His mission on the coast of Malabar accomplished, Xavier moved on to make other conquests for the Church, The kingdoin of Travancore was next enter- ed, and the most marvellous success followed his labors. He tells us that in one month he baptized ten thousand natives. With a zeal and energy not surpassed by any missionarj' of the Cross, he explored tlie islands of Mora, Manez, Ceylon, the Moluccas, and every part of the Indies which had been made known to the world by European travellers. " Weak and frail he may have been, but from the days of Paul of Tarsus to our own the annals of mankind exhibit no other example of a soul borne on so triumphantly through distress and dan- ger in all their most appalling aspects." In 1549 he landed on the shores of Japan, and was soon able to preach to the natives of that great island the Gospel as he believed it. The story of the labors of Xavier and his associates among the Japanese is one of the most marvellous in the annals of missionary advent- ures. The details of this story are too long to be re- cited in a sketch like this, and the reader must look elsewhere to find them. With his ambition as a mis- sionary still ungratified, and resolved to find a still larger field within which to operate, he turned his eye towards the great empire of China, and resolved to make that vast countrj' the scene of his consecrated toil. Overcoming obstacles which would have terrified any other man, he embarked in the " Holy Cross," and at length reached Sancian, an island near the mouth of the Canton River, where the Portuguese had a com- mercial factory. Here he was prostrated by a disease which proved fatal. His iron frame was worn out by his ten years and a half of incessant work, and he was compelled to bow before a Power whose mandate he could not withstand. He died Dec. 2, 1552, His last words were, " In te, Domine, speravi ; non confimdar in ajternum" (" In thee, O Lord, have I put my trust ; let me never be confounded"). His body was removed to Goa, where it was deposited in the Church of St. Paul. In 1019 he was beatified, and in 1G22 w'as can- onized as a saint. The "festive day" of Xavier in the calendar of the Romish Church is Dec, 3. See Ste- phens, Miscellanies, s. v, " Ignatius Loyola and his As- sociates;" The Life and Letteis of St. Francis Xavier ( Lond, 1872, 2 vols. ) ; Christian Review, June, 1842, (J, C, S.)
Ximenes, Francisco de Cisneros, cardinal-arch- bishop, grand-inquisitor of Castile, and regent of Spain, was descended from a family belonging to the inferior nobility of Castile, and originally resident in the town from which its appellative was derived. He was born in 1436, and named Gonzales, the name Francisco be-
ing a later monastic substitute. Early destined for the Cluirch, he studied ancient languages at Alcala, at the age of fourteen entered the University of Salamanca, and six years later became bachelor of both civil and canon law. He was driven by [loverty to engage in the practice of law at Rome. On the death of his fa- ther, however, he returned home, having in the mean- time obtained a pajial brief assuring to him the first benefice which might become vacant in. the archdiocese of Toledo; but the archl)ishop took offence at the in- terference of the pope in tiie affairs of liis see, and had, besides, another candidate for the benefice. He accord- ingly imprisoned Ximenes to compel a renunciation of his claim, and did not liberate him until after six years. In 1480 a chajilaincy was obtained which removed him from under the jurisdiction of the archbishop and af- forded him opportunity for the study of theology and also of the Hebrew and Chaldee languages; and soon afterwards he became vicar to Mendoza, bishop of Si- giienza, and administrator of the estates of Count Ci- suentes, who was a captive among the Moors, His fort- unes seemed to be assured for life when he suddenly renounced all his emoluments and entered himself in the order of Franciscan Observants at Toledo as a nov- ice, and devoted himself to ascetical practices excel- ling in rigor the harsh requirements of the monastic rule. Ere long he had won extraordinary fame as a preacher and confessor, and multitudes thronged to his confessional; but he turned away from these brilliant prospects also, and buried himself in the hermitage of the Madonna of Castannar in a hut erected with his own hands. Three years afterwards he was ordered by his superiors to the monastery of Salzeda, where he soon became guardian, and stimulated the monks by his example to strict performance of their vows.
In 1492 he was made confessor to the queen, Isabella, but with the proviso, insisted on by himself, that he should be allowed to fulfil his monastic obligations and reside in his convent. Two years later he was chosen to be provincial of his order for Castile, and after a vis- itation of the convents made on foot, in which he noted the lax discipline everywhere prevailing, he induced the queen to procure a brief from pope Alexander VI directing a reformation. In 1495' the archbishop of Toledo died, and Ximenes was promoted to his post, an appointment from which he vaiidy sought to escape by flight, and wliich had no effect whatever over his ascet- ical habits after it was accepted. He was ultimately ordered from Rome, inider date of Dec, 15, 1495, to live in a style comporting with his rank ; but, though he obeyed in outward appearance, he persisted in wear- ing the coarse gown and cord of St. Francis and in sleeping on a bench by the side of his luxurious bad. In the influential position he now held, he was able to prosecutfi the reformation among the monks and secu- lar clergy more energetically, and to compel it| success despite the violent opposition raised against it. He caused Albornos, a delegate to Rome who was to accuse him to the pope, to be arrested by the Spanish ambas- sador at Ostia and returned as a prisoner of state. Sev- eral thousand Franciscans are said to have sought re- lief from his rigorous rule in other lands. The general of the order visited Castile and complained bitterly, but to no purpose, against Ximenes. After his return to Rome, he caused the appointment of a number of coadjutors to share with Ximenes in the work of re- form; but the latter paid no attention to this commis- sion, and was even able, through the influence of the queen, to evade a papal bull, dated Nov. 9, 149G, which prohibited their Catliolic majesties from proceeding with the reform until its operation had been investi- gated by the curia.