The second objection is that, were that town abandoned, all hopes
for the conversion of that great kingdom--which seems to have made a
beginning through Macao--would be crushed. But to that I answer, that
Macao is rather the great hindrance to the conversion; for the infidels
only see in that town evil examples. It is a great inconvenience
to have the Portuguese so prominently before the Chinese, for the
latter judge from them that all other Christians must be like those
whom they see there. Besides the ministers of the gospel, who would
have to conduct the conversion, cannot enter the interior of the
country unless in native costume--as is done there by some fathers
of the Society--and under protection of certain natives who conceal
them. That can also be managed from Manila, in the return voyage of
the Chinese ships, as well as from Macan.
Consequently, the suppression of that town by taking away its trade
involves no injury, but rather the said advantages. And, if there
were any difficulty, one should reflect which is the greater--to
abandon a church like that of the Philipinas, with so great a number
of the faithful, from which so much more may be expected, since there
is hope that from the Philipinas it could extend to all that world
(which is, beyond comparison, much more densely populated than this
world of our Europa); or, in order to preserve the church, to use the
lands of his Majesty so greatly to their injury; or to order three
hundred inhabitants to settle in another region, and to abandon that
location.
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