Page:China- Its State and Prospects.djvu/259

Rh to cast some brass cannon, with which to operate among the hills. The missionary at first excused himself; but when his unwillingness to aid the government was interpreted into a disposition to favour the rebels, he complied; and, by the assistance of these light pieces, the imperial arms were successful.

Verbiest now rose in favour of the emperor, and accompanied him in his journies to Tartary. The mandarins, also, encouraged by the example of the court, favoured the missionaries in all parts of the empire; and nothing seemed wanting, but an accession of labourers, to bring both China, Corea, and Tartary to the profession of Christianity: in conformity with Xavier's observation, that "if China embraced the Gospel, all the neighbouring nations would soon demolish their idols, and adopt the Christian religion."

Encouraged by the openings which presented themselves, Louis XIV. king of France, resolved to send a mission to China; and having selected a number of Jesuits, well skilled in the mathematics, he sent them with honours and pensions on this important mission. Among the rest, was De Fontaney, professor of mathematics in the king's college; with Gerbillon, Bouvet, and Le Comte, afterwards celebrated for their labours in the east. They went first to Siam, and from thence proceeded, in a Chinese junk, to Ning-po, on the coast of China. The mandarins at that port received them with politeness; but the viceroy declared it unlawful for native vessels to bring Europeans to China, and threatened to send the missionaries back, and confiscate both ship and cargo. Verbiest, on hearing of this, memorialized the emperor, representing that they were men skilled in the sciences, and his brethren.