But even more wonderful was the baptism of two mutes, who, besides their natural barbarism, were still further hindered in receiving human instruction by their lack of the usual qualification therefor, which, as the apostle St. Paul declares, [10] is the hearing—­which they, being mutes, lacked entirely.  But God our Lord, in order to show His great mercy, and to demonstrate that His law, as the royal prophet says, is “unspotted, converting souls,” and that His divine word (as the apostle also says) is sharp-edged and piercing—­so that, unhindered by the absence of the senses, it reaches “unto the division of the soul and the spirit,” [11] and with hidden force instructs, illumines, and sanctifies the soul—­wrought a supernatural marvel in these mutes, whom He made such (as in that other case of the blind man) [12] for the manifestation of His glory, not because of their own sins or those of their parents.

There were then in Dulac two mutes, who caused our fathers much regret, as they supposed it would be so difficult to baptize these persons on account of their lack of capacity for instruction.  Father Ramon de Prado, who was still our vice-provincial, determined, upon learning this, to instruct them by means of signs, believing that Divine Mercy desires that we should all be saved, and denies His grace to no one. [13] He undertook the task, persisted, and won success, our Lord so operating therein that the father, and the father-visitor, and all who knew them, regarded these men as fit for baptism.  Nor were they deceived in this opinion; for the two mutes received the sacrament, and since then the divine grace which is communicated therein has been resplendent in them, with such tokens and effects as Fathers Francisco de Otaco and Melchior Hurtado attest in some of their letters concerning this matter.  In that written by Father Francisco de Otaco to Father Ramon, he says:  “I will not fail to inform your Reverence in a special letter, of the two mutes whom your Reverence catechized, and whom I baptized on the day following your Reverence’s departure.  Your Reverence was deprived of much consolation in not being present on that occasion:  for in all this land I have not seen another person receive holy baptism with greater demonstrations of devotion and joy, while thus setting an example for the others who received the sacrament in their company.  They could not restrain their joy—­especially the elder one, who seemed as if his heart were bursting with gladness.  But it was not only during the baptism that these admirable tokens and results were evident, for they were continued in the church, these new Christians attending mass upon their bended knees, with folded hands, and their eyes fixed upon the altar with extraordinary attention and reverence.”  Here Father Francisco de Otaco ends his account.  Father Melchior Hurtado, in another letter to the father-visitor, thus writes:  “The baptism of the mutes whom the father vice-provincial