Travels in India (Tavernier) 34.1
Travels in India (Ball) 34.1
- Language
- English
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.