Travels in India (Tavernier) 34: History of Father Ephraim, Capuchin, and how he was cast into the Inquisition at Goa
Travels in India (Ball) 34
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History of Father Ephraim, Capuchin, and how he was cast into the Inquisition at Goa
34.1.1
The Sheikh who had married the eldest of the Princesses of Golconda not having been able, as I have said, to induce the Rev. Father Ephraim to stay at Bhagnagar, where he offered to build him a house and church, gave him an ox and two servants to convey him to Masulipatam, where he expected to embark for Pegu, according to the order which he had received from his Superiors. But not finding any vessel by which he could go, the English managed so well that they attracted him to Madras, where they have a fort named Fort St. George, and a general office for all dependencies on the kingdom of Golconda and the countries of Bengal and Pegu. They represented to him that he would have a greater harvest to reap there than in any other part of India to which he could proceed, and they built him a good house and a church. But in reality the English were not so much seeking the good of Father Ephraim as their own; and you must know why they wished to keep him among them. Madras is only half a league from St. Thomé, a small maritime town on the Coromandel coast, fairly well built, and belonging at that time to the Portuguese. Its trade was considerable, especially in cottons, and it possessed many artisans and merchants, the majority of whom would have been very glad to dwell with the English at Madras, but for the fact that they had no opportunities at that time for the exercise of their religion in that place.
34.1.2
But since the English built this church and kept Father Ephraim, there were many of these Portuguese who left St. Thomé, attracted principally by the great care which this devout man took to instruct the people, preaching to them every Sunday and on all festivals, both in Portuguese and in the language of the country—a thing which was very unusual to them when they dwelt at St. Thomé. Father Ephraim came from Auxerre, and was a brother of M. de Chateau des Bois, Counsellor of the Parliament of Paris, and he had a happy genius for all kinds of languages, so that in a short time he acquired both English and Portuguese in perfection. The Ecclesiastics of St. Thomé, seeing that Father Ephraim enjoyed a high reputation, and that he attracted by his teaching a large number of their flock away to Madras, conceived so much jealousy towards him that they resolved to ruin him; and the following is the means which they made use of to accomplish their object:—The English and Portuguese being such close neighbours, they naturally had occasional differences, and generally both nations employed Father Ephraim to settle these, because he was a man of peace and of good sense, and knew both languages perfectly. One day the Portuguese purposely picked a quarrel with some English sailors, whose ship was in the St. Thomé roads, and who were well beaten.
34.1.3
The English President demanding satisfaction for this insult, strife began to kindle between the two nations, and would have ruined all the trade of the country if the merchants on both sides had not set themselves to arrange the affair, knowing nothing of the vile plot which some individuals were weaving to catch Father Ephraim. But all the goings and comings of these merchants availed nothing, and by the intrigues of the Portuguese ecclesiastics, it was so managed that the Father got mixed up in the matter, became the mediator, and undertook to conduct the negotiations between both sides—a part which he very readily undertook. But he had no sooner entered St. Thomé than he was seized by ten or twelve officers of the Inquisition, who placed him in a small armed frigate, which at once set sail for Goa. They put irons on his feet and hands, and they were twenty-two days at sea without once permitting him to land, although the majority of those on the frigate slept on shore nearly every night, because they sail from place to place along these coasts. When they arrived at Goa, they waited till dark to land Father Ephraim and conduct him to the house of the Inquisition, for they feared lest by landing him in the daytime the people might have wind of it, and might come to release a person so venerated in all that part of India.
34.1.4
The report spread in many directions that Father Ephraim the Capuchin was in the hands of the Inquisition, and as there arrived daily at Surat many people from the Portuguese territories, we were among the first to receive this news, which astonished all the Franks who were there. He who was most surprised and most annoyed of all was Father Zenon the Capuchin, who had formerly been a companion of Father Ephraim; and after having consulted regarding the affair with his friends, he resolved to go to Goa at the risk of himself falling into the hands of the Inquisition. It was in truth to risk it; for after a man is shut up in the Inquisition, if any one has the hardihood to speak for him to the Inquisitor, or to any member of his Council, he is himself immediately placed in the Inquisition, and is regarded as more criminal than him for whom he wished to speak. Neither the Archbishop of Goa nor the Viceroy himself dare interpose, and these are the only two persons over whom the Inquisition has no power. But if it happens that they do anything which gives offence, the Inquisitor and his Council write to Portugal, and, if it be so ordered by the King and the Inquisitor-General, when the answers arrive, proceedings are taken against these dignitaries, and they are remanded to Portugal.
34.1.5
Father Zenon was therefore not a little embarrassed, and knew not how to make the journey, having no companion to leave in his place nor to take with him, for it was then the season of contrary winds, and the attacks of the Malabaris are always to be feared. He at length set out, having to go twenty-five or thirty days by land, and took as companion M. de la Boullaye le Gouz, of whom I have spoken in my account of Persia. The Father paid his expenses to Goa, for his purse had been empty for a long time, and he would never have reached Surat without the aid of the English and Dutch and other Franks, who gave him money at Ispahan. Having arrived at Goa, Father Zenon was at first visited by some friends whom he had there, who, knowing of the object of his journey, advised him to be careful not to open his mouth on behalf of Father Ephraim, unless he wished to go to keep him company in the Inquisition. Every one knows the strictness of this tribunal, and not only is it not permitted, as I have said, to speak for one whom they hold prisoner, but moreover they never confront the accused with those who give evidence against him, nor even allow him to become acquainted with their names. Father Zenon perceiving that he was unable to accomplish anything at Goa, advised M. de la Boullaye to return to Surat, and made over to him 50 dais which he was to give at Paris to the widow of M. Forest who had died in India.
34.1.6
Accordingly, he left for Surat by the first opportunity, and Father Zenon went straight to Madras to find out more exactly all that had passed in connection with the arrest of Father Ephraim. When he had ascertained the treachery which had been practised upon Father Ephraim at St. Thomé, he resolved to get to the bottom of it, and went without the knowledge of the English President to confide his plan to the captain who commanded in the fort, and who, like the soldiers, was much enraged at the outrage which had been perpetrated on Father Ephraim. Not only did the captain strongly approve of the plan of Father Zenon, but he promised to give it his support and to back him in its execution. The Father, by means of the spies whom he had placed in the country, ascertained that the Governor of St. Thomé went every Saturday, early in the morning, to say his prayers in a chapel half a league from the town, and situated on a small hill, which is dedicated to the holy Virgin. He caused three iron gratings to be placed on the window of a small room in the convent, with two good locks on the door and as many padlocks, and having taken all these precautions he went to the captain of the fort, an Irishman of great personal bravery, who kept the promise he had made him to aid in the ambuscade which had been laid for the Governor of St. Thomé.
34.1.7
He himself headed thirty of his soldiers, and accompanying Father Zenon they all went out of the fort together towards midnight, and concealed themselves till daylight in a part of the mountain upon which this chapel of the holy Virgin was situated, where they could not be seen. The Governor of St. Thomé did not fail, according to his custom, to go to the chapel shortly after sunrise, and having got out of his pallankeen and ascended the hill, which was rough, on foot, he was immediately seized by the Irish captain and his soldiers, who emerged from the ambuscade with Father Zenon, and carried him off to Madras to the convent of the Capuchins, and put him in the chamber which had been prepared for him. The Governor, much surprised to find himself carried off in this manner, protested strongly against Father Zenon, and threatened him with the resentment which the King of Portugal would evince when he heard what he had dared to undertake against a Governor of one of his towns. This was his daily discourse during the time he was kept in the cell, and Father Zenon simply replied that he believed he was much more gently treated at Madras than Father Ephraim was in the Inquisition at Goa, whither he, the Governor, had sent him; that he had only to cause the Father to be brought back, and they would replace him at the foot of the hill where he had been seized, with as much right as the others had little to carry off Father Ephraim. However, for five or six days the St.
34.1.8
Thomé road was crowded with people who came to beseech the English President to exercise his authority and release the Governor. But the President would not make any other reply than that he was not in his hands, and that after their action towards Father Ephraim he was unable in common justice to compel Father Zenon to release a person who was one of the authors of the injury which had been done to his companion. The President contented himself with asking the Father to have the goodness to permit his prisoner to come to eat at his table, with a promise to hand him over into his hands whenever he wished; this request he obtained easily, but was unable afterwards to keep his promise.
34.2.1648
The drummer of the garrison, who was a Frenchman, and a merchant of Marseilles named Roboli, who was then in the fort, two days after the Governor of St. Thomé had entered it, offered him their services to aid him to escape, provided that they were well rewarded for it; this he promised them, and also that they should have a free passage on the first vessel which went from Goa to Portugal. The agreement being made, on the following day the drummer beat the reveille at an earlier hour than usual, and with great noise, and at the same time the merchant Roboli and the Governor, with their sheets tied together, let themselves down by the corner of the bastion, which was not high. The drummer at the same time left his drum and followed them nimbly, so that St. Thomé being only a good half league from Madras, they were all three inside it before anything was known of their departure. The whole population of St. Thomé made great rejoicings at the return of the Governor, and immediately despatched a boat to Goa to convey the news. The drummer and the merchant Roboli set sail forthwith, and when they reached Goa bearing the letters of the Governor of St. Thomé in their favour, there was not a convent nor a wealthy house which did not make them presents, and even the Viceroy himself, Dom Philippe de Mascarehnas, treated them kindly, and invited them to embark on his vessel in order to take them to Portugal with him; but all three, namely, the Viceroy and the two Frenchmen, died at sea.
I shall say in passing that there never was a Viceroy of Goa half so rich as Dom Philippe de Mascarehnas. He possessed a quantity of diamonds—all stones of great weight, from 10 to 40 carats; two notably, which he showed me when I was at Goa. One of them was a thick stone, weighing 57 and the other 67½ carats, both being fairly clear, of good water, and Indian cut. The report was that this Viceroy was poisoned on the vessel, and it was added that it was a just punishment for his having made away with many persons in the same manner, especially while he was Governor in the island of Ceylon. He always kept some of the most subtle poison to use when he wished that his vengeance should be prompt; and having on that account made many enemies, whom the fate of those he had murdered caused to fear for themselves a similar treatment, he was one morning hung in effigy at Goa, when I was there in the year 1648.
34.2.p2
In the meantime the imprisonment of Father Ephraim made a great sensation in Europe. M. de Chateau des Bois, his brother, complained of it to the Portuguese Ambassador, who not feeling too sure of his position, wrote promptly about it to the King his master; so that, by the first vessels which left for Goa, it was ordered that Father Ephraim should be released. The Pope also wrote saying that if he were not set free he would excommunicate all the clergy of Goa. But all these letters were of no avail, and Father Ephraim had only the King of Golconda, who loved him and who had done all he could to induce him to remain at Bhagnagar, to thank for his liberty. The King had learnt from him some mathematics, like the Arab Prince, his son-in-law, who had offered to build a house and church for the Father at his own expense. This he had since done for two Augustin clerics who had come from Goa. The King was then at war with the Raja of the Province of Carnatica, and had his army close to St. Thomé, and as soon as he had heard of the evil trick which the Portuguese had played on Father Ephraim he sent an order to Mīr Jumlā, the General of his troops, to lay siege to St. Thomé, and to kill and burn all if he could not obtain a definite promise from the Governor of the place that in two months Father Ephraim would be set at liberty. A copy of the order of the King was sent to the Governor, and the town was so alarmed that there was to be seen nothing but boat after boat setting forth for Goa in order to urge the Viceroy to take measures that Father Ephraim should be promptly released. He was accordingly, and messengers came to him to tell him, on the part of the Inquisitor, that he might leave. But although the door was open to him he refused to quit the prison till all the clerics of Goa came to bring him forth in procession. This they at once did, and after he had come out he went to pass fifteen days in the Convent of the Capuchins, who are a kind of Recollects. I have heard Father Ephraim say many times that that which distressed him most during his imprisonment was to witness the ignorance of the Inquisitor and his council when they examined him, and he believed that not one of them had ever read the Holy Scriptures. They had placed him in a cell with a Maltese, who was one of the greatest criminals under heaven. He did not speak two words without scoffing at God, and he passed all the day and a part of the night in smoking tobacco, which could not have been otherwise than most unpleasant to Father Ephraim.
When the Inquisition seizes any person he is at once searched, and all that is found in his house in the way of furniture and effects, belonging to him, is inventoried to be returned to him should he be found innocent. But as regards anything of the nature of gold, silver, or jewels, it is not written down, and is never seen again, being taken to the Inquisitor for the expenses of the trial. The Rev. Father Ephraim when entering the Inquisition was searched, but there were only found, in the pocket which these monks have sewn to their cloaks, and is situated in the middle of the back, a comb, an inkhorn, and some pocket handkerchiefs. It was not remembered that the Capuchins have also a small receptacle in the mantle under the armpit, where they place some small requisites, and Father Ephraim was not searched in that direction. This left him four or five lead pencils which are covered with wood, for fear lest they should be broken, and as the pencil is used you pare off the wood to uncover it.
These pencils afforded a means whereby Father Ephraim was less wearied during his imprisonment than he otherwise would have been, and that, squint-eyed as he was, he went out with a vision in which there appeared to be scarcely any defect. It is the custom in the Inquisition to go every morning to ask the prisoners what they wish to eat that day, and it is then given to them. The Maltese cared for little besides tobacco, and he asked for it at morning, noon, and night, which were the times when their food was taken to them. This tobacco was all cut and packed in white paper nearly of the size of a quarter of a page, for throughout all the East tobacco in powder, and all drugs and other wares which can be so treated, are wrapped in white paper ; this tends to the profit of the seller, who weighs the paper and the goods together. It is for this reason that so much paper is used in Asia, and it is the principal article of trade of the people of the provinces, who send theirs even to Persia. I make these remarks in reference to Father Ephraim, who carefully collected all these pieces of white paper in which the tobacco was packed, which was brought to the Maltese, and it was upon them he wrote with his pencil his daily thoughts in the prison. This was partly the cause that his sight lost much of its natural defect, and when I beheld him again I had at first a difficulty in believing that he was the same Father Ephraim who had been much squint-eyed previously, as he appeared to be so no longer. The cell where he was confined had for sole window a hole of 6 inches square, with bars of iron, this hole was so placed that when Father Ephraim wished to write he could only have light on the side which was opposite to that where he ordinarily directed his sight ; and so it was that by degrees it became right ; thus he derived by this fact some advantage from his imprisonment. The Inquisitor was unwilling either to lend him a book or to give him the end of a candle, and treated him as sternly as he did a criminal who had already twice gone out of the Inquisition with a sulphur-coloured shirt and the cross of St. Andrew on the front in order to accompany to execution those who were to die, but who had entered it for the third time. It may be said to the glory of Father Ephraim that much patience as he had in his prison so much had he of discretion and charity after he went out of it ; and whatever evil the Inquisition had done to him, he was never heard to speak ill of it, nor even to make the least complaint, much less had he ever thought of writing anything about it, which would have made public many things not tending to the glory of what the Portuguese call La Sanctissima Casa. Moreover, as I have said, all those who leave the Inquisition are made to swear to say nothing of what they have seen, nor of what has been asked them, and, without breaking their oaths, they cannot speak or write of it.
Father Ephraim having passed fifteen days at Goa in the Convent of the Capuchins, to regain some strength, after fifteen or twenty months spent in prison, then set out to return to Madras; and, when passing Golconda, went to thank the King and the Arabian Prince, his son-in-law, for the kindness they had shown in interesting themselves so much on account of his freedom. The King again begged him to stop altogether at Bhagnagar, but perceiving that he wished to return to his convent at Madras, he gave him, as on the first occasion, an ox, attendants, and money for his conduct thither.