Obrázky na stránke
PDF
ePub

sented, and Diez was sent to the Carmelites, to ascertain whether either of them was a Bishop, and if so, to desire him to come and perform the service. They answered in the negative, and said, moreover, that the Archdeacon could be consecrated by no one until he had deposed himself, and testified by his humiliation, that he repented of the fault he had committed in assuming the episcopal dignity. This proposal Diez resolutely rejected, saying, that since the church could not subsist without a head, such a step on the part of the Archdeacon would again place them under the jurisdiction of the Jesuits, to whom they had solemnly determined never more to submit.

A. D. 1657.

tain it after

some de

mur.

20. These two conferences having proved Apply to Portuguese unsuccessful, the Carmelites resolved to try for protecwhat assistance might be obtained from the tion-ob Portuguese. Accordingly, Father Vincent, from whom this account is taken, went to Cochin, leaving his colleague, Joseph, behind at Rapolino, to take advantage of any favourable circumstances that might arise. He first presented his briefs to the chapter of Cochin, and then to the Archbishop of Cranganore, to whose protection he and his colleague were therein commended by the Pope. Notwithstanding the admitted supremacy of that pontiff, Vincent would have found his briefs of little service, had not the low state of the Portuguese affairs induced them to judge it expedient to pay the missionaries some attention. The viceroy of Goa, Count de Sarcette, had recently died, and the supreme authority in India was now vested in a triumvirate, whose names were, Francis de Mello, Antonio de Sousa Continho, and Emmanuel Mascarenhas. The last presided at Goa, the other two were, at present, at Cochin,

CHAP.

I.

Jesuits' opposition to it unavailing.

whither they had retreated from the island of Ceylon when the Dutch took possession of Columbo. Vincent first addressed himself to Francisco de Mello, who at the moment felt in some embarrassment how to receive him. After a little consideration, however, his sense of duty to the state overcame his jealousy of the Carmelites, which the Jesuits had fomented, and he resolved to consult his colleague, Antonio de Sousa, what was best to be done. Having set before him the perilous condition to which they were reduced, and the briefs with which the missionaries were provided, he insisted on the importance to the safety of Cochin, of maintaining a good understanding with the Christians of the country. "They have often," said he, "defended our city, which, without them, we must have lost and now that we are more feeble than ever, what will "become of us if they are against us? It is, therefore, for the good of the state and "of the king's service that we receive these monks." Antonio hesitated at first, but he soon saw the necessity of this policy, and gave his consent.

66

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

21. During these deliberations, the Jesuits, aware of what was going on, endeavoured to awaken in the minds of these governors a suspicion of the Carmelites' pretensions. For this purpose a letter was forged, and addressed to them, purporting to be written by a certain priest, to put them on their guard against four Dutchmen, who, it stated, had arrived at Rapolino, disguised as monks with long beards, and had come to Malabar to destroy the Christian religion. Probably the other two persons here alluded to, were attendants upon the Carmelites. They could not have been their col

leagues, Hyacinthe de St. Vincent, and Marcel de Yves, as they had not yet arrived in India. The disposition and the object of the writer of this letter were so apparent, that it failed of its intended effect, the governors paying no regard to its contents, and recognising the Carmelites and their mission.

22. From the arguments used by Francisco de Mello in support of his proposal, it is easy to perceive to whom the Portuguese nation should attribute the loss of Cochin, Cranganore, and their other establishments on the coast of Malabar. If the Jesuits had not so totally alienated the Syrian Christians from their order, and from all who patronised it, the Dutch would, most probably, have failed in their attempts upon those places, in defence of which the Syrians could, at the shortest notice, have furnished forty thousand of the best soldiers in India, well-equipped, and accustomed to the use of arms. If the human mind, like dead matter, could be mould ed into any form an oppressor might choose, or pressed to the earth by an incumbent weight, then something might be said for the Jesuits' policy, though nothing could extenuate its injustice. But since the contrary is the fact, and the experience of ages has proved that there is a buoyancy in the soul of man which struggles for liberty, with a restlessness that must ultimately disengage it from the heaviest pressure; then, nothing can be more impolitic than the measures which they have uniformly adopted, not in Malabar only, but every where else, to keep it down in passive subjection to their will.

A. D. 1657.

Ruin of PorIndia attributed to the

tuguese in

Jesuits.

dissimulation-Car

23. From Cochin, Father Vincent proceeded F. Garzia's to Cranganore, where the jesuit prelate, Don Garzia, appeared to approve his credentials, melites welexpresed himself favourably towards his mis- Corolonsion, and strongly recommended the Christians gate.

comed at

CHAP.

I.

Christians there de

mand separation from

Jesuits.

of the diocese to his paternal care. We cannot tell what measure of confidence the Carmelite reposed in this friendly profession: but as the chief object of his present journey was to obtain from the Portuguese authorities, civil and ecclesiastical, the recognition of his briefs, he was satisfied with his apparent success, and returned to Rapolino, where he had left his colleague. He found, however, that he had departed with all his company. The Archdeacon, seeing that there was no hope of coming to an accommodation with the missionaries, had publicly treated them and their briefs with contempt. After this, Father Joseph despaired at present of inducing him to submit; and, by the advice of some Syrian ecclesiastics, he, together with several persons who had joined him, left Rapolino for Corolongate. The congregations of the churches they passed in the way gave them at first a kind reception: but when, in answer to their inquiries after the Bishop, Attalla, they were told that he had been put to death at Goa as a heretic, they changed their expressions of kindness into menaces and insults. At Carturté and Corolongate, however, they were well received. Father Vincent soon joined them at the latter place, having travelled by a different route, taking Cochin in his way, and passing several churches, where he was treated with great cordiality.

24. Corolongate and Carturté were the first places gained over by Menezes; and ever since the departure of that prelate, they had remained firm in their attachment to the Roman party. Consequently, the Carmelites found very little difficulty here. The only question raised related to the separation of the interests of the Jesuit prelates from those of the church. The cattanars and people were inclined at once to return to the Roman communion; but they

unanimously and positively refused again to submit to a yoke under which they had so long groaned. There can be little doubt that these Carmelites would have succeeded in recovering the whole body of the Syrian Christians to the papal see, if they had possessed power and inclination to consecrate the Archdeacon; for he had repeatedly offered to submit on this sole condition. But the Pope, as infatuated as the Portuguese, chose to sacrifice one of the finest churches under his jurisdiction to the interests of the Jesuits.

A. D. 1657.

favours

deacon pubcular against induced to be more

lishes a cir

them; he is

moderate.

25. It will be remembered, that the Syrians The rector of Malabar were divided into two communities, the Archthe original Christians of the country having merged in the two families of the wealthy merchant, Mar Thomas, which were settled, one in the North, the other in the South of the diocese. Besides their prelate, or, when the see was in abeyance, the Archdeacon, whom all acknowledged as their head; each province had its own chief, who was generally an ecclesiastic of some respectable family, and distinguished for his learning. At this time the rector of Mangate was regarded as chief of the northern division; and the rector of Corolongate, of the southern. The latter was a person of considerable wealth and respectability, which gave him great influence in the church; and, being attached to the Roman communion, he readily espoused the Carmelites' cause, and by his letters induced a great number to join their party. This greatly displeased the Archdeacon, who, to arrest the progress of the secession, wrote a circular letter to the churches of the diocese, to warn them against these pretended Carmelites, who, he asserted, were Jesuits in disguise, charged with false briefs, fabricated at

[blocks in formation]
« PredošláPokračovať »