what he has seen fifty times over in Europe then without a special Caution one is apt to set too mighty a Character and Esteem upon the Climate the Customs and the Wit of the People and what at the bottom is most barbarous becomes most ravishing now in writing to others what we admire before hand our selves the Idea's are heightned in the Description and in the end grow monstrous and all this to tickle the Reader forsooth or our own Vanity with being first in a Relation I have known some very scrupulous this way in appearance but in effect no less wide of the Mark than their Neighbours who stedfastly believe themselves honest in their Assertions but most unlukily make an ill choice of Terms and Modes of Expression To speak intelligibly we read every day one or other that tell us of certain Kingdoms in the Indies much after the rate that we talk of those in Europe The Metropolitan Cities the Counties the Government of Frontier Places the Palace the Ministers of State the Generals of Armies and a hundred other Terms of that stamp presently we think our selves at another Paris Versailles or in our formidable Armies and when all comes to all this same Louvre of a Palace is neither better nor worse than a rambling ill contriv'd wooden Building the Courtiers a Crew of sorry Wretches half naked the Vice-Roys it may be have fifteen or twenty petty Villages under their Government scattered up and down in the Woods and so of the rest Undoubtedly these Terms that represent such grand Idea's to us are very improperly used to signifie such pitiful Kingdoms that have have almost nothing common with ours but the Name 't is my opinion we ought to manage them warily and skilfully lest we should lie in telling the Truth But when the Country we treat of has in good earnest something noble and singular in it we are still apter to miscarry then we are not content barely to draw Esteem from our Readers we covet their Admiration too in this Case a Man must stand upon his guard against his own Evidence and deal with it just as those modest Persons who in their Iudgment retrench half the Merit their own Imagination suggests to 'em lest they should over-value themselves Vpon the whole we ought not to be so violently prepossess'd against Relations of Voyages as to put good and bad under the same Condemnation for as on one hand it were indiscreet to take up with all that come out without Choice Examination or Distinction so on the other hand 't is as foolish an Affectation to reject indifferently the Accounts of Travellers whose Disinterest Condition and Capacity recommend their Credit For my part notwithstanding I have constantly cherished a steddy affection for Truth I durst not venture to put together an entire Story of all that came to my knowledge during a long abode in the Empire of China apprehending lest the want of other Qualifications necessary in such a Work should hardly be atton'd for by that single Vertue nevertheless not knowing well how to contain my self altogether at my return from so far a Country and being less able to forbear publishing the Progress of Religion in the East I confess I have been extreamly delighted in communicating my self on that Subject to several Persons of Quality well affected to our Holy Faith and being under an Obligation to render an Account of my Voyage to some or in Obedience to the express Commands of others or lastly to make a Return for the Civility and good Offices done me by the rest I wrote the following Letters being an Abridgment of those particular Conversations they have honoured me with which comprehend in great part the present State of China and I conceived in publishing this Collection not as a regular Vniversal Account of that vast Empire but as Memoirs and Heads for a General History they might not be unserviceable to those who might one time or other take up such a design mean time I may well fear that the same things which seem'd tolerable in Discourse will not pass so currantly upon a nearer viâ—â— Faults are ever easiest discovered in writing and that loose Irregularity which makes up the pleasure of Conversation will hardly be forgiven here But to conclude a Man that has endeavoured Ten years together to forget his Mother Tongue and to load his Memory with barbarous Words and uncouth Ideas whatever he may have lost another way ought to be allowed the priviledge of writing ill after we have cut the Line four or five times methinks our Stile should not be canvast by the Criticks and for ought I know Politeness in a Missionary would be less edifying than Negligence THE Heads of the LETTERS in the first Part. Letter I. THE Missionaries Voyage from Siam to Pekin p. 1 II. The manner of their Reception by the Emperor of China and what they found remarkable in the City of Pekin 32 III. Of the Cities Buildings and most considerable Works in China 54 IV. Of the Climate Soil Canals Rivers and Fruits of China 92 V. A Character of the Chinese Nation their Antiquity Nobility Habits and Manners 119 VI. Of their Oeconomy and Magnificence 150 VII Of their Language Characters Books and Morals 179 VIII A particular Character of their Wit and Genius 219 LETTERS in the Second Part. I. OF the Chinese Policy and Government p. 241 II. Of their Religion Ancient and Modern 312 III. Of the Establishment and Progress of Christianity in China 345 IV. The Methods used by the Missionaries to propagate the Gospel in China and of the Zeal of the New Converts 384 V. Of the Approbation and Allowance of the Christian Religion by a Publick Edict throughout the Empire of China 441 VI. A General Scheme of the Observations made by the Missionaries in the Indies and China 482 ca cai cam can cao co cou coué coum cha chay cham chan chao ché chin chéou chï chiao chim chin cho choa chou chouaon chouê choui choun choum fa fam fan féou fi fo foe foi fou fouen foum guei haï ham han hao he hem hen heou hi hia hiai hiam hiao hie hien hieou him hin hio hiu hiué hiuen hioum hiun ho hao hoai hoam hoan hoé hoei hoen hou houm houon y ya yai yam ïao ie ien ieou im in ïo ïu ïué ïuen ïum ïun ke kem ken keou ki kia kiao kié kien kieou kim kin kio kiu kiué kieuen kioum kiun la laï lam lan lao le leam leao lem leou lh li lié lien lieou lim lin lio liu lo lou louï loum louan louon lun ma maï mam man mao mau me mem men meou mi miao mié mien mim min mo mou mouen moui moum mouon na naï nam nan nao nem ngaï ngan ngao ngué nguén ngeou ngo ni niam niau niao niâ— nien nieou nio nim
Siam Besides all these we may expect several curious and useful Remarks from the South Seas of Father Moralez Father Van-Hamme Father Ruggi and others who are now settled upon the Ladrones and the Isles of Solomon with a Stock of necessary Instruments and other Materials requisite in the making of Observations An Account of Borneo is also promis'd by a Portuguese Mission No less commendable is the late undertaking in France for the drawing a most exact Chart of that Kingdom from the Astronomical Observations of Signor Cassini Monsieur de la Hire Picard and others made in the Ports and inland Parts whereby it appears that the Limits of that Country have been extended much too far towards the West South and North. By these Ways and Means Lewis the XIV will deserve to be honour'd and even Consecrated in future Ages such Colours will give him Life and Beauty to all Posterity and perhaps may shade the Deformities which the Poet paints in Clotar's Court. We in England ought not to despair but that Heroick Arthur who justly vies with the Grand Monarch in the same of War will also contend with him for the Glory and Empire of Learning and dispute every Art and Science as the Ground in Flanders which peradventure will equal if not surpass the praise of Arms. Then let the British Homer sing his Apotheosis with the same Charms as in the Prince and King I am sure there is a vast Wit and Genius in our Ministry capable of the greatest Enterprize Nil desperandum and tho' at present a fatal Stop is put to the Growth and Propagation not only of Letters but Manufactures amongst us and the Treasure of Christendom flows daily to the Banians and Genteés yet a fresh Circulation and a new Life is in Nature if we have but Spirit and Vertue to move in the right Channel But 't is time to close up this tedious Preface which I thought necessary to spin out in the same Method that I formerly observ'd in my Introduction to the Voyages of Sir Iohn Narhorough Captain Wood Tasman and Marten not out of any Vanity or Inclination for Scribling or of being styl'd an Author nor out of expectation of Applause or Reward my Station in the World being below Envy and just above Contempt but purely out of good Will and Complaisance to the Booksellers to whom I wish a prosperous Sale and that I might own my self to be one of your Admirers And Gentlemen Your most humble Servant THE AUTHOR's PREFACE I Know not of the two which to blame most him that publishes hasty indigested Relations of his Travels or the Reader that runs 'em over slightly and heedlesly The Business of writing Voyages is not altogether so light a Task as most are apt to Fancy it requires not only Wit and Iudgment to manage it successfully but likewise Sincerity Exactness and a simple Insinuating Stile and Learning besides for as a Painter to be a Master in his Art ought to know the propriety and force of all sorts of Colours so whoever undertakes a Description of the People Arts and Sciences and the Religions of the New World must have a large Stock of Knowledge and in a manner an Universal Genius That 's not all neither he must have been an Eye-witness of most of the Actions and Things he reports he must be skill'd in the Customs and Language of the Inhabitants he must have corresponded with those of the best fashion among them and been frequently in the Conversation of their principal Officers In a word to speak with certainty and assurance of the Riches Beauty and Strenght of an Empire he ought to take an actual Survey of the Multitude of its Subjects the Number and Scituation of the Cities and the Extent of its Provinces and be curious in searching after all the remarkable Rarities in the Country I confess indeed this is something more â—â—borious and expenâ—â—ve than to frequent the Company of the Virtuosi 〈◊〉 home or supinely tumble over the History of the World by the fire-side and yet after all their fatigue Travellers of all Men are the least esteemed upon the score of their Writings There 's a set of jolly People that amuse themselves with what passes daily before their Eyes and are little affected with News from remote Parts of the Globe 'T is grown a Maxim with others to reject all Forreign Stories for Fables these value themselves upon their Incredulity and are such strict Friends to Truth that they never acknowledge any Another sort again throw away a Book of this kind for a Miracle or some extraordinary Accident any thing out of the way beyond their common prejudices that they find it as tho' Nature having exhausted all her Treasures upon our portion of Earth could produce nothing uncommon elsewhere or as tho' God's Power were more limited in the new Eastern Churches than among us Some there are 100 that run directly counter to these who enquire after nothing but Wonders satisfied only with what raises their Admiration they think all that 's Natural flat and insipid and if they are not rouz'd up with astonishing Adventures and continual Prodigies drop aâ—leep over the best penn'd Relation now to humor such Creatures one had need to cast the World into a new Figure and give Mankind other shapes 'T is certain so many different Tastes are not all to be pleas'd hence Travellers when they come home are as hard put to it to gain a patient hearing from their own Country-men as they were at first going abroad to make themselves be understood by Strangers But indeed they are not always worth hearing the emptiness or irregularity of their Relations or else the Vein of Passion and Prejudice running through the whole that turns a History into Slander but above all the boldness wherewith they sham the most ridiculous Tales upon us for credible Truths justly distaste Men of Sence and render suspected the more prudent and sincere Authors Tho' ordinarily it falls out that those Travellers who impose upon other People were first deceived themselves how many are there who do but just touch at a strange Country and imagine to be immediately inform'd of all that belongs to it they step ashore and scour about like famish'd Men greedily catching at all that comes in their way and so cram their Iournals with idle popular Chat upon this occasion a Spaniard said pleasantly of a certain Author thaâ— instead of intiâ—uling his Book A Relation of all the Considerable Rarities in the New World should rather have called it An Account of what the Rabble of both Indies the Moors Cafres and Slaves faithfully reported to me in those Conferences which I duly held with them Others perhaps are more reserv'd and then 't is Ten to One they are naturally bent to magnifie every thing and really when a Man has rambled five or six thousand Leagues out of pure Curiosity 't would fret him after all to meet with nothing but
some indiscreet words that escaped unawares from some of this Fathers menial Servants was resolved not to dissemble the matter any longer but to proceed according to the course of Law against him He therefore asked the Missionary how he durst presume to settle in the City Why he preached up a Foreign Doctrine And moreover by what right he pretended to remain in the Empire This Father foresaw the storm gather and had prepared himself beforehand I wonder 〈◊〉 Lord says he in answer to the Mandarin 〈◊〉 you reckon that Criminal in me at present that you did not disapprove at the beginning You know that for some years the Emperor hath kept and preserved in the Empire five of my European Brethren he meant us that he hath not only sent for them to Court but also hath by a publick Edict granted them power to settle in whatsoever place of the Kingdom they shall think fit it is for one of them that I have bought this House and I Lodge in it till such time as he come himself to take Possession of it Moreover you cannot be ignorant that the Missionaries had liberty granted them to come again into their Churches when the Emperor did them the favour to recal them from their Banishment Consult I pray consult your Registers upon the business and there you will find my name Some months after another Mandarin solicited by him of Lanki or at least urged to it by his Example was resolved to put a stop to the progress of our holy Doctrine he prohibited the Exercise thereof through the whole extent of his Government by an order which he caused to be affixed in divers places They treated Religion in such despightful manner that Father Intorcetta of our Society and Missionary in the Metropolis of this Province thought himself obliged not to dissemble the Affront without betraying his Ministerial Function He supposed likewise that he had right on his side formally to accuse this sworn Enemy of the Gospel whose behaviour was so excentrical from the Emperors intentions for this Prince had blotted out with his own hand a great many Lines of a Book that ranked the Christian Doctrine in the number of dangerous and popular Heresies this Book was of moment not only by reason of its Author eminent for his quality and desert but much more for that it was Composed for the Peoples Instruction by whom it was to be Read according to the Custom several times a year Father Intorcetta did therefore judge it a piece of boldness that made the Mandarin liable to the lash to condemn by his private Autority that which the Emperor seemed to allow of and approve so that the Father writ a very smart pithy Letter to the Governour of the Capital City in which he desired him to cause this Subaltern Officer to retract his words and so get this injurious Writing to be torn in pieces he likewise added that to repair this fault he could wish that the Mandarin might affix other Papers in the place of the others more favourable to the Religion and more conformable to the Emperors intentions The Governour dispatched this Letter to the Mandarin and as ill luck would have it it was delivered to him upon a day that he heard Causes in sight of all the People at the very time that he was busie in passing Judgement He so much resented this affront that contrary to the Custom of the Chinese and maurge his natural Phlegm he started from the Bench transported with Choler complained of the Impudence of the Missionary and protested openly that he would be revenged That he might carry on the business more succesfully he associated himself with the Mandarin of Lanki and combined with him if possible utterly to destroy the Christian Religion Their first attempt was to assault the Dominican Frier on whom they thought more easily to accomplish their design for they could not imagin that he was of the number of the Antient Missionaries To be rightly informed of the matter they caused to be produced certain Authentick Copies of every procedure during the whole course of the Persecution against Father Fii for so was he called with a design to confront him with himself It is a peculiar trick pretty common in China with the Mandarins to question the Criminals not only about matters of Fact but also concerning abundance of insignificant Circumstances causing all they answer carefully to be taken in Writing Then when they have talked a pretty while of a matter quite foreign to the Subject in hand to distract their mind all on a sudden they return to the thing in question they begin over and over the Declaration they change the order of the Interrogatives and cunningly interpose Answers contrary to those the guilty Person made on purpose to make him contradict himself the more easily to sist out the Truth Father Alcala without all doubt would have been put to his Trumps if he had not by a particular Providence preserved a Copy of these antient proceedings Wherefore knowing the intent and design of his Judges he so well informed himself of all that had heretofore past to this purpose and delivered himself so pertinently and conformably to the first Interrogatory that his Enemies were never able to prevail over him as to his answers So that all the Storm fell upon Father Intorcetta again against whom they were much more animated and incensed but forasmuch as this Father did not live within their Jurisdiction they Suborned many considerable Mandarins and the Vice-Roy in particular who added to his absolute power in the Province a greater aversion for the Christian Religion They all unanimously resolved to beat down Christianity and after having caused all the proceedings formerly made against Missionaries to be faught out in the Archives of the Intendant of the City Government they found at last the Decree of 16â—9 that strictly prohibited them to build any Churches to Teach in publick or in private the European's Law to Administer Baptism to the Chinese to distribute Medals Chaplets Crucifixes or other such like tokens of Religion to Christians The Missionaries were not ignorant of these Prohibitions but their particular Zeal and the example of Pekin where the Gospel was preached under the Emperors very Nose no body pretending to say any thing against it put them upon waving the usual Rules of human Prudence These very considerations made most part of the Mandarins to connive and whenever any one of them took upon him to impede the progress of the Faith they endeavoured to pacifie him by Presents and Letters of Recommendation procured for us by the Fathers of Pekin or else if need required we made use of the Emperor's Authority against him The Christians of Ham-tcheou under the Cure of Father Intorcetta were none of the least Zealous Their Courage had appeared under the Government of divers Mandarins great Sticklers against our most holy Faith but their Courage was never more apparent than in
CAM-HY Emperor of China the Eastern Tartary Aged 41 years Drawn when he was but 32. London Printed for Benj Tooke and Sam Buckley in Fleetstreet MEMOIRS AND OBSERVATIONS Topographical Physical Mathematical Mechanical Natural Civil and Ecclesiastical Made in a late JOURNEY Through the EMPIRE of CHINA And Published in several Letters Particularly upon the Chinese Pottery and Varnishing the Silk and other Manufactures the Pearl Fishing the History of Plants and Animals Description of their Cities and Publick Works Number of People their Language Manners and Commerce their Habits Oeconomy and Government The Philosophy of Confucius The State of Christianity with many other Curious and Useful Remarks By LOVIS LE COMPTE Jesuit Confessor to the Dutchess of Burgundy one of the Royal Mathematicians and lately Missionary into the Eastern Countries Translated from the Paris Edition and illustrated with Figures London Printed for Benj. Tooke at the Middle Temple Gate and Sam. Buckley at the Dolphin over against St. Dunstans Church in Fleetstreet 1697. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE English Translation Directed in A LETTER to Sir G. M. Baronet and W. M. Esquire Members of Parliament AMONG the various Productions of the Press none seem in your Clear Judgments more delightful and instructive then the Relations of Voyages and Travels I mean those written by Men of Capacity and Sincerity which lye in a small Compass for most Books are either Romances Novels or Hypotheses Panegyricks Satyrs or Burlesques the one too commonly taken for Truths as the others for Heroicks which come forth either to ease an Hypocondriack Spleen or else to flatter Ambitious Powers to raise Private Fortunes or favour Particular Factions Those venemous Sorts of Vermine that infest Humane Societies and spread such Poysons as feâ— Aâ—tidotes can reach unless fetch'd from abroad which sometimes raise the Pulâ—e and give the Blood a more generous Tincture the World like a Machine being best understood and manag'd by taking it to pieces viewing and comparing the several Parts together from whence just Impressions may be taken with the greatest and most perfect Idea's so the Greek Master painted his Vlysses The Knowledge of Forreign Countries seems to be the Noblest School for the enlarging and cultivating the Mind of Youth who being generally confin'd by Education and Customs at Home which few ever live to Surmount and Conquer to a narrow Sphere of Thought are for the most part puff'd up and choak'd for want of a free Air and a large Prospect hence it is that so many become unfit for Publick Business and Action or even common Conversation falling into Disorders upon little Contradictions and Starting at every Thing that lyes out of their way Imperitum est Animal Homo si circumscribatur Natalis Soli sui Fine says Seneca Such a One the Great Homer drew his Telemachus The Globe is compar'd to a true Glass in which may be seen the different Faces of Nature with the several Arts and Mysteries of Governments Every Climate affords new Scenes wherein a Man may learn that the Harmony of the Universe consists in a wonderful Variety which as the Emperor of Siam once repartee'd upon the Jesuits seems to have been set out by the most glorious Creator and Governour of all Things for his own immortal Praise Therefore t is in vain for the Collegium de propagandâ Fide and the Roman Catholick Courts to labour on Earth or expect from Heaven a general Uniformity in the Religion and Manners of Mankind no more then in other Customs Diets Habits and Commodities However their Missionaries ought not to be discourag'd in their Undertakings for the Improvements of Geography Natural and Civil History Commerce c. bring Honour and Profit sufficient to reward their Pains in case their Adventures upon Religion turn to no Account The same Immense Power always has and ever will be worship'd in different Forms under various Figures and Idea's It seems to be a General Error amongst us that many wise Nations adore meer Stocks and Stones without any respect to the Supream Divinity Of all the Kingdoms of the Earth China is the most celebrated for Politeness and Civility for Grandeur and Magnificence for Arts and Inventions which the Romish Priests are so sensible of that they pass there under the Characters of Physicians Painters Merchants Astrologers Mechanicians c. and are receiv'd as such in the Courts of Asia which are too sine to suffer openly the propagation of a strange Religion as some of the most pious Missionaries over-heated with the Naked Truth often find to their own Destruction especially when the Brachmans the Talapoins and the Bonzes begin to grow Zealous of their Masquerades and to see thro' their Disguises But you may perhaps demand because you do not use to take Things upon meer Recommendations without further Enquiry and Examination why the Booksellers should venture to print in English these Memoirs of China seeing we have already so many Relations of that Country To which they give this Answer viz. That most of our Accounts of China are either fabulous or Copies and not comparable to this Original of theirs Besides that vast Empire is so Fertile and Wonderful in all respects that it will always furnish fresh Materials for Discoveries let the Travellers be never so sagacious and industrious few of whom will be found to deserve such a Character unless Those lately sent at the French King's Expence with a Stock of excellent Instruments and with a sufficient Fund for making useful Observations amongst these our Author was one of the Chief and therefore the Reader may expect more from him then what is already Extant in the printed Works of his Predecessors Marco Paulo Nicolo di Conti Galeotto Perera Gaspar de Cruz Ferdinand Mendez Pinto Gonzalez de Mendoza Anthony de Andrada Manuell de Faria Sousa Pedro Cubero Sebastian and some others of the Moresco Vein run Whip and Spur into Knight Errantry so familiar and even congenial to the Italian but much more to the Spanish and Portuguese Writers that a thousand Don Quixots with all Cervante's Satyr will never be able to reform them yet a Critical Reader may glean many pretty things from Them The Accounts of some Learned Jesuits whose Order hath seen more of China then all the rest of the Europeans seem to be more judicious and authentick especially if we indulge them a little in the Story of their Religion Among these we ought to mention with respect the Ingenious Fathers Ricci Trigault Semedo Martini Rhodes Boym Grueber Adam Schall whose Letters are very considerable Father Greslon Father Rougemont with many other Missionaries of the Church of Rome from whom Kircher took all his Materials and Monsieur Thevenot in that part of his Collections relating to China has only abridg'd some of their Diaries and Journals The Relation that Linschoten gives of China is not equal to the other Parts of Asia which he himself saw the same may be said of Mandelslo The
to West is little less so that on the whole China which is almost of a Circular Figure is very near Fourteen hundred Leagues in Circuit This Account My Lord I can warrant to be just and grounded on very exact Remarks You see My Lord that I have left out the Islands Formosa Haynan and others of less Note which of themselves would make a very great Kingdom as also all the Province Leauton because it is without the Wall As for the Corea Tunquin and Siam they depend indeed on China so far as that they pay a Tribute to that Crown and that their Kings at their admission are Confirmed by its Emperor but they are separate Kingdoms and differ much from that of China which whether in respect of the Product and Fertility of its Soil or the Beauty and Number of its Cities the Wit Politeness Religion or Manners of its Inhabitants is quite another thing The Chineze know it and are so proud of it that they call all the rest Barbarous Nations taking great care in their Marriages not to match with them or any of the other Indians and fearing nothing more then that their mean Blood should run in a Noble Chineze's Veins I also omitted a great part of Tartary which belongs to this State to the great increase of its Power for the Tartars are Valiant and withal Men of Sence and besides tho' Tartary be full of Woods and Sandy Desarts yet it is not wholly unfruitful those sine Furs of which they rob their Zibelines Foxes and Tigers a great diversity of Simples useful in Physick and the fine Horses which come from thence are Commodities China could not be without Yet tho' they reap so great a Profit by it it cannot be imagined what a Vexation it is to them to be so strictly united and mixt with that Nation and one must be well acquainted with the Excess of their Vanity and of the Conceit they have of their Grandeur to know how grievously the Tartarian Conquest has humbled them I question not My Lord but you have heard of it but perhaps have not had the leisure of inquiring into Particulars and therefore a short Account of that great Revolution may not be unwelcome One of the Petty Kings of the Eastern Tartary for there are not afew whose Subjects called Mouantchéou had settled a Trade near the Long Wall having complained at Pekin of some Knaveries committed by the Chinâ—se Merchants and having received no Satisfaction resolved to right himself and entered the Province of Leauton with a numerous Army The Emperor presently sent some part of his Forces to oppose him and the War continued some time with equal advantage But one LI a Chineze took that Opportunity to hatch a Rebellion in the Provinces which were most remote from Court Great numbers of Malecontents flocked about him who having made themselves Masters of the greatest Cities like a Torrent overflowed the whole Country driving all down before them The Sacred Majesty of their Emperor could not save Pekin from their Fury the Rebel who knew the best Forces were drawn out of it marched directly to attack it There was indeed a Garrison of Seventy thousand Men but most gain'd upon by the practises of Li's Emissaries so that while some with a pretended Zeal perswaded the Prince to remain in his Palace others open'd the City Gates to the Traitor who solemnized his Entry by a Cruel Slaughter The unfortunate Monarch finding himself betrayed would have marched out against him with Six hundred Guards who still remained with him but at the mentioning of this Heroick Proposal their Hearts failed 'em and they ungenerously abandoned him Then knowing no greater Evil then that of falling quick into the Hands of his Enemies he retired into a Garden with an only Daughter he had and having wrote with his Blood these words on the bordure of his Vest My Subjects have basely forsaken me spend thy Rage on my Body but spare my People He first stabb'd the Princess whose Tears must needs have rent a Heart of Flint and then hang'd himself on a Tree more Unjust to his Daughter and Cruel to Himself then could have been the most barbarous Foe The Emperor being dead all bowed to the Usurper except Ousanguey whom the late Prince had intrusted with the Command of the Forces he had sent against the Tartars who never would acknowledge him and chose rather to pull down his Tyranny then ignobly to accept of a share in it The new Monarch having in vain besâ—eged him in the Province Leauton to engage him to Surrender himself shewed him his Father loaded with Irons protesting he would put him to Death in his sight if he did not immediately submit But that generous Lord more Faithful to the Memory of his deceased Prince then tender of his Father's Life suffered the Duty of a Subject to prevail over of that of a Son and seeing that Blood spilt of which his once was Part resolved to dye or revenge at once his Fathers and his Emperor's Death He made his Peace with the Tartar who having joyn'd him no sooner enabled him to Cope with his Enemy but he marched against him But the Tyrant whose Cowardize was even greater then his Cruelty durst not appear against those two Armies He fled to Pekin where having burned the Palace and all that had not perished at his first Entry he retired into the Province of Chensi loaded with the Spoil of the Empire and the Curse of all He was pursued but in vain for he met with so private a Retirement that all the Art of Man could never find him out In the mean while the Tartars entered Pekin and so imposed upon the poor Chineze that of themselves they begged their new Guests to take care of their distressed State The others too Cunning not to improve so favourable a Hint whether by Force or Policy are since grown absolute Masters of it And here it is hard to determine which is most to be wondred at the Courage and Conduct of that Nation which gave them Success in so Noble an Enterprize or the Supineness or ill Management of the Chineze who thus basely submitted to a People so inconsiderable for their Number that they would have been ashamed not long before to own them for their Subjects So true it is we ought not to look on any thing as beneath us since all Temporal Grandeur is subject to Change and that nothing is Constant in this World but Inconstancy The Tartarian King Tsouté had not the leisure to enjoy his Conquest scarce had he taken Possession but he died leaving the Administration of the Government and Care of his Son who was then but Six years old to his Brother This Brother of his named AMAVAN conquered all the Provinces which had not yet submitted a Prince deservedly admired not only for his Valour and Conduct ever attended with Success but also for his Fidelity and Moderation For the young Prince being come
represents saying This is that great and glorious City which has subsisted for so many years and saith I truly am a City and there is none besides me The Chinese indeed were something excusable in this Point since they knew of nothing beyond the Seas of Iapan and Forests of Tartary but what we have told 'em That the West had also its Cities and Kingdoms which in several things exceeds theirs has very much humbled them being not a little vexed that their Title to the Universal Monarchy should now be questioned after having enjoyed it above 4000 years Our Comfort My Lord is that these proud Cities which stiled themselves Ladies of the Universe have been forced to open their Gates to the Gospel and art partly subdued by our Religion Those that dwelt in high places have bowed their heads and the Lord has in a holy manner brought low the lofty Cities This My Lord has often supported me in the midst of my Labours and Travels I have seen but few Cities where Christianity had made no Progress and among those Crowds of Worshippers of Belial I have observed a chosen People which worshipped the Lord in Spirit and in Truth Our Churches are now the Ornament of those very Cities which during so many Ages had been defiled with Idols and the Cross raised above their Houses confounds Superstition and gains it self Respect from the very Gentiles What then remains My Lord but that we labour with the utmost Diligence to the perfecting of a Work worthy the Zeal of the first Apostles Woe to those who are kept there by the Care of the Head of the Church and the Liberality of Christian Princes if thro' Negligence or an ill-groundâ—d Cowardice they fail of rendring the Inhabitants of those vast Cities a Holy Nation Hitherto thro' God's good Grace the Ministers of the Gospel have not been ashamed of their Profession not before the Pagan Magistrates and when forced by a long Exile to quit their beloved Churches they all might with St. Paul say You know I have endeavoured to serve the Lord in all humility with many tears and notwithstanding the Crosses I have met with from the Heathen that I have hid nothing from you that might be to your advantage no hinderance being strong enough to prevent my preaching it both in publick and private but rather admonishing you all to be pâ—nitent towards God and faithful to our Lord Iesus Christ. I know that those who have Composed whole Volumes to cry down our Catholick Missions will not agree to what I have said Men who have once professed themselves Enemies to the Orthodox Doctrine attack it every where and make it their Business to slander such as preach it But it may be a Comfort to us that we have no other Adversaries but those who are such to our Church and that we are only blamed by those whose Praise would be a Reproach to us However we stand in daily need of the Assistance of our kind Protectors For in what part of this World can Naked Truth and Distressed Innocence withstand alone the Force of Inveterate Malice In you My Lord we hope to find one full of Zeal and Justice The Approbation of so great a Prince whose Wit Judgment and Uprightness are well known to all Europe is able alone to Silence and Confound our Enemies And when it is once known that you are in some Concern for our Affairs that you are sensible of our Labours perswaded that our Designs are good and willing to contribute to carry them on none sure will then be so daring and hardened a Calumniator as to speak against our Missions to China or reflect on our Conduct in that Country I am with a profound Respect My Lord Hour Eminences most â—umble and obedient Servant I. J. LETTER IV. To the Count de CRECY Of the Clime Soil Canals Rivers and Fruits of China My Lord THE French Missionaries to China are so highly obliged to your whole Family that among the most important Commands they have honoured me with for Europe that of returning you their hearty Thanks was earnestly recommended to my Care I know My Lord that how great soever your Favours may have been your several Employments and the unbounded Application with which you serve his Majesty have somewhat curbed your Zeal But what is not owing from us to that other Self of yours pardon the Expression whom his Blood Name Wit and a thousand excellent Qualifications do so confound with you that we can scarce distinguish the one from the other In all our Travels in which some of us have already reckon'd above 40000 Leagues we have not made a Step without his Orders and Assistance His Zeal has excited us to Noble Enterprises his Prudence directed us how to carry them on his Courage strengthned us against all Opposition and I hope his unshaken Constancy will at last give Success to one of the most Noble Atchievements that this Age has produced to our Churches good to the Improvement of Learning and to his Glory who Sways the Gallick Scepter Thus My Lord while you make known his Name in the several Courts of Europe he spreads yours abroad thro' the new World where he is equally reverenced by the Preachers of the Gospel whose Support he is and dreaded by those of Paganism and Idolatry whose Ruin he is the occasion of I the more willingly do Justice to his Merit because I cannot write on a Subject more agreeable to your Lordship and if I had not already spoke to it in a private Conversation I were to blame to give over so soon But after having indulged a Father's Tenderness is it not time you should satisfie a State-man's Curiosity I have often described Europe to the Chinese who have admired its Politeness Beauty and Magnificence it is but just that I make China known to that European who is best able to judge of its true Grandeur I have My Lord pitched upon the following Particulars being such as will give you a true Idea of that Country and will perhaps give some pleasure in the reading China being of a large Extent the Nature of the Soil is different according to its particular Situation as it lyes more or less Southwards I can however assure your Lordship that the least of its fifteen Provinces is so Populous and Fertile that in Europe it would make alone a considerable State and a Prince who should enjoy it might have Wealth and Subjects enough to content a moderate Ambition This Land like all others is divided into Hills and Plains but the latter are so even that one would think the Chinese have ever since the Foundation of their Monarchy been employ'd in nothing else but levelling them and making them into Gardens and their manner of meliorating their Ground being to let Water thro' it they could not think of a better way to distribute it equally else those Parts which lye highest would have laboured under a continual
and resembles our Mineral Colours tho' lighter by far They make it into all Figures the more usual are four-square but not so broad as long about half an Inch thick There are some of them gilded with Figures of Dragons Birds and Flowers they contrive for that purpose pretty Moulds of Wood so curiously wrought that one would have much ado to make any thing more compleat upon Metal When one has a mind to write they have a little polisht Marble upon the Table made hollow at the end proper to hold water they infuse one end of the stick therein which they rub gently upon the smooth part of the Marble and in a moment according as they rub there is produced a Liquor more or less black wherein they dip the point of the Pencil to write with This Ink is shining extream black and altho' it sinks when the Paper is so fine yet does it never extend further than the Pencil so that the Letters are exactly terminated how gross soever the strokes be Outom-Chu A Tree in China It hath moreover another quality that makes it admirable good for designing that is it admits of all the Diminutions one can give it and there are many things that cannot be represented to the Life without using this Colour In a word it is not so difficult to be made as People imagine altho' the Chineses use Lamb-black drawn from divers Matters yet the best is made of Hogs-grease burnt in a Lamp They mix a sort of Oil with it to make it sweeter and pleasant Odours to suppress the ill smell of thâ— Grease and Oil. After having reduc'd it to a Consistence they make of the Paste little Lozenges which they cast in a Mould it is at first very heavy but when it is very hard it is not so weighty by half and that whiâ—h they give for a Pound weighs not above eight or ten Ounces The binding of Books in China is likewise very pretty and curious tho' it comes much short of ours They don't gild upon the Edges nor so much as colour them The ordinary Books are covered with a grey Pastboard handsom enough They bind others according as they please in a fine Sattin or a kind of flowered Taffity that is very cheap and is commonly made on purpose for this use I have seen some covered with rich Silk flowered with Gold and Silver the Form is always the same but they are at Cost according to the Matter they are willing to employ I should never have presumed My Lord to take the liberty to set down all these minute Circumstances if I were not perswaded that a little Account is not always disagreable to Learned Men who like you are acquainted beforehand with the most essential Matters Hence I present you with something more solid which without doubt you may have read but I add it in this place briefly only to refresh your memory The first History that was in the World was without all Controversie the Book of Genesis but it must be granted that of all the Books that have reached our knowledge those of China are the first that have been published They name them by way of Excellence The five Volumes and the Chineses hold nothing more Sacred than the Doctrine therein taught It is about Four thousand three hundred years since the Emperour Hoamti after he had invented the Characters composed Treaties of Astronomy Arithmetick and Medicine Near upon Three hundred years after they made a Collection of all the Ordinances and writ the History of King Yao a Prince recommendable for his Piety Prudence and the mighty Care he took to establish a Model of Government in the State Câ—un and Isu his Successors were no less famous they regulated the Ceremonies of the Sacrifice that they were bound to offer to the Supream Master of Heaven and to the inferiour Spirits that presided over Rivers and Mountains they divided the Empire into Provinces they fixt their different Situation with respect to the Constellations of Heaven they regulated the Taxes that the People were to pay they made several other Constitutions very wholsome and proper for introducing good Manners and very necessary for the Publick Quiet All these things were written and whatever these three Emperors have left behind them to Posterity hath been always considered by the Chineses as Oracles Nevertheless being the first Laws never comprehend all things the Emperors who reigned a Thousand seven hundred seventy six years before our Saviour upon mature deliberation and by the Counsel and Advice of their Sage Ministers thought themselves obliged to make an Addition of new ones They report that Cootson a Prince in whom Piety and Zeal in Religion did infinitely inhance the Noble qualities he had received from Nature saw in a Dream the Figure of a Man coming from Heaven After he was awake the Image remained so lively engraven upon his Mind that he caused him to be sought for and found him at length amongst the Masons So soon as this Man apply'd himself to the Government he seemed to be inspired and made several beneficial Regulations that perfected the ancient Ordinances which were again augmented under succeeding Reigns insomuch that being all collected together there was a Book composed of them which the Chinese call Chukim which amongst them is of as great Authority in reference to the Politick State as Moses and the Prophets are amongst the Jews as to what concerns the Worship of God and Form of Religion The Second Book which the Chineses reverence for its Antiquity is a long Continuation and Series of Odes and Poems composed under the Reigns of the third Race Where are described the Manners and Customs of the petty Kings of China who governed the Provinces in dependance upon the Emperor Confucius mentions them with great Elogiums which makes us incline to judge that in process of time they had been corrupted by a mixture of several bad Pieces there are some such found in them very ridiculous not to say impiouâ— â—oâ—i Founder of the Monarchy composed before that time Poems of that Nature but they were so obscure that what care soever they took to put a good Construction on them yet have they been fain to confess that they were not intelligible This Obscurity so impenitrable by all the Lights of the Learned hath given occasion to many Superstitions The Bonze's wrest them to a wrong use that they may say what they please they are in respect of them an inexhaustible Fountain of Fables and Chimera's which they make use of for to cause the People to pin their Faith upon their Sleeve However they have compiled a Tome of them which holds the third Rank amongst Classick Authors The Fourth contains the History of several Princes their Vertues Vices and Maxims of the Government that have been collected by Confucius and Commented upon by his Disciples The Fifth treats of Customs and Ceremonies There is mention made of Temples
indeed admirable for its antiquity for the wisdom of its Maxims for the plainness and uniformity of its Laws for that exemplary Virtue which it has produced in a long Succession of Emperors for that regularity and order which it has kept the People in in despight of Civil or Foreign Wars which notwithstanding like the rest of the things of this world is subject to a great many inconveniences to Rebellions which have depopulated whole Provinces to the injustice of some Princes who have abused their power to the Avarice of Mandarins who have often oppressed the People to Invasions from abroad and Treachery from home to such a number of Changes as would have unhinged the very Government and Laws if a more Politick People than are the Tartars were near enough the Empire to introduce their own method of Government It would my Lord be a piece of flattery to my self to imagine that I have by this tedious account added any thing to that immense store of Knowledge which you have drawn from the best Springs of Antiquity from the Conversation of the most ingenious of the Moderns from the management of the most momentous Affairs or which is a greater Fountain of Understanding from your own natural Wit and Ingenuity which has made you if I may use the Expression a Native of all Countries and a Philosopher of all Ages But I am sure you will be glad to see that the truest Maxims of good Policy are not altogether strangers in the East and that if China do not form so great Ministers as you are it forms great enough to understand Your worth and to follow your steps and improve themselves from the Copy you set them if they could but know you I am in the most profound manner My Lord Your Eminence's most obedient and most humble Servantâ— L. J. To my Lord Cardinal de Bouïllon Concerning the Antient and Modern Religion of China My Lord I Do not at all wonder that your Highness is pleased to hear Relations of China It belongs only to great Princes to be thoroughly acquainted with all that concerns the several Kingdoms of the World and to make a true judgment of the Power and Grandeur of Empires God who has sent such Men into the World to Govern it has given them a more than ordinary ability and knowledge to perform it So that my Lord if I take upon me the liberty to acquaint your Lordship with what repeated Voyages for the space of several years have given me oportunity to know in this affair it is not so much to instruct you in it as to beg your Highnesses judgment of it I may say this still with more truth when I have the honour to write to you of Religion This is more particularly your concern and I may say that if your Quality your Ingenuity and your incomparable Learning have made you above all Men our Judge your Eminent Dignity in the Church obliges us in Sacred concerns to hear and consult your Highness as our Oracle 'T is on this prospect my Lord that I now present to you these Memoirs with some Reflections which the Customs of the Chinese and the reading of their Books have suggested to me concerning their Religion being of this mind that after so many different Opinions and long Disputes which have for a whole Age divided the most learned Missionaries there is no better way of coming to decision than to obtain your Highnesses judgment therein Religion has always had a great share in establishing the greatest Kingdoms which could never support themselves were not the Peoples Minds and Hearts tied together by the outward woâ—ship of some Deity for People are naturally Superstitious and rather follow the guidance of Faith than Reason It was therefore for this reason that the antient Law-givers always made use of the knowledge of the true God or of the false Maxims of Idolatry to bring the barbarous Nations under the Yoak of their Government China happier in its Foundation than any other Nation under the Sun drew in the chief of the holy Maxims of their antient Religion from the Fountain Head The Children of Noah who were scattered all over the Eastern parts of Asia and in all probability founded this Empire being themselves in the time of the Deluge witnesses of the Omnipotence of their Creator transmitted the Knowledge of him and instilled the fear of him into all their descendants the footsteps which we find in their Histories will not let us doubt the truth of this Fobi the first Emperor of China carefully bred up seven sorts of Creatures which he used to Sacrifice to the Supreme Spirit of Heaven and Earth For this reason some called him Paobi that is oblation a name which the greatest Saints of the Old or New Testament would have been proud to have and which was reserved for him alone who made himself an Oblation both for Saints and Sinners Hoamti the third Emperor built a Temple to the Sovereign Lord of Heaven and altho' Iudea had the honour of Consecrating to him one more rich and magnificent hallowed even by the presence of our Creator and the prayers of our Redeemer it is no small glory to China to have sacrificed to their Creator in the most antient Temple of the World Tçouen hio the fifth Emperor thought afterwards that one place was too narrow to contain the Services paid to the Lord of the Universe He therefore instituted Priests or Ecclesiastical Mandarins in several Provinces to preside over the Sacrifices He gave them strict command to observe that Divine Service was performed with all humility and respect and that all the Religious Ceremonies were strictly observed Tiho his Successor took as much care of Religion as he had done Histories relate that the Empress his Wife being barren begged Children of God during theSacrifice with such fervour and earnestness that she conceived in few days and sometime after was brought to bed of a Son who was famous for that forty Emperors successively reigned of his Family Yao and Chan the two Princes who succeeded him are so famous for their Piety and for the Wisdom of their Governments that it is very likely that Religion was still more flourishing during their Reigns It is also very probable that the three succeeding Families did preserve the knowledge of God for about two thousand years during the Reign of fourscore Emperors since the learnedest among the Chinese maintain that before the Superstitions introduced with the God To into China there were no Idols or Statues seen there This is certain that during all that space of time the observation of the Emperor Yao's Maximes was recommended to the Princes of which the most essential and principal was concerning the Worship of the Sovereign Lord of the World and altho' some Emperors have been so wicked as to reject them so far as even to threaten Heaven itself and foolishly challenge it to fight they have been nevertheless looked upon as
Christian Religion this was none of the weakest If the knowledge of JESUS CHRIST says he sometimes is necessary for Salvation and if God desires the Salvation of all Men why has he so long kept us in ignorance and error It is now above sixteen Ages since your Religion the only way Men have to obtain Salvation has been established in the World we knew nothing of it here Is China so inconsiderable as not to deserve to be thought of while so many barbarous Nations have been enlightned The Missionaries have very solidly answered this objection and that with so good a Face of Reason as did give ample satiâ—faction to the Emperor I do not here tell you Sir their answer you do your self know all that could be possibly said thereto But perhaps it will not be tedious to you to let you know that China has not been so much neglected as it thinks We cannot inform our selves of all that has passed in this New World since the death of our Saviour for the Chinese Histories seldom speak of any thing but what concerns Political Government Yet the Divine Providence would be sufficiently justified in this point if it had acted for the Salvation of China no more than has come to our knowledge There is no doubt but St. Thomas preached the true Faith in the Indies and it is as certain that the Indians had then great dealings with the Chinese to whom almost all India was tributary It is therefore very probable that this Apostle to whom the care of this New World was committed did not neglect the best part of it which was then as much distinguished above the rest of the Eastern parts as Italy was above the Western in the most flourishing condition of the Roman Empire So that perhaps he himself travailled there or at least sent some of his Followers This Conjecture which carries its own Evidence with it does still receive confirmation from what the Chinese Histories relate concerning those times Their History says that a Man came into China and preached Heavenly Doctrine He was not an ordinary Man adds the History his Life his Miracles and his Vertues made him admired by all the World Furthermore one may read in an antient Breviary of the Church of Malabar wrote in Chaldee these words which are in the Office for St. Thomas his day It was by St. Thomas ' s means that the Chinese and Aethiopians were Converted and came to the knowledge of the Truth And in another place It was by St. Thomas that is to say by the preaching of St. Thomas that the Kingdom of Heaven went into the Empire of China And in an Anthem we read these words which follow The Indies China Persia c. offer up in memory of St. Thomas the worship due to thy holy Name We can't tell what Conversions he wrought there nor how long Religion flourished but this is certain that if Religion hath not been ' kept up in China till now the Chinese may thank themselves who by a criminal neglect and voluntary stubbornness did so easily part with the gift of God Neither is this the only time wherein our Lord hath visited them A great while after that is in the seventh Century a Catholick Patriarch of the Indies sent Missionaries thither who preached the true Religion with good success Altho' their History hath mentioned something of this yet it is done in so few words and in so careless and obscure a manner that we should never have had the happiness of being throughly acquainted with this Mission were it not for an Accident which happened a few Years ago which it pleased God to bring about for the stronger establishing the Faith in this great Empire In the Year 1625 some Masons digging near Signanfou the Capital of the Province of Chensi found a long Table of Marble which had been heretofore erected as a Monument in the manner they build them in China and which time had buried in the ruins of some Building or had hid in the Ground so that no remains of it were visible This Stone which was ten foot long and six foot broad was very nicely examined the more for this reason because on the top of it there was a large Cross handsomly graved below which was a long discourse in Chinese Characters and other Letters which the Chinese did not understand they were Syriack Characters The Emperour had notice of it and had a Copy of it sent him and did command that the Monument should be carefully kept in a Pagode where it now is about a mile from Signanfou The substance of the Inscription on the Table is as follows There is a first principle of all things of a spiritual and intelligent Nature who created all things out of Nothing and who subsists in three Persons At Man's Creation he endued him with original Justice made him King of the Universe and master of his own Passions but the Devil drawing him into Temptation corrupted his mind and disturbed the inward peace and innocence of his heart Hence sprang all those Misfortunes which overwhelm human kind and all those different Factions into which we are crumbled Mankind who since that fatal Fall did always walk in Darkness would never have found out the path of Truth if one of these three Persons of the Divinity had not taken upon him the Nature of Man which Man we call the Messia An Angel proclaimed his coming and some time after he was born of a Virgin in Iudea This miraculous Birth was set forth by a new Star in the Heavens Some Kings who observed the Star came and offered Presents to the Divine Infant that so the Law and Predictions of the twenty four Prophets might be accomplished He governed the World by instituting a very plain Spiritual and Heavenly Law He established eight Beatitudes He endeavoured to disswade men from setting their hearts on the good things of this World in order to fix in them a love of those good things which will never fail He set forth the beautifulness of the three principal Vertues He set open the gates of Heaven to the Just to which place he himself ascended at mid-day leaving on Earth seven and twenty Books of his Doctrine proper for the Conversion of the World He instituted Baptism for the washing away Sin and lay'd down his Life on the Cross for all men without exception His Ministers cut not off their Beards but have their Heads shaved excepting a circle of Hair which they leave on They have no Servants for they make themselves Superior to none whether in the height of Prosperity or in the depth of Affliction Instead of heaping up Riches they willingly impart their little all to those who are in want They Fast both for mortification of themselves and in observance of the Laws They reverence their Superiours and honour all good men They pray seven times a day for the Dead and the Living They offer Sacrifice every Week
the Bishop who after this happy beginning made ready according to his former notions to new Till this Vineyard of the Lord whether he thought himself sent like the Prophet heretofore Ecce constitui te super gentes ut destruas disperdas dissipes c. But God Almighty was satisfied with his good Intentions and took him to himself a few months after his arrival His death greatly surprised all the Faithful it did especially afflict the fervent Ecclesiasticks who were the Companions of his Voyage the other Missionaries submitted with resignation to the Will of God being perswaded that whatsoever Providence appoints is always for his Glory and for the good of the Elect if they make a right use of it This was sweetned by the arrival of two other Bishops who a little while after supplied his place under the Title of Vicars Apostolical The first was Monsieur d' Argolis an Italian of the Order of St. Francis noted among those of his Order for his excellent Vertues and extraordinary Knowledge He had been employed in the chiefest business there and our Holy Father thought he could not make choice of a wiser Man than he to place at the Helm of so flourishing a Mission As he went by Siam Monsieur Constance understanding his worth presented him to the King who would fain have kept him in his Kingdom but because the Orders of the Holy See obliged him to go farther he resolved at least to shew him some marks of his esteem and affection toward him in ordering him and two of his Companions of the same Order a considerable Pension So that had it not been for the Revolutions which a little while after happened in his Kingdom this Prince worthy of a better Fortune would have had his Missionaries in China as well as the most zealous Princes in Europe Since this wise Prelate hath been in China the natural sweetness of his Temper hath very much contributed to the comfort of the Faithful and conversion of the Heathen He hath visited all the Provinces which the Holy See committed to his care consecrating Priests teaching and exhorting them administring the Sacrament of Confirmation uniting all their affections as much as possibly he could whose different interests seems to have cooled their mutual Charity to one another in JESUS CHRIST And tho' one would think that the Portuguese could never have a respect for him because their pretensions are wholly opposite to this institution of Vicars Apostolical yet he has behaved himself with so much Prudence that all Nations here think themselves particularly obliged to him The second Bishop whom the Holy See has dignified with the Title of Vicar Apostolical is Monsieur de Basilee a Chinese educated by the Fathers of Saint Francis's Order afterwards taking upon himself the Order of St. Dominick When he was only a Missionary he had a flaming zeal for the Conversion of his dear Country and during the Persecution of Father Adam he was the main support of Religion in all the Provinces which he travelled through and strengthned in the Faith When he was consecrated Bishop he performed all his Duties perfectly well and the Holy See did so far approve of his Conduct as to lâ—t him nominate his Successor He nominated his Vicar-General the Reverend Father de Leonissa an Italian of St. Francis's Order who in his private Life might have been a Pattern to the most strict Religious and in the important Employment of Vicar Apostolical has shewn that he has all that Zeal all that Prudence and all that Constancy which the Government of a great Church requires My Lord Bishop of Basilée after he had thus chosen this worthy successor of his Apostleship fell sick at Nankin and died full of those happy Visions which God gives even in this World to his Saints At his Death that Faith shined brightly which had animated him in his Life-time and his last minutes wherein he appeared to be fulfilled with the most sensible touches of Christian hope seemed to give him an antepast of the Joys of Paradise All his trouble was for the Missionaries by whom he was affectionately beloved and for the Christians who lost in him the first Priest the first Religious and the first Bishop that ever China had yet given to Christianity And as his blessed Memory was every where spread abroad they have set up his Picture in several places which the Reverend Father de Leonissa sent to the sacred Congregation to preserve the Memory of a Prelate whos 's own Merit as well as our particular Obligations to him ought to make eternally respected Besides this the Pope honoured Mr. Maigrot and Mr. Pin with the Title of Vicars Apostolical both of them Doctors of the Sorbon diligent zealous and set upon following the Intentions of the Holy See and in a word Companions of Mr. Heliopolis and Inheritors of a double portion of his Spirit If the number of Missionaries had been answerable to that of the Pastors the Churches in China had now been perfectly filled but as I have said the over care which every one has taken to provide for it exclusively of others has rendered People less desirous of going Good men nay even those who have occasioned these disorders have mourned for them in secret Some zealous Persons have endeavoured to remedy this My Lord Bishop of Munster and Paderborn whom the care of his own Diocese did not hinder from extending his care even as far as the East gave a settlement for six Missionaries for ever to China but dying a little while after his last Will was never executed Others in France in Spain in Italy took a great deal of pains to help this forsaken Mission but they could never compass their designs Lewis the Great who is himself as zealous for establishing the Gospel as all the other Princes put together among the great Designs which he has been intent upon to make Religion flourish in Europe thought that he ought not to neglect that good which he might do in Asia He was very sensible of the Necessities of China which Father Verbiest had represented to him in one of his Letters in the most sensible manner in the World and although he very well knew that he could not make Missionaries a quality which no body can give us but the Vicar of JESUS CHRIST he doubted not but that Religiouses who were exactly skilled in Mathematicks in attaining according to his Orders an exact knowledge in Astronomy might at the same time with good success labour according to the design of their Institution in the Conversion of Infidels He was very well satisfied that of all the means which human prudence could advantageously make use of in the most holy Actions there were none which promoted the concerns of Religion in China more than the Mathematicks Being therefore willing at once to satisfie his zeal for the advancement of the Gospel and the desire which he had of bringing the Sciences to perfection
concealing from them this sacred Mystery of our Redemption or from dissembling in the least circumstance of the same What certain Hereticks have writ concerning it is a foul Calumny which all the Chinese Books and Cuts therein engraven have long ago diproved and confuted The Cross is carried publickly in the Streets in Procesâ—â—on planted on the tops of Churches painted over the Doors of the Christians Houses I have no where observed the Ceremony of the Adoring of the Crofâ— performed every Good Friday publickly practised with more Adoration than in China nay I sincerely protest that I never assisted thereat without being forced to mingle my Tears with those of the Believers who outdo themselves in Devotion and publick Penance on that day especially Those who have accused their Faith in this point would themselves be ashamed at the insensibleness of Europeans had they assisted at our Ceremonies For our part we are overjoyed to see the Opprobrium of the Cross to Triumph as far as the utmost limits of the Universe over the most proud and haughty Nation in the World The particular Instruction of the Chinese Women is much more troublesome than that of Men they are never Visited but in the time of their Sickness neither do they ever come to visit the Missionaries but they may be spoken with in their Churches or else one may cause them to meet every Fortnight to say Mass and administer the Sacrament to them they dare not come ofâ—ner for fear of Scandal the Laws of the Countâ—y doth not so much as allow them that because the disorders that happens every time the Pagan Women visit the Temples of the Bonzes causeth our Assemblies to be suspected and affords a specious pretence to the Gentiles to cry down Religion Notwithstanding a man cannot imagine what Fruit may be reap'd by it I came to this Church upon Friday Evening to hear Confessions 'T is always in a place exposed to every ones view for in this case one cannot act with too much caution On Saturday morning I finished the Confessions of those that were not able to get a place the day foregoing Almost every one of them Confess and would be glad so to do every day if they had liberty granted Whether it be tenderness of Conscience or esteem for the Sacrament or some other reason best known to themselves I know not but they think they can never set time enough apart to discover their Faults There is required abundance of patience to hear them and being naturally of a mild disposition they would take it very ill to be handled roughly yet have they one good quality that they are seldom Testy and Froward They receive the Instructions from their Director in all humility they blindly pin their Faith upon his Sleeve we never inflict great Penance on them nay tho' it be a difficult matter to reduce them from their ordinary peccadilloes yet do not they find it so hard to bewail and lament for them As for notorious Sins they very rarely commit them because their Condition exempts them from the most dangerous opportunities and if they could be brought to keep Peace in their domestic Affairs their Life would be otherwise wonderful innocent I have observed in many of them a certain Devotion that wanted but little of Holiness They always apply themselves to Business or to Prayer seeking all opportunities for the Education of their Children or for their own improvement Very scrupulous and nice in the observation of the Practice of every Christian Duty Charitable frequent in Mortification in a particular manner zealous for the Conversion of Idolaters attentive to all Occasions that present themselves to do Acts of Charity Insomuch that I have heard the ancientest Missionaries say That if China once turn'd Christian almost all the Women would be saved This is not an affected Encomium of the Chinese Women I do faithfully and honestly relate what I have seen and I judge of other Churches by this whereof I have the Care and Conduct The Instruction of the Youth of riper years gave me as much trouble I was perswaded that this Age above all other requir'd cultivating especially in China where many things concur to make them have an aversion for the service of God their easie soft Temper the Complaisance of all about them their Relations that dote upon them and seldom carry a strict hand over them but let them have their Wills The company of Heathen Children always corrupted and vicious very soon their dependance their complaisance with School masters who many times have such influence on them as to inspire them with an aversion for Religion All these are Obstacles to their Instruction very hard to surmount what care soever we take Yet was I willing to discharge my Duty by several ways and means That which appeared to me the most effectual was to take a Christian School-master into my House who was an able zealous Man The Children came thither to learn and I took the opportunity to instil Devotion into them to expound to them the principal Articles of Religion to train them up and discipline them against the Assaults of the Gentiles to accustom them to the Ceremonies of the Church where they assisted at Mass every day This Practice did also produce another good effect The Children of Idolaters who came to Study under the Tuition of the same Master whether by reason of cheapness or because of the nearness of the place heard whether they would or no what was taught to their School-fellows These Instructions form'd and season'd them by little and little to Christianity and replenished their Mind with abundance of good Notions and Ideas which as so many Seeds in process of time did produce Evangelical Fruit that is to say real Conversions It were to be wish'd there were a good number of Christian School masters that might teach gratis in Cities that would be the best means to propagate Religion and to preserve good Manners and keep up decorum in Families but the Missionaries are so far from being in a condition to maintain them that they are hard put to it to subsist themselves for they do not lead such a Life as some ill informed or rather ill-affected Authors would have made the World believe they did Nay and I speak even of those who are at Court who seem by their outside to live in the affluence of all Accomodations It is true indeed they go in their Silks according to the mode of the Country when they go to visit Persons of Quality yea and they are sometimes carried in a Sedan or else on Horseback attended by Servants All which is necessary to keep up their Credit and preserve the protection of the Mandarins for want of which the Christians would be often opprest But yet that ma kes the Missionaries to lead an hard Life for these expences consuming their whole Revenue or Pension which never amounts to an hundred Crowns per Annum the small portion
the present occasion for the Vice-Roy supposing that he was impowered to undertake any thing by Vertue of the Decree aforementioned caused to be affix'd to the Gate of our House in all the publick places of the Capital City and afterwards in above seventy Cities of his Government a new Sentence by which he forbid under grievous Penalties to exercise the Christian Religion charging all those that embraced it to forsake it Moreover being informed that Father Intorcetta was formerly in the Province of Kiansi and that he had not obtained leave from the Court to settle in that of Che-Kiam he sent to ask him by what Authority he durst presume to stay there yea and he commanded him forthwith to avoid the Country the Officer that brought this Order added I command you withal in the name of the Vice-Roy to burn all the Books of your Religion together with the Tables of Printing that you have in your House They are thin Boards upon which they have Engraven all the Leaves from which they may take Copies according as occasion serves The Father not at all surprised answered that he was in the City by the Authority of him who granted the privilege to the Vice-Roy himself to remain there Have you forgot added he that the Emperor passing this way three years ago â—ent two Grandees of his Court to my Church to offer Presents in his name to the true God with express order to lie Prostate before the Altars I went to render him my most humble thanks for his gracious favour annd that I might give him further demonstrations of my acknowledgement I was willing to accompany him upon the Canal at his departure where he was with his whole Court This grand Prince who had formerly honoured me with more than ordinary demonstrations of his benevolence taking notice of my Barge amongst a great number of others caused it to approach his own and spoke to me such obliging things that after all that I could not suspect I should be exposed to any straits or insults from any one of his Officers But since this example hath made no impression upon the spirit of the Vice-Roy Go tell him that the Emperor not being willing I should accompany him any farther sent me back with these his last words to me which are too advantageous to me to presume to alter add or diminish any thing in them Your years says he to me do not permit you to attend me any longer you are no ways in a condition to indure the fatigues of a Journey I order you to return to your Church and there to spend the remainder of your days But now if the Vice Roy does not only disturb this tranquility by Ordinances injurious to the God whom I Adore but forces me shamefully to quit his Province I leave him to judge whether of us two does more openly and peremptorily contradict the Emperors will and pleasure As to what relates to the Table on which they have engraven the Law and Maxims of JESUS CHRIST God forbid I should be so wicked as to commit them to the Flames However the Vice-Roy is the Master since I cannot resist his Violence but tell him from me that before he resolve upon that he must begin with the burning of my self The Vice-Roy surprised at the undauntedness of the Missionary durst attempt nothing upon his Person but he referred the business to certain Subaltern Mandarins who received order to summons this Father before their Tribunals and to perplex and trouble him upon all accounts without allowing him a moments respite Father Intorâ—etta who just then fell Sick might have been dispenst with from appearing but he was afraid to lose these precious junctures of time that Providence had put into his hand openly to confess the name JESUS CHRIST and being resolved not to recoil or give ground during the Combat he got himself carried before Judges much opprest by reason of the Malady he laboured under and much more at the sight of his desolate Church but besides he was so animated by the Holy Spirit wherewith Martyrs are corroborated that of all the Mandarins that Interrogated him not one of them but admired the greatness of his Courage So that in despight of the vigorous Orders of the Vice-Roys every one of them almost treated him with abundance of deference even to that degree that one of them caused an Officer of Justice to be soundly bastinadoed in open Court for having been wanting in his respect to the Father Adding withal that Indictments do not render a Man guilty and that he must have been Convicted to deserve to be treated as a Malefactor Father Intorcetta presently foreseeing that the Persecution would be violent had written to the Missionaries at Court to the end that they might remedy it The Emperor was then in Tartary where he divertised himself in Hunting Father Gerbillon a French Man by Nation and one of those the King sent to China accompanied this Prince thither by whom he was particularly beloved retaining him almost always near his Person so that the Letters were directed to him This Father did not judge it convenient to speak of it to the Emperor but contented himself to desire a Letter of Recommendation from Prince Sosan one of the most powerful Ministers of the Empire and his particular Friend who immediately writ to the Vice-Roy in a most effectual manner He represented to him that such a procedure as his was smelled somewhat of Violence and was inconsistent with his wonted Moderation and Prudence We live in a time saith he that requires much gentleness and discretion The Emperor seeks all occasions to favour the Doctors of the Christian Law how can you possibly think to please him in Persecuting that Believe me Sir the example of a Prince ought to make greater impression upon our Spirits than all the Decrees of Courts of Judicature and the antient Edicts that the Court itself can no longer follow ought not at present to be the rule of its Conduct If you favour the Missionaries reckon thâ—â— the Emperor will take it kindly from you and if â— may be permitted to subjoin any thing to this last motive be assured also that I shall resent all the good Offices you render them upon my Recommendation Prince Sosan is so Considerable through the whole Empire whether it be by the Honour he hath to be a near Relation to the Emperor or whether by his Place of Grand Master of the Palace or whether by his Credit and Capacity that upon any other Occasion the Vice-roy of Chequin would have look'd upon it as a great Favour to receive one of his Letters and would not have balanced one Moment to sâ—tisfie him but Passion had blinded him and the Vexation to perceive himself less powerful at Court than a Stranger inclined him to let the Missionary understand that he was at least the Master in his own Province Wherefore he began to seize upon several Churches which he
end to a dangerous War You made Father Grimaldi cross the vast Ocean to go into Muscovy with the Letters and Seals of the High Court of the Militia you sent the Fathers Gerbillon and Pereira upon very important Affairs to the very furthest parts of Tartary Nevertheless your Majesty well knows that those who are governed by the Principles of a false Religion never use to serve their Prince faithfully they almost ever abandon themselves to their own Passions and never aim at any thing but their own particular interest If therefore we do exactly discharge our duty and if to this very day we have always sought the publick good it is most manifest this Zeal proceeds from an heart well affected full of esteem and veneration and if we may be bold to say so of a singular affection for the Person of your Majesty On the contrary if this heart once cease to submit to you it would be from that very time contrary to right Reason good Sense and all sentiments of Humanity This being supposed Sir we humbly beseech you to consider that after the fatigues of a tedious Voyage we are at length arrived in your Empire exempt from that Spirit of Ambition and Covetousness that commonly bring other Men thither but with an ardent desire to preach to your People the only true Religion And truly when we appeared here the first time we were entertain'd with abundance of marks of distinction as we have often said already and which we cannot repeat too often In the tenth Year of Chun-â—chi they prefâ—r'd us to the sole direction of the Mathematicks In the fourteenth Year of the same Reign they gave us leave to build a Church at Peâ—in and the Emperor himself was willing to grant us a particular place for the burial of our Dead In the twenty seventh Year of your Majesty's glorious Reign your Majesty honoured the Memory of Father Verbiest not only by new Titles but also by the care â—ou took to cause the last Offices to be perform'd to him with an almost Royal Pomp and Magnificence Some while after you appointed an Apartment and Masters to the new French Missionaries to facilitate their learning of the Tartarian Tongue In a word you seem'd so well satisfied with their deportment that you caused the Services they had rendered to the State by their Voyages into Tartary and Negotiation with the Muscovites to be inserted in the Records of the Nation What a happiness Sir and a glory is it for us to be judged capable of serving so great a Prince Since therefore your Majesty who does so wisely govern this grand Monarchy vouchsaseth to employ us and put such confidence in us how is it possible there should be one single Mandarin so irrational to refuse one of our Brethren permission to live in his Province Verily Sir one cannot sufficiently deplore the hard Fate of that good old Man who in a little corner of the Earth humbly requires so much space as is necessary peaceably to spend the remainder of his daies which yet be cannot obtain It is for this reason Sir that all of us your Majesty's most humble Subjects who are here like forsaken Orphans that would injure no body nay who endeavour to avoid Law-Suits Quarrels Wranglings and the least Contestations It is for this reason we say that we beseech you to take our Cause in hand with those sentiments of Equity that are so essential to you have some Compassion Sir upon Persons who have committed no Fault and if your Majesty after being fully informed of our Carriage does really find that we are Innocent we beseech you to let all the Empire understand by a publick Edict the judgment you entertain of our Morals and Doctrine It is for the obtaining this Favour that we assume the liberty of presenting to you this Request In the mean time all and every your Subjects the Missionaries will expect with fear and intire submission what you shall be pleased to appoint touching the Premises In the thirtieth Year of the Reign of Chamhi the 16th day of the 12th Month of the Moon The Emperor graciously received this Petition and sent the 18th of the same Month to the Court of Rites with an Order to examine it and with the first opportunity to make report of it to him but because there is vacation in all the Courts of Judicature in China much about the same time until the 15th of the first Month of the Year following the Lipâ—â— could not Answer till the 18th of the said Month Upon the whole their Judgment was much contrary to the Emperors Intentions and Interest of the Missionaries For the Mandarins having reported at large the antient Edicts enacted against the Christian Religion concluded that this business required no farther discussion and that they were to stick close to the first Orders of Parliaments and of the Court which prohibited upon grievous Penalties the natural born Subjects to entertain the new Doctrine of the Europeans that notwithstanding they deem'd it convenient to preserve the Church in the City of Ham-cheou and to give order to the Mandarins of that Province not to confound the Christian Religion with the seditious Sects of China The Emperor was in a manner as much concerned as the Missionaries at this new Decree when they presented it to him he discovered some trouble at it and left it for several days in his Closet without declaring himself to the end that the Mandarins of Lipoâ— having notice of it might have time to come back but when he saw their Obstinacy he was not willing to make turbulent Spirits to Rebel and resolved at last tho' sore against his Will to Sign it This News threw the Fathers into a great Consternation and one Chao a Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber whom the Emperor sent to comfort them found them in a condition worthy of compassion He was troubled at it himself for he loves us dearly and hath done us upon several occasions most signal Services This Officer endeavour'd as he had order to moderate their Affliction but whether it was that these Fathers were not Masters of themselves or that they had quite given over all thoughts of keeping any further correspondence with a Prince that had deserted them they utter'd upon this occasion whatsoever the most sensible grief is able to inspire into afflicted Persons What signifie my Lord say they all the Favours it hath hitherto pleased the Emperor to do us since at this conjuncture himself makes them unprofitable Was it to tumble us down in a more illustrious manner that he apply'd himself so long time to exalt us What delight will he take hereafter to see us covered with shame and confusion to serve for a laughing-stock to our Enemies and be a Spectacle to the whole Empire Will that Prince who loved us so dearly will he be able hereafter without being moved at it to hear that the Rabble insult over us That his petty Officers make
Foreign Wars by their continual application to Composing of Books very curious and profitable for their uprightness and sincere affection for the Commonweal Besides which these same Europeans are very peaceable they do not excite any Commotions â—r foment Differences in these our Provinces they do wrong to no Man they commit no notorious Facts moreover their Doctrine hath no Affinity with the false and dangerous Sects that infest the Empire neither do their Maxims incline turbulent spirits to Sedition Since therefore we do neither hinder the Lamas of Tartary nor Bonzes of China from having Temples nor from offering Incense therein to their Pagodes much less can we with any reason restrain the Europeans who neither act nor teach any thing contrary to the wholsome Laws from having likewise their respective Churches there to Preach their Religion in publick Certainly these two things would be point blank contrary to one another and we should manifestly seem to contradict our selves We therefore judge it meet and expedient that all the Temples Dedicated to the Lord of Heaven in what place soever they may be ought to be preserved and that we may safely permit all those who would honour this God to enter into his Temples to offer Incense to him and to pay that Worship to him that hath hitherto been practised by the Christians according to their ancient Custom so that none may for the time to come presume to oppose the same In the mean time we shall expect your Majesty's Orders thereupon to the end we may Communicate them to the Governours and Vice-Roys as well at Pekin as at otheâ— Ciâ—â—es of the Provinces Done in the thirty first year of the Reign of Cham-hi the third day of the second month of the Moon Signed the President of the Sovereign Tribunal of Rites with his Assessors and underneath the four Ministers of State called Colaos with their general Officers and Mandarins of the first Order The Emperor received this Decree with unexpressible joy he ratified it forthwith and dispatch'd a Copy of it to the Fathers sealed with the Seal of the Empire to be says he perpetually preserved in the Archives of their House Some time after he caused it to be published throughout the whole Empire and the Supreme Tribunal of Rites sending it to the Principal Officers added these insuing words Wherefore you Vice-Roys of Provinces be sure you receive this Imperial Edict with a most profound respect and as soon as it comes to your hands read it attentively value it and see you fail not to execute it punctually conformable to the example that we have given you our selves Moreover cause Copies of it to be taken to be dispersed into all the places of our Government and acquaint us of what you shall do in this Point So soon as Father Intorcetta had notice of what had past at Pekin he departed for Court and went to throw himself at the Emperors Feet to render him most humble thanks in his own and in the name of all the Missionaries of China This good Prince when he had bestowed on him many demonstrations of Affection caused him to be conducted back again into his Province by Father Thomas Mandarin of the Mathematicks He made his entrance into his City of Ham-cheou in Triumph surrounded by Christians and received by their Acclamation who look'd upon him as an Angel of Peace Nevertheless as God mixes always some Bitterness with our Comforts the joy this good Father had conceived was soon overcast and allay'd by the utter ruin of his Church involved sometime before in a publick Conflagration wherewith the best part of the City was consumed This Accident gave occasion to Father Thomas to desire the Vice-Roy to build a new Church for the Father and he himself gave him to understand that the Emperor expected it from him This Mandarin was intolerably vex'd at the ill success of his Enterprise which the late arrival of the Father increas'd but he was quite besides himself to think he must be forced to lodge a Stranger honourably in his Capital City whom he would with all his Heart have banish'd some days before from his Province yet he dissembled the matter like a wise Man and to comply with the time he afforded the Missionary one of the finest Houses in the City till such time as at his own charges he should have rebuilt the antient College It was not at Ham-cheou alone that the Christian Religion seem'd to Triumph all the Churches of the Empire which the new Edict in some respect drew out of Captivity by granting to the People liberty of Conscience gave great demonstrations of joy but the City of Macao that served for a Cradle to the Infant Christianity made its joy to appear by a solemn Holy-day which was accompanied with all the tokens of publick mirth and chearfulness which the Peoples Devotion rendred much more solemn Those who shall consider the Constitution of the Government of China the almost insurmountable difficulties that Strangers have met with in screwing themselves into it the aversion of Mens minds from novelty in Matters of Religion and on the other hand the small company of Missionaries Europe hath supply'd us with The Civil Wars and Revolutions that have so often discomposed the State in this latter Age will seriously confess that this Occurrence one of the most memorable that probably hath happened since the Infancy of the Church cannot be the product of human wisdom Deus autem Rex noster ante saecula operatus est salutem iâ— medio terrae Tu confirmâsti in virtute tua mare Tu confregisti capita draconis tuus est dies tua est nox It is our God 't is our everlasting King who hath wrought Salvation in this vast Kingdom which they call the middle of the Earth He it is who hath for ever brought a Calm upon this Sea so much agitated and infamous hitherto for so many Shipwrecks Thou hast O Lord bruised the head of that proud Dragon whose Name was so dreadful It is now then that the Day and the Night that is to say the East and the West belong to thee forasmuch as both Worlds have at last submitted to thy Empire At such time as I had the honour to present to the most holy Father that Idolatry in the East attacked on all sides by the Ministers of Gospel was just upon the Point of falling and that if once China could be drawn in to declare itself in favour of us all the People adjacent lead by their example would quickly break their Idols in pieces and would not be long before they submitted to the Yoak of the Christian Faith this thought alone transported this holy Pontif with joy and revived that sincere Piety and fervent Zeal in his Heart that he shews upon all occasions for the Salvation of Souls but he told me that such a great change as that was no ordinary Miracle What Sentiments will he have my Lord
load of a violent Distemper disturbed with the impure desires of unlawful Love given up to Idols and their Priests just upon the brink of death and that death an Eternal one The Emperor who saw him in this concern would not let him speak upon his Knees but raised him up and heard his last advice with somewhat less prejudice against it than usual ordered him afterward a present of Tea and dismissed him with such marks of tenderness as touched him to the bottom of his Soul of which he was the more sensible because he never could bring it about to work in him a true Conversion His death was equally fatal to the Bonzes who were thereupon driven from the Palace and to the true Religion which was thereby brought within a nails breadth of destruction Many Churches built upon the Coasts of the Maritime Provinces were destroyed by an Edict which commanded that every body on the Coasts should retire ten or eleven Miles within Land and destroy all Habitations within that compass all round the Coasts because a famous Pirate made use of them in carrying on a War against the Emperor They were also just going to ruin Macao and order was given to drive the Portuguese thence when Father Adam used his utmost effort to save it At this time all his Credit and Interest which he had employed so much to the advantage of Religion ended For in a little time he became the object of the most bloody Persecution that ever the Church sustered The four Mandarins who had the Regency during the Emperors minority moved upon different Topicks and especially animated against the Christians to whom this Father was the main support put him and three of his Companions into Prison Other Preachers of the Gospel were summoned to Pekin who met with the same treatment and were loaded each with nine Chains They burned their Books their Beads and Medals and whatever else carried the Face of Religion nevertheless they spared the Churches as for the Christian Flock they met with a more mild usage Those famous Confessors had the honour to be dragged before all the Seats of Judgment There it was that their Enemies did admire their Courage But they were above all moved by the miserable condition of Father Adam That Venerable old Man who but a day or two before was the Oracle of the Court and the Favourite of a great Emperor now appeared in the form of a Slave loaded with Chains and oppressed with Infirmities dejected by the weight and burthen of Age but much more by that of calumny which labour'd to blemish his Innocence He had a sort of Catarrhe which hindred him from making his defence but Father Verbiest forsook him not and answered for him to his Enemies in so sensible a manner that the Judges could not enough admire the Constancy of the Peâ—son accused nor the heroical Charity of the Person who defended him However as innocent as he was he was condemned to be strangled which is in China an honourable kind of Death but afterwards as tho' they repented that they had not been unjust enough they repealed the Sentence and gave another wherein the Father was condemned to be publickly exposed in the Market place and be hacked alive into ten thousand pieces The Supreme Court sent the Sentence to the Regency and to the Princes of the Blood to have it confirmed but God who had till then seemed to have relinquished his Servant began to speak in favour of his Cause by a terrible Earthquake The whole Land were confounded at this Prodigy Every body exclaimed that Heaven itself would punish the injustice of the Magistrates who therefore to appease the People opened all the Prisons in the Town and made an Act of Oblivion for all Criminals excepting the Confessors of JESUS CHRIST who were still kept in Chains as tho' they had been the only Victims for whom Heaven had no concern But because there arrived divers Prodigies and in particular fire consumed great part of the Court of Justice at last fear obtained that from these unrighteous Judges which innocence could not They set Father Adam at liberty and permitted him to go home to his House till the Emperor should otherwise dispose of him This great Man blemished indeed to outward appearance by an ignominious Sentence which was never repealed but in truth full of glory for having defended the honour of Religion by exposing his own life dyed a little while after worn away by the toil of an Apostolical life but more by the hardships and inconveniences of a troublesome Prison His death was too precious in the Eyes of God to be unaccompany'd with some signal blessing upon the sorrowful remains of persecuted Christianity It is true that the Missionaries of the Provinces were banished to Canton among which three were Dominicans one a Franciscan and another of the same Order dyed in Prison and one and twenty Jesuits yet four were kept at the Court whom the Providence of God made use of afterwards to settle Christianity again in its pristine splendor God himself revenged the innocence of his Servants Sony the first Mandarin in the Regency the most dangerous Enemy the Fathers had dyed a month or two after The second named Soucama was afterwards indicted and condemned to a cruel death his Goods Confiscated his Children in number seven had their Heads cut off excepting the third who was cut to pieces alive the punishment which that wicked Judge had design'd for Father Adam and with which God chastised his Crimes in the Persons of his Children Yam-quam-sien who had been the chief Instrument in the Persecution fared no better than them After the death of Father Adam he was made President of the Mathematicks and had the charge of the Kalendar of the Empire committed to him Father Verbiest accused him and plainly made appear the ignorance of this pitiful Mathematician This was a bold stroke because the Presidents Party was very strong and the flames which had caused the Persecution were not yet quenched But many things concurred to give good success to this Enterprise The understanding of the Father the kindness which the new Emperor had for the Europeans but especially the particular Providence of God which did secretly manage this important Affair For it is certain that in the several tryals whereby they proved the goodness of our Mathematicks the Heavens did so exactly agree with what our Fathers had foretold even above the certainty which our Tables and Calculations could promise us that it seemed as tho' God had guided the Stars in such a course as was necessary to justifie our Missionaries account of them The President of the Mathematicks used his best endeavours to defend himself and because he could not hide his Ignorance in Astronomy he endeavoured to put upon the Judges and persuade them that the Christian Religion contained much greater errors than those he was guilty of In the midst of some meetings where the Emperor
was present he behaved himself in such manner as the Emperor could scarcely bear with him He layed his Hands across and cryed out as loud as he could See here do but observe what these Fellows adore and what they would have 〈◊〉 worship too a Man who was hanged a person who was crucified let any one judge hereby of their understanding and good sense But all these Excursions served only to diminish his own Credit This wicked person more blameable for his Crimes than for his Ignorance lost his charge and was condemned to death Notwithstanding the Emperor suspended the Execution of the Sentence by reason of his extraordinary old Age but God himself executed his Sentence of Vengeance He smote him with an horrible Ulcer and by his sorrowful death delivered Religion from this Monster of Iniquity Then the care of the Mathematicks was committed to Father Verbiest the antient Missionaries were recalled to their old Churches but forbid to go about to build new ones or to labour in the Conversion of the Chinese Lastly to magnifie our happiness the memory of Father Adam was mightily respected even at Court He was publickly justified and cleared his Charges and Titles of honour were remanded him and his Ancestors made Nobility The Emperor himself appointed considerable sums of mony to build him a stately Mausoleum which at this present is to be seen in room of a Sepulchre adorned with Statues and several Marble Figures according to the Custom of the Country Thus it is that God by a continual Vicissitude proves the constancy of the Faithful by Persecution and encourages them again by punishing their Persecutors This happy Peace which the Church gained thro' Father Verbiests means encouraged the Missionaries to repair that damage which Hell had done Besides the Jesuits there were several Fathers of the Orders of St. Francis and St. Augustin who entered into the Lords Vineyard New establishments were gained every where and notwithstanding any Prohibition a great number of Heathens were Converted to the Faith being more afraid of eternal punishment than of that with which the Laws of Man seemed to threaten them So ardent and so hasty a Zeal will perhaps make you amazed but besides that Charity is always hazardous many things contributed to confirm those who might else be afraid of fatal consequences The first of these is the great Authority which the Missionaries have acquired at Court in a small time Especially the Emperor is satisfied that they despise Honours and that at home they lead an Austere life The Prince is inform'd of this such ways that it is impossible he should be deceived He had information from Spies of all that passed in their Houses even so nicely as to know their Mortifications and corporeal Penances He sends also to the Fathers Houses a young Tartar of good parts under pretence to learn Philosophy but in reality to discover the most secret things in their Families and to be himself I think an occasion of offence He stays there a year without knowing what the Princes intentions are who having sent for him into his presence commands him to tell him all the private disorders of these Fathers and especially how they have behaved themselves towards him And when these young Men constantly bear Testimony of the Fathers innocence I see very well says the Emperor they have stop'd your Mouth with Presents but I know a way to open it again Then he makes him be severely slashed at several times yet is not the pain enough to make the young Tartar speak against his Conscience Which pleases the Prince mightily who would be disturbed to find himself deceived in the Idea which he has formed to himself of these fervent Missionaries This obliges him afterward to take their part in an Assembly of the Mandarins some of which do not esteem the Missionaries because their outward carriage seems so good As for that Matter says the Emperor to them neither you nor I can find fault with them After all that I can do to get information I am persuaded that these People teach us nothing but what themselves practice and they are indeed as modest as they appear outwardly to be The second reason which engaged the Emperor to favour the Missionaries was the great understanding of Father Verbiest who in a small time was reckoned the learnedst Man in the Empire in all Faculties His Reputation is every where spread abroad and upon many occasions his Opinion has the repute of an Oracle Some Mandarins one day speaking of the Trinity and using it as a Fable one of them said I do not know what the Christians mean and am as much puzled as you but Father Verbiest is of that opinion what say you to that Can a Man of his sence and understanding mistake They all held their Tongues and seemed to yield to this reason So true is it that the use of humane Learning is so far from being as some think opposite to the Spirit of the Gospel that it sometimes serves to establish it and to render the most obscure mysteries therein credible The third Reason is that hearty love which the Emperor believes the Missionaries have for him It is true the Missionaries omit nothing which they think will please him and as they are the most inflexible and resolute against doing any thing contrary to their Religion so are they the most complaisant and ready to comply with all the reasonable requests of the Emperor A Rebellion which happened at this time put it into Father Verbiests power to do the Crown a considerable piece of Service Ousangâ—ei that famous Chinese General who had brought the Tartars into the Empire thought he had then a good opportunity to drive them out again He was naturally courageous and in Chensi commanded the best of the Chinese Soldiery and had got together a vast deal of mony This made him set up to be Emperor and made him believe he could easily compass his design And indeed he so ordered his matters that he made himself presently Master of the three great Provinces Yunnam Soutçhouen and Gueit çheou afterwards a great part of the Province of Houquam acknowledged him So that these possessions and Chensi which he had in possession a good while before made him Master of almost a third of China These Conquests seemed to be the more secure to him because at the same time the Vice-Roys of Quantoum and Fokien followed his example and gave the Emperor on that side a mighty diversion and beside a powerful Pirate with a great Fleet attacked and in few days took the Island Formosa at the same time Less than this would have ruined the Tartars if they had all concerted their business together but jealousie which does oft overthrow the firmest Leagues ruined their Projects The King of Fokien fell out with that of Formosa and to preserve himself from being damaged by his Fleet made his Peace with the Emperor who gave him such