In all this time, which was about six months in continuance, we instructed many of the royal family in the Catholic faith; and having every day in our house a great concourse of the principal ministers of the country, nay even of priests and of the common people, we gave up our time to instruct them all in the Christian doctrine, and that in their own Chaldean tongue, which, by the grace of God we had in a few months acquired; so that many were enlightened and convinced by our instruction, and being troubled in their guilty consciences, cried out publicly, "We are vile Christians, and shall without fail go to hell." Others even shewed themselves desirous to make profession of the Catholic faith; but we, yet feeling ourselves insecure of a permanent footing in the kingdom, deferred it to a more favourable opportunity. At length, after great demonstration of love from the Emperor, the ministers, the people, and some of the priests, we thought ourselves safe, and promised ourselves a copious harvest; the Emperor having already destined me for his ambassador to the Apostolic See, for the advantage of the catholic faith in his kingdom: when, lo! the enemy of the human race excited against the King and against us a great rebellion among the people; insomuch that the Archbishop Gofto, fearing to lose his emoluments, threatened to excommunicate the King and all the people, if he did not immediately expel us out of the kingdom. In a word, during the night, not only the furious populace, but also many monks more outrageous than the populace, cried out to the King, rang the bells, and demanded our expulsion with loud cries and threats of death. The Emperor, awakened and confounded by such an uproar, on the 2d of October sent for us to an audience, and communicated to us the painful intelligence that we must depart, which he did in the following words: "It is with the greatest reluctance that I have to acquaint you with the necessity of your departure out of my kingdom, on account of the rebellion of my people, who threaten to kill both myself and you, unless you instantly go away. For some time past murmurings have arisen against you, which I have sought to appease; but it is no longer in my power to allay them, and therefore hasten your departure, and avert this destruction from my head, as well as your own."
To these words of the Emperor I answered, that we could not go away without first receiving the consent of the sacred council; and thereupon I humbly prayed him to bear with us patiently till he should receive a letter from Rome. Meanwhile we determined not to leave our house, being much rather disposed to die for the Catholic faith, than to disgrace our ministry by a shameful flight. For three months, or thereabouts we continued to remain against the will of the Emperor, though more than once pressed to depart, in which time we frequently went into the presence of the Emperor and of the Queen-mother (Regina Madre;) speaking to them with evangelical license on the subject of the Catholic faith, and threatening them at the same time with eternal damnation if they did not yield obedience to the truths of the Gospel; repeating to them the words of the Evangelist: "Fear not for those things which destroy the body, for they cannot hurt the soul; but rather fear ye for those things which have the power to destroy the soul and body eternally."
