Storia do Mogor 298: IV.
Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 298
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- English
IV.
298.1
There is no previous reference to the handing over of Father Ephraim to the Inquisition at Goa, except the following remark in a General Letter from Fort St. George to the Court of Directors, dated January 18, 165? (O.C. No. 2200) : ' The Portugalls of S. tomey have lately by order from the V. Roy tendered us much amyty for the time to come, but never a word of reparation for passed Injuries. . . .' The priest administering the diocese also sent a letter asking the father to visit him on some important but secret business that had to be communicated to him. Upon this the worthy priest set out ; but no sooner was he arrived near San Thome, although there he was still in Mahomedan territory, than he was seized, taken into the town, and carried to the Jesuit convent, being subjected on the way there to much abusive language from one of those who had seized him. There he found the priest administering the diocese seated on a chair. As soon as he appeared orders were given to put irons on his legs. This was done, but the irons were so small, so heavy, and so inconvenient, that at each step he fell like one dead. Noticing this, they were obliged to change them on the following day for others. In these he remained, at sea as on land, until November 10 (1649). Then, if it had not been for the reverend father Manuel de St. Joseph, Cordelier, who became surety to answer for him in his own person, and of his own authority removed these irons, he would have borne them until reaching Goa.
298.2
At this house of the Jesuits the father [Ephraim] was compelled to show that he was not exempt from the weaknesses of humanity. For, finding himself dealt with so harshly within a religious house, where charity is flaunted as motto, he was much affected. Still more was he so because these worthy fathers had on former occasions been most kind to him, showing him much [127] affection and civility. But what cut him to the heart was to find that he was refused confession and the Communion. The poor man grew so weak that he believed his end was approaching — so much so that he felt compelled to prepare for death, and to ask for a confessor with all the insistence that such a condition arouses in the heart of a good Christian. But they answered that there was no order to find him a confessor. At the sound of these words the worthy friar lost all heart and dissolved into tears. He said to himself: 'What! can it be that in a house of religion they refuse confession and Communion to a priest so near death ?' But if the harshness of the Jesuits went as far as this, he had afterwards ample cause, on the other hand, to thank for their gentle treatment the Cordelier fathers of the order of St. Francis and the Capuchins. Their tenderness to him was so great that he could never refrain, when on the subject; from according them a thousand praises, and even these, according to him, were far less than they deserved.
298.3
On January 15, 1650, the worthy father arrived in the roadstead of Goa; he was at once landed and taken to the house of the Inquisition. He reached it as the sun was setting. First of all he was taken into the gatekeeper's room; his hood was removed and his waist-cord. They also wanted to take off his gown, but he noticed there was present a child of twelve, and he could not suppress the remark : 'Is it possible that you wish to strip me before this child ?' This forced them to send the child away. Then the priest, who wrote down his name and the day of his being locked up, said it was not necessary to take off his clothes; they need only take away his crucifix, his breviary, and some papers wrapped in a covering that he had with him. This was done accordingly, and then he was taken inside the prison. It is built like a cloister with two stories; each gallery is about fifty paces in length. The father measured it many a time going from his cell to the table of judgment. The room that he was first put into was very dark. On the Sunday he asked for his breviary, to which they replied that he was not in his convent, that he must have first the permission of the Archbishop. However, at two in the afternoon it was brought to him.
298.4
On Monday, January 17 [1650], the inquisitor sent for him, gave him his crucifix, and his name was recorded. On the Tuesday they changed his cell, telling him they wished to give him one with more light, where he could read his prayers. On March 21 he was once more removed, and again on April 1. All these rooms had the same length, breadth, and height; the last three had each a window barred with iron bars eleven feet long. The windows were at the height of two men from the floor, one and a half cubits in length, and one cubit in width. The embrasure was of about twelve feet. In the first cell there was no window, nothing but a small hole. The father [Ephraim] remained in the last cell given him until May 9, 1650. The inquisitor then saw that he was so weak that he could not hold himself up, so much so that he fell down two or three times in his presence. Moved with compassion, he sent him to another cell fifteen feet one way and eighteen feet the other, situated below the great hall of the Inquisition. It was dark but cool, and the fresher air gave him acute gouty pains in the feet and hands.
298.5
On the eve of Pentecost the new inquisitor came to inspect the prison in the company of his predecessor. He ordered that he [Ephraim] should be given a companion to look after him. For on the previous day the turnkey had said that infallibly one day or the other he would be found dead. This companion remained with him from June 4, 1650, until November 5, 1651; it was, however, a privilege accorded to all the prisoners. The food was the same for everybody. Those who wanted it had a breakfast at six in the morning, dinner was at ten o'clock, and supper at four o'clock in the evening. The quality was decent, and the quantity sufficient for one person.
298.6
But let us now come to the beginning of proceedings. On March 14, 1650, the inquisitor sent for the father to the table, formally asked his name, his parentage, his position in life, his journeys, his studies, and his native land. He was then sent back. On Ash Wednesday, a day [128] on which it is the inquisitor's habit to visit the prison, he said to the Father that he would not allow him to be confessed or to communicate, for certain reasons. Can those be called reasons — things which for their honour's sake it is inadvisable to enter here ? But during all the time that he remained a prisoner he could never obtain a permission to be confessed or to communicate. Not even was he allowed to hear the saying of Mass throughout Holy Week. He asked that at least, as a favour, they would let him have a missal or the Holy Scriptures, that he might read there the story of our Lord Jesus Christ's passion. But the answer he got was that they could not accede to his demand, and yet they gave permission to his companion to be confessed and to communicate at the Easter feast.
298.7
In the month of May he was sent for to begin the general interrogatory. First of all he was questioned on the errors of Calvin and Luther. They obtained all their questions from a big printed book they had in their hands. After that was finished, the letter that I have spoken of was pulled out from a bundle of written papers, being the statement (proces-verbal) of the accusations brought against him. This statement was subsequently handed to him ; and shortly I will present a translation of it, where can be discovered most of the things objected to in the letter. On September 21 [1650] he was brought up for the special examination, when he was questioned upon the accusations that may be seen in the said proces. On November 4 following he was again summoned, and the recorder read out to him the statement of accusations (proces-verbal). This recorder was a Jesuit. When the Father (Ephraim) asked the inquisitor if this ecclesiastic were not of the Society of Jesus, he answered him, ' Yes.' Thereupon he replied that he would rather have had those people for his accusers than his judges. To this the inquisitor rejoined : ' What is this man's fault ? It is we who do everything.'
298.8
Next they asked if he desired them to assign him an attorney to reply to the process, and the same inquisitor nominated the Reverend Father Commissary of the Order of St. Francis. The statement (proces) referred to was sent to him in his prison, with two sheets of paper, some pens, and some ink. Without delay Father Ephraim set to work to copy the statement word for word on the scraps of paper in which some powders sent to his comrade were wrapped, for in no other way could he have concealed it. After that he wrote brief replies to the accusations, and had them fair copied by his attorney when he came to see him. It is the practice of the Inquisition to send for the attorney and administer an oath to him on the Holy Gospels that he will divulge all that passes between him and the prisoner, and that he will not supply to him any argument for his defence even if he were desired to do so. Nothing can be kept secret that passes between them, for when they are talking together there is always present in the room an officer of the Inquisition, sword at side. Thus the attorney is of no other use than for writing out the arguments and replies that the prisoner dictates to him, or hands over to him to be copied. Here follows the statement (proces), with the replies to the accusations contained in it.