regulated Kingdoms are always full and the Chineses who always sought an opportunity to regain what they had lost after a bloody Battel he possess'd himself of the Kingdom it being never known what became of his Predecessor But this new King enjoy'd the Fruits of his Victory but a small while For two years afterwards a Mandarin of the House of Trin having espous'd the Daughter of another great Lord openly declar'd War against his Soveraign with a design utterly to extirpate the House of Marr. Unhappily for him death put a stop to his designs though he left two Sons behind him able enough to have pursu'd his undertakings But the eldest naturally timorous and fearing to engage himself in a dangerous War voluntarily submitted himself to the King who gave him the Government of a Province and marry'd him to one of his Sister's Daughters The younger Brother being a valiant Prince and having his deceased Father's Army at his Devotion though the King propos'd him great advantages would give ear to nothing but out of his ambition to Reign himself continu'd and successfully accomplish'd what his Father had begun In the second Battel which he gave the King who was there in person he took him Prisoner together with his Brother who had submitted to him and some few days after he put them both publicly to death at the head of his Army the one as an unjust usurper of the Throne the ether as a desertor who had abandon'd his Father's Army and so ill follow'd his intentions Now though as Victor he might easily have ascended the Throne and tak'n upon him the Name and Title of King yet he would not accept of any higher Title then that of General of the Army and the better to Establish himself in his Authority and to gain the affection of the People he caus'd Proclamation to be made through all the Provinces of the Kingdom that if there were any Prince of the House of Le yet remaining alive he should shew himself with full assurance that upon his appearing he should be put into possession of the Kingdom There was but one to be found who had been so closely pursu'd by the House or Marr while it rul'd that to save his Life he was forc'd to abscond himself in the Frontiers of the Kingdom under the Habit of a private Soldier The General was overjoy'd to find that there was yet a lawful Heir of the House of Le to be found that he might place him upon the Throne So that so soon as he was known to be of the Legitimate Race all the Equipage and Attendance of a King was sent to him with Order to all the Provinces as he pass'd along to receive him as if he were already crown'd The whole Army march'd two days march to meet the King and brought him to Checo the capital City of the Kingdom where he was plac'd in the Throne of his Father and with great Pomp proclaim'd King of Tunquin But General Trin who car'd not so much for the Royal Title as the Royal Power so order'd his business that leaving to Le all the outward shew and Pomp of Royal Authority he reserv'd to himself the whole command of the Army and the greatest part of the Revenues of the Kingdom absolutely to dispose of at his own pleasure So that from that time to this hour we may affirm that there has been and still are two Kings of Tunquin of which the first has only the Name and Title of King and is call'd Boüa and the second Choüa who has all the Authority disposing of all things at his pleasure while the other remains shut up in his Palace like a Slave not permitted to stir abroad but upon certain days and then he is carry'd through the Streets of Checo like an Image though with a magnificent Train and Royal Equipage He has generally 2000 Soldiers for his Guard and sometimes 20000 which are quarter'd upon the Frontiers chiefly toward Cochinchina He also has ready upon the Frontiers 50 Elephants for War And upon the Rivers of the Kingdom where the Enemy can come to damage him he usually keeps 100 great Galleys with a vast company of small Galliots to which the Soldiers and Rowers that belong have more pay then the others at Land And these that they may row with more strength row standing with their Faces toward the Prow quite contrary to our Rowers who turn their backs The King gives public Audience almost every day but he makes no Edict or public Decree that is of any effect if it be not also Sign'd by the Choüa At these Audiences he has with him thirty two Councellors of State and besides these a hundred others to judge of all Appeals of the Kingdom The Eunuchs have a very great Power at Court as in all other Courts of Asia and the King as to his most important affairs confides more in them then in his own Children The eldest Children do not always succeed their Father for the Choüa or General with all the Councellors which are generally his Creatures thought it convenient that when the King should have more Sons then one he should make choice of whom he pleas'd to succeed him So that so soon as he has nam'd him the Choüa attended by the principal Officers of the Army Councellors of State and Eunuchs come to congratulate him and to give him their Oaths to set him upon the Throne after the death of his Father and for the other Brothers they are always shut up in the Palace as in a Prison without medling with any affairs of State They never stir out of the Palace but four times a year and they never stay abroad above six days at a time the Officers that attend them being put upon them by the Choüa who is as it were Lord high Constable of the Kingdom The first of these six days of liberty they go to visit the Temples and the Priests to whom they give large Alms the two next days they take their pleasure in hunting and the three last days they spend their time upon the Rivers in Galleys sumptuously trimm'd and adorn'd The Kingdom of Tunquin is divided into eight large Provinces every one of which has its Governour and its Magistrates from whose sentence there lies an Appeal to the Court We should wrong this Country to say that there were no Nobility therein as indeed there are none in most Kingdoms of Asia But they must all attain to this degree their merit some by the Warrs and some by their Learning They who attain their Nobility by Arms have wherewithall to live handsomly at home and they begin to learn their Exercises betimes at farthest by eleven or twelve years of Age. The first thing they are to understand is how to handle their Swords the Blades of which are streight long and broad like those of the Switzers having but one Edge They are also taught to aim with their Bows and to fire a Musket with Matches
upon the setling of a new Commerce in Regions so remote The Holland East-India Company having set out a Vessel for Batavia put aboard about a dozen young Boys and as many Girls taken out of the Hospitals in the Country Among these Boys there was one who was design'd to serve in the Kitchin but Fortune made him an Instrument of one of the greatest Misfortunes that ever befell our Age. During the Voyage the Merchant having observ'd him to be a Boy of a ready wit and for that reason believing that he might one day prove serviceable to the Holland Company caus'd him to be taught to write and read wherein he improv'd so well in a short time that being come to Batavia he was thought capable of a higher Employment The Vessel being arriv'd the General and his Council resolv'd to send the same Vessel to Japon with some part of the Lading which was brought from Europe Thereupon the Merchant was commanded upon this Voyage and the under Accomptant happening in the mean time to dye this Boy was by him advanc'd to the place and by the Merchant carefully instructed in the knowledge of the East-India Trade The Vessel being arriv'd at Firanda the new under Accomptant believing no place more proper for him them that to raise his fortune resolv'd to leave his Benefactor and therefore when the Ship was to return he hid himself out of the way till he knew the Ship to be far enough on word on her Voyage and by that means becoming a Member of the Factory he grew so perfect in the Language of the Natives and so useful to the Company that do length He came to be President of the Factory the Authority of which Employment so puff'd him up that he was not only for continuing and upholding the Commerce of his own but excluding all other Nations Now as I have already observ'd the Portugals were the first Traders and the first that propagated the Christian Religion in those parts therefore it was that the Christian Japonners would not Trade with any but the Portugals as having known them longer and finding them more true to their words This the President observ'd and made it his business to render them obnoxious at Court and by vertue of his Presents engag'd the Governours of Provinces and other great Lords to favour his design However the Portugals wanted neither friends nor confederates And though they were not in a condition to be so liberal as the President yet they made ashift to defend themselves and render his under hand Dealings ineffectual Thereupon finding that those Tricks would not take he had recourse to the foulest of Calumnies for he counterfeited a Letter written in the Portuguese Language containing a discovery of a design of the Christian Japonners to have made a general Insurrection and a particular Conspiracy against the person of the Emperour This Letter he carry'd to a Lord of the Country into whose favour and confidence he had wrought himself who presently thought it to be his duty to give intelligence of so important a design to the Court. The President inform'd him by what accident the Letter came to his hands and gave an account of such circumstances as made his Imposture look with a probable countenance relating how that the Hollanders had taken a Portugal Vessel returning from Japon to Goa and that the Holland Captain having taken this Letter among other Papers open'd it and perceiving of what consequence it was had sent an Express to the President to proceed as his prudence and the affection of the Dutch Company toward the Emperour should guide him That the Portugals who were but Subjects to the Spaniards had a pernicious Maxim not to suffer any Religon but their own in any place where they had to do and that for their own ends they never spar'd either the Life or Liberty of Man that they thought it an acceptable Sacrifice to God to cut the Throats of those whom they could not convert And lastly that the Hollanders were a people that accorded with all Nations and Religions and minded nothing but their Trade The Lord believ'd all these fraudulent Calumnies and sent a Copy of the Letter to the Emperour the substance whereof was That the Spaniards in the Philippine Islands and the Portugals in Japon being in confederacy with the Christians of the Country had sent to the Governour of Goa to send by a time prefix'd eight or ten Vessels with Men and Arms but especially a good number of Officers to command the Revolters for that then there would be a numerous Army ready and that they should easily make themselves Masters of Japon The Portugals were then under the Dominion of the Spaniard and though they would suffer no Spaniard in their Indian Acquisitions but the Viceroy yet several of the Religious Orders did slip into Japon carried thither by a true and real zeal yet this zeal when once indiscreet does as much mischief as covetousness it self The Father Paulists for so they call the Jesuits in the Indies by reason that their Church in Goa is dedicated to St. Paul these Jesuits I say had made a fair progress and gain'd great credit among the people notwhithstanding their continual persecutions according as the Lords of the Country were well or ill affected towards them Their number therefore encreas'd and the new Converts had this advantage that they enrich'd themselves by Trading with the Portugals who had made a positive Agreement not to Trade with the Bonzes This provok'd the Bonzes against them and the multitude of the Christians so far augmented the Emperour's jealousies and fears that in a short time they produc'd the effects of open rage and cruelty The Jesuits had converted to the Faith a great Lord of the Kingdom who liv'd most commonly at Bugen in the Island of Ximo a person of great Interest and Power in the Island He had four Sons two of which liv'd with him and following his Example had embrac'd the Catholick Faith The Father was Baptiz'd by the name of Ignatius the eldest of the two was call'd Francis and the youngest Charles the two eldest Sons were at Court in great favour with the Emperour The younger of the two that had embrac'd the Christian Religion addicted himself wholly to the study of the Scripture and retir'd with the Jesuits to their Seminary His Example had wrought with a great number of young Lords and as he was eloquent besides he was of great use to the Jesuits in preaching the Gospel and reclaiming the people from the grossness of their Errors The Japonners are naturally endow'd with a noble mind and great inclination to Learning so that there is nothing wanting in that Nation but able Teachers Not but that they have Doctors of their own the Dairy's Court is full of them where they preserve the Annals of their Country and pretend that Printing and Artillery were in use among them before they were known in Europe From this Court
come all their Books in regard the persons that attend upon this Prince apply themselves only to their Studies It is reported that they learnt all these things by their frequent Commerce with the Chineses and that they are also originally descended from them And in truth the greatest Province of the Island of Niphon is call'd Quanto according to the name of the Sea-Coast part of China where lies the greatest Traffick between the Japonners and Chineses Moreover if there be any credit to be given to the Chinese Histories they say it was but a small part of their vast-Empire which extended it self from North to South 56 Degrees of Latitude from the Frozen Sea to the Equinoctial Line being bounded to the West by the Caspian Sea and extending Eastward over all the Southern America to New Spain Father Thomas Barr a Portuguese has often told me when I was at Agra a capital City of the Great Mogul where the Jesuits have a very fair House that this and several other young Lords improv'd themselves so far in six or seven years that they were as Learned as their Masters themselves and that they were more zealous in converting those of their Nation Now the Jesuits at that time had no House for the Instruction of Youth and Proselytes and therefore they desir'd this young Lord to lend them one of his Thereupon he having four very fair ones with great Revenues belonging to them gave that which was nearest to the City to his Converters A while after the youngest of his Sons fell sick and was carried to this House for the Air 's sake where he recover'd by the care of the Fathers and the Prayers of the Christians but his Father did not long enjoy the pleasure of so great a Cure which seem'd almost miraculous for he dy'd at what time both his Sons and the Christians stood most in need of his protection The two eldest who were with the Emperour understanding the the Death of their Father came to take possession of their Inheritance and demanded of the Jesuits the House which their Father had given them for in Japon no Parent can alienate the Estate of his Children nay when they come to such an Age he is oblig'd to put them in possession of their Estates reserving only such a proportion to himself The Jesuits loth to part with so fair a convenience would not quit their hold though it were for their own quiet and to engage the whole Family to stand by them in their time of trouble This refusal provok'd the two Brethren and this quarrel between them and the Jesuits happen'd at the same time that the Dutch President was labouring to bring about his designs He hâ—d notice of this dispute and as he was a great Impostor he made 〈◊〉 his business to enflame the two Brothers not only against the Jesuits but against the Portugals in general giving them a Copy of the Letter which he had fram'd as is before-mention'd These two Lords who were Favourites of the Emperour joyning Interest of State to their particular Interest made their complaints at Court with extraordinary aggravations urging that there was no security for the Estates of particular Men for the quiet of the Empire nor the Life of the Prince unless not only all the Portugals but also all the Natives of Japon who had suck'd their Errors were exterminated out of the Island To make good the reasons of their Exasperation they shew'd the Emperour a Copy of the Letter and put him into such a fright as well for his Person as the Empire that he would admit of no justification on the other side Some of his Lords who were Friends to the Portugals besought him to examin the truth of what was alledg'd before he proceeded to utmost extremities against a whole Nation and against his own Subjects But he was inexorable and presently gave private Orders to certain Commissioners to go through all the Provinces of the Empire and to banish not only the Portugals but also all the Christian Natives Now in regard they had their private confederates as well in the Court as in other places they had intelligence in all parts of the cruel resolution tak'n against them though none were more zealous and faithful to them then the two Lords of Ximo Francis and Charles Thereupon the Christians met together to consult for their own safety and their common preservation and seeing all attempts to justifie themselves prove ineffectual they resolv'd to stand upon their guards and to dye in the defence of their Innocency and Religion The two Lords put themselves at the head of the Christians Army the elder of which had been a Souldier and understood the Art of War the younger kept up their Spirits and Courages by his continual Exhortations The Emperour's Commissioners understanding that the Christians were thus embody'd gave him speedy notice thereof but said nothing either of the number of their Forces or of their designs The Jesuits and Austin Fryars at Goa told me that the Army of the Christians consisted of above 40000 Men besides those recruits that came up to them before and after the Battel was fought The Emperour not beleiving that the Army was so numerous sent against them at first not above 25 or 30000 Men under the Command of the youngest of the two Lords of Ximo that liv'd at Court But those Troops were no sooner upon their March but he rais'd new Forces and sent another Army after them consisting of 40000 Men commanded by the young Lord to whom the Dutch President had shew'd the Letter first of all The Christians having intelligence of the approach of these two Armies prepar'd to receive them choosing an advantagious place to intrench themselves The first Army soon appear'd in sight of the Christians who lay so encamp'd that the Imperialists could discover no more than one part of them However before the Engagement the youngest of the Christian Brothers advis'd his other Brother to send to the General of the Emperour's Army who was their Brother likewise to desire Peace and to beseech him to intercede for them to the Emperour and to assure him that they were ready to lay down their Arms and throw themselves at his Feet and to justifie their Innocency To this purpose a Letter was fram'd and sent to the General but the Messenger that carry'd it was nail'd to a Cross in sight of the whole Army of the Christians and at the same time the Enemy came on with great fury to assail them The Fight lasted almost three hours with equal advantage the Captain of the Imperialists seeking every where for his Brothers while they strove to avoid him The Christians who knew that all their safety consisted in their Victory and that there was otherwise no hope of pardon fought with so much valour that the Imperialists were forc'd to give ground Their General was slain upon the place and at length the whole Army of the Idolaters was cut