very devout man, and one much given to prayer, but a man who caused all those of his household to be the same. He always heard mass, and was very regular in his attendance at church. He adorned the church most handsomely with hangings and paintings, because he understood this art. He also, thinking only of the great results to be attained by means of holy and devout books, gave himself to the great labor necessary to establish printing in this country, where there was no journeyman who could show him the way, or give him an account of the manner of printing in Europe, which is very different from the manner of printing followed in his country of China. The Lord aided his pious intention, and he himself gave to this undertaking not only continued and excessive labor, but all the forces of his mind, which were great. In spite of the difficulties, he attained that which he desired, and was the first printer in these islands; [46] and this not from avarice--for he gained much more in his business as a merchant, and readily gave up his profit--but merely to do this service to the Lord and this good to the souls of the natives. For they could not profit by holy books printed in other countries, because of their ignorance of the foreign language; nor could they have books in their own language, because there was no printing in this country, no one who made a business of it, and not even anyone who understood it. Hence this labor was very meritorious before the Lord and of great profit to these peoples. As a reward the Lord gave him a most happy death, with such joy and devotion that he began to sing praises to the Lord in a very loud voice--at one time in his Chinese language, at another in that of the Indians, at another in Spanish; for he knew them all well. There were about his bed many religious, who loved him much for his devoutness. One of them said, in a low voice, to him who was next to him, "It seems that the severity of his disease has affected his mind;" and as if this had been said aloud the sick man heard it, and answered, "Has he not lost his reason, fathers, who on any such occasion as this should think it well to do anything but what I am doing--sing praises to the Lord and give Him many thanks for having made me a Christian?" He longed for a thousand languages that he might praise Him in all; and in this devotion and fervor of spirit he died, leaving the religious not only greatly comforted but very envious of such a death. Juan de Vera had a brother somewhat younger than he; and when Juan saw that he was about to die he called him and said to him: "Brother, there is one thing which I wish to ask you to do for me, that I may die in comfort; and that is, that you will carry on this business of printing, so that the great service done by it to God may not come to an end. I know well that you are certain in this way to lose much gain; but it is of much greater importance to you to obtain a spiritual profit by printing devout books for the