СНАР.
VIII.

of the Malabar war, and all the dangers and inconveniences that were represented to him, forthwith to transport himself to the Serra: for he was convinced, that such negociations as had already passed between them would produce nothing satisfactory, and that the only hope of reducing the Archdeacon and his Church to the obedience of the pope, rested on his own presence and authority upon the spot.

We cannot draw this chapter to a close, without the expression of deep regret at all the prevarication and mental reservation, too manifest in the conduct of the Archdeacon and his advisers. It is true, their provocation was great. The Archbishop's assumption of authority to command them, was past endurance by men conscious of liberty. But they seem to have understood as little as their deceased prelates, how to defend a righteous cause in the spirit of truth. We would fain believe, that their resistance to the imperious demands of Rome proceeded from a higher principle than the mere love of freedom; but thus far we have searched their records in vain for the smallest indication of a more sacred motive. We are unwilling to think that "the lamp of God" was quite gone out in their temple; but truth constrains us to declare, that it does not yet illumine the page of their history and while, as freemen, we sympathize with them in their danger of bondage; as Christians, we must protest against the means they used for the preservation of their liberty. The Almighty has oftentimes, in His inscrutable wisdom, subjected the true Church to the trial of an oppressor's rod but in the present instance, we fear that the affliction now preparing for the Church in India, is rather to be deemed a chastisement

from the Lord for her departure from Christian integrity. Neglecting to honour Him, by a simple adherence to the truth, He was not pledged for her protection. Relying upon her own duplicity, rather than His righteous and merciful dealing in her behalf, she lost her glory and her defence together.

A. D.

1598.

BOOK III.

CHAPTER I.

COMPARATIVE VIEW OF THE SYRIANS AND PORTUGUESE IN INDIA IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.

Before entering upon the history of the expedition of Don Alexio de Menezes to the Syrian Churches in Malabar, and of the extent of his success in reducing them to the subjection of Rome; it may be useful to give a description, both of the Syrian and the Portuguese Christians about that period. The portrait here drawn of the Syrians' character, manners and customs, must be free from the imputation of partiality, as it is taken wholly from Portuguese writers, who were not likely to invest the Syrians with imaginary virtues, nor to attribute to them favourable qualities which they did not possess and it is equally improbable that they should describe the Portuguese as inferior to them in morals and religion, could they have discovered a fair pretext for giving their countrymen a superior character.1

The first is Antonio Gouvea, already referred to in the

CHAP.

I.

Of all the inhabitants of Malabar, the Syrian Christians are described as the most endowed with every natural gift, both of body and mind. With respect to person, they are generally full grown, well proportioned, and active. They are distinguishable at once from the heathen by their majestic gait. Their colour is not so dark as that of the other Indians, the brahmins alone excepted. They are separated into two divisions, the origin of which has already been explained.3 The more numerous clan inhabits the Northern districts, and is called, in the Malabar language, Vataka Bhàgam, i. e. Northern Division. Those in the South are designated, Teka Bhagam, i. e. Southern Division. These people continue to consider themselves superior to their brethren of the North, in consequence of their descent from their common ancestor, Mar Thomas, by his first wife. In the sixteenth century, they had very few churches besides those of Diamper, Cotatte, Tourgouli, and Carturté, which are situated in the South. Their complexion is fairer than that of their brethren in the North, towards whom they long preserved a marked distinction, carefully avoiding any matrimonial connexion, refusing to inhabit the same houses foregoing pages. He wrote, in Portuguese, the history of the Archbishop's expedition. The second, Vincent Marie de Sainte Catherine de Siéne, who was sent to Malabar, with three other friars of his order, by Pope Alexander VII., in the year 1656.

2 The author will find it necessary occasionally, as here, to supply, from his own personal knowledge of this people, a few particulars omitted by the authorities to which he has referred. 3 Book i. chap, 4.

It appears, from La Croze, that the earlier writers on the geography, inhabitants and statistics of India, were at a loss for the meaning of these names. They are Sanskrit words, whose signification is given in the text.