82. In all the aforesaid, I find no more than the claw by which this lion can be recognized, because of the difficulty of the matter; therefore I refer the matter to another who has greater talent and experience, who can tell more, since I cannot do everything.[196] I remember once to have heard from an inexperienced preacher this ingenious bit of nonsense, that in praising St. John the Baptist he cited that passage of St. Matthew (chapter xi, [7]), cœpit Jesus dicere [ad turbas] de Joanne;
83. And he said that John was so great a saint, that even in the mouth of Christ our Lord it was [only] possible to begin speaking of him, but that no end could be reached. The same I shall say of this matter, in all candor.
84. There is no little to learn and study in the matter, concerning the manner in which one must behave with them—especially we ministers, who come from remote lands in order to assist and teach them; for because of not understanding this aright many have become disconsolate, and have conceived a horror of the Indians, and have returned to España, or they have lived amid great hardship, in a continual combat of impatience and anxiety, thus frustrating the good vocation which brought them to these islands, a vocation so acceptable to God our Lord. For, as says the angelic doctor St. Thomas, 22, book 188, article 4: Deo nullum sacrificium est magis acceptum, quam celus animarum.[197] To those who take this charge upon them, the words of the Lord in His revelations to St. Brigida are of great consolation. Among many others, he says (book 2, chapter 6): Vos ergo amici mei qui estis in mundo procedite securi, clamate, et anuntiate voluntatem meam. Ego ero in corde et in ore vestro. Ego ero dux vester in via et consolator in morte. Non relinquam vos, procedite alacriter quia ex labore cresit gloria.[198] For it is a fact that all this exhortation is necessary, in order to combat the friction that is caused to the European disposition by dealing with people of customs so different, and which has caused so many to lose their reason.
85. Therefore the compass to which the navigator must always be attentive, in the gulf of the customs of this exasperating race, is patience. For this is the only remedy which Christ our Lord left to His disciples for the attainment of this ministry: (Luke xxi, [19]) In patientia vestra possidebitis animas vestras; and St. Paul, in Hebrews x, 36: patientia est vobis necessaria, ut reportetis, repromissionis.[199]
86. With this knowledge and without losing[200] this strong protection one must continually consider that all these vices and evil traits are dictated and impelled by their nature, at times aided by the suggestion of the common enemy when he hopes to succeed in causing us impatience. Very worth considering in this are the words of St. Paul (2 Cor., xi, 19, 20): Libenter enim suffertis insipientes cum sitis ipsi sapientes. Sustinetis enim si quis vos in servitutem redigit, si quis devorat, si quis accipit, si quis extollitur, si quis infaciem vos cædit.[201] For all these hardships, and greater, must be suffered here among these brothers.[202]
87. I confess for my part that, at the beginning, I was afflicted and was greatly tormented, until with the lapse of time I came to realize that such was their disposition and nature, and that these trees could give no better fruit. In time it became to me a motive for praising God to see the variety of conditions and[203] customs which He has placed in human nature, which is so beautified with variety; and I took particular pleasure in seeing youths and boys doing all things backward—without any malice, and without having prompters, like actors; but moved only by that hidden peculiarity that makes them so different from all other nations, and so uniform among themselves, monopantos has seen them all. With these considerations I lived consoled, and succeeded in making of them wax and wick, as the saying is.[204]
88. First, one must not shout out at them, for that is a matter that frightens and terrifies them greatly, as can be seen if one cries out at them when they are unaware—when the whole body trembles; and they say that a single cry of the Spaniard penetrates quite to their souls.
89. One must not strike them with the hands, for if we are of flesh, they are of iron, and the hand will suffer greatly, for God does not choose that they be corrected so indecently.[205]
90. All of their faults must not be overlooked, for they will become insolent and worse daily. Consequently, it is necessary for the father ministers to give them some lashes as a father, with great moderation, for it is enough to give lashes for vanity and haughtiness. This must be observed especially in the lads, as is the order of the Holy Spirit (Proverbs, xxiii, 13, 14): Noli subtrahere a puero disciplinam; si enim percussieris eum virga, non morietur. Tu virga percuties eum: et animam ejus de inferno liberabis.[206] The command of St. Gregory shall be observed carefully (2 p. pastoral, chapter 6): Curandum quippe est ut rectorem subditis, et matrem, et patrem se exhibeat disciplina.[207]
91. Nothing must be taken away from them, or received from them, without paying for it; for they are very poor, and the least thing produces a great want with them. It must be considered that their greatest misery arises from their laziness and rude condition, and that that habit keeps them in its grasp, and they suffer great poverty; for Egestatem operata est manus remissa (Proverbs, x, 4). We must consider also that they support us and that they pay as they are able for our labors. If anything be given to them, let it be purely[208] for God’s sake and as an alms, for if it be lent it will be entirely lost, both the merit and the patience[209]—considering their necessity and not their ingratitude, as a thing ordained by God. Propter miseriam asume pauperem, et propter inopiam eius ne dimitas eum vacuum; et cætera (Ecclesiasticus, xxix, 12).[210]