The man of God received intelligence, at the same time, that the ministers of Portugal at Goa had sent word to Lisbon of the great progress which the Society had made; and that, in particular, the new viceroy, Don Antonio de Norogna, had written, that the Indies were infinitely satisfied with the Jesuits; that none could look on the good effects of their labours without blessing the name of God for them; and that their lives were correspondent to their calling.  The saint also was informed, that the king of Portugal had sent word of all these proceedings to the Pope; especially the conversion of the king of Tanor, and the martyrdom of Father Antonio Criminal:  That he had communicated to his Holiness his intentions of founding many colleges for the Society, to the end the East might be filled with apostolical labourers; and that, in the mean time, he had ordained, that all the seminaries established in the Indies, for the education of youth, should be put into the hands of the Society, in case it was not already done:  Lastly, it was told to Father Xavier, that the viceroy of the Indies, and the captains of the fortresses, had orders from King John III. to defray the charges of the missioners in all their voyages; and that this most religious prince had discharged his conscience of the care of souls, by imposing it on the Society; obliging the Fathers, in his stead, to provide for the instruction of the infidels, according to the ancient agreement which had been made with the Holy See, when the conquests of the East were granted to the crown of Portugal.

Amidst so many occasions of joy and satisfaction, the ill conduct of Antonio Gomez gave Xavier an exceeding cause of grief.  Before his voyage to Japan, he had constituted him rector of the college of St Paul, according to the intention, or rather by the order, of Father Simon Rodriguez, who had sent him to the Indies three years after his noviciate; and who, in relation to these missions, had an absolute authority, as being provincial of Portugal, on which the Indies have their dependence.  Gomez was master of many eminent qualities which rarely meet in the same person:  He was not only a great philosopher, divine, and canonist, but also an admirable preacher, and as well conversant as any man in the management of affairs; and, besides all this, was kindled with a most fervent zeal for the conversion of souls; always prompt to labour in the most painful employments, and always indefatigable in labour:  but wonderfully self-opinioned; never guided by any judgment but his own, and acting rather by the vivacity of his own impetuous fancy, than by the directions of the Holy Spirit, or the rules of right reason.  As he was of a confirmed age at his entrance into the Society, so he had not soon enough endeavoured to get the mastery of those headstrong passions which ran away with his understanding.  And when he had once taken upon him the charge of rector, he began to govern by the dictates of his