Navaretta, Ferdinand

, a Spanish Dominican friar, born in Old Castile, is said to have been an eloquent preacher. He quitted Spain in 1646 on a mission to China, where he did not arrive till 1659. He was head of the mission in the province of Chekiang when the persecution arose, and was expelled with the rest of the missionaries. In 1672, he returned to Spain; and soon after went to Rome to give the pope an account of his conduct, which savoured more of the zeal of Loyola than of St. Paul. In 1678 Charles II. raised him to the archbishopric of St. Domingo, in America, where he resided till his death, in 1689. He spoke the Chinese language fluently, and no person, perhaps, understood better the affairs of China, He wrote a work entitled “Tradados Historicos, Politicos, Ethicos, y Religiosos, de la monarchia de China.” The first volume, folio, Mad. 1676, is scarce and curious, but | has been inserted in Churchill’s Voyages; the second was suppressed by the inquisition, but has been so often quoted by the Jesuits, that it is thought the inquisitors gave away a few copies before they destroyed the impression; the third never was published. Navaretta is said also to have written some religious tracts in the Chinese language. ¹