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Storia do Mogor 338: PREFATORY NOTE ON CHARLES MAILLARD DE TOURNON, PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH.

Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 338

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PREFATORY NOTE ON CHARLES MAILLARD DE TOURNON, PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH.

338.1.1

[The practice of conceding certain points to the prejudices of high caste Hindus, when they became converts to Christianity, began in India with the mission of the Jesuit Roberto de' Nobili to the so-called Pescaria coast in 1606. The earliest objections to the practice were disposed of by an order from Pope Gregory XV., dated January 31, 1623, 'Romanæ Sedis Antistes.' Another prohibition (in respect to a parallel difficulty in China) was issued by Innocent X. on September 12, 1645, and modified by Alexander VIII. on March 23, 1656. Similar orders were passed from time to time by other Popes. But murmurs on the subject were still heard from the earlier established non-Jesuit missions in China and India. Influenced by the growing importance of these questions, Pope Clement XI., who had received the tiara in November, 1700, resolved to send a legate to India and China with authority to enquire into and dispose of the matters in dispute.

338.1.2

The Pope's choice fell on one of his domestic chaplains, Charles Maillard de Tournon, belonging to a good Savoyard family, and born at Turin on December 21, 1668. On December 21, 1701, the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, Tournon was created Patriarch of Antioch, having already been empowered by a brief dated December 9, 1701, to enquire into and regulate the practices of the missionaries in India and China. He was made Apostolic visitor with the powers of a legate a latere, and left Rome on July 4, 1702, taking with him several zealous missionary recruits, and made his way to Spain. While waiting there for some means of transport to the East, he received from the King of France the offer of a passage to India. He therefore left Cadiz on February 9, 1703, and joined the French man-of-war Maurepas (Denis de Fontaine, captain) at the Canary Islands, whence they set sail on May 3, 1703. Clement XI. had already announced the patriarch's deputation to the Archbishop of Goa and the Bishop of San Thomé of Meliapur by letters dated June 20, 1702. The legate's instructions were contained in a brief dated July 2, 1702, 'Speculatores Domus Israel.'

338.1.3

On November 4, 1703, the ships were off Madras, and on the 5th close to Pondicherry. The party landed on the evening of November 6 (1703), and proceeded to the house of the Jesuits. Compelled to wait for a means of reaching China, his ultimate destination, the patriarch devoted the nine months of his sojourn at Pondicherry to an enquiry into the differences in India between the Jesuits and the other missionaries. His original intention had been to reserve these questions until his return from China. His principal evidence was drawn from the mouths of two Jesuits, Jean Venant Bouchet, Superior of the Karnātik mission, and Carlo Michaele Bertoldi, missionary in Madura. He had interrogated them after having hidden in the room two of his own secretaries, who overheard and were thus able to prove all that was said. Satisfied that he had arrived at an exhaustive knowledge of the points in dispute, the patriarch drew up a decree dated June 23, 1704. It dealt with the following topics : (1) The omission of saliva, salt, and insufflation at baptism ; (2) the imposition of names at baptism other than those in the Roman martyrology ; (3) names of holy things and of the saints were to be strictly adhered to in translating them, but the Latin form to be retained if possible ; (4) baptism of infants not to be unduly postponed ; (5) marriages by the tali at six or seven years of age were prohibited ; (6) no tali was to be worn unless it bore a cross or the image of our Lord ;

338.1.4

(7) the cord suspending the tali round a bride's neck must not have 108 threads, nor be of saffron colour; (8) superstitious ceremonies at weddings were prohibited, including any use of an arasiomaram (arasu or pipal-tree) branch: the number of dishes of food provided and their contents must be altered, and the use of the yellow dishes in which the food was placed must be abandoned, while the use of crowns, supposed to drive off demons, was prohibited; (9) coco-nuts must not be used publicly at weddings, because of the heathen belief in omens obtained by breaking them; (10) no one must be excluded from the church or the confessional, not even women when in a state of impurity; (11) no public feast on a girl's arrival at puberty to be tolerated; (12) the pariahs to be treated as on an equality with every one else — they must be visited during illness, and no differences should be made in the administration of extreme unction; (13) prohibition against Christian musicians attending at Hindu temples; (14) bathing, as allowed by Gregory XV., must be confined to physical cleanliness, and such baths taken at times different from the Hindu usage; (15) the use of ashes of cow-dung was prohibited, whether on forehead, chest, or other part of the body, the employment of ashes being only permissible on Ash Wednesday; (16) books of Hindu fable were prohibited, subject to the permission of the missionaries.

338.1.5

This decree was published on the 8th, and publicly promulgated on July 11, 1704, the day that the patriarch embarked for Manila. The Jesuits pressed the legate to suspend the operation of the above decree, chiefly on the ground that such sudden changes would be disastrous. Affected by their appeals, he yielded so far as to grant a suspension for three years, pending orders from Rome, in regard to all the prohibitions except that in the paragraph ferre partum non possumus — that is, the heading referring to the pariahs, to which I have given the number 12 in the abstract above entered. At the reiterated instances of the Jesuits he finally included this article also in his order of suspension, as is stated in his letter to the Holy Office of July 9, 1704. The Jesuits sent two deputies to Rome, Francesco Laynez and Jean Venant Bouchet. On arrival there they found that Pope Clement XI. had already approved the patriarch's decree, as set forth in a decree of the Inquisition dated January 7, 1706, 'until the Holy See should otherwise decide.' The preparation of a summary of the obnoxious rites was ordered, in which were to be included those prohibited by Gregory XV. on January 31, 1623, as well as any other observances of the same kind not specified by the Patriarch of Antioch. The question of the pariahs was to be taken up separately.

338.1.6

The Jesuit appellants began by producing a 'Defence of the Madura Missions,' prepared by Father Laynez. Before it reached the Pope's hands via Portugal Father Laynez had left for India (1708) as successor to the Bishop of Meliapur. The steps taken in India to hinder the execution of the patriarch's decree are sufficiently disclosed in Manucci's text and my notes thereon. The Patriarch of Antioch reached Manila in 1704, and Macao on April 2, 1705. He was received in audience by the Emperor of China at Pekin on December 31, 1705. In 1707 he was sent back to Macao by the Chinese on the instigation of the Jesuits. There the Portuguese Captain-General threw him into prison, where he died on June 8, 1710. On August 1, 1707, he had been raised to the dignity of Cardinal by Clement XI.

338.1.7

Ordinarily the common herd are very simple; thus it is not to be wondered at if they make bold to judge things according to their own rash caprice, resting the apology for their error solely on the subterfuge of a 'Thus they say.' Without getting at the substance of the business, and not having of it more evidence than is furnished to sight or is represented by imagination; disregarding the truth that the latter can never yield a certainty, and not remembering that the former ofttimes produces deception, they are led away by the fact that our intellects cannot endure uncertainty. Thus they constantly come to conclusions differing from reality. This is shown in the tribulation which fell upon the Capuchins of Madras after the arrival of the Lord Patriarch of Antioch at Pudicheri (Pondicherry). It lasted over six months, and disturbed the whole coast of Choromandal. For most people, not to say almost all (I speak of what the common people did), understood that the poor fellows' disgrace arose from two sources, which were in reality only accidents. But they held that he who designs the end must have contrived the plot.

338.1.8

They connected one of these causes, which we will call the first, with five thousand pagodas which a Dominican father, an Armenian by race, had collected by begging during twelve years that he had wandered about for this purpose in these regions by the authority of his superiors and under their written orders. He died at Fort St. George on December 6, 1703, and committed the money to the Capuchins and others with directions to remit it to Bengal and Persia, finally to be delivered over to his convent.

338.2.1

The other matter to which they attributed the Capuchin disgrace was their neglect to go to Pondicherry when summoned by his Excellency (the title of the Lord Patriarch). Yet they were unable to go, being stopped by the gentlemen of the government in the country where they dwelt. When proceedings were taken against the Capuchins with the excessive rigour that is notorious, the above is what was said, and still to this day is declared ; which means, without denying that the common people are very simple-minded, that in this matter their inattention was not to blame for their mistake. Only very wise men could have discovered and judged rightly the proposals which my readers will see stated further on. Let those, then, who wish to have true information on the causes and to know the facts of the case, go on reading this narrative, and they will acquire not only something to divert their minds, but will learn the true story and be profited accordingly.

338.2.2

Be it known, then, in the first place (for it is a certainty), that the Abbé Francois de St. George, when he arrived at Madras, allowed it to be understood by his manner that his first and chief object (apart from his visitation) was the search for means of opening a negotiation for some places on the coast of Choromandal at which to establish a new company of certain Italian merchants. These men desired to navigate the Indian seas and trade within the territories of the Mogul. The first step to be taken for this design was to secure a capable person of good position, who could solicit this urgent business at the court and obtain a farmān from the king. Furnished with this document, the new Italian company would be able to trade and deal freely throughout that king's widely-spread and equally admirable empire. Above all was this help wanted in Gulkandah, in which place there are mines of precious diamonds, or to which the stones are easily brought by merchants, it being very near those mines.

338.2.3

He had recourse to me because I spoke the Persian and Hindustan languages perfectly, and had great influence among the Mahomedans coupled with long experience of them. I excused myself on account of old age, and because at present [166] I had little intercourse with the king's court. Thus the Abate addressed himself to certain other persons. But as these affairs can only be prosecuted with exceeding slowness, and cannot be carried out except by the power of money, time (to which I now leave the question) will show hereafter the success of this first object, as to which up to the present nothing more is known.

338.2.4

The second matter, or what in the second place appeared essential to the Abate in order to give a happy start to his project, was to eject the Capuchins from Madras, and the Reverend Father Paulo de Saa from Cuddalore. The latter priest administered the two churches at that place as priest of the parish. He (Abate di San Giorgio) desired to substitute for these ecclesiastics other priests from Italy, who could gradually, quietly, and without scandal, set everything — or, at any rate, a good many things — in the position required for his trading venture. In this way, when the gentlemen — that is, the officials and directors of the new company — should arrive, they would find the bed ready made for them, and everything prepared for an immediate commencement of their trade. Having the assistance of the Italian fathers at the places designated, they would not fail in receiving reports and information about everything with greater ease ; and things being thus arranged, it was to be hoped that, with the good management that was assured, they would obtain from their dealings profits equivalent to their labours.

338.2.5

But, compared to the first object, the Abate conceived this second one to be much more difficult. How could he hope to succeed in moving out the fathers from Madras and Cuddalore and replacing them by Italians ? In this he did not deceive himself, for their churches lie within the territory of the English, who claim the right and have the power of nominating as parish priests whoever seems to them best and most serviceable to their government. Hesitating at these considerations, quite confused and perplexed, the Abate was unable to discover or decide on the best means to adopt for securing the end he sought. This end was to turn out the Capuchins from Madras and Father Paulo de Saa from Cuddalore without any disgrace or blemish attaching to him ; for in dealing with the said fathers he thought it likely that they would make no difficulties, and if he granted them all they wished, they would carry out his proposals. The Abate then lighted upon a certain person, his countryman, a man to whom nothing appeared difficult, one who believed that everything had its remedy. Aware of his knowledge of the country, the Abate imparted to this man his ideas. When he had heard them, the honest compatriot raised not the slightest objection. He seized by the forelock this occasion that fortune had brought to his door ; for he could desire nothing better than to pull out the sardine by use of the cat's paw, and thus succeed in the depraved intention that consumed him.

338.2.6

This the reader will see from the price at which he sold his advice. He promised that if the pledge he demanded was given to him he would help the affair, as it is his habit to do. He told the Abate that to obtain what he wanted and to carry through his purpose nothing more was needed than to prepare one petition against the Capuchins in Madras and another against Father Paulo de Saa at Cuddalore. For these he drew up a good draft, turning the affair to his own profit as the "desuctar" in the matter, et cetera. The condition was (as one foresaw) that the parish of Madras must become his, and that of Cuddalore fall to another man, his companion, who had been waiting here on the watch for two years. The Abate saw that by means of these fathers, they being well known and experienced in the country, he could hope in the future greater things towards the fulfilment of his designs than from the Italians he had brought with him. He accepted the proposal, and the compact was agreed to.

338.2.7

We have the theatre ready, or, to speak with more propriety, the amphitheatre; let us next see how the bulls fight. Now, without any mercy the Abate began to contend with the unhappy Capuchins over the money of the deceased Dominican, as I have said. He asserted that they were under obligation to make over to him the five thousand pagodas of the defunct. At that time he was carrying out a visitation in Madras under his authority as Commissary of the Lord Patriach of Antioch. He declared the money to belong entirely to the Holy Apostolic See. To this the Capuchins replied that the money was no longer in their power, but in that of the Armenians; but they would make every effort to collect it, and when received, they would make it over with great pleasure. Who could have supposed that the Abate would not be satisfied with this reply, and that all the other matters would not be set at rest? But of a certainty it did not happen thus. How can I describe the disagreeables, report the molestations, and set forth the worries that arose from this money, and how the miserable Capuchins suffered for a space of two months and more? If I began I should never get to the end; suffice it to say here as follows [167]:

338.2.8

The Abate found it impossible to obtain the money from the Armenians; for in spite of all the pressure he put upon them, they would never agree to pay. He saw also that under this head he could never, without a great scandal and some damage to himself, squeeze the Capuchins any farther; for he knew quite well that on this question they were altogether without fault. He must work up a new intrigue, invent another cabal, and totally change his devices. This was necessary before he could totally ruin them, and obtain his own cherished object and the depraved design of him who advised him. Consultations were held every night in the convent of these same Capuchins from nine to twelve o'clock between the Abate and his compatriot. It was decided to convey to the [Capuchin] superior an order to go to Pondicherry to render an account to the Lord Nuncio of his person and proceedings. Let it be remarked at this point that the Abate had already ended his visitation at Madras, during which the [Capuchin] superior had given in rigore juris [as required by strict law] an account of his mission, of his doings, and of his person. The direction above referred to was given because they well knew he would be detained by order of the [Madras] governor in connection with this same Abate, for reasons which can be seen elsewhere.

338.3.1

The ambush could not have been better planned in any other manner; for whichever way he turned himself, it was impossible for the unhappy friar not to tumble over the precipice. Astute subtlety! Diabolical invention! Exceptional malice! They included in this artful plot all possible contingencies, after having meditated on the case with the extremest care, not to say maliciousness. They argued in the following manner: If the friar should be detained by order of the governor (and of this there can be no doubt), then, when he prays for leave to go [to Pondicherry], he will not obtain it. If he goes without it, the English will never pardon him for absconding at such a time as this, and the least they will do will be to expel all the Capuchins from English territory; for in a case like this they could no longer consider them friends. The expulsion would be done on the pretext and under colour of their being untrustworthy, looking to the little loyalty displayed towards their political superiors in taking to flight during war time and joining the enemy [the French], who are of the same nation as themselves. The situation will thus put on a very good outward semblance, and we shall avoid raising any sort of evil presumption. Things being in this state, all will be smooth for our purpose, since the Theatines can then easily take their (the Capuchins') place. Very few will know [of our plot]. Should the friar ask leave from the English, it is certain he will be refused.

338.3.2

Obviously it is unfitting in a time of war, as this is, to allow a man who has long lived in your country to quit it for that of the enemy, especially when he is of the same nation as that enemy. 'In this case we have the easy resource at hand of fulminating censures against him [from Pondicherry] in such a way that he will be unable to exercise his ecclesiastical functions. In this manner, should the friar by great exertions deliver himself from the Scylla of the English Government, it will not be easy for him to escape from the Charybdis of the Church's censures, and the other burthens with which it can overwhelm him. Even if he is freed from both, still, he will not be delivered from us, who already hold him like a fish in a net; and it will not be difficult for us to plunge the lancet behind his ear. 'This being admitted, in the execution of the project haste will have the larger share in our success. But for the present let us go to bed, for it is already very late; and from now onwards be sure that "Mon Père" will not sleep so much to his taste in the bed that we have prepared for him as he has been doing hitherto.'

338.3.3

It is well to take a little rest when one has been awake so much. But it hardly seemed worth while when the designs which they had discussed had made them forget the time, nor did they wait for the day to dawn to make a commencement. The reader must be told their progress in executing their plot—how they were not neglectful in perpetrating the evil deed that they had just agreed to. Thus, on the first of February, 1704, at half-past six in the evening, they communicated to the superior an order to start within three days for Pondicherry. God help us! Why could they not intimate the order before sunset, or leave it to be done the following day? Stupid doubt! Indiscreet question! For was it not as is usual in such cases? Who knows not that ill-will, wishing for greater security to inflict hurt, flees from the brightness of day and seeks the obscurity of night? To postpone the attempt until the next day would be to lose time. That is not right. 'We are Christians; we must also prove we are Catholics. To-morrow is the Day of Purification [i.e., the 2nd of February]. What we have to do is an evil thing, thus let it not wait for the morrow; now, now, and at night so much the better.'

338.3.4

At this blow, as may be easily understood, the poor friar was as much stunned as perturbed. He could not fail to perceive, by reason of the troubles he had already undergone, that they would succeed in totally ruining him. He considered himself lost inevitably; for it was certain they would not aim such a blow at him without they had him first of all well caught, as they had. In firing point-blank the bullet is never wasted. He was anxious, through a feeling of honour, to shield his reputation and that of his religion rather than evade damage to his own person. Thus he resolved on the instant to quit the convent at once, and employ all he had of influence in Madras, as he did through himself and his friends, in order to implore from the gentlemen of the government permission for his going to Pondicherry. But no result came of it, nor were his efforts rewarded, for they absolutely refused consent orally in the presence of the Abate [di San Giorgio], and also in writing, as is proved.

338.3.5

On this order followed immediately a censure, as planned in the agreement made [168] between the Abate and his compatriot. Thereupon, disconsolate at the rebuff from the gentlemen of the government, and afraid of the thunderbolt of a censure with which his own superiors threatened him, hardly had the wretched friar reached his convent when there followed him into his cell the secretary of the Abate. He was sent with a written order of suspension from divine functions. Yet it was not then twenty-four hours since the order to proceed to Pondicherry within three days was communicated to him. What an extraordinary action !

338.3.6

At this suspension the friar felt more than suspense — he felt outraged, this being the [natural] effect of an injury thus inflicted. But, curbing his passion, he returned to himself, and became like a lamb. He considered that obedience was obligatory in all cases, except the impossible. Casting up his eyes to Heaven, he implored aid from our Lord in such an obvious danger. Then, with the written order in his hand, he thought of a means of redress. He determined to appeal from the interdict on the ground of the impossibility in which he found himself of putting into execution the order of his Excellency ; for on that very second of February when the gentlemen of the government refused permission they ordered him to be formally detained, whereas before he had only been forbidden to leave. He also alleged [in his petition] that the term set to him of three days was not yet completed, not even the half of it. These two important facts, according to the teaching of the learned and the directions of the Canon Law, of themselves annulled the interdict and made it of no effect. This he proved at large in a manifesto which he drew up. No doubt the reader will weigh how they continued to carry everything into execution in conformity with the dispositions arrived at in their consultations, and how they made every effort to put them into force. So that he may have exact reasons for his judgment, let the reader attend carefully to what follows.

338.3.7

The appeal was of no avail ; however just its allegations might be, how could the Abate accept them, for how could he admit them if they did not accord with his designs ? Here comes in with effect the common proverb, ' Laws are weak where the king insists ' ; but I say, looking at all that we behold, that we must read here, ' where the clergy insist.' For king and law wrong no one.

338.3.8

Let us turn now to the wretched friar, who was perturbed, thunderstruck, and overwhelmed, as was to be expected, at finding himself in such a horrible position and subjected to such unheard-of doings. During the same night he left his convent and went to the house of an Englishman. There he continued to seek some means for obtaining leave to go to Pondicherry. While he was at this friend's the advice-giving compatriot appeared once more. He had come to pay him a visit — not to help or console him, but to advise him to place himself, as before, in the noose which they had made ready for him. This is apparent from the plausive talk which he went on uttering. At first he showed himself all compassion, and almost wept. This is the substance of what he said : ' Father, there is no other preferable course, nor can your reverence find anything else in this very great affliction than to escape this very night disguised in the clothes of a Malabar ' (i.e., a Tamil). He spoke with such great demonstrations of true friendship that the owner of the house they were in, though he did not understand the words, paid great attention to the gestures. The good friar, as one who much desired the thing, though with some apprehension of being misled, was on the point of accepting the advice.

338.4.1

After he had given it the man went out by the door, and who can have a doubt that this deceiving counsellor was laughing over having carried through such a good piece of work ? Thereupon came an opening to the house-owner to enquire from the friar the object of all those exaggerations and the cause of so many grimaces. He asked this as one who felt infinitely for his friend's troubles, as one who would in every way help him to redress. He urged this request regardless of the efforts of the friar to prevaricate and not disclose the facts. But the more he evaded telling him, the more the householder pressed the priest to speak out. He had already begun to show great resentment at the father's declining to communicate the circumstances to him ; for it seemed to him that the conversation had reference to the disagreeables his visitor was already suffering under. Seeing himself already pledged to the man of the house by having sought his aid, and yielding to so much insistence (thanks be to Heaven !), the friar was forced to disclose the secret, begging his friend to say how his flight was to be managed. But the said person, as soon as he heard the story, became quite disconcerted, and for a short time cast his eyes to the ground. After this pause, turning them on the friar, he broke the embarrassing silence in this form of words : ' My father, he who gave your reverence that idea is not your friend, and does not wish you well.

338.4.2

On the contrary, he is your mortal enemy, and will destroy you. For to that end alone can that counsel serve ; because there are very stringent orders at the gates (as I know) about the person of your reverence and your not leaving. I hold it to be impossible for you to get away without capture. Having seized you, they will without fail send you on board the ship about to set sail for England. Such a disaster would be a great disgrace both for you and your religion. They will catch your reverence in disguise taking flight for Pondicherry in time of war, and that after you have lived here so many years and been so well treated by all the English, especially by the government. Certainly it will not fail to appear a very abominable thing, an act unworthy of the personal character and conduct of your reverence. Not even among your own people will you be able to save your reputation ; even when they learn that this attempted flight was not due to treason, they will not refrain from declaring that your reverence behaved very imprudently in attempting such an absurdity. If you fancy that you will be highly honoured for your zeal in obeying, you are much mistaken, for there is no one who is ignorant of the fact that obedience does not include such impossibilities, and among us such an act would never be done. In confidence I warn your reverence in these words ; but you must decide as you please. As to this move, I do not advise you to make it.

338.4.3

I conclude by saying that such a project proceeding solely from yourself might, under some conditions, be prudently accepted [169] ; but coming from a third party it would in no way be prudent to acquiesce in it, much less to carry it out.' It will easily be seen that he who discoursed in this wise did it with a disinterested mind and a feeling heart for the harm that he feared and was attempting to obviate. Even although he opposed what the father desired to do, it would certainly be a great piece of imprudence not to value his advice. The friar was aware that he who repeated all these things to him knew extremely well the English customs (they being his own), and that in what he had advised he had given proof of the great love he bore him, such as he had always experienced from him. The friar's judgment being, let it be supposed, a little affected, still he had not, by the pressure of events, lost it altogether. He weighed with care the Englishman's reasons, and attaching to all of them full weight, he accepted them. At the same time he acquired this piece of wisdom — namely, not to pay, for the future, any heed to the counsels of his loving counsellor, the priest.

338.4.4

With this he took leave of the person in whose house he was, giving the requisite thanks, and returned to his convent, commending himself to God and giving to His Divine Majesty due thanks for the special favour vouchsafed to him at that hour, in permitting that the venom brought to him for his destruction should be turned into an antidote, by knowledge of which he could ever counteract the poison, as from that day forth he did. He implored the protection of the Virgin, to whom with insistence he prayed for help. For to console him in these great dangers he could not find anyone on earth, the great majority of men being tyrannous and false. Leaving him at this stage, let us turn to the other piece of artillery that, during Lent, quite at the end of it, they loaded against him. It was one of pretty large calibre. The Most Reverend Father Friar Lourenço, head and superior of the Capuchins in India, was then present in Pondicherry. He craved leave from the Lord Patriarch to proceed to Madras for the consolation of his brethren under the affliction they were in during these earthquakes. The first application the Lord Patriarch refused. But he wrote to the Abate di San Giorgio, then at San Thome, asking him if there was any drawback in conceding leave to the said father. The Abate replied that he knew no reason for refusing his request ; on the contrary, he thought that such an arrival would be of use in what he was attempting.

338.4.5

Upon receipt of this reply the leave to the Reverend Father Friar Lourenço was given. Let the reader here pay attention. The object of the Abate was to drive the superior of Madras into a corner, and he argued thus : ' If Friar Lourenço enters Madras, then the superior of Madras can go to Pondicherry. Whatever difficulty applies to the one applies to the other case. Thus the interdict which had been fulminated was properly launched.' Nor did he talk badly, since unjust acts, done out of place, cannot remain otherwise than committed, even if only executed in part. Let us, however, see the conclusion. ' If Friar Lourenço cannot get in, we can always try conclusions with the superior of Madras. In that case (at the very worst) we shall proceed against him as disobedient to his ecclesiastical superiors.' Let not the reader imagine that there is in this the slightest exaggeration — there is nothing but the purest truth. For thus spoke the Abate publicly at San Thome. The Reverend Father Friar Lourenço came with a letter of recommendation from Monsieur Martin, governor of Pondicherry, addressed to the Lord Governor of Madras. By its means, and assisted by an English friend, who took much trouble in this matter, he got into the Fort, where he was very well received by the Lord Governor. He came then to the convent, and all the time he remained he performed there the office of parish priest, to the content of all, whereby the Christians were relieved.

338.4.6

This gladness, however, became a hardship to them, because the Abate found that the superior [Michel Ange] never appeared in all this business, nor allowed himself any entry into it. The Abate sent to ask urgently for the issue of an order from his Excellency [the Patriarch] directing the Reverend Father Friar Lourenço to quit Madras and return to Pondicherry. This was carried out at once, and the father left. This manoeuvre surprised the English very much, and it was felt intimately by the Catholics. All were upset — those on one side discouraged, and those on the other incensed. But no one discovered at whom this shot was directed. It was only Time, the index of all craftinesses, that demonstrated its object, as the reader shall briefly learn. Hardly had the Reverend Father Lourenço arrived at Pondicherry, when the Lord Patriarch sent off the Reverend Father Friar Spirito (Esprit) for Madras. They hoped he would find the same facilities for an entrance as obtained by Father Friar Lourenço. In the hope of obtaining success in the business, they neglected not to obtain for him a letter from Monsieur Martin to the Lord Governor [170] of Madras. Be it noted that these Italian gentlemen could not bear the sight of Father Friar Esprit because he opposed with all his power a sentence they wanted to pronounce against him, touching a complaint then actually pending at Rome. A decision was expected thence every day. But what was to be done?

338.5.1

They ordered him to Madras, where he would be overthrown irreparably like the others. They sent him off with a sealed bundle of letters and documents, and gave him an order that it must not be opened until after his entry into Madras. Who could have guessed that Father Esprit carried his own halter with him? Behold the trick which was afterwards unmasked! Inside the bundle he carried were two interdicts to be served on the two Capuchins then present in the convent, along with an order to them to appear em atribos personally in Pondicherry in the presence of His Excellency, subpœna suspensionis a divinis [under penalty of suspension from divine functions].

338.5.2

This command the poor creatures could not comply with, for they found themselves in the same inability as their superior, being forbidden by the gentlemen of the government to leave Madras. The piece had not been badly aimed, since with one discharge they demolished three priests — two of Madras, by prohibiting the exercise of their holy functions and the administration of the sacraments, and Father Friar Esprit by making him go to Madras. When he had got entry there, he must inevitably intimate the orders he brought from his Excellency. These orders having been communicated to them, the English gentlemen would never pardon him for doing it, and the very least they would do would be to kick him out of Madras. Should he neglect to communicate the interdicts, he could be made subject to an interdict himself. It would be seen whether the wretched man could escape some such blow if he once got into the town. But Our Lord, the protector of the innocent, would not permit that such great evil should prevail on this occasion. For when the father reached the gates the sentries stopped him from entering until they had reported his arrival to the Lord Governor. This gentleman, as they told Father Esprit, fell into a great rage, wanting to know what was the use of so many priests who did nothing but come and go. They told him he bore a letter from Monsieur Martin for his Lordship (as the father had told them).

338.5.3

The governor sent for the letter, but would never consent to allow Father Esprit to come in. By this rebuff the father was forced to turn back to Pondicherry. When he was at San Thome he (Esprit) wrote a letter to Friar Euzebio, Capuchin, lately arrived from Surat, in which he warned him on behalf of his Excellency that he must secure an exit from Madras if he wished to be spared the threatened deluge of interdicts, which was on the point of overwhelming that unfortunate mission. As soon as Father Friar Euzebio received this letter, without delay or loss of time, he proceeded to the Fort to bid farewell to the Lord Governor before he went off to join Father Friar Esprit, when both would go together to Pondicherry. But on no consideration would the Lord Governor consent to his departure; on the contrary, he ordered him to take care that he remained in Madras. Upon learning this, the three companions in misery were as much perturbed as confused at such extraordinary procedure being used against them. They recognised the target at which the arrows of so many misadventures were shot, attempting totally to ruin them. They felt acutely their inability to avoid the injury with which they were threatened, and the not having anyone to whom they could apply for help in the great calamity they dreaded, for their destruction was imminent. In this deliberation they wasted a little time, debating the best method to be adopted.

338.5.4

Not hitting upon anything calculated to deliver them from such an intricate labyrinth, they resolved to put in force what the Church, as a loving mother, concedes to her oppressed sons in alleviation of their sufferings. They decided to appeal to Rome against all that was being done against them. In putting this into execution their hearts were dilated for a moment or so. Instantly they drew up a petition of appeal in proper form, and craved as a favour that one of their friends would start at once with it for Pondicherry to lay it before his Excellency. This was carried out properly on April 14, 1704, in the presence of witnesses of great weight. The Lord Nuncio took the petition, and after reading the first lines, refused it twice over, making no account of it. But afterwards he learnt that at the foot was appended an attestation of a number of persons ; and when it was presented again, he glanced at the signatures of the witnesses, who were present and all of them persons of great weight there. He felt so angry with the Capuchins that he could neither repress nor conceal his passion ; he let loose on them a deluge of benisons.

338.5.5

The storm having blown over, the sea became tranquil again. Having relieved his mind, he sifted the matter and gave better consideration to it. His Excellency failed not to acquire the conviction that the document was of juridical force, that it had been presented with all the formalities, and that by it his hands were tied. Concealing what he had in his mind, he entered on a search for all the paths and roads possible for hindering the Capuchins from doing a thing that hurt him so much at heart, and for inducing them to beg pardon for such great overboldness. This was the name that his Excellency gave to their appeal to the Holy Apostolic See, converting it into a crime of high treason in the highest degree.

338.5.6

But the Capuchins were now accustomed to thunders and lightnings from this quarter. In addition, they had in their minds the expectation, not to say the certainty, that all this talk was mere stratagem and invention for the object of getting from them the original documents [171] they held in their justification, and afterwards still making them have recourse to Rome — and it would not be ' for the King of France,' as we say commonly. They replied with all modesty and submission that their consciences did not accuse them of having done a single thing to offend his Excellency ; therefore they felt no obligation to ask his pardon, nor to disavow in public a boldness which had never entered into their imaginations. They would thereby confess themselves culpable, and constitute themselves criminals (which it did not suit them to do) before the tribunal of the Holy Apostolic See, to which they had appealed. As this was a thing so obvious, there was no need to say more about it ; but if the Lord Patriarch made the request in order to get them to withdraw the petition of appeal, let him send to ask it. And his Excellency having adjusted all the things lying within his power, and put them in the state they were in before his arrival, they promised and agreed to burn all the documents they held connected with this affair in the presence of whatever witnesses he chose to appoint.

338.5.7

As this reply was not to the taste of the Lord Patriarch, nor in conformity with his designs, it was not well received by his Excellency, but he learnt by it the firmness with which the Capuchins meant to sustain and carry on their appeal. Thus it was necessary to seek some other by-path, and employ the weapons of the Vatican to overawe them, and drag them by force to the point he desired. For this purpose he then dispatched a servant named Lazaro, a negro born in India, making over to him two letters, one for the Father Friar Reynato, and the other for the Father Friar Euzebio, both Capuchins, present in the convent at Madras. The servant arrived there on the 18th of May. Meeting Father Friar René in the street at seven o'clock at night, he made over to him both letters. As it was dark the father took them and carried them to the convent. There, each one opening his own, they found that instead of letters they were orders to proceed to Pondicherry within five days, under pain of suspension a divinis. One had been made out on the 5th, and the other on the 24th of April. They were the two documents that the Reverend Father Friar Esprit had brought, with directions to serve them in case he obtained entry into Madras. Each man wrote his reply at the foot of the document, to the effect that it was well known, in fact notorious, that they were unable to leave Madras.

338.5.8

They had appealed to the Holy Apostolic See, and recognised no other judge in their cause than the Supreme Pontiff, Clement XI. Then they sent the documents back to Pondicherry, whence the servant had brought them, as has been said. The Reverend Father René had already received an order not to celebrate Mass, although he was a third party; and this without any juridical formality, without his knowing up to this time the reason or cause thereof. Still, he did not fail in observance of the order, for reasons that will be described in their proper place and time. The Reverend Father Friar Euzebio, for other reasons already set forth, considered himself under obligation to continue his functions without being hindered by the suspension with which he was threatened; he did, in fact, go on with them. His Excellency, on hearing this by the spies that he kept or by messages sent to him—for he never desisted from doing to them in everything some harm or other—caused to be nailed on the gates of Madras, San Thomé, and Pondicherry documents by which he declared the three Capuchins at Madras to be suspended a divinis (from divine functions). In this declaration made so publicly he inserted no reason beyond these three words, Justis de causis (for sufficient reasons). Nunquam sic locutus est Summus Pontifex.

338.6.1

Imagining that by this coup he had entirely destroyed the Capuchins and brought them to the ground, and their mission along with them, he planned an attack upon those of Cuddalore. While we are talking of that place, we leave the wretched Capuchins of Madras to draw a little breath, a thing most necessary for them, for neither rest nor peace had been conceded to them at this time in the midst of such perilous attacks. The Reverend Father Paulo de Saa at Cuddalore, parish priest of the two churches there, was now cited to appear personally within three days at Pondicherry, subpcena suspensionis a divinis (et cetera). This poor priest found himself under the same disabilities and in the same condition as the wretched Capuchins of Madras. He was under an embargo from the gentlemen of the government, and was unable to quit Cuddalore. He feared an interdict much more than he did thunder and lightning. He fell into such grief and deep melancholy that he did nothing but weep day and night over his sad fate, for in such a terrible conflict he had no one to whom he could unbosom himself, none whom he could consult as to what should be done to deliver this Christian congregation from this great perturbation, and avert from himself the violent storm that he saw was about to discharge itself upon his head.

338.6.2

But Divine Providence is always nearest the afflicted when they have the most need. In the midst of all this affliction, and at the moment of this lamentable blow which had fallen upon the poor priest, it permitted the entry at his door of a charitable Theatine. He was a Portuguese by race, and called D. Simão da Costa. At sight of him, as we may suppose, some vigour returned, but Father Paulo was unable entirely to conceal his dejection. He was also stimulated by finding that the good priest did not fail to take notice of the circumstances in his hospice, for they were quite worthy of the deepest reflection in such a crisis as he was involved in. 'Priest of Divine Providence, Simão da Costa!' he exclaimed, as one in delirium. Owing to the bitter anxiety that consumed him, he repeated many times consecutively, 'Simão da Costa! Simão da Costa!' He assumed, no doubt, that he was another man of Cyrene come to relieve him of the cross of tribulations that he had to bear.

338.6.3

Nor was he deceived, as events will show, and the reader will be able to consider them [before he passes judgment]. I take upon myself to notify him thereof at the proper time. At present, not to lose our way, let us go on to recount [172] what passed between the poor priest and the loving Theatine. Seeing the other so sad, Simão was moved to compassion, and began to cheer up and console him in the best way he could. As a conclusion, after other words fitting for such an occasion, he told him he must have patience.

338.6.4

There can be no doubt that in all he said (let us give everyone his due) he spoke well; but the afflicted priest was not content with words of consolation only, and wanted some redress for his wrongs. He wanted some preservative against the thunder that threatened to fall on his head and consume his body. Seeing that the loving Theatine supplied him with none, his sorrow was redoubled, and his heart-bruises were greatly intensified, because, if so far the wretched priest had hit upon no comfort for himself, it is to be presumed, from his being to such an extent upset, that his thinking powers had fled. Ordinarily when a man is in trouble, if his dear ones desert him, his friends forsake him, those under obligations excuse themselves, his own wits equally abandon him; nor is he content, being unhappy, to have them restored easily. But, seeing that such a doctor [as the Theatine] was unable to prescribe, he was convinced that no other apothecary could prepare him anything.

338.6.5

Finding himself thus cast down, he resorted like a good Christian to the restorative of giving thanks to God, who ever encourages, alleviates, and consoles. But love, which is ingenious and always sympathetic, failed not to be of use on this occasion — one of the direst necessity. For if it did not take action earlier, it was not so much to see how best to kick the priest a little out of his nest, but rather to become more acceptable to him and more esteemed; for the discreet are aware that the greater the necessity the greater the value of a thing, it being then far more esteemed. As a prudent and charitable person, he must also look out for himself, for is it not there that a well-ordered charity begins? Thus love failed not to inspire the charitable Theatine with the remedy so anxiously desired by the disconsolate priest, being also the one most favourable to himself. He influenced him (Father de Saa), in addition to the grace of persuasion, by circumstances favourable to the physician. This was in case the patient should refuse to swallow the pill or potion, though in this instance it was not very necessary that the prescription should be so very discreetly worded. For from anxiety the wretched priest was so thirsty that if you presented to him the most poisonous drink in the most disgusting vessel, if it had only some similitude to a medicine, it would appear to him like the most delicious nectar contained in the most crystalline of cups. Nor is this to be wondered at;

338.6.6

when a man so anxiously demands a thing, any sort of appearance of it deceives and satisfies him. This, as the reader will see, happened here between this afflicted priest and the charitable Theatine. The latter opened his case in some such words as these: 'Reverend Father Paulo de Saa, I will not deceive your honour, and after having weighed the matter, I think your case a troublesome one and the remedy for it not an easy one to accept, though it is the only suitable one, and there is no other course. Believe me, my reverend father, for the love of God, it is thus only that Our Father may help you and deliver you from similar torments for the future.' 'How will he assist me?' replied the poor priest timorously. 'What may be this remedy, and what must be done to obtain it?' To this answered the sympathizing messenger: 'Give up one of the two churches to the Theatines, and I pledge you my word you shall be left in peace, saved from these embarrassments, made whiter than snow before the Lord Nuncio, and restored to his favour.' I forewarned the reader that I bargained he would see by what was promised whether the priest (de Saa) deceived himself in thinking that this visitor was a second man of Cyrene come to deliver him from the cross of tribulations he was then suffering from, for Father da Costa told him clearly that he wanted for himself one of the two churches.

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