Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
authority_n	king_n	power_n	successor_n	2,893	5	9.1968	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A49911	Memoirs and observations typographical, physical, mathematical, mechanical, natural, civil, and ecclesiastical, made in a late journey through the empire of China, and published in several letters particularly upon the Chinese pottery and varnishing, the silk and other manufactures, the pearl fishing, the history of plants and animals, description of their cities and publick works, number of people, their language, manners and commerce, their habits, oeconomy, and government, the philosophy of Confucius, the state of Christianity : with many other curious and useful remarks / by Louis Le Compte ... ; translated from the Paris edition, and illustrated with figures.	Le Comte, Louis, 1655-1728.	1697 (1697)	Wing L831; ESTC R15898	355,133	724

Plan of their Government was not a whit less perfect in its Cradle than it is now after the experience and tryal of four thousand years During all which time the Chinese had never so much as heard of the Name of Republick and when lately on the Hollanders arrival they heard of it it seemed so strange to them that they have scarcely yet done admiring at it Nothing could make them understand how a State could regularly be governed without a King they looked upon a Republick to be a Monster with many Heads formed by the ambition headiness and corrupt inclination of Men in times of publick disorder and confusion As they bear an aversion to Republican Government so are they yet more set against Tyranny and Oppression which they say proceeds not from the absoluteness of the Princes power for they cannot be too much their Subjects Masters but from the Princes own wildness which neither the Voice of Nature nor the Laws of God can ever countenance The Chinese are of Opinion that the Obligation which is laid on their Kings not to abuse their Power is rather a means to confirm and establish them than to occasion their ruin and that this useful constraint which they themselves lay on their Passions does no more diminish their Power or Authority here on Earth than the like constraint derogates from the Majesty and Power of the Almighty who is not the less powerful because he cannot do evil An unbounded Authority which the Laws give the Emperor and a Necessity which the same Laws lay upon him to use that Authority with moderation and discretion are the two Props which have for so many Ages supported this grea●●abrick of the Chinese Monarchy The first Principle thereof that is instilled into the People is to respect their Prince with so high a Veneration as almost to adore him They Stile him the Son of Heaven and the only Master of the World His Commands are indisputable his words carry no less Authority with them than if they were Oracles in short every thing that comes from him is Sacred He is seldom seen and never spoken to but on the knees The Grandees of the Court the Princes of the Blood nay his own Brothers bow to the ground not only when he is present but even before his Throne and there are set days every week or month in which the Nobility assemble who meet in one of the Courts in the Palace to acknowledg the Authority of their Prince by their most submissive Adorations tho' he perhaps be not there in Person When he is ill especially if dangerously the Palace is full of Mandarins of every Order who spend night and day in a large Court in Habits proper for the occasion to express their own grief and to ask of Heaven their Princes Cure Rain Snow Cold or any other inconveniences excuse them not from the performance of this Duty and as long as the Emperor is in pain or in danger any one that saw the People would think that they fear nothing but the loss of him Besides Interest is no small occasion of the great respect which is shown him by his Subjects for as soon as he is proclaimed Emperor the whole Authority of the Empire is in his hand and the good or ill Fortune of his Subjects is owing wholly to him First All Places in the Empire are in his disposal he bestows them on whom he thinks fit and besides he is to be looked upon as the disposer of them the more because none of them are ever sold. Merit that is Honesty Learning long Experience and especially a grave and sober behaviour is the only thing considered in the Candidates and no other considerations can lay any claim to favour Neither is this all that he hath the choice of all Officers of State but if he dislikes their management when chosen he dismisses or changes them without more ado A Peccadillo has heretofore been thought enough to render a Mandarin incapable of continuing in his Place and I am told that a Governour of one of their Cities was turned out because on a day of Audience his Cloaths were thought too gay to become the gravity of his Office the Emperor thinking a a Person of that humour not fit to fill such a Place or to act as a Magistrate who represents his Prince I my self saw at Pekin an Example of this Sovereign Power at which I was the more surprised because it was brought about with so little disturbance It was discovered that three Colaos who are Mandarins as honourable for their Places amongst the Chinese as our Ministers of State are amongst us had taken mony underhand for some services done by them in the Execution of their Office The Emperor who was informed of it took away their Salaries immediately and ordered them without farther trouble to retire What became of the two first or how they were used I cannot tell but the other who had a great while been a Magistrate and was as much esteemed for his Understanding as he was respected for his Age was Condemned to look after one of the Palace Gates amongst other common Soldiers in whose company he was Listed I saw him my self one day in this mean condition he was upon Duty as a common Sentinel when I passed by him I bowed to him as indeed every one else did for the Chinese still respected in him the slender remains of that honour which he had just before possessed I must confess I soon left wondering at so severe a punishment inflicted on so great a Man when I saw after what manner even the Princes of the Blood themselves were used One of them was a mighty lover of sports especially of Cock-fighting which is a usual Diversion in the East and the obstinacy of those Creatures which armed with Gavelocks fight 'till they dye with an incredible Skill and Courage is very surprising The Emperor did not think it amiss that this Prince should spend a few hours in such sort of Diversions He knew that Great Men have spare time as well as others and that it does not derogate from any Man's Character to throw away an hour or two sometimes in those Diversions which are more suitable to young People and that it is not at all improper for Men of Understanding and Gravity to condescend to mean and ordinary Sports in order to give some relaxation and ease to their weary Spirits Nevertheless he could not bear to see him spend his whole time in things so much below his Quality and so unbecoming his Years he therefore told him of it but finding that this admonition did not work with him the Emperor resolved to make an Example of him and did therefore declare that he had forfieted his Title and Honour of Prince he was besides deprived of his Retinue his Salary and his Quality until he should by some great and extraordinary Action make it appear to the whole Kingdom that he was not

Prophane Histories and that very Time observed by the Vulgar is not so long to verifie their Chronology It is very true the Vulgar History of that Grand Monarchy is not only dubious but manifestly false besides for it computes Forty thousand years since the Foundation of the Empire but that wherein all Knowing and Learned Men agree is so much in vogue so well circumstantiated established by so constant a Tradition that one cannot call it in question among them without passing for Ridiculous and as they themselves express it for Heretical According to this History which none of their Learned Men ever questioned China hath had its Kings for above Four thousand years that have continued to this present Time without any Interruption The same Family hath not been always seated upon the Throne there hath been Twenty two of them severally that hath produced Two hundred thirty six Emperors Several Doctors carry this Monarchy back Six hundred years higher yet but altho' their Opinion be very probable yet may we nevertheless stick to the first And this is the thing that makes the Grandeur and Nobility of this Empire plainly to appear since Five or Six hundred years more or less does not produce any notable diminution in its Antiquity Certainly after all the Inquiries and Examinations that have been made into this Chronology it is no longer left to our Liberty to doubt of it than of the Histories that are the most authentickly received amongst us And it ought so much the rather to be believed forasmuch as it was incapable of admitting any Alteration from Foreigners forasmuch as it was always currant amongst the knowing Men of the Country for true sure and uncontestable for having been written in a natural plain uneffected Stile that carries with it that Air of Verity that ever perswades And because Confucius esteemed for his great Capacity Sincerity and Uprightness never doubted of it nay and did even establish his whole Doctrine thereupon Five hundred and fifty years before the Birth of our Saviour because his Books are very conformable to the Holy Scripture in reference to the Age of the first Men for they assure us that ●ohi reigned an hundred and fifty years Chinnum an hundred and forty Hoamti an hundred and eleven Yao an hundred and eighteen and so for the rest always decreasing conformable to what Holy Writ teaches us In a word the Eclipses observed at that time must needs happen in effect which they could not know but by observation and not by any Calculations that were not extant enough All this perswades us that there is little certainty in the Prophane History of the World if we can reasonably doubt of that of China In a word this Empire was involved in the Common Fate of all others whose Origin is still little considerable It seems probable that the Children or Grand children of Noah disperst themselves into Asia and at length penitrated as far as this part of China that is most Westerly which is called at this day Chansi and Chensi They lived at the beginning in Families and the Kings were Fathers to whom a long continuance of years abundance of Flocks and other Country Pastoral richness added some authority Fohi was the first that laid the Foundation of the Monarchy his Wisdom Discretion his good Morals Power and Reputation which his great Age had acquired him made them give ear to him as to an Oracle He regulated all Private as well as Politick and Religious Matters insomuch that the State became in a very flourishing Condition in a short time his Subjects possessed the Province of Honan at first and some years after all the Lands and Territories that are extended as far as the South Sea It is probable that the Chineses from their very original did look upon themselves as something more than other Men like to those Princes who as soon as they are born discover a certain natural loftiness that ever distinguisheth them from the Vulgar Whether it was that the neighbouring Kingdoms were barbarous or inferiour to them in point of Wisdom I don't know but at that very time they laid down a Maxim of State amongst themselves To have no Commerce with Foreigners and Strangers but just so much as should be necessary to receive their Homages Neither did they court and seek after these Badges of Sovereignty out of a Spirit of Ambition but whereby to have an occasion to prescribe to other People of the World Laws and Constitutions of perfect Government So that when any one amongst their Tributaries failed to appear at the time appointed they did not oblige him by open Force to submit but on the contrary had Compassion on him What do we lose by it say they if he still remain barbarous since he is so averse to Wisdom he needs to blame no body but himself as often as he shall fail in his Duty through Passion or Blindness This grave Policy acquired the Chineses so great a Reputation that throughout all the Indies all Tartary and Persia lookt upon them as the Oracles of the World yea and the People of Iapan had such an high Conceit of them that when St. Xavier brought the Faith amongst them altho' China at that time came short of her pristine Probity one of the great Reasons they objected against the good Man was That a Nation so Wise so intelligent had not yet embraced it But this piece of Policy that induced them to difference themselves from others which at first might probably be a profitable Maxim degenerated afterwards into Pride They lookt upon themselves as a chosen elect People that Heaven had produced in the Center of the Universe to give them a Law a People only capable to Instruct Civilize and Govern Nations They fansied other Men but as Dwarfs and pitiful Monsters that had been the Out-casts into the Extremities of the Earth as the Dross and Off-scouring of Nature whereas the Chineses placed in the middle of the World had alone received from God Almighty a rational Form and Shape and a true Size Their Ancient Maps are filled with such like Figures and a great many Emblems apt to inspire that Disdain they shew'd of all Mankind But perceiving the Europeans instructed in all sorts of Sciences they were strucken with Astonishment How can it possibly be said they that a People so far remote from us should have any Wit or Capacity They have never perused our Books they were never modelled by our Laws and yet they speak discourse and argue aright as we do Our Workmanship as Stuffs Clocks Watches Mathematical Instruments and such like Curiosities surprised them still more for they imagined that dextrous and expert Artificers were no where to be met with but in China Then they began to understand that we were not so barbarous as they imagined and said in a joking way We supposed all other People blind and that Nature had bestowed Eyes upon none but Chineses that is not universally

by their Vice What put this Thought into your head says Coum-tse to him and where have you learnt to speak after this manner From you your self replyed Confucius I attentively hear you every time you speak and I have often heard you say that a Son who by his manner of living does not keep up the Reputation of his Ancestors degenerates from them and does not deserve to bear their Name When you spoke after that manner did not you think of me and might not that be the thing that troubles you This good old Man was overjoy'd at this Discourse and after that seemed not to be disquieted Confucius after his Grandfathers death was a constant adherer to Tcem-se a famous Doctor of those times and under the Conduct of so great a Master he became in a short time a considerable Proficient in the Knowledge of Antiquity which he lookt upon even there as the most perfect Model This Love for the Ancients had like ●ne day to have cost him his Life tho' he was then but Sixteen years of Age For discoursing with a Person of the highest quality who spoke of the obscurity and unprofitableness of the Chinese Books this Child read him somewhat too seve●e a Lecture concerning the respect that is due to them The Books you speak of says Confucius contain profound Doctrine the Sense of which is not to be penetrated but by the Learned the People would undervalue them could they comprehend them of themselves This dependance of Spirits by which the more Stupid are subject to the more enlightened is very profitable and useful in Humane Society Were all Families equally rich equally powerful there would remain no form of Government But there would happen yet a more strange disorder if Men were equally knowing every one would be a governing and no body would believe himself obliged to obey Some time ago added this witty Child one of the Skum of the Vulgar spoke to me as you do I did not wonder at it but I admire at present that a Doctor as you are should speak to me like this Man of the Dregs of the People This Discourse was capable to gain the affection and respect of the Mandarin But Confusion that possest him to be thus gravelled by a Child did so nettle him that he resolved to be revenged He caused his House to be invested by his Menial Servants and without doubt he would have flowen out into some Extremity had not the King who had notice of it given him order to withdraw When Confucius was a little more advanced in years he made a Collection of the most excellent Maxims of the Ancients which he intended to follow and inspire into the People Each Province was at that time a distinct Kingdom that a Prince who depended upon the Emperor governed by particular Laws He levied Taxes disposed of all Places of Trust and made Peace as he judged expedient These petty Kings had sometimes Differences amongst them the Emperor himself stood in fear of them and had not always Authority enough to make himself be obey'd by them Confucius being perswaded that the People would never be happy so long as Interest Ambition and false Policy should reign in all these Petty Courts resolved to preach up a severe Morality to prevail upon Men to contemn Riches and worldly Pleasures and esteem Temperance Justice and other Vertues to inspire them with Grandeur and Magnanimity proof against all Humane Respects a Sincerity incapable of the least disguise even in respect of the greatest Princes in fine a kind of Life that should oppose the Passions and should intirely cultivate Reason and Vertue That which is most to be admired is That he preached more by his Examples than by his Words so that he every where reapt very considerable Fruit of his Labours Kings were governed by his Counsels the People reverenced him as a Saint every Body commended him and even those who did not comply to follow his Examples did nevertheless admire them but sometimes he took upon him such a Severity that made his very Friend have an aversion for him Being chosen to fill a considerable Place of Trust in the Kingdom of Lou in less than Three Months time after he exercised the Charge he introduced such a prodigious Change that the Court and Provinces were quite another thing than they were before The neighbouring Princes began to be jealous they perceived that a King ruled by a Man of this Character would quickly render himself too powerful there being nothing that can be more capable to make a State flourish than Order and an exact observance of Laws The King of Tci assembled his Ministers and propounded to them an Expedient to put a stop to the Cariere of this new Government After a long deliberation this was the Expedient they bethought themselves of They chose a great Company of young Maids handsome well educated and perfectly well instructed in whatsoever might please Then under pretence of an Embassy they presented them to the King of Lou and to the principal Officers of his Court the Present was joyfully accepted and obtained its desired effect They thought of nothing but of divertising the fair Strangers for several Months together there was nothing but Feasting Dancing and Comedies and Pleasures was the whole Business of the Court. Confucius perceiving that the Publick Affairs would suffer by it endeavoured to bring Men to themselves again but this new kind of Life had so charmed them that all his endeavours proved ineffectual there was no remedy the Severity of the Philosopher whether he would or no must give place to the Gallantry and Irregularities of Courtiers So that he thought it did not stand with his Reputation to remain any longer in a place where Reason was not listened to and so he resigned up his place to the Prince and sought other Kingdoms more inclinable to improve his Maxims But he met with great Obstacles and run from Province to Province almost without reaping any advantage because the Politicians dreaded him and the Ministers of Princes had no mind to have a Competitor that was in a capacity to lessen their Authority or deprive them of their Credit So that forsaken by all the World he was often times reduced to utmost Extremity in danger of being starved or to lose his Life by the Conspiracy of mischievous Men. Nevertheless all these Disgraces did not move him and he would often say That the Cause be defended was too good to apprehend any evil Consequences from it That there was not that M●n so powerful that could hurt him and that when a Man is elevated to Heaven by a sincere desire of Perfection be is so far from fearing a Tempest that he did not so much as hear the noise in this lower World So that he was never weary of instructing those who loved Vertue Amongst a great Company of Disciples that put themselves under his Tuition he destined some to write a fair hand others

takeing Sustenance upon the death of my Relations and you who are Grandson to a Saint on whom all the World casts their Eyes to see ●ow you will imitate him you have satisfied your self with three days Abstinence Confucius answered him The Ceremonies have been regulated by the Ancients to restrain the indiscreet and stir up the backward It is our duty to be obedient to the Laws if we would not go astray It is in this golden mean that Wisdom and the wise Man reside that you may never stray out of it Remember that Vertue is not an excess and that Perfection hath its limits Maxim III. A Man ought to change often if he would be constant in Wisdom A Person of Quality said one day to Confucius Your Grandfather was never wanting in any duty of Civility in respect of great Persons nevertheless his Doctrine tho' holy never obtain'd or got footing How do you imagine then that yours should be followed seeing you have a Magisterial Gravity that repulses Men and proceeds sometimes to haughtiness This is not the way to be welcome at Princes Courts Every Age hath its ways answered Confucius in my Grandfather's time Princes and Officers were polisht they delighted in order every one kept his Station to insinuate a Man's self in their Affections it behoved a Man to be polisht and regular like them At this day Men value nothing but Courage and Haughtiness wherewith Princes endeavour to inspire their Officers a Man ought to change with the World that he may be in a capacity to win it A wise man would cease so to be should he always act as the wise men of former times acted Maxim IV. The Grandees of a Kingdom are not always the great Men of the State Confucius coming to the Court of one of the Kings of China was very well received This Prince allowed him an Apartment in his Palace and came to visit him there himself At the end of the Visit he said to him You come not for nothing into my State probably you have a design to do me some good My Lord replyed Confucius I am but an unprofitable Man yet I avow if your Majesty will but follow my Counsel you will not be the worse for it My intent is to present to you wise Men to occupy the principle places of your State Withal my heart says the Prince Who are they My Lord Li-in the Son of a Husband-man is a Man on whom you may rely The King burst out a laughing How says he an Husband-man I have not Employments enough for the Lords of my Court and would you have me take a Labourer into my Service The Philosopher without being moved replyed Vertue is of all Trades and Conditions although it is more commonly annext to a mean Condition We have two Kingdomes in the Empire that have been founded by two Labourers What Inconvenience is there tho' a Man of that Character govern yours Believe me Sir the Court hath hitherto supply'd you with a good Company of evil Ministers Suffer a Country Village to present you with a wise Man You want Employments you say to place all the Lords that encompass you If Vertue alone were rewarded you would find in your Court more places than Officers nay and perhaps would be fain to call for Labourers to supply them When the Body of the Nobility does not furnish the State with great Men the great Men that may be found amongst the People must be chosen and of them must be composed the Body of the Nobility Maxim V. A small Fault often denotes great qualities He one day advised the King of O●●i to set a certain Officer of Reputation at the Head of his Army but the King excused himself for not doing it because that being formerly a Mandarin he took a couple of Eggs from a Country Fellow A Man who hath abused his Authority says he deserves not any longer to command These Sentiments of Equity replyed Confucius are very laudable in a King but perhaps the Mandarins Moderation that stole but two Eggs is no less to be admired Such a small fault in the whole Life of a Man denotes in him great qualities In a word a prudent Prince makes use of his Subjects in the Government as a Carpenter uses Timber in his Works he does not reject one good Beam because there is a flaw in it provided it be strong enough to support a whole Edifice I would not advise your Majesty for the loss of a couple of Eggs to turn off a Captain who may conquer you two Realms Maxim VI. The Prince is void of Counsel who hath too much Wit and when ●e delivers his Opinion the first The same King one day held a Counsel in presence of Confucius where he spoke of some Affairs with so much vehemence of Spirit that his Ministers applauded him and forthwith allowed him to be in the right and comply'd with him without more ado At the close this King said to Confucius What 's your Iudgment of the course we have taken in our last Deliberation Sir says the Philosopher I do not perceive that they have yet deliberated you spoke with a great deal of Wit your Ministers very attentive to please you have faithfully repeated the Discourse they have told your Opinion and not their own and when you adjourned the Assembly I still expected the beginning of the Counsel Some days after the same King asked him his Advice concerning the present Government He answered him No body speaks ill of it That is my desire says the King And that Sir is what you ought not to desire reply'd Confucius A sick Person forsaken whom they flatter that he is well is not far from death a Man is bound to discover to the Prince the defects of the Mind with the same liberty Men discover to him the maladies of the Body Maxim VII The wise Man goes forward apace because the right way is always the shortest on the contrary the crafty Politician arrives later at his end because he walks in By-ways and crooked Paths The King of Ouei confessed to Confucius That there was nothing so fine as Wisdom but the difficulty of acquiring it discouraged the most Courageous and diverted the best disposed Minds As for my part added he I have used endeavours but all in vain I am resolved to torment my self no longer about it and a small parcel of Policy will supply the defect of that Wisdom that is necessary to good Governing Sir answered Confucius 't is true Wisdom is seated on a lofty Place but the Road to it is not so impracticable as People imagine it grows plainer and plainer according as you go on and once got at it one cannot go back without running great danger to fall down the Precipice in such a sort that a wise Man cannot cease being so without doing violence to himself in some respect But do you think that a Prince hath no trouble when he marches in the indirect

unworthy of the Blood from whence he sprang The Emperor went yet a step farther for perceiving that the number of the Princes of the Blood was very great and that the ill Conduct of many of them might in time bring their Quality into contempt he published an Order that none should hereafter bear that Character without his express leave which he gave to none but those who by their Vertue Understanding and Diligence in their Offices did very well deserve it Such Administrations in Europe would cause Heart-burnings and Factions in the States but in China they are brought about without any the least disturbance these Changes create no manner of trouble if they are done for the Publick Good and not from a personal Hatred or violent Passion however if the Emperor should be so far transported as to act thus to satisfie his own Passion yet if his Government be generally equitable and just such particular ill Administrations raise no Faction in his Subjects against him You will have a plain proof of the absoluteness of the Emperors Power from a passage which happened in a late war with one of the Kings of Tartary The Emperor sent a mighty Army under his Brothers Command to punish the Vanity and Rashness of that puny King who had dared to make inroads into the Countries of several of the Allies of the Empire The Tartar whose warlike Troops sought only an opportunity of signalizing themselves advanced to engage the Imperial Army and set upon them with so much violence and vigour that at last notwithstanding he was so much inferior to them in number he beat them from their ground and forced them to retreat in disorder The Emperors Father in Law an old Tartar well versed in the Trade of War commanded the Artillery and plaid his part so well that he was killed at the head of a few yet brave Soldiers whom he encouraged as well by his Example as by his Words but the General was accused for flying first and drawing by his flight the rest of the Army after him The Emperor who is himself a Man of Courage and an admirer of Glory was less troubled at the loss of the Battle than he was at that of his Brothers Honour He sent for him immediately to Court to be tryed before a Council of the Blood whom he assembled in his Palace The Prince who was on all other accounts a Person of singular Merit surrendered himself with the same humility and submission as he could have done had he been the meanest Officer in the Army and without staying till Sentence was pronunced he condemned himself and owned that he deserved death You deserve it said the Emperor but you ought to recover your lost Honour to seek your death in the midst of the Enemies Troops and not ●ere among us in the midst of Pekin where it can only encrease your disgrace At last the Emperor was inclineable to Pardon him but the Princes who thought themselves in some measure disgraced by this Action earnestly begged of the Emperor to use the utmost of his Power to punish him and his Uncle who assisted at the Council treated him with so much scorn and contempt that amongst us such usage would afflict any Gentleman so sensibly as to go near to break his Heart The Emperor who has power over the lives of the Princes of the Blood can certainly dispose of his other Subiects the Laws make him so far Master of their lives that neither Viceroy nor Parliaments nor any other Sovereign Court throughout the whole Empire can Execute any Criminal without express order from Court They are Arraigned and Tryed up and down in the several Provinces but the Sentence is always presented to the Emperor who either confirms or rejects it as he pleases most an end he agrees to it but he very often cuts off part of the Sentence and makes it less rigorous Secondly although every one be perfect Master of his Estate and enjoys his Lands free from disturbance and molestation the Emperor can nevertheless lay what Taxes he thinks fit upon his Sub●ects to supply the pressing wants and relieve the necessities of the State This power indeed he rarely makes use of whether it be that the standing Revenue and ordinary Taxes are sufficient to maintain a War abroad or whether it be that in a Civil-War they are unwilling to run the hazard of provoking their Sub●ects too much by laying too great a load on them They have likewise a Custom of exempting every year one or two Provinces from bearing their proportion in the Tax especially if any of them have suffered thro' the sickness of the People or if the Lands thro' unseasonable weather have not yielded so good an encrease as usual It is true that the Subsidies which the Laws grant are so considerable that were the Chinese less industrious or their Lands less fruitful this Empire like the rest of the Indian Kingdoms would be only a Society of poor and miserable Wretches It is this prodigious Income that makes the Prince so powerful and that enables him at an hours warning to raise a Potent and a numerous Army to keep his People in Obedience It is very difficult to reckon what the Revenue of this Empire amounts to because beside the mony that is raised in Specie vast sums are paid in in Goods After the best examination which I could get both from the Officers and from their Books I believe the Treasury receives in mony about twenty two thousand Crowns of China which the Portuguese call taëls each of which in our mony comes to about six shillings But the Rice Corn Salt Silks Cloaths Varnish and a hundred other Commodities which they pay in together with the Customs and forseited Estates amount to more than fifty millions of the Chinese Crowns So that after having allowed for the Goods received into the Treasury their value in Silver and having made the nearest and most exact Calculation possible I find the ordinary Revenues of the Emperor to amount in our mony to one and twenty millions six hundred thousand pounds at least Thirdly The right of making Peace and War is the Emperors he may make Treaties on what conditions he pleases provided they be not such as are dishonourable to the Kingdom As for the Judgments which he himself passes they are irrevocable and to have them put in Execution he need only send them to his Sovereign Courts or Vice-Roys who dare not in the least delay Registring and Publishing them When on the other hand the Sentences pronounced by their Parliaments or other Magistrates are no ways obligatory 'till approved and confirmed by the Emperor Fourthly Another instance of his Supreme Authority is this that he has the liberty of making choice of his Successor which he may not only chuse from the Royal Family but from amongst his other Sub●ects This antient right hath been heretofore put in practise with so much Impartiality and Wisdom as would be

admirable even in a Prince who to his other Titles hath that of Most Christian. For some of these Emperors finding none of their Family tho' numerous able to support the weight of a Crown chuse for their Successors persons mean as to their Birth and Fortunes but eminent for their Virtue and admirable for their Understanding saying that they acted thus not only from a desire of their Kingdoms good but also out of respect to the Honour and Credit of their own Children for whom it would be more glorious to live privately than to sit upon a Throne exposed to the Censure and oftentimes to the Curses of all their People If said they a Lof●y Title could create Merit in those who had it not before we should indeed injure our Children in excluding them from the Crown But since it serves only to publish and spread their defects more abroad we think our s●lves obliged by the Kindness and Tenderness which we bear to them to keep them from that shame and disgrace which a Crown would necessarily expose them to However Examples of this Nature have been very seldom known for the Emperors for many Ages have bounded their choice within the Compass of their own Families yet they do not always chuse the oldest He who now Reigns with so much Wisdom was a younger Brother and sees his elder Brother as dutiful and free from Ambition as the meanest of his Subjects The great number of Princes of the Blood is with us in Europe as great an occasion of Fears and Jealousies but in China it is quite otherwise for at the death of the last Emperor of China there were above ten thousand Princes up and down the several Provinces yet was there no confusion or disorder in the least which could certainly proceed from nothing but the excessive Authority of this Emperor who finds as little trouble in China in Governing a multitude of Princes as other Princes do in Governing the Common People Furthermore The Emperor after he has made Choice of and publickly owned who shall be his Successor may afterwards exclude him and renew his Choice but not unless he have very good reason for doing so nor unless the Sovereign Courts of Pekin do in a manner give their consent to it for if he act thus without observing these methods it would not only raise the Peoples Tongues but perhaps their Hands against him Fifthly The Grave itself cannot put an end to his Power over his Subjects which is exercised even over the Dead whom he either Disgraces or Honours as much as if they were alive when he hath a mind either to Reward or Punish themselves or their Families He makes some after their decease Dukes others Counts and conferring upon them several other Titles which our Language knows no name for He may Canonise them as Saints or as they speak may make them naked Spirits Sometimes he builds them Temples and if their Ministry hath been very beneficial or their Virtues very eminent he commands the People to honour them as Gods Paganism hath for many Ages authorised and countenanced this abuse of Religion yet this reparation Religion has from the Empire of China for the foremention'd injury that ever since the Foundation of this Empire the Emperor has been been always looked upon as the Chief Priest and Principal Servant of Religion for there are some Ceremonies and Publick Sacrifices which he alone is thought worthy to offer up to to the great Creator of Heaven Sixthly There is another Instance which tho' of less importance than the preceeding yet may serve as well as them to shew how unlimited the Authority of this Emperor is It is this the Emperor hath power to change the Figure and Character of their Letters to abolish any Characters already received or to form any new one He may likewise change the names of Provinces of Cities of Families he may likewise forbid the using of any expression or manner of speaking he may forbid the use of some expressions which are generally received and may bring into use and practise those ways of speaking which have been looked upon as obsolete and uncouth and this either in common Discourse or in Writing So that Custom which exercises so unalterable an Authority over the signification of Words that the Greek and Roman Powers were too little to subdue it and which for that reason hath by some been called a fantastical and an unjust Tyrant equally commanding both Princes and common People this Custom I say of which even in Europe we complain so much is submissive and humble in China and is content to alter and give way when the Emperor commands One would imagine that this unlimited power should often occasion very unfortunate Events in the Government and indeed it sometimes hath as nothing in this World is without its Alloy of inconvenience Yet so many are the Provisions and so wise the Precautions which the Laws have prescribed to prevent them that a Prince must be wholly insensible of his own Reputation and even Interest as well as of the Publick Good who continues long in the abuse of his Authority For if he hath any regard for his Reputation there are three things which will prevail with him to Govern by Justice and not Passion First the old Law-givers have from the first Foundation of the Government made this a standing Maxim that Kings are properly the Fathers of their People and not Masters placed in the Throne only to be served by Slaves Wherefore it is that in all Ages their Emperor is called Grand-Father and of all his Titles of Honour their is none which he likes to be called by so well as this This Idea of their Prince is so deeply imprinted in the minds of his People and of his Mandarins that when they make any Panegyrick in the praise of their Emperor it is upon the Topick of his Affection to his People Their Teachers and their Philosophers constantly set forth in their Books that the State is but a large Family and that he who knows how to Govern the one is the best capable of Ruling the other So that if the Prince neglects never so little the practice of this Maxim he may be a good Warriour an able Politician a learned Prince and yet meet with little or no esteem from his People They do not form their Character of their Prince from these or such like qualities his Reputation encreases or diminishes with them in proportion as he is or is not a Father to them Secondly Every Mandarin may tell the Emperor of his faults provided it be in such a submissive manner as is agreeable to that veneration and profound respect which is due to him this the manner they usually take to bring it about The Mandarin who perceives any thing in the Emperors management disagreeable to their Constitution or Laws draws up a request in which after having set forth the respect which he bears towards his Imperial