140 H. HOSTEN ON 



he gave us monthly ; but the Holy Ghost granted him grace to make him do more 

 than what I dared ask. ' Father,' he told me, ' I cannot know exactly how much I 

 owe towards my father's legacy, and it is impossible to ascertain the matter from 

 account-books (por contas), as Your Reverence knows. Hence, I wish to continue giving 

 Rs. 200 every month, and God Our Lord, Who knows it all full well, will accept 

 whatever I owe for the good of my father's soul, and what I give over and above 

 He will accept for the good of mine.' Mirza continued to give the said alms ; he 

 continues still up to the present month of May of [i]628, when I write this ; so 

 that, between the end of the year 1618, when the accounts were made, and the end 

 of the current month of May of [i]628, i.e., during nine years and four months, we 



received, merely on account of this monthly allowance of Rs. 200, Rs. 22,400, 



[The top of foil. 6ySr and 6j8v is somewhat damaged ; but the sense can be made 

 out.\ 



Foi. 678^. which, added to the aforesaid sum of ...... Rs. [24,810], 



makes in all. Rs. [47,210], 



or much more, it is clear, than what his father left to be given for his soul's welfare. 

 And besides the said sum of Rs. 47,210, he gave us in a lump sum twenty thousand 

 Rupees and the rest on other occasions, with which sum we purchased, as mentioned 

 above, the aldeas for the foundation of the Collegium inchoatum. 



" Besides, if it were necessary, I could draw up a list of other large extraordinary 

 alms which Mirza gave us, both in gold and silver plate for the Church, and in cash 

 for good works, the whole amounting, I should think, to forty thousand Rupees. 

 Again, Mirza maintained since 1614, and is still maintaining at Sambar in the pres- 

 ent year [i]628, when I am writing, many widows and poor Christians ; he took also 

 into his service many other Christians, not so much because he stood in need of 

 their services, but because they were Christians. You may guess from this how 

 much money he must have been spending. He did the same for many of his rela- 

 tives, persons of rank, but poor, many of them. Considering that they lived and 

 live as Mirza' s retainers and draw large salaries, he spent also much on them. I 

 Foi. 6 7 8r. omit ||the many. .. .other sums which Mirza always gave [in alms] to others, non- 

 Christians. In one day alone he gave five thousand Rupees for ransoming captives 

 taken in a certain war in which, by the King's order, he had also taken part, and he 

 ordered that none of his captains should [keep ? ransom ?] any of them. I omit all 

 this, because it is foreign to my purpose, which is : — 



' 1st, to show clearly and to evidence how Mirza complied with what his father 

 ordered in his will should be given for the good of his soul, since he gave much 

 more ; 



' 2nd, how he gave us, the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, enough to provide for 

 the foundation of the Collegium inchoatum of Agra ; hence, it is our clear duty to give 

 him the title of Founder ; 



' 3rd, how, besides being a real Founder, he is also a munificent benefactor of the 

 Society and of this small Christianity of Mogol ; therefore, we owe him Masses and 

 prayers, not only as to a Founder, but also as to a munificent benefactor. We particu- 



