When he reached Goa, Xavier found the Portuguese Christians in the demoralized condition already mentioned. The order of Franciscans had there an established monastery, which, as we may suppose, needed to be reformed, inasmuch as they do not seem to have been excepted from other professing Christians in the general charge of immorality. We do not learn from Jesuit authors how far this order was in fact reformed, since the eulogists of Xavier consider it to have been his greatest glory that he brought vast multitudes of the natives into the Christian fold, and thereby established Jesuit authority and dominion in India in place of that which the Church, under the patronage of the pope and by means of the long-established religious orders, had already acquired there. This was manifestly the view which Xavier himself took of his mission, as is plainly shown by his conduct. Instead of co-operating with the established Church authorities and with the monks at Goa, he entered upon an independent course of his own, whereby he evidently intended to indicate the superiority of his Jesuit methods. He roamed the streets with a bell in his hand, and when the ringing attracted a crowd of curious lookers-on, he invited them "to send their children and slaves to catechism," so as to learn the truths of Christianity from him. When the children gathered around him, prompted alone by curiosity, he taught them "the Creed and practices of devotion," which, of course, could have been nothing more than the simplest form. After following this method for some time, he engaged in public preaching, and it is gravely said that "in half a year" he accomplished the "reformation of the whole city of Goa," which must have included the native along with the Portuguese population. The whole story is told after the manner of the romance-writers.