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.

LETTER III. To his Highness the Cardinal of FURSTEMBERG.

O fthe Cities, Houses, and Chief Build∣ings of China.

My Lord,

AMONG the several Empires into which the World has hitherto been divided, that of China has ever obtained so considerable a Place, that a Prince cannot be wholly ignorant of what concerns it without neglecting one of those Sciences which seem a part of his Prerogative.

This, My Lord, was, no doubt, the Motive that induced your Highness to inquire so particularly into the State of that Country, and to desire an Exact Account of the Number and Bigness of its Cities, the Multitude of its Inhabitants, the Beauty of its Publick Buildings, and Manner of its Palaces.

By this it plainly appears that the vast Genius you have for Business, does in no wise lessen the Acute∣ness of your Judgment in the Sublimest Arts, and e∣specially in Architecture, of which, the most Excel∣lent Works raised by your Directions at Modave, Sa∣verne, Berni, St. Germans, and above all in the famous Cathedral of Strasbourg, are several Instances.

It having been my Business to run over all China, where in Five years time I have travelled above Two thousand Leagues, I may perhaps satisfie your High∣ness with more ease than any one besides, and shall give a Description of what has seemed to me most worth my Observation.

Pekin, that is, the North-Court, is the chief City of China, and the usual Seat of its Emperors. It is so named to distinguish it from Nankin, the South-Court, another very considerable City, so called from the Emperor's Residing there in former Ages, it be∣ing the Finest, the most Commodious and best Situa∣ted of the whole Empire; but the continual Inc••r∣sions of the Tartars, a Warlike and very Trouble∣some Neighbour, obliged him to settle in the most Northerly Provinces, that he might be always ready to oppose them, with the numerous Army he usually keeps near his Court.

Pekin was the place fixed upon, being Situate in the 40th Degree of Northern Latitude, in a very Fer∣tile Plain, and not far from the Long Wall. Its Neighbourhood to the Sea on the East, and the great Canal on the South, afford it a Communication with several fine Provinces, from which it draws part of of its Subsistence.

This City, which is of an exact Square Form, was formerly four long Leagues round, but Tartars settling there, forced the Chinese to live without the Walls, where they in a very short while built a new Town, which being more Long than Large, does with the old one compose an irregular Figure. Thus Pekin is made up of two Cities; one is called the Tar∣tar's, because they permit none else to inhabit it; and the other the Chinese, as large, but much more full than the first. Both together are Six great Leagues in Circuit, allowing 3600 Paces to each League. This I can aver to be true, it having been measured by the Emperor's special Command.

This, My Lord, will seem strange to those who are acquainted with Europe only, and think Paris the Largest, as it is doubtless the Finest City in the World; yet the Difference between them is great. Paris ac∣cording to the Draught Mr. Blondell has made, by Order from our Magistrates, on the account of a De∣sign they have to surround it with new Walls, contains in its greatest Length but 2500 Paces, and * 1.1 consequently, tho' we should suppose it Square, would be but 10000 Paces round; so we should find it half as big as the Tartar's Town alone, and but a quarter as large as all Pekin.

But then if one reflects that their Houses are gene∣rally but one Story high, and ours, one with another, are four, it will appear that Pekin has not more Lodg∣ings than Paris, but rather less, because its Streets are much wider, that the Emperor's Palace, which is of a vast Extent, is not half inhabited, that there are Magazines of Rice for the sustenance of above 200000 Men, and large Courts filled with little Houses in which those who stand for their Doctor's Degree are examined; which alone would make a very big City.

It must not however be inferred that there are at Paris and Pekin the like number of Inhabitants; for the Chinese are very close together in their Dwellings, so that Twenty or more of them will lye in as little room as Ten with us; and it must needs be so, since the multitude of People in the Streets is so great, that one is frightned at it; it being such that Persons of Quality have always a Horse••man going before them, to make way. Even the widest Streets are not free from Confusion; and at the sight of so many Hor∣ses, Mules, Camels, Wagons, Chairs, and Rings of 100 or 200 Persons who gather here and there round

the Fortune-Tellers, one would judge that some un∣usual Shew had drawn the whole Country to Pekin.

Indeed, to outward appearance our most populous Cities are Wildernesses in respect of this, especially considering there are more Women then Men, and that among so vast a Multitude you shall very seldom meet with any. This I suppose has made some Peo∣ple think both Cities might contain Six or Seven Mil∣lions of Souls, which was a great mistake. By the fol∣lowing Reflexions it will, perhaps, appear that one must not always guess at the Number of Inhabitants in a Place by the Crowds that are seen in it.

First, From all the Neighbouring Towns a Multi∣tude of Peasants daily flock to Pekin, with several useful and necessary Commodities; now no River coming up to the City, these must be brought by Land, which increases the number of Carters, Wa∣gons, Camels, and other Beasts of Burthen. So that Morning and Night, at the opening or shutting of the Gates, there are such Throngs of People going in or out, that one must wait a long while before they can go by: Now all these, who spread about the Streets, must not be reckoned among the Citizens.

Secondly, Most Artificers in China work in their Customers Houses; as for Example, If I want a Suit, my Taylour comes in the Morning to my Lodging, where he works all Day, and at Night returns home; and so of the rest. These are continually about, look∣ing out for Business, to the very Smiths, which carry with them their Anvil, their Furnace, and other Im∣plements for their ordinary use. This helps to increase the Multitude.

Thirdly, All Persons that are pretty well to pass, never go abroad but on Horse••back or in Chairs, with a numerous Train. If at Paris all Officers, Gentlemen, Lawyers, Physicians, and wealthy Citizens were al∣ways thus attended, the Streets would not be so free.

In the fourth place, When a Mandarine goes any where, all his Inferiour Officers follow him in all their Formalities, so that they form a kind of Procession. The Lo••ds at Court, and Princes of the Blood, never are without a great Guard of Horse, and being ne∣cessitated to go almost every Day to Court, their ve∣ry Equipage is sufficiently cumbersome to the City.

It is evident that these Customs which are peculiar to China, do very much increase the Throng, and it must not be wondred at, that the City should seem much more Populous then it really is: And what must con∣vince us, is, That as I have shewn there may more People lodge in Paris then in Pekin. Then taking it for granted that 20 or 25 Persons there, take up no more room then 10 here, as I have already said, we must conclude on the whole, that Pekin contains near twice as many as Paris does, and I think I shall not be very wide of the Truth, if I allow it Two Millions of Inhabitants.

I have been something prolix upon this Point, be∣cause I find it but slightly enquired into by most Hi∣storians. Nothing is more deceitful then Number at first sight. We think upon a view of the Sky that the Stars are numberless, and when told, are surpri∣sed to find they are so few. To see an Army of a hun∣dred thousand Men in the Field, you would imagine all the World were there; and even those who are u∣sed to such a sight, are apt to mistake if they are not aware.

It is good to examine every thing our selves, espe∣cially in China, where they never reckon but by Mil∣lions; and tho' in these Cases one cannot be so very exact, it is not impossible to come something near the Truth, that we may not deceive the inquisitive Reader.

Almost all the Streets are built in a direct Line, the greatest being about a hundred and twenty foot

broad, and a good League long, and the Shops where they sell Silks and China-ware, which generally take up the whole Street, make a very agreeable Perspe∣ctive. The Chinese have a Custom which adds to the Beauty of the Sight. Each Shop-keeper puts out be∣fore his House, on a little kind of Pedestal, a Board twenty or two and twenty Foot high Painted, Var∣nished, and often Gilt, on which are written in large Characters, the Names of the several Commodities he sells. These kind of Pilasters, thus placed on each side of the Street, and almost at an equal Distance from each other, make a pretty odd show. This is usual in almost all the Cities of China, and I have in some places seen so very neat ones, that one would think they had designed to make a Stage of the Street.

Two things however detract much from their Beauty. The first, That the Houses are not propor∣tionable, being neither well built nor high enough. The second, That they are always pester'd with Mud or Dust. That Country, so well regulated in every thing else, is very deficient in this: Both Winter and Summer are equally troublesome to those that walk abroad, and therefore are Horses and Chairs so much in request: For the Dirt spoils the silken Boots which they wear there; and the Dust sticks to their Clothes, especially if they are made of Sattin, which they have a way of oyling, to give it the more lustre. There is so much of the latter raised by the multitude of Horses, that the City is always covered with a Cloud of it, which gets into the Houses, and makes its way into the closest Closets, so that take what care you will, your Goods should ever be full of it. They strive to allay it by a continual besprinkling the Streets with Water, but there is still so much lef••, as is very of∣fensive, both as to Cleanliness and Health.

Of all the Building this mighty City consists in,

the only remarkable one is the Imperial Palace, which I have already described to your Highness. I shall only add, to give you a more exact Notion of it, that it not only includes the Emperor's House and Gar∣dens, but also a little Town inhabited by the Officers at Court, and a great number of Artificers who are employed and kept by the Emperor•• for none but the Eunuchs lye in the inner Palace. The outward Town is defended by a very good Wall without, and divided from the Emperor's House by one of less strength. All the Houses are very low and ill con∣trived, far worse than those in the Tartars City; so that the Quality of its Inhabitants, and the Conve∣niency of being near the Court, are the only things that it is commendable for.

The inner Palace is made up of Nine vast Courts, built in one Line, in length, for I comprehend not those on the Wings, where are the Kitchin, Stables, and other Offices. The Arches thro' which you go from one to another are of Marble, and over each there stands a large square Building, of a Gothick Architecture, the Timber of whose Roof becomes an odd kind of Ornament; for the Rafters being left of a length sufficient to come out beyond the Wall, have other shorter pieces of Wood put upon them, which forms a kind of Cornish that at a di∣stance looks very fine. The sides of each Court are closed by lesser Apartments, or Galleries; but when you come to the Emperor's Lodgings, there, indeed, the Portico's supported by stately Pillars, the white Marble-steps by which you ascend to the inward Halls, the gilt Roo••s, the Carved-work, Varnish, Gilding and Painting, they are adorned with, the Floors made of Marble or Porcelain, but chiefly the great number of different Pieces of Artichecture which they consist of, dazle the Beholders Eye, and truly look great, becoming the Majesty of so great a

Monarch. But still, the imperfect Notion the Chi∣nese have of all kind of Arts, is betrayed by the un∣pardonable Faults they are guilty of. The Apartments are ill contrived, the Ornaments irregular, and the former wants that Connexion which makes the Beau∣ty and Conveniency of our Palaces. In a word, there is as it were an unshapenness in the whole, which renders it very unpleasing to Foreigners, and must needs offend any one that has the least Notion of true Architecture.

Some Relations, however, cry it up as Arts Ma∣ster-piece: The reason is, because the Missionaries who wrote them, had never seen any thing beyond it, or that long use has accustomed them to it; for it is observable, that let us measure a thing never so, Time will at length make it supportable. Our Fancy habituates it self to any sight, and therefore an Eu∣ropean, that has spent Twenty or Thirty years in China, can seldom give so good an account of it, as he that makes no stay there. As the true Accent of a Language is often lost among those who pronounce it ill, so the Sharpness of a Man's Judgment is blunt∣ed by conversing with those who have none.

The Guards placed in the Gates and Avenues of the Palace have no other Arms but their Cimeters, and are not so numerous as I had at first imagined; but there is a multitude of Lord•• and Mandarines, con∣stantly attending at the usual time of Audience. For∣merly the whole Palace was inhabited with Eunuchs, whose Power and Insolence was grown to such a pitch, that they were become an insupportable Grie∣vance to the Princes of the Empire; but the last Em∣perors of China, especially those descended from Tar∣tary, have so▪humbled them, that they make at pre∣sent no Figure at all. The youngest serve as Pages, the other are put to the vilest Employments, their Task being to sweep the Rooms and keep them clean;

and for the least Fault they are severely punished by their Overseers, who are very strict.

The number of the Emperor's Wives or Concu∣bines is not easily known, it being very great, and never fixed. They never were seen by any one but himself, and scarce durst a Man inquire about them. They are all Maidens of Quality which the Manda∣rines or Governors of the Provinces choose, and as soon as they are entered the Palace they have no far∣ther Correspondency with their Friends, no not with their very Fathers. This forced and perpetual Solitude, (for most of them are never taken Notice of by the Emperor) the Intreagues they set on work to get in∣to his Favour, and the Jealousie they have of one a∣nother, which wracks them with Suspicions, Envy and Hate, makes the most part of them very misera∣ble. Among those who are so happy as to gain their Prince's approbation, Three are chosen which bear the Title of Queens. These are in a far higher De∣gree of Honour than the rest, having each their Lodgings, their Court, their Ladies of Honour, and other Female Attendants.

Nothing is wanting that can contribute to their Diversion. Their Furniture, Cloaths, Attendance is all Rich and Magnificent: It is true, all their Hap∣piness consists in pleasing their Lord, for no Business of any Consequence comes to their Knowledge; and as they do not assist the State with their Counsels, so they do not disturb it with their Ambition.

The Chinese differ very much from us in that Point; They say Heaven has indued Women with Good Nature, Modesty, and Innocence, that they might look after their Families, and take care of their Chil∣drens Education; but that Men are born with strength of Body and Mind, with Wit and Gene∣rosity, to Govern and Rule the World. They are astonished when we tell them that with us the Scepter

often falls into a Princesses Hands, and often say by way of Jest, That Europe is the Ladies Kingdom.

This, My Lord, is all that can be said in General of the Emperor of China's Palace, so much boasted of by Historians, because perhaps in all Pekin they met not with any worth their notice: For indeed all besides are so mean, that it would be, if I may say it, a de∣basing of our Terms to give the Name of Palace to their Grandees Houses. They are but one Story high, as are all the rest; tho', I confess, the great number of Lodgings for themselves and their Servants, does make some amends for their want of Beauty and Magnificence. Not but that the Chinese are as much as any Nation, in love with looking great and spend∣ing high, but the Custom of the Country, and the Danger of being taken notice of, is a Curb to their Inclinations.

While I was at Pekin, one of the Chief Mandarines (I think he was a Prince) had built him a House something more lofty and stately than the rest; this was imputed to him as a Crime, and those whose Pro∣vince it was, accused him before the Emperor, inso∣much that the Mandarine, fearful of the Event, pul∣led down his House while the Business was under Ex∣amination, and before it had been decided. This Policy, in former Ages, made sure the Foundation of the greatest Monarchies, and could the Romans but have ever observed it, they might perhaps still be as powerful in Europe, as the Chinese are in Asia.

Their Halls, where they plead, have little advan∣tage over the rest. The Courts are large, the Gates lofty, and sometimes imbellished with Ornaments of Architecture something tolerable; but the inward Halls and Offices can boast neither State nor Clean∣liness.

Religion indeed has made her Party better; you frequently meet with their Idols Temples, which the

Princes and People, equally Superstitious, have raised at a vast Expence, and beautified with great numbers of Statues. The Roofs especially are observable, for the splendor of their Tiles varnished with yellow and green, numberless Figures curiously wrought, which are placed on every side, and Dragons shooting out at the Corners, painted with the same Colours. The Emperors have founded several within the outward Bounds of the Palace, among which Two more e∣minent then the rest were built by the late Monarch, at the Prayers of the Queen his Mother, who was very much infatuated with the Religion of the Lama's, a sort of Tartarian Priests, and the most Superstitious of all the Bonzes.

We were forbidden the Entrance of these Temples, being told it would prove of an ill Consequence, and give great Offence to our fellow Christians, so that Curiosity gave place to our desire of Edifying them. But we had the liberty of seeing the famous Imperi∣al Observatory, so much celebrated by all Travellers. Be pleased, My Lord, to read what one of our ablest Mathematicians, has upon their Report spoken of it. Nothing in Europe is to be compared to it, whether for the Magnificency of the Place, or the Bigness of those vast Brazen Machines, which having been during these Seven hundred years exposed on the Platforms of those large Towers, are still as fair and entire as if they were but new molten. The Divisions of those Instruments are most ex∣act, the Disposition most proper for their Design, and the whole work performed with an unimitabl•• neatness. In a word, it seemed that China insulted her Sister Nations, as if with all their Learning and Riches they could not come up to her in that point.

Indeed if China insults us by the Sumptuousness of her Observatory, she is in the right to do it thus, at 6000 Leagues distance, for were she nearer, she durst no••, for shame, make any Comparison.

Full of these great Thoughts of it we visited this famous Place, and found it to be as follows. First, Being entred into a Court of a moderate Extent, we were shewn a little House, their Dwelling, who look after the Observatory. Turning to your right Hand, as you come in, you meet with a very narrow Stair∣case, by which you mount to the top of a square Tower, such as we formerly used to fortifie our City Walls withal; it is indeed contiguous on the inside to that of Pekin, and raised but Ten or Twelve Feet above the Bulwork. Upon this Platform the Chinese Astronomers had placed their Instruments, which tho' but few, yet took up the whole Room: But Fa∣ther Verbiest, when he undertook the Survey and Management of the Mathematicks, having judged them very useless, perswaded the Emperor to pull 'em down, and put up new ones of his own contriving. These old Instruments were still in the Hall near the Tower, buried in Dust and Oblivion. We saw them, but thro' a Window close set with Iron Bars. They appeared to us large, well cast, and of a shape not much unlike our Astronomical Rings. But they had laid in a by-Court a Celestial Globe of about three Foot Dia∣meter; that we had a full view of; it was something enclining to an Oval divided with little Exactness, and the whole Work very Course.

They have in a lower Room near that place con∣trived a Gnomon. The Slit which gives Entrance to the Suns Rays, is raised about 8 Feet from the ground, Horozontally placed, and made of two Copper Plates suspended, which may be moved too and fro, to make the Orifice larger or smaller. Under it lyes a Table trimm'd with Brass, in the midst of which length-ways, they have struck a Meridian Line 15 Feet long, divided across by other Lines, which are neither exact nor fin••. They have cut little holes out into the sides wher••in to put water, to set it exactly Horison∣tal;

and this indeed is of a Chinese Contrivance the most tolerable of any'I have seen, and might be ser∣viceable to a careful Astronomer; but I question whe∣ther their Skill who invented it is so great as to use it rightly.

This Observatory, of little worth, as to its ancient Machines, and less as to its Situation and Building, is now enriched with several Brazen Instruments which Father Verbiest has set up in it. They are large, well cast, imbellished with Representations of Dragons, and very well disposed to the Use they are designed for; and was but the niceness of their Divisions an∣swerable to that of the Work, and Telescopes fastned to them instead of Pins, according to the new Me∣thod used by the Royal Academy, nothing that we have of that kind, might be brought into Competition with them. But tho' the Father was, no doubt, very care∣ful of the Division of his Circles, the Chinese Artificer either was very negligent, or very incapable of fol∣lowing his Directions: so that I would rather trust to a Quadrant made by one of our good Workmen at Paris, whose Radius should be but one Foot and a half, than to that of six Feet which is at this Tower.

Perhaps your Highness may be willing at one view to see how they are disposed. This Draught is very conformable to the Original, and far from flattering it, as Pictures and Cuts generally do, I may say that it does not express half its Beauty. But each several Piece shewing but confusedly in this little space, I have added, in as few words as I could, an Explanation of the Frame and Embellishments of those Noble Instru∣ments.

[illustration]

• a. Steps going vp to the Observatory
• b. A Rotr••ng Room for those that make Observations
• 1: a•• Zodical Sphere
• 2 an Equinoclial Sph••re
• 3 an A••muthall Horizon
• 4 a Quadrant
• 5 A Sextant
• 6 a Coelestiall Globe

I. SPHAERA ARMILLARIS ZODIACALIS, of six Feet in Diameter.

This is supported by four Dragons Heads, whose Bodies after several windings are fastned to the ends of two Brazen Beams laid a-cross, that bear the whole weight of the Sphere. These Dragons, which were picked out among all other Creatures, because the Emperor bears them in his Coat of Arms, are as the Chinese represent them, wrapt up in Clouds, with long Hair on their Heads between their Horns, a fuzzy Beard under their lower Jaw, flaming Eyes, long sharp Teeth, their Mouth open, and breathing a whole Stream of Flame. Four Lions of the same Metal, stand under the End of the aforesaid Beams, whose Heads are raised higher or lower by Screws fastned with them. The Circles are divided both in their Exteriour and Interiour Surface by Cross••lines into 360 Degrees each, and each Degree into 60 Mi∣nutes, and the latter into portions of 10 Seconds each by small Pins.

II. SPHAERA EQUINOXIALIS of six Foot Diameter.

This Sphere is supported by a Dragon, who bears it on his back bowed, and whose four Claws seize the four Ends of its Pedestal, which as the former is formed of two Brazen Beams Cross-wise, whose Ends are also born by four small Lions, which serve to set it right. The Design is noble and well performed.

III. HORISON AZIMUTHALE, six Feet in Diameter.

This Instrument, useful for the taking of Azimuths, is composed of a large Circle horisontally placed. The double Alhidada, which serves it for a Diameter,

runs over all the Limb, and carries round along with it an upright Triangle, the upper Angle of which is fastned to a Beam raised perpendicular from the Cen∣ter of the said Horison. Four folded Dragons bow their Heads under the inferiour Limb of that Circle, to make it fast; and two others wound round two small Columns, mount on either side Cemicircular∣wise, as high as the said Beam, to which they are fastned, to keep the Triangle steady.

IV. A large QUADRANT whose Radius is six Foot.

The Limb is divided into Portions of 10 Seconds each; the Lead which shews its Vertical Situation, weighs a Pound; and hangs from the Center by a ve∣ry fine Brass-wyre. The Alhidada moves easily round the Limb. A Dragon folded in several Rings, and wrapt up in Clouds, seizes on all parts the several Plates of the Instrument to fasten them, least they should start out of their due Position. The whole Body of the Quadrant hangs in the Air, and a fixed Axis runs thro' its Center, round which the Quadrant turns towards the Parts of the Heavens which the Mathematician chooses to observe: And least its weight should cause it to shiver, and lose its Vertical Position, a Beam is raised on each side, secured at the bottom by a Dragon, and fastned to the middle Beam or Axis by Clouds which seem to come out of the Air. The whole Work is solid and well contrived.

V. A SEXTANT, whose Radius is about eight Feet.

This represents the sixth Part of a great Circle born by a Beam, the Basis of which is Concave, made fast with Dragons, and crossed in the middle by a Brazen Pillar, on one end of which is an En∣gine, the help of whose Wheels serves to facilitate the

Motion of that Instrument. On this Engine rests the middle of a small Brazen Beam which represents a Radius of the Sextant, and is fastned to it. Its up∣per part is terminated by a big Cilinder, which is the Center, round which the Alhidada turns, and the low∣er is extended above two Feet beyond the Limb, that it may be grasped by the Pully which serves to raise it. These large and heavy Machines are of greater Or∣nament than use.

VI. A CELESTIAL GLOBE of six Feet Diameter.

This in my opinion is the fairest and best fashion∣ed of all the Instruments. The Globe it self is Bra∣zen, exactly round and smooth: The Stars well made, and in their true places, and all the Circles of a pro∣portionable breadth and thickness. It is besides so well hung that the least touch moves it, and tho' it is above Two thousand weight, the least Child may elevate it to any Degree. On its large Concave Ba∣sis rest in an opposite Station four Dragons, whose Hair standing up an end, support a noble Horison commen∣dable by its Breadth, its several Ornaments, and the Delicacy and Niceness of the Work. The Meridian in which the Pole is fixed, rests upon Clouds that is∣sue out of the Basis, and slides easily between them, its motion being facilitated by some hidden Wheels, and moves with it the whole Globe to give it the re∣quired Elevation. Besides which the Horison, Dra∣gons, and two Brazen Beams which lye cross in the Center of the Basis's Concavity, are all moved at pleasure, without stirring the Basis, which still remains fixed; this facilitates the due placing of the Ho••ison, whether in respect of the Natural Horison, or in re∣spect of the Globe. I wondred how Men, who live Six thousand Leagues from us, could go through such a piece of Work; and I must own that if all the

Circles which are divided, had been corrected by some of our Workmen, nothing could be more per∣fect in that kind. These Machines being most of them above 10 feet from the Ground, have for the Astronomers greater conveniency, Marble Steps round them, cut Amphitheater-wise.

How inviting soever these new Instruments may seem, the Chinese could never have been perswaded to make use of them, and leave their old ones, without an especial Order from the Emperor to that effect. They are more fond of the most defective Piece of Antiquity then of the perfectest Novelty, differing much in that from us who are in love with nothing but what is new. Indeed we are all to blame, for Time can add to or detract nothing from the real worth of things: But if we do not take great care of our selves, Fancy, Custom, and Prejudice, will pre∣vail over our Understanding, which only perceiving the Difference of things, is only able to judge of it. If this Failing of the Chinese extended but to their Temporal Concerns, the Mischief perhaps would not be great; but it unhappily reaches ••o the Point of Religion; and whereas in Europe it seems that a Do∣ctrine, tho' never so absurd, has a Title to our Belief when recommended by Novelty, in China it is quite contrary; ••or they think it a sufficient reason to re∣ject the Christian Faith, because in respect of their Monarchy it is not old enough: As tho' Time and Ignorance were to be pre••erred to Truth, or that long standing could render Superstition lawful or reasona∣ble.

The Fondness ••or Antiquity and for the Observance of ancient Customs, is perhaps what keeps the Chinese so close to their Astronomical Observations, for it has ever been their continual Practise, but it is a shame, that they have during so long a time made no great∣er Improvements. One would think, that having

watched the Motions of the Stars above 4000 years, they should be perfectly acquainted with them; yet when our Missionaries entered that Country, they found them to be so unskilful herein, that with all their care they never could arrive to the Composing of an Exact Calendar; and their Tables of Eclipses were so uncorrect, that scarce could they foretel a∣bout what time that of the Sun should happen. As for those two Points they are now at rest, for those Fathers have settled the Calendar, and that which is given out in the beginning of each year, notes with the greatest nicety all the Motions of the Heavens which are during the year to happen out of Course.

However they still continue their Observations. Five Mathematicians spend every Night on the Tow∣er in watching what passes over head; one is gazing towards the Zenith, another to the East, a third to the West, the fourth turns his Eyes Southwards, and a fith Northwards, that nothing of what happens in the four Corners of the World may scape their diligent Observation. They take notice of the Winds, the Rain, the Air, of unusual Phenomena's, such as are Eclipses, the Conjunction or Opposition of Planets, Fires, Meteors, and all that may be useful. This they keep a strict accompt of, which they bring in every Morning to the Surveyor of the Mathematicks, to be registred in his Office. If this had always been pra∣ctised by able and careful Mathematicians, we should have a great number of curicus Remarks; but besides that, these Astronomers are very unskilful, they take little care to improve that Science; and provided their Salary be paid as usual, and their Income constant, they are in no great trouble about the Alterations and Changes which happen in the Sky. But if these Phe∣nomena's are very apparent, as when there happens an Eclipse, or a Comet appears, they dare not be alto∣gether so negligent.

All Nations have ever been astonished at Eclipses, of which they could not discover the Cause; there is nothing so extravagant as the several Reasons some have given for it, but one would wonder that the Chi∣nese, who as to Astronomy may justly claim Seniori∣ty over all the World besides, have reasoned as ab∣surdly on that Point as the rest. They have fancied that in Heaven there is a prodigious great Dragon, who is a professed Enemy to the Sun and Moon, and ready at all times to eat them up. For this reason, as soon as they perceive an Eclipse, they all make a terrible rattling with Drums and brass Kettles, till the Monster frightned at the noise has let go his Prey. Persons of Quality, who have read our Books, have for these several years been undeceived, but (especi∣ally if the Sun looseth its Light) the old Customs are still observed at Pekin, which (as is usual) are at once very Superstitious and very Ridiculous. While the Astronomers are on the Tower to make their Obser∣vations,the chief Mandarines belonging to the Lipou fall on their Knees in a Hall or Court of the Palace, looking attentively that way, and frequently bowing towards the Sun, to express the pity they take of him, or rather to the Dragon, to beg him not to molest the World, by depriving it of so necessary a Planet.

Now all that the Mathematicians have foretold concerning the Eclipse must prove true, should it hap∣pen sooner or later, be greater or less, longer or short∣er, the Surveyor and his Brethren would go near to lose their Places. But they never run that hazard, let what will happen the Registers are ever exact; and provided the Officers be well paid, they are ever in Fee with the Heavens.

I am afraid, My Lord, that I have been too tedious in this Digression; your Highness having for these se∣veral years been busied in Affairs of greater moment, must needs have little regard for such obstruse Noti∣ons,

unfit to excite you to those elevated Sentiments so natural to such great Souls as yours, and I might have spent my time more to your Satisfaction in wri∣ting the Wars of the Tartars, and the Conquest of China. But besides the inclination every Man has to speak of what belongs to his Profession, I have per∣haps been over-ruled by the habit we contract in Chi∣na to entertain great Persons with these Matters; and have hoped, that a Prince curious, and endued with a Genius to which nothing is impossible, would with pa∣tience hear, that which makes the Delight of the Greatest and most Learned Emperor in the whole World.

I should do Pekin a very great injustice if I passed over in silence its noble Gates and stately Walls, which indeed become an Imperial City. The former are not embellished with Statues or other Carving as are most Publick Buildings in China, but all their Beauty consists in a prodigious height, which at a Distance makes the finest shew in the World. They consist in two large square Buildings built separately, but bound together by two tall and very thick Walls, so that they form a Square which may contain above Five hun∣dred Men in Battel. The first Building, which looks like a Fortress, faces the Road. There is no way thro' it, but you go in at the Side wall, where there is a Gate proportionable to all the rest; then you turn to the Right, and meet with the second Tower which commands the City, and has a Gate like the former, but whose Gate-way is so long that it grows dark to∣wards the middle. There they constantly keep a Corps du Guard, and a small Magazine to supply it rea∣dily with Stores in case of Necessity.

If you respect only the neatness of the Workman∣ship, and the Ornaments of Architecture, I must, in∣deed, confess, that the Gates of Paris are incompara∣bly finer. But yet, when a Man approaches Pekin,

he must own that these immense Buildings, and, if I may speak it, those proud Masses have in their un∣shapeness a State preferrable to all our Ornaments. The Arches are built with Marble, and the rest with very large Brick, bound with excellent Mortar.

The Walls are answerable to their Gates, so tall that they hide the whole City, and so thick that Cen∣tries on Horse-back are placed upon them. From place to place, at a Bow-shots distance, they are defended with square Towers. The Ditch is dry, but very broad and deep. All is regular, and as well kept as if they were in continual Apprehension of a Siege. This, My Lord, is a pretty exact Description of the chief City of all China, valuable by its Extent, large Gates, strong Walls, sumptuous Palace, good Garri∣son, (which consists in the best Forces of the whole Empire) and the Number of its Inhabitants, but com∣mendable for nothing else.

What may be said of all the rest in general is this; The Chinese divide them into two kinds. Those which are solely designed for the Defence of the Country they call Cities of War, and the rest Towns of Traffick. The fortified Places which I have seen are not much stron∣ger than the others, unless it be by their Situation, which makes some almost inaccessible. The Fron∣tier Towns, especially those near Tartary, are some∣what singular; and our Missionaries have assured me, that there were several narrow Passages so well forti∣fied, that it was almost impossible to force them: I my self have seen some which a hundred Men might easily defend against a whole Army. Their usual For∣tifications are a good Bulwork, some Towers, Brick∣walls, and a large and deep Ditch, filled with run∣ning Water. This is all the Chinese Engineers skill consists in, which indeed is no wonder, since our selves knew no better, before Cannons were in use, which has put us upon inventing new ways of defend∣ing

our Cities, as there were new ones contrived of attacking them.

I confess, My Lord, that running over all those Ci∣ties, which their Inhabitants esteem the strongest in the World, I have often with no little pleasure reflect∣ed on the facility with which Lewis the Great would subdue those Provinces, if Nature had made us a lit∣tle nearer Neighbours to China; he whom the stout∣est Places in Europe can at best withstand but during a few days. God has, by an equal and just Distribu∣tion, given the Chinese but Ordinary Commanders, because no Extraordinary Actions could be performed there; but to vanquish such Enemies as ours, so great a Hero was wholly necessary.

It must however be granted, that in the way of Fortification the Chinese have outdone all the Ancients in the prodigious Work that defends part of their Country. 'Tis that which we call the Great Wall, and with themselves stile Van li Cham, Chim, The Wall 10000 Stadium's long, which reaches from the Eastern Ocean to the Province of Chansi: Not that its length is so great as they speak it; but if you reckon all its windings, it will really appear to be no less than 500 Leagues. You must not conceive it as a plain Wall, for it is fortified with Towers much like the City Walls I have mentioned; and in the places where the Passes might be more easily forced, they have raised two or three Bulworks one behind another, which may give themselves a mutual Defence, whose enor∣mous Thickness, and the Forts which Command all the Avenues, being all guarded by great numbers of Forces, protect the Chinese from all Attempts on that side.

China being divided from Tartary by a Chain of Mountains, the Wall has been carried on over the highest Hills, and is now tall and then low as the Ground allowed; for you must not think, as some

have imagined, that the Top of it is level through∣out, and that from the bottom of the deepest Vales it could have been raised to be as high as the tallest Mountains. So when they say that it is of a wonder∣ful height, we must understand it of the Spot of Ground it is built on; for of it self it is rather lower than those of their Cities, and but four, or at most, five feet in thickness.

It is almost all built with Brick, bound with such strong Mortar, that not only it has lasted these several Ages, but is scarce the worse. It is above 1800 years since Emperor Chihohamti raised it to prevent the In∣surrections of the Neighbouring Tartars. This was at once one of the greatest and maddest Undertakings that I ever heard of; for tho' indeed it was a pru∣dent Caution of the Chinese thus to guard the easiest Avenues, how ridiculous was it of them to carry their Wall to the top of some Precipices which the Birds can scarce reach with their Flight, and on which it is impossible the Tartarian Horse should ascend: And if they could fancy that an Army could have clam∣bered up thither, how could they believe that so thin and low a Wall as they have made it in such places, could be of any Defence.

As for my part, I admire how the Materials have been conveyed and made use of there; and, indeed, it was not done without a vast Charge, and the loss of more Men then would have perished by the greatest Fury of their Enemies. It is said, that during the Reigns of the Chinese Emperors, this Wall was guard∣ed by a Million of Soldiers; but now that part of Tartary belongs to China, they are content with man∣ning well the worst situated, but best fortified Parts of it.

Among the other Fortresses of the Kingdom, there are above a Thousand of the first rate; the rest are less remarkable, and indeed scarce deserve that Name;

yet all are very well garrisoned, and by that one may judge what vast Armies are constantly kept on foot. However, that is not the Chinese's chiefest boast, for if they are considered but as to the Military part, they will raise our wonder, but who can enough admire the Numbers, Greatness, Beauty, and Government of their Trading Towns? They are generally divided into three Classes; of the first there are above 160, of the second 270, and of the third near 1200, be∣sides near 300 walled Cities more, which they leave out as not worth observing, tho' they are almost all well inhabited and traded. The greater and lesser Villages are numberless, especially those of the Sou∣thern Provinces. In the Province of Chan••i and Chen••i they are for the most part surrounded with Walls and good Ditches, with Iron Gates which the Country People shut at Night, and guard in the Day-time, to protect themselves from Thieves, as also from the Sol∣diers, who as they pass by, which they continually do, would in spight of their Officers insult them.

The largeness of these Cities is not less amazing then their number. Pekin, which I have already had the honour to mention to your Highness, is not to be compared to Nankin, or, as it is now called, Kiam∣nin, a Town formerly enclosed within three Walls, the outermost of which was 16 long Leagues round. Some Works of it are still to be seen, which one would rather think to be the Bounds of a Province then a City. When the Emperors kept their Court there, its Inhabitants were, no doubt, numberless. Its Si∣tuation, Haven, Plenty, the Fertility of the Neigh∣bouring Lands, and the Canals made near it for the Improvement of Trade, could not but make it a fine City. It has since lost much of its former Splendour, however, if you include those who live in its Sub∣urbs, and on the Canals, it is still more populous than Pekin, and tho' the unarable Hills, the ploughed Lands,

Gardens, and vast empty Places which are within its Walls, render it really less then it seems, what is in∣habited does still make a prodigious big City.

The Streets are moderately broad, but very well pa∣ved; The Houses low, but cleanly, and the Shops ve∣ry rich, being filled with Stuffs, Silks, and other cost∣ly Wares: In a word, it is as the Center of the Em∣pire, where you may find all the Curiosities which are produced in it. There the most famous Doctors and the Mandarins who are out of Business, usually settle themselves, having the conveniency of several Libraries filled with choice of good Books; their Printing is fairer, their Artificers are better Work∣men, the Tongue more polite, and the Accent smo∣ther than any where else; and truly no other City were more proper for the Emperor's Seat, were it not for the State's advantage that he should reside near the Frontiers. It is also famous for several other Reasons.

First, Because of the River Kiam on which it is si∣tuated, which is the Largest, Deepest, and most Na∣vigable in the whole Empire; being, in that part of it which bathes the City, near half a League broad.

Secondly, The Royal Observatory on the Top of a Mountain, where stood formerly a Platform and proper Instruments (which were since removed to Pekin) but now only some old Buildings remain, and a large square Hall, newly built as an Acknowledg∣ment of Emperor Camhy's kind Visit to that City. This was a Trick of the Mandarins, who under pre∣tence of raising a Monument of that Prince's Favour, got considerable Sums of Money from the Inhabi∣tants, not half of which was laid out.

In the third place for a large Tower, vulgarly called the China Tower. There is without the City (and not within, as some have wrote) a House named by the Chinese, The Temple of Gratitude, (Pao-gren-sse) built 300 years ago by Emperor Yonlo. It is raised on a

Massive Basis, built with Brick, and surrounded with a Rail of unpolished Marble: There are ten or twelve Steps all round it, by which you ascend to the low∣ermost Hall, the Floor of which stands one foot higher than the Basis, leaving a little Walk two feet wide all round it.

The Front of this Hall or Temple is adorned with a Gallery and some Pillars. The Roofs (for in Chi∣na there are usually two, one next to the top of the Wall, and a narrower over that) are covered with Green varnished shining Tiles; and the Ceiling within is painted, and made up of several little ••ieces differently wrought one within the other, which with the Chinese is no little Ornament. I confess that med∣ley of Beams, Jices, Rafters and Pinions, bears a sur∣prising singularity, because we must needs judge that such a Walk was not done without great Expence: But to speak truth, it proceeds only from the Igno∣rance of their Workmen, who never could find out Noble Simplicity which becomes at once the Solidity and Beauty of our Buildings.

This Hall has no Light but what comes in at the Doors, of which there are three very large ones that give admittance into the Tower I speak of, which is part of this Temple. It is of an Octogonal Figure, about 40 Feet broad, so that each side is 15 Foot wide. A Wall in the like form is built round it, at two Fathoms and a half Distance, and being mode∣rately high, supports the one side of a Pent-house, which issues from the Tower, and thus makes a pret∣ty kind of a Gallery. This Tower is nine Stories high, each Story being adorned with a Cornish three Feet wide, at the bottom of the Windows, and di∣stinguished by little Pent-houses like the former, but narrower, and (like the Tower it self) decreasing in breadth as they increase in height.

The Wall is, at the bottom, at least twelve Feet

thick, and above eight and a half at the top; incrust∣ed with China Ware laid flat-wise; for tho' the Wea∣ther has something impaired its Beauty, there is yet enough remaining to shew that it is real China, tho' of the courser sort; since 'tis impossible that Bricks could have retained that Lustre above 300 years.

The Stair-case within is narrow and troublesome, the Steps being very high. Each Story is made up of thick pieces of Timber laid cross-wise, and on them a Floor, the Cieling of each Room being enriched with Paintings, if their Painting can enrich a Room. The Walls of the upper Rooms bear several small Niches full of Carved Idols, which makes a pretty kind of Checker. The whole Work is Gilt, and looks like carved Stone or Marble; but I believe it to be only Brick, for the Chinese are very skilful in stamp∣ing all kind of Ornaments on it, which thro' the fine∣ness of their sisted Mould, becomes more easie to them then to us.

The first Floor is the most lofty, but the rest are of an equal height. I have told the Steps, which are 190 in number, being almost all 10 large Inches high, having measured them very nicely, which amounts to 158 Feet. If you add to this the height of the Ba∣sis, that of the ninth Story, which has no Steps to mount thence to the Top, and the Cubilo, the Sum will be at least 200 Feet in height from the Ground.

This Cubilo is not one of the least Ornaments of that Building, being, as it were an extraordinary thick Mast, or May-Pole, which from the Floor of the eighth Story rises above 30 Feet higher than the top of the Tower. Round it a great piece of Iron runs in a Spiral-line, several Feet distant from the Pole, so that it looks like a hollow Cave, on the top of which is placed a very large golden Ball. This it is that the Chinese call the Porcelain Tower, and with some Europe∣ans would name the Brick-one. Whatever it may be

made of, it is undoubtedly the be•••• contrived and no∣blest Structure of all the East. From its Top you have a Prospect of the whole City, and especially of the Mountain on which stands the Observatory, which lyes a good League North-East and by East from it.

Nankin was also famous for the bigness of its Bells, but their weight having worn down the Steeple which they were hung in, the whole Building fell down, and they still lye upon the ground. There is one in the way between our Colledge & the Observatory whose height is 11 Feet, and that of its Handle or Ear by which it hangs 2, and its Diameter is 7; the outward Circumfe∣rence is 22 Feet, which indeed lessens towards the top, but not in the same proportion with our Bells here, for the Figure is almost a Cilinder, if you take away a considerable Swelling towards the middle where the Circumference is equal to that of the bottom. Its lower Brim is six Inches and a half thick, but grows thinner and thinner, to the bowing where the Cone begins, so that under the Ear it is not above two Inches thick, which may be measured exactly enough, be∣cause they bore their Bells at the top to increase their Sound, as they conceit it. The Metal is brittle, and the Cast not clear, being full of little knobs.

These Bells were cast during the Ninth Reign be∣fore this. Each have their particular Name; the one being called Tchoui, The Hanger; another Che, The Eater; a third Choui, or So, The Sleeper; and a fourth Si, The Flyer; for tho' there are but three in the City, the Chinese Geographers place a fourth beyond the River Kiam. Now supposing that a Cubical Foot of Brass weigh•• 648 Pound, the Bell which I measured should weigh about 90 Thousand, supposing it to be of an equal bigness and thickness. As for the bigness, there is no great difference, but the thickness lessens from the bottom to the top, where, as I have said, it is but two Inches think; so that allowing it be one

with another four Inches thick and better throughout, the Bell will weigh about 50000 l. and be twice as heavy as that at Erfort, which Father Kirc••er affirms to be the biggest in the World.

But this is nothing to what there is at Pekin, which can shew seven cast under the Reign of Emperor Youlo near 300 years ago, weighing 120000 l. each. They are 11 Feet wide, 40 round, and 12 high, be∣sides the Ear, which is at least 3 foot in height▪ This, My Lord, I own is surprising, and could scarce be believed, had we not Father Verbiest's word for it, who himself has exactly measured them.

But as much as their Bells exceeds ours in bigness, so much do ours exceed them in Sound, whether our Metal or Cast be better. Be pleased however to read what Father Magalbaens writes of that which is in the Palace at Pekin. Its sound, says he, is so clear, so plea∣sant, and ••armonious, that it seems to proceed from a Mu∣sical Instrument much rather than a Bell. All this must be understood comparatively; and perhaps the Au∣thor had never heard any thing of that kind like it. As for my part, all the Bells I have heard there, have seemed to me to make but a dull, obscure noise, as one may easily imagine, for their Clappers are not made of Iron, but Wood. However the thing be (for it deserves not a longer Enquiry) it is certain that the Chinese have in all their Cities very big ones, with which they distinguish the Watches of the Night. Of these they usually reckon five, from seven or eight of the Clock in the Evening: They begin the first with striking once, which they repeat a moment after, and so on till the second Watch, when they strike two strokes, at the third three; and so on: So that these Bells are as so many repeating Clocks, which every other moment inform you what time of Night it is. They also use for the same purpose a very great Drum, which they beat in the same manner.

These two Imperial Cities, which I have now been describing, might alone render China deservedly fa∣mous, but the Metropolis of most Provinces are so big, that each were fit to be the Chief of an Empire. Signanfou, the Capital City of Chensi, is three Leagues round. I have had the Curiosity to measure it my self, which was not difficult, the Walls which inclose it making an exact Square. Its Ditches, which are partly dry and partly filled with water, are very fine; its Walls thick and tall, as well as the square Towers that defend them; its Bulworks very broad; and its Gates, at least some, most stately, and like those at Pekin. The City is divided into two Parts by an Earthen Wall, which runs almost from one End to the other. The one half is inhabited by the Tartar••, who keep the biggest Garrison, tho' in the other where the Chinese dwell, there be also a good Body of Troops. There may still be seen an old Palace, the former Residence of the ancient Kings of that Coun∣try, who were powerful, not only because of the vast Extent of their Dominions, but also thro' the Bravery and Courage of their Subjects; for among all the Chinese, there are not any better proportioned, or more strong, stout and laborious than these. As for the Houses, they are, as every where else in Chi∣na, low and not over-well built; their Furniture is not so neat as in the Southern Parts, their Varnish not so smooth, their China so abundant, or their Work∣men so ingenious.

Hamt-c••éou, the Chief City of the Province of Chekiam, is also one of the richest and greatest in the Empire. The Chinese say it is four Leagues round, and, I believe, they tell no lye. The Streets are as full of People as at Paris, and the Suburbs besides be∣ing very large, and the Canals crowded with an in∣finite number of Boats, I believe it to be as populous as the greatest Cities in Europe. The Garrison consists

in 10000 Men, 3000 of which are Chinese. The Wa∣ter of their Canals is not clear, nor their Streets broad, but the Shops are neat, and the Merchants there are reputed to be very rich.

Eastwards from the City runs a River half a League broad, being near the Sea, but indeed not very con∣siderable, for a little higher it is but an useless Tor∣rent, which runs thro' abundance of Rocks. A Lake lyes close to it to the Westwards, which at most is two Leagues round. The Water is clear, but very shal∣low; Deep enough however for some large Flat-bot∣tom'd Boats, which the Chinese keep there, like so many floating Islands, where their young People take their Pleasure themselves. In the middle stands an Island where they usually land, having built there a Temple and some Houses for their Diversion. Of this Lake some Relations have made an Inchanted Place. I have read that it was built round with stately Hou∣ses and noble Palaces. This might be; but if true, a great care was certainly taken that not so much as the least Track or Memory of it should remain. But perhaps they gave that Name to some Wooden thatched Dwellings, in which China does every where abound, then indeed a short while might make great Alterations, for Time needs not use it's utmost Ef∣forts to pull them down. However, if this City is not so eminent for Buildings, it is commendable for being one of the best situated in the Empire, for the prodigious Number of its Inhabitants, the Conveni∣ency of its Canals, and the great Traffick which is made there in the finest Silks in the World.

What is surprising in China is, That whereas, being gone thro' one of these Cities, you would scarce ex∣pect to meet with the like, you are hardly out of sight of it before you are in view of such another. As for example; Going along the great Canal from Hamt-chéou you come to Sout-chéou, which is not far

from it, and if you believe the Inhabitants, contain•• four Leagues in Circuit, being indeed of a vast Ex∣tent. It is also the usual Residence of a Viceroy, and has as great a Trade as any City in the Empire. I do not find it to be proportionably as Populous as those I have mentioned; but the Suburbs, and multitude of Boats amaze new Comers. Those who have the Pa∣••ience to spend a few Minutes on the Water-side, and view the Throngs of People that come to cheapen Commodities, would imagine it to be a Fair to which the whole Empire were crowding; and the Officers there, tho' not over strict, are so busied in receiving the Customs, that they are obliged to put off to the next day a great many Traders, who come to make their Payments. This continual Hurry among the most covetous Nation in the World, should occasion frequent Quarrels, but their Government is so good, and the Mandarines Orders so strictly observed, that besides Abusive Language, in which the Chinese are very fluent, other Injuries are seldom offered. Not far from Sout-ché••u you meet with other Cities at small Distances from each other, some a League and a half, and some two Leagues round. As soon as you are come to the River Kiam, you meet with Shin Kiamson, a Town built on its Banks, one of whose very Sub∣urbs▪ which lyes North-west, is a large German League in Circuit; This Place is so Populous, that when I passed thro' it, it was no small trouble to me to make my way thro' the Crowd, and is usually as great in those Streets as here at a Solemn Procession. Over against it, on the other side of the River, stands Qua-chéou, another great trading Town; a little be∣yond lyes Yam-chéou, one of the most remarkable Ci∣ties in the whole Empire, which, according to the Chinese, contains two Millions of Inhabitants.

If I did not here recal my self, I should unawares describe all the Cities of China; but designing only

to give your Highness a general account of their Large∣ness and Number, I shall without a needless, tedious descending into Particulars, assure your Eminency that my self have seen seven or eight of them as big at least as Paris, besides several others where I have not been, which I am assured are not less. There are four∣score of the first Rank, equal to Lyons or Bourdeaux. Among 260 of the Second, above a Hundred are like Orleance; and among 1200 of the Third, there are five or six hundred as considerable as Rochel or Angou∣lesme; besides an innumerable quantity of Villages greater and more populous than Marenes and St. Iohn de Luz. These, My Lord, are no Hyperbole's, neither do I speak by Hear-say, but having travelled in Per∣son over the greatest part of China, I hope your High∣ness will favour me so far, as not to question the sin∣cerity of my Relation.

I shall conclude with the several Ports and Havens of China, which do not a little contribute ••o the In∣crease of its Wealth. Its Chinese Emperors had forbid the Entrance of them to Foreigners; but the Tartars, more sond of Money than of Ancient Customs, have of late years granted a free Access to all Nations.

The first, beginning Southwards, is Macao, famous for the great Traffick which the Portuguese formerly made there, before the Dutch had expelled them out of the greatest part of the Indies. They still have a Fortress in it, but their Garrison is small, as indeed they are not able to keep a very great one. Besides, their best way to maintain themselves in this Post is, to ingratiate themselves with the Chinese, by a blind obseq••iousness to all their Commands, which they do very wisely. The Town, if I may so call a few Hou∣ses not inclosed with any Walls, is built on a narrow uneven Soil, on the Point of a small Island which commands a good Road where Ships, by the means of several other little Islands which lye to the Wind∣wards,

are secure from any Storm. The Haven is Narrow, but Safe and Commodious. All the Cu∣stoms belong to the Emperor; and tho' the Portuguese do still preserve a Form of Government among them∣selves, yet they obey the Mandarines in whatsoever bears the least Relation to the Chinese.

The second Haven of this Coast is formed by a pretty wide River, up the which great Vessels can go as far as Canton. This place is very convenient to Foreigners, because the City supplies them with abun∣dance of all kind of Merchandises and Refreshments; but the Mandarines are not fond of letting them ap∣proach too near their Walls, least they should be sur∣prised, or rather, they are unwilling that their Merchants should deal with ours, to whom themselves do underhand sell their Commodities by the means of their Brokers.

The Province of Fokie•• adjoyning to that of Can∣ton has another celebrated Haven, which they call E∣moui, from the Island which forms it, for it is pro∣perly speaking, but a Road lockt in on the one hand by the Continent, and on the other by the said Island. The biggest Ships ride here secure, and the Banks so high, that they may come as near the Shoar as they will. The late great improvement of Trade in that City, invites to it a considerable number of People, and this Post has been judged of such a Consequence, that the Emperor has for some years past kept there a Garrison of six or seven Thousand Men under a Chi∣nese Commander.

The fourth called Nimpo, lyes in the most Easter∣ly part of China: There it was we landed. The En∣trance is very difficult, and wholly impracticable to great Vessels, the Bar at the highest Tides not being above 15 Foot under Water. That Place is neverthe∣less very well traded, for thence they make a speedy Voyage to Iapan, being but two days in their passage

to Nangazaki. Thither they carry Silks, Sugar, Drugs and Wine, which they Exchange for Gold, Silver and Brass.

Nimpo is a City of the first Class, and was in for∣mer times very remarkable, but has been much da∣maged by the late Wars; however, it daily regains something of its former Splendour; the Walls are in a good Condition, the City and Suburbs well inhabi∣ted, and the Garrison pretty numerous. The Town is still full of a kind of Monuments called by the Chinese Paifam, or Pailou, and by us Triumphal Arches, which are very frequent in China.

They consist in three great Arches abreast, built with long Marble Stones. That in the middle is much higher than the other two. The four Columns which support them are sometimes round, but of••ner square, made of one only Stone placed on an irregular Basis. In some this Basis is not to be seen whether they ne∣ver had any, or that thro' Age it was sunk into the Ground. They have no Capitals, but the Trunk is fastned into the Architrave, if we will give that Name to some Figures over the Pillars. The Frize is better distinguished, but too high in proportion to the rest; they adorn it with Inscriptions, Figures and Embossed Sculptures of a wonderful beauty, with Knots wrought loose one within another, with Flowers curiously car∣ved, and Birds flying as it were from the Stone, which in my Mind are Master-pieces.

Not that all these Arches are of this make: Some are so ordinary that they are not worth the seeing; but others there are which cannot enough be prised. Instead of a Cornish, they have before and behind large flat Marble Stones like Pent-houses There are so many of these Monuments at Nimpo, that in some places they are more a Trouble then an Ornament, tho' at a Distance they make an agreeable Prospect.

I have omitted the Haven of Nankin, which, me∣thinks,

because of the breadth and depth of the Ri∣ver Kiam should have been first in order; but not a∣ny Ships put in there at present. I do not know whe∣ther the Mouth of the said River is now choaked up with Sand; but sure I am, that the whole Fleet of that famous Pyrat who besieged Nankin during the late Troubles, passed it without any difficulty; and perhaps it is to prevent any such Accident for the fu∣ture, that the Chinese will not make use of it, that by degrees it may grow out of knowledge.

This, My Lord, is in general what may be said of the Ports, Fortresses and Cities of China, the number of which is so great, that scarce can a Traveller di∣stinguish them, they lye so thick together. There∣fore the Chinese have ever thought that no Nation in the World was to be compared to them, much like those People whom the Prophet represents, saying, * 7.1 This is that great and glorious City which has sub∣sisted for so many years, and saith, I truly am a City, and there is none besides me. The Chinese indeed were some∣thing excusable in this Point, since they knew of no∣thing beyond the Seas of Iapan and Forests of Tarta∣ry; 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 en∣joyed it above 4000 years.

Our Comfort, My Lord, is, that these proud Ci∣ties which stiled themselves Ladies of the Universe, have been forced to open their Gates to the Gospel, and art partly subdued by our Re∣ligion. * 7.2 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 ma∣ny 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 pri∣vate; 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 Vo∣lumes to cry down our Catholick Missions, will not agree to what I have said. Men, who have once pro∣fessed 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 bla∣med 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 sensi∣ble 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 Ca∣lumniator 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.

Notes

• * 1.1

  In the Draught the Length does not bear a reciprocall Pro∣portion to its Cir∣cuit.
• * 7.1

  Zeph. 2.15.
• * 7.2

  Isaiah 26.5.