Such were the people amongst which the Jesuits had to act, yet they set to work with their usual alacrity. Fresh brethren came out to their aid; and Nobrega was appointed Vice-provincial of Brazil. They soon ingratiated themselves with the natives by their usual affability and kindness. They zealously acquainted themselves with the language; gave presents to the children; visited the sick; but above all, stood firmly between them and the atrocities of their countrymen. When the Jesuits arrived, these atrocities had driven many tribes into the fiercest hostility, and so evident was it that nothing but these atrocities had made, or kept them hostile, that when they heard the joyful report that the Jesuits were come as friends and protectors of the Indians, and when they saw their conduct so consonant to these tidings, _they brought their bows to the governor, and solicited to be received as allies_! How universally, on the slightest opportunity, have those called savage nations shamed the Europeans styling themselves civilized, by proofs of their greater faith and disposition to peace! Amicable intercourse and civilization are the natural order of things between the powerful and enlightened, and the weak and simple, if avarice and lust did not intervene. Nobrega and his brethren soon produced striking changes on these poor people. They persuaded them to live in peace, to abandon their old habits, to build churches and schools. The avidity of the children to learn to read was wonderful. One of the natives soon was able to make a catechism in the Tupi tongue, and to translate prayers into it. They taught them not only reading, writing, and arithmetic, but to sing in the church; an accomplishment which perfectly enchanted them. “Nobrega usually took with him four or five of these little choristers on his preaching expeditions. When they approached an inhabited place, one carried the crucifix before them, and they began singing the Litany. The savages, like snakes, were won by the voice of the charmer. They received him joyfully; and when he departed with the same ceremony, the children followed the music. He set the catechism, creed, and ordinary prayers to _sol fa_; and the pleasure of learning to sing was such a temptation, that the little Tupis sometimes ran away from their parents to put themselves under the care of the Jesuits.”