CHAPTER VII.

1541-1774.

MISSIONS.

Jesuit Authors who write about them—Mission of East India—Francis Xavier—Zeal and Devotedness of the First Missionaries—Sketch of the Life and Character of Xavier—He Arrives at Goa—Moral State of the Town—Efforts of Xavier to Reform it—He Succeeds but Partially—Xavier on the Coast of Malabar—His Conduct there—He goes to Malacca—To Japan—His intended Mission to China—Opposition of Don Alvarez, Captain General of Malacca—Xavier lands at Sancian—His Illness and Death, 1552—Appreciation of Xavier’s Merits—Prevarication of the Missionaries after Xavier’s Death—Father Nobili introduces Idolatry into the Christian form of Worship—He gives himself out as a Brahmin—The Jesuits maintain the Distinction of Castes among the Converts—Their way of making Christians—They greatly exaggerate the number of Converts—Scandalous Idolatry—The Court of Rome condemns it—Cardinal de Tournon, Pope’s Legate in India—He solemnly condemns the Malabar Rites—Incredible Impudence and Audacity of the Jesuits, to elude the Ordinance of the Legate—The Pope and the Inquisition confirm the Decree of De Tournon—He proceeds to China—His Conduct there—He is Expelled from Pekin—His Imprisonment—Cruel Treatment to which he is subjected—His Death, 1710—The Jesuits the Authors of his Misfortunes—The Pope’s Eulogium on De Tournon—Repeated Decrees of the Holy See against the Jesuits—Decline of their Influence in India—Principal Feature of Missions—Why the Pope Condemned the Malabar Rites—Popish Idolatry—Procession of Good-Friday, 96