[Footnote 1:  An argument ready cut and dried for the use of any church by law established]

The saint replied, “That he gave not to idols the name of gods, because they were unworthy of it; and that so sacred a title was only proper to the Sovereign Lord, who had created heaven and earth.  Then he proceeded to discourse of the Divine Being, and described those properties which are known to us by the light of nature; that is to say, his independence, his eternity, his omnipotence, his wisdom, goodness, and justice, without circumscription.  He made out, that those infinite perfections could not be comprehended by any created understanding, how refined soever.  And thus having filled his auditors with a vast idea of the Deity, he demonstrated, that the idols of Japan, who, according to the Japonians themselves, had been men, subject to the common laws of time and nature, were not to be accounted gods; and, at the most, were only to be reverenced as philosophers, lawgivers, and princes, but not in the least as immortal powers, since the date both of their birth and death was registered in the public monuments:  That, if their works were duly considered, they were yet less to be accounted for omnipotent:  That having not been able, after their decease, to preserve their stately palaces and magnificent sepulchres from decay, there was no appearance that they had built the fabric of the universe, or could maintain it in its present state.  Lastly, that this appertained alone to the true God, who is worshipped by the Christians; and that, considering the beauty of the heavens, the fruitfulness of the earth, and the order of the seasons, we might conclude, that he only, who is a spirit, eternal, all-powerful, and all-wise, could be the creator and absolute commander of the world.”  As soon as Xavier had concluded, the whole assembly cried out, that he spoke reason; and the judges immediately pronounced, as a manifest truth, that the pagods were not gods.  Fucarandono would have replied, but the general cry gave it for a cause decided; and the king imposed silence on the Bonza, according to the articles of agreement.

Thus the Bonza passed on to another question in his own despite; and asked Father Xavier, “Why he allowed not of those bills of exchange which they gave in favour of the dead, since the rich found their account in them, and that they had their return of their money, with usury, in heaven?” The Father answered, “That the right we had to a better world was founded not on those deceitful letters, but on the good works which are practised with the faith and doctrine which he preached:  That he who inspired it into our souls was Jesus Christ, the true and only Son of God, who was crucified for the salvation of sinners; and that they who preserved that living faith till death should certainly obtain eternal happiness:  That for what remained, this holy law was free from worldly interest, and that it excluded not from heaven either the poor or women;