The native Hindoo princes were not the only
persecutors of the Holy Catholic faith: the
Dutch settlers along the coast rivalled and even
surpassed them in cruelty. On the Coast of the
Fisheries a Dutch preacher wished to persuade
a Parava chief that the faith he taught was
superior to that the Faxavas had received from
their ancestors : the chief replied that he must
prove it by working miracles at least equal
or superior to those of the great Xavier ; that
he must raise a dozen dead to life, and heal all
the sick. Force was then tried, but equally
without success. Many endured scourges and
tortures with the courage of the ancient mar-
tyrs, and their mothers rejoiced in their suf-
fering thus for the sake of their Saviour.
Children when threatened with death knelt
down, and with clasped hands declared them-



CHKISTIANITY INTO INDIA. 61

delves glad to die £Dr Christ. Many other
converts suffered much from their heathen
relatives^ and were sometimes obHged to give up
all they possessed^ and carrying their children
with them seek a subsistence in some other
place ; yet persecution, sickness and death,
they cheerfully accepted from the hands of
their merciful God, tather than abandon His
koly law.
