to West is little less so that on the whole China which is almost of a Circular Figure is very near Fourteen hundred Leagues in Circuit This Account My Lord I can warrant to be just and grounded on very exact Remarks You see My Lord that I have left out the Islands Formosa Haynan and others of less Note which of themselves would make a very great Kingdom as also all the Province Leauton because it is without the Wall As for the Corea Tunquin and Siam they depend indeed on China so far as that they pay a Tribute to that Crown and that their Kings at their admission are Confirmed by its Emperor but they are separate Kingdoms and differ much from that of China which whether in respect of the Product and Fertility of its Soil or the Beauty and Number of its Cities the Wit Politeness Religion or Manners of its Inhabitants is quite another thing The Chineze know it and are so proud of it that they call all the rest Barbarous Nations taking great care in their Marriages not to match with them or any of the other Indians and fearing nothing more then that their mean Blood should run in a Noble Chineze's Veins I also omitted a great part of Tartary which belongs to this State to the great increase of its Power for the Tartars are Valiant and withal Men of Sence and besides tho' Tartary be full of Woods and Sandy Desarts yet it is not wholly unfruitful those sine Furs of which they rob their Zibelines Foxes and Tigers a great diversity of Simples useful in Physick and the fine Horses which come from thence are Commodities China could not be without Yet tho' they reap so great a Profit by it it cannot be imagined what a Vexation it is to them to be so strictly united and mixt with that Nation and one must be well acquainted with the Excess of their Vanity and of the Conceit they have of their Grandeur to know how grievously the Tartarian Conquest has humbled them I question not My Lord but you have heard of it but perhaps have not had the leisure of inquiring into Particulars and therefore a short Account of that great Revolution may not be unwelcome One of the Petty Kings of the Eastern Tartary for there are not afew whose Subjects called Mouantchéou had settled a Trade near the Long Wall having complained at Pekin of some Knaveries committed by the Chinâ—se Merchants and having received no Satisfaction resolved to right himself and entered the Province of Leauton with a numerous Army The Emperor presently sent some part of his Forces to oppose him and the War continued some time with equal advantage But one LI a Chineze took that Opportunity to hatch a Rebellion in the Provinces which were most remote from Court Great numbers of Malecontents flocked about him who having made themselves Masters of the greatest Cities like a Torrent overflowed the whole Country driving all down before them The Sacred Majesty of their Emperor could not save Pekin from their Fury the Rebel who knew the best Forces were drawn out of it marched directly to attack it There was indeed a Garrison of Seventy thousand Men but most gain'd upon by the practises of Li's Emissaries so that while some with a pretended Zeal perswaded the Prince to remain in his Palace others open'd the City Gates to the Traitor who solemnized his Entry by a Cruel Slaughter The unfortunate Monarch finding himself betrayed would have marched out against him with Six hundred Guards who still remained with him but at the mentioning of this Heroick Proposal their Hearts failed 'em and they ungenerously abandoned him Then knowing no greater Evil then that of falling quick into the Hands of his Enemies he retired into a Garden with an only Daughter he had and having wrote with his Blood these words on the bordure of his Vest My Subjects have basely forsaken me spend thy Rage on my Body but spare my People He first stabb'd the Princess whose Tears must needs have rent a Heart of Flint and then hang'd himself on a Tree more Unjust to his Daughter and Cruel to Himself then could have been the most barbarous Foe The Emperor being dead all bowed to the Usurper except Ousanguey whom the late Prince had intrusted with the Command of the Forces he had sent against the Tartars who never would acknowledge him and chose rather to pull down his Tyranny then ignobly to accept of a share in it The new Monarch having in vain besâ—eged him in the Province Leauton to engage him to Surrender himself shewed him his Father loaded with Irons protesting he would put him to Death in his sight if he did not immediately submit But that generous Lord more Faithful to the Memory of his deceased Prince then tender of his Father's Life suffered the Duty of a Subject to prevail over of that of a Son and seeing that Blood spilt of which his once was Part resolved to dye or revenge at once his Fathers and his Emperor's Death He made his Peace with the Tartar who having joyn'd him no sooner enabled him to Cope with his Enemy but he marched against him But the Tyrant whose Cowardize was even greater then his Cruelty durst not appear against those two Armies He fled to Pekin where having burned the Palace and all that had not perished at his first Entry he retired into the Province of Chensi loaded with the Spoil of the Empire and the Curse of all He was pursued but in vain for he met with so private a Retirement that all the Art of Man could never find him out In the mean while the Tartars entered Pekin and so imposed upon the poor Chineze that of themselves they begged their new Guests to take care of their distressed State The others too Cunning not to improve so favourable a Hint whether by Force or Policy are since grown absolute Masters of it And here it is hard to determine which is most to be wondred at the Courage and Conduct of that Nation which gave them Success in so Noble an Enterprize or the Supineness or ill Management of the Chineze who thus basely submitted to a People so inconsiderable for their Number that they would have been ashamed not long before to own them for their Subjects So true it is we ought not to look on any thing as beneath us since all Temporal Grandeur is subject to Change and that nothing is Constant in this World but Inconstancy The Tartarian King Tsouté had not the leisure to enjoy his Conquest scarce had he taken Possession but he died leaving the Administration of the Government and Care of his Son who was then but Six years old to his Brother This Brother of his named AMAVAN conquered all the Provinces which had not yet submitted a Prince deservedly admired not only for his Valour and Conduct ever attended with Success but also for his Fidelity and Moderation For the young Prince being come
Grief might increase and that the excess of Miseries that one endure in this World is never so great but one may become still more miserable This Voyage was to me the longest most dangerous and accompanied with sorrow and bitterness At length we came ashoar at a place I know not they brought me out of the Ship and after they had dragged me through several Provinces they barbarously forsook me and I found my self destitute comfortless and without any support in the middle of this great City which I hear called Paris 'T is true Heaven hath not quite forsaken me the word Pekin the only word by which I can make known my Country and to that purpose did I so often repeat it hath brought me out of Misery Some Ladies at the hearing of this word were moved with Compassion took me into their House and have ever since treated me with so much Charity that I do not know if I ought to complain of Fate that hath conducted me into so good hands She had indeed some cause to be well pleased with her Lot much better in effect than she could naturally expect They treated her as a Maid of some Noble Family nay it was an Hundred pound to a penny but they had given her the quality of Princess Couronné a Name much better known in France than China where this Dignity is still in fieri They told me moreover that divers Persons were impatient to do her a kindness and that Monsieur N. one of our most famous Writers had already Composed three extraordinary eloquent Letters in her Name one for the Emperor another for Prince Couronné and the third for some other Prince of her Family He hath without doubt what he deserved from the Persons that ingaged him in it yet I do not believe that China will ever thank him for it For my part My Lord I do confess that the bare recital of this Adventure appear'd to me somewhat fabulous and carries with it such a Romantick Air that is capable of undeceiving those whom an excess of Charity had not quite blinded Prince Couronné is a Chimera that hath not the least appearance of Truth in it The Birth of a Maid in a Palace where there is none but Eunuchs is still more hard to be beleived The Hollanders are not at War with the Chineses and it is not their best way to fall out with them by Assaulting their Ships The Chinese Dames that scarce ever stir out of their Houses do not care for undertaking long Voyages at Sea And the Match they were going to mannage is no more likely than that of a Princess of France that some body might feign to Embark at Brest to Sail into the Indies to espouse some Mandarin of Siam Besides We know all the Vessels that we have taken from the Hollanders as well as those that are arrived in France from the Indies we know the Captains of them we know their Prizes their Engagements their Adventures and yet we hear not one word of what our Chinese relates Now if she be so unfortunate as to be found in the Streets of Paris miserable forlorn and unknown she ought not so much to lay the fault upon our French People as upon her ill Fortune that took no care to place her better in this World But to Convince all those who were present at our Interview I put divers questions to her about the principle Cities in China I examined her concerning the Money their Writing the Characters and Language of the Country She told me she had often travelled from Pekin to Nankin in less then Three days notwithstanding it is above Three hundred Leagues from one to another that they used Gold Money altho' Gold is not currant through all the Empire but as precious Stones are in Europe that the Silver Coin was stamp as ours is round flat bearing the Emperors Arms with divers Figures according to the Custom of Eastern Nations notwithstanding the Silver hath no regular Figure they cast it into Ingots they reduce it to what form they please without Arms Order or Ornament they clip into great Pieces as occasion serves and it is only by weight not by the Emperor's Mark that they know its value I writ down some Chinese Characters for she had boasted that she could read a Pèrson of her quality durst not say the contrary but the Misfortune was she mistook her self and took the Paper at the wrong end boldly reading the Letters turn'd upside down as if they had been right upon the whole that which she pronounced had no manner of relation to the genuine Sense of the Writing At last I spoke Chinese to her and for fear least she might avoid the difficulty I acquainted her that I spake the Mandarin Language so currant throughout the Empire which they constantly use at the Court She was so impudent as to frame ex tempore a wild ridiculous Gibberish but so little understood that it was evident she had not time enough to make it hang well together so that not being able to understand what I said to her I should have been sore put to it to explain what she meant if indeed she did mean any thing After this Trial and Examination she might blush for shame and ingeniously confess the Imposture but she still keeps up her Conversation without being concerned and with such an Air of Confidence that would make any one judge that this China Romance was not the first Story she had made I thought My Lord that you would be very glad to be acquainted with this besides that it may afford you some pleasure it will also serve to let you understand that the Mind Countenance and Behaviour of the Chinese Women have no Affinity with those of the Europeans and that a French Woman must needs be brazen-fac'd when under the borrowed Name of a Chinese she pretends to impose upon Persons who have as long as I have done seen both Nations After this little Digression you may be willing I should take up my former Discourse again The Mens Habits as every where else are there much different from the Womens they shave their Head all over except behind where they let grow as much Hair as is needful to make a long Tress They do not use a Hat as we do but wear continually a Bonnet or a Cap which Civility forbids pâ—tting off This Bonnet differs according to the different Seasons of the year That which they use in Summer is in form of a Cone that is to say round and wide below but short and strait above where it terminates in a meer Point It is lined within with a pretty Sattin and the top covered with a very fine Mat very much esteemed in the Country Besides that they add thereto a great slake of red Silk that falls round about it and reaches to the Edges so that when they walk this Silk flows irregularly on all sides and the continual Motion of the
the different Figures of Mars Mercury and Venus which appeared to us sometimes round sometimes gibbose sometimes dicotomised and ever and anon in fashion of a Bow or Sickle and the truth is when Venus approaches the Sun and when she is besides in her Perigaeon she appears in the Telescope so little different from the New Moon that it is very easie for one to commit a mistake I do remember that causing a Chinese to observe it in this posture who had but little skill in Astronomical Secrets he did no longer doubt but presently gave his assent and making him at the same take notice of the Moon at a place in the Heavens not far remote He cried out for joy and told me then that he now comprehended that which had always perplext him I did not know says he seriously how the Moon could change Faces so often and appear sometimes in the wax and sometimes in the wane but now I perceive it is a Redy composed of several parts which sometimes is taken in pieces and then join'd together again after some certain times for to day at least I see one half of it on one side and one half on the other The Knowledge also that we have acquired by Telescopes concerning the number of the Stars is likewise more curious That large Fascia that embraces almost the whole Heaven which they commonly call for whiteness the Milky-way is a congeries of an infinite number of Minute Stars each one of which in particular hath not strength enough to affect our eyes no more can the Nebulosae whose dim and confused Light is like to a little Cloud or head of a Comet yet it is a compound of several Stars so they reckon thirty six of them in that of Praesepe cancri twenty one in that of Orion forty in the Pleiades twelve in the single Star that makes the middle of the Sword of Orion five hundred in the extent of two degrees of the same Constellation and two thousand five hundred in the whole Sign which hath given occasion to some to imagin that the number of them is infinite At least it is true that the prodigeous bigness of each Star which according to some differ but little from the Sun that is to say whose Globe is perhaps a thousand times bigger than that of the Earth which nevertheless appears but as a Point in the Heavens ought to convince us of the vast extent of this Universe and of the infinite Power of its Author I cannot Sir finish this Discourse before I have spoken of some Observations we have made of the Satellites These are so many little Planets that belong to the train of bigger ones which were detected in our Age they continually turn about Saturn Iupiter and Mars c. some nearer and some farther off from the center of their motion they sculk sometimes behind their Body sometimes again they are plunged into their Shadow from whence they come out more splendid nay it even happens that when they are between the Sun and their Planet they Eclipse one part of it I have sometimes beheld with a great deal of delight a black Point that run upon the discus of Iupiter which one would have taken for a blemish yet in effect was nothing else but the shadow of one of these Satellites that caused an Eclipse upon its Globe as the Moon does upon the Earth when by her Interposition she deprives it of the Sun 's light We do not know for what particular use Nature hath designed these Satellites in the Heavens but that which we Astronomers make use of them is very useful for the perfection of Geography and since M. Cassini hath communicated his Tables to the Observators one may easily and in a very small time determine the Longitude of the principal Cities of the World Insomuch that if the irregular Motion of Shps would permit us to make use of the Telescopes at Sea the Science of Navigation would be perfect enough to make long Voyages with a great deal of safety We have observed the immersions and emersions of the Satellites Iovis at Siam Louveau Pontichery at the Cape of Good Hope and in several Cities of China but the observations made at Nimpo and Chambay that are the most Eastern Cities have reduc'd the great Continent to its true limits by cutting off above five hundred Leagues from the Country that never subsisted but in the imagination of the antient Geographers Since Sir I speak of what respects the perfection of Geography I shall tell you moreover that we have taken some pains to determine the Latitude of Coasts Ports and the most considerable Cities of the East by two other methods First By a great number of Observations about Meridian Altitudes of the Sun and Stars Secondly By divers Maps and Sea Charts that our Voyages have given us occasion to invent or perfect I have a Ruttiér or Directory for finding out the Course of a Vessel from Nimpo to Pekin and from Pekin to Ham-cheou where we have omitted nothing that may any way contribute to the perfect knowing of the Country so that the particularities of it is in my Opinion too large nay and even too troublesome to those who in these sorts of Relations do rather seek after delight than profit I have also by me the Course of the Rivers that lead from Nankin to Canton it is the Work of two or three months and a tedious one too I 'll assure you when one would do things to purpose the Map is eighteen Foot long and each minute takes up above four Lines or the third part of Inch so that all the By ways the breadth of the River the smallest Islands and least Cities are there exactly and acurately set down We had always the Sea Compass in our hand and we always took care to observe ever and anon upon the Road the Meridian Altitude of every particular Star to correct our estimate and determine more exactly the Latitude of the principal Cities of the Country Whereupon Sir I cannot forbear making some reflections in this place which may one day be useful perhaps for the resolving a material Problem in Physicks Men are not yet sure whether all Seas in the World be upon the level one with another The generous Principles of sound Phylosophy will have it that all Liquor of the same Kind that Communicate own with another do spread uniformly whether by their own weight or by the pression of the Air and at last take the same Surface Most of the Experiments are in this Point pretty congruous to Reason yet some later Reflections have started a doubt whether or no the Sea had not really some inclination and were not more elevated in some certain places than in others What I have remarked touching this last Map I but now mentioned seems to back this last Opinion For in the Provinces of Canton and Kiansi is to be seen a Mountain out of which issues two
Siam Besides all these we may expect several curious and useful Remarks from the South Seas of Father Moralez Father Van-Hamme Father Ruggi and others who are now settled upon the Ladrones and the Isles of Solomon with a Stock of necessary Instruments and other Materials requisite in the making of Observations An Account of Borneo is also promis'd by a Portuguese Mission No less commendable is the late undertaking in France for the drawing a most exact Chart of that Kingdom from the Astronomical Observations of Signor Cassini Monsieur de la Hire Picard and others made in the Ports and inland Parts whereby it appears that the Limits of that Country have been extended much too far towards the West South and North. By these Ways and Means Lewis the XIV will deserve to be honour'd and even Consecrated in future Ages such Colours will give him Life and Beauty to all Posterity and perhaps may shade the Deformities which the Poet paints in Clotar's Court. We in England ought not to despair but that Heroick Arthur who justly vies with the Grand Monarch in the same of War will also contend with him for the Glory and Empire of Learning and dispute every Art and Science as the Ground in Flanders which peradventure will equal if not surpass the praise of Arms. Then let the British Homer sing his Apotheosis with the same Charms as in the Prince and King I am sure there is a vast Wit and Genius in our Ministry capable of the greatest Enterprize Nil desperandum and tho' at present a fatal Stop is put to the Growth and Propagation not only of Letters but Manufactures amongst us and the Treasure of Christendom flows daily to the Banians and Genteés yet a fresh Circulation and a new Life is in Nature if we have but Spirit and Vertue to move in the right Channel But 't is time to close up this tedious Preface which I thought necessary to spin out in the same Method that I formerly observ'd in my Introduction to the Voyages of Sir Iohn Narhorough Captain Wood Tasman and Marten not out of any Vanity or Inclination for Scribling or of being styl'd an Author nor out of expectation of Applause or Reward my Station in the World being below Envy and just above Contempt but purely out of good Will and Complaisance to the Booksellers to whom I wish a prosperous Sale and that I might own my self to be one of your Admirers And Gentlemen Your most humble Servant THE AUTHOR's PREFACE I Know not of the two which to blame most him that publishes hasty indigested Relations of his Travels or the Reader that runs 'em over slightly and heedlesly The Business of writing Voyages is not altogether so light a Task as most are apt to Fancy it requires not only Wit and Iudgment to manage it successfully but likewise Sincerity Exactness and a simple Insinuating Stile and Learning besides for as a Painter to be a Master in his Art ought to know the propriety and force of all sorts of Colours so whoever undertakes a Description of the People Arts and Sciences and the Religions of the New World must have a large Stock of Knowledge and in a manner an Universal Genius That 's not all neither he must have been an Eye-witness of most of the Actions and Things he reports he must be skill'd in the Customs and Language of the Inhabitants he must have corresponded with those of the best fashion among them and been frequently in the Conversation of their principal Officers In a word to speak with certainty and assurance of the Riches Beauty and Strenght of an Empire he ought to take an actual Survey of the Multitude of its Subjects the Number and Scituation of the Cities and the Extent of its Provinces and be curious in searching after all the remarkable Rarities in the Country I confess indeed this is something more â—â—borious and expenâ—â—ve than to frequent the Company of the Virtuosi 〈◊〉 home or supinely tumble over the History of the World by the fire-side and yet after all their fatigue Travellers of all Men are the least esteemed upon the score of their Writings There 's a set of jolly People that amuse themselves with what passes daily before their Eyes and are little affected with News from remote Parts of the Globe 'T is grown a Maxim with others to reject all Forreign Stories for Fables these value themselves upon their Incredulity and are such strict Friends to Truth that they never acknowledge any Another sort again throw away a Book of this kind for a Miracle or some extraordinary Accident any thing out of the way beyond their common prejudices that they find it as tho' Nature having exhausted all her Treasures upon our portion of Earth could produce nothing uncommon elsewhere or as tho' God's Power were more limited in the new Eastern Churches than among us Some there are 100 that run directly counter to these who enquire after nothing but Wonders satisfied only with what raises their Admiration they think all that 's Natural flat and insipid and if they are not rouz'd up with astonishing Adventures and continual Prodigies drop aâ—leep over the best penn'd Relation now to humor such Creatures one had need to cast the World into a new Figure and give Mankind other shapes 'T is certain so many different Tastes are not all to be pleas'd hence Travellers when they come home are as hard put to it to gain a patient hearing from their own Country-men as they were at first going abroad to make themselves be understood by Strangers But indeed they are not always worth hearing the emptiness or irregularity of their Relations or else the Vein of Passion and Prejudice running through the whole that turns a History into Slander but above all the boldness wherewith they sham the most ridiculous Tales upon us for credible Truths justly distaste Men of Sence and render suspected the more prudent and sincere Authors Tho' ordinarily it falls out that those Travellers who impose upon other People were first deceived themselves how many are there who do but just touch at a strange Country and imagine to be immediately inform'd of all that belongs to it they step ashore and scour about like famish'd Men greedily catching at all that comes in their way and so cram their Iournals with idle popular Chat upon this occasion a Spaniard said pleasantly of a certain Author thaâ— instead of intiâ—uling his Book A Relation of all the Considerable Rarities in the New World should rather have called it An Account of what the Rabble of both Indies the Moors Cafres and Slaves faithfully reported to me in those Conferences which I duly held with them Others perhaps are more reserv'd and then 't is Ten to One they are naturally bent to magnifie every thing and really when a Man has rambled five or six thousand Leagues out of pure Curiosity 't would fret him after all to meet with nothing but
many small pieces of Paper as we were Men in the Ship which were disposed of in the same places we were in This Machine being placed on two Staves was with no liâ—â—e Ceremony at the noise of a Tabor and a Brazen Bason raised up in view of all the Crew A Seaman in a Bonze's Habit was the Chief Man among 'em playing several Apish Tricks with a Quarter-staff and now and then shouting forth loud Huzza's At length the Mysterious Toy was committed to the Waves and eyed as far as sight could reach accompanied with the Bonze's Acclamations who roar'd with all his might This ridiculous Entertainment diverted the Sailors while we were struck with a sensible Grief at the sight of their blind Error which it was out of our Power to cure An Accident happened soon after which at first gave them less Pleasure but in the end proved an equal Diversion to us all The Mariners fancied they saw a Ship in a part of the Sea much infested with Pyrates They had excellent Spying-glasses thro' which they could perceive the Masts the Sails nay some saw the very Tackling and by the manner of her Sailing it was plain she designed us a Visit. All were very diligent in putting their Ship in a Posture of Defence The Chineze who of all Men love best to sleep in a whole Skin were in great Consternation and the Fear we saw painted in their Faces while they made ready their Cimeters Pikes and Guns for they had no Canon more terrified us than the fancied Enemy which yet caused in us no little Apprehension for indeed I must confess we were then grown as fearful if possible as the Chineze themselves Religion or Martyrdom was not then the thing in question we were in danger of being immediately strangled by Villains who give no Quarter for such is their Custom which they would not have altered for our sakes The only Remedy would have been to have leaped into the Sea and by drowning our selves deferred our End for a few Minutes but the Medicine was somewhat violent and we did not care for the Experiment Our Prospective Glasses were often made use of and to our no little surprize the mighty Vessel as it came near us lessened as did our ill-grounded Terror for we now doubted whether it was a Ship At length it grew a Floating Island then a Sea Horse and then I know not what till at last being in sight it proved to be a Tree which a violent Wind had torn from the Coast. The Earth and Pebbles about its Root made it swim upright so that its Trunk which was very high resembled a Mast and some Branches spread on each side for a Yard with lesser Boughs broken down for Ropes had with the help of the Wind and the Sea 's beating about it which formed a Tract not unlike that a Ship makes thus causlesly alarm'd us Besides that People who trembled as they looked thro' their Glasses might easily be deceived The dreadful Enemy was no sooner known but the Preparations were given over to their great grief who desired nothing more then a Battel and were heartily vexed at the Disappointment But we much suspecting their Courage was affected for it appeared not till all the Danger was vanisht thought not our selves safe till we were landed This was not the only Peril we were likely to encounter for scarce were we in sight of Eâ—nouis an Island of China famous for the Commodiousness of its Harbour and the abundance of Ships of all Nations which resort thither when the sudden veering of the Wind a Calm that followed and black Clouds which on every side darken'd our Horizon made the Pilots fear the approach of some Typhon than which nothing is more terrible in the Seas of China and Iapan for unless the Captain be well skill'd the Crew numerous and the Vessel stout their ruin is most certain This Typhon is a furious Wind or rather a blowing of all the Winds at once so that the Waves confusedly rolling one upon another beset a Ship on all sides and toss it after an extraordinary manner This Wind is so violent that there is no bearing any Sail and so obstinate that the third day scarce sees the end of it At first the Seamens Pains and Industry withstand the Storm but continual Labour tires and disheartens them they yield to the over-ruling Winds the Masts break the Rudder is carried off and the Ship founders or if she be so well built as to sustain the Fury of the Waves she splits against a Rock and not a Man escapes Four days had been spent in expectation of the like Fate and the dreadful Omens increased when it came into our Minds to address St. Francis Xavier whose Miracles had once rendred those Seas so famous We prayed him to divert the Tempest and inforced our Prayers by a Vow Scarce were we off our Knees but whether by a Miracle or the ordinary Course of Nature there blew a favourable Gale of Wind which carried us thro' some Islands into our desired Port. I never saw any thing so Frightful as that infinite number of Rocks and Desert Islands thro' which we were to pass The Channels are in some places so narrow as not to exceed ten Paces in breadth to the great danger of those who Sail thro' 'em We also steered thro' a pretty wide Bay in which the Chineze observe an exact Silence for fear say they of disturbing a neighbouring Dragon and made us follow their Example I know not how they call it as for us we named it the Dumb Man's Bay Having spent some time among those horrid Rocks we at last had sight of a little City they call Tim-bai that is Sea's Limit situated at the Mouth of the River up the which we tided and dropt Anchor three Miles higher near the City of Nimpo a sight of which we so earnestly had wisht for during a Six and thirty days Navigation which the continual Danger and Hardships we were exposed to had rendred very â—edious It was with no little Joy that we reached that Land in which we had during so many years long'd to preach the Gospel It 's sight inspired us with an unusual Zeal and the Joy of viewing that happy Soil which so many good Men had Consecrated by their Labours we thought a large amends for ours But tho' we were so near the City it was not so easie for us to enter it China is a very Ceremonious Country wherein all Strangers but especially the French need have a good stock of Patience The Captain of our Vessel thought sit to hide us and on our arrival we were let down into the Hold where the Heat which increased as we came nearer the Land and several other Inconveniencies we lay under made our Condition almost insupportable But spight of all Caution we were found out an Officer of the Customs spied us and having taken an Account of the Ship 's Cargo set a Man
they discharge themselves into some Lake or great Pond out of which all the adjacent Country is watered So that these clear and plentiful Streams embellished by so many fine Bridges bounded by such neat and convenient Banks equally distributed into such vast Plains covered with a numberless multitude of Boats and Barges and crowned if I may use the Expression with a prodigious number of Towns and Cities whose Ditches it fills and whose Streets it forms does at once make that Country the most Fruitful and the most Beautiful in the World Surprised and as it were astonished at so Noble a Sight I have sometimes bore a secret Envy to China in Europe's behalf which must own that it can boast nothing in that kind to be compared to the former What would it be then if that Art which in the wildest and most unlikely Places has raised magnificent Palaces Gardens and Groves had been employed in that rich Land to which Nature has been lavish of her most precious Gifts The Chinese say their Country was formerly totally overflowed and that by main Labour they drained the Water by cutting it a way thro' these useful Canals If this be true I cannot enough admirâ— at once the Boldness and Industry of their Workmen who have thus made great Artificial Rivers and of a kind of a Sea as it were created the most Fertile Plains in the World It will scarce be believed that Men so ignorant in the Principles of Physicks and the Art of Levelling could bring such a Work as that to Perfection yet it is certain that these Canals are natural For they are usually strait the Distribution is equal and orderly there are Flood-gates made for the Rivers to let in their Water at and others to let it out when they are too full so that it cannot be doubted but that the Chinese are only beholding to their own Industry for that great Conveniency Among all those Canals in the Southern Provinces one above the rest is called the Great Canal because it goes thro' the whole Country from Canton which lyes Southwards to Pekin situated in the most Northerly parts of the Empire You must only travel a short days Journey by Land to cross the Hill Moilin that does on one side bound the Province of Kiamsi From this Mountain issue two Rivers one runs Southwards to the Sea and the other Northwards as far as the River of Nankin whence by the yellow River and several Canals you may proceed by Waâ—er to the very Mountains of Tartary But by reason in this huge Extent of Ground of above four hundred Leagues in length the Earth is not Level or hath not a Descent proportionable to the Emanation of the Waters it was necessary to set a great number of Sluices awork They call them so in the Relations notwithstanding they be much different from ours They are Water-falls and as it were certain Torrents that are precipitated from one Canal into another more or less rapid according to the difference of their Level Now to cause the Barks to ascend they make use of a great Company of Men who are maintained for that purpose near the Sluice After they have drawn Cables to the right and left to lay hold of the Bark in such a manner that it cannot escape from them they have several Capstans by the help of which they raise it by little and little by the main force of their Arms till such time as it be in the upper Canal in a Condition to continue its Voyage whither it is bound This same Labour is tedious toilsome and exceeding dangerous They would be wonderfully surprised should they behold with what easiness one Man alone who opens and shuts the Gates of our Sluices makes the longest and heaviest laden Barks securely to ascend and descend I have observed in some Places in China where the Waters of two Canals or Channels have no Communication together yet for all that they make the Boats to pass from the one to the other notwithstanding the Level may be different above fifteen Foot And this is the way they go to work At the end of the Canal they have built a double Glacis or sloping Bank of Free-stone which uniting at the Point extends it self on both sides up to the Surface of the Water When the Bark is in the lower Channel they hoist it up by the help of several Capstanes to the plane of the first Glacis so far till being raised to the Point it falls back again by its own weight along the second Glacis into the Water of the upper Channel where it skuds away during a pretty while like an Arrow out of a Bow and they make it descend after the same manner proportionably I cannot imagine how these Barks being commonly very long and heavy Laden escape being split in the middle when they are poised in the Air upon this Acute Angle for considering that length the Lever must needs make a strange effect upon it yet do I not hear of any ill Accident happen thereupon I have past a pretty many times that way and all the Caution they take when they have a mind to go ashoar is to tye ones self fast to some Cable for fear of being tost from Prow to Poop We meet with no such Sluices in the Grand Canal because the Emperor's Barks that are as large as our Frigots could not be raised by force of Arm nay and would infallibly be split in the Fall all the difficulty consists in ascending back again upon these Torrents of which I have spoken yet this is what they perform successively tho' not without some Trouble and Expence The Canal to sail upon was necessary for the Transportation of Grain and Stuffs which they fetch from the Southern Provinces to Pekin There are if we may give Credit to the Chineses a Thousand Barks from Eighty to an Hundred Tun that make a Voyage once a year all of them Freighted for the Emperor without counting those of particular Persons whose number is infinite When these prodigious Fleets set out one would think they carry the Tribute of all the Kingdoms of the East and that one of these Voyages alone was capable of supplying all Tartary where-withal to Subsist for several years yet for all that Pekin alone hath the benefit of it and it would be as good as nothing did not the Province contribute besides to the Maintenance of the Inhabitants of that vast City The Chineses are not only content to make Channels for the Convenience of Travellers but they do also dig many others to catch the Rain-water wherewith they water the Fields in time of Drought more especially in the Northern Provinces During the whole Summer you may see your Country People busied in raising this Water into abundance of small Ditches which they contrive across the Fields In other places they contrive great Reservatories of Tuâ—f whose Bottom is raised above the Level of the Ground about it to serve
them in Case of Necessity Besides that they have every where in Châ—nsi and Chansi for want of Rain certain Pits from Twenty to an Hundred foot deep from which they draw Water by an incredible Toil. Now if by chance they meet with a Spring of Water it is worth observing how cunningly they husband it they Sustain it by Banks in the highest places they turn it here and there an Hundred different ways that all the Country may reap the benefit of it they divide it by drawing it by degrees according as every one hath occasion for it insomuch that a small Rivulet well managed does sometimes produce the Fertility of a whole Province The Rivers of China are no less considerable then its Canals there are two especially which the Relations have made famous The first is called Kiam or Yamçe which they commonly Translate the Son of the Sea But I am afraid they are mistaken for the Letter the Chineses use for to write Yam is different from that which signifies the Sea altho' the Sound and Pronunciation may have some Affinity Amongst several significations that this Letter may have that which they gave it in former times makes for our purpose Under the Reign of the Emperor Yon it signified a Province of China limitted by this River on the North and it is somewhat probable that they gave this same Name to the River because that Prince drain'd all the Water that overflow'd the whole Country into it This Floud takes its rise in the Province of Yunnan crosses the Provinces of Soutchouen Houquam and Nankin and after it hath watered four Kingdoms far and wide for 400 Leagues together it disimbogues into the East-Sea over against the Isle of Tçoummim cast up at its Mouth by the Sands which it carries along with it the Chineses have a Proverb amongst them that says The Sea hath no bounds and the Kiam hath no bottom And in truth in some places there is none to be found in others they pretend there is Two or Three hundred Fathom water I am nevertheless perswaded that their Pilots that carry not above Fifty or Sixty Fathom Cord at longest never had the Curiosity to Sound so deep as Three hundred Fathom and the impossibility of finding the bottom with their ordinary Plummet is sufficient in my opinion to incline them to such like Hyperboly's I have many times sailed upon this River I have moreover taken a diligent account of its Course and Breadth from Nankin to the Mouth of another River into which Men enter to pursue the way to Canton It is off of Nankin Thirty Leagues from the Sea a little half League broad the Passage along it is come dangerous and becomes more and more infamous every day for its Shipwracks In its Course which is exceeding rapid it forms a great number of Isles all of them very beneficial to the Province by reason of that multitude of Bull-rushes Ten or Twelve foot high that it produceth serving for Fuel to all the Cities thereabouts for they have scarce Wood enough for Buildings and Shâ—ips They yield a great Revenew and the Emperor draws considerable Duties from them The River which the Torrents of the Mountains do sometimes swell extraordinarily grow so rapid that many times they bear away the Isles with them or lessen them by the half and for the same reason form other new ones in some other place and one cannot but admire to see them change place in such a short time just as if by diving they had past under Water from one place to another that does not always come to pass But there is observed such considerable Change every year that the Mandarins least they should be mistaken get them to be measured every Three years to augment or diminish the Imposts and Duties according to the Condition they are found to be in The second River of China is called Hoamho as much as to say The yellow River because the Earth it sweeps away with it especially in times of great Rains give it that Colour I have seen a greâ—t many others whose Waters at certain Seasons of the year are so over-charged with slime and so gross and thick that they rather resemble Torrents of Mud than real Rivers The Hoamho takes its source at the Extremity of the Mountains that bound the Province of Soutchouen in the West From thence it throws it self into Tartary where it flows for some time all along the great Wall at which it re-enters China between the Province of Chansi and Chensi After that it waters the Province of Honan and when it hath run cross one part of the Province of Nankin and flowed above Six hundred Leagues into the Land it disimbogues at length into the East-Sea not far from the Mouth of Kiam I have crost it and coasted it in divers places it is every where very broad and rapid yet neither deep nor navigable to speak of This River hath in former times caused great Desolation in China and they are still forced to this very day to keep up the Waters in certain places by long and strong Banks which notwithstanding does not exempt the Cities thereabouts from Apprehensions of Inundation So likewise have they been careful in the Province of Honan the Ground lying very low thereabouts to surround the greatest part of the Cities about a Mile from the Walls with a Terrace cased with Turf to prevent being surprised by Accidents and Casualties in case the Bank be broken as happened about Fifty two years ago For the Emperor endeavouring to force a Rebel who for a long time laid close Siege to the City of Honan to draw off caused one part of the Banks to be broken down thereby to drown the adverse Army But the Relief he afforded the City proved more fatal than â—he Fury of the Besiegers would have been the whole Province almost was laid under Water together with many Cities and abundance of Villages above Three hundred thousand Persons drowned in the Metropolis amongst whom were some of our Missionaries who at that time had a numerous Flock of Christians there they and their Church lost their Lives The Low Country ever since is become a kind of a Marsh or Lake not but that they have some design to repair this loss but the Undertaking is difficult and very expensive The Sovereign Court that takes care of Publick Works importuned the Emperor more than once to send Father Verbiest thither and peradventure that Prince would have consented thereto at last but he discovered that the Mandarins made use of this pretence to remove the Father at a distance from Court and that their Design was to engage him in a difficult Enterprise that was enough to destroy him or out of which he could never have disintangled himself with any honour There is to be seen in China abundance of other Rivers less Famous but yet more Commodious for Commerce and Trade Since they afford nothing uncommon
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 â—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 Oâ—â—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 â—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
Faith We have frequently told him that God was the Master and Giver of these Gifts and that he distributed them according to the Decrees of his eternal Wisdom that it is out of our Sphere to fathom their Depth that sometimes he did not work these Prodigies in Kings Courts because he foresaw the ill use they were likely to make of them sometimes because giving them better Parts and Abilities and more Penetration than to others these ordinary Graces were sufficient for them whereas the simple vulgar and the rude unciviliz'd Nations stood in need of the sensible Marks of his Almightiness for the more easy discovering of the Truth yea and it is more than probable also that carnal Prudence which is at such enmity with the Spirit of the Blessed Jesus the Softness Ambition and Luxury of great Persons draw upon them this terrible Chastisement and that God in his just Judgment refuseth Miracles to Persons who do themselves refuse to submit to the most plain and ordinary Laws of Nature But my Lord have some replied the Charity of that great Number of Missionaries who joyfully forsake Europe where their Quality Estates and their Science ought naturally to detain them who traverse a Thousand Dangers to come hither to sacrifice themselves to the Happiness of your People and with so unbiassed and constant Zeal Sir Is not there something of a Prodigy in it and should it not be as powerful to perswade you as Miracles If they be such Knowing Learned Men as your Majesty allows them to be how do they abuse themselves and if they be Wise as you seem to think them why do they abandon all the Pleasures of this World to come so far to deceive others and all to no purpose After all the Reflections they have made this Hundred Years upon the different Religions of China there is not one of them who hath not judg'd them all wholly contrary to Reason but during so many Ages that we have examined the Christian Religion we have not observed amongst us one wise Man and of good Morals that hath suspected it of Falshood These Answers do usually put him to a stand and force him to make certain Reflections that do not a little disturb him In short most Reverend Father if Miracles be wanting at Pekin the Business is otherwise in the Provinces several are there wrought and those of Father Faber are so generally known that it is somewhat difficult not to believe them not that I go about to justifie all that is related of those nor of a great many more Prodigies which they relate on small grounds but you 'll give me leave not to doubt of those whereof I my self have been Witness and peradventure most Reverend Father you rely so much upon my Sincerity as to be inclined to believe them likewise upon my Testimony In a Village in the Province of Chensi near the City of San-uyen there lived an Idolater devout in his way and extreamly addicted to these Superstitions At the time of Full Moon he burnt commonly in honour of his Gods Gilded or Silver'd Papers wrapt up in different Figures according to the Custom of the Country One day preparing to Offer this kind of Sacrifice before his Gate there arose a Storm that forc'd him to retire into his House where he lighted the said Papers in the middle of a Hall without taking any farther Care but the Wind blowing open the Gate drove them up and down every where and they had not time to prevent one part from flying into a Stack of Straw which set fire on the House People came running but the conflagration became so furious in a moment that it was impossible to extinguish it The House on one side adjoyning to the Idolater's belonged to a Christian and by this time seem'd half encompassed with the Flames driven furiously by the Wind to be in Danger of being quickly quite consumed this poor Man attended with divers others got upon the House-top and did his Endeavour but all in Vain to defend himself from the Conflagration when his brother very confidently came as near the Fire as he durst possibly and fell on his Knees upon the Tiles and looking up to heaven said O Lord forsake not those that put their Trust in thee all that thou hast bestowed upon us is here if we lose it the whole Family is reduced to the utmost Extremity Preserve it O my God and I promise before thee that I will assemble all the Christians in the Neighbourhood and we will go to Church together to demonstrate my acknowledgment of the same Thereupon he loosed a small Relique from his Chaplet threw it into the middle of the Flames that by this time cover'd part of the House This Action perform'd with such a sprightly Air did equally attract the Attention of Christians and Idolaters who mightily astonished at their Companions Confidence expected the event of the Business when Heaven all on the suddain declar'd it self in a most miraculous manner The Wind blowing violently forthwith slacken'd and a contrary Wind stronger than that arising at the same time drove the violent Streams of the Flames to the opposite side upon the House of a wicked falsehearted Christian that had lately abjured It was consumed in a Moment becoming an Example of divine Vengeance as the House that Heaven preserved was an evident Token of his Protection I was at that time Six Miles from the Village 'T is true my urgent Business hindred me from being my self upon the Spot but I sent very credible Persons thither to be inform'd about it The Pagans first of all bore Witness to the Truth and some while after the Christians thereabouts conducted by him who was lately heard in his Prayer appear'd in my Church to fulfil his Vow where with one accord they eccho'd forth the Praises of the Great God who alone is able to cause his Voice to be heard by the most insensible Creatures to the Confusion of false Gods that are not themselves capable to hear the Voice of rational Creatures Some Months after there happened a thing no less surprising the Consequences whereof were very beneficial to Religion An Idolater of an indifferent Fortune felt himself assaulted with an unknown Distemper it was so catching that his Mother and Wife shar'd in it likewise Two or three times a Week he fell into fainting Fits which at the beginning look'd like Swooning and then turned again into cruel Head-aches Pains in the Stomach and Bowels sometimes they found themselves extreamly agitated as if they had had a Fever they lost the use of their Reason their Eyes rolled in their Heads and men judged by several other unusual Postures that the Devil had a hand in the matter They were the more perswaded to it because they often found their House all put out of Order the Chairs Tables and earthen Vessels overthrown not knowing on whom to lay the Fault The Physicians whose Interest it was to pass
Judgment that Nature on the one hand and the Malice of the People of the Family on the other were the Cause of these several Actions made use of all their Medicines to Cure them The Bonzes on the contrary assured them that the Devil was the Author of the Mischief and demanded unreasonable Alms to stop it's Course So that the good People abused on every hand had thrown away all their Estate in Four Years time upon the Covetousness of these Impostors without finding any Benefit However seeing the Distemper afforded them some Intervals they sought up and down in the Cities thereabouts for new Remedies for their Griefs One Day this Idolater going for this purpose to the chief City he found a Christian upon the Road to whom he told his Condition and how miserably he was handled no Question saith the Christian but it 's the Devil that torments you but you well deserve it Why do you serve so bad a Master we fear no such thing because we acknowledge one God whom the Devils adore yea they tremble before his Image and the Cross only that we wear about us hinders him from coming near us If you will accept of a Picture of JESUS CHRIST and you and all your Family will Honour it it will not be long before you see the Effects of it However it is soon tried it shall cost you nothing and you may judge by that that I have no other aim but your Benefit The Idolater consented to it and hanging the holy Image in the most honorable Place of the House he prostrated himself before it with profound Respect and begged every day Morning and Evening of our Saviour that he would vouchsafe to heal his Body and enlighten his Mind His Mother and Daughter followed his Example and from that very Moment the Demons abandoned the Place of which JESUS CHRIST had taken possession These good People growing stronger and stronger in Faith as the evil Spirit gave ground began at last to think of being Converted in good earnest They came to enquire for me at Signanfou the usual Place of my Residence and demanded Baptism of me they had already got themselves Instructed they had moreover got all the Prayers by heart that we teach the late Catechumens But their Distemper making a great Noise in the Country I was willing every Body should be Witnesses of this Conversion and so went to the Village my self hoping this Miracle might settle Christianity therein upon a solid Basis. Just upon my appearing all the Inhabitants followed me to the Place where the Image was still hanging then I begun to tell them that they were not to question the Verity of our Religion God having himself spoken by a manifest Miracle but that I had caused them to assemble to Instruct and Baptize them For in a Word what do you desire more to be convinced of the Weakness of your Gods and the Power of our God the Demon laughs at you so long as you oppose him with nothing but Idols but he is not able to hold it out against the Image only of the Christian's God Do you imagin to escape this God after Death whose Power Hell owns and whose Justice it experiences every Moment The multitude interrupted me by a Thousand ridiculous Objections which I easily answered at last some body told me that the Devil had no hand in the Malady in Question that how extraordinary soever it appeared might proceed from several natural Causes that is said I the most rational Thing you can say but yet does no way extenuate the greatness of the Miracles Let the Malady come from the Devil or from Nature I will not examin that but it is certain at least that the Cure comes from God whose Image this man hath worshipped and there is no less Power requisite to cure natural Distempers than to drive out evil Spirits This Reason should have made an equal Impression on all Minds but Grace that acted differently in the hearts gave place in some to voluntary Obdurateness whilst it triumph'd over the Obstinacy of others Twenty five Persons at last gave Glory to God who alone worketh great Marvels Qui facit Mirabilia magna solus and were shortly after Baptized These Hauntings and Infestations of Demons are very ordinary in China amongst the Idolaters and it looks as if God permitted it so to be to oblige them to have Recourse to him Sometime after this Accident that I but just now Related a Maid just upon her Marriage was attacked with a Complication of several Diseases which the Physicians knew not what to say to and which the Chinese are wont to ascribe to the Demons Her Mother persuaded her to turn Christian and he that was to marry her promised to build a Church to the God of the Christians in case Baptism gave her any Relief As soon as ever this Maid had taken this Course she found herself not only Relieved but perfectly Cured But her Husband was so far from following her Example that he misused her several times for having obliged him to renounce his Faith for the Bonzes perswaded him that this Sickness was but a piece of Artifice in his Mother in Law and this Fancy alone put him into such a fit of Melancholy that he was insupportable to the whole Family but especially to his Wife who from that very instant became an object of his Aversion It was in vain to represent to him his own Mistake and the Malice of the Bonzes for he always protested that if she would not take up her old Religion again he would lead her an ill Life all her Days God to undeceive him suffered the Demon to torment his Wife as before so she relapst into her former Convulsions She was more especially scared at the sight of a great Company of Specters that let her not have an hours rest Thus tost up and down abandoned to her Husband's Inhumanity that beat her Cruelly she in all appearance led a very uncomfortable Life Yet remaining unmovable in her Faith God always upheld her and temper'd and allay'd by the inward sweetness of his Grace the bitterness of these Afflictions he comforted her likewise by sensible Visitations by his Word and by the unspeakable Cogitations that he from time to time infused into her Soul Insomuch that this Condition that gain'd her the Compassion of all that knew her was to her a fore-taste of Paradise She exprest her self much what to this purpose to her Mother in Law who related it to me with Tears in her Eyes for her Husband could not endure that I should see her At first I gave little Credit to this Discourse yet at length I was apt to believe there was something Supernatural in it for one Day coming to a City distant from the chief City where I sojourn'd about Threescore Miles there I found this good Woman with a great Company of Christians of the Neighbour-Towns which she had taken Care to get together being
considerable City in the Province of Chansi where according to our Calculation the Sun was to be totally Eclipsed Yet it was not so because the Longitude of the Country was not yet perfectly known to us The Heavens were that day extreme Serene the Place very Convenient our Instrument fitly Placed and being Three Observators nothing was wanting that might render the Observation Exact Amongst the different Methods that may be made use of for these sorts of Operations we made Choice of Two that seemed to us the most Plain and Easie The one was to look upon the Sun with a Telescope of Three Foot long in which they had placed at the focus objectivi Reticula or little Net composed of Twelve little Threads of raw Silk very small and equally distant one from another yet so that they might precisely take up all the Space of the Sun whose Diameter appeared after this manner to the Eye divided into Twelve equal Parts The Second consisted in receiving the representation of the Sun by a Telescope of Twelve Foot that was painted upon a piece of Pastboard opposite to the Optic-Glass at a proportional Distance we had drawn upon the said Pastboard Twelve little Concentrical Circles the biggest whereof was equal to the apparent Discus of the Sun So that it was easy for us to determin not only the Beginning Duration and End of the Eclipse which require no more but a single Optic glass and a well regulated Pendulum but also its Bigness or as they commonly call it its Quantity and the Time that the Shadow or rather the Moon spends in covering or uncovering each Part of the Sun for notwithstanding all these Parts are equal amongst themselves yet it doth not therefore follow that there is requisite an equal Number of Minutes to go over them because the continual Change of the Paralax retards or puts forward the apparent Motion of the Moon There wanted but the 24th Part to the total covering of the Sun and we determined it to be an Eclipse of Eight Digits and an half for so Astronomers term it for to make their Calculation Just they are wont to divide the apparent Diameter of the Planets into Twelve Digits and every Digit into Sixty Minutes In the mean time we observed first of all that when Three Quarters of the Sun were eclipsed the Day appeared in a manner not at all changed by it nay and we could hardly have perceived it if we had not had otherwise Notice of it so that an ordinary Cloud was almost capable of producing the very same Effect Secondly tho' we did not at the height of the Eclipse see more than a little Ark of Light yet might a Man read very easily in the Court the smallest Character I have seen some Storms that obscured the Heavens as much as they were at that Time Thirdly we could by no means discover any Star tho' we endeavoured it all we could We only perceived Venus which doth not denote any great Obscurity since this Planet appears often times even at such time as the Sun is wholly risen above the Horizon The Chinese notwithstanding were terribly allarmed imagining that the Earth was going suddenly to invelloped in thick Darkness They made an hideous Noise all abroad to oblige the Dragon to be gone It is to this Animal that they attribute all the disappearances of the Stars which come to pass say they because the Celestial Dragon being hunger bit holds at that time the Sun or Moon fast between his Teeth with a Design to devour them At length the Light returned by Degrees and eased the Chinese of their Trouble but we continued our Operation comparing by different Calculations the Greatness Continuance and Ending of this Eclipse with the different Tables of ancient and modern Astronomeâ—s There was also made at Pekin Ham-cheou and in several other Cities of Chiâ—a the very same Observations which might have served to determin the Longitude of all these different Places if we had not had more sure and easier Methods to know it by Upon the whole this Observation afforded an Occasion to make some Reflections upon several other Eclipses whereof Authors speak diversly Herodotus Lib. 1. relates that upon the very Day that the King of the Medes and the King of the Lydians fought a a bloody Battel the Sun appeared totally eclipsed The Combat saith he lasted a long Time with equal Advantage on both sides till all on a suddain thick Darkness covered the Earth and for a while suspended the Fury of the Soldiers Father Petau hath placed this Eclipse in the Year 597 before the Birth of our Saviour on the 9th of Iuly altho' according to his Calculation it ought to be but of 9 Digits 22 Minutes imagining without doubt that this Portion of the Sun eclipsed was considerable enough to verifie such thick Darkness which the Historians mention Nevertheless that is so far from sufficing that our last Observation ought to convince us that such an indifferent Eclipse as that was could not so much as be seen by the Combatants So that it is much more probable that this famous Battel was fought in the Year 585 on the 28th day of May a Day whereon there chanced o be a total Eclipse of the Sun Father Petau cannot disagree with us about this last Eclipse but if we reckon it according to his Tables we shall find that it is but of 11 Digits 20 Minutes that is to say not quite so big as ours and for that Reason we may suppose his Tables to be defective because the 24th Part of the Sun sufficeth as we have observed to make the Day pretty Clear notwithstanding the History would make us believe that it was obscure yea and even resembling the darkest Night In the Year 310 before the Birth of our Saviour Agaâ—bocles King of Sicily sailing into Africa with his Fleet bound for Cartbage the Sun totally disappeared the Stars were seen every where as if it had been Mid-night whereupon divers Astronomers and particularly Riccioluâ— are of Opinion that the Tables that allow to this Eclipse a Greatness that comes pretty near that of the Total do sufficiently make out the History Nevertheless it is manifest by what we have Observed that the Stars would never have been perceived especially in that brightness and after that manner that Diodorus and Iustin say they did if so be there had been any sensible Part of the Sun discovered except this same Part not being eclipsed had not been near the Horizon as it happened in the Year 237 in the beginning of the Reign of Gordianus Iunior for at that Time the Heavens were so darkened that it was impossible to know one another without Wax tapers at least if we give credit to Iulius Capitolinus The Second Eclipse we observed still more considerable than the former was seen by Father Tachard in his Voyage into the Indies he was at Sea on board an Holland Vessel and if the Place would