Constantine
de Braganza, removed to Goa.
Camoes - Lusiades
In 1543, Fernand Pinto, observing some
ruins near Peking, was told by the people, that 200 years before, a holy
man who worshipped Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, lived there; and
being murdered, was thrown into a river, but his body would not sink;
and soon after the city was destroyed by an earthquake. The same Jesuit
found people at Caminam who knew the doctrines of Christianity, which
they said were preached to their fathers, by John, the disciple of
Thomas. In 1635, some heathens, by night passing through a village in
the province of Fokien, saw some stones which emitted light, under which
were found the figure of crosses. From China, St. Thomas returned to
Meliapore in Malabar, at a time when a prodigious beam of timber floated
on the sea near the coast. The king endeavoured to bring it ashore, but
all the force of men and elephants was in vain. St. Thomas desired leave
to build a church with it, and immediately dragged it to shore with a
single thread. A church was built, and the king baptized. This enraged
the Brahmins, the chief of whom killed his own son, and accused Thomas
of the murder. But the saint, by restoring the youth to life, discovered
the wickedness of his enemies. He was afterwards killed by a lance while
kneeling at the altar; after, according to tradition, he had built 3300
stately churches, many of which were rebuilt, cir. 800, by an Armenian
named Thomas Cananeus. In 1533, the body of the apostle, with the head
of the lance beside him, was found in his church by D. Duarte de
Meneses; and in 1558 was, by D.
Constantine de Braganza, removed to Goa.
To these accounts, selected from Faria y Sousa, let two from Osorius be
added. When Martin Alonzo de Souza was viceroy, some brazen tables were
brought to him, inscribed with unusual characters, which were explained
by a learned Jew, and imported that St. Thomas had built a church at
Meliapore. And by an account sent to Cardinal Henrico, by the Bishop of
Cochin, in 1562, when the Portuguese repaired the ancient chapel of St.
Thomas,{**} there was found a stone cross with several characters on it,
which the best antiquarians could not interpret, till at last a Brahmin
translated it, "That in the reign of Sagam, Thomas was sent by the Son
of God, whose disciple he was, to teach the law of heaven in India; that
he built a church, and was killed by a Brahmin at the altar. "
{*} The existence of this breviary is a certain fact. These Christians
had the Scripture also in the Syriac language.
{**} This was a very ancient building, in the very first style of
Christian churches. The Portuguese have now disfigured it with their
repairs and new buildings.
A view of Portuguese Asia, which must include the labours of the
Jesuits, forms a necessary part in the comment on the Lusiad: this note,
therefore, and some obvious reflections upon it, are in place. It is as
easy to bury an inscription and find it again, as it is to invent a
silly tale; but, though suspicion of fraud on the one hand, and silly
absurdity on the other, lead us to despise the authority of the Jesuits,
yet one fact remains indisputable. Christianity had been much better
known in the East, several centuries before, than it was at the arrival
of GAMA. Where the name was unknown, and where the Jesuits were
unconcerned, crosses were found. The long existence of the Christians of
St. Thomas in the midst of a vast pagan empire, proves that the learned
of that kingdom must have some knowledge of their doctrines.
ruins near Peking, was told by the people, that 200 years before, a holy
man who worshipped Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, lived there; and
being murdered, was thrown into a river, but his body would not sink;
and soon after the city was destroyed by an earthquake. The same Jesuit
found people at Caminam who knew the doctrines of Christianity, which
they said were preached to their fathers, by John, the disciple of
Thomas. In 1635, some heathens, by night passing through a village in
the province of Fokien, saw some stones which emitted light, under which
were found the figure of crosses. From China, St. Thomas returned to
Meliapore in Malabar, at a time when a prodigious beam of timber floated
on the sea near the coast. The king endeavoured to bring it ashore, but
all the force of men and elephants was in vain. St. Thomas desired leave
to build a church with it, and immediately dragged it to shore with a
single thread. A church was built, and the king baptized. This enraged
the Brahmins, the chief of whom killed his own son, and accused Thomas
of the murder. But the saint, by restoring the youth to life, discovered
the wickedness of his enemies. He was afterwards killed by a lance while
kneeling at the altar; after, according to tradition, he had built 3300
stately churches, many of which were rebuilt, cir. 800, by an Armenian
named Thomas Cananeus. In 1533, the body of the apostle, with the head
of the lance beside him, was found in his church by D. Duarte de
Meneses; and in 1558 was, by D.
Constantine de Braganza, removed to Goa.
To these accounts, selected from Faria y Sousa, let two from Osorius be
added. When Martin Alonzo de Souza was viceroy, some brazen tables were
brought to him, inscribed with unusual characters, which were explained
by a learned Jew, and imported that St. Thomas had built a church at
Meliapore. And by an account sent to Cardinal Henrico, by the Bishop of
Cochin, in 1562, when the Portuguese repaired the ancient chapel of St.
Thomas,{**} there was found a stone cross with several characters on it,
which the best antiquarians could not interpret, till at last a Brahmin
translated it, "That in the reign of Sagam, Thomas was sent by the Son
of God, whose disciple he was, to teach the law of heaven in India; that
he built a church, and was killed by a Brahmin at the altar. "
{*} The existence of this breviary is a certain fact. These Christians
had the Scripture also in the Syriac language.
{**} This was a very ancient building, in the very first style of
Christian churches. The Portuguese have now disfigured it with their
repairs and new buildings.
A view of Portuguese Asia, which must include the labours of the
Jesuits, forms a necessary part in the comment on the Lusiad: this note,
therefore, and some obvious reflections upon it, are in place. It is as
easy to bury an inscription and find it again, as it is to invent a
silly tale; but, though suspicion of fraud on the one hand, and silly
absurdity on the other, lead us to despise the authority of the Jesuits,
yet one fact remains indisputable. Christianity had been much better
known in the East, several centuries before, than it was at the arrival
of GAMA. Where the name was unknown, and where the Jesuits were
unconcerned, crosses were found. The long existence of the Christians of
St. Thomas in the midst of a vast pagan empire, proves that the learned
of that kingdom must have some knowledge of their doctrines.
