THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
GIFT OF
UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
BERKELEY
r.
PORTUGUESE
DISCOVERIES DEPENDENCIES
AND
MISSIONS IN ASIA AND AFRICA
PORTUGUESE
DISCOVERIES DEPENDENCIES
AND
MISSIONS IN ASIA AND AFRICA
COMPILED BY THE
REV ALEX J D D'ORSEY BD
L__
CAMBRIDGE
Knight Commander of the Portuguese Order of Christ late Professor
in Kings College London
LONDON
W H ALLEN & CO LIMITED
13, WATERLOO PLACE, S.W.
1893-
WYMAN AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND REDH1LL.
PREFACE.
THERE are some subjects which, at first sight, seem
to present little difficulty, and to demand but a very
moderate amount of research. When, however, the
student has commenced his investigations, he sees
new fields opening up on every side ; and the difficulty
is not to find materials for his work, but to select from
the vast mass before him such elements as are solely,
or chiefly, suitable for his enterprise. This has been
our principal embarrassment in the preparation of the
following Essay ; for it was soon discovered that the
volumes bearing upon our subject would have furnished
matter for a history, instead of contributing to the
pages of a monograph.
In writing an account of" The Portuguese Missions
in Southern India in the XVI th Century, with
Special Reference to the Syrian Christians, and to
Modern Missionary Efforts in that Quarter," the
537837
viii Preface.
Author must obviously depend more upon industry in
research, accuracy in quotation, and judgment in selec-
tion, than on the more brilliant qualities of intellect
and imagination. He must make up his mind not to
trust to second-hand authorities, ordinary compila-
tions and translations, often indifferently rendered,
but to go at once to the fountain head, examine care-
fully for himself, compare conflicting statements,
verify citations, reconcile discrepancies, and out of
chaos, as far as possible, produce order. He will, of
course, have to study many a ponderous folio in
mediaeval Latin, in singularly quaint and difficult
Portuguese, in Spanish, Italian, French, and English,
all more or less differing from those of the present
day. He must be prepared to encounter various, and
sometimes contradictory, versions of the same trans-
action, according to the national or political bias
of the writers whom he consults. And above all,
he will find himself perplexed by the strong party
colouring given by antagonistic religious factions to
events which are made to tell for or against a theory,
'in proportion to the light in which they are repre-
sented. To all which must be added the subjective
difficulty, for, unless perpetually on his guard, he will
Prejace. ix
be prone to follow the example of those Procrustean
writers who allow their own predilections to influence
their manner of recording facts, and who sometimes
so far forget what is due to truth as to diminish,
magnify, or suppress, as may best suit the party they
wish to serve. 1
In the particular case before us the first duty was
to divide the general theme into such portions as
would enable the reader to form a clear idea of the
whole question. The next object was to obtain from
public libraries, from official reports, political and
religious, and from private information, such authentic
details as would fill in this outline, selecting such por-
tions as are calculated by their shape, size, and colour,
to combine for the production of a faithful and har-
monious picture. The third part of our task, subor-
dinate, but still important, was to indicate, by constant
reference, the sources from which we derived our
information, not only to steer clear of any suspicion
of plagiarism, but to afford anyone interested in our
subject the means of verifying our quotations, or of
following up the stream to its fountain-head.
1 For a striking illustration of dishonesty in quotation, see Marshall's
" History of the Christian Missions."
x Preface.
The First Book treats of the Portuguese themselves,
and gives a very brief sketch of the circumstances
which led to their maritime discoveries in the
XV th Century, as preliminary to their brilliant
conquests in the East in the XVI th Century. It
affords also an outline of Portuguese India when their
Eastern Empire was at its height, and concludes with
a description of Southern India as the scene of the
transactions recorded in this paper. This book is, of
course, merely introductory, and may be omitted by
such of our readers as are familiar with the subject.
The Second Book discusses the Portuguese Missions,
their origin, progress, prosperous and adverse circum-
stances, first in reference to the heathen, and then
with regard to the Church of Malabar. It includes a
condensed narrative of the rise of the Jesuits, their
settlement in Portugal, and their subjugation of the
heathen in Southern India by Francis Xavier and his
successors in the XVI th and early portion of the
XVII th Century.
The Third Book is devoted to the influence of the
Portuguese Missions on the Syrian Christians, and
records the various attempts made by Franciscans,
Jesuits, and others, during the last forty years of the
Preface. xi
XVI th Century, concluding with the triumph of
Rome at the Synod of Diamper.
In the Fourth Book an attempt is made to bridge
over the interval between the subjugation of the
Syrian Church under Menezes, and the modern mis-
sionary efforts in South India. Though this is not
included in the title of the paper, the link seems
absolutely necessary to render the concluding book
intelligible. This Fourth Book, therefore, compre-
hends the missionary movements from the College of
St. Paul at Goa, the famous Madura Mission, the
conversion by Jesuits and Capuchins, from Pondi-
cherry to Cape Comorin, and the struggles of the
Syrian Church during the XVII th and XVIII th
Centuries.
The Fifth Book relates to modern missionary
efforts in South India, and exhibits, in an extremely
condensed form, the history of the first Protestant
Missions in the Deccan, the temporary union between
the English and Syrian Churches, the disruption and
its results, the present state of the Syrian Christians
as a proof of the still existing operation of Portuguese
influence, and the revival of the Romish Missions in
Madura, and surrounding districts.
xii Preface.
If anyone will carefully peruse this summary, he
will have no difficulty, without our encroaching on his
patience, or tacitly censuring his understanding, in
drawing his own inferences, and making his own
reflections. If " one fact is worth a thousand argu-
ments," this historical sketch, full of facts, will afford
the most ample proof of the extent to which Portuguese
Romanism has damaged Syrian Christianity, and
will probably suggest that it is the duty of the Church
of England to do her utmost to remedy the evil.
Coatham, Redcar,
March, 1893.
CONTENTS.
BOOK I.
INTRODUCTORY.
THE PORTUGUESE IN EUROPE AND ASIA.
CHAPTER I.
PORTUGAL AND THE PORTUGUESE 3
CHAPTER II.
PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES IN THE XV th CENTURY 13
CHAPTER III.
PORTUGUESE CONQUESTS OF INDIA IN THE XVI th CENTURY 28
CHAPTER IV.
THE PORTUGUESE EMPIRE IN THE XVI th CENTURY 42
BOOK II.
THE PORTUGUESE MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN
INDIA.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN INDIA 59
xiv Contents.
CHAPTER II.
FIRST MEETING OF THE PORTUGUESE WITH THE SYRIANS ... 72
CHAPTER III.
PIONEERS OF THE PORTUGUESE MISSIONS 78
CHAPTER IV.
THE RISE OF THE JESUITS 92
CHAPTER V.
THE JESUITS IN PORTUGAL 109
CHAPTER VI.
ST. FRANCIS XAVIER'S MISSION IN INDIA 116
CHAPTER VII.
SUBSEQUENT MISSIONS IN THE XVI th CENTURY 137
BOOK III.
THE SUBJUGATION OF THE SYRIAN CHURCH.
CHAPTER I.
ROMAN CLAIM OF SUPREMACY 151
CHAPTER II.
FIRST ATTEMPT, BY THE FRANCISCANS 157
CHAPTER III.
SECOND ATTEMPT, BY THE JESUITS 166
CHAPTER IV.
THE STRUGGLE AGAINST ROME 176
CHAPTER V.
THE ARCHBISHOP OF GOA .. 188
CHAPTER VI.
THE SYNOD OF DIAMPER . 212
Contents. xv
CHAPTER VII.
THE TRIUMPH OF ROME 232
BOOK IV.
SUBSEQUENT MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA,
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE SYRIANS.
CHAPTER I.
RADIATION OF MISSIONS FROM GOA 243
.CHAPTER II.
THE MADURA MISSION 251
CHAPTER III.
PORTUGUESE MISSIONS IN THE CARNATIC
CHAPTER IV.
SYRIAN CHRISTIANS IN THE XVII th CENTURY 270
CHAPTER V.
SYRIAN CHRISTIANS IN THE XVIII Ih CENTURY ... 282
BOOK V.
THE PORTUGUESE MISSIONS, WITH SPECIAL
REFERENCE TO MODERN MISSIONARY
EFFORTS IN SOUTH INDIA.
CHAPTER I,
THE FIRST PROTESTANT MISSIONS IN SOUTH INDIA ... .. 293
CHAPTER II.
ENGLISH MISSIONS TO THE SYRIANS, 1806-16 ... ... ... 302
xvi Contents.
CHAPTER III.
ENGLISH MISSIONS AND THE SYRIAN CHRISTIANS, 1816-38 ... 319
CHAPTER IV.
THE DISRUPTION AND ITS RESULTS, 1838-58 333
CHAPTER V.
PRESENT STATE OF THE SYRIAN CHRISTIANS 347
CHAPTER VI.
THE REVIVAL OF THE ROMISH MISSIONS IN INDIA 362
AUTHORITIES 379
APPENDIX A 3^7
APPENDIX B 391
APPENDIX C 47
APPENDIX D 4 12
EXTRACTS 43 l
BOOK I.
THE PORTUGUESE IN EUROPE
AND ASIA.
THE PORTUGUESE IN EUROPE
AND ASIA.
CHAPTER I.
PORTUGAL AND THE PORTUGUESE.
" II n'y avail pas quarante mille Portugais sous les armes, et ils
faisaient trembler 1'Empire de Marve, tons les barbares d' Afrique, les
Mammelus, les Arabes, et tout 1'Orient, depuis 1'isle d' Ormuz jusqu
'a la Chine. Ils n'etaient pas un centre cent ; et ils attaquaient des
troupes, qui souvent avec des armes egales, disputaient leurs biens et
leur vie jusqu 'a 1'extremite. Quels hommes devaient done etre alors les
Portugais, et quels ressorts extraordinaires en avaient fait un peuple de
heros ? " "Hist, des Indes." Abbe Raynal. Tom. I., p. 119.
THE kingdom of Portugal, occupying the south-
western extremity of Europe, seemed but little
entitled to play a leading part in the world's drama.
Yet no European nation can exhibit more brilliant
pages than those to which the Portuguese proudly
points in his country's annals from the early part of
the XIII th to the end of the XVI th Century. A
rapid survey of the chief features will form a fitting
introduction to the main subject of this Essay.
B 2
4 Portugal and the Portuguese.
For many centuries the Lusitanians were an
obscure people of the Roman Empire, remarkable for
their utter want of civilisation. During the Middle
Ages they were held in subjection by the Moslem
invaders, till, in 1 107, Count Henry, after severe
conflicts, laid the foundation of the Portuguese power.
His heroic son Alfonso by the victory of Ourique in
1 1 39, 1 secured his title of King on the battle-field ;
but the country was not completely freed from the
Moors till the conquest of Algarve in 1252, by
Alphonso III. 2 Under the fostering care of Sancho I.;
and especially of Diniz the Just, peace and prosperity
were restored. Manufactures, commerce, and agri-
culture revived, and by his construction of the first
Portuguese fleet at Lisbon in 1 293, the King prepared
the way for the glorious work of a later age. He
founded the University of Lisbon, granted Municipal
rights to newly-made towns, protected the merchants
and trading classes against the tyranny of the nobles ;
and, while building cathedrals and monasteries,
checked with a strong hand the arrogant pretensions
of the clergy. Alphonso IV. reigned from 1325 till
1357, formed an alliance with Castile and Aragon
against the Moors, caused the assassination of Ines de
Castro, and was succeeded by his son Pedro I. During
1 La bataille de campo d' Ourique fut livree le 25 Juin, 1139, et c'est
de cette grande epoque qu'il faut faire dater la monarchic Portugaise.
"Hist, de Port., "p. 7.
2 Ribeiro-Dissertayoes Chronologicas Criticas.
Portugal and the Portuguese. 5
these reigns perpetual conflicts raged between the
crown and the nobility, often in combination with the
military orders and the clergy. Yet all the efforts of
the Kings, though occasionally successful, failed to
curb the turbulence of the feudatories till the battle
of Aljubarrota in 1385, gained by John I. over the
rebels, effectually crushed insubordination, and
restored the dignity of the crown. 1
Thus for many centuries the Portuguese had been
trained to war. In the stern, school of adversity the
latent energies of the race had been gradually
developed. Religion, or rather religious fanaticism
was the inspiring principle, the very mainspring of
every movement, of every heroic exploit. Their wars
were rather crusades than patriotic struggles. They
fought the Moor rather as an enemy to the faith, than
as the invader of their country. As one of their own
historians (De Barros) has said, " The kingdom was
founded in the blood of martyrs and by martyrs was
spread over the globe " ; for, of course, he considered
all who fell in battle against the infidel as perfectly
entitled to the crimson crown.
Portugal, thus formed into a kingdom, was about
1450 divided into five provinces : (i) Entre-Douro-e-
Minho, with the ancient capital Guimaraes, Oporto
and Braga. (2) Tras-os-Montcs, with Braganca, the
1 " Dialogos cle Varia Historia," 1648, p. 127. Faria e Souza
"' Europa Portugueza." " L'Univers Pittoresque Portugal," pp. 51-53.
6 Portugal and the Portuguese.
cradle of the Royal House, Castello Rodrigo and
Almeida. (3) Beira, containing Visen and Laniego,
the latter famous for the Cortes in 1143 and 1181,
Coimbra for its University founded in 1318. (4)
Estremadura, the most important and populous
province of the Portuguese realm. Lisboa had a
Moslem population long after the time of Alphonso
in 1147. Beautifully situated at the mouth of the
Tagus, it afterwards became the centre of Portuguese
manufactures and commerce, as well as the per-
manent residence of the King. Santarem, Torres
Vedras, Almada, Restello (now Belem), Cintra Mafra,
Leiria, Aljubarrote, Batalha, Alcobaca, are all famous
in the history of the Spanish and Moorish wars.
(5) Entre-Tejo-e-Guadiana or Alem-Tejo, possessing
Evora, Beja, Ourique and Albuquerque.
Besides these provinces, there was the kingdom of
Algarve divided into D'Alem Mar, " on this side of
the sea," and Aquem Mar, or " beyond the sea " ; the
former containing Lagos, Faro, and Louie, the last
strongholds of the Arabs in Portugal. On Cape St.
Vincent stood Sagres, where Henry the Navigator
erected the world-renowned "Villa do Infante." 1
1 In days long past there had stood upon the sister headland of St.
Vincent, at about a league's distance, a circular Druidical temple,
where, as Strabo tells us, the old Iberians believed that the gods
assembled at night, and from the ancient name of Sacrum Promon-
torium, hence given to the entire promontory by the Romans, Cape
Sagres received its modern appelation. As may lie imagined, the
motive for the Prince's choice could not have been an ordinary one.
Major's " Prince Henry the Navigator," p. 2.
Portugal and the Portuguese. 7
Here the scientific and enterprising Prince, in full
view of the broad Atlantic, planned the various
expeditions for the exploration of the African coast,
and the discovery of Madeira and the Western
Islands. 1 Algarve (now a province) was one of the
most beautiful and fertile portions of the realm, its
ports crowded with ships, and its towns full of war-
like adventurers thirsting for foreign conquests. The
inhabitants, Christians, Jews, and Moors, lived happily
together till the Inquisition, in the XVI th Century,
kindled the fires of persecution, and converted that
happy region into a desert. The other Algarve
(" beyond the sea ") stretched from Ceuta (Abyla) to
Cape Espartel, and contained Almina, Alcazar,
Tanjier, and Arzilla. The African conquests began
in 1415 (the year of Agincourt) with the capture of
Ceuta, and ended, after years of heroism and glory,
with the terrible defeat at Alcazar-el-Kebir, in 1578,
and the death of King Sebastian.
This brief summary of the early history and geo-
graphical position of Portugal will enable the reader
to understand the circumstances in which that country
stood at the commencement of its discoveries. The
warlike character of the population, the long range
of coast bordered by the unknown Atlantic, and the
desire to avenge the thraldom under which their
native land had groaned, inspired the Portuguese
1 Chronica cle Guine, por Gomez, Eamez, cle Azurora, p. 385.
8 Portugal and the Portuguese.
with a desire to carry the war into the enemy's
country and to subdue the territory of the infidel
to the Faith of the Cross.
In confirmation of these views we may partly
extract, and partly condense, the opinion of a great
writer on India a hundred years ago. 1 Speaking of
the conquests of Albuquerque and his followers in
Malabar he says, "If we are astonished at the number
of his victories and the rapidity of his conquests, how
much more should the brave men whom he com-
manded excite our admiration ? Have we ever seen
a nation, apparently so powerless, do such great
deeds ? There were never more than 40,000 Portu-
guese under arms, and they struck terror into the
empire of Morocco, the barbarians of Africa, the
Mamelukes, the Arabs, and all the East, from Ormuz
to China. They were not one against a hundred, and
they attacked troops, which, as well armed as they
were, fought for their lives and property to the last
extremity." What wonderful men must the Portu-
guese of that period have been, and what remarkable
training must have converted them into a nation of
heroes. They had been for a century warring
against the Moors, when Count Henry of Burgundy
landed in Portugal with some French Knicfhts
1 Ilistoire Philosophique et Politique des Etablissemens et clu
Commerce des Europeans dans les Deux Indes. A. Paris 1778. Par
M. Abbe Raynal.
Portugal and the Portuguese. 9
with the intention of fighting in Castile under the
Banner of the Cid, whose fame had attracted them '
to the theatre of war. The Portuguese invited these
chivalrous adventurers to assist them against the
infidels ; the knights assented, and most of them
settled in Portugal. The institution of chivalry, one
which has so much elevated human nature, that love
of glory instead of mere country, that spirit purified
from the contamination of surrounding barbarism
appeared upon the banks of the Tagus, with all the
splendour which had characterised its origin in France
and England. The Portuguese Monarchs strove to
preserve it, and to extend its power by the establish-
ment of various orders formed upon the old models,
and whose spirit was the same, that is to say, a union
of heroism, gallantry, and devotion.
The Kings of Portugal still further elevated the
spirit of the nation by the equality with which they
treated the nobility, and by the restrictions which
they placed on their own authority. They often
assembled the States-General, without which there is
not properly a nation. It was from these States that
Alphonso received the sceptre after the capture of
Lisbon. It was in combination with these States
that his successors, for centuries enacted laws, several
of which seemed peculiarly calculated to inspire the
love of glory. The Peerage was granted as a reward
for distinguished services. For instance, to one who
io Portugal and the Portuguese.
had killed or taken a General of the enemy, or to one
who, when prisoner amongst the Moors, had refused
to purchase his liberty by the sacrifice of his faith.
On the other hand, whoever insulted a woman, bore
false witness, broke his word, or concealed the truth
from the King, forfeited his nobility.
The wars which the Portuguese had carried on in
defence of their country and their liberty, were, at
the same time, religious wars. They were full of that
fierce but brilliant fanaticism which the Popes had
excited during the Crusades. The Portuguese then
were Chevaliers, armed in defence of their fortunes,
their wives, their childre~n, and their kings, Chevaliers
like themselves. They were, in fact, Crusaders, who,
in defending Christianity, fought for their country
too. Add to this, that they were a little nation, an
extremely feeble power, and we have another illustra-
tion of a well-known fact that small States often in
danger, display a patriotic enthusiasm, rarely felt by
great nations, enjoying uninterrupted security.
The principles of activity, force, elevation, and
grandeur, which characterised the nation at that
period, continued after the expulsion of the Moors.
The victorious Portuguese, not satisfied with driving
out these enemies of their country and their creed,
pursued them into Africa itself. Then followed
certain conflicts, more or less important, with the
Kings of Castile and Leon, serving to maintain the
Portugal and the Portuguese. 1 1
spirit and the training required in war, if securing no
other end. At last, during the period which
immediately preceded the expeditions to India, the
nobility, retiring from the court and the great towns,
had but little to occupy them in their castles but the
pictures and the virtues of their ancestors j 1 and
they naturally longed for some enterprise worthy of
their powers.
As soon as the question arose of attempting con-
quests in Africa and in Asia, a new passion was
added to the motives of which we have just spoken,
to give additional force to the genius of the
Portuguese. This passion, which at first had the
effect of stimulating all the others, but which soon
annihilated their generous principles, was cupidity.
They set off in crowds to make their fortunes to
serve the State, and to convert the heathen. They
appeared in India as superhuman beings down to
the death of Albuquerque. After that event, the
very riches which were the object and fruit of their
conquests, corrupted them to the core. Noble
passions gave way to luxury and self-indulgence,
which never failed to destroy the strength of the
body, and the virtues of the soul. The weakness
of the successors of the great Immanuel, the men
1 Enfin, pendant les terns qui precederent les expeditions de 1'Inde,
la noblesse, eloignee des Villes et de la Cour, conservait dans ses
chateaux les portraits et les vertus de ses peres. Abbe Raynal. Vol.
I., p. 122.
12 Portugal and the Portuguese.
of mediocre talent, selected by him as Viceroys of
India, gradually effected the utter ruin of the Portu-
guese Empire in the East.
These remarks will probably suffice to introduce
the people who are to play so conspicuous a part in
our narrative. The reader, who desires more
information, is referred to the voluminous works of
Joao de Barros, to the elegantly written " Historia de
Portugal," by Ercolano (the Macaulay of his country),
or to an exceedingly interesting compendium in the
second and third chapters of Prince Henry the
Navigator, by Mr. R. H. Major, of the British
Museum.
CHAPTER II.
PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES IN THE XV th CENTURY.
"The mystery, which since Creation had hung over the Atlantic,
and hidden from man's knowledge one half of the surface of the
globe, had reserved a field of noble enterprise for Prince Henry the
Navigator." R. H. MAJOR.
JOHN I., who reigned from 1383 till 1433, made the
first attempt at discovery on a very limited scale, and
in connection with an expedition to the Coast of
Barbary. In 1415, Portugal, assured of peace with
Castile, had reached a high degree of prosperity, and
the King availed himself of domestic tranquility to
attack the northern coast of Africa, and thus lay the
foundation of an empire beyond the seas. A fleet
was soon after dispatched to survey the western
shore of Morocco, and, if possible, to trace the whole
outline of the African Continent. Unable to advance
further than Cape Bojador, they returned without
accomplishing their object ; though this attempt
excited them to further researches in the same
direction. These efforts were now systematically
14 Portuguese Discoveries in Fifteenth Century.
guided by one of the most remarkable men of his
age, Prince Henry, a younger son of John I., by
Philippa of Lancaster, sister of Henry IV. of
England. In early life he had devoted himself to
mathematics, and he continued to acquire all the
information which geographical and nautical science
at that time afforded. He fixed his residence, as we
have already said, at Sagres ; and his house became
a sort of Naval College, wherein knowledge was
communicated, and encouragement given, for the
prosecution of maritime discovery. Immediately
after his return from the victorious expedition to
Ceuta he determined to realise his project, and at
once dispatched two young officers of his household,
Gon^alvez Zarco and Tristam Vaz, to cruise along
the coast, and to penetrate those undiscovered
regions, of which but vague reports had occasionally
reached Europe. Driven out to sea by a storm, they
lost the coast line, but discovered first Porto Santo
and then Madeira. The chronicles of the period are
filled with glowing descriptions of the beauty of " The
Pearl of the Seas," which space forbids us to tran-
scribe. We must not however omit one important
fact, as showing the religious tendencies of the Portu-
guese, that no sooner had this interesting island been
partially peopled, than Prince Henry, as Grand
Master of the Order of Christ, placed the whole
under his powerful institution. Soon after the
Portuguese Discoveries in Fifteenth Century. 15
Franciscans arrived, and founded at Funchal the
extensive Convent of San Bernardino.
About fourteen years after the discovery of Madeira,
the Azores were explored for the first time, by
Gonzalo Cabral, who had sailed from Sagres, under
the Prince's auspices. But these successes, interesting
as they are, form but the prelude to the explorations
of the Portuguese along the Coast of Africa. There
is in the narrative of the early triumphs, under the
influence of the Prince, one fact which outshines all
the rest it is that which shows us the Portuguese on
tJie way to India it is the exact history of those
exploring expeditions, creeping along the African
Coast, which, preparing the downfall of Venetian
commerce, were thereby destined to raise Portugal
to the pitch of power which she enjoyed in the
XVI th Century. Tempting, however, as this theme
is, we are compelled to treat it superficially, as merely
introductory to the main subject. A contemporary
historian, Gomez Eannez de Azurara, gives five
reasons for the Prince's desire to continue his
researches, (i) his wish to know what land existed
beyond the Canaries ; (2) that he might find out
whether there was any Christian Port with which
he might maintain a profitable trade ; (3) that he
might ascertain precisely the extent of the Moorish
dominions ; (4) that he might discover any Chris-
tian Potentate who would aid him in his wars
1 6 Portuguese Discoveries in Fifteenth Century.
against the infidels ; (5) that he might extend the Holy
religion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and bring to Him
all the souls that wished to be saved.
then, by this desire, and guided by the
aforesaid, the Prince began to select his ships and
his officers suitable to the nature of the case. 1 In
1433, Gil Eannez passed the famous Bojador, and
thereby proved that the terror which this Cape in-
spired was simply imaginary. Baldaya, in 1436, com-
manded a second expedition, and about a hundred
and twenty leagues south of the Cape saw, for the
first time, the inhabitants of the land, the encounter
being prophetically marked by bloodshed. These
expeditions were renewed in 1441, under Goncalvez
and Nuno Tristam, who returned in triumph after
having discovered Cape Blanco. " The Holy Prince,"
as he is called by Azurara, wished to possess the
treasures of the Church, to distribute them amongst
these bold Captains whom he intended to send into
these desert countries. He therefore dispatched an
embassy to Pope Martin V. to inform him of the
marvellous discoveries just made ; and his suc-
cessor, Eugene IV., conceded to the Prince and his
successors (1436) not only t/ie countries which he had
already explored, but all that he might discover beyond
Cape Bojador, however extensive they might be.
Nicholas V., in 1450, granted a second bull
1 Chronica de Guinee.
Portuguese Discoveries in Fifteenth Century. 1 7
confirming the first. Between 1445 and 1450,
explorations were continued along the coast, the
,rj,yer Senegal and Cape Verde being then discovered.
. A t this time one object was unquestionably the
capture of slaves this infamous traffic having been
begun about this time, the first victims being sold at
Lagos, in Portugal. So strangely were right and
wrong confounded by these pioneers of so-called
Christianity that the fifth part of the proceeds of the
sale of human beings was granted to the Grand
Master of the Order of Christ ; and the historian,
though indignant, calms himself with the considera-
tion that the end justified the means, inasmuch as the
Negroes zvould thereby be converted.
In 1448, King Edward left the throne to his Son,
Alphonso V., who, furnishing Prince Henry with all
the means required for pursuing his glorious career,
received as his reward, in 1460, the discovery of the
Cape Verde and adjacent islands. The progress of
discovery was somewhat checked by the death of
Prince Henry in 1463, but it soon continued to
advance, for we find that the King granted to Gomez
a monopoly for five years, on condition that he dis-
covered, during that time, five hundred leagues more
of the shores of Africa. In 1471, this Navigator
succeeded in exploring the Gold Coast ; the Castle
of Elmina was erected, and the King of Portugal
assumed the title of Lord of Guinea.
c
1 8 Portuguese Discoveries in Fifteenth Century.
John II. ascended the throne in 1481, and
immediately sent ambassadors to Innocent VIII. to
request from the new Pontiff the bull of the " Holy
Crusade" by means of which he hoped to realise
the projects of his Father against the Mussulman
States of the Coast of Barbary. About 1484 Diego
Cam, setting sail from the new Castle of Elmina,
advanced towards the south, and found himself,
though out at sea, in a current of fresh water.
Inferring that this indicated the near neighbourhood
of a large river, he steered towards land, and dis-
covered the mouth of the Congo. We next hear of
settlements made by Evora and Anez in 1485-8 at
Turcaral, Tombul, Congo, and in the country of the
Zaloffes. " Christianity was preached ^v^th success"
according to one of the historians, but we learn from
the same source that the Portuguese were dis-
tinguished by a " burning thirst " for gold, by corrupt
morals, by constant wars with the natives, and by the
establishment of the Slave Trade. 1
Success prompted John II. to further efforts for
completing his exploration of the African Coast
and, in 1486, he appointed B. Diaz, Commander of
an Expedition, under orders to commence his in-
vestigations at the mouth of the Congo, and if
1 " L'histoire cles colonies ne nous offrent que trop souvent un
spectacle de cruautes, que inspire 1'horreur, et qui fait la honte de
1'espece humaine." " Lettres Edifiantes." Tom. IV., p. XVII.
Portuguese Discoveries in Fifteenth Century. 19
possible, to pass the southern extremity of the con-
tinent. We cannot accompany Diaz in his long
voyage, the details of which are given with extreme
minuteness by Joao de Barros 1 ; but we may mention
that he gave names to numerous capes, bays, and
islands, and erected in every conspicuous place a
" Padaro," that is a column of stone .bearing the Cross
and the Royal Arms, as a symbol of the subjugation
of the country to Christianity and Portugal. A storm
drove him beyond his destination, and when, after
fourteen days' despair, they steered eastward, they
found that they had overshot the mark, and uncon-
sciously doubled the Cape. Forced by his mutinous
crews to return home, he steered westward and dis-
covered that mighty promontory which had lain
concealed for so many centuries, and which formed,
as it were, the boundary between two worlds. Diaz
reached Portugal in December, 1487 ; and his " Cape
of Storms " was changed by King John into the
" Cape of Good Hope," a name ever since retained.
Desirous of affecting the discovery of the mys-
terious East, and of forming an alliance with " Prester
John," the King sent Covilham and Payra overland
in May, 1487. These bold travellers determined to
go by way of the Red Sea. Payra died in Egypt,
but his friend succeeded in reaching Sofala, Ormuz,
and finally, Calicut and Goa ; and Covilham was
1 Primeira Decada. L. III., p. 42.
C 2
2O Portuguese Discoveries in Fifteenth Century.
thus the first Portuguese that ever landed in India.
About this time a Yolof prince from the banks of the
Senegal arrived at the Court of John II. to ask for
aid against a usurper of his throne. He availed
himself of this favourable circumstance to receive
instructions ; and, surrounded by every element of
regal magnificence and ecclesiastical pomp, he was
baptised by the name of John. Soon afterwards, he
did homage for his kingdom, returned to Africa, and,
aided by by the Portuguese, regained possession of
his throne. But poor Bemohi little knew the price to
be paid for the blessings of civilisation ; for though
he had proved himself a zealous proselyte, and had
persuaded or forced twenty-five thousand of his sub-
jects to embrace Christianity, he fell beneath the
dagger of General Bisagudo, to whose care he had
been entrusted by the Portuguese King. 1
The year 1492 is famous for the discovery of
America by Columbus, whose service, offered, in the
first instance, to John II. as the great promoter of
naval enterprise, had been unfortunately declined.
On the 6th of March, 1493, Columbus, returning
from his first voyage, put into the Port of Lisbon,
laden with the trophies of the New World, and was
received by the dying King at his 'palace near
1 Lorsque Joam II. examina serieusement cette affaire, il trouva tan
de hauls personnages compromis clans ce meurtre abominable, qu'il
crut devoir garder le silence, et ne put decider a sevir. Voy. Vas-
concellos. " Ilistoire de Jean II."
Portuguese Discoveries in Fifteenth Century. 21
Santarcm. John II., deeply mortified, held several
Councils with the object of advancing a claim to the
glories of the illustrious Genoese ; and such was the
intense chagrin of the courtiers, that they offered to
assassinate Columbus on the spot. 1
Emmanuel, or Manoel the Great, reigned from
1495 to 1521, and displayed a zeal in the cause of
maritime exploration far surpassing that of his pre-
decessors. A year after his accession, he determined
to realise the immense projects which his father had
planned. Diaz was charged with the task of building
three vessels, strong enough to resist the stormy seas
of the south. The command was conferred upon
Vasco da Gama who sailed from Rastello (now
Belem) on 7th July, 1497, amidst religious processions
and the prayers of the whole population of Lisbon
who crowded to the beach. After four months navi-
gation, the expedition entered St. Helena Bay, and
three days afterwards came in sight of the Cape of
Good Hope. On the 2Oth of November, with a calm
sea and gentle breeze Gama doubled the Cape amid
the sound of trumpets and the ringing cheers of the
crews. Before him lay the expanse of the Indian
. Ocean, and the road was now open to that unknown
land, the object of all their hopes and expeditions.
After numerous adventures on the eastern coast of
Africa, during which he discovered Mozambique and
i Barros, Dec. I., p. 56.
22 Portuguese Discoveries in Fifteenth Century.
many other places, Gama sailed from the African
Coast on the 26th of April, to steer three thousand
miles through an unknown ocean. On the twenty-
third day, they descried the peaks of the Ghauts,
which their African pilot declared to be the coast of
India, and, on the 2Oth of May he made the land at
Capocate, two leagues from the town of Calicut ;
and thus was this great adventure crowned with
triumphant success. This city was at that time one
of the most powerful of the East ; commerce flourished
there to such an extent that the merchants of Arabia,
Persia, and all India, resorted thither in crowds : and
the King of Calicut was revered as the sovereign of
all Malabar.
Da Gama waited upon the King (Rajah or
Zamorin) to inform him officially of his arrival,
of the object of his voyage, of the kingdom to which
he belonged, of his position as ambassador, of his
sovereign, and of the powers with which he was
invested. Everything seemed to presage the greatest
success ; the Zamorin formed the highest opinion of
those Europeans who had been bold enough to
traverse a thousand leagues, and to brave all the
perils of the deep, and gave the leader of the enter-
prise the most gracious reception, ordering that he
should be entertained in his palace, and conceding to
him and his people liberty to trade with all the ports
of the empire.
Portuguese Discoveries in Fifteenth Century. 23
This moment of good fortune was of short
duration. The Mohammedans, monopolists of Indian
commerce for many ages, foresaw their ruin if Gama
remained in favour. They therefore bribed the
ministers of the King to denounce the Portuguese
Admiral as a piratical adventurer. After much
negotiation and vacillation, mutual distrust broke
into open war ; and, at last, Vasco found himself
compelled, though unprepared, to re-cross that for-
midable sea which lay between Malabar and Africa.
After a passage of four months amidst storms and
calms, the scurvy decimating his crew, he reached
Magadoxo ; but finding it in possession of the Moors,
he anchored in the friendly harbour of Melinda.
Supplied with provisions, he passed the Cape, and on
the 29th of August, 1499, entered the Tagus with but
one half of his hundred and eight men. Transports
of admiration welcomed him home ; Emmanuel
ordered a universal thanksgiving, and honoured the
discoverer with the new title of Grand Admiral of
the East.
Taking advantage of this general enthusiasm
Emmanuel hastened to equip thirteen ships, carrying
twelve hundred men a force sufficient to keep the
sea against all the navies of India ; and on the 8th of
March, the King, having heard Mass, in the Convent
of Belem, placed a consecrated banner in the hands of
Cabral, who, accompanied by eiglit Franciscan Mission-
24 Portuguese Discoveries in Fifteenth Century.
aries, was instructed to destroy all infidels^ refusing to
listen to the Christianity which the Friars preached.
A most remarkable event distinguished this second
expedition to the East Indies. On the 25th of
March, when the fleet had doubled Cape Verde, a
tempest completely changed the course ; and on the
24th of April, the Portuguese Admiral suddenly
found himself in sight of a finely- wooded shore,
which he rightly conjectured to be part of the
Continent recently discovered by Columbus. The
Portuguese Missionaries then celebrated Mass on the
flowery turf of this unknown land, amid savage tribes
who bent before the Cross ; and thus the immense
Empire of Brazil, the brightest jewel in the Portu-
guese Crown, " was won in a single day, Providence
requiring merely to invoke the winds." 1 Cabral then
steered straight for the Cape of Good Hope ; and,
after losing four of his ships (in one of which Diaz
perished) rounded the promontory, touched at
Mozambique, Melinda, and Quiloa, and arrived off
Calicut on the I3th of September. His arrival was
announced by several salvos of artillery, causing the
greatest consternation amongst the inhabitants.
Recovering from their fears, the natives went on
board the Portuguese vessels, and Cabral was received
at Court. Dissimulation, however, prevailed on both
sides, and open war broke out. Cabral, everywhere
1 " Chroniques Chevaleresques cle 1'Espagne et clu Portugal " T. II.
Portuguese Discoveries in Fifteenth Century. 25
victorious, forced the Zamorin to enter into alliance
with Portugal. The Arab merchants, alarmed at the
approaching ruin of their commerce, prevailed on the
inhabitants to league with them against the intruders.
The Admiral avenged himself by capturing the
richly-laden vessels of the Moslems, who appealed to
the King, declaring that the Portuguese had now
shown themselves in their true colours as pirates.
The King told the merchants they might seek redress
as they pleased. They accordingly took the law into
their own hands ; and heading a tumult, stormed the
Portuguese factory, and killed Correa and forty of his
men. Cabral, witnessing this terrible scene, took
summary vengeance. He attacked ten Moorish ships,
seized their crews and cargoes, and burnt the vessels
in full view of the citizens. He next drew up his fleet
close to the shore, and bombarded the city, burying
hundreds of the inhabitants under the ruins of their
homes. After this rupture, Cabral abandoned Calicut,
and went ninety miles south to Cochin, whose King
was a reluctant vassal of the Zamorin. He therefore
gave the strangers a hearty welcome, offered them full
liberty of trading, entered into an alliance with
Portugal, and appointed an ambassador to ratify the
treaty at Lisbon. While Cabral was at Cochin, he
heard that the enraged King of Calicut had fitted
out a fleet of sixty sail, and the Admiral, judging
" discretion the better part of valour," and avoiding
26 Portuguese Discoveries in Fifteenth Century.
the conflict, sailed for Lisbon, and left the Rajah of
Cochin to his fate. He touched at Cananore, and
there met, for the first time, with tivo Christians of St.
Tliomas who asked him to grant them a passage to
Rome. The Portuguese fleet, reduced to half its
original number, reached Lisbon on the 3ist of
July, 1501.
The voyage of Cabral completely changed Euro-
pean ideas of the East. The Christian monarch,
known by the name of Prester John, invested with
imaginary power and holiness, disappeared from the
scene. People began to form a more sober estimate of
tJie Christians of St. Thomas, by whom these rich
countries were supposed to be peopled, reducing the
number to about 20,000, being tolerated, rather than
enjoying independence, behind the mountains of
Cochin. Men began to admit the inflexibility of the
Brahminical institutions ; and the severe fasts en-
dured by the hostages on board the Christian fleet,
revealed a religious antagonism which the warlike
Propagandists were, at first, far from suspecting.
Caste, with its unalterable laws, its rigorous principles,
and its numerous restraints, presented itself, for the
first time, in its real essence to European eyes.
Statesmen too, understood better than before the
influence exercised by the Moslems over the timid
people of the East ; and, when the Rajah, forced by
the demands of the Portuguese to state positively the
Portuguese Discoveries in Fifteenth Century. 27
line he intended to take with regard to his old allies,
declared that he could not banish five thousand Arab
families from his empire, he gave the Europeans to
understand the nature of the contest in which they
would have to engage, in order to crush the Moham-
medan power, and to establish their own ascendancy.
The almost harmless arrows of the Hindoos, and the
rude fire-arms of the Moors, were no match for the
well-served artillery of the western invaders, and
this superiority ultimately decided the question.
The expedition of Cabral closes the maritime
discoveries of the Portuguese in the fifteenth century,
so far as India is concerned, several minor explora-
tions in other regions not affecting the subject of this
paper.
CHAPTER III.
PORTUGUESE CONQUESTS OF INDIA IN THE XVI th
CENTURY.
' ' Vasco da Gama, o forte capitao
Que a tammanhas empresas se offeree
De suberboede altivo coracao,
A quern fortuna sempre favorece.
CAMOENS.
THE XVI th Century opens with the dispatch in
March, 1501, of a squadron of four vessels under
Nueva to reinforce the fleet in India. He was
steering for Calicut, but found at St. Bias (an African
port) a letter warning him of what had taken place,
and advising him to go to Cochin. On his arrival,
the Zamorin attacked him, but was utterly defeated.
Meantime, the greatest excitement prevailed in
Lisbon. The first enthusiastic feeling was now chilled
by the critical aspect which the affairs of India had
assumed. While these voyages afforded adventures,
extended knowledge, formed alliances, augmented the
national wealth, exalted the honour of Portugal, and,
above all, enlarged t/te dominion of the Romish
Portuguese Conquests of India. 29
the popular voice warmly seconded the sovereign will
in fitting out one expedition after another. But,
now when hostilities had broken out, and when it was
evident that a mighty war had to be carried on against
a Monarch almost at the other side of the world, it
was feared that the resources of a small state would
certainly be exhausted in the unequal conflict. King
Manoel, however, was inflexible. Animated by
political ambition and religious zeal, he relied on the
Papal grant, wliicJi Jiad placed all the Eastern nations
beneath his sceptre ; and he believed it both his right
and his duty to follow up the conquests which his
admirals had begun. Even on ordinary policy he
calculated that the coalition of Cochin and Cananore
would, in union with his own forces, be more than a
match for the Rajah of Calicut. In a word, his great
aim was to found an Empire in the East ; and we,
therefore, find him taking the proud title of " Lord of
the Navigation, Conquest, and Commerce of Ethiopia,
Arabia, Persia, and India." To justify these titles,
and to accomplish his designs, an Armada was
equipped, much more powerful than any hitherto
dispatched to the East. A fleet of fifteen sail was
destined to defend the Portuguese factories on the
Malabar coast ; while another squadron of five vessels
was to intercept the Moorish traders at the mouth of
the Red Sea. Vasco da Gama, with the title of
Admiral of India, was invested with the chief com-
30 Portuguese Conquests of India.
mand, and started from Lisbon on the loth of
February, 1502.
Independently of other motives, to which we have
already referred, da Gama appears to have been
prompted by a desire to punish the Moslems for the
death of his friend Correa, as well as for the insults
offered to religion. Chance soon furnished him with
an opportunity of gratifying his revenge ; and this
instance (unfortunately but a specimen of many such)
serves to account for so much of the hatred which
Portuguese cruelty excited in the East, that we may,
for a moment digress, to give an outline of the
details. Da Gama encountered, on the 3rd of
October, a large vessel belonging to the Sultan of
Egypt, and crowded with pilgrims returning from
Mecca. The Arabs, seeing resistance hopeless, offered
an enormous ransom, which the admiral accepted, and
yet ordered the vessel to be fired. The poor wretches
succeeded in extinguishing the flames, but the merciless
da Gama ordered his men to rekindle them. An eye-
witness 1 relates that the women held up their children
towards da Gama, and that in this scene of horror "1'in-
terieur du batiment offrait une representation visible de
1'enfer," and that " ce cruel souvenir lui etait reste toute
sa vie." This terrible episode in the second voyage
of Vasco da Gama shows the spirit with which he was
animated in his voyage to Malabar. And yet the
1 Navegacas as Inclias Orientaes por Thome Lopes. Chap. XVIII.
Portuguese Conquests of India. 3 1
Jesuits treat this atrocity but liglitly " un vaisseau
d'Egypte refuse de se rendre, il le crible de coups de
canon, saute a horde, n'epargne que les enfans, et livre
aux flammes le vaisseau et tous les hommes qui
composaient 1'equipage ; ce ne fut la qu 'un prelude de
ses brillans succes. 1
Da Gama then steered for India, and touched at
Cananore, where he had an interview with the old
Rajah, marked on both sides by great magnificence.
As he sailed towards the hostile Calicut, he met a
galley conveying noblemen from the Zamorin, as
messengers of peace. They pleaded that his
vengeance on the unfortunate ship ought to be accepted
as full atonement of the murder of Correa. Gama
haughtily replied that he would only treat with them
on condition of the complete expulsion of the Moors.
On anchoring before Calicut, the admiral received the
Rajah's ultimatum, that, while he would give every
advantage to the Christians, he positively refused to
banish the Moorish residents. This answer was con-
sidered a declaration of war, and the Portuguese
commander prepared to bombard the ill-fated city.
Before making the attack, he wrote to the Zamorin by
one of his prisoners, declaring that if he did not
receive by mid-day a satisfactory response, he would
burn the city. The time being past, he ordered all
his captains to hang their Moorish prisoners at the
1 " Lettres Eclifiantes." Tom. IV., p., 25.
32 Portuguese Conquests of India.
yard-arm ; and then commenced a bombardment
which lasted all day. Towards evening he sent the
heads, feet, and hands of the thirty-two victims on
shore with a letter declaring that though these men
were not the murderers of Correa, they were suffi-
ciently related to justify the reprisal. He next threw
the mutilated trunks into the sea, that they might
float ashore, and strike terror into the people. For
two days more he continued to cannonade the town,
and then sailed for Cochin, which he reached on the
7th of November. 1
It is unnecessary to multiply these frightful recitals;
but it was requisite to give some idea of the arrogance
and cruelty of the Portuguese conquerors. Of course,
every attempt is made by their fellow countrymen to
justify or palliate such atrocities as we have described.
But though the bad faith of the Hindoo Monarchs,
and the perfidious insinuations of the Moors, may
explain the conduct of the admiral, the spirit of his
age can alone excuse it. The summary of this
expedition, given by the Jesuits, is characteristic :
" Vasco da Gama se trouve de nouveau aux cotes de
Malabar ; il parle en maitre, il veut venger la mort de
Correa et de ses quarante compatriotes ; on lui offre
des satisfactions, il les rejette avec dedain, s'empare
d'un grand nombre de vaisseaux arabes, fait pendre
1 This narrative is condensed from the History of Joao de Barros,
Dec. I., B. VI., p. 130.
Portuguese Conquests in India. 33
trente infidelcs, detruit a coups de canon la plupart
des maisons de Calicut, brule les vaisseaux qui etaient
a 1'ancre, laisse Sodre dans les Indes, et retourne en
Portugal avec ses vaisseaux richement charges. 1
The eyes of the Malabar princes were at length
opened. Up to this time they had seen in their
visitors only men urged by the desire of wealth, and
anxious to gratify it in trading with India. Experi-
ence tore away the veil, and exposed the secret
machinery of Portuguese policy. The alternative
was evident ; the Rajahs must either conquer the
invader, or must lay their crowns at the feet of King
Manoel. The Zamorin made every effort to rouse
the apathetic sovereigns to take part in the common
cause. It was too late ; the first operations made the
allies only the more sensible of their political weakness.
And, when the King of Cochin, withdrawing from the
coalition from policy, or in disgust, appeared as the
ally of the Europeans, he naturally drew on himself
the vengeance of his brother Rajahs. Too weak to
offer effectual resistance, he was compelled to abandon
his capital, and retire to the fortified island of Vipeen,
where he would have been crushed, but for the
opportune arrival of succour from Europe.
The Portuguese monarch fully resolved to maintain
the footing which he had thus secured at Cochin, dis-
patched, in 1503, three squadrons of three ships each,
1 Lettres Edifiantes. Tom. IV., p. 25.
D
34 Portuguese Conquests in India.
under the two Albuquerques, Antonio de Saldanha,
and Duarte Pacheco, called by Camoens, " the Portu-
guese Achilles." The fleet arrived at Malabar just in
time, as already stated, to save the Zamorin and res-
tore him to his throne. The Albuquerques immedi-
ately invaded the dominions of the enemy, and after
a series of sharp conflicts forced him to conclude a
hollow peace. They then set sail for Lisbon, leaving
the defence of Cochin to Pacheco, with a handful of
nine hundred Portuguese. The Zamorin, seeing his
enemy thus almost defenceless, raised an army of
50,000 men, supported by a fleet of 160 vessels.
Pacheco, nevertheless, resolved to protect the city to
the last, and, after prodigies of valour, he succeeded,
at the end of six months, in driving back the enemy
with a loss of 15,000 men. This event took place in
1505, and may be regarded, as having laid the found-
ation of t/ie Portuguese Empire, in India. Hencefor-
ward the natives were convinced, that their undisci-
plined armies, however numerous, could not resist a
handful of well-armed soldiers, thoroughly trained to
war. Pacheco thus pointed out the road to victory to
his successor Albuquerque, by the brilliancy of whose
exploits the fame of all other Portuguese leaders has
been eclipsed.
From the year 1 504, King Emmanuel had seen the
necessity of regulating the administration of the East,
and of establishing a permanent governor in these
Portuguese Conquests in India. 35
distant regions. He accordingly appointed Francisco
d' Almeida, as first Viceroy of India, who set sail in
1505, and after certain petty conquests in Eastern
Africa, sailed for Cochin, and soon found himself en-
gaged in a desperate conflict with a Mohammedan
fleet, dispatched by the Sultan of Cairo, to exter-
minate the European corsairs.
In the year 1506, fourteen vessels left Lisbon,
under Tristam Dacunha, and Alphonso d' Albu-
querque. Sailing first to Arabia, they reduced Muscat
and other cities ; making their king swear alle-
giance to Emmanuel. On Alburquerque's arrival
at Cochin, Almeida was much disgusted at find-
ing himself superseded by the new Governor-
General of India ; and persisted in retaining his
authority till he had vanquished the Egyptian fleet,
and avenged his son. After a dear bought victory,
he disgraced his triumph by a general massacre
of his prisoners. Almeida, having resigned, Albu-
querque entered at once on those vast schemes of
conquest which have made him one of the heroes of
Portugal. His first object was the reduction of
Calicut, the obnoxious centre of the Malabar alliance.
In January, 1510, the town was taken and burnt; but
the enemy, rallying at the palace, drove the Portuguese
to their ships. Undeterred by this comparative
failure, Albuquerque still resolved to secure some
strong point which might become the Metropolis of
D 2
36 Portuguese Conquests in India.
India, and the centre of conquest, colonisation and
Christianity. An Indian pirate suggested Goa, a
town on a small island separated by fordable salt
marshes from the mainland ; and the Viceroy, with
his characteristic promptitude, cast anchor before this
famous place in January, 1510. The outworks being
taken, and a fleet close to the walls, the merchants,
(Moslems, Hindoos, and Parsees), to whom commerce
was more important than patriotism, offered to sur-
render on conditon of full protection. Albuquerque
accepted these terms, fulfilled them strictly, took
possession of the palace, and assumed the rank of
sovereign. Meantime, Adelschah, the native Prince,
hearing that his capital was in the possession of the
detested Europeans, raised an army of 40,000 men,
and, on the I7th of May, forced the enemy to
evacuate the city. The Rajah, however, did not long
enjoy the fruits of his coup de main. Albuquerque
appeared before Goa on Christmas Day, 1510, at the
head of a force of 1 ,800 men to attack a capital de-
fended by 9,000. After a terrible bombardment, he
stormed the city, and by a hand-to-hand fight of six
hours in the streets, he won it a second time, and re-
united it definitely to the Crown of Portugal. Goa,
being thus secured as the Portuguese Metropolis, the
Viceroy took effectual measures to render the con-
quest permanent by extensive fortifications, by just
administration, by matrimonial alliances, and by the
Portuguese Conquests in India. 37
n of the faith. Then followed the exped-
itions to Malacca and Ormuz, and the discoveries, in
1511, of the Moluccas arid other islands in the Indian
seas, but as these do not bear upon our subject we
may pass over the details.
Albuquerque died on i6th December, 1516, leaving
the Portuguese empire at the height of its power
" stretching .twelve thousand miles from the Cape of
Good Hope to the frontier of China." 1
While these events were taking place in the East,
King Emmanuel sent an embassy (1514) to Leo. X.
presenting him with an elephant from Goa, bearing
the richest gifts. The Pontiff received the Ambassa-
dors with extraordinary honours. Pacheco made a
Latin speech and had a reply in the same language :
" Portugal offers to Christian Rome all these newly-
explored countries ; " and the Pope granted what the
Portuguese required, formal possession, in the face of
the world, of these Oriental conquests,
John III. ascended the throne in 1521, and found
himself in a very different position from that which
had marked the beginning of the last reign. A small
fleet had grown to three hundred vessels, the trade of
Lisbon at home and abroad had been prodigiously
developed, and the influence of this little kingdom
felt throughout the world. The new Monarch, was
" appetite growing with what it fed on," determined to
1 Faria e Souza.
38 Portuguese Conquests in India.
pursue his conquests in India. Were we writing a
history, instead of an introduction, we might give a
long list of the Viceroys and Governors who succeeded
Albuquerque, and enter into full details of their
achievements. The history of the struggles of the
Portuguese with the natives, who were goaded by
the cruel bigotry of their oppressors into the most
determined resistance, is too monotonous to render a
circumstantial narrative of sufficient interest. One or
two contests are, however, worthy of notice.
The Governor-General, Da Cunha, received the
sanction of the Rajah to erect a factory and fort near
the important city of Diu, close to Cambay and
Guzerat. Bahador, Sultan of Cambay, at first friendly,
soon became jealous ; and during a visit to the port,
lost his life in a sudden quarrel. This led to a
combination against the strangers in which the
Governor of Cairo was ordered by the Turkish Sultan
to co-operate. Then began (1538) the first siege of Diu,
when six hundred Portuguese successfully resisted
twenty-thousand troops, sixty-five ships, and a splendid
train of artillery. Seven years afterwards, Zofar, the
chief of Guzerat, again attacked the fortress of Diu
which was gallantly defended by two hundred men.
In October, 1545, the new Viceroy, the famous Joao
de Castro arrived, broke through the enemy's lines and
defeated them with terrible slaughter. Taking the
neighbouring city of Diu, he gave it up to plunder and
Portuguese Conquests in India. 39
massacre, and returned to Goa in triumph, crowned
with laurel, the Royal Standard of Cambay trailing
behind him. This able and distinguished Viceroy
held office only three years, and was so disinterested
that, though Governor of the richest provinces, he
died in extreme poverty. The great stain on his
character was the dreadful barbarity which he every-
where exercised over the conquered.
The Portuguese historians agree that at this period
there was a revival of prosperity, similar to the almost
fabulous success of the Albuquerques. This prosperity,
the immediate consequence of a noble spirit and of
severe integrity was but of short duration. Gradually,
place-hunters and extortioners, gained the ascendency,
so, that sixty years afterwards, an author writing on
statistics could say, " such is the number of lawyers
who besiege the Government offices at Goa, that one
might call it a city of pleaders, and not a city of
warriors." This political decline did not, however,
arrive all at once, and the times which immediately
followed the epoch of Joao de Castro were still glorious
under Garcia de Sa, during whose government the
Dominicans arrived, and under Cabral, during whose
sway the Portuguese gained signal victories by sea
and land.
In 1570, during the government of Luis de Ataide,
the Mogul formed an alliance with the Zamorin, for
the purpose of expelling the Portuguese, An army of
40 Portuguese Conquests in India.
100,000 men laid siege to Goa, defended by only 700
troops in addition to 1,300 monks and slaves. After
a long and unsuccessful siege, a desperate assault was
made on the I3th of April. This too, failed, and the
enemy withdrew with the loss of 12,000 men. Similar
attacks were made on Chaul, near Bombay, and Chale
near Calicut ; but being defended with the usual vigour,
the assailants were finally discouraged, and the coali-
tion dissolved. By such achievements as these, the
Portuguese maintained their supremacy, not only on
the coasts, but on the seas of India, during nearly the
whole of the sixteenth century. But the high degree of
power and prosperity to which Portugal had attained,
became the object of the envy, the ambition, and the
cupidity of other nations. Dutch, French, Danes, and
English poured into India, to conquer and to appro-
priate a share of its territory, its commerce, and its
riches. In the autumn of 1596, Houtman arrived off
Java. In 1599, a fleet of eight Dutch vessels returned
from Sumatra and Java, laden with spices, and in
1600, several Dutch trading companies dispatched
forty large vessels, and soon succeeded in depriving
the Portuguese of nearly all their lucrative trade.
During the next fifty years there was a long and
bloody struggle between the Portuguese and Dutch,
in which the latter were finally victorious ; while in
the western provinces, the Portuguese were supplanted
by their new rivals the English. The successors of
Portuguese Conquests in India. 41
the Albuquerques and de Castros were stripped of
their vast dominions almost as rapidly as they had
gained them, and now Goa, Mozambique, Diu, Macao,
and a few minor factories, all in a decayed condition,
are the sole and sad remnants of that colossal power,
which, in the XVI 11 ' Century, extended over so large
a part of the Eastern Hemisphere.
This summary of the chief events which mark the
Portuguese conquest of India will, we trust, prepare
tlie way for a clear tinderstanding of the Portuguese
Missions in tJie XVI th Century. The difficulty has
been not to obtain sufficient information, but to con-
dense, with discrimination, the enormous mass of
materials afforded by the historians of that age, whose
discursive and pompous style fills page after page of
ponderous folios and quartos, rarely taken from the
shelves of our public libraries. Should any reader
care to have a more detailed account of this interest-
ing period, he may consult, with advantage, the original
authorities named in the appendix.
CHAPTER IV.
THE PORTUGUESE EMPIRE IN THE XVI th CENTURY
"To understand a Mission thoroughly, we should know something of
its locality ; the people among whom it is carried on ; their former con-
dition and history ; their habits of life, the history of Missionary effort
among them ; its discouragements and pleasing features; its present
character and fruits." " South India Missions," p. 91.
THOUGH some idea may be gained of the Portuguese
acquisitions from the narrative already given, it may
be useful to present a summary of the geographical
questions relating to this volume. We may notice in
the first place the conquests of the Portuguese in the
XVI th Century with reference to their localities ; next
the political divisions of India at that period ; and
lastly, South India, especially Malabar, Cochin and
Travancore, the abodes of the Syrian Christians.
I. Omitting the settlements on the West Coast of
Africa, mentioned in our previous pages, we may
adopt the condensed statement, appended to the Third
Volume of " Asia Portuguesa," which describes the
Portuguese Empire of the East as it existed at the
Portuguese Empire in Sixteenth Century. 43
close of the XVI th Century. The learned author,
Faria y Sousa, writing with the advantage which a
cotemporary possesses, informs us that the Lusitanian
Settlements actually extended 1 ,200 miles from the Cape
of Good Hope to China, and that these vast dominions
were thus divided : (i) From the Cape of Good
Hope to Guardafui, and Socotra at the mouth of the
Red Sea, in other words the whole range of the East
Coast of Africa the kingdoms of Sofala, Mozam-
bique, Zanquebar, Magadoxo, Ajan, and Somauli,
with the splendid island of Madagascar, and numerous
ports (Quiloa, Melinda, &c.) enriched with the com-
merce of Arabia, and adjacent countries. (2) The
coast line from Mocha to Muscat, i.e., from the mouth
of the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf, embracing
Hadramant, Omaun and other regions of Arabia
Felix. (3) The third division begins at Bosta or
Bussora, where the Euphrates enters the gulf, passes
Bussire, and other emporia, stretches along Beloo-
chistan and Scinde, to the gulf of Cambay. This
region was one of the first Portuguese possessions,
and the names of Ormuz, Guadel, Scinde, Cambaya,
Guzerat, with the fort of Bandel and Diu, so famous
for its siege, occur perpetually in their early histories.
(4) The fourth division ranges from Cambaya to Cape
Comorin, and includes those districts to which our
history specially refers, the coast of Bejapoor, Coukan,
Canara, Malabar, Cochin and Travancore. The forti-
44 Portuguese Empire in Sixteenth Century.
fied factories of Damaun, Assarim, Danu, Bassaim,
St. Gens, Aga^aim, Maini, Trapor, Cana, Savanja,
Chaul and Moro. " The most noble city Goa," says
Faria, 1 " large, strong and populous, is the Metro-
polis of our Eastern Dominions, and contains an
Archbishopric, whose Prelate is the Primate of all
the East. This is the residence of the Viceroys, and
here are the courts of the Inquisition, Exchequer,
Chancery, Custom House, Arsenals, and Magazines
well provided. The city is seated on an island girt
with strong walls, and defended by six mighty
Castles " and much more to the same effect, which
we need not quote, as we have elsewhere described
the capital of India. (5) This lies between Cape
Comorin and the mouth of the Ganges, including
what was then called Madura (Tinnevelly, Dindigul,
Tanjore, &c.) the Carnatic, Golconda, Narsinga, Orissa,
and smaller states. Here the Portuguese possessed
many factories, the chief being Negapatam, Meliapour
Masulipatam, and Vizagapatam, with smaller settle-
ments, as far as the spot on which Calcutta now
stands. (6) This division has little or no reference to
our present subject ; but, to complete the list we may
state that it extends from Calcutta to Singapore, and
includes part of Bengala, with Pegu, Tenasserim, and
Malacca. (7) The last portion of this extraordinary
maritime empire swept along from Singapore to
1 " Asia Portuguesa," Vol. III.
Portuguese Empire in Sixteenth Century. 45
Macao, thus completing one of the most singular pheno-
mena in the history of the world ; for, while other
nations have aspired to the conquest of kingdoms
or continents, it was the peculiar characteristic of
Portuguese ambition to limit its colonial dominion to
the mere sea-boards of the countries which it subdued.
II. The Political Divisions of India in the XVI th
Century, are sufficiently intelligible for our purpose,
without tracing their history to their source. Every
classical student is perfectly aware, that at a very
remote period, India was known to the Egyptians
and Phoenicians, and possibly, to the Hebrews also. 1
As far back as 1491 B.C., Sesostris, King of Egypt,
marched through Asia to the banks of the Ganges,
and even, it is said to the Eastern Ocean. And
though this rapid conquest is alleged to have left
no permanent impression, it is plausibly conjectured
that several customs now prevailing in India were
introduced at the time of the Egyptian invasion. 2
Passing over the expedition of Darius, in 510 B.C.,
which seems not to have gone beyond the Indus, we
may observe the famous invasion of Alexander the
Great in 326 B.C. which may certainly be considered
1 Robertson doubts this, saying "The Jews then, we may conclude,
have no title to be reckoned among the nations which carried on inter-
course with India by sea." Hist, of India, p. 12. Bruce's Travels
Book II., C. IV.
2 Diud. Sic. Lib. I., p. 64. La Croze Hist., p. 434. Rollin Vol. I.,
p 78. Robertson's India, p. 7-
46 Portuguese Empire in Sixteenth Century.
the first disclosure of a knowledge of India to the
people of Europe. His successor, Seleucus, fruitlessly
endeavoured to prosecute Alexander's schemes of
Oriental Conquest ; but, Ptolemy Soter, 1 more fortun-
ate in his choice of means, was able to make Egypt
the peaceful centre of a prosperous trade with India.
The Persians, hearing of this success, soon followed
the example set by the Egyptians, transporting the
commodities of India by land, while they left to their
rivals the monopoly of the sea. Very early in the
ist Century, B.C. we find the Romans eagerly pur-
suing commercial intercourse with the East, and
opening a third channel through Mesopotamia.
Nothing further is heard as to change of route, till
the Egyptian Hippalus (50 A.D.) boldly sailing from
the mouth of the Red Sea, crossed with the monsoon
in forty days to Musiris, somewhere near Mangalore,
on the coast of Canara. The student is referred to
" Ptolemy's Geography of India " for a description of the
whole region as then known. " Strabo's Geography,"
" Arian's History of the Indies" and D'Anville's well-
known work, " Antiquites de 1'Inde " will throw further
light on this part of our subject.
In the year 200, Pantcenus is said to have visited
India as its first Missionary; 2 and, in 325 Johannes,
1 His son Ptolemy Philadelphia anticipated Lesseps in the idea of
the Suez canal. Strabo. Lib. XVII., p. 1,156. Plin. Nat. Hist. Lib.
VI., C. XXIX.
a Eusebius. Lib. III. Cap. X.
Portuguese Empire in Sixteenth Century. 47
Bishop of Persia, and India, signed his name at the
Council of Nice. 1 About the year 527, in the reign of
Justinian, one Cosmas, an Alexandrian merchant,
called Indo-Pleustes (Indian voyager) published some
valuable information about India and the Indian
Church, especially in Malabar : " There is in the
island of Taprobranc, in the farthermost India, in the
Indian Sea, a Christian Church, with Clergymen and
believers. In the Malabar country also, where pepper
grows, there arc Christians, and in Caliana, as they
call it, there is a Bishop who comes from Persia
where he was consecrated. 2 The VII th Century is
marked by the rise of Mohammedanism, which soon
spread over the East and which, to this hour, affects
the condition political, moral, and intellectual of
Hindostan. In the IX th Century, an interesting
episode connects England with India ; for, in 883,
Alfred the Great sent Sighelm, Bishop of Shcrborne,
on a mission to the shrine of St. Thomas, near
Madras. 3 Omitting all accounts of visits to Malabar,
by Persian Ecclesiastics in the X th Century, and other
irrelevant matters, we may advert to the Crusades as
powerfully influencing European intercourse with
1 Eusebius. Lib. III. Cap VI. Hough's Christ, Vol. I., p. 61.
2 Asseman. Tom. XIII., p. 2. Robertson's India, p. 95. Lardner
Vol. XI., C. 148. La Croge, pp. 37-8. Paulinus Ind. Orient. Christ,
P- 14-
3 Saxon Chron., p. 86. " William of Malmesbury De Gestis," Book
II., Chap. IV., p. 44. Turner's, Hist. Ang. Sax., Vol. II., p. 145.
Gibbon, Chap. XLVII.
48 Portuguese Empire in Sixteenth Century.
India, and as preparing the way for the extensive
trade which favoured the Venetians in the XIII th
Century, the Genoese in the XIV th and the Florentines
in the XV th . The study of this question would be
incomplete without examining the travels of the
famous Venetian Marco Polo, who, for more than a
quarter of a century (1255-80) explored the whole of
Asia as far as Pekin, and who has left us the only
trustworthy account of the East at the time of his
travels. 1
While Prince Henry and the captains, whom his
genius and energy had called into action were ex-
ploring the coast of Africa, the Mongols and Hindoos
were engaged in deadly conflict for the vast prize of
Northern India. Timur, the Tartar, after desolating
the country, destroyed Delhi and reduced the whole
empire to the power of Mahomet. Baber, his lineal
descendant, came to the throne in 1494 ; and, by the
decisive battle of Panniput in 1526, succeeded in
establishing the Mogul Dynasty in Delhi.
At this time, when the Portuguese first came in
contact with Indian Princes, the whole of what we
now call India contained five great Mohammedan
empires, besides many Hindoo kingdoms. The old
Patan sovereignty of Delhi had included Hindostan
and the Punjaub, but was now divided into two main
1 Herbelot Bib. Orient, arctic Khathai. Voyage of A. Jenkinson.
Hakluyt, Vol. I., p. 333. Robertson's India, p. 154 and p. 395.
Portuguese Empire in Sixteenth Century. 49
principalities. Guzerat, Malvva, and Bengal, had each
its Sultan, possessed of formidable armies, and though
brethren in the Moslem Faith, perpetually at war with
each other. The Hindoo Princes were the Rajah of
Beejanuggur in the Deccan, and the Rana Sanka of
Mewar, with many others whose dominions were not
affected by the Portuguese invasions. Of course the
Zamorin and the Rajahs of Cochin, and other towns
along the coast, have already been so frequently
mentioned, that it is not necessary to refer to them
again. An inspection of the map of the Deccan,
about 1520, will give a better idea of the political
divisions of India as they then were than any verbal
description. Before leaving this part of our subject
we may remark that the accession of Akbar, in 1554,
produced an important effect on the political divisions
of India. Internal dissensions had weakened the
great Hindoo Monarchy of Beejanuggur, which was
finally extinguished by a coalition of the surrounding
states. Availing himself of this condition of the
Deccan, Akbar invaded South India, and incorporated
the greater part with the Mogul Empire in 1598.
This monarch seemed disposed to cultivate friendly
relations with the King of Portugal, encouraged
Europeans to enter his service, and invited the Jesuits
of Goa to resort to his Court. 1 At his death in 1605,
1 Manonchi's "Life of Akbar," p. 136. Eraser's " History of the Mogul
Emperors," p. 12. Hough's " Hist, of Christ," Vol. I., p. 261.
50 Portuguese Empire in Sixteenth Century.
his extensive dominions were divided into fifteen
Vice-royalties, each governed by a Subardar. 1 The
reigns of Baber, Humayan, and Akbar covered the
XVI th Century, and synchronise very nearly with
the period of the Portuguese conquests and early
missions.
III. South India demands a description more ex-
tensive than our space will afford as, it is not only the
scene of the earliest missionary efforts of the Portu-
guese amongst the heathen and the Syrian Christians,
but it is by far the most interesting field of modern
operations for the conversion of the natives. This
division includes the whole of the Peninsula of India,
south of what we now call the Nizam's dominions,
but was very little known to the Portuguese settlers,
with the exception of a strip of land ten miles broad
along the coast. In the XVI th Century, its bound-
aries differed from those which at present exist. It
had Krishna on the north, and comprehended Bijna-
gur, Madura, the Empire of the Zamorin, subdivided
into a number of petty states, such as Cannanore,
Calicut, Canganor, Cochin, Coulon, Travancore, &c.
South India extends from the sixteenth to the eight-
teenth parallel of latitude. The area is 200,000 square
miles, and the population about 32,000,000. The
physical aspect of the country is that of a large
1 Tod's "Annals of Rajasthan." " South of India," Col. Wilkes,
Vol. I., p. 169.
Portuguese Empire in Sixteenth Century. 5 1
plateau, or table-land, bounded by the Eastern and
Western Ghauts, and rising into Alpine ridges such
as the Neilgherry Hills ; while the Godavery, the
Khistna, the Cauvery, and many other streams, supply
abundant water for irrigation without which India
would be a desert. The climate is influenced by the
mountains and the monsoons; and though in tempera-
ture, the Madras coast is undoubtedly the hottest
part of the peninsula, a climate, almost English, may
be reached by railway in a few hours.
One of the common errors in England is the idea
that India is one vast country, instead of being like
Europe, a union of many states, races, languages,
and religions. In South India the population is ex-
tremely diversified in origin, stature, and complexion.
Most of these races profess the Hindoo Faith, and
Brahmins are more numerous than in any other part
of the peninsula. Caste still holds sway, but there
are decided symptons of this formidable barrier being
broken down, in spite of all the injudicious concessions
made by the Romish missioners. Christian effort,
the march of civilisation, continued intercourse with
Europeans, and that remarkable movement among
the Hindoos themselves, called the Brahmo-Somaj,
of which Chunder Sen is the leader, seem all combining
to remove this obstacle to the progress of India. The
English language is now more than supplanting the
Portuguese ; though the natives, of course, still use
E 2
52 Portuguese Empire in Sixteenth Century.
Tamil, Malayalim, Canarcse, and Tclcgu, besides
Urdu, employed in the camp.
Malabar is a long narrow strip between the Ghauts
and the sea, containing 6,000 square miles and a
million and a half of people. The mountains rise
rapidly to the height of 5,000 feet, and are covered
with magnificent forests of teak and cedar. The
ravines and passes present scenes of romantic beauty,
while the low grounds are laid out in paddy-fields,
and the flat, sandy shores, are fringed with groves of
cocoa-nut palms, the graceful arecas surrounding the
small groups of mud cottages scarcely worthy the
name of villages. The soil is extremely fertile, and
produces rice, cardamums, coffee, and pepper, in great
abundance ; the latter, as far back as the days of
Cosmas, was the characteristic of the country, and it
is now often called the money of Malabar. The popu-
lation of this coast is singularly varied : Brahmins,
Nairs, Tiars, Moplays, Christians, and Jews, besides
numerous foreigners, Asiatic and European, who have
settled here for purposes of trade.
Cochin the chief seat of the Syrian Christians,
though often included under the name of Malabar, is
really an independent state of 1,100 square miles, and
400,000 people. This irregularly shaped mountain
tract has British Malabar on the north, the Rajah
of Travancore's dominions on the south, Coimbatore
and Madura on the cast. The physical features
Portuguese Empire in Sixteenth Century. 53
climate and productions, are almost the same as those
of Malabar, but it is distinguished by a peculiarity in
the distribution of its watercourses, of which we may
quote from an eye-witness the following account :
" It is watered by numerous streams, which descend
from the mountains towards the sea ; but these little
rivers, instead of pouring their waters separately into
the ocean, spread out before they reach it into wide
channels just within the coast line, and communicating
with one another, form what is called " The Back-
water " a land locked lake of every varying depth
and width, with an outlet here and there, through
which the water finds its way into the ocean." 1
The population consists of Naimhoories, or Aboriginal
Brahmins, Nairs, Pollayers (a wretched race), and
Christians of various nations and churches. The
inhabitants are generally very poor, there being no
middle-class between landowner and labourer. On
the coast many find employment in ship-building,
rope-making, fishing, and gathering cocoa-nuts, and
are, therefore, somewhat better off. With rare excep-
tions the clothing of the upper class natives consists of
nothing more than a few yards of calico or muslin,
wrapt round the middle ; while the poorer people are
scarcely clad at all. This, of course, does not apply to
the Christian converts, many of whom have been per-
suaded to assume more ample garments. The
1 Howard's "Christians of S. Thomas," p. 2.
54 Portuguese Empire in Sixteenth Century.
country is at present ruled by a Rajah under the
British Government ; and many evidences of civilisa-
tion, such as churches, schools, and hospitals, are
everywhere springing into existence.
Travancore is a very important government under
its own sovereign, extending from Cochin to Cape
Comorin, one hundred and fifty-five miles. The
climate is extremely hot and moist, in the lowlands
the thermometer rising to above 90 ; and though the
heat is much less in the mountains, the air is not so
bracing as in the Neilgherries. Animal life is abun-
dant, the forests teeming with tigers, leopards, snakes,
and an immense variety of birds. The soil in the
level districts is prolific in rice, sago, coffee, &c.
Like Cochin and Malabar, Travancore possesses a re-
markably diversified population in race and creed.
Christianity is professed by about one-eighth of the
population, and is spreading rapidly, not only under
the English and other Protestant Societies, but also
under the Romanists. The Rajah, one of the most
enlightened Princes, has established police, schools
and hospitals, formed excellent roads, granted per-
fect religious toleration, and removed all restrict-
ions on commerce. His handsome palace, is at the
modern capital, Trevandrum ; the old one, Travan-
core, being now deserted. Allepi and Quilon are
also important harbours.
Madura, Tinnerelly, and other districts of South
Portuguese Empire in Sixteenth Century. 55
India are so well known from the reports of the
Missionary Societies, " Les Annales de la Foie " and
similar publications, that it seems quite unnecessary
to notice them here. Occasional references in the
following chapters will be sufficient to illustrate geo-
graphical names as they occur. 1
1 Further information will be found in Thornton's " Gazetteer of
India," George Duncan's " Geography of India," 1868 ; Professor
Ansted's " Geography of India," 1870 ; the Rev. G. Rowe's " Colonial
Empire The East Indian Group." S.P.C.K. , and similar works.
BOOK II.
THE PORTUGUESE MISSIONS IN
SOUTHERN INDIA.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN INDIA.
" That St. Thomas was the Apostle of the Indies is attested by all
Ecclesiastical Records, Greek, Latin and Syriac " Asseman, " Dissert
de Syris Nestorianis," Tom. IV., p. 439.
" Choraram te, Thorne, o Gange, e o Indo ;
Choron-te-toda a. terra, que pizaste ;
Mais te choram as almas, que vestindo
Se iam da sancta fe, que Ihe ensinaste."
CAMOENS.
WE have hitherto spoken of the conquests of the
sword, the only ones which, generally speaking,
attract the attention of mankind, and furnish themes
for the historian. There are, however, other victories
which, beginning with the early part of the XVI th
Century, have exercised an immense influence over
Southern India. We allude, of course, to the
missions established there soon after these regions
were discovered and subdued.
When the Portuguese had obtained a firm footing
upon the coasts of Malabar, and partially penetrated
into the interior of the country, they found those vast
60 Early History of the Church in India.
tracts peopled by three sorts of inhabitants. First,
there were the Christians of St. Thomas, who, during
at least eight centuries, had been cut off from the rest
of Christendom, and had, according to some writers,
corrupted the true faith by engrafting on it the errors
of Nestorius and the superstitions of Paganism ;
secondly, the Moors, or Arabs, fanatical followers of
Mahomet, divided into many sects ; and thirdly, the
Hindoo population, the learned men believing in
various systems of philosophy, the middle and lower
classes being plunged into the thick darkness of the
grossest idolatry. Our business being briefly to
sketch the early history of the Indian Church, as
introductory to the Portuguese Missions, it seems
unnecessary to describe, except incidentally, the
errors of Mohammedanism, or the superstitions of
the heathen.
The Church of India acknowledges St. Thomas as
its first founder. This Holy Apostle had carried the
gift of religion to the Parthians, the Hircanians, the
Persians, and the Arabs. In the ardour of his zeal,
he counted it as scarcely anything that he had
announced his Divine Master in all the places which
the Grecian hero had rendered illustrious by his
conquests. Not satisfied with finishing his course
where the ambition of Alexander the Great had
ended his, he penetrated into the interior of India,
preached the Gospel to nations whose very names
Early History of the Church in India. 6 1
were hardly known, and founded, amidst tribes where
idolatry had been hitherto triumphant, a Church of
earnest worshippers of the true God.
There is, of course, much discussion on this point.
While, on the other hand, the Roman Catholics and
some reformers maintain the truth of what we have
just stated, others declare that the Syrian Church was
founded by another St. Thomas of the IV"' Century.
According to one view, the Apostolic origin of this
Church is not one of those obscure traditions which
dread the severe investigations of criticism, as it
unites in its favour all the proofs which can attest its
truth : the accumulated evidence of the first ages
of the Church of St. Jerome, St. Chrysostom, St.
Augustine, St. Athanasius, and amongst the his-
torians nearest to this epoch, Eusebius, Nicetas,
Sophronius, Abdias, and Nicephorous. To the
authority of these testimonies may be joined that of
usages and monuments still in existence, and which
ascend to the period when the name of Christian
began to be known in Hindostan. St. Chrysostom
writes that from the earliest times of Christianity, the
tomb of St. Thomas was, in the East, as much
venerated as that of St. Peter at Rome. To this
very day, and from time immemorial, the city of
Meliapour, to which the Christians of India have
given the name of St. Thomas, sees, every year, the
two neighbouring hills covered by a multitude of
02 Early History of the Church in India.
Christians, old and new, who flock thither from the
coasts of Malabar, from Ceylon, from the most distant
parts of India, and even from Arabia, to deposit their
offerings and to pray at the shrine of the Holy
Apostle. The Communion office, the liturgy, and
all the services of this Indian Church were celebrated
in Syriac, a language which, as all students know, was
much used in the Holy Land amongst the Jews in
the time of Our Lord. This may be considered an
additional proof that the faith was introduced into
India by St. Thomas, and in the words of the Jesuit
historian, " on ne voit pas qu'il soit possible de trouver,
dans 1'historie de cette Eglise, un autre fondateur que
Saint Thomas lui-mcme." l
The Portuguese, on their first expedition into India,
found there 200,000 Christians ; the wreck of a
wretched people, plunged into gross ignorance and
bending under the yoke of slavery. Interrogated as
to their faith, these Indians could give no other
account of their religion than that they bore the
name of Christians of St. Thomas, and the practice
which they had, following the example of their
ancestors, of going every year to offer their homage
to their protecting saint, on the very spot where,
according to the constant tradition of their Church,
he had consummated his martyrdom. These Chris-
tians of St. Thomas related marvellous things of his
1 " Lettres Edifiantes," Tom. IV., p. 3.
Early History of the Church in India. 63
Apostolate, taken from their annals. They had
composed from these materials canticles, or sacred
songs, translated into the language of the country,
and chanted by the inhabitants of Ceylon, and of the
coasts of Malabar.
The traditions of an ignorant and barbarous people
are always confused and often mixed with fable.
Amidst the clouds which cover the traditions of the
Christians of St. Thomas, the following account seems
to possess the greatest amount of probability, and the
nearest approach to truth. After having established
Christianity in Arabia Felix, and in the island of
Dioscorides (now called Socotora), the Holy Apostle
landed at Cranganor, at that time the residence of
the most powerful King on the Malabar Coast. We
know, from the historians of the Christian people,
from Josephus and from the Sacred Books them-
selves, in the account of the Miracle of Pentecost
that before the birth of Jesus Christ, there went forth
from Judea a great number of its inhabitants, and
that they were scattered throughout Egypt, Greece,
and several countries of Asia. St. Thomas learnt
that one of these little colonies had settled in a
country adjacent to Cranganor. Love for his nation
inflamed his zeal ; and faithful to the command of
Jesus Christ who had enjoined his Apostles to pro-
claim the faith to the Jews, before turning to the
Gentiles, he repaired to the country which his com-
64 Early History of the Church in India.
patriots had chosen for their asylum ; he preached to
them the Gospel, converted them, and changed their
Synagogue into a Christian Church. This ivas the
cradle of Cliristianity in India, Very soon this
precious seed, cultivated by the Holy Apostle, bore
fruit a hundredfold ; the faith was carried to
Cranganor, to Coulan, a celebrated city of the same
coast, and to several kingdoms of Southern India.
The converted Gentiles were united to the Jews ;
Churches were multiplied, and the Syriac language
was adopted in Divine Service. St. Thomas, after
having given a constitution to these infant Churches,
proceeded to new conquests ; and, directing his steps
towards the coast of Coromandel, reached Meliapour.
The fame of his miracles and of his wonderful success
had preceded him ; the Rajah's eyes were opened to
the light of the faith, he received baptism ; and by
his example, a part of his subjects embraced the
Gospel. These numerous conversions excited the
jealousy and hatred of the Brahmins, two of whom
urged the populace to stone the Holy Apostle. One
of these Priests observing some trace of life in the
Saint, pierced him with his lance, and St. Thomas
thus received the reward of his love and devotion as
a missionary, the crown of martyrdom. The Church
of Meliapour, thus founded in the Apostle's blood,
flourished for centuries ; it had its Bishops, Priests,
and faithful congregations ; but a time came when
Early History of the Church in India. 65
the Gentile Kings took possession of the city and its
dependent provinces, and the Christians suffered the
most violent persecutions from the destroying Pagans.
To escape from their cruelty, the greater part fled
towards Cape Comorin ; and passing thence they
took refuge in ike mountains of Malabar, amongst the
other Christians wJiom St. Thomas had taught. They
spread into Cranganor, Coulan and Travancore, i.e.,
into the district called the empire of the Zamorin in
the XVI th Century.
From the end of the second Century of the
Christian era, an evil, much more to be feared than
persecutions, afflicted the Church of India ; the
divisions which arose within her bosom weakened the
purity of the faith and the vigour of primitive
discipline. At this period the school of Alexandria
(founded by St. Mark) so famous throughout the
Roman empire, by a succession of such men as the
Clements and the Origens, spread the brilliancy of its
knowledge over the Christian world. The Christians
of India, groaning under internal dissensions, sent
deputies to Demetrius imploring him to commission
some eminent man to arbitrate amongst them and to
restore the authority of their Church. Pantaenus, being
chosen for this mission passed several years in India ;
but history is silent as to the success of his visitation.
There is only one tradition which has been preserved
to us by St. Jerome and Eusebius, that Pantaenus
F
66 Early History of the Church in India.
found in India the Gospel of St. Matthew written in
Hebrew. This important fact, the designation of
" Christians of St. Thomas," transmitted from age to
age to the faithful of this Church, the custom of
celebrating public worship in Syriac, the name of a
bishop amongst the signatures at the first general
Council of Nice, with the title of Bishop of Persia
and of great India all these united proofs strongly
confirmed the general opinion that St. Thomas was
the first Apostle of India.
In the fourth Century, St. Athanasius also came to
the aid of this Church. St. Fromentius had been, for
many years, reduced to slavery ; but, having found
means of effecting his escape, he succeeded in
reaching Alexandria and there fixed his abode. St.
Athanasius, whom Providence had placed over this
great See, thoroughly recognised the merits, the
virtues, and the zeal, of the illustrious fugitive whom
he therefore raised to the episcopate. St. Fromentius
then returned to his old companions in misfortune,
preached Jesus Christ to them, and to the people of
India ; and received the reward of his zealous labours
in the Crown of Martyrdom.
The Gospel made rapid progress, and new conquests
in India ; Churches were multiplied in all directions
and the virtues of the Christians of St. Thomas secured
for them extensive popularity, and even the favour of
the monarchs of the country. Ceram Peromal
Early History of the Church in India. 67
founder of Calicut, became Emperor of all Malabar,
divided the provinces of his realm amongst his relations
and favourites, and thereby gave origin to that
multitude of small states with which the coast of
Malabar is filled. This Prince, though an infidel,
granted the most important privileges to the Christians,
and they were placed on a level with the superior
Castes. They further enjoyed the prerogative of
depending solely on the authority of their Bishop, even
in things temporal. These privileges were renewed to
them in the ninth century, and time has preserved to
us the authentic title-deeds in a most durable form ;
for they were written upon plates of copper in
characters of Malabar, Canarin, Bisnagare and Tamil,
the languages most in use on these coasts.
This continued prosperity had the effect of render-
ing these Christians enterprising and ambitious.
Powerful enough to shake off the yoke of the infidel
princes, they elected a monarch of their own religion ;
and Baliartes was proclaimed King of the Christians
of St. Thomas. This state of independence was but
brief, for one of these Kings, having adopted the Prince
of Diamper, was succeeded by this youth. A similar
adoption placed them under the Rajah of Cochin, who,
being a Pagan, persecuted his Christian subjects.
The prosperity of the Church ended, and its subsequent
history is but a chain of misfortunes. The heresies
predicted by Our Lord and His Apostles were at that
F 2
68 Early History of the Church in India.
time rending the Catholic Church ; the faith per-
secuted by Christian Emperors was exposed to greater
dangers than all that it had endured under the Pagan
Sovereigns ; in fact the powers of darkness were
making the greatest efforts to destroy, by their own
hand, that body which the persecutions of the Caesars
had but strengthened. Nestorianism, originating in
the V th Century had extended its ranges throughout
the East. 1 The Church of India had long groaned
under the yoke of the infidel Princes, the successors
of the Christian Kings. A calm indeed, had followed
the storm, but it was the calm of spiritual death.
Deprived of the Priesthood, the Indian branch was
obliged to apply to the Churches of the North West.
The Patriarch of Armenia, a Nestorian, was delighted
to embrace the opportunity thus presented, and
eagerly sent Priests fitted to extend his jurisdiction. 2
The Indians, who had suffered so long from the want
of pastors welcomed these missionaries, paid them
full obedience, and received, necessarily from such
teachers all the evils of heresy and schism. " As a
natural consequence, they cut themselves off from the
centre of Catholic unity, abjured the obedience wJiicJi
1 Neander, Vol. IV., p. 123. Mosheim, Cent. V., Part II., Chap. V.
Hough's " Hist, of Christ." Vol. I., p. 74. Bishop Browne, XXXIX. Art.
3 " Nestorianism took deep root in many soils, and the Nestorians
proved themselves zealous missionaries. Their opinions spread rapidly
into Armenia, Chaldea, Syria, Arabia and India." Bishop Browne,
p. 63. Bishop Pearson, p. 178.
Early History of the Church in India. 69
bound them to the Bishop of Rome (/) and acknowledged
no other Superior than the Patriarch of Armenia. 1
The misfortunes of the Church of India approached
their crisis. Towards the VII th Century, the
Mahommedans over-ran all India to the East of the
Ganges. The ferocious Mahmoud proclaimed Islamism,
and, on both sides of his march, levelled with the dust,
or committed to the flames, the Churches of the
Christians, and the Pagodas of the idolaters. The
victims had to choose between the acceptance of the
Koran, or the loss of liberty, property, nay life itself.
The Disciples of St. Thomas on the Malabar Coast,
as well as those near Meliapour, were happily at a
safe distance from the Moslem invaders. They were
thus able to maintain, in most cases, the religion
of their Fathers, and to read, in their Churches, their
Syriac Bibles. The worship of images was ignored,
but they continued, in a certain sense, to " venerate "
the Cross. They asserted the dogma of the real
presence of the Eucharist, and the viaticum was
administered to the sick. The fasts of Lent and
Advent, and the eves of solemn Festivals were
religiously observed. The celibacy of the Priesthood
was not strictly enforced, but second marriages were
interdicted. With regard to the remaining rites and
1 It is scarcely necessary to inform the reader that this extraordinary
sentence is translated from a Jesuit's writings in the " Lettres Edifiantes."
Tom. IV., p9.
7O Early History of the Church in India.
ceremonies, these Indian Christians were sufficiently
in conformity with the Roman Catholic Church.
It is quite impossible, with due regard to the main
purpose of our work, to say more on this part of the
subject, however interesting it might be to the student
of Ecclesiastical History. We must therefore remark,
in conclusion, that the Syrian Church continued for
Centuries, in what the Jesuit Fathers called, " the
depths of schism and heresy." Renaudot, in his
" History of Liturgies," speaks of Nestorian Patriarchs
coming from Persia, whose See was first established at
Modain the Seleucia of the Parthians, and, he adds
that after the destruction of that city by the Caliphs,
they retired to Bagdad, and thence to Mosul. From
this source the Christians of St. Thomas received
their Bishops, and continued to yield obedience to
this distant Patriarchate till 1 599, when, under circum-
stances, to be narrated in a future book, the Syrian
Church was forcibly united to that of Rome. Previously
to this, many of the outlying Churches had fallen, step
by step into a lifeless indifference, if not apostacy,
in the hope of averting persecution from Moslem and
Pagan. " Thus in consequence of the gross ignorance
to which they became more and more enslaved, they
had formed an extraordinary compound of various
faiths, the religion of their ancestors, blending itself
with the absurdities of idolatry, and the superstitions
of Islamism, so that nothing remained but the faintest
Early History of the Church in India. 7 I
trace of true Christianity. It was in this deplorable
condition that our Missionaries found them on arriv-
ing in Hindostan." 1
In compiling this chapter we have done our best
to let the Romanists state their views of the early
history of the Syrian Church, as they came first in
contact with its members. Even their own writers,
however, (Tillemont, Renaudot, Trigant, and others)
consider much of the account apocryphal, and ex-
press grave doubts of the legend of St. Thomas.
Several members of our own Church, on the other
hand, such as Bishop Heber, Archdeacon Robinson,
and Dr. Claudius Buchanan, see no improbability in
the tradition, and " favour the claim of the Syro-
Malabaric Church to this Apostolic origin." 2 La
Croze, Hough, and others, treat the whole as a myth,
and the latter certainly adduces most powerful argu-
ments and quotations in proof of his opinion.
The chief Roman Catholic authorities are Em-
manuel Anger, 1571 ; Martino Martinez, 1615 ;
Gothard Artus, 1660; Gouzales d'Avila, 1649; Urbano
Cerri, 1716; and, of course, the "Lettres Edifiantes."
1 This sentence is of course the opinion of a Jesuit writer, and many
such maybe found in the " Lettres Edifiantes:"
2 "Dean Pearson's Life of Schwartz," Vol. I., p. 2. "Heber's Journal,"
Vol. II., p. 278. " Dr. Claudius Buchanan's Christian Researches," "I
am satisfied that we have as good authority for believing that the
Apostle Thomas died in India as that the Apostle Peter died at Rome,"
p. 113. Hough, Vol. I., p. 32.
CHAPTER II.
FIRST MEETING OK THE PORTUGUESE WITH THE
SYRIANS.
" The Portuguese entered India with the sword in one hand and the
Crucifix in the other ; finding much gold, they laid aside the Crucifix
to fill their pockets." Joao de Castro (Viceroy of India, 1548).
THE love of conquest, the thirst for gold, the flatter-
ing hope of personal or political aggrandizement,
influenced the early Portuguese adventurers to such
an extent that all restraint on their passions and
conduct was abandoned. Their leaders were ordered
to invade the dominions of all those Princes who
refused to become vassals of the King of Portugal ;
and the pompous titles which Emmanuel, intoxi-
cated by success, had added to his Crown, showed
the area which he proposed to cover with his Empire.
The Portuguese effectually disguised their schemes
and objects. They represented themselves as a friendly
nation, coming to offer a commerce reciprocally advan-
tageous, and whose chief aim was to propagate the
only religion acknowledged by Heaven as the means
of man's salvation.
Meeting of the Portuguese with the Syrians. 73
The Christians of St. Thomas were the first to be
ensnared by these specious appearances. These
people, ignorant and credulous, persuaded them-
selves that Christians who had travelled 1,200 leagues,
braving the perils of a painful navigation, to extend
the empire of their religion, could not but be just and
benevolent men. These poor Syrians were, with few
exceptions, miserable wretches, reduced to the lowest
servitude by Pagan and by Moslem. Naturally
enough, then, they saw in the Portuguese, envoys
from Heaven, liberators who were come to break
their chains, and restore them to the privileges which
their ancestors had enjoyed. The first meeting took
place at Cranganor in 1501, when Pedro Cabral
succeeded in inducing two brothers, Matthias and
Joseph, to accompany him to Lisbon ; and thus com-
municated to Europe the interesting fact of the
existence of a native Christian Church amongst the
heathens of South India. 1 After the first victories
of da Gama, 30,000 of these Syrian Christians sent
deputies to Cochin to render homage to the con-
queror. According to Gouvea's account, they pre-
sented to Vasco da Gama a sceptre or baton of
vermilion wood, the ends of which were tipped with
silver, and surmounted by three little bells. This
1 ' ' Joseph went first to Rome and from thence to Venice where,
upon his information, a tract was published in Latin of the State
of the Church of Malabar, and is printed at the end of ' Fasciculus
Temporum.' " Gouvea, translated by Geddes, p. 2. La Croze, p. 49.
74 Meeting of the Portuguese with the Syrians.
was the sceptre of their Kings, the last of whom had
died shortly before the arrival of the Europeans.
They told the admiral that they had received the
gift of the faith, and that they were the spiritual
subjects of the Assyrian Patriarch from whom their
Bishops received consecration. They declared in the
name of their constituents, that they believed King
Emmanuel to be the most zealous of all Princes in
the propagation of the Gospel ; and, therefore, desiring
to have him as their sovereign, they begged the
admiral to effect their adoption, and to take them
under his own special protection. 1 The number of
the Christians of St. Thomas was supposed to reach
200,000 ; and Gama was astute enough to perceive
the vast gain to Portuguese ascendency that would
result from the devoted alliance of these brave, but
oppressed Christians. He replied that he thanked
Heaven for directing his steps to find, amongst the
infidels, so many servants of Jesus Christ ; and he
assured them both by his flattering promises, and by
his distinguished reception, that his Royal Master,
who only made war to promote Christianity and
destroy infidelity, would declare himself their zealous
protector, and would defend them against all their
enemies. This news, spreading through the mountain
1 (iouvea's "Jornada," p. 72. Joao cle Barros, Dec. I., Liv. III.
Osorio, Vol. I., p. 134. La Croze, p. 52. Geddes, p. 3. Hough's
History, Vol. I., p. 154.
Meeting of the Portuguese with the Syrians. 75
Churches of Malabar, Cochin, and Travancore, every-
where excited the liveliest joy. Too soon, however,
the bitterest disappointment succeeded, as the Portu-
guese Ecclesiastics gradually discovered the Nestorian
tenets 1 of their new friend ; and the native Christians
began to experience those vexatious persecutions
which culminated at the close of the century, in the
Synod of Diamper.
In proportion as the affairs of Portugal prospered
in India, King Emmanuel dispatched new fleets, and
augmented the number of their crews. The European
forces then became truly formidable, and everything
on the coast of the Deccan was compelled to yield to
their valour. But what was the composition of this
army of adventurers. They were men too much re-
sembling the fillibusters or buccaneers, who, at the
same period, made the West Indies tremble, and
whose chief merit was reckless courage. 2 All the
historians of the period agree in painting these
marauders in the blackest colours. At the time of
embarkation in Lisbon, selection was impossible ;
everyone was enrolled who wished to go, vagrants,
jail-birds, debtors, criminals of every description,
wretches, incapable by immorality and loss of
1 Bishop Osorio gives an interesting account of the Syrian Church
as to its creed, ceremonies, c., in Vol. I.,p.2i2of his " History of the
Reign of Emmanuel." He mentions the Christians also at p. 119.
a Towards the close of this century Drake, Raleigh, and many other of
our own countrymen bore too close a resemblance to these adventurers.
7 6 Meeting of the Portuguese with the Syrians
character of obtaining employment at home, whom
Portugal was glad to banish to save the honour of
their families. It must not be supposed that the
Portuguese were peculiar in this respect ; for such
seems to have been the characteristic of most of the
emigrants of every nation. The English were not a
whit better, if we may believe the description of one
who has thoroughly examined the condition of the
early settlers in British India. " From the moment
of their landing on the shores of India the first
settlers cast off all those bonds which had restrained
them in their native villages ; they regarded them-
selves as privileged beings privileged to violate all
the obligations of religion and morality, and to out-
rage all the decencies of life. They who went thither
were often desperate adventurers who sought those
golden sands of the East to repair their broken
fortunes ; to bury in oblivion a sullied name ; or
to wring, with lawless hand, from the weak and un-
suspecting, that wealth which they had not the
character or capacity to obtain by honest industry at
home. They cheated, they gambled, they drank ;
they revelled in all kinds of debauchery." l Without
doubt every Portuguese was not depraved ; the annals
of the country exhibit many noble specimens of the
highest virtue ; but still the description is, in the main,
correct, and such was the miserable aspect under
1 Kaye's " Christ in India," p. 46.
Meeting of the Portuguese with the Syrians. 77
which European Christianity was first exhibited to the
natives of India. In spite of vigorous laws, and of the
wisest regulations published by the Court of Lisbon,
the Portuguese were seen on all sides with the voracity
of vultures, devouring the property of the unhappy
natives, whose countries they had subdued. The
Christians of St. Thomas fared no better than their
compatriots, for the invaders, giving full swing to their
rapacity were not likely to be discriminating in their
choice of victims, or to recognise, as friends and
brethren, those who professed a religion so nearly
allied to their own. A natural re-action took place,
for the Bishops and Clergy of the Syrians, aggrieved
by attempts, even thus early made, to interfere with
their Church, eagerly took advantage of the mis-
conduct of the Portuguese settlers to hold up the
Roman Church as an object of hatred, and thus to
hinder the union which the European missionaries
so ardently desired to accomplish. While this was
the condition of things on the Malabar Coast, King
Emmanuel was making every effort at Lisbon to give
effect to his zeal in the propagation of the faith, for he
felt that it was no less a policy than a duty, subjects
being always better disposed to obey a Sovereign
who cultivates and protects their religion. How the
pioneers of the Portuguese missions in India car-
ried into execution the benevolent schemes of their
monarch will be seen in our next chapter.
CHAPTER III.
PIONEERS OF THE PORTUGUESE MISSIONS.
" Only when the Church is rich internally in the gifts of the spirit
will the Divine fulness flow over outwardly, and the water of life, while
it fructifies the heathen world, will flow back with a blessing to the
districts from which it issued ; but where the Spiritual life is wanting,
no salutary influence can go forth on those who are without the pale
of the Church." NEANDER.
WHEN Cabral returned to Europe in 1501, he brought
an account, as we have already stated, of the exist-
ence of numerous Christian congregations scattered
amongst the mountains of Malabar. The natives,
who accompanied him, confirmed his statement, and
excited the liveliest interest amongst the Propagan-
dists of Lisbon, who not only desired to cultivate
friendly relations with their Indian fellow- Christians,
thus romantically discovered, but to make use of the
Syrian Church as a centre of missionary operations
amongst the surrounding heathen.
The first pioneers of the Portuguese Missions to
India belonged to the Order of the Capuchins.
" His Majesty," says Bishop Osorio, " sent likewise, in
Pioneers of the Portuguese Missions. 79
the fleet, five Franciscan Friars, men of known piety
and zeal for religion. These men were to remain at
Calicut, if amicable terms could be agreed upon with
the Zamorin, to perform divine service to the Portu-
guese who should settle there on account of trade,
and to instruct in the mysteries of our Holy Religion
any people of the country who might be willing to
embrace the truth of Christianity. The chief of
these religious persons was Henry, afterwards Bishop
of Ceuta, a man of the most exemplary piety and
sanctity of manners." l Another account by Cordozo
in the Agwlogio Lusitano, speaks of seven monks
having embarked in 1501, and states that three of
them died at Calicut a month after their arrival, the
other four sharing the same fate in the following
spring. Pedro Covillam is said to have been the first
to administer baptism in India. 2
A long interval exists between these early efforts
and subsequent attempts at Evangelisation. It is
quite possible, however, that the work was going on,
though no record has come down to us of the number
and names of the missionaries, the fields of their opera-
tions, and their successes or reverses. Were our work
designed to give a full account of these early Crusaders,
1 Osorio's " History of the reign of Emmanuel," book ii., p. 85.
2 He had travelled to India by land before the Cape of Good Hope
had been doubled ; and he has published his adventures under the title
of " Relazao do Viage de Pedro Covillam de Lisboa a India, per Terra>
evolta do Cairo.''
8o Pioneers of the Portuguese Missions.
or proselytiscrs in arms, we might find abundant
materials in the ponderous volumes of the Romanist
Historians to fill many pages of our book, even though
the annals of the first thirty years are a blank. As
our purpose, however, is to condense to the greatest
extent consistent with an intelligible narrative, we
must rest satisfied with stating one or two leading
facts.
In 1530 Miguel Vaz was appointed Vicar-General
of Goa, and seems to have produced an extraordinary
effect on his victorious countrymen by the ardour of
his zeal. He led into the fields of Paganism a numer-
ous and devoted body of missioners, whose names
Cardosa, that indefatigable Biographer of Saints, has
not thought worthy of enrolment in his list. It is,
however, recorded of this first Vicar-General that he
not only overthrew the pagodas of the Brahmins, but
laid the foundations of the famous Missionary College
of Goa in 1546. In that year John III. sent to this
Miguel Vaz a letter dated the 8th of March, addressed
to the Viceroy of Goa, in which he commanded him
to care for the interests of Christianity, and to protect
the Paravas (fishermen) and other Christians, meeting
the expense out of his revenue. 1 On the death of
Bishop Vaz in 1 548, we find Diego da Barba, Simao
Vaz, Francisco Alvarez, and others, carrying on the
1 In 1537 Pope Paul III. had made Goa the seat of a Bishop, of
which Vaz was the first.
Pioneers of the Portuguese Missions. 8 1
work of the mission, as yet chiefly limited to the
Pagans. Besides these, Caspar Coelho, ranking with
the earliest Apostles of India, took up his abode at
Meliapour (near the modern Madras), and it was
there that he was found by St. Francis Xavier in 1 548.
Geddes, the translator, or rather paraphraser, of
Gouvea's " Jornada," says, " We hear no more of these
Christians till about the year 1545, the Portugueses
being all that while too busie in making new con-
quests, and the Friars, who were sent thither, too much
employed in building and providing commodious
seats for their convents to attend to any foreign busi-
ness, of what nature soever. This forty years' neglect
of a Christianity which was just under their noses
puts me in mind of what a Minister of State said of
the Portuguese zeal in the Indies. ' It is a vain
conceit, if it please your Majesty (speaking to Philip
IV.) that the world has entertained of the zeal of the
Portuguese upon account of the conversions that have
been made by them in the Indies, for it was covetous-
ness, and not zeal, that engaged them to make all
those conquests. The conversions that have been
made there were performed by the Divine Power, and
the charity of a few particular Friars, the Government
and Crown, having no other aim therein but the rob-
bing of kingdoms and cities ; and there were still the
greatest Conversions where there was most to
gratify their covetousness. But where there was
G
82 Pioneers of the Portuguese Missions.
nothing to be had, there the people were obdurate, and
not to be wrought upon. And so we see their zeal
expired quickly in all places, where it was not ani-
mated by covetousness, and how they who had noth-
ing else to say but Lord open unto us, were not thought
fit to enter into Heaven.'" l
This opinion of the neglect of Christianity, even by
the early missionaries themselves, is confirmed by the
testimony of Manoel de Faria, who says, " It is a
shameful thing that this Church should continue an
hundred years in the neighbourhood of the Portu-
gueses without being reduced to the Roman Faith,
and which makes it still the worse, under the eye of
the Bishops of Goa ; but the truth is, those merchants
whom Christ whipped out of the Temple, were such
as these." 2
It will thus be seen that the Portuguese missionaries
who first broke ground in Southern India had to
encounter, as we have already said, three distinct
classes of opponents, the Christians of St. Thomas,
the Mohammedans, and the Pagans. We learn that
King Emmanuel sent the most positive orders to the
missionaries to declare to the Indian Christians, unless
they abjured the heresy of Nestorianism, renounced
all communication with the schismatic Patriarch, and
1 Geddes, pp. 4-5.
2 Manoel de Faria " Asia Portugucsa." Vol. Il\., passim. Geddes's
" Translation of Gouvea," p. 6.
Pioneers uf the Portuguese Missions. 83
acknowledged the Holy See of Rome, as the centre
of Catholic Unity, he would neither own them as his
faithful subjects, nor interfere to protect them against
their enemies. This menace was a part of that
systematic course of persecution which the native
Church has had to endure from her Roman Sister for
more than three centuries. As, however, we shall
give an account of this in its proper place, we may
refer at present to pioneer work amongst the heathen,
for it is especially in the conversion of the Indian
idolaters that the triumph of Apostolic virtue shines
most conspicuously in the really good members of the
Portuguese missions. Every organisation has some
obstacle to overcome, but the Indian missions seemed
called upon at this period to encounter not single
difficulties, but an assemblage of every special
embarrassment, the Asiatic races clinging with
greater pertinacity to their customs, to their social
distinctions, and to the peculiarity of Caste, 1 than
to fortune and liberty itself. The Portuguese saw
at first in the Hindoos merely a nation of slaves,
whom they could easily master by frightening them
into subjection ; they sought out the Pariahs in
1 The Hindoos are divided into four classes, the Brahmins, sacer-
dotal ; the Cshatrya, or military ; the Vaisya, or industrial ; and the
Sudras, or servile. See "Translation of the Laws of Manu," by Sir
William Jones. Elphinstone's " History of India." Trevor's " India,"
p. 38. Irving's "Theory and Practice of Caste," p. 7 ; and, in con-
firmation of our view, p. 122.
G 2
84 Pioneers of the Portuguese Missions.
preference to the higher class associated with them,
and took a great number of them into their service.
Ignorant of the extraordinary strength of Hindoo
prejudice with regard to Caste, the missionaries com-
mitted an error by this step, which affects, to this day,
the opinion of the less educated natives, not only with
regard to European religions, or the original Propa-
gandists, but also with reference to all settlers, no
matter of what race or creed. For when the high
Caste Hindoo saw the Portuguese in familiar inter-
course with Pariahs, his contempt was transferred
from the outcast to the Portuguese themselves, and
from the Portuguese to all Europeans, whom they
confound to this day with them, under the general
name of Prangius the Hindoo mode of pronouncing
Franks. To this well-meant but injudicious move-
ment on the part of the missionaries must be added
an obstacle for which there is no excuse. The con-
fession is a sad one, but the security of historical
truth forces from us the admission that the conduct
of most Europeans, whether civil, military, or com-
mercial, in India, the violence and vexations to which
they were prompted by the desire of making rapid
fortunes, their insulting pride, their scandalous
immorality, have but too powerfully contributed to
render natural to the Hindoos that burning hatred
which three centuries of intercourse have not been
able to extinguish, and which periodically bursts out
Pioneers of the Portuguese Missions. 85
in such terrible forms as at Vfllore, Mecrut, and
Cawnpore. That this conduct was not limited to the
Portuguese we have already shov/n, and but too much
testimony to the same effect may be gleaned from
works on India in the XVI th and XVII th centuries. 1
Thus it happened during the early days of the
Portuguese missions in South India, that, with some
remarkable exceptions, only four sorts of natives
embraced Christianity, (i) the inhabitants of Salsettc,
and the neighbourhood of Goa, with those of the
Pescaria, who were forced to take the European .yoke
as a protection from Moorish tyranny, (2) Pariahs or
outcasts, objects of contempt to all the Indian popu-
lation, (3) a certain number of the Malabars who were
constrained to embrace the religion of their oppressors
to renounce their Castes, and to adopt European
customs, and lastly, the scum of the people pur-
chased slaves, and degraded Indians.
Everything, therefore, conspired against the spread
of the Gospel, everything up to the moment of its
first success. The missioners sent at this time into
the heathen lands of Southern India felt this keenly.
1 " There had been two Christian nations in India before us. We
found the name of Christian little better than a synonym for devil, and
for some time we did nothing to disturb the popular belief in the
Satanic origin of our saving faith, and so not only was nothing done
for our Christianity during the first century of our connection with
India, but very much against it. We made for ourselves impediments
to the diffusion qf Gospel light." Kaye's "Christianity in India,"
P- 43-
86 Pioneers of the Portuguese Missions.
Strong in their virtue, and in their ardour for the faith,
they saw clearly that the only hope left for its exten-
sion was to adopt a policy in every respect opposed
to that which had hitherto been employed by the
Portuguese. To name the Great Apostle of India,
St. Francis Xavier, is, to tell in one word, the whole
history of the early missions. For his glorious
example was the sacred model on which nearly all
future action was based. In the vast field of
missionary enterprise, the most successful labourers
were but imitators of this great leader, as he himself
was of the first founders of Christianity. " What
marvellous men were the Barsees, the companions of
Xavier, Lopez, Bishop of St. Thom Robert de
Nobilibus, nephew of the celebrated Cardinal de
Bcllarmin 1 ; Father Borgese, whose illustrious birth
was the least of the favours which this new Apostle
had received from heaven ! But we must not rise to
the style of the panegyrist, but content ourselves with
following a simple narrative of facts."
As the price of their conquests, the first Europeans
had to endure the universal hatred of the races whom
they had subdued. The missionaries, on the contrary,
aimed only at winning the affections of the natives.
Strict observers of the laws and customs of the
countries into which they carried the light of the
1 Roliert is, of course, an admirable missionary, according to the
Jesuit view.
Pioneers of the Portuguese Missions. 87
Gospel, they became " all things to all men," in order
to secure the great end which their constant preach-
ing had in view. "They, therefore, respected the
prejudices and the usages of the tribes amongst whom
they laboured, however ridiculous or repulsive they
might appear to European sense or taste."
The Indian idolaters naturally refused to believe a
religion introduced by men who abused their power,
to violate the sacred laws of hospitality, to press them
under the sceptre of tyranny, to deprive them of their
legitimate sovereigns, to plunder them of their precious
metals, and to dishonour, by the scandalous immorality
of their lives, the sanctity of the doctrine which they
proclaimed. On the other hand, these bewildered
natives, turning to the missionaries, beheld in them all
those noble and estimable qualities which could attract
their love and secure their confidence ; they saw, in
the heroes of the Cross, all the characteristics of a
religion fresh from Heaven. " No," said they, aston-
ished by the moral beauty of this spectacle, "it is only
God, the supreme God, which could fill the hearts of
these missionaries with zeal and charity, who could
induce them to tear themselves from their native land
from the flattering hopes assured to them by their
birth, their talents, their virtues, in order to come to
us, crossing the boundless ocean, and braving every
peril, that they might announce to us the oracles of
God, and make us partakers of the happiness of
88 Pioneers of the Portuguese Missions.
Heaven. What purity in their manners, what
austerity in their lives ! What ardour in teaching us,
what sweetness in their pathetic exhortations, what
patience in listening to our stories, what love speaking
in the eloquence of the heart in bending our stubborn
wills ! What a life of disinterestedness, of privation,
of devotion and self-sacrifice ! All that they could
command is dedicated to us ; their talents, their
labours, their life itself, they give us all. They share
our miseries that they may be the better able to re-
lieve them. They refuse all the gifts which gratitude
would be tempted to offer them, and they desire
nothing from us in return for such benefits, but the
satisfaction of seeing us enjoy the truth which they
preach at the peril of their lives." Profoundly modest,
the missionary Priests, thinking nothing even of their
best works, were only raised above their disciples by
their greater fidelity to the sacred dictates of religion ;
and if the Bishops were at all distinguished from the
ordinary Priests, it was by greater simplicity in dress,
greater love of poverty, and greater desire for martyr-
dom.
Such are the outlines presented to us by the early
history 1 of the Portuguese Missions to Southern India
in the XVI th Century. Their first Apostles have
1 The reader must hear in mind that these praises of the missionaries are
put into the mouths of the converts by the missionaries themselves, for the
greater part of this chapter is condensed (often literally translated) from
the original letters of the Jesuit Fathers.
Pioneers of the Portuguese Missions. 89
shared the fate of men superior to common souls, for
they have suffered from the malice of foes and the
falsehood of detractors. But not one of these slan-
derers has presented himself before the severe tribunal
of criticism to substantiate his charge, and to invali-
date the facts transmitted to Europe, as it appears in
the letters of Xavier and in the valuable correspon-
dence of the French and Portuguese missionaries. 1
Every lover of truth should read therein the wonderful
history of the foundation of Churches, the progress of
the Gospel, the change in the manners and habits of
Indians newly Christianised and he will admit that
the virtues of these reformed tribes are not less worthy
of exciting the curiosity, and attracting the attention
of the true philosopher, than is the admirable life of
their Apostles and Fathers in the Christian faith.
The ambition of the first conquerors of India had
roused against them and their religion the feelings of
all the princes who had not yet submitted to their
yoke. Every Christian was to them an object of sus-
picion, and if we find them frequently wielding the
sword of persecution, their action may be regarded as
the result less of religious sentiment than of state
1 This is utterly untrue, for at least a hundred volumes have been pub-
lished against the Jesuits and their missions. We may refer the reader to
the letters of Abbe Dubois, whose work on the state of Christianity in
India tells many an unpleasant tale ; also to the admirable account
founded on the Jesuits' own statements by the Rev. W. S. Mackay, in the
"Calcutta Review," Vol. II.
9O Pioneers of the Portuguese Missions.
policy. Every Hindoo who embraced the new religion
seemed to the Rajah an enemy of his throne, a traitor
ready to yield on the first occasion to the European
power, which would put a price on his rebellion against
his lawful sovereign. They little knew the spirit of
true Christianity. Experience, in due time, undeceived
those princes, who, by an ambitious policy on the part
of the invaders, had been forced into misconceptions
which, in the early ages of missionary efforts, had
given so many martyrs to the Church of India. This
change of feeling was the fruit of the life and lessons
of the missionaries. The princes not only ceased to
be enemies, but actually became protectors of the
Gospel Teachers against the jealousy of the Brahmins
and the Bonzes, whose prejudices and self-interest
made them naturally the persecutors of Christianity ;
several of them indeed became fervent neophytes.
These Rajahs, certain of the fidelity of the Christians,
offered them every inducement to serve in their
armies, and many granted them the same preroga-
tives formerly enjoyed by the Christians of St.
Thomas. 1 Another remarkable fact may be noticed
as a proof of the influence thus acquired. The
missionaries, authorised by the Sovereigns of the
country, administered justice to the members of their
flock. The princes thought that their Christian sub-
jects would be better governed, even in temporal
1 M. Perrin, Tom. II., p. 197.
Pioneers of the Portuguese Missions. 91
matters, by their Pastors than by judges, strangers to
their faith. The Jesuits, writing in 1760, say "This
custom has existed for more than two centuries, and
far from regretting the surrender which they have
made of a part of their sovereign authority, the
Nabobs offer daily increased proofs of their con-
fidence in the missionaries of their states. It was
doubtless under the same impression that the first
Christian Emperors invested the bishops with a similar
power of jurisdiction." x
1 Choix des " Lettres Edifiantes,'' Tom. IV. , p. 45. This is, of course,
the Jesuit view of the case, but it is not borne out by their own sad ex-
perience in China, Japan, &c.
CHAPTER IV.
THE RISE OF THE JESUITS.
" While Alhurquerque and his successors were prosecuting their
conquests in the East, and the Portuguese power was extending itself
from the Arabian Gulf to the very confines of China, a greater than
Alburquerque was achieving that greater conquest of self, and a
mightier power than that of the arms of Portugal in the East was
rising amongthe peaceful Colleges of the West.'' Kaye's" Christianity."
IT is impossible to obtain a clear insight into the
progress of the Portuguese Missions in Southern
India, without thoroughly understanding the nature
of that singular organisation by whose agency they
were mainly conducted. The Society of Jesus, the
OrJsr of Jesuits, or the " Company," as it is often
called, was founded, or at least received the Papal
sanction, in 1540, and, as no institution has, in
modern times, exercised so powerful an influence as
this throughout the world, we may here give a brief
outline of its origin, constitution, history, and effects.
Ignatius Loyola, 1 a Spaniard, was descended from
1 Helyot. " Histoire des Ordres Monastiques." Vol. VII . p. 452
" History of the Jesuits," by G. B. Nicolini. Edin. 1853, p. 10,
Maflfei Vita Ignatii.
The Rise of the Jesuits. 93
an illustrious house long established at Loyola in
Biscay. Born about 1491, he received an imperfect
education and entered life as page to Ferdinand V.,
a career common at that age to scions of noble
houses. Entering the army when still young, he
distinguished himself by the most dauntless courage,
and, after several years of a soldier's life, he was
severely wounded at the seige of Pampeluna, in
1 52 1. 1 His French captors, instead of sending him
prisoner to France, carried him to his father's neigh-
bouring castle of Loyola, where he was, of course,
watched and nursed by the members of his own
family. While slowly recovering from the effects
of the shot which had wounded both legs, Ignatius
beguiled his weary hours with the " Life of the
Saints," and his ardent mind was stirred to its very
depths with admiration of their deeds and with an
enthusiastic resolution to follow their example.'
Abandoning all hope of ever serving again under
the standard of Spain, he resolved, with God's help,
to become, not only a soldier, but a leader in the
1 " It was in defending the ancient citadel on the Plaza del Castillo,
(1521) that Ignacio Loyola was wounded; and just before you reach
the Puerta de San Nicolas, is a chapel, founded in 1691, on the very
site which some paintings illustrate." Ford's " Spain," p. 954-
a The tradition runs that he was cured by St. Peter, who came
down from heaven on purpose ; and having done penance for a year
in a cave within view of the "jagged Moulserrat," he dedicated him-
self to the Virgin, collected a few disciples and proceeded to Rome.
See " Ribad," II., 407.
94 The Rise of the Jesuits.
army of Christ. His first act under this impression
was one of religious chivalry. He prayed to the
Virgin Mary l for her intercession on behalf of him-
self and his nascent scheme, and he dedicated him-
self to her and her service as her true knight. The
practice of good works immediately followed this
self dedication, for, as soon as he was sufficiently
recovered, we find him, so recently a sufferer himself,
becoming the kind and faithful nurse of the poor
and sick in the Hospital at Marenza, this early
reduction of theory to practice giving an indication
of what was afterwards to be one of the salient
features of the Order. Then the Spanish soldier,
whose experience of men and things had been
limited to his native land, determined to visit other
countries, and selected, as the first object of his
travels, the early scenes of that Christianity which
his successors were to spread so widely over those
regions of east and west then just made known to
Europe. Returning from the Holy Land, he resolved
to repair the defects of his early education by study-
ing at the Universities of Spain, and subsequently at
Paris, where, it is believed, he laid the first stones of
the great edifice of which he was the chief founder.
We say chief founder, because there is no doubt
that Loyola himself was almost a tool in the hands
of Laynez, Salmeron, and Acqua Viva especially.
1 Nicolini's Hist., p. 14.
The Rise of the Jesuits. 95
This committee were the real authors of the Secreta
Monita, the Disciplina Arcana, containing some rules
for the conduct of the members which have been
justly stigmatised as diabolical. 1 Ignatius prepared
two sets of rules for his followers, one for their per-
sonal government called " Spiritual Exercises," the
other consisted of the " Constitutions of the Order,"
containing principles opposed not only to other
societies, but hostile to the liberty and welfare of
the human race. Loyola, having presented his in-
stitutes to Paul III., the Pontiff consulted the
Cardinals, and was advised by them to withhold his
sanction. But Loyola proposing that, in addition
to the three ordinary vows, the members of his new
order should take a fourth, pledging themselves to
implicit obedience to His Holiness, and devoting
themselves to him absolutely without remuneration,
offered a bait which the Pontiff could not resist.
Paul III., feeling that Luther's movements were
shaking the Church to its foundation, accepted with
joy the services of enthusiasts who came to the
rescue, animated by burning zeal and organised
with consummate skill. The shrewd old man con-
firmed the institutions of the Order by the Bull of
September 2yth, 1540;" conferred the most exten-
1 Nicolini's Hist., p. 15.
2 This was the famous bull " Regimini militantis Ecclesice." Nico-
lini, p. 28.
96 The Rise of the Jesuits.
sive privileges on the new society, and appointed
the Biscayan soldier to be the first general of the
new religious army. 1 The event justified the Pope's
decision, for, from that moment, the tide of battle
turned. The Reformation, which for twenty years
had been carrying all before it, was checked in
its career. Within half a century the Jesuits had
planted the Cross in every part of the world, besides
securing permanent establishments in all European
countries that acknowledged the Roman obedience.
Within a hundred years the Order had filled the
earth from India to America, with memorials of
great things done and suffered for the faith. " No
religious community could produce a list of men so
variously distinguished : none had extended its
operations over so vast a space : yet in none had
there ever been such perfect unity of feeling and
action. There was no region of the globe, no walk
of speculative or of active life in which Jesuits were
not to be found." a
The condition, constitution, and genius of this
energetic and self-devoted society merit particular
attention, not only from the student of general
* o
history, but from every one interested in Christian
Missions. The Laws of the Order, if not originally
1 On Easter Day, 1541, he became General of the Jesuits, and on
the following Friday renewed his vows in the magnificent Basilica of
St. Paul's at Rome. Maffei " Vita Ignatii," p. 90. Nicolini. p. 58.
2 Macaulay's "Hist, of Eng." Vol. I., p. 208.
The Rise of the Jesuits. 97
formed by Laynez and Acqua Viva, were certainly
brought to perfection by them, and reduced to that
system of marvellous policy which is the essential
characteristic of this powerful organisation. 1 Based
on the old Castilian military and monastic obedience,
" they enlisted soldiers into the camp of Mary," for
the purpose of fighting against civil and religious
liberty, upholding Popery, not Christianity, governing
the human race by means of superstition, reviving
the spirit and in many respects the action of the old
Crusades, and compensating the Papal tiara for losses
in the old world by enormous acquisitions in the new.
There is a marked contrast between the Order of
the Jesuits and other monastic institutions, which has
a distinct bearing on the influence which this Society
at once exerted, and still continues to exert in the
propagation of Christianity. The monk in the silence
of his cloister, devoted to self-mortification, is shut
out from the world, and possesses no influence, except
possibly by the example of his piety and prayers.
1 " These famous Constitutions were composed by Loyola in the
Spanish language. They were not at first the perfect system we now
find them, and it was not till about the year 1552, that, after many
alterations and improvements, adapting them to the necessities of the
times, they assumed their ultimate form. They were translated into
Latin by the Jesuit Father, John Polarcus, and printed in the College
of the Society at Rome in 1558. They were jealously kept secret, the
greater part of the Jesuits themselves knowing only extracts from them.
They were never produced to the light until 1701, when they were
published by order of the French Parliament, in the famous process of
Messieurs Leonci and Father Laralette." Nicolini, p. 30.
H
98 The Rise of the Jesuits.
The Jesuit, on the other hand, is from his earliest
years trained as the Soldier of the Cross, sworn to
contend zealously for the service of God and of the
Pope, God's Vicar upon earth. " Whatever might
be their residence, whatever might be their employ-
ment, their spirit was the same, entire devotion to the
common cause, unreasoning obedience to the central
authority." l The instruction of the ignorant, the
reclaiming of the wanderer, the conversion of the
heathen, the persecution of the heretic, formed their
chief objects. For these purposes, they claimed
exemption from all the ordinary duties of monas-
ticism. They wasted no time in pompous processions,
or in tedious repetitions of religious offices. 2 But
they made it their leading duty to enter thoroughly
into the business of life, to study every transaction
that might influence Hie propagation of the faith.
They were ordered to insinuate themselves into the
society of men of rank and influence, and to pene-
trate the secrets of every Government and every
family. Deeply impressed with the importance of
education, they almost entirely monopolised the
training of the young, and displayed in the manage-
1 Macaulay's " History of England," Vol. II., p. 309. Robertson's
" History of Charles V.," Vol. II., p. 430. Macaulay is indebted to
Robertson for many of the ideas, and even the language in his descrip-
tion of the Jesuits.
* "Compte rendu par M. de Monibar," Part XIII., p. 290. "Sur
la Destruction des Jesuites, Par Mons. d'Alembert," p. 42.
The Rise of the Jesuits. 99
mcnt of their schools and colleges an amount of
tact and ability worthy of a better cause. Their
bitterest enemies were forced to admit that as
teachers they had no rivals ; but " they appear to
have discovered the precise point to which intellectual
culture can be carried without intellectual emancipa-
tion." l In the sixteenth Century the pulpit held its
own against the rising power of the press ; and the
Jesuits, without neglecting the latter, estimated at its
full value the influence of the former, and prepared
their young members by a long course of practical
instruction for the successful exertion of sacred
eloquence. Every other instrumentality which could
reduce mankind to mental and moral slavery was
pressed into the service of this despotic order. The
ministry of the Confessional was wielded with the
greatest craft, assiduity, and success. There they
became " all things to all men." Casuistry itself was
exhausted to supply the means of dealing pleasantly
with men's consciences. Sins of the most trivial
character were magnified, if it suited the Confessor's
purpose to terrify the penitent, while crimes of the
deepest dye were explained away if the interests of
" the Society " required the transgressor to be secured
as a victim or a tool. In short, the religion which
they inculcated was so far from being the basis of
morals, that it might justly be regarded as a system
Macaulay's History, Vol.^II., p. 310.
H 2
ioo The Rise of the Jesuits.
of iniquity, having, for its chief end, the promotion of
the Order, utterly regardless of the destruction of
truth, honour, virtue, law, or whatever else the Jesuits
might consider an obstruction.
Such being the objects of this famous " Company,"
the form of its Government 1 was no less remarkable.
Voluntaryism is, in a certain sense, the guiding
principle of the other monastic orders, that is, the
members enter of their own free will, and, though
yielding obedience to an executive head, retain a
share of power in the general congregation of the
community. But the stern spirit of Loyola, trained
in the military school of implicit obedience, resolved
that the government of his new order should be
a despotism, pure and simple. The very name
" General," by which this religious monarch was
designated, represented the idea of absolutism. The
chief, elected by representatives from different pro-
vinces, wielded supreme and independent power over
every individual, and in every cause. His undisputed
authority appointed and removed every officer in the
society. No Eastern Potentate ever ruled his slaves
more absolutely than the General governed his
1 The Government is purely Monarchical, and the General is itsabsolute
and uncontrollable King. The members of the Society are divided into
four Classes, the Professed, Coadjutors, Scholars, and Novices.
For a well- written account of the Hierarchy, consult Nicolini's
History, chap. III. ; also, Examen IV., p. 10-15, and Const., part V.,
cap. IV.
The Rise of the Jesuits. 101
passive instruments. The members of the Order
were to be so completely at his disposal, that they
were to give up their own wills, and even their
understandings into his keeping, and to hold them-
selves in readiness to listen to his commands and to
execute his orders as if uttered by Christ himself.
" If he was wanted at Lima, he was on the Atlantic
in the next fleet. If he was wanted at Bagdad, he
was toiling through the desert with the next
Caravan." 1 "In short, they were to be like clay in
the hands of the potter, or like dead carcases,
incapable of resistance." 2 Such centralisation neces-
sarily impressed a unity of purpose and a decision in
action on all the members of this singular organisa-
tion, and contributed to crown its operations with
success. History furnishes no other example of so
absolute a despotism not ruling slaves in a court,
soldiers in a regiment, or monks in their cells, but
stretching its mysterious sway over its subjects
apparently free in the most distant parts of the
world, and binding them all with invisible chains to
the central throne.
Thus invested with absolute and irresponsible
power, the General of the Jesuits possessed, by the
laws of the Order, the most ample means of studying
1 Macaulay's History, Vol. II., p. 309. Nicolini's "History of the
Jesuits/' Int. II.
- Compte renclu au 1'arlein cle Bretagne par M. cle Chalotais, p. 41.
Robertson's " Charles V.," Book VI., p. 430.
IO2 The Rise of the Jesuits.
the characters of his subjects. Every novice had to
" manifest his conscience," that is, to confess his sins,
defects, inclinations and passions a declaration to be
renewed every six months. 1 During the novitiate, a
universal system of espionage is established ; and
when, at the age of thirty-three, they take the full
vows and become "professed," the superiors are
thoroughly acquainted with the disposition and talent
of every pupil. The results of these long-continued
scrutinies are digested in the form of regular reports,
transmitted by the Provincials, and entered in
registers, so that the General may, at a glance, see the
whole state of the society in every region of the
globe, observe the abilities, temper, attainments and
experience of every member, and thus select the
most suitable instruments for employment in any
duty which the interests of the Order may require. A
calculation has been made of this wonderful system
of reports which the General annually receives ; from
which it appears that there are thirty-seven provinces
in the Order, that the average number of reports from
each is a hundred-and-seventy-seven, thus making the
total amount six thousand five hundred and eighty-
four. The reader must not suppose that these reports
were mere dry tables of figures such as modern statistics
frequently exhibit ; they were rather general accounts,
first, of the Society itself in all its departments, and
1 Complc rcndu, par Mons. de Monelar, p. 121.
The Rise of the Jesuits. 103
secondly, of the affairs of the country, so far as a
knowledge of these could contribute to the interests
of what was called religion. The writers entered into
the most minute particulars, and, when secresy was
important, ciphers were employed, each Provincial, or
Rector being furnished with a cipher for his own
special use. 1
The progress of the new Order was distinguished as
much by its rapidity, as by its universality and
absolute power. When Loyola, early in 1540, humbly
petitioned the Pope to recognise his new Order, he
could only boast of ten disciples. But, during the
period to which our Essay refers, that feeble band
had increased to 10,581. In the year 1710, there
were twenty-four professed houses, fifty-nine houses
of probationers, three hundred and forty residences,
six hundred and twelve colleges, two hundred
missions, one hundred and fifty seminaries and
boarding-schools, and the total number of the Jesuits
was twenty thousand. 2 The ostensible profession of
this great order was to secure the salvation of man-
kind, not by prayer and contemplation solely, but by
the most decided and vigorous action. We have
already seen their employment of education, the
pulpit, the press, the confessional, missions to the
1 " Hist, des Jesuites," Amsterdam, 1761, Tom. IV., p. 56. Compte
par Mons. de Mond, p. 431. Compte de M. Chalstais, p. 52. " Lettres
Edifiantes," passim.
2 " Hist, des Jesuites," Tom. I., p. 20.
IO4 The Rise of the Jesuits.
heathen, and other instrumentalities ; and to these
they added matchless skill and tact in originating
and conducting every variety of intrigue, which
rendered them masters of the situation in all Courts
of Europe and Asia. And not only did the power
of the Order increase, but its wealth grew in pro-
portion. One calculation shows that the property of
the Jesuits in Spain alone, under Charles III. ex-
ceeded three millions sterling. 1 Plausible subterfuges
were invented to reconcile these enormous possessions
with the monastic vow of poverty. Their vast estates,
accumulated treasures of coin, plate, and jewels, and
the architectural grandeur of their public buildings,
while belying their professions, added immensely to
their influence. One source of wealth was peculiar to
this Order a monopoly obtained from Rome of
trading with the nations which they desired to convert
their plea being that they could thereby render
their mission self-supporting. These priestly mer-
chants planted the warehouse beside the Church ;
and, so far from considering this as a temporary
expedient, they almost invariably aimed at the
permanent establishment of " factories," or com-
mercial settlements, like those of trading companies.' 2
1 Ford's " Spain," p 425.
a Ces vastes et fertiles contrees sortiraient bientot cle 1' obscurite ou
elles sont plongees, si 1'Espagne savait profiler de 1'ambition active des
Jesuites. On sail que ces homines admirables comme societe, dangereux
comme citoyens, detestable* comme religieux, etaient parvenus a tire
du fond des forets un nombrc considerable de sauvages ; a les fixer sur
The Rise of the Jesuits. 105
We find this the characteristic of many of their
operations in India and China, while in South
America, they secured a firm footing in the fertile
province of Paraguay, and reigned as sovereigns over
a hundred thousand converts. 1
While rendering justice to the distinguished
energy, disinterestedness, and self-sacrifice, which
characterised the " Society of Jesus," we must admit,
unhappily for mankind, that great vices were mingled
with great virtues. The enormous influence which
the Order had acquired before the close of the XVI th
Century was quite as often employed for the worst
purposes, as for the best. Every Jesuit was trained
to consider the interests of the " Company " to be the
sole object of his existence to which all considerations
ease, liberty, health, life itself, must be unhesi-
tatingly sacrificed. Though the beautiful expression
" ad majorem Dei gloriam " was his motto, " the end
justifies the means " was practically his watchword.
Attachment to his Order was the key to his public
policy, as well as to individual peculiarities in
character and conduct. To promote the honour and
interests of the fraternity, it was, of course, important
les bords de 1'Orenoque, et des rivieres la plupart navigables, qui s'y
jettent, a leur dormer quelques principes de sociabilite un peu de gout
pour les arts les plus necessaires, et surtout pour 1'agriculture. Abbe
Raynal " Hist, des deux Indes," Vol. IV., p. 278.
1 Abbe Raynal, Vol. III., p. 326. Robertson's "Charles V.," Vol.
II., p. 434. Macaulay, Vol. II., p. 309, and "Hist, des Jesuites,"
Vol. IV., p. 1 68.
io6 The Rise of the Jesuits.
that every brother should secure an ascendency over
the Civil Power, Christian or Pagan ; and, to this end,
the most unscrupulous use of means was made to
play upon the passions of men, to apologise for vice,
to tolerate imperfections, and to authorise violations
of every law, human and Divine. 1 In point of fact,
the Jesuits' code seems to have been composed, less
with the view of elevating human nature to the level
of Divine morality, than with the object of lowering
the standard till it was beneath the average of
ordinary humanity. Another point must not be
omitted. The Jesuits were the stoutest champions
of the Papacy, we might almost call them the
Pontiff's body-guards, or the Papal Zouaves of the
XVI th century. The tendency of all their teaching
was to assert and to strengthen the doctrine of un-
limited obedience to the Pope. Their aim was to
erect an enduring edifice of ecclesiastical power on
the ruins of civil government and religious freedom.
They therefore claimed for Rome absolute jurisdic-
tion, asserted the independence of the clergy, and
maintained, that Sovereigns who opposed the Catholic
faith, might lawfully be dethroned. 2 As a natural
1 " Compte par M. de Monce.," p. 285. Robertson's " Hist. Charles
V.," p. 415. Macaulay's " Hist, of Eng.," Vol. II., p. 310.
a Robertson's "Hist. Charles V.," p. 435. Macaulay's "Hist, of
Eng.," Vol. II., p. 13. Cretineau, Vol. II., p. 269. Bartoli dell' Ing.,
F. 101, 102, 104. Ranke's " History of the Popes," Vol. I., p. 512.
Nicolini's " History of the Jesuits," p. 154.
The Rise of the Jesuits. 107
consequence of these opinions, the Jesuits considered
themselves the especial champions of the Church of
Rome, against the Protestants. Every act of intrigue,
every weapon of violence, every measure that the
most bitter hatred could dictate, was employed with-
out scruple to check the progress of the Reformation.
The historian of the centuries which have elapsed
since Paul III., armed Loyola and his ten disciples
with his fatal sanction, cannot hesitate to acknow-
ledge that this remarkable Brotherhood is answerable
for many a dark deed, the result of that union of
ingenious casuistry, extravagant despotism, and
intolerant persecution which characterised their
system.
But, while every impartial student admits the truth
of our description, he must also own that the picture
has its bright side, and that in this case as in many
others " none are all evil." We have already said that
the Jesuits had wisely secured the almost exclusive
management of education, not so much in its elemen-
tary as in its superior aspect. The Universities were
naturally alarmed at the threatened loss of their
ancient supremacy ; and the Jesuits were therefore
bound to prove their claim by the exhibition of a
higher grade of learning. Hence they devoted them-
selves with the most wonderful ardour, to the cultiva-
tion of literature, science, and art ; to the revival of
ancient learning, as well as to the acquisition of
io8 The Rise of the Jesuits.
foreign languages, to the preparation of valuable text-
books, and to the invention of improved methods of
communicating knowledge. Nor were their attain-
ments limited to those branches which are generally
considered to constitute a liberal education They
were equally at home in the pursuit of the ordinary
and humbler duties of life. As one historian has said
" the Jesuits set themselves to instruct and to civilise
these savages. They taught them to cultivate the
ground, to rear tame animals, and to build houses,
they brought them to live together in villages. They
trained them to arts and manufactures. They made
them taste the sweets of society ; and accustomed
them to the blessings of security and order." 1
1 Robertson's " History of Charles V." Book VI., p. 438. " Hist, du
Paraguay." par Pere de Charleovix. Tom II., p. 42.
CHAPTER V.
THE JESUITS IN PORTUGAL.
' ' So strangely were good and evil intermixed in the character of
these celebrated brethren ; and the intermixture was the secret of their
gigantic power." MACAULAY.
JOHN III. came to the Portuguese throne at the age
of nineteen, and reigned from 1521 till 1557. His
contemporaries were chiefly Charles V. of Germany,
Francis I. of France, and Henry VIII. of England,
and the great events of European History which
synchronise with his reign, were the civil and
religious wars which sprang from the Reformation.
The little kingdom which John governed was, how-
ever, so far removed from the centre of Europe, as to
be but slightly disturbed by these movements, and
the annals of his reign are chiefly filled by internal
reforms in the Cortes, by wars with the Moors, nego-
ciations with Spain, and, above all, with the extension
of his power in the East.
The cares of diplomacy, the pursuit of commerce,
1 1 o The Jesuits in Portugal.
the glories of war, did not, however, prevent this pious
King from thinking of the honour of God, or, from
taking what he believed to be the most effectual
measures for promoting the Kingdom of Christ. He
had heard a rumour that a new institution, entitled
the " Company of Jesus," had been founded at Rome,
or, at least sanctioned there, by Paul III., and that its
author was the great St. Ignacio de Loyola, the
Soldier Saint of Gui puscoa. The King, therefore,
wrote to Mascarenhas, his Ambassador at Rome, for
further information, and was assured, in reply, of the
great good that the Saint and his companions were
doing to the souls of men, and of the high opinion
which the Pontiff entertained of their labours. He
saw, at a glance, that such an institution was the very
thing which he most ardently desired as the founda-
tion of a mission to those parts of the East which
Portuguese Navigators had discovered, and Portu-
guese warriors had subdued. He believed that he
should now be able to have his vast dominions illumi-
nated by the light of the true faith, and subject to the
sweet yoke of Christ our Redeemer, and of His Holy
Church. 1 It appeared to him that to create, as it were,
a new religion, at a time when all the heathen nations
of India were eagerly seeking for Baptism, would be
1 " Allumiadas com a luz da verdadeyra fe, e svgeitas av jugo suavis-
simo de Christo nosso Redentor e de su Igreja sagrada." Annaes de
Elrei Dei Joao Terceiro, p. 321.
The Jesuits in Portugal. \ 1 1
an acceptable offering to the Supreme. He reflected
that as the wine was new, it should therefore have
new cultivators. He considered this fresh field of
enterprise so vast that it would exhaust the energies
of the religious Orders already established in Portugal
an additional reason for his seeking the co-operation
of the recently organised missionary power. Im-
pressed with these sentiments he wrote again to
Mascarenhas, requesting him to communicate with
Ignatius, and to submit an account of the extensive
field which God offered to him in India for the
exercise of the great mission begun by himself and
his companions, adding that, though he was aware
that the new Order numbered as yet but few adherents
in proportion to the vast work that had to be accom-
plished, he trusted that Ignatius would send him at
least six of the brethren, the most zealous that he
could select, and, with the utmost possible dispatch.
The Ambassador entered warmly into the views of
his master ; a lively correspondence ensued, and, at
last, the business was submitted to His Holiness.
Finally, of the six which King John demanded, St.
Ignatius could only spare four, who arrived at Lisbon,
accompanied by the Ambassador, at the very moment
when the new Governor-General of India was on the
point of embarking. This was on the 3Oth of May,
1 540, in point of fact, nearly four months before the
granting of the Bull which confirmed the foundatio
112 The Jesuits in Portugal.
of the Order. In the words of the old Chronicler
" the King received the new guests with the same
love which had sought them and brought them." 1
He rejoiced greatly when he became more intimately
acquainted with the missionaries, for he found much
more in them than he had been led to expect. On
their arrival they were lodged at All Saints' Hospital,
close to the Palace at that time known by the name
of Estaos ; and it was from this lowly residence,
significantly near the throne however, that the Jesuits
issued forth to subjugate the Oriental world and to
civilise, a century later, the solitudes of America.
Although all the brethren that came from Rome had
devoted themselves to the Missions in the East, the
King accepted only three for that object, and retained
one in Portugal. The three that embarked were
S. Francis Xavier, Padre Paulo, and the Brother
Francisco de Mausilhas, liberally provided by the
King's munificence with every necessary for the
voyage. The Jesuit that remained was a Portuguese
named Rodriguez de Azevedo, who became the head
and founder of all those Houses and Colleges which
the Company possessed in Portugal, and in all the
lands subject to the Portuguese Crown throughout
the world. To carry into effect the scheme which the
King had formed, he determined to transfer the College
1 Recebeo El Rey os novos hospedes com o mesmo amor e voutade
que os buscara e pedirn. " Luiz de Sousa, Annaes de Joao," III., p. 322.
The Jesuits in Portugal. 113
which his Father Emmanuel had founded in Lisbon
to Coimbra, with the same statues and laws, and with
the King as its President. He appropriated to this
University the revenues of the commandery of Car-
quere. These endowments entitled Portugal to be
considered the first country in Europe in which the
Jesuits possessed their own property substantial
riches, destined to increase to a fabulous amount.
The Father P. S. Rodriguez, whose name is but little
known in history, had been resident in Lisbon for two
years subsequent to his arrival from Rome, and there
filled the post of Rector of the College of St.
Anthony. His intimate friend was Father Medeiros,
and it is to these two Ecclesiastics that one must
attribute the influence which the Order soon began to
exercise over the mind of John III. The Portuguese
historian, Alvaro de Liamo, who seems to have been
ignorant of these facts, but who follows, step by step,
the progress of the Order in Portugal, expresses
himself with his accustomed energy as to the results
of this skilful seduction which changed the whole
political aspect, and which, addressing itself at first to
the King, in a short time subdued the country. After
referring to the arrival of these two Founders at
Lisbon, he says "The first was always a stranger to the
Court and avoided the honours with which he was
loaded ; he had no rest till he quitted Lisbon to
embark for India, Simon Rodriguez devoted himself
I
1 14 The Jesuits in Portugal.
to establish in Portugal the empire of the ambitious
Society of Loyola. This fanatic, aided by ten com-
panions as indefatigable as himself succeeded in
usurping the rights of the Episcopate, seized all the
sources of public opinion, of the Government in
Church and State, and of the education of the young.
Even the King himself (John III.) took the vows, and
the Portuguese nobility saw themselves thenceforward
surrounded, if not oppressed, by the corrupters of
Christian morality." 1
It does not enter into our plan to follow, in minute
detail, the encroachments of the Jesuits in the various
Courts and countries of Europe. We have noticed
their settlement in Portugal, because that event forms
an important link in the chain which we are attempt-
ing to construct. Further information will be found
in Herculano's" History of Portugal," Nicolini's " His-
tory of the Jesuits," Ranke's "History of the Popes,"
Maffei's " Vita Ignatii," the " Litterce Annuce Socie-
tatis Jesu," Pasquier's "Catechisme des Jesuites,"
Michelsen's " Modern Jesuitism," and similar works.
We may conclude this chapter by reminding the
reader that two centuries after the foundation of the
Order, when Pombal undertook to crush the power of
the successors of Rodriguez, they counted twenty-four
great Colleges, being then considered the richest cor-
poration in the kingdom, and that then was verified
1 Quoted in " Portugal," par M. F. Denis, p. 412,
The Jesuits in Portugal. 115
the celebrated prophecy of St. Borja, who saw in
their apparent prosperity, the very causes of their
destruction " Veniet tempus cum se societas multis
quidem hominibus abundantem, sed spiritu et virtute
destitutam, mcerens intuebitur."
I 2
CHAPTER VI.
ST. FRANCIS XAVIER'S MISSION IN INDIA.
" In the History of the Jesuits Missions in India, Francis Xavier
stands out in solitary grandeur, as the one Apostolic man." KAYE.
ABOUT twenty miles from Pampeluna 1 at the foot
of the Pyrennees, and in the midst of the most
romantic scenery of Navarre, stands the baronial
castle of the noble family of Xavier. Here lived Don
Juan de Jasso, and his wife Mary Xavier, and here
their youngest son, Francis, was born, /th April, 1 506.
Thus by a singular coincidence the great Apostle of
the Indies, and the first great missionary of the new
Order was, like Loyola, not only a Spaniard, but a
Navarese. The early years of Xavier were spent in
solitary wanderings at every spare moment amidst
the romantic scenery of his mountain home. For him
the rough sports of the field had no charms. Under
several private tutors, whom the wealth of his parents
1 "Pampeluna, or Pamplona, the ancient Pompeiopolis (" Strabo,"
III., 245) was founded by the sons of Pompey, 68. B.C. and the Latin
name was corrupted by the Moors into Bambilonah." Ford's "Spain,"
p. 952.
St. Francis Xavier s Mission in India. I \ J
secured, he became eminent as a classic and meta-
physician. In 1524, he was enrolled as a student of the
College of St. Barba, at Paris, and while still a mere
youth he was selected to fill the Chair of Lecturer on
the philosophy of Aristotle. 1 Here he might have
passed his life in academic obscurity, or with merely
local fame, but for the arrival of his enthusiastic
countryman Loyola. The Founder of a new Order
was then preparing himself for his great work. The
schemes first dawning on his mind when suffering
from his wounds at Pampeluna were now gradually
gaining strength. Feeling his own deficiencies, he too
became a student at Paris, and there heard of Xavier's
reputation. The old soldier at once sought the ac-
quaintance of the young noble, read with a wonderful
penetration the mind of his future disciple, and em-
ployed every argument to convert this splendid
intellect and powerful will into instruments for the
promotion of his great plan. Philosophy, casuistry,
metaphysics, were to give way to action, and that action
was to be the Propagation of the Faith. For a long
time Ignatius importuned in vain. The quiet student
clung to his books and resisted all entreaties. But
one day, when every appeal had failed, Ignatius,
i "He was about the middle size, had a lofty forehead, large, blue,
soft eyes, with an exquisitely fine complexion, and with the manners
and demeanour of a prince." Nicolini, p. 88. See Lucena's " Life of
Xavier," "Life of S. Francis Xavier " by Bartoli and Maffei, trans-
lated by Faber, " Venu's Life of Xavier," and Nicolini's " Jesuits," pp.
-106.
1 1 8 S/. Francis Xavier s Mission in India.
fixing his eyes on the still hesitating scholar, said,
" What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole
world and lose his own soul ? " Then, with a few
rapid strokes, he drew a picture of worldliness as con-
trasted with spiritual blessings. He pointed out the
hollowness of all earthly happiness, the privations and
self-sacrifice which must fall to the lot of the disciples
of the Cross, and, with burning eloquence, exhibited
the glories of the Martyr's Crown. Xavier listened,
wavered, and was won.
Montmartre, a short walk from the College of St.
Barbe, was, soon after this interview, the scene of a
remarkable act. There, in the Church of St. Denis,
on Assumption Day, I5th August, I534, 1 Ignatius
Xavier, and five other proselytes, 2 met one morn-
ing, and, in circumstances of peculiar solemnity, after
Mass, dedicated themselves to the Holy Father, and
to the Church of which he was the head. How much
of the world's history depended on this meeting !
Six years passed. Xavier, true to his vows, had
renounced the world, and was spending his life in
toilsome journeys, suffering every hardship, from
poverty, exposure, and fatigue, when he was sum-
moned by Ignatius to Rome. The scheme was now
approaching its completion. Nearly nineteen years
1 " This day was ever after regarded as the Birthday of the Society."
Bartoli translated by Faber, p. II.
a These were Lainez, Salmeron, Rodriguez, Bobadilla, and
Lefevre.
St. Francis Xaviers Mission in India. 119
had elapsed since the cannon shot of Pampeluna had
prepared the way for the foundation of the Society of
Jesus. The little Company numbered but seven
when they mustered to be presented by Ignatius to
Paul III. Two circumstances seemed to combine to
train the future Apostle for his Eastern Mission his
appointment to the Pulpit of St. Lawrence, where he
had ample training in extemporaneous preaching, and
the occurrence of a terrible famine in which he dis-
played that unselfish devotion to the sufferers, which
shone forth still more splendidly in the regions of the
East.
While these things were passing at Rome, an old
college companion of Loyola and Xavier happened
to be sent by John III. as Ambassador to the Pope.
Renewing his friendship with his fellow-students,
he was deeply impressed by the extraordinary zeal
and energy which they displayed. He saw in them
the very Missionaries whom the Portuguese monarck
was engaged in seeking to plant the ChurcJi in
Southern India. In our last chapter we gave a
brief account of this negotiation. Ignatius could not
accept the invitation, as he was head of the Order,
and was, of course, obliged to remain at Rome, the
centre of operations. Rodriguez headed the mission
that set out from Rome, though he was destined not
to visit the East. The stern Loyola, delighted as he
was with this first indication of the future greatness of
I2O St. Francis Xaviers Mission in India.
his Order, could not part with his favourite disciple
without emotion. Clasping his hands, he exclaimed
in a voice, broken by sobs, " Go, my brother, rejoice
that you have not here a narrow Palestine, or a single
province of Asia in prospect, but a vast extent of
ground the Indies, a ivhole world of people and
nations. This is reserved for your endeavours ; and
nothing but so large a field is worthy of your courage
and your zeal. The voice of God calls you,
kindle those unknown nations with the flame that
burns within you." Xavier's words were, " It is im-
possible for me to forget you, Ignatius ; or not to
recall to my memory that sincere and holy friendship
which you have shown me. Father of my soul, when
I am afar, I will think that you are still present, and
that I behold you" with my eyes ; write to me often.
The smallness of my talent is known to you ; share
with me those abundant treasures which Heaven has
heaped upon you."
They parted for ever, Ignatius remaining in the
capital of the Christian world, Xavier setting forth to
preach the Gospel to unknown nations in the East.
On his way to Lisbon, the Apostle of India started
from Rome, on i6th March, 1540, travelled by
Loretto, Bologna, &c., crossed the Alps and the
Pyrennees, and, it is said, passed within sight of his
Castle Towers, but refused to stop, or even to make
himself known, lest an interview with his mother (then
St. Francis Xavier s Mission in India. 121
dying) and family might shake his purpose. 1 On
arriving at the Portuguese Court in June he found the
next fleet for India was not to weigh anchor till the
fallowing spring, and he spent the intervening nine
months in visiting the sick and dying in the hospitals,
and the prisoners in the cells of the Inquisition.
In April, 1541, a Portuguese troop-ship lay ready
for sea in the Tagus opposite Belem. Her des-
tination was Goa, and she was to carry out a new
Viceroy, and a reinforcement of a thousand men.
But one was to sail in her who was to effect a revolu-
tion in the Eastern world, as well as to immortalise
his name amongst the great-hearted workers in the
cause of truth. Xavier, commissioned as Pope's
Nuncio in the East, and bearing letters of recom-
mendation to all the princes whom he might encounter,
went silently on board the Flag Ship St. James,
and bade adieu for ever to his home, his friends, and
the first brethren of that Order in which he felt so
deep an interest. 2 John III. had, with his character-
istic kindness, ordered a cabin to be fitted up for
this leader of the Portuguese Missions ; but he, faithful
to his vow, rejected everything in the shape of indul-
gence. He retained merely a few books, a warm rug
1 Lucena, Liv. I., p. 62. Bartoli by Faber, p. 36. " The conduct
attributed to Xavier is, however, scarcely consistent with his generous
character." Venn's Life, p. 13.
a " He sailed on yth April with the Viceroy (Martin de Souza), on
his 36th birthday." Lucena.
122 Sf. Francis Xaviers Mission in India.
to cover him during chilly nights, he made his pillow
a coil of ropes, and shared the coarsest food of the
common sailors. He conversed in the most friendly
way with all around him, tended the sick, instructed
the ignorant, and won all hearts. The rudest soldier
was at no loss to recognise the gentleman and the
scholar, even under the disguise of the poor raiment
which Xavier felt it his duty to wear, and when, at
the end of a tedious thirteen months' voyage (6th
May, 1542) the battered vessel cast anchor, in the
roadstead of Goa, he felt that he had had another
course of probation for his great work in the golden
land which now met his gaze. His parting words to
Rodriguez, who escorted him on board at Belem, were
(speaking of a vision of various forms of death which
had appeared to him at Rome), " I then beheld all I
was to suffer for the glory of Jesus Christ ; I ex-
claimed in my dream ' Yet more oh my God ! yet
more ! ' and I hope, that God will grant me that in
India which he has foreshown to me in Italy." On
landing he presented his letters to the Bishop of Goa
by whom he was warmly welcomed, and assured of
support in his mission. Declining the well-meant offers
of Bishop Vaz, though at the same time acknowledging
his authority, and delicately proposing to keep in abey-
ance his office of Nuncio, the Apostle resolved to
seek in prayer encouragement from a Higher Power.
It is recorded that he retired to a Church and spent
St. Francis Xaviers Mission in India. 123
the whole of his first night in India in earnest
supplication " an example worthy the imitation of
missionaries of a purer creed." l
The social condition of his countrymen was the
first thing that attracted his notice. Merchants,
soldiers, sailors, emigrants, adventurers of all kinds,
had crowded into Goa, as men rush, in our own day,
to newly discovered diggings, petroleum-wells, or any
other source of tempting wealth. The love of gold
and the gratification of passion had rendered law and
order almost unmeaning names, and though, it is true
that the Portuguese Church had, at a very early period,
sent out a Bishop with a full staff of Clergy, 2 yet the
voice of religion received but little heed amidst the
distractions of commerce, the clash of arms, and the
temptations to self-indulgence. This state of things,
Xavier saw, would entirely neutralise the success of
his mission to the heathen ; and he, therefore, devoted
himself with a wonderful mixture of tact and courage
to reform the Christians before attempting to convert
the Pagans. His biographer 3 narrates the means
employed (somewhat childish in our eyes) and recently
to a certain extent, imitated in the East London
Mission, but attended with remarkable success, inas-
much as a great reformation of manners took place,
1 Hough's "Christianity," Vol. I., p. 173.
2 " Fernando was first Bishop." Lucena p. 99.
3 Lucena, passim.
124 St- Francis Xavicrs Mission in India.
and the heathen could no longer point to the Christ-
ians as the very worst specimens of the religion which
they professed.
This accomplished, he felt himself in a better posi-
tion to devote all his energies to the primary object of,
his mission tJte conversion of the heathen. He, there-
fore.declined the Bishop's offer of the Rectorship of the
new College at Goa, established for the purpose of
educating heathen students. Yet he saw the import-
ance of this academy as an instrument for the promo-
tion of his great plan, and he introduced into its
constitution several salutary reforms, made it a
missionary college, and transferred it to the " Society
of Jesus," under the title of " the College of St. Paul." 1
Another object attracted the attention of Xavier.
He found that Christianity made very slow progress
because the Hindoo converts, suffering loss and
persecution on account of their change of faith, were
neglected by the very Monks who had won them
over. On his solicitation, the wealthy merchants of
the Portuguese "factory" subscribed a large sum which
enabled him to support destitute proselytes, and to
found an orphanage for the children of deceased
converts.
During all this time he missed no opportunity of
still further preparation for his mission to the heathen.
1 "The Jesuit Missionaries in India are therefore frequently called
the Fathers of St. Paul." Hough, Vol. I., p. 175.
St. Francis Xavier s Mission in India. 125
India was then but little known, except those portions
in the immediate vicinity of the European settlements'
scattered, at wide intervals, along the coast. Xavier
therefore, without guide-books, maps, dictionaries, or
any knowledge of the native dialects 1 had to obtain
as best he could (and one wonders how he did it), all
the information as to manners and customs, laws,
religion, and language, which the natives, visiting Goa,
could supply. He then resolved to start on his mission,
and we must try to picture to ourselves the
Spanish Noble, the Parisian Professor, the Papal
Nuncio, forsaking all dignities and honours going
forth in lowly garb 2 his little silver bell in hand,
summoning the apathetic Indians around him, and
teaching them, in broken language, and with foreign
accent, the elements of a strange creed. He first
visited the Paravars, a low Caste, chiefly fishermen on
the southern coast, who had been defended by the
Portuguese against the Moslems, and who, in
gratitude, had adopted the religion of their champions.
1 " ' I find it a most inconvenient position to be in the midst of a people
of unknown tongue without the assistance of an interpreter,' says Xavier
in his letter of 2 1st August, 1544 ; yet one of his panegyrists, John Vaz,
determined to magnify his powers, declares that ' he spoke the language
of the people fluently, though he had never learnt it.' Faber, of course,
believes the miracle (" Life of Xavier," p. 98), and Marshall 'has no
doubt that he could converse at the same moment with men of various
nations and dialects, so that each thought he heard him speak his own
tongue.'" "Christian Missions," Vol. I., p. 211.
2 "Father Xavier always went barefoot, wearing an old, faded, patched
habit, with an old black cloth hat.' 1 Joao Vaz.
126 S/. Francis Xaviers Mission in India.
Believing this to be a favourable opening he sailed
from Goa for Cape Comorin in October, 1542. Two
Priests, who fancied they knew the language (Tamil)
accompanied him, but their attainments were not
equal to the task. Still, he managed to make a
translation, imperfect, no doubt, of the Apostles'
Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and other portions of the
Christian faith. One almost smiles, when reading
the narrative of his biographer, at learning that he
committed to memory this extraordinary compound
of truth and error in religion, of right and wrong in
language ; and that, thus armed, he positively under-
took to preach to the people in their native tongue. 1
Let us hear, in his own words, his extraordinary
method of converting the heathen : " I went about
with my bell in my hand, and gathering together all
I met, both men and children, I instructed them in
the Christian doctrine. The children learnt it easily
by heart, in the compass of a month ; and when they
understood it, I charged them to teach it to their
fathers and mothers, then to all of their own family,
and even to their neighbours. On Sundays, I
assembled the men and women, little boys and girls,
in the Chapel ; all come to my appointment with an
incredible joy, and most ardent desire to hear the
Word of God. I began with the confessing God to
be one in nature, and triune in person. I afterwards
1 Sec Lucona. Dr. Faber's Translation. " Venn's Life."
St. Francis Xavier's Mission in India. 127
repeated distinctly, and with an audible voice, the
Lord's Prayer, the Angelical Salutation, and the
Apostles' Creed. All of them together repeated after
me ; and it is hardly to be imagined what pleasure
they took in it. This being done, I repeated the
Creed distinctly, and, insisting on every particular
Article, asked if they really believed it ? They all
protested to me, with loud cries, and their hands
across their breasts, that they firmly believed it. My
practice is, to make them repeat the Creed oftener
than the other prayers ; and I declare to them, at the
same time, that they who believe the contents of it are
true Christians.
" From the Creed, I pass to the Ten Command-
ments, and give them to understand, that the Christian
Law is comprised in these precepts ; that he who
keeps them all according to his duty, is a good
Christian ; and that eternal life is decreed to him :
that, on the contrary, whoever violates one of these
Commandments is a bad Christian, and that he shall
be damned eternally, in case he repent not of his sin.
Both the new Christians, and the Pagans, admire our
law, as holy and reasonable, and consistent with itself.
" Having done as I told you, my custom is to repeat
with them, the Lord's Prayer, and the Angels'
Salutation. Once again we recite the Creed, and, at
every Article,. besides the Pater Noster and the Ave
Maria, we intermingle some short prayer : for having
128 St. Francis Xavier's Mission in India.
pronounced aloud the first Article, I begin thus, and
they say after me : ' Jesus thou son of the living God,
give me grace to believe firmly this first Article of
thy Faith, and with this intention, we offer unto thee
that prayer, of which thou thyself art the Author.'
Then we add, Holy Mary, Mother of our Lord Jesus
Christ, obtain for us, from thy Son, that we may have
the grace to keep this first Commandment. After
which we say the Ave Maria. We observe the same
method through the other nine Commandments, with
such little variations as the matter may require." l
It will thus be evident that Xavier's hopes of success
rested on bare rites and ceremonies, baptisms not under-
stood or desired, but simply performed by the one party
and endured by the other, dry formularies repeated as if
the mere words would act as charms or spells in the
work of conversion. With all this, however, there was
combined the influence which arose from untiring
zeal, marvellous activity, and unwearied patience in
enduring fasting, fatigue, poverty, sickness, and every
kind of misery. To this we must add one characteristic
feature of his mission, his invariable kindness in minis-
tering to the wants of the sick and the poor.
The year 1 543 was chiefly spent amongst the thirty
villages of the fishery coast. His headquarters
appear to have been the little town of Tuticorin, to the
1 Hough's "India," Vol. I., pp. 178-9. This is an extract from
Xavier's Letters to the Jesuit's Society at Rome.
S/. Francis Xaviers Missions in India. 129
East of Tinnevelly, but his biographers represent him
as being constantly on the move, and devoting from
one to three weeks to each village according to its
population. During this time he sent a priest to
Manaar, a little island near Ceylon, and succeeded in
converting many of the natives, six hundred of whom
were shortly afterwards massacred by the King of
Jaffnapatam. * On leaving each village he appointed
the cleverest proselyte to drill the converts regularly
in the repetition of the formularies ; and that they
might not trust to religious zeal alone, they were
handsomely paid by certain " gold fanams " from the
Portuguese treasury at Goa. When he left these
simple people, he took with him a few of the most
promising lads to be trained for missionary work
in the College of St. Paul. We have no space to
notice his unsuccessful attempts to convert the sharp-
witted Brahmins, but the reader will find a full account
in Lucena, Bartoli and Maffei, and in the Lives by
Faber and Venn.
Early in 1 544 he returned to Goa, secured the ser-
vices of three missionaries, and went back to South
India, dividing the coast into three districts, and
assigning a priest to each. He advanced alone into
the interior, pursuing the same course which we have
already described. The Rajah of Travancore received
him kindly, thousands of idolaters were baptised,
1 Lucena, Liv. II., p. 238.
K
130 St. Francis Xavier s Missions in India.
idols and their temples were destroyed by the pro-
selytes, and forty-five churches erected for the new
Christians. His own words are : " In the kingdom of
Travancore, in the space of one month, I have made
ten thousand Christians." 1 This work of conversion
was promoted by a romantic episode, in which the
chivalrous courage of the Spanish noble shone
forth from the squalid garment of the Jesuit. A band
of mountaineers had poured down upon the plains of
Travancore, and were plundering the possessions.
The Rajah's forces, inferior in number, went out to
meet the invaders, but Xavier resolved, if possible, to
save their lives by being himself their champion.
Raising the crucifix aloft, he rushed forward to meet
the advancing foe, and exclaimed in a voice of thun-
der, " I forbid you, in the name of the living God, to
pass further. Return to your homes, and leave the
land in peace." Astounded by this apparition, the
superstitious multitude broke and fled. We give this
story as it is recorded. Though improbable, it is not
impossible ; and there must be some foundation for
it, as the Rajah, grateful for this heroic deed, did all
in his power to further the interests of Xavier and his
mission. Convinced that the way was now open, we
1 Xavier's Letters, 45. This exaggeration is supposed to be the
work of a copyist, for Xavier writes only " plurimos Christianos."
Venn, p. 65. But the Roman Catholic writers do not doubt the ten
thousand. See Faber, p. 74 ; and " Marshall's Missions," Vol. I.,
p. 215
St. Francis Xaviers Missions in India. 131
find him writing the most urgent letters to Europe,
imploring the Jesuits in Italy, France, and Portugal
to come over and help him. " I take God to witness,"
he exclaims, "that, not being able to return into
Europe, I have resolved to write to the University of
Paris, that millions of idolaters might be easily con-
verted, if there were more preachers who would
sincerely mind the interests of Jesus Christ, and not
their own concernments." His appeal was admired
and applauded, but no action followed. Then, as
now, approbation was easier than imitation.
The early part of 1 545 was spent at Cochin and
Nagapatam in missionary labours of the same kind,
and with the same results. We find him writing to
the Portuguese king (John III.) a very strong letter
against the administration of the Viceroy, conveyed to
Europe by the hands of Michael Vaz. 1 The effects
of this appeal were the recall of the obnoxious Viceroy,
and the appointment of the famous Joao -de Castro.
A letter from the King to the new Viceroy, dated
Almelrem, 8th March, 1546, is printed in extenso,
and shows how deeply interested the King was, not
merely for the promotion of his dominions, but for
the co-extensive propagation of the faith. 2 He com-
mands that the idols should be broken to pieces, the
1 Lucena, Liv. II., p. 263. Faber, p. 112.
2 Vicla de Joao cle Castro. For Andrade, 1651. Edit, por Bispo
Francisco Leuz, Lisboa, 1835, p. 5 1 - " Cnrta d'el Rcy a Don Joao de
Castro."
K 2
132 St. Francis Xaviers Missions in India.
temples destroyed, and every effort made to suppress
idolatry. 1 The whole document, filling seven pages,
is far too long to quote here, but we may cite one
passage. "Above all, we charge you that in whatever
occurs, you consult Father Francisco Xavier, and
principally with reference to the growth of Christian-
ity on the Fishery Coast." And we may further
notice the benevolent provision made for succouring
the newly-converted Indians, who had to endure great
persecution on account of their change of faith. The
historian quoted goes on to say that, " King John
effected by this letter what his arms could not
achieve," and that "Heaven blessed his exertions with
distinguished success " in the Molucca islands.
Xavier, disgusted by the failure of his efforts to
chastise with the sword the king who had massacred
the converts of Manaar, or perhaps, seeing the hollow-
ness of his so-called conversions, resolved to leave
India. He went, however, for a short time to Melia-
pour or St. Thome, near Madras, and there, according
to the Roman Catholic writers, he underwent a series
of most marvellous persecutions, being waylaid by
devils on his way to church at night, and severely
1 " Vos mandamos, que descrol rindo todos os Idolos por ministros
diligentes os extinguais, et fa9ais em pede9os em qualquer lugar onde
forem achados, publicando rigorosas penas contra quresquer pessvas que
atreverem a lavrar, fundir, esculpir, debuxar, pintar, on tirar a'leoz
qualquer figura de Idolo em metal, bronze, madeira, barro, on outra
qualquer materia, &c., &c." Vida de Joao de Castro, pp. 51-2.
St. Francis Xaviers Missions in India. 133
beaten. We must refer the curious on this point to
the writer already cited, who evidently believes the
whole story. 1 He arrived at Malacca on the 25th of
September, and there he found the Portuguese as
depraved as their countrymen at Goa, though some
efforts had been made by Antonia Galvao, a noble
governor and zealous apostle to introduce Christianity
amongst the Pagans. The Europeans, who, for more
than thirty years had been successfully pursuing the
spice trade, seemed to imagine that the Christian faith
was already theirs, and that missionary efforts were
only required by surrounding heathenism. Xavier,
after many efforts, not always with good results, pro-
ceeded to Amboyna, and thence to the island of
Ternate, the Isle del Moro, Java, and other places.
On the return voyage, he arrived at Malacca in July,
1 547, where he met with three priests, Beyra, Nunez,
and Ribeira, who had come out as members of the
Portuguese Missions, to test their qualifications, to
point out defects in their plans, and to suggest greater
attention being bestowed on the study of the native
language. Space forbids our copying his address, but
one cannot help admiring the wisdom and Christian
love which seem to guide him in discoursing to these
Jesuit missionaries. Had such counsels been tlie ruling
principles of the Portuguese missions in Southern India,
the labourers of tlie sixteenth century would have been a
1 Faber's Translation, p. 121.
134 $t- Francis Xaviers Missions in India.
help, and not a hindrance to tJieir followers in the nine-
teenth.
This great duty performed, he visited the Rajah of
Jaffnapatam, whom his eloquence persuaded to treat
the converts with humanity. Thence he went to
Ramisarim and Ceylon, reaching Goa in March, 1548.
He found his college prosperous, and the Japanese
students not only diligent in their ordinary work, but
so fully instructed in the Christian faith, that the
bishop baptised him as Paulo da Santa Fe. Five
more Jesuits had arrived from Portugal ; native stud-
ents had received the priesthood, and even a few of
the pearl fishers were admitted as catechists. So that
the Portuguese missions, feebly started at tJie beginning
of tJie century, and vigorously revived of ter forty years'
torpor, were now beginning to put forth their energies.
Having sent Barzaeus as missionary to Ormuz, ap-
pointed Paulo de Camerina vicar-general, and Gomez
warden of his new college, he set sail for Japan in
1 549. His marvellous labours in that island, crowned
with far greater success than his efforts in Southern
India, would cause a digression from our theme.
After two years' toil, he visited Goa for the last time
in 1551. He then sailed for China; and when off the
island of Sancian, feeling ill, he asked to be landed.
Here he was left in a wretched shed, and died on the
2nd of December, 1552. The body was carried to
Goa, and, being enclosed in a coffin enriched with
St. Francis Xavier s Missions in India. 135
silver and gems, was placed in a shrine of exquisite
beauty, the resort and object of worship of numberless
pilgrims.
Thus ended the life of Xavier. But the effects of
his ten years in the East Indies are felt for good and
for evil to the present hour. It is scarcely possible for
the impartial student of history who toils through a
mass of conflicting evidence in Latin, Spanish, French,
and Portuguese, to arrive at a perfectly satisfactory con-
clusion on this subject. If he leans towards the
supernatural, he will find abundance of support in
the writings of nearly all the Jesuit Fathers, in the
" processes," that is, the documents, authorising the
canonization of Xavier, and in the recent works of
Dryden, Faber, John Mason Neale, Strickland,
Marshall, and others of the same school. If, on the
contrary, he looks upon the narrative as a spiritual
romance, or a tale of religious knight-errantry, he will
find himself supported by sceptics from Gibbon to
Buckle, by disappointed Romanists, like the Abbe
Dubois, and by narrow-minded Protestants such as
some of our modern missionaries to the east. Truth,
in this instance, as in many others, lies between, and
we cannot conclude this chapter better than by quoting
the eloquent words of the author of " Christianity in
India " : " Protestant zeal is only contemptible when
it denies that Francis Xavier was a great man.
Delusions he may have had, strong as ever yet
136 St. Francis Xaviers Missions in India.
wrought upon the human soul ; but the true nobility
of his nature is not to be gainsaid. It would be the
vilest injustice to fix upon the first Jesuit missionary,
the charge of dishonesty and insincerity, because,
among his followers have been liars and hypocrites of
the worst class. He met the last summons with
rapture, and beneath a miserable shed, he closed a life
of agony and bliss, of humiliation and of triumph,
with scarcely a parallel in the history of the world."
CHAPTER VII.
SUBSEQUENT MISSIONS IN THE XVIth. CENTURY.
" The history of modern Roman Catholic Missions to heathen
countries forms an important subject of enquiry with all who take an
interest in the progress of Christianity. One of the most remarkable
periods is that which extends from the middle of the XVI th to the
middle of the XVIIth century." Venn's " Life of Xavier."
XAVIER fills so important a place in the Portuguese
Missions of the XVI th Century, that one is apt to
forget the efforts of others before and after his career.
We have already noticed the very early move-
ments connected with the voyages of Cabral and Da
Gama, remarking that during the long period of
forty years, the Portuguese had been too much occu-
pied in conquest and commerce to pay attention even
to their own Christianity, and, of course, they took no
pains to secure its propagation amongst the surround-
ing heathen. We may now summarise the chief
incidents of the Portuguese Missions, so far as the
Pagans are concerned. In other chapters we shall
speak of the influence exerted by the Jesuits on the
Syrian Christians.
138 Subsequent Missions in Sixteenth Century.
To go back a few years. In 1540, a preaching
friar, Bernard de la Croix, of episcopal rank was sent
by the Dominicans from Europe to Meliapour. This
mission, with others of minor importance, affords
proof of the zeal and perseverance of that Order in
the cause of Indian Missions. 1 But a still more
decided step was taken in 1545, when the Dominicans
established " The Congregation of the Indies " a
missionary college for the training of young men, as
apostolic labourers bound by solemn vows to dedicate
themselves to the conversion of the heathen, and to
shrink from no danger, privation, or toil, resisting
even unto blood. The first fruits of this new " congre-
gation " appeared in 1 548, when twelve Portuguese
Dominicans, under Father Bermudez, arrived in
India. These new preachers were charged with the
conversion of fifteen villages in the islands of Goa,
wherein, it is said, they succeeded in erecting four
churches. If we may credit the accounts given by
Fontana, these missionaries saw their labours crowned
with marvellous success within a year of their arrival.
He speaks in the " Monumenta Domenicana " of eighteen
churches and convents in Solor, Flores, Lamatta, and
Malacca ; and he computes their neophytes at 60,000.
In the famous work from which we quote (a sort of
Annual Report of the Order) minute particulars are
given of the energy and eloquence of their preachers,
1 Fontana, " Monumenta Domenicana," Ann. 1540.
Subsequent Missions in Sixteenth Century. 139
especially of two, named Ignatius and Macedo, con-
tempories of Xavier and of the various expedients
for securing and retaining the Indian converts. The
zeal of the Dominicans was, however, by no means
limited to Southern India; for we find that in 1555,
Gaspard de la Croix, a native of Evora, one of the
original twelve Portuguese who had landed in 1548,
determined to set out for China ; but his adventures
there do not affect our present question. It is more
to our purpose to notice that in the year 1557, three
of the Missionaries of these Dominicans, or preaching
friars, were promoted to the sees of Goa, Cochin, and
Malacca. Attention is called to this circumstance, as
it is a prevalent opinion that the Jesuits were almost
the only missionaries in the East. So far, indeed, was
this from being the case, that, towards the close of the
XVI th Century, the mission field of Portuguese India,
was divided into three parts in order that there might
be no interference of operations. To the Domi-
nicans was assigned Ormuz, with its dependencies ; to
the Franciscans, Ceylon ; while the Jesuits had, after
a while, the chief superintendence of Goa and its
environs.
Father Du Jarric, S.J., is our chief authority for this
period of Missionary history, but his style is so prolix,
his descriptions so minute, and his bias towards the
Jesuits so decided, that it is impossible to do more
than to give one brief specimen, not a translation, but
140 Subsequent Missions in Sixteenth Century.
a precis of his narrative. He says that the means
employed to convert the Pagans were not solely or
chiefly, as has been alleged, certain temporal advan-
tages with promises of future happiness. All that the
splendid ceremonial of the Roman Church could
produce was employed to captivate the Gentiles.
When the Jesuits had reason to believe that their
missionary fields in the neighbouring villages were
ripe for the sickle, they proceeded from Goa, not
merely in Ecclesiastical pomp, but also escorted by a
powerful military force, for the double purpose of
ostentation and protection. Next day they were in the
habit of forming a procession of neophytes in two
columns ; the first of men and boys, the second of
women and girls. On their arrival at the Viceregal
Metropolis, they were lodged in the House of the
Catechumens, and carefully taught twice a day. 1
When duly prepared they were taken to Church on
1 Hough and others deny that instruction as a rule preceded bap-
tism. See "Christianity in India," Vol. I., p. 208. But the Roman
Catholic writers positively assert that every care was taken, and it is but
fair to hear their own words on this much disputed point: " Une cles
choses qui contribue le plus a rendre la chretiente de la cote de la
Pecherie si distinguee entre toutes les autres, c'est le soin qu'on prend
d'enseigner de tres bonne heure la doctrine chretienne aux plus petits
enfans. Cette sainte coutume s'est conservee inviolablement en ce pays
la depuis le temps de S. Franois Xavier, il etait persuade que la foi ne
pouvait manquer de jeter de profondes racines dans le cceur des hab-
itans, si des la premiere enfance on les instruisait bien des mysteres et
des preceptes de notre religion." Choix cles " Lettres Edifiantes," Vol.
IV., p. 554-
Subsequent Missions in Sixteenth Century. 141
some great festival, flags, tapestry, flowers, and ever-
greens decorated the cathedral. The streets had
banners and carpets hung from all the windows, and
triumphal arches were erected along the line of
procession. The Catechumens received new clothes,
generally the gifts of the Viceroy, the Archbishop,
and the leading officials. One interesting band, the
Children of St. Xavier, robed in white, red crosses on
their breasts, and green branches in their hands
followed the Candidates. Next came the students of
the College of St. Paul, of various races and com-
plexions, the future labourers in the mission field.
Lastly, the Brethren of the Society of Jesus marched
two and two under the standard of the crucifix. On
reaching the church the procession divided with that
perfect regularity which is characteristic of Roman
ceremonial, each falling into his proper place. The
Viceroy, surrounded by a brilliant staff, in naval
and military uniforms, the Archbishop and his clergy
in all the splendour of gold jewels, and silk, with
everything to enhance the spectacle which the wealth
of luxurious Goa could produce, welcomed the poor
bewildered Pagans to their new faith. Music, vocal
and instrumental, prayers, ceremonies, statues, pic-
tures, flowers, incense, all combined to render the
baptism of the converts a sight never to be forgotten.
After the administration, they proceeded in order to
the "altar on which was exposed the Holy Sacrament,"
142 Subsequent Missions in Sixteenth Century.
to render thanks to Christ that he had made them his
children. The men and boys then went to the house
of the Jesuits to dinner, the brethren acting as ser-
vants to their guests. The women and girls were
kindly received and similarly entertained at the
houses of pious ladies of high rank, who vied with
each other in their attentions to the new Christians.
Next day they returned to the same church, and
received their first communion, going back to their
native villages with joy. The good fathers took
special care to visit them in their homes from time to
time, in order to maintain their faith. This system of
conversion, differing in many respects from others,
appears to have worked well during the latter half of
the XVI th Century ; for, without speaking of the
Franciscans and Dominicans, the Jesuits in Goa alone
baptised at first a thousand, then nineteen hundred,
then above three thousand, and lastly the astonishing
number of twelve thousand every year. 1
It must not however be supposed that the operations
of the Propagandists were limited to the lowest of the
people, or to those who might be fairly classed as
idolaters. True to their principles, these missioners
considered all beyond the pale of their Church, aliens
to the faith, and, of course, needing conversion.
Hence we find them, at one time working against
1 Du Jarric "Hist, des Choiscs" plus rtiemorables, &c., Tom I., p.
3I5-
Subsequent Missions in Sixteenth Century. 143
Hindoo idolatry, at another attacking Mahommedan
deism, and at a third interfering with Syrian Christi-
anity. Amongst the Moslems their success was not
great, though, in 1557, they achieved a triumph in the
baptism of the daughter of Sultan Meale of the Deccan.
From Goa, as a centre, missionary influence con-
tinued to radiate, and expeditions were undertaken for
the destruction of idolatry, sometimes by moral force,
often by physical. For example, the islands of
Choran and Divar to the north of Goa were famed for
a multitude of idols. In the second, there stood the
temple of Genesa, a popular divinity, attracting
pilgrims from all parts of India. The Jesuits con-
sidered this sacred spot a noble field, and advanced to
the conflict with all the ardour, though happily
without the cruelty of the old Teutonic knights, and
success crowned their efforts. 1 Another instance
may be found when Dom Constantino (twentieth
Viceroy) besieged Daman, in Guzerat, in 1599. Con-
vinced by a trifling incident of the superior sanctity
of the Jesuits (at least so says du Jarric) he handed
over the mosque of the captured city to the fathers to
be purified and converted into a church ; and strange
to tell, the wife of the Mohammedan Governor was
suddenly seized with so strong a desire for baptism,
that the rite was almost immediately administered.
1 For a full account see Du Jarric, Tom I., p. 448, and Baron
Ilerion's " Histoire des Missions."
144 Subsequent Missions in Sixteenth Century.
We are further informed that the new Viceroy had
the propagation of the faith so warmly at heart that
he never ceased to exert himself in the Holy cause.
Close to Goa lies the peninsula of Salsette, then con-
taining 80,000 heathen in 66 villages, sunk in the
grossest ignorance, and a prey to the cupidity of the
crafty Brahmins. To this stronghold the Viceroy
Constantine obtained an entrance by skilful diplo-
macy for the Jesuit missioners, and in a short time
they could boast of two thousand converts as their
first fruits. The Brahmins, frantic at the double loss
of influence and trade, stirred up the heathen to per-
secute the neophytes ; and the Jesuits, in self-defence,
built a hospital for the protection of their disciples.
This measure, though absolutely necessary, still further
irritated the Indian Priests and their followers to such
an extent that they attacked the Jesuits, and beat
them and their converts most cruelly. Whereupon
the Viceroy, by landing a body of troops and destroy-
ing all the temples, proved to the natives that such
interference with the propagation of Christianity
would be severely chastised.
The reader may remember the cruelty of the Rajah
of Jaffnapatam, and the disgust of Xavier at his
escaping with impunity. The chastisement, however,
was only deferred, for in 1560 the Viceroy Constantine
attacked the Rajah. The results were the session
of Manaar, the capture of the heir-apparent, the sack
Subsequent Missions in Sixteenth Century. 145
of the capital, and the seizure of the Royal treasury,
the most valuable gem being the tooth of a white
monkey named Anomna. 1 So highly was this ridicu-
lous object venerated that the King of Pegu offered
300,000 crowns as a ransom ! When this request
reached Goa a council was held, and a long and
serious debate took place as to whether or not the
tooth should be restored and the money accepted.
The result was a negative, and the Governor ordered
the tooth to be pounded in a mortar and burnt in his
presence.
Goa continued to be the focus of missionary enter-
prise, and the scene of numerous conversions, the
harvest demanding more labourers, Alberto Laertio,
an Italian Jesuit, set out from Goa for Rome, and
brought back with him sixty-two missionaries of the
" Company," who were soon afterwards followed by
fifteen more.
But Goa was not the only centre. The Jesuits'
College at Cochin had three dependent residences ;
that of St. James, a league from the town, where two
Brethren had charge of three Churches that of
Murterhe, five leagues from Cochin, where there was
no Church till 1581 ; that of Vaipacota, a league from
Cranganor in the midst of the Christians of St.
Thomas.
Towards the close of the XVI th Century, the Jesuit
1 Abbe Dubois, Moeurs, &c., Tom. II., p. 430.
146 Subsequent Missions in Sixteenth Century.
Francisco Ros, a man well skilled in Syriac and Tamil,
carried on a successful mission in the kingdom of
Calicut. The story is too long to tell here, but the
outline is this. The Zamorin, fearing the power of
Portugal on the one hand, and the extortions of a
Moslem Corsair on the other, implored the good
offices of the Jesuit Acosta, then a captive at Calicut,
to negotiate a peace for him with Matias d'Albuquer-
que. The Viceroy sent Acosta back to the Zamorin
with the Jesuit Ros, at that time engaged in convert-
ing the Syrian Christians in the Serra. The Indian
Prince not only gave the missionaries a hearty
welcome, but granted them every facility for preach-
ing the Gospel. He, moreover, sent Ambassadors
to Goa to request from the Provincial that a
colony of Jesuits should be established at Calicut.
The request was agreed to ; the site of a Church
was chosen close to the town ; a Cross was erected
to mark the sacred spot ; and the Zamorin himself
was the first to bend before the sign of our Re-
demption.
The Portuguese Missions during a hundred years
had made little or no progress in the kingdom of
Cochin, though the Sovereign had been one of the
first allies of the Portuguese crown. Nevertheless,
Christianity had crept in, as is proved by the violent
persecution that raged during the last two years of
'Du Jarric, Tom I., p. 463.
Subsequent Missions in Sixteenth Century. 147
the century. In Travancore the Jesuits De Veiga
and Bucerio displayed great zeal, and in a short time
succeeded in securing thousands of nominal converts.
A violent persecution of the Christians soon followed,
and it is asserted that twenty thousand were driven
from their homes. After the Mission had been in
abeyance for four years, it was restored by the
energy of Father Spinola in 1607, and continued to
flourish.
Turning to the fishery coast, the scene of Xavier's
first success, we find the faithful Paravas bearing
witness to the zeal of the missionaries who followed
the Holy pioneer. Tutucurim, the chief town, was
provided with an excellent hospital, Church and
school. Eighteen Jesuits had charge of six stations,
the entire population professed Christianity, and the
capital itself was "si adonnee a la devotion qu'on cut
dit que c'^tait plutot une maison religieuse qu'une
communaute politique. 1 " The marvellous conversions
begun by Xavier had been continued for fifty-three
years by Father Henriquez, who died in 1600, leaving
more than 135,0x30 converts as the results of his self-
denying labours. 2
The first step in the famous Madura Mission was
taken in 1595 by Gonzala Fernandez, who founded a
hospital and a school ; but nothing effectual was
1 Du Jarric, Tom III., p. 726.
2 Du Jarric, Tom III., p. 744.
L 2
148 Subsequent Missions in Sixteenth Century.
done till 1606, when Robert de Nobili joined the
mission, and gave it new life. The reader who
desires more information than this outline affords
will find ample details in the ponderous volumes
cited below.
BOOK III.
THE SUBJUGATION OF THE SYRIAN
CHURCH.
CHAPTER I.
ROMAN CLAIM OF SUPREMACY.
" We are of the true faith, whatever you from the West may be ; for
we come from the place where the followers of Christ were first called
Christians." Reply of the Syrians to the Portuguese. "Buchanan's
Researches."
SUCH of our readers as are thoroughly acquainted
with the history of the pretensions of the Romish
Church may safely pass over this chapter. But
assuming that some may glance at our pages who
are not familiar with the rise and progress of her
claims to universal dominion, it may be necessary
to give a brief sketch, introductory to the exertion of
Romish tyranny over the Malabar Christians.
Prior to the sixth Century the Pope's jurisdiction
was extremely limited. He asserted no secular
authority ; and his efforts were bent on promoting
the extension of spiritual influence. 1 We read that
in the fourth century, the Catholic Church contained
fourteen Patriarchates, 2 whose rulers (Patriarchs or
Archbishops) were equal and independent ; and so far
from " Pope " being a word indicating pre-eminence,
1 Abbe Fleury " Ecc. Hist., Lib. XXII." N. 45.
2 Bingham II. XVII. 20. " Theophilus Anglicanus," p. 112.
1 5 2 Roman Claim of Supremacy.
it was then the common designation of a Bishop, as
" Mar " is in the Syrian Church. It is true that three
of the Patriarchs, viz. : those of Rome, Alexandria, and
Antioch, though not higher in order, had precedence
of the others in place, but this precedence was liable
to change, if a city rose or declined in civil power
and importance. 1 None of these Bishops ever dreamed
of claiming for himself, or admitting in his Brother
Prelates any permanent supremacy ; and Pope
Gregory I. denounced the title of Universal Bishop
as arrogant, wicked, schismatical, blasphemous, and
anti-christian. " Qeusquis se universalem sacerdotem
vocat, Anti-Christum prcecurrit." 2 " On account of
the civil eminence of Rome, the Bishop of Rome
anciently enjoyed precedence among Bishops by the
Canons of the Catholic Church ; but his jurisdiction
as Bishop, Metropolitan, and Patriarch, was and is
limited to his own diocese, province and patriarchate,
in the same manner as that of every other Bishop,
Metropolitan, and Patriarch." 3 It is therefore per-
fectly evident that the national churches were at this
period independent of each other, and that there was
no such thing as an admission of the supremacy of
the Church of Rome.
In the year 533, the Emperor Justinian unfortu-
1 " Theophilus Anglicanus," p. 116. Bingham IX., 17.
2 Lib. VII., Epist., XXXIII., "Theoph., Anglicanus," p. 253.
' Crankanthorpe "Def. Eccl. Angl." p. 176. "Theoph. Angl." pp.
255-6.
Roman Claim of Supremacy. 153
nately admitted the claim of the Pontiff to be the
head of all Christendom, and though after Justinian's
death, the Patriarch of Constantinople threw off the
yoke, and asserted his own right to the title of
Universal Bishop, the usurpation of the Roman
Bishop was confirmed in 1606. This first fatal step
led to an immense increase of priestly influence
during the middle ages. The little learning that
existed was entirely in the hands of the clergy, who
thus acquired not only religious, but social and
political power. In course of time Papal arrogance
had reached such a pitch that Gregory VII. asserted
his supremacy, not merely over Bishops and Priests,
but also above Emperors and Kings. He boldly
declared that crowns were held of the Pope, and that
therefore all Christian sovereigns were his vassals,
bound to pay him tribute, and yield him entire
obedience. We need not pause here to tell the well-
known story of " the Decretals of Isidor," falsely
asserted to be ancient documents (conventions, acts
of councils, &c.), proving that from the first periods
of the Church the Popes were invested with the same
supremacy which they have since asserted. These
"decretals," being in reality forgeries of the seventh,
eighth or ninth century, have been long ago shown
to be utterly worthless as evidence on the point in
question. 1
1 Mosheim's " Ecc. Hist." Cent. IX., CII. Sec. 8. Geddes on the
" Supremacy," p. 46. Hough's " Christianity," Vol. I., p. 141.
154 Roman Claim of Supremacy.
The structure thus founded in error was strengthened
by additional frauds as time rolled on. The VIII th
Century introduced image worship under Papal sanc-
tion. The IX th furnished long lives of Saints full of
the wildest inventions, all tending to the assertion of
the unlimited sway of the Pope. Closely connected
with this was that wonderful device, the Canonisation
of Saints, to which we have alluded in the chapter on
Xavier. The X th Century could boast of important
additions, the institution of the rosary, the baptism
of bells, and many superstitions of the same char-
acter ; but the XI th eclipsed its predecessors and
seemed to soar to the climax of assumption for we
find that the Pope, not satisfied with the lofty title
of Pontifex Maximus, blasphemously assumed the
designation of divinity, " King of Kings and Lord of
Lords," laying claim to absolute infallibility, and
declaring that the Church of Rome never had erred,
and was incapable of erring.
The Roman Pontiffs assumption of temporal power
and jurisdiction in the various kingdoms of Europe,
naturally provoked resistance from those who felt
their authority invaded and undermined. While the
Sovereigns of Germany, France, and England opposed
the Pope chiefly on political grounds, the national
churches, if not in a corporate capacity, at least
through their individual members struggled hard, and
often successfully, for religious freedom. To crush
Roman Claim of Supremacy. 155
these attempts the Roman Church established the
Inquisition, which has been justly characterised as the
" depth of Satan, for Satanical it is by the conjunction
of three qualities, indefatigable diligence, profound
subtlety, and inhuman cruelty." 1 The XII th and
XIII th Centuries had introduced or sanctioned many
superstitions in relation to the Holy Communion
such as Transubstantiation, and the adoration of the
Host. The Confessional too, began to exert its bane-
ful influence, and, at a later period, became a powerful
instrument in the hands of the Jesuits.
Historians generally consider the XIV th century as
the acme" of Papal greatness. The remarkable events
were the open war between Philip the Fair and
Boniface VIII th , the existence of rival Popes at Rome
and Avignon, the preaching of John Wickliffe in
England, and, above all, the translation of the Bible.
But in the next century the spirit of religious freedom
fought more vigorously than ever against the
encroachments of Rome ; and, though Huss and
Jerome perished at the stake, though the laity were
deprived of the cup in the Communion, though the
Council of Constance declared that no faith was to be
kept with heretics, though, in short, the Papacy made
the most desperate efforts to extinguish the light of
the Reformation, all its opposition signally failed.
Superficial as this summary is, it will at least serve
1 Trappe's " Popery Stated," p. 2. Sect. XII.
156 Roman Claim of Supremacy.
to refresh the reader's memory, and to afford him a
key to the principles of that formidable Ecclesiastical
Power, which, by means of the Portuguese Missions
was to influence Southern India in the X VI th century.
Luther was a lad at college while the Portuguese
vessels were doubling the Cape of Good Hope ; and,
twenty years later, when he inaugurated the Reforma-
tion, and deprived Rome of many of her subjects, the
Pontiffs found consolation in the foreign dominions
which maritime discovery had brought under the
sway of the Church. It was an age of struggles, and
a comparison of dates would exhibit some striking
coincidences. Thus, for example, in 1521, while the
German champion at the Diet of Worms was boldly
acknowledging all his public opinions, and firmly
establishing the Reformation, the Spanish soldier was
lying wounded at the Pampeluna, and devoting him-
self to that long course of dreaming and planning
which led to the establishment of the most powerful
counteraction to Protestantism the Order of the
Jesuits.
It is thus abundantly evident from the whole
history of the rise and progress of the Papacy, that
Rome asserted an unqualified supremacy over other
Churches throughout the world. How this theory
influenced her treatment of the Syrian Christians in
Malabar will appear in the following pages.
CHAPTER II.
FIRST ATTEMPT BY THE FRANCISCANS.
"'These Churches,' said the Portuguese, 'belong to the Pope.'
' Who is the Pope ? ' said the Syrians, ' we never heard of him.' "
Buchanan's " Christian Researches," p. 89.
As a natural sequence to the claims of the Romish
Church, narrated in our last chapter, the Portuguese
missionaries proclaimed their undoubted right to
subdue the Christians of St. Thomas. A glance at
the history of the early Church in Malabar, whether
founded by the Apostle himself or by another of the
same name at a later period, will clearly prove to the
impartial student that there never had been the
slightest connection between the Italian and the
Indian branches. Of course, on the theory of Papal
supremacy just described, the attempts made by the
Portuguese " Missioners " were not only allowable, but
highly praiseworthy ; for, on that theory due subordi-
nation to the Roman centre must not only be
asserted, but vigorously enforced at whatever cost.
The proof of this dogma failing, as all history shows
that it does, there is no more evidence for the early
158 First Attempt by the Franciscans.
subordination of the Christians of Malabar to the See
of Rome, than for the subjection of the Church of
England at the dawn of her existence, or at the
present day.
In our former pages it has been made evident that
the true ecclesiastical head of the Christians of St.
Thomas was the Patriarch of Mosul, resident at
Seleucia, on the distant banks of the Tigris. An
examination of the testimony so laboriously collected
by Gouvea, Asseman, Renaudot, La Croze, and
others, clearly proves that these Christians had, from
the earliest ages, acknowledged the Bishops of the
Church in Persia as their Primates. And, though
two of the writers just named are, as Romanists, most
anxious to show a different origin for the Church of
Malabar, they have utterly failed in establishing the
desired resemblance in doctrine, discipline, and cere-
mony to the distinctive pecularities of the Romish
Church. For instance, the Roman service has always
been in the Latin language, whereas the Malabar
prayers were constantly recited in the Syriac tongue.
Of the Pope they had never heard ; and all their
traditions pointed to the Tigris, not to the Tiber, as
the source of their ecclesiastical system. Driven from
their first position, some unscrupulous advocates have
attempted to show that the parent Church of Babylon
itself owed allegiance to the Roman Pontiff, and that,
therefore, the daughter Church of Malabar was neces-
First Attempt by the Franciscans. 159
sarily bound to yield obedience to the central power.
This strange assumption is founded on the following
legend. In the year 1552, one Turn Sind, or Simon
Salacan, a monk of the Order of St. Pachomius, who
pretended to be the Patriarch of Mosul (or Seleucia,
or Babylon), came to Rome and submitted himself to
the Pope. His Holiness received him graciously, and
made him a Bishop ; though, according to others, his
former consecration was reputed valid, and the
Pallium was conferred The said Simon delivered
letters and a confession of faith, which he pretended
all the Eastern Bishops had commissioned him to
present to the Pontiff. In these letters the very point
in dispute the Papal supremacy was as plainly set
forth as if they had been written by the most bigoted
Canonist. This Pseudo-missionary also asserted that
he had been attended by a cortege of seventy distin-
guished persons as far as Jerusalem, but that only
three had resumed the journey, of whom one had
died, another had stayed behind ill, and the third alone
was with him. This very questionable Patriarch, on
leaving the Vatican, instead of returning to Babylon,
retired to Charamet, where he was slain by the
Moslems the Christians rather rejoicing than
grieving, for they evidently considered him an
impostor, like the Bishop of lona, and others of the
same stamp in our own day. The fate of Simon did
not deter Abed Jesu from making a similar attempt.
160 First Attempt by the Franciscans.
This monk, author of several defences of Nestorianism,
on arriving at Rome in 1 562, was eagerly seized upon,
and sent with great solemnity to the Council of Trent,
as the duly accredited representative of the Chaldean
Church. Of course, the great object was to make use
of this adventurer as a living proof that this branch of
the Eastern Church had, in its corporate capacity, yielded
entire obedience to the Pope. A third actor appears in
this strange performance, one Elias, a mock Patriarch
of Babylon. We read that he sent several special
Nuncios to the Pope with more letters of submission ;
but these emissaries rather overacted their part ; for,
in order to prove the identity of the two Churches,
they tore several pages out of their office book. The
transparent fraud being at once discovered, they were
dismissed with disgrace ; but, nothing daunted, Elias
sent an Archdeacon in 1570 to deliver personally to
Paul V. a treatise on the " Reconciliation of Chaldea "
with Rome. We may quote one passage from his
letter : " Let heretics do what they will, I, for my
part, am resolved never to go against the holy
precepts of the Apostles and Orthodox Fathers, who
have all affirmed the See of Rome to be the head of all
other Sees, but would always confess that the Roman
Church was the mother of all the other Churches in
the world, and that all that did not own her to be so
are accursed. 1 Elias went rather further, for he
1 Gecldes's " Church of Malabar," p. 15.
First Attempt by the Franciscans. 161
assured the Pontiff that all the Chaldean Clergy
derived their orders in former times immediately from
Rome ; but that as many candidates perished on their
way to the Holy See, the Pope graciously consecrated
a Patriarch, that thenceforward these perils might be
avoided, and the clergy ordained at home. "And
thus," reasoned Elias, " we received all our authority
from the Roman source." On no better foundation
than such childish fictions do the defenders of Papal
supremacy try to prove that the Chaldean prelates
have unreservedly admitted the derivation of their
orders from St. Peter's, and that, therefore, all
canonical obedience is due to the head of the Roman
Catholic Church.
A full refutation of these idle tales is foreign to our
purpose. Suffice it to say that all authorities, worthy
of credit, clearly prove that the Church of Seleucia,
the mother of the Malabar church, was formerly
subject to the Patriarch of Antioch. One of
many testimonies may be found in the thirty-third
canon of the Council of Nice : " Let the See of
Seleucia which is one of the eastern cities, be honoured
likewise, and have the title of Catholicon ; and let
the Prelate thereof ordain Archbishops as the other
Patriarchs do, that so the eastern Christians who live
under heathens, may not be wronged by waiting the
Patriarch of Antioch's leisure, or by going to him,
but may have a way opened to them to supply their
M
1 62 First Attempt by the Franciscans.
own necessities ; neither will any injury be done to
the Patriarch of Antioch thereby, seeing he has con-
sented to its being thus, upon the Synod's having
desired it of him." l
Having attempted to show the importance attached
by the Romish Church to the question of universal
dominion and the expedients adopted to make out a
case in reference to the Church of India, we may
proceed to sketch the first attempt to convert theory
into practice.
The reader will recollect the surprise and gratifica-
tion of Vasco da Gama and his officers when they
were visited in 1 502, at Cochin, by the representa-
tives of the Christians of St. Thomas. The religion
professed by these visitors won for them the cor-
dial support of the Europeans, and the Portuguese
missionaries who, years afterwards, formed a more
intimate acquaintance with this interesting people,
would have received them into Christian fellowship,
but for the discovery of two unpardonable offences
the heresy of Nestorius, and the sin of schism, in not
acknowledging the Roman Pontiff. They immediately
made the greatest efforts to induce the Malabar Chris-
tians to turn from Nestorianism to what they believed
to be the Catholic faith, and to swear allegiance to
the wearer of the triple crown. To accomplish these
objects they adopted various lines of policy. Follow-
1 This version is from the Arabic Canons of the Council.
First Attempt by the Franciscans. 163
ing the example of Xavier, they preached to the
Christians, as he had done to the heathens, they
established mission stations, and held discussions with
the Syrian clergy, publicly and privately, and founded
missionary colleges as the means of training a native
ministry, to supplant the Syrian priests. Moral
means failing to produce the desired effect, they
employed alternately fraud and force during a long
series of years, ending with the Synod of Diamper,
which extinguished for a time the independence of
the church of St. Thomas. A still more decided
form of compulsion was the Inquisition established at
Goa, in the year 1560, which soon made itself felt by
its terrible and mysterious punishments, as the most
effectual instrument in the conversion of "Jews, Turks,
and Infidels," and in the subjugation of Christian
brethren.
The first decided attempt in which persuasion only
was employed, was made by the Franciscans in the year
1545, under the second Bishop, but first Archbishop
of Goa, Dom Joao de Albuquerque. He had heard
of this singular body of Christians dwelling in and
near the mountains far to the south of Goa, and he
felt it to be a reproach alike to Portuguese power and
Romish authority, that these stray sheep had not
long before been restored to the true fold. He
accordingly selected Father Vincent, a brother Fran-
ciscan, and sent him to Cranganor to inquire into
M 2
164 First Attempt by the Franciscans.
the condition of the Syrian Church, and to use his
utmost eloquence in trying to reduce it to obedience.
In reading the history of his labours, as given by
Gouvea, one is at a loss to distinguish between histori-
cal truth and " pious fraud." It seems scarcely possible
that one man could accomplish the enormous amount
of work attributed to him by his biographer. From
morning till night, publicly and privately, on the road-
side, in bazaars, under trees, in churches, he talked,
exhorted, argued, preached " without ceasing " at
least so we are told. But a question arises as to the
possibility of this wonderful command of a foreign
tongue. The worthy Franciscan had been but a year
in India, during the greater part of which he had been
at Goa, with little or no opportunity of studying
Tamil ; and yet we find him all at once, without any
miraculous gift, in full possession of this marvellous
fluency. It seems impossible to admit the truth of a
narrative which contains within it so damaging an
element as this apocryphal story. Yet we glean that,
after all, the good Friar was no Mezzofanti ; for his
imperfect attempts were almost, if not quite, unintelli-
gible. He candidly admitted that no success had
attended his preaching, that the Cattanars (i.e., priests)
were obdurate, and that, without their hearty co-opera-
tion, there was no hope of influencing the laity. He
therefore wrote to the Viceroy and to the Archbishop
of Goa for their sanction to the erection at Cranganor
First Attempt by the Franciscans. 165
of a college. 1 Both officials gave their consent and
supplied funds, and the new Seminary was ready
within the year (1546) for the instruction of Syrian
boys in the Roman tongue and ritual. Thus far the
scheme had been prosperous. But when the young
Syrians were ordained by the Romish priests, the
Cattanars positively refused to allow them to officiate
in their churches. They considered these youths as
the dupes and tools of Rome, as renegades from the
faith, and as revolutionists eager to destroy the Church
of their fathers. The Syrian Christians had, up to this
time, given the Romish emissaries the most friendly
reception. But now, thoroughly roused, and clearly
perceiving the real object of the Portuguese mission-
aries, they broke off all friendly intercourse, and shut
the doors of their churches, not only against the
European priests, but also against their own apostate
sons.
Thus the Franciscan attempt utterly failed, and
here the first act of this singular drama closes.
1 Raulin, " Hist. Ecc. Malab." La Croze, p 55. Du Jarric, III., p. 552.
CHAPTER III.
SECOND ATTEMPT BY THE JESUITS.
" A strange and melancholy chapter in the annals of the world are
these same missions in India, and not tending, it must be confessed, to
lessen the feeling of distrust so universally inspired by the Society of
Jesus, in spite of the zeal, learning, and splendid abilities of many of
its members." W. S. MACKAY in " Calcutta Review," Vol. II.
NEARLY twenty years elapsed between the failure of
the Franciscans and the aggression of the Jesuits,
during which the Syrian pastors were allowed to feed
their flocks in peace. No doubt, during this lull,
there were many minor efforts which history has not
thought it worth while to record ; and, unquestionably,
much soreness existed between the oppressor and the
oppressed. The crusade, however, was suspended,
not abandoned ; for the Jesuits were not the men to
be driven from their purpose by disaster or failure.
Reflecting upon the causes of Father Vincent's defeat,
the Provincial believed that he had discovered it in
the contempt with which the Franciscan College at
Cranganor had treated the Syriac language. This
tongue the Malabar Christians held sacred as that in
Second Attempt by the Jesuits. 167
which our blessed Lord preached the glad tidings of
salvation, as that which He probably used in ordinary
converse, and certainly employed on several remark-
able occasions. 1 They therefore made it the vehicle
of all the offices of their Church, though by many of
the Cattanars it was imperfectly understood ; and
they naturally resented every attempt on the part of
the Portuguese missionaries to ignore its existence or
to expel it from the services of the Church. The
Jesuits, admitting the force of these sentiments, varied
their mode of attack. They resolved to erect a new
college ; and, in order to destroy unpleasant associa-
tions, three miles from Cranganor, the scene of the
former conflict 2 They applied to Philip II. of Spain
(who had usurped the Crown of Portugal) and
received a large contribution, though he was then
preparing his famous Armada for the invasion of
England. The Rajah of Cochin, too, gave his
sanction, though not a convert In 1 587, the buildings
were erected and the work of education commenced
under Antonio Morales as Principal. In the other
school at Cranganor, the students had been taunted
by their countrymen for adopting the language and
dress of the Portuguese, and thus casting contempt
1 " It appears that He spoke Syriac when He walked by the way
(Ephphatha) and when He sat in the house (Talitha Cumi) and when
He was upon the Cross (Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani)." Buchanan, p. 96.
2 Raulin, " Hist. Ecc. Malab. ," p. II. La Croze, Hist., p. 56.
Du Jarric, Tom. III., p. 552. Gouvea, "Jornada," p. 7.
1 68 Second Attempt by the Jesuits.
upon their own. The policy of the Propagandists
easily overcame these objections. They not only
permitted the use of the Syriac or Chaldee, but made
it a compulsory part of the curriculum, teaching it
more accurately than the Syrians themselves. They
conceded also the question of costume ; and hence
the new college began its career with the fairest
prospect of uniting adverse elements on its neutral
ground. But under this specious appearance of im-
partiality the Jesuits concealed their deep-laid scheme.
They never lost sight of the necessity of training the
students in the Latin language, of shaking their faitJi
in their native Church, and of indoctrinating them,
slowly but surely, in the principles of Rome. But
again the aggressors were doomed to disappointment.
The pupils, who had been sedulously prepared for
years, whose allegiance had been, to all appearance,
firmly secured, were no sooner ordained than they
asserted their independence. Nothing that the Jesuits
could do, by threats or promises, could induce these
young men to forsake the faith of their fathers, to
preach against the Syrian Bishop, to alter their Prayer
Books, or to omit the name of the Patriarch of
Seleucia.
The missionaries of Vaipacotta, thus once more
baffled, met to determine the next line of action.
They no doubt consulted the Provincial at Goa, who
in turn submitted the question to the General in one
Second Attempt by the Jesuits. 169
of those reports already noticed. The result was the
adoption of a much more decided policy. Education
failing, they desperately resolved to resort to an un-
scrupulous combination of craft and violence which
outraged every principle of justice. The object of
the Society being to check new heresies in Europe
and to crush old ones in Asia, they acted on the con-
viction that the end would justify the means, and
they therefore resolved to remove the only obstacle
which impeded their onward march.
The Bishop who at that time filled the See of St.
Thomas, if it may be so called, was named Joseph, or,
according to their custom, Mar 1 - Joseph. There are
conflicting accounts of his consecration ; one speaking
of him as having been sent to Malabar by Andixa,
another giving the Patriarch's name as Abdichio, and
a third calling him Abba, or Hebed-Jesus. 2 The
Portuguese historian, Gouvea, to whom we owe the
account of these transactions, speaks in high terms
of the Syrian Bishop. He commends him for his
personal piety, his enlightened understanding, and his
reforming zeal in certain doctrines of his Church.
But we must read this commendation in the light of
our knowledge of the antecedents of the Patriarch
Hebed-Jesus, and his disciple Mar-Joseph. Of the
1 Mar is the Syriac for Lord, or Lord Bishop.
2 Gouvea's "Jornada," p. 7. Asseman, Tom. I., pp. 536-542.
Geddes's "Church of Malabar," p. n. Hough's " Christianity," Vol.
I., p. 351.
170 Second Attempt by the Jesuits.
former we have already heard, as making certain
important concessions at the Council of Trent.
Supposing this statement correct, we can easily
account for Gouvea's applause ; for, if Joseph was
influenced by his Patriarch's subserviency, he was
already more than half way to Rome. Nevertheless,
his temporising conduct did not save him. He was
still a Nestorian at heart, though he wished to be
thought favourable to Romanism. To promote this
idea he entered freely into Portuguese society ; yet
he failed to impress his new friends with an opinion
of his honesty. Determined to bring the matter to a
crisis, the crafty Jesuits set a trap for the poor Bishop.
One day when teaching some Portuguese boys (pro-
bably spies) he cautioned them against praying to the
Virgin Mary as the Mother of God. This was in-
stantly reported to the Bishop of Cochin, who,
delighted to catch his brother in so dreadful a heresy,
immediately wrote to the Archbishop. An order
came from headquarters for the arrest of Mar- Joseph,
who was put on board a ship and dispatched to Goa.
The Viceroy, perplexed and unwilling to adopt ex-
treme measures, sent the Bishop to Europe ; and thus,
the shepherd being removed, the Jesuits at Cochin
hoped to make short work with the flock. That the
whole affair was a deeply-laid plot is frankly admitted,
the old watchword stifling all scruples of conscience. 1
1 (jouvea's "Jornada," Cap. III. La Cro/.e, Hist., Liv. I., p. 58.
Second Attempt by the Jesuits. 171
On his arrival at Lisbon, he seems to have assumed
an appearance of extraordinary sanctity. He thereby
won the favour of the Queen Regent, Catarina, by
whom he was sent back to Goa with royal letters to
the Viceroy to see that he was instantly restored to
his Bishopric. The reason of this sudden change in
his favour is at once apparent, when we learn that he
had given a solemn promise to the Cardinal Dom
Henrique, then inquisitor-general, to do all in his
power on his return to purify his Church from
Nestorian heresy and to secure its full submission to
the Roman See.
To return to the deserted Church. As soon as the
Syrian Christians saw their Bishop thus suddenly
seized and shipped off without trial, they sent a secret
message to the Patriarch of Babylon, imploring him
to consecrate, without loss of time, a new prelate to
guard them against the assaults of the Portuguese
missionaries. These had managed to penetrate the
secret, and took every precaution by searching the
ships and guarding the passes to prevent the new
shepherd from reaching his mountain diocese. 1 But
Mar-Abraham, in his turn, was duly informed of the
snares, and- travelling in disguise, arrived at the Serra
in safety, where he was received with frantic joy. He
had hardly made the acquaintance of his flock, when
1 Gouvea, "Jornada." Getkles's Hist., p. 18. La Croze. Hough,
Vol. I.
172 Second Attempt by the Jesuits.
news came to him of the return of the Bishop Joseph
to Goa, where his presence was as embarrassing to
the authorities, civil and ecclesiastical, as it would
prove to be in Malabar. Both Viceroy and Archbishop
were bound to obey the royal letters, but they craftily
requested Bishop Joseph to take back with him to
Cochin several missionaries to instruct his flock in
the Roman doctrine, language, and ritual. The vacil-
lating Syrian craved time to consider the question ;
and next morning gravely informed the Archbishop
that a vision had appeared to him in the night, for-
bidding his compliance. The Roman prelate, quickly
detecting the imposture, exclaimed, "And I, too, have
had a revelation far better than yours. Mine is in
the Bible, in the words, ' Ye shall know them by their
fruits.' You are a wolf in sheep's clothing, and I shall
take good care to expose you to the royal family at Lis-
bon, on whose kindness you have imposed." 1 The Arch-
bishop, however, offered no impediment to Bishop
Joseph's return to his diocese, for he sagaciously per-
ceived the great advantage to the Roman cause
afforded by the presence of rival prelates. The
creation of a schism would, he foresaw, be a golden
opportunity for Papal aggression. The event proved
the correctness of his judgment, for no sooner did
Mar-Joseph appear on the scene, than the moun-
taineers were divided into two contending factions. Of
1 Geddes's " Ch. of Malabar," p. 19.
Second Attempt by the Jesuits. 173
course the old friends of the first Bishop naturally
supported their early pastor ; but he had evidently
lost caste with the influential portion of the Church,
who looked on him as at least tainted by Romish
sympathies. Finding himself thus deserted by the
majority of his co-religionists, he was compelled to
seek for support from the very Church whose dearest
aspirations were for the subjugation of his own. He
wrote a violent letter to the Archbishop of Goa,
denouncing his popular rival, not merely as a usurper,
but as an implacable enemy to the Roman Church.
The Viceroy, influenced by the prelate, was only too
glad to avail himself of an opportunity so long
desired. A dispatch was immediately sent to the
Portuguese governor, ordering the arrest of Bishop
Abraham. As the troops of the Rajah were com-
bined with those of the Governor, no effectual resis-
tance could be offered by the Christians of the Serra.
Bishop Abraham was therefore torn from his flock,
sent first to Goa, and then to Lisbon, whence he was
to proceed to Rome, to be tried by the Pope himself.
A gale of wind, however, changed all this. The ship
was driven into Mozambique, and Bishop Abraham
effected his escape, reaching Mosul in safety. The
Patriarch of Babylon conferred on him new briefs to
strengthen his claim, and urged him to return to his
diocese. Mar- Abraham considered "discretion the
better part of valour," and foresaw that " without the
174 Second Attempt by the Jesuits.
Pope's order, the Portuguezes would quickly make
the Serra too hot for him." l Instead of returning to
Malabar, he set out for Italy, and on reaching the
capital, he abjured Nestorianism, professed obedience
to Rome, and promised to bring his Indian flock to
the true faith. Pope Pius IV. then gave him all the
necessary credentials, with the title of Archbishop.
Another version of this story exists. The original
ordination of Mar-Abraham being invalid, the Pope
determined that he should receive all the orders from
the tonsure to the priesthood. This done, he was
sent to the Patriarch of Venice, and consecrated by
the Archbishop to the see of Malabar. The object of
his visit to Rome being thus gained, he landed in India
under the imposing title of Archbishop of Angamale. 2
While these things were going on in Italy, the other
bishop, Mar-Joseph, resumed his public functions, and
preached the very doctrines which he had abjured at
Lisbon. The report soon flew to the Archbishop of
Goa, who wrote to the Regent, Dom Henrique, who
in his turn, appealed to the Pope. Pius V. immedi-
ately issued an order, dated I5th January, 1567, for
the apprehension of the Bishop. He was arrested at
Cochin, and sent off to Portugal, without any exami-
nation. He ended his life at Rome, 3 but when, or
1 Geddes's Hist., p. 21.
a Gouvea, " Hist. Orient." Chap, III.
3 Gouvea, p. 8. La Croze, p. 62. Raulin, p. 14. Dujarric, p, 558.
Second Attempt by the Jesuits. 175
how, we know not. Gouvea, our chief authority, is
ominously silent ; and La Croze says, " We can have
little doubt that this unhappy prelate became, at
Rome, the victim of the Portuguese superstition, and
of the Pope's inhumanity." l
The leading incidents in the thirty years' struggle
will be sketched in the next chapter.
1 La Croze, Lib. I., pp. 62-3,
CHAPTER IV.
THE STRUGGLE AGAINST ROME.
"Soon the overbearing policy of Rome began openly to assert itself,
and the Christians of St. Thomas saw their independence threatened by
men whom they regarded as little better than idolators in religion, and
buccaneers in after life." Kaye's "Christianity," p. 23.
"THESE repeated tyrannies of the Portuguezes in
the Indies of dragging ancient Bishops thus out of
their own country and diocese, and tumbling them so
about the world, I cannot but reckon among those
violent injustices for which God has punished them
so visibly." 1 These are the quaint words in which
the translator, or rather paraphraser, of Gouvea's
" Jornada " expresses his opinion of the conduct of the
Portuguese to their Christian brethren ; and the reader
will find this judgment corroborated by another well-
known historian. 2 Similar violence was exercised in
their method of converting the heathen. Insatiable
in their thirst for gold, and not satisfied with the
numerous concessions they had obtained from the
1 Geddes's History, p. 22.
a Manoel De Faria, "Asia Portuguesa," Vol. III., last chapter.
77k' Struggle Against Rome. 177
native princes, they were perpetually encroaching on
the surrounding states, their arrogance and rapacity
augmenting with their prosperity. The result was a
deeply-rooted and widely-spread feeling of resentment
against men who, professing to be the possessors and
propagators of a pure faith, were everywhere con-
spicuous for avarice and tyranny, robbery and in-
solence. Portuguese and native testimony concur to
place this beyond dispute. In the Asiatic researches
there is an interesting article showing the Mohamme-
dan view of these compulsory conversions, in which
the following passage occurs : " They did also put
Hajes and other Mussulmans to a variety of cruel
deaths, and they reviled and abused with unworthy
epithets the Prophet of Goa ; and confined the
Mohammedans, and loaded them with heavy irons,
carrying them about for sale from shop to shop as
slaves ; enhancing their ill-usage on these occasions in
order to extort the larger sum for their release. They
confined them also in dark, noisome, and hideous
dungeons, torturing them also with fire," l and much
more to the same effect. Further proof of the im-
pression produced by the Portuguese may be found
in the letters and speeches of a Mohammedan prince
named Hidalcon, who besieged Goa in 1570. In one
of his letters to the Viceroy he says : " I am con-
1 "Asiatic Researches," Vol. V., p. 20. Hough's History, Vol. I.
p. 264.
N
178 The Struggle Against Rome.
fident the King of Portugal will not thank any that
shall be instrumental in making a breach between me
and him by compelling my subjects against their wills
to turn Christians, a practice that is abominable in the
sight of all the world ; nay, I am confident that Jesus
Christ himself, the God whom you adore, cannot be
well pleased with such service as this ; force and com-
pulsion in all such cases being what God, Kings, and
all the people of the world do abominate." In
another letter the Prince thanks the Portuguese
Governor for having issued an order to repress these
violent measures, but complains that it was ineffectual,
adding, " as I know that neither God nor wise Kings
take any delight in discord, so I am certain that there
is no religion in the world that justifies the forcing of
people from one religion to another." Commenting
on these remarkable transactions, Chancellor Geddes
says : " In this affair the Christian and Mahometan, of
which sect this Hidalcon was, seemed to have changed
parts, the Mahometan writing therein like a Christian,
and the Christians behaving themselves like Mahome-
tans." * The reader must not suppose that these
atrocities were restricted to the civil and military
powers, or the pirates who, under the name of mer-
chants, robbed as often as they traded. The
chronicles of the time afford abundant proof that
Ecclesiastics were no longer the imitators of the
1 Geddes's " Hist. Mai.," p. 27.
The Struggle Against Rome. i 79
gentle Xavier. A few years of conquest had sufficed
to convince them that the arm of the civil power was
a far more effectual instrument of conversion than the
tongue or bell of the missionary. The Dominicans,
for example, pretending to erect a convent, built a
fortress on the island of Solor, which was soon garri-
soned by a strong body of Portuguese. The unsus-
pecting natives were enraged at this deception ;
constant skirmishes took place between the intruders
and themselves, and not a few of the monks fell,
sword in hand, obtaining what they were pleased to
call the crown of martyrdom in this singular method
of converting the heathen. Another instance may be
quoted. One of the missionaries, appropriately named
Vinagre, actually commanded a fleet, sent by Portugal
to aid its ally, the Rajah of Tidore, in the Moluccas.
He is said to have been quite as successful in the art
of war as in the propagation of the Gospel, at one
time in full armour, at another in full -canonicals.
And, if the historian does not over-colour the narra-
tive, the soldier-monk was in such haste to baptise his
converts that he put the surplice over the breast-plate-
Antonio Galvao, an eminent Portuguese navigator, is
said to have assisted Vinagre in this work ; but they
appear to have professionally changed places ; for
Galvao, though he introduced Christianity as a means
of civilisation, made himself so beloved by the con-
quered people at Tidore and Ternate, that popular
N 2
180 The Struggle Against Rome.
songs were composed in his honour. No doubt there
were many pious Christians amongst the Portuguese,
and to such we would render all praise, but after a
careful examination of evidence on both sides, we are
forced to the conclusion, fully justified by the History
of the Inquisition at Goa, 1 that Christian persuasion
was quite the exception in the Portuguese system of
conversion, and persecution the almost universal rule.
This digression from our main subject is more
apparent than real, our object being to show the
spirit of the age, and especially that of the Portuguese
nation. The people of India live upon traditions. An
impression once made is rarely effaced. The terrible
tales of Portuguese atrocities have been handed down
from father to son in the mountains and valleys of
India for the last three centuries. Conquest and
Christianity, cruelty and conversion, are linked
together indissolubly in the Hindoo mind. And if
these traditions inspire the native heart with abhor-
rence and disgust, the lamentable exposure of the
frauds connected with the Madura mission in the
XVII th Century produced unmitigated contempt.
The considerations cannot be omitted in estimating
the influence which the Portuguese missions exerted
in Southern India, not only on the Syrian Christians,
' Gecldes's " View of the Inquisition in Portugal ; " Dellon's " Rela-
tion de 1'Inquisition de Goa." Buchanan's " Christian Researches,"
p. 166. Canon Trevor's "India," p. 151. Hough's "Christ," Vol.
I., p. 212.
The Struggle Against Rome. 181
but on all diasses of the native population and on
modern missionary efforts throughout our Eastern
Empire.
We need not therefore feel surprised that the
universal indignation found vent in prophecies of the
downfall of Portuguese power. " Let them alone,
said a Hindoo, for they will quickly come to lose
that, as covetous merchants, which they have gained
as admirable soldiers ; they now conquer Asia, but it
will not be long before Asia conquers them." 1 Nor
was it long ere these predictions began to be fulfilled,
as the natives of Ito succeeded in expelling the
Portuguese from their island, the first check to their
hitherto victorious career, and the first step in the
downward path to the present melancholy condition
of their dominions in the East.
We must now return to Mar- Abraham, whom we
left just after his re-consecration as Bishop, or Arch-
bishop, of Augamale. On arriving at Goa, he was
happy to find his rival Mar-Joseph " shipped off for
Portugal " ; and he therefore flattered himself that he
would be able to pass the remainder of his life in the
quiet possession of his see. This, however, was no
such easy matter. The Portuguese no longer had
any use for him as an instrument in maintaining a
schism. So, in spite of his credentials, they detained
him a,t Goa, on pretence of examining the Papal
1 Geckles, p. 28.
1 82 The Struggle Against Rome.
briefs. The crafty canonists, though unable to deny
the validity of the documents, were at no loss to
detect certain flaws, and the Archbishop decided that
his appointment was null and void. Mar-Abraham,
instead of being welcomed by his Cattanars and his
flocks amid the green hills of Malayalim was put
under arrest in the Dominican convent, there to await
the Pope's reply to the Archbishop's report of the
case. Fully aware that this was only another form of
imprisonment for life, he took the law into his own
hands ; and one night while the Dominicans were in
chapel, he escaped and reached his diocese in safety. 1
Consternation prevailed at Goa. All the authorities
on the coast were informed of the flight and ordered
to secure the Bishop, dead or alive. But he took
good care never to venture near any of the Portuguese
settlements. His conduct as a Bishop seems to have
been as undecided as that of his predecessor. On
the one hand he professed himself a Romanist, and
re-ordained all the Syrian priests. On the other hand
he not only preached the Nestorian doctrines, but
publicly prayed for the Bishop of Babylon as the
Head of his Church. Intelligence of this state of
affairs soon reached Gregory XIII., 2 who, in 1578,
commanded the Syrian Bishop to attend the next
Provincial Council at Goa, and to be governed by its
1 Gouvea, p. 8. La Croze, p. 63. Raulin, p. 15. Du Jarric, p. 558.
2 Raulin, " Hist. Ecc. Malab.," p. 15.
The Struggle Against Rome. 183
decrees. Whereupon, the fifth Archbishop of Goa,
Vincente de Fouseca, called a council, and com-
manded the attendance of Mar-Abraham under letters
of safe conduct. 1 The poor Bishop felt that he had
no alternative ; for, if he resisted, Portuguese troops
would lay waste his diocese. He therefore attended
the council, abjured his faith, swore to Romanism
and to the punctual execution of the decrees of the
Synod. He further promised to alter or burn all the
heretical books, and to re-ordain all his clergy, thus
making the fatal admission that the Orders of the
Syrian Church were invalid. 2 This done, his next
perplexity was how to justify himself before his own
Patriarch. He wrote a sad letter, exhibiting the
straits to which he was reduced, "the Portuguese
hanging over his head as a hammer over an anvil." 3
He alleged that the Profession of Faith which he had
made was not understood (from the difference of
language) by the council at Goa, and that he was as
firm as ever in his fidelity to the Syrian Church. He
added that " being grown ancient, and very much broke
by the long and unintermitting persecutions, of the
Portuguezes," he desired the assistance of a coadjutor.
1 La Croze, p. 65. Geddes, p. 32.
2 The reasons given by the Romanists for forcing Bishop Abraham to
take this step are stated at length from p. 33 to p. 37 of Geddes's
" Church of Malabar."
3 " Os Portugueses estavao sobre sua cabeca como malhos sobre
bigorna." Gouvea, p. 9. Raulin, p. 16.
184 The Struggle Against Rome.
The Suffragan, Mar-Simeon, soon became so popular
with the Syrian Christians, on account of his freedom
from Romish contamination, that he felt himself
strong enough to declare his independence of his
superior, and to set up a rival See at Carturte. 1
Again a schism arose. Anathemas were reciprocated.
The whole diocese was in a ferment ; and Abraham,
losing ground, complained of Simeon as a usurper
and a heretic. 2 The Viceroy, though by no means a
friend of Mar- Abraham's, was forced to acknowledge
him as Bishop of Augamale in virtue of the Papal
appointment ; and therefore determined to take his
part against Mar-Simeon. Feeling, however, that it
would be difficult, if not dangerous, to employ force,
he induced some Franciscans to excite in Mar-
Simeon's mind a doubt of his Ecclesiastical position,
so as to render a journey to Rome necessary for
security and peace. He went with the Friars to
Cochin ; and thence to Goa, Lisbon, and Rome,
where, to his intense astonishment, Sixtus V. declared
him not to be in Holy Orders at all ! Thus sentenced,
or deprived, he was forwarded to Philip II., at that
time King of Spain and Portugal, who committed
him to Alexis de Menezes, then starting for Goa as
Archbishop. The Syrian Prelate, however, instead of
1 Raulin, "Hist. Ecc. Mai.," p. 16. Du Jarric, p. 561.
2 " Excommunicationes inde ac anathcemeta (res ridicula quasi
missilia, alter in alterum mutuo intorquet." Raulin, " Hist. Ecc. Mai.,"
p. II.
The Struggle Against Rome.
accompanying the Portuguese Metropolitan, was
thrown into the Franciscan convent in Lisbon.
From his prison he wrote to his Vicar-General, Jacob,
by every fleet that went to India, professing fidelity
to the faith of his fathers and claiming his Episcopal
rank. Years afterwards these letters fell into the
hands of Archbishop Menezes, by whom they were
sent to the Inquisitor-General of Portugal. The
result is not recorded. But the unfortunate Syrian's
fate was, no doubt, hastened by the arrival of these
letters, the dungeons of the Inquisition finishing
what the Franciscan convents had begun.
Following this complicated history we must return
to Goa, where, in 1 590, another Provincial Council was
convened, and Bishop Abraham summoned to attend.
But the aged Prelate, taught by experience, refused
to trust the Portuguese. He was possibly influenced
in his determination by some feeling of remorse for
his former conduct, and for the ruin that he had
brought on Joseph and Simeon. Be the cause what
it may, he stood firm, maintained the Chaldean faith
and defied the Roman power. Clement VIII., duly
informed of this contumacy, commanded the Arch-
bishop, in 1595, to enquire into the crimes of the
rebellious Prelate, and, if guilty, to commit him to
prison. 1 The Papal brief further ordered that a
1 This mandate of Clement VIII., dated 2;th January, 1595, is quoted
at length in Gouvea's "Jornada," p. 10,
1 86 The Struggle Against Rome.
Vicar-Apostolic should be placed over the diocese,
and that no Chaldean bishop should be suffered to
enter Malabar. Archbishop Menezes obeyed, found
Mar-Abraham guilty, without going through the
useless form of summoning the bed-ridden victim to
appear at Goa ; and having learnt that application
had been made^to Babylon for a Suffragan and
successor, he ordered all the passes to be guarded, so
that no Chaldean priest should enter. Every ex-
pedient was adopted to elude his vigilance. Disguised
as Indians they came by land, as sailors they entered
the Port of Cochin, but were always stopped, sent
home or imprisoned, and thus the diocese remained
without a head.
The Archbishop, delighted by this success, pursued
his enterprise with zeal. He first addressed himself
to Mar-Simeon's Vicar-General, imploring him to
submit and promising him the most ample rewards.
But Jacob was deaf to all his entreaties, refused to
throw away his commission, and inflamed still more
his excited flock against their relentless tormentors.
Menezes was equally urgent with the other side,
entreating the aged Mar-Abraham and his energetic
representative, the Archdeacon, to reduce the diocese
to the Roman obedience, but with no better success
than in the other case.
Two deaths now cleared the way for the Arch-
bishop's triumph. The first was that of Jacob,
The Struggle Against Rome. 187
Simeon's Vicar-General, whose sudden decease, under
singular circumstances, was interpreted as a judgment
on him for resistance to the true faith. 1 The
second was that of the Syrian Bishop Abraham, in
February, 1597. Worn out by controversy, but still
firm in his religion, he refused the rites of the Romish
Church, forced upon him in his dying moments by
two Jesuits from Vaipacotta, and to remove all doubts
of his position, he left express orders that he should
be buried in the modest cathedral which he had built
amongst the woods at Augamale.
Thus ended the first part of the struggle.
1 Gouvea, " Hist. Jornada."
CHAPTER V.
THE ARCHBISHOP OF GOA.
"Dom Alexis cle Menezes was appointed Archbishop of Goa. It was
his mission less to make new converts than to reduce old ones to sub-
jection ; and he flung himself into the work of persecution with an
amount of zeal and heroism that must have greatly endeared him to
Rome." KAYE.
DOM ALEXIS DE MENEZES, whose actions form the
principal subject of this chapter, was an Austin Friar,
and was the seventh Archbishop of Goa, a see founded
by Paul III. in 1537. He was Governor-General ot
India for three years, was afterwards translated to the
Primacy of Braga, was Governor of Portugal for two
years, and after that was President of the Council
of State of Portugal at Madrid, where he died.
It would be foreign to our purpose to give his bio-
graphy here ; and his character, no ordinary one, will
be gleaned by the intelligent reader from our brief
sketch of his trenchant decision, consummate craft,
and dauntless courage in overthrowing the Church of
St. Thomas, and raising that of St. Peter on its ruins.
On the very day that Archbishop Menezes received
The Archbishop of Goa. 189
at Damaon the news of Mar-Abraham's death, he
appointed the Jesuit, Francisco Ros, Governor and
Vicar- Apostolical of the vacant see. Three months
afterwards, the Archbishop held a meeting at Goa
concerning the Syrian Church, and the result was
that, in spite of the Pope's orders that none but a
Roman Catholic should be appointed, it was deemed
expedient to nominate the Archdeacon. 1 To please
all parties, the office was put in commission, the
three officials being the Archdeacon, the Jesuit Ros,
and the Rector of Vaipacotta. But when the Arch-
deacon was required to subscribe to the creed of Pius
IV., he declined, alleging that he objected to the other
commissioners. And Menezes, though detecting the
pretext, dissembled for the present, and made him
sole governor. The Archdeacon, pursuing a temporary
policy, accepted his patent, though under protest that
it gave him no more authority than what he previously
possessed, and still declined subscription, hoping for a
Bishop from the Patriarch. Pressed still further by
the Romanists, he declared positively that he would
1 The Archdeacon who plays so conspicuous a part in the following
chapters was named George, and is thus spoken of by Raulin :
' ' Georgius homo dolis instructus, et vulpern in pectore servans. "-
Raulin, "Hist. Ecc. Mai.," p. 20. There was but one of this title amongst
the Malabar Christians, and he seems to have exercised the office of a sort
of deputy during the life of the Bishop, and that of substitute or re-
presentative when the see was vacant. Archdeacon George was a man
of the highest family, and had exercised quasi-episcopal functions during
the declining years of Mar- Abraham, who, when dying, committed the
Church of the Syrian Christians to his care.
190 The Archbishop of Goa.
not submit to the Pontiff, for that the Church of St.
Thomas always had been, and always should be, inde-
pendent of Rome. To strengthen his resistance, he
convened a Synod at Augamale. There Cattanars
and laymen alike swore to defend the faith of their
fathers, to accept none but a Bishop of their own
Church, and to maintain this solemn league and
covenant to the death.
Popular excitement was now at its height. The
poor mountaineers, who had at first welcomed their
Roman fellow-Christians so warmly, were thoroughly
excited against their oppressors. They looked upon
the Portuguese as the relentless enemies of their
ancient faith, and as the barbarous persecutors of
their beloved bishops and priests. They therefore
rose in arms, expelled the Jesuits from their country,
and in two instances were barely restrained from
putting them to death. The news of this terrible
outbreak, though it frightened the ordinary " Soldiers
of the Pope," served but to stimulate the resolute
Archbishop, who determined to crush this rebellion by
his personal presence. In vain did the Archbishop
and the whole clergy of Goa implore him to refrain
from so perilous an enterprise. He resolved, as soon
as the war between Mangate and Paru (two small
Malabar states) had ceased, to subdue the storm
which he had raised, contenting himself mean-
time with an appeal to the Archdeacon. That dig-
The Archbishop of Goa. 191
nitary, alarmed at the Archbishop's announcement,
pretended that he had refused subscription because
the Rector of Vaipacotta was commanded to receive
it, but that he would sign before any other priest (not
a Jesuit) duly commissioned. But Menezes, consider-
ing this an attempt to render the Jesuits unpopular,
because they were the most active proselytisers,
refused to comply. This refusal gave great and just
offence, not only to the Syrians, but also to the
Romanists; for the other orders loudly declared that
the Archbishop was so infatuated with the Jesuits
that he would rather lose the Syrian Church than
offend the Order. The brethren, it seems, did not re-
ciprocate the Archbishop's affection, at least they had
done their best (in a work which we often quote in
this history) to deprive him of what he believed his
chief honour, the conversion of the Syrian Christians,
or rather, the reduction of their Church to the Roman
obedience. 1 In this historical romance we have an
entirely new version of the story (a Jesuit's, be it
remembered) to the effect that Mar-Abraham loved
the Jesuits, was governed by them in all things, invited
the Rector to his death-bed, committed his flock to
the care of the Pope, commanded all his clergy to
obey the Brethren of the Society, and to accept as truth
all that they taught. Furthermore, this veracious
1 "History of the Jesuits in India." By Pierre du Jarric, Bordeaux,
1608.
192 The Archbishop of Goa.
narrative asserts that the Syrian Church was so com-
pletely reconciled, that in 1 596 they celebrated with
joy the Jubilee of Clement VIII., crowding the
churches till midnight. The Archbishop of Goa had
therefore no conflict, but simply enjoyed a triumph
where the Jesuits had won the battle. 1
Trifles often lead to great events ; and an incident
occurred at this time which plainly proved that the
Syrian clergy were not yet the slaves of the Pope.
One of the boys of the Jesuits' College had been
taught to pray for the Pope before the Patriarch.
The Cattanars, overhearing this one day in church,
beat him and turned him out. They spoke also to
his father to repeat the chastisement. The Arch-
bishop, hearing of this, wrote to Archdeacon George,
ordering him to punish those impudent heretics, but,
so far from obeying the Roman Prelate, he com-
mended the zeal of his own priests. A Franciscan
Friar was therefore sent from Goa to request once
more the Archdeacon's subscription, and to insist on
his punishing the Cattanars. The Syrian, anxious, at
any price, to keep the Archbishop out of the Serra,
at last subscribed a confession, though not that of
Pius IV., professing himself a Catholic, but avoiding
the word Roman. It is, however, affirmed that he
afterwards gave his assent publicly to the creed of
Pius IV., read to him in Portuguese, of which he
1 Geddes's " Hist. Ch. Mai.," p. 49.
The Archbishop of Goa. 193
knew nothing. Be that as it may, he everywhere
taught that though the Pope was Head of the Roman
Church, he had nothing whatever to do with the
Syrian. Irritated by these vexatious delays, the
indomitable Prelate fixed a day for his personal visit
to the headquarters of these rebellious Christians.
The Viceroy's remonstrance was answered thus :
" My life is but too secure, as I have never done
enough to win the martyr's crown." l Still he did not
rely too much on his want of merit, and therefore
travelled with an armed escort. His journey, too,
was partly political, as the Viceroy wished to secure
the co-operation of the Zamorin in destroying a nest
of pirates at Cunhale. On the 2/th September,
1598, the Archbishop embarked in a war galley, and
on Epiphany was saluted at Cunhale by the guns
and music of the Portuguese Fleet. Here he held a
Council of War, sent dispatches to Goa, inspected the
siege works, and, after these Apostolical proceedings,
set sail for Cananore, and thence to Cochin. The
grandest preparations had been made for his reception,
richly carpeted stairs had been expressly constructed ;
the Governor and a brilliant staff were at the landing
place, and the Prince of the Church disembarked amid
the waving of flags, the clang of martial music, the
shouts of the people, and the thunder of artillery.
1 Gouvea, " Jornada," Cap. IX., p. 26. Raulin, " Hist. Ecc. Mai.,"
p. 22. La Croze, p. 101. Du Jarric, p. 574.
O
194 The Archbishop of Goa.
Gouvea, with his characteristic prolixity, enters
into the most minute details of councils, negotia-
tions, intrigues, in which the Archbishop, the King of
Cochin, and the Zamorin are the principal actors.
But they are totally uninteresting to the general
reader, and have little or no relation to our subject. 1
The Roman Prelate, having discharged his political
and military duties, thought himself bound to devote
some attention to the ostensible object of his mission.
He therefore sent for Archdeacon George ; and, as no
notice was taken, he wrote again, enclosing a letter of
safe conduct. The perplexed Syrian assembled his
Presbyters. After a long discussion, they were forced
to admit that they were at last reduced to a most
painful position. They saw clearly that the wily
Archbishop had laid his measures well, and that the
game was now in his own hands ; for, as the Rajahs,
in whose dominions the Syrian Churches were, had
formed an alliance with the Portuguese, there could
be no difficulty in inducing the native Princes to
destroy their Christian subjects if they attempted to
resist their oppressors. They therefore resolved to
send their President with instructions to consent to the
Archbishop's saying Mass, and preaching in their
churches, but to resist all his claims to exercise
1 The curious student will find full particulars in Gouvea, and in
La Croze ; in decides, an abridgment, pp. 54-5-6 ; and in Ilughes's
"Christ.," Vol. I., p. 336.
The Archbishop of Goa. 195
Episcopal functions. They further determined that
if he insisted on such acts, they should temporise
until they exhausted his patience, and forced him
back to Goa. They then sent messengers through
the mountains, and soon mustered a force of three
thousand skilled marksmen for the defence of their
Archdeacon and their faith. The Archbishop, too,
appealed to force, for he requested the presence of
the Paniquais, 1 chiefs who could bring four thousand
men into the field, but they, instead of going to
Cochin, took the oath of Amongos, 2 /.., they solemnly
swore to defend their Archdeacon, if they died in
his cause. Guarded right and left by two of these
champions, and at the head of an imposing force of
well-armed mountaineers, the Archdeacon appeared
before Cochin. The Portuguese Governor, with a
splendid retinue, courteously received the Syrians
outside the gates, and conducted them with great
ceremony to the Episcopal Palace. The scene must
1 Hough explains the name to signify "Captains not unlike feudal
lords, or independent chieftains," Vol. I., p. 341. But the original
authorities give a different account. Gouvea (" Jornada," Chap.X., p.ap)
gives a long description of this singular institution, the substance of
which is that these Paniquais were a caste of fencing masters, whose
pupils became their vassals or retainers, and whom they could com-
mand by thousands. " Les Malabars appellent Paniquais, les maistres
d'escrime auxquels ils portent un si grand respect que tous ceux qui ont
este leurs eleves, leur obeyissent durant toute leur vie." Du Jarric,
P- 575-
2 " Amon9os entre les Malabars sont des gens desesperez qui juret
de mourir en ce qu'ils enteprenne." Du Jarric.
O 2
196 The Archbishop of Goa.
have been very striking. The Primate of India,
seated on his throne, rose to receive the Archdeacon,
who knelt and kissed his hand. The long train of
Syrian priests followed his example. The principal
laity, including the two Paniquais guards, were in
turn also presented. Faithful to their oath, these
officers stood with naked broadswords, close to their
Archdeacon, on the watch for the slightest indication
of treachery. An accident had nearly led to fatal
consequences, for, the door of the audience-chamber
closing, the three thousand Syrians who crowded
round the building shouted " To arms ! to arms ! "
thinking that their Archdeacon was taken prisoner.
Swords were drawn, arquebuses loaded, matches
lighted, and the doors assailed with cries of " Let us
die for the Archdeacon and the Church of St.
Thomas," when a stentorian voice of a Latin priest,
who understood Tamil, succeeded in convincing them
that the Archdeacon was safe and incurred no
danger whatever. This stormy episode ended, the
conference went on by means of interpreters, much
as in a modern durbar ; and it . was finally agreed
that the Metropolitan should begin his visitation at
Vaipacotta, and that the Assyrian ecclesiastics
should meet him there. On the day appointed, a
procession of Jesuit professors and students con-
ducted the Archbishop, mitre on head and crozier in
hand, to the church, where he preached from John
The Archbishop of Goa. 197
x., i. : " He that entereth not by the door," &C. 1 His
object, of course, was to prove that the Roman
Church was the only true one, and that, therefore, the
bishops and priests of the Syrian Faith were thieves
and robbers, that the whole Church was in deadly
schism, and doomed to perdition if they did not
accept the salvation now offered. Archdeacon
George, for obvious reasons, did not appear till two
days after these proceedings, yet he was most
courteously received by the dissembling Prelate.
During the Archbishop's stay at the College of the
Jesuit missionaries, he of course attended Matins and
Vespers, but these being sung in Chaldee were unin-
telligible to him. Learning, however, that the Patri-
arch of Babylon was mentioned in the prayers by
the title of Universal Pastor of the Church, a
stroke of conciliatory policy on the part of the
Jesuits he was perfectly horrified, and summoned
the professors and students, the Archdeacon and
Cattanars, into his presence. Addressing them with
great vehemence, he declared that the Pope alone
was supreme, and the Patriarch of Babylon a heretic
and schismatic. Then, producing a formal excom-
munication, he commanded his secretary to read it
aloud, and his interpreter to translate it, enjoining
1 Gouvea, "Jornada," Cap. X., p. 29. Raulin," Hist. Ecc. Mai., "p.
23. La Croze, " Hist. Du Christ.," p. 103. Du Jarric, Hist., p.
578.
198 The Archbishop of Goa.
that no person do henceforward presume to pray for
the Patriarch of Babylon. He then turned sharply
round to the Archdeacon with the brief command,
" Sign it." The terrified Syrian stood aghast and
wavered. Seizing the moment of hesitation, the
resolute Primate pressed his advantage " Sign it,
Father, for it is full time the axe were laid to the
root of the tree." The Archdeacon was speechless.
He quailed beneath the stern eye and sharp voice of
the Roman Primate. Slowly and silently he took the
pen, signed the deed, and with it the doom of his
Church. 1
The report of this cowardly concession spread like
wild-fire through the village. At first the rumour was
utterly "disbelieved, but when the excited crowd saw
the fatal document fixed on the gates of the church,
there was no longer room for doubt. They rushed
frantically to the Archdeacon's house, when they cried
out that the Archbishop of Goa and his Portuguese
had come to destroy their religion and to insult their
Patriarch. Railing against the Archdeacon as a
traitor, they implored their Cattanars to let them fight
for their faith and take vengeance on its enemies.
But, on his raising his hand, they were instantly silent.
" There was a time for all things," he said, " but this
was the time for dissimulation, not revenge ; that he
1 Gouvea, "Jornada. Cap. X., p. 30. La Croze, " Hist.Du Christ.,"
p. 106. I)u Jarric, I<is'.., p. 580. Raulin, " Hist., Ecc. Mai.," p. 24.
The Archbishop of Goa. 199
had signed the excommunication through fear of the
joint revenge of the Archbishop and the Rajah of
Cochin, but that he would rather die than consent to
change his old religion for Popery, that he clearly saw
that the Archbishop of Goa wished to make himself
Primate of all India, but that he hoped all the Syrian
Christians would resist even to the death." A
tremulous shout was the answer to this address. " We
would die sooner than yield " rang a thousand times
in the air, and struck terror into the hearts of all the
Portuguese, except the Archbishop himself. His
panic-stricken attendants implored him to seek safety
in flight, upbraiding him with his rashness ; but he
calmly replied that he did not repent of a single step,
and that so far from retreating to Cochin he would
advance to Paru. At this little metropolis, the
Christian nobility had made great preparations for the
reception of the Portuguese Primate, but, hearing of
his conduct at Vaipacotta, their rage knew no bounds ;
they tore down their triumphal arches, and received
him with stern looks and fully armed. Alexis de
Menezes was equal to the occasion. Affecting not to
see the sullen aspect of the citizens, he went straight
to the church, his Cross borne before him. There an
extraordinary sight presented itself. The sacred
edifice was crowded to excess, but not a woman was
to be seen. Men only, armed to the teeth, sternly
awaited the appearance of their oppressor. Nothing
2Oo The Archbishop of Goa.
daunted, the Archbishop, to prevent a collision, sent
all his guards on board, retaining but two priests to
assist in the service. Then, calmly robing himself in
his pontificals, he blessed the congregation, and
preached for an hour and a half. All listened in
respectful silence, till he invited them to submit to
confirmation. Then their suppressed fury burst forth,
and they called out tumultuously, " We will never be
confirmed by you confirmation is no Sacrament of
Christ's we will not be slaves you shall never touch
our beards or our wife's faces. Go home to your
Portuguese and let us alone, if you continue to plague
us, it will cost you dear," and much more to the same
purpose. This storm produced no effect on the
preacher. Quietly sitting down, he pursued his
subject ; but when they refused to listen he rose up,
and, advancing firmly, crozier in hand, he exclaimed,
with great vehemence, that the doctrine he preached
was the Faith of Christ and of St. Thomas, that it was
believed by all Christians, and that he was ready to
die in confirmation of its truth. After much more
discussion, the time-serving Archdeacon left the
church, picked up ten boys in the streets, and pre-
sented them for confirmation. This noisy service over,
the Archbishop was forced to content himself with this
paltry triumph, and retreated angrily to his galleys. 1
1 Gouvea, "Jornada," Cap. X. La Croze, Hist., p. 108. Kaiilin,
" Hist. Ecc. Mai.," p. 24. Du Jarric, p. 582.
The Archbishop of Goa. 201
We should utterly exhaust the patience of the
reader if we were to insist on his following the Arch-
bishop through his visitation. The pages of Gouvea
are filled with minute accounts of perpetual fencing
between the Primate and the Syrian Archdeacon, each
endeavouring to outwit the other. The Asiatic, in
this case, as in many others, was no match for the
European, and the whole history reminds one of the
ineffectual flutterings of the poor bird to escape from
the fascinating gaze of the serpent.
The historian of the "Jornada" is, however, worthy of
consultation by the student who wishes to enjoy a
picturesque narrative in the curious Portuguese of the
XVI th Century. The English reader may consult
Chancellor Geddes's equally curious translation, or
the more polished English of Hough's Paraphrase
of Geddes.
We shall therefore hasten to give the barest possible
outline of the events that preceded the Synod of
Diamper, noticing only such incidents as serve to
indicate the irrepressible determination of the Primate,
the ever varying means that he employed to effect his
purpose, and the dangers that he encountered in sub-
duing the Syrians to the Roman obedience. Failing,
as we have seen, at Paru, 1 he set out for Mangate,
and incurred, on two occasions, great danger from
attempts at assassination, at least according to Gouvea
1 Often spelt Parour, close to Cranganor.
2O2 The Archbishop of Goa.
and his Jesuit copyists ; l but La Croze doubts the
stories as inconsistent with the character of the
Christians, who could easily have dispatched the
Archbishop on many occasions, had they felt so
disposed. During the night, the Primate's barge
conducted him to Cheguree in the kingdom of Cochin,
where he found the church door shut against him. 2
He waited patiently till sunset, and then ordered his
servants to force open the doors that he might pray
at the altar. His visit to Cheguree being thus fruit-
less, his friends implored him to proceed no further in
his visitation, but he answered resolutely " That their
remonstrance, though kindly meant, was in vain, that
he was determined to complete his visitation, even if
he should travel alone throughout the diocese ; that
he was not only Metropolitan of India, but the
successor of St. Thomas, in whose powerful inter-
cession he placed all his hopes." Violent measures
had thus been attended with but slight success ; and
Menezes thought it prudent to make some attempt at
conciliation. Retiring to his cabin, he wrote a long
letter to Archdeacon George, inviting him to a con-
ference, and promising forgiveness of the past, and
rewards in the future. Then followed a public dis-
cussion, between the Archbishop and the Archdeacon,
in which the whole controversy of Nestorianism was
1 (iouvea, Cap. XI.
a (iouvea, "Jornada," Chap. X., p. 34. Du Jarric "Hist. .Ecc.
Mai.," p. 587.
The Archbishop of Goa. 203
passed under review. 1 Of course, the infallibility and
supremacy of the Roman Pontiff were stoutly main-
tained by one side, and as stoutly denied by the
other. The disputants came at last to this agreement,
that as soon as possible a Synod should be convened
to settle the points under discussion, that meantime
Archbishop Menezes should be courteously received
in their churches and allowed to preach, but that he
should not perform any episcopal act ; that, further,
Archdeacon George should refrain from exciting the
people, and should dismiss his armed escort. This
concordat being signed, the rivals parted at Canhur,
and the Archbishop proceeded to the south on
March ist. On his way, at a castle near Cochin, he
received a visit from the Rajah late at night in the
house of the village priest. The Indian prince came
in great state, with a large retinue in shining armour,
attended by bearers of lanterns and torches. The
King himself naked to the waist, with a skirt of
gorgeous silk, his head, neck, wrists and ankles in
golden chains studded with the richest jewels. 2 All
this display of magnificence had an object, the claim
to be called brother-in-arms of the King of Portugal,
like his neighbour the Rajah of Cochin. The Primate
quickly saw that this was another instrument ready
1 Gouvea, Cap. XII. Du Jarric, Hist., p. 589. La Croze Hist.,
p. 118. Hough, Vol. I., p. 366. Gecldes, Hist., p. 68.
2 Gouvea, "Jornada," p. 36. Du Jarric Hist., p. 592. Raulin, " Hist.
Ecc. Mai.," p. 527. deckles, " Hist. Ch. Mai.," p. 72.
204 The Archbishop of Goa.
for use when wanted, and he promised to obtain the
title in return for service rendered. Next day Menezes
went to church, where he took the first opportunity
of breaking the agreement, for he not only said Mass,
but confirmed the whole congregation. 1 At Molandurte
the Syrian Christians received him so kindly that he
again broke the convention of Cheguree by confirming
and performing other episcopal acts. This naturally
irritated the Archdeacon, who, justly considering the
compact broken, sent circulars to all the churches to
hold no communion with the Primate. He wrote also
to the Rajahs, warning them of the design of Menezes
to take away their subjects, and make them Portu-
guese vassals. The King of Cochin took the alarm,
punished the Christians of Molandurte for their
hospitality to Menezes, and ordered them to go to
their Archdeacon at Augamale. We next find the
crusading Archbishop at Diamper, 2 where, learning
that there had been no ordination in the diocese for
1 This wholesale style of confirmation implies a mere opus operatum ;
for, of course, there could not possibly be the slightest opportunity of
ascertaining the fitness of the recipients Yet there can be no doubt of
the fact, for Gouvea repeatedly uses such expressions as this, " Chrismon
toe/o o povo sem contradiccao alqua," p. 29. And the Jesuit compiler
Du Jarric says, " Apres le serment, il leur commandait de retourner le
lendemain a 1'eglise pour recevoir le S. Sacrajnent de la confirmation.
Ce qu 'ils firent, sans contredit, tellement qu'il donna a tons le tel
Sacrament." Hist., p. 579.
2 Geddes is evidently at fault in his geography when, at p. 78, he
says the Archbishop " set sail for Diamper" inasmuch as this famous
little town is fourteen miles inland.
The Archbishop of Goa. 205
more than two years, he announced his intention of
ordaining on the Saturday before the fifth Sunday in
Lent. 1 The Archdeacon was naturally astounded at
this intelligence, and wrote to the Primate in the
strongest terms protesting against this flagrant viola-
tion of their compact, and declaring that if he
persevered in his intention, there was not the slightest
use in convening the Synod. The artful Portuguese,
suspecting the Archdeacon to be as great a hypocrite
as himself, replied that nothing should prevent him
from ordaining at the time named, nay more, that he
would perform all the other functions of a Bishop in
obedience to the Papal briefs. The Archdeacon
rejoined entreating him to limit the ordination to the
Latins. 2 The Archbishop's answer was short, sharp >
and decisive : " I will ordain both Latins and Syrians,
for it is my duty to abolish such distinctions, and
make one fold under one shepherd, the Pope." The
Archdeacon, in desperation, wrote again to the Rajahs
of Cochin, and other states, conjuring them to prevent
this monstrous aggression on civil as well as
ecclesiastical liberty. The Prince of Cochin, in whose
dominions Diamper is,especially requested the Primate
to refrain, but Menezes haughtily replied, " That though
1 Hough calls this Palm Sunday History, Vol. I., p. 385.
2 i.e., the students of the Jesuits' College whether Portuguese or
natives ; "for so they called not only the Portuguezes but all the
Malabars who were bred under the Jesuites." Geddes, ' Hist. Ch.
Mai.," p. 78.
206 The Archbishop of Goa.
he should obey them as sovereigns, he would brook
no interference from infidels in matters of faith." The
Archdeacon also published an edict prohibiting can-
didates from receiving Roman Orders, and forbidding
the parish priests to hold communion with the
Primate. He sent a special olla 1 to the Cattanars of
Diamper, ordering them to prevent the threatened
ordination. A popular tumult was the immediate
result The Chief Priest went to the Archbishop,
and commanded him instantly to leave the town. The
Primate, unshaken in his resolution, smiled at the
demonstration, and continued his work as if nothing
had been said. The Rajah of Cochin sent a peremptory
order to the Governor of Diamper, to interrupt the
service if attempted ; and the Nairs 2 marched up to
the church, and dashed their shields against the doors
as a declaration of war. These threats alarmed the
Portuguese, who implored their leader to save his life
by flight. As usual, he was firm, and next morning
he determined to proceed with the ordination in spite
of the Rajah's prohibition. At daybreak he found
that an order had been issued that no one was to leave
his house, enter the church, or have any communica-
tion with the Portuguese. A singular Malabar custom
accompanied this edict, for branches of trees were
1 i.e., leaf. The natives of Malabar and other parts of India write
upon palm leaves with an iron pen.
2 The soldier caste or fighting men. Gouvea, "Jornada," Chap.
XII., p. 39-
The Archbishop of Goa. 207
placed across the threshold of the doors, and a barrier
of bushes formed all around the church. 1 These
measures were just a day too late. Menezes, ever on
the alert, suspected the trick, or perhaps had received
private information, for he had collected all the
candidates in the church the night before, and next
morning ordained thirty-seven or thirty-eight of them
after subscription to the creed of Pius IV., and an
oath of obedience to the Pope. 2 This masterpiece of
policy accomplished, he left Diamper, visited several
churches in the small kingdom of Pimenta ; at
Mangalan was in danger, it is said, from the matchlocks
of the Nairs, and reached Carturte, on April ist, the
Friday before Palm Sunday. On Saturday he said
Mass and preached. In the afternoon he sent for
choristers from Cochin, and on Palm Sunday had High
Mass performed with all the magnificence of a
Cathedral service. But the impression produced was
not admiration but aversion, and the popular resent-
ment was increased by the ejection of the regular
Syrian service to make way for the Roman, by his
stopping the customary offerings, and by his attempt
to introduce auricular confession. A popular tumult
was the result. The Portuguese were insulted in the
1 La Croze, p. 131. Du Jarric, p. 598. Raulin, " Hist. Ecc, Mai,"
p. 29.
2 Gouvea, "Jornada," p. 40. Du Jarric, Hist., p. 598. La Croze,
p. 133. Raulin, " Hist. Ecc. Mai.," p. 29. Hough's " Hist, of
Christ.," Vol. I.,p, 391. Gechles, " Hist. Mai." p. 79.
208 The Archbishop of Goa.
streets, and the Archbishop was obliged to shut him-
self up till the storm passed over. One body of the
patriots marched off to the Archdeacon at Augamale,
another werij: to the Queen's Palace, six miles off, to
rouse their Sovereign's indignation against the invaders.
The Rannee immediately sent an officer to order the
Archbishop out of the kingdom in three days on pain
of death. As she could command 30,000 men, the
Prelate thought it expedient to send away part of his
train, and by dint of representing himself as one of the
Syrian Prelates who had, for 1,500 years, enjoyed the
protection of her ancestors, he felt certain that she
would not carry her threat into execution. He did
not, however, place all his trust in this masterpiece of
dissimulation, but bribed the Governor of Carturte
with a bag of gold to keep a watch round his house.
On Wednesday, in the presence of the Cattanars, he
surprised them by consecrating the holy oils, and still
more by enclosing the Host in a pyx. Robed in his
pontificals, crowned with his mitre, he knelt on the
ground, washed the feet of the Cattanars, wiped them
with a towel, and then kissed them. This act of
humiliation affected the beholders to tears, excited the
warmest devotion, and won more adherents than all
that the pomp and music had secured. The adora-
tion of the Cross followed on Good Friday, and several
of the Cattanars, deeply impressed, threw themselves
at- his feet, and volunteered to swear allegiance to the
The Archbishop of Goa. 209
Roman Church. On Easter Eve, the Primate held a
second ordination, and the same day, Francisco
Rodriguez (contracted Ros), afterwards Bishop of the
Scrra, came to pay his respects and preached in the
Malabar language. The services of Easter Day were
celebrated with the greatest pomp processions,
torches, dances, and every sort of display, sacred and
profane, of which a long account is to be found in
the Chapter XV. of Gouvea's "Jornada." On the
evening of the day, the indefatigable Archbishop
walked through the straggling streets of Carturte,
visiting the sick, and relieving the poor. This com-
pleted the victory, and the author of the " Jornada "
might well say, "Este foy o principio do bem de toda
esta Christandade, porque foy o primeyro povo que se
sogcyton ao Arcebispo e a Santa Igreja Romana." l
We may dismiss the rest of the Archbishop's visita-
tion in a few sentences. He re-visited Malandurte
and was so coldly received that the church doors
were shut against him. 2 After complaining of the
conduct of the people, and of that of the Rajah of
Cochin, he succeeded in securing the allegiance of the
inhabitants. The Archdeacon still held out, and
more correspondence took place with much the same
result. 3 Me'nezes then went a second time to
1 Gouvea, p. 46.
2 Gouvea. Du Jarric, p. 610. La Croze, p. 149.
3 Gouvea. La Croze, p. 152.
2io The Archbishop of Goa.
Diamper, and had a violent altercation . with the
Premier of Cochin, under the porch of the 'little
church now so famous. His next determination was
to excommunicate the Archdeacon, whose irresolution
but little fitted him to be the champion of his falling
Church against so powerful an opponent. At last the
Portuguese Prelate received a submissive letter from
the poor Archdeacon, and sent him in reply ten
articles for his subscription. The reader will find
this document fully quoted, but the substance was, of
course, implicit obedience to the Pope and admission
of his infallibility. Twenty days were granted for
consideration of these articles, which the Archbishop
employed in negotiations with the Rajah for troops
to assist him in crushing the Syrians if necessity
should arise.
The result of all this discussion was that the Arch-
deacon went to the Archbishop's house at Vaipacotta,
knelt down before a crucifix, and swore on the missal
to the ten articles and the Profession of Faith. It was
then resolved to hold the Synod at Diamper on the
2Oth June, 1599, the third Sunday after Pentecost.
The Archbishop then retired to Cranganor, where,
assisted by Francisco Roz, he composed the cele-
brated decrees for the Synod. He next secured the
co-operation of all the neighbouring Rajahs, and in
order to make quite certain of a majority, he ordained
fifty more priests on Trinity Sunday.
The Archbishop of Goa. 211
We have done our best to condense many a long
chapter in Gouvea, the only original authority, so as
to give the reader a connected view of this remarkable
visitation, that he may be incited to imbibe more
either at the fountain head, or in the various trans-
lations, compilations, and paraphrases derived from
that source.
P 2
CHAPTER VI.
THE SYNOD OF DIAMPER.
" Alexius Menezius Goae Archiepiscopus Malabarium visitavit ;
Synodum Diamperensem habiut liturgium aliosque Chaldeorum libros
ab erroribus purgavit ; Georgium Archidiaconum, aliosque sive Presby-
teros, sive nobiles viros Chaldaeos Nestorianire hceresi abremuntiare
coegit ; ac proecipue Babylonice Patriarcham anathematizare ; Romanum
autem pontificem, Christi Vicarium et Ecclesice caput agnoscere ; eique
obedientiam promittere." ASSEMANUS.
ON the banks of a small stream issuing from the
lofty Ghauts which divide the Carnatic from Malayala,
stands the little but now celebrated town, or rather
village, of Diamper. 1 The surrounding country is ex-
tremely beautiful, exhibiting varied scenery of hill
and dale, and winding rivers. The valleys are clothed
1 Diamper is called Udiamper by the natives. It is omitted in Mr.
Culloch's " Geographical Dictionary," 1866, but is noticed briefly in
Wright's "Gazetteer " " We pass the Church of Udiamper," our Syrian
friend Marcus observed, "that a divine judgment seemed ever
since to rest upon the place, for they had now no worship at all ; the
inhabitants professed Romanism, but the church is in ruins, and they
have no priest." " The justice of Marcus's observation is not to be de-
fended, but it is curious as showing the light in which the Syrians still
regard the transactions of those days." Major Mackworth's visit to
the Syrian Christians in 1821.
The Synod of Diamper. 213
with perpetual verdure, and the mountains are not
barren, but covered with forests of pine timber trees,
the teak, jack tree, and others. 1 These woods are
filled with the most beautiful creepers, such as the pep-
per vine, which adds so largely to the commerce of the
country. Cardamums and cassia, frankincense and
aromatic gums, grow abundantly on all sides, while
the graceful coca-nut palms, the areca palm, the sago
palm, add beauty to the picture, and form the pride of
these tropical groves. The view is bounded on the
east by pinnacles of granite, six thousand feet high,
running northward to the Neilgherries, and southward
to Cape Comorin. Diamper lies about fourteen miles
east from Cochin on the road to Madura. It was
formerly of much greater importance than it is at
present, having been the metropolis of the Syrian
Christians, the residence of Beliarte, the last of their
kings, and containing also the palace of the Bishops
of the Serra. 2 A town of this description in the
South of India has little to distinguish it from others
in the same region. The central feature is the bazar,
or market place, surrounded by narrow bye-lanes,
little alleys enclosed with mud walls, and often more
like water-courses than roads.
1 Buchanan's " Christian Researches," p. 88. Howard's " Christians
of St. Thomas," p. 4.
2 "Diamper outrosi lugardos mais principaes dos Christaos de Sam
Thome e que antigamente ania sido residencia de algos Bispos da
Serra." Gouvea, "Jornada," p. 38.
2 1 4 The Synod of Diamper.
The Church of All Saints, to which we wish to con-
duct the reader, stands within a large enclosure of
" compound " surrounded by a high, dingy, mud wall.
The sacred edifice is large, substantial, and built of a
reddish stone, squared and polished at the quarry, the
front wall being six feet thick. 1 There is but little to
attract the admirer of church architecture, but the
general effect is good. The roof is high-pitched, the
windows arched, and buttresses support the walls, the
west front has three storeys, an arched door-way in
the centre, three recesses, like built-up windows in the
tier above, and the gables are generally surmounted
by beautiful stone crosses. We may now look at the
interior. We find a nave and chancel without tran-
septs, the eastern portion being separated by
railings about ten feet from the chancel arch.
Within the rail the floor is raised, and near the wall
on the south side stands the baptistery. The beams
of the roof are highly ornamented, and the ceiling of
the choir is circular and fretted. A splendid brass
lamp hangs over the chancel steps ; and as this was
the Cathedral of the diocese, the shrines of the de-
parted bishops are on each side of the altars. The
nave, which has an earthen floor, is without seats or
furniture of any kind, and therefore the whole beauty
1 This description is founded on personal observation. See Bucha-
nan's "Researches." Howard's "Syrians of St. Thomas," and
Day's " Land of the Permauls."
The Synod of Diamper. 215
of the church centres in the chancel, containing one
principal altar and two minor ones. 1 The great
altar is ornamented by an exquisitely carved frame-
work, picked out in colours and gold, and surmounted
by a cross. The church has two bells, hung within
the building. These are cast in the foundries of the
country, are of a great size, and lettered in Syriac and
Malayalim. " In approaching a town in the evening, I
once heard the sound of the bells among the hills ; a
circumstance which made me forget for a moment
that I was in Hindostan, and reminded me of another
country." l Such was the scene of this Synod, so fatal
to the Church of St. Thomas, so influential for good
and evil on succeeding missionary enterprises in
Southern India.
On the Qth of June, eleven days before the time
named for the meeting, the Archbishop of Goa,
attended by six Jesuits, and several of the Syrian
clergy, entered Diamper. His first act was to hold a
Junto of the most enlightened and popular Cattanars,
to revise, and, if necessary, amend the decrees which
he was about to lay before the Assembly. A few
suggestions were timidly hinted, and a very few
trifling alterations made, but the Primate's resolutions
1 " I am not at all clear as to the use of these quasi altars. Two
of them may possibly be protheses or credence tables." Benaudot,
Lilor, 11.54. " Madras Ch. Miss. Rec.," Vol. III., p. 35. Howard's
" Christians of St. Thomas."
* Buchanan's " Researches," p. 85.
2 1 6 The Synod of D tamper.
were all carefully made, his consultation with the
Cattanars was little else than a complimentary form,
and yet the decrees were brought before the Senate
as the result of a meeting at which the representatives
of the Syrian Church were invited to full and free
deliberation.
The morning of the 2Oth of June 1 dawned upon a
crowded and excited town. The Governor of Cochin,
with a large staff of officers, in the rich costume of the
XVI th Century, silk, velvet, and lace, blending in
dazzling colours with polished mail and plumed
helmets, had arrived the evening before. The Dean,
Chapter, and Choir of the Portuguese Church at
Cochin came in the cool of the morning, some on foot,
and some in the well-known palanquin of the country.
All the civil authorities, the Camera, or Town Council,
felt it their duty to attend, and even merchants,
captains of ships in the ports, all, in fact, within
travelling distance, forsook their ordinary avocations
in order to be present on the opening day. 2 On the
part of the Syrian Christians, too, there was at least a
1 There is much contradiction as to this date. Gduvea says in one
place (Fol. 56) " 20 cle Julho o Domnigo 3 depois de Pontecoste,''
and in another (Fol. 64) " O Domingo terceiro depois de Pentecoste
20 de Junho." La Croze has " 20 de Juin, 1599," p. 184 ; and Geddes,
with characteristic inaccuracy, has not only the 2Oth of June at p. 108
of the History, contradicting 2Oth of July in the Preface to the Diocesan
Synod, but positively, by one of the numerous blunders of the Press,
gives 1199 for 1599-
2 Gouvea, "Jornada," Chap. XX.
The Synod of Diamper. 2 1 7
corresponding interest. The Archdeacon, as the chief
dignitary of his Church, came, robed in a splendid
vestment of dark red silk, a large golden cross hanging
from his neck, and his beard reaching below his girdle.
He was attended by a hundred and fifty-three of
his Cattanars, clad in their long white vestments, like
cassocks with turn-down collars, the ordinary dress
the officiating vestments being of silk damask,
yellow pattern on a scarlet ground. They all
wore that peculiar head-dress of red silk, which
they retain even during service, and which bears
a slight resemblance to the biretta. Six hundred
delegates from the various Malabar Churches, be-
sides numerous Shumshanas or Deacons, swelled the
body of Syrian representatives to nearly a thousand"
men.
On that memorable third Sunday after Whitsuntide
in the Church of All Saints, in the Bishopric of
Augamale of the Christians of St. Thomas, in the
Serra of Malabar, the See being vacant by the death
of the Archbishop Mar- Abraham, there assembled in
a Diocesan Synod, according to the Holy Canons, the
most illustrious and Most Reverend Lord Dom Frey
Aleixo de Menezes, Archbishop Metropolitan of Goa,
Primate of the Indies and the Oriental parts, together
with all the priests and curates of the said bishopric,
and the procurators of all the towns and corporations
in the same, with great numbers of other persons
218 The Synod oj Diampcr.
belonging to the said Church, and called to the said
Synod by the Most Reverend Metropolitan. 1
The little Cathedral was crowded to excess, the
Archbishop, the Archdeacon and dignitaries of both
Churches occupying the sacrarium, the choir and
other officials filling the chancel, the ordinary priests,
deacons, and laity standing in the nave. The Primate
commenced the proceedings with a brief address, in
which he urged the duty of thanking God for the
extinction of all the commotions by which the evil one
had done his best to prevent the assembling of this
Synod. He then went on to say that as they were all
filled with joy at this splendid and crowded meeting,
assembled for the promotion of the glory of God, the
purity of the faith, and the good of their own souls,
it was incumbent upon them to begin the important
business of the day, by the highest act of Christian
worship, the celebration of a solemn Mass. Using
the form for the removal of schism 2 as given in the
Roman missal, he acted as celebrant, without in the
slightest degree recognising the claims of the Syrian
1 Geddes's "Translation of Gouvea." The learned reader who
desires more information than our condensed account imparts, is
recommended to consult Gouvea's "Jornada" in Portuguese (the true
source of all the compilations and paraphrases ; Raulin's " Historia Ecc.
Mai." in Latin ; Du Jarric (Vol. III., p. 622) in French ; La Croze,
Historic (Liv. III., p. 185) in French, Asia, Portuguesa, Tom. III.,
part II. cap. III., p. 126, in good Spanish, badly translated by Stevens
in " The Portuguese Asia," 1695.
2 Ad tollendum Schisma.
The Synod of Diampcr. 2 1 9
Archdeacon to participate. He then delivered an
energetic discourse on the usual subject the obedience
of Christians throughout the world to the Roman
Pontiff. Re-assuming his robes, he read the office for
the opening of a Synod, 1 as in the Roman Pontifical,
and then, seating himself in his throne, 2 surrounded
by all the authorities, ecclesiastic, military, and civil,
he declared, in a loud voice, that he celebrated this
Holy Synod in virtue of two briefs of 1595 and 1597,
from the Holy Father, Pope Clement VIII., in which
his Holiness, as Christ's Vicar upon earth, had recom-
mended him, on the death of Archbishop Abraham,
to take possession of this Church and Bishopric, so as
not to suffer any Bishop or Prelate to come into it
from Babylon until this diocese shall be provided by
the Holy Roman Church with a proper Pastor ; that,
moreover, the same belonged now to him as the
Metropolitan thereof, and Primate of all India,
because the See was vacant, and was without any
Dean and Chapter to govern it during the inter-
regnum. All this was in Portuguese, a tongue not
understanded of the people, and it was therefore
immediately translated into Malabar. This done, the
Primate informed the Synod that the next business
was the appointment of an interpreter enjoying the
confidence of both parties. Whereupon one Jacob,
1 Ad inchoandam Synodum.
* Faldistorium.
22O The Synod of Diamper.
Vicar of the little Church at Pallurte, famed for his
knowledge of Portuguese and Malabar, was unani-
mously elected, and sworn upon the Holy Gospels
faithfully to discharge the duties of interpreter to the
Holy Synod. For greater security, two assistants
were appointed, Francisco Roz and Antonio Toscano,
Portuguese Jesuits of the College of Vaipacotta,
whose long residence and daily intercourse with the
students had made them proficient in the native
language. Besides these there were many others
present, both Portuguese and Indians, who were
thoroughly competent to check any attempt at mis-
interpretation.
These preliminaries being settled, and all placed
according to their order, the Archbishop, having
solemnly pronounced " In the name of the Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, three persons, and one only true
God, Amen," delivered the following address : " My
beloved brethren, you, the venerable Priests, and my
most dear sons in Christ, you, the representatives and
Procurators of the people. Does it please you, that
for the praise and glory of the Holy and undivided
Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and for the
increase and exaltation of the Catholic faith, and the
Christian religion of the inhabitants of this Bishop-
rick, and for the destruction o"f the heresies and errors
which have been sown therein by several hereticks
and schismaticks, and for the purging of books from
The Synod of Diamper. 221
the false doctrines contained in them, and for the
perfect union of this church with the whole church
Catholic and Universal, and for the yielding of
obedience to the supreme Bishop of Rome, the Uni-
versal Pastor of the church, and successor in the chair
of St. Peter, and Vicar of Christ upon earth, from
whom you have for some time departed, and for the
extirpation of simony, which has been much prac-
tised in this Bishoprick, and for the regulating of the
administration of the Holy Sacraments of the church,
and the necessary use of them, and for the reforma-
tion of the affairs of the church and the clergy, and
the customs of all the Christian people of this diocese ;
we should begin a Diocesan Synod of this Bishoprick
of the Serra."
Pausing here, and looking round upon the assem-
bly, he asked in Portuguese, " Does it please you ? "
which, being interpreted by Father Jacob, the ad-
herents of the Archbishop shouted with one accord, "It
pleaseth us." If there was any dissentient voice, it was
drowned in the universal acclaim. Then the most
Reverend Metropolitan addressed them thus: "Vener-
able brethren, and most beloved sons in Christ,
since you are pleased to begin a Synod, after having
offered prayers to God, from whom all good proceedeth,
it will be convenient that the matters to be treated
of appertaining to our holy faith, the church, the
divine offices, the administration of the Holy Sacra-
222 The Synod of Diamper.
ments, and the customs of the whole people, be
entertained by you with benignity and charity, and
afterwards, by God's assistance, complied with, with
much reverence ; and that everyone of you should
faithfully procure the reformation of such things in
this Synod as you know to be amiss, and if any that
are present should happen to be dissatisfied with any-
thing that shall be said or done therein, let them
without any scruple declare their opinion publickly,
that so, by God's grace, it may be examined, and all
things may be truly stated as is desired, but let not
strife or contention find any room among you to the
perverting of justice and reason ; neither be ye afraid
of searching after and embracing the truth."
The second decree in substance commanded all per-
sons, on pain of excommunication, not to depart from
the town of Diamper without express leave from the
Metropolitan till the Synod had ended, and the decrees
signed by their own hands. The third decree declared
that no prejudice should be done to any town, corpora-
tion, or village, as to pre-eminence from the holding of
this Synod in the town of Diamper ; and that, should
any doubt arise, the Metropolitan's decision was to be
final. The fourth decree admonished all Christians
to resort to confession, and to special prayer for the
success of the Synod, and that two Masses should be
said in the church daily, during the sitting of the
Synod, one of the Latins to the Holy Spirit, the other
The Synod of Diamper. 223
of the Syrians to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The
fifth decree was aimed at preventing unnecessary and
hurtful debates, and strictly forbade all people dis-
cussing in private any of the questions in the pro-
gramme of the Synod.
The reading of these decrees and their acceptance
by the Synod concluded the first day's work. No
public disturbance interrupted the harmony of the
proceedings ; but there was a strong feeling of
dissatisfaction amongst all the Cattanars, who still
retained attachment to the Church of their fathers.
They complained, and justly, that they were being
severed in the most unceremonious manner from com-
munion with their Patriarch, and forced into
obedience with a branch of the Church in which they
had no concern. Still, these feeble murmurings of
the struggling captives produced no result. There
was no Luther to lead them to battle. " Divide and
conquer " had been all along the watchword of
Menczes ; and if at any time the Syrians had been
able to organise effectual resistance, that time was
now past, and for ever. Thus closed the fatal Whit-
Sunday of 1 599.
The sun of the 2ist of June had not yet penetrated
the deep valleys of the Serra, when the streets of
Diamper were filled with the mingled costumes of
Roman and Syrian priests, Portuguese officers, and
Indian chiefs, hastening to the Cathedral of All
224 The Synod of D tamper.
Saints. At seven o'clock precisely the Archbishop,
with his usual retinue, entered the church in pro-
cession, and was received with all honours. After the
customary solemnities, the Antiphony, Psalm, Prayers,
and Hymn, as in the Pontifical, he assumed, as of
right, the chair or throne near the altar, and thus
addressed the assembly :
" Venerable and beloved brethren, the Priests, and
you, my dearest sons in Christ, the Procurators and
representatives of the people, We having done little
more yesterday than celebrate the Divine Offices, and
preach to the people, it is fit we should begin to-day
to treat of matters appertaining to the Synod ; in the
first place of those that belong to the integrity and
truth of our Holy Catholic Faith, and the profession
of the same ; which, before we go about, I do again
admonish you in our Lord Jesus Christ, that all such
things as you do judge to stand in need of reforma-
tion in this Bishopric or any part thereof, may be
signified to us or to the congregation, that so with the
Divine favour and assistance all things by your dili-
gence and charity may be brought into so good estate
as is desired for the praise of the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ." Then robing himself in his pontificals,
but laying aside his mitre, kneeling before the Altar,
and placing his hands upon a cross on the Gospels,
he recited, in his own name, and in tlie name of the
Synod, the following Profession of Faith: "In the
The Synod of Diamper. 225
name of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity, the
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, one only true God, in
the year of our Lord 1 599, in the seventh year of the
Pontificate of our most Holy Lord, Clement VIII.,
Bishop of Rome, in the town of Diamper, in the king-
dom of Malabar in the East Indies, in the Church of
All Saints, on the 2ist of June, in a Diocesan Synod
of the Bishopric of Serra, assembled by the most
Illustrious and Reverend Lord Dom Alexio de
Menezes, Archbishop Metropolitan of Goa and the
Oriental parts, and the See being vacant of the said
Bishopric, I (N.) do of my own free will, without any
manner of force and constraint, for the salvation of
my soul, believing it in my heart, protest that with a
firm faith, I do believe and confess all and every one
of the Articles contained in the Symbol of Faith
which is used in Holy Mother Roman Church."
The Archbishop then recited the Nicene Creed. 1
Next followed a series of declarations, beginning with
" I do firmly receive and embrace, I do confess," and
such formulae, admitting all the traditions, observ-
ances and constitutions of the Roman Catholic
Church ; the seven Sacraments with their accompany-
ing customs, rites and ceremonies, the Mass, " as a
true and proper sacrifice for the quick and dead," the
1 In this we follow Gouvea and all that have written on the subject
We are at a loss to know from what source Hough derives his informa-
tion when he says in his account of this transaction, " He began by re-
peating in substance the Apostles' Creed," Vol. II., p. 26.
Q
226 The Synod of Diamper.
doctrine of transubstantiation, purgatory, the worship
of Saints, relics, and images, the doctrine of indul-
gences, the Papal Supremacy, and above all the
worship of the Virgin Mary. He concluded by
anathematising all who taught anything contrary to
the Council of Trent, including, of course, all heretics,
especially mentioning Nestorians and the Patriarch
of Babylon. These last words of the Prelate were
drowned in murmurs of disapprobation. The dissen-
tients loudly declared that a new Confession of Faith
was altogether unnecessary, as, of course, it implied that
they had never till now been the disciples of Christ.
The shrewd Menezes, never off his guard, promptly
replied that all good Christians should be ready at
any time to make a Profession of their Faith ; and
that as he, an Archbishop, had done it, they surely
had no reason to complain of the hardship. The
tumult being thus dexterously quelled, the Arch-
bishop resumed his seat, put on his Mitre, and took
the Gospels in his hands. The interpreter Jacob then
mounted the pulpit, 1 and read very slowly, in a
clear voice, the Profession of Faith which we have
just quoted, while the Archdeacon knelt before the
Primate's throne and repeated the whole aloud in his
own name, and as representative of the Syrian Church,
all the assembly joining. And as if this had not been
sufficient, the Priests were required, one by one, to
1 The Preacher's Chair, Hough. Vol. II., p. 30.
The Synod of Diamper. 227
pass in front of the Primate, kneel down, and swear
on Gospels and Crucifix, that they would conform to
their lives' end to all that they had promised. The
Synod further passed a decree that the same con-
fession should be made by those who were absent, and
that none should be admitted to Holy Orders who de-
clined to take these oaths.
These proceedings terminated the second day's
work, which has been justly called the life and soul of
what followed. 1 For it was really the crowning
triumph of the Archbishop's persevering energy in the
subjugation of the Syrian Church.
A curious transposition occurred in the order of
procedure. The work assigned for the third day's
meeting was postponed at the request of the Cattanars
and Syrian deputies, who, aware of the disagreeable
subjects to be discussed, wished to take advantage of
the absence of the Portuguese visitors from the
Synod. 2
The third day's meeting began as usual at seven
o'clock, with the same religious solemnities, after
which the Synod proceeded, amid some disturbance,
easily suppressed, to set forth the doctrines of the
Church of Rome as to the seven Sacraments. Twenty
decrees passed the house on the subject of baptism ;
1 La Croze, " Hist, du Christianisme," p. 193.
2 They were about to attend the Festival of St. John the Baptist at
a village a few miles off.
Q 2
228 The Synod of Diamper.
the Syrian forms were, of course, abolished, and the
Roman introduced ; all baptised by Syrians to be re-
baptised by Romans ; holy oils to be used, and many
other orders to the same effect. Three decrees settled
the doctrine and ceremonies of confirmation.
The fourth session treated of the Eucharist and the
Mass, and the Synod passed nine decrees with regard
to the first, and fifteen with regard to the second, all
tending to the extirpation of Syrian peculiarities, and
to the introduction of the Roman doctrine and ritual,
without the slighest concession.
The fifth session treated of penance and extreme
unction, and at the sixth session the work assigned
for the third meeting (but which had been postponed)
was completed. It was a day of utter extinction of the
Syrian Church. The errors in the Syrian scriptures
were to be corrected ; heathen superstitions that had
mingled with the faith were to be expunged ; and
every trace of relation to the Patriarch of Babylon, or
to Syrian tenets was entirely condemned. Syriac
books were to be delivered up, emended, or destroyed ;
and all Syrian Christians were declared by the XXII.
decree to be subject to the Inquisition at Goa.
On the seventh day the Synod passed twenty-three
decrees on what is called the sacrament of orders, and
sixteen on the so-called sacrament of matrimony,
prescribing many excellent rules, blended with certain
superstitions.
The Synod of D tamper. 229
The work of the eighth session referred to a refor-
mation in church affairs, the division of the diocese
into parishes, the establishment of fasts and festivals,
conveyed in forty-one decrees.
The ninth, and last, session was devoted to the
reformation of manners, and enjoined many admirable
regulations against heathenism, fortune-telling, immor-
ality, false weights and measures, slavery, and, strange
to say, against the use and sale of spirituous liquors.
These decrees being read and passed, the diocese was
divided into seventy-five parishes. Vicars were nomi-
nated to each, and severally introduced to kiss the
Primate's hand. Then, kneeling in a body before His
Grace, they received, in presence of all the people, a
solemn charge as to their obligations. 1 The Arch-
bishop next commanded them to sign the Malabar
translation of the decrees ; after which, taking his seat
on the Faldestorium, Mitre on head, he attached his
own signature, which was immediately followed by
the subscriptions of the eight hundred and thirteen
members of the Synod. This important act finished,
he rose, took off his Mitre, knelt before the high Altar,
and began the Te Deum. A procession was then
formed which marched round the church, the choris-
ters chanting the Psalms, " The Latines in Latin, and
1 This document will be found in extenso in Gouvea's "Jornada."
La Croze, p. 278. Geddes's " Trans, of Gouvea," p. 415 ; and in
Hough's "Christ.," Vol. II., p. 120.
230 The Synod of Diamper.
the native priests in Chaldee, and the people their
festivity in Malabar." l Returning to the church, the
Primate stood at the high Altar, and said the prayer
" Exaudi qucesumus Domine " ; then re-seating him-
self, he delivered an able discourse to the people,
calling upon them to thank God for the great success
which had attended the Synod. Finally, rising from
his throne, he advanced with his pastoral staff in hand,
" and with abundance of tears," solemnly blessed the
people, Archdeacon George adding in a loud voice
" Let us depart in peace ! " to which the whole Synod
responded, " In the name of Christ, Amen ! "
Thus terminated the famous Synod of Diamper. 2
Its acts, or sessions, are nine in number, and comprise
no fewer than 267 decrees, most of them of consider-
able length, and, if fairly treated, demanding long and
careful discussion. Yet they were so hurried through
1 Geddes's Hist. p. 243
2 The opinion entertained by the present generation of the Christians
of St. Thomas as to the treatment of their Church by the Portuguese, may
be seen in the Rev. G. B. Howard's Translation of the little pamphlet
by Philipos. Parker, 1869. " When the Syrian Church was in this
state, the Portuguese not only persecuted and killed all the bishops as
they came from Antioch, but their Metran Dom Pre Aleskes de Mene-
sis, residing at Goa, came to the Malayalim country in 1598, and, having
visited all the Syrian churches, he bribed the petty princes then ruling
the country, and some Syrians, in order to gain them over to his interest.
And those Syrians who opposed his designs were persecuted and put to
death. So, by main force he assembled all the Syrians in the church at
Odyamperoor, and persuaded them to embrace Popery, besides burning
all the Syriac bibles and many other Syriac books. Then all the married
priests were separated from their wives."
The Synod of Diamper. 231
the House, that the business was closed on the sixth
day, the 26th of June. This indecent haste clearly
proves, if proof were necessary, that this so-called
Synod possessed nothing but the outward form of a
deliberative assembly, and that its real purpose was
to disguise the true nature of the proceeding, to pass
without amendment the decrees carefully prepared
by the skilful hand of Menezes, and to bind, as he
thought, for ever, the afflicted Syrian Church to the
throne of the triumphant Pontiff.
CHAPTER VII.
THE TRIUMPH OF ROME.
"Can any read the abstract here given of the proceedings of the
Synod, without being convinced that the creed it introduced was a
system of darkness? The primary object of these men was to assert
the dope's supremacy, and not to extend the kingdom of Jesus Christ."
HOUGH.
BEFORE continuing our narrative of the Primate's
visitation of his new conquest, we may present a very
brief view of the main points of doctrine in which the
Syrian Christians agreed with the Reformed Catholic
Church of England, and differed from that of Rome
before the passing of the decrees of Diamper. In our
succeeding chapters we shall have to notice the numer-
ous changes which took place in consequence of this Papal
aggression ; and we shall try to disentangle the
threads of conflicting creeds and rituals which dis-
tinguish the Churches of Southern India at this
moment.
The Church of Malabar held the following doctrines :
( i ) She condemned the Pope's supremacy ; (2) affirmed
that the Roman Church had departed from the
The Triumph of Rome. 233
faith ; (3) denied Transubstantiation ; (4) condemned
the worship of images ; (5) made no use of oils ;
(6) denied purgatory ; (7) would not admit of spiritual
affinity ; (8) knew nothing of auricular confession ;
(9) never heard of extreme unction ; (10) permitted
the clergy to marry ; (i i) denied that matrimony and
consecration were sacraments; (12) celebrated with
leavened bread, and consecrated with prayer. l
Gouvea's account in the XVIII. chapter of the first
book of the " Jornada " is, in substance, this : The
Church of Malabar is said (i) not to adore images ;
(2) to hold three Sacraments, Baptism, the Eucharist,
and Holy Orders ; (3) to make no use of oils ; 2 (4) to
have no knowledge of confirmation or extreme
unction ; (5) to abhor auricular confession; (6) to hold
many erroneous doctrines about the Eucharist, so that
the Protestants seem to have borrowed their heresies
from them ; (7) to approve of the marriage of priests ;
1 Geddes singularly adds as a point of agreement between the Church
of England and the Church of Malabar that "She holds but two
orders, Priesthood and Deaconate," whereas, "It is evident unto all
men diligently reading the Holy Scriptures and ancient authors that
from the Apostles' time there have been orders of ministers in Christ's
Church, Bishops, Priests, and Deacons." Preface to Ordination Service.
In point of fact, however, the Malabar Church held as we do three orders.
P. 14 of "The .Syrian Christians of Malabar." By Philipos of
Cottayam, in Travancore.
'* Gouvea is incorrect in this statement as the following will show :
QUES. 27 : Do they make holy oil, and anoint men with it ? ANS. : Three
ointments are ordained, two to anoint those who are baptised, and one
to anoint the sick.
234 The Triumph of Rome.
(8) to abhor the Pope and the Church of Rome as
anti-Christian.
Assuming that our readers are fairly acquainted
with dogmatic theology and ecclesiastical history, we
deem it quite unnecessary to enter into lengthened
explanations of the points in dispute, referring the
less instructed to the interesting summary in Hough's
" Christianity of India." l
We may now return to the Archbishop, whom we
left dismissing the clergy and others at the close of
the Synod. He presented each of the new vicars with
a stone Altar, (duly consecrated), a box containing
vessels of holy oils, a missal in Chaldee and Syriac,
a digest of Christian doctrine for the instruction of
children, a surplice, corporals, frontals, caps, and all
other ecclesiastical requisites.
These matters being settled, the Archbishop began
his visitation, and was everywhere received in the
most flattering style. An ode, composed by his
sycophants, was chanted in his presence whenever he
halted. Music and dancing, flags and cheers, wel-
comed his arrival. The villages vied with each other
in festive decorations, the streets being covered with
matting, bright coloured cloths hanging from the
windows, and triumphal arches spanning the road.
His mode of procedure was nearly everywhere the
same. Passing through the kneeling crowds of men
1 Vol. II., p. 13.
The Triumph of Rome. 235
and women, who reverentially kissed his hands, he
entered the village church, where, having confessed
himself, he said Mass. This ended, Father Francisco
Roz and a committee of learned Cattanars assembled
in the sacristy to receive the Syrian books belonging
to the church, or to private individuals. After a care-
ful scrutiny, some were emended and spared, others
that were reputed too hostile to Rome were mercilessly
burnt, and thus many invaluable Syrian manuscripts
were sacrificed by this Archiepiscopal Vandal. This
dark deed accomplished, the Primate assumed his
pontificals and preached a sermon of the usual
character, and on the usual topics, of course, through
the medium of an interpreter. The chief decrees of
the Synod were then read aloud, an episode of a
procession took place round the church, after which
refreshment, the indefatigable Primate gave them a
second sermon on the sacrament of confirmation, re-
ducing theory to practice by anointing all without
distinction. All this pompous display in a quiet little
Indian village naturally excited the curiosity of the
surrounding heathen, and " such vast multitudes
resorted to see the novelty and the pontifical vestments
that they filled the churchyard and windows." 1 Not yet
exhausted, the zealous Primate delivered a third
discourse, this time to the Nairs and other pagans,
1 Gouvea "Jornada," Geddes's " Acts and Decrees of the Synod of
Diamper," p. 429.
236 The Triumph of Rome.
who came in crowds to witness the ceremony of
baptism. He placed before them in energetic lan-
guage the leading doctrines of the Christian faith, and
denounced with unflinching severity the follies and
superstitions of idol-worship. The mountain warriors
though fully armed, endured all this denunciation with
exemplary patience, but whether their forbearance is
to be attributed to Indian apathy, or to their inability
to understand the language of the Primate must be
left to conjecture. One singular result of this
exhortation was, that several of the Nairs, if we may
believe Gouvea, desired baptism, and with no more
instruction than what they had thus received, were
admitted to the font. The next part of this busy day's
work was a public profession of faith by such of the
clergy as had not attended the Synod, followed by a
gathering of all the children. These little ones he
ordered to kneel down round his chair, and to repeat
the Chamaz, a Malabar prayer, then blessing them, he
delivered a fourth discourse specially to them, thus
giving great delight to their parents. He then
inducted the vicar in presence of the people solemnly
installing him as pastor of the flock. The remainder
of the afternoon was spent in marriages, confessions,
and other duties. Then followed a few hours' well-
earned repose, but the labours of the day did not end
till the Primate and his chaplains had examined the
Cattanars, requiring license for the Confessional. Now
77*6' Triumph of Rome. 237
if this account abridged from Gouvea is to be taken
as an average specimen of the Primate's work during
his visitation, one may cease to wonder at the success
which attended his efforts for the subjugation of the
Church of St. Thomas to the obedience of St. Peter.
We need not follow the Archbishop from town to
town, as his biographer does. There is but little
interest in the narrative, the original of which will be
found in Gouvea's work, and in the translations or
paraphrases of La Croze, Geddes, and Hough. We
learn that the Archbishop continued his progress,
visiting all the towns on the Malabar coast, and des-
troying every authentic document at Augamale and
other places. At Cape Comorin, he found, to his
great dismay, that all traces of the Christianity planted
by Xavier had disappeared. On his return he received
at Carturte news of the death of Philip II., which
rendered it necessary for him to go back to Goa with-
out delay. The Archdeacon and Cattanars escorted
him to his war galley, and farewells, apparently
sincere, were exchanged. He touched at the Portu-
guese "factories" of Mangalore, Barcelore, and Omore,
and suppressed a cruel festival, like that of Jugger-
naut. 1 He landed on the i6th November ; and as the
Viceroy had just died, he found himself, by. Portuguese
rule, head of both State and Church in India. Exten-
sive preparations were made to give him a hearty
1 Buchanan's " Christian Researches," p. 19.
238 The Triumph of Rome.
welcome as Viceroy and as a victorious crusader.
These intended honours he firmly declined, attributing
all the glory to Almighty God.
For some time after his return to Goa, he continued
to receive most satisfactory .accounts from the scene
of his ten months' labours. Small churches had been
discovered far up in the ravines of the Ghauts, which
had been so long lost sight of that the poor nominal
Christians had forgotten almost everything creeds,
sacraments, and prayers. These neglected ones had
been sought out by active missionaries, and had been
supplied with every essential according to the Roman
ritual. Another circumstance occurred at this time
which gave unspeakable satisfaction to the Archbishop,
as it realised one of the objects which he had most at
heart the consecration of a Bishop of the Latin church
as head of the church of Malabar. In 1601, Pope
Clement VIII. sent Bulls to constitute Francisco
Rodriguez (or Roz) first bishop of the Serra, and,
four years afterwards, Paul V. transferred the see of
Augamale to Cranganor, making the Prelate an
Archbishop, but retaining Goa as the Metropolitical
See.
We now lose sight of Menezes in his connection
with the church of India. We learn that he returned
to Europe, filled the exalted positions of Primate of
Braga and Viceroy of Portugal under Philip III. His
after fate is obscure. He is said to have died in dis-
The Triumph of Rome. 239
grace ; but what his faults were are concealed in the
darkness of Spanish diplomacy. An analysis of his
character is unnecessary ; for the intelligent reader
cannot fail to glean it even from our imperfect sketch
of his marvellous achievements.
BOOK IV.
SUBSEQUENT MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN
INDIA, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE
TO THE SYRIAN CHRISTIANS.
CHAPTER I.
RADIATION OF MISSIONS FROM GOA.
-" Goa vereis aos Mouros ser tornada
A qual vira despois a ser senhora
De todo o Oriente, e sublimada
Ce'os triumphos da gente vencedora ;
Alii suberba, altiva e exa^ada,
Ao geutio, que os idolos adora,
Duro freio pora, e a toda a terra,
Que cindar de fazer aos vossos guerra. "
CAMCENS.
A DIFFICULTY here presents itself. If we omit all
notice of missionary effort in Southern India during
the XVII th and XVIII th centuries, we effectually
break the chain of events, and render much of
the subsequent history unintelligible. If, on the other
hand, we enter into minute detail of all the contro-
versies, successes, and defeats, which characterise this
period, we should swell our treatise beyond all ordinary
bounds, depart from the prescribed limits of the sub-
ject, and exhaust the patience of all but the most
enthusiastic student. A middle course seems, there-
fore, the only one left to us. Proceeding, then, with
a still more rigorous plan of condensation, we shall
R 2
244 Radiation of Missions from Goa.
give only such salient points in the history of the
Malabar church and the influence of the Portuguese
missions as will serve to connect the causes in the
XVI th Century with the effects in the XIX th .
At the close of the fifty years in which the Portu-
guese missions had been operating, from Xavier to
Menezes, we find the condition of Roman Catholic
Christianity in Southern India thus stated by one of
the Jesuit writers : " Catholic and Christian India is
divided into four great Bishoprics Goa, Cranganor,
Cochin, and St. Thome. The Archbishop of Goa is
Primate of India. The primatial chapter is composed
of European canons and of Indians of various shades
of complexion, a combination which produces a
singular effect when they are seen in the choir, or
officiating together in religious ceremonies." The
Portuguese Government, which felt the necessity of
forming a body of native clergy, had recommended
the missionaries to give every encouragement to the
Indians to take Holy Orders, and to become members
of the religious communities. It was also the desire
of the Central Council of the Society of Jesus, as it has
been part of the policy of the propaganda, and every
subsequent missionary society. The project had been
tried again and again, but as often abandoned from
the fear that the Indian priests, retaining the national
character, and slaves to their customs, would not dedi-
cate themselves to that purity of life which true
Radiation of Missions from Goa. 245
religion demands. We shall see in the sequel, not
only amongst the Roman Catholics, but in our own
missionary colleges at home and in the colonies, that
this difficulty has been overcome.
Goa was not only the metropolis of Portuguese
India, the seat of its Government, and the centre of
its trade, but the source whence flowed the streams of
missionary influence over all the Peninsula of Hindo-
stan. The College of St. Paul, to which we have
already alluded possessed at this time a thorough
organisation, including professors of the native lan-
guages for training candidates, not simply for
ordinary parish work, but for the spread of Christianity.
Nor was this all. The power of the Jesuits at home
had increased to an amazing extent ; the little com-
pany of ten had, in fifty years, grown to ten thousand,
and their emissaries not only filled all the countries
of Europe, but penetrated into the most distant regions
of the globe. Portuguese Asia had its full share ; for
the brethren of the order felt that Xavier had been a
noble pioneer amongst the Mohammedans and idol-
aters, that Menezes had opened a splendid field for
tlieir efforts amongst the Syrian Christians, and that
the powerful and wealthy city of Goa was a fortress
from which their forces might issue to subdue the
surrounding nations, and to which they might retreat
in the event of disaster.
At the time of which we write there was but one
246 Radiation of Missions from Goa.
Goa, 1 situated on an island 2 and separated from the
mainland by marshy grounds frequently covered by
the sea. The city is first mentioned in the ancient
history of the Deccan, in speaking of the reign of
Mujahid Schah in 1347. According to the tradition
communicated to the first Portuguese settlers, Brah-
minism was the only religion professed in Tissuary,
the original name of this island. In 1479, the
Mohammedans erected the first buildings about the
centre of the island, and, at the time of Vasco da
Gama's arrival, a Mussulman vassal of the Emperor
of the Deccan resided here. Albuquerque took pos-
session of the city in 1510; and soon afterwards the
island was covered with magnificent public edifices,
splendid churches, palatial residences of the Vice-
Regal Court, while towards the sea, there were exten-
sive docks, enormous warehouses, and rich arsenals
of naval and military stores. In 1567 Antonio De
Moronha surrounded it with a vast wall so that in
1571, two years after the poet Camoens had left it,
Goa had reached the highest degree of its splendour.
The city of this period had completely replaced a
1 " There are now two, the old and the new, the former being about
eight miles up the river, abandoned to the priests by the viceroy and
chief inhabitants, who reside at New Goa." Buchanan's "Researches,"
p. 129.
2 " Situated 15 27' N. and 73 53' E. two leagues in length and
above six leagues in circuit, connected with the mainland by the
Isthmus of Ballagate. The island is well watered, and filled with
numerous gardens and orchards." Barreti De Resende.
Radiation of Missions from Goa. 247
town already important by the magnificence of its
edifices. In the time of John III. about 1530, the
beautiful Indian Pagodas and the elegant Moslem
minarets had entirely disappeared. All the splendour
of the the capital of India was due to the souvenirs
of Italy. It wore the aspect of a glorious city of the
renaissance, transplanted to the shores of Hindostan.
We borrow a condensed account from the Prior of
one of the monasteries of this opulent city, a writer
whose work is almost forgotten. After a minute
description of the town, he speaks of the Governor's
palace as " tres vaste et tres haut," elevated above the
river, and having before it an extensive square sur-
rounded by beautiful private residences. The Vice-
regal mansion contains a splendid hall and suites of
magnificent apartments, decorated with portraits of
the discoverers of India and the successive Viceroys,
with pictures representing the early scenes of the
conquest. Not far from the palace is the Cathedral
Church of the Archbishopric, dedicated to St.
Catherine, because the town was taken on the day
of her festival. It is a large and beautiful edifice
with an altar piece of the Saint's martyrdom and
with an interior combining all that is gorgeous in
European art and Oriental splendour. The other
Churches of Goa are also richly decorated, and on
feast days they arc resplendent with gold and silver,
with taffetas of divers colours, and with the richest
248 Radiation of Missions from Goa.
carpets of India. But the Church of Jesus surpasses
all others. The chapel, in which reposes the body of
St. Francis Xavier, is a remarkable specimen of
architecture ; the door is made of valuable wood, and
covered with plates of gold. In the middle of the
chapel rises a pyramid of different marbles elaborately
ornamented, and sculptured with the principal actions
of the great Apostle, whose body, with the exception
of the right arm (sent to Rome) is enclosed in a shrine
so magnificient, that diamonds and rubies sparkle
without number in pure gold, most exquisitely chased.
The statue of St. Francis, in massive silver, ornaments
the high altar of the Church, and, what is still more
precious, a picture represents the Saint a few hours
after death. The upper town is formed of the Con-
vents of the Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustines, and
Jesuits, of the Archbishop's palace, the Viceroy's, and
the mansions of the officials and merchant princes.
We have no space to speak of the great street of
shops full of gold, silver, and precious stones, nor to
do more than allude to the immense building yards
from which issued the vast teak-built galleons, which
bore the riches of India to the quays of Lisbon the
enormous magazines destined to provision the Portu-
guese Navy, the cannon foundry, which furnished an
incessant supply of guns for field, fortress, and fleet,
and the extensive stables in which were kept, not
merely the cavalry horses, but the war-elephants, so
Radiation of Missions from Goa. 249
essential a part of Oriental pageantry. Well might
such a city be called " Goa the Golden, " and well
might the Jesuits value it as the grand centre of all
their missionary movements in the east.
Our picture of Goa, at the close of the XVI th cen-
tury, would not be complete if we omitted all mention
of the Inquisition. This terrible institution founded
by the Friar Dominic in the XII th Century was intro-
duced by John III. in 1557 into the kingdom of Por-
tugal, and three years afterwards it was established with
a complete staff of officers and the amplest powers of
jurisdiction in the capital of Portuguese India. There
can be no doubt that this horrid tribunal formed a most
powerful instrument in the hands of the Portuguese
missionaries, which they knew well how to use, not
simply in its terrible reality of imprisonment, torture,
and public execution by fire, but also in the terror
which it inspired amongst men of all ranks, ages,
and creeds. To its influence, therefore, may be fai. ly
attributed no small portion of 'the rapid success attending
on the Crusade of Menezes amongst the churches of the
Serra ; for the Syrian Christians well knew, that, had
they offered any decided resistance, the arm of the
Inquisition was long enough to reach them even in
the fastnesses of their mountain homes. 1
1 Limborch's " History of the Inquisition." " Dellons Relation de
L'Inquisition de Goa.'' Geddes's "View of the Inquisition in Portugal.''
Buchanan's " Christian Researches." Ed. 1811, p. 129.
250 Radiation of Missions from Goa.
The statistics of the Roman Catholic Church in
Portuguese India about this period may be summed
up in a few words ; our authorities, however, being
the Jesuits themselves. The Archbishopric is said to
have had 400,000 souls under its jurisdiction, but
what was the precise religious condition of this
population is not stated. The Archbishopric of Cran-
ganor (that is the Bishopric of the Serra) removed
from Augamale is affirmed to have included an equal
number, though the Madura mission (of which more
presently) had not attained its full growth. The Sec
of Cochin which comprehended Travancore and the
fishery coast, contained 50,000 Christians ; while the
diocese of St. Thome embracing an immense territory,
from Cape Comorin to the north of the Ganges, and
thence to Pegu, numbered as many Catholics as all
the rest of India.
The Jesuits, at first Portuguese, but afterwards in-
cluding French, Italian and Spanish brethren, divided
the theatre of their zealous operations into several
great missions, of which each was sub-divided into
minor ones, recognising for their chief the superior of
the principal mission. The first great mission is that
of Madura which extends from Cape Comorin as far as
Pondicherry ; the second is that of Maissour (Mysore),
a large kingdom whose monarch is a tributary of the
Great Mogul ; the third is that of the Carnatic which
commences at Pondicherry, and stretches to the north
as far as the boundaries of the Mogul empire.
CHAPTER II.
THE MADURA MISSION.
" The Christianity of Madura under the Jesuits was indeed un-
disguised idolatry." KAYE.
" Every Protestant writer, with two or three exceptions, has ascribed
the success of the mission of Madura to a guilty connivance with
Pagan superstitions.' 7 J. W. M. MARSHALL.
THE kingdom of Madura is bounded on the east by
Tanjore and the Palk Straits, on the south by
Tinnevelly, on the west by Travancore, and on the
north by Coimbatore and Trichinopoly. It is about
the size of Portugal ; and, at the time of which we
write it was governed by seventy Palleacarens, or
petty princes, the vassals of the Rajah. This
Sovereign could bring into the field 25,000 men and a
hundred elephants. The capital of the State is a city
of the same name, defended by a fortress, and famed
amongst the surrounding idolaters for the possession
of three enormous triumphal cars. One of these can
only be drawn by a thousand persons, and, when it is
adorned by silks of various colours, flags, and festoons
252 The Madura Mission.
of flowers, and dragged during the night, amid the
blaze of torches, the roll of drums, the clang of
cymbals and the blast of trumpets, " it cannot be
denied the spectacle is extremely interesting." l On
the northern side of the town were the churches of
the Christians, one founded by Dei Nobili, and the
other, more ancient, dedicated to Notre Dame and
served by the Jesuits. These Churches were utterly
destroyed when the town was sacked by the Rajah of
Mysore, but since then, a new one has been erected
in the suburbs. 2 After this irruption the King trans-
ferred his Court to Trichinopoly, a hundred" miles
north of the former capital. Here the Jesuits founded
several churches, though at a later period of the
mission.
There are few questions that have given rise to
more controversy between Roman Catholics and Pro-
testants, and amongst Romanists themselves than the
Jesuit missions in Madura ; 3 and although the date
(i/th century) taken strictly, places it beyond the
boundary line of our subject, yet the mission is so
essential an off-shoot from the Portuguese centre that
1 At least in the opinion of the Jesuit writer, whdse precise words
are "on ne pent nier que le spectacle n'en soit agreable." " Lettres
Edifiantes," Tom. IV., p. 19.
2 " Madura was the capital of the Hindoo kingdom of Madura, and
the seat of learning in Southern India. It is of great antiquity and
contains many remarkable pagodas. The province contains 13,000
square miles and 2,000,000 of inhabitants." Duncan's Geog., p. 25.
3 Du Jarric Hist., Tom. III., p. 750.
Madura Mission. 253
we cannot, with safety, omit this link. The conflicting
testimony is so extensive that we can only afford the
barest outline.
Beginning, as is just, with the Roman Catholic
version of the history, we may say that it is founded
on the letters of Pere Robert and his fellow-labourers,
on the compilation of Du Jarric, from whom we have
so largely quoted, on the " Relation Derinere de ce
qui s'est pass dans Madure, par le Pere Hyacinthe de
Magistris, Paris 1633," and on " La Mission du
Madure par le Pere Bertrand," one of the recent
missionaries. The chief Romanist writers on whose
testimony the general opinion is founded are Norbert,
and Dubois, both hostile. Marshall, in his compila-
tion, " Christian Missions " writes with all the bitter-
ness of a neophyte, to prove that Romanist missions
have always been successes, and Protestant ones
always failures. He defends the conduct of Pere
Robert as not only expedient but lawful, fully justified
by the example of St. Paul. Speaking of Nobile's
falsehoods to the Brahmins, he says, " he had as good
a right to make them as St. Paul to declare at one
time that he was a Hebrew, and at another that he
was a Roman citizen." * Marshall is very severe on
La Croze, Hough and Kaye, denouncing them as
slanderers of a holy man whose virtues were too
sublime for their appreciation ; and he indulges in a
1 Marshall's " Christian Missions," p. 219.
254 The Madura Mission.
sneer at their credulity in accepting " the mendacious
narrative of the renegade Norbert" 1 With every
desire to be strictly impartial, we think that the
weight of testimony is decidedly against Dei Nobili,
even if we were to decide solely from his own account
of his proceedings. 2
A certain Father Fernandez had gone to Madura
about 1592, and had laboured long without making a
single convert. Robert dei Nobili, hearing of this,
determined, in 1806, to devote himself to the work
on new principles: "I will make myself an Indian, in
order to save the Indians," was the watchword of his
plan. Discerning the cause of Xavier's failure or
partial success even with the lowest Castes, he
resolved to disguise himself as a Brahmin and to aim
at converting the highest. 3 For this purpose he
devoted himself to years of study in order to acquire
not merely the vernacular, but the ancient Sanscrit
and the Vedas. In this arduous task he succeeded
1 " Memoires Historiques," par R. P. Norbert.
2 Du Jarric, Tom. Ill, p. 71. In " Catholic Missions " in South
India by Father Strickland, the disguises and forgeries perpetrated by
the Jesuits are defended on the ground that ' ' ordinary methods had
failed and that the imposture was sactioned by the Pope!" p. 48.
Ranke's "History of the Popes," Vol. II., p. 231. Nicolini's "History
of the Jesuits," p. 108. Juvenciu's "Hist. Soc. Jesu.," Tom. II., Lib.
XVIII.
3 " That Jesuit being arrived in the East Indies, said he was a
Brahmin, which was no lie (!) After the death of that Father the true
method of keeping and increasing the number of the new converts fell
to the ground." Urbano Cerri.
The Madura Mission. 255
so thoroughly that he deceived even the Brahmins
themselves.
Avoiding a long digression for the purpose of
explaining the Brahmin's influence over the other
Hindoos, we may briefly say that this sacerdotal
Caste claimed direct descent from the God Brahma k
and are therefore held so sacred, that the natives fall
prostrate at their feet. Their source of power is an
ascetic life, while their scientific attainments, though
unequal to ours, are by no means despicable,
especially in astrology and metaphysics. 1
To imitate these men, to secure the love of the
people, and thereby effect the conversion, first of the
nobility, and then of the masses, formed the arduous
task on which Pere Robert now entered. " I am
neither a Prangui nor a Portuguese, but a Roman
Rajah. I am also a Saniassi, that is a penitent." His
apologists defend these assertions as strictly true ;
for, say they, as an Italian noble he was a Rajah, and
as a Jesuit he was, of course, a penitent. But Paley
argues that "it is the wilful deceit that makes the
lie " ; and as the statements of Pere Robert were not
1 For further accounts, see the Letters of the Abbe Dubois, p. 88,
and Choix cles " Lettres Edifiantes," Tom. IV., pp. 150, 197, and 272.
"The Brahmins are often erroneously regarded as constituting the
Hindu priesthood, but the priestly office was so far from being es-
teemed their first and most distinctive privilege, that to the present day
it is accounted one of the least honourable which a Brahmin can
discharge." Trevor's " India," p. 40.
256 The Madura Mission.
literally true, and as they practised what is admittedly
a "pious fraud," the defence falls to the ground.
For, by their own confession, they wore the Cavy, or
distinctive yellow cloth, they bore on their foreheads
the sandal-wood powder ; they fed on rice and bitter
herbs, and drank only water ; they lived in the most
wretched huts ; and won a reputation for sanctity by
their silence and solitude. They even went so far as
to assume heathen names ; and, to answer objectors,
Fere Robert applied his great skill to the production
of a forgery in Sanscrit on an old bit of parchment.
When questioned as to the genuineness of this
certificate he solemnly swore before the council of
Brahmins at Madura that the document was authentic
and that he, like all Jesuits, was directly descended
from their Indian Divinity ! Nor was this all. He
forged a new Veda which was so well executed that,
for nearly two centuries, it imposed upon the natives
themselves. The trick was at last discovered ; and it
has recently been thoroughly exposed by Mr. Ellis of
Madras, who declares that the Ezour-Vedam was a
" literary forgery," or rather " of religious imposition
without parallel." l
By these and similar frauds' 2 the new Brahmins
1 See Mr. Ellis's disquisition in "Asiatic Researches," Vol. XIV., p.
35. Hough's, "Christianity in India," Vol. II., p. 239.
2 " De la se recontrans les uns les autres a la presence des gentils
pour se mieux deguiser, ils ne se parloient que par Truchement."
Hyacinthe de Magistris, p. 407.
The Madura Mission. 257
secured the protection of the Rajah and permission
to preach throughout Madura. The Franciscans,
whose feeble efforts had been so unproductive, were
now fairly driven from the field by their daring and
unscrupulous rivals. The Jesuits, finding the coast
clear, pushed concession to idolatry to its utmost limit.
Observing the love of display in the Hindoo character,
they resolved to add the frivolous and disgusting rites
of India to the superstitious pageantry of Rome.
This, of course, Marshall denies, 1 but there is abund-
ant proof from the letters of the Jesuits (authority
which he surely cannot dispute) that images and pic-
tures, music, fireworks, flags, flowers, and theatrical
exhibitions were all employed as means of conciliation
and conversion. Having secured the co-operation of
some real Brahmins, the Jesuits made rapid strides.
Thousands were added to the Roman Church, upon
the easy conditions to which we have more than once
referred. Even one of their own missioners has
acknowledged that they were justly chargeable with
the most culpable indulgence in winking at all kinds
of idolatrous superstitions among their proselytes ;
and with having themselves rather become converts
to the idolatrous worship of the Hindoos, than con-
verters of the Hindoos to the Christian religion. 2
Such proceedings roused the indignation of all the
1 " Christian Missions," p. 226.
1 Abbe Dubois, p. 7.
258 The Madura Mission.
other religious orders. When the intelligence reached
Goa, the greatest excitement prevailed ; and a strong
remonstrance was immediately sent to Rome. In
1620, Paul V. ordered the Archbishop to investigate
the case. All the charges were fully substantiated ;
and when the report was laid before the Pontiff and
Cardinals, Bellarmine, though Uncle of Dei Nobili,
condemned him in the strongest terms. This well-
merited rebuke has, with singular audacity, been
represented by the apologists from Du Jarric to
Marshall as " the persecution of innocent men." x
Unterrified by the thunders of the Vatican, the
Madura missioners continued their career ; and, with-
out denying the truth of the -accusations, they offered
such ingenious explanations, that the succeeding
Pontiff, Gregory XV., somewhat modified the terms of
censure. Yet he distinctly stated in a dispatch (1623)
that if they continued in the slightest degree any
practices of an idolatrous character, they were to give
them up or take the consequences. This document
is said to have been suppressed till 1680, during which
time the Jesuits persevered in their old courses utterly
regardless of Papal disapprobation. But we need
not pursue the matter further at present.
The principal points in the early history of this
famous mission are the labours of Fernandez from
1592 till 1606 Pere Robert's conversion of the
1 Du Jarric, Tom. III., p. 770. Marshall, Vol. I., pp. 227-229.
The Madura Mission. 259
Brahmins from 1606 till 1610 "the persecution from
1611 to 1622 and the death of Pere Robert at Melia-
pour in 1656." The influence of this mission would
have been felt directly or indirectly in Southern India
to the present hour, even if it had not been revived
with extraordinary vigour in our own day. We may
anticipate certain portions of our history by mention-
ing that during the XVII th Century, the famous
Portuguese missionary, John de Britto, 1 made numer-
ous proselytes between 1673 and his martyrdom in
1693 5 an d that he was assisted in these labours by
his countrymen Morato, Martins, Daresi and others. 2
From causes which we cannot here discuss, the mission
of Madura died out last century. In 1837 it was
revived, being restored to the Jesuits by Gregory
XVI. ; and, in 1846, a bishopric was erected, including
Madura, Marara and Tanjore. 3 " There is no more
pregnant chapter in the whole history of human im-
posture, than that which embraces the astonishing
narrative of the Jesuits' Missions in Southern India.
For a time the Order 'stooped into a dark tremen-
dous sea of cloud,' and the Jesuits, under the ban in
Europe, disappeared from the Indian coasts. But
they are now again overrunning India, and working
mightily as of old. Great as is their apparent activity,
1 " Histoire du Jean de Britto," par. Prab. 1853.
2 " Hyacinthe de Magistris," p. 427.
3 " Les Jesuits dans 1'Inde," par. Louis St. Cyr, 1863.
S 2
260 The Madura Mission,
perhaps the full extent of their efforts is hardly known,
for, although they may not now simulate Brahmins, it
is more than suspected that they have not yet
abandoned their old love of disguise." 1
1 Kayes, " Christ, in India," pp. 36-7. "Jesuit Missions," by the
Rev. W. S. Mackay, in " Calcutta Review," Vol. II. Nicolini's
" History of the Jesuits," p. 113.
CHAPTER III.
PORTUGUESE MISSIONS IN THE CARNATIC.
;< Toutes les Missions de 1'Inde etaient des Missions Portugaises ; il
est vrai qu'on y admettait des sujets des autres nations ; mais ces
sujets devaient par la meme perdre pour ainsi dire leur nationalite."
BERTRAND, Vol. I., p. 323.
"ALL the missions of India were Portuguese missions,"
says the Jesuit Father from whom we have just
quoted, and though this chapter will carry us to the
Eastern side of the great peninsula of India, and
away from our Syrian friends, yet, " Portuguese
Missions in Southern India," as a whole, would be
incomplete without some reference to their operations
on the coast of Coromandel.
This well-known coast extends from Cape Comorin
to the Northern Circars, or from lat. 8 to lat. 16. It
is otherwise called the Carnatic, and is distinguished
by the possession of Madras, Pondicherry, and many
important towns. The Eastern Ghauts rise behind
the coast, spread into numerous branches, and leave
a broad plain between their feet and the sea. Into
this rich and fertile district the Portuguese Mission-
262 Portuguese Missions in the Carnatic.
aries penetrated from Madura, and established what
was technically called the Mission 'of the Carnatic,
including not merely the kingdom of that name, but
stretching over a vast district, nine hundred miles
from north to south, and one hundred and thirty-four
from east to west. The principal states which formed
the fields of their operations were the Carnatic, Visa-
pour, Bijanacaron, Ikkeri, Golconda, besides many
other petty principalities chiefly subject to the Great
Mogul.
According to histories, which some call traditions,
the first Christian missionary in this region was the
Apostle St. Thomas. It is confidently stated that
after planting the churches on the Malabar coast, he'
continued his journey eastward to Meliapour, 1 then
the chief city of the Carnatic. Thence he went to
China, and returned to Meliapour ; and at a place
now called St. Thomas's Mount, about eight miles
from Madras, suffered martyrdom at the hands of the
Brahmins. There is a tradition that the Apostle
erected a pillar here with an inscription to the effect
1 Meliapour or Mailapoor, is now one of the suburbs of Madras.
" Aqui a cidade foi, que se chamava
Meliapor, fermosa, grande e rica :
Os idolos antiguos adorava,
Como inda agora faz a gente inica.
Louge do mar n'aquelle tempo estava,
Quando a fe, que no numdo se publica,
Thorme vintra pregando, e ja passara
Provincias mil do mundo, que en sinare." CAMCENS.
Portuguese Missions in the Carnatic. 263
that the religion which he had planted would be
revived by a race of strangers when the waves should
wash the base of the column, at that time forty miles
from the sea. Vasco da Gama, it is said, saw, in
1 502, this very column close to the coast, with the
prophecy literally fulfilled. 1 In 1522, the Portuguese,
when exploring the Carnatic, are said to have found a
cross at Meliapour with this remarkable inscription :
" At the time when Thomas founded this temple the
King of Meliapour made him a grant of the customs
of all the merchandises that were brought into that
port, which duty was the tenth part of the goods."
According to the Portuguese tradition, the bones of
St. Thomas were also found, though Geddes dryly
suggests that "they were reckoned by all the world
before to have been lodged at Edessa." 2 An ancient
record was discovered at the same time, stating that
St. Thomas had converted the Rajah by a miracle.
We next find a tradition that another cross and relics
were dug out in 1 544 by some Portuguese who were
pulling down an old chapel, and who add the wonder-
ful statement that they saw all the earth deeply
stained with newly-shed blood, and much more to the
same effect. 3 These dates are quoted to show that
even before the time of St. Francis Xavier, Portuguese
1 Bruce's " Scenes and Lights in the East," p. 75. Howard's
" Christians of S. Thomas," p. 10.
2 Geddes's " Hist. Ch. Mai.," p. 7.
3 Geddes's " Hist. Ch. Mai.," p. 6.
264 Portuguese Missions in the Carnatic.
adventurers, including missionaries, were exploring
the coast of the Carnatic. And, as we have already
seen, that Xavier effected many conversions amongst
the natives of the extreme south, and that, at an
early period, he made Tutucurin his headquarters,
the probability is that he travelled to the north, or
appointed some of his converts to carry the Gospel
along the coast to the ancient settlements of Indian
Christianity. During the fifty years which succeeded
the establishment of the Missionary College at Goa,
while the Portuguese military and mercantile powers
were approaching their climax, many enthusiastic
followers in the footsteps of St. Francis were carrying
the cross into Madura, the Carnatic, and the distant
regions of Bengal. To enter into any minute detail
of these transactions would be to repeat much of
what has been stated in previous chapters, and we
may, therefore, pass over the operations of the Portu-
guese missionaries on the east coast, and allude briefly
to the work performed by the emissaries of another
nation.
We must take it for granted that our readers are
already acquainted with the events which took place
in India shortly after the Synod of Diamper, the
establishment of the East India Company, the wars
between French and English in India, the attacks of
the Dutch on the Portuguese settlements, and the
rapid decline of an empire which had so rapidly risen.
Portuguese Missions in the Carnatic. 265
About the year 1660, the French were making
great efforts to obtain a share in the commerce of the
East ; and, in 1664, two years after the Portuguese
cession of Bombay to the English, 1 they took Pondi-
cherry, and made it the centre of their possessions in
the Carnatic. No sooner had they secured a firm
footing than various orders of monks commenced
their labours amongst the heathen. They were not
long permitted to conduct this enterprise alone.
Irrespective of earlier plantings of the Cross by ex-
plorers from the Central Station at Madura, the
successors of Pere Robert resolved to thrust them-
selves into the field which was now certainly the
province of the French Capuchins. The Portuguese
Jesuits and the Pondicherry Monks, though aiming at
the same end, pursued it by means entirely different;
the former, as we have seen, bending Christianity to
the idolatry of Brahma, the latter protesting against
such wicked degradation, and preaching, in compara-
tive purity, the faith of Christ on its own merits.
The followers of Loyola had secured the " Constitu-
tion " mentioned in our last chapter, but they concealed
it for sixty years ; and, assuring the Pope that the
objectionable rites were merely civil forms without
any religious reference, they contrived to evade all
obedience to the Papal injunction, to hoodwink the
1 Bombay, Algiers, and .500,000 formed the dowry of Catherine of
Portugal on her marriage with Charles II.
266 Portuguese Missions in the Carnatic.
Roman Court by skilfully-contrived and specious
reports, and thus to pursue their arrogant course
almost unchecked. 1 What we have already described
at Madura was repeated at Pondicherry. The image of
the Virgin was borne aloft in precisely the same way
in which the Pagans carry their idols. Bands of
heathen musicians were engaged from the Pagodas ;
and their rude drums, gongs, and hautboys mingled
in discord with the cries and shouts which accompany
a Hindoo procession.
The chief of the French Mission, feeling that the
Jesuits, by this miserable pandering to Pagan folly,
were deeply injuring the cause of true religion that
they might promote the interests of their Order, pro-
tested most strongly against these profane exhibitions,
and wrote to the Pontiff to invoke his interference.
But not only did the arrogant ambition of the Jesuits
embroil them with their co-religionists, but it involved
them also in serious disputes with the Brahmins,
which, early in the XVIII th Century, had reached
such a height that Pondicherry itself was in danger.
Their infatuation was conspicuously displayed in their
destruction of the images of Brahma, Vishnu, and
other idols, 2 an extraordinary deviation from their
1 " The Jesuits stirred themselves up in their own defence and repre-
sented to Gregory XIII., Paul's successor, that those rites were merely
civic ceremonies and not at all religious ones." Nicolini, p. 113. See
also " Cretinean," Vol. V., p. 47.
2 A parallel case occurs in the case of Willchad. His discourses here
Portuguese Missions in the Camatic. 267
general subserviency. The natives who witnessed this
insult, thus publicly offered to their divinities, re-
solved to avenge the wrong, and they immediately
sent a message to their brethren at Tan j ore to aid
them in their purpose. The Rajah eagerly and in-
stantly responded, the Christians were everywhere
openly beaten, and starved to death in prison. Many
fled to the Christians of the coast, many more re-
nounced their faith, and a few submitted to martyr-
dom. One Jesuit died in prison, another was
banished ; all the churches were demolished, and
Christianity for years extinguished. 1 Such was the
result of Jesuit zeal, and such will ever be the effect
of the lack of common sense in dealing with the pre-
judices of the heathen.
In 1702, the Pope resolved to send a special legate
to French India to check the unruly proceedings of
the Jesuits. When Cardinal Tournon landed in
November, 1703, he was kindly received by the
Brethren, who succeeded in making him suspend his
Edict for three years. At last, those very men who,
as the successors of Loyolo, had, of course, taken an
oath of implicit obedience to the Pope, positively re-
had begun to meet with much acceptance, when some of his scholars
suffered themselves to be led away by intemperate zeal, and hastened
to. destroy the idolatrous temples, instead of first banishing, by the
power of Christ, the idols from the heart of their worshippers.
Neander's " Memorials of Christian Life," p. 480.
1 Condensed from Norbert's " Memoires Historiques."
268 Portuguese Missions in, the Car italic.
belled and refused to admit the legate's right to con-
trol their foreign missions. They even went so far
as to declare that their Bishop at St. Thome had a
jurisdiction in India equal to that of the Pope else-
where. 1 The Cardinal, finding no good was at present
to be done, sailed for China in 1704, and, in 1706, the
Council of Pondicherry solemnly protested against
his jurisdiction in the East. His tragical death at
Macao, in 1710, is attributed to the intrigues of the
Jesuits. 2
In 1714, we find that a Monsieur de Visdelon, a
Jesuit, was appointed Bishop of Clandiopolis, and
Vicar Apostolic of India with full power front the
Pope to purify tJie Church front the idolatrous rites by
which her services had been polluted. Hence another
contest arose between the Pope's Vicar and the Bishop
of St. Thome, soon after which the Jesuits obtained
powers from the King of France for the suspension of
the Vicar and two Superiors of the Capuchins. It is
quite impossible, however, to describe the perpetual
conflicts which disgrace the Roman Church at Pon-
dicherry, in consequence of the rebellious spirit of the
Jesuits. In conclusion, we may briefly mention that,
in 1742, Benedict XIV. issued, a bull demanding
implicit obedience ; and, at last, after forty years'
contumacious resistance, the refractory Fathers were
1 Hough's " Christianity," Vol. II., p. 442.
- " Memoires Historiques," par Norbert, Vol. III., pp. 97, 149.
Portuguese Missions in the Carnatic. 269
obliged to yield. From that time their hitherto pros-
perous missions in South India began to decline. The
arrogance of the missionaries had rendered the very
name of Christianity odious, the detection of cunningly
devised imposture had shaken all faith in the Jesuits,
and the suppression of their Order in Europe had been
severely felt in India, especially by drying up the
fountain which had furnished a regular supply of
educated clergy. Add to these causes the com-
mencement of modern missionary efforts by men
whose lives were the best comments on their doctrines,
and whose method of teaching was the strongest
possible contrast to that of the Jesuits, and one is not
at all at a loss to account for the failure of the Romish
Missions in Southern India, and for the odium, which
they brought on the Christian name.
CHAPTER IV.
SYRIAN CHRISTIANS IN THE XVII th CENTURY.
" If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words,
even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is
according to godliness ; he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about
questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings,
evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds and desti-
tute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness : from such withdraw
thyself." I Tim. vi.
DURING the last three chapters we have attempted
to give some idea of the Portuguese missions in
the XVI th Century, with brief notices of important
matters during the XVII th and XVIII th Centuries.
It is true that some of the events therein narrated do
not directly bear on the Malabar Church ; yet it is
unquestionable that in all history one event leans
upon another, and small causes frequently produce
great results. The present case forms no exception.
The spirit by which the Portuguese missionaries were
actuated did not fail to excite a universal feeling of
resentment ; and though no electric spark conveyed
the message from the Carnatic to Malabar, yet every-
one familiar with India well knows the mysterious
Syrian Christians in Seventeenth Century . 271
rapidity with which reports are transmitted to the
most distant regions. Thus the whole South of India
was filled with opposition to the Portuguese missionary
efforts and to the Christianity which they attempted
to propagate.
The standard authorities for this portion of our
essay are Raulinus, Urbano Cerri, La Croze, Barreto,
and Vincent Maria. 1 The English reader will find
the substance of these narratives in Hough's " History
of Christianity in India," Book VI., and, in a briefer
form, in Day's " Land of the Permauls."
After the signal triumph of Rome at Diamper,
accomplished by the skill, courage, and perseverance
of Menezes, the history of the Syrian Christians
seems to lose much of its interest Reduced to abject
submission, the followers of St. Thomas appear to
have had no heart left for literary work, or possibly
they were only too glad to let silence cover their
defeat. On the other hand, the Jesuits, though vic-
torious, exhibited no anxiety to proclaim to the world
the misconduct of their leaders, which, more than
anything else, contributed to their ruin in the East.
Hence the obscurity which prevails at this period of
our history, and hence, too, the conflicting statements
of the chroniclers as to dates and names which render
it next to impossible for the compiler to construct a
1 Barreto, Relat. Status Christ. Malabar Romoe, 1645. Vincent Marie,
II viaggio all'Inclie Orientali Fol. Romoe.
272 Syrian Christians in Seventeenth Century.
consistent narrative. This being premised, we must
make the best of the material at our command.
The first Romish Bishop, Francisco Rodriguez
(Roz), was succeeded by another Xavier, who, in turn,
was followed by Stephen de Britto. In 1634, a Jesuit
prelate, named Garcia, ruled the poor Syrian Chris-
tians with a rod of iron. He attempted to abolish
the Syriac language and to introduce Latin in the
Church Service, and he persecuted every Syrian who
differed in the minutest trifle from the ritual of Rome.
He enjoyed a " bad eminence " amongst his fellow-
Churchmen, avaricious, as nearly all of them were, for
his intense love of money, and his unscrupulous ex-
tortion. Such oppression, continuing for fifty years,
gradually roused the patient spirit of the Syrians into
violent action, and completely undid all the work of
Diamper. They complained especially of the en-
forced celibacy of their own clergy, of the seizure of
their churches, of the introduction of images, of the
bribed silence of the Cattanars, and of the tyranny
exercised by the Romish priests over both clergy and
laity of the Malabar Church. Their numerous over-
tures to the Roman Pontiff were treated with con-
temptuous neglect, for the Pope could not afford to
quarrel with the Jesuits. The exasperated Syrians at
last revolted, threw off the Roman yoke, and resolved
to elect a bishop of their own. The Portuguese
missionaries, terribly alarmed, applied at once to
Syrian Christians in Seventeenth Century. 273
Alexander VII., who, well aware of the true cause of
this rebellion, instantly dispatched four Carmelites to
still the tempest. But, while these events were going
on in Malabar, an unexpected ally was contributing
the means of breaking the chains which Portuguese
tyranny had forged. The Dutch, who had for half a
century been gradually gaining power in the East, in
1656, drove the Portuguese out of Ceylon, and, en-
couraged by success, soon afterwards attacked the
settlements on the Malabar coast.
Once fairly roused to action, the Malabar Christians
took the decided step of writing to the three
Patriarchs the Nestorian at Mosul, the Coptic at
Cairo, and the Jacobite in Syria, imploring each to send
them a Bishop without delay. The first to reply was
the Primate of the Copts, who immediately dispatched
Attala (Theodore) 1 to Mosul, that he might receive
his commission from the Nestorian Patriarch. But
this account is doubted ; 2 and it seems impossible to
determine whether he was a Nestorian from Mosul or
a Jacobite from Antioch. 3 Be that as it may, on his
arrival at Surat, he incautiously took some Capuchins
into his confidence, who immediately betrayed him to
the Inquisition. On his journey toward the south he
was seized, and, notwithstanding the attempt at a
1 Raulin, " Diss V. De Incl. Orient Diocesi," p. 441. Day's " Land
of the Permauls," p. 234.
2 La Croze, p. 358.
8 Vincent Maria, L. II., p. 163. La Croze, p. 359.
T
274 Syrian Christians in Seventeenth Century.
rescue by 25,000 armed men, who marched upon
Cochin, he was detained a prisoner. The defeated
Syrians held a meeting at Alangat, and swore a
solemn oath to drive out the Jesuits ; and a second at
Mangate, where they took the extraordinary step of
requesting twelve Cattanars to consecrate Archdeacon
Thomas, of Palokamatta, as their Bishop, 1 imploring
him to repent of his mock consecration, but in vain.
Fifty years of suffering had forced him and his
followers into a position which they would not lightly
abandon.
Meantime, the captured Attala was sent from
Cochin to Goa, where he suffered a cruel death in the
dungeons of the Inquisition. 2 It is but fair to say
that the Jesuit missionaries, ashamed of this murder,
have tried to prove that the unhappy Prelate was
drowned, by the orders of the Governor, in the
harbour of Cochin, when the Syrian army invested
the place. 3
We left the Carmelites on their way from Rome to
India. On their arrival at Surat, they were placed in
a most embarrassing position, for they, not only
encountered the resistance of the civil power, but the
hostility of the Jesuits ; the former pleading their
possession of the sovereignty of India, the latter
1 See an admirable discussion of this irregularity in Hough's History,
p. 306-7-8.
2 Raulin, "Hist. Ecc. Mai.," p. 442.
3 La Croze, p. 362.
Syrian Christians in Seventeenth Century. 275
jealous of any interference with the interests of their
Order. The Carmelites, thus checked, applied to the
Dutch commander, by whose intervention they
succeeded in reaching Cananore, early in 1657.
Thence they were obliged to go by water, in order to
avoid their own countrymen and co-religionists.
They found their mission hedged about with difficul-
ties. The Archdeacon naturally received them with
distrust ; and the Jesuits exhausted every expedient
to obstruct their course. The Papal commissioners,
in several conferences, attempted to influence the
Archdeacon to deny his consecration and resign his
office, but failing in this, they determined to apply
for aid to Francis de Mello, at Goa. The Governor,
fully alive to the importance of conciliating the Syrian
Christians, that their co-operation might be secured
in defending Cochin and other towns against the
Dutch, resolved to receive the Carmelites as the
ambassadors of peace. The Jesuits, perceiving that
their influence was verging to its close, made the most
desperate efforts, including the use of a forged letter,
to excite the suspicion of the Governor of Goa
against the Carmelites. But in vain. Father Vincent,
thus protected, waited on the Jesuit Bishop at Crang-
anor, who received him kindly, admitted his creden-
tials, and implored the Christians of St. Thomas to
submit to his authority. Proceeding on his mission,
he found Carturte, and one or two other places,
T 2
276 Syrian Christians in Seventeenth Century.
essentially Roman Catholic ; but even they hated the
Jesuit yoke. This complication was increased by the
fact that the Syrian Christians were divided into two
parties, even before the arrival of the Romanists, and
that since that time there had been an augmented
feeling of rivalry in consequence of the adherence
of the Southern division to the Roman Communion.
With the latter section of the Syrians the Carmelites
succeeded, and the Portuguese authorities were so
delighted with the prospect thus afforded of securing
the alliance of 40,000 well-armed mountaineers, that,
in their gratitude, they gave a splendid public recep-
tion to the Carmelites at Corolongate. The Northern
division of the Malabar Church still held out under
Archdeacon Thomas. Success began to dawn upon
their efforts at Mangate, but Jesuit influence again
interfered, and was potent enough to extort from Goa
a letter, ordering the Carmelites to quit the country.
The Governor of Cochin, dreading the approach of
the Dutch, and desirous of retaining the affection of
the Syrians, resolved to support the Carmelites in
their mission at all hazards. And so for years this
singularly intricate series of intrigues went on, the
chief agencies being, as we have already seen, the
Portuguese and the Dutch, the Romish Syrians and
the Christians of St. Thomas, the rival Orders of
Jesuits and Carmelites, and the Inquisition ever
watchful and ready to interpose. We fear that few of
Syrian Christians in Seventeenth Century. 277
our readers would have any curiosity to know how
Bishop Garcia tried to ruin the Carmelites, how the
latter began to despair of their mission, and how they
were encouraged by the dreaded tribunal at Goa to
persevere, how four different assemblies met and
discussed the question of the Archdeacon's consecra-
tion, the propriety of submitting to Rome, and many
other matters deeply interesting to them, but not
directly affecting the question now before us. One
circumstance only is perhaps important. In an
assembly in the Church of St. Thomas, near Cochin,
Joseph, 1 one of the Carmelites, was elected Bishop of
Malabar, and his appointment confirmed by the Pope.
The Southern Churches were then united ; Garcia in
vain tried to recover his diocese, and two of the
Carmelites returned to Rome to give an account of
their operations.
On the loth of March, 1658, Father Hyacinthe
once more appeared in Malabar, and, finding persua-
sion ineffectual, he subdued the refractory by means
of fines and imprisonment, which he caused the Rajahs
to inflict on his fellow Christians. But as the agency
was limited, so was the success. The northern portion
of the Syrian Christians supported their Archdeacon
as firmly as ever, and, to add to the perplexity of the
case, Bishop Garcia nominated a new Archdeacon.
A change, however, soon came o'er the scene. Garcia
1 Day's " Land of the Permauls," p. 237.
278 Syrian Christians in Seventeenth Century.
died in 1659, and, the year after, his rival Father
Hyacinthe expired at Cochin.
Meantime, the Carmelite Joseph, who had been
consecrated at Rome as Bishop of Hierapolis, reached
India in April, 1661, and was welcomed at Cochin by
all parties of his countrymen, except the Jesuits.
The Syrian Archdeacon, of course, endeavoured to
prejudice the people against the new Bishop, and did
not hesitate to follow the example so frequently set
by the Jesuits, of circulating false reports. Bishop
Joseph, meantime, disregarding these calumnies, took
possession of the cathedral at Cranganor, and, on the
22nd of August, commenced the visitation of his
diocese with a grand display of ecclesiastical magni-
ficence. Then followed the old story of endless con-
ferences between the Bishop and the Archdeacon, who
was at last obliged, dreading the fate of Attala, to
escape to the mountains. This flight left the Syrian
Christians at the mercy of the new Bishop, who, like
a second Menezes, forced them to bend to his authority
on the battle-ground of Diamper. This effected,
Bishop Joseph ordered a large fire to be kindled
before the church, in which he burnt the Archdeacon's
palanquin, his books and garments, and regretted that
his body was not there also. 1
The unholy alliance between the heathen Prince
Codormo and the Romish Bishop had enabled the
1 La Croze, p. 409.
Syrian Christians in Seventeenth Century. 279
latter to promote bis mission by force of arms. But
the time of retribution was at hand. The Eastern
Empire of the Portuguese was now rapidly crumbling
before the advancing power of the Dutch. In 1660
they captured Negapatam, and thus secured the
Coromandel coast. Advancing to Malabar, they took
Coulan in 1661, and Cranganor, the cathedral city of
the Jesuits, in 1662. Cochin fell before the arms of
the invader in 1663 ; the Portuguese power received
its death blow, and the Christians of St. Thomas once
more began to breathe the air of civil and religious
freedom. The conquerors, whose experience in their
native land had taught them to dread the presence of
the Romish priests, insisted on the immediate de-
parture of all the Jesuits and Carmelites from Malabar.
Bishop Joseph, thus compelled to depart, consecrated
a Cattanar, named Alexander, to act as Vicar- Apostolic
during his absence. The new Prelate (the first native
Indian Bishop) was protected by the Dutch com-
mander, whose mind was strongly prejudiced against
the Archdeacon. Bishop Alexander, who persuaded
forty-five of the Syrian Churches to return to the
Communion of Rome, ruled the diocese till 1676
when he was succeeded, according to one report, by a
Raphael Figuredo ; according to another by Dom
Diego, as Archbishop of Cranganor.
Our readers must not forget, amid this confusion
and strife, the existence of that body of Syrian
280 Syrian Christians in Seventeenth Century.
Christians who were struggling to consolidate their
newly- won freedom under Archdeacon, or, as we
perhaps should call him, Mar-Thomas. We learn
that about the year 1665, Gregorius, Bishop of Jeru-
salem, arrived at Malabar, and consecrated Archdeacon
Thomas to be the Metropolitan of what remained of
the Syrian Church. And, it is stated, that this was
the occasion on which the Jacobite liturgies and
ritual were adopted, instead of the Nestorian in use
before the Synod of Diamper. From this date the
Syrian Christians have been a sadly divided Church,
some following Rome, acknowledging one of three
prelates at Cranganor, Verapole, or Quilon, but all
called by the common term Romo-Syrians. The
remainder, that is, those that preserved their ecclesias-
tical independence, are, of course, stigmatised by their
foes as schismatics, heretics, Jacobites, or Nestorians,
but are generally known as the Christians of St.
Thomas, the Church of Malabar, or simply as the
Syrian Christians. On the death of Mar-Thomas, in
1678, Mar- Andrew succeeded, and governed the
diocese till 1685. From that period till the close of
the century, there is a dreary record of petty strife
and competition for the bishopric, with all the pain-
ful discussions which invariably accompany such un-
seemly struggles. As we have already observed, there
is nothing in the history of the Church of the Serra in
the least calculated to interest the general reader.
Syrian Christians in Seventeenth Century. 281
Still, for the sake of continuity, we shall be obliged to
give a brief summary of the Church's vicissitudes
during the XVIII th Century.
CHAPTER V.
SYRIAN CHRISTIANS IN THE XVIII th CENTURY.
" We are already debtors to that ancient people, the Syrian Christ-
ians. By their long and energetic defence of pure doctrine against anti-
Christian error, they are entitled to the gratitude and thanks of the rest
of the Christian world. Their Scriptures, their doctrine, their language,
l n short their very existence, all add something to the evidence of the
truth of Christianity." BUCHANAN.
DURING the century which we have just sketched in
relation to the small but interesting Church of the
Serra, great events had been taking place all over
India. The East India Company had secured their
first and second charters and laid the foundation-stone
of their colossal empire. The Dutch, 1 entering the
Indian Ocean as modest traders, had succeeded in
dispossessing the Portuguese of their richest settle-
ments, leaving them but a shadow of their once
splendid dominions. The French, eager to share the
glories which the " wealth of Ormuz and of Ind "
promised to the adventurer of every grade had se-
cured the Carnatic. These three powers were
1 " NiehofFs Voyages,'' Valentyn's "History," Baldaens's "Descrip-
ion of Malabar," Hough, p. 52.
Syrian Christians in Eighteenth Century. 283
engaged, as every student of history knows, in
perpetual intrigues, diplomatic contests, and open
war with each other, and with the native princes.
There was, therefore, but little time or thought to
spend on missionary enterprise, and but little taste
or talent in soldiers, merchants, or buccaneers, to
record conversions among the heathen, even had such
existed. 1 Nay, more, there is but too much proof that
the lives which Europeans led, when freed from the
restraints of Rome, were calculated rather to impede
than to promote the spread of Christianity and
civilisation amongst the surrounding tribes of
Hindostan. 2
These great events, occurring in the immediate
vicinity of the Malabar Church, affected its fate in-
directly, and often directly ; and we shall frequently
have to show in our chronological summary, for it can
be little else, how the Portuguese influence still continued
to operate, modified as it often was by the interference
of its European rivals. At the beginning of the
XVIII th Century we find one Didacus abdicating the
1 " They had no grand thoughts of the diffusion of civilisation and
the propagation of Christianity. The conversion of the Moors or the
Gentoos was assuredly no part of their design." Kaye's " Christianity,"
p. 38.
2 " His doings on those far off shores were unknown to his country-
men in England ; perchance there may have been a parent or a brother,
or a friend in whose eyes the adventurer might desire to wear a fair
aspect ; but in India he was far beyond observation as though he
welt in another planet." Kaye's "Christianity," p. 45.
284 Syrian Christians in Eighteenth Century.
Romish Bishopric of the native Christians in favour of
John Ribeiro, a Jesuit. This gleam of triumph for the
Order would have been still more evanescent than* it
was, but for the fact that the talents of the Prelate
were of use to the Rajah of Calicut, and a few other
neighbouring chiefs. Between 1707 and 1715 the
Christians of St. Thomas seemed to have been
governed by two Bishops Mar-Thomas, a Monophy-
site, ruling over the southern portion of the diocese,
with but twenty-two churches ; the other, Mar-Gabriel,
a Nestorian, presiding over the north. These two were
rivals in doctrine and office, and, of course, at open
war. Into all the petty details we dare not enter, but
refer our reader to authorities that will give ample
scope to his investigations. 1
The line of Romish Prelates seems to have termin-
ated about the year 1721, when Ribeiro, Bishop of
Cranganor died. 2 Still, the Bishops of Cochin and
Verapoli exercised their functions, though in utter
estrangement from each other. The Syrian Christians,
about the year 1720, were equally divided, $0,000
acknowledging Rome, and as many adhering faith-
fully to their native pastors. In 1727 an important
event occurred in the history of their Church, pro-
duced by the following causes : As far back as 1705
1 "Lettres Edifiantes" (Dowzieme Recueil), p. 383. La Croze, p. 420.
Mosheim. "Eccl. Hist." Cent. VI., Part II., Chap. V. Day's " Land of
the Permauls," p. 246. Asseman, Tom. III., Part II., p. 464.
- Raulin, " De Ind. Orient. Dio. Dissert," V., p. 449.
Syrian Christians in Eighteenth Century. 285
the Danes had formed a mission at Tranqucbar, 1 on
the Eastern coast, under the sanction of Frederick
IV., 2 and in 1709 the S.P.G. (established eight years
before) sent its first pecuniary contribution of twenty
pounds towards the support of missionary efforts in
the East. Soon afterwards, this English Society
suggested to the Danish Mission the possibility of
effecting a union with the independent portion of the
Syrian Church, with the hope of being able to make
it a nursery of missionaries for the conversion of
India. The Danes immediately wrote to the Dutch
Chaplain at Cochin, who, however, gave no encour-
agement to the project, declaring that the education
and habits of the Cattanars wholly unfitted them for
missionary life. Undeterred by this repulse, the
zealous Danes wrote, in 1/27, a friendly letter to Mar-
Thomas, expressing their desire to co-operate with
the Syrian Churches, and begging him to state,
without reserve, his opinion as to the best method of
improving and strengthening his own Church, so as to
make it a centre from which the Gospel might be
spread amongst the surrounding nations. The Pre-
late's answer came next year, and afforded no satis-
factory solution of the question ; but, on the contrary,
seemed to consider the Romish usurpation in Malabar
1 In the North of Tanjore.
2 Hough's "Christianity," Vol. II., p. 390. Kaye's "Christianity
India," p. 66.
286 Syrian Christians in Eighteenth Century.
and the unhappy divisions amongst the Syrians
themselves as sufficient excuses for taking no action
in the matter. On the death of this Prelate, in 1729,
his nephew, of the same name, succeeded ; and we
read that he almost immediately charged the other
Syrian Bishop (Mar-Gabriel) with heresy, and
appealed to the Dutch Governor of Cochin, requesting
his interposition. The Dutch Chaplain wrote to both
the Prelates offering to act as mediator ; but as each
believed himself right, the intercession failed. In
1730, Mar-Gabriel died, after a residence of more than
twenty years in Malabar ; but though a stranger
(from Jerusalem), he appears to have so identified
himself with every petty dispute, and to have so
completely yielded to Roman influence, as to have
done no permanent good during this long episcopate
to the churches under his care. A new Syrian Bishop
was immediately sent from Babylon, and succeeded
in reaching Surat, but the rival Jesuit and Carmelite
Prelates, forgetting their animosities for a time, com-
bined to intercept this dangerous opponent ; and they
appear to have succeeded, but by what means there is
no evidence to show. Their reciprocal anathemas
were then resumed with as much heartiness as ever.
The Christian Knowledge Society's reports state
that, in 1732, Cattanars from the Serra of Malabar
were in the habit of performing a journey of six
hundred miles across the peninsula to attend as
Syrian Christians in Eighteenth Century. 287
pilgrims at the great festivals held at St. Thome, 1
near Madras. This celebrated shrine has been
already noticed as the residence of the Roman
Catholic Bishop, and as attracting annually crowds of
devotees from all parts of India. There are several
churches, of which the most remarkable are Notre
Dame Dumont and the Resurrection. The former is
held in such esteem that, when the Portuguese ships
first perceive it on approaching land, they fire a
salute in its honour. Above the grand altar there is
a Cross, traditionally reported to be the work of St.
Thomas, and which possesses miraculous powers,
especially in healing diseases. Eight days before
Christmas, the Portuguese celebrate with much solem-
nity the feast which they call the expectation of the
Blessed Virgin. During this festival, the grey Cross
changes colour, becoming red, brown, and, at last, a
dazzling white, distilling water so abundantly that it
flows over the altar. This prodigy is said to have
been witnessed by four hundred persons, who felt
constrained to avow that it bore unmistakable impress
of supernatural power. 2 Such being the objects
1 " On 1'appelle aussi Meliapour, ou, pour pnrler les Indiens, Maila
lxniram,c'est a dire laville des paons." "Choix des LettresEdifiantes,"
Tom. IV., pp. 6, 68.
2 " Ce prodige, rapporte par des missionaires qui en ont etc deux
fois temoins. est d' ailleurs constate par le temoignage de plus de quatre
cents personnes, de tout age et de tout etat, parmi lesquelles on compte
des Anglais Protestans qui, apres avoir examine, avec la plus severe
attention, si ce n'etait point la quelque prestige employe pour surpendre
288 Syrian Christians in Eighteenth Century.
which annually attracted Syrian pilgrims to St.
Thome, no doubt can exist as to the faith which these
men professed. Indians by birth, they were Roman-
ists by creed ; and though they employed Syriac in
the service of the Church, they hardly possessed suffi-
cient knowledge of the language to read the public
prayers, and frequently were unable to explain what
they had recited.
Between the years 1730 and 1750, the Danish
Mission at Tranquebar was frequently visited by
Cattanars of all creeds from Cochin and Travancore.
The impression which these priests made upon the
Danes was far from favourable. They seemed to
possess little or no theological knowledge ; their
literary attainments were of the slenderest character ;
their whole attention seemed to be devoted to con-
troversies of a ritualistic character ; and their preju-
dices of caste were so strong that they would not eat
even with the Christian converts at Tranquebar. One
of them said, that though he admired the Danish
missionaries as good men, he objected to their religion
because it was deficient in three things, viz.: Fasting
days, the sacrifice of the mass, and the adoration of
the Virgin. Nevertheless, the good missionaries tried
to take the most charitable views of their fellow-
la credulite des peuples, ont etc constraints d'avouer que ce prodige ne
pomait etre opere par aucun moyen natural, et que, dans toutes ses
circonstances, il porjait les caracteres d'un effet surnaturel et divin."
" Choix des Lettres Edifiantes," Tom IV., pp. 89 90.
Syrian Christians in Eighteenth Century. 289
Christians ; they dwelt upon the numerous points of
agreement between the Syrians and themselves, and
they softened as much as possible the asperities
produced by ritual or doctrinal differences. But all
in vain. Their experience agreed with that of Chap-
lain Nicolai at Cochin. They concluded that the
minds of these Syrians were too bigoted to admit of
any reformation, that they were obstinately attached
to their ancient traditions, and to the recently intro-
duced Romish superstitions.
After this failure, no further attempt seems to have
been made for many years ; and meantime the history
of the Syrian Church is shrouded in obscurity. In
1747, a Bishop is said to have arrived from Babylon,
and three years later several Jacobites came from
Antioch. The Maphrian Basilius, commissioned by
the Patriarch of Antioch, in the year 1750, entered
Travancore. Furnished with crozier, crucifix, and
ring, he intended to consecrate Thomas to be Metro-
politan ; but a dispute arose ; the commissioner
therefore selecting one Cyril, whose learning and
general religious character pointed him out as the
more suitable person for this dignity. Nineteen years
of incessant dissension followed this decision ; and at
last order was restored by the award of the Rajah in
favour of the native Bishop, Mar-Thomas, who suc-
ceeded to the primacy under the name of Mar-
Dionysius.
290 Syrian Christians in Eighteenth Century.
In 1772, new discussions arose, in which Gregorius,
Cyril, and others, play conspicuous parts. Cyril soon
afterwards retired ; the two foreign prelates died ;
and Mar-Dionysius once more governed in peace.
He seems to have been in every respect an admirable
man, and true Christian. His government was firm,
yet gentle ; he did his utmost to promote practical
religion amongst the poor Syrians ; and he made
every effort to allay the ferment of theological strife.
He lived to a great age, and was visited, in 1806, by
Dr. Claudius Buchanan, who has left us an interesting
account of the interview. " He was dressed," he says,
" in a vestment of dark red silk ; a golden cross hung
from his neck, and his venerable beard reached below
his girdle. Such, thought I, was the appearance of
Chrysostom in the fourth century." " I found him,"
he adds, " to be far superior in general learning to any
of his clergy whom I had seen. . . . He descanted
with great satisfaction on the hope of seeing printed
Syriac Bibles from England, and said they would be
a treasure to his Church." *
Here we must end our brief resume of the Syrian
Church in the eighteenth century, leaving for discus-
sion, in the concluding part of our essay, those
portions of its history which fill above sixty-five years
of the present century.
/
" Christian Researches," p. 105.
BOOK V.
THE PORTUGUESE MISSIONS, WITH
SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MODERN
MISSIONARY EFFORTS IN SOUTH
INDIA.
U 2
CHAPTER I.
THE FIRST PROTESTANT MISSIONS IN SOUTH INDIA.
" The experiment has been made now for upwards of a century by
Protestant missionaries in India, and with a measure of success that
warrants the inference that God has not shut against His people the
door of hope." HOUGH.
WE propose in this, the concluding book of our Essay,
to lay before our readers a brief, but, we hope, a
distinct outline of Modern Missionary Efforts in
Southern India. We shall attempt to show how the
reformed churches inaugurated their missions to the
nations of Hindostan ; how the Syrian Christians were
affected by the various societies ; how the Romish
Missions gradually died out, and how they have been
revived. And we shall finish our work by submitting
the most recent accounts of the actual condition of the
Malabar Church, with a few suggestions as to the most
promising means of purifying its doctrine and ritual,
contaminated by the Portuguese, and receiving it into
union with the Reformed Catholic Church of England.
It would, of course, be foreign to our purpose to
enter upon any historical sketch, however condensed,
294 First Protestant Missions in South India.
of the early English settlements in India. The
achievements of Drake and Cavendish, the voyages
of Lancaster and Middleton, the conquests and
annexations under Clive, Hastings, Cornwallis, Well-
esley, and their successors, and all matters of ordinary
history must be studied in the numerous volumes
which record the origin and progress of our Eastern
Empire. Our business is to treat of a nobler theme
though with an humbler pen. We must, therefore,
assume that the reader is already in possession of a
sufficient knowledge of the history of India, and es-
pecially of the South, to be able to follow our
narrative without our entering into such explanations
as would form too extensive digressions from our
main subject.
In the last chapter, reference was made to the
Tranquebar l Mission, founded by the Danes in the
year 1705. The two pioneers were Ziegenbalg and
Plutscho, 2 educated at Halle, under Professor
Frank, whose greatest pleasure was to train young
men, as Dr. Vaughan does in our own day, for the
work of the ministry. Their theory was essentially
different from that of the Portuguese missionaries. The
1 Tranquebar, between two arms of the Caveng in the District of
Tanjore, Diocese of Madras, 140 miles S.S.W. of Madras. Pop.
20,000. This town was Danish from 1621 to 1846, when it was ceded
to the English. The Portuguese Missions had a church there from a
very early period.
2 Dean Pearson's "Memoirs of Schwartz," Vol. I., p. 14. Niecamp's
" Histoire de Missions Danoises," Tom. I. p. 4
First Protestant Missions in South India. 295
/
young Danes had sworn no allegiance to the Pontiff,
but had solemnly dedicated themselves to God. They
were destitute of Papal bulls and briefs, but they car-
ried the Bible in their hands, their heads, and their
hearts. They put no faith in external baptism as a
mere opus operatum, but they believed in it as one of
the sacraments. Firmly resolved, in the fervour of
youthful enthusiasm, to do and suffer all things for the
cause of Christ, they were yet entirely free from any
morbid love of ostentatious mortification ; and, while
ready to die, if necessary, in the propagation of the
faith, they felt it no part of their duty to seek death
for the glory of a martyr's crown. In one respect
they pre-eminently differed from some, at least, of the
Roman " Missioners," for they were thoroughly con-
scientious men, acting in the most straightforward
manner, and, therefore, holding in abhorrence the policy
of Dei Nobili and his followers, who unscrupulously
employed disguises and forgeries as instrumentalities
for converting the heathen. Landing at Tranquebar,
they met with a cool reception from their cautious and
phlegmatic countrymen, who, looking on the enterprise
from a commercial platform, ridiculed the young men
as visionaries, or pitied them as victims. Unshaken
in their resolve by this welcome, they determined to
trust in God and use means to ensure success. They
saw at once that nothing could be done without a
thorough knowledge of Tamil (the language of the
296 First Protestant Missions in South India.
country), and, therefore, without dictionary, grammar,
or Monshee, they sat down on the sand with the
Hindoo children and mastered the subject. This
gained, they had still to face the apathy of the Indian
character, the bigotry of the Brahmins, the hostility of
the Romish priests, and, above all, the prejudice
against Christianity, produced by the scandalous lives
of the European residents. 1 In spite of all these
obstacles, they made way. In 1707 they baptised
their first convert, and built their first church. Between
1708 and 1711 the New Testament was translated
into Tamil, 2 and, at a later period, the Hebrew
Bible, as far as Ruth. How different is this from the
methods of conversion pursued by the Portuguese
missionaries, who relied on preaching in a language
which the natives utterly failed to understand, and
on the repetition of creeds and paternosters which the
superstitious heathen were apt to regard as incantations
like their own. The Portuguese never dreamt of doing
more than correcting certain alleged errors in the
Syrian manuscripts of the Cattanars ; but it was no
part of their plan to diffuse the Scriptures amongst the
people? The Danes, on the contrary, looked upon
1 Niecamp's " Histoire des Missions Danoises," Tom. I., p. 206.
Kaye's " History of Christianity," p. 41.
- The New Testament was also printed in Portuguese bythe S.P.C.K ,
and sent out to Tranquebar for the use of the Mission a proof of
the extent of the Portuguese population in this district. Pearson's
" Memoirs of Schwartz," p. 19.
3 "Niecamp's Hist.," Tom. I., p. 214.
First Protestant Missions in South India. 297
the Church and the Bible as the two great pillars of
God's truth ; and while not neglecting the doctrines
and ceremonies of the former, they felt it their duty
to translate the Word of God into the vulgar tongue,
to employ the printing press as a means of cheap and
rapid reproduction, and to educate the young in a
knowledge of the sacred volume. The experience of
more than a hundred and fifty years has confirmed, in
a remarkable degree, the sagacity of the two students
of Halle, in devising the only effectual method of
converting the heathen.
Ziegenbalg's death, in 1719, left the Tranquebar
Missions to the charge of Griindler, who survived him
but a year. Some pleasant intercourse had taken
place between the Danes and Mr. Lewis, the English
chaplain at Madras, 1 who wrote, in 1712, to the
Christian Knowledge Society in the following terms :
"The Tranquebar Mission must be encouraged. It
is the first attempt the Protestants ever made in that
kind. We must not put out the smoking flax. It
would give our adversaries the Papists, who boast so
much of their congregations De Propaganda Fide, too
much cause to triumph over us." 2 The next chaplain
at Madras (Sterenson) took the deepest interest in
the Danish efforts, assisted them with money, and
wrote an interesting account of a visit to Tranquebar
1 See an interesting account in Pearson's " Memoirs," p. 18.
- Hough, Vol. III. Kaye's "Christianity, p. 75.
298 First Protestant Missions in South India.
in 1716. Passing over several eventful years, we find
the Danish Mission, under English auspices, extending
itself throughout the Presidency of Madras. At first
success was small, owing to their cautious and con-
scientions system of conversion ; for, as we have
already shown, their theory did not contemplate the
possibility of baptising the battalions of nominal
proselytes. Still, at the close of 1756 (the jubilee of
the mission) they numbered nearly three thousand
disciples, and they had established stations at Madras,
Tanjore, 1 Trichinopoly, Negapatam, and other towns.
Nearly half a cewtury of this mission (1750 to
1798) is covered by the life of Frederick Schwartz, 2
one of the greatest heroes of the missionary cause in
the East. Like Ziegenbalg, he was a graduate of
Halle ; but, taught by his predecessor's experience, he
had devoted himself to the study of Tamil before
leaving home. He was, therefore, able to preach to
the natives within a few months of his landing. The
name of Schwartz is always associated with Tanjore,
which he first visited in 1759, and where his inter-
views with the Rajah 3 read almost like a romance, and,
as has been suggested, would afford fine scope for the
1 Tanjore Lat. 10 47', Long. 79 127 ; 170 miles S.E. of Madras.
Pop. 40,000. For a full account see Niecamp's " Histoire des Mission
Danoises," Vol. I., p. 19, and McCulloch's " Geog. Diet."
' 2 Pearson's " Life of Schwartz." " Life of Schwartz," published
by Religious Tract Society. The real name is Schwartz, but he allowed
it to be spelt and pronounced Swartz, as it was found to be easier.
3 Pearson's "Memoirs," Vol. I , p. 179.
First Protestant Missions in South India. 299
genius of an artist great in the expression of human
character. 1 In 1777, while Hyder Ali was devastating
the Carnatic, Schwartz became a permanent resident
at Tanjore ; 2 and so widely diffused was the fame of
his virtue, that the fierce Rajah of Mysore selected
Scwhartz as the only one with whom he would treat
as representative of England. Though his mediation
was unsuccessful, his influence was not diminished.
Hyder 3 issued orders that the Christian missionary
should be respected ; and, after the peace of 1784, he
was no less conspicuous for his administrative ability
than for his devotion to the great duty of preaching
the Gospel. His friend, the Rajah of Tanjore, was so
devoted to Schwartz, that he appointed him the
guardian of his heir ; and though there is no proof
that Swajee ever openly professed Christianity, it is
evident that the lessons of his guardian had sunk
deep into his heart, and had produced, not only a
purity of life, rare in Eastern potentates, but that still
rarer virtue, toleration for other forms of faith. And
not only had the German missionary succeeded in
winning the heart of the enthusiastic Rajah, but he
had accomplished the far more difficult task of rooting
out the prejudices of East India directors, and enlist-
ing them on the side of religion. When he died 4
1 Kaye's " Christianity," p. 79.
2 Pearson's " Memoirs," Vol. I., p. 289.
3 Ib., Vol. I., p. 318.'
4 Pearson's "Memoirs," Vol. IT., p. 310. Kaye's "Christ.," p. 83.
300 First Protestant Missions in South India.
these merchant princes, who, a few years before, would
have sneered at him as a visionary, now ordered
Bacon and Flaxman to sculpture two marble statues,
one for the great church at Madras, the other for the
Mission Church at Tanjore. Sermons were preached
in his honour, and great companies and religious
societies vied with each other in efforts to perpetuate
the memory of such transcendent worth, and to
express their sense of the benefit which Christianity
and civilisation had derived from his exertions.
Though our attention has been fixed on the grand
central figure of Frederick Schwartz, it must not be
supposed that he was the only one in the missionary
picture Tanjore, no doubt, was the focus during the
latter half of the century, as Tranquebar had been
during the former. From these points, lines of light
were continually penetrating the surrounding gloom.
Gericke, Kohloff, and many others 1 advanced into
Trichinopoly to the north, into Madura, Tinnevelly, 2
and even as far as Travancore, each mission becoming
in turn the centre of others. In fact, the progress of
the first Protestant Missions finds a fitting illustration
5
in that magnificent Indian tree which, beginning
1 Schultz, Dahl, Keistenmacher, Bosse, Pressier, Walther, Kier-
nander, Fabricius, Zegler, were the chief missionaries from Halle and
Copenhagen. See Pearson's " Memoirs," pp. 25, 27, 29, and 39; also
Niecamp's " Hist.," fassim.
2 Tinnevelly, to the S.W. of Madura and E. of Travancore. Area
5590 square miles, pop. 900,000. Tinnevelly is the chief town.
First Protestant Missions in South Inaia. 301
from a single insignificant stem, throws out its wide-
spreading branches ; and as each droops to the earth
it strikes into the soil, and repeats the example of its
parent till the plain is arched with its glorious foliage,
and nations seek shelter beneath its shade. " Quot
rami tot, arbores."
CHAPTER II.
ENGLISH MISSIONS TO THE SYRIANS.
I8o6-l8l6.
" To unite them to the Church of England would be, in my opinion,
a most noble work ; and it is most devoutly to be wished that those
who have been driven into the Roman pale, might be recalled to their
ancient Church." -R. H. KERR.
WE are not writing the history of all missionary efforts
to convert the heathen of India ; nor are we directing
our attention to the operations of the various societies
throughout India. Our subject, though extensive
enough for an Essay such as this, is limited to a
narrower field ; and we must, therefore, pass over the
new era of Protestant Missions with which the
XIX th Century opened. The labours of Carey, Ward,
and Marshman, at Seraripore, in translating the
Scriptures ; l the efforts of the London Missionary
Society, beginning in 1798 at Chinsurah, on the
Hooghly, and the extensive organisations of the great
1 " From the year 1800 to the present date, the Bible has been trans-
lated into forty-seven dialects of India, Ceylon, Malacca Burmah,
Java, and China ; while above a million of copies have issued from the
press at Calcutta in the principal languages of Northern India."
Trevor's " India," p. 316.
English Missions to the Syrians. 303
Missionary Societies of England, America, and the
Continent, will only incidentally be noticed as they
bear upon our subject. For the same reason the
honoured names of Brown, Martyn, Corrie, Thomason,
Duff, Middleton, Heber, Wilson, Hough, and many
others must be passed over.
Returning to the Malabar coast, we find that after
the failure of the Danish missionaries, nothing was
done in relation to the Syrian Churches till the year
1806. In point of fact, the various agencies for the
conversion of the natives were so intent upon their
new and interesting work, that they seemed to forget
the existence of the ancient Church of India, and to
feel it no affair of theirs to purify her from the errors
which she had been forced to adopt by her Portuguese
oppressors. And, if this apathy influenced men who
were devoting their lives to the spread of Christianity,
one need not feel surprised at the slight interest which
the existence of this early Church excited in the
minds of the politicians and merchants of our Indian
Empire. Still, there were some distinguished excep-
tions, and one of these, Lord William Bentinck,
Governor of Madras, addressed a letter to Dr. R. H.
Kerr, then Senior Chaplain of Fort St. George, to
make enquiries as to the state of the native Christians
in Cochin and Travancore. Dr. Kerr's official report 1
1 This document will be found at the end of Buchanan's " Christian
Researches." Ed., 1812.
304 English Missions to the Syrians.
is dated 3rd November, 1 806 ; and although it must
be admitted that it is hardly minute enough to give
us an exact idea ot the position of the Syrian
Christians at that date, as to churches, divisions,
ritual, doctrine, members, &c., still it possesses a
certain interest as showing that the Church of England
was desirous of effecting a union with a body of
Christians whose creed was, in all essentials, nearly
identical with her own. His testimony, moreover,
is important as to the religious and moral character of
these mountaineers, of which his acquaintance with
the ordinary Indian type would make him a com-
petent judge. He says : " The character of these
people is marked by striking superiority over the
heathens in every moral excellence, and they are re-
markable for their veracity and plain dealing. They
are extremely attentive to their religious duties, and
abide by the decision of their Metropolitan in all cases,
whether in temporal or spiritual affairs." He ex-
presses his conviction as to the truth of the tradition
that their first head was the Apostle St. Thomas, and
adds, " There can be no doubt whatever that the St.
Thome Christians settled on the Malabar coast at a
very early period, whence they spread to St. Thomas's
Mount, near Madras." The divisions of the Malabar
Church at this period are thus reported. 1 First the
St. TJwme or Jacobite Christians, preserving their
1 Dr. Kerr's Report in " Christian Researches," p. 147.
English Missions to the Synans. 305
original independence, in consequence of the revolt of
1.663, a d enjoying the use of the Syriac language in
the Church Service. They do not permit the use of
images as objects of adoration, but every Church con-
tains a statue of the Virgin Mary with the Infant
Jesus in her arms. The Metropolitan at this time was
Mar-Dionysius, of whom we have already spoken,
and who will again be introduced. This division con-
tained, in 1806, fifty-five churches, and 23,000 people,
but so imperfect were the statistics that another re-
port raises the number to /opoo. 1 The second
division Dr. Kerr calls the Syrian Roman Catholics,
who were forced to join Rome at Diamper. They are
distinguished from their Syrian brethren by being
under Papal government, and from the Latin Roman
Catholics by employing the Syriac language in Divine
Service, in virtue of a dispensation from the Pope.
They are ecclesiastically subject to the Archbishop of
Cranganor and the Bishop of Verapoli. They wear
white dresses, while the Latin priests have black.
This body was said to possess 86 parishes, 400 priests,
and 90,000 people. And if Dr. Kerr's information,
gleaned on the spot, can be trusted, these so-called
Christians were still groaning under the weight of the
burden, to which we have already referred, of com-
bined Roman and Pagan superstitions, using a
" swamy " coach or car, like the heathens, on their
1 Niecamp's " Hist.," Vol. I., p. 64.
X
306 English Missions to the Syrians.
grand festivals. This is a striking illustration of the
influence which the Portuguese Missions of the
XVI th Century still continue to exercise over the
Syrian Christians in the XIX th . The third body is the
Latin Roman Catholics, then under the jurisdiction
of the local Archbishops of Cranganor and Cochin,
but under the Primacy of the Archbishop of Goa.
These Prelates were nominated by the Sovereign of
Portugal, and sanctioned by the Pope. There were
only seven or eight European priests, but a great
number of natives, whose education appeared ex-
tremely imperfect, many of them, indeed, being hardly
able to read the Service. The total population of
Latin Roman Catholic Christians, Portuguese and
natives, using the Latin language, was estimated at
35,000. These dry statistics contain the essence of
Dr. Kerr's report, and we shall now turn to one of a
more interesting character.
Dr. Claudius Buchanan 1 says, in his interesting
" Christian Researches," that " Two centuries had
elapsed without any particular information' concerning
the Syrian Christians in the interior of India. It was
1 Dr. Buchanan, the son of a vScottish schoolmaster, was born at
Cambuslang, near Glasgow, in 1766, educated first at the University of
Glasgow, and sent by Henry Thornton to Cambridge, in 1791. Under
the influence of Simeon his mind was directed to Indian labours, and
in 1797 he landed at Calcutta. In 1806 he visited the Malabar coast,
made many interesting discoveries, obtained valuable Syriac MSS. , and,
returning to England, printed the first version of the Scriptures in that
language. He died at Broxbourne in 1815.
English Missions to the Syrians. 307
doubted by many whether they existed at all ; but if
they did exist, it was thought probable that they
must possess some valuable monuments of Christian
antiquity. The author conceived the design of visiting
them in his tour through Hindostan. He presented a
short memoir on the subject, in 1805, to Marquis
Wellesley, then Governor-General of India, who was
pleased to give orders that every facility should be
afforded to him in the prosecution of his enquiries." l
The principal objects of his tour were to investigate
the literature and history of this ancient Church, and
to collect MSS. ; also to employ the most intelligent of
their priests as translators of the Bible into the
languages of Southern India, and as missionaries to
preach to their fellow-countrymen, both Christians and
pagans. In May, 1806, he started for the south, but
it was October before he reached Travancore, 2 where
he was kindly received at the Palace of Trevandrum.
Col. Macaulay obtained an audience from the Rajah,
who was very anxious to know the precise purpose
of his visit. " When I told the Rajah that the Syrian
Christians were supposed to be of the same religion
with the English, he said he thought that could not
be the case, else he must have heard of it before ; if,
however, it was so, he considered my desire to visit
them as being very reasonable. He said he would
1 " Christian Researches," Cambridge, 1811, p. 91.
2 Pearson's "Memoirs," Philad., 1817, p. 313.
X 2
308 English Missions to the Syrians.
afford me every facility for my journey, and he directed
his Dewan to furnish me with guides." l From Trav-
ancore he proceeded, early in November, to Mavely-
car,' 2 and was much struck by the grandeur of the
mountain scenery in this sequestered region of India,
by the simple beauty of the churches, surrounded by
woods, and by one circumstance, which we quote in
his own words : "In approaching a town in the
evening I once heard the sound of the bells among
the hills ; a circumstance which made me forget for a
moment that I was in Hindostan, and reminded me
of another country."
The first Syrian church Dr. Buchanan saw was at
Mavelycar, but the Syrians here are close to the
Romish Christians, and had been often visited by
Portuguese and other Romish emissaries. The Cat-
tanars had heard of the English, but so little did they
know of the outer world, that they thought the
English Church was under the Pope. They naturally
looked on their new clerical visitor with suspicion,
especially when he entered on a discussion as to the
original language of the four Gospels, which they, of
course, maintained to be Syriac. After a time their
suspicions subsided, they received him as a friend, and
appointed one of their number to accompany him to the
1 Letter dated " Palace of Travancore, 9th Oct. 1806." " Christian
Researches,'' p. 93.
- Pearson's " Memoirs." p. 319.
English Missions to the Syrians. 309
churches of the interior. At Chinganoor l he met one
of the Cattanars, or genuine Syrian clergy, dressed in a
white loose vestment, a little like a surplice, with a cap
of red silk. The Englishman saluted him, to his great
surprise, in Syriac, " Peace be unto you," and he
answered, " The God of peace be with you." Turning
to the guides, the Syrian asked them, in Malayalim,
who the stranger was, and then accompanied him to
the door of the church, where he was received by three
Casheeshas, similarly vested. The eldest was a very
intelligent man, with a long white beard, reverend
and courteous in his demeanour. The people of the
neighbouring villages flocked around, men and women,
the presence of the latter proving that the country was
a Christian one. Still, though the whole bearing of the
villagers indicated intelligence and a certain amount
of moral culture, there were symptoms of poverty,
depression, and fallen greatness. Dr. Buchanan said
to the senior priest, " You appear to me like a people
who have known better days." "It is even so," said
he. "We are in a degenerate state, compared with
our forefathers. About three hundred years ago an
enemy came from the west bearing the name of Christ,
but armed with the Inquisition, and compelled us to
seek the protection of the native princes. And the
native princes have kept us in a state of depression
1 Pearson's " Memoirs," p. 322,
310 English Missions to the Syrians.
ever since. They, indeed, recognise our ancient personal
privileges, for we rank in general next to the Nairs,
the nobility of the country ; but they have encroached
by degrees on our property, till we have been reduced
to the humble state in which you find us. The glory
of our Church has passed away ; but we hope your
nation will revive it again." Then followed an inter-
esting conversation, during which the Syrian said
that they had preserved the Bible, that the Hindoo
princes had never touched their liberty of conscience,
that they had occasionally made converts, but that
it was not now creditable to become a Christian.
He lamented that their knowledge of the Bible
was very limited, that they had few copies, and that,
as none were printed, the writing out was enormous
work, with little or no profit. On this Dr. Buchanan
produced a printed copy of the Syriac New Testa-
ment. Nothing could exceed their astonishment.
Each eagerly seized it in turn, and began to read with
great fluency. They all professed an earnest desire
to have the whole Bible printed in Syriac, for, added
the principal speaker, "Our Church languishes for want
of the Scriptures." They then discussed the practica-
bility of preparing a translation in the Malayalim, or
Malabar, the language of the people, and a most
interesting conversation closed by the Englishman's
giving, at their request an account of the Reformation
English Missions to the Syrians. 311
while they in return narrated the recent history of
their own Church. 1
Dr. Buchanan attended Divine Service, and found
the liturgy nearly the same as that formerly used at
Antioch. During the prayers, there were intervals of
silence for private devotion. Incense was employed,
and several ceremonies were noticed closely resem-
bling those of the Greek Church. There was little or
no preaching ; but the spirit of the Church had been
preserved by the Bible, and by a Scriptural liturgy. 2
Still, there was too much formality and coldness in
the service ; and the whole tone of the Syrian worship
indicated a want of spiritual life.
On the 24th of November, the English missionary
had a kind reception from the Indian Bishop at his
residence of Candenad the Mar-Dionysius, of whom
we have already spoken. 3 Between fifty and sixty
priests had been assembled to meet the stranger at
the humble episcopal palace. " You have come,"
said the prelate, " to visit a declining Church. I am
now an old man, but the hopes of its seeing better
days cheer my old age, though I may not live to see
them." In reply to Dr. Buchanan's proposal to trans-
1 For a full account of this interview, see Dr. Buchanan's letter of
roth November, 1806.
2 This was Dr. Buchanan's impression, but, as the reader will
observe later, there are expressions which seem scarcely "Scriptural"
in several of the liturgies. See "Asseman. Bil. Orient.," Hough's
" Hist.," Vol. V., and Howard's "Syrian Christians."
3 Pearson's " Memoirs," p. 328.
3 1 2 English Missions to the Syrians.
late and print the Bible, Dionysius said : " I have
already fully considered the subject, and have deter-
mined to superintend the work myself, and to call the
most learned clergy to my aid. It is a work which
will illuminate these dark regions, and God will give
it His blessing." The Englishman was delighted with
this declaration, for he had ascertained that there
were upwards of 200,000 Christians in the south of
India, besides the Syrians who speak Malabar.
Next day there was another important conversation
on the possibility of union with the Church of Eng-
land. The influence of the original Portuguese Missions,
supported by constant accessions from France and Italy,
was still so powerfully felt by the promoters of modern
efforts that it seemed almost impossible to arrest the
march of the Church of Rome. It was, therefore, an
object of the greatest consequence to secure the hearty
co-operation of the Syrian Christians, not merely on
account of the prestige afforded by antiquity, but
because of the peculiar fitness of the Cattanars for
preaching a pure Gospel in a pure language. Still, it
was a delicate and difficult subject, and there was
evidently much reserve on both sides. The Syrian
clergy had been designedly led to doubt the validity
of English Orders. They could not understand the
controversy ; and Dr. Buchanan had to enter into full
details, with which the Bishop and his clergy appeared
to be satisfied. He said, " I would sacrifice much for
English Missions to the Syrians. 313
such a union ; only let me not be called to compro-
mise anything of the dignity and purity of our
Church." Assured on this point, he conferred with his
Cattanars, and sent an answer : " That a, union with
the English Church, or, at least, such a connection as
should appear to both Churches practicable and ex-
pedient, would be a happy event, and favourable to
the progress of religion in India." This important
document was signed " Mar-Dionysius, Metropolitan
of Malabar."
From Candenad, Dr. Buchanan went to visit Col.
Macaulay (the British resident), in whose company he
made a short excursion to the interior, spending a few
hours at the too famous Diamper. 1 He then paid a
second visit to Dionysius, who, though seventy-eight
years of age, had actually begun the translation of the
Bible. On the Qth of December we find the traveller
at the ruined tower and fortress of Cranganor, where
St. Thomas landed from Aden, and where the Portu-
guese once possessed a splendid emporium. One relic
still exists. The descendants of the Portuguese mer-
chants have passed away, but the successors of the
Portuguese missionaries hold their ground, represented
by the Archbishop of Cranganor at the head of forty-
five churches.
Dr. Buchanan resolved to secure as much informa-
tion as possible from both sides, called on Bishop
1 Pearson's " Memoirs," p. 239.
314 English Missions to the Syrians.
Raymondo, the Pope's Apostolic Vicar over the
churches of Malabar. This prelate was warden of the
Theological College at Verapoli, where about twenty
students were instructed in Latin and Syriac ; while
at Pulingalla there was another college, in which
Syriac alone was taught to twelve students. The
Papal Bishop superintended sixty-four churches in his
own diocese, and many others in the dioceses of Cran-
ganor, Quilon, and Cochin. " The view of this
assemblage of Christian congregations," says the
traveller, " excited in my mind mingled sensations of
pleasure and regret ; of pleasure, to think that so
many of the Hindoos had been rescued from the
idolatry of Brahma and its criminal worship ; and of
regret, when I reflected that there was not to be found
among the whole body one copy of the Holy Bible." x
The Apostolic Vicar, an Italian, and one of the Society
De Propaganda Fide, gave his visitor free access to
the college archives, in which were volumes marked
" Liber hereticus prohibitus." Here again was an
instance of Portuguese influence still at worfc. " Every
step I take in Christian India I meet with a memento
of the Inquisition," is the testimony of Dr. Buchanan
on this point. The Italian prelate, too, confirmed the
impression, for, alluding to his visitor's intention of
translating the Scriptures into Malabar, he said, " I
have been thinking of the good gift you are meditat-
1 " Christian Researches,' Ed. i8u,p. 114.
English Missions to the Syrians. 315
ing for r the native Christians, but, believe me, the
Inquisition will endeavour to counteract your purposes
by every means in their power." When these words
were spoken, the Inquisition still held sway at Goa,
where it was visited by Dr. Buchanan in January,
1808, and though it is now suppressed, moral influence
continues to operate, even where physical force is no
longer feared.
Early in January, 1807, Dr. Buchanan penetrated
once more inland, and visited the ancient Church of
Angamale, 1 once the residence of the Syrian Bishop,
where he found many valuable MSS. Amongst these
was discovered a splendid folio, containing the
Old and New Testaments, beautifully engrossed on
strong vellum, in Estrangelo Syriac. The Bishop
presented this precious MS. to the Englishman,
saying, " It will be safer in your hands than in our
own, and yet we have kept it for near a thousand
years."- How wonderful to reflect that during the
dark ages of European history, the Bible should have
been preserved in the mountains of Malabar, where it
was then freely read in a hundred churches. 3 After
1 Pearson's " Memoirs," p. 333.
2 " Christian Researches," Ed. 18 1 1, p. 118, Howard's " Christians
pf St. Thomas," p. 59. Bagster's "Bible of every Land," p. 44.
3 Most of the MSS. which I collected among the Syrian Christians,
I have presented to the University of Cambridge ; and they are now
deposited in the Public Library of that University, together with the
copper-plate fac-similes of the Christian and Jewish tablets.
Buchanan's "Christ. Res.," Ed. 1811, p. 121.
316 English Missions to the Syrians.
Dr. Buchanan left Travancore, the aged Bishop perse-
vered in his translation of the Scriptures, till he had
completed the New Testament ; and next year, the
first edition was beautifully printed at Bombay and
circulated through the whole of the churches of the
Seira. In order to conclude this notice we may
anticipate part of our narrative by stating that Dr.
Buchanan returned to England in 1808; but, owing
to various delays, it was not till 1815 that the first
sheets of the Syriac New Testament issued from the
press at Broxbourne. On the good doctor's death,
soon afterwards, Dr. Lee, of Cambridge, continued the
work ; the New Testament complete was published
in 1816, and in 1826 the whole Syriac Bible was
circulated in Malabar.
One portion of Dr. Buchanan's experience amongst
the Syrian Christians must not pass unnoticed, as it
bears directly on the subject of this paper, and proves
that the Portuguese Missions of the XVI th century
continued to exert the most baneful influence on the
Churches of Malabar. He says that though he had
heard much of Papal corruption, he certainly did not
expect to see Christianity in the degraded state in
which he found it. The priests were, in general,
better acquainted with the Vedas than with the
Gospel ! At Aughoor, the Tower of Juggernaut
solemnised a Christian festival ; and the old priest of
the Syrian Church described the idolatrous car, the
English Missions to the Syrians. 3 1 7
painted figures, and the heathen rites, as if himself
unconscious of any wrong! "Thus by the intervention
of the Papal power are the ceremonies of Moloch
consecrated in a manner by the sacred Syriac
language. What a heavy responsibility lies on Rome
for having thus corrupted and degraded that pure and
ancient Church. While the author viewed these
Christian corruptions in different places, and in
different forms, he was always referred to the Inquisi-
tion at Goa as the fountain head." x
An incidental proof may be added of the extent to
which the original Portuguese element continues to
influence this part of India, for our author says " that
the Portuguese language prevails wherever there are, or
have been, settlements of that nation. Their descen-
dants people the coasts from the vicinity of the Cape of
Good Hope to the Sea of China " ; and in a long list
of places he mentions Calicut, Cochin, Tranquebar,
Tanjore, &c. He founds on this fact an argument for
the circulation of the Scriptures in a language so
generally known in the European settlements, adding,
' the Portuguese language is certainly a most favourable
medium for diffusing the true religion in the maritime
provinces of the East." In another part of his
interesting work he throws out the important sugges-
tion that as Goa is, and probably will long be, the
centre from which Portuguese Missions will radiate
1 " Christian Researches," p. 126. Ed. 1811.
318 English Missions to the Syrians.
through Southern India, every effort should be made
to purify the fountain head. And he has reason to
believe that the three thousand priests connected with
Goa would gladly receive copies of the Latin and
Portuguese versions of their authorised Bible, that is
the Vulgate.
We have thus given an account, necessarily im-
perfect, of the condition of the Syrians in 1806, and
we strongly advise our readers to peruse the whole of
the Doctor's work if they desire further information.
Great as was his success in securing a complete
version of the Bible in Syriac for the use of churches,
and in Malabar for general circulation, this was not
the only result. His interesting description of the
Syrian Christians excited much sympathy in England,
and the Church Missionary Society organised a
mission to Travancore for the purpose of teaching the
clergy and people, counteracting the influence of the
RoinisJi Missionaries, and restoring the Church to its
original purity. This mission will form the subject
of our next chapter.
CHAPTER III.
THE ENGLISH MISSIONS AND THE SYRIAN
CHRISTIANS.
1816-1838.
" I hasten to remark generally what charity and tender sympathy we
should cultivate towards these and similar relics of Apostolical Churches.
I low readily should we acknowledge what is good in them ; without
requiring of them conformity to our Protestant models of liturgical wor-
ship or our Western notions." BISHOP WILSON (of Calcutta).
IT is scarcely possible to over-estimate the continu-
ation of an influence, however trifling or remote, in the
production of a long series of results. All the great
events of history may be traced to comparatively
insignificant causes. A word, a gesture, a phrase
misunderstood, a hasty despatch, an intercepced letter,
may be, without exaggeration, considered the imme-
diate cause of some event, which in turn produces
another, and that a third, till it becomes quite
impossible to say when or where the action ceases.
So it is, in the history before us. The Portuguese
Missions of the XVI^ Century, not only in their direct
bearing on the Syrian CliurcJi in 1599, but also by
320 English Missions and Syrian Christians.
their fomenting unhappy divisions during the last two
hundred years divisions still in activity may be
fairly held responsible for the difficulties which have
since arisen, and which have hitherto frustrated the
well-meant efforts of the English Church to restore
peace to this afflicted portion of Christ's vineyard. 1
We have just seen how Dr. Buchanan's narrative
had the effect of exciting a warm interest amongst
English Churchmen in favour of the Syrian Christians.
But, meanwhile, the old difficulty had arisen in the
Church of the Serra. The aged Dionysius had, some
nine years before Dr. Buchanan's visit, consecrated
Mar-Thomas as coadjutor and successor, while he
nominated his own nephew to be his successor. Great
dissatisfaction prevailed. But, at last, a sort of conse-
cration was performed at the bedside of the expiring
Metropolitan, and Mar-Thomas succeeded. The
irregularity of the proceeding strengthened the hands
of the discontented faction, who appealed to the
British resident, and wrote to Antioch for a regularly
consecrated Bishop. The death of the quiet and
1 " These people were also fearfully persecuted some three hundred
years ago by the crafty and bloodthirsty Popish agent, Menezes, who by
the power of the Portuguese, not only stole some of their churches and
persecuted numbers to death, but succeeded also in corrupting the whole
Syrian Church with their own abominable doctrines and id >latrous
practices. So that if you wish to know what practically the Syrian
Church is now, I have but to refer you to Indianised Popery." -Paper
by the Rev. J. Peet, of Marelikara, Tnvancore. Read at the South
India Miss. Conf. at Ostacamund, April 28th, 1858.
English Missions and Syrian Christians. 321
inoffensive Mar-Thomas terminated the dispute, and
the Ramban Joseph, a man of decided piety, succeeded
for a time in restoring tranquillity.
At this favourable juncture, Colonel Macaulay,
resident at the Court of Trevandrum, took a deep
interest in the resuscitation of the Syrian Church, in
which he was followed by his successor, Colonel
Munro. The result of their interposition, and of the
friendliness manifested by the Queen or Rani, was a
decided amelioration in the political condition of the
oppressed Syrians. But though Colonel Munro did
his utmost to restore peace, his mediation was fruitless
till the period of which we are now speaking. Un-
deterred by previous failure, the Colonel took the
decided step of making an application to the Church
Missionary Society to send out clergy for the purpose
of instructing these Christians whom he had found in
a sadly debased condition. 1 The expression is not
too strong, for as we have already seen, the word of
God, though nominally possessed by the people, was
in Syriac, while the vernacular was Malayalim ; the
prayers of the Church were chiefly in what was, prac-
tically, an unknown tongue ; the priests were almost
entirely uneducated, and there was little or no vital
1 Ch. Miss. Rep. 1815-16., South Indian Miss. Conf. Mullens's
"South Indian Missions," p. 127. Captain Swanston's "Rep." Vol. II.,
p. 66. "Royal Asiatic Journal." Day's "Land of the Permauls."
Howards " Christians of S. Thomas."
y
322 English Missions and Syrian Christians.
religion in this fallen Church. The problem, therefore,
now to be solved was how the Church of England
missionaries might > with God's blessing, impart spiritual
life to this decaying branch. The application to the
parent society was favourably entertained, and in 1 8 1 6 1
Messrs. Bailey, Baker, and Fenn were sent out to
the Syrians in Travancore, while Mr. Norton was
settled at Allepie among the Romanists and a large
heathen population. In 1817 Mr. Bailey opened a
mission at Cottayam, where the Rani of Travancore
had largely endowed a college, built in 1815 by a
rich Syrian noble, for the residence of the Bishop, and
for the education of the clergy. Colonel Munro, in
order to effect a permanent union on the most friendly
basis, formed a committee of management of the
Metran and the three missionaries, while the English
resident at Travancore, and the Dewan, or Prime
Minister, were to form a tribunal of appeal in all civil
matters. The collegiate staff included the Metropolitan
as principal, two English clergymen, two Malpans
(Syrian doctors), a teacher of Hebrew, and two
teachers of Sanskrit. Nearly fifty students soon
joined the new institution, and according to good
authority " their ability seemed high, their spirit and
conduct excellent, and their desire for learning not
inferior to what is found in English lads of the same
age." The missionaries appear to have proceeded
1 "Madras Ch. Miss. Rec.," Nov., 1837.
English Missions and Syrian Christians. 323
upon a thoroughly matured plan, for we find the prin-
ciple of graded schools simultaneously introduced.
Three free grammar schools were opened, one in each
division of the diocese, not only for the purpose of
affording a higher education, but for preparing youths
to enter at Cottayam, while no fewer than thirty-seven
parish schools were established throughout the moun-
tains, glens, paddy-grounds, and coast of this hitherto
uneducated land. Another important duty was
undertaken by the indefatigable Mr. Bailey and his
zealous coadjutors. The existing translations of the
Scriptures were so defective that it was necessary to
prepare a new version, and, therefore, Messrs. Bailey
and Thompson, taking the Tamil of Fabricius as the
basis, completed a new rendering more agreeable to
the idiom of the country. This done, types were
founded, a press constructed with the aid of a native
blacksmith, and in a short time there issued from it
the Scriptures, the Common Prayer, two complete
dictionaries, and many religious books. 1 The mis-
sionaries felt the importance of the maxim, "Divide
and conquer," for while Mr. Bailey was engaged in the
literary work, Mr. Baker's sphere was the constant
visitation of seventy-two Syrian churches, which had
1 See a most interesting description of "Mr Bailey's labours in South
India Missions" by Dr. Mullens, p. 128. The printing-office at
Cottayam flourishes still. Howard's "Christians of S.Thomas,"
p. 89, and " Madras Ch. Miss. Rec.," Sep., 1834.
Y 2
324 English Missions and Syrian Christians.
either not been subdued by the Portuguese in 1599, or
had thrown off the yoke in 1663. To Mr. Fenn
was assigned the chief direction of the educational
department at Cottayam, wherein he was assisted by
a European layman and a staff of native teachers as
already stated. The public worship was generally
conducted in the grammar school of the college, or in
the house of one of the missionaries. " On Sunday
morning I collect all the boys from the grammar
school, at ten, into the college, where we are going
through the Bible in the presence of all the teachers
and boys of the college and grammar school. At
these lectures I speak the pure truth in love, and
often when they have closed, have taken the Malpan
and other Cattanar teachers aside to ascertain whether
they have comprehended all that has been said, and
what has been their opinion about it. On Sunday
afternoon we have full service in Malayalim in the
grammar school. I, or a deacon, read the morning
prayers, as I am so partial to the Litany, and a
Cattanar preaches, as it was not till last month that I
was enabled to perform full service, on which occasion,
after reading, I commenced my preaching course, by
addressing them from the words ' Behold, the Lamb
of God.' After this service is concluded, I have been
in the habit, for the last six months, of collecting the
teachers, boys, i.e., those who know anything of Eng-
lish, and preaching to them in English in a familiar
English Missions and Syrian Christians. 325
style. The whole number at this service does not ex-
ceed nine." x Some of the missionaries seem also to
have preached in Malayalim in the Syrian churches,
but their course must have been rather difficult, for
though the Cattanars were liberal, or indifferent
enough to allow the Englishmen to officiate, the latter
could not conscientiously take part in the Corbano
(Eucharist), as it too nearly resembled the Mass. 2
For a time everything worked smoothly. The
missionaries took the deepest interest in their new
duties ; and we have several independent testimonies
as to their zeal, prudence, tact, and courteous treat-
ment of the Bishop and clergy of the Syrian Church.
Thus Principal Mills says : " The persons to whom I
was chiefly indebted for my intercourse, both with the
priests and laity of this extraordinary people (of
whose Indian language I was wholly ignorant), were
three clergymen of the Church of England, resident at
Cotym, in Travancore, and actively employed in super-
intending the college of the parochial schools ; the
former of which by the grant of the heathen govern-
ment of that country, the latter, by the desire and
contribution of these Christians themselves, have been
recently established in their community. Singular as
1 "Madras Ch. Miss. Rec.," 1834.
2 The missionaries seem generally to have acted with great tact and
delicacy, but yet it was hardly prudent of one of them to speak of this
part of the Syrian Service as " a most wretched piece of buffoonery."
Howard, p. 92.
326 English Missions and Syrian Christians.
such superintendence may appear, and almost unpre-
cedented, there' is nothing in it, as exercised by these
clergymen, which they visit, or as far as I am capable
of judging of that to which they themselves belong."
And again : " They do nothing but by the express
sanction of the Metropolitan consulting and em-
ploying them ; their use of the Anglican Service for
themselves and families at one of his chapels is agree-
able to the catholic practice of these Christians (who
allowed the same 250 years ago to the Portuguese
priests, as to persons rightly and canonically or-
dained, even while they were resisting their usurpa-
tions) and is totally unconnected with any purpose of
obtruding even that Liturgy upon the Syrian Church ;
while their conduct with respect to those parts of the
Syrian ritual and practice which all Protestants must
condemn, is that of silence ; which, without the
appearance of approval, leaves it to the gradual
influence of the knowledge now disseminating itself
to undermine, and at length by regular authority to
remove them." 1
Similar testimony may be found in the interesting
diary of Major Mackworth. " After five hours' sail and
row we came in sight of the several houses of the mis-
sionaries at Cottayam, erected on some rising grounds,
at no great distance from each other ; and soon after
1 Professor Mills' Letter of 29th July, 1821, quoted in " Missionary
Register " for 1823.
English Missions and Syrian Christians. 327
we discovered an ancient church on our right hand in
a romantic situation amongst the trees, and slightly
elevated above the valley through which flows the
stream that we were ascending. A little further to
the left, and in the valley, was the Syrian College. I
landed about half-a-mile from Mr. Fenn's house, and
proceeded towards it on foot ; but, before I entered
his ground, he came himself to meet me, and gave me
a Christian welcome." ..." All the missionaries
and their wives dined this evening with Mr. and Mrs.
Fenn, and I was a delighted spectator of their mutual
cordiality and Christian friendship. It seems, indeed,
a peculiar blessing from the Almighty to this fallen
Church, that those whom, I hope without being pre-
sumptuous, we may venture to regard as sent to be His
honoured instruments in restoring her to her pristine
faith, should be all unquestionably pious men ; surely it
is an earnest that His blessing will attend their
labours." In another passage he says, speaking of the
Metropolitan, " Whenever the missionaries express a
wish he gladly accedes to it, as far as he is able ; but
this they seldom do, in a direct manner, as their object
is rather to let improvements spring from their sug-
gestions, acting on the gradually-increasing light
of his own mind." . . . Major Mackworth describes
his interview with the Metropolitan in a most interest-
ing passage too long to quote, and he adds, " When he,
at length, retired, the three missionaries accompanied
328 English Missions and Syrian Christians.
him to his palanquin, with the greatest respect and
deference ; by which, and similar means, they render
him venerable in the eyes of his people, from the
honour which the notice of Europeans in this country
always confers." l We may add one brief quotation
from Captain Swanston who, five years after Major
Mackworth's visit, speaks of the satisfactory working
of the College : " The missionaries conducting them-
selves with great prudence^ and being respected and
beloved by the people? z We consider it no digression
to have cited these authorities in favour of the English
missionaries, because, at the time of the disruption
in 1838, they were severely blamed by many of their
fellow-countrymen as having caused the separation by
their own officious zeal.
From the missionaries we may turn to the Syrian
Church. There can be no doubt that at first all was
couleur de rose. They could not fail to see the deep
interest taken in their welfare by their English fellow-
Christians. They were delighted to observe the kind
and conciliatory spirit of the missionaries who were
more anxious to infuse tJie real principles of religion
into tlie people than to dictate any alterations in tfie
ritual or doctrine of tJie Church. The Metropolitan
1 Diary of a Tour through Southern India in 1821-22, by a Field
Officer of Cavalry.
' 2 Captain Swanston's Memoir in Vol. II. of the Royal Asiatic Soc.
Journal.
English Missions and Syrian Christians. 329
and his clergy being, on the whole, interested in the
promotion of the Gospel, felt, at first, no jealousy of
the plans which the English clergymen suggested ;
and, as the head of their Church (a religious and
amiable man), was fully recognised in his official
capacity, and duly consulted on every important oc-
casion, they were not apprehensive of any aggression
on their rights and privileges, or of any attempt to
destroy their independent existence. Many years
passed in this state of harmony. The College and the
schools did the work of education effectively ; the
press continued to pour forth numerous contributions
to the nascent literature of Malayala ; the pioneers of
peace went from church to church preaching the
Gospel message ; and, as new missionaries joined,
fresh stations were opened at Cochin, Trichur, and
Mavelicary. After a time, however, all these bright
prospects were clouded over, and symptoms of dis-
turbance began to appear ; but whether this interruption
of amicable relations must be attributed to the Syrians
or to the Englishmen, it is difficult, perhaps impossible,
clearly to determine. Those who lean to the former
say that "the missionaries, beginning to gain a
clearer estimate of their true position, saw that in
relation to the Syrian Church they were absolutely
without authority ; they were mere volunteers in the
attempt to get rid of existing evils ; they were
physicians ready to assist the cure of a disease of
330 English Missions and Syrian Christians.
which they had clear perceptions, but which the patient
scarcely felt, and in regard to which he might at any
time decline their services in toto. They found that
when the novelty of the thing had worn off the old
Adam in the people had greatly revived. They saw
that the spiritual worth of the Church, and the task of
raising it up, had been much overrated. They found
the people careless about real religion ; they found
the priesthood unconverted, looking after their fees,
formal in their service ; the whole body lifeless and
cold." l On the other hand it is confidently affirmed
that the missionaries had never entered heartily into
the feelings of the people or even of the clergy ; they
believed them sunk in ignorance and superstition, and
directed their efforts, not so much to restore that
which might be wanting, as to persuade them to
abolish, en masse, all that was offensive to their own
prejudices and this comprehended apparently the
entire Syrian ritual and to substitute what are
technically called Evangelical principles both in doc-
trine and in worship, in place of the ancient usages
and doctrines of the Church. 2
Of course different views will be taken of these
1 Mullens's "Missions in South India," pp. 129-130.
2 Howard's " Christians of S. Thomas," p. 94. The curious reader
desirous of further information as to the progress of this lamentable
quarrel is referred to the "Madras Church Missionary Record " for
1836-7-8, to Hough's " Christianity in India," Vol. V., p. 386, and to
the " Missionary Register" for 1838.
English Missions and Syrian Christians. 331
transactions according to the ecclesiastical bias of the
reader. Some will look upon the rudeness of a young
missionary fresh from Islington x to the Metropolitan
of the Syrian Church as an outpouring of that righteous
indignation which should characterise a true reformer,
while others will be ready to condemn such intemperate
zeal as calculated to hinder, rather than to help, the
purification of the Syrian ritual and the promotion of
true religion. Our space will not permit us to discuss
this painful question, or to adjust with perfect precision
the amount of right and wrong on each side ; but we
hasten to say that matters had gone so far in 1835
that it was necessary for Bishop Wilson to visit the
mission stations, for the purpose, if possible, of pour-
ing oil upon the waters. At the conference which took
place at Cottayam 2 six points were submitted by the
English prelate for the consideration of his Syrian
brother. The discussions which followed were con-
ducted with Christian courtesy ; the English Bishop,
at the Metran's request, preached to 2,000 persons for
an hour, and received the thanks of the Syrian prelate.
In a charge which Bishop Wilson shortly afterwards
delivered at Bombay, he called attention to the distinc-
tive peculiarities of the Syrian Church, and he urged, in
the spirit of the extract at the head of this chapter,
that all English clergymen should deal charitably and
1 Howard's " Christians of S. Thomas," p. 99.
2 See the 2nd Vol. of Bateman's "Life of Bishop Wilson."
33 2 English Missions and Syrian Christians.
tenderly with these ancient usages. The advice,
unfortunately, was not taken, and it soon became
apparent that the reformers were determined to rest
satisfied with nothing less than a complete change in the
Communion Office, in order to assimilate the Syrian
Liturgy to tliat of the Church of England. The most
painful scenes occurred between 1833 and 1838, and
the opposition to the missionaries grew stronger every
day. 1 At length the breach, which had long been
imminent, began in 1836, and was consummated by a
complete separation in 1838. This must, however,
be discussed in a separate chapter.
1 " Madras Church Missionary Record," Vol III., pp. 35-6-7.
CHAPTER IV.
THE DISRUPTION AND ITS RESULTS. 1838-1858.
" Now, I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that ye all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions
among you ; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind
and in the same judgment." S. PAUL.
BEFORE resuming the narrative in our last chapter, it
will be necessary to refer to an almost forgotten con-
secration in 1772, in order to trace the causes of a
dissension which tended still further to complicate the
condition of the Syrian Church. We allude to Cyril,
created Metropolitan by Mar-Gregorius. In 1805,
Cyril had consecrated a successor, who in turn ap-
pointed his successor, named Philoxenus, in 1812. All
these Bishops had lived amongst the mountains at
Agugnur, and had rarely been heard of on the Malabar
coast. When, however, Mar-Joseph died, and the
direct line became extinct, the Prelate of the Serra
was called to preside over the whole Church. Again
the most violent controversy raged amongst this ex-
citable race, the whole question turning, as usual, on
the validity of the consecration. After much discus-
sion his rights were confirmed, and after appointing a
334 The Disruption and its Results.
coadjutor and successor, he retired from the stormy
scenes of the coast to the quiet of his mountain home.
The defeated party at length succeeded in inducing
the Patriarch of Antioch to send two Syrians, named
Athanasius and Abraham, to take full charge of the
Malabar Church. On their road they were kindly
received by Bishop Heber at Bombay, who implored
the new Metropolitan to use all moderation, and en-
joined the missionaries to keep as free as possible from
the coming strife. 1 Athanasius arrived at Malabar in
1825, and, so far from using the moderation which
Bishop Heber had desired, he acted in the most arbi-
trary manner, summoned the native Metropolitan to
appear before him, declared all ordinations, since 1810
null and void, threatened all opponents with excom-
munication, and obstinately refused to listen to any
advice. In the midst of this general confusion, Bishop
Heber was appealed to as a mediator ; and he was
actually at Trichinopoly on his way to the south
when he entered the fatal bath. Several interesting
letters from Bishop Heber and Archdeacon Robinson,
too long for quotation here, will be found in the third
volume of the " Journal." 2 The dissensions at last
reached so violent a pitch that the English Govern-
ment was obliged to interfere. Athanasius was ex-
1 Heber's "Journal," Vol. III., pp. 448-9. Howard's " Christians
of S. Thomas," p. 68.
a Also in Howard's " Christians of S. Thomas," pp. 71-86.
The Disruption and its Results. 335
pellcd, several of the ringleaders were fined, the native
Metropolitan reinstated, and peace restored. This
occurred in 1826.
We have already seen that the union, cordial at
first, but gradually cooling, between the Church of
England missionaries and the Syrian Christians, con-
tinued from 1816 to 1838. The kind-hearted Metran,
Dionysius, who lived on such friendly terms with his
English visitors, and who really desired to resuscitate
his Church, had been succeeded by one whose charac-
ter was not so good, and whose Views of Church ques-
tions were decidedly opposed to any approach to
union. Colonel Munro had left Malabar, and the
fickle natives, keenly alive to the influence of political
power, no longer respected the missionaries as they
had previously done. Superstitions which had been
shaken, if not abolished, began to reassert their
ascendency. Prayers for the dead afforded a hand-
some revenue to the priests, and the doctrines of the
missionaries on this point, of course, made them feel
that their craft was in danger. The avarice of the new
Bishop exhibited itself not only in his ordination of
uninstructed lads, but in his letting the College lands
for his own benefit. " On more than one occasion a
missionary in charge of the College, returning suddenly
to his class-room after going homeward, caught the
Metran, or one of the native professors, in the act of
teaching some doctrine the very opposite of that
336 The Disruption and its Results.
which he had just laid down, and purposely undoing
all the good which the missionary had just endea-
voured to do." 1 As the doctrine in dispute is not
mentioned, it is quite impossible for an impartial
historian to determine which was right, the Metran or
the missionary ; but the very manner in which this
characteristic anecdote is related, proves most clearly
that suspicion and subterfuge had reached such a pitch
that longer co-operation was impossible. Before,
however, taking the decided step of abandoning the
Syrian Church, the missionaries prevailed upon the
Bishop of Calcutta to expostulate with the Metran
and clergy. Dr. Wilson accordingly proposed that
the Church should, by its own act, purify itself of all
errors that had been derived from Nestorian sources,
and, at a later period, from the Portuguese mission-
aries, beginning with Menezes.
The Syrian Metropolitan, acting on this suggestion,
convened a Synod, ostensibly for the purpose of dis-
cussing the points at issue ; but if the missionary
version is a correct one, " he succeeded by bribes and
intimidation in preventing the reforming party from
being heard ; and then, by means of a majority of
his own followers, dissolved all connection with the
Church Mission, their Church, and objects. The
engagements made between the Syrians and the
Church Mission by Colonel Munro were thus broken
1 Mullen's " Missions in South India," p. 130.
The Disruption and its Results. 337
by the Syrians. I would particularly notice that we
did not leave the Syrians to their own blindness, nor
did Bishop Wilson wish to force them to adopt our
creed or forms ; but, on the contrary, they refused our
help, and determined not to return to their own rules,
tenets, and doctrines of centuries gone by." l On the
other hand it is alleged that attempts were made in
i82o, 2 and again in i836, 3 to introduce the English
Communion Service, or an office much modified from
their own ; and one of the missionaries, in the report
for 1838, says "it was hoped that the people would be
willing, ere long, to substitute our English Sacrament
Service in its stead." 4 Now, if these statements are
correct, with every desire to do justice to the good
intentions of the zealous missionaries, one cannot help
feeling that these attempts to tamper with the liturgy
of an independent Church are quite indefensible.
Granting that there are expressions in the Syrian
liturgy which demand reform, and which no sound
Churchman would desire to retain, it by no means
follows that three or four private clergymen of another
Communion were in a right position when venturing
to alter, without due authorisation, the service of a
Church into which they had been admitted by courtesy.
Make the case our own, and we shall see the question
1 Rev. Henry Baker in " South India Miss. Conf.," 1858, p. 67.
2 Hough's " Christ, in India," Vol. V., p. 386.
3 Madras "Ch. Miss. Rec.," Vol. IV., p. 60, and Vol. V., p. 39.
4 " Madras Ch. Miss. Rec.," Vol., VI., p. 45.
Z
33& The Disruption and its Results.
in its true light. The conduct of these missionaries,
admirable in every other respect, seems, so far as we
can judge even from their own testimony, to have been
an illustration of the difficulty of doing the right thing
in the right way.
The rupture, so long imminent, became a reality in
1838 ; but the account given by Dr. Mullens does not
perfectly agree with that just quoted from Mr. Baker's
paper. " After submitting to this opposition for a
long time, and seeing the labours of the missionaries
set at nought, the Bishop of Calcutta, a few years ago,
resolved to disconnect the Church Missionary Society
from the Syrian Church altogether. The missionaries
left the College, their assistants left the Syrian body ;
their converts did the same ; and the whole drew off
from the decayed Church, exactly as converts in
Bengal or Tinnevelly separate themselves from the
heathen." l The union being thus dissolved, an
arbitration was appointed by the Travancore Govern-
ment, arid the endowment of the Syrian College was
equitably divided ; half being assigned to the Metran
for educational purposes, and half to the C.M.S. for
training native Christians. With the English share,
new college buildings were erected at Cottayam ; and
the most recent information is, that the new institution
flourishes under a Cambridge graduate and assistant
tutors, with above sixty pupils. The Syrian portion
1 Mul'ens's " South India," pp. 130-1.
The Disruption and its Results. 339
seems as yet unemployed owing to the distracted
condition of the Church and the conflicting claims of
rival Metropolitans.
The Travancore Church Mission was distinctly
authorised by the London Committee of the C.M.S.
to commence direct mission work under the Bishop
of Calcutta, but independent of the Syrian Metro-
politan, in whose diocese they were labouring. A few
of the Syrian clergy and a small body of the laity
seceded with the English party ; and an entirely new
system of operation commenced. The field was by
no means solely or chiefly the heathen population.
On the contrary, the English clergymen built churches
close to those of the Syrians at Cottayam, Trichoor,
Pallam, and many other places, and began a course
of proselytising amongst the members of the Syrian
Church in spite of the sentences of excommunication
pronounced by the Metropolitan. " A new method
of proceeding was adopted. From 1838 to the present
time, the Gospel has been preached to all alike,
Syrians and heathens, and all have been exhorted to
come out and separate themselves from false Com-
munions and join themselves with a pure Scriptural
Communion. The blessing of God seems to have
followed the new plan. Since 1838 twelve thousand
persons have come out and joined the Protestant
Church of England." x
1 "Ch. Miss. Intelligancer," Oct., 1868, p. 314.
Z 2
340 The Disruption and its Results.
Space forbids our tracing the progress of this
Mission, for the details of which we must refer to the
annual reports of the Church Missionary Society.
Dr. Mullens also says: " These converts, and the
Missions founded for their benefit, have since greatly
prospered ; large congregations exist at every station,
including no fewer than 4,000 persons, young and old,
of whom 1,000 are communicants. Fifty day-schools
exist for boys, and 150 girls are instructed in the
boarding-schools. The chief stations are six in
number, of which five are in most important locali-
ties among the Syrian Christians. Trichoor contains
12,000 Syrians. Cottayam, Marelikare, Tirmvella,
and Pallam are in the very heart of the churches, and
are advancing in usefulness every year. Their hand-
some Gothic churches, their school and mission
houses bear testimony to a purer faith and purer
missionary zeal for the true Head of the redeemed
Church, than their dull neighbours, the venerable
buildings of former times." l
This was written in 1858. Since that time the
Travancore and Cochin Mission has been thoroughly
worked by the Church Missionary Society with con-
stantly-increasing success. The field is divided into
nine districts, viz., Allepie, Cottayam, Cochin, Mare-
likare, Trichur, Pallam, Tirmvella, Hunnankullam,
and Mundakayam, to which, in 1869, was added the
1 Mullens's " South India," pp. 130-1.
The Disruption and its Results. 341
new district of Candanade. The most recent infor-
mation speaks of the Cambridge Nicholson Institu-
tion, under the Rev. J. M. Speechly, as having been
designed for the preparation of an Evangelistic and
educational agency. It now contains thirty-one
students, who seem to be educated chiefly as school-
masters, catechists, and itinerants. The Cottayam
College, under the Rev. J. Bishop, contains nearly
1 50 pupils, in the two departments, the college proper
(in affiliation with the University of Madras), and
the grammar-school, consisting entirely of day
scholars, fifty Syrians and eight heathens. Eight
deacons of the Syrian Church form a class in this
College. We may quote one fact in illustration of the
hopes of a reform in the native Church. The Rev. G.
Matthan (native) states that a neighbouring minister
of the Syrian Church, " having had his education in
our College at Cottayam, is prepared to support the
reformation of this Church to the fullest extent con-
sistent with its distinct existence. He has discontinued
the Invocation of Saints, Prayers for the Dead, and
Auricular Confession. He uses the vulgar tongue in
the Church services, solemnises matrimony on week-
days, and administers the elements in both kinds.
Some of our people observed to me, with regret, that
the better portion of the Syrians in this neighbourhood
would ere this have come over to us had it not been
for the faithful ministry of this man among them ; but
342 The Disruption and its Results.
I told them that we should rather rejoice in the suc-
cess of all Christian ministers if they did indeed
preach Christ and Him crucified, as this man did, for
the object of our Mission was not so much to gain
proselytes to our Cliurch as to win souls to Christ." 1
Yet, in spite of this disclaimer, we find, scattered
throughout the recent reports of the Society, constant
allusions to the " conversion " of the Syrian Christians
from their own Church to ours. For instance:
" Twelve thousand persons of all classes have been
brought out of religious error, and united in a profes-
sion of Scriptural Christianity. To this body of
converts the Syrians, Chogans, and slaves have
contributed most numerously." 2 And again: "The
Churches of Kollatta and Erecalta now consist of
Syrian Christian and slave converts, and that of
Thottakalta is composed of Syrian and Chogan
Christians." 3 Further : " At Thalawadi people are
converts from Syrians, Roman Catholics, and Chogans,
At Neranum all are converts from Syrians. The
remaining four congregations are entirely composed
of Pulayan slaves. Of 852 professing Christians of
the district, 200 are Syrians by birth, forty-seven are
converts from Chogans, and 605 are converts from
Pulayan slaves." 4 Nay, more, the Rev. G. Matthan,
1 Reports of Ch. Missionary Society, 1868-1869, pp. 153-4.
2 " Church Missionary Record," Oct., 1868, p. 291.
3 "Church Missionary Record," Oct., 1869. p. 305.
4 " Ch. Miss. Rec.," Oct., 1868, p. 298.
The Disruption and its Results. 343
already quoted, says in his reports of November 25th,
1 868, that " the members of the congregation here and
of the one at Niranem are composed of seceders from
the Syrian Church, and a few converts from the
Izhamas." 1
Such statements as these will be approved or con-
demned, as the reader may belong to one or other of
the great parties into which the Church of England is
divided. Most High Churchmen 2 will consider that
the missionaries, in converting so few of the heathen
and so many of the Syrian Christians, are departing
from the purpose for which they were sent out, and
that in doing this in the diocese of a Christian Bishop,
in the face of his distinct prohibition, they are guilty
of encouraging secession and schism, especially when
they do not deny that saving Christianity is to be
found in the Syrian Church of Travancore. 3 Low
Churchmen, on the other hand, maintain that they
have abundant justification for the course which they
1 "Ch. Miss. Rec., " Oct., 1869, p. 306.
- "The church was closed, and I could see little of the internal
arrangements, but my interest in it, and in the Mission generally, was
much diminished when I learned that converts were invited, not only
from among the heathen, but from the Christian population around,
and that the Holy Communion was celebrated only once in three
months.'' Howard's " Christians of S. Thomas," p. 115.
3 " Her errors are grievous, but she is not an apostate Church, and
we doubt not but that she has in her a ' seed which shall be counted
unto the Lord for a generation.' " Madras " Ch. Miss. Rec.," Vol. IV.,
p.l.
344 The Disruption and its Results.
have pursued in the errors which still exist in the
Syrian Church, of Nestorian or of Romish origin, and
they enumerate Transubstantiation, the Sacrifice of
the Mass, Prayers for the Dead, Purgatory, the
Worship of the Virgin and of Saints, Prayers in an
Unknown Tongue, Extreme Unction, &c., and certain
observances, such as the Elevation of the Host, burn-
ing incense, ringing of bells at the Elevation, &C. 1
The great problem, then, is to accomplish the refor-
mation of the Syrian Church from within ; and though
Bishop Gell says that " for many years nothing has
occurred to revive those bright anticipations of refor-
mation which Bishop Wilson and many others for a
time entertained," 2 there are, according to last year's
Reports, decided indications of approaching change.
For example, Mr. Maddox reports : " The Syrians do
not join our Church in such large numbers as they
did ; and there is a reason here also which will account
for the fact. The Syrian Church itself has undergone
a wonderful change during the last ten or fifteen years.
In the south of Travancore, and especially in the
eastern part of my district, and I believe the neigh-
bouring district of Tiruwella, reform has been carried
out to a considerable extent. Those things which
1 " Madras Ch. Miss. Rec.," November, 1835. The original Syrian
Church held none of these errors. See Geddes's " Hist. Mai. Ch."
See quotation from Philipos, p. 17.
2 Charge of the Bishop of Madras, 1863.
The Disruption and its Results. 345
once shocked men of religious principle and enlight-
enment have been entirely removed in many churches.
If it be asked, What, under God, has brought about
so great a change ? we answer, The wholesome influence
of our own Church in its midst, with its printing press,
institutions, educated clergy, and European manage-
ment" x To the same purpose we may cite, " Among
the Syrians in the neighbourhood, the effect of our
work becomes more and more apparent. The reform-
ing party among them is become so strong that the
superstitious party is contemplating to separate and
build another church for themselves, where they can
have their own ways without molestation. The chief
stumbling-block with them is communion in both
kinds, which the reforming party has strenuously
adhered to as being Scriptural, and which the super-
stitious party greatly oppose, as being an innovation
adopted from the Protestant mode of administering
the Lord's Supper. The reforming party has, in
addition to the force of truth on their side, the support
and patronage of the Syrian Metropolitan, who advo-
cates their cause. These circumstances contribute to
their winning the day." 2
When the English missionaries thus speak of a
reformation in the Syrian Church, we presume that
they allude to the original Church of the Serra,
1 " Ch. Miss. Rec.," 1868 (Oct.), p. 301.
2 "Ch. Miss. Rec.," Oct., 1868, p. 298.
346 The Disruption and its Results.
though it is evident that some of their remarks
refer to the Rome-Syrians. Even of them, however,
there seems some hope, despite their numerical
superiority ( 1 1 9,000), for Bishop Cell says: "Amongst
those who have been subject to the Latin Bishop, i.e.,
in the Syro- Roman Church, there is a dissatisfaction
with Romish rule. They have very recently received
a new Bishop, a native of Travancore, consecrated by
the Syrian Patriarch of the East, and are desirous of
being allowed to read the Scriptures." x
We have endeavoured, in treating of this difficult
part of our subject, to discuss the question with the
strictest impartiality. Still, we have viewed it from
the English platform ; and it is quite possible that
with all our efforts, we may not have done complete
justice to the native Church. We shall therefore, in
our next chapter, allow one of her clergy to give a
Syrian's view of her history, doctrines, ritual, and
present condition.
1 " Charge of the Bishop of Madras, 1863, " p. 6.
CHAPTER V.
PRESENT STATE OF THE SYRIAN CHRISTIANS.
" It is not necessary that Traditions and Ceremonies be in all places
one, and utterly like ; for at all times they have been divers, and may
be changed according to the diversities of countries, times, and men's
manners, so that nothing be ordained against God's Word." ARTICLE
xxxiv.
WE are fortunately in the possession of a treatise,
written two years ago, by the Rev. Edavalikel
Philipos, Chorepiscopus, Cathanar of the Great
Church of Cottayam, in Travancore, translated from
his Malayalim by himself, and edited by the Rev. G.
B. Howard, late Assistant Chaplain in the Diocese
of Madras. This curious document is in the form of
a catechism, and explains from an Eastern Jacobite's
point of view the first four general Councils, with
much information as to the ecclesiastical observance,
and doctrines of his co-religionists. It is simply im-
possible, with due regard to the main object of our
own Essay, to enter with anything like a discussion of
the points of agreement and disagreement between
the Church of England and the Church of Malabar,
especially as the chief doctrine involved, is one of
such deep mystery as to demand a volume rather than
34^ Present State of the Syrian Christians.
a chapter for its investigation. As the Editor justly
observes, " the contention between the orthodox and
the Jacobites, so far as my weakness is able to appre-
hend its nature, is one that none but the most pro-
found theologians could enter into. Surely this con-
sideration should make us cautious as to the language
we use in reference to these separated Churches, even
while, following the guidance of the Holy Fathers,
we ourselves adhere rigidly to the teaching of the
Catholic Church." The reader is referred to the
treatise itself for full satisfaction ; it must be our pro-
vince to give such an outline as will convey to his
mind a Syrian's view of the Syrian Church.
First, then, as to its history. " In A.D. 52, the
Apostle Mar-Thomas came to Malabar in the reign
of Choshea. He was so successful in his preaching
that seven Christian Churches were founded by him
there. 1 But for a long time after his death Christian-
ity was in a declining state in Malabar. But as India
and the countries in the East fell to the share of the
Patriarch of Antioch in the Nicene Synod, he ap-
pointed a maphriana, at Tigris, in Bagdad, to
conduct all the religious affairs of the Eastern
Churches under the care of the Patriarch. This
maphriana, coming to know from Thoma, a
1 The Roman coins of Augustus, Tiberias, and others, found on the
Malabar coast are a strong corroboration of the general tradition.
" Madras Journal of Literature and Sc.," Vol. iv., p. 212.
Present State of the Syrian Christians. 349
prince of Canan, of the decline of the Churches in
Malabar, informed the Patriarch of the same ; when,
in pursuance to (of) the orders of the Patriarch, he
sent the above-mentioned prince Thoma, and Joseph
the Bishop, a native of Orfa, and other bishops,
priests, and deacons, and a colony of Syrians with
their families. They landed at Kodingaloor in the
reign of Chernan (Cheruman) Perumal, A.D. 345,
when the king received them gladly, and gave them
certain privileges and names of honour as accounted
by the natives, and a place to live in. By them and
their successors to the office of Bishop who came
from Antioch were the Syrian Churches founded
(? firmly settled) and governed.
" When the Syrian Church was in this state, the
Portuguese not only persecuted and killed all the
Bishops as they came from Antioch, but their Metran.
Dom Pre Alleskes de Menesis (Alexius de Menezes),
residing at Goa, came to the Malayalim country in
1598, and having visited all the Syrian Churches (he)
bribed the petty princes then ruling the country, and
some Syrians, in order to gain them over to his
interest. And those Syrians who opposed his designs
were persecuted and put to death. So by main force
he assembled all the Syrians in the church at Ody-
amperoor and persuaded them to embrace Popery,
besides burning all the Syriac Bibles, and many other
Syriac books. Then all the married priests were
350 Present State of the Syrian Christians.
separated from their wives. (Menezes) also drew up
a book regulating their future mode of living, and en-
joined a strict obedience to these laws on the part of
the Syrians. And anyone may know the great
enmity and wickedness which this Alleskes practised
towards the Syrian Church, if he thoughtfully reads
that book containing his visit news (? visit news) of
the different Churches, printed in Portuguese, in 1606,
in the office of Deogoo Gomis Low Tire, printer, of
a place called Vui Wersi Dadi, 1 in the country Coem-
pra, in Goa. After this, in 1685, Mar-Evanious, the
Bishop, came from Antioch, and with much difficulty
redeemed the now existing Syrian Churches from the
Portuguese ; and those Churches which could not be
reclaimed by Mar-Evanious still continue Romish ;
yet their liturgy is to this day in the Syriac." 2
Nothing can show more clearly than this quotation
the opinions which the Syrians still entertain of the
conduct of the Portuguese missionaries. Philipos
goes on to say that the Malabar Christians rose
against the Portuguese, and threw off their yoke, after
eighty-six years' slavery ; but that a large party still
1 We have given the English of the worthy Cattanar exactly as it
stands in his own translation (Mr. Howard being only the Editor), and
we must, therefore, explain the mysterious account of the book which he
calls the "visit news." What he means to say is this that Gouvea's
Jornada was printed at a place called the University of Coimbra,
which he innocently supposes to be in Goa, instead of Portugal.
2 Syrian Christians of Malabar, pp. 22-24.
Present State of the Syrian Christians. 351
clung to Romanism. He divides the whole Syrian
Church into six parts : ist, the Jacobite Syrians ;
2ndly, the Maronites, once Jacobites, but now
Romanists ; 3rdly, the small Church at Bagdad, also
converted to Rome ; 4thly, the old Chaldees of Nes-
torian views ; 5thly, the new Chaldees, or Poothen-
koorkar, who had re-adopted Syrianism, and 6thly,
the Palayakoorkar, that is, old partisans who have
adhered to Romanism.
The present Bishop of the Syrian Church in
Malabar is Mar-Coorilos Joyakim, but as he is un-
well, another named Mar-Devanasious has recently
arrived from the Patriarch of Antioch. There is,
however, as has been already stated, a rival in the
person of Athanasius Matthew, of whom an unfavour-
able account is given by Philipos, and who was
deposed by the Patriarch from all his offices. Into
these particulars we need not enter.
Secondly, as to the doctrines of the Church. The
Syrians " believe in the Holy Trinity, which is the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the only and
true God." They have only one creed, the Nicene,
though not verbatim the same as ours. The Syrians
assert of the union of Christ's Divinity with His
humanity. " Not like oil and water, but like wine and
water they are joined together and are become One ;
and they believe in Him as perfect God and perfect
Man both at His conception and birth, His sufferings,
352 Present State of the Syrian Christians.
death and resurrection, and at His coming at the
last Day ; and that He did not destroy His humanity
by His divinity, nor His divinity by His humanity." 1
The Cattanar next gives an account of what he calls the
Synods (that is the Councils), of which he admits
three, viz. : Nice, Constantinople, and Ephesus, but
rejects Chalcedon, in this respect differing essentially
from the Church of England, which recognises the
four first General Councils. 2 The rejection of the
Council of Chalcedon, which expressly condemned
Eutyches, and declared the Catholic doctrine to be
that " in Christ two distinct natures are united in one
person without any change, mixture or confusion,"
seems to identify the present Syrian Church with the
Eutychian or Monophosite Doctrine, if we assume
that the Cattanar 's statements are authoritative. In
reply to the question, " Why are the Syrians called
Jacobites ? " he gives a somewhat confused answer to
the effect that Jacob Boordana (Baradceus) opposed
Nestorius, but he does not seem to be aware that the
Jacobites, in escaping from Nestorianism, were led into
the other extreme, maintaining that " the Divine and
human natures of Christ were originally distinct, but
after their union they became but one nature, the human
nature being transubstantiated into the Divine." 3
1 " Philipos," p. 2.
2 " Theophilus Anglicanus," pp., 19, 39, 40, 73, 326, 343.
3 Harold Browne on the Thirty-nine Articles, p. 63. Mosheim
Present State of the Syrian Christians. 353
With regard to the Eucharist, " they believe the
offering of the Kooroobana to be a holy sacrifice, and
the bread and wine in it to be the real body and blood
of Christ." l Of course, in so brief a definition as this,
it is impossible to conjecture the exact sense in which
the words are to be taken. There are those in the
Church of England that would consider them perfectly
correct, and even others of different Protestant com-
munions have declared that Christ's " body and blood
are verily and indeed taken." 2 On the other hand,
these words might be interpreted to mean the Sacrifice
in the Mass, and Transubstantiation. If this is really
the doctrine of the Syrian Church, there must have
been a strong infusion of Romanism by the Portuguese
missionaries, for, before 1599, she distinctly denied
Transubstantiation and all the concomitant errors.
This is clearly proved by Action V. of the Synod of
Diamper. 3
They honour and worship the Virgin Mary and the
Saints, but they do not give them that praise and
worship which are due to God alone. They pray to
the Saints, and they also pray for the dead (Questions
22-23). The 26th Question is, " Do they confess their
Cent. v. Pt. ii., Cb. v. Neander, Vol. IV. pp. 203-231. " Theophilus
Anglicanus," p. 201.
1 " Philipos," p. ii.
2 Harold Browne on the Articles, p. 680. Bishop Taylor on the
Real Presence, Section i., p. 9.
3 Geddes's " Hist. Ch. Malabar," p. 217.
A A
354 Present State of the Syrian Christians.
sins before the priest?" And the answer is, " It is
commanded that all persons, above seven years of age
should confess their sins." This again must be an
instance of Portuguese influence, for Geddes states,
speaking of the original Syrian Church, "She denies
the necessity of Auricular Confession." A further
difference between the ancient and modern usages
is found in the employment of oil. Before the Synod
of Diamper we read the Church of Malabar " makes
no use of oils in the administration of baptism,"
and " She knows nothing of Extreme Unction " ; x
whereas the present Church employs two anointings
of the baptised, and one of the sick with holy oil. 2 In
the account given of the doctrines of the Church of
Malabar in the XVIII th Chapter of the ist Book of
the Visitation, 3 it is made matter of complaint that
" she ordains such as have been married several times,
and that she allows her priests to marry as often as
they please ; but the present Syrian Church does not
allow an unmarried deacon to be married after his
ordination to the priesthood ; and, if a priest marries
a second time, he is considered to have fallen from his
office." Further, "they consecrate those who keep the
vow of celibacy, and those who keep that vow on the
1 Geddes's "Hist. Ch. Malabar," p. 117
2 " Philipos," p. 13.
3 Gouvea's "Jornada," Coimbra, 1606.
Present State of the Syrian Christians. 355
death of their first wives, to the office of bishops, but
only those who keep the vow of perpetual celibacy to
the office of patriarchs." x
The Syrian Church recognises the usual three
orders of bishops, priests, and deacons, but has three
degrees in each of these offices. First, the Episcopal
Order is subdivided thus : the patriarch, who is the
" over-ruler and lord of everything connected with the
Syrian Church " ; secondly, the mapriana, a sort of
suffragan, deputy, and heir of the patriarch ; thirdly,
the metropolitan, corresponding to our bishop, who
governs the different parishes entrusted to his care,
and ordains both priests and deacons. The three
kinds of priests are, first, prampan living in convents
under a vow of celibacy ; second, chor-episcopa, a
sort of inspector, or examining chaplain ; thirdly,
kashisha, a married priest, vicar of a parish. Of
deacons there are : first, the archdeacon, whose
business it is to examine the deacons, and to assist
the bishops ; secondly, meshamshana ; thirdly,
hypodiaconon, who assist the priest in divine
service and read the Old Testament and Epistles, but
not the Gospels. The Syrian priests are not, how-
ever, generally called by these titles, but by the word
Cattanar, as the bishops are more frequently called
Metrans.
Philipos," p. 14
A A 2
356 Present State of the Syrian Christians.
The allegation made in the "Madras Church Mis-
sionary Record," that the Syrians believed in the
existence of Purgatory, is positively denied by Phili-
pos, who also repudiates the charge that they make
images and worship them. The only way of recon-
ciling these discrepancies is to suppose either that the
accuser has not carefully distinguished between the
Syrian and the Romo-Syrian Churches ; or that in
some special instances the Portuguese missionaries
may have left their mark.
Thirdly, as to rites and ceremonies, the Cattanar
gives us but a meagre account, taking it for granted,
probably, that the forms familiar to him are equally so
to us. He merely says : " Every morning and even-
ing all the priests assemble in the church, when they
pray and read portions of the Bible, as regulated in
their office-book, and offer incense. But on certain
festivals, and during Lent, and on other fast days,
they pray thrice a day, and perform the other rites as
explained above." 1 We must, therefore, avail our-
selves of the narrative by Mr. Howard, and en-
deavour to condense a few of its interesting state-
ments. The description of a Syrian church will
be found at pp. 123 and 125 of "The Christians of
S. Thomas." The author describes the dress of the
Cattanar as consisting of (i) a pair of shoes, contrary
1 " Philipos," p. 17.
Present State of the Syrian Christians. 357
to Oriental custom ; (2) a robe of black serge, or
coarse calico, worn in compliance with the former
custom of the Syrian priests, whereas the common
dress of the Malabar Christian is white ; (3) the
cut/iino, like a surplice ; (4) the orro or stole ; (5) the
zunro, a girdle or cord ; (6) the zando, sleeves or
maniples ; (7) the phaino, chasuble, or probably cope,
made of handsome silk damask, sometimes of velvet,
nearly square, fastened over the shoulders by a button
in front ; (8) the cap. Describing a visit to one of
their churches, Mr. Howard informs us that the
congregation consisted of men and women, on diffe-
rent sides, of dusky complexion of course, but robed in
dazzling white dresses ; and while waiting for the
commencement of the service, gratifying their curiosity
at the expense of their visitor, many never having
seen a white man. The service followed this order :
The Cattanar, standing before the step of the throne
or altar, repeated the Gloria, the prayer " Make us
worthy," and the " Sedra " (order or series), then
putting on his black dress, recited the 5ist Psalm.
Kneeling before the altar, he kissed it, repeating ap-
propriate ejaculations, chiefly from the Psalms, and,
assisted by his deacon, lighted the candles on the
altar. The Trisagium and the Lord's Prayer followed,
and thus ended the first service. The second service,
that of " the Corban " (oblation), or what we shall call
the Communion Service, began by the priest vesting
358 Present State of the Syrian Christians.
and washing his hands, after which the bread and
wine (the latter mixed} were brought from the pro-
thesis, or credence table, and placed on the altar.
After the oblation each vessel was veiled, and a large
veil thrown over all. The Cattanar next prostrates
himself, prays silently, rises from his knees, removes
the veils, and, crossing his right hand over his left,
elevates the paten and cup, with the accompanying
prayers. The commemoration ended, the deacon
begins the exhortation, "2rw/x.euKa8o)c," i.e., "Let us
stand in seemly order" etc., the people immediately
answering with a loud voice, " Kurielison ! Kurielison !
Kurielison ! " I give their pronunciation of the well-
known words drawling out the last syllable with a
peculiar and most disagreeable flattening of the
voice." x The officiating priest, placing the cup and
paten on the altar, covers them with a light veil, and
then, after the recitation of the general " Sedra," censes
the altar, and proceeds to recite the Nicene Creed, and
several short prayers. The large bell is then rung,
and the people sing the hymn Kadisha Aloha, accom-
panied by the clash of cymbals. This ended, the
curtain was drawn across the chancel arch, and two
assistants placed a small table, covered with red cloth,
in the middle below the steps ; and on this they put
a small cross, a bookstand, and two lighted tapers.
1 Howard's " Syrians of S. Thomas," p. 137.
Present State of the Syrian Christians. 359
This being prepared, the curtain was drawn aside, and
the Cattanar read the Epistle and Gospel for the day,
after which the Cattanar returned to the altar, the
bells and cymbals were again sounded, and a short
prayer was uttered by the people. 1
We have thus given a specimen of one portion of
the service, referring our readers to the volume from
which we have condensed this account, and to the
authorities cited below. 2 Our object has been to state
facts, rather than opinions, so that all may be able to
judge whether it is probable that the Syrians can be
forced into uniformity with the Church of England in
matters of ritual. And yet, are there not those in
our own Church whose ritualistic practices differ but
little from those which we have attempted to de-
scribe ? Nay, more, do we not retain in our ordinary
service many significant ceremonies which, to the Non-
conformist, appear as unnecessary as those of the
Syrians do to us ? The hope that must be cherished
is that the authorities of the Syrian Church may be
prevailed upon in Synod to purify their ceremonial
from merely superstitious observances, retaining such
1 Howard's " Christians of S. Thomas," pp. 139-147.
2 Madras " Ch. Miss. Rec.," Vol. IV., p. 134. Asseman, " Biblio-
theca Orientalis," Vol. II., p. 25. Renandot "Lit. Orient. Col., "Vol.
II., pp. 12-21. An analysis of the Ordo-Communis, and a conspectus
of the six Anaphora will be found at the end of Mr. Howard's volume,
translated from Syriac MSS. obtained in Travancore. See also ap-
pendix to Vol. V. of Hough's " Christ, in Ind."
360 Present State of the Syrian Christians.
rites and ceremonies as are fairly representative of
Christian truth.
The difference in ritual, however, between the two
Churches is by no means the obstacle in the way of
communion. If the present Malabar Church deter-
mines to use theological language which asserts
Jacobite error, and expressly rejects the Council of
Chalcedon, union with the Church of England is
simply impossible. " Even if the Jacobite heresy
were healed by explanations, the Filioque clause
would still remain between ourselves and the Syrians
of Malabar, as, unhappily, it does between ourselves
and all other Easterns. We do not say that this, too,
could not be explained. But it would need explana-
tion. However, we can still deal with them in charity
and brotherly love, remembering our own shortcom-
ings, not to add their weak and depressed state, and
the worldly prosperity, comparatively speaking, of
our own. It is to be feared that we have not always
done so." l
From a careful examination of the whole question,
of which this chapter is an imperfect summary, there
can be no reasonable doubt that the errors which at
present afflict this unhappy Church are due in doc-
trine, if not in ritual, to the instruction of Nestorian,
or rather of Jacobite teachers, quite as much as to the
1 Review of the Syrian Christians of Malabar in "Guardian" of
Wednesday, I3th April, 1870.
Present State of the Syrian Christians. 361
influence of the Portuguese missionaries in the XVI th
Century." As they retain all their ancient dislike of
the Church of Rome, it is little probable that these
corruptions have been imported from that quarter ; it
would rather appear that there is a natural tendency
in the human heart to engraft them on the Christian
system, when not continually irradiated with the light
of God's Word. It may still be not impossible, if the
Syrian clergy could be raised from their depressed
condition, and persuaded to embrace the means of
education, that their teaching should be reduced to a
more scriptural standard, without any disturbance of
their ecclesiastical system. The moral character of
their people is still admitted to present many points
of superiority over other natives. A simplicity of
manner, accompanied by no small degree of honesty
and plain dealing, distinguishes their intercourse with
others, and renders it the more to be regretted that
designs undertaken for their spiritual improvement
should for the present be so unhappily interrupted. 1
1 Trevor's " India," pp. 287-8.
CHAPTER VI.
THE REVIVAL OF THE ROMISH MISSIONS IN
INDIA.
"We must also remember that some of the Hindostan Missions are
of recent foundation, and others date from the Sixteenth Century.
Through many vicissitudes, these last have preserved Christian tradi-
tions^ -which rendered the apostleship of our Missionaries more easy." l
Our readers will recollect that the Jesuits, by their
disobedience and general misconduct, provoked Pope
Clement XIV th so far, that in 1773, he suppressed
their Order. A general restoration took place under
Pius VII th in 1814, and, from that time to the present,
they have gradually increased until they are said to
number in 1834,2,684 members; and, in 1867, they
had reached the extraordinary number of 7,956.
Many years previously, however, to the abolition of
their Order, Pope Benedict XIV th had put an end to
their refractory policy in India by the Bull of 1741,
in which he calls the Jesuit Fathers " incbedientes,
contumaces, captiosi, et perditi homines," 2 and in
1 "Annals of the Propagation of the Faith, : ' Vol. XXVI., No. 161,
p. 104.
2 Nicolini's " History of the Jesuits," Edin., 1853, p. 128.
Revival of Romish Missions in India. 363
which he laid down such clear and stringent regula-
tions that the prevaricating sophistry of the Jesuits
could find no plausible means of evasion. From that
moment the influence of the Portuguese missionaries
and their followers began to decline. The supplies
from Europe were stopped, and, so far were the
million of converts which the Roman Catholic mis-
sionaries had made from showing any gratitude to
their instructors that, according to Romish evidence,
the Archbishop of Cranganor and the Bishop of
Cochin were reduced to such poverty that they had
to live upon alms. 1 The Portuguese Government, in
1 7SS> under Pombal, seemed impressed with the
necessity of extinguishing this obnoxious Order, for
we learn that a hundred and forty-seven Jesuits were
seized at Goa and sent to Lisbon, where they lan-
guished in prison for sixteen years. According to
the authority which we have cited, " forty-five Fathers
survived, sole remnant of all the missionaries of
India, China, and America, amounting to many
thousands. About the time when this suppression
took place, the success of their efforts in India had
been so great that the total number of Christians in
the Madura Mission must have amounted to more
than a million. 2 Yet, no sooner had the Jesuits been
forcibly carried off than their sheep, left without
1 Marshall's " Catholic Missions," Vol. I., p. 244.
2 " Lettres Edifiantes," Tom. X., p. 54 and p. 285.
364 Revival of Romish Missions in India.
shepherds, vanished as snow before the sun ; for we
read that in 1776, Fra Paolim found but 18,000 in
Madura, and 10,000 in Tanjore. 1 For nearly sixty
years (1760-1820) scarcely any care was taken of the
Catholic Missions and of their numerous converts.
The older missionaries gradually died out, while none
arrived from Europe to fill their place. 2
But after 1822, there were unmistakable signs of
revival. The torpor that had existed for more than
half-a-century gave way to sudden activity. The few
quiet, inoffensive priests who ministered to some re-
spectable families of middle rank and a numerous
body of Indo-Portuguese were gradually supplanted
by men whose energy and learning contrasted strongly
with the feeble powers of their predecessors. Colleges
and schools, nunneries and other institutions sprang
up on all sides. The Roman Catholic clergy during
the last fifty years have so rapidly increased that
they far outnumber those of any other persuasion.
There can be no doubt that this wonderful revival is
mainly owing to the re-establishment of the far-famed
Society of Jesus ; and here, as elsewhere, we find these
"vigorous and experienced rowers," as Pope Pius VII.
happily terms them, once more at the oar. 3 The glory
1 Bartolomeo's "Voyage to the East Indies," Lond. , i8oa, p 65.
"Calcutta Review," Vol. II., p. 95.
2 Mullens, p. 135.
3 " Calcutta Review," Vol. II., p. 74.
Revival of Romish Missions in India. 365
of the Jesuits was unquestionably their missionary
spirit, and the glory of their missions was that of
Southern India. Cardinal Wiseman says, " Although
there may have been among them defects, and num-
bers of them unworthy of their character (for it
would not be a human institution if it was not imper-
fect), it must be admitted that there has been
maintained among them a degree of fervour and
purest zeal for the conversion of heathens which no
other body has ever shown." 1
We shall attempt to exhibit in the few pages which
we can devote to this subject the condition of the
Roman Catholic Church in Southern India, first as to
its statistics, and secondly, as to the state, intellectual,
moral, and religious, of its converts, deriving our in-
formation chiefly, though not exclusively, from
Romanist sources.
In a previous chapter it was stated that the Arch-
bishopric of Goa was the metropolitical See of India,
but a question, too long for discussion here, arose as
to the rights of patronage enjoyed by the Crown of
Portugal. The Archbishop determined to adhere to
his Portuguese allegiance, while the Pope was as
determined not to tolerate State interference with his
prerogative. He, therefore, sent out a number of
vicars-apostolic, who were regarded as intruders by
1 " Lectures on Catholic Church." London, 1842, Vol. I., p. 218.
366 Revival of Romish Missions in India.
the Indian Roman Catholic clergy. The representa-
tives of his Holiness, on the other hand, regarded
with European contempt the claims of the Archbishop
of Goa and his subordinate bishops. A schism was
the result, which continues to the present hour, for we
find that while fourteen bishops, seven hundred and
seventy-four priests, and nine hundred and eight
thousand Jaity, acknowledge the Papal authority in
India, one archbishop, three bishops, a hundred and
forty-one priests, and a hundred and twenty-nine thou-
sand laity continue to yield obedience to the Indian
primacy. 1 "In 1837 a furious war was waged between
the vicar-apostolic (an Irish monk) and the Bishop-
elect of the see of Meliapore. The former having
received consecration as a bishop in partibus in-
fidelium, pressed the Portuguese hard with his
episcopal and apostolical powers ; while the latter,
though rightfully elected by the chapter of Goa, and
in possession of the temporalities, remained without
Papal confirmation, and was consequently unable to
obtain episcopal consecration. The dispute came at
last into the British courts, which, strangely enough,
were employed in adjudicating on the rival pretensions
of two foreign potentates to exercise jurisdiction
within the dominions of the English crown." 2 Setting
aside, then, the Archbishop of Goa and his adherents,
1 " Summary of Catholic Statistics of India," &c., 1 866, quoted in
"Catholic Directory" for 1867. " Christian Year Book," 1867, p. 322.
a Trevor's " India," p. 296.
Revival of Romish Missions in India. 367
we observe that the Catholic missions in India are
divided into twenty apostolic vicariates, each under
its vicar or bishop, of which a complete list will be
found in the authorised directories. 1 Of these vica-
riates, Verapoli or Malabar dates as far back as 1659;
and Northern Bombay, 1669 ; Ava and Pegu, 1721 ;
Pondicherry, 1776; Agra, 1820; Western Madras, 1 132;
Bengal, 1834; Eastern Bengal, Canara, Coimbatore,
Hyderabad, Mysore, Patna, Quilon, and the Malay
Peninsula, all in 1845 ; Madura, 1846 ; Jaffna in 1847;
Vizagapatam in 1849 ; Poonah in 1854; so that the
reader will be able to see at a glance, by a comparison
of dates, how rapid has been the progress of revival.
Roman Catholic writers see in this resuscitation a
convincing proof " that the permanence which so
wonderfully distinguishes these missions is not the
privilege of one or two places only, but is equally
conspicuous in every part of the country. It will be
observed that the Mission of Madura, founded by
de'Nobili, still counts one hundred and fifty thousand
Catholics ; while that of Verapoli, the field in which
so many of the Jesuit missionaries laboured, numbers
nearly two hundred and thirty thousand." 2 Verapoli,
it will be remembered, is in the heart of the Malabar
Christians, to the east of Cochin, and, of course, these
1 " Catholic Directory" for 1870. London, p. 67, and in Ibid tot
1867, p. 15.
* Marshall's "Christian Missions," Vol. I., p. 247.
368 Revival of Romish Missions in India.
figures bear directly on our subject. Another Roman
Catholic authority gives the number in Malabar at
228,000, and in Quilon, 56,000 j 1 but in 1866 we find
it thus given, 230,000 under the Pope, and 40,000
subject to the Portuguese Archbishop of Goa. On
the other hand, the Protestants affirm that these
numbers are grossly exaggerated, and that the total
Romanist population of the district of Travancore
and Cochin amounts to about 140,000, including not
merely the converts from heathenism, but those who
have been proselytised from Syrianism to Romanism. 2
The total Roman Catholic population is asserted by
Marshall to be 1,200,000 in 1857 ; but if we compare
his statement with that of the " Annales de la Propaga-
tion de la Foi" (800,000), we are forced to one of two
conclusions, either that Marshall, with the characteristic
zeal of a pervert, has added one third to the actual
number, or that between 1857 an d 1866 the numbers
must have fallen to that amount. 3 Still there can be
no doubt that, after every deduction from party
exaggerations, the Roman Catholic population is very
much greater than Protestant missionaries seem dis-
1 " Madras Directory" for 1857.
2 '* Ch. Missionary Intelligencer," Oct. 1868, p. 313.
3 A total of 1,200,000, the living witnesses of the labours and
triumphs of the Missionaries of the Catholic Church. Marshall, Vol.
I. , p. 248. ' ' The total number of Catholics in Hindostan rises to
about 800,000 ; but this, when divided into the several vicariates, pre-
sents very considerable variations." "Annals," March 1866, p. 103.
Revival of Romish Missions in India. 369
posed to acknowledge, and that if any reliance can be
placed in official documents, in the year 1859 the
converts of Madura were 2,614, while in the diocese
of Verapoli " more than a thousand heathens are
baptised yearly, besides many Nestorians and some
native Protestants." l
Though our enquiry refers more immediately to
the Syrian Christians, it unquestionably embraces
missionary efforts in South India generally, and we
therefore do not hesitate to refer to the accounts of
Madura by Father Saint-Cyr, in 1859. In this inte-
resting volume he records the conversion of 5,000
schismatics, 500 idolaters, and 400 Protestants, the
result of the efforts of forty-three Jesuit Fathers. 2
This is, however, not quite confirmed by the list of
conversions in 1864, when Coimbatore furnished 100;
Mangalore, 174; Mysore, 200; Vizagapatam, 300;
and Madura, I4OO. 3 A similar discrepancy as to the
number of converts appears in the letter of Mon-
signor Dufal, vicar-apostolic of Eastern Bengal,
dated 2ist February, 1865: " Notwithstanding our
constant efforts, the number of conversions is very
small, almost insignificant, when we compare them
with the population of this vast country. Seventy-six
1 " Madras Catholic Directory" for 1860, p. 154.
2 " La Mission de Madure," par Louis Saint-Cyr, S. J. Paris, 1859,
P-S-
3 " Annals," March, 1866, p. 96.
B B
370 Revival of Romish Missions in India.
during the year 1864 ! Alas ! it is indeed so difficult
to make any one amongst the Hindoos, that the
catechists are very few." 1 To the same effect the
vicar-apostolic of Patna writes on 2Oth November,
1 864 : " To preserve the faith in the hearts of our
Christian flock seems to be the only thing we can
hope to realise at present, until it pleases Almighty
God to render this arid and immense country fruit-
ful." 3 How is this inequality of results to be ac-
counted for, notwithstanding the equally devoted zeal
of the missioners in each of those districts. The
answer is to be found, according to Roman Catho-
lic writers, in the motto at the head of this chapter,
and, if so, we may consider this admission as direct
testimony to the influence which the Portuguese
missions of the XVI th Century are still exerting in
Southern India.
The condition of the Roman Catholic Christians
must next be considered, and it is but just that the
missioners themselves should be first heard. These,
of course, coming fresh from Europe, had no know-
ledge whatever, except from books, of the Indian
converts, amongst whom they were to labour ; and
they therefore may be supposed to give their opinions
without any bias. One of these missioners describes
his first impression in the simple but significant
" Annals," March, 1866, p. 89.
2 " Annals," March, 1866, p. 89.
Revival of Romish Missions in India. 371
phrase, " I am astonished at the faith of these
Christians." 1 In 1829, M. Bonnand rejoices that half-
a-century of trial had failed to destroy the faith ; and
ten years later, Father Gamier writes that " the
Christians of these countries are in general well-
disposed and strongly attached to the faith. The
usages introduced amongst them by the Jesuits still
subsist. But we shall have a good deal to do to form
them into a people of true Christians." Father Louis
de Saint-Cyr, in 1842, observes, "Within a certain
radius around the centre of the mission, all the vil-
lages, with rare exceptions, are Christian ; beyond
this circle you enter the region of Paganism. This
fact proves how valuable was the presence of the
evangelical labourers in this country, and what a
vivifying influence has been diffused by the exercise
of the holy ministry." 2 These testimonies are suffi-
cient to prove our point, that the revivalists found the
influence of previous labourers by no means extinct ;
whether for good or evil, is another question.
Many Protestant writers have also borne testimony
to the zeal and influence of the Roman missioners,
as well as to the faithfulness and good conduct of
their flocks. Henry Martyn says : " Certainly, there
is infinitely better discipline in the Romish Church
than in ours, and if ever I am to be the pastor of
1 " Annales," Tom. IV., p. 152.
2 " Annales," Vol. IV., p. 70. .
B B 2
37 2 Revival of Romish Missions in India.
native Christians, I should endeavour to govern with
equal strictness." 1 Dr. Claudius Buchanan declares
that " there are at this day in India members of the
Church of Rome who deserve the respect and affec-
tion of all good men," and throughout his travels in
Southern India there are numerous expressions such
as these : " From Cape Comorin to Cochin there are
about one hundred churches on the sea-shore alone.
Of these, the chief part are the Syrian-Latin, or, more
properly, the Syrian-Romish Churches ; " and again,
" at Manaar they were all Romish Christians ; " and
" I visited Mane" and Calicut ; the Romish Christians
are numerous." 2 Dr. Kerr, chaplain at Calcutta,
confirms this account, stating that "the Roman
Catholic Syrians are much more numerous than the
members of the original Church." 3 Dr. Middleton,
first Bishop of Calcutta, remarks that, " Protestants as
we are, it were bigotry to deny that the Church of
Rome, notwithstanding that she may have exagge-
rated her successes, has done wonders in the East." 4
Hough, whom we have so often quoted, is candid
enough to admit that " there are native Christians of
the Roman Church in India, whose character is
unexceptionable, and who occupy stations of respon-
1 Martyn's " Memoirs," IXth Ed., p. 288.
2 "Christian Researches," p. 75, et passim.
3 Dr. Kerr's " Reports," p. 10.
4 Webb Le Bas' " Life of Middleton," Vol. II., p. 96.
Revival of Romish Missions in India. 373
sibility in the public service. Some have given satis-
factory reasons to believe them to be sincere
Christians." x
While searching for authorities in illustration of this
part of our subject, we have met with many striking
proofs all the more valuable because " undesigned
coincidences " of the deptJi and permanency produced
by the labours of the early Portuguese Missions. Mr.
Thornton, estimating the population of Goa at 3 1 3,000,
considers that two-thirds are Roman Catholics. 2 An
officer, generally hostile to the Romanists, concedes
that " in their whole course in India, the Portuguese
have left the traces of conversion; and around the
coast, from the Cape of Good Hope to Canton, the
Portuguese language is spoken, and the Cross of
Christ adored." 3 General Parlby writes : " Amidst
the ruins into which their temporal possessions have
fallen, the vestiges wliich they have left of their faith
seem destined to survive the debris of their earthly
grandeur, and to be so firmly rooted that they will
never be wholly effaced." 4
Witnesses on the other side must now be called
into court. Of course there can be no question that
very large numbers of so-called converts have been
admitted into the Romish communion, and that, even
1 Hough's "Hist, of Christ.," Vol. II., p. 491.
2 Thornton's " Gazetteer of India," vol. ii., "Goa."
3 " Fifteen Years in India," p. 360.
4 " The Establishment of the Anglican Church in India," 1851, p. 19.
374 Revival of Romish Missions in India.
supposing the probability of occasional exaggeration,
accessions are continually made. But the doubt
which we have expressed in previous chapters, on the
conversions effected by Xavier, and in Madura by de
Nobili and his successors, recurs at the present hour.
What is the difference of the word "conversion" as
used by a Roman Catholic and a Reformed Catholic ?
On tJiat definition the wJtole question seems to Jiang.
Nothing can be easier than to enrol whole battalions
of nominal converts if due care is taken to make
the change from one faith to another as slight as
possible. " The rules of caste," says Mr. Trevor,
"were retained so vigorously that churches are still
found in the south of India divided into compart-
ments, and provided with separate entrances, for the
respective orders of worshippers. The feasts and
ceremonies of the new religion were purposely assimi-
lated to the old one, so that while acquiring many
substantial advantages of a temporal character, the
neophytes should be scarcely conscious of parting
with a single rite of superstition." x Dr. Allen, an
American missionary by no means opposed to the
Romanists, thus writes : " In other matters, also, they
1 "Trevor's India," p. 290. We cannot ascertain if this division of
churches into compartments still continues, for the most recent infor-
mation merely says ; " One of our chief obstacles in establishing the
Christian religion amongst the Hindoos is their social system of castes.
The missioners are endeavouring to put an end to this exclusiveness by
means of orphanages and schools. "Annals," March, 1866, p. 91.
Revival of Romish Missions in India. 375
retain much of their former heathen customs. The
Hindus are very fond of show and noise in their re-
ligion ; and it is a frequent custom, in some districts,
to put the idols of their gods on a car or carriage of
some kind, on festival days, and then draw it about in
procession. This usage has been retained by the Roman
Catholics, only substituting the images of their saints
for the idols of the gods. In some places the same
car is used on Hindu festival days for the idols of the
gods, and on Romish festivals for the images of the
saints." Similar evidence is given by Dr. Middleton,
Bishop of Calcutta, perfectly applicable to the system,
though in a different part of India. In the Island of
Salsette, there were about 8,000 Romanists, who,
though enrolled as Christians, and attending divine
worship at the Portuguese churches, were yet wedded
to all the absurd ceremonies of the Hindoo mytho-
logy? f which they were particularly observant, on
births, deaths, and marriages. " At the very time that
they were in the habit of attending a Christian sanc-
tuary, and professedly acknowledging Christianity,
they retained in their houses various implements of
Hindoo idolatry, and entered indiscriminately into all
the pernicious usages of that deplorable superstition." -
But, possibly, Mr. Marshall, who so dangerously
1 Allen's " India," p. 320.
1 " Life of Bishop Middleton," Vol. I., p. 227. Hough's "Chris-
tianity." Vol. v., p. 226.
376 Revival of Romish Missions in India.
avoids quotations of the above character, may object
to Protestant opinions of the character of his so-called
converts. We will, therefore, make one or two brief
extracts from Roman Catholic writers, and the first
shall be the Jesuit Father Martin : " On Saturday
evening I got ready a small triumphal chariot, which
we adorned with pieces of silk, flowers, and fruits. On
it was placed an image representing our Saviour risen
from the dead ; and the chariot was drawn in triumph
round the church, several instruments playing at the
same time. The festival was greatly heightened by
illuminations, lustres, sky-rockets, and several other
fireworks, in which the Indians excel ; then verses
were spoken or chanted by the Christians, in honour
of our Saviour's triumphing over death and hell. The
chief personage of the settlement, his whole family,
and the rest of the heathens who assisted in the pro-
cession, fell prostrate thrice before the image of our
Saviour risen from the dead, and worshipped him in
such a manner as very happily blended them indis-
criminately with the most fervent Christians." * The
Abbe Du Bois, after a life spent in India, writes thus :
"For my part, I cannot boast of my successes in this holy
career during a period of twenty-five years, and that I
have laboured to promote the interests of the Christian
religion. The restraints and privations under which I
1 "Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses," quoted in Trevor's "India," p.
290. Tom. x., pp. 168-182.
Revival of Romish Missions in India. 377
have lived, by conforming myself to the usages of the
country ; embracing, in many respects, the prejudices
of the natives ; living like them, and becoming almost
a Hindoo myself; in short, by 'being made all things
to all men, that I might by all means save some,'
all this has proved of no avail to me to make pro-
selytes." * The abbe, a Romish missioner, be it re-
membered, gives a most deplorable account of the
concessions made to Hindoo superstitions of every
form, asserts that he does not believe he made a
single convert during his lengthened ministry, and
abandons the whole population of India to perdition.
The reader can now judge, even from the limited
amount of evidence which we have been able to sub-
mit, how far good and evil are mingled in the mis-
sionary operations of the Romish Church. Truth, no
doubt, lies as it generally does, between the extreme
statements on either side. Roman converts are, un-
questionably, in many instances, as well conducted as
those of other denominations ; and it would be hard
to prove on the part of the Protestants that all their
proselytes were paragons of virtue. Ignorance, super-
stition, self-interest, desire of imitation, and other un-
worthy motives, may prompt Asiatics, as well as
Europeans, to profess the outward form of religion in
which they have no real belief. But it by no means
follows, as infidels have argued, that all converts are
1 Letters of Abbe Dubois. Passim.
378 Revival of Romish Missions in India.
hypocrites, for there is abundant evidence to prove
that many have not only suffered in their worldly
fortunes on account of their faith, but have sealed
their testimony with their blood.
Our general conclusion is, that the impression made
by.tJte Portuguese in the XVI th Century, notwithstand-
ing numerous fluctuations, still continues to operate in
Southern India, not only on the Syrian Christians,
whether Jacobite or Romanist, but also on the
modern missionary efforts in that quarter. We must
express a hope that, amid many tares, much true
wheat has been scattered in the soil of the Deccan }
and that should a reformation take place amongst
the million of Roman Catholics in India, similar to
what occurred in Germany, great indeed would be the
effect throughout the whole of this vast region, As a
writer well acquainted with India has said, " How
soon in this way might hundreds of native mission-
aries be raised up to preach, each in his own language,
the wonderful works, and the yet more wonderful
love, of God." *
1 Allen's " India."
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APPENDIX.
A. THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY'S APPEAL FOR THK AS-
SYRIAN CHRISTIANS.
B. THE CHRISTIANS OF ASSYRIA COMMONLY CALLED NESTO-
RIANS.
C. THE CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY'S WORK IN TRAVANCORE
AND COCHIN.
D. THE ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONS IN HINDOSTAN AND
SOUTHERN INDIA.
c c
APPEN DIX A.
THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY'S APPEAL FOR
THE ASSYRIAN CHRISTIANS.
THE following " Appeal on behalf of the Christians of Assyria,
commonly called the Nestorians," has been put forth by the Primate
of All England, after consultation with other members of the English
Episcopate, as well as with the influential Committee which his Grace
has invited to assist him in the furtherance of the contemplated
measures :
" The ancient and once flourishing community, commonly known by
the name of Nestorians, arid now comprised chiefly within the limits
of Assyria the modern Kurdistan, one of the frontiers of Asiatic
Turkey have recently appealed for help to the Church of England.
The appeal, signed by several Assyrian bishops, priests, deacons, and
notables of the laity, and ratified with the seal of their Catholicos or
Patriarch, Mar Shimiin, was addressed to the Archbishop of Canter-
bury and the Bishop of London (Bishop Tail). It has already been
published in full, but its purport may be succinctly stated in the
following quotation from a speech in reference to it by the late Arch-
bishop Longley :
"'The Nestorians, in this touching letter, say that they feel they
are in a state of great ignorance and darkness ; and they apply to us to
come over and help them to send some one to instruct and enlighten
them. I have reason to believe that they are not at all wedded to
Nestorian principles, and that they might easily be led to abandon
them. I cannot but hope, therefore, that inasmuch as this appeal has
been made to us, there may be some well-disposed people who will
c c 2
;88 Appendix.
contribute to a mission to these poor eastern Christians. It is a very
modest petition that we should send out two missionaries, who might
bear comfort and consolation to those who are now really in very
great distress. Their position is a very painful one. They are
between two hostile forces, the Mohammedan on the one hand, and
the Papal on the other ; and they are persecuted by both. They
appeal to us.'
"The claims of these Assyrian Christians upon the liberality of
English Churchmen are too obvious to require any lengthened exposition.
Isolated from the great body of Christendom, they cannot look, like
other eastern Christians, to powerful European protectors. With the
exception of one alleged theological error upon a cardinal point
which, however, they disclaim, and are professedly ready to repudiate
they have preserved, throughout centuries of severe persecution, the
primitive creed and doctrine of the Catholic and Apostolic Church.
Among them the eucharistic cup has never been denied to the
laity, nor the right of marriage to the priesthood ; there is no super-
stitious use of images or pictures ; purgatory and indulgences are
unknown ; while the reading of the Holy Scriptures by all in the
vulgar tongue is, so far as their scanty supply of books enables,
diligently practised.
"To our own communion, brought back, through God's blessing
upon the Reformation, to the primitive standard, this ancient body is
especially and most reasonably attracted; and we are anxious that
their hopes of obtaining assistance from us may be realised as they
ought.
" I am not unmindful of the many other claims which press on the
liberality of the members of our Church. But I would strongly recom-
mend this request from the Assyrians as constituting one of the most
urgent among them all.
" In pursuance of the intentions of the late Archbishop Longley, I
now invite the faithful in this favoured land of England to contribute
towards a fund by means of which candidates for the native ministry
may be brought over hither to receive a better education, and
delegates may be sent to the east in the name of the Church of
England to suggest to this venerable and interesting community such
counsels of wisdom as they ask at our hands ; the object being not to
make proselytes to the English Church, but to aid them in reforming
heir own Church, where needful, upon a primitive basis and after
primitive models. ."A. C. CANTUAR."
Appendix. 389
We heartily trust that this Appeal will prove the means of eliciting a
substantial and adequate response from all members of the Church of
England who to adopt the language of the resolution on the subject
passed at the recent meeting of the Anglo-Continental Society
" reverence the Christendom of antiquity, yearn for re-union on a
primitive basis, and are anxious to extend the blessings of the Gospel
among unbelievers." It is announced at the foot of this Appeal that
subscriptions may be paid to the account of the " Assyrian Christians'
Fund," at the London offices of the Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel.
An appreciative notice of Mr. Badger's paper on the so-called Nes-
torians as reprinted from our pages which appeared in the last
number of the S.P.G. official organ, the Mission Field, concludes in
terms which aptly expound and reinforce the pleading of the Lambeth
Appeal :
' ' Why, it may be asked, is this ancient Church, which has kept the
light of Christianity alive amidst Mohammedan darkness, in outward
separation from the whole of Christendom ? The reason is its refusal to
accept the decrees of the Council of Ephesus : the Assyrian Christians
refuse to call the Blessed Virgin Theotokos (her who gave birth to God),
and they commemorate Nestorius among the saints. Their isolaled
position, and their peculiar language, may account for this. The word
into which Theotokos is translated implies in their language more than
it does in Greek ; and if, in refusing to accept that word, they only
mean to refuse to say that our Blessed Lord is God of the substance of
His Mother, it would be hard to blame them. Mr. Badger believes
that they might be induced, by proper explanations, to accept the
statements made at Ephesus, and to erase the name of Nestorius.
" To the reiterated appeals of this ancient Church for help to educate
her people, the English Church has hitherto turned a deaf ear. Rome
is active there, but cannot win their confidence : they abhor images,
and the few invocations of saints in their rituals come immeasurably
short of the language sanctioned by the Roman Church. Russia might
aid them, but the veneration of pictures is not in accordance with their
ancient customs. American Independent missionaries are at work
there, but their doctrine (as well as their discipline) is utterly at variance
with that of this ancient Church. They still look to us for help, which
is at present limited to the education in England of two Assyrians and
one Chaldsean. But we trust that an answer more suited to their needs,
and to our opportunities, may now speedily be given."
39 Appendix.
The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge will not, we believe,
be behind her younger sister in contributing assistance to this move-
ment. That corporation possesses, besides a most valuable collection
of Nestorian, Jacobite, and other ecclesiastical Syriac and Arabic MSS.,
several accurate translations of works pertaining to our own Church and
theology, which ought, with as little delay as possible, to be printed
and put in circulation among the Christians of the East. One such is
a version of our Prayer-book in that Syrian dialect in which the rituals
of the so-called Nestorians are written. This work would obviously be
of great service to the clergy and the few educated laymen of that
body ; it would also be of some use to the Papal Chaldaeans, though
these for the most part are as familiar with Arabic ; and it would pro-
bably find currency, moreover, among the priesthood of the Jacobites
throughout Asiatic Turkey, and of even the Christians of St. Thomas
in India. The Society possesses also an Arabic translation of Jewell's
" Apology," which by its arguments against Romanism, and by its vindi-
cation of the English Reformation, would be of two-fold Catholic
advantage to all Christians from Egypt to Mesopotamia, and, in short,
in every country where the "French of the East" is spoken. We
would recommend the publication, in the first instance, of these ver-
sions of the Prayer-book and Jewell's " Apology ; " but it should not be
long before they are followed by the Books of Homilies and by Nelson's
" Fasts and Festivals," which also the same Society has nearly in readiness
for its Arabic press.
Among several indications which we have noticed of the new interest
which is everywhere awaking respecting the Christians of the Far East,
we may specify the following announcement of the subject proposed by
the Paris Academic des Inscriptions for the Prix Bordin (of which the
value is 3,000 francs) : " Faire 1'histoire de 1'Eglise et des popu-
lations Nestoriennes depuis le Concile General d'Ephese (43.1) jusqu'a
nos jours."
APPENDIX B.
THE CHRISTIANS OF ASSYRIA, COMMONLY
CALLED "NESTORIANS."
SUCH are the lamentable divergences of opinion in our own Church,
and such the pressing claims of our own people upon her zeal and de-
votion, that were we not persuaded that concurrence in one benevolent
object is likely to promote unity amongst ourselves and the expansion
of our sympathies, I should not be here to plead in behalf of a foreign
Christian community.
The so-called "Nestorians" of the present day, of whom I am to
speak, inhabit the mountains of Kurdistan in Turkey, and the plains
around Urumiah in Persia. In the early ages of the Christian era they
were spread over a much larger portion of the East, including Central
Asia, Tartary, and even China ; and until within the last three centuries
the forefathers of those people who inhabit the plains bordering on the
Tigris in and around Mosul, now called " Chaldceans " a title given
them on their submission to the see of Rome all belonged to the same
community.
They trace their conversion to Christianity to Mar Addai 1 and Mar
Mari, of the Seventy, and reckon the latter as their first patriarch,
from whom and his fellow-apostle they derive the validity of their
orders in an unbroken line of spiritual descent. Seleucia-and-
Ctesiphon was the title of the patriarchal seat until Ctesiphon was
destroyed by the Saracens, A.D. 637. Under the Khalifs it was re-
1 The title of "Mar" is equivalent to our " saint " and " lord " and is
applied to all bishops indiscriminately. " Addai " is the Syriac for
Thaddreus.
392 Appendvc.
moved, first to Baghdad ; then to Mosul, near ancient Nineveh ; and
eventually to Kochanes, in Kurdistan, the usual residence of Mar
Shimiin, the ruling patriarch.
The alleged source of their evangelisation, their geographical position,
and their retention of the Syriac language, are presumptive evidences in
favour of their Aramreic origin, and tend to corroborate the traditional
account preserved among them that their three patriarchs in succession
to Mar Mari were consecrated, the first two at Jerusalem, and the
third at Antioch.
Whilst there is internal evidence against the authenticity of a further
tradition, still extant in the shape of a joint epistle from the four
" western patriarchs" that is. west of Mesopotamia ascribed to the
beginning of the third century, raising the see of Seleucia-and-Ctesiphon
into a separate patriarchate, on account of the mutual jealousies of the
Persians and Romans, and the dangers which the Assyrian patriarchs-
elect incurred in going beyond the Persian boundary for consecration,
there can be no doubt that the frequent wars between those two empires
were a serious hindrance to free intercourse between the Church at
Ctesiphon and the Churches within Roman tereitory.
Apart from these considerations, however, it is unquestionable that
the metropolitan of Seleucia-and-Ctesiphon was axe<aAos, or inde-
pendent ; and, further, that considering the manner in which the
patriarchal office originated in the Church several sees having adopted
it some time between the Councils of Nice and Chalcedon, before it
was formally recognised the Churches under the jurisdiction of the
aforesaid metropolitan were fully warranted in establishing the institu-
tion. The right to a patriarchate, or the property of the ecclesiastical
government which it involves, is indirectly admitted and confirmed by
Pope Julian III., who in 1533 consecrated Sulaka, an Assyrian convert,
" Patriarch of the Chaldaeans" the designation then given for the first
time to the so-called Nestorians who had seceded to Rome, which
patriarchate has been continued up to the present day.
There is good ground for believing that friendly intercourse and
intercommunion, as far as the political animosities between the Romans
and Persians permitted, were maintained between the patriarchs of
the east and the patriarchs of Constantinople and Antioch up to the
(Ecumenical Council of Nice. The Syriac chronicles bear witness to
the fact, and the commemoration of many of the Roman or Greek
fathers in the Syrian diptychs corroborate it. Their records state that
Papa, who filled the see of Seleucia-and-Ctesiphon at the time, was in-
Appendix. 393
vited to attend that council, but being incapacitated through age he
deputed Shimiin-ibn-Sabary and Shahdost to represent him. Then came
the persecutions under Sapor, who rivalled Nero or Diocletian in his
efforts to uproot Christianity from his dominions. The Syriac narrative
of his cruelties, especially towards the clergy, is truly appalling. An
instance of kindly fellowship between the Eastern Church and that of
Antioch is recorded during this period. Sapor having ravaged the dis-
trict around Antioch, carried away many of the inhabitants to Ahwaz,
and among them Demetrianus, their patriarch, and several bishops.
Papa, the eastern patriarch, visited his captive brother there and
requested him to occupy his sea, but Demetrianus declined the fraternal
compliment.
The next recorded instance took place about A. D. 410, during the
reign of Izdijerd, who applied to the Roman Emperor to send him a
physician to heal him of a malady, as most of the native Christian
doctors had fled or had been put to death during the persecutions under
his Sassanian predecessors. The Emperor accordingly despatched
Marutha, Bishop of Mayapharkat, in Mesopotamia, who, having suc-
ceeded in curing the Persian sovereign, obtained much greater liberty for
his Christian subjects. Is-hak, who was patriarch at the time, showed
Marutha all the canons which had been drawn up for the Assyrian
Church, and Marutha presented Is-hak with a copy of the western
canons an interchange of courtesy such as might occur between the
representatives of two sister Churches at the present day. The same
Marutha, accompanied by the famous Acacius, Bishop of Amid, the
modern Diarbekir, was sent by Theodosius the Younger some years
later to heal the son of Izdijerd. On that occasion also the most
friendly relations appear to have existed between these delegates and
Yau-Alaha, who then filled the see of Seleucia-and-Ctesiphon. Socra-
tes Scholasticus calls him " Ablatus, the Persian Bishop.'' and records
that he, in conjunction with Marutha, "published unto the world
another proof of the Christian faith, for they both, being continually
given to watch and pray, cast a devil out of the king's son." 1
Having thus given a rapid glance at the " Eastern Patriarchate" that,
I beg to remark, is the designation of the see among the so-called
Nestorians and shown that it was in communion with the other
Churches of the East up to the beginning of the fifth century, I come
now to the Council of Ephesus, assembled by order of Theodosius II.,
1 Lib. vii. chap. 8.
394- Appendix.
and at the instigation of the turbulent Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, to
try no, to condemn the alleged teaching of the equally factious Nes-
torius, Patriarch of Constantinople. (Most gladly, I conceive, would
the Christian Church in general draw a veil over the scandalous
proceedings of that famous Synod.) In an assembly like the present,
I need not enlarge on the heresy ascribed to Nestorius, but we should
bear in mind when approaching the subject that Cyril had, as Hooker
says, "avouched," in his writings against the Arians, that "the Word,
or Wisdom of God, hath but one nature, which is eternal, and where-
unto He assumed flesh ; " which delcaration, although not so meant,
was "in process of time so taken as though it had been his drift to
teach that, even as in the body and soul, so in Christ, God and man
make but one nattire" a an error which was subsequently condemned
by the Council of Chalcedon. Bearing these things in mind, I say, and
also the different uses which conflicting theologians had made of the
almost cognate terms ovma and {iTrocrrao-ts, there is h priori ground for
believing that Nestorius' formula of ' ' two natures and two uTrocrrao'eis
in Christ " was designed to combat the fearful error, which obtained so
extensively afterwards, of the confusion of the divine and human
natures in our blessed Lord. Nestorius denied to the last that he held
two distinct persons in Christ ; and Basnage La Croze, Thomas a Jesu,
and Mosheim have defended him against the charge of heresy.
But the question which more immediately concerns us is, whether
the so-called Nestorians of the present day hold the heresy attri-
buted to Nestorius ? My own solemn conviction, after a careful study of
their standard theology, is that they do not. Fortunately, some of the
most eminent divines have come to the same conclusion, since even
Assemanni, as Gibbon justly remarks, " can hardly discern the guilt
and error of the Nestorians ; " 2 and our own learned Richard Field,
writing two centuries and a half ago, says: "But they that are now
named Nestorians acknowledge that Christ was perfect God and perfect
man from the first moment of his conception, and that Mary
may rightly be siid to be the mother of the Son of God, or of the
Eternal Word, but think it not fit to call her the mother of God, lest they
might be thought to imagine that she conceived and bare the divine
nature of the three Persons the name of God containing Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost." 3 (That, I beg to remark by the way, is the main
1 Book v. chap. 52.
2 " Decline and Fall," chap. 47, note.
3 " Of the Church," book iii., chap. I.
Appendix. 395
argument of the so-called Nestorians against the use of the word
$OTOKOS, which, rendered in Syriac into " Mother of God," is much
stronger than the Greek title or its Latin equivalent Deipara, implying
that the Blessed Virgin was as much the parent of the Divinity as of the
humanity of Christ.) Field then goes on to say : " Neither do these
Christians so say there are two persons in Christ, as if the human nature
did actually exist in itself, but only to imply that there is a potential
aptness in it so to exist if it were left unto itself. Yet the form of words
which they use is not to be allowed, for it savoureth of heresy, and took
beginning from heresy. " l Therein also I fully concur with the profound
divine, and I have every reason to believe that, in the event of any re-
sponse on our part to their overtures for intercommunion with us, the
so-called Nestorians would forego their present formula, and adopt that
of the Council of Ephesus.
If we inquire how the title of " Nestorians " came to be applied to
them, it cannot be denied that their adoption of a modified form of
Nestorius' questionable phraseology, saying as they do at present that
there are in Christ two natures, two VTroorcums, and one parsopa?
laid them open to the implied stigma ; but it is equally certain that it
was the inveterate malice of the Monophysite party whose signal
success at the second Council of Ephesus, the ' ' Synod of Thieves " as
it was called, gave them an overwhelming influence in Egypt and the
East which branded them with the epithet. Such is the opinion of
their own divines, and the ecclesiastical history of those times corro-
borates it.
The Greeks, however for distinction's sake I shall so style those
who depended on the Constantinopolitan patriarchate do not appear
to have shared in the unchristian rancour of the followers of Eutyches
and Dioscorus towards the Easterns. The chronicles of the latter
contain a circumstantial account of two embassies sent to the Emperor
Zeno, between A.D. 481-485, by Firuz, King of Persia, entrusted re-
spectively to the famous Barsoma, metropolitan of Nisibis, and Acac,
who then filled the see of Seleucia-and-Ctesiphon. Both were most
cordially received by Zeno, at whose request Barsoma drew up a
statement of the doctrines respecting the divinity and humanity of our
blessed Lord, which was highly lauded by the Greeks. Nearly a
1 " Of the Church," book iii., chap. I.
- For the Assyrian definition of these terms, see " The Nestorians and
their Rituals," vol. ii., pp. 62-65.
396 Appendix.
century later about A.D. 581 Hormuzd, son of Chosroes Anushirwan,
despatched the patriarch, Mar Yeshua-yau, to the Emperor Maurice,
on a similar errand ; and about A.D. 628 another Mar Yeshua-yau,
accompanied by several metropolitans and bishops, was sent to the
Emperor Heraclius. In these two last-named cases, also, the visitors
were requested to draw up a formal declaration of their creed, which
being regarded as orthodox, they were invited to celebrate the holy
eucharist, the Greeks communicating with them, and they subsequently
communicated at the celebration by the Greeks. I sincerely wish that
time permitted me to read over a translation of those remarkable creeds
of the Eastern bishops which were submitted to the Church at Constan-
tinople in the sixth and seventh centuries.
The names, dates, and other coincidences in these narratives leave no
doubt on my mind of their authenticity, and I adduce them to show
that, far from sympathising with the Jacobites as the Monophysites
then began to be styled, after their famous leader James, or Jacob
Baraddreus in their enmity to the so-called Nestorians, the Greeks
actually held intercommunion with them up to A. P. 628. The subse-
quent cessation of brotherly intercourse between them appears to have
been mainly due to the political state of the East, which ensued very
shortly after, on the irruption of the Saracens.
As to the continued commemoration of Nestorius by the Assyrians,
they allege that it was usual for other Churches to request them to insert
the names of their saints, martyrs, and patriarchs in the " Book of Life"
that is, the diptychs. Especially was this done by the Constantino-
politan see on the occasion of a new patriarch ; and to this custom they
attribute their commemoration, up to this day, of Ignatius, Polycarp,
Ambrose, Athanasius, Gregory, Nazianzen, John Chrysostom, and
many other Fathers of the East and West. The request was generally
acceded to, after the names were approved by a provincial synod ; but
they point out several instances, including Gregory Nazianzen and
Chrysostom, whose names the Greeks afterwards begged them to erase,
which they refused. The same took place on the elevation and subse-
quent deposition of Nestorius ; but as they saw no just reason for joining
with the Greeks in their condemnation of him, more especially as John,
Patriarch of Antioch, and many other bishops, had not concurred in the
sentence passed upon him at the Council of Ephesus, they objected
either to anathematise him or to remove his name from the diptychs,
and sent an answer to the following effect : "Cursing is disallowed by
us, as being contrary to the injunction of C'nrist, ,' Love your enemies,
Appendix. 397
and bless them that curse you.' " Whatever may be thought of such a
reply in this particular instance, there can be no doubt that the Christian
Church would have been more exemplary had it been less profuse of its
anathemas. Nevertheless, I am persuaded that if that were the only
bar to intercommunion with ourselves, the reputed followers of Nesto-
rius would be ready to abandon his commemoration, on the reasonable
condition of being allowed to believe that his formula respecting the
divinity and humanity of Christ, though different from that of the
Catholic Church, was not necessarily heterodox or repugnant to the
truth.
This my persuasion is founded as well on the opinions and practice
of the so-called Nestorians of the present day as on the reasoning and
procedure of their old divines. The latter argue that Nestorius was
neither their spiritual head nor fellow-countryman, but a native of Ger-
manicia and Patriarch of Constantinople ; and the name "Nestorian,"
as designating their community, like the term " Protestant " with us, is
never used in any of their rituals. The existing members of their
Church very seldom call themselves "Nestorians," except out of bravado,
or to distinguish themselves from the members of other local Christian
communities, preferring the national designation of Surdye (Syrians),
or the more comprehensive title of Meshihaye (Christians). I have
chosen to call them "Assyrians" in order to distinguish them from
other "Syrians," such as the Jacobites. Field styles them "the
Assyrians, unjustly named Nestorians." 1
The gradual cessation of intercourse between this people and the
other Churches in the east and west appears to have been contempo-
rary with a glorious effort on their part to extend the principles of the
Gospel. Alternately persecuted and protected by the Abbaside Khalffs,
and while the Greek patriarchates were content to remain inactive, as
they have continued up to the present day, as Dean Stanley says, "like
islands in the barren sea of Islam," evangelists from the see at Baghdad
carried the glad tidings of salvation to the utmost limits of Asia and to
the islands of the Indian sea. " From the conquest of Persia," writes
the captious but accurate Gibbon, " they carried their spiritual arms to
the north, the east, and the south. In the sixth century, according to
the report of a Nestorian traveller, 2 Christianity was successfully
" Of the Church," book iii., chap. I.
Cosmas, " Indicopleustes."
398 Appendix.
preached to the Bactrians, the Huns, the Persians, the Indian,, the
Pers-Armenians, the Medes, and the Elamites : the barbaric Churches,
from the Gulf of Persia to the Caspian Sea, were almost infinite, and
their recent faith was conspicuous in the number and sanctity of their
monks and martyrs. The pepper coast of Malabar, and the isles of the
ocean, Socotra and Ceylon, were peopled with an increasing number of
Christians, and the bishops and clergy of these sequestered regions de-
rived their ordination from the Catholic of Babylon (Baghdad). In a
subsequent age, the zeal of the Nestorians overleaped the limits which
had confined the ambition and curiosity both of the Greeks and Persians.
The missionaries of Balch and Samarcand pursued without fear the
footsteps of the roving Tartar, and insinuated themselves into the camps
of the valleys of Imaus and the banks of the Selinga . . . and in
their progress by sea and land the Nestorians entered China by the port
of Canton and the northern residence of Sigan [near Pekin]. . . .
Under the reign of the Caliphs, the Nestorian Church was diffused from
China to Jerusalem and Cyprus ; and their numbers, with those of the
Jacobites, were computed to surpass the Greek and Latin communities.
Twenty-five metropolitans or archbishops composed their hierarchy." 1
These remote branches, like the once flourishing sees of Africa, are long
since withered, and the community at present consists of a patriarch,
seven metropolitans, ten bishops, 250 presbyters, and about 15,000
families, of which one-third occupy the district around Urumiah, and
the remainder the mountains of Kurdistan.
Apart from the moot point of the Two ffypostases, the doctrines of
the Assyrians are in general accord with those of the Greeks ; wherein
they differ from the latter, their teaching and practice approach more
nearly to our own. Like the Greeks, they retain the Nicene Creed
without the Filioque clause, and baptise by immersion confirmation
with the "oil of unction," as a subsidiary part of that ordinance, being
administered at the same time. With regard to the Eucharist, they
believe in the Real Presence, and deny transubstantiation ; administer
in both kinds to the laity ; never reserve any of the consecrated ele-
ments ; forbid more than a single celebration at one altar on the same
day ; and, like the Greeks, use leavened bread, and allow infants to
communicate.
Besides baptism and the Lord's Supper, some of their divines reckon
orders, the oil of unction, absolution, the holy leaven, and the sign
1 " Decline and Fall," chap. 47.
Appendix. 399
of the cross, as sacraments, thus making up the mystical number of
seven; nevertheless, the term "sacrament" is only applied to the
latter five in the sense in which marriage is so denominated in our own
Homilies. No special "outward signs " of " ordained by Christ Him-
self " accompany their transmission of holy orders, and the grace
conferred by the imposition of hands is regarded as one of ministration
and spiritual authority, not a gift of conveying personal sanctification
upon those who are called to any sacred office in the Church.
The " oil of unction," which is used in holy baptism, is styled "an
apostolical tradition;" "the matter," says Mar Abd-Yeshua, one of
their most eminent theologians, " is pure oil ; the form, the apostolical
benediction." They know nothing, happily, of the Romish doctrine of
extreme unction. They also annoint a new altar a service equivalent
to our consecration of churches ; but it is specially prescribed that a
different oil not that of baptism shall be used on such occasions.
Absolution, with them, has nothing in common with the Popish
sacrament of penance. Their doctrine regarding confession and absolu-
tion seems to be in perfect accord with our own. Auricular confession
as an obligatory duty is unknown among them. Such as wish to com-
municate of the holy Eucharist assemble together, or individuals consult
the priest privately, and then meet in the porch of the church, and,
whilst kneeling or sitting in a humble posture, the priest reads over one
or more absolutions, in the form of petitions, from the " Book of
Pardons," consisting chiefly of prayers that God would mercifully
pardon his penitent children. In the case of a penitent who had
denied the faith, he is also signed with oil in the name of the Trinity.
In the belief that Mar Mari and Mar Addai committed to the
Easterns a " holy leaven," to be kept for the perfecting of the admini-
stration of the Eucharist until our Lord's second coming, the Assyrians
observe the traditions very strictly, and the renewal of the leaven for
which there is an appropriate office, attributed to the twelfth century
takes place every year with great solemnity. The superstition is com-
paratively harmless, for, although it tends to enhance their estimation
of the sacramental bread used by themselves, it does not lead them to
question the potentiality of the ordinary leavened cakes or bread used
by other Churches to receive consecration.
The sign of the cross, as a sacrament, amounts with them to no
more than this : that the use of signing with the sign of the cross with
which the invocation of the Holy Trinity is always associated among
them is an apostolical tradition most fit to be retained in the Church ;
4OO Appendix.
for " by it," says Mar Abd-Yeshua, " Christians are ever kept, and by
it all the other sacraments are sealed and perfected."
Passing on to the subject of our Thirty-first Article, the "Marriage
of Priests," it it unquestionable that in the early ages of the Eastern
Church under notice marriage was not forbidden to any ordained per-
son. Two canons of the so-called Apostolical Constitutions preserved by
them attest the fact ; and accordingly, we find that the Patriarch
Babai, about A.D. 498, and his successor Shila, were both married and
had children. A synod convened by the former expressly decreed that
"all the ministers of the Church should marry, each having one pious
and well-conducted wife, agreeably to the law, in order that they may
be kept from falling into sin. " That decree was reversed by a sub-
sequent synod under Mar Awa, A.D. 536, which positively forbade any
married priest being raised to the episcopate, which decree has been
rigidly observed ever since, so that Dean Stanley is at fault when he
says, as he does in his brilliant " Lectures on the Eastern Church,"
that the Nestorian or Chaldoean patriarch is allowed to marry. Equally
mistaken is the late learned Dr. Neale, who in his notes to my work on
the Nestorians, which he kindly edited, attempts to throw discredit on
Babai and Shila, calling them both "men of infamous character."
The slander is borrowed from Romanist authorities, and is utterly
without foundation ; for the Syriac " Lives of the Patriarchs," which
is remarkably impartial, speaks most highly of the piety of those two
prelates. But the ambitious aim of retaining the highest office in the
hierarchy in the same family an aim which was kept in abeyance for
several succeeding centuries eventually prevailed, and in A.D. 1450
the then patriarch, Mar Shimun, ordained that the succession should
descend from uncle to nephew. That ordinance still obtains, and is,
moreover, not unfrequently carried out in appointments to the episco-
pate also an arrangement which virtually deprives the Church, clergy
and laity included, of their ancient right to elect their bishops, and
reduces to a dead letter the subsisting canons to that effect. Vicious as
such a system is, it has a counterpart in various modified forms in the
West as well as in other Eastern Churches, and I trust that the dis-
established and emancipated Church of Ireland will insist on its right
to elect its own bishops.
On the other hand, however, it is lawful for all Assyrian priests and
deacons to marry, after ordination as well as before. They may also
marry a second or a third time, being widowers, " as^they shall judge
the same conducive to godliness.'' In former times they possessed
Appendix, 40 1
many convents, and some of the clergy and laity who elected to live a
more devotional life took upon them certain vows, of which celibacy
was one. At the present day they have no such convents, and, as far
as I could learn, no such conventual establishments ever existed among
the mountain community, although a church is occasionally met with,
at some distance from a town or village, called Daira (convent), occu-
pied by a solitary priest who has taken the vow of celibacy and acts as
pastor to the adjoining parish. But the celibacy of the clergy is not
necessarily perpetual ; for on just cause being shown, the bishop is
empowered to release them from the vow and permit them to marry,
with this simple restriction, that the marriage shall be celebrated in
private. Further, there are no nunneries among them : those styled
nuns do indeed take a vow of celibacy, but they reside in their own
homes, and are expected, until loosed from their vow, to devote them-
selves to works of Christian benevolence, in the same way as some of
our Sisters of Mercy.
Regarding the state after death, the Assyrians are in accord with the
Greeks; and whilst repudiating the doctrine of Purgatory, maintain the
efficacy of prayers for the righteous dead. Pardons and indulgences,
such as are fabricated and sold by the Church of Rome, are utterly
repugnant to their theology and practice ; and with respect to pictures
and carved images, they vie with the old Iconoclasts in their abhorrence
for them as objects of religious worship. I have known them to wrench
off and destroy brazen crucifixes always, however, preserving the
cross, which they hold in high veneration as the emblem of the Cruci-
fied One. It is carved at the entrance of all their churches, and is
devoutly kissed by the in-coming worshippers ; it is placed upon the
altar, with two candles symbolizing the Gospel and Epistles, and Christ
in His divinity and humanity the Light of the world ; their simple
Church vestments are ornamented with it ; and, in fact, its use is
universal among them, being regarded, as I have already remarked,
as " the sign by which Christians are ever kept, and by which all the
sacraments are sealed and perfected." They have no relics, but clay
and dust taken from the tombs of reputed saints are frequently carried
away by the more ignorant, and preserved as antidotes against evil ;
and some passages of one of their service books, which by the learned
are looked upon as interpolations of a recent date, attribute super-
natural virtues to the remains of saints and martyrs. Indirect invoca-
tion of saints, calling upon Christ to accept their intercessions in
behalf of His earthly worshippers, are of frequent occurrence through-
D D
4O2 Appendix.
out their rituals ; but direct invocation of the saints is comparatively
rare, and the addresses come immeasurably short of the language
sanctioned by the Church of Rome. The strongest which I have met
with is the following: "O thou holy Virgin, through whom our
race, corrupted by the deceitfulness of sin, was sanctified, pray with
us to thy Sanctifier to sanctify us, and that through the shadow of thy
prayers He may preserve our life, spread the wings of His pity over
our frailty, and deliver us from evil. O mother of Him who causes us
to live, thou handmaid of our Creator, be to us a wall of refuge at all
times."
If to the foregoing sketch of the tenets of the Assyrians I subjoin
that their copious rituals are sublime in diction and teem with scriptural
thought and language ; that their services, like their churches, though
simple in the extreme, exhibit all the features of primitive order and
ancient ecclesiastical usage ; that their reverence for the Word of God
is supreme ; that although the old Syriac of their rituals is barely
intelligible to them, nevertheless in theory they recognise the principle
that all the services should be conducted in a language " understanded
of the people ; " and, further, that the clergy and laity generally are
decidedly predisposed to religion I judge that enough will have been
said to convey a tolerably comprehensive account of the existing
Assyrian Church.
Our first intercourse with that community took place in 1842, when
I was delegated by the then Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop
of London, 1 under the joint auspices of the Gospel Propagation and
Christian Knowledge Societies, to visit their Patriarch, Mar Shimiin,
and to co-operate with him for the general welfare of his people. My
interview with him in the Tyari country was eminently satisfactory.
He was surprised and gratified to find that the Anglican was an epis-
copal Church ; that we had ritual services, and held higher views of
the sacraments than he had heard ascribed to us ; for I beg to observe
that even in that secluded region, as elsewhere throughout the East, our
Church had been identified, as it still is to a great extent, with Non-
conformists, under th 2 general designations of " English " and " Protes-
tant." The scheme then initiated for establishing schools throughout the
mountains was abruptly thwarted through the invasion of the Christian
villages by the ferocious Kurds under Bedr Khan Beg, which resulted
in the flight of Mar Shimun, several priests, and some hundreds of his
1 Archbishop Howley and Bishop Blomfield.
Appendix. 403
people to Mosul, where I was temporarily located, and had fitted up a
room for daily service and weekly communion in English. Deprived
as the refugees were of a church, I readily granted them the use of my
chapel, in which the patriarch and his clergy regularly officiated, and
the odour of the incense burnt in their earlier services still pervaded the
air when ours commenced. The refugees, as well as a sprinkling of
Jacobites and Chaldoeans, were generally present at our offices, so that
the room was literally crammed with worshippers ; and in the course of
a few weeks the Assyrians became so well acquainted with the order of
our English ritual that they always uncovered their heads at the reading
of the Gospel, as they do in their own churches. In daily intercourse
with the patriarch and his learned archdeacon for upwards of a year,
I had abundant opportunity of explaining to them the doctrines and
discipline of the Anglican Church, and so desirous was Mar Shimun
of establishing intercommunion with us, that he eventually requested
me, one day during the service, to receive him as a communicant. If I
hesitated to do so, it was simply from prudential motives, and lest the
action might be misconstrued by gainsayers, and I further pointed out
to him the propriety of deferring the step until some definite terms of
intercommunion had been agreed upon by our respective Churches.
The patriarch fully appreciated the wisdom of these suggestions, but
from that time forward, notwithstanding the offer held out to him of
supremacy over all the Chaldreans if he would submit to Rome, his mind
was fully bent on effecting a union with us. Unfortunately, the Church
at home was not prepared to entertain the overture : our Convocation
was little better than an ecclesiastical myth ; no mere Church society
could dispose of such a question, nor any number of individual bishops ;
consequently, the proposal fell to the ground, and the mission was
abandoned, notwithstanding the repeated and urgent appeals of the
patriarch that it might be continued. 1
Still, I have reason to hope that our transient effort was not wholly
in vain. The public celebration of our worship, which had been wit-
nessed by large numbers of different native communities, convinced
them of our ritual order, and on their return home the refugees carried
away with them the knowledge which they had acquired of our doc-
trines and discipline, and scattered it far and wide throughout the
mountain villages, from whence it was conveyed to their brethren in
Persia. Efforts were subsequently made to induce Mar Shimun to
1 See " The Nestorians and their Rituals," vol. i., pp. 289-296.
D D 2
404 Append' x.
accept the proffered co-operation of the Americans at Urumiah to
instruct his flock ; but his reply to Mr. Layard, six years after my
departure from Mosul, was, that " he wished to be helped in that labour
by priests of the Episcopal Church of England, whose doctrine and
discipline were more in conformity with the Nestorian than those of the
American missionaries." l I visited the patriarch again in 1850, while
on leave of absence from my appointment in India, and was re-
ceived by him and the Christian mountaineers generally with the
warmest demonstrations of affection. He dilated on the temporal and
spiritual destitution of his people, and complained bitterly that our
Church had turned a deaf ear to his prayers. Alas ! I could not hold
out any hope that we were then better prepared than formerly to come
to his relief. Since then the good old man has been gathered to his
fathers, and his nephew has succeeded to the patriarchate, under the
same title. Mar Shimiin.
One almost wonders that, after such treatment at our hands, the
Assyrians should still recur to us for aid. Nevertheless, as recently
as November, 1867, Mr. Rassam, the British Vice-Consul at Mosul,
was charged to deliver a letter, signed by two bishops, several pres-
byters, deacons, and influential laymen, addressed to the Archbishop
of Canterbury and the Bishop of London, begging that delegates
might be sent out to aid them in promoting the spiritual welfare of
the mountain community. The genuineness of that document was
hastily discredited by the Urumiah missionaries, but a later epistle
from the patriarch expressly confirms it, and reiterates the appeal for
help.
The practical question now is, What ought to be done ? This is a
question which concerns not the primate alone, but the whole Church.
It is a subject, moreover, of vast importance, involving as it does the
necessity of an appropriate organisation on our part for the eventual
restoration of this ancient community, which might be applicable in
similar cases. The Church of Rome possesses su:h an organisation,
and has largely used it, not to build up, but to disintegrate the ancient
Churches of the East, and to reduce them to her obedience. Laying
aside her ambition for supremacy, it is high time that we placed our-
selves in an equally advantageous position a position to which, as a
true branch of the Catholic Church, we are fully entitled to restore the
lapsed Oriental communities, including those on the western coast of
" Nineveh and Babylon," p. 425.
Appendix. 405
India ; and whilst leaving them in full possession of their ecclesiastical
status, rites, and ceremonies, to promote the unity of Christ's mystical
Body by joining them to ourselves in one communion and fellowship,
holding one Faith, one Lord, one Baptism.
What hinders, indeed, that, in due subservience to more urgent
demands upon her devotion and charity, the Church of England should
not occupy the Assyrian field thus providentially opened to her best
energies? One objection urged is that we should thereby be interfering
with a people canonically subject to the Greek patriarchates. Even
were this so, the argument loses all its force from the simple fact that
the Greek Church is utterly powerless to undertake the task. Moreover,
it should be borne in mind that our object is not to subject a foreign
community to our jurisdiction, but to promote Christian union, on terms
which may lead, under the Divine blessing, to eventual intercommunion
between all the Eastern Churches, and between them and ourselves.
But I maintain that the Greek Church possesses no canonical authority
over the Assyrians, and never did. " By comparing," says Bingham,
"the broken fragments that remain in the acts and superscriptions of
the ancient Councils with the Notitia of the Empire, and comparing
both with the later Notitia of the Church, it plainly appears that the
Church was divided into dioceses and provinces, much after the same
manner as the Empire." The territory in which the Eastern patriar-
chate, with its chief see, Seleucia-and-Ctesiphon,was originally situated,
appertained to Persia ; and as it never formed part of the Roman
Empire, so that see was never included either within the patriarchate
of Constantinople or that of Antioch. A reference to the ancient
dioceses comprehended within those patriarchates will fully bear out
this statement.
A somewhat similar objection is raised in an opposite quarter. The
American Independent or Congregationalist missionaries at Urumiah
regarded our first efforts among the so-called Nestorians although
strictly confined to the mountain community as an unjustifiable inter-
ference, and they have not hesitated to characterise my proceedings
among them as intolerant, Popish, Puseyite, &c., for no other reason
than because my replies to direct questions by the native Christians
indicated the differences which unfortunately exist between Noncon-
formists and ourselves, and led the Assyrians to prefer our doctrine and
Church government to theirs. No one is more ready than I am to
recognize the zealous exertions of the American missionaries at Urumiah
to benefit the Nestorians in and around that place ; for besides trans-
406 Appendix.
lating the Holy .Scriptures into vulgar Syriac, they have established
schools among them, and by the diffusion of light and knowledge have
undoubtedly aided them to resist the persevering efforts of Papal mis-
sionaries to bring them into subjection to the see of Rome. Their
success, up to a certain point, was mainly attributable to their conserva-
tive mode of procedure, allowing all who joined them to retain the use
of their rituals, and to adhere to their own ecclesiastical discipline.
But, unless I am grossly misinformed, a different policy has been
adopted of late years, whereby those who become associated with them
are required to renounce their ancient use, and to conform to the
Presbyterian or Congregationalist standard. No step could be more
impolitic on their part, or more fatal, eventually, to the permanence of
their influence ; for such is the tenacity with which the Eastern
Churches generally adhere to episcopacy and their ancient ritual ser-
vices, that any attempt to substitute the Nonconformist model in their
stead isS sure to fail in the long run. (The movement which is now
going on among the so-called Protestant Armenians in Turkey is an
example in point.) It is mainly owing to the fear of similar encroach-
ments that Mar Shimun refuses to sanction the labours of the American
missionaries in the mountains ; and, judging from a recent appeal from a
bishop and several of the clergy at Urumiah some of them in the ser-
vice of the missionaries many of the community there are anxious that
their Church should be reformed without being destroyed. Would that
the American missionaries could join heart and hand with us in so noble
a work !
APPENDIX C.
THE CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY'S WORK IN
TRAVANCORE AND COCHIN.
THE Society's work in this field is, we think, very interesting and very
hopeful. Whether we look at the picturesque region in the south-west
corner of all India, in which it is carried on ; or at the peculiarity of
the elements of which the small population of nearly two millions
is composed; or at the character for enlightenment of its native rulers,
it has many features of interest ; and the progress of the mission hitherto
gives us every reason for hope for the future.
We know not where else in all India we should look for the same
number of persons, in proportion to its size, who call themselves by the
name of Christians, as in the territory of Travancore and Cochin. There
are the Christians who hold communion with the Jacobite Patriarch of
Antioch, in number some 120,000 persons. They have been there since
the sixth century of our era, unmolested by the native rulers, and even
allowed by them a certain social status in the country. There are the
Romanists, who date, of course, since the arrival in India of the
Portuguese, somewhere about 140,000 in number. They consist partly
of those who, through the violence of the emissaries of Rome, have
been proselytized from Syrianism to Romanism ; and partly of those
who have become Romanists from heathenism. Then there are the
Protestant Christians in connexion with the London Missionary Society
in the extreme south of Travancore, somewhere about 30,000 in number.
They are principally Shanars, of the same race as those amongst whom
our Tinnevelly Mission has been so successful. They speak the Tamil
language, and their affinity, of course, would be much more with the
native Protestant Christians in Tinnevelly than with the Malayalim-
408 Appendix.
speaking Protestant Christians of their own kingdom of Travancore.
Finally, there are the Christians in connexion with the Church Mis-
sionary Society, numbering somewhere about 13,000. If we were to
count together all who bear the Christian name in Travancore and Cochin,
we should find the number to amount to not far short of one-fifth of the
entire population ; and to these we might add, as another peculiar
element of the population, somewhere about 1,500 Jews, who reside in
the important town of Cochin.
The most influential, though not the most numerous class of the
heathen population is the Brahmin class. They have great influence
at the courts, and great influence everywhere throughout the kingdom.
They are, of course, the class who are deeply interested in maintaining
caste and retarding the progress of Christianity. In fact, we may look
upon caste as a priestly idea from the beginning, cleverly devised for the
purpose of keeping the priestly Brahmins at the top of the social tree.
It is a matter of wonder that, with princes so enlightened as the
Travancore princes have been for several generations, and with the
Syrian church existing so long amongst them, the Travancore Brahmins
should be, of all Brahmins in India, almost the most privileged race of
them. One cannot but fear that the Syrian Christians, in the centuries
of the past, can have but little witnessed for Christ, and but little
declaimed against the monstrosities of Brahminism. If they had, it is
very probable that they would have received less quarter and less
toleration from the native princes. At present, the indigenous Brahmins
of Travancore and Cochin (Numboory Brahmins, as they are called,)
number about 14,000. Foreign Brahmins (especially from the Tamil
country), who do not rank so high, and are not at all privileged in the
same way as the Numboories, number some 36,000. The Nairs, who
rank next to the Brahmins, are a high-spirited and influential class of
people. The reigning family of Travancore belongs to this class, and
they are the principal landowners of the country. The Chogans, who
are generally servants to the Nairs ; the slaves, no longer legally so, but
actually slaves to the other classes ; the Araans, who are the aboriginal
dwellers on the slopes of the western ghats, cultivators of the soil, and
worshippers of the spirits of their ancestors ; these make up the rest of
this varied population.
There could not have been a more interesting experiment made than
the Church Missionary Society was induced by many friends to make,
in the Lord's name, in Travancore. The experiment was, in short, to
raise up into a living and witnessing church the fallen and lifeless church
Appendix. 409
of the Syrians. Lifeless, indeed, that church might have been called.
The fountain of life was closed against the people by the word of God
being in a language (the Syriac) not understood by the Malayalim-
speaking people. The liturgical services of the Church were mostly in
the same language. No witness for Christ was borne before the heathen.
The problem, therefore, which the missionaries, on arriving in Travan-
core in 1816, had to deal with was how they might, with God's blessing
on their efforts, impart spiritual life to the Syrian church, and so raise
it. It was to try this experiment they were sent forth. And what an
interesting experiment it was ! If God should enable them to succeed,
what a mighty lever for working India they would have prepared ! But
all experience shows that to raise into life a dead church is not an easy
task. They translated the word of life into the language of the people.
They were allowed to take, and they took, a systematic part in the
education of the young priests intended for ordination in the Syrian
Church. They preached wherever they had an opportunity, but they
asked no Syrian to abandon the communion of his Church. They
laboured in the education of the young. Twenty years were allowed
for the testing of this experiment. At the end of that time it was
perceived on all hands that the gravitation downwards of a fallen Church
was greater than had been at first thought of. A new method of pro-
ceeding was adopted. From 1838 to the present time the Gospel has
been preached to all alike, Syrians and heathens, and all have been
exhorted to come out, and separate themselves from false communions,
and join themselves with a pure scriptural communion.
The blessing of God seems to have followed the new plan. Since
1838, twelve thousand persons of all classes have come out and joined
the Protestant Church of England. Ten young men, who belonged to
the Syrian communion, have abandoned it, and have been educated,
trained, and admitted to the ministry of the Church of England. One
young man, a member of a Brahmin family, all of whom became
Christians a few years ago, is now also a promising native clergyman.
The converts are from all classes, those from the Syrians and the Chogans
being the most numerous, the mountain-men and the slaves helping
considerably to swell the number. Thus, out of these various elements
there is being one Protestant Bible Church formed in the land. The
same thing that missionary work is doing everywhere throughout the
world is going on here. It is drawing together into one brotherhood in
Christ races and tribes once altogether separated, the uniting power
being the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Brahmin party have been
4 1 o Appendix.
greatly incensed, and at one time it is certain that the missionaries
could not have held their ground in the country had it not been for the
influence of the British name. The work has steadily held on its way.
May the Lord cause it to grow more and more, until it covers the
land !
What is to be expected from this native Protestant Church in Travan-
core and Cochin ? What is their distinct Christian influence ? Does
the word of the Lord sound out from them to their Syrian and heathen
neighbours? Could their pastors thank God for them, " remembering
their work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in the Lord
Jesus Christ ? " Is there amongst them an anxiety to win souls to
Christ? Are the distinctions of caste abolished, and are they of one
mind in the Lord ? We will only say that we know that there are
native clergymen in Travancore who, by the grace of God, are behind
none in their longing desire to save souls. We could enumerate many
instances where the Gospel has spread simply through the faith and love
of the converts themselves. We think, on the whole, that the questions
above asked can be answered in the affirmative with regard to the
Travancore mission as much as with regard to any mission with which
we are acquainted. This native Church has, we think, a strong claim
on the prayers of the friends of missions, that the Holy Spirit might be
poured upon it, that so its witness for Christ might become more and
more decided, and that the converts to the faith might be more and
more multiplied.
We have to ask now an important question about this native Church.
When may we expect that it will take its stand as an independent
Church, i.e., a Church independent of pecuniary aid from a foreign
Society ? When may we expect that it will become, under a bishop or
bishops of its own, an independent branch of the Protestant Church of
England ? We think that this is a question which ought to be asked,
and which all who are interested in missions are asking now. Most
dangerous would it be to deprive a native Church of our aid in men and
means before it is ripe for standing by itself. But we ought not to
postpone the time of its standing alone unnecessarily by a day. The
vigour of a native Church is not improved by an excess of fostering. If
there is spiritual life in it, that life will expand itself more purely and
more vigorously when human aid is withdrawn, and it is led to cast
itself on the heavenly comfort and strength of the Holy Spirit. And,
besides this, the claims of all India are too great, the field is too wide,
to admit of our spending more time than is necessary on any one point
Appendix. 411
of it. The Church Missionary Society thoroughly realises this idea to
itself, and its present action in reference to the Travancore native Church
is that of gradually leading it on to realise it too. The Society does not
forget the difficulties of the native Church, composed as it is so largely
of new converts from so many classes, and it does not expect too much.
But not less steadily and urgently is it setting the idea before the native
Church in a practical way. For several years past the native Church has
been accustomed to look upon the support of their spiritual and other
teachers as coming out of a Sustentation Fund raised by themselves,
and supplemented by the Society ; and they are taught that their own
contributions must increase year by year, and the Society's supplemen-
tary grant decrease year by year, until it altogether ceases to be granted.
It is pleasant to know that the sum raised by the native Church is
increasing year by year. It is to be hoped that the present native
pastors, and those who may hereafter be ordained, will see the importance
of endeavouring to maintain themselves on as small a sum as possible, in
order that their own Christian people may be able the sooner and the
more easily to maintain them without foreign aid. The neighbour Syrian
Church sets an example in this respect to our native Protestant Church.
The bishops, catanars and deacons, receive no pecuniary aid whatever.
Their support comes entirely from their own people. We think that
this is an example which the native Protestant Church in Travancore
would do well to consider.
APPENDIX D.
HINDOSTAN.
THE Catholic Missions in Hindostan do not offer, as those in China,
the grand spectacle of entire provinces praying to be baptized, or the
still more exciting interest attached to the persecuted Christians, as
those of the Annamite kingdom at present. In Hindostan, which is
the most important district of all Asia, next to the Chinese empire,
from the extent of its territory and the number of its inhabitants, there
are thousands of Christian settlements requiring to have their faith
strengthened and enlivened ; also, a quiet but steady movement among
the pagans, the Mussulmans, and the heretics towards Catholicity,
which claims development ; in fine, there are 1 50 millions of souls to be
enlightened and saved. Eight hundred missioners, under the direction
of seventeen bishops, are combating there night and day, sometimes
struggling against the inertness of whole populations retained in error
by their habits of sensuality, sometimes righting against the secular
prejudices of the different races, and again, often pitted against the
proselytism of heresy, having for its aid political supremacy and the
power of gold ; all these struggles carried on in obscurity, without
either the courage inspired by the prospect of martyrdom or the hope
of a near and general victory. And yet this continual struggle requires
an untiring devotedness which nothing can discourage, not even its
fruitlessness, for it is the duty of a missioner to give himself to the cause
with all his heart, and without any calculation as to his chances of suc-
cess. He must work as if the entire victory depended on his individual
exertion. This is a noble and inspiring position, which carries with it
a certain consolation, since it is evident that God alone can be the
Appendix. 4 1 3
inspirer of all the ardour and perseverance felt by the missioner, and
that He bestows these gifts in order to further and hasten His own
merciful designs.
In Hindostan, as in most missionary countries, the zeal of the
missioner has a double object to attain : 1st. To maintain the Chris-
tians in the holiness of their vocation while surrounded by an infidel
population ; 2nd. To try and convert the pagans, and also to pre-
serve the Catholics from the effect of Protestantism, which, having
been introduced into the country by the English influence, is dangerous
to them, as it is also an obstacle to the conversion of the infidels to
Christianity, even though the natives have little esteem for the religion
of the English.
I.
The extent of each of the vicariates, and the insufficient number of
evangelical workers, necessitates a special organisation in order to
ensure the regular service of the missioners.
M. P. M., Superior of the Foreign Missions, has made known, in a
letter addressed to the Central Councils of the Propagation of the Faith,
the mode employed for the visitation of the Christian settlements in the
Vicariate-Apostolic of Pondicherry, where there is a population of 108,000
Catholics dispersed over all points of the territory :
' ' In order to watch over the faith of so many Christians, and to bring
from the darkness of paganism the great number of souls, the mission
has been divided into several districts, according to the number of
Catholics, and also to the number of missioners. Each district is com-
posed of several villages, whose inhabitants are either all, or at least,
the greater number Catholics. The missioner resides in the centre of
the district, but the administration of sacraments, which obliges him to
visit continually from one end of his parish to the other, and, above all,
the immense distances of certain villages, prevent him having sufficient
time to instruct all the Catholics, or to appease the quarrels which often
arise amongst the families. It was in order to remedy, as much as
possible, these inconveniences, and to encourage the Catholics in fidelity
to their faith and the practice of virtue, that Monsignor Godelle resolved,
some few years since, to consecrate two missioners to the office of con-
tinually travelling from one district to another, preaching retreats, in
4 1 4 Appendix.
imitation of those which are given in Europe." (Letter of the i$th
October, 1864.)
The hopes entertained by Monsignor the Vicar-Apostolic of Pondi-
cherry have been realised ; for, notwithstanding their natural apathy of
character, the populations have been roused, and abundant fruits have
followed the holy exercises. The Superior charged with this laborious
ministry gives the following edifying details in his letter :
"We have," he writes, "begun our apostolic journey by Selam, a
populous and pretty considerable commercial town, situated at the foot
of the chain of eastern Ghauts, forty-six leagues south-west of Pondi-
cherry. There are only a few Christians in this town, but there are
many more in the neighbouring villages. The mission lasted for twenty
days, in order to give sufficient time for every one to take advantage
of it, and they certainly did avail themselves of the opportunity. Almost
everywhere I passed, several Christians, moved by the instructions they
had heard, came and threw themselves at my feet, saying, ' Father, I
have never before understood all that you have just told us. I have for
ten, fifteen, twenty years led a wicked life, having formerly made bad
confessions, but the good God has sent you now to bring me salvation.
Pardon me. ' Then they commenced their general confessions, shedding
tears of sorrow, and I could scarcely contain the emotion I felt in
witnessing the deep contrition of these poor strayed sheep thus restored
to the fold.
" From Selam we went to Yedapadhy, a village in which, from time
immemorial, discord has reigned supreme, notwithstanding the efforts of
the missioners to make peace, the people resisting all such attempts.
God was pleased to bestow this much-desired blessing as a fruit of the
holy exercise of the mission. The retreat had only commenced two
days when the inhabitants, of their own accord, made peace, and came
to throw themselves at our feet, promising to submit humbly to whatever
we should command. A banquet was given as a pledge of the reconci-
liation. The two men who were heads of each faction, and had made
themselves most remarkable by their animosity, were designated to be
organisers of the feast. Men, women, and children, all desired to take
part in the entertainment, and, as there was no house large enough to
hold such a number of guests, the court of the church was made to serve
for the banquet-hall. The next morning all began to attend the confes-
sional ; even the pagans seemed inclined to become Christians. Each
time that I walked out they crowded round me. ' Father,' they would
say, ' where are you going ? We will accompany you, and will sit at
Appendix. 4 1 5
your feet to hear your good advice.' One of the old men of the village
one day accosted me in a friendly manner, and when I passed on after
speaking a few words, I heard him say to his neighbours, ' Ah ! if we
followed the good advice the father gives us, we would be much better
than we are.' "
In Madura, where only the great centres possess missioners, the
Christians are only visited from time to time, generally about once a
year. The greater number, therefore, of missioners (they number about
fifty native and European) pass their lives travelling through the vast
districts allotted to them, trying to visit all the Christians dispersed in
the middle of the pagan population.
The Rev. Father Ant. Batut, of the Society of Jesus, writes to his
brother the following description of these apostolic excursions :
' ' The missioner's suite consists of three persons a catechist to
instruct the Christians, a disciple for the material service, and a man for
guiding the ox or the horse that carries our conveyance. When the
missioner reaches the first Christian settlement he is going to visit, he
at once installs himself and his suite in the church. They give this
name of church to four mud walls thatched with straw. This building
is made to serve all purposes. It is the church, the presbytery, the
refectory, and the dormitory ; a plank of timber, supported by four legs,
is made to answer alternately table and bed. Each day the charity of
the Christians supplies a ration of rice for the support of the Father and
his suite, the preparation for confession and communion is made,
baptism is given to the children, extreme-unction administered to the
dying, abuses are corrected, and all exhorted to a more fervent life.
This labour continues for eight, ten, and fifteen days, according to the
importance of the locality ; then the missioner prepares to depart : he
bids farewell to his Christians, after having advised them to assemble
every day for prayers, but, above all, to come to say prayers for mass
together every Sunday. If the village is not too far from his own resi-
dence, the missioner can make a few rare visits to administer the
sacraments to the sick, but, generally speaking, he is only able to visit
once in each year." (Letter of February, 1865.) These journeys occupy
the missioner for two or three months, after which he returns to his
home to rest for a few days, and sets out for some other point in the
district.
The Rev. Father Serasset, of the Society of Jesus, having been sent
from Dharwar (vicariate-apostolic of Bombay) to Moudgal, a consider-
able town, situated in an independent territory, has enjoyed the
41 6 Appendix.
consolation of discovering the last vestiges of Christianity, which had
been formerly flourishing, but is now reduced to a few hundred Chris-
tians. We shall make extracts of the accounts of his mission, written
by him to his brother, the parish priest of Develier, near Delemont
(diocese of Bale).
" Moudgal is about 140 miles distant from Dhawar. Our Fathers
had founded there a Catholic flock, that had long after been remarkable
for the wisdom of their laws. This mission belongs to the vicariate-
apostolic of Madras, but as it is without a pastor, I was invited to visit
it. I felt inward pleasure at the idea of visiting those spots that had
been the territory where the zealous devotedness of the children of our
Society had converted so many pagans ; but on arriving there, my
anticipations were changed into sorrow instead of consolation. The
dwelling of our former missioners is now a heap of ruins ; the church,
to the infinite regret of the Christians, has been destroyed lately, in
order to give place to a new one, and the traditions and memories of
the old building have all disappeared. All that now remains is the tomb
of the most celebrated of the missioners of this country, Father John
Paradisi, whose memory is still held in great veneration by all our
Christians. They never quit the church without blessing the tomb of
him whom they call their father in the faith. The epitaph of Father
Paradisi describes, in a few words, his life and his eulogy. Here is the
translation of it :
" Here lies the body of John Paradisi, aged 88 years.
He had the care of this Mission for 41 years,
and converted a number of souls to the t me faith.
After giving us an example of every virtue
He departed this life on the \yh of January, 1793.
" I arrived at Moudgal a few days before the festival of Christmas-
day. The Christians were all assembled there, and numbered about
400. They are generally dispersed about the district, being employed
in weaving and manufacturing stuffs ; but they are faithful to their old
traditions, and return to Moudgal to celebrate together the feast of
Christmas and that of the Epiphany ; they number about 600 when
all together. Those poor Christians were sadly in want of a mission,
for they were living without approaching the sacraments, and were
afflicted with discord and division amongst each other. After hesitating
for a few clays, there was at length a general movement in favour of the
Appendix. 4 1 7
mission. From Christmas to the Epiphany a continual festival was
kept up." (Letter of the 3rd September, 1864.)
II
The conversion of the idolaters and the Mussulmans is impeded by
almost insurmountable obstacles, notwithstanding the great zeal of the
missioners.
" To preserve the faith in the hearts of our Christian flock," writes
the secretary of Monsignor Hartemann, Vicar-Apostolic of Patna,
" seems to be the only thing we can hope to realise at present, until it
pleases Almighty God to render this arid and immense country fruitful."
(Letter of the 2oth November, 1864.)
Monsignor Dufal, Vicar-Apostolic of Eastern Bengal, expresses the
same sad regrets. His lordship writes as follows from Noucolly to the
Central Councils on the 2lst February, 1865 :
" Notwithstanding our constant efforts, the number of conversions is
very small, almost insignificant when we compare them with the popu-
lation of this vast country. Seventy-six during the year 1864 ! Alas !
it is indeed so difficult to make any amongst the Hindoos, that the
catechists are very few. I do not speak of the Mussulmans, who come
next in number after the Hindoo population, and who are nearly all
steeped in profound ignorance, and without any desire to improve them-
selves. They are plunged in earthly pleasures, and brutally attached to
a religion that encourages their sensuality. If by chance you happen
to meet some who appear less brutalised, and you make an effort to
enlighten them, they answer you by a smile of pity, as much as to say
that you are losing your time in attempting to argue on such subjects
with them. One of them said to me a few days since, ' If I were to
join the Christians, what would become of me ? I should inevitably be
banished as a vile miscreant from the society of my acquaintances,
friends, and relations. No, I shall die a Mussulman ; and I hope Allah
will have mercy upon me.'
" The Hindoos are not so entirely debased as the Mussulmans. Their
character is generally more noble, and they seem more desirous of
instruction, particularly such of them as are above the lower ranks.
From a mere desire of knowledge, they consent at first to listen to you ;
and, after a little argument, they finish by esteeming you, as they
recognise you to surpass them in intelligence. They will even be con-
vinced, possibly, of the holiness and truth of the Christian religion ;
E E
4 1 8 Appendix.
they will admire the heroic devotedness and virtues that the Christians
are continually displaying, and which contrast so strongly with the
superstitions and trickery of the Brahmins, all which they acknowledge
while witnessing the folly and abominations practised by these Brah-
mins, as well as their ceremonies, stained with cruelty, and which
constitute their exterior worship. They understand all this, but there
they come to a stand-still, and they are yet far from conversion. I
believe their hour of grace has not come ; but still, I don't despair, but,
on the contrary, I rely hopefully, and even rejoice at the happy symptoms
of progress I witness ; for, a few years since, the Hindoos were inacces-
sible to Europeans, and particularly to missioners. It is, therefore, a
great step in advance to be able to speak to them of religion. As an
additional cause for hopefulness, I will relate a significant fact. In one
district the Hindoos of rank have decided on sending their daughters to
a Christian school. This progress has been brought about by one of
themselves, who has persuaded his companions in religion that it would
be very advantageous to secure a good education, even for their women.
Now, if those in the higher ranks, who pass for the most enlightened,
give this example, many will assuredly follow it."
The position of the Hindoo females is well known. The Christian
religion, in raising woman from her state of degradation and inferiority,
can alone bestow on her the honour and dignity that Providence has
assigned as her position in the family. The Hindoo women are well
disposed to become Christians.
' ' At the termination of an instruction at which a number of pagans
had assisted," writes M. Prieur, in the letter already alluded to,
" seeing that they seemed much struck with what they had heard, for
they acknowledged themselves that their gods are no more than demons,
'Well,' said I, 'will you not join our holy religion, and, receiving
baptism, become one of us, and adore the only God who has power to
make you happy ? ' The women looked at their husbands and answered,
' If they wish, we consent readily ; ' but the husbands did not evince
equal alacrity. ' We will think about it before we decide,' they
replied.
" Father Bruni, of the Society of Jesus, missioner at Negapatam
(Madura), gives us the following details : A Mahratta widow had
become the slave of a rich pagan, who had formerly lent her husband
fifteen rupees ; she was, according to the laws of her country, obliged
to work for the creditor until the debt should be liquidated. Her four
children were obliged to suffer with their mother. I had sent my
Appendix. 419
catechist to purchase their ransom. He worked for two days without
taking almost any nourishment. After long discussions on the subject,
the pagan demanded seventeen rupees, and the catechist had but
fifteen ; fortunately, the widow was still possessed of a sheep and a
small quantity of rice. These were both sold for two rupees, and the
entire sum required was forthcoming. The whole family have just been
received into an establishment for catechumens." (Letter of the 31 st
of May, 1864, addressed to Rev. Father Tassis).
One of our chief obstacles in establishing the Christian religion
amongst the Hindoos is their social system of castes. The missioners
are endeavouring to put an end to this exclusiveness by means of
orphanages and schools. Besides the advantage of a Christian educa-
tion obtained in all these establishments, there is a special benefit
gained in Hindostan it is, that these schools are productive of Chris-
tian marriages.
In most vicariates the number of schools is considerable.
Mangalore possesses n; Coimbatour, 12; and these two repre-
sent 400 pupils. Mysore, 17 ; Madura and Vizagapatam, 19 each ;
Bombay, 26 ; Quilon, 35 ; Pondicherry, 80 ; attended by 2,000
scholars.
To these elementary schools we are to add the ecclesiastical semi-
naries, destined for the education of native priests, and also for the
children of the influential classes. Several of those establishments are
in full activity. For example, the college of Negapatam (Madura)
contains 150 pupils. The college of St. Francis Xavier at Calcutta
has more than 200. ' ' The high reputation of this latter college, and
its influence in spreading the Catholic religion in India, must be evi-
dent to you. In a city where the Protestant sects possess so many and
such well-organised schools, as far as material advantages are in
question, added to their scientific and literary institutions, it is of the
highest importance that the Catholic religion should be represented by
a college capable of sustaining an honourable emulation." (Report
to the Central Councils on the Missions of the Society of Jesus, 6th
May, 1865.)
The orphanages are destined to render still more important services
to the country. We read very interesting details about them in a
letter addressed to the Central Councils by the Abbe Pierron, of the
Foreign Missions, and Pro-Vicar Apostolic of Coimbatour :
" In the orphanage for boys, established at Carmattampatty, and in
the other for girls at Coimbatour, 128 children have been educated and
420 Appendix.
instructed during the year 1864. Several of those pupils have been
married or placed in Christian families. These are children of pagans,
the greater number of whom belong to castes that have never allowed
the Christian religion to penetrate amongst them. When they leave
the orphanage, they become, by their marriages, little centres of
Christianity, and the newly-converted group round them by degrees,
and many are thus encouraged to enter the Catholic religion who would
otherwise never have dreamed of quitting paganism. You are aware
that India is partitioned into divisions and sub-divisions of an infinite
number of castes, who never intermarry, and of their entire number
there are many in which there is not a single Christian. When, there-
fore, we speak of conversion to the pagans belonging to the latter
castes, the objection is always presented to us, ' If I become a Chris-
tian, who will marry my children ? If all my caste and all my village
are willing to become Christians, I shall be converted also.' How can
we answer these objections when put forward by people who have but
a faint idea of Christianity, and who esteem earthly pleasures their only
happiness? But when we can point out some of their compatriots
already married, and living happily in the Christian religion, all these
objections about marriage disappear, and they yield easily to our
representations of the necessity of their being Christians." (Letter of
25th November, 1864).
The history of these children gathered into the orphanages reveals
sometimes, in remarkably striking instances, the paternal solicitude of
the Almighty for these poor abandoned souls. The following are the
details of a letter, written on the loth of last June, to the Abbe Massar-
dier, Vicar of St. Didier-le-Sceauve (diocese of Puy), by the Rev.
Father P. L. Verdier, of the Society of Jesus, missioner at Palamcottah
(Madura) :
" A little girl, about nine years of age, was suddenly deprived of her
father and mother, both having been carried off by cholera. Being far
from her native country, and without protection, she fell into the hands
of a bayadere (Indian women that dance before the pagodas, and are
called bayaiieres}. This wretched woman, incited by a desire worthy
of her profession, stamped, with a hot iron, the diabolical mark of the
trident on the poor child's arms. The unfortunate little orphan, in
whose soul divine grace hd already commenced to shine, felt herself
seized with horror of this strange woman who had so quickly become
her mistress and her executioner, and she escaped from her. The fury,
having discovered where the child was hiding, thought to carry her
Appendix. 421
away by force ; but the orphan resisted, and the affair was carried
before the tribunal. In reply to the exclamations of the bayadere, the
little victim exhibited her arms, burnt as they were, and cried out
indignantly, 'Are you my mother, cruel woman ? By what right have
you been guilty of such extreme cruelty to a child ? No ! no ! I shall
never consent to live under the control of your wicked power. ' The
English magistrate took the orphan under his protection, and placed
her in an hospital. For a year, she got her ration of rice daily there,
and attended at the Protestant school ; however, as no one took care of
her after school hours, the magistrate began to fear she might fall into
evil ways. He had heard of our orphanage at Adeikalabouram, and he
asked me to receive into it his young protegee ; I accepted the charge
readily. After a little time, he visited the establishment, in order to
see the orphan, who came to him looking as merry as possible. ' Well,
are you happy here ?' he said, when she presented herself. ' O yes,'
she replied, ' I am happy, thanks to your goodness in having sent me
here.' ' Repeat your prayers for me,' said the magistrate (who is a
Protestant) ; the child recited the Lord's prayer. After his visit, he
never met me without inquiring for the orphan, and expressing his
admiration of the devotedness of the Abbe Bossan, who has consecrated
his life to this work, so pleasing in the sight of God, though he is little
known or appreciated by men. The magistrate is aware that this
missioner has given up all his personal property for the support of
those children, and that for their sake he leads a life of privation and
penury.
" This orphanage of Adeikalabouram contains eighty-five little girls
and forty little boys, all born in idolatry. It serves also as an asylum
for twenty-one widows, converted from paganism, and eleven old men,
converts also. Since the foundation of the establishment, it has already
sent to heaven six hundred abandoned infants. All this good work is
under the charge of nuns of the order of Marie Reparatrice (Our
Blessed Lady of Reparation).
" The four principal orphanages of Madura educate four hundred and
seventy orphans, and ithose of Bombay, of Poona, and of Bandora, in
the vicariate of Bombay, contain nearly five hundred. They are not
all equally considerable ; for these kinds of institutions are very ex-
pensive, and many of the vicariates are too poor to be able to extend
these institutions as much as they are needed. Agra and Calcutta possess
each two orphanages ; Mangalore has three ; Mysore and Patna, four
each ; Vizagapatam, five; and Central Bengal, six.
422 Appendix.
" At Coimbatour, the girls' orphanage is directed by native nuns;
and hpropos of these religious, the Abbe Pierron remarks that the
increasing number of vocations to the religious life is a striking proof of
the progress of Catholicity in Hindostan.
"Amongst the pagans (he says), the general question, the principal
affair which occupies their thoughts, is marriage. They often marry
their children before they are well out of infancy. For us Christians,
who live in the midst of such opinions, how much virtue and grace it
continually requires to surmount these prejudices ! Nevertheless,
amongst our nuns, we have young girls belonging to the richest Chris-
tian families. During the past year, five nuns were professed into the
Third Order of St. Francis of Assisium, two young ladies have entered
the novitiate, and three have become postulants. On the 8th of last
September, the chapel of the convent was literally crowded with
Christians, amongst whom were many Protestants, all eager to assist at
the profession, this being a ceremony so unusual in these infidel
countries. The nuns are twenty in number, fourteen of whom are
professed/' (Letter of 25th November, 1864.)
Though the Indian soil seems still arid after all the clew of the mis-
sionary labours and fatigues, yet it is evident that sterility is not over
the whole land, nor by any means is it hopelessly unfruitful, and God
sustains the missioners' zeal with some consolation. The work of
the orphanages and the schools prepares a future generation of Chris-
tians.
The apostolate of the pagan adults presents so many obstacles,
already explained, that we must not be surprised at the slight results.
The following is a list of the conversions brought about in some of the
vicariates during the year 1864 :
Coimbatour, one hundred ; Mangalore, one hundred and seventy-
four ; Mysore, two hundred ; Vizagapatam, three hundred ; Madura,
one thousand four hundred ; and more than three thousand children
baptized who were at the point of death.
It seems, nevertheless, that in the vicariate of Pondicherry, the apos-
tolate is more hopeful and more fruitful than in most of the other parts
of Hindostan. We read the following details in a letter from the Abbe
Ligeon, of the Foreign Missions, addressed to the Abbe Maury,
director of the seminary of the same Society, in Paris :
" I have just been visiting the two villages of Pandjalam and Vaila-
mour, the inhabitants of which were baptized about four years since ;
those are all my children in Christ Jesus. I begot them in the midst of
Appendix. 423
privations and trials, and I love them with a love of predilection.
Amongst the pagans who came to see me, I remarked a woman whose
child I had baptized when it was so ill as to be in danger of death. I
nsked news of it. ' He is dead,' she replied.
" ' Say rather he is living,' I answered ; 'for though his little lx>dy
has been laid in the earth, his soul is now gone to heaven, in conse-
quence of the blessing I gave him.' The poor woman appeared
consoled and happy.
" Two families of Vailamour came to visit me, and asked to be
baptized. They were rich in children of all ages, from a baby of one to
twelve years old. They immediately set about learning their prayers,
and followed me to Nangattour. Here a number of pagans joined the
Christians in learning their prayers. On the day of my departure, I
blessed ten marriages and sent home seventeen neophytes. Scarcely
had I baptized the latter, when ten others presented themselves,
entreating I would baptize them. I gave a catechist the care of
instructing them for two months, and desired him to conduct them to
me at the end of that time. Since this visit, I have had a continual
arrival of catechumens. At Attipakam, I baptized thre fathers of
families, one of whom belonged to the pariah caste, and has since been
called to the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, after having received
the white robe of innocence. All his relations are being instructed,
preparatory to their receiving the same grace of regeneration.
" Deviavaram, where I gave a mission with the Abbe Prieur, has
given also its share of converts to the Faith. I baptized there seven
idolaters, and a few days afterwards I had the consolation of regenerat-
ing thirteen more.
" Those details give clear evidence that God always alleviates the
pains and trials he sends us by adding some unlooked-for blessing, in
order to excite and animate our courage in His service. If the vica-
riate of Pondicherry contains still five millions of idolaters, it is at least
consoling to the labourers in this mission to know that eight hundred
have been baptized during the last year. The pagans are in general
well-disposed towards Catholicity, notwithstanding the prejudices of
the castes which we have to combat ; and we have every reason to hope
that the harvest of souls would be still more abundant amongst them if
we had a greater number of apostolic labourers." (Letter of the 6th
March, 1865.)
The vicariate of Quilon is more than hopeful ; for the religious
movement there seems to meet with neither obstacle nor opposition.
424 Appendix.
The Rev. Father Victor, of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, barefooted
Carmelite, writes, on the I3th of last September, to the Abbe Bize,
Professor at the Seminary of Palignon (diocese of Toulouse) :
" I have very consoling news to give you of my district. They con-
tinue to evince the same eagerness to embrace the true faith, and testify
the same affection for the missioner. My arrival in a village is looked
on as a general festival, and my departure causes an equal sorrow. My
first blessing on arrival is received with joy, and my parting one with
tears. My life passes in crossing mountains, where I have no shelter
except the shade of the trees ; but everywhere I meet penitents that
quite surprise me, and conversions that make me forget all my fatigue
and labour. In one of the small pagan towns, where a Catholic priest
had never before entered, I have had the happiness of erecting a church
dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel. "
Under the influence of divine grace, those pagans often give extra-
ordinary edification, and make the most heroic sacrifices that they may
remain faithful to their vocation.
" In the month of August, 1864 (writes the Abbe Pierron), a young
man belonging to the caste of the Vellalers suddenly quitted the village,
accompanied by his wife and two children, and went to visit the
missioner at Carmattampatty, saying to him that he wished to become
a Christian, no matter what the consequences might be to him. As
this young man belonged to a very influential family, and was possessed
of a certain competency, the priest received him at first with great
reserve, fearing that he had only yielded to some sudden and rash im-
pulse in coming to him ; but he soon gave evident proofs of the sincerity
of his conversion. The parents of the young man, on hearing that he
had joined the Christians, and that he was learning their prayers, were
very much excited, and made great efforts to bring him back to the
village. They went so far as even to threaten the missioner ; and,
finding that ineffective, they tried to coax him. But, in spite of all the
threats of the pagans and the supplications of his wife, he came to him,
accompanied by her children : the young man remained firm in his
resolution. We knew he would be expelled from his caste, disowned
by his family, despised by all ; but yet he was ready to pay this price,
and Christian he would be." (Letter of the 25th of November,
1864.)
Sometimes God turns even their most bitter sufferines into occasions
of drawing souls to His service who had been until then in a state of
utter ignorance.
Appendix. 425
" You are aware (writes the Secretary of Mgr. Hartemann), that the
Hindoos are cruel in character, and that they throw into the Ganges,
under pretext of making them drink of the sacred river, all their sick
and infirm, or aged relatives, in order to get rid of them. Some years
since, a water-carrier brought to the convent a Brahmin woman he had
found half-dead in the streets. The poor creature had escaped from
her relatives, who were about to drown her, in consequence of her
being so infirm. The nuns welcomed her with tender charity, and
took such care of her that she recovered her health. They then asked
her what she intended to do with herself. 'Ah ! ' replied she, ' I in-
tend to become a Christian ; I desire to love that God who has taken
pity on me, and even died to save me. ' In the absence of the Rev.
Father Vincent, director of the convent, I had the consolation of
baptizing her, as well as a young Hindoo girl, of eighteen years of age,
and three young female children.
" Recently, an old Hindoo woman was found at the gate of the
convent in a deplorable state. The good sisters brought her inside,
and lavished kindness on her. This poor woman had been the mother
of eighteen children, and the last remaining one had cast her into the
street. The sisters spoke to her of God, of Jesus Christ, and of the
sacrament of baptism. Sufferings had prepared the unfortunate woman
to receive the grace of God ; she prayed that they might baptize her,
desiring to die in the religion of Him who died on the cross for her.
They thought she was approaching her last hour, I was sent for
hastily, and I baptized her : but she is recovered.'' (Letter of the 24th
November, 1865.)
III.
In some parts of Hindostan, the Protestants make the greatest efforts
to place obstacles in the way of the Catholic missioners ; but we thank
God that the result of the enormous expense lavished by our enemies
has been a total failure in accomplishing their object.
' ' The number of conversions this year amongst the Protestants of
Madura is most consoling, above all, when we remember the power
brought against us by the Protestants, both in money spent, the threats
held out against those who become Catholics, and also the many who
had been made Protestants at the beginning of this century. The
Mission of Madura at present numbers fifty-three Protestant European
ministers and twenty-three native ones. But they have failed in
seducing away any of our Christians, whilst we have gained from them
426 Appendix.
all those of the district of Surinam who had been enticed into error
when this district was under the jurisdiction of the priests of Goa.
Their partisans are very few in the north and middle districts, notwith-
standing the number of their schools and their efforts to proselytise. It
is in the southern province of Tinnelly that Protestantism has most life,
because it has been for a long time established there, with the assist-
ance of the English Government." (Annual Report of the Missions of
the Society of Jesus, 5th April, 1864.)
During the year 1864, there were one hundred heretics converted in
Madura. "All the missioners agree in saying that the twenty-five
thousand Hindoos who still remain of the fifty thousand that had em-
braced the Protestant religion towards the end of the last century and
the commencement of this, would all become Catholics if we could
protect them, and provide means for their being established elsewhere."
(Annual Report of the Missions under the care of the Society of Jesus,
6th May, 1865.)
" In the vicariate of Hyderabad (writes Mgr. Murphy), the colleges,
schools, orphanages, and other institutions, are in full vigour and
prosperity. They have become the sources of immense benefit to our
people by saving them from Protestantism and instructing them in the
Catholic faith." (Letter of the i6thjune, 1865.)
There were sixty conversions of Protestants in Hyderabad during the
year 1864.
Those in the - vicariate of Mysore numbered twelve ; and Pondicherry,
eighty-six.
The secretary of Monsignor Hartemann writes from Patna, on the
2Oth of November, 1864 :
' ' The mission is making progress, notwithstanding the obstacles.
Our establishments of education, though of such recent creation, have
already caused a panic in the camps of Protestantism. The Anglican
Bishop of Calcutta is journeying through India at the present moment,
and preaching a crusade against the Catholic institutions destined for
the youth of the country. His want of success at Darjeeling has not
caused his zeal to slacken. Darjeeling is situated at the foot of the
Himalayan mountains. We have a convent of Loretto nuns there, with
a boarding-school. At great expense, a Protestant school was esta-
blished to destroy, if possible, our establishment. The Anglican Bishop
preached in Patna with the same object in view, and ordered a college
to be founded to counterbalance the influence of our institution of
English ladies of St. Marie de Baviere. A convent of the same order
Appendix. 427
is about to be established at Allahabad, the seat of the government
of the north-western provinces, and one of the four principal cities of
India."
Another letter, written from Patna by the same missioner, on the
24th November last, from which we have already given extracts, gives
ull details of the immense services rendered to the mission by the nuns
of Saint Marie de Baviere. "It is through their influence (says the
secretary of Mgr. Hartemann) that we hope for some conversions here.
Their devotedness excites the admiration of the Protestants and of the
thousands of pagans surrounding them. How much sorrow alleviated !
How many souls saved by their exertions ! Holy sisters, who have
left all to consecrate themselves (under the burning sun, and for ever
in presence of an incessant enemy, the cholera) to the education of the
daughters of English soldiers and of pagans ! "
We find the same devotedness of the nuns of Patna amongst all the
religious sisters who consecrate their lives to the care of children and
the sick. It is everywhere the same abnegation, the same zeal, because
it is the same spirit which animates all those souls. They have also
their share in the sufferings of the apostolate, and this is sometimes
even to the sacrifice of life. They fall victims to this great labour, and
to the insalubrity of the climate. During the last twenty years, in the
single orphanage of Calcutta, forty-two Irish sisters have died.
IV.
The letters that we have just laid before the notice of our associates
give us a pretty good idea in general of the state of the Catholic mis-
sions in Hindostan. They inform us of the nature of the obstacles
which oppose the more extended diffusion of the Gospel the inertness
of the native Hindoos, the prejudices of caste, Brahminism and
Mahometanism, the doctrines of which encourage sensual habits, and,
in fine, though of course in an inferior degree, the Protestant influence
They show us how, instead of being discouraged and hopeless in the
face of so many obstacles, the missioners redouble their zeal for the
propagation of the faith in the mountains of Himalaya and on the coast
of Malabar.
The bishops are as laborious as the simple missioners. Here it is
Mgr. Godelle, of Pondicherry, who has no other bed to lie on but
the bare ground, with a bag for his pillow ; there it is Monsignor
Hartemann, of Patna, who sets out for a three months' visitation, with
an inflamed and ulcerated leg, traverses, at the point of his life, dan-
428 Appendix.
gerous torrents, and enters immense forests infested with tigers, and, on
his return, is seized with an attack of cholera.
We have rapidly indicated some of the trials to which the missioner
is exposed. We must add to the account how much aggravated all
those sufferings are in a country ravaged by plagues of all kinds. Not
to speak of cholera, which is, we may say, a permanent plague on the
banks of the Ganges, the storms, and the continued aridity and famine,
have devastated latterly, and completed the misery of a population
already very poor. The vicariates of Bengal, both central and east-
ern, and that of Hyderabad, suffer at present from two terrible cyclones
that ravaged parts of India during the months of April and November,
1864. At Mazulipatam, for example, "neither the church, the mis-
sioner's house, nor the schools (all destroyed by the inundation), have
as yet been rebuilt, for want of means." (Letter from Mgr. Murphy,
of the 1 6th June, 1865.)
An exorbitant increase in the price of provisions was caused by the
American war, in consequence of the grain crops having been given up
for the cultivation of cotton. At present, famine has succeeded to the
unusual want of rain, which dried up the earth in 1865. " Since the
month of November, 1864, there has been a complete cessation of rain
(writes the Abbe Gouyon, of the Foreign Missions, from Pondicherry
letter of the 5th of August, 1865). The vicariate is entirely de-
stroyed : large trees . are dried up to the very roots, the people are
perishing from hunger, in the fullest strength of the term ; and every,
where we see nothing but misery and nakedness, for the price of cotton
is not lowered."
A letter, written from Patna, on the 24th of November last, to the
Central Councils, confirms these sad details. "The famine is causing
us universal desolation, and yet we have so many children to support in
our orphanages ! Our Hindoos are dying of hunger ; a woman in the
neighbourhood has devoured her own child."
The total number of Catholics in Hindostan rises to about 800,000 ;
but this, when divided into the several vicariates, presents very con-
siderable variations. For instance, in Quilon, there are 52,000
Catholics; in Pondicherry, 108,000; Madura, 160,000; Verapoly,
200,000; while Agra contains only 12,000; Patna, 8,000; and
Eastern Bengal, 600. How is this inequality of results to be accounted
for, notwithstanding the equally-devoted zeal of the missioners in each
of those districts ? We must remark, in the first place, that the impedi-
ments to the progress of the true faith are not everywhere existing with
Appendix. 429
the same force. For example, the northern provinces have been always
remarkable for their obstinate attachment to pagan superstition and the
doctrines of the Koran. " We must also remember that some of the
Hindostan missions are of recent foundation, and others date from the
sixteenth century. Through many vicissitudes, these last have pre-
served Christian traditions, which rendered the apostleship of our
missioners more easy." In fine, without seeking to penetrate the
secrets of Divine Providence in the distribution of its graces, "May we
not be permitted to believe that the protection of St. Francis Xavier,
the great Apostle of India, has been especially bestowed upon those
countries which were formerly the great battle-field of his conquests
and are to-day the guardians of his glorious relics ? "
EXTRACTS.
THE PRESENT STATE OF THE MISSIONS.
"Taking first the Syrians, they are located entirely in the native
States of Travancore and Cochin, and number about 200,000. They
have their own Metropolitan Bishops and Clergy, and now own
allegiance to the Jacobite Patriarch of Jerusalem. They possess
churches, and " lands and funds" to a limited extent; but how far the
latter may be free from State assessment does not appear. The native
government does not interfere in any way with their affairs. "
' ' The Roman Catholics, among whom may be reckoned at least
100,000 Syrians, whose submission to Rome dates back to days of
Portuguese supremacy, number a million and a quarter, of whom
550,000 are in the Madras British Provinces, and nearly half a million
in the Madras Native States, chiefly Travancore and Cochin. The bulk
of the remainder are in Bombay and Bengal." From " Church and
State in India," by Sir Theodore C. Hope, K.C.S.I., C.I.E., pp.
8, 10.
BISHOPRICS OF ASIA.
Calcutta, 1876 ; Madras, 1861 ; China, 1873 ; Colombo, 1875 ;
Bombay, 1875 '> Lahore, 1888 ; Travancore and Cochin, 1890 ; Singa-
pore, 1881 ; Rangoon, 1882; Chota Nagpore, 1890; Lucknow, 1892.
"Churchman's Almanack," 1893, PP- 2 9> 3-
Goa : Archiepiscopal See in Portuguese territory (Patriarchate of the
East Indies). Suffragan Sees : Cochin (in British India), Damaun,
Macao, and Meliapur (in Portuguese territory). Fro,m the ' Catholic
Directory, Ecclesiastical Register and Almanack," for 1893, PP-
65, 66.
43 2 Extracts.
It is well-known that the Baptists, Wesleyans, and others have
established numerous and successful missionary stations.
An excellent paper on the Eastern Churches, including the Syrians,
was read at the Liverpool Church Congress by the Rev. F. S.
May, D.D.
PORTUGAL.
The most westerly Kingdom of Europe, and a part of the great
Iberian Peninsula, lies in 37 42 8' N. lat. and 6 15' 9 30' W.
long., being 360 miles in length from N. to .S, and averaging about 100
in breadth from E. to W. Continental Portugal contains an area of
34,606 square miles, with a population in 1881 of 4,306,554, exclusive
of the colonies. The Azores and Madeira (1,237 square miles, pop.
401,624) form part of the kingdom, which thus has a population of
4,708,178. The chief products are wheat, barley, oats, maize, flax
hemp, and the vine in elevated tracts ; in the lowlands, rice, olives,
oranges, lemons, citrons, figs, and almonds. There are extensive
forests of oak, chestnuts, sea-pine, and cork, the cultivation of the vine
and the olive being among the chief branches of industry ; the rich red
wine known to us as " port " is shipped from Oporto. Its mineral pro-
ducts are important, copper, lead, tin, antimony, coal, manganese, iron,
slate, and bay-salt, which last, from its hardness, and purity, is in
demand. Its manufactures consist of gloves, silk, woollen, linen, and
cotton fabrics, metal and earthenware goods, tobacco, cigars, &c. The
exports consist to the extent of 50 per cent, of wine, which is the chief
industrial product of the country, cork, cattle, copper-ore, fruits, oil,
sardines, and salt. The imports are manufactured goods hardware,
cotton and woollen stuffs, machinery, wheat, sugar, dried fish, coal, &c.
There is a commercial marine of 36 steamers and 433 sailing vessels,
about 110,000 tonnage. Railways, 1,000 miles in extent, are open for
traffic. For many years the national income has been considerably less
than the expenditure ; this deficiency has added to the national debt,
which now amounts to about ^31 a head of the population.
DEPENDENCIES. These, in proportion to the mother-country, are of
very great extent. They include the Cape Verd Islands, off the West
Coast of Africa (1,847 square miles, population 107,026); Zighinchor
on the Casamanza, Bissao, and a few other territories to the south of
the Gambia, which are officially known as " Portuguese Guinea " (350
sq. miles, pop. 10,000) ; the Fort of San Joao Baptista de Ajuda, at
Whidah, the principal port of the Kingdom of Dahome, where the
Extracts. 433
Portuguese are allowed to remain on sufferance, but exercise no sort of
jurisdiction ; the fertile islands of St. Thomas and Principe, in the Gulf
of Guinea (417 sq. miles, pop. 22,000) ; the Kingdom of Angola, on
the West Coast of South Africa, which includes the territory of
Landana and Kabinda to the north of the Congo, and the whole of the
coast to the south of that river as far as Cape Frio, and has Loanda for
its capital (115,000 sq. miles, pop. 1,000,000); the Province of
Mozambique, with the Lower Zambezi river, Sofala, and Delagoa Bay,
on the East Coast of Africa (80,000 sq. miles, pop. 500,000) ; Goa,
Daman, and Diu in India (1,295 sc l- miles, pop. 481,467) ; part of the
island of Timor, in the East Indian Archipelago (6,294 s q. miles, pop.
300,000), and Macao, in China, at the mouth of the Canton river
(5 sq. miles, pop. 68,086). The possessions enumerated have an area
of 204,848 square miles, with 2,548,872 inhabitants. In this estimate
account is taken only of territories within which Portugal actually
exercises some jurisdiction. Thus, whilst official statements give an ex-
tension of 659,000 square miles to Angola and Mozambique, the area
is here reduced to 195,200 square miles.
PORTUGUESE AFRICA.
Recent treaties with France (May 12, 1886), Germany (Dec. 30,
1886), Belgium (May 25, 1891), and England (May 28, 1891), have
considerably curtailed the "possessions" at one time claimed by
Portugal. But even thus these possessions are twenty-six times the
size of the mother country, their "government" entails an annual loss
of ^135,000, and the development of their resources is quite beyond
the means of so small a country. Much wiser had it been had Portugal
divested herself of a considerable slice of her colonies, and employed
the resources thus obtained towards the development of those territories
which she chose to retain.
In the meantime Portugal has not unsuccessfully striven to attract
foreign capital to her colonies. In Angola, a railway from Loanda to
Ambaca (188 miles) has been nearly completed by an English company.
Another railway from Delagoa Bay to the border of the South African
Republic (57 miles), has somewhat arbitrarily been confiscated by the
Portuguese government, and the English and American shareholders
now claim ,2,000,000 damages, and 250,000 acres of " mineral lands "
as compensation.
Among the companies among which nearly the whole of the province
of Mozambique has been parcelled out, only that called after the
F F
434
Extracts.
province, but confined to the territory between the Zambesi and Sabi
rivers, can be said to have fairly started upon its career. Among its
directors are the Duke of Marlborough and Mr. Moreing. Colonel
Machado, a very able Portuguese engineer, has been appointed its first
" governor," and as friendly relations have been established with the
British South Africa Company, we may look forward to the speedy
commencement of more serious work than that of establishing "mining
claims." The first task awaiting the company is the construction of a
railway from the Pungwe and Busi rivers to Manica and Fort Salisbury.
Charters have likewise been granted to the well-known Portuguese
explorers Serpa Pinto (Limpopo to the Sabi) and Carvalho (Rovuma to
the Lurio), and Colonel Pavia de Andrada (Zambesi). All these
charters provide for the construction of railways, and, if only a portion
of what is hoped for can be realised, Mozambique, in the course of a
few years, will be one of the most prosperous parts of all Africa. The
Portuguese territories in Africa are as follows :
Square
Inh. to
Miles.
i sq. m.
Madeira
JT e
/I2C
Cape Verde Islands
I 486
III OOO
7/t
Guinea
1 1 600
150 ooo
17
S. Thome a Principe
/icfi
21 OOO
46
Angola
7
Mozambique
i 500 ooo
PORTUGUESE AFRICA
841 ozz
5 416 ooo
6
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