eated Centurions, Colonels, and Gouernours, vntill
at last they attaine to be Lieu-tenants generall and Protectours of some
whole prouince; who notwithstanding (as I haue sayd) are in all things
subiect vnto the Vice-roy. All the foresayd Magistrates both of warre and
of peace haue a set number of attendants allotted vnto them, enioying a
stipend, and carying certaine ensignes and peculiar badges of their office:
and (besides the ordinary watch, which souldiers appointed for the same
purpose doe in the night season, after the City gates be shut, keepe in
their forts) wheresoeuer any Magistrate is, either at his house or in his
barge, the sayd attendants striking vpon a cymball of brasse, at certaine
appointed times, do keepe most circumspect and continuall watch and ward
about his person. LINUS. You haue (Michael) sufficiently discoursed of the
Magistrates: informe vs now of the king himselfe, whose name is so renowmed
and spread abroad. [Sidenote: The king of China.] MICHAEL. Concerning this
matter I will say so much onely as by certaine rumours hath come to my
knowledge; for of matters appertaining vnto the kings Court we haue no
eye-witnesses, sithens the fathers of the society haue not as yet proceeded
vnto Paquin, who so soone as (by Gods assistance) they shall there be
arriued, will by their letters more fully aduertise vs. [Sidenote:
Van-Sui.] The king of China therefore is honoured with woonderfull
reuerence and submission thorowout his whole realme; and whensoeuer any of
his chiefe Magistrates speaketh vnto him, he calleth him VAN-SVI,
signifying thereby that be wisheth tenne thousands of yeeres vnto him.
[Sidenote: The succession of the crowne.] The succession of the kingdome
dependeth vpon the bloud royall: for the eldest sonne borne of the kings
first and lawfull wife obtaineth the kingdome after his fathers decease:
neither doe they depriue themselues of the kingly authority in their life
time (as the maner is in our Ilands of Iapon) but the custome of Europe is
there obserued. [Sidenote: The kings yonger brethren.] Now, that the safety
and life of the king may stand in more security, his yoonger brethren, and
the rest borne of concubines are not permitted to liue in the kings Court:
but places of habitation are by the king himselfe assigned vnto them in
diuers prouinces farre distant asunder, where they dwell most commodiously,
being comparable vnto kings for their buildings and revenues: howbeit they
exercis