attentively they have made the expense once for all; for by means of the silver, hangings which soon are destroyed and damaged by the dampness in these islands, are done away with, But the silver, when somewhat tarnished, regains its former luster, and even more, by cleaning it.  The work of the Society may be extolled in all Espana.  All this appears good, so that when the foreigners return to their countries, after having finished their trading, and sold their merchandise, they should take with them the news of our temples; and that through the grandeur and majesty of the temples, they may recognize the grandeur and majesty of Him who is thus worshiped in this country.  And this is one thing at which the nations are most astonished, and especially the Japanese.  They look at the temples with great curiosity.  This nation has also been tested in Christianity.  For up to today they have given to the church an innumerable number of martyrs, both men and women, all notable.  This I have heard declared by the archdean Alonso Garcia, in the reports made in Manila by order of his Holiness in the year 1631.  In them were described more than nine hundred martyrs, all notable, besides the rest, of whom no knowledge could be had.  Nearly all the orders have Japanese priests, and they are excellent subjects; our order has three.  Two, Fray Miguel and Fray Leon, are holy men.  The third has not resulted so, although he is rather an interpreter and one well grounded in everything.  But until life is ended we may not praise or condemn one. Ante mortem non laudes hominem quemquam; lauda post mortem, honorifica post consumationem. [88]

Chapters XX-XXII

[These chapters deal almost entirely with Chinese affairs, and the part played by the Augustinians in the first Spanish embassy sent to China; their return; and the ill-success of the second embassy to that country.]

[At length the attempts of the Augustinians to go to China bear fruit, and on June 21, 1575, Martin de Rada and Jeronimo Marin set sail for the great empire.  The opportunity comes through the defeat and siege of the pirate Limahon.  The Chinese captain Dumon braves the laws forbidding the entrance of foreigners into China, and conveys the missionaries to that country—­whither they go rather in the light of emissaries of the government than as religious workers; for the governor, Guido de Lavezares, gave them three letters, one for the Chinese emperor, another for the viceroy of the province of Fo-Kien, and the third for the governor of Chin-Cheu.  They are well received and borne through a portion of the land in state.  They receive audience, and later a banquet, from the governor of the city of Chin-Cheu, to whom they deliver the letter from the Spanish governor.] [89]