[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Dark Ages](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages) › [Travellers (1500–1858)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel) › [Storia do Mogor](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci) › [Storia do Mogor (Irvine)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine) › 362 # Storia do Mogor 362: Petition in Appeal of the Reverend Father Esprit of Tours to the Court at Rome. Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 362 - **Language:** English ## Contents - [362.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.1) — 3 parts - [362.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.2) — 8 parts - [362.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.3) — 8 parts - [362.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.4) — 7 parts ### Petition in Appeal of the Reverend Father Esprit of Tours to the Court at Rome. ### [362.1.1706](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.1.1706) A quodam decreto, seu declaratória lata ab Illustrissimo et Reverendíssimo D.°, D.° Alphonso Meliapurensi Episcopo contra Patrem Spiritum Turonensem Capucinum Missionis Pudicheriensis, nec non ejusdem Ordinis Religiosorum Missionariorum in ea commorantium Superiorem, in qua ipsum declarat incidisse in excommunicationem Bullae 'In Caena Domini,' privatque communione fidelium, et timens dictus Pater magis aggravari in posterum, judicem superiorem, cui de jure competit, in his scriptis \[273\] provocat, et appellat, et de nullitate dicit, petens Apóstolos saepè saepius, saepissime, instanter, instantius, instantissime; salva semper et intacta reverentiâ debita Praelato Illustrissimo et Reverendíssimo Meliapurensi Episcopo quam vel minimum laedere nullo modo intendit appellans, sed solummodo se ipsum à gravamine liberare: tenebatur namque Illustrissimus ac Reverendissimus Meliapurensi Episcopus contra dictum appellantem procedere juxta formam juris praescriptam in Capite 'Qualiter et quando de accusatione et denunciatione' in 'Decretalium' et observare sacras sanctiones in dicto capite expressas, quibus non servatis quidquid contra dictum appellantem intentatum fuit absque forma ibidem praescriptâ cassum et irritum debet reputari. Et ideo ab iis omnibus provocat et appellat, et de nullitate dicit, ut supra, et à non admissione praesentis appellationis, vel à denegatione Apostolorum, aut à quocumque actu alio in spretum hujus appellationis in posterum forsan facienda (quod non credit) iterum provocat et appellat et de nullitate dicit non solum semel, sed bis, et ter, et toties quoties opus fuerit, ita ut sit semper ultimus in appellatione et in appellando et protestando de attentatis et attentandis non solum isto, sed, omne alio meliori modo. Datum Madraspatam sub die 23 mensis Decembris, 1706. ### [362.1.1706\_2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.1.1706_2) Frater Spiritus Turonensis, Caps Misslls Apostus. \[Father Esprit of Tours, a Capuchin of the Pondicherry mission, and also Superior of the Religious of that order, the missionaries dwelling there, in these presents (lit., 'writings') earnestly appeals against and proclaims the nullity of a certain decree or declaratory sentence passed by the Most Illustrious and Most Reverend Lord Alphonso, Bishop of Meliapur, in which the father is declared to have fallen into the excommunication of the Bull 'In Coena Domini,' and to be excluded from the communion of the faithful. The said father, fearing that worse will befall him hereafter, appeals to and invokes the superior judge, who is legally competent to entertain the appeal, and he maintains the nullity of the sentence, seeking the Apostoli (the leave of the Court of First Instance to appeal) over and over and over again, earnestly, very earnestly, most earnestly, preserving always intact the reverence due to the Most Illustrious and Reverend Prelate, the Bishop of Meliapur, which he has no intention of lessening, but merely desirous to free himself from the weight of the accusation. For the Most Illustrious and Reverend Bishop of Meliapur was bound to proceed against the said appellant, according to the form of law laid down in the chapter of the Decretals, 'Qualiter et Quando de Accusat,' (lit., How and When concerning Accusations and Denunciations), and to observe the sacred sanctions laid down in the said chapter. And as these conditions have not been observed, whatever proceedings were taken against the said appellant without the prescribed form ought to be considered null and void. And therefore from all these proceedings he appeals, protests, and maintains their nullity, as above : and against the \[possible\] non-admission of the present appeal, or denial of letters of appeal (Apostoli), or anything which may hereafter, perhaps, be done by anyone in despite of this appeal, he again protests, appeals, and declares null, and that not only once or twice or thrice, but as often as occasion should arise : so that he may always be the last \[i.e., ' be always to the fore '\] with his appeal, and in appealing and protesting not only in this, but in any other better method, against the things attempted, or which may be attempted, against him. Given at Madras on the 23rd day of December, 1706. ### [362.1.p3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.1.p3) Friar Esprit of Tours, et cetera.\] The Lord Bishop, after having refused many times to receive it, at last, by dint of supplications, was made to read the above petition of appeal ; and the Reverend Father Guardian then praying him to be so good as to verify it, he wrote on the margin the following words : ' We have replied to the request here made — S. Thome, 23 December, the Bishop of Meliapur.' Gentlemen, you \[274\], who have unbounded understanding, just read, please, the petition in appeal and the reply to it. Consider, I conjure you, what connection there can be between the one and the other ; since it is a white answer to a black question. The same peculiarity is found in all the documents we hold. Therefore judge now if it is necessary to lay any great stress on the unworthy way in which we are treated ; and from this you can gather, gentlemen, if the Capuchin fathers occasionally moan, whether they do so without cause or meaning. When we had in our hands the petition of appeal which his Lordship had so admirably justified, the Reverend Father Guardian, after a minute or two's conversation, rose to take leave of the Lord Bishop. I, however, before I rose, said : ' My Lord, if I had known what I do at this moment, I should certainly never have come to a country where they behave so well to poor missionaries — men who have abandoned father, mother, relations, and friends ; who have suffered so many dangers, and have come from such far-off countries in the hope of gaining some souls to Jesus Christ ; who have been on their feet for twenty-five to thirty years, like the Reverend Father Esprit, and thoroughly wearied themselves from morning to night, without an hour of quiet on any one day : only to have had perhaps the discomfiture, such as this reverend father has had, of seeing affixed to the doors of the churches an excommunication or declaration against myself, whereby I was declared accursed, and doubly accursed of God Omnipotent, of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, and of all the other saints in the quire celestial ; at the very time, too, when your priests, who lead, for the most part, idle and scandalous lives, are treated by you with the greatest softness — yes, there have been men to be found among them, and are yet to be found daily, who have fallen into such disorders that propriety forbids my stating them ; men who have caused public scandal in many places ; who trade openly ; who in drunkenness have lain down in the middle of Madras streets in the sight of the heathen and of the English gentlemen ; there have been some among them, I say, who have gone to your Lordship's very door, arms in hand, and, unable to obtain the execution of what they had premeditated, have abused you up-hill and down-dale without the slightest correction being applied to them. But the poor Capuchin fathers ! who have shown to your Lordship nothing but respect ; who rush hither and thither from morning to night to gain even one soul to Jesus Christ ; who cannot be accused of the minutest fault in their lives and habits ; who seek to do good to all men ; who have never given an opening for anybody to complain — these fathers receive from you nothing but inhuman treatment ! Of a truth, my Lord, we feel this acutely enough, nor can I conceive how a bishop, who ought to follow the dictates of equity more than anyone else in the world, can leave the transgressor in impunity and chastise the innocent.' As I was finishing what I had to say his Lordship turned his back on me, whence I was aware that there was nothing more to be done. Therefore, making a sign to the gentlemen who had come with us, we withdrew at once. The Reverend Father Esprit and the Reverend Father Michel Ange had supposed that the Lord Bishop would have adjusted the dispute so happily as to render it unnecessary to present the above-referred-to petition of appeal \[276\] ; for they had been assured that his Lordship meant to quiet things down. Now they found there was no other course open than to secure the attestation of the papers they held, and to call the fourth time for the Apostoli in the process of the Reverend Father Esprit. After having put in order all the papers, ready for the attestation of his Lordship, the Reverend Father Michel Ange started the next morning for San Thome. On arriving at the palace of Monsignor, he asked for leave to speak to him ; the answer he received was that if he was come on a visit he could enter, but if he came on business he could just go back to Madras. Although he thought this a most surprising and extraordinary procedure, yet, not wishing to give any incitement to his Lordship for farther hurting us, what he had done already being more than we could bear — for an excommunication is a most insupportable thing — the Reverend Father Michel Ange said that he only came to see his Lordship, and put off speaking of business till the next morning. He then went again, taking the Reverend Father Esprit, so that the Capuchins might not be accused of declining to submit themselves to the Lord Bishop. ### [362.2.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.2.1) When his Lordship learnt that the Reverend Father Michel Ange was at his door with the Reverend Father Esprit, he sent word to the former that he was free to enter. The message given to Father Esprit was that he must wait at the door. This order he obeyed with all possible patience without a murmur. He made no complaint whatever of the bad treatment to which he had been subjected up to that time. Having greeted Monsignor and presented congratulations on the Festival of the Nativity, the Reverend Father Michel Ange, after a little \[277\] conversation lasting half an hour, finding his Lordship in a fairly good humour, asked him why he had declared the Reverend Father Esprit to be excommunicated — was it because the said father was the cure, or was it because he had published the decrees without permission ? His Lordship answered at once that he had done so for both reasons. Upon hearing this the Reverend Father Michel Ange showed him the Bull of Pius V., which not only disapproved of excommunications launched so inconsiderately, but, in addition, showed the nullity of the Pastoral that his Lordship had sent to the Reverend Jesuit fathers with the object of placing them a second time in possession of our mission to the Malabārīs. ### [362.2.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.2.2) Here are the very words of the Bull : ' Et insuper ne in locis illarum partium ' (that is, in India, of which the Bull is speaking), ' in quibus sunt religiosorum monasteria qui animarum curam exercent, aliquid per praedictos episcopos innovetur, eadem authoritate et tenore statuimus et ordinamus, ac quidquid secus super his à quocumque quavis authoritate scienter vel ignoranter attentari contigerit, irritum et inane decernimus.' \[And, moreover, by the same authority and to the same purport, we decree and ordain that in places in India where there are monasteries of religious who exercise a cure of souls, no innovation be made by the said bishops, and whatever may chance to be attempted by any person, whosoever and whatever his authority and whether he act with or without knowledge, contrary to this order, in respect of those religious, we decree to be null and vain.\] ' As regards the second reason — that of having published the decrees without permission,' said the Reverend Father Michel Ange, ' have you not, my Lord, given me permission, orally and in writing, to have them published in our church at Pondicherry ?' ' No,' replied his Lordship. ### [362.2.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.2.3) ' Let us suppose that you did not give it to me,' said the Reverend Father Michel Ange — ' a matter that will be seen to in due time and place — have I not presented the decrees to your Lordship, and have you not written on the margin of the said decrees : " The Reverend Father Guy Tachard has seen this petition and also the decrees of the Sacred Congregation, et cetera?' \[278\]. 'That is true,' said his Lordship. 'Then, surely,' retorted the Reverend Father Michel Ange, 'that sufficed without other permission, not only for publishing the decrees, but equally for performing the functions of our mission to the Malabāris, for which purpose the decrees were issued. This is so, since the Sacred Congregation "de Propaganda Fide" issued a decree of September 19, 1630, where they say in so many words that it is sufficient for patents to be presented to the bishop to allow of the functions being performed, permission or no permission: "Sacra Congregatio censuit missionariis quibuscumque sufficere, quod suas Patentes suae missionis ostendant, ut illis ostensis, sive obtenta sive non obtenta licentia, libere et licite suum officium et múnus exercere valeant." \[The Sacred Congregation has ruled that it is sufficient for the missionaries of every sort to show their patent letters of their own mission, and that, after showing them, they are empowered to exercise their office and duties, whether permission be obtained or no.\] ### [362.2.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.2.4) Having heard these words, the Lord Bishop grew a little angry and wanted to leave the place. But the Reverend Father Michel Ange has the gift of gaining hearts by sweet and obliging manners. 'My Lord,' said he to him, 'listen to my arguments, I conjure you; reflect well whether they are correct or not.' 'Speak, then,' said Monsignor to him. 'Perhaps you say,' then resumed the Reverend Father Michel Ange, 'that the Reverend Father Esprit has incurred excommunication under the Bull "In Cœna Domini," through having published the decrees?' 'No,' answered his Lordship. 'It was perhaps for having summoned the Rev. Father Tachard to the courts at Rome?' 'Not in the least, although it was possible to have found something to object to,' retorted the Lord Bishop. ' But one does not incur excommunication for that,' replied Father Michel Ange. ' How is it, then, that your Lordship has stated in the Declaration that Father Esprit has incurred excommunication under the Bull " In Caena Domini " by reason of having published certain decrees without your permission, and for having cited Father Tachard to appear at the court of Rome ?' 'Oh! I do not want any of your arguing,' said the Lord Bishop. Seeing that his Lordship contradicted himself, and was not willing to reply to his question, Father Michel Ange said to him with a smile : ### [362.2.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.2.5) ' If the Reverend Father Esprit has not incurred excommunication by publishing the decree, nor by citing the Reverend Father Tachard to Rome, why, then, has your Lordship declared him excommunicated, ordering, in addition, that your Declaration should be posted on the door of the Jesuits' church ?' ' Oh ! he (Esprit) said that the reverend Jesuit fathers were not the parish priests of the Malabāris at Pondicherry — there's the reason, since you want to know.' ### [362.2.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.2.6) Upon this Father Michel Ange said that this single reason should have been stated in the Declaration, and not the two others. He followed this up by praying his Lordship to tell him this. If a man menaced a priest with violence, saying he would beat him or even slay him, did he incur excommunication under the Bull ' In Caena Domini ' or not ? The Lord Bishop answered at once that it was not enough to threaten, that there must be an overt act. This was so, because the Bull said: ' Si quis percuserit clericum anathema sit.' After hearing these words Father Michel Ange said to him : ' Then Father Esprit has not incurred excommunication, for, besides the fact that he has not opened his mouth since the Pastoral, of itself a severe enough punishment for us, even had he spoken after the issue of the Pastoral it was impossible for him, until he had done some overt act, to become liable to excommunication. The use of words only is not a sufficient ground for excommunication ; acts are necessary. Where, then, are the acts as a cure performed by Father Esprit after the publication of your Pastoral? Has he married, baptized, buried, any Malabar? No one can assert this, much less prove it.' ### [362.2.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.2.7) It is true that the reverend Jesuit fathers, who are so benevolently inclined towards us that they would rejoice to see us destroyed root and branch, caused an infant to be carried into our church. They wanted to see if the Reverend Father Esprit would confer on it Holy Baptism. But the said father perceived at once that it was a snare laid for him by his enemies, and all that they wanted was something they could lay hold of against us. He sent back the infant forthwith to the reverend Jesuit fathers, although they would have much preferred to see it baptized than to get it again unbaptized. 'What do you call that, Monsignor?' said Father Michel Ange to him. 'Oh! I have already told you I want none of your arguments.' 'I have one more, if it please you, for the love of God,' replied the Reverend Father Michel Ange. 'What is it, then?' asked the Lord Bishop. 'Here it is,' said Father Michel Ange: 'let us suppose that a person has brought a suit before a divisional court (présidial), and there loses his case. He then appeals to the Parlement, empowered to decide in the last instance. If that Parlement decides in his favour, can the divisional court, subordinate to that Parlement, revive the suit, and once more decide it against the appellant suitor, in spite of the Parlement being in no manner under its control?' 'No,' says Monsignor. ### [362.2.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.2.8) 'Now, here I have you, my Lord,' replied the Reverend Father Michel Ange, 'and this will demonstrate to the entire world that you had no power to excommunicate the Reverend Father Esprit; still less could you restore the reverend Jesuit fathers to the possession of our cure of the Malabāris, as you have done by a special Pastoral.' 'Let us see a little how that is,' said the Lord Bishop. 'Were we, or were we not, eight years ago the curés of the Malabāris?' retorted Father Michel Ange. 'Did not your Lordship himself, five or six months before you took away that cure and gave it to the reverend Jesuit fathers, issue to us an executive order (provision) to that effect ?' ### [362.3.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.3.1) 'Yes,' replied Monsignor. 'As the reverend Jesuit fathers were then making every effort to withdraw the said cure from us, did not your Lordship say to me repeatedly that I was to resist them firmly, and that you would never consent to such a piece of injustice ?' 'That is true,' replied Monsignor. 'Then the reverend Jesuit fathers falsely alleged an order of his Majesty (Louis XIV.), as we afterwards ascertained; and upon the solicitation of the late Chevalier Martin, did not your Lordship issue an executive order about the cure in favour of the reverend Jesuit fathers ?' 'Again that is quite true,' \[826\] replied Monsignor; 'but I did not know that the order of the prince was falsely alleged.' ### [362.3.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.3.2) 'Of that I am quite persuaded,' said Father Michel Ange; 'nevertheless, as your Lordship, when you discovered the falsity of the reverend Jesuit fathers' allegation, did not restore us to our ancient mission, we had recourse in appeal to the King of France for the temporalities, and to his Holiness, together with the Sacred Congregation, in regard to the spiritual charge. Thus his Holiness and the aforesaid Sacred Congregation, upon perusal of our appeal, cited to appear before them the Very Reverend Father the Procurator-General of the Society of Jesus and the Very Reverend Father the Procurator of the Capuchins. After listening to the arguments on both sides, decrees were issued in favour of the Capuchin fathers, which they directed to be presented to your Lordship : "Dentur decreta episcopo Meliapurensis." This we did, my Lord; yet after you had approved them and recognised them as genuine, when we promulgated them in our church with your special permission, your Lordship issued a second Pastoral in favour of the reverend Jesuit fathers, who are the very persons against whom the decrees were issued. This is to act directly in the teeth of the Sacred Congregation's decrees. You have also excommunicated the Reverend Father Esprit. Can such a thing be done, my Lord, I ask you ? and is it permissible for a bishop to meddle with a case, and attempt to decide it after judgment has been given by the Sacred Congregation ?' ### [362.3.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.3.3) ' You did not appeal to the Holy See or to the Sacred Congregation about this cure ?' said the Lord Bishop. ' We have not appealed !' replied Father Michel Ange. ' Why is it, then, that the Sacred Congregation has sent these decrees, if it is not in connection with our appeal ? If your Lordship is in doubt, here is the petition of the Reverend Father Francois Marie of Tours, laid by him in person before the Sacred Congregation.' \[Father Francois Marie's petition of March 26, 1703, is omitted, as it has been already given in full on fol. 218, Part V.\] ' If after that your Lordship still doubts whether we have appealed to the Sacred Congregation, I produce the protest of the reverend Capuchin fathers against the acts of the reverend Jesuit fathers. This protest was notified to them in legal form and in the presence of witnesses. Its terms are as follows : ### [362.3.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.3.4) " The Capuchin fathers of the province of Touraine, who for thirty-five years or thereabouts have been in possession of the cure of Pondicherry, as well in regard to the French gentlemen as to the natives of the country styled Malabãrls, having been informed that the reverend Jesuit fathers, at the request of Monsieur the General Martin, and to their (the Capuchins') prejudice, have obtained from the Lord Bishop of San Thome an executive order (provision) in regard to the cure of the said Malabãrls at Pondicherry, the said Capuchin fathers, with reference to the order granted them by the said prelate in regard to the cure of the said Pondicherry, dated July 12, 1699, protest by this present document against the said executive order issued by my Lord of San Thome, and appeal therefrom to the Holy See and to the Sacred Congregation, to whom is confided all matters touching the business of bishops and regular clergy with regard to the spiritual question, and as regards the temporalities to the Most Christian king, under whose protection and safeguard they have the honour to dwell," et cetera. ### [362.3.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.3.5) 'Have you any doubts left, my Lord, that we did appeal on this matter to the Holy See and to the Sacred Congregation? Do you still doubt whether the decrees of the aforesaid Sacred Congregation were addressed to your Lordship for the object of replacing the Capuchins in possession of their ancient cure \[83a\] of the Malabārīs? If you have no doubts under either head, why, then, insert in your Pastoral that the Sacred Congregation sends you certain decrees accompanied by no farther orders. Must I play the schoolmaster to a bishop? Are not the orders by themselves sufficient to justify their execution? Must they write: "We order you to put into execution to the very letter what is recorded in the said decree"? I am in astonishment that your Lordship allows the Capuchins to be at Pondicherry and Madras, for it is not said in the orders you undertook to obey: "We direct the Lord Bishop of San Thomé to allow Capuchins to work in his diocese." ### [362.3.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.3.6) 'But I am assuming what cannot be—I mean that it should be requisite to have an order from Rome before putting into execution Bulls and Decrees received from Rome. Whence is it, then, that your Lordship has declared the Reverend Father Esprit to be excommunicated, while you have not carried out the order of the Sacred Congregation? I cannot see what reason there can be for doing the one and not the other. For, after all, if the decrees of the Sacred Congregation themselves are not enough to secure their execution, but require a separate order from the same Sacred Congregation for that purpose, it follows of necessity that when a priest or religious infringes on the jurisdiction of a bishop (a thing Father Esprit has never done), there must come a second order from Rome declaring him excommunicated. The reason is obvious. In the Bull "In Cœna Domini" it is provided that those who act contrary to the jurisdiction of bishops shall be held excommunicated; but it is also laid down in the decrees of the Sacred Congregation, which have been produced before your Lordship, that no person may on any pretext or show of authority whatsoever remove a cure from the religious of one Order and give it to those of another without previous reference to the aforesaid Sacred Congregation, the penalty for disobedience being "sub poena privationis officii, privilegii, et facultatis, ipso facto incurrenda, et cetera."' ### [362.3.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.3.7) 'Furthermore, my Lord, do me the favour of clearing up a doubt I entertain — that is, if a person who interferes in a bishop's jurisdiction is to be excommunicated, why is not the same penalty incurred by those who interfere in the jurisdiction of the Sacred Congregation? It is a point, Monsignor, that I am very desirous of having settled.' Upon hearing such just reasoning, and such a very embarrassing question, the bishop said he declined to argue. The Reverend Father Michel Ange saw that nothing would serve to convince the Lord Bishop of the injustice that his Lordship had committed in regard to us, and that no impression could be made on his mind by reasoning. He therefore, for the last time, begged Monsignor to restore Father Esprit to his previous status. We would then await a fresh decision from Rome; while, should his Lordship fear that we might hereafter stir again in the matter, he (Michel Ange) would bring all the papers we possessed and burn them in the bishop's presence. ### [362.3.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.3.8) It seems to me, gentlemen, that it is impossible to speak fairer, and that the Capuchins have gone far beyond what they could be called upon to do. Everybody knows, both at Pondicherry and at Madras, that we gave no occasion for treating us in such an unworthy manner. If any scandal has arisen, it has been caused by the reverend Jesuit fathers, whose only object is to make themselves redoubtable. The fault is not that of the poor Capuchin fathers, who would glory in their humiliation so long as religion did not thereby suffer. However, the Lord Bishop was not mollified by Father Michel Ange's proposal. What he would have liked, for the contentment of the reverend Jesuit fathers and the humiliation of the Capuchins, was that Father Esprit should bare his back to be scourged by one of the bishop's priests until he was flayed. This was what they did some two years ago to the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary, some of the sufferers being over eighty years of age. Then all of them were excommunicated, somewhat in the style practised with the said Father Esprit. Such conduct was not only lamentable and dishonourable to religion, but quite sufficient to turn the best cause in the world into the worst. ### [362.4.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.4.1) Thus Father Michel Ange and Father Esprit were forced to return to Madras without having been able to gain in the slightest degree on the mind of Monsignor, having only rendered him more unfeeling towards us. What say you, gentlemen, of the course taken by the Capuchin fathers compared with the line of action adopted by the Lord Bishop, as well as by the reverend Jesuit fathers? Have we been guilty of anything unjust or not conformable to right reason? On their side have they in the slightest point been other than unjust, or acted otherwise than in direct opposition to the precepts of the Gospel? No; I cannot conceive our doing more to make our case a good one, or their doing more to make theirs a bad one. In effect, gentlemen—for, although our cause from the very first was the best in the world—for what is more natural than a demand for justice against violence, for a restoration to our rights after gaining our case?—no one can make us the reproach, still less prove against us, that we have said or done the least thing to disturb the minds of the Lord Bishop and the reverend Jesuit fathers; and that, too, in the face of the cruellest and most harassing treatment that it is possible to conceive. For, after all, I should prefer a great deal to die on the gallows than to find myself publicly excommunicated, damned, and doubly damned of God Omnipotent, of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, and of all the other saints in the quire celestial. ### [362.4.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.4.2) It is not the same thing, gentlemen, with the reverend Jesuit fathers, although their case was a bad one from the very first, since they began by capturing our cure through a false allegation. Besides their frontal resistance to his Holiness and to the Sacred Congregation; besides their untrue assertion that the Capuchin fathers had attempted to infringe the jurisdiction of a bishop; besides their obtaining the excommunication of the Reverend Father Esprit, in contravention of our privileges, and without the observance of any form of law, we can produce in due time and place over twenty documents where we have been spoken of so unworthily that, if such papers, emanating from Capuchins and derogatory to Jesuits, were in their possession, one single paper out of them would be enough to destroy us poor Capuchin fathers for ever. But we have no protectors, unless it be a just God who knows our innocence. Gentlemen, nothing beyond a mere perusal of what I have written in this manifesto is required to free the Capuchin fathers from all blame. The only blame which can be imputed to them is to have so deeply suffered without uttering any complaint. But perhaps you have not noticed the way in which Monsignor's Pastoral, as well as his Declaration, is drawn up ; I proceed, therefore, to point out to you that there is no less of contradiction in the one and in the other, not to call it malice or ignorance, than there is in all the rest that you have read up to this point. ### [362.4.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.4.3) I begin with the Declaration, wherein I pray you to consider three things inserted by his Lordship. The first one is the three monitions put into the Pastoral ; the second regards the gentleness with which his Lordship, as he says, has always treated us ; and the third refers to the proceedings to be taken against us if we should contravene the aforesaid Pastoral. ### [362.4.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.4.4) As to the three monitions, they are inserted in one document. Added to this is the fact that the short interval specified did not permit of the Pondicherry Capuchins informing their Guardian and Vice-Provincial then actually at Madras. To write to and receive a reply from that place requires eight days. Now, we have never done the slightest act contravening the said Pastoral, and if our enemies accuse us of such an act, let them prove it. It will then be demonstrated, in due time and place, that nothing can be more untrue. For we are not so devoid of friends at Pondicherry that we cannot find fifteen or so persons, men of the highest position and zealous for justice, who will sign attestations to the contrary. It is true that we have cited the reverend Jesuit fathers to Rome ; this has not been done singly by Father Esprit, but by all of us, by all of the Capuchins belonging to Pondicherry and Madras. For have we not all signed upon the citation ? Thus, if excommunication is incurred under the Bull ' In Caena Domini,' by citing an opposite party to appear before the courts in Rome, the Lord Bishop must declare us all excommunicated like Father Esprit. He is no more at fault than we are, and we are as guilty as he is. ### [362.4.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.4.5) You may wish to know, gentlemen, why the reverend Jesuit fathers and the Lord Bishop have decided to make this difference, and have singled out Father Esprit from the rest; why they have made him feel the effect of the threats with which they intimidate everybody opposed to their violences, saying that they will bring ruin on them. It is because the said Father Esprit has always boldly faced them in things which he considered necessary to the welfare of Christianity and the honour of our religion; because he succeeded in having a church built at Pondicherry, much to their umbrage; because they thought they could drive him away to Rome or to his province, after a public declaration of excommunication. In that case the building would be left incomplete. It is also because he knows the Portuguese, Malabarí, and Arabic languages to perfection; and they imagined that when he had quitted Pondicherry we should no longer be capable of carrying on the mission. By this means they would be able to insinuate themselves into the cure of the French gentlemen and the Portuguese, as they have already done into that of the Malabãrís. There you have, gentlemen, their reasons for selecting the Reverend Father Esprit rather than the other Capuchins at Pondicherry and Madras. ### [362.4.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.4.6) Most assuredly there are no other reasons; but perhaps they will assert \[278, resumed\] that it is for having said that the reverend Jesuit fathers are not the legitimate pastors of the Malabãrís at Pondicherry. That, however, gentlemen, we have not said, however much they believe that we did say it. Still, outside the fact that they accuse us of this falsely, I go farther, and say that, had we even made use of the words, they are insufficient to bring down on us an excommunication. For it is a condition precedent that we proceed \[279\] to overt acts, as I have already indicated above. As regards the gentleness with which his Lordship claims to have always treated us, I have already, gentlemen, in a passage near the end of the first manifesto that I did myself the honour of sending to you, called your attention to the fact that the Lord Bishop has designated us as scandalous persons, liars, disobeyers, over-bold, and madmen. Again, every inhabitant of Pondicherry knows as well as you do that his Lordship has made us over to the secular arm; not only so, but has further directed that we be dealt with with all possible severity. Therefore, to the end that all may know the unworthy manner in which the Capuchins are handled—men who have no enemies in India except the reverend Jesuit fathers—I wish to give you a demonstration of the great 'gentleness' the Capuchin fathers have always enjoyed from the Lord Bishop, as he states in his Pastoral and in his Declaration. ### [362.4.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.4.7) The wife of Signor Manucci, a Venetian by origin, a man who has become sufficiently known in Europe by his writings, when on her death-bed made a bequest to the Lord Bishop of San Thomé of two hundred pagodas. After her death the said Signor Manucci, having become extremely ill pleased with the part taken by his Lordship, showed reluctance in making up his mind to execute the bequest. Hearing this, the Reverend Father Michel Ange of Bourges, Superior of the Capuchins at Madras, begged him for the love of God to send this money to Monsignor, and added that he was conscientiously under an obligation to do so. Signor Manucci made excuses, saying he had not the cash to meet it. The Reverend Father Michel Ange promised he would get some one to lend him the money, so that he might pay the legacy. Signor Manucci said he did not want to increase his indebtedness, which was already quite heavy enough. After this time, the Lord Bishop, upon the deposition of one of our enemies, took steps to sue the Reverend Father Michel Ange. He asserted that it was he who had forbidden him (Manucci) to pay; and without fail he (the Bishop) would have brought the suit, as many persons worthy of belief asseverate, had not the clerk of Signor Manucci, then in San Thomé on some business, offered to swear upon the Holy Gospels that the whole thing was absolutely false. Here you have, gentlemen, his excessive 'tenderness.' ### [362.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362.5) A reverend father, an Armenian by race, belonging to the Order of St. Dominic, died at Madras after living there a whole year. He received the last sacraments at the hands of the Capuchin fathers who dwell in that town. After the death of the said father, the Superior of the reverend Dominican fathers was written to at San Thome, advising him that a friar of his order had died. This was at eight o'clock in the morning. He was requested to write at once whether he meant the defunct to be buried in our church or in his. We waited for an answer up to six o'clock in the evening, though we could have had the answer by midday. Therefore, finding no one came, and the corpse beginning to be offensive owing to the great heat, we went to the spot in order to bury the said body in our church. After we had chanted the 'Libera,' a Jacobin, who had concealed himself in a shop so as not to be seen, in order to affront us threw himself on the body, saying he wanted to inter it at \[281\] San Thome. The Reverend Father Michel Ange, and all the other priests and friars taking part in the funeral, said to him: 'Reverend father, this is not the way to behave before a thousand heathen here assembled; we wrote to you, and it seems to me you ought to have replied without falling into these excessive ways. Besides, when you come to remove the body of a deceased person, it is necessary to come in the proper vestments with surplice and stole, not in a palanquin and with a cap like an Englishman's on your head. We are going to take the body to our church, and chant the office for the dead. After that is done we shall make it over into your hands, and we in person will follow it as far as San Thome.' The reverend father Dominican began to shout, just as a blind man does who has lost his stick, and then, like a man in despair, started to run to San Thome to report to the bishop. The latter learnt from the reports of his own priests that the Capuchin fathers had behaved with all possible prudence. If there had been anything wrong it had not proceeded from them, since they had themselves carried the body to their church against their will. Yet he (the bishop) did not fail to send the Capuchin fathers a very sharp letter, conveying an order that they must send the body. This is what we did, without hesitating a single moment. Here you have, gentlemen, the great 'tenderness' displayed to the Capuchin fathers, who better deserved to be praised than to be blamed, as they are day after day. Gentlemen, I should write a big book if I attempted to narrate to you all the injustice done to us, without telling you the bitter things the Lord Bishop has made us swallow on thousands of occasions \[282\]. However, I will produce to you no more than two of his letters, collated copies of which are in my possession. You have only to pay very slight attention and you will see, gentlemen, that we could not be dealt with more harshly and more cruelly than we have been dealt with by his Lordship. The first is the letter which Monsignor wrote to your Council, which I wish once more to lay before you in writing, although the original is in your hands, because I hope by God's grace that this manifesto will appear in Europe also, and not only at Pondicherry. The second letter is the reply to the Reverend Father Guardian, who had begged his Lordship to be good enough to clear the Reverend Father Esprit of the calumny imposed on him by the reverend fathers of the Society of Jesus. --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.362) · Pramāṇa