and set before him all the dangers which attended him; that, being at
the mercy of the Bonzas, his death was inevitable; and that the means of
escaping would be lost when once the tempest should begin to rise. The
Father, far from yielding to these arguments, was offended at the captain
and the merchants for desiring to hinder him from the crown of martyrdom
which he had taken so long a journey to obtain. "My brother," said he to
Gama, with a fervour which expressed the holy ambition of his soul, "how
happy should I be, if I could receive what you reckon a disgrace, but
what I account a sovereign felicity! but I am unworthy of that favour
from Almighty God; yet I will not render myself more unworthy of it,
which assuredly I should if I embarked with you: For what scandal should
I give, by flying hence, to my new converts? Might they not take occasion
from it to violate their promises to God, when they should find me
wanting to the duty of my ministry? If, in consideration of that money
which you have received from your passengers, you think yourself obliged
to secure them from the clanger which threatens them, and, for that
reason, have summoned them on board, ought not I, by a stronger motive,
to guard my flock, and die with them for the sake of a God who is
infinitely good, and who has redeemed me at the price of his own life, by
suffering for me on the cross? Ought not I to seal it with my blood, and
to publish it by my death, that all men are bound to sacrifice their
blood and lives to this God of mercies?"

This generous answer wrought so much upon the captain, that, instead of
doubling his solicitations on Father Xavier, he resolved to partake his
fortune, and not to leave him. Having taken up this resolution, without
farther care of what might happen to his ship, or what became of his own
person, and accounting all his losses for a trifle while he enjoyed the
company of Xavier, he returned indeed to his merchants, but it was only
to declare to them the determination of the Father, and his own also;
that in case they would not stay, he gave up his vessel to them. They
were supplied with mariners and soldiers, and had plentiful provisions
laid in, both of food and ammunition for war. They might go at their
pleasure wheresoever they designed; but, for his own particular, he was
resolved to live and die with the man of God.

Not a man of them but subscribed to the opinion of the captain; and they
were one and all f