benedict Eustache de Lanoy, who, one day seeing him in very low spirits, spoke to him of the rapidity with which the goods of this world pass, and advised him to put his trust in the one true God, and he would find his melancholy vanish. Such conversations were frequently repeated, and the French officer ex- plained the Christian faith to him. He reflected in the silence of night on all he learned, contrasting the per- fections of the true God with the actions attributed to his false ones ; and at length he told his friend he would become a Christian. Benedict de Lanoy sent him to F. Franzodi Buttari, an Italian priest, who then had charge of that portion of the district. The Father, fear- ing that his Paoan relations and the dano-er of losing his o o too employment might prevent his perseverance, deferred E 50 INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. baptising liim ; but the young convert so earnestly begged for it, protesting that, having once known the true God, he would rather lose fortune and life than abandon Him, that at length, after being taught all that was necessary, F. Franzodi baptised him under the name of Devasagayam, tiie Indian word for Lazarus. Nilen immediately endeavoured to win his friends and relations also to Christianity. He first tried his wife, who considered Christians as degraded, because all classes of them worshiped the same God. Devasa- gayam reminded her that the same sun gave light to the highest and to the lowest castes, the rain fell on all alike, aiid they all trod on the same earth. Gradually he con- verted her, in spite of the eager remonstrances of her mother, who assured her that, if she became a Christian, no family of equal rank would marry her children. She was baptised under the name of Guanapou, which means " spiritual flower." He converted several of his rela- tions afterwai'ds ; and the Brahmins, who were very much incensed at his opposing their false gods, waited their opportunity of punishing him. Father Franzodi wished to build a church, and Devasairavam went to one of the principal Brahmins about the court, and becrged him to ask the kino; for leave to cut wood for this purpose. The Brahmin replied by violent threats ; to which Devasairavam onlv answered, that he was readv to bear any thino; they chose to inflict, and re- turned home, ijravino; earnestly that God would cive liim courage and constancy. The Brahmins easily ob- tained an order to have him put to death, and soldiers were sent to seize him. He had already sent word of his danger to his fi-icnd Captain Benedict Eustache, who came and persuaded the soldiers to delay a little : meanwhile a priest came, and heard Devasagayam's con- fession, gave him the Holy Communion, and exhorted INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. 51 him to be courageous. As he was taken away by the soldiers, several persons met him, and said he had de- graded himself by becoming a Christian ; but if he would adore the gods of his forefathers, he might be restored to the king's favour. He replied, that he valued no honours but those never-ending ones promised by the King of heaven and of earth to His faithful followers. When the king: heard this, he ordered him to be ironed and closely confined. Benedict sent a friend to comfort him ; but the news reached the king's ears, and he sent a message to the officer, desiring him not to meddle with what did not concern him. Devasagayam continued praying earnestly that Christ would, through the merits of His sacred passion, enable him to suffer with courage. Next day the kino; ordered him to be taken to a neighbouring forest, and there to have his head cut off; he also commanded that all who had become Christians should be persecuted. Some soldiers brought him word of the sentence, and he exclaimed : " I have long hoped for this happiness ; j-our news is a source of great joy to me." On his way to the forest he was insulted by the country-people ; but he answered cheerfully, and prayed as he went along. A fresh order from the king commanded him to be cast again into prison, and he lamented the delay, fearing God did not think him worthy ^o suffer. Soon afterwards the kino; directed that he should be led from village to village mounted on a bull, and struck with rods ; that when he was all over wounds, he should be rubbed with pepper, which should also be put into his eyes, nose, and mouth ; and that, when he was thirsty, he should have water from a cesspool to drink. This barbarous command Mas executed. DevasairaA'am repeated unceasingly the name of " Jesus," and bore his ever-renewed torments so heroically, that the peo[)le 52 INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. cried out it was a miracle ; yet many insulted him. One day his guards left him for a short time, and a Chris- tian stole quietly up to him, and read him our Lord's passion ; when he came to the scourging at the pillar, Devasagayam stoj)ped him, and, shedding many tears, exclaimed, that what he was enduring was not enough. Next day, as they were rubbing the pepper into his eyes, he said it was a good remedy for the sins committed by sight. Another day that the guards, either tlu'ough pity or forgetfulness, omitted the pepper altogether, he re- minded them of it ; on which they tore his flesh again with blows, and left him in the hot sun, with only cor- rupted water to drink. He reflected on the gall our Saviour tasted, and swallowed it as if it had been per- fectly pure. He was then, by the king's command, kept in chains before the palace ; but the Christians crowded to him to be healed of their diseases; and the king, enraged that a punishment he had inflicted to destroy Christianity only made it more known, had him removed to a distance and chained to a tree, where he was left without a roof to shelter him from sun or rain. His sufferings here were very great ; but he was comforted and encouraged by a letter from Captain Benedict. After a time he was again removed, and a roof of palm-leaves given him. The executioner of this district had no children, and had vainly offered numberless sacrifices to his gods to obtain them : heai'ing that many were cured by Deva- sagayam's prayers, he s])<)ke to him on the subject, and was assured that he would have a son, which accord- higly ha])pened not long afterwards. The martyr wept continually for his past sins. He had a tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin and St. Jo- scj)h ; on one occasion they appeared to him in his sleep ; and with them was our Lord, shining with light. Devasa- INTRODUCTION OF CHIIISTIANITT INTO INDIA. 53 gayam awoke his companion ; but tlie vision had disap- peared, leaving only a brilliant light. The news of this vision spread about, and Christians and heathens crowded to see him. The king, enraged to find that all he did to degrade him only made him more honoured, had him removed again, and commanded that he should be left to die of hunger ; but those who came to see him brought him food secretly. He also had the happiness of again going to confession and receiving the Holy Communion. To terrify the Christians, the king next commanded that they ghould be stripped of their property. Many fled to another territory, and those who stayed, though grossly ill used, remained firm in their faith. Devasa- gayam was accused as being the cause of their obsti- nacy, and would have been beheaded, had not a Hindoo penitent, a great friend of the king's, represented that it was disgraceful to put a man to death for his religion ; so his torments were renewed. One of the officers of his guard resolved to cut off his head ; and the executioner, who had obtained a son by his prayers, warned him of it, and offered to help his escape. He wrote to consult Father Madrindram, the nearest missioner, who I'eplied, that a soldier who had served his prince long would lose his reward if he were to fly at the moment of battle ; and Devasagayam refused to escape, to the astonish- ment of the executioner. He was soon afterwards re- moved again, and once more chained to a tree, where he was left ten days without shelter. The Christians were forbidden to approach him, but the guards did not enforce the order. Nearly three years had thus passed after his arrest, when the king gave a secret order for his execution. He learned it supernaturally, and took leave of his wife, begging that after his death she would go into another 54 INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. countrj, lest her relations should persuade her to aposta- tise, and promising that God would protect her if she were steadfast in her faith. He next made the sien of the cross over a sick girl who was brought to him, and healed her ; and then prayed earnestly, till the soldiers came to take him to a solitary place and shoot him. He told them he knew what they intended, at which they were much surprised. Finding he could not walk as fast as they wished, they made him lie down, and pass- ing a stick through the irons that fastened his hands and feet, carried him ; which was excessively painful, as the irons wounded his limbs. On reaching the spot, he begged a few minutes to pray, which was granted, and they fired three muskets at him : he fell severely wounded, exclaiming " Jesus, save me !" and they iired again and killed him. They then withdrew, having taken off his irons and cast his body into a ditch. The Christians buried it in the church at Cottar, and many were cured by the earth stained with his blood. He was put to death on the 14th January 1752, seven years after his baptism. The native Hindoo princes were not the only persecu- tors of the Holy Catholic faith : the Dutch settlers along the coast rivalled and even sur])assed them in cruelty. On the coast of the fisheries, a Dutch preacher wished to persuade a Parava Christian chief that the faith he taught Avas superior to that the Paravas had received from St. Francis Xavier : the chief re])lied that he must prove it by working miracles at least equal or supe- rior to those of the great Father; that he must raise a dozen dead to life, and heal all the sick. Force was then tried, but equally without success. Many endured scourges and tortures with the couraire of the ancient martyrs, and their mothers rejoiced in their suffering thus for the sake of their Saviour. Children, when INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. 55 threatened with death, kneU down, and with clasped hands dechired themselves glad to die for Christ. Many other converts suffered much from both rulers and rela- tives, and were sometimes obliged to give up all they possessed, and, carrying their children with them, seek a subsistence in some other place ; yet persecution, sick- ness, and death they cheerfully accepted from the hands of their merciful God, rather than abandon His holy law. These flourishing Missions had often much to suffer, first from the internal wars among the native princes, in which their undisciplined troops scattered themselves over the country and destroyed all before them, killing such of the inhabitants as had not hidden themselves in inaccessible places, and forcing the missioner to seek a refuge on the sea-coast, or in the mountains. On his return, he often found his church burned and his flock dispersed. All this became still worse when Europeans took part in these wars ; the hatred they excited in those against whom they fought, and their conduct, so opposed to their religion, weakened the eftect of its holy doc- trines and morality ; and the more the Europeans became known, the greater was the prejudice against Chris- tianity, as being the creed they professed but did not practise. This aversion became so violent, that in some districts a heathen of good standing would not even venture to acknowledge an intima(!y with Christians. The controversy among the missioners themselves regarding what were called the Malabar rites was an- other circumstance which seriously checked the conver- sion of India. It is impossible for Europeans who have not lived in India to imagine the power of custom over the Hindoos ; to them it is a supreme law, and all that goes against it is blamable and degrading. To op])ose their customs would have been to alienate them en- 5G INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. tirelj from Cliristianity, and most of the missioners therefore tolei'ated all such as were not clearly forbidden by the law of God or of nature. Persons ignorant of the country attacked these concessions fiercely, and in their accusations mingled with the customs permitted by the missioners to their neophytes many which they steadfastly opposed, as, for instance, the wearing of the taly, a jewel engraved with an idolatrous figure, worn round the neck by married women in token of marriage, like the wedding-ring in Europe. In 1703 Cardinal de Tournon, Apostolic Legate in India and China, examined the question, and decided against the toleration of some of these customs ; the Archbishop ofGoa,the Bishop of St. Thomas, the Jesuit missioners, and others, appealed from this decree to Rome. Pope Clement XL confirmed the decree tem- porarily, but appointed persons to examine the case more fully. It was long debated at Pome, and in 1727 Clement XIL repeated the confirmation of Cardinal de Tournon's decree. However, it was found impossible to observe it practically. A fresh examination took place, and some modification of it was permitted in 1734, al- lowing for a time the omission of some of the ceremonies in Baptism which Avere most offensive to Hindoo preju- dice, such as the use of saliva, and the breathing in the child's face ; recommendino;, but not oblio-ins, the mis- sioners to give the name of some saint to those they bap- tised, and requiring them to observe, as far as possible, the regulations of the Council of Trent reo-ardins: mar- riages. Some of the ceremonials to which the Hindoos clung were jjrohibited, but others were allowed, and no penalties of censure were attached to this brief. The missioners in general received it with joy, but some thought it did not sufficiently take native prejudices into consideration, and sent fresh petitions to Pome ; how- INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. 57 ever, in 1731), Pope Clement by a brief required from every missioner in the country, or who should hereafter go thither, an oath of obedience to this decision, and it was cheerfully taken. Benedict XIV., his successor, ])nblished a bull containing a complete history of the discussion, confirming the brief of Clement XII., and ordering that any missioner who wovild not obey it should be sent back to Europe. The Jesuits at once accepted this bull ; they had always opposed the wearing the taly^ and introduced instead a trinket engraved on each side with a cross, and fastened with a particoloured strino; of an indefinite number of threads, instead of the yellow cord of 108 threads worn by the heathens. To prevent superstitious customs at weddings, they obliged a catechist to attend them, accompanied by a Christian Brahmin, to see that our holy law was observed ; but findino; the horror of the Hindoos for the use of saliva and breathing in the christening ceremonies, they, with due sanction of the Bishops, continued to dispense with them. The greatest difficulty was about the Farias. To have any intercourse with them, and especially to visit them in their huts, was to become an object of hatred to all other castes, who would not afterwards accept any service from a missioner who had done so. After vainly endeavouring to overcome this prejudice, it was proposed to Benedict XIV. that there should be a separate class of missioners for these poor creatures, which was approved, and some of the Fathers at once devoted themselves to this painful duty, separating them- selves entirely even from their brethren in the same country, and enduring all the privations imposed on this outcast class. One missioner would be seen moving about on horseback, or in a palanquin, eating rice dressed by Brahmins, and saluting no one as he went along ; another, covered with rags, walked on foot, surrounded 58 ES'TKODUCTIOX OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. by beggars, and prostrated himself as his brother mis- sioner passed, covering his mouth, lest his breath should infect the teacher of the great. This extraordinary measure succeeded for a time, but it has now been entirely discontinued, as no longer es- sential. Sincere indeed must have been the honesty of purpose, and admirable the spirit of self-de\otion, which could prompt a man of education and rank to become thus the apostle of the outcast, and to cut himself off entirely from the only human consolation which remained to him in his exile — the sweet converse and company of his fellow-labourers and brothers in Christ ! The out- burst of long-suppressed love and affection in the earnest embrace of two early friends and near relatives who met privately after months of separation as Brahmin and Paria missioner, is beautifully described in one of the eai'ly letters from the missioners. One of the most remarkable labourers in this painful Mission was F. Artaud, who has been called the Apostle of the Parias. He used to collect them in a courtyard near the church, and instruct them unweariedly ; they would sit around cross-legged, and listen with eagerness; not a Aveck passed in which he did not win seven or eight, and often a far greater number, to the fold of Christ. In 1748 it is estimated that there were at least 385,000 Christians in the eastern part of the Indian peninsula, and a greater number on the western side, besides several flourishing Missions in the north of Hin- dostan, whence the faith was rapidly spreading over all parts of the country. The Island of Ceylon was so com- pletely Christian when the Dutch Protestants took pos- session of it in 1G50, that all their cruel persecutions could not eradicate it, though they actualli/ sent to the mainland for idolatrous jyriests to reestablish Bouddliismj and prohibited the landing of any Catholic missioner. INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. 59 Yet the fuitli was so rooted in the hearts of the people, that after 145 years of persecution it still lingered, like fire beneath ashes, to burst forth brilliantly when priests could again appear. The holy fiiith of Clirist seemed likely in some years to triumph also in India ; each year the progress was more rapid and decided. Christianity had laid powerful hold on many districts in the country, and, breathing its spirit into the patriarchal customs of the Hindoos, was producing a simplicity and holiness of life never perhaps surpassed, except in " the reductions of Paraguay." The European Fathers, by following up the severe manner of life by which the first successes of their predecessors had been obtained, were rapidly increasing the number of converts, and spreading the influence of the holy law of Christ; and as each one sank to the sleep of death, hastened by his heavy toil and voluntarily im])osed austerities, he prayed for the nation to which his life had been given, and hoped that his successors would finish and accom- plish the good work so dear to his soul. Unexpected and sudden as the typhoon of the eastern seas, came the storm by which Divine Providence allowed these glorious hopes, these holy aspirations, to be for a time checked and baffled. The iniquitous policy of Pombal had prevailed in Portugal ; the Jesuits were to be suppressed throughout the vast foreign possessions of that country as well as at home. The decree had gone forth. Sealed orders, to be opened by each distant go- vernor at a certain hour on a fixed day, and put in execution on pain of death, were travelling to their destination. The Jesuits at home were lulled into se- curity by an apparent diminution of the storm so long raging ao-ainst them. Their brethren in the foreign Mis- sions continued their holy labour of love without much further indication of their danger than what was inti- 60 INTEODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. mated by letters from Europe, or by the cessation of those ahiis from home which enabled them to live and labour. At the same time and day, all over the world, wherever a Jesuit Father was within reach of a Portu- guese official, he was rudely seized, loaded with chains, and cast into prison, to be sent off to Portugal by the first ship available. The storm of infidelity, or, to use the expression of the author of Christian Missions, " that great outburst of blasphemy and crime which began with the suppression of the Jesuits and culminated in the French Revolu- tion," was to have its victims, and the Jesuits were to suffer. " One hundred and twenty-seven Jesuits," con- tinues Marshall, " were seized at once and cast into prison at Goa. A few weeks later, on the 2d of Decem- ber, they were dragged on board a vessel, of which the captain vainly declared that from forty to fifty was the extreme number he could receive. But the orders of the viceroy. Count d'Ega, were imperative, and the ship started on a voyage during which twenty -four of the Fathers died of scurvy, and the rest ari'ived, more dead than alive, at Lisbon ; where they were flung into dun- geons, of which only the lowest and darkest cells were assigned for their dwellino*. Here they lano-uished for years, meek and resigned, in the midst of almost in- tolerable sufferings, and mourning rather for their or- phaned flocks than for their own unmerited wrongs. Once they met during their captivity, each standing at the door of his cell, to hear from the mouth of a gaoler — fitting deputy and agent of the Marquis de Pombal — the total suppression of the Society. Thirty-five died in prison during the first sixteen years ; among whom were Diaz, Albuquerque, and Da Silva. And when at length the doors were opened, and they were permitted to reenter a world in whicli they had no longer a home, INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO INDIA. 61 a family, or a calling, forty-five Fathers survived ; sole remnant of all the missionaries of India, China, and America, amounting to many thousands." The Mission of Madura was, however, not destined thus hopelessly to perish. Some few escaped the first sw^oop of Pombal's agents, and lived on for some years in the country till they reached the term of their apos- tolic life. One only, Father Andrea, lived till 1816, and heard the joyful news of the restoration of the Society of Jesus ; and some fifteen years later, with their zeal and courage as earnest as ever, the children of St. Ignatius returned to the widowed Mission of Madura. How well and successfully they have laboured will be seen in the following chapters. CHAPTER IV. SHORT NOTICE OF PROTESTANTISM IN SOUTHERN INDIA. In giving an account of the labours of the Cathoh'c mis- sioner in India, it would seem, at first sight, scarcely- relevant or necessary to enter upon the subject of Pro- testantism. However, the Jesuit in Southern India, having devoted his life to the preaching of the Gospel of Christ crucified, finds himself, amongst other difficulties, in presence of the many sects of Protestants who of late years have overrun the peninsula of Hindostan in large numbers, distributing Bibles and tracts in thousands, and spending gold and silver in handfuls, in order to make proselytes to their varied forms of Christianity. On the side of the Protestant missionary have been worldly in- fluence, immense resources, and often much industry and effort, especially on their first arrival in the country. The works written and edited in Tamul — the languaffe of Southern India — by some of the Protestant missionaries show also that there has been no small amount of talent amongst some of them. Thus all that man, unaided by the grace of God, could bring, has been for a long time, with persevering human effort, brought to bear upon the masses of Hindoo Pagans. As the very soul and exist- ence of Protestantism is its active opposition to Catholic doctrine, its establishment and spread in India has in no small degree increased the difficulties of the Catholic missioner, who, in his poverty and isolation, has had to struggle single-liandcd against the united effi)rts and wealth of the di\crs Protestant sects, which, in all their PROTESTANTISM IN SOUTHERN INDIA. 63 variations of doctrine, agree only in the condemnation of Catholicity, and in their effort to place it on a level with Paganism in their preachings and writings.* The usual means employed by the Protestant mis- sionaries were — firstly, the spreading of Bibles in im- mense numbers through the country ; secondly, the dis- semination of misrepresentations of Catholic doctrine, in pamphlets and tracts, as well as by word of mouth ; thirdly, the regular salarying of a certain number of con- verts ; fourthly and lastly, though by far the most im- portant, the establishment of large numbers of schools, of all sorts and sizes, in which the teaching was not only gratuitous, but the scholars were even paid for attending. The immense sums of money put at the disposal of the various societies by the liberality of the people of England and of America enabled them to carry out all their undertakings regardless of expense, and provide themselves with every human appliance that money could command. The result, when compared with the means employed, has been a signal failure. To the Catholic mind this failure is easily explained; for the truth of God cannot contradict itself in one single tittle, and cannot therefore exist amongst diversity of doc- trine. The Catholic knows also that the grace of God is inseparable from His truth, and '' His grace alone" can save the souls of men. There has been no permanence in the Protestant successes. Jaffna in Ceylon, Tran- quebar, Tanjore, and Tinevelly have successively been held up in the last forty years on the different platforms of public meetings, and their past successes and bright prospects for the future described in the most glowing colours. The fine establishments which actually existed * Some years ago a large sum of money was offered as a premiiuu, at Calcutta, for the best essay, written by a native, to prove " the identity of Romanism and Heathenism." 64 PROTESTANTISM IN SOUTHERN INDIA. ill those places are no longer a source of congratulation ; the vast sums of money expended have left no adequate trace behind ; and the brilliant promises, which have so often thrilled with hopeful enthusiasm the hearts of those who attended "the May Meetings" at home, have never been practically realised. This failure is only the more striking in proportion to the extent of the means used in trying to establish and develop these missions ; and those of our readers who would wish to enter more fully into this subject, will find what is here alluded to amply su])ported by a succession of Protestant testimonies, collected from va- rious sources by Mr. T. W. Marshall, in his work on Christian Missions. CHAPTER V. HISTORY OF THE NEW MISSION OF MADURA, AND OF THE INDO-PORTUGUESE SCHISM. The source which principallv supplied India with mis- sioners was suddenly to be dried up : in 1773 the Society of Jesus was suppressed by a brief of Clement XIV. Tlie Carnatic Mission was then intrusted to the Bishop of Tabraca and the Seminaiy of Paris. The Fathers of the Society who were then on the Mission continued the good work they had begun, and deeply as they regretted their own superiors, they punctually obeyed those now assigned to them by Providence, looking on the new missioners sent to Lidia as beloved brothers and fellow- labourers. Most of the remaining Jesuits were old men, who had toiled for years among the natives, who looked upon them with the greatest res^^ect. Had we space, a sketch of their labours Avould be most interesting ; but we must proceed with our narrative. F. Mosac, the Superior of the Mission, gave way at once to the Bishop of Tabraca, by whom he was superseded after forty years of labour, during which he had baptised above 40,000 per- sons, chiefly sick children. He lived but a short time longer, occupied in prayer and the exercises of an in- terior life. The new and the old missioners worked on harmoniously, till the great French Revolution destroyed the Seminary for Foreign Missions at Paris ; and for many years afterwards the Clu'istians of India were left with but very few priests. In 1802 the French Missions in F 6Q HISTOEY OF THE NEW MISSION OF MADUEA, that country had but fifteen European clergymen, besides the Bishop, and most of these were aged, and too weak to penetrate into the interior of the country. They were assisted by four native priests. The Mission was divided into ten districts, several of the more inland of which had but one priest, who, though perpetually travelling from place to place, could scarcely visit each congregation of his scattered flock once in a year. In 1817 there were but five or six aged European priests, and a Vicar- Apostolic, in the whole of this Mission ; there was a little college at Pondicherry, where from time to time a few native priests were ordained. Some years after, the establishment for Foreign Missions sent a few clergy out to Southern India, and in 1824 there were fifteen priests ; but many of them were old ; and had they been in the most vigorous health, they could have done but little among so many Christians, scattered over such an im- mense extent of country. The Vicar- Apostolic wrote most pressingly for a supply of missioners, stating that there were congregations of three or four thousand souls who saw a priest but once in two years, and that even those who had a missioner living amongst them were very insufficiently attended ; for what could one man do among seven or eight thousand souls, scattered sometimes up- wards of thirty-five miles apart ? Whilst the Mission of the Carnatic was intrusted to the clergy of the " Foreign Missions" of Paris, the Ma- dura Mission was made over for the time to the Indo- Portuguese clergy, of whom more will be said presently. In 1830 the Vicar-Apostolic had the grief of seeing some Christian families, which had long vainly implored to have French or Jesuit missioners sent to them, and who, from the impossibility of otherwise attending to them, had been intinisted to the priests of a neighbouring district, give themselves up to the Protestants. In 1836 Mgr. d'Ha- AND OF THE INDO-PORTUGUESE SCHISM. 67 Hcarnasse, who had toiled for forty-seven years in this Mission, and which he had governed as Vicar- ApostoHc for twenty-two years, got M. Bonnand, Bishop of Drusipare, appointed his coadjutor, and soon afterwards died. There were then but sixteen priests in the whole Mission of Pondicherry. The Congregation of Foreign Missions, which has to supply five large countries in the East, found it so inipossil)le to procui'e priests enough for Madura, that the proposal of the Propaganda to send Jesuits there again was gladly accepted. In 1837 four members of the Society reached Pondicherry, and five more followed during the two subsequent years. Spread over the interior of the country, they at once endeavoured, under the guidance of Mgr. de Drusipare, to revive the old Christian congregations. By a brief of 1836, various vicariates were established in Asia, according to the wants of the different countries. The Island of Ceylon was erected into a separate vicariate-apostolic : Madura, Tanjore, Marava, and the Mysore were committed to the charge of Mgr. Drusipare, as Vicar- Apostolic of the Coro- mandel Coast ; the former diocese of St. Thomas, or Melia- pore, was annexed to the vicariate-apostolic of Madras ; the ancient dioceses of Cranganor and Cochin to that of Malabar ; and authority over all these was given to the Vicar- Apostolic of Verapoly ; Malacca, and the country beyond the Ganges, were subjected to the vicariate-apos- tolic of Ava and Pegu, and another vicariate was estab- lished at Bombay; Calcutta was also made a separate episcopal charge, and some few years later was made an Archbishop's vicariate, Dr. Carew being raised to that dignity. To these we must add the Archbishop of Goa, formerly Primate of the Indies, whose diocese has been narrowed to the small limit of the Portuguese possessions. These arrangements of the Holy See have been disputed by certain Portuguese and Indo-Portuguese priests, who, 6S HISTORY OF THE NEW MISSION OF MADURA, themselves unable to manage this immense country, could not bear to see it transferred to other hands. To miderstand the state of things in this respect, to explain the opposition of Portugal and those influ- enced by her to the new arrangements of the Pope, — to describe, in short, what is called the Goa schism, which so miserably checked the progress of religion in India for many years past, — it is necessary here to give a slight sketch of what may be called the j)olitical history of Christianity in India. Among the Portuguese navigators who found their way to Hindostan by sea in the fifteenth century were many knights of the Order of Christ, one of the military- religious orders instituted to fight against Mahommed- anism. Many persons then thought that an attack made on those Eastern countries whence Islamism de- rived its strength would, by creating a diversion, much benefit those who were endeavouring to drive it from Europe ; and with this view these knights joined in the voyage of discovery set on foot by the Infant Don Henry of Portugal, their Grand-Master. To them, for the protection of Christianity, the first attributions of Indian territory were made by the Holy See, and not to the Portuguese king or nation. Li those times, the idea of taking possession of a newly discovered country by planting the national flag had not arisen, and all Europe considered the Pope as the arbitrator of differences, and as having supreme spiritual authority in the whole world. In the first grants, made later on by successive Popes to the Portuguese crown of all the territory they might conquer in India, no mention whatever was made of the right of patronage, as it is called, which has been so fertile a source of some good and of great evil. Por- tugal was, however, authorised to build churches and monasteries in the countries she conquered, and to send AJSTD OF THE INDO-PORTUGUESE SCHISM. 69 missioners tliither. Leo X. was the first Pope who granted any right of patronage in these Eastern countries ; but lie attached to it, as a condition, that Christianity should be maintained and protected by the government ; at the same time the right of advowson was limited to those districts of which Portugal then was, or might after- wards be, actually f)ossessed. On these terms, four bishop- rics were, at different times, erected in Hindostan, and in 1557 Goa, the chief seat of Portuguese power, was erected into an archbishopric, to which the others were made suffragans. The kings of Portugal very soon tried to claim under these grants far more extensive rights than had been intended by the Sovereign Pontiffs, and Urban VIII. refused to acknowledge the influence which they claimed to have over the nomination of Bishops-suffragan to Ma- nilla, and also over the Bishops and Vicars- Apostolic sent to Japan in 1646, and afterwards to China. Portugal not only protested vehemently against this resistance to her aggressions, but ordered the governor of Macao, under pain of death, to let no one enter China who did not come from Portugal, and closed the African Missions in the same manner. In this extremity, the power of no- mination to the sees of Cranganor and Cochin was yielded to the King of Portugal, though both places were under Dutch rule. Alexander VIII. extended the grant to the bishoprics of Pekin and Nankin in China ; but it gave rise to such disorders, that in 1696 Innocent XII. dismembered these dioceses, to establish more solidly the authority of Vicars-Apostolic ; and the resistance of Portugal to the change was vam. As for the episcopal sees in India, they were placed under the patronage of the Por- tuguese crown only on condition that they should be re- gularly endowed by the king in the districts of which he was master. The Holy See never gave up the right of modifying 70 HISTORY OF THE NEW MISSION OF MADUEA, the limits of these dioceses, or making all necessary- changes, whether they continued to be under Portuguese dominion or not, as we find in the brief issued by Cle- ment X. in 1673, Solidtudo pastoralis, and also in the words contained in the brief for the erection of each see : ^^ Jus patronatus ex meris fundationi et dotationi compe- tere''' — " The right of patronage arises solely from foun- dation and endowment." It is therefore evident, that in reducing the extent of these ancient bishoprics, and even in suppressing them, the Holy See acted with uprightness and justice, whilst the opposition on the part of the Portuguese crown had lost all semblance of reason. For not only had Portugal entirely ceased to afford assistance and protection to the Catholic Missions in India, but had, moreover, seized upon and confiscated all ecclesiastical and Mission pro- perty within their reach. In 1836 the Vicar-Apostolic of Verapoly writes : " Since the change of government, the Court of Lisbon has ordered the magistrate last sent out to Groa not to give a farthing to ministers of the Gospel employed beyond the Portuguese territory; we may therefore feel assured that all pretensions to the right of patronage over the sees of Cochin, Cranganor, and Meliapore is abandoned." " For a long time," he adds, " there have been no Portuguese Bishops at Goa, at Cranganor, at Cochin, or at Meliapore ;" and con- cludes with Cardinal Fornari, in accordance with most doctors of canon law, that " when the cause for which the patronage was granted has ceased, the right of pa- tronage ceases also." The Holy See, however, hesitated to exercise its un- doubted right, and in 1832 Cardinal Pedicini, Prefect of the Propaganda, presented a request to the Portu- guese ambassador that his sovereign would either fulfil the obligations undertaken with regard to the Indian AND OF THE INDO-POETUGUESE SCHISM. 71 bishoprics, or would renounce pretensions which put a stop to all good in that country, and rendered ecclesias- tical government impossible. He pointed out that Por- tugal now possessed nothing but Goa, and that of all its former territories nothing remained but the claim of patronage, xchicli it could not exercise. He therefore suggested that the Portuguese sovei'eign should name a new Archbishop of Goa, and that the other Sees should in future be considered as ordinary Foreign Missions. Still nothing was done till Gregory XVI. determined to act decisively, and began by erecting, with the consent and approbation of the English Government, vicariates- apostolic at Calcutta and at Madras, in 1834. Great opposition was made to this by Portugal ; but the salva- tion of too many souls was at stake to allow any yielding on the part of Rome to claims so unreasonable. The Portuguese clergy seemed to have long acted on the prin- ciple, that it was better to let the people perish for want of religious aid, than to see them receive it from Turkish Bishops, as they called the Vicars- Apostolic, whose titles were taken from extinct sees in Asia Minor. They now strove to call in the help of the secular power and of the English Government, to check the execution of the Papal decrees. In 1836 the Sacred Congregation met to find means of remedying such abuses, and the celebrated brief, Multa Prceclare, was carefully prepared; and meantime two more vicariates-apostolic, at Ceylon and Madura, were created. To the latter no nomination was immediately made, and its administration was temporarily committed to Mgr. Bonnand, Vicar-Apostolic of the Coromandel Coast. In 1838 a special decree annexed the old diocese of Meliapore to the vicariate-apostolic of Madras, and the dioceses of Cranganor and Cochin to the vicariate of Verapoly, on the Malabar coast. The Archbishopric 72 HISTOET OF THE NEW MISSION OF MADURA, of Goa had then been so long vacant, that the Portu- guese clergy in India, having no one to recruit their numbers by fresh ordinations, were gradually becoming extinct, when unfortunately Portugal, aroused from its long apathy, and pretending to enter into the views of the Holy See, demanded canonical institution of a new Archbishop of Goa, wdio, however, made a solemn promise to the Roman Legate at Lisbon that he would submit to the arrangements of the brief Multa Prceclare. No sooner had he reached Hindostan than he confirmed all that the Goa clergy had done to oppose the new Vicars- Apostolic of British Lidia. He even went further, and availino; himself of some words inserted in his Bull of Listitution, to which he gave an explanation completely at variance with the intentions of the Holy See, he claimed all the rights of his predecessors, as Primate of Lidia, notwithstanding a brief which accompanied the Bull, and by which the Pope commanded him to respect the jurisdiction of the Vicars-Apostolic. He immediately ordained an immense number of clergy of all grades, taken from every rank of life ; many of them quite uneducated, and but few in any degree competent for the ministry. This step insulted a long continuance of the nearly extinct schism caused by the previous opposition of the clergy of Portuguese origin to the establishment of the Vicars- Apostolic. The Arch- bishop also encouraged the intrusive Bishop-elect of Meliaporo, nominated by Portugal, but rejected by Rome, and never conscci'ated. Moreover, the Bishop proceeded soon after to the visitation of his assumed diocese, and by so doing gave occasion to serious dis- turbances in many places. It is needless to point out the bad impression which all this made on the heathen portion of the Hindoos, or its still more deplorable effects on the Christians, who could hardly comprehend AND OF THE INT)0-PORTUGUESE CONCORDAT. 73 the point in question, which was one of disciphno, not of doctrine. The Holy See found severe cause of complaint against the Archbishop of Goa for his singularly arbitrary and uncanonical conduct. He was, in consequence, recalled to Eiu'ope ; and, having apologised for, and in some degree repaired, the scandal he had given, he was nomi- nated coadjutor to the Archbishop of Braga, and soon after died in sentiments of sincere rej)entance. Dm'ing all this time negotiations were j^ending be- tween the Holy See and the Court of Portugal ; and Mgr., now Cardinal, de Pietro was appointed by Rome, and sent to Lisbon to draw up a new Concordat. After long discussions and difficulties, this Concordat was signed at Lisbon, February 21st, 1857 ; but on accoimt of fi'esh difficulties occasioned by the impracticability of the Portuguese officials, the ratifications were only ex- changed in 1859 ; and it was not till the following year that its existence was officially notified to the Vicars- Apostolic in India. Though in many respects contrary to their opinions, and their repeated solicitations ; though it seemed to put an end to all their dearest hopes of success in the object for which they had undertaken a life of toil and privation in the bm'ning climate of Lidia, this Concordat was immediately published by the Vicars- Apostolic. It was the will of Rome ; that was sufficient for them. It is useless to enter into a full detail of this document ; the more so, as the constant difficulties raised by the Portuguese, as to its bearings and purport, as well as their complete inability to fulfil its conditions, make it daily less and less likely ever to be fully carried out. In brief, its principal provisions were : 1. Arrangements for the nomination of a new Arch- bishop of Goa, and a definition of his diocese and of his jurisdiction. 74 HISTORY OF THE NEW MISSION OF MADURA, 2. Stipulations for the erection of fresli bishoprics for Portuguese Bishops in the former Portuguese (now- British) territories in India, amongst which, in particu- lar, were named Meliapore (or Madras), Cochin, and Malacca (all British possessions) ; and with them, in the same category, was named Macao, a strictly Portuguese colonial settlement. 3. Power was granted to the Portuguese Govern- ment, gradually, and in course of time, wdien it should suit their ability and wish, to define and establish new bishoprics for Portuguese Bishops over sundry other portions of British India ; thus gradually empowering a future Portuguese hierarchy to supersede and displace the Vicars-Apostolic, and absorb their vicariates on certain conditions. 4. Six years were granted to Portugal to define and determine the means at her disposal to effect these changes and carry out these conditions ; and during this time an extraordinary jurisdiction was granted to the Ai'chbishop of Goa over all those churches and clergy who, at the date of signatui'e, were still in open resistance to the Vicars-Apostolic in whose vicariates their churches were situated. Portugal was thus gradually to assume the right of establishing an exclusively Portuguese hierarchy over the greater part of British India, of supporting the sees, and filling them with Portuguese subjects, to the virtual exclusion of all other ecclesiastics, British subjects in- cluded. The Portuguese diplomatists at Rome repeatedly asserted that these arrangements were a matter of such complete indifference to the British Government, that, though perfectly cognisant of them, no sort of of>position or disapprobation was expressed. At the commencement of the year 1863 the Vicars- Apostolic announced the new order of things to their AND OF THE INDO-PORTUGUESE CONCORDAT. 75 flocks, and the peace thus made with the Goanese schismatics. The adherents of Portugal, on the other hand, con- sidered this Concordat as a real triumph for their party ; whilst the Vicars- Apostolic, who understood the serious detriment which the full execution of the Concordat would probably cause to religion, consoled themselves with the hope that in some way Providence would hear their earnest prayers, and interpose a remedy to the impending evil. In the mean time the Apostolic and Portuguese Com- missaries commenced their labours ; and each succeed- ing conference showed more and more clearly that Por- tugal was determined only to execute such portions of the Concordat as were for her own advantage, and to ignore the rest. The Apostolic Commissaries soon became most pain- fully impressed with the ignorance, incapacity, and venality of the Indo-Portuguese clergy. Change of climate and disappointment weighed too heavily on a constitution already enfeebled by years, and the Right Rev. Commissary died at the Neilgherry Hills, in the month of May, whither he had gone for change of air and rest, heartbroken at the hopeless task before him. As soon as this news reached Rome, his secretary, and his assessor Mgr. Howard, as well as a French missioner of experience. Father Despommiers, since consecrated Vi- car-Apostolic of Coimbatour, who had been named second assessor to the Apostolic Commissary, were all called to Rome, to explain what had taken place. They were the bearers of petitions and letters from the Vicars- Apostolic, and even from the laity of the various con- gregations, which tlu'ew much light on the state of things, and showed how very incorrect were the rej)re- sentations of Portugal, in consequence of which the Concordat had been granted. 76 HISTORY OF THE NEW MISSION OF MADURA, ETC. Immediately after their return, the Holy Father ordered a detailed account of the whole affair to be drawn up and presented to him. This was submitted to a special council of Cardinals to report upon. After mature consideration, the council met in June 1864. The Pope himself ^jresided. The result has not been officially published ; but, at all events, no further steps have been taken in carrying out a Concordat which now seems tacitly to be considered impossible. The prevailing opinion seems to be that his Holiness will soon establish a regular ecclesiastical hierarchy in India, in accordance with the present political and religious position of the country. A step which has been the cause of so much peace and profit to the Catholic churches in England and Holland cannot be without its good effect in India. Such a measure, if resisted by the existing Groanese priests in India, may cause trouble for a time, but must eventually lead to peace and order. CHAPTER VL DAILY LIFE AND JOUENEYS OF THE MISSIONERS — CON- SEQUENT MORTALITY AMONGST THEM. In imitation of the great Apostle St. Paul, and follow- ing in the steps of Father de Nobili, the founder of the Mission of Madm'a, it is the daily effort of the Fathers, who are there striving to gain souls to Christ, to make themselves " all to all." The same zeal which has made the Catholic missioner adopt the hard and wandering life of the savage in order to convert him to Clu-ist, has inspired the Jesuit in India to make himself an Indian. Rice and water must replace the bread which was his daily food in civilised life ; liquor he must never touch, but as a medicine ; wine and meat must be most sparingly used; beds, chairs, and tables become ponderous luxu- ries, wdiich can be only occasionally met with ; but per- haps the worst privation of all is the want of a good house, wherein to seek some repose and rest from the intolerable heat of the sun. A small, low hut of clay and thatch is but too often the only place of rest during the heat of the day, after a night spent in the saddle or cart, and a long morning in prayer and instruction amongst the Christians. His clothing, too, is entirely changed, and consists of a white or yellow soutane, called an angwy, of native shape ; a red sash ; and a flow- ing muslin scarf, worn either over the shoulders, or around the head as a turban over the red cap made in the same shape as that of the penitents of the country ; the feet are 78 DAILY LIFE AND JOUKNEYS OF THE MISSIONERS. protected by wooden sandals or red slippers. This costume, worn with a long flowing beard, forms such an ensemble that the European is with difficulty recognised at first sight. Besides his change in food, habitation, and dress, the Indian missioner must also change his whole exterior, and never indulge in fi'iendly, familiar con- versation, except in private, when he may chance to meet a confrere. With the Hindoos, whether Christian disciples or sei'vants, he must be amiable, kind, and very charitable, but must stand on the greatest reserve, and keep every one at the most formal distance. He must never think of eating with or in the presence of his congregation, and his disciples and servants must always stand respectfully in his presence. The missioner's habitual daily life is to travel from village to village, to administer the Holy Sacraments to his people. At all those villages where he makes a casual or annual visit he is received with triumph by the assembled Christians, who come out to meet him with flags and native music,* and conduct him to the church or chapel, where, after the first usual prayers, he announces to the people the length of his stay, the order * Native music is more noisy than melodious. The Hin- doo cannot at all appreciate symphony or hannony. The more noise, the better the music. The instruments are, large and small drums and half-drums ; a sort of scieeching clarionet, blown with a reed, of loud and harsh notes, and small compass ; also a combou, or very large S-shaped trumpet, which is a grand instrument for its purpose — the note is loud, clear, and ring- ing, braying, harsh, and brassy, or low, wailing, and plaintive, in turn. Those well skilled in the use of this instrument will continue an unbroken note or blended succession of notes for some minutes, without perceptible interruption. The total cessation of sound is prevented by blowing a very low, clear note with the last mouthful of air impelled into the instrument by the muscular action of the cheeks, whilst they inflate the lungs again through the nose. DAILY LIFE AND JOURNEYS OF THE MISSIONERS. 79 of the prayers and duties for each day, and then gives them a fervent exhortation to profit by his presence, and approach the Sacraments worthily. The following is the usual order of the day in a villacre visitation : At three in the afternoon the cate- chist assembles all those who are preparing for the Sacraments, and reads to them a Preparation for Con- fession, which explains the whole of the dogmatic belief, and also is mixed with fervent prayers to excite the necessary sentiments in the soul. Tlie missioner then gives a public instruction, explaining the guilt of sin, and exhorting to contrition and amendment, and shows some striking pictures representing death, judgment, hell, and heaven, and the judgments of God upon sinners. These pictures often produce more effect upon their minds than the most fervent exhortations ; and when they are well impressed with their meaning, he shows them the crucifix, and explains how our merciful Lord, by His death and suffering, has redeemed us all, and given us all grace, if we only choose to avail ourselves of His mercy. He speaks to them of the love of Christ, and of the infinite merits of His precious Blood, communicated to us in the Holy Sacraments. Then the Act of Contrition, and other beautiful Tamul prayers written by the ancient missioners, are recited. Then the confessions begin, and continue often till mid- night, to be resumed again in the earliest morning before Mass. At sunrise in the morning the bell rings, to call all the people to Mass ; and before it begins, the catechist reads the prayers and instructions for Holy Communion, which are followed by an instruction from the priest himself During the Holy Sacrifice, the Acts of Faith, Hope, Charity, and Contrition are recited aloud by the catechist, to prepare the people for receiving the Body and Blood of our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion. 80 DAILY LIFE AND FATIGUES OF THE MISSIONEES. After Mass, there is another exhortation, to encourage all who have approached to the holy table to piety and perseverance. At nine a.m. the missioner takes his meagre breakfast, and says his own prayers and Office, and rests a little. Li the afternoon he receives the visits of all those who may wish to speak to him or ask his advice ; he settles all the disputes and difficulties which may be brought to his notice by the catechist or by the elders of the village. He also receives the visits and examines the motives and conduct of those who may wish to become Christians, and appoints and ar- ranges due means for their instruction ; or else on another day he baptises the children, examines the pro- gress in catechism, and performs the marriages. Thus, in full employment, with little spare time, the week or ten days spent in the village pass by ; and when the work is done, the Father goes on to another, to recommence the same labour. He leaves the village surrounded by his whole flock, whom he blesses at his departure, and goes on his way, accompanied by their prayers, half worn out with fatigue, but consoled by the real good done in the name and by the grace of Christ. Thus the missioner, especially if his district be large, has never time to rest. His work is always intense, and very fatiguing ; his food is indifferent ; and, from the bad accommodation afforded by his small hut, his rest even at night is seldom sufficient to recruit his strength. It is no wonder, then, that so many have sunk under the fatigue, and rapidly added their names to the long list of tliose who have suffered and given their lives for love of Christ. And this sacrifice of valuable lives must continue mitil tlie means of the Mission are sufficient to supply better food to the Fathers, and until native priests can be formed and educated to live in the villages and reside amongst their flocks, as in Catholic countries. MORTALITY AMONGST THE MISSIONERS. 81 The want of funds to support and educate priests has at times pressed so heavily on the Mission as in no small degree to paralyse its action ; and therefore it has been necessary to aj3peal to the charity of Europe for assist- ance. Nor has that appeal been vain ; and the funds so charitably given twelve years ago have been productive of immense fruits and developments in the Madura Mis- sion. God, who knows and sees how each alms was given, and the good done by it, has doubtless, accord- ing to His own true promise, showered His blessings upon the charitable givers, and restored to them, even in this world, the hundredfold promised by the mouth of Christ Himself* The greater part of the missioners who have toiled in the new Mission of Madura, and raised it to its present * The following mortviaiy list of the Jesviit Fathers and Brothers who have died since the reestablishment of the Mission may not jn'ove uninteresting; and as some who read this little book may find in it the name of a friend or acquaint- ance, it is worth inserting. Names of Missioners who have died on the Madura Mission since its reestablishment. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. Name. F. Fidele Alex. Martin F. Eduard de Bournet F. Alex, de Sansardos F. Victor Cliarignon . F. Pierre Faurie . . F, L. Gamier de Falton F. Pierre Descliamps . F. Louis du Banquet . F. Frangois Perrin . . F. Walter Clifford . . F. Joseph Berlendis F. Victor Daugnac . . F. Gabriel de St. Fereol F. Anthony O'Keuny . Date of Death. May 30, 1840 June 15, 1840 , Feb. 3, 1843 Feb. 21, 1843 , July 3, 1843 . July 5, 1843 Oct. 17, 1843 Nov. 8, 1843 . Nov. 12, 1843 May 2, 1844 Oct. 6, 1845 , May 7, 1846 July 19, 1846 July 20, 1846 Time Cause of in Mission. Death. Yrs. Mo. Dys. 2 8 3 6 1 8 Cholera. 8 Cholera. 10 5 8 12 1 17 Cholera. 6 Cholera. 2 12 3 1 5 17 1 8 10 Cholera. 10 Cholera. G 82 MORTALITY AMONGST THE MISSIONERS. position of success, have been French. Some were Italians, and some few English. The Frenchman is undoubtedly the best missioner amongst the natives ; for though often deficient in perseverance under difficulties in the ordinary concerns of life, he possesses a smgular power of applying his whole energies to attaining the No. Name. Date of Death. 1 in j\ Yrs. ime lission. Cause of Deatli. Mo. Dys. 15. F. Desir6 Audibert . . July 22, 1846 . 2 3 Cholera. 16. F. — . Barret .... July 31, 1846 . 7 Cholera. 17. Br. Almeida (Schol.)* . July 20, 1847 . 2 24 18. Br. F. Alvares (Schol.)* Jan. 23, 1849 . 1 3 Cholera. 19. F. Charles Ponsdevier Aug. 11, 1849. 1 1 14 20. F. Dominique Sartorio March 10, 1850 2 3 2 Cholera. 21. F. Benjamin Cauneille June 1, 1851 . 4 1 14 22. F. Pierre Brissaud . . Oct. 30, 1851 . 9 1 23. F. Jo.se2)h, Sen. . . . Nov. 20, 1852 . 3 6 11 24. F. Joseph Gury . . . Aug. 4, 1853 . 14 6 25. F. Jean Galtier . . . Aug. 26, 1853 . 5 9 Cholera. 26. F. Prospere Bertrand . March 23, 1854 9 11 27. F. Vincent Hugla . . July 27, 1854 . 10 3 7 Cholera. 28. F. Jean Combe . . . Aug. 8, 1854 . 12 2 13 Cholera. 29. F. Charles du Banquet Sept. 23, 1854. 9 15 30. F. Andre Richard . . Feb. 9, 1855 . 9 7 31. F. Jules Bilks . . . March 17, 1856 7 4 Cholera. 32. F. Claude Compain March 20, 1858 2 3 Cholera. 33. F. Pierre Perrin . . Aug. 19, 1858 . 18 1 34. F. Leopold Beausoit . Dec. 3, 1858 . 5 3 35. F. Eusebe de Mont Dec. 25, 1858 . 1 10 6 Cholera. 36. F. Ernest Bigot . . . May 17, 1861 . 5 10 24 37. F. Antoine Eebitte . . July 3, 1861 . 4 Cholera. 38. F. A''ictor de Lorde . . Oct. 20, 1861 . 3 8 13 39. F. Joseph Cunningham Dec. 6, 1861 . 8 1 14 40. F. Victor du Banquet . March 2, 1862 13 8 Cholera. 41. F. Jacques Wilmet Nov. 17, 1862 . 21 4 17 42. F. Jerome Mazza . . Dec. 31, 1862 . 13 8 43. F. Eugene Rossignol . Jan. 25, 1863 . 2 4 Cholera. 44. F. — . Verniere died near Aden, on his voyage to the ; iidies, of heat-apoplexy. 45. F. Marin Chevalier died i n November 1863 iu France, his health having obliged hina tc ) return. He had passed fifteen years on the Mission. Novice. MORTALITY AMONGST THE MISSIONEES. 83 immediate object in view. When he devotes himself to rehgion, his character loses its egotism, and acquires a motive for action which secures constant effort, and makes him ever ready to renew his sacrifice of self, and show his consideration for others both with natural politeness and supernatural charity. The Italian seldom leaves his own country, and remains too strongly wedded to his early ideas ever to be able entirely to cast them off like the Frenchman. He is therefore less supple and amiable, and less winning in his way of acting with the natives. The Englishman is the least fitted to succeed with the native, especially in a country where his race is dominant. However excellent and supernatural his mo- tives and intentions may be, the great national fault of preference of what is English over every thing else con- stantly crops out ; his presence is not only useful, but necessary in the great centres of European power in India, where none can succeed so well with his own countrymen ; but his place is not amongst the timid Hindoos, toiling, with daily patience, to bring souls into the fold of Christ. CHAPTER VII. NOTICE ON THE LIVES OF F. MARTIN, F. LOUIS GAENIER, F. CLIFFORD, F. P. PERRIN, F. JACQUES WILMET. Father Alexander Martin. Father Alexander Fidelis Martin was born at Nismes, 1 5 tli December 1798, of a pious family, in easy circumstances. After having finished his secular studies, at the age of twenty-one he entered the Society of Jesus, from a strong feeling of interior conviction that it was the will of God in his regard. This strong conviction, joined to his admiration for the excellences of religious life as a means to serve God with sincerity, supported him through his arduous career without any of those consolations and attractions of heartfelt affection for the religious state which make it such a happiness and bless- ing, even here below, to many. ' There are several, and those not the least efficient workers, who enter as la- bourers in the vineyai'd of Clu-ist from the one strong conviction that it is " His will." Tlieir whole life is a constant struggle betvveen natural inclination and super- natural grace; their career is a daily cross patiently borne on the road to Calvaiy. Such a vocation is by no means less real or less solid than that of those who embrace religious life without hesitation or struiro-le. It is only doing for Christ, supported by faith and hope, what each one has to do for this world, if he would succeed in it. F. Martin's theological studies were made at Rome LIFE OF FATHER ALEXANDER MARTIN. 85 with good success ; but he was remarkable for his firm- ness of character and steady regularity in all his duties. After his ordination he was sent into Portugal, whither the Jesuits had been recalled by Don Miguel. He was amongst the first of the Order to return to a kingdom from which the Jesuits had been so cruelly expelled by the unscrupulous Pombal. F. Martin and his com- panions were received with the greatest enthusiasm in the College of Coimbra, formerly so famous. Shortly after, however, war broke out between Don Miguel and Don Pedro, the ex-Emperor of Brazil, who pretended to the crown of Portugal in behalf of his daughter, Doiia Maria. For the two years that the civil war lasted, F. Martin and his confrhes were constantly employed in the hospitals attending the sick and wounded in the midst of cholera and typhus. Victory at length declared itself for Don Pedro ; since which moment Portugal has hourly sunk in the scale of nations, and her national decline has been marked by her successive aggressions against the Catholic Chm'ch. One of the very first decrees of the victorious party was for the instant sup- pression of the Jesuits ; and F. Martin, with his com- panions, were marched on foot, guarded and treated as felons, from Coimbra to Lisbon. There they were thrown into the prison of Fort St. Julian, where so many of their bretlu'en some sixty years before had died and suffered under the cruel edicts of Pombal. The French Government having claimed them as subjects, they were, after a time, delivered from prison, and re- turned to France. For a year F. Martin lived in retirement and prayer, and seems then still more firmly than ever to have made those strong resolutions which form the soul to the more earnest service of God, and open the road to high sanctity. He I'esolved to attain to this sanctity, cost what it would. He strove for it, and not 86 LIFE OF FATHER ALEXANDER MARTIN. without success, though he had to struggle against more difficulties than most men, and to work painfully up the narrow waj step by step. His was one of those characters which can only gain the crown of heaven by violence ; and he never yielded, but fought to the end. In 1836, when the Mission of Madura was restored to the Society, F. Martin was one of the four chosen for the important duty of reopening the Mission. And before the end of the following year, FF. Martin and Du Banquet were duly installed in charge of the south- ern part of the Mission at Tinnevelly and Palamcottah. This country is divided into two distinct districts, and inhabited by two very distinct races of people — the fishermen, or Paravas, along the coast from the Cape to Tuticorin, the lineal descendants of those converted by St. Francis Xavier ; and the cultivators, or agricul- tural class. Amongst the fishermen great ignorance pre- vailed ; for though there were still priests amongst them, their ignorance and indifference to their duties left the congregations entirely deprived of all the means of instruction, and exposed to vice, scandal, and super- stition. Many of their priests were natives of Goa, and had consented to take charge of the churches in these distant parts of India merely as a means of enabling them to retire and live " at home at ease," after some years of absence spent in amassing money by every means in their power, and in the most sad forgetfulness of the holiness of their state. At this time a native chief or prince, without any real legal authority, had immense influence over the whole caste of the Paravas. His will was law, and no one dared to oppose him. From his iingovcrnable cha- racter and intriguing spirit of falsehood, it was almost impossible to improve the morals or guide the religious ideas of those who were under his sway. LIFE OF FATHER ALEXANDER MARTENT. 87 The other portion of the Mission consisted of the Christians who lived in the interior of tlie country, and who had been for years ahnost destitute of all religious assistance. It was chiefly amongst the heathens of this district that the great efforts of the much-boasted Pro- testant Mission of Tinnevelly were made, and for a time with considerable apparent sviccess. One of their prin- cipal men was the German missionary Rhenius, who learnt the language perfectly, and was a man of un- questionable talent and energy of character. He used to say of himself, that if Luther had not made the Re- formation, he would have tried it himself. Under his energetic and talented direction, the Protestant Mission of Tinnevelly was at its highest point of success. This was the state of things when F. Martin and his companion arrived, to strive to build up again the king- dom of Clu'ist and restore the former state of the Mis- sion, so flourishing before our Fathers had been driven from it by the suppression of the Society in the last cen- tury. Full of confidence in God, they applied themselves earnestly to the task ; and from that moment dates the gradual decay of the Protestant Mission, which is now rather a subject of distress than of congratulation to its supporters. Defections to Paganism also ceased to take place; several of those families which had relapsed were recovered again, and many Pagans were converted. The Christian congregations changed their whole appear- ance, and a new spirit was diffusing itself all around. However, a trial — and a severe one — was in store for F. Martin. The chief of the Paravas on the coast, and some bad catechists in the interior, who had been the instruments of, and the gainers by, the money specu- lations of the Goanese priests, raised a violent opposition to the two Fathers, especially F. Martin. The great mass of the Clmstian population had been gained by the 88 LIFE OF FATHER ALEXANDER MARTIN. Fathers, and remained true to them, in spite of the acts of violence, the schemes, and the vexatious and false law- suits raised against them. Yet even here, as has so often happened in the history of more civilised countries, a turbulent minority determined to gain an end, and, indifferent as to what means they used, seemed likely to triumph for a time over their more numerous and timid brethren — timid because they were conscientious. At Tuticorin, F. Martin was literally driven out of the church ; and the excitement became so violent that his superiors, in the hopes of allaying the storm, removed him from the place, and sent him as superior to the neighbouring district. Thus was an apparent peace established for a time only, to be disturbed by a more violent storm immediately after. F. Martin found his new district of Marava in an almost hopeless state. The Goanese party, by raising that cry which often so instinctively and powerfully ap- peals to the Protestant English mind, had gained the imqualified support of the English magistrates. They exclaimed against the tyranny of Rome in sending out foreign priests to interfere with their vested interests ; and immediately an order was passed by the magistrates, forbid- ding the Christian congregations to have any thing Avhat- ever to do with the French priests, even where the whole congregation was unanimous, and where their churches were built by and belonged to themselves. By these and several other regulations of a similar nature, the whole of the Catholic Christian population was completely dis- com'aged ; the memory of their old Fathers, who had converted their ancestors, made them long to be blessed with their presence ; the fear of the regulations against them made them dread to declare too 0})cnly for them. For seven months did F. Martin, with all the energy of his character, toil and labour amongst this frightened LIFE OF FATHER LOUIS GARNIER DE FALTON. 89 flock, encouraging them, preaching to them, bringing numbers back to the long-disused practices of religion. At length, over-fatigue and want of proper nourishment brought on dysentery, which, after some days, showed all the symptoms of cholera ; and before any of his confreres could reach him to console him in his dying moments, he had breathed his last, at the village of Ideicatoor, in the midst of his Christians kneeling around him in earnest prayer. " Whether the Fathers come in time or not, I am in the hands of Grod — His holy will be done ! — that is sufficient for me," were his last words.* F. Martin was of a singularly manly, energetic character, and had much to struo-o-le with : his life was one of constant and severe mortification of himself. The Indians loved and revered him, both in hfe and after death ; his tomb be- came a pilgrimage ; and many Christians, and heathens too, testified to the favoui-s they obtained. Father Louis Garnier de Falton. Father Louis Garnier was born in Franche Comte, the 12th February 1805, of an old French noble and military family. At the age of twenty, whilst making his studies at Paris, he felt himself called to the Society of Jesus. He offered himself at the novitiate of Mont Rouge, and was accepted, in 1825. He then went to Rome for his theological studies, and there made the acquaintance of the celebrated P. Ryllo. They became friends for life. When his studies were finished at Rome, F. Gai'nier retm'ned to France, and gave himself heart * F. Bertrand readied liis liut a few hours after lie had bi-eathed his last, and with sorrowing heart laid in the grave this first life-otfering of the restored Mission of Madura. 90 LIFE OF FATHER LOUIS GARNIER DE FALTON. and soul to the laborious work of preaching missions with Father Sellier. Soon after, being chosen as one of those who were to recommence the Jesuit Mission in South India, he started from Bordeaux, with his three companions, — FF. Ber- trand, Martin, Du Ranquet. His first labours in India were at Pondicherrj ; but in 1838 he was put in charge of the large congregation at Trichinopolj, one of the largest in numbers in any part of India, and composed of all castes of natives, with a large half-caste population and a considerable Europeaii garrison. There, as in the other parts of the country, the native priests were entirely unfit for, and neglectful of, their high ecclesiastical du- ties, and sought for nothing but the means of making money. For many long years there had been neither confessions nor instructions, neither sermons nor even catechisms. Tlie Catholic soldiers, especially, were be- reft of all help, except being able to hear Mass in a miserable and ill-kept chapel, in the worst part of the native town, on Sundays. The state of religion in Trichi- nopoly, where it had once been so flourishing, told much in the neighbouring districts, and whole villages had ceased to be Christian, because there was no one to break to them the bread of life. Besides, and in conse- quence of this total want of instruction, the Christians were all split up into parties, — strife and quarrelling were rife amongst them, and the most mortal hatreds existed. The Christians in Trichinopoly and its neighbourhood amounted to about 10,()()0. F. Garnier found himself alone in presence of the immense spiritual wants of this large po])ulation. He set to work with ardent zeal; and, in spite of the greatest opposition and difficidties from all quarters, he gradually succeeded in gaining ground ; and Trichinopoly, instead of being one of the worst and most abandoned districts, LIFE OF FATHEK LOUIS GARNIER DE FALTON. 91 became one of the best. The Lido-Portuguese priests were his most active and energetic enemies ; but it would be impossible to enter into any detail of his crosses, his troubles, and his fatigues. His frank, soldierly bear- ing, his honourable and gentlemanly principles, soon gained him the good-will of the British officers, civil and military, with whom he came in contact. His energy, his justice, and his indefatigable industry in labouring for their welfare, gained him the respect and love, as well as the fear, of the Hindoos, amongst whom it may be said that these three qualities must always be found together, — they can neither respect nor love with any constancy where they do not fear. The great majority of the Christians gradually submitted to him in Trichi- nopoly, and he received the adhesion of all those to the north of the river Cauvery, as well as at Aour and other places. At the same time he acquired possession of a large piece of ground in the cantonments, and there con- structed a chm-ch, which is still one of the iinest in the Mission, and is the Cathedral of the Bishop. F. Garnier also built an excellent house, in which he intended to establish a college ; but as, later on, it was found that Trichinopoly was too unhealthy for such an establish- ment, the college was removed to Negapatam ; and the house now serves as an excellent residence for the BishojD and his clergy. In one of his letters about this time he says : " I am always either in the combat or on the march : it is, then, impossible for me to give that care to the Chris- tians which they need. I am constantly busy in reclaim- ing legally my rights, or refuting the numerous calum- nies and falsehoods asserted against us. All this takes time ; and I am unable to break the bread of life to the famished multitude of Christian hearts which press con- stantly around me. You have a number of Fathers in Europe who long to share in the cross and sufferings of 92 LIFE OF FATHER LOUIS GARNIER DE FALTON. our Blessed Lord. Oh, do, then, meet their wishes and grant their desires as soon as possible ! Here they will have plenty to do and to suffer, and they will labour usefully for the glory of God." Father Gamier, after some time, really succeeded in gathering up and consolidating the congregation of Trichinopoly. His magnificent new church was so- lemnly consecrated by the Bishop of Pondicherry ; and, finding fresh help arrive from Europe, he made over the European military and half-caste congregation to the Hon. and Rev. F. Clifford, the first English Catholic priest who had ever been in that part of India, intrusted his large native congregation to others, and then went farther south to seek for new fields for his more experi- enced exertions, and for other Christians to reform and bring back to the open profession and practice of their religion. The large and ancient native city of Madm*a was the fresh field of his labours — the city which gives its name to the whole Mission, and a title to the Vicar- Apostolic. There, too, he gathered the scattered and vminstructed Christians around, taught and disciplined them in the way their fathers had been taught to walk by the missioners of the old society, and there also he built a handsome church and a commodious house for the rest and retirement of the Fathers, who already filled or were hastening to the different posts around. At the same time, he gave the help of his talents and experience to the Fathers who were toiling in the districts of Marava and Dindigul, who were hard pressed on every side in their labours for their congreo-ations. By this time the labours and the success of F. Gar- nier were well known in Europe. He was looked upon as one of the most remarkable and successful of the missioners; his talent in conceiving, and rajiidity in LIFE OF FATHER LOUIS GARNIER DE FALTON. 93 executing, what was really useful, struck all with ad- miration. Besides this, he had the peculiar and rare quality of making himself as much beloved as he was admired, as well both by the native Christians as by his Eui'opean confreres. All these qualities seemed to indi- cate him as the best and most competent person to be named as Superior of the Mission, when F. Bertrand was obliged to resign and return to Europe from extreme ill health. And this return to Europe was only con- sented to by F. Bertrand, not because it gave him some hopes of health — for he was as ready as any other of his confreres to die at his post — but because the development of the Mission had rendered it absolutely necessary for some one well acquainted with all its wants and require- ments to go to Europe. F. Garnier was therefore named Superior on the 15th August 1842, to the uni- versal satisfaction and joy of all wdio knew him. With his superiority began a new era for the Mis- sion. He communicated to his brethren his own activity and energy, which has never been lost, and to which is mainly owing its present development. F. Garnier taught his confreres what might be attempted and what might be done by energetic zeal supported by a truly religious spirit. This feeling has become, as it were, traditional, and has been carefully fostered by the pre- sent Bishop, Mgi'. Canoz. If F. Garnier had done nothino; else but infuse this spirit in his short superiority, it would have been a great deal ; but, besides this, he continued his own personal labours more zealously than ever, and whilst directing the efforts of others, never spared his own. This increase of labour and responsibility, joined to the indifference of the food which he allowed him- self, gradually weakened his strength ; and he was conscious of this, yet he- would allow himself no rest. 94 LIFE OF FATHER LOUIS GAENIER DE FALTON. Attacked at length with dysentery, he ralhed for a time, and when the danger seemed past he was seized with cerebral congestion and erysipelas, and calmly expired at Madm-a, in the thirty-eighth year of his age, fortified with all the rites of the Church. He had spent eighteen years of his life in the Society and six on the Madura Mission. His loss was severely felt in the country by all his confreres^ and by the Christians. Some months later F. Grarnier's body was can-ied to Trichinopoly, to be interred near the church which he had there built. Whilst he planned it, and toiled in the daily labour of carrying out its construction, with only native workmen to assist him, he encouraged himself with the thouoht that he was strivino; to raise a house worthy of the Holy Catholic Faith and the celebration of the Divine Mysteries ; he little thought that he was also preparing the place of his own burial. The Hon. and Rev. Walter Clifford. This Father was brother to the late Lord Clifford, of Chudleigh, and was educated at the College of Stony- hurst. Feeling himself called to a religious life, he de- cided on joining the Society of Jesus, and his novitiate was made at Rome. Having completed it, he returned to England, was ordained priest, and for some years laboured most zealously on the English Mission, and distinguished himself by his indefatigable exertions. Being obliged to spend some time in France, he met some of the Fathers who were about to start for the Madura Mission, :md conversed much with them. Up to that time he had been opposed to Foreign Missions in general, saying that while there was so much to be done LIFE OF THE HON. AND REV. WALTER CLIFFORD. 95 at home, and so few labourers, it was wrong to waste precious lives among heathen and savage nations. What he now saw and heard so completely changed his opinion, that, after making a retreat to ascertain what might be God's will in the matter, he felt called to offer himself for the Foreign Missions, and was at once accepted, and ordered to proceed to India. He did not even return to England to take leave of his friends and relations, but on the 23d February 1841 embarked with FF. Wilmet, De St. Sardos, and St. Cyr, on board the French ship Gan(fes, at Bordeaux. The arrival of F. Clifford was a great benefit to the Mission, which was entirely in the hands of French priests, whose ignorance of English was a deplorable disadvantage in their intercourse with official persons, and whose true position had been much misunderstood. The presence of a clergyman of F. Cliftbrd's rank tended much to prove that those with whom he was joined were really actuated by religious duty, and not by any sinister motives, in their struggles with the schismatics for the possession of the churches and property attached to the Mission. His zeal was of course smiled at as enthusiasm by the Protestants ; but sincere enthusiasm commands respect even in those who do not share it, and it was soon seen that F. Clifford never hesitated to risk health or life for the interests of religion. Those who knew the difficulties which he had to encounter were astonished at the quantity of work he got through ; for some months performing the whole of the duties at Trichinopoly, not only among the soldiers, but also among the native con- gregation, though his knowledge of Tamul could not be great in the short time he had been in the country. Two of his letters, which give an account of the deaths of two missioners mentioned in the preceding chapter, will give a better idea of his natural kindness of heart, and of the 96 LIFE OF THE HON. AND REV. WALTER CLIFFORD. state of the Mission, than can be conveyed in any other way. The first is addressed to the Superior in France, and is dated from " Tricliinopoly, July 31st, 1843. " P.C. " Rev. Father, "A few days ago I begged F. Perrin, who was detained here on account of the prevalence of cholera in the district, which made the labour too great for me alone, to inform you of our terrible loss, by sending you a copy of F. Tassis' letter, describing the last moments of our venerated Superior. Rev. Father, I cannot tell you how deeply I felt the blow which has been sent us, and the more on account of the two other misfortunes which we had undergone this year, 1843 ! This third loss has pierced me to the heart. I did so love good F. Garnier ! We suited each other so well ! I know I have given way too much to grief; but. Rev. Father, what would you have ? I was so much attached to him ! May God forgive me ; may He cease to afflict us, and turn aside from us His wrath ! " We had a solemn service here at Tricliinopoly, for the repose of F. Garnier's soul, on the 10th July; and we were obliged to celebrate a second on the following day, because our soldiers wished to be present, and they had not been able to attend the first day. On both occa- sions the crowd was great, and their tears very touching. They entreat so earnestly to have his body here that F. Bertrand cannot refuse, and it must be brought hither as soon as possible. It is only fitting that this good Father should repose in the centre of the Mission, in the church he built, at the foot of the altar he had just finished ornamenting. There were more than five hundred Communions on the occasion of his death ; our good Clmstians have set an example, which perliaps is Life of the hon. and rev. Walter Clifford. 97 seldom imitated in Europe, of the right way of lamenting a pastor and showing attachment to him, — that is, to offer for the repose of his sonl the spotless Victim of our redemption. The funeral ceremony concluded, accord- ing to the custom of the country, by the catechist read- ing aloud the names of all the Fathers who have died in this Mission, and by prayers being again said for them. "Alas! Eev. Father, I little thought then that a fresh name must soon be added to this melancholy list ! The wound made in our hearts by F. Garnier's death was still bleeding when a new and scarcely less painful loss reopened it. Our Lord has been pleased to call to Himself our dear F. Peter Faurie, who died here, j^t Triehinopoly, on the 30th July, the eve of St. Ignatius, our holy Father " In the evening our brave soldiers carried the body on their shoulders from the house to the church, amid a crowd of Christians, who, grieved to their inmost souls at seeing us thus fall one after another, sacrificing our- selves for them, filled the air with their cries and lamenta- tion's. It was left all night laid out in the midst of the Christians, who watched and prayed round the bier. In the morning I said Mass, and performed the obsequies according to our customs. Our soldiers and a crowd of Christians were present, showing their grief for this fresh loss by their tears and fervent prayers. It was a touch- ing sight. Rev. Father ; my very heart was moved by this unanimous cry of a whole people, sent up to the Father of mercy, beseeching Him to have pity on one who had wished to be the minister of His goodness towards them, if His adorable designs had allowed. This prayer of a people simple in their faith, and perhaps deserving by this very simplicity our Lord's praise, / have not found such faith in Israel, will surely have been heard and H 98 LIFE OF THE HON. AKD EEV. WALTER CLIFFORD. granted in heaven ! May their cries one day resound in this holy temple, and thence mount to the throne of grace for my soul ! I ask nothing better than to die in India, like the good Father whose loss we deplore, m osculo Domini. Amen, amen " But whatever anguish we may feel, do not fear, Eev. Father, that the death of our beloved brothers and comrades will make us lose courage, or look backwards. Could we view thus wrongly an end so precious before the Lord ? God preserve us from so far forgetting our honour as to feel the least hesitation. Let us be ready to die fighting for God. Let us not turn our glory into shame by slu'inking from the cross, in which is our safety, our hfe, and our resurrection. I perhaps felt too natural and sensible a grief for the death of F. Gamier : that of F. Faurie, which I have just witnessed, far from having the same eifect on me, fills me with the sweetest consola- tion. I shall never forget the filial piety with which he kissed the picture of the Blessed Virgin, his good mother, and the reliquary of om- Father, St. Ignatius, nor the ex- pression of faith, sweetness, and resignation with which his dying e3'es were fixed on me, while I was recommend- ing his soul to the sacred Heart of Jesus, which he so tenderly loved and invoked. May this death, then, en- courage us all to go forward in the path which leads to our eternal country ! Festinemus ingredi in illam requiem. . . . " Rev. Father, pray for me that I may obtain final perseverance from the sacred Heart of Jesus, through the intercession of Mary, and of my holy patrons SS. Peter, Ignatius, Xavier, and Stanislaus ; that I may, sinner as I am, die like this good Father, whom we lament, repeat- in o- from my heart : ' Command me to come to Thee, that with Thy saints I may praise Thee for ever and ever. Amen.' I recommend myself, therefore, to the Masses and prayers of yoiu" Eeverence, and of aU our Fathers LIFE OF THE HON. AND EEV. WALTER CLIFFORD. 99 and Brothers ; and I beg you to accept the assurance of my profound respect, &c. (Signed) " Walter Clifford, S.J." The next letter is dated also from Trichinopoly, November 18, 1843, and is addressed to the Father Provincial. " Rev. Father, ^' ^• " The Indian mails have several times brought you sad news, informing you of the sickness or death of some of our missioners. This one will renew your grief, by announcing the double loss we have just sustained, of two of our dear fellow-labourers. It has pleased the Lord to deprive us of FF. Louis du Ranquet and Francis Pertin, both carried off by cholera ; the former at Strivegondom, near Palamcotty, on the 8th of November; the latter at Trichinopoly, on the 12th of this same month. I will say nothing of F. du Ranquet, because F. Wilmet, in whose arms he breathed his last, has undertaken this account; but I will tell you about F. Francis Perrin, to whom I gave the last consolations of religion. From the time of his arrival in India he was busy studying Tamul, and, as we mentioned in our last letters, was in good health. He had interrupted this employment for some days to make his annual retreat, and prepare for the Feast of St. Stanislaus Kostka, which we were to celebrate on the 13th of November. On Saturday the 11th he felt unwell, but thought it of no consequence, and said nothing. The following night he was seized with a sudden coldness, a symptom of cholera. As soon as ever I heard of his illness, I sent for an English physician, who attended him with the greatest care ; but all was useless ; the attack was too violent, and the disease became worse. The Father Superior himself was ill in bed, and I, therefore, gave F. Perrin the last 100 LIFE OF THE HON. AND REV. WALTER CLIFFORD. Sacraments. I need not tell you, who knew his piety, that he received them with the most perfect dispositions. During his retreat he had a feeling that God required him to make a complete sacrifice of himself, and he did so with his whole heart and with all his will. ' What a happy day for me !' he exclaimed, while we w^ere pray- ing, bathed in tears, round his bed of suffering, — ' What a happy day for me ! Do not weep ; I am going to hea- ven !' I shall never forget what I felt when I saw him lift his hands and eves to heaven with the most moving affection and the most perfect resignation to the will of God, when I suggested to him to unite his intentions in his last moments with those of our saints, and to enter into the sentiments they had at the hour of death : ' in particular,' I added, ' those of F. Claude Deschamps, your companion in your journey, who has already gone before you to glory.' How this thought touched him, and filled him with a sweet confidence that he would soon see his frieild again in a better world ! In these disposi- tions he calmly gave up his soul to God on the 12th November, about half-past eight o'clock in the evening. " I think we might inscribe on the tomb of these two dear and fervent fellow-novices the beautiful words of the Church : As in life they loved one another, so in death they are not divided. Their souls will be re- imited in heaven, as their bodies have been on earth. Let us hope that it may be so. Meanwhile, faithful to what fraternal charity requires of us, let us pray that this inestimable grace may soon be granted to them, and that they may enter witl>ont delay that happy dwelling in which suffering and death are feared no more. " I must now recommend the whole Mission, and each of its members, to the Masses and prayers of the whole province. It is easy to luidcrstand how much we need this help, when we have death so continually before LIFE OF THE HON. AND EEV. WALTER CLIFFORD. 101 our eyes, amid the ravages of cholera, among persons who are in good health to-day, and whom we see lying on their biers a few hours after. ^' I have the honour to be, &c., (Signed) " Walter Clifford, S.J." F. Clifford never spared himself when he could hope to win souls to God. Being the first English priest who had been in the district, he soon acquired much influence with the Catholic soldiers of the European regiments stationed at Trichinopoly, and revived religious feelings in their hearts. For some time he had charge both of them and of the native congrecration, with whom he sue- ceeded wonderfully, considering that he never became very familiar with the Tamul language. But he was not long spared. In the fatal year 1843, he had a slight tlu'eatening of cholera, caught in attending the sick ; but it passed off, and his health continued pretty good till May 1844, when, to the grief of the whole Mission, he was drowned in bathing. ■ Tlie account of his death sent by F. Canoz, now Vicar-Apostolic in Madura, to the Pro- vincial in France, is worth inserting here. F. Canoz was on his way from Marava to Trichinopoly when he heard of the accident. He says : " I learned on my road the sad news of the death of F. Clifford. This zealous Father cherished a hope of dying of cholera caught in attending the sick, which death was in his eyes the most desirable next to martyr- dom. He never spared himself, and we often admired his generosity in flying to cholera patients. But God, whose judgments are impenetrable, had otherwise dis- posed : death awaited him in the water, which it is said he feared. On the 21st of May he set out from Trichino- poly to visit F. Bedin, and rested during the noon-day heat m a grove near the river Coliron, in which he 102 LIFE OF THE HON. AND REV. WALTER CLIFFORD. thought he should like to bathe. He sent away his Hindoo attendants, and went into the water. As lie did not know how to swim, he should have had the depth of the spot tried ; but this precaution probably seemed need- less to him. The poor Father stayed so long in the water that his attendants got uneasy, and went to the place where they had left him. They found nothing but his clothes on the river-bank ; surprised and grieved, they searched the water long, but to no purpose. At length, when night came on, they hastened to tell F. Bedin, who was not above three miles off. He came instantly, bring- ing with him fishermen, who sought all night long, but with no better success. It was not till sunrise that one of them, who had cast his net in the deepest spot, found the body. They took it at once to Trichinopoly, where it was buried ; all the soldiers whose chaplain F. Clifford had been were present, as were all the authorities of the place, thunderstruck at this tragical death : the soldiers beofcred leave to erect him a funeral monument at their own expense. F. Clifford had always been very zealous for the salvation of the soldiers, and this year had suc- ceeded in bringing to confession several who had long neglected the Sacraments. On Sundays he usually preached with an earnestness which moved the most hardened " What more shall I tell you, Rev. Father, of this fresh blow that has been sent us ? As for its victim, we may lessen your grief by assuring you that we have no uneasiness. F. Clifford had a most tender conscience, and he had been to confession at Trichinopoly the very day before this lamentable accident. Moreover, the Lord, who in His mercy was perhaps pleased to spare him the trial of a lingei'ing death, which lie had much feared, seemed to have given him a kind of presentiment of his approaching end. Three days before this misfor- LIFE OF THE HON. AND REV. WALTER CLIFFORD. 103 fortune, a Cliristian liad come to see him, and, contrarj to his habit of never allowing long conversations, he spoke with him for nearly an hour and a half on spiritual subjects, and especially on the necessity of being always ready to die. Thus prepared by Providence, and ani- mated with a most lively faith, there can be no doubt that he made at that moment generous acts, wliich might supply for the usual helps of religion. It is true that, viewing it with the eyes of faith, we should have pre- ferred seeino; him die of cholera cauo;ht amono; the sick, according to his own wish ; but Providence has aiTanged otherwise, for the common good of all. If we may use the expression, he deserved such a death for the generosity with which he braved it ; but it might perhaps have alarmed us more, as being a fresh proof of what the rest had to fear. " It cannot be concealed that his death is in itself a great loss to the Mission. Tlie name of F. Clifford was respected by the English : it was a support for us in case of need with the Government and the magistrates, on whom Ave depend. We counted on him for the college we intend to estaljlish : he would have di'awn pupils to it and directed the studies. God's holy will be done. If you can replace him by another English Father, you will do us a great service : an Englishman will always succeed better than we can with his own nation, whose manners, customs, and character he knows thoroughly." F. Cliffoi'd himself had wa'itten to one of his sisters only tlu'ce days before his death, consoling her for the loss of one of her sons, and he used these words, rendered remarkable by the event: " In the midst of life we are in death : who knows ? perhaps the next post may bring you news that I too am no more !" And it was so. 104 LIFE OF FATHER PETER PERRIN. Father Peter Perrest. In reading the Lives of the Saints, or the accounts preserved of the less heroic holiness of those good men whose lives have left behind tliem " footprints on the sands of time," there is nothing more striking to the reflecting mind than the diversity of character which one meets, and the different qualities of usefulness, as well as different sorts of holiness, which each has seve- rally attained. The reader has seen F. Martin toiling painfully, but unflinchingly, along the road to holiness, and by his firmness of character resisting evil in his own heart, and laboriously bringing others to good by his holy energy. The bold and chivalrous character of F. Garnier has something more attractive, as his strong wish to make the cause of religion triumph, aided by his unquestionable talents and courage, carry him over, rather than through, the great difficulties which sur- round him. Now another character comes on the scene — one of those holy and chosen souls, born, as it were, under the shadow of the sanctuary, whose life from earliest childh(X)d was an unceasing yearning after all that was most agreeable to God, who entered on re- ligious life from real love of its holiness, and who sought the will of God in all things, going so cheerfully along the road to heaven as to encourage others who were toiling along it, and make them love holiness for the very brightness it j^roduced in the soul and conduct of so loving a model. F. Peter Perrin was born at Lyons, in the year 1807. His parents Avcre rich and very successful mer- chants. The name of his aunt. Mademoiselle Jaricot, is well known in the Catholic world as the humble and holy instrument made use of by Providence for the estab- LIFE OF FATHER PETER PERRIN. 105 lishment of the Association for the Propagation of the Faith,* as well as of the Living Rosary. | Both these associations have spread through the whole Catholic world, and been the means of salvation, mercy, and gi'ace to thousands. This holy woman was fondly at- tached to her nephew Peter, and devoted much of her time to his early education. To these early cares of his holy aunt young Perrin owed, in a great measm'e, his love of the Cross, his earnest piety, and the great pm-ity of mind for which *he was so conspicuous, even in his earliest days. His earnest love for the sacred humanity of our blessed Lord, and his affectionate devotion to the blessed Virgin Mother and to St. Joseph, who lived for so many years in constant and holy intercourse with Christ, naturally raised in his mind a desire to devote himself also to the service of God in an apostolic life. As soon as he had completed his first studies, he asked with earnestness to be admitted into the Society of Jesus. His father, who was tenderly attached to him, tried, by every fair and kind means, to retain him in the world, and succeeded in delaying his entrance mto religion for * The Propagation of the Faith was instituted at Lyons on the 2d of Ma^^ 1822. Its object is, by ahns and prayer, to assist those missioners who are labouring for the salvation of souls in infidel or schismatical countries. Pope Pius IX., as well as his two predecessors "of excellent memor3%" conferi-ed many spiritual blessings on the society and its members. From its humble beginnings, it has now spread its influence all over the Christian world, and distributes alms exceeding five million francs a year in every clime and country. f The Living Rosary consists of an association of pious people, who agree together to recite amongst them the whole of the fifteen mysteries each daj*. Each month the mysteries are distributed by ticket to the fifteen members comprising the circle. Thus the mysteries of the life of Christ are dail}'' brought to mind, and, in presence -of our dear Lord living and suffering, mercy and grace are asked and obtained. 106 LIFE OF FATHEK PETER PERRIK. four years. His great affection for his father made this trial most painful to him ; but by earnest prayer to God and dutiful affection to his father he overcame all ob- stacles, and was at length admitted to the novitiate in 1828. The early years of his religious life were spent in that exact observance of exterior rule and habitual fer- vour in prayer which always accompany the growth of superior sanctity. About 1840 he was ordained priest, and obtained the summit of his ambition by being allowed to number himself amongst a band of missioners, who were leaving France to recruit the Mission of Madura. TJie ship on board which he sailed put in at the island of Bourbon ; and F. Perrin, ever intent on doing good, employed his leisure time in preparing a large number of children for their first Commvmion. His mission to the children of Bourbon is still remembered, and pro- duced so great an effect that it gave the begmning to that movement and determination amongst the people of the island to have the Society amongst them, which resulted in the permanent establishment of the Jesuit Fathers at Bourbon, and the commencement of the Mis- sion of Madagascar. So do the saints of God, as they pass along through this weary world, leave behind them the sweet savour of the Divine goodness which has in- spired their holy works, and by their example awaken a love of goodness and holiness in the hearts of others. After a few weeks more of sea voyage, F. Perrin and his companions landed in India, and soon reached the scene of their future labours, where some quickly suc- cumbed to the climate. F. Perrin himself commenced a career of eighteen years' steady, cheerful toil in the service of his Divine Master. He soon showed himself to be one of the most fervent, zealous, and devoted of all his fellow -labourers. After five years spent in the LIFE OF FATHER PETER PERREM. 107 north of the Mission, during which time he had dili- gently applied himself to the study of the Tamul lan- guage, he solicited employment in the district of Marava, ■which was the most uninviting for its soil and climate, and the most fatal to European constitutions. The Marava district comprises the ancient kingdoms of Ramnad and Shevaguno-a. It is the least fertile portion of the peninsula. The roads are unusually bad, even for India. The water is also very bad. Scarce a year passes without a severe visitation fi^om cholera ; and the country is singularly destitute of those things which are most needed by a European constitution. Rice is very abundant and cheap, but there are neither fruits nor vegetables. The soil is light-coloured and sandj, and during the rains becomes so miry, that it is almost impossible for either men or animals to travel ; whilst during the long dry season it becomes so dusty and bleached, under the burning rays of the sun, as almost to stifle and blind the traveller, causing a feeling of acute pain and fatigue in the eyes, and a difficulty in breathing from very want of air. We cannot be surprised, then, that this district has been little inhabited, and still less liked by the Europeans ; and that it has been at all times as an open grave to the missioners who have gone to evangelise its inhabitants. Scarce a year has passed without its victim ; and no wonder, when it is remem- bered that in no part of the Mission are the dwellings of the priests more wretched, or the churches poorer. The superiors had, by sad experience, long felt that to send a freshly arrived Father to this district was more than any constitution could support ; and to send even those who were somewhat seasoned to the Indian climate was to devote them to a slow martyrdom, and shorten their career of usefulness : yet no district of the Mission was more earnestly sought and asked for by the Fathers, 108 LIFE OF FATHER PETER PERRIN. whether from a hope of a speedier crown in heaven, or to reheve their confreres from the sufferings entailed by the climate. Having obtained his nomination to this district of Mara\\a, F. Perrin devoted himself to his holy work with all his heart and soul, and by a special providence lived and laboured there for a longer time than any of his predecessors. After the serious and painful illnesses which he suffered there, he was often offered a change of district, but as often declined it. For thirteen years he toiled through the dust and heat, or laboured through the mud, of Marava, in' search of souls. At first, with one other Father to assist him, he was able to meet the wants of the different congregations. Immediately after his death i&w missioners were not too many to develop and consolidate all the good he had begun. The mis- conduct and neglect of the Goanese clergy had brought the name of a priest into contempt, and a Christian was looked on as an outcast. As he passed through the country on his missions of mercy, he drew all hearts to himself; and the children of the villages, even Pagans, ran to meet him as he approached, and followed him for a time, as he passed on with his cheerful word and kindly blessing. But all his time was not peaceful ; many a storm of opposition and severe calumny was raised against him ; but he overcame all by his patient, meek cheerfulness, and if at times he sowed in tears, towards the end of his career it was given to him to reap abundantly in joy. The excellent state of each congre- gation in his district, and the surprising knowledge of their religion shown by the children, was the astonish- ment of the Bishop and his brother missioners when they went to visit him. His labours in Marava commenced in 1845, and ho traversed the country in e-very dii-ection, sowing on LIFE OF FATHEE PETER PEERIN. 109 all sides the blessing of Heaven, catechising, instructing, preaching, and reforming abuses. The holiness and purity of his own soul gave him a particular power for inspiring a hatred of sin into the minds of his flock ; his talent for catechisine; children was so sino;ular, and his manner so interesting, that crowds of adults, both Christians and heathens, constantly gathered around the groups of children seated before him, to learn the first truths of relio;ion. But still more instructive and striking was the wonderful devotion with which he per- formed the holy Stations of the Cross to large numbers of the assembled people. His fervent words figured to them the sufferings and sorrows of our Divine Lord, and the people prayed and wept, repented of their sins, and really amended their lives. The Catechism and the Stations of the Cross were his chief means in instructing and sanctifying his people ; and as the knowledge of God and the love of Christ penetrated their hearts, their whole conduct and morals became so altered as to excite the wonder of the heathens, and cause many to com- mence their own conversion, by a sincere inquiry into the truths of religion. Thus, in unceasing labour, years passed by, and he saw several of those whom he had instructed in youth grow up to manhood, edifying in their piety, and sincere in the practice of every Christian virtue. The face of the Christian villages was entirely changed, and order and strict religious discipline prevailed where neglect and disorder had triumphed before. Many a time Father Perrin was nearly worn out with fatigue ; but he always rallied, and went on more fervently than ever. As he advanced in his career, his virtues became more brilliant than ever — the more he was known, the more he was beloved and revered. Some large villages at the east of his district had all along resisted his most 110 LIFE OF FATHER PETER PERRDs. earnest efforts for their conversion. Some time before his death, he went and dwelt amongst them. Many- were converted, but the others became more obstinate than ever. Suddenly a violent conflagration broke out, and destroyed or unroofed almost the whole village. A heavy rain then fell, which soaked with wet all that had been spared by fire. The suff^erings of the people caused cholera to break out amongst them, and hun- dreds were administered in their dying moments, and many buried by the hands of the holy missioner himself. His zeal and charity overcame the ojjposition of the most obstinate ; the greater part made their submission. Some of the chiefs, however, held out ; but, as if to show whose work it was, almost immediately after F. Perrin's death all the others submitted likewise to the Bishop, and put an end to the schism which had -so long desolated the Mission. At length the good Father's health gave way, but his cheerfulness never abandoned him ; and his entire resignation to the will of God edified all around him. Towards the end of May 1858 he was seized with a violent attack of dysentery, and foretold to those around him that it was his last illness. Beino; ordered a chano;e of air, he set out for the central city of Madura ; but he was too much exhavisted to travel, and at the large village of Shevagunga he became too ill to go any fiirther. Surrounded by his sorrowing Christians, he calmly and holily expired, and i)assed, we may hope, to a better world, on the 19tli August 1858, aged fifty-one years, eighteen of which had been spent in the Lidian Mission. LIFE OF FATHER JAMES WILMET. Ill Father James Wilmet. In the obituary list of tlie previous chapter will he found the name of this kind and good old Father, who died full of years, and universally regretted. He was commonly known amongst his fellow-missioners as Pere la Joie; and, in truth, he was always joyful, even in adverse circumstances; and when heaAy affliction, in the shape of death or serious pecuniary embarrassment, dis- tressed the community for a time, his serenity, peace, and confidence in God diffused consolation on all around him. F. Wilmet was bom at Rulle, in Belgium, in the year 1793, and was ordained priest before he entered the Society. He spent many years as bursar, or father procurator, in several colleges of the Society in Eiu'ope, and was uniformly remarkable for his singular posses- sion of what are called in the Catechism the fruits of the Holy Spirit — charity, joy, peace, patience, &c. A strict and edifying observer of his Rule, he was likewise remarkable for his keen appreciation and enjoy- ment of such amusements and indulgences as are inse- parable from college-life, and allowed at certain periods of the year. From his advanced age and his stamp of mind, being all his life buried in college accomits, he was thought the least likely person in the world to dream of a hard foreign mission. His vocation was a sudden one ; for it happened that, on an occasion when letters telling of the deaths and hardships of the Madm'a Mission were one day being read in the refectory during dinner, he felt himself strongly called to devote himself to the service of his suffering brethren, and to try if his skill in accounts and economy could not put things on a better footino- in Madura. His resolution once taken, he earnestly solicited to be allowed to join 112 LIFE OF FATHER JAMES WILMET. the next band of missioners who should go out to rein- force the labourers in Madura. At the same time, he began to lead a most mortified life, and to accustom himself beforehand to the exercise of those privations which would be inseparable from his futiu-e career. He had much difficulty in persuading his superiors to accede to his request, for his health wa's already much impaired by his long years of hard work at his desk. Moreover, he was forty-eight years of age, — too far advanced in life to be able to accustom himself to a severe life in so unhealthy a climate. His perseverance triumphed over every obstacle. His was evidently a call from God. When he at last obtained the permission he so earnestly sought, he was quite overjoyed, and made his adieux to the whole college of Brugelette with a cheerfulness which made a great impression on his brethren in reli- gion and the numerous boys of the college, with whom he was a great favourite. He sailed from Bordeaux on the 21st February 1841, with FF. St. Cyr, San Sardos, and Clifford. Of these, the first-named is now the only one living. After twenty-four years of constant labour, F. St. Cyr has now come to Europe a second time to seek that aid for his brethren which they so urgently need. During the voyage F. Wilmot suffered severely from ill health; but his weary and painful illness, which at one time seemed serious, never made him for a moment regret the step he had taken. On his arrival in India, he applied himself Avith all the ardour of a young man to the difficult study of Tamul. His age made this too groat a difficulty for him ; and ho was almost in despair about it, Avhen he determined to seek by prayer from Heaven what he could not master by human industry. It is distinctly attested by those who were living with him, that, before Pentecost Sunday, LIFE OF FATHER JAMES WILMET. 113 the year after his arrival, he was unable to say any thing intelligibly in Taniul ; and on that day and ever after he was, without further study, able to fulfil all the duties of a missioner — instruct, catechise, and administer the Sacraments ; which he continued to do Avith much fruit till towards the end of his life, when his health en- tirely gave way. No one was more zealous, earnest, and indefatigable in all his duties than was kind old " Pere la Joie," as he was named, with good reason, by his brethren. And it was this very quality Avhich made his presence so valuable, and his arrival in the Mission a providence for all. Human nature will sometimes yield when obstacles seem insurmountable ; and the hearts and minds even of those who serve God with earnest- ness, and accept all sorrows with perfect resignation, may, when too sorely tried, lose that elasticity and cour- age necessary for the continued vigour of action which can alone insure success. The numerous deaths; the de- pression of poverty, which scarcely allowed sufficient food ; the scandals which existed in parts of the Mission which had long been deprived of priests ; the constant opposition of the schismatic party, ever watchful to find an opportu- nity for aggression; joined to the system at first adopted, by which every disputed case of possession of Church pro- perty was decided against them by the English courts in the country, — all this had produced a feeling of depression amongst many of the Fathers which, while they con- sented to labour on, made them almost hopeless of ulti- mate success in the good work they had undertaken. It seemed the special mission of this excellent old Father to dis])el the depression and disperse the sorrows by which his brethren were weighed down. His astonish- ing success in accomplishing this task would alone have made his presence invaluable in the Mission. His joy- ous ways and cheerful looks sjsread life and hope around I 114 LIFE OF FATHER JAMES WILMET. him ; and seeing one so old, comparatively, and so respected, hope against hope, and joyous under every adversity, made others hopeful and courageous too. The spirit infused by him has survived through many years of trial. His words of promise to his brethren, and of warning to the Christians, so often came true, both for weal and woe, that his opinion on matters of importance was earnestly sought and much valued. For some few years F. Wilmet laboured with much success as a missioner amono-st the Paravas on the coast of the fishery, where his zeal and warnings have left a lasting impression. He was then recalled to Trichinopoly, the head-quarters of the Mission, and put in charge of all the funds and accounts belonging to it. It was a great trial for him to be withdrawn from the active work of a missioner, which he loved ; but he compensated himself for it by devoting all his spare time at Trichinopoly to instructing and confessing the native Christians. Thus years of usefulness went by, and old age and weakness came on ; but the joy and peace of his soul seemed to increase as his bodily strength failed. At length, after a long and painful illness, during which his courage never failed, he quietly, and without any apparent agony or struggle, " fell asleep in the Lord," with his usual smile upon his lips. His name will ever be held in cheerful remembrance amongst the missioners of Madura. The great secret of his joy was his strong and lively faith, by which he looked upon God as a loving Father, ever present, with power and will to help those who placed their trust in Him. This lioly love of God constantly led him to the foot of the altar in his sj)are time, to pour out his soul in earnest supplication for the welfare of the Mission. When his increasing infirmities rendered him in his old LITE OF FATHER JAMES "WTLMET. 115 age unfit for active work, he asked what he was to do. " You must pray for every body," was the answer. " A la bonne heure,"he said, with his usual gaiety; "je suis done nomme le Pere Prieur de la communaute." CHAPTER VIII. COLLEGE AND SEMINARY OF NEGAPATAM AND NATIVE CLEEGY. One of the first thoiio-lits of the Jesuit Fathers, on the rees- tabhshmcnt of the Mission of Madura, was to bring again into existence and efficiency a body of auxiliary clergy similar to that which had been formed in earlier days by the Fathers of the old Society, and had done such excellent service under their direction. The want of men and money, the oppositions raised on all sides, both by Pro- testants and Goanese schismatics, rendered it impossible to undertake any thing during the first years. At length, alarmed at the fearful mortality amongst the European Fathers, the necessity of providing some native priests became so incontestable, that it was resolved to make a beginning at every risk and sacrifice. In the year 1845 this beginning was made, and the College of Negapatam commenced its existence. In speaking of the idea of raising and educating a native clergy, it must not be un- derstood that there were either hopes formed or expec- tations entertained ofbein^ able to form and organise in any given time an Indian clergy, intrinsically self-sup- porting, and capable of taking its governing members from its own bod v. This idea is not only contrary to all precedent in ecclesiastical history, but, moi'eovcr, the Indian character is singularly unfitted for such responsibility, and incap- able of the vigour and jiower necessary for fulfilling re- s]>onsible positions. The only idea was at first, and is COLLEGE AND SEMINARY OF NEGAPATAM, ETC. 117 now, to raise a well-educated and virtuous subordinate clergy, who would be capable of meeting the wants of the native Christians under proper surveillance. Thus it has been the practice of the Church to act in the conversion of other nations of a stamp very superior to the Hindoo. Many of the first priests in Italy were of Jewish origin. Italy, in her turn, for over two hundred years, sent Bishops to Graid, as Gaul did afterwards to Britain, and Britain in her turn to Germany. The Irish nation seems to be the only one which was, on her rapid conversion, almost immediately able to furnish her own clergy and support her own hierarchy, and, moreover, in a very few years to send forth zealous and learned missioners to other countries. Only after long years of faith and practice of the holy Catholic religion can it be hoped that the Indian Chris- tian Church will be able to suffice for its own wants, and become self-supporting ; but, in the mean time, a most ex-' cellent and efficient auxiliary clergy can be easily formed, who, under European superintendence, will be most valu- able, and even indispensable, in her steady develoj^ment. The conviction of their utility, and the necessity even of their assistance in working out the detail of ecclesiastical labour and government, was so evident from the earliest times, that St. Francis Xavier himself established the College of St. Paul at Goa for this object. Later on, the native priests were found so useful, and many of them so zealous and holy, when properly guided and governed, that when the gradual increase of the old Missions required it, another college of the same sort was estab- lished at Ambalacate, near Cochin. In pursuance of the same idea, in presence of the same wants, but con- fiding solely in Divine Providence, the College of Nega- patam was established in 1845. The town of Negapatam is situated on one of those 118 COLLEGE AND SEMINARY OF NEGAPATAM numerous mouths by which the great river Cauvery, after fertilising the Avhole kingdom of Tanjore, empties itself into the Gulf of Beno;al. In former times there was a college of the Society at Negapatam, but it was entirely destroyed by the Dutch when they expelled the Portu- guese from the whole of the Coromandel Coast. The cli- mate is far more healthy than in the interior. By sea there is access to Madras and the Island of Ceylon ; by rail there is now also communication with Trichinopoly, and the raihvay will soon be extended to the other sea. The schools were opened, in houses hired for the purpose, by Rev. FF. St. Cyr and Audibert; and for many months there was no possibility of giving them further assistance. After eighteen months, F. Audibert sank under the fatigue. Soon after, a piece of ground was obtained from the Government at a heavy rent. On this were first raised some temporary buildings, in which the schools were carried on for some years. A number of high-caste na- tive boys were regularly organised into classes in a sepa- rate part of the building; so that European, half-caste, and native boys were all under instruction in one estab- lishment, and taught by the same professors. The college seemed to promise a solid success, and it became neces- sary to erect permanent buildings, capable of accommo- datins the schools and the Fathers. The total Avant of funds was most disheartening ; but F. St. Cyr was de- termined to try, and, with the assistance of F. Strick- land, found means to prepare materials and to dig foun- dations. On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, 14th September 1847, the first stone or brick was f)laced, with the solemn ceremonies and prayers of the Church. It Avas a family festival. After the rector had placed the first brick, each of the community and each boy — European and native, down to the very youngest — AND NATIVE CLERGY. 119 advanced in their turn and laid the foundations of a col- lege which has since become a handsome edifice, and con- tributed much to raise our holy religion in the estimation of the people of the country. Li this good work, however, as in all others which contribute to the glory of God, trials were not wanting. The year 1846 opened with the happiest prospects to the college. More pupils were offered than could find room ; but sixty-five were received, whose good con- duct and diligence gave great hopes for their future career. This was interrupted by the breaking out of cholera, wdien three of the Fathers were carried off, and six of the scholars were attacked, — two of whom, a native boy and an Armenian, died. The latter was the hope of his family. The utmost terror now pervaded the school. The boys were immediately sent to their parents and relations ; those who had none near were removed, under the care of F. Tassis, to Karical, and the alarm subsided ; but the college was closed for three months. On its reopening, few pupils appeared ; but this was fully expected after such a fearful interruption. In the night of the 11th of September 1848, the temporary dwelling in which the college was carried on was set on fire by the schismatics, who had long been jealous of the strength it gained for the Catholic cause, and the attention it drew. All the inmates were asleep at the time ; but happily no lives were lost, though a few minutes were enough to wrap in flames the whole slight building, which was roofed only with cocoa-nut leaves. Of course the first object w^as to save the pupils ; and so rapid was the progress of the conflagration, that scarcely any thing else was rescued. All the furniture, with the library, which was well chosen and somewhat extensive, — in short, all they possessed, even to the greater part of their clothes, — were destroyed. This 120 COLLEGE AND SEMINAEY OF NEGAPATAM crime was, according to all liuraan probability, committed by the scliismatics ; there were proofs quite sufficient to have brought it home to them legally, but it was not followed up actively, and no punishment was inflicted. F. St. Cyr, the Superior, with characteristic en- ergy, saw plainly that they must contrive to carry on the establishment with as little interruption as possible. He used for this purpose all the money he could in any way command, and trusted to Providence to enable him to pay such debts as were unavoidably incurred. There was a general feeling in its favour among the Protestants and Hindoos, as well as among the Catholics ; and the works were pushed forward so energetically, that, thir- teen days after the fire, Mass was celebrated in the new chapel, and five days later all the Fathers, and their pupils, Avere established in the new temporary building. The great expense of buying afresh so many articles in- dispensable for daily use entailed severe privations on the Fathers, who endeavoured, by denying themselves in every possible way, to spare the very limited fimds of the Mission, and contrive to go on with the college. They did not leave off the erection of the permanent building, and were helped by subscriptions from Europe, small in amount, but so unexpected as to give them great encouragement. Subscriptions were also raised in the country by F. Strickland ; and about Easter 1850 a portion of the house was habitable. Early in 1851 the Fathers, and the pupils of European origin, were established in it ; while the Indian boys and their teachers remained in the temporary dwelling. By constant, steady perseverance, and devoting every available rupee to its construction, the college was gradu- ally finished so far as to excite the surprise and merit the warm praise of Sir Charles Trcvellyan in his official minute, when, as Governor of Madras, he paid it a visit. AlsB NATIVE CLERGY. 121 It is one of the largest European establishments for native education in India, and certainly by far the most successful ; but up to the present time it has never re- ceived the least help or assistance from Government. Even the o-round-rent has not been remitted. The impossibility of carrying on such an establish- ment without funds is apparent ; the difficulty of pro- curing them is great. The Government approves and praises, but gives no help. The idea of paying for his education has not yet entered practically into the mind of the native. And no wonder ; for, though their num- ber is much diminished, there still are many Protestant schools in the country, supported by ample funds from Europe and America, where money is regularly given to the children who attend, or to their parents. Can Catholics remain indifferent while Protestants make such enormous efforts ? There are at least 160,000 Catholics in the district of Madura, but almost all of them too poor to contribute any thing like sufficient for the support of the missioners, however inexpensively they may live. One-twentieth part of the sums spent annually by the Protestant Missions would suffice to maintain the Catholic one in affluence, to found schools and colleges, to edu.cate young natives for the priest- hood, or to train them as catechists, and thus would ra- pidly bring the heathens into the fold of Christ. There would be no difficulty in getting pupils, no need of bribes to persuade them to attend. The Catholic parents will of course prefer Catholic schools when they are ac- cessible ; and the high-caste Hindoos are more ready to send their sons to Catholic than to Protestant schools ; first, because the mode of life of the Catholic missioner is such as wins their respect fiir more than that of the Protestant, with his wife, his comfortable establishment, and Paria servants ; and, secondly, because in the Ca- 122 COLLEGE AND SEMESTARY OF NEGAPATAM tliolic schools every care is taken to avoid outraging those customs of caste which have no necessary connec- tion with heathenism. Europeans will liardly believe how small a sum is sufficient for the support of a native pupil : 41. a year will usually be enough ; and is it pos- sible that Catholics will refuse this ? Any one giving as much as will produce 4/. annually v/ill thus have one scholar permanently in the college — one who may be- come a native priest, and contribute to the salvation of thousands ; or if not called to so high a vocation, or not fitted for it by his talents, he may become a catechist or a schoolmaster, thus preparing the way for the priest to follow and complete the good work of which he has sown the seeds ; or, thirdly, he may qualify himself for an em]iloyment under Grovernment, and by his position and influence may contribute powerfully to defend the Ca- tholics, still so often unjustly oppressed and misrepresented by the heathens, the schismatics, and the Protestant preachers ; or, at the very least, he may become a good father of a family, and by his education acquire influ- ence in his village, by his example contribute to make others live as Christians should, and thus consolidate religion in India. The results of the College of Negapatam have 'already been not inconsiderable as regards the number of priests added to the Mission, and most consoling as to their piety and excellent spirit. Five European priests have been there ordained ; also five Indo-Portuguese, and six of pure Indian blood. Moreover, eight young men are at present within its walls, studying their theology ; and about one hundred boys of the best castes in the country are now being educated there. There seems to be no good work in the Mission which promises such important results as this seminary college. There certainly is none whose success and de- AND NATIVE CLERGY. 123 velopment the Bishop and Fathers liave more at heart ; for, on the one hand, the number of pupils must soon be doubled, to meet the growing wants of the Mission, and the increasing desire amongst the Christians to enjoy its advantages. On the other hand, the Mission is no longer able to spare from its small funds the sums neces- sary for the increase of the college. In Europe a sum of 50/. is necessary for the support of a boy in a college for one year. In India this sum would make a fund out of which a native boy could be supported for a succession of years, during all his studies, and prepared for the priesthood if called to it. The positive outlay for a boy is not much beyond 61. a year, and money can be safely invested in India at 121. per cent. The Indian boy needs neither hat, shoes, nor clothing, in a Em'opean sense. Two cloths of country material a year are suf- ficient for his covering ; his bed is a mat ; his drinking- cup, his hand dipped in the running stream ; his plate, a plaintain-leaf, or other leaves pinned together with twigs or straws, and renewed every day ; his knife and fork and spoon, such as Adam and Eve first used ; his right hand (never the left) most scrupulously washed before and after meals. There is another class of Clu^istians which must not be forgotten in this place : the Eurasian, or half-caste, — that is, the descendants of European soldiers and others who have married native women or half-castes, — and whose children, in most instances, are Catholic ; for though, unfortunately, not remarkable for the practice of religion, still the greater part of the mothers have been born and baptised Catholics, and adhere to their faith with wonderful, and even edifying, tenacity. In cantonments and stations where proper means of reli- gious instruction are given, the women and children are quite as good and edifying as many Europeans of their 124 COLLEGE AND SEMINARY OF NEGAPATAM class. In ordinary circumstances, they are good, faith- ful, and very patient wives, and make better helpmates than European women to the European soldier. From the utter want of Catholic schools suited to their station, many of the children were educated solely in regimental schools, or in Protestant establishments ; and, strange to say, a large number of them, as soon as they were married, even to Protestant soldiers, retm-ned to the faith in which they were baptised, and insisted also on having their chikken baptised and brought up as Catho- lics. A great many, of course, were lost to the Catholic faith ; but several either never forgot the faith of their baptism, or returned to it by conversion in after life. Protestantism had no charms for them. Boys of this race have the same requirements as European boys : their clothing and food must be such, at least, as poor lads in Europe would be glad to possess, and therefore they cannot be provided for so easily as native boys : 10/. a year is the lowest at which they can be supported. They are generally quick at learning, and docile, but easily forget what they have learned, and are too inert of character to come to much positive good without great care and trouble. Another, and perhaps, in some regards, a superior class of these boys, are hereditary descendants from Portuguese families ; bear the best old names of the country of theii' fore- fathers ; are kindly, patient, and intelligent ; have an in- born attachment to their faith ; but are very susceptible and unstable, and are very easily intoxicated by success. They make excellent accountants and copyists, are good musicians, and form the mass of clerks and servants employed by Europeans in the large towns and in many large cantonments in India. They arc inclined to real piety when well instructed ; and from amongst the upper class of their families many of the best Indo-European AND NATIVE CLERGY. 125 priests have come in all times for the last three centuries. Yet both these classes — which, however, intermarry a good deal — require more care and superintendence than the European of pure blood or the high -caste native boy, and, on the whole, do not give the same satisfac- tory results. Without increasing the present buildings of the college, and without augmenting the staff of pro- fessors already necessarily employed, a good number of these boys might be well brought up, so as to choose from amongst them a select few for the priesthood, and enable the others to provide respectably for their future career as Catholics, instead of swelling the ranks of nominal Protestantism, or living with disedification as nominal Catholics. Hitherto, from its poverty, the Mission has been unable to meet the wants of this class, and much and increasing detriment to religion has ensued. Wants in Europe ai'e great and many ; but, soul for soul, and alms for alms, there is more good to be done by money just now in the present state of the Madura Mission, than in any other Mission of the Catholic Church. This chapter may be aptly concluded by the follow- ing extract from a short notice on the Madura Mission circulated some months ao;o : '' We come, therefore, to beg all friends of education and of Catholic Missions to give us some assistance. Each month forty-eight Masses are said for benefactors, and they are also constantly prayed for both by the missioners and their flocks. The education of native clergy is of vital importance ; the small sum of 50/. is sufficient to make a foundation for the education of one native priest. For all contributors of this sum one hundred Masses will be said, and they will participate in the prayers and good works of the whole Mission." CHAPTER IX. CHRISTIAN CONGREGATIONS m THE MADURA MISSION. Those wlio have thouo-ht and talked of Catholic missions in India, whether in a friendly or unfriendly spirit, have often asked, What has become of the many thousands of converts made by St. Francis Xavier? — were his con- verts merely nominal ? and was his passage through India like a brilliant meteor, leaving scarce a trace behind, save the memory of the wonder he caused in his bright moment of existence? In answer, it may be confidently affirmed that the passage of St. Francis Xavier has left immense fruits still existing in India, though that country formed but a small portion of the vast field of the labours of this great apostle ; moreover, during the following centuries, whilst the Indian Mis- sions continued to be worked by his brethren in religion, Christianity steadily advanced, each succeeding century seeing an increase of numbers. There was, it is true, a certain fluctuation : at one time, a rapid and great increase, caused by the immense influence and labours of a Beschi, a De Nobili, or a De Brito ; at another time, a momentary reaction, produced by persecution. It must not be imafjincd that the Madura Mission is now of the same size as when flrst established and defined under this name by F. de Nobili. The vast district of India formerly bearing this name in eccle- siastical records is now divided into five vicariates, only one of which preserves its ancient name. It is the largest in size, and possesses the largest number of CHRISTIAN CONGREGATIONS, ETC. 127 Christians, and alone has been again restored to the care of the Jesuit Fathers. The vicariates of Madras, Coimbatore, Mysore, and Pondicherry each contain a number of Christians, under the charge of Vicars-Apos- tolic. In the five vicariates now comprised in the ancient Mission of Madura, the total number of Christians will amount to 355,000 souls. Of these vicariates, Madura is by far the most important, both for its general popu- lation and the number of its Christians. The Christians of Madura, continually increasing, number 160,000, to which must be added about 20,000 schismatics within the confines of the vicariate, which extends from Cape Comorin to the river Cauvery, reaching down to the sea on the east and west, and bounded by the ghauts on the west. The Christians are to be found in greater or lesser numbers in almost every town and village of the country, and belong to nearly every class and caste of society ; but by far the larger portion belong to the class of cultivators. Their numbers are steadily on the increase every year, both by the conversions which are made and by the great excess of births over deaths in the Christian population. Already in some few places the Christians are in the majority. In some villages the population is wholly Christian. They have generally found means to build a chapel, in which is placed a crucifix, an altar, and some few statues. There is a catechist in charge in each of these village chapels, who says the prayers publicly in the chapel morning and evening at fixed hours, instructs the children, teaches Catechism to all who choose to attend, and on Sunday re- cites the regular prayers and devotions appointed by the priest of his district. To this constant practice of public prayer it may be attributed that the Christians of Ma- dura, though isolated in many cases and surrounded by heathens, though sometimes unable to hear Mass more 128 CHRISTIAN CONGREGATIONS IN than a few times in the year, or to approach the Sacra- ments, are nevertheless faithfttl, pious, and fervent. Three or four times a year the priest visits each vilhige ; and it is only then that the people are able to make their con- fessions, to hear a sermon or exhortation, and to approach the Holy Communion. Their children, although bap- tised by the catechist, have to wait for months to be regularly christened by the priest. In earlier times, some unfortunately died without being baptised ; but few have now that misfortune since the establishment of the Confraternity of the Holy Childhood in the mis- sion, which w^as set on foot by F. St. Cyr. When the time for making the first Communion has arrived, it is difficult in these small villages to give solemnity to the occasion by any of those striking ceremonies which are so great an exterior help to devotion, and leave such an impression in after life. It is only in the few lar£i;e conrn'Oijations where there is a resident priest that this can be done. The sick and dying are, however, most to be pitied in these isolated villages, as it is impossible for the priest to be present every where, especially in the almost annual seasons of epidemic disease, with a district of many scores of mile's in length and breadth. It is true that the Divine mercy seems to compensate the dying Christians for being deprived of the great help of the last Sacraments by abundant graces ; for constant experience has proved that they almost all die in the very best dispositions. Yet nothing can replace the want of the Holy Viaticum and the last anointing in the desires and affections of the believing Christian at the hour of death. To receive Him in love and penitence who is so soon to be a Judge, to have the erring senses anointed and blessed with the holy sign of the cross, is a priceless grace. AMicn the Christians who inhabit the villages where THE MADUKA MISSION. 129 there is no priest wish to assist at Mass, or to approach the holy Sacraments more frequently than the missioner is able to come to his village, he must make a long jour- ney on foot ; and of late years the fervour of the people lias so much increased, that in every place where Mass is regularly said on Sundays the affluence is immense — so great, that the chm'ches cannot contain the flock, and the Father is obliged to preach to and teach his children in the open air, either under the burning sun or late at night. At some of the great festivals the congregation wall amount to 20,000, of whom more than a third are often heathens. They are attracted, not only by curio- sity, but by an indescribable feeling of reverence, which they openly express ; and they join their Christian friends in all the exteriors of worship, and behave in the most becoming way. There is scarcely ever a ceremony of this sort which is not the cause, or at least the occasion, of conversion to some of the heathens who have assisted thereat. The heartfelt worship of the Hindoo Christians, expressed by their deep exterior reverence of demeanour, is most striking ; they assist at Mass in a way which shows the earnestness of their belief in the presence of God ; and during the whole time thev are in the church or assist at a religious ceremony, they seem never to lose the spirit of recollection. What a lesson to some Christians of Europe, who would perhaps pass by the poor Indian with contempt, pity his supposed ignorance, or half suspect him of svi^^erstition for giving such ex- terior evidence of " the faith that is in him"! A few of the vast and beautiful churches of Europe, left so often vacant by the " enlightened infidelity" of the day, would be a blessing and a treasure to the Hindoo Chris- tians — a blessing, if we can compare the material to the spiritual, surpassing in its wide dimensions all that is most beautiful in the vastness and symmetry of our K 130 CHRISTIAN CONGREGATIONS IN noblest cathedrals, and capable of raising their souls by faith (when praying in them) as near to heaven as were the pious hearts of those who built them to the honom- and glory of God in the bygone ages of faith. What would become of the remains of this holy faith in Europe, if there were nothing but mud chapels instead of our handsome village churches, and if the priest were able to visit each village only two or tlu'ee times a year ? In the day of judgment what a testimony will the Christians of India give against their more favoured brethren in Europe ! There is, alas ! perhaps more sin committed in one ordinary English town in a month, than in the whole Mission of Madura in a year. Such a thing as for a Christian to deliberately neglect or refuse to fulfil his Easter duties is unknown, and a very large proportion undertake long journeys, to be able to approach more frequently to the Sacrament. Blas- phemy is never heard amongst them ; the use of intoxi- cating liquors is abhorrent to the better castes ; the days of fasting and abstinence are also most rigorously ob- served ; and public decency is never outraged. If all this cannot be said with equal truth of the large cities and military cantonments, it must be owned with shame that contact with the European has caused much evil, and made the low-caste Christians who frequent the society of Europeans a very different sort of being from the simple villagers of the same caste in the country dis- tricts. It must at the same time be allowed, that if there is a great deal less vice in an Indian Christian population than in a European one of the same magnitude, still there arc fewer examples of heroic virtue and self-sacri- fice, to which the Asiatic character is imperfectly dis- posed. " Many, very many, of our Christians," said an experienced missioner, " will save their souls ; but few will have a very high place in heaven." On one THE MADURA MISSION. 131 occasion a native Christian, the servant of an officer, had gravelj committed himself. Tlie master was very indignant, and the chaplain happened to call just w-hilst his ire was at the hig-hest. The whole case was stated to the priest, and certainly there was but little to say to excuse the delinquent. Thereupon the colonel entered upon a violent tirade of the humbug of native conver- sions — professing Christianity, and practising none of its teachings. The chaplain quite agreed with him as far as the individual in question was concerned ; and when, with considerable warmth and eloquence, the colonel had descanted on the subject for some time longer, the chap- lain quietly rose, and wished his friend good morning, assurino; him that the native Clu'istians in the country villages really practised fervently what they believed, but admitted at the same time that, unfortunately, can- tonment native Christians, from the examples set before them, were often quite as had as Europeans. The colonel was less loud in his denunciations of native Christians ever after. A few words about the churches, chapels, and oratories of the Mission will not here be out of place. In some few of the principal places of the Mission spacious and useful churches have been solidly built, though without much ornament — large enough to be really sufficient for local wants. Yet many other important and central stations have nothing but miserable sheds for churches, or hovels constructed of clay and reeds, and thatched with palm -leaves. In these places, meaner than the stable of Bethlehem, the Holy Sacrifice is offered, the Sacraments are administered, and the faithful assemble for their devotions. During the rainy season the calico canopy over the altar is insufficient to hinder the rain- drops from falling upon it, and the pictures and statues become moulded with damp, and lose their shape and 132 CHRISTIAN CONGREGATIONS IN colour. Tlie village chapels are, if possible, worse still, and are infested with bats, rats, serpents, scorpions, and other venomous animals. Experience has shown that there is no material means possible by which religion would be more ad- vanced than by good and handsome churches. Tlieir construction raises the confidence and hopes of the Christian, and commands the respect of the heathen, who frequently comes to the Christian churches with his offerings and prayers to obtain some favour, espe- cially when, as has often happened, he has learnt by experience that his prayers to the great God of the Christians are heard. And for how much can a respect- able church — that is, a church or chapel that would command respect from this simple people — be built in the country parts ? A small and decent village church could be raised for 40/. or 50/. ; a handsome one, capa- ble of containing 3000 persons, for lOOOZ. ; and so in proportion. And if these sums seem very moderate, be it remembered they have hitherto been beyond the means of the missioner, however self-devoted and willing to ac- cept hardships at the expense of his health. Moreover, with such small sums it would be impossible to do so much, were it not for the cheapness of material and the astonishing readiness of the Christians to give their work voluntarily, as a contribution to the building of their churches. There are at present more than twenty villages where Christianity has been lately introduced, in which some sort of a chapel is needed to assemble the Chris- tians and attract the Pagans. At Dindigul, which is the central station of a Christian district of 5000 souls, the only church is the dining-room of an old ruined English buno-alow. The church there is to be built in honour of St. Joseph, to whom the Mission is dedicated. The THE MADUEA MISSION. 133 royal city of Tanjore, with its 4000 Christians, has as yet no church ; when built, it is to be dedicated to the Most Precious Blood. Ramnad, Pamjampatty, and other places, with 4000 or 5000 Christians, have only a miserable shed, open to all the winds, for a church ; whilst otlier places, with from 8000 to 10,000 Christians, have still but unfinished churches, already suffering much damage for want of means to finish or keep them in good repair. And with such churches as have just now been described, no one will be astonished to hear that the dwellings of the priest, where he retires for rest after a long visit of administration, during wdiich a tree or a small hut is his only shelter, is no better than the churches, and quite insufficient either to meet the wants or preserve the health of a European missioner. But the Fathers would never consent to the improvement of their own dwellings, till the far more urgent wants of the Mission have been supplied. CHAPTER X. LITERARY WORKS OF THE MISSIONERS. The whole of that part of India which hes south of the river Godavery bears the name of the country of Tamul, or Dravida. The language of this region is considered by the learned to be a primitive stock, from which are derived the Telinga, Maleialee, Cingalese, and Canarese dialects. Tamul is spoken at the present day by about 30,000,000 Hindoos. It is the universal language in the province of Madura. Sharino; the immobility which marks the character and the institutions of the Indian races, the Tamul language appears to have undergone no variation ; the compositions of the most ancient authors whose writings have been preserved resemble exactly those which are produced at the present day. Moreover, in Tamul there are no local dialects, no patois^ no vulgar cor- ruptions. No trace of variation can be detected, unless it be found in a slight change of pronunciation in certain letters, or the more frequent use of particular words in one district than in another. In common with all the nations of antiquity, the earliest compositions of this peo2:)le were written in verse ; the idea of works in prose is of very recent origin. The book of the Ve'das, and the Ramaganam, written in Sanscrit verse more than 1200 years before the Christian era, were translated at a very remote but unknown date into Tamul verse, and are universally diffused. The custom of writing in prose is modern, LITERARY WORKS OF THE MISSIONERS. 135 and does not appear to have become general till after the entry of Europeans into "India. The Jesuit missioners, from their first appearance in the country, in the time of St. Francis Xavier, de- voted themselves to the study of the Indian languages, and especially of Tamul, the sole dialect of Madura, Avhich was always esteemed their noblest Mission. F. Robert de Nobili, who was the real founder of the Mission, occupied ten yeai's in acquiring a complete mastery of this language, and of the whole of its litera- ture. It was especially its poetical treasures which engaged his attention. He spoke and wrote with equal elegance in verse and in prose, to the great admiration of the Indians. He was the author of numerous Tamul poems ; but it was by his philosophical writings that his celebrity was chiefly acquired. Among other works, he composed a complete theological treatise on God and His attributes, and one on the soul and its spirituality. In a third work he refuted the Pagan arguments against the truths of religion. Numerous smaller books were composed by him for the use of the Christians. During the closing years of his long career, he may be said to have summed up all his various writings in his famous catechism, a work in fom' large volumes, which consti- tutes a complete cursus of theology. These different compositions of the great missioners, who counted among his disciples so many thousand Brahmins, although they have now an antiquity of nearly three centui'ies, are still read, understood, and appre- ciated ; the only reproach with which the native critics qualify their encomiums is this — that they are occasion- ally somewhat diffuse. But they do not take into account that F. de Nobili wrote for all classes, and had chiefly at heart to make the great truths of religion intelligible to all. 13G LITERARY WORKS OF THE MISSIONERS. Other missioners followed the example of De Nobili, and enriched the language Avith many works of the highest merit. They were for the most part, as was natural, on religious subjects ; and they have produced important fruits in the conversion of souls, and the dif- fusion of spiritual science. They will continue to do so in future years. In all of them the learned natives admire the profound knowledge which they display of the genius, character, and habits of their race. In 1700 the celebrated F. Beschi arrived in India, where he was destined to acquire an immense repu- tation as a missioner, a philosopher, and a linguist. Constant Joseph Beschi was born about the year 1670; and having been admitted into the Society of Jesus, obtained the sanction of his superiors to devote his life to the conversion of the heathen. Madura had reason to bless the decree of Providence which gave to it such an apostle. If F. Beschi, in common with all his brethren, relied chiefly for success upon Divine aids, he was too wise to neglect human means. Having adopted, like his great predecessor, the costume and civil usages of the country, he applied himself with indefa- tigable ardour to the study of its languages. He became a master of Sanscrit and Telinga, and in Tamul seems to have surpassed even De Nobili. Not content with learning the spoken language, he acquired such a know- ledge of all the best poets, that it was hardly an effort to him to discourse in Tamul verse. His grammar of the language is still the admiration of Oriental students. He published, also, a quadruple dictionary, in which he has earned the gratitude of Tamid poets, liaving dedicated one portion of it to their especial use, and furnished them with a copious selection of rhymes. It would be tedious to enumerate even the titles of the many works which his fertile genius produced ; but LITERARY WORKS OF THE MISSIOXERS. 137 it is by his epic poem entitled Temhavani, read at this day with equal enthusiasm by Pagans and Christians, that his name is known with honour among all who speak the Tamul language. A brief account of this extraordinary work, for which we are indebted to a learned member of the Confrresation of Foreign Missions, will not be out of place. Oriental scholars are familiar with the celebrated epic poem Ramaganam, written in Sanscrit by Valmiki, many ages before the Christian era. It has been trans- lated into all the languages of the country, and is read every where. Consecrated to the service of all the ab- surdities and abominations of Hindoo Paganism, it is admitted to be distinguished by rare poetical beauty, which has made it as dear to Indians as Virgil to Latins, or Homer to Greeks. F. Beschi resolved to oppose to the Bamaganam a poem which should dispute with it the admiration of learned Hindoos, while it should be occupied only with the truths of Cln-istianity. The bold project was accomplished in the Temhavani, which has become a classical book for all ranks. The Mahommedans of Southern India speak of it with the same admiration as the Hindoos. This poem, containing more than 14,000 verses, and therefore much longer than the great Virgilian epic, is said by our authority, confirmed by the oral report of one of the most accomplished Tamul scholars noAv living,* to be of such fascinating purity and elegance of style, such richness of expression and harmony of sound, that the reader is tempted to sing rather than to recite it. In the perfection of its rhythm and the A'ariety of its measures, the latter being always adapted to the natm-e of the sentiments expressed, the author has courted and overcome all the difficulties with which Tamul poetry * We refer to F. Louis Saint Cyr. 138 LITERARY WORKS OF THE MISSIOKERS. deliglits to contend. Sometimes there is a series of ten, fifteen, or twenty strophes (making forty, sixty, or eighty lines), each of which can be scanned in two, thi'ee, and even four different manners. " Only a poet of rare genius," we are assured, '' and an absolute master of all the resources of the language, could effect such combinations." The hero of this Tamul epic is the ever-blessed and glorious St. Joseph. The history of this saint being in- separably connected with that of the Immaculate Mother of God, the author has included in his vast plan all the historical events of the Old and New Testaments which symbolise or refer to these two privileged beings. The incarnation of the Son of God and the redemption of the world, in which so admirable a part was allotted to our Blessed Lady and St. Joseph, furnish the poet with themes higher than were ever sung in Tamul verse. It is from the Holy Scriptures that his subjects are derived. He has profited also by the revelations comnnmicated by the Blessed Virgin to Maria d'Agreda. The poem is divided into thirty-six cantos, of which the first contains a magnificent description of the country of Judea, and the second of the city of Jerusalem. The birth of the saint, the w^onders of his childhood, and his holy es- pousals, form the subjects of the three following cantos. The incomparable virtues of the Mother and foster- father of Jesus, the first sorrowful doubt of St. Joseph, and his subsequent joy, are said to be sung by the poet with a mastery of language and elevation of thought never surpassed. All the mysteries of redemption, and of the life of Christ, find their place in this vast production, which was sent by the author to the native academy of Madm-a,* * A learned body of natives then existing for the advance- ment of the literature of the country. LITERARY WORKS OF THE MISSIONERS. 139 and earned for him from these Pagan judges the title of Viramcmiouniver, or " the transcendent rehgious," by which name he is known at this day in India. It is Avorthy of observation, as F. Beschi remarked to these Indian academicians, that the title which they gave him was simply the translation of his own name, Con- stant, with the indication of his profession as a religious. The reputation both of the poet and of his work has continued to increase to the present hour. Although a copy costs at least 305., a great number, executed either on paper or on palm-leaves, were constantly made ; but by degrees various errors occurred in the transcription, which threatened to diminish its value. The original, in the handwriting of F. Beschi, which had come into the possession of Mr. Walter Elliot, a distinguished magistrate of the Madras Presidency, was generously lent by that gentleman to the missioners, by whom it was printed at Pondicherry, in 1851. The writings of F. Rossi, one of the earlier Je- suit missionaries, known in the country by the name of Sinna SavSrien, or "Little Xavier," which did much to maintain the faith of these people when deprived of their teachers, deserve particular mention. They include fifty-two sermons in honour of St. Joseph, to be read on the fifty-two Wednesdays of the year. They may be found in almost all the Indian churches, written on palm- leaves, and are read at evening prayers each week on that day. The name of the great Christian patriarch, who is said to occupy the throne from which Lucifer was cast down, is now borne by a multitude of Indian Catholics, who have learned to cherish a filial confidence in his powerful protection. They have given it also to many of the new villages founded of late years, as — Soussei-per- patnam, city of Joseph ; Soicssei-patti, village of Joseph ; 140 LITERARY WORKS OF THE MISSIOKERS. Sozissei-abouram, town of Joseph. The agricultural or- phanage of Dindigul, the seminary college of Negapatam, the orphan-school of Madura, and many other establish- ments, are under the patronage of the same venerable name. Both F. Beschi and F. Rossi are known also by their controversial writings, to which the presence of Protestants and other heretics in India gave occasion. It was during the apostolate of the former that the Protestants began to arrive in the country. F. Beschi, with the superiority of his genius and the resources of his learning, exposed, in various works, the errors of these relio-ionists. The most remarkable of his contro- versial treatises is the Veda Velakkom, or " Exposition of Religion," which is still regarded as the most effec- tual antidote to the poison of heresy ; and is said by competent judges to be written with a force of logic and eloquence of style which the heretics can neither imitate nor gainsay. As the number of Christians rapidly augmented under the teachino; of such men as Beschi and his sue- cessors, the missioners could no longer suffice for the arduous task of instruction in a field which was con- stantly extending its limits. The events which already began to alarm thoughtful minds in Europe, and which were destined to assume a still graver character, pre- saged the coming day, when, at least for a time, the supply of missioners, upon which the progress of reli- gion in India depended, would probably cease. It was under this apprehension, soon to be mournfully realised, that F. Rossi composed a series of works, to serve as o-uides to the natives when their teachers should be withdrawn, admirable in their method and arrangement, and inimitable in the intimate knowledge which they disclose of the character and mental habits of the Indian. LITERAET WOEKS OF THE MISSIONERS. 141 Tliey are said to form a complete course of instruction in all liis social and religious duties ; and, having an- swered the special purpose for which thej were designed, are still so highly appreciated in the ha]:)pier times that have succeeded, that the most experienced missioners report in our own day, that " it would be difficult to find in any language a body of instruction more simjjle or more complete." It is these books which have power- fully contributed to preserve the faith among tens of thousands of Christians cruelly deprived of their apostolic guides, or abandoned to pastors too often mercenary and ignorant, and sometimes a scandal to their flocks and to the religion which they professed. All these books, and others composed by mission- ers less illustrious, but not less devoted, were written upon palm-leaves with an iron style, and constitute a portion of the treasm'e of every church. Their value is so miiversally appreciated, that the Indian Christians, when seeking to obtain from God some particular grace, are m the habit of making a vow that, if their prayer be granted, they will transcribe one or more of them, and present it as a gift to some poor church or chapel. It would perhaps be superfluous to speak of writings of another class — grammars, dictionaries, almanacs, and other scientific works — published by the Jesuit Fathers in earlier times, or of those which are now being produced both by them and by the excellent priests of the Congregation of Foreign Missions. Some of them have been admirably translated into English by Mr. Babington, of the Civil Service. The works which are constantly issuing from the press at Pondicherry find a rapid sale among the natives. A translation of the New Testament has been pub- lished, and it is proposed to complete gradually the trans- 142 LITERAKY WORKS OF THE MISSIONERS. lation of the rest of the Bible. A Manual of Devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, another of the Archcon- fi'aternity of the Sacred Heart of Mary, and a " Month of Mary," published in Tamul, have contributed to propagate devotions as dear to Catholics in India as in Europe. It is hardly necessary to add, that the Indians of Madura are able to read in their own language that incomparable book, the Imitation of Christ, reprinted, by the care of the Jesuit Fathers, in so great a multitude of dialects, and known as familiarly in the villages of Hin- dostan, the cities of China, and the plains of South America, as in the capitals of Europe. It deserves to be specially noticed that the mission- ers have lately given their attention to the preparation of another class of books, designed to facilitate the study of Latin by young Indian students who propose to de- vote themselves to the service of the sanctuary. There is only one obstacle to the still more rapid dif- fusion of those useful books, in the composition of which the Catholic missioners are as unrivalled as in the propaga- tion of the faith ; and it depends upon the Catholics of Europe to remove it. To them alone the missioners can appeal for aid. It is their zeal and charity which must supplement the insufficient resources of their brethren in India ; and it may be said with truth, con- sidering the uses to which their contributions are applied, and the results to which they invariably lead, that a given sum of money represents the application of the means of grace to a given number of souls. The salva- tion of the Indians depends not only upon the labours of their apostles, but upon the cooperation of all who belong to the household of faith. It is the will of God to em- ploy human means and human agency, even in that combat between good and evil of which the issues depend solely upon His omnipotent grace ; and it is one of the LITERARY WORKS OF THE MISSIONERS. 143 happiest fruits of this providential law, that it gives to the laity a share, not only in the magnificent ministiy of the evangelist, but in the recompense which is to crown his toil.* * "La gloire, le merite, et la recompense de I'Apostolat n'appartiennent pas uniquement aux ouvriers evangeliques qui ti'availlent, combattent, et meurent dans la carriere. Les per- sonnes pieuses et bienfaisantes, qui les aident de leurs prieres et les soutiennent de leurs aumones, y ont une grande part" {Notice sur la Mission du Madure, par le P. Louis Saint Cyr, p. 23). , CHAPTER XL CATECHISMS AND PRAYEES USED IN THE MISSION. St. Feancis Xavier, in one of his letters, speaks of the great care which he took to instruct the Indians of his time in their Catechism and prayers, and to make them understand the Christian doctrine. In his exhortations also to his fellow-missioners, he constantly impressed them with the great importance of this duty of giving ample time and care to the teaching of the catechumens, and to the completion of the disciplining of their neo- phyte congregations after baptism. The successors of St. Francis never forget this early lesson ; and in all times the solid instruction of the new Christians has been one of the heaviest portions of the missioner's labour. F. de Nobili thouo-ht also that he could not devote his talents and power of expressing himself to better purpose than that of writing two catechisms, which are still in use and much admired : the first, a small one, which every child and adult catechumen was to learn by heart ; and another, more detailed, developed for the use of the already instructed Christians, and the assistance of catechists. Besides these two elementary works, which are still in constant use in the Mission, and in the hands of every catechist, there arc other most useful books which are deserving of attention. F. Bcschi, the most accom- plislied Tamul scholar who ever lived, wrote a most ad- mirable work, in the very purest style, for the instruc- tion and guidance of catechists in every single point of CATECHISMS AND PRAYERS USED IN THE MISSION. 145 Catholic doctrine. The Protestants, being unal^le to pro- duce any thing superior to it, have reprinted this work, and largely used it for their own catechists, disfiguring it, however, with copious notes, full of abuse of many of the holiest doctrines it treats of. Besides this work, seve- ral other treatises have from time to time been written for their guidance. In fact, the catechist is not only valu- able, but indispensable ; and no wonder that in all times the Jesuit Fathers have taken much care in training and forming them. The greatest want felt by the Fathers on their return to Madura after sixty years of absence was that of catechists, and good material to form them. A few words more must be said about this most useful and indispensable body of men. F. Martin, one of the most zealous of the missioners of the old Society, writing in the beginning of the eighteenth centmy, says : " Long experience has shown us that in ordinary circumstances a European can do but little to initiate the con^'ersion of the Pagan ; therefore we have endea- voured by every means in om* power to form and train a number of young men, so as to make them good cate- chists." It is also related in the life of F. Bouchet, who distinguished himself about the same time in forming the Mission and building the still handsome church of Aour, that, finding the work too great for the eleven catechists he already had in his district, he sold a silver chalice, so as to be able to support a twelfth with the proceeds. A catechist, in order to be really efficient, must be entirely devoted to the duties of his office, and must not have other work to occupy his time. They are for the most part married men, and, besides the small sum sanc- tioned by custom which they occasionally receive fi'om the Clunstians, each one has an allowance of about six rupees (twelve shillings) a month from the Mission. When under good surveillance, their conduct is in L 146 CATECHISMS AND PRATERS general veiy edifying, and they seldom betray the confi- dence that is placed in them. Their position is one of honom' and influence ; and a catechist in every way fitted for his work is very much respected by his fellow- Christians. Public preaching in the streets is so entirely contrarv to the genius and taste of the Hindoo, that it cannot be practised with any chance of success. The streets are the highways of the world, and those who are in them are on their worldly matters intent. When he jirays, the Hindoo goes aside from the world to a place of i^rayer, or at least of retirement. Moreover, the received customs of the country, and their ideas of the exterior observance of morality, are so strict, that no stranger could ever enter a house to instruct a woman, nor could any but those of the lowest caste ever for a moment stop in public to mix w^ith a listening crowd. A European missioner could never with any hope of success take the initiative with the heathen, and, by at- tacking his faith and proving its absurdity, bring him to a better mind. The first word of his foreign accent would awaken feelings of repulsion and susceptibility. The missioner would be at a disadvantage ; and though he might by superior knowledge and power of reasoning silence or convince his opponent, he would not gain a smgle step towards his conversion. Tlie catechist, on the other hand, of Indian race and blood, — like to the people amongst whom he moves in all save his superior knowledge and piety, — passes tlurough the country without exciting suspicion or awakening pre- judice ; he enters into conversation with the people on subjects of medicine, poetry, literature, or husbanchy. A few words are quietly said about religion, sufficient to excite inquiry ; some great truths are speculatively sug- gested ; and the humble messenger of Christ, after some words of kindness and friendship to his new acquaintances, USED EST THE MISSION. 147 goes on liis way with an inward prayer that his words may not have been in vain. The minds of those who have heard him, awakened to inquiry and aided by the silent workings of Divine grace, are better disposed to talk of serious matters and discuss questions of religion when next they meet. Thus the catechist gradually gains upon their hearts and convinces their understandings. He then more fully instructs them, and at length, when well prepared, brings them to the master of religion, to receive his blessing, and be admitted to the Sacraments in due time. Skilful and devoted eatechists in this way, going industriously through the districts assigned to them, have always some converts under instruction, and at each great festival of the year bring them to the Father to be bap- tised. In many cases the administration of this Sacra- ment produces the most wonderful change, not only in the soul, which is of faith, but also in the body of the neophyte. Health has often been bestowed by its saving waters ; and strength of body, as well as peace of mind, restored or granted where neither had existed before. The earnest and steadftist practical faith of those who have been duly received into the Church and baptised is one of the greatest consolations of the missioner, as it proves that the hand of God is with him, not only to guide him, but to confirm his work. The success of the catechist is often secured, and his labours abridged, by the casual presence of heathens who happen to assist at the cele- bration of the great Catholic festivals. Struck by the unwonted and deep reverential worship of the Christians around, they bow down to adore the, to them, " Un- known God," and rise up, if not believing, at least wish- ing to know more of the holy Christian religion. The Pagan Hindoo, when he joins himself, from a sen- timent of curiosity or of undefined reverence, to a congre- gation of Christians, listening to holy truths zealously 148 CATECHISMS AJST) PRAYERS preaeliecl, or intent upon profound adoration, is affected ■witli very different feelings fi-om those which he experi- ences when he sees a Protestant missionary in the ordi- nary dress of Eui'opean life, and guarded by legal pro- tection, stand up in the market-place or bazaar, and with irreverent gesture and vehement language impugn and vilify all that he has been taught from his earliest days to look upon as sacred. In a teacher of religion, a Hindoo expects to see great gravity and dignity of character and dress ; nor are his perceptions sufficiently acute to recog- nise in the colour of a neck-tie the sole indication of the spiritual character of the wearer. Bishop Heber fully recognised that street-preaching was entirely useless in converting the Hindoo ; and equally useless and detri- mental is the aggressive method adopted by nearly all the various Protestant missionaries in India, of attacking and scoffing at idolatry before they have sown the seeds of Christianity in the heart. They have destroyed every vestige of religious feeling in the hearts of many ; they have never made one sincerely humble, believing follower of the Cross of Clu'ist. It was the advice and practice of FF. de Nobili, Beschi, and others, never to scoff" at idolatry or turn it into ridicule until the mind of the neo- phyte was sufficiently imbued with Christianity to draw these conclusions for itself. By observing this wise prac- tice, and thus showing a kindly personal consideration and a boundless charity for those amongst whom they labour, the Catholic missioner has gradually won for him- self an amount of respect, even amongst the still heathen population, which immensely facilitates conversions. A laro-e number of well-educated catechists would very much increase the annual conversions ; for each active and intelligent catechist brings every year from fifty to a hundred persons (some of them heads of families) to the Father under whose direction he labours for bap- USED IS' THE MISSION. 149 tism. The small siim of six or eight pounds sterling per annum is sufficient to maintain a catecliist. Another proof how much good can be done in India for a very small sum of money in the present state of the Mission. The old missioners, foreseeing the possible contin- gency of the Christians whom tliey were o-athering to the faith bemg left without pastors, provided against this danger by so arranging the daily prayers which each catechumen was obliged to leai'n thoroughly before bap- tism, as to make tlie prayers themselves contain the prin- cipal dogmas of Chi'istianity : by the daily recitation of these devotions, the acts of faith, hope, chai'ity, and religion, essential for salvation, are infallibly known and practised. Some of these prayers are here translated : and the well- instructed Catholic will perceive how the worship of God by supreme adoration is clearly distinguished from the honour and reverence due to the ever-blessed Virgin and aU the angels and saints who enjoy the beatific vision in heaven. PRAYERS IN USE AilOXG THE HINDOO CHRISTIANS. ^rantr of tljf feoly Cxoii. By the sign of the holy Cross, deliver us. O Lord, from all our enemies, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. [JThile reciting this prayer, a cross is made on the forehead, mouth, and breast; aftencards, the ordinary sign of tlie Cross.] JSious" Custom. EjAcrrLATORY Prayer on Awaking. Jesus, Mary, Joseph, gi-aut your protection, that my eyes in awaking may see no evil, and that my mind may indulge no bad thought. o 150 CATECHISMS AND PRAYERS Or, On Eising. In tlie name of ouv Lord Jesus Christ, I arise. Grant, O Lord, that as I now leave the place of my rest, I may abandon every sin ; and mercifully preserve me from again falling. While Dressing. Vouchsafe, O Lord, as I now clothe my body with these garments, to adorn my soul with Thy divine grace. Slct of ^Ooration. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, one God in Three Persons, I adore Thee with respect. I firmly believe all that Thou hast taught ; I hoj^e in Thee ; I love Thee above all things ; I thank Thee for all the benefits Thou hast granted to Thy poor ser- vant, esj^ecially for having preserved my life till this day. I make a firm resolution to observe Thy commandments, without violating one. For this reason I offer Thee my thoughts, Avords, and actions, my soul and my bod.y, so that all I possess may be devoted to Thy service. Accept all the good works I may perform, in union with the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ ; and I desire to gain all the indulgences in my power, to satisfy for all my sins. Save me, O Lord, by Thine infinite mercy! Amen, sweet Jesus ! [Then follotvs the Angehis, one Pater, one Gloria.'] [On rising, the Christian ought to 2^l