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.