Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1850-10-03
From tho North British Review.
FRANCIS XAylER.

ty OF Jesus turned his clear blue ewes, for
the last time, upon the orange.eroves of
Spain, and sci his face towards the shining
Orient. A Portuguese vessel, destined
TO carry out TO Goa new ln,!isn viceroy,
and reinforcement Of thousand men.
suffered the great hearted en,husias, to
stink silently on board, and 10 mingle with
the noisy crowd Of soldiers and mariners
Oh her decks. No pleasant, well.fi,ed
Cabin was there for him-no well ll-suppliel
"cuddy table, no outfit that be did not
carry on his back. He pillow ed his head
upon coil OF ropes, and ate what the sal
lors discarded. But there was not a sea-
man in that labonring vessel-there was
not a soldier in that crowded troop-ship,
who did not inwardly recognise The grea,
soul that g lowed beneath ,hnse squalid
garments. No outward humiliation could
conceal that knigh'Iy spirit; no sickness
and suffering could qn-nch The fire of that
ardent genius. The highe>, and the low
e.t held converse with him; and, abiect,
PROSTATE as he was, he lowered above
them all, alike as gentleman and schol-
ar. And when, thirteen months after The
vessel sailed out of the port of Lisbon. its
rent sails were furled, and its strained ca
bles coiled before the a-por, Of Goa,
there was not one of the many enthusiasts
who now, as they dropped down her wea-
ther- stained and shattered side, shaped Tor
themselves in imagination so brilliant Ca
reer in the great Indies, or heaped up such
piles Of visionary wealth, as stirred the
hear, of Francis Xsvier. But his career
WAS only tha, Of the Christian Missionary,
and the riches he Was to gain were count
less thousands Of human souls.
l, was Xa,ier's will to suffer. The
King of Portugal had ordered. tina, on his
passage to lndia cabin should BE- placed
at his disposal, and furnished with every
thing tha, coul! render i"'erable the dis.
comforts Of a sea life. But he had reject
ed these kingly ohers, and cunen,ed him
self " i,h the bare deck as his home +; a
single cloak TO shelter him in foul weather,
and a few books to >olace him in the iair.
And now tina, he had reached the point "a,
which were to commence his apostolic
mini>trs'i"ns; the same spirit OF self denial
and seli-dependence animated him in all
'ha, he did. He had prayed before hi.
departure for more stripe he had asked
the Divine goodness 10 gran, him in India
the pains that had been family ioreshad-
owed in his Italian career. He had car
ried ont all sorts of briefs and credentials
from regal aid pon,tical hands: and the
bishop now eagerly rendered him assist
ance and pressed upon him pecuniary sup
port. But he refused all these Episcopal
offers, and sonsh, no aid but tha, OF God
The more danger SEEMED I" ,hicken-the
more appalling the difficulties ,ha, b-se,
his ps,h-the more agonizng the trials be
endured-the louder, the in,re earnes,
wa, bis cry, "Ye; more-O my God!-
ye! more!"
Protestant zeal is only contemplate
when it denies that Francis Xavier was .
great man. Delu>ion he may have had
strong as ever wrought upon the human
soul bu, The true nobility Of his nature
is not to be galn>aid. He faced the mos
tremendous trials with courage and {
con.,ancy of the highest order, aud prose
cuted the most arduous and astounding Ia
bors with an energy and perseverance,
scarcely examp|ed in the history of human
action. He found himself suddenly thrown
into the nii>, Of mingled community o
natives and Europeans, OF which it wa
hard to say whether the one or the o,hel
were sunk in the deeper and more deba
sing idolatry. 1t was privilege 10 hin
to endure hardship and to be beset witt
difficulty in the prosecution Of his grea
work His courage r"se as the objects il
his path loomed larger and larger, and h,
waded through the sea OF pollution tha
lay before him as one who never ieare,
to sink. He began his course by enheav
oring to entice his coun'rymen "a, Goa int
a purer way Of life; and, as none since tn
days of the apostle Paul have known bet
ter how to abound and how to be abased
he became as weak unto the weak, al
things TO all men, that by all means h
nigh, save some. The knightly spin
was never extinct within him with tn
chivalry and the courtesy of the old noble
he united the iulness and re ,dine>s Of tn
scholar; and whether among the gay an
gallant officers who surrounded the Vice
; roy OF Portugal, or among the degrade
fishermen on the coast OF Malahar, the gen
tie blood which flowed in his veins impair
ted dignity to hi. presence, so!,ness toh'
speech, and the most winning gcnero>n
to his actions. Whether, placing him>e]
a, the head Of band OF oppressed Chris
,ian>, he charged down, crucitiX in hant
upon marauding enemy, or whether h
braved death in lrver-h ho, pi'als and lazar
houses, perior,ning readily the most sick
ening offices for their tainted inmates, tn
same noble courage and srli-devo'i'n >hon
on, in everything he did. Tha, the doc
trines he taught may moi have been tn
sou tde>t-tha, his means Of teaching wrr
. insufficient that he knew li,ile OF the n.
tive languages that he made convert
who were in reality no converts-iha, h
! had an overweeniuy faith. moi peculiar
the sixteenth century, in the efficacy OF il
, fant baptism, are facts which all hi>tor
records, but no true history in a grudgin
. spirit. The more insufficient his mean
the greater the iait. that sustained him. =
When Francis Xavier went about IL
streets of Goa, or traversed the village
on the western coast, bell in hand, its clcs
7 sounds inviting all who heard to gathe
round him and accept from his lips the fir