CHAP.

I.

maintain their independence of Rome.

usual place of residence. It was fixed for the fourth Sunday after Easter, in the year 1657. In the mean time he exerted himself to secure the affections of the people, both by his own preaching and that of his friend, Iti Thomas, in which they laboured to persuade them, that so ancient a church as theirs ought not again to submit to the Portuguese nation. The following specimen of their discourses on this occasion has been preserved.

"What need have we of the Portuguese

who have governed ourselves during so many "ages? The union effected by Don Alexis de "Menezes, was obtained, as you well know, by "force rather than consent. Why submit again "to a yoke we have so happily thrown off? "What privileges does the Latin church possess

greater than our own, which is much the "more ancient? The other Eastern churches "do not depend upon her; and shall we be the only people to submit to her domination?

66

They assert that mere priests cannot elect "and consecrate a Bishop: why then do the

Cardinals of Rome act in a similar manner? "For do they not elect the Pope, and invest

him with an authority superior to their own? "The form of government which we follow is "canonical, and we received it from our holy Apostle. If you are not satisfied with the

66

present state of things, let us write to Baby"Ion for Syrian prelates of our own rite and religion.

66

Such expressions Father Vincent calls blasphemous. He would have been better employed in attempting to expose their fallacy, than in merely declaiming against them: but this would not have been quite so convenient. They were addressed to the common sense of the people,

and made a deep impression on their minds; for liberty was still dear to them, and they were heartily wearied with the bondage under which they had so long groaned.

A. D.

1657.

disap

34. The day fixed for the assembly being Carmelites arrived, the missionaries repaired to Rapolino, pointed. where they found not a single person ready to meet them. The intrigues of the Jesuit prelate, and the exhortations of the Archdeacon, had so alienated the people's minds from them, that they were looked upon with suspicion even in those places where they had before been favourably received. Their adherents, however, desired them not to be disheartened, and advised them to postpone the assembly until a sufficient number of ecclesiastics and laymen could be brought together.

sembly ends

and disap

pointment.

35. Upon this they retired for the present: Second asbut a short time after Ascension Day they re- in violence turned to Rapolino, and endeavoured to obtain an interview with the Archdeacon. At first he refused to see them, alleging, that the whole affair was now in the hands of people, with whom they must treat, and not with him. But the persons to whom they then addressed themselves gave them as little satisfaction as the Archdeacon himself. They first objected to the missionaries, that they had sent Syrian ecclesiastics to the Jesuit Prelate for ordination, which they produced letters to prove. They then told them, that although they had at the commencement given to the Archdeacon the most flattering promises, it now appeared that they were sent into Malabar by the general of the Jesuits, from whom no favour was to be expected. The Carmelites defended themselves as well as they could upon the first and second

CHAP.

I.

articles of this allegation, but the third they stoutly denied.

While this discussion was going on, the ecclesiastics of Mangate and Cinotta arrived, and gave another turn to the proceedings. Devoted to the Pope, and resolved to support the missionaries through every thing, they saved them the trouble of entering further into the objections of the assembly, and disputed with such violence as nearly to come to blows. The principal, if not the only point of contention was, the deposition of the Archdeacon, his own party being resolved to maintain him in his dignity, and the Carmelites and their friends insisting on the ridiculous proposal made at first-that he should either go with them to Rome, or retire to Goa under the protection of the Inquisitors and the Portuguese. Such an alternative could serve only to show the little judgment or the evil intentions of those who proposed it. Could they imagine that the tragical end of Bishop Attalla by the hands of the Inquisitors, and the still more recent murder of a partizan of the Archdeacon's, under the eye, if not by the order, of the Commissary of the Inquisition, were so soon forgotten? Or, if remembered, were they so simple as to expect the Archdeacon to trust himself any where within reach of those, who had shown so little scruple in putting to death all that resisted their arrogant pretensions? He knew that the protection of the Portuguese, even if inclined to afford it, would avail him nothing against his merciless enemies. The ruling maxim of the Inquisition always was, to keep no faith with

those whom that tribunal chose to denounce as heretics. The Portuguese knew, and the Arch

deacon knew, that such a sentence would absolve them from their obligation to protect him, though bound by the most solemn oath: he therefore wisely refused to put himself in their power.

This proposal failing, the Carmelites offered him another, which was, that he should remain in Malabar, united with one of their company in charge of the diocese, until they should receive an answer from Rome, which they led him to expect would be favourable to his wishes. To this he assented; and the discussions then proceeded so quietly, that the missionaries had the indiscretion again to propose, as a preliminary merely to save appearances, a sort of public deposition. The disguise was too thin to impose upon the Archdeacon, especially with such examples of Romish treachery and cruelty as were fresh in every one's remembrance. He instantly broke off the conference; and turning to the Christians, reproached them, with apparent anguish of heart, for abandoning him to his enemies, after having made him a Bishop against his will. He said-" Under the mask of zeal "for religion, they only wish to despoil me of "this dignity in order to make me the sport of "the Portuguese and the scorn of the heathen. "But I shall not be miserable alone: you also "will fall again under the yoke. The church cannot subsist long without a head: how will "you be able to maintain yourselves?" These words produced an immediate effect, his own friends redoubling their ardour in his cause, and many of the opposite party joining him, and engaging to defend him at the peril of their lives. The cattanars began again to murmur against the papists' interference with them, saying, that the Roman church had no right to

A. D.
1657.

"

CHAP.

I.

Third Assembly

rejectedElegy on Attalla.

exercise authority over the Syrian church; for that it was always under the Patriarch of Babylon, over whom the Pope had no authority to exercise any jurisdiction whatever.

36. A short time after this, on Whitsun-Eve, Carmelites another general assembly was held, at which propositions the Archdeacon appeared in his pontificals, and agreed to the election of four cattanars by lot, to consider the terms of their reunion with Rome. Happily for him, the lot fell on three of his party, one of whom was Diez, the Portuguese, his secretary and confidant. "This circumstance is sufficient to show the inferiority of the politics of the Carmelites, when compared with those of their predecessor Menezes. That prelate had too much sagacity to give up the interests of his church or party, to the results of a lot. The secular arm of a heathen prince was, with him, a far surer source of success; and to this the Carmelites afterwards found it necessary to have recourse.'

6

In this assembly, as might be anticipated, the appearance of things was entirely changed, all the propositions of the missionaries being rejected, and every proposal adopted in the Archdeacon's favour.

On the day following, which was Whitsunday, the Portuguese, Diez, officiated, by order of the Archdeacon, and the cattanar Iti Thomas preached against the Pope's supremacy. The service concluded with an elegy composed in honour of the Martyr Attalla, and describing his sufferings from the Inquisition. The recital affected the assembly to tears, and obtained a valuable recompense for the author, who was an assistant in the church at Mangate.

6 Professor Lee's History.