name of Cæsia to a class of plants; for his name was almost forgotten. But among the scientific it still was known; for he first suggested the Linnæan system of classifying plants. I could speak also of other branches of science, but the subject of physiology, on which I wish to make just now a further observation, strange enough, brings to my mind another, which, I am sure, strikes every person that contemplates the progress of our days, as embracing one of the most wonderful, one of the most beautiful, and one of the most useful of those discoveries which I have no hesitation in attributing to the merciful dispensation of Providence. There have appeared to us from time to time in the heavens new bodies. They have existed there from creation, yet man has not seen them. Planets, like our own earth, have been revolving round our own sun, and no eye has got a glimpse of them, till within these few years. There have been comets wandering through space; coming and going fitfully, seen for a moment, then lost; there are stars which the naked eye could never have seen, hidden in clouds thet seem to form part of the celestial atmosphere. They were there: and they raised their voices feebly, but still in their own proper measure, in that concert of the spheres, in that music of the heavens which relate the wonderful works of God's hands, and make known His glory. And after they have thus, for thousands of years, been rolling silently, and unobserved, around the centres appointed to them, there comes a day when they are caught sight of by man; they are bound fast forever to the system of the heavens, by inexorable theorems; and they become not only objects of science, but even the groundwork of most magnificent verifications, and invaluable calculations. And who makes them known? Why were they not displayed to the first man in paradise, when he contemplated the heavens in all their glory? Why were they not made known to the inspired ones who sung so nobly of the glories of the firmament? Because the time was not arrived when that new knowledge should be given to man; and when it did come, it pleased God to send them into the path of the telescope, and they were born for the first time to this our creation. And so from year to year, man may always find expanding motives for admiring the power of God, and the beauty of His wisdom! And in the same light do I consider any other discovery or invention of man which is intended to act greatly on his social interest. It is concealed until its appointed hour is arrived, when God in His justice or His mercy has decreed it should be revealed.

CONCLUSION NEXT MONTH.

JAPAN-ITS RELIGIOUS HISTORY.-No. III.

To those acquainted with the roads and inclemency of the seasons in Japan, (for it was the 27th of October, 1550, when Xavier left Amanguchi,) it would seem nothing short of miraculous, that the holy man did not die by the way. Of this journey the new apostles could with the greatest truth have said, in the words of the apostle: "in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils from the gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea. In labor and painfulness, in much watchings, in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness.” Their sufferings and exposure were so great that nature at last gave way and Xavier was taken with a violent fever at Sacay, about forty-eight miles from Meaco. But it pleased God, to whose fatherly providence he committed himself and his labors, to restore him to health in a short time, and as if his past toil had been nothing, he continued his journey with the same earnestness as before. The zeal with which he inveighed against the vices and religion of the places through which he passed, drew upon him the anger of those he reproved, and twice, according to the report of the infidels who were afterwards converted, he was on the point of being stoned, and was only saved by the miraculous intervention of Him whose

cause he was pleading. Early one morning as the missionaries were threading their way with much difficulty through a dangerous forest, Xavier perceived a horseman travelling towards Meaco. He offered to carry his valise, if he would guide them out of danger. The gentleman accepted the offer, but rode at such a rate that Xavier was compelled to run in order to keep up with him. At night-fall he was found by his companions, who had followed him as well as they could but at a great distance, exceedingly spent and wearied, and his feet were swollen and bleeding in many places, from the wounds he had received from the sharp rocks and the briars over which he had been compelled to run. Yet this did not prevent him from continuing his journey the next day, as if nothing at all had happened, so great was the courage and alacrity he derived from his continual union with God.

About the end of February, after nearly three months of excessive pain and labor, he arrived at Meaco. Although the name of this city in the Japanese language means a sight worth seeing, the wars that had been raging for some time before in its neighborhood had destroyed much of its beauty, and threatened to ruin it altogether. It was to no purpose that Xavier tried to have an audience of the Cubo or Dairi or to gather some of the people, to make known to them the tidings of salvation. After a residence of two weeks, he found the tumult and confusion so great on account of the war, that he was constrained to return to Firando, with no other consolation than that he had preached Jesus in the capital of the empire and had suffered much for the glory of God. During his absence Father Cosmus was not idle, and though no record is extant of the increase in numbers, yet the advancement of the converts in piety was very remarkable. Among the Japanese there exists a devotion very similar in form to our Rosary, in which each one according to his sect repeats the name of his favorite divinity a certain number of times, addressing some prayer or petition to him on every bead. This they changed into a Christian devotion, by invoking in the same way the sacred names of Jesus

and Mary. But Xavier only came to Firando to acquaint Father Cosmus with his intention of returning to Amanguchi, where he hoped to reap in joy what he had sown in tears but a few months before. The Portuguese, whilst they united with Father Cosmus in commending his enterprise, told him that they thought it more for the glory of God and the advancement of religion, that he should condescend a little more to the weakness and prejudices of the natives, and not make himself and his cause contemptible, by an undue adherence to the strict poverty which he had hitherto professed. A better apparel would make the Japanese listen with greater reverence, whilst it would not diminish in the least the merit of his life of sacrifice. Prudence required, in a matter of such importance as the salvation of men, that he should become as the apostle all to all, in order to gain all to God. When the Japanese would be well grounded in the faith, and know and appreciate the extreme poverty of the God-Man, their Redeemer, they would admire and bless what now they despise and regard as a curse. Unwilling as he was to throw off the livery of Christ, Xavier could not but admit the propriety of the representations and not wishing to be guided by his own light in a matter of such importance, he yielded to their advice and accepted a new habit, and took with him the presents which the Viceroy of the Indies had given him, that by them he might win the friendship of the kings and nobles. This change in dress and manner operated wonderfully in his favor on his return to Amanguchi. The king received him with much kindness and as an exchange for the presents offered him a large sum of money which Xavier respectfully refused. This conduct astonished the king very much and he could not help contrasting it with the greedy avarice of the Bonzies, who never gave but always looked for a compensation for every action. However, he insisted upon showing his favor and asked what he could do to oblige him. "Nothing," replied Xavier, "except granting me the privilege of preaching the Christian religion in your States. With this I shall consider myself more than remunerated for whatever I have presented to your Majesty. It is for this alone that I came from

the far West." This disinterestedness made the king and courtiers look upon him as a man of extraordinary merit and worthy of great respect. The desired permission was granted, and confirmed by an edict set up in every square of the towns in the dependencies of Amanguchi. Learning a few days after that the foreign doctors had no fixed residence, the king assigned them a house, that had formerly been occupied by the Bonzies, but had for some time been abandoned, and added to it a place large enough for the building of a church. Attracted by this favor of the court the Amanguchians began to throng the house of the missionaries and make enquiries into this new doctrine, that had been brought from the other extremity of the world. Xavier was not less struck at their intelligence and learning than wearied by their importunities. Scarcely an hour of the day or night was free from interruption. Repose and prayer, even their meals, scanty as they were, could not have their appointed time, and the fatigue and interruption endured at home was equalled by that which they had to endure, whenever they preached in public. The sermon was the least part of their labor, for it was immediately succeeded by a contest of mind, in which every point advanced by the missionaries had to undergo the severest scrutiny, and the least obscurity was immediately caught up and objected to by the hearers. All wished to be heard and frequently they cried out together, so that it was sometimes impossible to know what was the nature of their difficulties. God, however, came to the aid of his servant and put such an answer in his mouth that all were satisfied with his explanation. This miraculous faculty, of satisfying by one answer many different questions, which his companions and successors did not enjoy, made the infidels regard him as a very superior man to the others both in knowledge and ability.

Another miracle also acquired for him greater respect, for besides the Japanese language which he spoke with admirable ease and elegance, he preached in Chinese to some of the merchants of that nation who were then trading at Amanguchi, although he had never studied their language. But his labor seemed to be fruitless. Many convinced of the truth desired to become Christians, but were kept back by human respect, and the Saint after some weeks was exceedingly afflicted to find the truth almost as much disregarded as at his arrival. God, however, had His moments for every thing, and when there seemed the least probability of bringing the infidels under the sweet yoke of Christ, His grace broke down the obstacles that opposed His mercy and made them the means of success. Brother Fernandez was preaching in one of the public squares to a large crowd of every age and condition, when one of the vilest of the rabble approached him and spat in his face. This excited a good deal of laughter in the crowd, but the Brother far from being disconcerted or showing any passion, wiped his face and continued his sermon as if nothing had happened. This heroism changed the ridicule into admiration. A young man of splendid talent, but a great enemy of Christianity and a zealous supporter of the false religion of his country, observed the modesty and patience with which Fernandez bore the affront, and concluded that a religion which could inspire such heroism in men of such acquirements as these strangers proved themselves to be, must be more than human. He began then to examine with more favor the evidences that had been proposed, and finding them most satisfactory he immediately proclaimed himself conquered and desired baptism. A leader only was wanting to open the way for the many who were already convinced, and this conversion was immediajely followed by many others, so that the Church numbered among her children in the short space of two months over five hundred. One of these is particularly worthy of notice, because after his converVOL. I.-No, 3.

17

sion he became an apostle and during thirty years preached the truth with such zeal and fervor that many of the brightest names in the annals of the Japanese Church owed to him their conversion and their virtue. He had come to Amanguchi with the intention of enrolling himself in a particular sect of Bonzies, but finding that they did not believe in a Supreme Being, he had given up the thought and was undecided what course to pursue, when he heard of the strange doctors who had lately entered the kingdom. Curiosity lead him to see and speak with them. After a few conferences, satisfied with the arguments and enamored of the morality of their doctrine, he desired to be baptized, and received the name of Lawrence. His desire of being consecrated in a special manner to God increased with the grace of the sacrament, and he asked humbly to be permitted to remain in the company of the missionaries. A request so much in accordance with Xavier's own desire could not be refused, and accordingly after the usual probations he was admitted a member of the Society of Jesus and aided the Fathers very much by his knowledge of the various sects into which Japan was divided.

TO BE CONTINUED.

"SURSUM

CORDA."

"Tis sweet to have a gentle flower
To glad us with its bloom,
And shed around our lonely path
The breath of its perfume.

Tis joy to look upon a world
So wonderously fair,
And see the finger mark of God
Imprinted everywhere.

To leave awhile all trivial things,
Their sorrows and alloys,

And taste the blessedness that flows
From pure and simple joys.

"Tis bliss to watch the happy stars
That gem the skies above,
And think upon that far-off home
Of holy peace and love.

If here the sweets affection yields
With ecstasy be fraught,
What shall it be in that bright world
Where love rules every thought?
LAMP.