relates to the education of those young Indians, whom Xavier brought, it
will be necessary to trace that matter from its original.

Before the coming of Father Francis to the Indies, Christianity had made
but little progress in those countries; and of an infinite number of
Pagans, inhabiting the isle of Goa, and the parts adjoining, scarce any
man thought of forsaking his idolatry. In the year 1541, James de Borba,
a Portuguese preacher and divine, whom king John III. had sent to India,
searching out the cause of so great a misfortune, found, that it was not
only because the Europeans could not easily learn the Indian tongue, but
also, because if an Indian happened to be converted, they exercised no
charity towards him; and that the children of the faithful, who died
poor, were destitute of succour in their wants.

He gave notice of this to the grand vicar, Michael Vaz, to the auditor
general, Pedro Fernandez, to the deputy-governor, Rodriguez de Castel
Blanco, and to the secretary of state, Cosmo Annez, who were all of them
his particular friends, and virtuous men. These being in the government,
considered of the means to remedy the growing evil, the foundation of
which had been discovered to them by Borba; and he himself excited the
people to be instrumental in so good a work. For, one day preaching, he
passionately bemoaned the damnation of so many Indians, and charged it on
the conscience of his auditory, that the salvation of that idolatrous
people depended, in some sort, on them. "I pretend not," said he, "that
you should go yourselves to the conquest of souls, nor learn barbarous
languages on purpose, to labour in the conversion of Gentiles. What I beg
of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, is, that each of you would
contribute something towards the maintenance of the new Christians. You
will perform by that, what it is not in your power to do by the preaching
of the gospel; and gain, by your temporal goods, those immortal souls,