Xavier had taken the way of Cochin, along by the sea coast. He arrived
there the 16th of December, 1544, where he happened to meet with Michael
Vaz, vicar-general of the Indies. In acquainting him with the reasons of
his journey, he made him sensible, that the weakness of the government
was the principal cause of the avarice and violence of the officers; that
Don Alphonso de Sosa was indeed a religious gentleman, but wanted vigour;
that it was not sufficient to will good actions, if, at the same time, he
did not strongly oppose ill ones; in a word, that it was absolutely
necessary for the king of Portugal to be informed of all the disorders
in the Indies, by a person who was an eye-witness of them, and whose
integrity was not liable to suspicion. Vaz immediately entered into the
opinions of the father, and his zeal carried him to pass himself into
Portugal, in a vessel which was just ready to set sail. Xavier praised
God for those good intentions; and wrote a letter by him to King John
the Third, the beginning of which I have here transcribed:--

"Your Majesty ought to be assured, and often to call into your mind, that
God has made choice of you, amongst all the princes of the world, for
the conquest of India, to the end he may make trial of your faith, and
see what requital you will make to him for all his benefits. You ought
also to consider, that, in conferring on you the empire of a new world,
his intention was, not so much that you should fill your coffers with the
riches of the East, as that you should have an opportunity of signalizing
your zeal, by making known to idolaters, through the means of those who
serve you, the Creator and Redeemer of mankind."

The saint, after this beginning, gave the king to understand the good
intentions of Michael Vaz, and the ill conduct of the Portuguese, who
were in the government of the Indies. He suggested to him the means of