John Dryden - The Works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 16

MADAM,

The reverend author of this life, in his dedication to his Most Christian Majesty, affirms, that France was owing for him to the intercession of St Francis Xavier. That Anne of Austria, his mother, after twenty years of barrenness, had recourse to heaven, by her fervent prayers, to draw down that blessing, and addressed her devotions, in a particular manner, to this holy apostle of the Indies. I know not, madam, whether I may presume to tell the world, that your majesty has chosen this great saint for one of your celestial patrons, though I am sure you will never be ashamed of owning so glorious an intercessor; not even in a country where the doctrine of the holy church is questioned, and those religious addresses ridiculed. Your majesty, I doubt not, has the inward satisfaction of knowing, that such pious prayers have not been unprofitable to you; and the nation may one day come to understand, how happy it will be for them to have a son of prayers ruling over them. 2 2 The superstitious and, as it proved, fatal insinuation, that the birth of the Chevalier de St George was owing to the supernatural intercession of St Francis Xavier, was much insisted on by the Protestants as an argument against the reality of his birth. See the Introduction to "Britannia Rediviva," Vol. X. p. 285. In that piece, our author also alludes to this foolery: Hail, son of prayers, by holy violence Drawn down from heaven! — Not that we are wholly to depend on this particular blessing, as a thing of certainty, though we hope and pray for its continuance. The ways of Divine Providence are incomprehensible; and we know not in what times, or by what methods, God will restore his church in England, or what farther trials and afflictions we are yet to undergo. Only this we know, that if a religion be of God, it can never fail; but the acceptable time we must patiently expect, and endeavour by our lives not to undeserve. I am sure if we take the example of our sovereigns, we shall place our confidence in God alone; we shall be assiduous in our devotions, moderate in our expectations, humble in our carriage, and forgiving of our enemies. All other panegyrics I purposely omit; but those of Christianity are such, that neither your majesty, nor my royal master, need be ashamed of them, because their commemoration is instructive to your subjects. We may be allowed, madam, to praise Almighty God for making us happy by your means, without suspicion of flattery; and the meanest subject has the privilege of joining his thanksgiving with his sovereigns, where his happiness is equally concerned. May it not be permitted me to add, that to be remembered, and celebrated in after ages, as the chosen vessel, by which it has pleased the Almighty Goodness to transmit so great a blessing to these nations, is a secret satisfaction, which is not forbidden you to take; the blessings of your people are a prelibation of the joys in heaven, and a lawful ambition here on earth.

Your majesty is authorized, by the greatest example of a mother, to rejoice in a promised son. The blessed Virgin was not without as great a proportion of joy, as humanity could bear, when she answered the salutation of the angel in expressions, which seemed to unite the contradicting terms of calmness, and of transport: "Be it to thy hand-maid, according to thy word."

It is difficult for me to leave this subject, but more difficult to pursue it as I ought; neither must I presume to detain your majesty by a long address. The life of Saint Francis Xavier, after it had been written by several authors in the Spanish and Portuguese, and by the famous Padre Bartoli in the Italian tongue, came out at length in French, by the celebrated pen of Father Bohours, from whom I have translated it, and humbly crave leave to dedicate it to your patronage. I question not but it will undergo the censure of those men, who teach the people, that miracles are ceased. Yet there are, I presume, a sober party of the Protestants, and even of the most learned among them, who being convinced, by the concurring testimonies of the last age, by the suffrages of whole nations in the Indies and Japan, and by the severe scrutinies that were made before the act of canonization, will not dispute the truth of most matters of fact as they are here related; nay, some may be ingenuous enough to own freely, that to propagate the faith amongst infidels and heathens, such miraculous operations are as necessary now in those benighted regions, as when the Christian doctrine was first planted by our blessed Saviour and his apostles.

The honourable testimonies which are cited by my author, just before the conclusion of his work, and one of them in particular from a learned divine of the church of England, 3 3 The Reverend Richard Hackluyt, editor of the large collection of voyages to which Purchas' Pilgrim is a continuation. though they slur over the mention of his miracles, in obscure and general terms, yet are full of veneration for his person. Farther than this I think it needless to prepossess a reader; let him judge sincerely, according to the merits of the cause, and the sanctity of his life, of whom such wonders are related, and attested with such clouds of witnesses; for an impartial man cannot but of himself consider the honour of God in the publication of his gospel, the salvation of souls, and the conversion of kingdoms, which followed from those miracles; the effects of which remain in many of them to this day.

But that it is not lawful for me to trespass so far on the patience of your majesty, I should rather enlarge on a particular reflection, which I made in my translation of this book, namely, that the instructions of the saint, which are copied from his own writings, are so admirably useful, so holy, and so wonderfully efficacious, that they seem to be little less than the product of an immediate inspiration. So much excellent matter is crowded into so small a compass, that almost every paragraph contains the value of a sermon. The nourishment is so strong, that it requires but little to be taken at a time. Where he exhorts, there is not an expression, but what is glowing with the love of God; where he directs a missioner, or gives instructions to a substitute, we can scarcely have a less idea than of a St Paul advising a Timothy, or a Titus. Where he writes into Europe, he inspires his ardour into sovereign princes, and seems, with the spirit of his devotion, even to burn his colleagues at the distance of the Indies.

But, madam, I consider that nothing I can say is worthy to detain you longer from the perusal of this book, in which all things are excellent, excepting only the meanness of my performance in the translation. Such as it is, be pleased, with your inborn goodness, to accept it, with the offer of my unworthy prayers for the lasting happiness of my gracious sovereign, for your own life and prosperity, together with the preservation of the son of prayers, and the farther encrease of the royal family; all which blessings are continually implored from heaven, by,

MADAM,

Your Majesty's most humble,

And most obedient subject and servant,

JOHN DRYDEN.

Having already presented you with the Life of St Ignatius, I thought myself obliged to give you that of St Francis Xavier. For, besides that it was just that the son should attend the father, it seemed to me, that these two saints being concerned so much together, the history of the apostle of India and Japan would give you a clearer knowledge of him who was founder of the Jesuits. I may add likewise, that many considerable persons, and particularly of the court, have testified so great a desire to see a complete history of St Xavier in our language, that I thought my labour would not be unacceptable to them; and that in satisfying my own private devotion, I might at the same time content the curiosity of others.