Divine Providence seemed to call upon Japan, Siam, India, and China to
place themselves under obedience to the pope, in order to recompense
him for Asia Minor, Syria, Greece, Egypt, Africa, Russia, and the other
lost states which we mentioned. St. Francis Xavier, who carried the holy
gospel to the East Indies and Japan, when the Portuguese went thither
upon mercantile adventure, performed a great number of miracles, all
attested by the R.R.P.P. Jesuits. Some state that he resuscitated nine
dead persons. But R.P. Ribadeneira, in his "Flower of the Saints,"
limits himself to asserting that he resuscitated only four. That is
sufficient. Providence was desirous that, in less than a hundred years,
there should have been thousands of Catholics in the islands of Japan.
But the devil sowed his tares among the good grain. The Jesuits,
according to what is generally believed, entered into a conspiracy,
followed by a civil war, in which all the Christians were exterminated
in 1638. The nation then closed its ports against all foreigners except
the Dutch, who were considered merchants and not Christians, and were
first compelled to trample on the cross in order to gain leave to sell
their wares in the prison in which they are shut up, when they land at
Nagasaki.
The Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman religion has become proscribed in
China in our own time, but with circumstances of less cruelty. The
R.R.P.P. Jesuits had not, indeed, resuscitated the dead at the court of
Pekin; they were contented with teaching astronomy, casting cannon, and
being mandarins. Their unfortunate disputes with the Dominicans and
others gave such offence to the great Emperor Yonchin that that prince,
who was justice and goodness personified, was blind enough to refuse
permission any longer to teach our holy religion, in respect to which
our missionaries so little agreed. He expelled them, but with a kindness
truly paternal, supplying them with means of subsistence, and conveyance
to the confines of his empire.
All Asia, all Africa, the half of Europe, all that belongs to the
English and Dutch in America, all the unconquered American tribes, all
the southern climes, which constitute a fifth portion of the globe,
remain the prey of the demon, in order to fulfil those sacred words,
"many are called, but few are chosen."--Matt. xx., 16.
_Of the Signification of the Word "Church." Picture of the Primitive
Church. Its Degeneracy. Examination into those Societies which have
Attempted to Re-establish the Primitive Church, and Particularly into
that of the Primitives called Quakers._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account