Part 19

After this Manner and no other, _said my Father, interrupting him_, I conceive of the Meaning of the Word Trinity, but there is something else couch'd under it, or you would not have made so many Periphrases; I don't like any of these Ways of acting; formerly I thought you an honest Man, but now I find you a Cheat, and taking him by the Arm he thrust him out of his House for good and all; then turning about to us, _he said_, Don't you observe the Absurdities in this Sophister's Arguments? According to his Way of talking, this Jesus whom he preaches up to us so much, and whom he makes equal with God, had not so much Credit as to pay by his ignominious Death the Debt which the first Man contracted by eating the forbidden Fruit, because _Adam_, who, according to him, was created to live eternally, thereby deserv'd Death Temporal and Eternal, and because Christ only preserv'd _Adam_'s Posterity from the latter of those Deaths of which we have not any Certainty, and of which many Nations are ignorant; whereas he was not able to redeem us from the Death, which we know by Experience, and which, _said he_, was impos'd upon us as a Punishment. And what is yet more remarkable upon this Head is, that the Terms of this Redemption are burdensome, and much more difficult to put in practice, than those to which the Jews were subject under the old Dispensation. The _Israelites_, as the Christians themselves say, were only bound to do good Works; the Law requir'd nothing of 'em but Sprinklings and such other Ceremonies; but under the New Covenant Faith is added to good Works, and a Faith strong enough to believe all the Mysteries of Religion without doubting, notwithstanding they are repugnant to Reason and good Sense. As for my own Part, Children, _said he_, I renounce such wild Opinions, and will positively hear no more of them.

I was then twenty two Years of Age, and consequently at Years of Discretion: I could not for my Life see the Wildness of those Opinions which my Father cry'd out so much against. My Director (to do him justice) had only taught, that _Adam_ was threatned with Temporal Death, if he transgress'd; and that the Design of _Christ_'s Sufferings was not to take this Penalty off from Mankind, but to make them more than Amends by procuring for them Eternal Life in another World. To teach this, I thought, was not to represent _Christ_ as wanting any Credit with God; unless it had been necessary to the Happiness of when that the Temporal Death should have been superseded, the contrary of which seem'd more probable. I saw too that under the old Dispensation Faith was required of the Jews, as it is now under the Gospel requir'd of _Christians_. They were bound to believe not only that there is a God, but that it _Moses_'s Law was of Divine Origin, that he wrought Miracles, and that a _Messias_ was to come. These were some of their Articles of Faith; and tho' the Number of a Christian's Articles is enlarg'd, yet none of those which my Director had taught me, seem'd to my Reason to contain such Propositions as a Divine Power did not reach to. However my Father's Temper was such that he could not bear his Children to make him Replies, so that I was forc'd to obey, or run the Risque of being chastis'd.

After this, I did not see the Monk above three or four times in six Months, which was such an insupportable Mortification to me, that one Day having acquainted me of a Voyage he intended to make to _Goa_, I inform'd myself which Way he was to go, and without saying a Word to any Soul, I set out two Days before him, and went fifteen Leagues from Home to stay for him. The good Man was transported to see me, but when I told him what was the Motive of my meeting him, he had like to have discarded me for fear of the Consequences, so that I was oblig'd to give him my Oath that I would, where ever we came, declare what indeed was no more than the Truth, that he had no hand in this Excursion of mine, and that I would always endeavour at the Hazard of my Life to clear him from any such Accusation.

When we came hither, I intreated him to find me out some Person with whom I might live in the nature of a Domestic. It was not long before Father _Du Bourg_ procur'd what I wanted, for he plac'd me with one _Pelciano_ a _Portuguese_ Physician whom he knew intimately. This honest Man who had a great deal of Regard for me, took so much Pains to teach me his Language, that notwithstanding my ordinary Avocations, I was able to speak it in a very short Time. He likewise took a singular Pleasure in instructing me in his Religion, but tho' he was not so prevaricating as the Jesuit, I was shock'd at a great many Things, which I thought either ridiculous, or manifestly contradictory. I was also at some Trouble to reconcile your Chronology, which limits the Creation of the World to the Term of about 6000 Years, with ours and that of the _Indians_, who extend it with a great deal of Probability to a Distance almost infinite. Besides, I was extremely perplex'd which of the Sects to make choice of, when I heard that the Christians as well as others, are divided into a Number of Societies which differ so much in their Opinions as to cause an irreconcileable Hatred between them, so far as to damn one another; and that even in every one of these Societies there's I know not how many different Sorts of Opinions. My Master to whom I propos'd my Scruples, and who made use of all his Rhetoric to solve them, expected I should prefer the _Romish_ Religion to all others, probably because 'twas that which he profess'd himself. But being shock'd at the ridiculous Superstitions which I found those of that Communion were guilty of, I earnestly begg'd him to tell me seriously what he thought it adviseable for me to do.

Well my Lad, _said he_, remain as you are, or else turn to that Side where you think to find most Advantage. I will not make use of the Authority of _Polybius_, a very famous Historian about 200 Years before _Christ_, who pretended, as he says in his sixth Chapter, "That the Gods, as well as Punishments and Rewards after this Life, are only the chimerical Productions of the Ancients, which would be very insignificant if a Republic was to be form'd to consist only of good Men; but because there is no State where the People are not irregular and wicked, 'tis absolutely necessary for keeping them in Awe, to make use of the Panic Terrors of another World, to admit, believe and intirely to conform to them, on Pain of passing for Madmen and Fools." As this great Man was a Pagan, 'tis not fair to quote him among us upon a Fact of such Consequence. So that it shall suffice to tell you, that 'tis a Maxim with Great Men as well as the Learned to accommodate themselves to Times and Seasons. 'Tis indifferent in what Church, or with what People we worship God, provided we serve him with Respect and Veneration. He is the only common Father of all Mankind, and is willing to grant them all Salvation. 'Tis neither the Denomination of _Catholic_, _Calvinist_, _Lutheran_ nor _Anabaptist_, by which People are sav'd, but by Faith and good Works, The Man that leads a good Life is acceptable; to God, wherever he dwells, and Providence which trieth the Heart and the Reins, can easily distinguish a Believer from 100000 wicked and ungodly Persons. Most of the Articles which set Men at Variance in Religion are not so essential as is pretended by the Clergy; 'tis often a Matter of Indifference whether they are accepted or rejected; and provided there are any of Consequence, 'tis always certain that no Body knows our Hearts, and 'tis an easy Thing to associate with Fools, and even to imitate their external Grimaces without embracing their ridiculous Opinions. Worship is not attach'd to any particular Place, nor is Adoration paid any longer on the Mountain or in _Jerusalem_. God no longer requires the Blood of Heifers for his Satisfaction, nor the Distorsions of the Body. My Son, _says he_, give me thy Heart. This, _I said,_ appears to me very rational, I most humbly thank you for your Advice; and according to these Principles I shall be content with keeping up the Title of a Christian, without attaching myself absolutely to any one Sect. Ever since that Time, continued the _Chinese_, while I travell'd with Mons. _Pelciano_, I attended at all the Divine Services without any Scruple, and without giving Offence to any Person whatsoever.

But, I _reply'd_, how came you to be committed here? Indeed I know nothing of the Cause, _said he_, unless it be for having perhaps spoke a little too freely of the Mystery of the Incarnation; for I remember, I talk'd of that Matter publickly three or four Days before my Imprisonment. Mean time 'tis an Article that I shall never be silent about; for tho' I call my self a Christian, and am really so, I am far from designing it to the Prejudice of the Author of all things. Jesus Christ himself, if he were here, wou'd clear me. How great a Man soever this Divine Prophet was, 'tis sufficient to believe him the Son of God, by way of Eminence, and 'tis affronting him, to think him capable of attributing that Title to himself by Nature. It may also be affirm'd that he is truly our Mediator, because he has pointed out the way of Salvation to us, and the Means of keeping in that way. His Morals were undeniably pure, his Life holy, and his Doctrines divine, and he confirm'd the Truth of them by his Death; but that he is God Almighty, and Everlasting, the same Essence as the Father, and yet personally distinct from him, and engender'd from all Eternity, conceiv'd immediately of the Holy Ghost, or of God himself, and born of an immaculate Virgin, is what he has not pretended to, tho' others, with the greatest Injustice in the World, put those Words into his Mouth. 'Tis very true, as I have heard my Master say an hundred times, that the Scripture introduces God saying to him, _Thou art my Son_, but then it adds immediately after, _This Day have I begotten thee_. And as to the Word Virgin, 'tis certain, that in the original Language it also signifies a young Woman. Besides there are many Expositors who say, that the appropriating those Passages to Jesus Christ is doing Violence to the Text.

Finally, I must tell you, that the very Miracles, which are ascrib'd to this Great Person, are not to be understood literally, but in an improper and figurative Sense, as all the Parables of the Gospel are understood in. Thus, for Example, the Story of the Temptation, which appears to be ridiculous and impossible, if taken literally, means nothing but that the Kings and Princes of the Earth, who are as high as the Mountains above other Mortals, the Clergy, those Directors of Consciences, who preach in the Temples and sacrifice at the Altars, are equally liable to Trials and Temptations with the poor illiterate people in the Deserts, but that there is nothing which ought to divert them from their Duty, and to hinder them from paying their Homage to the Monarch of Heaven and Earth. The Persons possess'd with Devils mean repenting Sinners, and the Swine, into which the Devils that possess'd them were sent, signify Wretches abandon'd to all manner of Uncleanness, and plung'd over head and ears in Wickedness. The Faith of a Believer appears from the Example of _Peter_, when he walk'd up on the Waters, and his Unbelief from his sinking; his Virtue from his resolving to follow his Master in the most evident Dangers; and his Infirmity from his denying him the very Instant that a silly Woman accus'd him of being one of his Company when he fell into the Hands of his Enemies. In a word, all the extraordinary Events, as the Cure of Cripples, Blindness, Palsies, and such other Ailments, as well as the Resurrection of the Dead, mention'd in the History of the Life of Christ, are to be understood in a spiritual Sense; for then there is no Difficulty in explaining the Scripture, and they to whom it appears ridiculous or mysterious, will find it intelligble and easy; and so is the Old Testament, when we consider it only as a Compound of Emblems, Allegories, Metaphors, Hyperboles, Types and Comparisons invented for the Comfort and Instruction of the Children of God.

What you have now told me, _said I_, would furnish us Matter for a long Conversation, but I believe it would be to no Purpose. All that I can tell you is that the Jesuit _Du Bourg_ is a very Politick Gentleman, your Master a _Portuguese Jew_, and for your own Part, I look upon you as a Volunteer, or a Free Person, and not as a lifted Soldier. As long as a Man is not engag'd to any particular Captain, he may go and serve where he pleases without any Body's calling him to Account; but from the Moment that he is inlisted, he cannot leave his Company without the Permission of his Leader, and if he deserts he is a Criminal, and is punish'd according to the Laws. You say you are a Christian, tho' you are very far short of it 'till you have abjur'd Paganism, and embrac'd the Sect that you like Best among the Christians. You are not properly speaking subject to any Censure, and I persuade myself that if they who detain you here knew you, you would not stay here long. When all's said and done you are not under their Jurisdiction, and in this City there's entire Freedom for People of all Nations. Represent this to your Judge the next Time that you appear before him, not forgetting to say that you are a _Chinese_; and if you don't make mention of Christianity, I question not but you will do very well, and that you will get off for a Correction which you have very well deserv'd.

If ever I get out of their Clutches, _reply'd he_, I assure you I'll never get in again. I have, Thanks to God, wherewithal to live at Home, and can do very well after the manner I propose to myself, and even tho' our Domestic Affairs should not find me Employment, as long as my Father is living, I can spend my Time in making Telescopes and Microscopes.

How Microscopes, _said I_, where did you learn the Use of those Things? At Mons. _Peliciano_'s, reply'd he, who is as well skill'd in them as any Man in all the _Indies_. Father _Du Bourg_ meddles with them too, and even pretends to excel in them, but after all what he does that Way is worth nothing. The Microscopes which I make magnify Objects inconceivably. They make a Grain of Sand appear as big as an Ostrich's Egg, a Fly as large as an Elephant, and they help you plainly to distinguish Bodies which are imperceptible to the naked Eye. What I have admir'd a hundred Times is that by the help of this little Instrument, we find that our Bodies are cover'd with Scales one upon another like the Back of a Carp. And my Master lays it down for a Maxim that the Air we breathe is Water rarify'd, which only differs from that of Fish in Proportion as the Greater is to the Less; and I believe likewise that our Thick Air is compos'd of Particles much more gross in Proportion to the Subtle Matter, than those of Water can be. This Thought is founded upon Experiments which I have seen him make several Times, and which perhaps you will not be sorry to know.

He took two Bottles, one full of Water in which he put some small Fish; the other of Thick Air in which he put Birds, Mice, Rats, Squirrels, and other such Animals, after which he pump'd the Air out of the one, and the Water out of the other. Then making an Observation with certain Glasses of a Figure in a manner Hyperbolical, it appear'd there was not so much difference between the Particles of the Water which went out of the one, and the Particles of Air that remain'd, as there was between the Particles of Air and the Parcels of pure Matter in the other; to which may be added that Fish live longer in the one than those little Animals in the other. But Glasses of this Sort are of difficult Construction, at least I have not been able hitherto to make them to due Perfection. To this I have heard it objected that if you take three different Vessels seal'd hermetically and fill'd, the first with Water, the second with Air, and the third with subtile Matter, and put a live Sparrow in each; it was always observ'd that the Flesh of this Animal was corrupted in a few Days in the first Vessel, whereas in the others it did not suffer the least Alteration in several Years, From hence it seems to follow that the Particles of Water must be more gross and more efficacious than those of Air, because otherwise this would proceed by degrees; that is to say, that if the Water corrupts Flesh in eight Days, the Air must do it in sixteen, and the subtile Matter in twenty four, supposing an Equality in their Differences, whereas 'tis found that Water alone is capable of this Operation. But 'tis probable that, the Greatness of the Parts has not so much Share in this Dissolution as the Figure and Agitation in the Agent on the one hand, and the Disposal of those same Parts in the Patient on the other, because there are Bodies, such as Oak-timber, which keep much longer in Water than the Air; whereas, on the contrary, Fire destroys Ash-wood in a Day, when Water cou'd not do it in an Age.

'Tis a curious Subject, _reply'd I_, but do you know what your Doctor thinks about the Production of Animals? He thinks, said he, that Generation is the only way by which they are produc'd, whatever Argument may be invented to favour a contrary Opinion. For as to the Instance of Fruits with Worms in them, whereof there's no Appearance without which way they got within, this is attended with no Difficulty. To explain this matter it must be observ'd, that Flies and such Insects commonly creep into the Chinks of Trees and Plants, not only to shelter themselves from the Injuries of the Air, but to get Nourishment from the Sap; so that if the Eggs of such Vermin happen to be in the Place where Fruit is to be form'd, that which is nearest being encompass'd with the first Drop of the Moisture that issues out of it for its Formation, lies inclos'd in it, and lives in it till the Fruit is ripe, or as long as there remains any thing for it to subsist on; and when such Provision is spent, it penetrates thro' the Obstacle that stops it, and makes its Way out. To confirm this Opinion by undeniable Proof, only look upon the Gall-nut, and if you examine its Production carefully, you will find something in it that is surprizing.

The Gall-nut is an Excrement, or, if you please, _said he_, a sort of little Apples that grow in the Leaves of Oaks, after this manner: There are certain black Flies, which in the Season lay their delicate Eggs on the lower side of the Leaves of those great Trees, for fear they should be scorch'd by the Heat of the Sun: As soon as these little Animals are hatch'd, they break thro' the Covering which gives them Shade, and pierce thro' the Veins of it, in order to be nourish'd by the Juice that comes out of it in a great Quantity. If it then happens that one of these Insects be environ'd with a Drop that has any due Consistency, it stays there while such Drop congeals, grows and becomes a Fruit at last, of the Bigness of a Pigeon's Egg, more or less, and it does not go out of it till 'tis become a Fly, or till the Fruit which it was in a manner produc'd, be too dry to give it Nourishment. He confirm'd this Hypothesis by other Arguments which I don't remember.

Three Weeks after my Imprisonment I was carry'd to the Holy Office: The Judge having ask'd me the Place of my Birth, my Age and my Religion (to which I answer'd very readily) conjur'd me to declare with my own Mouth the Reason of my being detain'd, because there was no better Method for my speedy Deliverance out of Trouble, expecting, no doubt, that I should act with regard to that Tribunal, as I wou'd before God, that is to say, make Confession of my Faults, in order to obtain Mercy. I protested to him, that I had not done or said any thing which I cou'd reproach my self with, or which any body cou'd lawfully lay to my Charge; that God was Witness of my Innocence, and that it must: be some ill-minded Person, who perhaps envy'd my Success in my Business, that had done me the Mischief to accuse me of some Crime that I had never committed. In fine, I gave him to understand, that I had great Dependance upon his Goodness, and that if he did but inquire into my Life he wou'd soon be convinc'd of the Truth of what I told him.

The same thing happened to me a fortnight after, and so on till I had been examin'd seven times; after which the Inquisitor told me, that since I did not care to make a true Confession of the Crimes I had committed, as a means of recovering my Liberty, they should proceed to declare against me. At the same time the Secretary read the Depositions, which set forth that I had spoke contemptibly of the Images of Saints, Crucifixes, Purgatory, and the Infallibility of the Holy Office. What say you to that? _said the Judge_, I own, _said I_, that when I beheld the Irregularity of most of the Inhabitants of this City, I could not help declaring in several Places, that I was surpriz'd to see, that People, who scrupled to pass before a Crucifix often made of vile Stuff, without paying a profound Reverence to it, or were afraid to neglect one Day without falling down twenty times before Images of Paper, made no Scruple to wallow in the Ordure of the most infamous Vices that can be committed in a Society of reasonable Creatures. 'Tis also true, that I spoke of Purgatory, as a Place which I thought very unnecessary, because 'tis sufficient for a Christian to believe that his Saviour's Blood cleanseth him from all his Sins. And as to Infallibility, _said I_, I don't think it can be lawfully ascrib'd to any but God, all Men being Sinners, according to several plain Passages of the holy Scripture. I own, _said I_, that I talk'd after this manner, but God knows that 'twas only with a View to glorify his Name, and from the Abhorrence I had to see so much Licentiousness in a Place where Piety and Devotion are pretended to reign in a very eminent Degree, and not with any Design to offend Religion or the holy Office. You took too great a Liberty, Friend, reply'd the Inquisitor; if you had however confess'd all this at first, it wou'd not have been the worse for you, tho' your Guilt wou'd have been the same. Mean time the Secretary, who wrote down my Confession in the Nature of a formal Deposition, order'd me to sign it, whereupon a Process was commenc'd against me; I was condemn'd to the Gallies for Life, and all my Goods confiscated.

We were about an hundred and fifty poor Wretches, who, on the 8th of _January_, 1670, were turn'd out of this terrible Place, some to be banish'd, of whom our _Chinese_ was one, some to be whipp'd, and three, who had been accus'd of Magic, were burnt alive, particularly a poor old Man of four-score and three, whom two different Orders of Monks had depriv'd of a very considerable Inheritance, by forcing his Brother, who was a rich Man, to make a Will, by which they got Possession of all that he left behind him at his Death, on pretence of delivering his Soul forthwith out of Purgatory. This unjust Proceeding so exasperated the old Man, that he cou'd not help fretting at it, and raving against those Persons whom he took to be the Authors of this Injustice, whereupon they loaded him with Crimes that deserv'd Burning, and did not cease to prosecute him till they saw him consum'd to Ashes.

CHAP. XV.

_Of the Author's Departure for_ Lisbon: _How he was taken and carry'd into Slavery, and what happened to him while he was a Slave._