1896.] E. D. Maclagan—Jeswit Missions to the Emperor Akbar. 89 
somewhat striking, if the Jesuit authorities are to be believed. We are 
assured that he wore a gold cross round his neck: that he said to his 
captains that in time of danger he should call on none but Christ: that 
he wrote to Goa asking for a separate mission of priests to be sent to his 
Court: that he had a golden crucifix made for himself: that he had a 
figure of Christ on the cross carved on a large emerald! and wore it on a 
chain: and so forth. He also read from end to end the book written by 
Xavier to which the Emperor had given the title ‘Mirror of Purity :’ 
and had given a large sum for the building in Agra of a church, which 
should equal in size that which his father had allowed to be built at Lahor. 
Father Jerome Xavier's letter from Agra, dated September 6, 1604. 
Our next authority is a very long letter written by Xavier from Acra 
on September 6, 1604. The original manuscript is preserved in the 
British Museum (Marsd. MSS. 9854, foll. 7-19) and as the letter has 
never before been published and has not apparently been utilized in 
Du Jarric’s history, some fairly full quotations from it will perhaps be 
pardoned. 
The letter begins with a description of the religious life of the Fathers 
and their congregation :— 
‘Fathers Pinheiro and Fr. Corsi are in Lahor; and Father Ant. 
Machado and myself are here in Agra. We are allin good health by the 
goodness of God. We occupy ourselves as well as we can in the exercises 
of the Society, keeping up the custom of daily meditation and examination 
and that of the renewal of vows, &c. We endeavour to confirm our con- 
verts in the faith they have adopted, and ina fitting way of life. To this 
end, on Sundays and on ordinary feasts, there is always a sermon, and when 
the Portuguese prisoners were here, there were two sermons, one for them 
in Portuguese at the second mass, and one for the natives in their own 
language. At the principal feasts, numbers of both men and women come to 
confession and receive communion, which you will learn to your consolation 
and to ours. At Christmas there was a fine procession as is customary every 
year, which moves the Christians to great devotion. Many Muhammadans 
and heathens who came hither, seeing it, returned praising the customs of 
the Christians. This is a good opportunity to explain our religion to them, 
and as their own has such a slight foundation it is easier to convince their 
understanding than their will, their lives being so far from the strictness 
and perfection of the Evangelical law and the happiness it brings to its 
followers. 
Our Christians keep Lent very well, with the full rigour of fasting and 
abstinence from all milk food. We gave them leave to eat butter, but many 
did not avail themselves of it. All through Lent nothing is conceded: even 
1 See p. 91 below. 
2 See p. 111 below. The work was not completed till 1609. 
Deets, 2 
