etter
than idolatry."

"Tell me, father," said Philip--"they talk of a miraculous vision--of a
ship not manned by mortal men. Did you see it?"

"I saw what others saw," replied the priest; "and certainly, as far as
my senses would enable me to judge, the appearance was most unusual--I
may say supernatural; but I had heard of this Phantom Ship before, and
moreover that its appearance was the precursor of disaster. So did it
prove in our case, although, indeed, we had one on board, now no more,
whose weight of guilt was more than sufficient to sink any vessel; one,
the swallowing up of whom, with all that wealth from which he
anticipated such enjoyment in his own country, has manifested that the
Almighty will, even in this world, sometimes wreak just and awful
retribution on those who have merited His vengeance."

"You refer to the Dutch President, who went down with the ship when it
sank."

"I do; but the tale of that man's crime is long; to-morrow night, I will
walk with you, and narrate the whole. Peace be with you, my son, and
good night."

The weather continued fine, and the Batavia hove-to in the evening, with
the intention of anchoring the next morning in the roadstead of St.
Helena. Philip, when he went on deck to keep the middle watch, found
the old priest at the gangway waiting for him. In the ship all was
quiet; the men slumbered between the guns, and Philip, with his new
acquaintance, went aft, and seating themselves on a hencoop, the priest
commenced as follows:--

"You are not, perhaps, aware that the Portuguese, although anxious to
secure for themselves a country discovered by their enterprise and
courage, and the possession of which, I fear, has cost them many crimes,
have still never lost sight of one point dear to all good Catholics--
that of spreading wide the true faith, and planting the banner of Christ
in the regions of idolatry. Some of our countrymen having been wrecked
on the coast, we were made acquainted with the islands of Japan; and
seven years afterwards, our holy and blessed St. Francis, now with God,
landed on the Island of Ximo, where he remained for two years and five
months, during which he preached our religion and made many converts.
He afterwards embarked for China, his original destination, but was not
permitted to arrive there; he died on his passage, and thus closed his
pure and holy life. After his death, notwithstanding the many obstacles
thrown in our way by the p