148 H. HOSTEN ON 



de Castro, for his extravagances. We have seen only the summary of that letter. 

 " An aper exterminator [ravaging boar] has penetrated into Mogor. I should abstain 

 from speaking about it, knowing that near Your Eminences I am held per mendace 



[as untruthful]. But the truth is one Disedifying conduct of the Bishop of 



Chrysopolis among the Mogorins and Turks. Scandal taken by the Christians, 

 Catholics, English and Dutch alike. His effronteries towards Mirzam Zulkarnem, a 

 Christian, the friend of the Jesuits, who calls to his help Father Buseo [Busi]. The 

 Fathers of Mogor have recourse to the King against the accusations made in public 

 by the Bishop of Chrysopolis, especially against their being spies of the King of 

 Portugal and having usurped the property of Portuguese deceased in Mogor. But the 

 Bishop of Ch^sopolis boasts before all of the instructions he has received from 

 Rome. 



"Let Your Eminences weigh the damage done by him to Christianity, and 

 restore peace to the Mission. If the Jesuits of Mogor are at fault, why does he not 

 denounce them to Rome ? Why does he instead make a Maomettan Prince judge 

 in this matter ? Is this the way to defend the Apostolic See ? " ' 



Father Botelho will tell us more anon about the vagaries of Don Matheus de 

 Castro, a Brahman of Divar (Goa), educated partly in Rome and created a Bishop 

 and Vicar-Apostolic first of Ethiopia, then for the BIjapur and Gulkandah Kingdoms, 

 whose immoderate zeal disturbed West, South and East for many years.* 



Two other passages in Father Ceschi's printed life and letters may be quoted here. 

 On September 5th, 1651, he wrote from Agra to his parents: — 



" A certain Christian was disputing with the Moors, when, inspired by Heaven, 

 he said that the faith he was preaching must be true, if a bird should presently 

 appear and repeat the song he would sing first. They were under tents in a treeless 

 plain, and lo ! a little bird came flying presently, which imitated very well the song 

 the Christian sang. . . . " 3 We know from other unpublished Jesuit letters that this 

 Christian was no other than Mirza Zu-1-Qarnain. 



In another letter to the Rector of the College of Trent (Delhi, August 24th, 

 1654) Father Ceschi says: — "The Prince is extremely fond of the Fathers. He 

 called me lately, though against my wish, to his palace and presented me with a dress 

 of honour (munusculo insigni cuinsdam panni). Mirza, one of our Christians, is one 

 of the grandees at Court. At the Prince's request, the King condoned to him lately 

 50 thousand gold mohurs (aurei). The Mirza (Mirzatius) came to thank his patron.* 

 ' This is not my work at all,' he answered. ' You owe it all to the help of Christ and 

 the prayers of your Fathers. Thank them.' " 6 



1 Cf. Camiu.o Beccari, S.J., Notiziae Saggi di opere e Documenti inediti riguardanti la storia di Etiopia Roma, 



1903. PP- 169, 114. The letter must have been published by this time in one of the 16 vols, which this collection is to 

 comprise ; but I possess only the prospectus volume. 



2 Cf. on him the work above ; also Cas. Christ, de Nazareth, Mitras Liisitanas, L,isboa, 1897, pp. 162, 612, where 

 a number of references are given ; W. Irvine, Storia do Mogor by Manned, s.v. Matheus de Castro. Manucci refers to 

 his visit to Mogor. 



i A. Ceschi, S.J., op. cit., p. 212. 



■i I understand that the patron was the Prince Dara Shikoh. 6 Cf. ibid., p. 227. 



