render us perfect After I had convinced them by these Maxims I bid them practise with this Spirit of Love and Fear these Divine Lessons prostrate your selves every day before the infinite Majesty of this God that you acknowledge in this posture with tears in your Eyes and an Heart broken and contrite with grief for knowing him so late beg of him from the bottom of your heart that he would please to raise you to these sublime Truths which Reason doth not discover to you but which it hath pleased him to reveal to the World by his beloved Son which at present make up the particular Character of the Christian Faith It was not always such an easie matter to obtain what I demanded the most part of the Gentiles accustomed blindly to pursue their Passions found more difficulty to embrace this Novel-kind of Life than to believe the most abstruse Mysteries Yet I can assure you Reverend Father that of all those that submitted thereto in earnest I see not any that was not a few days after disposed to believe the most difficult things which the New Testament teacheth uâ— So true it is that Faith is the gift of God that cannot be acquired by all the force of Reasoning and those only obtain who follow our Saviour's Counsel Seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened to you God indeed to accomplish this promise did concur pretty often to the Conversion in a most miraculous manner and I observed in several new Converts so many enlightnings just upon their resolving to live well and be constant in Prayer that the Holy Spirit must needs have illuminated them A Gentleman whom reading and disputing had made to waver in his Opinion could not yet resolve to believe yet he determined notwithstanding to practice the Morality of JESUS CHRIST supposing that a good Life would much conduce to dispel these Mists At the first his Doubts got ground of him instead of being vanquished The more he looked upon the Cross the more did his Spirit revolt He compared the Fables of his own Religion with the ignominious death of a God-man that lays the Foundation of ours They both seem'd to him equally ridiculous and take what care he could to search nothing could he find that confirm'd him more in Christianity than in Idolatry His Relations and divers of his Friends and Acquaintance used their utmost endeavour to win him over to JESUS CHRIST but all to no purpose and he was just upon the point of taking up his old course again when our blessed Lord stopt him upon the very brink of the Precipice One Night as I had it from his own mouth he saw in his Dream Heaven open JESUS CHRIST appear'd to him full of Majesty sitting at the right hand of the Father and surrounded with an infinie company of blessed Spirits on one hand he shewed him those eternal Rewards that are promised to Christians on the other he discovered to him profound Abysses which the Torments and Shreiks of a great many Idolaters made gastly and frightful That is thy portion saith he with a threatning countenance if thou dost not follow me Oh! Son continued he with a more mild countenance Must my Cross discourage you And must a death which is the source of my glory make you ashamed This Vision frighted him and he awakened quite another Man he did not look upon it as a Dream he did not busie himself to find out what extraordinary thing chance and an over-heated imagination were capable oftentimes to produce during sleep the poor Man being persuaded that God had spoken to him demanded to be baptised with a great deal of importunity nay and he was so far from having any trouble to submit to the belief of our Mysteries that he protested he would willingly part with his life to defend the Truth of them Another less knowing yet much more obstinate did not only not forsake his Errors but did even scoff at and deride our most holy Mysteries and was present at my instructions only to jeer them yet had he permitted his Wife to turn Christian because he was not willing by crossing her desire to breed a disturbance in his Family But said he would have a great care of following her example for fear the World should be apt to believe that all his Family was run mad Being naturally of a more spritely temper and brisker than your Chinese usually are I endeavoured to win by fair means more than by Disputation at length perceiving neither of them prove effectual I went one evening to his House to see him and taking him aside I depart to morrow Sir said I and am come to take my leave of you I must needs confess it is not without some sorrow not only because I leave you but more especiâ—ly because I leave you in your Errors At least before my departure do me one small kindness your Wife is a Christian she hath an Image of the God-man whose Religion I Preach do so much as Prostrate your self sometimes before this same Image and beseech him whom it represents to illuminate your mind if it be true that he hath power so to do and if he be capable of hearing you He promised me he would do it and presently after my back was turned he performed his promise His Wife ignorant of what had past seeing him upon his Knees adoring JESUS CHRIST by often bowing his Head before this Image supposed he was Converted and sent one of her Relations into an House adjoyning where I was to acquaint me with it I ran thither and found him still so taken up in this Action and in Prayer that I had not a mind to interrupt him As soon as he rose from his Knees I told him I could not sufficiently signifie my joy to him occasioned by the wonderful change God had lately wrought in him How saith he all amazed did you see at such a distance what past in my mind or hath God revealed it to you JESUS CHRIST himself reply'd I le ts me understand so much for he acquaints us that those who ask any thing of his Father in his name shall be heard Oh! Father cryed he it is true I am no longer the same Man I perceive myself a Christian without yet knowing what Christianity means but pray instruct me I am ready to submit and to receive Baptism this very moment if you please I told him I baptized no body before I had first instructed them that being obliged to depart I would nominate a Christian to whom he might have recourse in my absence He consented to every thing and we prostrated our selves before this miraculous Image to return thanks to the Divine Majesty who can when he sees good from the hardest Stones raise up Children unto Abraham Amongst several other effects of that Grace wherewith it hath pleased God to bless my Mission the Conversion of an old Officer in the Army seems worth the relating to you
Faith We have frequently told him that God was the Master and Giver of these Gifts and that he distributed them according to the Decrees of his eternal Wisdom that it is out of our Sphere to fathom their Depth that sometimes he did not work these Prodigies in Kings Courts because he foresaw the ill use they were likely to make of them sometimes because giving them better Parts and Abilities and more Penetration than to others these ordinary Graces were sufficient for them whereas the simple vulgar and the rude unciviliz'd Nations stood in need of the sensible Marks of his Almightiness for the more easy discovering of the Truth yea and it is more than probable also that carnal Prudence which is at such enmity with the Spirit of the Blessed Jesus the Softness Ambition and Luxury of great Persons draw upon them this terrible Chastisement and that God in his just Judgment refuseth Miracles to Persons who do themselves refuse to submit to the most plain and ordinary Laws of Nature But my Lord have some replied the Charity of that great Number of Missionaries who joyfully forsake Europe where their Quality Estates and their Science ought naturally to detain them who traverse a Thousand Dangers to come hither to sacrifice themselves to the Happiness of your People and with so unbiassed and constant Zeal Sir Is not there something of a Prodigy in it and should it not be as powerful to perswade you as Miracles If they be such Knowing Learned Men as your Majesty allows them to be how do they abuse themselves and if they be Wise as you seem to think them why do they abandon all the Pleasures of this World to come so far to deceive others and all to no purpose After all the Reflections they have made this Hundred Years upon the different Religions of China there is not one of them who hath not judg'd them all wholly contrary to Reason but during so many Ages that we have examined the Christian Religion we have not observed amongst us one wise Man and of good Morals that hath suspected it of Falshood These Answers do usually put him to a stand and force him to make certain Reflections that do not a little disturb him In short most Reverend Father if Miracles be wanting at Pekin the Business is otherwise in the Provinces several are there wrought and those of Father Faber are so generally known that it is somewhat difficult not to believe them not that I go about to justifie all that is related of those nor of a great many more Prodigies which they relate on small grounds but you 'll give me leave not to doubt of those whereof I my self have been Witness and peradventure most Reverend Father you rely so much upon my Sincerity as to be inclined to believe them likewise upon my Testimony In a Village in the Province of Chensi near the City of San-uyen there lived an Idolater devout in his way and extreamly addicted to these Superstitions At the time of Full Moon he burnt commonly in honour of his Gods Gilded or Silver'd Papers wrapt up in different Figures according to the Custom of the Country One day preparing to Offer this kind of Sacrifice before his Gate there arose a Storm that forc'd him to retire into his House where he lighted the said Papers in the middle of a Hall without taking any farther Care but the Wind blowing open the Gate drove them up and down every where and they had not time to prevent one part from flying into a Stack of Straw which set fire on the House People came running but the conflagration became so furious in a moment that it was impossible to extinguish it The House on one side adjoyning to the Idolater's belonged to a Christian and by this time seem'd half encompassed with the Flames driven furiously by the Wind to be in Danger of being quickly quite consumed this poor Man attended with divers others got upon the House-top and did his Endeavour but all in Vain to defend himself from the Conflagration when his brother very confidently came as near the Fire as he durst possibly and fell on his Knees upon the Tiles and looking up to heaven said O Lord forsake not those that put their Trust in thee all that thou hast bestowed upon us is here if we lose it the whole Family is reduced to the utmost Extremity Preserve it O my God and I promise before thee that I will assemble all the Christians in the Neighbourhood and we will go to Church together to demonstrate my acknowledgment of the same Thereupon he loosed a small Relique from his Chaplet threw it into the middle of the Flames that by this time cover'd part of the House This Action perform'd with such a sprightly Air did equally attract the Attention of Christians and Idolaters who mightily astonished at their Companions Confidence expected the event of the Business when Heaven all on the suddain declar'd it self in a most miraculous manner The Wind blowing violently forthwith slacken'd and a contrary Wind stronger than that arising at the same time drove the violent Streams of the Flames to the opposite side upon the House of a wicked falsehearted Christian that had lately abjured It was consumed in a Moment becoming an Example of divine Vengeance as the House that Heaven preserved was an evident Token of his Protection I was at that time Six Miles from the Village 'T is true my urgent Business hindred me from being my self upon the Spot but I sent very credible Persons thither to be inform'd about it The Pagans first of all bore Witness to the Truth and some while after the Christians thereabouts conducted by him who was lately heard in his Prayer appear'd in my Church to fulfil his Vow where with one accord they eccho'd forth the Praises of the Great God who alone is able to cause his Voice to be heard by the most insensible Creatures to the Confusion of false Gods that are not themselves capable to hear the Voice of rational Creatures Some Months after there happened a thing no less surprising the Consequences whereof were very beneficial to Religion An Idolater of an indifferent Fortune felt himself assaulted with an unknown Distemper it was so catching that his Mother and Wife shar'd in it likewise Two or three times a Week he fell into fainting Fits which at the beginning look'd like Swooning and then turned again into cruel Head-aches Pains in the Stomach and Bowels sometimes they found themselves extreamly agitated as if they had had a Fever they lost the use of their Reason their Eyes rolled in their Heads and men judged by several other unusual Postures that the Devil had a hand in the matter They were the more perswaded to it because they often found their House all put out of Order the Chairs Tables and earthen Vessels overthrown not knowing on whom to lay the Fault The Physicians whose Interest it was to pass
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
more Doleful and at once more Honourable to us than the Funeral of Father Verbeist which his Imperial Majesty had ordered to be put off till the last Devoirs had been paid the Empress Dowager Father Thomas a Jesuit has described this Ceremony at large I dare hope an Extract of what he has wrote will not be unwelcome to you both because it will give you some insight into their Customs on the like Occasions and that you will thereby grow better acquainted with a Man whom his Merit has made known to all the World Be pleased then to accept of it as follows It seemed good to Divine Wisdom to take to himself from this Mortal Life Father Ferdâ—nando Verbiest a Fleming and to bestow on him the Recompence of Saints Our Missionaries Affliction may not easily be expressed but much harder would it be to reckon by how many Exemplary Vertues and Considerable Services he has merited their Esteem and Gratitude Besides several other good Qualities the Greatness of his Soul is particularly to be admired which has never failed him in the most Cruel Persecutions so that he was ever Triumphant over the Enemies of the Faith The Survey of the Mathematicks was at first proffered him which Dignity he accepted of in hopes it would enable him to set on foot our Missions which were then wholly laid aside He did indeed obtain a Toleration for Evangelical Pastours who after a long Banishment had their Churches restored them He stiâ—â—ed some Persecutions in their Birth and others he prevented which threatned the tender Flocks The Mandarines no sooner knew him but they had a Respect for him and the Emperor entertained so Good an Opinion of his Capacity that he kept him above a quarter of a Year near his Person and during that time spent three or four hours every day with him in private discoursing of several Sciences especially Mathematicks In these Conversations our Zealous Missionary endeavoured to bring him into a Liking of our Religion He would explain to him its most stupendious Mysteries and made him observe its Holiness its Truth and Necessity insomuch that the Emperor struck with his powerful Arguments often owned that he believed a God He assured him of it by a Writing under his Majesty's own Hand wherein he said among other things That all the Religions of hiâ— Empire seemed to him Vain and Superstitious that the Idols were nothing and that he foresaw Christianity would one day be built on their Ruins A Chinese Doctor having in one of his Books taken the liberty to place the Emperor's Religion among the several Heresies China was infected with the Emperor upon the Father's Complaint struck out those Lines himself telling him all the Empire should know what he had done Father Verbiest's Interest was such that at his Instigation the old Instruments which stood on the Platform of the Observatory were pulled down to make room for new ones of his Contriving He gave Directions for the casting of Brass-Guns which saved the States from Ruin He applyed himself to several other Works to serve the Publick or satisfie the Emperor's Curiosity and one may say that on this last account he has searched into the most rare and and ingenious Inventions that Arts and Sciences have ever offered us The whole Court looked upon him as the Wisest man of his Age but above all was charmed with his Modesty It is true no Man ever was more Mild and Tractable than he humbling himself before every one while every one strove to Exalt him Insensible to all the Things of this World except where Religion was concerned for then he was no more the same Man and as tho' he had been animated by a new Spirit his Looks his Words his Actions all were Great and becoming a Christian Hero The very Emperor dreaded him at such times and was not easily perswaded to admit him into his Presence He will fly out would he say into some undecency which I must be forced tho' unwillingly to resent This holy Boldness proceeded from a lively Faith and a great Confidence in God He despaired of nothing though humanly impossible and would often say We must never forget two of the Chief Maxims of Christian Morality First That let our Projects be never so well laid they will certainly fall if God leaves us to our own Wisdom Secondly That it were in vain the whole Universe should arm it self to destroy the Work of God nothing is Powerful against the Almighty and every thing Prospeâ—s that Heaven approves of So he never entered on any Enterprise without imploring its help tho' however he left no Means untried that Reason and Christian Prudence offered him Thus did his Zeal each day increase in Strength and Purity The Establishment of our Faith wholly employed his Thoughts and whatever Occupation else he was put upon proved a Torment to him He avoided all idle Visits and Conversations and could not endure to see People study only for Curiosities sake He never so much as read the News that came from Europe which at such a Distance we are usually so greedy of only he would hear the Chief Heads provided you would speak them in a few words He would spend whole Days and Nights in writing Letters of Consolation Instruction or Recommendation for the Missionaries in composing divers Works for the Emperor or Chief Lords at his Court and in Compiling the Kalendar Calculating with an indefatigable Industry the Motion of the Stars for every Year This and the Care of all the Churches so impaired his Strength that in spight of the Strength of his Constitution he fell at last into a kind of Consumption which yet did not hinder his framing great Designs for the Advancement of his Religion He had taken such exact Measures for the settling of it in the most remote Parts of China in the Eastern Tartary and even in the Kingdom of Kovia that nothing but his Death could have prevented the Execution of so well contrived a Project Let us view him now in Private At his first Admittance into our Order he was a true Monk strict in the Performance of its Rules very observant to his Superiours and loving Study and Retirement above all things which he persisted in even among the multitude of Business in the midst of which he would be as Sedate as a Hermit in his Cell His Conscience was Nice to Extremity so that no Man could take more Care than he did to be always ready to make his Appearance before him who can espy Faults even in Saints and Angels To preserve his Innocence he never went out without a severe Cilice or an Iron Chain and used to say It was a shame for a Jesuit to be clothed in Silks and in the Livery of the World and not to wear the Livery of Christ. His Soul was naturally great and when others Necessities wanted a Supply his Charity was boundless But he was hard-hearted to himself courting Poverty even in
that keep always green and maintain the coolness This Water is to be changed two or three times a Week yet so that fresh Water may be put in according as the Basin is emptied which must never be lest dry If one be obliged to remove the Fish from one Vase to another great care must be taken not to touch them with the Hand all those that are touched dye quickly after or shrivel up you must for that purpose make use of a little Thred Purse fasten'd at the upper end of a wooden Circle into which they are insensibly ingaged when they are once got into it of themselves one must take heed of hurting them and be sure to hold them still in the first which empties but slowly and gives time to Transport them to the other Water Any great noise as of a Cannon or of Thunder too strong a smell too violent a motion are all very hurtful to them yea and sometimes occasions their dying as I have observed at Sea every time they discharged the Cannon or melted Pitch and Tar Besides they live almost upon nothing those insensible Worms that are bread in the Water or that most Terrestrial Parts that are mixt with it suffice in a manner to keep them alive They do notwithstanding throw in little Balls of Past now and then but there is nothing better than a Wafer which sâ—eep't makes a kind of Pap of which they are extream greedy which indeed is very proportionable to their natural Delicacy and Tenderness In hot Countries they multiply very much provided care be taken to remove their Eggs which swim upon the Water which the Fish most commonly eat They place them in a particular Vase exposed to the Sun and there they preserve them till the heat hatcheth them the Fish come out of a black colour which some of them keep ever after but is changed by little and little in other Colours into Red White Gold and Silver according to their different Kind The Gold and Silver begins at the extremity of the Tail and expand themselves somewhat more or less according to their particular Disposition All this Sir and other Marvels of the Universe makes us acknowledge the Finger of God every where who for our sakes hath embellished the World many thousand ways He is not only content to enlighten the Heavens and enrich the Earth but descends into the Abysses into the very Waters he hath lest some Footsteps of his profound Wisdom and not to mention those prodigious Monsters that seem to be made to astonish Nature he hath likewise created those wonderful Fish I but now described which as little as they are yet by their singular Beauty are the Subject of our Admiration and furnish us with some faint Idea's of the Greatness of the wise Creator Here I present you Sir in a Compendium the Draught and as it were the Map of that Country which I design'd to give you some knowledge of these are but the outside and if I may so say but the Body of that Empire whose Soul and Spirit is disperst through its Inhabitants Peradventure when you shall have read what I have writ to you about it you will be apt to enquire what People they be who are so happy as to receive the greatest fairest and most fertile Portion of the Earth for their Inheritance such a Land in a word that it wants nothing to make it a real Land of Promise but to be Cultivated by God's People and inhabited by true Israelites indeed If we had nothing as the Hebrews had but the Red-Sea and Wilderness to go through probably Forty years might suffice to bring it under Subjection to the Gospel But that vast Extent of Seas those infinite and unpracticable Land Journeys that were capable of putting a stop to Moses and the Prophets do allay the Zeal of the Ministers of Jesus Christ and lessen the number of his New Apostles Oh! that I could as the Hebrews did whom Moses sent to discover the Promised Land represent the immense Richness and most precious Harvest that China promises to the Labourers in the Vineyards we have hopes that probably the prospect of such an abundant Crop might in time prevail with all Europe to come and reap it At least I hope that my Testimony will not be insignificant and that the more than ordinary Zeal of the small Company of Missionaries that shall succeed me will make amends for the vast Number of those which such a vast Empire might demand I am with all the respect imaginable SIR You most humble and most affectione Servant I. J. LETTER V. To the Marquis de TORSI Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Of the peculiar Character of the Chinese Nation its Antiquity Nobility Manners and its good and bad Qualities My Lord SEeing in the Employment wherewith the King hath honoured you and which you do already discharge with so much Wisdom nothing can contribute more to promote you to that high pitch of Perfection that all Europe expects from you than the exact Knowledge of the Manners and Genius of Foreigners I made account that by ordering me to write to you concerning the Empire of China you did particularly desire to learn what was the Genius of its Inhabitants It is true that to judge of the future by preceding Reigns such Informations would perhaps stand you in no stead Hitherto France hath had nothing to do with that People and Nature seems not to have placed them at such a distance from us but only intirely to separate them from our Interests But under the Reign of Lewis the Great for whom Nature her self hath so often changed her Laws is there any thing impossible Nay will not Heaven which seems to have employed all Nations to make him Renowned oblige China as proud and haughty as it is to contribute something to his Glory It is according to all Human Probability under your Ministry My Lord that we shall behold the most flourishing and mighty Empire of the West unite it self with the most puissant Realm in all Europe And perhaps if it had not been for this fatal War the dire Consequences of which have made themselves be felt as far as the Extremities of the Universe you would e're this have given Audience to the Envoys of a Prince who never acknowledged any other Sovereign besides himself in the World This Negotiation so glorious for you and so much conducing to the Establishment of Religion which the Iniquity of the Times hath hitherto interrupted may be hereafter set afoot again and it is on purpose to dispose and incline you to the same that I presume to take the liberty My Lord to let you understand the Character of those who are to be employed therein The Chineses are so Ancient in the World that it fares with them as to their Original as with great Rivers whose Source can scarce be discovered It is necessary for that purpose to look back farther then all our
lighted All the Inhabitants of the place thronged after him with Torches they searched for her all Night to no purpose and the Mandarin's only Comfort was to see the willingness and readiness of the People every one of which seem'd as if he had lost his own Sister because they lookt upon him as their Father The year ensuing they made Fires upon the Shore on the same day they continued the Ceremony every year every one lighted his Lanthorn and by degrees it commenc'd into a Custom The Chineses are pretty Superstitious in that respect but there is no probability that such a small loss should have such a lively influence upon a whole Empire Some Chinese Doctors pretend that this Festival deduceth its Original from a Story which they report in the manner following Three thousand five hundred eighty three years ago China was governed by a Prince named Ki the last Emperor of the first Race whom Heaven was pleased to endue with Qualities capable of constituting an Hero if the love to Women and the spirit of Debauchery that took possession of his heart had not reduced him to a Monster in the Empire and an Object of Abhorrence in Nature He had rare Parts a winning pleasing way with him great Courage and of such extraordinary strength of Body that he broke Iron with his Hand But this Sampson had his Mistresses and grew weak amongst other Extravagancies they relate that he exhausted all his Treasures in building a Tower of precious Stones to honour the Memory of a Concubine and that he fill'd a Pool with Wine for him and Three thousand young Men to bathe in after a Lasclvious manner These Excesses and many other Abominations prevailed with the wisest of his Court to offer him some Advice according to the Custom but he put them to death yea and he imprisoned one of the Kings of the Empire who endeavoured to divert him from these Disorders At length he committed a Fact that consummated the Destruction of himself and all his Family One day in the heat of his Debaucheries and Jollity complaining that Life was too short I should be content says he to the Queen whom he doted on if I could make you eternally happy but in a few years nay in a few days peradventure Death will in spight of us put an end to our pleasures and all my Power will not suffice to give you a Life longer than that which the lowest of my Subjects hopes to have this thought continually troubles my Spirit and dispenses into my Heart a bitterness that â—inders me from relishing the sweetness of Life Why cannot I make you reign for ever And seeing there are Stars that never cease shining must you needs be subject to death you that shine more bright upon Earth than all the Stars do in Heaven 'T is true My Lord saith this foolish Princess that you cannot make your Life eternal but it depends on you to forget the brevity of it and to live as tho' you should never die What need have we of the Sun and Moon to measure the duration of our Life The morning Star that rises every morning and the night that comes every evening do continually put in us mind of the beginning and end of our days as those begin and end so do ours that are begun advance with precipitation and will speedily be at an end Come come Sir let us no longer cast our Eyes upon these Globes that roll over our Heads Have you a mind once for all to cure your imagination Build your self a new Heaven ever enlightened always serene always favourable to your desires where we shall perceive not the least footstep of the instability of humane things You may easily do it by erecting a great and magnificent Palace shut up on all sides from the light of the Sun you may hang up all around magnificent Lanthorns whose constant splendor will be preferrable to that of the Sun Cause to be transported thither whatsoever is capable of contributing to your pleasure and for fear of being one moment distracted by them break off all correspondence with other Creatures We will both of us enter into this new World that you shall create I will be to you in lieu of all things you alone will there yield me more pleasure then all the old world can offer yea Nature it self that will be renowed for our sakes will render us more happy than the Gods are in Heaven 'T is there that we will forget the vicisatude of days and nights Time shall be no more in respect of us no more incumbrance no more shadow no more clouds nor change in Life And provided My Lord that you on your part will be always constant always passionate my felicity will seem to me unalterable and your happiness will be eternal The Emperor whether it was that he thought he could deceive himself or whether he had a mind to please the Queen is not certain but he caused this inchanted Castle to be built and there immured her and himself There he past several Months steeped in delights and wholly taken up with his new Life but the People not being able to endure such Excess obliged one of the wisest Kings of the Empire to declare against him So soon as the Emperor had notice of the Conspiracy he appeared presently in the old World which whether he would or no stuck more to his heart than the new He appears at the Head of an Army to punish this Rebel but seeing himself abandoned by the People whom he had so foolishly deserted he thought it his wisest course to abdicate and betake himself to flight During the three remaining years of his Life he wandered from Province to Province incognito in a poor Condition always in danger of being discovered as if God by his disquietness and continual agitation had a mind to punish him for that soft and effeminate Repose wherein he thought to have found constant Delights and eternal Felicity In the mean time they destroyed his Palaces and to preserve the Memory of such an unworthy Action to Posterity they hung up Lanthorns in every quarter of the City this Custom became Anniversary and since that time a considerable Festival in the whole Empire it is solemnized at Yamtcheou with more magnificence than any where else And the report goes that the Illuminations there are so splendid that an Emperor once not daring openly to leave his Court to go thither committed himself with the Queen and several Princesses of his Family into the hand of a Magician who promised him to transport them thither in a trice He made them in the Night to ascend magnificent Thrones that were born up by Swans which in a moment arrived at Yamtcheou The Emperor saw at his leisure all the Solemnity being carried upon a Cloud that hovered over the City and descended by degrees and came back again with the same speed and Equipage no body at Court perceiving his absence This is
Paths of a too Artificial and Knavish Policy All these Refinements and Subtilties perplex the Spirit But which is the way to unravel all these Intrigues None ingages in a Labyrinth without fear oftentimes a man loseth himself therein and when one gets out it is after a great many wandrings and missing the way that disquiets the Mind Take you which way you please as for me Sir I am perswaded that in a Popular Government solid and constant Vertue goes farther than the most subtle and refined Policy Maxim VIII Those who desire the most perfect State do not always search the Perfection of the State but the Sweetness Would you be fixt in the World let this sink into your Mind That to take up a new Course of Life is nothing else but to pass from one Trouble to another The Son of a King being wrought upon by the Life that Confucius lead perceived those first desires of Wisdom to spring up in his heart that a good Education and good Examples are wont to infuse into young Persons when they have not been yet corrupted by the Commerce of the World He went to find him out and told him That he was resolved to abandon all things for to become one of his Disciples for the truth is there are a thousand Sorrows to be undergone in that Course of Life wherein my Birth engageth me whereas yours seems to me full of Sweetness and Delight Since 't is the Sweetness you look for in my state answered Confucius I should not advise you to enter upon it A Man often times meets with Trouble the more he avoids it Heaven hath inspired me with the love of a Private Life hath been pleased to make you to be born to Rule Be a King and do not seek after Peace too much On the contrary If you be not willing to lose your States wage an advantageous War with your Enemies but fight more couragiously against your Passions and against being in love with a sweet and easie Life if you have not a mind to destroy your self Maxim IX Those who are diligent and would do all put off many things till the next day His own Son said to him one day I carefully apply my self to all sorts of study I omit nothing whereby to become a good Scholar and yet I make small progresâ— This wise Father said to him Omit something and you will make a great progress Amongst all those that take long Iourneys afoot did you ever see one of them that ran In all things one must go orderly to work and not desire to embrace that which is not for the length of his Arms otherwise you will give your self unprofitable motions The Saints have first of all apply'd themselves to the most easie things Success gave them courage and strength to grapple with more difficult things by little and little they became perfect Those who like you would do all in one day do nothing all their Life On the other hand those who never apply themselves but to one thing find at the long run that they have done all Maxim X. One ought not to wonder that the wise Man walks slower in the Way of Vertue than the ill Man does in that of Vice Passion burries and Wisdom guides One of his Friends complained of the small progress he made in Vertue I labour said he these several years to imitate the Primitive Saints and I am still imperfect Had I but never so little applyed my self to imitate the Wicked and follow their Example I should have rid a great deal of Ground in a short space Why is it not so easie to attain to Perfection as to abandon ones self to Vice This is no wonder says Confucius Vertue is on high and Vice is in the lowest place It requires pains and time to go upward one Minute sufficeth to fall down the Precipice However let me intreat you not to let your self be abused by thâ—â— seeming easiness It is true that one is sooner determined to evil than to good but seeing one repents of it at length it is a certain sign that there is less trouble to do well than to persevere in evil Maxim XI True Nobility does not consist in Blood but in Merit we are of an elevated Station indeed when Vertue prevents our groveling with the rest of Mankind Confucius seeing a Man carry a Fish sighed and told them who demanded the Reason of it This Fish that might have easily preserved its life hath lost it notwithstanding for letting it self be allured by the pleasures of a deceitful Bait. The want of Reason pleads for its greediness but are Men excusable for to lose Vertue that â—â— much more precious than Life in letting themselves be catched by the Bait's that the Good Things and Vanity of the World presents them with If one knew what he lookt after he would take another Road to find it Would you be rich contemn every thing nay even the Contempt and Scorn Men cast upon you That Man is raised to a pitch far above others when Calumny and Reproaches cannot reach him Maxim XII In the state wherein we are Perseverance in well-doing consists not so much in not falling as to rise again as often as we fall You are very happy Confucius says some Mandarins that he instructed for having arrived at the highest degree of Vertue It is a long time I 'le warrant you since you left sin As for us what Efforts soever we make to become good Men there passes not a day but we commit considerable Faults Although every fault be blameable says Confucius you are not so unhappy as you think in committing many your Life as well as mine is a long Iourney the way is difficult and our Reason half extinct by Passions furnishes but little Light to guide us What means is there to avoid stumbling sometimes in the dark When one gets up again the fall retards our Iourney but does not quite put it off and interrupt it It would be an unhappiness for us to commit no more but one like the wicked that fall but once because the first Precipice stops them but honest good Men that continue their walking fall often Maxim XIII There is not that Man living but hides half of his Faults however as much flattered as he is he would blush to appear to the Eyes of others what he appears to himself One complained one day That Nature in bestowing two Eyes upon Men to behold the Beauty of Bodies had bestowed none on them that are able to see Minds and discover the Secrets of Hearts Thus Vertue and Vice say they are confounded in the World Confucius said you and I should be in a woful taking if we were not cut short as to that matter for we should not secure our own Failings and Weaknesses we gain more by it than you are aware of for I maintain that the Philosopher would suffer more to appear weak than the wicked Man to appear vicious Maxim
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
told me the same tale I told him that he was very unhappy to torment himself thus in this World for no good and did councel him therefore to come out of his Prison to go to the Temple of the true God to be instructed in heavenly truths and submit to Penances less severe but more wholesome He was so far from being in a passion with me that he answer'd me calmly and courteously that he was much obliged to me for my good advice and would be more obliged to me still if I would buy a dozen of his Nails which would certainly make me have a good Journey Here hold your hand says he turning on one side take these upon the Faith of a Bonze they are the very best in all my Sedan for they prick me the most yet you shall have them at the same rate at which I sell the others He spoke these words in such a manner as would have made me on any other occasion have laugh'd but at that time his blindness raised my compassion and I was strangely concerned to see that bond man of the Devil suffer more to work out his own destruction than a Christian need do to gain his Salvation Yet all the Bonzes are not Penitents While some abuse the credulous by their hypocritical pretences others get mony out of them by magical Arts secret Thefts horrible Murders and a thousand detestable abominations which modesty wont let me mention here People who are only outwardly religious spare nothing to gratifie their Passions and if they can but escape the justice of Men which in this place spares none who are caught wronging their Neighbour they care not what they do in the Eyes of that God whom they will scarcely own Although the generality of the People are prejudiced in favour of them yet the wiser sort are always upon their guard against these Wretches and the Magistrates always take great notice of what they do in their Monasteries It happened a few years ago that a Governour of a Town passing with his Train in the Highway saw a great company of People got together and had the curiosity to send to know what was the occasion of their meeting there The Bonzes were solemnizing an extraordinary festival they had set a Machine upon a Stage at the top of which a young Man put out his Head over a little Rail which went all round the Machine The Rail hid his Arms and all his Body one could see nothing at liberty but his Eyes which he rowled about as if he was distracted Below this Machine an old Bonze appeared upon the Stage who told the People that the young Man which they saw was going to Sacrifice himself according to Custom in this manner There ran by the Road side a deep River into which he would presently throw himself headlong He cant die added the Bonze if he would because at the bottom of the River he will be received by Charitable Spirits who will give him as good a welcome as he can desire And indeed it is the greatest happiness that can possibly befal him an hundred Persons have desired to Sacrifice themselves instead of him but we chose him before the rest because of his Zeal and other Virtues When the Mandarin had heard this speech he said that the young Man indeed had a great deal of Courage but he wonder'd much that he did not himself tell the People of this his resolution let him come down a little said he that we may talk with him The Bonze who was confounded at this order did all he could to hinder it and did protest that the whole Sacrifice would be ineffectual if he spake a word nay if he did but open his mouth and for his part he could not answer for the mischief such a thing would bring upon the Province For the mischief you talk of replied the Mandarin I 'le be responsible And then he commanded the young Man to come down he gave no other answer to these commands but hideous and frightful looks and various distorsions of his Eyes which almost started out of his Head You may from hence said the Bonze judge what violence you offer him in commanding him down He is already almost distracted and if you continue your commands you will make him die with grief This did not make the Mandarin change his resolution but he ordered some of his Retinue to go up and bring him down They found him tied and bound down on every side with a gag in his mouth and as soon as they had untied him and taken away the gag from the poor Fellows mouth he cried out as loud as he could bawl Ah! my Lord revenge me against those Assassins who were going to drown me I am a Bachelor of Arts and was going to the Court at Pekin to assist at the Examinations there yesterday a company of Bonzes seized upon me violently and this morning very early they bound me to this Machine taking from me all power of crying out or complaining and intending to drown me this evening being resolved to accomplish their accursed Ceremonies at the expence of my Life When he began to speak the Bonzes were marching off but the Officers of justice who always attend the Governours stopped several of them The chief of them who had pretended just before that the young Man could not be drowned was himself immediately thrown into the River and drowned the others were carried to Prison and did after receive that punishment which they deserved Since the Tartars have been Emperors of China the Lamas another sort of Bonzes have been established there Their Habit is different from those of China both in shape and colour but their Religion is the same with the Chinese and they worship the God Fo they differ from the Chinese only in a few particular superstitious practises These Lamas are Chaplains to the Tartar Nobility who live at Pekin but in Tartary they themselves are the Gods which the People worship There it is that the God Fo has his most famous seat where he appears under a sensible figure and as they say never dies He is kept in a Temple and an infinite number of these Lamas serve him with an ineffable veneration which they strive as much as they can to imprint upon the minds of all others whatsoever When he dies for he is but a Man placed there they put in his room a Lamas of the same Stature and as near as they can of the same Features that the People may be the better deceived by it Thus the People of this Country and especially all Strangers are eternally bubbled by these Impostors Among the different Religions exercised in China I do not think it worth while to mention to your Highness a few Mabometans who have lived for this six hundred years in several Provinces and are never disturbed because they never disturb any one else upon the score of Religion being content to enjoy it themselves or
From a private Sentinel he was got up to be the King's Lieutenant in one of the Cities of the third Order notwithstanding he was very rich yet had he never a Concubine his Wife being a Christian obliged him to live in a more regular manner than other Mandarins But nothing could determine him to turn Christian not that he was bigotted to Paganism his desire of advancing himself in the World took up all his thoughts and had till that time never owned any Deâ—ty but his Fortune This indifferency for all sorts of Religion is of all conditions the most dangerous and I have found by Experience that a Man is never at a greater distance from the true God than when he acknowledges none at all Yet had he a great value for Christians because he edified by their innocent life When I chanced to go to his City he always made me a Visit and because he thought it pleased me he went sometimes into the Church to lie Prostrate before the Altars I thereupon took occasion to lay the business of his Salvation home to him but he heard the most serious things that I spoke to him thereupon with a smile One day speaking to him of Hell in a more terrifying manner than usual you must not be surprized at my undauntedness says he it would be a great shame for an old Officer as I am to be afraid Ever since I turned Soldier I took up the resolution to fear nothing but after all saith he what reason can I have to fear I do no body wroâ—g I serve my Friends and am faithful to the Emperor and if heretofore I have been subject to the usual disorders of Youth I am at present temperate enough in my Pleasures That is as much as to say replyed I that you strive to gratifie the World but you are no wise solicitous to render to God what you owe to him could you imagine you should be a good Officer in discharging the particular duty of your Calling if you refused at the same time to obey and acknowledge the Emperor 'T is not enough to be regular in all the Actions of a private life the principal duty of a Subject is to submit to his Sovereign and the whole duty of a Man is to own and fear God You are in the right saith he I do seriously think it You think so in vain replyed I if that God which I speak to you of does not give good thoughts Beg of him this Evening to enlighten your Understanding he will hear your Voice but do you remember also to listen to his and follow it Altho' I could hope no more from this Discourse then from several other preceeding ones yet I observed he was wrought upon I mention'd some such thing to his Wife who took an occasion thereupon to speak home to him and one of his Officers being very Zealous and well instructed desired him at least to assist at Evening-Prayer to be performed in his House His presence stirred up the fervency of his Domesticks and they all beg'd of JESUS CHRIST that he might be Converted with Cries and Tears which the infinite goodness of the Almighty can scarce ever withstand From this very moment he began to waver and the various thoughts he revolved in his mind a great part of the night concerning the danger wherein he was made him take up a resolution to go through with Religion But our Lord instructed him concerning it immediately for he seriously protested that being a little sleepy he had such horrible representations of Hell that he was no longer in suspense whether or no he should resolve upon his awakening he found himself a Christian or at least he took up a firm resolution so to be as soon as possible he could He forthwith repaired to the Church where I said Mass when it was finished I was surprised to see him at my Feet begging Baptism of me with his Eyes bathed in Tears Weeping I say for scarce could he utter his mind so much did his Sighs and Tears interrupt his Discourse he spoke likewise with a much more confident Air and there was observed in his Action I know not what sort of fear that had seised him of which he was not Master Whether it was that his imagination was still smitten with the representation of Hell or whether God by this change was pleased to make us as well as him apprehensive that all the bravery and haughtiness that War is capable of inspiring is not proof against that saving horror which he darts when it pleases him into the most undaunted Hearts I had a great mind according to my custom to take some time to examine and instruct him but he protested that he would not go out of the Church till he was baptised Perhaps I shall dye this very night said he to me and you will be grieved to know me eternally damn'd His resolution not to forsake me the intreaty of Christians that went down to the ground to me to obtain this favour and I know not what internal motion prevailed upon me I examined him about every point of Religion he understood one part of it and learnt the rest with so much easiness that two hours after I thought I could initiate him into our Mysteries His Conversion made a great noise in the City several Idolaters followed his example and since in Heaven itself there is rejoycing at the repentance of one sinner there is no question but the Saints and Angels were joyful of the Conversion of this very Man This submission of our spirit to the obscurest Mysteries how difficult soever it may seem yet is it not the thing that troubles the Gentiles most several other considerations are greater rubs in their way The first is the restitution of ill gotten Goods which in reference to the Merchants and Mandarins is an almost unsurmountable obstacle Injustice and Cozenage are so common in China in these two conditions that few of them there are who have enriched themselves any other way A Merchant always puts off his Wares at the dearest rate he can possibly and never utters his good Merchandise but when he cannot get rid of his bad Cunning and Craft so peculiar to this Nation seem to intitle it to the right of Sophisticating all things But the sanctity of our Religion doth not permit what human Laws tolerate a Man when he is become Rich by unjust dealing must come and make up his Accounts with God when he does in earnest think he is come to the knowledge of him I must confess that I never insisted upon this point but it made me tremble This is for the most part a Rock of offence to a Chinese They do not boggle at the Mysteries nor ever call them in question and the reason is because they seem not cut out for speculative Sciences But as to the business of Morality they have a certain penetrating aptness and think themselves little inferiour to us It is very
Judgment that Nature on the one hand and the Malice of the People of the Family on the other were the Cause of these several Actions made use of all their Medicines to Cure them The Bonzes on the contrary assured them that the Devil was the Author of the Mischief and demanded unreasonable Alms to stop it's Course So that the good People abused on every hand had thrown away all their Estate in Four Years time upon the Covetousness of these Impostors without finding any Benefit However seeing the Distemper afforded them some Intervals they sought up and down in the Cities thereabouts for new Remedies for their Griefs One Day this Idolater going for this purpose to the chief City he found a Christian upon the Road to whom he told his Condition and how miserably he was handled no Question saith the Christian but it 's the Devil that torments you but you well deserve it Why do you serve so bad a Master we fear no such thing because we acknowledge one God whom the Devils adore yea they tremble before his Image and the Cross only that we wear about us hinders him from coming near us If you will accept of a Picture of JESUS CHRIST and you and all your Family will Honour it it will not be long before you see the Effects of it However it is soon tried it shall cost you nothing and you may judge by that that I have no other aim but your Benefit The Idolater consented to it and hanging the holy Image in the most honorable Place of the House he prostrated himself before it with profound Respect and begged every day Morning and Evening of our Saviour that he would vouchsafe to heal his Body and enlighten his Mind His Mother and Daughter followed his Example and from that very Moment the Demons abandoned the Place of which JESUS CHRIST had taken possession These good People growing stronger and stronger in Faith as the evil Spirit gave ground began at last to think of being Converted in good earnest They came to enquire for me at Signanfou the usual Place of my Residence and demanded Baptism of me they had already got themselves Instructed they had moreover got all the Prayers by heart that we teach the late Catechumens But their Distemper making a great Noise in the Country I was willing every Body should be Witnesses of this Conversion and so went to the Village my self hoping this Miracle might settle Christianity therein upon a solid Basis. Just upon my appearing all the Inhabitants followed me to the Place where the Image was still hanging then I begun to tell them that they were not to question the Verity of our Religion God having himself spoken by a manifest Miracle but that I had caused them to assemble to Instruct and Baptize them For in a Word what do you desire more to be convinced of the Weakness of your Gods and the Power of our God the Demon laughs at you so long as you oppose him with nothing but Idols but he is not able to hold it out against the Image only of the Christian's God Do you imagin to escape this God after Death whose Power Hell owns and whose Justice it experiences every Moment The multitude interrupted me by a Thousand ridiculous Objections which I easily answered at last some body told me that the Devil had no hand in the Malady in Question that how extraordinary soever it appeared might proceed from several natural Causes that is said I the most rational Thing you can say but yet does no way extenuate the greatness of the Miracles Let the Malady come from the Devil or from Nature I will not examin that but it is certain at least that the Cure comes from God whose Image this man hath worshipped and there is no less Power requisite to cure natural Distempers than to drive out evil Spirits This Reason should have made an equal Impression on all Minds but Grace that acted differently in the hearts gave place in some to voluntary Obdurateness whilst it triumph'd over the Obstinacy of others Twenty five Persons at last gave Glory to God who alone worketh great Marvels Qui facit Mirabilia magna solus and were shortly after Baptized These Hauntings and Infestations of Demons are very ordinary in China amongst the Idolaters and it looks as if God permitted it so to be to oblige them to have Recourse to him Sometime after this Accident that I but just now Related a Maid just upon her Marriage was attacked with a Complication of several Diseases which the Physicians knew not what to say to and which the Chinese are wont to ascribe to the Demons Her Mother persuaded her to turn Christian and he that was to marry her promised to build a Church to the God of the Christians in case Baptism gave her any Relief As soon as ever this Maid had taken this Course she found herself not only Relieved but perfectly Cured But her Husband was so far from following her Example that he misused her several times for having obliged him to renounce his Faith for the Bonzes perswaded him that this Sickness was but a piece of Artifice in his Mother in Law and this Fancy alone put him into such a fit of Melancholy that he was insupportable to the whole Family but especially to his Wife who from that very instant became an object of his Aversion It was in vain to represent to him his own Mistake and the Malice of the Bonzes for he always protested that if she would not take up her old Religion again he would lead her an ill Life all her Days God to undeceive him suffered the Demon to torment his Wife as before so she relapst into her former Convulsions She was more especially scared at the sight of a great Company of Specters that let her not have an hours rest Thus tost up and down abandoned to her Husband's Inhumanity that beat her Cruelly she in all appearance led a very uncomfortable Life Yet remaining unmovable in her Faith God always upheld her and temper'd and allay'd by the inward sweetness of his Grace the bitterness of these Afflictions he comforted her likewise by sensible Visitations by his Word and by the unspeakable Cogitations that he from time to time infused into her Soul Insomuch that this Condition that gain'd her the Compassion of all that knew her was to her a fore-taste of Paradise She exprest her self much what to this purpose to her Mother in Law who related it to me with Tears in her Eyes for her Husband could not endure that I should see her At first I gave little Credit to this Discourse yet at length I was apt to believe there was something Supernatural in it for one Day coming to a City distant from the chief City where I sojourn'd about Threescore Miles there I found this good Woman with a great Company of Christians of the Neighbour-Towns which she had taken Care to get together being
not mistaken and my Conscience would not have given me the lie had I followed their Example but I have a long time laboured to procure their Welfare and could never find in my heart to consult mine own Now it is high time to follow that Way I have showed to others The Court whither I am going is not a proper Place for Conversion and I thought that it was my Duty whilst it is called to day to seek God for fear the Hurry of the World wherein I am going to engage should hinder me from finding him hereafter All his Family which came about us upon this wept for joy but that which affected me most was that Fervency I saw expanded in the Eyes Countenance and in all the motions of the sick Person I had taken no refreshment and it was near Two a Clock and I was desirous to defer his Baptism till after Dinner but I found it impossible to obtain any delay I therefore began to examine him and he was ready to answer to all the Articles of Religion that I yielded at length to all his urgent Intreaties I baptized him and he accompanied the whole action with such ardent and lively meditations of Love Humility Faith and Hope that nothing in all my Life did ever so much demonstrate to me what the Holy Spirit is able to do in an Heart when it alone pleases to take it to task without the assistance of its Ministers Some while after I left him alone full of Consolation and retired to a Chamber to take a little repose of which I had extream need But scarce had I been there half an hour but I heard great Cries in all the Family They called for me every where and running upon the noise to the sick Man's Chamber I found him expiring in the Embraces of his Wife and Children I endeavoured to put him in mind of the last thoughts of Baptism He still repeated with a languishing note the names of Iesus and Mary but yet he received the Extream Unction in a manner insensible after which he calmly gave up the Ghost All those that were present cried O it was a Miracle And recollecting what had happened at my departure upon the Road and in the House they did no longer question but that all that had been managed by an over-ruling Providence that had made use of all these secret methods for to procure him a blessed exit At that time the Spirit of the Lord seized upon all hearts no body wept the spiritual Joy was so universal that nothing was heard any where but Blessings Praises and Thanksgivings to that gracious God that had but now wrought such stupendious Miracles in his Servant What is to be most admired is that there was not observed in him that deformity that Death commonly leaves behind it but on the contrary I know not what ayre of sweetness and devotion seemed display'd over his countenance and did sufficiently intimate the blessed state of his Soul He was laid in State according to the custom of that Country where I found him the next day twenty hours after just as he was his Hands and Arms besides were as flexible as if he had been but in a slumber Thus God by one of those many profound secrets of his Predestination vouchsafes to enlighten a Soul sometimes in the midst of the darkness of Idolatry and snatch it from the Jaws of Hell by a continual series of Miracles whilst millions of others educated in the bosom of the Church are by his just Judgment given over to a reprobate mind Those are most Reverend Father the most extraordinary things that have happened to me during the small time that I have had the care of the Mission of Chensi If I mention not what past in the other Provinces of China it is because God doth not work such like Miracles therein but by reason I have no exact Memorial of them I was afraid lest relating upon hear-say I should be deficient in some considerable Circumstances and I had rather let them be set down in writing hereafter by those who are better informed than my self This I can add over and above to give you a more exact account of what good there hath been done in the Empire There are above two hundred Churches or private Chappels dedicated to the true God and governed by certain Ecclesiastical Supeperiors Pekin Nankin and Macao have each its particular Bishop by the nomination of the most Serene King of Portugal who by his Zeal and Liberalities continues to uphold Christianity through-out all the East which all his Predecessors have there Establish'd with so much Glory The other Provinces when I departed were under the Jurisdiction of three Apostolick Vicars one whereof is an Italian of the Order of St. Francis the two others are Ecclesiasticks Frenchmen by Nation Doctors of the Sorbonne of singular worth the Missionaries that labour under their Order are likewise of different Nations There are four Ecclesiasticks of the Seminary of foreign Missions of Paris amongst whom the Abbot of Lionne is very eminent for his Zeal and application to the study of Languages they reckon much about the same number of Fathers of St. Dominic twelve or fifteen Franciscans and three or four of the Order of St. Augustin All these Monks are Spaniards and come into China by Manille The Jesuits who Founded this Mission and who by the extraordinary favours of his Majesty the King of Portugal as well as of the Emperor of China have been in a capacity to make considerable settlements do maintain a great number of Missionaries there there was about forty of them at the time of my departure Since that time the Fathers Grimaldi and Spinola brought several others thither But what signifies forty or threescore Labourers in such a vast Field May it please the Master of the Harvest to hear the Voice of those that labour therein who groaning under the burthen and heat of the day beg relief Or at least may he please to shed abroad abundantly upon us that first Spirit of the Gospel which in one Apostle alone was sufficient heretosore to Convert the greatest Empires Not but that the present State of the Church doth afford matter of Consolation to those who are concern'd for the Glory of JESUS CHRIST They labour with no small success nay there are but few Missionaries that do not Baptize every Year three or four hundred Persons insomuch that in five or six Years they reckon above fifty thousand Idolaters Converted Besides that they Baptize every Year four or five thousand Children in the Streets of Pekin which they go to look for every morning from door to door where we find them half perish'd with cold and hunger nay sometimes half eaten up by Dogs If they should do no more good but this the Missionaries ' would think themselves well enough rewarded for all the pains they take But that which ought to animate us to cultivate this
have tried our Patience by turns all that I say does not blunt the edge of our Courage being fully persuaded that JESUS CHRIST hath made use of the Cross to Propagate and Establish Religion so the Missionaries Cross is always to be the Foundation of their Churches and as it were the Seed of New Christians In the mean time these first Labours have not been altogether in vain we baptised at Boudychery above four hundred Idolatrous Children the People of Coromandel have been relieved as were those of Ceylon Pegu and Bengala They labour'd with no small success in divers Provinces of the Empire of the Great Mogul and above all in the Missions of Madura Such Missions as in them we see in our days the Ages of the Primitive Church revived wherein Believers wretchedly poor and deprived of all the comforts of life seem to live only by their Faith Hope and Charity wherein the Missionaries to comply with the Customs of the Country and obtain the Peoples favour spend their lives in Forests and Deserts half naked scorched by the Sun beams walk for the most part upon scalding hot Sands where up on the Ways full of Briers and Thorns they take no other sustenance but a little Rice with some insipid Plants and no other Beverege but yellow muddy water from the Ditches and Marshes There it is where a great number of our Brethren have suffered and do still daily suffer Imprisonments Chains Scourgings and all the torments that Hell is wont to suggest to the Enemies of our most holy Faith There Father Brito illustrious by his Birth as also by the particular esteem wherewith his Majesty of Portugal honoured him but yet more much more by his rare Vertues had the honour to part with his life in the Cause of JESUS CHRIST where his Brethren after his example labour by their servency to obtain the same favour from Heaven Perhaps most Reverend Father this Portraiture will not please the Men of this World not being ready to bestow upon Sufferings the just value they deserve and to savour the things that are of God yet I know that will not abate the Zeal of our Fathers living in France who have so many years aspired to toilsome tedious Employments The Missions in respect of them have so many more allurements as they appear to others more hideous and frightful If they expected to find in the Indies only common crosses whereunto Providence makes every Kingdom subject but wherewith JESUS CHRIST hath in special manner enrich'd Christianity they would have been contented with their Recluse Religious way of living and with the eminent Vertues practised therein they would never perhaps have had the least thought of leaving their Friends Relations and Country But they seek elsewhere what we here want of the Passion of JESUS CHRIST according to the Apostles Counsel and they are willing to fill up the whole extent the breadth and depth of this Divine Law which carries them out with St. Paul to become Victims of the most pure Charity even so far as to be Anathemised that their Brethren may be saved Yet these are those Apostles most Reverend Father whom Envy sometimes in France paints out to us in such black Colours whom Heresie ever more opposite to true Zeal so often accuseth of Ambition Avarice Impiety and Idolatry they are too happy in being the Butt that all the Shots of Calumny level at provided they have none for their Enemies but the Enemies of the Church and Truth and without doubt the War that such Adversaries declare against them with so much heat and animosity here in Europe does no less justisie them than that which they themselves declare against Paganism in the Indies Nevertheless what Justice soever wise Men may do them in this point yet it is most true that that does not suffice to justisie them before God before whom the very Angels are impure after all the efforts of our Zeal we must not only acknowledge in all humility that we are unprofitable Servants but confess likewise with thoughts full of horrour that it is in vain to win over all the Nations upon Earth to JESUS CHRIST if in the mean time we be so sluggish as to neglect our own Salvation and unfortunately lose our selves I am with a profound respect Most Reverend Father Your most humble and most obedient Servant L. J. To my Lord Cardinal de Janson The Christian Religion newly approved of by a Publick Edict throughout the whole Empire of China My Lord IT seems as if Heaven sensible of the Labours of our Missionaries who for these several years have with the sweat of their Brows watered China had a mind at length to establish this New Church upon a solid Foundation Hitherto it hath been subject to abundance of Revolutions flourishing under the Reign of some Emperors persecuted in the time of their minority and in a manner totally ruin'd during the Intestine Commotions but always in a tottering condition by reason of the rigour of the Laws that have permitted a right to destroy it even to those that have the most defended it For the Sovereign Courts of China declared Enemies to all Foreign Worship rather out of a Spirit of Policy than any sincere affection to the Religion of the Country have frequently condemned the Christian Doctrine and punished those who had the Courage to embrace it Several of them for all that hearkned to the Voice of God rather than to the voice of Man but the greatest part apprehending danger as to their Fortuâ—â— were so far from pursueing the known Truth 〈…〉 durst not so much as get themselves instructed 〈◊〉 It is a matter of an hundred years that we have labour'd to remove this almost invincible obstacle to the Conversion of Great Persons The hour of the Lord was not yet come he was pleased to exercise the patience of his Christians to try the constancy of the Missionaries and thereby inhance the worth of them both But now at last the happy Day begins to dawn and the Emperor hath granted an intire Liberty of Conscience to his Subjects by allowing in a publick Edict the Christian Faith throughout the whole extent of his Empire Thou hast O Lord broken the Chains that held thy holy Religion Captive now can we offer sacrifices and call publickly upon thy name we present to thee our Vows not in secret as formerly but in presence of all the People in the Temples they suffer us to rear to thy glory who are about to change the Old Babilon into the New Jerusalem Here I do present you my Lord with the occasion and the whole continued series of this happy event Father Alcala a Spanish Dominican one of the most Zealous Missionaries in China had purchased an House at Lanki a little Village of the Province of Chekiam notwithstanding this settlement was expresly against the Edict of 1669. the Mandarin of the place who at first did not oppose it being afterwards netled at
from me Then did the Vice-roy repent him of his former Proceedings yet was he so far engaged that he thought he could not handsomely go back with any Honour He found it especially very hard to sue to a Missionary for his Friendship whom he but just now treated and that publickly with the utmost Dâ—sdain but yet dreading Prince Sosan's resentment who was the most Powerful and in most Credit of all the Ministers of the Empire On one hand he resolved to stand to what he had done already against the Christians without driving matters any further and on the other hand to dispatch one of his Officers to Pekin to purge and clear himself to the Prince In this interim Father Intorcetta having a secret Iâ—em of the Letter that the Vice-roy had received intâ—mated to the Fatherâ— at Court the small Effect they had produced insomuch that those Fathers resolved to signifie the same to the Emperor in case Prince Sosan should think it advisable Wherefore they relaâ—ed to him what had passed at Hain-cheou the Obstinacy of the Vice-roy the Affliction of Father Intorcetta the Dâ—nger wherein his Church was the Ruin whereof would infallibly involve in it the utter Ruin of all the Missions in the Empire Since all your Endeavours My Lord added they seem Ineffectual there appears nothing that can put a Stop to the Violence of this obstinate Mandarin but the Emperor's Authority but we should be wanting to our true Interests and what swaies the more with us to the Acknowledgment that we are bound to give for your Favours If we were ruled by any other Considerations than yours The Prince already provoked by the Vice-roy's behaviour was not sorry at this Overture and believed he had now found a fair Opportunity to revenge himseâ—f So that these Fathers having recommended the Importance of their Affairs to God Almighty wherein the solid Establishment or utter Ruin of Religion was concerned came to the Palace on the 21st of December 1691 and demanded Audience The Emperor sent some Eunuchs his Confidents to know what their Business was The Father presently declared to them the heinous Excess of the Vice roy of Ham cheou as well in respect of the Missionaries as in respect of the Christians under 〈◊〉 Government they added moreover that they had suffered a long time without Complaining in expectation that their Patience would pacifie his Spirit but since the Mischief became every day greater and greater without all hopes of Remedy they came to prostrate themselves at the Emperor's feet as to the usual Asylum of oppressed Innocence most humbly to beseech him to grant to their Brethren in the Provinces that happy Peace they themselves enjoyed at Pekin in the very Sight and under the Protection of his Majesty The Emperor to whom they reported this Discourse had a mind to try the Fathers Constancy and so return'd them no favourable Answer but they never ceasing to represent the Unhappiness this Indifference of the Prince was shortly like to bring them under He sent new Eunuchs to acquaint them that he was amazed to see them so infatuated with the Christian Religion is it possible he bid them tell them that you are always busied about a World whither you are not yet come and count that wherein you are at present as nothing believe me Sirs there is a time for all things make better Improvement of what Heaven instructs you with and deser all those Cares till you cease to live Cares that are profitable to none but the Dead For my part said he in a drolling way I do not concern my self self in the Business of the other World and I do not take upon me to determin upon the Cause of these invisible Spirits Then the Fathers opprest with grief shedding a torrent of tears prostrated themselves to the very ground they conjured the Eunuchs to report to the Emperor the sad Condition whereunto they were reduc'd This would he the first time said they that this great Prince abandon'd innocent Persons and appear'd insensâ—â—â—â— of our Lamentation Is it because we are unprofitable Strangers that he deals thus with us At least Gentlemen pray tell him that the great God of Heaven and Earth whose Cause we maintain for whom we fight nay and to whom he himself is beholden for all his Grandeur well deserves that he should exert all his Power to make him known and his Iustice in punishing those who do him an injury in the person of his Ministers In fine after all these Tryals this gracious Prince moved with compassion could no longer dissemble his real Sentiments he therefore sent to the Fathers that were still prostrate before his Palace Gate an Officer of his Bed Chamber to acquaint them That he did not allow of the Vice Roy of Ham cheou's Proceedings and that he was willing for their sake to put an end to his unjust Persecution and that in a word there was two ways to accomplish it The first to send to the Vice Roy a secret Order immediately to give satisfaction for Mischiefs past that this way tho' not so Exemplary was the most easie and sure The second to present a Petition and obtain from the Tribunals a favourable Decree for all the Missionaries which would decide all Differences That they should consult amongst themselves what would be most convenient in the present conjuncture and when they had weighed the Reasons on both sides that they should come back the next day to declare to him their positive Resolution The Fathers signified their most humble acknowledgments to the Emperor by customary prosternations and returned full with great hopes of happy success yet very uncertain what course to steer They consider'd on one hand the danger that there was to put their Cause into the hands of the Lipou who always declared against the Christian Religion that in all probability there needed no more to revive all the ancient Accusations which Time seem'd to have consopiated That the Missionaries settled in the Provinces whom they had concealed from the Court till that time would be obliged to quit China or else forsake all their Missions That at least the Proceeding of those who had built new Churches and Converted a great number of Idolaters against the express prohibitions of Parliaments was sufficient to warrant the Vice-Roy of â—am-cheou That in fine things may be brought to that pass by the subtil Devices of our Enemies and secret Undertakings of the Bonzes that they might be so far from quenching the Flame of a particular Persecution as we suppose that we should kindle a general Conflagration in the Empire that would not terminate but in the total desolation of Christianity These Reasons altho' very substantial and solid in themselves were nevertheless balanced by the following Reflections What Protection soever the Emperors might have given till that time to the Missionaries yet they experienced that it was not sufficient to oblige all the Mandarins of Provinces to countenance the