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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

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

it would be to abuse your Patience Sir to descend to the Particulars As to what concerns Fountains it were to be wisht there were more of them and better 'T is certain that their usual Waters are not good which perhaps hath obliged the Inhabitants especially in the Southern Provinces to drink it always warm but because warm Water is unpalatable and nauseous they bethought themselves of putting some Leaves of a Tree to it to give it a Gusto Those of Tea seemed to be the best and so they frequently make use of it It may be also that God Almighty whose Providence hath so universally provided for the Wants of his People and if I may be bold to say it for their Delight and Pleasure would not deprive China of that which is necessary to Life so that for to Supply the Defect of Wells and Fountains which the Nature of the Ground hath made every where salt and brackish he hath been pleased to produce that Species of a particular Tree in abundance whose Leaves serve not only to purge the Waters from their noxious Qualities but also to make them wholsome and pleasant We are assured that there is to be found in China amongst Fountains several that suffer Flux and Reflux as regularly as the Sea doth whether it be that they have some Communication with the Ocean by certain Subterraneous Conveyances and Conduits or whether it be in passing through certain Earths they are impregnated with Salts and Spirits apt to cause this Fermentation I leave others to determine Since I have begun to speak of the different Waters of China I cannot pass over in Silence the Lakes and Ponds that are every where almost to be seen in all the Provinces Those that are produced in Winter by the Torrents from the Mountains lay waste the Fields and render the whole Country during Summer barren sandy and full of Flints Those that arise from Springs are abounding in Fish and yield a considerable Revenew to the Emperor by the Salt they afford There is one of them amongst the rest if I be not mistaken it is in Chansi in the middle whereof appears a small Island where People divert themselves during the excessive Heat to sprinkle Water all over There is made in a little while a Crust of a certain Salt very white and of a pleasant Scent which they continue all the Summer long with that Success that the Salt would be sufficient for the whole Province if it were as Salt as that of the Sea they commonly make use of it to Season Meat withal Altho' I have not seen all those famous Lakes in China whereunto Historians ascribe so many Miracles yet shall I relate something which I do not care to warrant for Gospel which nevertheless will let you understand the Genius of the Country where People so easily give Credit to what seems most incredible In the Province of Fokien there is one whose Water is green and changes Iron into Copper They have built a Palace upon the Banks of another not far distant from the former in an Apartment of which one hears the ringing of Bells every time Heaven threatens a Storm There are Waters in the Province of Canton that change Colour every year in Summer and in Winer they are very clear in Autumn they turn blue but of such a fine blue that People make use of it to dye Stuffs In that place is to be seen a Mountain full of Caverns whose very Aspect is very terrible in which is found a Lake of that Nature that if one throw a Stone into it one may hear a noise like Thunder sometime after there ariseth a gross Mist which immediately dissolves into Water But the most famous of them all is that of the Province of Iannan The Chineses would make you believe that this Lake came all on the sudden during an Earthquake that swallowed up all the Country with its Inhabitants This was a just Judgment upon them for their wickedness for they were very dissolute Livers Of all that were there at that time there was but one Child that was saved which they found in the middle of the Lake born up upon a piece of Wood. In the Isle of Hainan belonging to China there is a sort of Water whether it be Lake or Fountain I know not that petrifies Fish I my self have b●ought over Crawfish that preserving their intire Natural Figure are so far changed into Stone that the Claws and Body of them are very hard very solid and little differing from Stone The Wonders of Nature are not so far particular to China but the like may be met with elsewhere and if one does not credit all the Chineses relate it is not because there is sometimes no foundation for their Stories But because they have somewhat of the Air of Fable and Hyperbolical in them that would make a Man even suspect their being true I wish with all my heart Sir that I may not omit any thing that any way relates to this Subject I were able to explain all the kinds of Fish that the Rivers and Lakes furnish them with as well as those that are Caught upon their Coasts but to tell you the truth I am not well enough informed to engage my self upon a particular Relation of them I have seen as far as I can guess all the Fish in China that we have in France I have taken notice of a great many others that I did not know no not so much as their Names that is all I can say of it Besides that I shall confirm to you what possibly you may have read in the Relations touching the Fish they call the Golden and Silver Fish that are found in divers Provinces and do afford particular Ornaments in the Courts and Gardens of great Persons They are commonly of a fingers length and of a proportionable thickness the Male is of a most delicate red from the head to the middle of the Body and further the rest together with the Tail is gilded but with such a glittering and burnisht Gold that our real Gildings cannot come near it The Female is white its Tail nay and one part of its Body perfectly washt over with Silver the Tail of both of them is not even and flat as that of other Fish but fashioned like a Nosegay thick and long and gives a particular Grace to this pretty Animal that sets it off being besides perfectly well proportioned Those who would breed them ought to have great Care for they are extraordinary tender and sensible of the least Injuries of the Air. They put them into a great Basin such as are in Gardens very deep and large at the bottom of which they are wont to place an Earthen Pot turned upside down full of Holes on the sides that they may retire into it when it is very hot Weather and by that means shelter themselves from the Sun They likewise throw upon the Surface of the Water some particular Herbs

Christian Religion this was none of the weakest If the knowledge of JESUS CHRIST says he sometimes is necessary for Salvation and if God desires the Salvation of all Men why has he so long kept us in ignorance and error It is now above sixteen Ages since your Religion the only way Men have to obtain Salvation has been established in the World we knew nothing of it here Is China so inconsiderable as not to deserve to be thought of while so many barbarous Nations have been enlightned The Missionaries have very solidly answered this objection and that with so good a Face of Reason as did give ample sati●faction to the Emperor I do not here tell you Sir their answer you do your self know all that could be possibly said thereto But perhaps it will not be tedious to you to let you know that China has not been so much neglected as it thinks We cannot inform our selves of all that has passed in this New World since the death of our Saviour for the Chinese Histories seldom speak of any thing but what concerns Political Government Yet the Divine Providence would be sufficiently justified in this point if it had acted for the Salvation of China no more than has come to our knowledge There is no doubt but St. Thomas preached the true Faith in the Indies and it is as certain that the Indians had then great dealings with the Chinese to whom almost all India was tributary It is therefore very probable that this Apostle to whom the care of this New World was committed did not neglect the best part of it which was then as much distinguished above the rest of the Eastern parts as Italy was above the Western in the most flourishing condition of the Roman Empire So that perhaps he himself travailled there or at least sent some of his Followers This Conjecture which carries its own Evidence with it does still receive confirmation from what the Chinese Histories relate concerning those times Their History says that a Man came into China and preached Heavenly Doctrine He was not an ordinary Man adds the History his Life his Miracles and his Vertues made him admired by all the World Furthermore one may read in an antient Breviary of the Church of Malabar wrote in Chaldee these words which are in the Office for St. Thomas his day It was by St. Thomas ' s means that the Chinese and Aethiopians were Converted and came to the knowledge of the Truth And in another place It was by St. Thomas that is to say by the preaching of St. Thomas that the Kingdom of Heaven went into the Empire of China And in an Anthem we read these words which follow The Indies China Persia c. offer up in memory of St. Thomas the worship due to thy holy Name We can't tell what Conversions he wrought there nor how long Religion flourished but this is certain that if Religion hath not been ' kept up in China till now the Chinese may thank themselves who by a criminal neglect and voluntary stubbornness did so easily part with the gift of God Neither is this the only time wherein our Lord hath visited them A great while after that is in the seventh Century a Catholick Patriarch of the Indies sent Missionaries thither who preached the true Religion with good success Altho' their History hath mentioned something of this yet it is done in so few words and in so careless and obscure a manner that we should never have had the happiness of being throughly acquainted with this Mission were it not for an Accident which happened a few Years ago which it pleased God to bring about for the stronger establishing the Faith in this great Empire In the Year 1625 some Masons digging near Signanfou the Capital of the Province of Chensi found a long Table of Marble which had been heretofore erected as a Monument in the manner they build them in China and which time had buried in the ruins of some Building or had hid in the Ground so that no remains of it were visible This Stone which was ten foot long and six foot broad was very nicely examined the more for this reason because on the top of it there was a large Cross handsomly graved below which was a long discourse in Chinese Characters and other Letters which the Chinese did not understand they were Syriack Characters The Emperour had notice of it and had a Copy of it sent him and did command that the Monument should be carefully kept in a Pagode where it now is about a mile from Signanfou The substance of the Inscription on the Table is as follows There is a first principle of all things of a spiritual and intelligent Nature who created all things out of Nothing and who subsists in three Persons At Man's Creation he endued him with original Justice made him King of the Universe and master of his own Passions but the Devil drawing him into Temptation corrupted his mind and disturbed the inward peace and innocence of his heart Hence sprang all those Misfortunes which overwhelm human kind and all those different Factions into which we are crumbled Mankind who since that fatal Fall did always walk in Darkness would never have found out the path of Truth if one of these three Persons of the Divinity had not taken upon him the Nature of Man which Man we call the Messia An Angel proclaimed his coming and some time after he was born of a Virgin in Iudea This miraculous Birth was set forth by a new Star in the Heavens Some Kings who observed the Star came and offered Presents to the Divine Infant that so the Law and Predictions of the twenty four Prophets might be accomplished He governed the World by instituting a very plain Spiritual and Heavenly Law He established eight Beatitudes He endeavoured to disswade men from setting their hearts on the good things of this World in order to fix in them a love of those good things which will never fail He set forth the beautifulness of the three principal Vertues He set open the gates of Heaven to the Just to which place he himself ascended at mid-day leaving on Earth seven and twenty Books of his Doctrine proper for the Conversion of the World He instituted Baptism for the washing away Sin and lay'd down his Life on the Cross for all men without exception His Ministers cut not off their Beards but have their Heads shaved excepting a circle of Hair which they leave on They have no Servants for they make themselves Superior to none whether in the height of Prosperity or in the depth of Affliction Instead of heaping up Riches they willingly impart their little all to those who are in want They Fast both for mortification of themselves and in observance of the Laws They reverence their Superiours and honour all good men They pray seven times a day for the Dead and the Living They offer Sacrifice every Week

served what the Negotiation could not decide the Haughtiness of both did oftentimes make them fly out into extremes which would have proved fatal to both Parties if Father Gerbillon by his Discretion had not moderated Animosities He continually passed from Camp to Camp made Speeches propos'd Expedients pacified their Minds and he dissembled whatever might be apt mutually to exasperate them in the Conclusion He so dexterously managed the common Interests that the Peace was concluded to the Satisfaction both of Chinese and Moscovites Prince Sosan was so well pleased with the Zeal and Wisdom of this Father that he declared publickly that if it had not been for him all had been in a desperate Condition he exprest himself about the matter to the Emperor to the same effect insomuch that this Prince had the Curiosity to be acquainted with him He found him to be a very sensible Person capable sincere forward to execute and even to anticipate his Orders This Character wonderfully pleased the Emperor he had a mind to have him near his Person at the Palace in the Campaign and in his Progress into Tartary where he bestowed upon him so many signal marks of Esteem that the Grandees of his Court might have perhaps conceived some Jealousie from them had not the Father's Modesty won him the Affection of every Body These First Favours were followed by an extraordinary one that was much better relished by this Missionary He pitch't upon him for his Tutor in Mathematicks and Philosophy conjointly with Father Bovet whose merit he likewise much esteem'd The Passion this Prince hath for Sciences makes him very intent upon Studies every day in a manner Two or Three Hours together which he spares from his Pleasure It is more than probable that by the inquiry into natural Truth Providence will conduct him by degrees to the eternal Fountain of Truth without which all others serve not so much to perfect the Mind as to puff it up with Pride in the eyes of Men and render it inexcusable before God Father Verbiest had already begun to explain these Sciences to him but besides his making use of the Chinese Tongue in his Lectures which is not proper by reason of its often repeated Equivocals to illustrate Notions otherwise obscure enough of themselves Besides that I say Father Verbiest died These Fathers supposed the Tartarian Tongue would be better liked by this Prince and that it might serve their turn the better to make their Notions intelligible It happened according to their Expectation and the Emperor became in a short time so capable that he composed a Book of Geometry He afterwards gave it to the Princes his Sons and undertook to be their Master in it he call'd them together every day explain'd to them the most difficult Propositions of Euclid yea and this Prince having upon his Shoulders the Government of one of the most potent Empires of the World did not disdain with his Rule and Compass in his Hand to spend his Time in the Family in Speculations which Interest alone scarce makes delightful to private Persons Whilst these Two Fathers by their Credit made themselves fit to be in a short time the main Support of Religion Father Fontaney Father Visdelou and my self did endeavour not to be unserviceable in the Provinces Father Fontaney went to Nankin Father Visdelou took Care of the Churches of Chansi where I also remained some time with him from whence afterwards I removed to Chensi the ancient Place of Father Faber's Mission the Christians of which Place notwithstanding their having been ●eserted this many Years do nevertheless preserve their fi●st Fervency and are still look'd upon as the Mould of that great Flock and Model of other Believers We understood at that Time by our own proper Experience what was often told us that the Harvest truly was great and that happy is that Labourer whom the Master of the Harvest doth please to make use of to gather it in Every thing is matter of Consolation in this glorious Employment the Faith of the new Converts the Innocence of the Ancient the Aptness of the Children the Devotion and Modesty of Women but yet one is more especially affected by some eminent and exemplary Conversions to perceive the Work of Grace now and then wrought in the hearts of Idolaters The Truth is these are in respect of us convincing Proofs of that Truth which we preach and declare For indeed by what secret Charm could we be able to animate dead Minds and raise them if I may presume so to say to Reason to God to all the Maxims of the most pure and refined Morality Minds that have been buried and immersed from their very Infancy in Flesh and Blood What Force and Power what Blandishment could be able in an instant to bring into Captivity rebellious Minds under the Yoak of a Religion so severe as ou●s is if Jesus Christ himself did not work Miracles and if the holy Spirit by the inward and invisible Operation of Grace did not supply the Defect of his Ministers This is that most reverend Father which we experience every day with astonishing Comfort which doth establish strengthen and settle us unmovable in the same Faith which God produceth in Idolaters I would to God I were able to relate to you particularly all that passes in China on this Subject where in spight of all the Stratagems of Devils God is so constantly and resolutely Glorified Yet not being able upon my departure to pick up the particular Memorial of each Church I shall only content my self to tell you in Part what I my self have observed in my Mission and after what manner I have made it my Business to adorn it according to the Ideas and Practice of the most grave and ancient primitive Missionaries All my Business was reduced to Three principal Points the First was to cherish and keep up the Piety of old Believers by the preaching of the Word of God and above all by particular Exhortations which is abundantly more profitable and edifying than any thing that is spoken in Publick where the Discourse is often not understood either because of the People's Stupidity or else by reason of the Preacher's ill Utterance and Pronunciation These poor Souls whom Simplicity and Fervency make teachable do oftentimes hear that with Tears in their Eyes which they do not comprehend but by halves but yet they always improve and edify by what they understand perfectly They are especially most taken with Comparisons Parables and Histories and albeit they are not acquainted nor accustomed to that vehement and sometimes passionate Action of our Preachers yet for all that they are moved and wrought upon when they speak to them with Earnestness and Concern I no sooner came to a private House to confess sick Persons or about other Business but presently you should have all the Family nay and the Christians too of the Neighbourhood flock together about me and intreat me to speak to

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 u● 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 especi●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

Christians and that there was a great number of them who prejudiced against us either by that universal Contempt which the Education of China did usually create in them for Foreigners or by the Calumnies of the Bonzes or else by a false Zeal of the publick good thought it was a piece of good service to destroy us and spoil in a few days that which had been the work of several Years These particular Persecutions were so much the more feared as they administered occasion to our secret Enemies to declare themselves openly against us and to compose a strong and great Party which was commonly upheld by the Courts appointed for the ordering Rites and Ceremonies who always waited for occasions to stop the course of new Foreigners into the State So that if in these critical conjunctures the Emperors by a particular Providence should not have honoured us with their benovolence Christianity would have long since been destroy'd in China and it may be the memory of it would have been totally obliterated We should therefore consider that the Court perhaps would not be always so favourable to us that there needed no more but one moment alone to lose the Emperors gracious favour or what was still more dangerous to intail his Indignation upon us and those of our Religion that in this fickle State wherein Religion was the least opposition from the Mandarins would suffice to set the Peoples hearts against it that the Great ones themselves durst never declare or be Converted for fear of being one day responsible to the Parliaments for their Conversion which probably in time might be made an heinous Crime On the contrary if so be the Christian Faith were once approved of by publick Edict nothing afterward could disturb its Establishment since it would be less odious to the Idolatrous People because the Christians would make a publick profession of it and at last the new Missionaries would enter without interruption into the vast Field of the Gospel and would there sow without any contradiction that sacred Word which would then produce an hundred fold The only hope of such a great Benefit determined the Fathers to try this last means and so much the rather because they belieyed they could not in future time meet with any occasion more favourable to accomplish it The remembrance of signal Services Father Verbiest had rendered to the State was still very recent the Emperor had declared how sensible he was of the resolution that Father Grimaldi an Italian had taken to cross the Seas again for his sake and to undertake a most tedious Journey Father Thomas a Flemming was wholly taken up in Mathematicks where●n he acquired the reputation of a Learned Knowing Man and most Pious Missionary Father Pereira a Portuguese for his part took a great deal of pains a long time in certain Instruments and several Engines that the Prince took great delight in But that which did our business in getting his heart was the Peace which Father Gerbillon had but just then concluded three hundred Leagues from Pekin between the Chinese and Muscovite Prince Sosan nearly related to the Emperor and Plenipotentiary stood amazed at his Zeal and publickly declared that but for him this Negotiation would never have terminated to the advantage of the Empire He spoke of it to the Emperor to that purpose and at that very time he inspired him with sentiments of Esteem and Affection for this Father which have continued ever since beyond whatsoever we were able to expect or hope for Besides this same Father together with Father Bovet both French and of the number of those whom the King sent into China in 1685 apply'd themselves for many Years to teach Geometry and Philosophy to the Emperor with such success that he could never be weary in discoursing with them upon these Matters But because these zealous Missionaries were fully perswaded that when Religion is concerned human Assistances are very insignificant if God Almighty do not secretly direct and order the whole Work They began to implore the assistance of him whom nothing is able to resist They spread open their Wants before him and discovered their hearts in his presence and told him with the same confidence that once animated Iudith Make bare make bare O Lord thy arm on our behalf as thou didst heretofore and bring to nought the obstacle our Enemies oppose against us Let those who have boasted that they could destroy the Temple who have already prophaned thy Altar and trodden under foot the Tabernacle of thy holy Name let them at present be sensible that before thee all their force is nothing but vanity and weakness Put into our mouths Lord that holy word and replenish our hearts with those wise Counsels that make Truth always to triumph to the end thy House that hath been so many years in a tottering condition may at this day be immovably settled and confirmed and that all Nations may in the end confess that thou only art the true God and that besides thee we ought to seek for none other After this fervent Prayer they secretly presented their Petition to the Emperor that they were afterwards to offer to him in publick He read it but not finding therein what was the most capable to make impression upon the Spirit of the Chineses for they insisted upon what principally related to the Sanctity and Truth of Christian Religion he drew up another himself in the Tartarian Language which he sent back to the Fathers yet leaving them to their liberty to retrench or add thereto as they shall judge most convenient Indeed if one do but never so little reflect upon the particular Character of the Emperors of China one cannot sufficiently admire that this present Emperor should vouchsafe to descend from the loftiest degree of Grandeur which he observes every where else nay eyen in respect of the greatest Princes to make himself familiar with pitiful Missionaries For a Man to consider after what manner he takes a particular Account of all their Affairs how he speaks to them how he puts them in a way would he not conclude that it is a private Man that manages the Concerns of his Friend Yet nevertheless it is one of the greatest Kings in the World that is pleased thus to stickle to please a company of Strangers even at the peril of the fundamental Laws of the Nation But after all it is no wonder that a God who to establish his Religion humbled himself so far as to make himself like to Men does oblige sometimes the greatest Princes of the World to divest themselves of their Majesty and innate Pride to co-operate and concur in this grand Work For certainly what care soever we may have taken to make this Prince favouraable to us yet must we needs herein principally acknowledge the Efficacy of Divine Grace It is the Almighty voice of the Lord that alone can to speak in the Scripture expression bruise the Cedars and shake