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of this sentiment. I acknowledged that Xavier was considered by the learned among the English to have been a great man. What he wrote himself bespeaks him a man of learning, of original genius, and great fortitude of mind; but what others have written for him and of him has tarnished his fame, by making him the inventor of fables. The archbishop signified his assent. He afterwards conducted me into his private chapel, which is decorated with images of silver, and then into the archiepiscopal library, which possesses a valuable collection of books. As I passed through our convent, in returning from the archbishop's, I observed among the paintings in the cloisters a portrait of the famous Alexis de Menezes, archbishop of Goa, who held the synod of Diamper, near Cochin, in 1599, and burned the books of the Syrian Christians. From the inscription underneath I learned that he was the founder of the magnificent church and convent in which I am now residing."

"On the same day I received an invitation to dine with the chief inquisitor, at his house in the country. The second inquisitor accompanied me, and we found a respectable company of priests, and a sumptuous entertainment. In the library of the chief inquisitor I saw a register containing the present establishment of the inquisition at Goa, and the names of all the officers. On my asking the chief inquisitor whether the establishment was as extensive as formerly, he said it was nearly the same. I had hitherto said little to any person concerning the inquisition, but I had indirectly gleaned much information concerning it, not only from the inquisitors themselves, but from certain priests, whom I visited at their respective convents; particularly from a father in the Franciscan convent, who had himself repeatedly witnessed an Auto da Fe."

"Goa, Augustinian convent, 26th Jan. 1808. "On Sunday, after divine service, which I attended, we looked over together the prayers and portions of scripture for the day, which led to a discussion concerning some of the doctrines of Christianity. We then read the third chapter of St. John's gospel, in the Latin vulgate. I asked the inquisitor whether he believed in the influence of the spirit there spoken of. He distinctly admitted it; conjointly however he thought, in obscure sense, with water. I observed that water was merely an emblem of the purifiying effects of the spirit, and could be but an emblem. We next adverted to the expression of St. John in his first epistle: This is he that came by water and blood: even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood:'-blood to atone for sin, and water to purify the heart; justification and sanctification: both of which were expressed at the same moment on the cross. The inquisitor was pleased with the subject. I referred to the evangelical doctrines of Augustin (we were now in the Augustinian convent) plainly asserted by that father in a thousand places, and he acknowledged their truth. I then asked him in what important doctrine he differed from the protestant church? He confessed that he never had a theological discussion with a protestant before. By an easy transition we passed to the importance of the Bible itself, to illuminate the priests and people. I noticed to him that after looking through the colleges and schools, there appeared to me to be a total eclipse of scriptural light. He acknowledged that religion and learning were truly in a degraded state. I had visited the theological schools, and at every place I expressed my surprise to the tutors, in presence of the pupils, at the absence of the Bible, and almost total want of reference to it. They pleaded the custom of the place, and the scarcity of copies of the book itself. Some of the younger priests came to me afterwards, de

siring to know by what means they might procure copies. This inquiry for Bibles was like a ray of hope beaming on the walls of the inquisition.

"I pass an hour sometimes in the spacious library of the Augustinian convent. There are many rare volumes, but they are chiefly theological, and almost all of the sixteenth century. There are few classics; and I have not yet seen one copy of the original scriptures in Hebrew or Greek."

He

"Goa, Augustinian convent, 27th Jan. 1808. "On the second morning after my arrival, I was surprised by my host, the inquisitor, coming into my apartment clothed in black robes from head to foot; for the usual dress of his order is white. said he was going to sit on the tribunal of the holy office. I presume, father, your august office does not occupy much of your time.' 'Yes,' answered he, 'much. I sit on the tribunal three or four days every week.'

"I had thought, for some days, of putting Dellon's book into the inquisitor's hands; for if I could get him to advert to the facts stated in that book, I should be able to learn, by comparison, the exact state of the inquisition at the present time. In the evening he came in, as usual, to pass an hour in my apartment. After some conversation I took the pen in my hand to write a few notes in my journal; and, as if to amuse him, while I was writing, I took up Dellon's book, which was lying with some others on the table, and handing it across to him, asked him whether he had ever seen it. It was in the French language, which he understood well. 'Relation de l' Inquisition de Goa,' pronounced he, with a slow, articulate voice. He had never seen it before, and began to read with eagerness. He had not proceeded far, before he betrayed evident symptoms of uneasiness. He turned hastily to the middle of the book, and then to the end, and then ran over the ta

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ble of contents at the beginning, as if to ascertain the full extent of the evil. He then composed himself to read, while I continued to write. He turned over the pages with rapidity, and when he came to a certain place, he exclaimed in the broad Italian accent, 'Mendacium, Mendacium.' I requested he would mark those passages which were untrue, and we should 'discuss them afterwards, for that I had other books on the subject. Other books,' said he, and he looked with an inquiring eye to those on the table. He continued reading till it was time to retire to rest, and then begged to take the book with him.

"It was on this night that a circumstance happened which caused my first alarm at Goa. My servants slept every night at my chamber door, in the long gallery which is common to all the apartments, and not far distant from the servants of the convent. About midnight I was waked by loud shrieks and expressions of terror, from some person in the gallery. In the first moment of surprise I concluded it must be the Alguazils of the holy office, seizing my servants to carry them to the inquisition. But, on going out, I saw my own servants standing at the door, and the person who had caused the alarm (a boy of about fourteen) at a little distance, surrounded by some of the priests, who had come out of their cells on hearing the noise. The boy said he had seen a spectre, and it was a considerable time before the agitations of his body and voice subsided. Next morning at breakfast the inquisitor apologized for the disturbance, and said the boy's alarm proceeded from a 'phantasma animi,' a phantasm of the imagination.

"After breakfast we resumed the subject of the inquisition. The inquisitor admitted that Dellon's descriptions of the dungeons, of the torture, of the mode of trial, and of the Auto da Fe were, in general, just; but he said the writer judged untruly of

the motives of the inquisitors, and very uncharitably of the character of the holy church; and I admitted that, under the pressure of his peculiar suffering, ' this might possibly be the case. The inquisitor was now anxious to know to what extent Dellon's book had been circulated in Europe. I told him that Picart had published to the world extracts from it, in his celebrated work called "Religious Ceremonies;" together with plates of the system of torture and burnings at the Auto da Fe. I added that it was now generally believed in Europe that these enormities no longer existed, and that the inquisition itself had been totally suppressed; but that I was concerned to find that this was not the case. He now began a grave narration to shew that the inquisition had undergone a change in some respects, and that its terrors were mitigated."*

*The following were the passages in Mr. Dellon's narrative, to which I wished particularly to draw the attention of the inquisitor. Mr. D. had been thrown into the inquisition at Goa and confined in a dungeon, ten feet square, where he remained upwards of two years, without seeing any person but the gaoler who brought him his victuals, except when he was brought to his trial,expecting daily to he brought to the stake. His alledged crime was, charging the inquisition with cruelty, in a conversation he had with a priest at Daman, another part of India.

During the months of November and December, I heard, every morning, the shrieks of the unfortunate victims, who were undergoing the Question. I remembered to have heard, before I was cast into prison, that the Auto da Fe was generally celebrated on the first Sunday in Advent, because on that day is read in the churches that part of the gospel in which mention is made of the last judgment; and the inquisitors pretend by this ceremony to exhibit a lively emblem of that awful event. I was likewise convinced that there were a great number of prisoners, besides myself; the profound silence, which reigned within the walls of the building, having enabled me to count the number of doors which were opened at the hours of meals. However, the first and second Sundays of Advent passed by, without my hearing of any thing, and I prepared to undergo another year of melancholy captivity, when I was aroused from my despair on the 11th of January, by the noise of the guards removing the bars from the door of my prison. The Alcaide presented me with a habit, which he ordered me to put on, and to make myself ready to attend him, when he should come again. Thus saying, he left a lighted lamp in my dungeon. The guards returned about two o'clock in the morning, and led me out into a long gallery, where I found a number of the companions of my fate, drawn up in a rank against a wall: I placed myself among the rest, and several more soon joined the melancholy band. The profound silence and stillness caused them to resemble statues more than the animated bodies of human creatures. The women, who were clothed in a similar manner, were placed in a neighboring gallery, where we could not see them; but remarked that a number of persons stood by themselves at some distance, attended by others who wore long black dresses, and who walked backwards and forwards occasionally. I did not then know who these were: but I was afterwards informed that the former were the vi. tims who were condemned to be burned, and the others were their confes

sors.

"After we were all ranged against the wall of this gallery, we received each a harge wax taper. They then brought us a number of dresses made of yellow

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