Storia do Mogor 366.3.4

366.3.4

Certainly they have said so, gentlemen, and on the strength of their word the Lord Bishop of San Thome has issued a provision for the cure to our prejudice; but that assertion was false and a lie, deserving of public castigation, since, upon our causing a petition to be presented to our Invincible Monarch by means of the Reverend Father Seraphin of Paris, Capuchin, and preacher in ordinary to his Majesty, his said Majesty replied that he had no recollection of having ever given such orders. If you find it difficult to believe a thing which does not seem credible, read the following words, and you will see that nothing can be more certain or more true: 'The king having ordered me to enquire into the difference which has arisen between the Capuchins and the Jesuits with regard to the cure of Pondicherry, and make a report thereon to him, his Majesty, from the statements and accounts I have given him, learnt that the Lord Bishop of San Thome had asserted, from inspection of a document produced before him by the reverend Jesuit fathers, that the provisional orders given to Father Dolu, Jesuit, making him cure of the Malabāris, were conceded at your instance and at your request, and that you [Governor Martin] had written to him that such was the will of his Majesty. His Majesty does not remember ever having given any such order. '(Signed) Pontchartrain. 'Versailles, 'March 12, 1702.'