After the two deaths already described, the Vicar reflected how serious the sickness was, and that one, two, or three died every day, and began to perambulate the camp, crying with a loud voice: “Is there one who wants to confess? Put yourselves well with God, and attend to the welfare of your souls, for a punishment has come upon us, from which none can escape, how numerous soever we may be. The natives will triumph over us, and will remain, enjoying our clothes and arms and all we possess in this place, where God holds us prisoners, to chastise us according to our deserts. Think that if God punishes a whole kingdom for one sin, how will He punish here where they are so many. There are men here who have not confessed for three, five, seven, nine, fourteen and thirty years, and one who has only confessed once in his life. There are men here who have caused the deaths of two and three other men; there is a man who does not know whether he is a Moor or a Christian; others have committed sins so foul and so serious that, being such, I will not name them. Remember how God conferred with David, and told him out of three punishments to choose one. We have among us sickness, war, famine and discord, and we are far from any remedy. Reflect that we have God incensed against us, and that the naked and bloody sword of His justice, with which He goes forth to kill, is ready to put an end to us. Fully justified is His judgment. The punishment is not so great nor so rigorous as we deserve. Confess yourselves! clean your souls, and with the repentance, appease the anger of God, Who wishes not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live. Open your eyes, and see what a terrible chastisement is this.”

The good priest went about day after day performing his office, giving the sacrament to the sick, burying the dead, and seeking the means of inducing those who did not wish to confess to yield. At other times, with the same anxious spirit, he said that the mercy of Christ was much greater than our sins, how ugly and heinous soever they might be; and that one single drop of the blood which was shed in the Passion was sufficient for the sins of infinite worlds. None of those who were there, be their sins what they may, should lose hope; rather, with the faith and constancy of Christians, they should put their trust in God, Who knows how to pardon sinners. In order further to console and encourage them all by examples, he told the two following anecdotes:—

In a town in Peru there was a Franciscan friar in his convent, of pure life, at whose feet a soldier, who was his neighbour and known to him, knelt down to confess; and as he knelt, he put his eyes on a crucifix, and said in his heart: “O Lord, have mercy on this soul!” On the instant, the image came down from the cross, came half the distance, and said: “Doubt not! confess and be absolved. It was for thee, and other sinners like thee, that I came to the world.”

The other story was that, in the Indies, there was a man rich in goods, but poor in virtue, who sinned, and had old and well-grown roots in many vices. He was a man who sometimes came to the camp with dagger and lance, closed teeth, and eyes raised to heaven, saying: “O God! come down here, to this place, and come with me to see who is the bravest;” and he said other things, showing as little fear or reverence for God as this. This man, being out one night, and passing a room of his, praying with some beads, heard a voice which said: “Oh! such an one, wherefore do you not recite with devotion on that rosary?” Astonished and full of fear, he struck a light, and looked into the room, but saw no one. Continuing to search, he found an image of Our Lady, painted on paper. Raising it from the ground, he put it on the wall, and, kneeling down, he held it with one hand, while he recited on his rosary. While thus employed, two negroes came to him, put out the light, stripped him naked, and flogged him until he was nearly dead. At this juncture he saw the room brilliantly lighted, and a voice said: “Go! go! and leave this soul which is not thine, for My Son has granted it to Me through His mercy and My prayers.” In a moment, the negroes left him, and the light disappeared. The patient went away as well as he could, and laid down on his bed. He sent for a friar, who asked what had happened that he should send for him in the middle of the night. He related what had happened, showed him the wounds and bruises, and begged urgently to be confessed, saying that it was thirty-eight years since he had confessed. The confessor heard and consoled him, saying that much worse sins were pardoned by God with a free hand. His confession lasted for seventeen days, and he was absolved with a small penance. A fever came upon him, and wasted him so, that on the day when he finished his confession he died like a saint.

With these stories, and in many other ways, as Christian as these, the Vicar secured the salvation of the souls which could be brought into the right way; and the better to fulfil the duties of his office, he came on shore to live in the house of one of the men who had died.