Note 14 — Relation of 1609–1610

And inasmuch as he makes mention of our Lady and St. Mark, I must not neglect to report a matter that seems worthy of consideration. At the beginning when the war was discussed, the governor had a dream. In it, he saw a venerable man, who told him that he would obtain a glorious victory on St. Mark’s day. Although it seemed too late to go to attack the enemy, as it was thought that he had already gone with his ships full of plunder—which meant to go with shouts of victory, yet on this account the governor hastened to sail before the day of the holy evangelist, with the intent of punishing the enemy. However, he could not prepare the fleet as was necessary before April 21. Making an attempt to attack the Dutch on Friday, the twenty-third, they could not, for the reason above stated, of losing their anchors. Consequently the time went by until the twenty-fourth, for us, Saturday, the day of our Lady. The governor had had her image put on the royal standard and implored her aid by that verse, Mostrate esse Matrem [i.e., “Show thyself to be our Mother”]. This day was for those who came from Maluco the twenty-fifth of April, or St. Mark’s day, as it was also for those from Japon. It is an extraordinary thing to find this conflict in the days when they unite, namely, those who sail east and those who sail west meet.14 It appears that those days had, as it Page 126were, overlapped, so that the victory might be obtained on our Lady’s day, for our favor; and on St. Mark’s day for the ruin of the Dutch—the saint warring upon them as on Calvinists, since Calvinists made spiritual warfare upon his state of Venecia. Besides, the victory was gained past noon on St. Mark’s day, when his day strictly begins.