Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	worship_v	worshipper_n	zeal_n	30	3	8.2230	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A49911	Memoirs and observations typographical, physical, mathematical, mechanical, natural, civil, and ecclesiastical, made in a late journey through the empire of China, and published in several letters particularly upon the Chinese pottery and varnishing, the silk and other manufactures, the pearl fishing, the history of plants and animals, description of their cities and publick works, number of people, their language, manners and commerce, their habits, oeconomy, and government, the philosophy of Confucius, the state of Christianity : with many other curious and useful remarks / by Louis Le Compte ... ; translated from the Paris edition, and illustrated with figures.	Le Comte, Louis, 1655-1728.	1697 (1697)	Wing L831; ESTC R15898	355,133	724

represents saying This is that great and glorious City which has subsisted for so many years and saith I truly am a City and there is none besides me The Chinese indeed were something excusable in this Point since they knew of nothing beyond the Seas of Iapan and Forests of Tartary but what we have told 'em That the West had also its Cities and Kingdoms which in several things exceeds theirs has very much humbled them being not a little vexed that their Title to the Universal Monarchy should now be questioned after having enjoyed it above 4000 years Our Comfort My Lord is that these proud Cities which stiled themselves Ladies of the Universe have been forced to open their Gates to the Gospel and art partly subdued by our Religion Those that dwelt in high places have bowed their heads and the Lord has in a holy manner brought low the lofty Cities This My Lord has often supported me in the midst of my Labours and Travels I have seen but few Cities where Christianity had made no Progress and among those Crowds of Worshippers of Belial I have observed a chosen People which worshipped the Lord in Spirit and in Truth Our Churches are now the Ornament of those very Cities which during so many Ages had been defiled with Idols and the Cross raised above their Houses confounds Superstition and gains it self Respect from the very Gentiles What then remains My Lord but that we labour with the utmost Diligence to the perfecting of a Work worthy the Zeal of the first Apostles Woe to those who are kept there by the Care of the Head of the Church and the Liberality of Christian Princes if thro' Negligence or an ill-ground●d Cowardice they fail of rendring the Inhabitants of those vast Cities a Holy Nation Hitherto thro' God's good Grace the Ministers of the Gospel have not been ashamed of their Profession not before the Pagan Magistrates and when forced by a long Exile to quit their beloved Churches they all might with St. Paul say You know I have endeavoured to serve the Lord in all humility with many tears and notwithstanding the Crosses I have met with from the Heathen that I have hid nothing from you that might be to your advantage no hinderance being strong enough to prevent my preaching it both in publick and private but rather admonishing you all to be p●nitent towards God and faithful to our Lord Iesus Christ. I know that those who have Composed whole Volumes to cry down our Catholick Missions will not agree to what I have said Men who have once professed themselves Enemies to the Orthodox Doctrine attack it every where and make it their Business to slander such as preach it But it may be a Comfort to us that we have no other Adversaries but those who are such to our Church and that we are only blamed by those whose Praise would be a Reproach to us However we stand in daily need of the Assistance of our kind Protectors For in what part of this World can Naked Truth and Distressed Innocence withstand alone the Force of Inveterate Malice In you My Lord we hope to find one full of Zeal and Justice The Approbation of so great a Prince whose Wit Judgment and Uprightness are well known to all Europe is able alone to Silence and Confound our Enemies And when it is once known that you are in some Concern for our Affairs that you are sensible of our Labours perswaded that our Designs are good and willing to contribute to carry them on none sure will then be so daring and hardened a Calumniator as to speak against our Missions to China or reflect on our Conduct in that Country I am with a profound Respect My Lord Hour Eminences most ●umble and obedient Servant I. J. LETTER IV. To the Count de CRECY Of the Clime Soil Canals Rivers and Fruits of China My Lord THE French Missionaries to China are so highly obliged to your whole Family that among the most important Commands they have honoured me with for Europe that of returning you their hearty Thanks was earnestly recommended to my Care I know My Lord that how great soever your Favours may have been your several Employments and the unbounded Application with which you serve his Majesty have somewhat curbed your Zeal But what is not owing from us to that other Self of yours pardon the Expression whom his Blood Name Wit and a thousand excellent Qualifications do so confound with you that we can scarce distinguish the one from the other In all our Travels in which some of us have already reckon'd above 40000 Leagues we have not made a Step without his Orders and Assistance His Zeal has excited us to Noble Enterprises his Prudence directed us how to carry them on his Courage strengthned us against all Opposition and I hope his unshaken Constancy will at last give Success to one of the most Noble Atchievements that this Age has produced to our Churches good to the Improvement of Learning and to his Glory who Sways the Gallick Scepter Thus My Lord while you make known his Name in the several Courts of Europe he spreads yours abroad thro' the new World where he is equally reverenced by the Preachers of the Gospel whose Support he is and dreaded by those of Paganism and Idolatry whose Ruin he is the occasion of I the more willingly do Justice to his Merit because I cannot write on a Subject more agreeable to your Lordship and if I had not already spoke to it in a private Conversation I were to blame to give over so soon But after having indulged a Father's Tenderness is it not time you should satisfie a State-man's Curiosity I have often described Europe to the Chinese who have admired its Politeness Beauty and Magnificence it is but just that I make China known to that European who is best able to judge of its true Grandeur I have My Lord pitched upon the following Particulars being such as will give you a true Idea of that Country and will perhaps give some pleasure in the reading China being of a large Extent the Nature of the Soil is different according to its particular Situation as it lyes more or less Southwards I can however assure your Lordship that the least of its fifteen Provinces is so Populous and Fertile that in Europe it would make alone a considerable State and a Prince who should enjoy it might have Wealth and Subjects enough to content a moderate Ambition This Land like all others is divided into Hills and Plains but the latter are so even that one would think the Chinese have ever since the Foundation of their Monarchy been employ'd in nothing else but levelling them and making them into Gardens and their manner of meliorating their Ground being to let Water thro' it they could not think of a better way to distribute it equally else those Parts which lye highest would have laboured under a continual

the name by which they call God himself and signifies Supreme Emperor This piece of Impiety gave the killing blow to the antient Religion for 'till then the Chinese as much Idolaters as they were did always make a distinction between the Cham ti and the other Gods But by a just judgment from God the Family of that Prince was extinct and the Empire which had hitherto observed its own Rules of Government was the first time forced to submit to those of the Western Tartars This a famous Colao who printed a Book could not but acknowledge In this time says he the Emperor Hoei tçoum did against all manner of reason give the attributes of the Supreme God to a Man This most powerful and adorable God above all the Spirits in Heaven was sensible of the wrong done him for he punished severely the wickedness of this Prince and utterly rooted out his Family The second Sect which is prevalent in China and is more dangerous and more universally spread than the former adore an Idol which they call Fo or Foë as the only God of the World This Idol was brought from the Indies two and thirty years after the Death of IESUS CHRIST This Poyson began at Court but spread its infection thro' all the Provinces and corrupted every Town so that this great body of Men already spoiled by Magick and Impiety was immediately infected with Idolatry and became a monstrous receptacle for all sorts of Errors Fables Superstitions Transmigration of Souls Idolatry and Atheism divided them and got so strong a Mastery over them that even at this present there is no so great impediment to the progress of Christianity as is th ● ridiculous and impious Doctrine● No body can well tell where this Idol Fo of whom I speak was born I call him an Idol and not a Man because some think it was an Apparition from Hell those who with more likelihood say he was a Man make him horn above a thousand years before JESUS CHRIST in a Kingdom of the Indies near the Line perhaps a little above Bengala They say he was a Kings Son He was at first called Che-Kia but at thirty years of Age he took the name of Fo. His Mother who brought him into the World thro' her right side died in Childbirth she had a fancy in her Dream that she swallowed an Elephant and for this reason it is that the Indian Kings pay such honour to white Elephants for the loss of which or gaining some others they often make bitter Wars When this Monster was first born he had strength enough to stand alone and he made seven steps and pointed with one Hand to Heaven and the other to the Earth He did also speak but in such a manner as shewed what Spirit he was possess'd withal In Heaven or on the Earth says he I am the only person who deserve to be honoured At seventeen he married and had a Son which he forsook as he did all the rest of the World to retire into a Solitude with three or four Indian Philosophers whom he took along with him to teach But at thirty he was on a suddain possessed and as it were sulfilled with the Divinity who gave him an universal knowledge of all things From that time he became a God and began by a vast number of seeming Miracles to gain the Peoples admiration The number of his Disciples is very great and it is by their means that all the Indies have been poysoned with his pernicious Doctrine Those of Siam call them Talapoins the Tartars call them Lamas or Lama-sem the Iaponers Bonzes and the Chinese Hocham But this Chimerical God found at last that he w●s a Man as well as others He died at 79 yea●s of Age and to give the finishing stroke to his Impiety he ende●vou●ed to persuade his Followers to Atheism at his Death as he had persuaded them to Idolatry in h●s Life time Then he declared to his Followers that all which he had hither told them was enigmatical and that they would be mistaken if they thought there was any other first Principle of things beside nothing It was said he from this nothing that all things sprang and it is into this nothing that all things must return This is the Abyss where all our hopes must end Since this Impostor confessed that he had abused the World in his life it is but reasonable that he should not be believed at his death Yet as Impiety has always more Champions than Virtue there were among the Bonzes a particular Sect of Atheists formed from the last words of their Master The rest who found it troublesome to part with their former prejudices kept close to their first Errors A third sort endeavoured to reconcile these Parties together by compiling a body of Doctrine in which there is a twofold Law an interior and an exterior One ought to prepare the mind for the reception of the other It is say they the mould which supports the materials 'till the Arch be made and is then taken away as useless Thus the Devil making use of Mens Folly and Malice for their destruction endeavours to erase out of the minds of some those excellent ideas of God which are so deeply ingraved there and ●o imprint in the minds of others the Worship of false Gods under the shapes of a multitude of different Creatures for they did not stop at the Worship of this Idol The Ape the Elephant the Dragon have been worshipped in several places under pretence perhaps that the God Fo had successively been transmigrated into these Creatures China the most superstitious of all Nations increased the Number of her Idols and one may now see all sorts of them in the Temples which serve to abuse the folly of this People It is true they sometimes do not pay to these Gods all that respect which seems due to their Quality For it often happens that if the People after worshipping them a great while do not obtain what they desire they turn them off and look upon them as impotent Gods others use them in the most reproachful manner some load them with hard names others with hard blows How now Dog of a Spirit say they to them sometimes we give you a lodging in a magnificent Temple we guild you handsomely feed you well and often offer Incense to you and after all this care which we take of you you are so ungrateful as to refuse what we ask of you Then they tye him with Cords pluck him down and drag him along the Streets thro' all the Mud and Dunghils to punish him for the expence of Perfume which they have offered up to him for nothing If in the mean time it happens that they obtain what they did desire then they take the Idol and with a great deal of Ceremony carry him back and place him in his Nich again after they have washed and cleansed him They fall down to him and make

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

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

Mission better than all others is the hope one day to Convert the Emperor the change of whose Religion would infallibly be followed by the intire Conversion of the whole Nation so that although we should wait for this happy moment three or four Ages without any other profit than what we hope for in time to come we should be too happy in preparing by our patience the way of the Lord in this New World which perhaps will make better improvement of the Faith that our Successors shall bring to it than Europe does at present of that our Forefathers intrusted it withal In short altho' amongst the Christians that are in China we can reckon no more Princes and Ministers of State since the last Persecution of Father Adam yet for all that we Baptise every Year Mandarins Doctors and other Persons of Quality yet it is true that the common People make up the greatest number Non multi potentes non multi nobiles And it is no news to own that the Poor have always been the elect Portion and precious Inheritance of JESUS CHRIST in the Church The main body of Christians is in the Province of Nankin and more especially in the Territory ChamHai but the Faith is more lively in the Provinces of Chanton Pechely Chensi and Chansi There are in proportion as many Tartarians as Chinese Christians these are more docil and much easier to be Converted yet in time of Temptation they have not half so much Courage The Tartars on the contrary being naturally of a brisk temper do not easily stoop under the Yoak of the Gospel but those over whom Grace hath once triumphed are enduod with a Vertue that is proof against the sorest Persecutions As for Women which we see more rarely altho' they be less instructed than the Men yet their Innocence their constant attendance at Prayer their blind submission to the Precepts of Faith and the most harsh and severe Practices of Christian Piety does in some measure supply their defect of Knowledge as to the particulars of our Mysteries It were to be wish'd that the Beauty and Ornament of our Churches might answer the devout Fervour of Christians But besides that the Chinese are no great Architects this novel Christianity so frequently shaken by Persecutions composed for the most of the poorer sort of People only tolerated by the by and always fain to observe a great many punctilio's and keep within bounds hath not yet been in a condition to rear magnificent Temples Nevertheless it is matter of astonishment that the Missionaries with such a pitiful Fund as theirs is should be able on this score to do so much The Church of Pekin is very well built the Fron●ispiece the Stones of which were laid by the Missionaries themselves is very proportionable and pleasing Those in Kiam cheou Cham-bai and Fou-tçheou that which the Fathers have at Canton and divers others are as fine as our ordinary Churches of Europe but the Church of Cham-tçheou was so very pretty and neat that one could not enough admire it You could see nothing but Gildings Paintings and curious Pictures it was all over adorn'd with them yea and there was a great deal of Symetry and Order in the whole That delicate red and black Vernish which the Chineses are so expert at to which they give a particular relief or embossment by the Flowers of Gold and other Figures wherewith they enrich it did produce the finest Effect in the World to compleat the whole But this goodly Church the product of Christians Devotion and of Father Intorcetta's Zeal is lately reduc'd to ashes by a dreadful Conflagration that consum'd one quarter of the City and in all probability we shall not be in a capacity a long time to perform any thing like it Nevertheless it will be our comfort to support us after this loss if it shall please our blessed Lord to destroy at the same that pack of Idols which have overflow'd the whole Empire and that he will vouchsafe to raise himself Living Temples in the hearts of the new Believers where he may be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth wherein for want of ours they may offer to him the sacrifices of Praise and Thanksgiving I shall not entertain you most Reverend Father concerning the Transactions of the Indies where the Revolution of a huge Kingdom the Jealousies some Europeans together with the continual 〈◊〉 of Hereticks have broken all the measures 〈◊〉 Christian prudence obliged us to take for the 〈◊〉 of Religion so that the most part of the French Missionaries have been hitherto more conspicuous their Sufferings than by their Conversion of Idolaters Some of them after having lingerd out several Years in the most darksom Prisons scarce begin to see the Light and are not yet in a condition even to exercise their Functions with any freedom Others droven from their settlements wander up and down upon the most tempestuous Oceans carrying along with them the miserable remainders of their ruin'd Missions and that they may return to the remotest parts of the World they commit themselves a fourth time to the mercy of the Waves and their Enemies Several buried in Shipwracks or worn out with Toils have gloriously finished their course and tho' their Companions live still it is only to consume by little and little the sacrifice of their Lives by the ill habit of body they have contracted by their first labours You see most Reverend Father what sort of Persons they be I speak of you know their names you understand their worth and since they were chosen from amongst a great many other Candidates for the East-Indies you have been pleased always to honour them with a most particular affection and may I be bold to add that you were not satisfied with only sending of them you followed your self in some respect and became the Fellow or rather the Head of their Apostleship sharing like one of the most zealous Missionaries in the success of their holy undertakings zealously lending an helping hand to their Labours delivering them from their Chains by a powerful protection or at least lightning the weight by conso●●tory Letters full of that lively hope that makes a Man take delight in the most rigid Persecutions This Courage most Reverend Father which you 〈◊〉 inspired into us does not only alleviate our Sufferings but also assures us that the ruins of this grand ●●ifice that we have laid the first Stone of to the 〈◊〉 of God will one day serve for a Basis to another Work yet more considerable and solid than the first So that neither the Shipwreck of three of our Brethren buried in Sea nor the loss of three more who Sacrificed their lives a board the Vessel in relieving the Sick nor yet the death of a great many more whom the Fatigues of the Mission have snatch'd from us in the Indies nor the Prisons of Pegu Siam Moluccas Batavia Roterdam nor Middleburg where Pagans and Hereticks

bestowed on the Priests of the Pagan Gods after he had violently taken away the sacred Monuments of our Religion He issued out Proclamations much more rigorous than the former he threatned the Father with his Indignation if he did not abandon his Flock and he caused several Christians that had but too openly declared themselves to be apprehended some of them were haled to Prison they severely punished others and then the Persecution became bloody by the Torments that these generous Confessors suffered for the Name of IESUS Amongst those who signalised themselves a Physician more eminently made his Faith appear he was much grieved to see the Altars of the true God violated and despoiled Crosses broken in pieces the holy Images exposed to the Scorn Laughter and Impiety of Idolaters To repair this Loss and that Believers might not be left destitute of the ordinary Marks of their Religion he distributed to each of them Images and Crucifixes He went from door to door with the precious Pledges of our Salvation animating the Weak confirming the more Couragious in their Faith do not fear said he to them ●im who can only exercise his weak Power upon the Body but fear that Great God who as he has deprived you of Life can also punish your Soul with an eternal Death and rather suffer all sorts of Torments than for sake his holy Law The Mandarin offended at the Boldness of the Physician commanded him to be loaden with Chains and having caused him to be dragged before his Tribunal they prepared all things for his being cruelly Bastionado'd when his Godson who came running thither with other Christians threw himself on his Knees at the Judge's Feet and begged of him with Tears in his Eyes that he would permit him to receive the Chastisement for his Godfather This zealous Physician who aspired to nothing more than Martyrdom was so far from giving his Place to another that he constantly and stedfastly forbid it and at that time there arose such a Scuffle between them that the Angels admired and that made the Christian Religion to be respected by the very Idolaters The Judge stood amazed at it and turning towards those eminent Confestors of Jesus Christ go your way sa●es he to them this forwardness to suffer the Punishment of your Faults deserves some Indulgence I pardon you but henceforward think of pleasing the Vice-roy and be more careful to obey the Emperor's Orders When the Spirit of God hath once seized on the Heart Men's Words are not capable to touch them This Zealous Physician whom the sight of Execution had made more couragious continu'd his Acts of Chatity as before and his Zeal made such a Noise up and down that the Mandarin durst no longer mince the Matter he seemed much concerned at the Contempt he used of his Threatnings Insomuch that he gave Order to his Officers to bring him out to make a severe Example of him In effect he caused him to be beat so cruelly in his Presence that those who were present were equally surprised at the Severity of the Judge and Patience of this good Christian. This bloody Execution once over some of his Relations who came running at thi● doleful Spectacle were thinking to carry him to his House but he positively desired to be carried to Church and what endeavours so ever they used to divert him from it yet he had Strength enough left to crawl thither himself born up by the Arms of several Christians He came thither all bathed in his Gore and kneeling down at the Foot of the Altars O Lord saith he thou seest this Day that I prefer thy holy Law to all the Sweetness of Life I come not to demand Iustice of thee for all t●● Blood t●y Enemies have spilt I come to offer thee that which remains of mine own I do not deserve to die for such a good Cause but thou O my God deservest the intire Sacrifice of my Life and then turning towards Father Intorcetta who began to comfort him Ah! Father answer'd he I shall be now at the height of my Ioy if it were not my Sins but my Zeal that had brought this light Chastisment upon me This Example and many others that I forbear to relate made such Impressions upon the Idolaters hearts that a great many of them resolved to embrace the Christian Faith being persuaded that Sentimen●● so opposite to corrupt Nature could not possibly proceed eithe● from Passion or Error Among them whom the holy Spirit did effectually touch were Three who appeared full of that very Faith that made in former time almost as many Martyrs in the primitive Church as Believers they were Young handsome of Quality and what is more engaged by their Condition blindly to comply with the Vice-roy's Inclinations Nevertheless counting their temporal Estate as nothing they demanded publick Baptism The Father to bring the Faith of these Neophite● to the Test hid nothing from them that might anywise stagger them but it was all in vain to represent to them the rigour of the Edicts the Vice-roy's Indignation the Desolation they were like to cast their Families into the Danger of losing their Estates Honour Life and all these Considerations served only to animate them the more so that after a pretty long Tryal they were initiated into our sacred Mysteries and took part as others did in the Cross of Christ. Their Conversion fortified the Feeble-minded and comforted Father Intorcett● for all the Evils that the Persecution had made his Church to suffer But the Vice roy was so much the more provoked because he had not the Liberty at that time to shew his Resentment for just then they delivered him Two Letters from Prince Sosan one of them was for Father Intor●●tta the other that was directed to himself was full fraught with Reproaches for that he seemed to make no account of the Prince's recommendation I could never have believed saith he to him that to please a Company of ill affected People who have exasperated your Spirit at the Christians you would have deviated from the Counsels I gave you It is as a Friend that I endeavoured to inspire you with better Sentiments think upon it once more and reflect seriously with your self that it i● I that speak to you I expect three Things from your Friendship First that you deliver the Letter your self to Father Intorcetta according to the Superscription The Second that you do so well satisfie the Father that he may have Occasion to bless himself for the kind Offices you render him and that he himself may testifie the same to me And the Third is that henceforward you do not any longer disturb e●ther Missionaries or Christ●a●s in short I am extreamly sorry for being obliged to write to you so often about this Subject If you for the Future mend your Manners I shall write to you a third Time to thank you but if your Passion continues this is the last Letter you shall ever receive