repetition of Troops and Armies The Tartars march with no betteâ—â— order than they draw up their Armies in Battalia They go divideâ—â— into severall little Bodies together without observing either ranâ—â— or file and march either more open or close as the ways will permit them The Horse marches first as the vantguard and the Foot follow after as a reserve When they are ready to march as a signal the harsh sound of their Trumpet is heard and afterwards it foâ—â—nds no more no not when they give battel or charge their Enemy They have neither Drum nor Fife nor any such like Instrument But it is only the sound of this Trumpet which is a signal to them to begin their march and this is the occasion of so great a commotion that it may well serve to mind us of that at the last day of Judgment Before the Army is carried a Banner or Standard indifferent large for which all the Troops have a great veneration This is the only one thâ—â—y have in the whole Army and it is something like those which in the Church of Rome they have in their Churches Whensoever they either charge their Enemies or storm any place they are obliged to follow this Standard which way soever it goes Therefore as soon as he who carries it who is ever some eminent Captain and is always accompanied with the most couragious Souldiers of the Army begins the assault the whole Army at the same time falls on The Horse makes ever the first attempt then the Infantâ—â—y follow without any order or conduct but tumultuously and confâ—â—sedly according as each â—â—erson can close with his enemy There is neither right nor left wing main batâ—â—el nor reserve They have no distinct Squadrons or Battalions â—â—either do they regard to keep either rank or â—â—ile Nor do they observe any distinction of time in shooting with their Bows or making use of their Lances and short Swords But all this numerous multitude move together and do precipitately fall on at the same time that they may break â—â—hrough all opposition like a Sea tossâ—â—d with a violent storm when the Waves press and drive on each other so incâ—â—ssantly that the first are no â—â—ooner broke but they are continually seconded by others with a new violence and impetousity Whensoever the Tartars have begun the Charge they never think of taking breath or making a retreat nor are they discouraged to see any fall down dead or wounded for they count it no loss to see a great number of their men lye dead in the Field esteeming it the greatest glory to dye with their Arms in their hands and knowing that they have men more than enough to supply the place of the dead They never sound any retreat and mind nothing but either to conquer or dye And this the sole order is given them to observe unless they are totally defeated for then it is free for them to run away as they do in all other parts If he who carries the Standard is either overthrown or killed in the engagement which happens very often for he is always to present himself where the greatest danger is then he who is nâ—â—xt him fails not to take up the Standard and thus in one fight or in one assault it often passes through the hands of several persons neither is there ever wanting gallant and brave fellows who strive and contend who shall take it up and carry it than which nothing can be more honourable and gloriouâ—â— But the manner how the Tartars besiege and take Towns is both more extravagant and extraordinary than their way of fighting The first thing they do when they lye before any place is to storm it and the last to raise their Batteries The Horse make thâ—â— first approach and gives the first assault which is just opposite to the practice of Europe without any manner of shelter they go and present themselves before a place defended with strong Walls and Bulwarks lined with all sorts of great Guns and Ordnance â—â—ufficiently supplied with men provisâ—â—ons and ammunition In this condition were several places in China when the Tartars assaulted them Whereas in Europe an Army which came to â—â—ay siege to any place would begin with opening their trenches raising batteries and after they had made a breach then give the assault The Tartars on the contrary began with storming the Town and after batter it It is the Horse headed with the Captain who carries the Standard which makes all assaults for which they make no great preparations They only tye a great number of Ladders to their horses tayles And though these ladders are only one single piece of timber with several peggs struck through yet the Tartars make use of them as readily as we can of our ordinary Ladders When they are thus prepared the Standard-bearer claps spurs to his horse and fiercely rides up to the very foot of the wall and is presently followed by all the rest of the Troops who shout and cry out most hideously thereby to strike the greater terrour and dread into their enemies This they do in all fights and assaults Though the Artillery of the Enemy play incessantly upon them though great numbers of their men are cut off yet all this doth not hinder the assailants from hotly pursuing their enterprise The heaps of dead bodies do on the contrary facilitate their approach by filling up the ditch In this manner they advance to the very foot of the wall and then those who are nearest light from their horses which serve them afterwards as Gabions and â—â—arapets And then having raised their ladders against the wall with an unparallell'd resolution and courage they mount up to the very top thereof Now the besieged are almost in as great danger as the assailants For those under the wall who are to second those on the top do incessantly shower down an infinite number of Arrows upon those within the walls And they let fly their Arrows with that exâ—â—ctâ—â—ess that they make â—â—hem fall where they will and they fâ—â—y with that strength that they strike quite through those who think themâ—â—elves most sâ—â—cure and best defended Thus those upon the Ladders quickly gain the top of the Wall and there either lying flat down or kneeling on their knees with their Arrows they ply so warmely those within as well those who man the Guns as all those who attempt to defend the walls that they quickly beat them from their Artillery and disenable them from making use of any of their Arms. In the mean time fresh Troops draw near the place and whilst some are attempting to scale the Walls others endeavour to possess themselves of a Gate and to gain a passage into the Town and in a little time that is to say as soon as any horses can get in by the noise and neighing they make they quickly discover that the Town is taken and that all is now at the discretion of the Enemie Thus the
all necessaries for their Expedition they entred into China by that part of the Wall through which the General Vsuanguè had opened them a passage They were not displeased that the Northern Provinces which were in subjection to Ly underwent the first Inconveniences of the War as it may be judged by their going straight against the Tyrant perswading themselves that thereby they should render their entrance less odious and their Designes less suspected by those who had not as yet sided with them It was in the year 1643. that the Tartars made this irruption into China neither the Day nor the Moneth is set down but it may very well be supposed that it was towards the latter end of that year for the Relation saith that in the space of three years and some odd Moneths that vast Empire was entirely conquered and that the last of all the Towns which submitted to the Tartarian yoke was Canton of which the Tartar possessed himself in the beginning of Ianuary 1647. Neither is the number of the Forces which went upon this Expedition very certainly known we only know that their Number both of Horse and Foot were almost incredible They divided their Army into several distinct Bodies of Foot and Horse some of a hundred some of two hundred thousand men which at the first did very much incommodate one another for some of them advanced plundered and subdued that part of the Countrey which was designed the Prey and Conquest of others The Cham of Tartary was accompanied with three of his Unkles who supported this young Prince serv'd him with Valour and Loyalty rarely to be parallell'd Their care was from the very beginning to gain a Repute to the power of their Sword and by mildness and moderation to ingratiate their government with the people The elder of these three Princes who was very eminent for his skill and ability in the Art of Government kept himself always close to the person of the Emperour and instructed him with prudent Counsels and took such care of his Person and Fame as if he had been his Son rather than his Nephew The two other Unkles of the Emperour who were younger commanded his Armies and by their Loyalty and Valour they caused the Emperour's Arms to triumph in all parts One of these did more eminently signalize himself in this Conquest by which he gained the Fame of the most Valiant Captain of the whole Nation and acquired the Title of the Conquerour of China The War in a short time extended it self into the Province of Pequin the Capital City whereof had for the last Ages been always the Seat of the Court of the Emperours of China and there the Tyrant had established himself and drawn to him all the Grandees of his Party But the Fame and Success of the Tartars quickly displaced him There were only some few places which did render themselves by force all the other yielded to the Threats of the Tartars out of the fear and apprehension they had that they should be as severely chastised as those were who made any Resistance Thus though in some few places the Chineses were so obstinate as not to submit to a Forreign Power and in others they made some shew of resistance yet generally they all presently yielded themselves up to the strongest and few or none did firmly adhere to the Tyâ—â—ant The Tartars having thus prosperouâ—â—y began their Conquest without meetâ—â—ng with any considerable Obstacle which might put a stop to their progress resolved to lose no time but to march with their whole Army towards Pequin The desire they had to find the Usurper there made them hasten that they might with all possible speed pluck the Crown from off that unworthy Head The Tyrant had in Pequin a very gallant and numerous Army who were very well paid and such as in all appearance would have made a very resolute Defence This made it generally be believed that if convenient order was taken should the Enemy gain the Victory the purchase thereof would cost him much Bloud But this Usurper being but a cowardly Traitor and all his Souldiers so many treacherous Villains their huffing Vapours quickly vanished Till now they only contended with Deceit and Treason They had only overcome naked men people disordered and so surprized that they had not time to prepare for their Defence but now they were obliged â—â—o face an Enemy who came prepared to give battel in search after them and such an Enemy which was flesh'd in the Victory of all those who ever durst oppose them Ly knew there was no safety for him so near his Enemy for as it would be rashness to run the hazard of a Battel so the danger was equal to stay and expect his Enemy and to think to defend himself being blocked up in the City of Pequin therefore he resolved to retreat and to abandon his Capital City assoon as the Enemy was within three days journey from it The Tyrant before he discamped discharged some of his Choler upon the people and executed most horrible Cruelties in the City This was to punish them for the respect which in some measure they seemed to retain towards their Lawful Soveraign It being most true that they always shewed a greater abhorrency to his Treason than any Zeal or Inclination to his Interests Therefore assoon as he had revenged himself on the Inhabitants of Pâ—â—quin presently with his Associates he took his flight and carried along with him the Treasures of all the Emperours of China But he was not so loaded with Riches as with the execration of the People which have eterniz'd his Memory amongst the Chineses as the most detestable Villain which ever breath'd The Tartars presently appeared before the Walls of the City of Pequin and made their entrance without any resistance but assoon as they perceived that the Tyrant had made his Escape they made no stay but instantly followed him but it was not possible for them to overtake him therefore the young Xunchi returned to Pequin into which assoon as he had made a most magnificent entrance they judged it convenient with all expedition to declare him the absolute Monarch of all that Golden Kingdom for so the Tartars call China This young Monarch after he had caused himself to be Crowned Emperour of all those vast Territories judged it convenient to settle his Court in the Palace of Pequin whither he summoned all the Nobility of Tartary and did most eagerly prepare for the prosecution of his Victory As for the Tyrant Ly that we may never have occasion to mention him more all the further mention which the Relation makes of him is only that he retreated into the Province of Xensi which is in the Northern parts of China and one of those six Provinces which he had reduced under his Subjection Thither he went with all his Forces and Treasure and made a stay with all his Retinue in the Capital City fortifying himself therein as strongly
nothing so humble or vile which the proudest spirited man will scorn to act This Prince since his Grandeur would not avail him against his Enemy resolved to seem willing to submit himself to him As for the Tartar he resembled the Magnanimous Lion or one of those Hero's of whom it is said that they will grind their Enemies to powder if they refuse to submit to their power but make it their Glory to spare those who prostrate themselves at their feet The King of Corea sent therefore to lay his Crown at the feet of the Cham of Tartary assuring himself that it would be returned back to him conditionally that he would acknowledge himself a Tributary to the Tartar who accordingly accepted of his Offers aâ—â—d assented to treat upon those terms Thus the King of Corea abased himself that thereby he might be the higher exalted the readiest way for any person to disentangle himself out of any troublesom affair and in conclusion to gain himself an advantage thereby is to know how subtilly to dissemble for all men are easily deluded with false Appearances In the Tartarian Court they considered that they had already their hands full in China and that they could never want employment there and therefore this Treaty with the King of Corea upon these terms must needs be very advantageous to them for thereby the Emperour without lessening his Forces would encrease his Fame Thus the Cham returned out of Corea with all his Army to Pequin And in the Interim he gave order to the King of Corea without any Arms to follow him to his Court that there they might better draw up and conclude upon the Articles of Peace Accordingly the King of Corea confidently relying upon the Parole of this young Monarch failed not to observe these Orders and rendred himself at Pequin presently after the Arrival of Xunchi and was received and treated according to his Grandeur and the Magnificence of that Court. After the King had solemnly made his Homage to the Cham according to the Conditions of Peace which were concluded upon these Terms That henceforth the Kings of Corea should by Homage and Fealty hold their Kingdom with all the Dependencies thereof from the Emperours of Tartary Which were almost the very same Conditions with those which were formerly made with the Late Emperours of China he returned with his Diadem and Royal Scepter to his own Kingdom to the publick Joy and his private satisfaction which did the more exalt the Fame of the Grandeur and Generosity of the young Emperour of Tartary All that is here reported was concluded in the year 1643. and the beginning of 44. CHAP. IV. The Tartar pursues his Conquest He reduces five other Provinces bordering upon Pequin His Conduct that thereby he might illustrate his Victories and the Orders he prescribed to the Conquered PResently after the Tartars had entred into China their powerful Armies over-ran all parts thereof and like a violent Torrent carried all before them Their young Monarch never failed in his own person to appear in all eminent Enterprizes We have already seen that assoon as he had subdued the Province of Pequin which is the principal of the whole Empire and one of the six which the Tyrant had reduced under his power how prudently he secured himself towards Corea which he had made Tributary to him But this was but as an Essay of his Heroick Actions Now he resolves with all expedition to strike the terrour of his Arms into those five other Provinces of the North which yet seemed to side with Ly. These were Xantum Leautum Honam Xansi and Xensi This young Prince entred at the Head of his Troops into these Provinces in the beginning of 44 and the same year subdued them all There was at the first some few places which made a vigorous resistance but of no long continuance The heat of the Chineses did not long last and their great Flashes quickly blazed out and served only to consume themselves therein But it is strange that the Tartars should over-run and reduce all these Provinces without meeting with the Tyrant or seeing any appearance of either his Army or Treasure at least the Relation is silent herein The Conduct of the Tartar in so swift an Expedition is very remarkable He went directly with the main Body of his Army and fell upon the Capital City of the Province without ever dividing his Forces or diverting them upon any other Design His Opinion was that no General of an Army though he should leave behind him some places less considerable which he might have possessed himself of and some Bodies of the Enemies Forces which he might have defeated yet he need not distrust his Victory Thus this Prince with the terrour of his numerous and potent Army presented himself before the Capital City of the Province which in a short time he alwayes either carried by Storm or else presently obliged it to render upon Articles By these means assoon as he had made his entrance into the City he took possession not only of it but of the entire Province and then he established all convenient Orders both for War and Peace And from thence he issues out his Summons to all other Towns and places in the same Province either without all delays to submit themselves to his power or to prepare for their Defence and at the same time he gave them assurance that he would receive them into his Favour and Mercy if without making any resistance they rendred up themselves But if on the contrary they resolved to defend themselves then he denounced a bloudy War against them Thus the places which submitted before they were compelled to it by violence were received and treated with all the Grace and Favour they could expect from so generous a Prince but as for those places which prepared to make Resistance he sent his whole Army to summon them the second time and so numerous and formidable were his Souldiers that they brought Terrour and Desolation in all parts where-ever they came and laid their Sieges so close that those who at first appeared most â—â—esolute after they had felt the rigour of the first Assaults quickly repented themselves but it was now too late for the Tartar had determined by their example to teach others to yield themselves to his Mercy before they put him to the cost of bloud and thereby he likewise designed to instruct their Neighbours that they might not be deceived but know what upon the like occasion to expect This was the Conduct and Success of the Tartar in the conquest of these five Provinces where the young Prince in his own person commanded in the head of his Troops as he did likewise in Corea This Expedition concluded with the year 1644. after which he returned to Pequin Crowned with Lawrel This Prince had made choice of this great City for his Court and the place of his Residence and had published his Proclamation that all the Officers
of his Court and the Nobility of Tartary should appear there And having already given so many eminent proofs of his undaunted Courage he thought it would be now more sutable to his Grandeur to remit the Conquest of the Nine other Southern Provinceâ—â— of China to the Experience and Loyalty of the Generals of his Armies Either he judged that in all that spatious Countrey â—â—here was no Enemy glorious enough for him in person to contend with or else having been so often victorious he thought the very Fame of his Arms sufficient to carry Victory with them where-ever they came Thus we see in all times Examples which evidence that the common Saying That the Fortune of War is variable and uncertain holds not always true And as this Maxim hath been falsified in the persons of Alexander the two Caesars Iulius and Augustus the Scipio's and many such other Conquerors so it may very well be said to have been confuted by young Xunchi who for his Valour may justly be parallell'd with all these Hero's and like thâ—â—m seems to have been born only for Victory and Triumph But that which meâ—â—its the greatest Admiration and which ought to be recorded that it may serve for an example to other great Princes is that amidst so tender an Age and so profound a Darkness of Infidelity it could not be discerned that so numberless Victories had rendred this Prince either proud or vain-glorious And yet it must be acknowledged that should this young Monarch have like those other Conquerours been puffed up with pride or vanity yet the Tenderness of his Age his Valour Power and Success considering likewise that he was a Barbarian void of the knowledge of the true Religion might very well have pleaded in his excuse But the Relation in all his grand Exploits makes him appear as a Prodigy of Moderation and Remarks that he never attributed his Victories either to his own Valour or Power but solely â—â—o the Soveraign power of the God of Heaven according to the knowledge he had of him as for himself he said he was only the Executioner of the Pleasure and Decrees of Heaven and unless from thence he had been most visibly favoured he declared he should have despaired of success in divers Enteâ—â—prizes the execution of which proved most facile easie to him And for proof how much he was favoured from above he recited several Prodigies which he assured himself were pre-ordained by Heaven that thereby his Arms might be rendred Victorious Perhaps the Devil that he might the more blind these people did by some extraordinary means bring to pass those Adventures which they related as amongst other things the Tartars do with great assurance affirm that at their first entrance into China they found a Ford over a River which was very deep and never before fordable in any part much less at that place where the Tartars Army marched over This River they call the Yellow River because the waters thereof are very much troubled and muddy The head of it arises beyond China into which it enters by the North and waters several Provinces thereof and in all parts is very large and deep but more especially at that place where the Tartars marched over with their horse and foot without any difficulty at all The like Accident they say happened to this Prince and his whole Army in their passage over another River These great Rivers are very frequent in all parts of China and in some places they are of a very extraordinary bredth and depth From all these adventures the Emperour of Tartary concluded that the Heavens approved of his Conquest since to gain him the possession of China they acted in such an extrordinary manner The Chineses themselves which may seem strange confirm these relations and say it was decreed from above that the Empire of China should be subdued by the Tartars This they publickly proclaim hoping thereby to palliate the shame of their Nation that they have so infamously and cowardly submitted to their Enemies The Heavens say they decreed it should be so â—â—nd they preordain'd the confusion and destruction of China that thereby it might the easier be conquered by another Nation else the Chineses would in another guess manner have received any who should have dared to assault them and would never so wretchedly have suffered themselves to be subdued by their Enemies Thus the conquerers and the conquered do equally pretend to have pursued the decrees of Heaven The Tartar hereby makes his advantage and the Chinese likewise thinks to excuse his base cowardliness Thus men all the world over ridiculously strain their brains to make God compliant with their pleasure and so enamoured are they with their fond fictions that to gain credit to them they fear not to authorize them upon the supreme reason of the Universe and the soveraign Truth it self The whole Tartarean Nation hearing the renown of the victories of their young Xunchi in China quickly flowed in And now that their Country-men were masters no walls were sufficient to stop their passage the love of fame the desire to share with their companions in the remains of the pillage of so many fine Cities and rich Provinces would not let them sit still but drew them thither from all parts Great need had the Emperour of them all for besides that he was obliged to maintain great Garrisons in all the Towns and strong places which in each Province are very numerous it concerned him likewise ever to keep in the field several potent Armies some to reduce those people which as yet had not submitted to him others to secure what he had already conquered And it likewise highly imported him to have an Army in readiness to prevent revolts and insurrections of the people which are very ordinary in a Nation lately conquered and especially in a Nation which having been accustomed to the dominion of Princes of their own Countrey see themselves brought under subjection to Forraigners It was this consideration which induced the Tartar to engage as many as he could possibly of those Chinese souldiers who were borderers upon Tartâ—â—ry to take employment in his Army for these are the most warlick and the skilfullest at their arms of all China And principally he endeavoured to draw into his party the heads of the most eminent families and the most considerable persons of the whole countrey These persons served both as hostages to him for the Loyalty of all their dependents and increased the number of his Souldiers which he daily raised more and more that he might with all convenient speed send them to the conquest of the more remote Provinces but still he took care that the chief Commanders and principal Officers of his Troups were Tartars As for all other employments which were not Military though there were many very considerable offices and dignities the Tartars bestowed them amongst the Chineses with less precaution And herein at the first they proceeded in a method
conveniences for the most urgent necessities of the Provinces he raised and repaired the Fortifications of all the towns and places of greatest importance But he was in a more especial manner careful to secure the Passes and to obstruct and block up the passage of his Enemy As for his Army he made choice of his stoutest men for his Soldiers and placed over them experienced and valiant Commanders And for his people he was resolved to increase their priviledges and to heap upon them his Acts of Grace and that he might entirely gain the hearts and affections of his Subjects his carriage towards them was very different from that of the former Emperours of China for he condescended to a kind of familiarity with them and when ever any eminent action was to be done for the publick benefit he ever in his own person gave them the first example what they were to do that thereby he might both instruct and encourage them and this did so conciliate him the inclinations of his people that they all voluntarily vowed to pay him all the Loyal Observance and Obedience he could expect from them There was just reason to have hoped that if the General Vsanguè had not so precipitately called in the Tartars all the Southern Provinces which make the greatest and best part of China might have been retained under their Obedience to their Lawful Soveraign who was powerful enough to have suppressed the Usurper and it would have been no more difficult for him than it was for the Tartar to have dissipated the vain projects of the Traytor nay he might peradventure have driven him to that streight as to have obliged him by a voluntary death to prevent the ignominious Execution due to his perfidious Treachery But the Reign of this new Emperour was never destined to be blessed with so great Felicity nor with any long continuance for he reigned over the nine Southern Provinces little more than a year But during that small space of time in which Xunchi was taken up in the Conquest of the six Northern Provinces and the Kingdom of Corea Assoon as the Cham began to taste the first-fruits of his Victory the entire Invasion of the Empire did no more disturb his Conscience than did the breach of the peace which he had sworn with the Royal Family of China He did not now consider that it would have been but natural Justice to leave to this Chinese Prince at least that part of the Empire where he had been chosen King and the Tyrant had never extended his Dominion He knew that Hunguan was publickly and undoubtedly acknowledged to be a Prince of the Blood Royal but Fortune and Victory had now new Modeliz'd his Conscience and made Justice transformed Now he publickly declared that his Right to the whole Empire was sufficiently justified by this pretext That those persons of the Blood Royal to whom the peace was sworn were only to be understood of such who were immediately descended from the Emperours in a direct Line from Father to Son as the Succession of the 17 last Emperours had been continued in that Family He was desirous to have it thought that this explanation ought to be made of the Oath that hereby he might be freed from it as likewise from all Obligations which lay upon him to any who might ever pretend to be of the Royal Family of the Emperours of China See now what was the Tartar's Justice But when we reflect upon the practise of many Christian Princes thâ—â—re is less reason to wonder that a Barbarian Prince an Idolater and Infidel should with all his might advance his Conquest since now it was so facile so glorious and of so high importance to his Grandeur and Interest He had began too successfully to stop in the midst of his Course And the young Xunchi proceeded too swiftly to be stayed now with these initial considerations whether he had or he had no Right whether he was or he was not obliged to be a punctual Observer of the Oath and the Peace which his Ancestors had sworn with the Emperours of China The Emperour's Unkle whom he had employed in the entire Conquest of all China did with all possible speed advance with all his Forces towards the province of Nanquin he went directly against him whom the Chineses had crowned their Emperour and was by his Instructions commanded with all diligence to endeavour to seize upon his person and take from him both his Crown and his Life These were Reasons of State but they were cruel and barbarous Reasons which because thâ—â—y did exclude all of the Blood Royal from any Right of Succession must likewise adjudge to Death this Prince who was called and in a manner compelled to it but this was to cut off at the first all occasions of Revolts which might distrub the Tartars in their possession of the Empire of China Assoon as the General of the Tartars was entred into the Province of Nanquin at the first he met with a somewhat vigorous resistance from the Chineses but after they had seen those vast Armies they did not long persevere in their Resolution All began to bend and yield to the Success and Valour of his Forces And proportionably as he went further into the Countrey he met with fewer Enemies to contend with Many who saw how dear it had cost their Neighbours to have endeavoured to stop the progress of the Victors thought they should be more secure by being less obstinate The General therefore advanced on his Road and having by the force of his Arms subdued all Obstacles which did impede his March he came and lodged with his whole Army within sight of the great City of Nanquin The Emperour Hunguan resided there with all his Court and lived in all the Splendor sutable to his Person and Dignity but he was now confirmed that he was not deceived in his apprehension of the weight of the Imperial Diadem and now he was convinced that it would have been more advantageous to him to have persisted in so Honourable a Refusal His Captains and his Souldiers who did so vapour when the Tartars were at a greater distance from them were not now they were near them so couragious though now if ever it was the time for them to give proof of their Resolution and Courage but in stead of Valour there appeared nothing but Timorousness in all parts His best Commanders on whom he most relied were all defeated and those Posts abandoned from whence he hoped most to have annoyed the Enemy Seeing himself therefore in so ill a posture of defence and no better upheld he resolved not to stay till the Town was battered and assaulted by the Tartars but with his choicest Troops departed out of Nanquin in the night time and presently all the most considerable persons in the City followed him so that there was none staid in it but a great Rabble â—â—f persons very uncapable of defending a City In the Morning
the most negligent in standing upon their Guard and having seized them they carried them to their Emperour who assoon as he saw them ascended upon his Throne and sentenced them to be executed in his presence This was all the Blood which the Tartars here lost and at this easie rate they purchased the Defeat of the Emperour of Canton and the Surprizal of this vast City There was not any of the Inhabitants who did in the least think of the defence of the City all their thoughts were taken up in contriving how to save their Lives as well as they could And for this intent the wealthiest and chiefest persons of the City judged their greatest security would be in disguising themselves like poor Folkes and in this Equipage to thrust themselves into the crowd of the distressed and miserable people God be praised that it sometimes happens that the rich envy the condition of the poor for both Friends and Foes alwayes design upon the Wealthy and it was at these which the Tartars aimed and therefore it the more concerned them to conceal themselves As for the poor they had nothing to lose and therefore might very securely stay in their houses It was some satisfaction to them that they could now laugh at the Fortune of the rich who had so often derided their Misery It was little available to those who were very wealthy to have been so sollicitous to disguise themselves The malice of the common people would not let slip so fair an opportunity to revenge themselves by letting these persons know who it was the Tartars searched for The Populace cried out in all parts Let these Villains come and shew themselves Let these Thieves and Robbers who have sold their Prince that they might heap up such vast Wealth unto themselves come now and enrich the Tartars therewith let them now aâ—â—compt with their new Masters They have for a long time oppressed and abused us but they shall now fare no better than we they shall be now no greater Lords than we are Shall they be poor only in disguise and we miserable in reality Shall they have ruined us and shall we save them c. The Army of the Tartars came before the Town towards the Evening and was not a little surprized and astonished to find the Gates opâ—â—n as if it were not an Enemies Town The Tartars went and took up their Quarters where they best pleased rested themselves and slept very securely no body offering to disturb them or so much as ask who they were or what they came for The General and Lord chief Justice went and lodged themselves in the old Palace of the Viceroys of the Emperours of China and were as well accommodated as if they were in their own Houses Thus the King of Canton was dispossessed of his whole State the four and fortieth day of his Reign which he resolved not long to outlive And therefore assoon as he saw himself abandoned by his Subjects he went and seated himself upon his Imperial Throne with as severe and grave an aspect as became his Royal Dignity This may represent to our view the Roman Senators when Brennus and the Gauls sacked Rome In this condition this poor Prince expressed himself to this effect The Tartars are possessed of my City and my Subjects have abandoned me what can I now expect but death But I will die like a King I am mounted upon the Throne and upon the Throne I will end my days Here I will have the satisfaction at the same time to cast a viâ—â—w upon my short Prosperity and to face my present Adversity Here I will attend and see how Heaven shall please to dispose of me I make no resistance against its Decrees I patiently submit to its Ordinances c. Some of his Wives whom he had loved the most tenderly that they might testifie their passion to him killed themselves in his presence a strange effect of Love that should make hatred to our selves transcend our Love As for the King he staid upon the Throne till night but then he waâ—â— no longer minded to tarry there for death either Fear or Drowsiness made him descend He had reason not to persist in acting so serious and grave a part when all his Gravity was so soon likely to terminate but whatever he did he could not long escape his Enemies who searched too diligently for him not to discover him quickly This same night a great Chinesâ—â— Fleet of strong Ships came from Sea up the Channel to the very City and brought a very considerable Relief but they were so mad and surprized to find that the Tartars were Masters of it that they assisted to consummate the ruine of it for they were so enraged both against the common Enemy who was possessed of the City and the Inhabitants who had so cowardly delivered it up that they fet fire to that part of Canton which was called the New City and was the most beautiful of the whole Town The Fire catched so fast upon the Houses which were only built of Timber that they were in a very short time consumed in the flames It is said the Fire was so great that in the Old City which was four Miles distant from this one might see all that night as clear as if it had been Noon-day Some believed it was the Tartars which set fire on the City and after laid the blame upon the Chinese Fleet But there is little probability that the Victors would deprive themselves of the fruit of their Victory by reducing the best part of this great City into Ashes They had not as yet began to sack the Town which they fully resolâ—â—ed to do not mattering whether they could or could not justifie their intended Act. The Fleet after they had fired the City and though it was night had by the brightness of the Flames shewn themselves they tacked about and sailed away and by morning it was discernable to what a deplorable condition the Fire had reduced the greatest part of that City The Sequel of these Disorders was the beginning of those outragious Violences and horrible Oppressions by which the Tartars have since quite ruined and desolated those once so flourishing Provinces They did now no longer shew any observance to the Orders and Prohibitions of the Emperour Xunchi It was one of the Injunctions of this Prince that those Towns and Places which made no resistance neither within nor without the Walls should receive no ill usage but that only a Tartarian Governour should be placed there with some Troops if it was judged necessary to keep a Garrison there that he might be able by force of Arms to reduce and chastise the Inhabitants should they offer to revolt The City of Canton had not made the least resistance and of all the Cannon which were placed upon the walls there was not one Gun fired As for the death of those four Tartars who had so rashly hazarded themselves perhaps the Viceroy was
be Fortune and Hazard Thus in that famous Battle in Spain than in which Victory was never more hotly disputed Caesar could not imagine young â—â—ompey could defeat him But at last the Tartars and Chineses both began to believe what they saw so evidently and the Tartars being routed fled away in great disorder The Chineses hereby being fully convinced of the advantage they had pursued very close after the conquered The one side now confessed they had lost the Day and the other cried Victory Thus the Chineses should have defendâ—â—d themselves in the first provinces If they had there fought thus valiantly it is manifest all the Tartarian Force could never so soon have compleated their Conquest Troy for ten years held out a Siege managed by other-guess Souldiers than these The Chineses returned after their Victory to Xaochin and entred the Town in great Triumph and Glory and were received by the Inhabitants with Tears of Joy and for several dayes there was nothing but Feasting and Entertainments for the people could never satisfie themselves with embracing and applauding those whom they looked upon as the Liberators and Avengers of their Countrey but this was to proclaim a Triumph before the the Victory The advantage which the Chineses had now gained might have put a stop to the progress of their Enemies had they known how to make use of it but the fond vanity and pride of that Nation presently created Discord amongst them and thereby sacrificed them to the Vengeance of their enemies There was in the great Fight Souldiers of both Provinces both of Canton and Quansi Those of Canton were in Xaochin when Guequan was acknowledged and received as King The one and the other had equally signalized themselves that day but when they were returned into the Town neither the one nor the other would yield that there ought to be any equality in the praise and applause which was due to them each party pretended that they alone had routed the Tartars and that they were able singly to make head against that terrible Enemy So great a haughtiness was there in this Nation that a contest amongst them for praise and glory divided them into two distinct parties whereby neither the one nor the other long subsisted The Tartar was touched to the very quick that he had been routed and therefore now busied all his thoughts in contriving how to efface that blemish which did so discredit the Fame of his Arms Therefore without losing any time he marched again into the Field being extraordinarily animated against the Town of Xaochin He was sensible that he was defeated before by having made too sure of the Victory and having too inconsiderately undervalued his Enemy he therefore now resolves to take his advantage more prudently he drew up his Army in that order of Battel which he judged most convenient and gave out all Orders necessary both for the assaulting and routing his Enemy more assuredly The Chineses failed not to come and present themselves to a fresh Battel but they were not now so numerous as before The Militia of the two Provinces stood upon their punctilio's of Honour and they had chosen forsooth a very seasonable time to dispute these points Those of Canton maintained most obstinately that all the Glory of the Victory ought to be attributed to them solely And upon this they of Quansi thinking they ought not to put up this Affront refused to march into the Field If say they to those of Canton you alone defeated the Tartars the last time you may do it again the second time see how they come now to present you with a new Victory Go and rout them again and then return in triumph into the City Guequan with all his credit could not accord this difference he foresaw the mischief which did hereby threaten both his Army and the City but as he was a King only by Courtesie and stood in need of those from whom he held his Grandeur to support it he could not so absolutely command for he was not so absolutely obeyed Those of Canton went singly to present themselves to the second Fight The Tartars came against them extraordinarily animated and in so good order that the Militia of both Provinces would very difficultly have undergone the first Shock and the Battel was scarce begun when it was quickly perceived to which side the Victory declined The brave Cantoners quickly fled hoping to save themselves within the walls of their Town but such was their Misfortune that the Tâ—â—rtars pursued them so close that they entred pel-mel the City with them Guequan when he saw himself as ill obeyed by those whom he led into the Field as by those who refused to follow him being surprized that the one run away so cowardly and that the others to revenge themselves on those of Canton and Xaochin neglected to sucour them as they might have done he only now took care to escape himself from the fury of the Tartars He knew they would lose no time in endeavouring to seize upon him therefore he resolves to lose none in securing himself but with all possible speed he retreats into his Province Assoon as the Tartars had entred the Town being in a rage they fully resolve to satiate themselves with the blood of their Enemies thereby they reduce that unfortunate City to a meer Shambles of Humane Flesh. The Massacre continued for several days and the Victors who were exasperated upon several accompts by their Revolt Resistance Presumption that they they durst come and fight them and by the Victory they had obtained to the great disrepute of the Tartars and by the Blood of their Nation which they had spilt in so great a quantity they took all the vengeance which they thought ought to satisfie their Choler and Fury Miserable City which after so successful a beginning ought not so unfortunately to have drawn upon it self its own unhappiness and ruine Assoon as Guequan was returned into his province he presenty reconciled himself with the King Sinhianuan They were neither of them of opinion to let their private differences disunite their Forces of which they had equally occasion having to contend with so powerful an Enemy Each of them thought now only how to defend himself in the Succincts of his Soveraignty but scarce were these two Monarchs united in their friendship when two new Kings start up in the same province They were two persons who had nothing which could recommend them either by their Birth or Quality and their whole Soveraignty was limited in the Jurisdiction of three or four towns which acknowleg'd their Dominion Thus the Royal Dignity heretofore so adored in China was now become a prey to the Ambition even of the meanest persons In the single province of Quansi there was at the same time four Kings and these who were only like so many Kings in Cards or in a Play yet they took upon them high Titles and Pretensions It is
but so near the Shore of that Province that in a clear day it is easily discernable from one end to another The earth is so fertile that it very plentifully produces all things necessary to the use of man They fish likewise for Pearls which are found there in great numbers and besides there comes from thence several other choice and rare Curiosities as all the Relations of China remark All the Island is not inhabited neither are all the Inhabitants of the same Nation for the Southern people are more rude and do not acknowledge the Soveraignty of the Chineses over them nor will they have any Commerce with them But in the Northern parts there are several Chineses three Cities and eight Towns besides sevâ—â—ral other Houses and Habitations scattered up and down and this part of the Isle is the most populous and rich The Tartar resolves to make himself so much Master of this Island that there should be no Town or Habitation of the Chineses but should acknowledge him for their Sovereign and for this effect he commissionated a General and issued out Orders to him to pass over with a very considerable Fleet of Ships Notwithstanding the little knowledg the Tartars had in Sea-affairs yet they did with the same facility subdue this Island as they had done the rest of China The General after this setled a Tartar Governour there with a strong Garrison of Souldiers and returned into the Province of Canton loaden with Wealth and Honour for he had much enriched himself in this Island and though he was well paid for his pains with the plunder he got yet in recompense of his services there he had conferred upon him the Office of High Admiral which the Chineses call Haitao and in execution of his Command he presently put out to Sea with a Navy of sixscore Ships After he had conquered the Isle of Hainam his design was to clear all the Seas of the Pyrates who did most horribly ravage all the Coasts but more especially the Province of Canton that being the richest and best Province of all China the Corsairs were thereby invited to make such havock there The Tartars fully determined to extirpate them all but though they did their utmost endeavours yet it was not so easie to accomplish this Enterprize At the first when they were not very able Seamen this Naval War seemed terribly laborious to them for the Tartars principally those of the North had never seen the Sea till they had conquered China and traversed over that great Empire And having so little experience of the Sea the very imagination of fighting upon that Element struck a strange dread and apprehension into them but valiant men will fight any where The Romans were no better acquainted with Sea-affairs in the first Punick War when they were necessitated to get an old Ship of Carthage that they might build according to that Model yet after they became so able Seamen and so powerful at Sea that Augustus and Anthony at the Battel of Actium had a greater number of Ships than ever the Carthaginians had had in several years The Tartars likewise presently accustomed themselves to all the Toils of the Sea and were no longer sick nor to seek how either to manage a Sea-fight or to go in chase of their Enemies nay they became very skilful Pilots The Chinese Corsairs did not only rove about the Seas but they went up the Rivers which in those parts are very deep and large The first Ring-leaders who began to infest the Coasts were four eminent Pyrates who divided their Ships into four Squadrons in each of which it is thought there was above ten thousand men The greatest part of these kept upon the Rivers where they plundred and seized upon all they could find on either side the Rivers and did as much mischief to their own Countrey-men as ever the Tartars had done who now began to believe that it would be more advantageous to them to gain upon the Corsairs by Treaty and Proposals To this effect they propounded to them an Act of Oblivion if they would come to any reasonable agreement The Pyrates did not reject this Offer for there being little now left for them to plunder or pillage either from their Enemies or Friends they were content enough to make peace But the Tartarian General was not of so peaceable a disposition and therefore the Favour and Friendship he promised the Corsairs was of no long continuance During the time of this Treaty of Agreement two of the principal Pyrates came ashore that they might conclude upon such Articles which might equally redound to the satisfaction of both parties But there yet remained something upon which they could not agree and thereupon the Tartarian General began to use violence and seized upon the two Captains of the Corsairs and enjoyned them upon pain of death to oblige all the other Pyrates to surrender themselves to his Mercy This unreasonable procedure was not according to the approbation of Xunchi who never intended his Captains should deal so perfidiously but the Viceroy as hath been already remarked was a person from whom greater Justice was not to be expected His rash and violent nature would not permit him to hear reason It is also reported that by biâ—â—th he was not a Tartar but a Chinese of the Province of Loaâ—â—tum which borders upon Tartary and the greatest parâ—â— of his Souldiers were also as himself Chineses but yet they endeavoured to pass for Tartars It would be scarce credible that the Tartars shouâ—â—d grant to a Chinese the Command of so potent an Army in which the greaâ—â—est part of the Souldiers were likewise Chineses for few wise men approve the policy of putting so many enemies into Military Employments and giving them so great Command in such remote Provinces but this may be thus salved the Chineses of Loaotum were distant from Canton more than twelve hundred miles and were near Neighbours to Tartary and consequently better acquainted with the Tartars with whom they often conversed than with the Cantoners with whom they had no Commerce therefore they looked upon them rather as Country-men than those whom they only knew at so remote a distance and that only by hear-say This consideration may make it less to be wondred at that the General should be a Chinese and so likewise the greatest part of the Souldiers he commanded for the Inhabitants of this Province looked upon those of another as so many strangers and forreigners and therefore the Tartars the leâ—â—s apprehended that these should revolt in a Province so far distant from their own Native Countrey in which they had left their Wives Children Parents and all the rest of their Relations as so many Hostages under the power of the Tartarian Garrisons which they had there established to secure their new Conquest It was likewise rumoured that the Viceroy of Civil affairs was also a Chinese of the same Province of Loaotum but this is not so
have exasperated him against them The Corsairs having notice that he was coming towards them sack'd and abandon'd the place This was all the diversion they designed at this time to give the Conquerour who presently poured out all his fury upon this unfortunate place which he reduced to Ashes that it might never serve again for a retreating place to the Pyrates CHAP. XIX The Corsairs take a little Fort near Canton having engaged part of the Garrison to side with them The Viceroy in Military Affairs discovers a new Plot in another Fort. The manner how he punished the Traitors THE Corsairs after they had been driven from the Neighbourhood of Canton left this City in quiet for some time but not the General Ly whom they kept in continual exercise on one side or other One day when he was absent being in pursuit of some of their Squadrons others of them returned presently to Canton The fourth of August 1647. in the Evening seventy of their Barks came and cast Anchor at the foot of the Wall of one of the Bulwarks of the City They had already secured to their party some of the Guard which kept the Fort. And therefore they were not discovered till Sun-rise at which time several of the Great Guns were discharged against them from the Fort. The Traitors within had perswaded the other Souldiers that they were the Kings Ships which came from pursuing the Corsairs and therefore no body took the Alarm sooner But the Pirates who stormed the Fort at several placâ—â—s at the same time quickly made themselves Masters of it The greatest part of those who kept it presently sided with the Victors and quit the Tartarian Habit and put on a Coat edged with yellow and a high crown'd Bonnet edged so likewise which is the usual Head-covering of the Chinese Souldiers The rest who would not do so were all put to the Sword There was in this Fort great store of Artillery and other Arms with Powder and all sort of Ammunition The Pirates took some part of the smallest peeces to furnish their Ships with and flung the rest into the River As for the greater Peeces which they could not so easily remove they disabled them from ever doing them any hurt This Fort could not be very near the Town for the noise of the Cannon was not heard thither and it was not known that it had been assaulted till eight of the Clock the next morning when a Boy who had made his escape brought the first News thereof The Viceroy in Civil Affairs who then commanded in Canton could not credit the surprizal of that place till he was better informed by those he sent thither to that intent They presently brought him back word that the Corsairs had made themselves Masters of the place and that they were endeavouring with the loss of no time to make it very tenable The Viceroy instantly marched out against it with a very numerous Army of both Horse and Foot fully resolving to regain that Post. He stormed it several times and in all the assaults which were made by both sides fought very resolutely Great Numbers were slain upon the place but still most on the Tartars side who came on without taking any care to shelter themselves At last the Tartars are obliged to retreat without obtaining the least advantage And it is manifest though the Reâ—â—ation is silent herein that after the Pyrates abandoned the Fort as they had already done in several other places that they might betake themselves again to the Sea they shewed they had no mind to keep it when they took out part of the Artillery and disabled the rest Had they not retreated already the General who was now returned to Canton with his Army would not have failed to have employ'd all this Forces to dislodge them from that Post. But though he returned very triumphantly it doth not appear he did any eminent exploit in those parts The Viceroy in Civil Affairs stood very diligently upon his Guard whilst he saw the Enemy so near him and mistrusting that the Pyrates might hold intelligence in the City as they really did he was so fortunate as to apprehend a Spy who was a Servant to the General oâ—â— the Corsairs he put him to the Torture where he confessed that there was really a Conspiracy against the Tartars and the chief Manager thereof was the great Calao This was one of the highest dignities in Chiâ—â—a and superiour to a Viceroy This Calao was called Chim and was aboard one of those Vessels which had surprized the Fort where he staid expecting a numerous Supply of Souldiers who had all by an Oath obliged themselves either to perish in the Attempt or restore China to its pristine Liberty From henceforwards the Viceroy in Civil Affairs and all the other Magistrates were very cautiously watchful lest they should be surprized for this effect he appointed such Captains to command the Guard at all the Gates of whose fidelity he was most secure And he himself undertook the guard of the pâ—â—incipal Gate of the City and went night and day thorough the City to visit all the other Guards exhorting them both by his words and example to watch over their Enemies who slept not He commanded out several other Captains with their choicest Souldiers in their Companies to guard those Posts and Places from whence he foresaw the enemy might likeliest attempt the Town The indefatigable diligence of the Governour and the deposition of the Spy occasioned other Chineses to be apprehended who were suspected to be Complices in the Conspiracy Assoon as these were put to the Torture they presently avowed that all that the Spy had averred was true that really they had conspired to deliver up the City to the Corsairs that the Fort which they had lately seized upon was delivered up to them by the treachery of those who kept it that the like would happen at a Fort near that where two hundred Souldiers of the Garison were contriving to let in the Chineses All these commotions did not at all disturb the Viceroy but by his prudence he mastered all It is certain that the ability of this man prevented more Mischief and preserved the Tartars more Towns than the General with all his Valour could conquer And there is not less ability requisite to retain and preserve what we are possessed of than there was at first to acquire it The Governour of Canton being informed that there was a Plot laid in that other Fort went thither with all diligence but without shewing that he knew any thing He entred with a Countenance seeming to be fully satisfied and then he declared to the Souldiers that because the present urgency of Affairs obliged them to keep such strict Guard because the Enemy was so near he would to encourage them gratifie them with an Augmentation of their Assignment and encrease their Pay and that therefore they should come one after another to be entered in the Register and
received their Pay They went the more readily imagining their Treason was not discovered because the Viceroy who might have seized them if he pleased bestowed this Liberality amongst them to engage them as they thought to serve him the more faithfully And by his Aspect and manner of speaking to them they could not collect any thing which might give them the least occasion to suspect him They entred by one Gate at which they received part of their Pay and they went out at another where they were paid for their Treachery The Viceroy had placed at the last Gate his greatest Confidents and those whom he had entrusted with his secret Designs and such as he knew would resolutely execute the Order he gave them so that as fast as the Traytors came to this Gate they met with those who stabbed them and cut their Throats And this Execution was managed so subtilly that the two hundred Conspirators who should have delivered up the Fort all lost their Lives in such a manner that they did not perceive the Misfortune of their Companions The Guard of this Fort was intrusted to new Officers and Souldiers who were both more numerous and such as the Viceroy was more secure of their Fidelity This was not ill-contriv'd for a Gown-man and if all the Lawyers of China had been as able as he was perhaps the Emperour and the Empire had not been lost so soon It was quickly known how necessary it was that the Viceroy should have employed all the diligence and resolution which he made use of in this Expedition for scarce had he concluded the punishment of the Traytors but but besides the sixty Vessels which lay before the Forth first mentioned there was seen under sail a new Navy of more than two hundred Ships These were they to whom the Conspirators should have delivered up the place Assoon as they perceived that they could do nothing they came enraged up to the very City and threatned to put all to the Fire and Sword and leave no man alive The Tartars were well prepared to receive them and made up to them assoon as they were Landed They instantly engaged and the Encounter was managed with great animosity on both sides The Tartars at last gain the advantage and the Assailants retreat but not far from the Town only out of the reach of Cannon-shot there they lodged themselves and kept the Town besieged on that side next the Water This was the greatest mischief they could then do the Cantoners for being Masters of the River they put a stop to all their Provisions which they could receive no other way The Viceroy who was now surrounded with secret and declared Enemies and at that time when the General was absent with all the best Souldiers in the Army thought himself now necessitated to employ all his Abilities to maintain and defend himself for this effect he thought he must secure the Brother and Cozen of the great Calao who was the Head of the Conspirators And therefore he seizes upon and imprisons them and obliges them to write to the great Calao that if he did not within three dayes retreat from before the Town they were condemned to lose their Heads He summoned likewise all the ancient Mandorins to appear before him whom he enjoyned to stay near his person that he might employ their Credit and that he might by all ways imaginable endeavour to prevail with the Calao and the Rebels to retreat and leave the Town in peace and quiet If the Viceroy only threatned them that he might affright them he was not blameable but if he intended to execute his Menaces doubtless he was both unreasonable and unjust He exacted that from the Prisoners which lay not in their power to accomplish and he condemned them to death though they were innocent No Law commands an Impossibility and can it be a crime not to do it It was not in the Prisoners power to do what the Governour desired The Calao and the other Conspirators knew that if they retreated they exposed both their own Lives and the Lives of all their Relations to more eminent danger and therefore they thought they ought not to abandon their Enterprize This procedure of the Viceroy struck a great terrour all over the City and all the Inhabitants staid very silently within doors expecting what the Issue would be of all these Treasons CHAP. XX. An Allarm in Canton at the Approach of the Corsairs The Consternation of the Inhabitants The General arrives and routs the Besiegers The Inquisition after the Conspirators and their punishment The resolution of a Chinese Captain his Death and Praise THE Viceroy in Civil Affairs gained nothing by his Rigour and Severity by ceasing to carry himself with moderation and equity and making use of those violent courses which he had so often condemned in his Colleague he only encreased the number and strength of his enemies for he had scarce begun his violence but he saw a much greater number of the Barks and Vessels of the Pyrates come thundering against him instead of sixty which came before the first Fort and two hundred which approached near the other There might now be counted a thousand Vessels either before or near the Town And all this numerous Army by the continual discharge of their Artillery made such a terrible Thunder that all the Houses in Canton seemed ready to be shaken in pieces The Bells rung the Drums beat and the Air resounded and all the Elements in general seem'd to be in a commotion and to hold some part in this terrible Consort But the better to imagine the horrour of all this jangling noise let us reflect upon the noise of the Cannon in some Merchants or other ships when they celebrate any Festival and then consider what was the thunder of all the great Guns in above a thousand Vessels which fired incessantly what was the clashing of Arms and other warlike Instruments in two potent Armies which contended who should strike the greatest terrour into their enemy and what a hideous jangling there was of an infinite number of Bells of different Sounds some louder some lower some sounding hoarse and some sharp and shrill that they deafned the Ears of all the Inhabitants and Neighbourhood of the City The Cantoners gave now their City for lost and the fright into which the Pyrates put them by their late menaces made such a horrible impression in their imagination that though they were Chineses and their own Countrey-men yet they expected no succour but from the Tartars whom they looked upon as their Protectors and Avengers The whole City was in Arms by the order of the Viceroy who issued out a Command that no person should appear upon pain of death but in the Tartarian Habit and commanded all his Officers to kill immediately all they found in the Chinese Habit He caused all incumbrances to be removed out of the Streets that his Horse might freely march without any hindrance up and
down the Streets The Gates Bulwarks and Walls were all covered with Souldiers who did incessantly discharge their Muskets and Fire-Arms that they might make the greater shew of Resolution in the face of their Enemies But of a sudden they were surprized at the arrival of the General He returned conducted by his good Fortune with his Army whole and entire and entred the City with the Sound of Trumpet He met not with the Enemy the greatest part being incamped on the other side of the City and he did not perceive them till he was passed by them for they were retreated into a place where they were covered by some Hills which hindred the sight of them The Corsairs were not less surprized to see the General return with all his Army at that time when they believed him so far distant And being in great disorder and so not in a condition to give Battel they durst neither go up to him nor stay for him though they were the stronger The first Resolution they took which usually is not the most generous was to run away Some of their Vessels began to retreat in disorder and the others which thought they must do so too followed them with that haste that they fired not one of their great Guns against the Viceroy's men who pursued them to the incredible satisfaction of all the Inhabitants of Canton and now the Cantoners prepared for triumphal Recreations and to see the sport of the Bulls in as great security as before they were in fear and dread The Run-awayes fled with such haste that they left behind them their greatest and best Vessels out of which they withdrew the Souldiers and Seamen and what else they could because these were too heavy and slow to follow the rest The Viceroy pursued them with all the Sail he could make but could not possibly reach them for their Vessels were much lighter and their Rowers more expert and in better breath and did beyond comparion exceed those of the Tartars who were poor miserable Countrey-Fellows compelled to it against their will The General after he had for some time been in chase after them returned back again and then seized upon those Vessels they had left and entred in great glory and triumph into the City where he was received as their Liberator and as if he had been sent from Heaven to succour them in this their urgent necessity The Viceroy in Civil Affairs who had likewise delivered them out of a very intricate danger went before him and accompanied him through all the streets of the City which they passed through in the midst of a great Crowd of People who could never weary themselves with praising and applauding him And though it was broad Day-light yet there were Torches lighted in all the streets and places through which he passed and Odors and Perfumes were burnt in all places as if some of their Pagods or Idols had been marching through the Streets But to what a person do they burn Incense And what doth not Necessity and Flattery induce miserable people to do After all these publick Rejoycings and Feastings were over the Viceroys busie themselves in searching out the Accomplices in the Conspiracy which was not like that of Cataline For they did not design to oppress but deliver their Countrey and yet there was very exact and diligent Inquisition made The Chineses are very dexterous in concealing and dissembling the Affairs of their Nation and speak very sparingly and advisedly of things of the least importance And whoever discloses a Secret is accounted a publick enemy and a persecutor of his Countrey But assoon as they are put to the Torture the first pain makes them proclaim all they know They love themselves too well to love their Friends to that degree as to suffer any pain upon their account They do not intend to pay so dear for their Friendship Therefore assoon as the first who were apprehended were put to the Torture instantly â—â—ll the Conspirators were discovered some were only privy and consenting to the Conspiracy others were Sticklers and Principalâ—â— but the Tartars presently cut off the Heads of both the one and the other This is their ordinary way of punishing all criminal persons without making any distinction of either Crimes or persons it was sufficient they had all deserved to die After this first Execution the Tartars looked more narrowly to keep â—â— strict Guard at the Gates of the City And â—â—o this effect they appointed new Captains with Souldiers of approved Fidelity They used all imaginable circumspection in shutting and opening the Gates they altered and changed often both the time and manner of doing it that they might the better be asâ—â—ured they were kept close shut that thereby they might manifest to all who should yet entertain any thought of a new Conspiracy that they were not remiss in keeping strict Guard They carefully examined all who went in or out and made them discover what either they brought in or carried out All these Precautions and the sudden Execution of the Conspirators kept all the people in amazement and made them that they knew neither what to think or say Each of the Inhabitants was in a continual apprehension that some or other who designed to do them mischief should publish their Names amongst the Conspirators for there needed no other manner of proceeding to make any man lose his Life And there is great reason to believe that several very innocent persons fared no better than those who were most Criminal It is a very usual way of taking revenge in that Countrey for those in distress to go and hang themselves at the Gate of their Enemies to declare thereby that they deserved the like punishment if Justice was done upon them At this rate some base spirits have purchased the satisfaction of revenge All this troublesome time the Inhabitants of Canton remained prisoners in their own houses They saw and heard what hâ—â—d passed but durst say nothing They durâ—â—t scarce open their Mouths in the most retired and secret places of their Houses They explained themselves by lifting up their shoulders and such like Gestures and in so dismal a time this was the best Expedient to avoid greater mischief Although the Chineses assoon as they are put to the Torture confess all they know yet in all parts of the world there are some extraordinary persons who may pass for prodigies in regard of other men And it may well be counted a very great one when one single man dares approve himself resolute and generous amidst a multitude of timorous Cowards This hâ—â—ppened amongst the great numbers of those who were declared to be either Principals or Accomplices in the Conspiracy A Chinese Captain not one of the Pyrates or a Sea-Commander but a Land-Commander whom they call a Mandorin of Martial Affairs was put to the Torture and interrogated whether he knew any thing of the Conâ—â—piracy or Conspirators He thus replied That whether he knew
always ready armed and to keep very strong Armies ever in the Field neither did these Pyrates do any considerable dammage to the Tartars or gain any advantage which might encourage them to hope to regain the pristine Liberty of their Countrey but on the contrary they consumed what Forces they had left and by ruining the Countrey they made themselves incapable of ever undertaking any thing against the Tyrants And admit they should have won some considerable Victory and cut the Viceroys and all their men in pieces and by this means recovered the City and Province of Canton yet they had reason to expect new Armies of the Tartars to fall upon them who would not long let them enjoy their Victory And that they did not now come was only because that all these Risings of the Corsairs were not now looked upon at Court as so considerable a War There they believed them to be onely some Mutineers or some Rovers which might give some disturbance to to the Viceroys but did not merit the care of the Tartarian Emperour no more than the presence of Pelipaouan the Conquerour of China under whose Government that Province was It would have been more advantageous for the Chineses to let the Tartars taste and enjoy for some time the Pleasures and Luxuâ—â—ies of China which if they had it is probable that it might have succeeded with them as it did with Hannibal at Capua and that they might not have been so invincible after as before They should have let the heat of such victorious Enemies cool a little And if they would not have staid fourscore years and let the Tartars again be so long Masters of China as they had been once before yet they should have given them leisure to recall their Troops and let them withdraw their potent Armies and by giving those Souldiers which were left there occasion to believe that they need fear nothing in their new Conquest thereby have induced them to stand upon their Guard more remissly but on the contrary to necessitate so powerful an enemy to keep the Field continually and to be always in Arms and by the Victories they obtained to grow more fierce and insolent This was not the way to regain the Liberty of their Countrey but to disenable it for ever freeing it self from Oppression and Slavery As there is but one Phoenix in the world so there is but one Countrey and that is Spain which hath the virtue from its ruine to rise a-again whilst that which ruined it still subsists It is said of the Phoenix that the Flame which consumes it doth at the same time re-animate it that from the Fire in which it dies it receives a new life and that it could never regain but from its own Ashes and the Coalâ—â— of its Funeral Pile those sparkling Colours in its Feathers which shine like Emeralds and Rubies And thus hath Spain regain'd a new Birth and Resurrection out of its own Cinders and those Embers which had consumed it The Moors had in a manner ruined and destroyed that State and reduced it to a languishing condition but at the same time it recover'd its vigour again For whilst the Moors fell upon the â—â—othes they gave opportunity to Spain to come to it self again and to arrive at the height of Grandeur in which that great and puissant Monarchy hath ever since remained In the destruction of China there is some resemblance with what hath happened heretofore to Spain The Emperour Zunchin may be compar'd to Dom. Roderick not so much in the loss of his Empire as in the sudden destruction of that Prince and State at the same time But it will never be so easie for China to re-establish it self as it was for Spain for those great Exploits in which the Spanish Valour and Constancy surpassed it self are not to be expected from the Chinese Levity and Effeminacy CHAP. XXII An eminent â—â—rediction of a Chinese Astrologer that that State should be conquered by a Stranger which had blew Eyes The Precautions which the Chineses observed to divert the effects of that Prediction THE Chineses who have ever been much addicted to Arts and Sciences had amongst them some very famous Astronomers and some very eminent in Judicial Astrology but one of the most renowned of all the Astrologers of the greatest Credit and Repute amongst them whom they called the great Cahorri of the Stars had some years before left behind him a â—â—rediction which made a great noise in the Countrey The Prediction imported that time should come when the Empire of China should devolve to the power of a Forraign Nation and that he which should conquer it should have blew Eyes It was a rare thing in that Countrey to see a man with such colour'd Eyes There are so few that in these hundred years during which the Spaniards have frequented the Philippine Isles where there is a great confluence of all the Eastern-Nations they have remarked that they never saw any persons with blew eyes but either Europeans or those whose Parents were of Europe If it could have been remarked in any other it would have been looked upon amongst those people as a Prodigy and a monstrous thing But the Chineses above all other Nations testified a great abhorrence for blew Eyes both because it was a thing extraordinary and that thereupon they presently reflected upon the Prediction This was one of the principal Reasons that they were ever such declared Enemies to the Hollanders And because of their blew Eyes they would never suffer them to enter their Havens and upon the same account they denied entrance both to the English and Danes whom they observed generally not to have their Eyes so brown or black as those of their own Nation But it was little available to the Chineses to have such regard to the Eyes of men They should more strictly have regarded that which was of greater concern to them But herein they were negligent and the effect of the Prediction arrived from whence they did not at all expect it He that was foretold he should have his Skull broke by the fall of a House found little security by avoiding going near any Houses or Ruines since he could not escape the Eagle which let fall a Tortoise upon his Head The Chineses who were so jeaâ—â—ous of the Eyes of the Hollanders and English did not mistrust that more fatal ones should come out of Tartary for by the Tartars they pretend the Prediction of their Astrologer was verified The young Xunchi was designed to be the Conquerour of their Empire with blew Eyes But I must here declare that the Relation doth not expresly say that that Prince had such Eyes as the Prediction intimated only that he had a most beautiful Face that his Complexion was very fair with a most agreeable mixture of red and that it was difficult to find either an Englishman or Flemming more fresh or beautiful Therefore from this Description it must be concluded that
his Neighbour should enter with an Army into his Territories This doubtless proceeds from this Maxime that all Christians do not repute the Turk to be the common Enemy And yet those are Tartars and Barbarians Infidels and Idolaters These forsooth are Christians Politicians and Civilized persons but God will in his due time confound these Politicians much more barbarous than the Tartars Assoon as Xunchi had possessed himself of the Cities and Provinces he consulted how to frame such Laws and Ordinances by which he might conserve what he had acquired by force of Arms. And first of all as I have already noted he ordained that all the Chineses should cut off their Hair and shave their Heads likâ—â— the Tartars only leaving a greater Tuft on the Crown of the Head to distinguish them from the Natural Tartars This Edict seemed very rigorous to those people who were almoâ—â—t as wilâ—â—ing to lose their Lives as their Hair It was said that it was a Chinâ—â—se of Peking who gave this advice to the Prince assoon as he was Crowned as a thing of high importance to secure his Victory In all parts there are miserable Villains who are willing to expose their own Countrey to suit to those persons from whom they can hope for more considerable advantage to themselves This Prince published a second Order of higher importance to retain his new Subjects in peace and in this his Policy appeared very judicious and prudent A great number of Tartars went and setled themselves in China long before the War as it is usual in all Countries which are very populous for some of the Inhabitants to pass into another especially out of a worser into a better and richer as China is in regard of Tartary and as several persons often go out of France into Spain where Money is more plentiful Xunchi therefore commanded all the Tartars both men and women of all Ages and Conditions whatsoever to come without any delay out of the Provincâ—â—s were they were setled and inhabit in one of the two principal Cities Peking or Nanking where the Kings of China usually resided with their Courts and where several Tartars newly came out of their own Countrey begâ—â—n to â—â—stablish themselves and had order to furnish the others with all Conveniencies which were requisite upon this occasion And on the other side the Chineses who inhabited in these two Ciâ—â—ies were enjoyned to go from thence and dispose of themselves elsewhere This Ordinance was very inconvenient and troublesom even to the Tartars themselves but it was of as great importance for the welfare of the State as the enjoyning the Chineses to cut off their Hair And the Tartars considered that these Discontents would quickly wear away and besides the Emperour Xunchi signified his Will and Pleasure to his Subjects in the most mild and obliging terms and manner he could possibly that thereby he might convince them that he did not design to treat them like Slaves After he had thus secured these two Capital Cities which were as the two Keys of that Staff upon the safe custody of which depended the security of his new Conquest The City of Peking commands all the Northeâ—â—n Provinces and Nanking the Southern and each of these Cities were so strong and potent that either of them upon occasion would have been able to have defended it self against all the Provinces which depended on it But when they should be inhabited with Tartars only and defended with a strong Guard of old and experienced Souldiers under the Command of Officers of approved Fidelity from thenceforth there could not be the least ground to apprehend any Sedition or Treason And the Tartars having thus secured these two great Cities alone and sent some considerable Forces to guard the Wall that he might when he judged in necessary bring fresh Forces out of Tartary he need have no other Forces in any other part of China no not if he should return into his own Countrey For should any Revolt or Insurrection happen the Chineses could not raise Forces sufficient to make any resistance assoon as the young Xunchi should appear at the Head of his Armies And besides it was not to be feared that the Chineses who by the late Wars and Insurrections had suffered so much should not out of dread of new calamities remain quiet and submiss But yet this Prince that he might omit nothing which might tend to his absolute security placed strong Garrisons in all the fortified Towns and Places through the whole Countrey and judged it not his Interest to stir out of China He resided alwaies at Peking though he would not suffer that either this City or Nanking should be called the Court pretending these ought only to be reputed two particular Cities and that he would not have any other Court but that in Tatary of which the Relations give us no account Those who have â—â—een the young Xunchi aâ—â— â—â—king report 〈◊〉 he is a most courteous â—â—nd obâ—â—iging Prince and of a swâ—â—et 〈◊〉 miâ—â— disposition buâ—â— witâ—â—al very quick and active discreet anâ—â— prudent and of gâ—â—eat ability for the management of affairs and that he was very careful and circumspect in all things which related to the government and welfare of his Subjects He had ever near his person one of his three Unkles who passed over with him to the Conquest of China who was said to be a very prudent person and most passionately zealous for the Glory of this young Monarch and the Honour of his Countrey This Prince stayed ever at the Court and took as particular care of the young Xunchi as if he had been Father to him But that which did most illustrate the tender nature and good disposition of this Prince was the strict Injunction he laid upon all his Officers to do all the good and to shew all the favour they could possibly to his people To this intent he enjoined them to carry themselves fairly and mildly towards all persons and to treat them kindly and obligingly and with all possible expedition to dispatch all those who addressed themselves to them but above all he commanded them to be disinteressed and uncorrupt upon pain of losing both their Offices and Heads How strictly this was observed and practised we shall see when we shall come to treat of their Justice in particular And the Emperour Xunchi that he might by his own example instruct his Officers to be kind and favourable to their Fellow-Subjects caused a Proclamation to be published through all China wherein he declared that he remitted all those Taxes Impositions and Tributes which remained due to him and had not been raised or collected in the three years of the War which were 1644 45 46. It is true the Chineses did not acknowledge they were due because all China had not then submitted to him But he pretended that having been Crowned Emperour of all China in the year 1643 and never having had any lawful Competitor these Duties were as