ST. FRANCIS XAVIER.* THE little book before us gives on
the whole an attractive and intelligible account of the life and work of the great Jesuit missionary of the sixteenth century. The desire of the writer (who died before her book was in print) was, as far as possible, to allow Francis Xavier to tell his own story in his own words, and accordingly numerous extracts are given from his most beautiful and copious letters, together with connecting passages of picturesque narrative and description. Possibly it is because Miss McClean aimed at being a little too picturesque that some passages of her book do not give what we believe to be the right impression of Xavier's character,—the impression that ia given by the very interesting and carefully compiled biographies of M. Leon Pages and Father Coleridge. From the year 1535 and onward, abundant material for biography is supplied by Xavier's own letters, and except as to the authenticity of the miracles ascribed to the Saint before and after his death, there is little room for difference of opinion as to the facts either of his life or character. But in 1535 Xavier was already thirty years old, and he had been living for twelve years in Paris, first as a student of law at its University, and since 1530, when he took his Master's degree with distinction, as both student and teacher of philosophy. The Sorbonne prescribed a seven years' course of logic, physics, and metaphysics to be gone through between taking the Master's degree and that of Doctor. But Xavier's attain- ments were exceptional, and he was already ripe for the Doctor's degree in 1531—that is to say, three years before the normal term—when he gave up all intellectual aims an ambitions, and—renouncing himself and the world—became the disciple of Ignatius Loyola, and one of the founders of the Society of Jesus. The younger son of an old Spanish family, poor but noble and pious, he had been bred up in habits of faith and purity by an admirable mother ; and both M. Leon Pages and Father Coleridge lay stress on the fact that, amid all the temptations of his student life in Paris, far from home influence and slenderly supplied with money, Xavier kept his purity unblemished. Loyola was Xavier's senior by fourteen years, and when he came to Paris in 1528 to begin the study of philosophy at the College of St. Barbara—having just gone through the drudgery of learning Latin in the boys' school at Barcelona (sitting in class with the youngest children and voluntarily sharing the discipline to which they were subject)—Xavier was already distinguished among his fellow-students, and his remarkable combination of moral and intellectual qualities immediately attracted Ignatius Loyola. Father Coleridge, in a singularly charming passage of his biography, has told how Xavier did not at once yield himself to the overtures of Loyola, explaining his holding back as an almost necessary assertion of the instinct of self-preservation in a character sufficiently like Loyola's own to respond to the demands the older and already committed man made upon his soul, and yet not sufficiently sure of itself to be ready to make at once so great a surrender as Loyola asked. The moment was in every way a critical one for Xavier. In 1527, the year before Loyola came to Paris, the question of calling Francis home had been debated in his father's house near Pampeluna, where money was scarce, and it was not easy to meet the expenses of a son living in Paris. And recalled Francis certainly would have been, but for the intervention of his sister Madelena, abbess. of a convent of poor Clares, who wrote to her father that it had been revealed to her that Francis was predestined to be the apostle of Christ in India, and begged him therefore not to interrupt the course of the young man's education. Francis was allowed to remain in Paris, but there is evidence that the funds necessary to keep him there were henceforth furnished.
very irregularly. And no other explanation than this is- needed of the financial embarrassments in which Xavier- found himself, and in which he was generously and delicately
• Life of Francis lover, Apostle of V. Indies. By Mary Hall McClean. London; Kegan Pau', Trench, Trilbner, and Co. belped by Loyola. We do not say that the present volume definitely asserts anything that is inconsistent with this theory of Xavier's character and position during his residence in Paris ; but its account of the matter seems to us calculated to suggest that be fell into common forms of vicious and (extravagant dissipation. This is the story as told by Miss McClean:— " Paris was a pleasant place in the days of the first Francis. A city rising into architectural beauty and literary fame, splendid with tourney and pageant, thronged with the noble and the learned of all countries, thrilling with political and intellectual excitement,—Court, camp, and college all in one. The young Spaniard led a pleasant life amidst these manifold attractions, -while he was yet but a student at the far-famed University ; light of heart, with steady aim and boundless ambition, enjoying for the first time, liberty, society, and success. But when, in 1530, he had completed his course with distinction, taken the degree of Master of Philosophy, and commenced reading Aristotle and teaching logic, his peace of mind was gone. College honours are, perhaps, harder to bear than any others. A man cannot rest on these early laurels, yet it is painful to leave them and start afresh for some distant goal. The stimulus to exertion is suddenly withdrawn, the hardworked faculties relapse into indolence, and it takes time before the talents, that learning has tested but not tried, work again. So Xavier, having attained his first ambition and engaged in learned pursuits, felt the need of some stronger excitement. He plunged into theological specula- tion, and distracted his soul with doubts. He rushed into gaiety and dissipation, and squandered away his slender fortune. Pupils failed and comrades left him; priest and Pharisee passed by on the other side ; but one friend did not forsake him. Ignatius Loyola, living at the College of Santa Barbara, striving with self- denial and mortification to make up for the wasted years of his own youth, resolved to save his young countryman. He gave him, not good advice, but sympathy and appreciation, cheerful com- panionship that weaned him from bad society, encouragement and support both in public and private. He supplied him with funds with a delicacy that no pride could resist, and introduced him to scholars and influential men, whose friendship smoothed the path of ambition before him, and the world again grew very fair.'
The great danger in which Xavier really stood was that of losing his hold upon the Catholic faith. The air was full of the—to him—heresiea of the Reformation, and among his associates, many of those who were most congenial to him were infected with the new ideas. And it was for having delivered him from this spiritual peril that Xavier felt himself bound to Loyola by a debt of gratitude that his whole life could not repay. We do not know in what year Xavier's father died, but in a letter to which the date 1535 is assigned, Francis addresses his elder brother, Captain Juan d'Aspilqueta. as the head of the family. This letter, from which Miss McClean has quoted a passage expressive of ardent gratitude towards Loyola, is a document of great biographical importance. Francis writes to his brother to exonerate himself and his revered master, Loyola, from certain calumnious charges that have been circulated against them, and which he learns with grief have travelled to his home and given pain to his family. He declares himself and his friend innocent of the charges that have been brought against them ; and he points out respect- fully, but very firmly, that his domestic embarrassments have been occasioned by the irregularity with which remittances &aye come from home. He speaks also of the danger he has been in of losing his faith, and concludes with the expression of his indebtedness to Loyola "The benefits with which this friend has overwhelmed me surpass infinitely all that my most devoted gratitude could render back to him during the whole of my existence; they are such that I cannot even attempt to repay them in part. In the serious domestic embarrassments which I have often found myself in in consequence of the distance that separates me from you, he has always come to my help, putting at my disposal the funds that were necessary to me, besides helping me in a thousand other matters, both directly and through the intervention of his friends ; and, what is of infinitely greater importance, he has saved the improvidence of my youth from an almost certain loss it stood in danger of through friendship with men tainted with the heretical dispositions that are so common at the present day among my .contemporaries at the University of Paris : men gifted with lively genius and engaging manners, who veil under a specious exterior the deterioration of their faith and their morals."
'This letter was written after Francis Xavier had definitely anade himself the disciple of Loyola, and proved by a course of voluntary discipline, too austere to bear description, the absolute sincerity of his self-devotion. It is inconceivable that had there been irregularities sullying his University career, such as Miss McClean's sentences suggest, he would not have acknowledged them in this letter of self-defence It is possible that Miss McClean may have had authority for the view her words suggest to us, and it is also quite possible That she had no intention of conveying the impression her manner of writing has given. We should not dwell upon the point were it not for the extraordinary interest that attaches to the characters of the men who founded the Society of Jesus,—characters of such transcendent beauty that they compel the admiration and veneration even of those whose eyes are most open to the evils of Jesuitism. No stronger evidence of this could be given than Sir James Stephen's eulogy in his article on "The Founders of Jesuitism," quoted in Miss McClean's book, though not as carefully as might be wished.
The gist of the matter is that Miss McClean has done justice to St. Francis the missionary, but hardly to St. Francis the Jesuit, or to Francis Xavier the man. Beautiful and touching as were the devotion and humility of St. Francis in his work among the heathen, and especially among the little children, of whom it was his joy to remember that he had baptised thousands and instructed hundreds,—yet even this humility and devotion can hardly be appreciated as they deserve until one has realised what were the moral, social, and intellectual gifts and opportunities that were so freely and heartily dedicated to the work. Something of this is to be learned from his letters. There is one letter in particular, addressed to his colleague, Simon Rodiguez, who was being sent to Ormuz in charge of a branch mission, which reveals to us, as in a lightning flash, all the consummate mastery of worldly wisdom, and all the transparent purity of the simplest and most whole-hearted child of God, which made up the proverbial combination of serpent and dove that stands as the popular symbol of Jesuitism. No one can read that letter without believing in the absolute integrity both of the man who wrote it and of the man to whom it was written.
And few can read it without understanding how, men of such character being in no age common, the principles of Jesuitism must sometimes lead to hideous corruption.
One of the most characteristic extracts from Xavier's letters given by Miss McClean illustrates the horror in which this great missionary held the mercenary corruption of his countrymen in India. He writes to a friend at home :—
" Do not permit any friend of yours to be sent to the Indies, with charge or control of his Majesty's financial affairs. It is surely of persons engaged in such business that we find it written : 'They shall be blotted out from the book of the living, and their names shall not be inscribed among the just.' Believe me, however great your confidence in men you know and love, you will do well to oppose them in this matter, to strive with all your might that they may be shielded from such extreme danger. Otherwise, unless they indeed be confirmed in God's grace, even as were the Apostles themselves, do not hope to see them perse- vere in their duty, or preserve their uprightness. There is a power, all but irresistible, waiting to drag them down and overthrow them. The prospect of gain soon allures them. The facility of the prey entices them on. Their cupidity will increase with the satisfaction of their desires. Evil precedents and customs will pour down upon them like a torrent and overwhelm them, and sweep them along to the end. The idea of crime and disgrace ceases to attach itself to dishonesty, when it becomes the universal habit. There are few questions as to the lawfulness of that which is known to go unpunished. Everywhere and for ever we see goods seized by violence, and treasure heaped up, to be carried home to another country. Possessions once taken are never restored, and who can enumerate all the artifices of plunder? I am continually amazed to behold, besides the ordinary forms of theft, the various modes in which an avaricious and cruel ingenuity conjugates the verb 'to steal' with a thousand irregularities heretofore unknown."
Other extracts show with what passion he desired that students and scholars at home might be moved by his example and exhortation to renounce ecclesiastical dignities and emoluments, and come out to convert the heathen. The period of Francis Xavier's missionary labours, if we reckon from his sailing from Lisbon in the beginning of 1541 till his death la December, 1552, barely comprised eleven years. Daring that time his headquarters were always at Goa, but he made voyages to Ceylon and among the islands of the Indian Archipelago, and spent about two years in Japan. To preach Christ in China also, had been the devout wish of his heart, but he died of fever on the island of San-Chan while waiting for a boat to carry him to Canton, in sight of the desired coast.
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