The Works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 16

by John Dryden

The island of Ulate, which is better peopled, and less savage than those of Baranura and Rosalao, was not so deaf nor so rebellious to the voice of the holy man. He found it all in arms, and the king of it besieged in his town, ready to be surrendered, neither through want of courage, nor of defendants, but of water; because the enemy had cut off the springs, and there was no likelihood of rain; insomuch, that during the great heats, both men and horses were in danger of perishing by thirst.

The opportunity appeared favourable to Father Xavier, for gaining the vanquished party to Jesus Christ, and perhaps all the conquerors. Full of a noble confidence in God, he found means to get into the town; and being presented to the king, offered to supply him with what he most wanted. "Suffer me," said he, "to erect a cross, and trust in the God, whom I come to declare to you. He is the Lord and Governor of nature, who, whenever he pleases, can open the fountains of heaven, and water the earth. But, in case the rain should descend upon you, give me your promise, to acknowledge his power, and that you, with your subjects, will receive his law." In the extremity to which the king was then reduced, he consented readily to the Father's conditions; and also obliged himself, on the public faith, to keep his word, provided Xavier failed not on his part of the promised blessing. Then Xavier causing a great cross to be made, set it up, on the highest ground of all the town; and there, on his knees, amongst a crowd of soldiers, and men, women, and children, attracted by the novelty of the sight, as much as by the expected succour, he offered to God the death of his only son, and prayed him, by the merits of that crucified Saviour, who had poured out his blood for the sake of all mankind, not to deny a little water, for the salvation of an idolatrous people.

Scarcely had the saint begun his prayer, when the sky began to be overcast with clouds; and by that time he had ended it, there fell down rain in great abundance, which lasted so long, till they had made a plentiful provision of water. The enemy, now hopeless of taking the town, immediately decamped; and the king, with all his people, received baptism from the hand of Father Xavier. He commanded also, that all the neighbouring islands, who held of him should adore Christ Jesus, and engaged the saint to go and publish the faith amongst them. Xavier employed three months and more in these little voyages; after which, returning to Amboyna, where he had left his companion, John Deyro, to cultivate the new-growing Christianity, and where he left him also for the same intention, embarked on a Portuguese vessel, which was setting sail for the Moluccas.

That which is commonly called by the name of the Moluccas, is a country on the Oriental Ocean, divided into many little islands, situated near, the equator, exceeding fruitful in cloves, and famous for the trade of spices. There are five principal islands of them, Ternate, Tidor, Motir, Macian, and Bacian. The first of these is a degree and a half distant from the equinoctial to the north, the rest follow in the order above named, and all five are in sight of one another. These are those celebrated islands, concerning which Ferdinand Magellan raised so many disputes amongst the geographers, and so many quarrels betwixt Spain and Portugal. For the Portuguese having discovered them from the east, and the Spaniards from the west, each of them pretended to inclose them, within their conquests, according to the lines of longitude which they drew.

Ternate is the greatest of the Moluccas, and it was on that side that Father Xavier took his course. He had a gulph to pass of ninety leagues, exceedingly dangerous, both in regard of the strong tides, and the uncertain winds, which are still raising tempests, though the sea be never so calm. The ship which carried the Father was one of those vessels, which, in those parts, are called caracores, of a long and narrow built, like gallies, and which use indifferently sails and oars. Another vessel of the same make carried a Portuguese, called John Galvan, having aboard her all his goods. They set out together from Amboyna, keeping company by the way, and both of them bound for the port of Ternate.

In the midst of the gulph, they were surprised with a storm, which parted them so far, that they lost sight of each other. The caracore of Xavier, after having been in danger of perishing many times, was at length saved, and recovered the port of Ternate by a kind of miracle: as for that of Galvan, it was not known what became of her, and the news concerning her was only brought by an evident revelation.

The first saint's day, when the Father preached to the people, he stopped short in the middle of his discourse, and said, after a little pause, "Pray to God for the soul of John Galvan, who is drowned in the gulph." Some of the audience, who were friends of Galvan, and interested in the caracore, ran to the mariners, who had brought the Father, and demanded of them, if they knew any certain news of this tragical adventure? They answered, "that they knew no more than that the storm had separated the two vessels." The Portuguese recovered courage at those words, and imagined that Father Francis had no other knowledge than the seamen. But they were soon undeceived by the testimony of their own eyes; for three days after, they saw, washed on the shore, the corpse of Galvan, and the wreck of the vessel, which the sea had thrown upon the coast.

Very near this time, when Xavier was saying mass, turning to the people to say the Orate Fratres, he added, "pray also for John Araus, who is newly dead at Amboyna." They who were present observed punctually the day and hour, to see if what the Father had said would come to pass: ten or twelve days after, there arrived a ship from Amboyna, and the truth was known not only by divers letters, but confirmed also by a Portuguese, who had seen Araus die at the same moment when Xavier exhorted the people to pray to God to rest his soul. This Araus was the merchant which refused to give wine for the succour of the sick, in the Spanish fleet, and to whom the saint had denounced a sudden death. He fell sick after Xavier's departure; and having neither children nor heirs, all his goods were distributed amongst the poor, according to the custom of the country.

The shipwreck of Galvan, and the death of Araus, gave great authority to what they had heard at Ternate, concerning the holiness of Father Francis, and from the very first gained him an exceeding reputation. And indeed it was all necessary; I say not for the reformation of vice in that country, but to make him even heard with patience by a dissolute people, which committed, without shame, the most enormous crimes, and such as modesty forbids to name.

To understand how profitable the labours of Father Xavier were to those of Ternate, it is sufficient to tell what he has written himself: "That of an infinite number of debauched persons living in that island when he landed there, all excepting two had laid aside their wicked courses before his departure. The desire of riches was extinguished with the love of pleasures. Restitutions were frequently made, and such abundant alms were given, that the house of charity, set up for the relief of the necessitous, from very poor, which it was formerly, was put into stock, and more flourishing than ever."