It is true that twelve native youths were sent to _S. Vicente_ as hostages; but in face of the excitement and prejudice which prevailed, it is probable that the two Fathers, who really deserved the name of holy men, owed their safety, and what they valued infinitely more, the success of their mission, rather to their own saintly and irreproachable conduct than to the guarantee of hostages. They nobly refused to accept peace on the condition of recommending their governor to give up three native chiefs who had allied themselves with the Portuguese, and who had accepted Christianity: their countrymen’s first duty, they said, was to keep faith inviolate, and if they should betray their allies, how could they now be trusted? The reply of the chief with whom they parleyed was, that if the Portuguese should decline to give up these men whom, according to their code of honour, it was incumbent they should receive, there should be no peace. A reference to the governor was agreed upon on both sides; but Nobrega, with a patriotic spirit which recalls that of the Roman Regulus, warned him emphatically against concluding peace on disgraceful terms under the apprehension of what might befall himself and his colleague. For two months the missionaries remained in this position. At the end of that time Nobrega was permitted to return, to consult with the governor, whilst Anchieta remained as a hostage; but after three months thus passed by the latter, he too for the time failed to win the crown of martyrdom; and a reconciliation was effected, chiefly through the efforts of Nobrega. The small-pox about this period seems to have produced enormous havoc in certain of the Portuguese settlements in _Brazil_, where some three-fourths of the natives were carried away by it, or by the pestilence which followed in its wake. Six of the settlements which had been founded by the Jesuits had to be abandoned; and the Portuguese, we are told, profiting by the misery of their neighbours, gave food in exchange for slaves. Certain starving individuals sold their own persons, whilst others parted with their children. But although the lawfulness of these purchases was not questioned, the consciences of the purchasers were somewhat ill-at-ease in the matter. They, it seems, really thought it unfair and unchristian-like to claim men as their slaves, over whom they had no other right save that acquired by giving them food to save their lives. Yet they were unwilling to let them go free, if for no other reason than that their souls would be no longer in the way of salvation. In this dilemma a compromise was hit upon between God and Mammon; the slaves were told they were no longer slaves; but still, that they must continue to serve their possessors for life, to receive yearly wages. Should they escape, they would be pursued and punished; but the masters were not to sell or otherwise part with them. [Sidenote: 1564.]