[293]ThewriterintheCatholicWorld，alreadymentioned，ratherrashlyassertsthatthereisnosuchLifeofXavierasthatI
haveabovequoted。ThereverendJesuitfatherhasevidentlyglancedoverthebibliographiesofCarayonandDeBacker，and，notfindingitthereunderthenameofVitelleschi，hassparedhimselffurthertrouble。ItissufficienttosaythatthebookmaybeseenbyhiminthelibraryofCornellUniversity。Itsfulltitleisasfollows：CompendiodellaVitadels。p。
FrancescoXavierodellCampagniadiGiesu，Canonizatocons。
IgnatioFondatoredell’istessaReligionedallaSantitadiN。S。
GregorioXV。Composto，edatoinluceperordinedelReverendiss。
PMutioVitelleschiPrepositoGeneraledellaComp。diGiesu。InVenetia，MDCXXII，AppressoAntonioPinelli。ConLicenzade’
Superiori。MycritichazardsaguessthatthebookmaybealatereditionofTorsellinoTursellinus，buthereagainheiswrong。Itisentirelyadifferentbook，givinginitsprefacealistofsourcescomprisingelevenauthoritiesbesidesTorsellino。
In1682，onehundredandthirtyyearsafterXavier’sdeath，appearedhisbiographybyFatherBouhours；andthisbecameaclassic。Inittheoldmiraclesofallkindswereenormouslymultiplied，andmanynewonesgiven。MiraclesfewandsmallinTursellinusbecamemanyandgreatinBouhours。InTursellinus，Xavierduringhislifesavesonepersonfromdrowning，inBouhourshesavesduringhislifethree；inTursellinus，Xavierduringhisliferaisesfourpersonsfromthedead，inBouhoursfourteen；inTursellinusthereisonemiraculoussupplyofwater，inBouhoursthree；inTursellinusthereisnomiraculousdraughtoffishes，inBouhoursthereisone；inTursellinus，Xavieristransfiguredtwice，inBouhoursfivetimes：andsothroughalongseriesofmiracleswhich，intheearlierlivesappearingeithernotatallorinverymoderateform，aregreatlyincreasedandenlargedbyTursellinus，andfinallyenormouslyamplifiedandmultipliedbyFatherBouhours。
AndhereitmustbeborneinmindthatBouhours，writingninetyyearsafterTursellinus，couldnothavehadaccesstoanynewsources。Xavierhadbeendeadonehundredandthirtyyears，andofcourseallthenativesuponwhomhehadwroughthismiracles，andtheirchildrenandgrandchildren，weregone。ItcannotthenbeclaimedthatBouhourshadtheadvantageofanynewwitnesses，norcouldhehavehadanythingnewinthewayofcontemporarywritings；for，aswehaveseen，themissionariesofXavier’stimewrotenothingregardinghismiracles，andcertainlytheignorantnativesofIndiaandJapandidnotcommitanyaccountofhismiraclestowriting。Nevertheless，themiraclesofhealinggiveninBouhoursweremorenumerousandbrilliantthanever。
Buttherewasfarmorethanthis。AlthoughduringthelifetimeofXavierthereisneitherinhisownwritingsnorinanycontemporaryaccountanyassertionofaresurrectionfromthedeadwroughtbyhim，wefindthatshortlyafterhisdeathstoriesofsuchresurrectionsbegantoappear。Asimplestatementofthegrowthofthesemaythrowsomelightontheevolutionofmiraculousaccountsgenerally。AtfirstitwasaffirmedthatsomepeopleatCapeComorinsaidthathehadraisedoneperson；
thenitwassaidthatthereweretwopersons；theninvariousauthors——EmanuelAcosta，inhiscommentarieswrittenasanafterthoughtnearlytwentyyearsafterXavier’sdeath，DeQuadros，andothers——thestorywaversbetweenoneandtwocases；
finally，inthetimeofTursellinus，fourcaseshadbeendeveloped。In1622，atthecanonizationproceedings，threewerementioned；butbythetimeofFatherBouhourstherewerefourteen——allraisedfromthedeadbyXavierhimselfduringhislifetime——andthename，place，andcircumstancesaregivenwithmuchdetailineachcase。[294]
[294]ThewriterintheCatholicWorld，alreadyreferredto，hasbasedanattackhereuponamisconception——Iwillnotcallitadeliberatemisrepresentation——ofhisownbystatingthattheseresurrectionsoccurredafterXavier’sdeath，andwereduetohisintercessionortheuseofhisrelics。ThestatementoftheJesuitfatherisutterlywithoutfoundation，asasimplereferencetoBouhourswillshow。ItakethelibertyofcommendingtohisattentionTheLifeofSt。FrancisXavier，byFatherDominicBouhours，translatedbyJamesDryden，Dublin，1838。ForexamplesofraisingthedeadbythesaintDURINGHIS
LIFETIME，seepp。69，82，93，111，218，307，316，321——fourteencasesinall。
ItseemstohavebeenfeltassomewhatstrangeatfirstthatXavierhadneveralludedtoanyofthesewonderfulmiracles；buterelongasubsidiarylegendwasdeveloped，totheeffectthatoneofthebrethrenaskedhimonedayifhehadraisedthedead，whereatheblusheddeeplyandcriedoutagainsttheidea，saying：
“AndsoIamsaidtohaveraisedthedead！WhatamisleadingmanIam！Somemenbroughtayouthtomejustasifheweredead，who，whenIcommandedhimtoariseinthenameofChrist，straightwayarose。”
Noteworthyistheevolutionofothermiracles。Tursellinus，writingin1594，tellsusthatonthevoyagefromGoatoMalacca，Xavierhavinglefttheshipandgoneuponanisland，wasafterwardfoundbythepersonssentinsearchofhimsodeeplyabsorbedinprayerastobeunmindfulofallthingsabouthim。
ButinthenextcenturyFatherBouhoursdevelopsthestoryasfollows：“TheservantsfoundthemanofGodraisedfromthegroundintotheair，hiseyesfixeduponheaven，andraysoflightabouthiscountenance。”
Instructive，also，isacomparisonbetweenthesuccessiveaccountsofhisnotedmiracleamongtheBadagesatTravancore，in1544Xavierinhislettersmakesnoreferencetoanythingextraordinary；andEmanuelAcosta，in1571，declaressimplythat“XavierthrewhimselfintothemidstoftheChristians，thatreverencinghimtheymightsparetherest。”Theinevitableevolutionofthemiraculousgoeson；andtwentyyearslaterTursellinustellsusthat，attheonslaughtoftheBadages，“theycouldnotendurethemajestyofhiscountenanceandthesplendourandrayswhichissuedfromhiseyes，andoutofreverenceforhimtheysparedtheothers。”Theprocessofincubationstillgoesonduringninetyyearsmore，andthencomesFatherBouhours’saccount。HavinggivenXavier’sprayeronthebattlefield，Bouhoursgoesontosaythatthesaint，crucifixinhand，rushedattheheadofthepeopletowardtheplainwheretheenemywasmarching，and“saidtotheminathreateningvoice，`IforbidyouinthenameofthelivingGodtoadvancefarther，andonHispartcommandyoutoreturninthewayyoucame。’Thesefewwordscastaterrorintothemindsofthosesoldierswhowereattheheadofthearmy；theyremainedconfoundedandwithoutmotion。Theywhomarchedafterward，seeingthattheforemostdidnotadvance，askedthereasonofit。Theanswerwasreturnedfromthefrontranksthattheyhadbeforetheireyesanunknownpersonhabitedinblack，ofmorethanhumanstature，ofterribleaspect，anddartingfirefromhiseyes……Theywereseizedwithamazementatthesight，andallofthemfledinprecipitateconfusion。”
Curious，too，istheafter-growthofthemiracleofthecrabrestoringthecrucifix。InitsfirstformXavierlostthecrucifixinthesea，andtheearlierbiographersdwellonthesorrowwhichheshowedinconsequence；butthelaterhistoriansdeclarethatthesaintthrewthecrucifixintotheseainordertostillatempest，andthat，afterhissafegettingtoland，acrabbroughtittohimontheshore。Inthisformwefinditamongillustrationsofbooksofdevotioninthenextcentury。
ButperhapsthebestillustrationofthisevolutionofXavier’smiraclesistobefoundinthegrowthofanotherlegend；anditisespeciallyinstructivebecauseitgrewluxuriantlydespitethefactthatitwasutterlycontradictedinallpartsofXavier’swritingsaswellasinthelettersofhisassociatesandintheworkoftheJesuitfather，JosephAcosta。
Throughouthisletters，fromfirsttolast，Xavierconstantlydwellsuponhisdifficultieswiththevariouslanguagesofthedifferenttribesamongwhomhewent。Hetellsushowhesurmountedthesedifficulties：sometimesbylearningjustenoughofalanguagetotranslateintoitsomeofthemainChurchformulas；sometimesbygettingthehelpofotherstopatchtogethersomepiousteachingstobelearnedbyrote；sometimesbyemployinginterpreters；andsometimesbyamixtureofvariousdialects，andevenbysigns。Ononeoccasionhetellsusthataveryseriousdifficultyarose，andthathisvoyagetoChinawasdelayedbecause，amongotherthings，theinterpreterhehadengagedhadfailedtomeethim。
InvariousLiveswhichappearedbetweenthetimeofhisdeathandhiscanonizationthisdifficultyismuchdweltupon；butduringthecanonizationproceedingsatRome，inthespeechesthenmade，andfinallyinthepapalbull，greatstresswaslaiduponthefactthatXavierpossessedTHEGIFTOFTONGUES。Itwasdeclaredthathespoketothevarioustribeswitheaseintheirownlanguages。ThislegendofXavier’smiraculousgiftoftongueswasespeciallymentionedinthepapalbull，andwassolemnlygivenforthbythepontiffasaninfalliblestatementtobebelievedbytheuniversalChurch。GregoryXVhavingbeenpreventedbydeathfromissuingtheBullofCanonization，itwasfinallyissuedbyUrbanVIII；andthereismuchfoodforreflectioninthefactthatthesamePopewhopunishedGalileo，andwasdeterminedthattheInquisitionshouldnotallowtheworldtobelievethattheearthrevolvesaboutthesun，thussolemnlyorderedtheworld，underpainofdamnation，tobelieveinXavier’smiracles，includinghis“giftoftongues。”andthereturnofthecrucifixbythepiouscrab。Butthelegendwasdevelopedstillfurther：FatherBouhourstellsus，“Theholymanspokeverywellthelanguageofthosebarbarianswithouthavinglearnedit，andhadnoneedofaninterpreterwhenheinstructed。”And，finally，inourowntime，theRev。FatherColeridge，speakingofthesaintamongthenatives，says，“Hecouldspeakthelanguageexcellently，thoughhehadneverlearnedit。”
Intheearlybiography，Tursellinuswrites。”NothingwasagreaterimpedimenttohimthanhisignoranceoftheJapanesetongues；for，everandanon，whensomeuncouthexpressionoffendedtheirfastidiousanddelicateears，theawkwardspeechofFranciswasacauseoflaughter。”ButFatherBouhours，acenturylater，writingofXavieratthesameperiod，says，“HepreachedintheafternoontotheJapaneseintheirlanguage，butsonaturallyandwithsomucheasethathecouldnotbetakenforaforeigner。”
Andfinally，in1872，FatherColeridge，oftheSocietyofJesus，speakingofXavieratthistime，says，“Hespokefreely，flowingly，elegantly，asifhehadlivedinJapanallhislife。”
Norwaseventhissufficient：tomakethelegendcomplete，itwasfinallydeclaredthat，whenXavieraddressedthenativesofvarioustribes，eachheardthesermoninhisownlanguageinwhichhewasborn。
Allthis，aswehaveseen，directlycontradictsnotonlytheplainstatementsofXavierhimself，andvariousincidentaltestimoniesinthelettersofhisassociates，buttheexplicitdeclarationofFatherJosephAcosta。ThelatterhistoriandwellsespeciallyonthelabourwhichXavierwasobligedtobestowonthestudyoftheJapaneseandotherlanguages，andsays，“Evenifhehadbeenendowedwiththeapostolicgiftoftongues，hecouldnothavespreadmorewidelythegloryofChrist。”[295]
[295]FortheevolutionofthemiraclesofXavier，seehisLetters，withLife，publishedbyLeonPages，Paris，1855；alsoMaffei，HistoriarumIndicarumlibrixvi，Venice，1589；alsothelivesbyTursellinus，variouseditions，beginningwiththatof1594；Vitelleschi，1622；Bouhours，1683；Massei，secondedition，1682Rome，andothers；Bartoli，Baltimore，1868；Coleridge，1872。Inadditiontothese，Ihavecompared，foramoreextendeddiscussionofthissubjecthereafter，averygreatnumberofeditionsoftheseandotherbiographiesofthesaint，withspeechesatthecanonization，thebullofGregoryXV，variousbooksofdevotion，andamultitudeofspecialwritings，someoftheminmanuscript，uponthegloriesofthesaint，includingalargemassofmaterialattheRoyalLibraryinMunichandintheBritishMuseum。IhavereliedentirelyuponCatholicauthors，andhavenotthoughtitworthwhiletoconsultanyProtestantauthor。TheillustrationofthemiracleofthecrucifixandthecrabinitsfinalformisgiveninLaDevotiondeDixVendredisal’HonneurdeSt。FrancoisXavier，Bruxelles，1699，Fig。24：thepiouscrabisrepresentedaspresentingthecrucifixbywhichajourneyoffortyleagueshehasbroughtfromthedepthsoftheoceantoXavier，whowalksupontheshore。ThebookisintheCornellUniversityLibrary。FortheletterofKingJohntoBarreto，seeLeonPages’sLettresdeFrancoisXavier，Paris，1855，vol。ii，p。465。ForthemiracleamongtheBadages，compareTursellinus，lib。ii，c。x，p。16，withBouhours，Dryden’stranslation，pp。146，147。Forthemiracleofthegiftoftongues，initshigherdevelopment，seeBouhours，p。235，andColeridge，vo。i，