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X 1665 .H8813 1857 v.l 
 uc, Evariste R^gis, 
 1813-1860. , 
 
 ihristianity m China, 
 Tartarv, and Thibet 
 
 JANUARY 1, 1804 
 
CHRISTIANITY 
 
 IN 
 
 CHINA, TARTARY, AND THIBET. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
■ T' 
 
 t. i 
 
 1 1 
 
 London : 
 
 Printed by Spoi”tiswoodb fi Co. 
 NcW'Strec’l Square. 
 
 1 
 
CHEISTIANITY 
 
 
 IN 
 
 CniNA, TARTARY, AND TEIBET. 
 
 BY 
 
 M. L’ABBE IIUC, 
 
 FORMERLY MISSIONARY APOSTOLIC IN CHINA; 
 AUTHOR OF “THE CHINESE EMPIRE/* ETC. 
 
 V \ 
 
 ^ G(o 
 
 VA^GC 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 ■’■fx 
 . -nr 
 
 FROM THE APOSTLESHIP OF ST. THOMAS TO THE 
 DISCOVERY OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 LONGMAN, BEOWN, GEEEN, LONGMANS, & EOBEETS. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Doctrine of the Redemption of INIen diffused over the whole 
 ■\Vorld The Preaching of the Jewish Nation. — Indian Poets. 
 
 — Virgil. — The Sibyls. — Extract from the “ Annals of China.” 
 
 — The World in Expectation of the Messiah. — Legend of the 
 Apostleship of St. Thomas. — Proofs of the Preaching of St. 
 Thomas in India. — Archmological Proofs. — Medal of King Gon- 
 daphorus. — Probability of the Apostleship of St. Thomas in China. 
 
 — Frequent Relations between the East and the West at the Com- 
 
 mencement of the Christian Era. — Consequences of these Rela- 
 tions. — St. Pantenus and other Missionaries in the East. — 
 Nestorian and Catholic Preachers in China - - Page 1 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Discovery of the famous Inscription of Si-gnan-Fou. — Translation 
 of this Inscription. — State of the Chinese Empire at the Epoch of 
 the Erection of this Monument. — Influx of Foreigners into China 
 under the Dynasty of Thang. — Critical Study of the Inscription 
 of Si-gnan-Fou. — Native Country of Olopen and other Mission- 
 aries to China in the seventh Century. — Syriac Characters. — 
 Nestorian Doctrine. — Objections of Voltaire and Milne to the 
 
 Authenticity of the Inscription Refutation of them. — The 
 
 Authenticity of the Monument proved by Chinese Writers. — 
 Ancient and modern Books. — Simple Faith of the Missionaries. 
 
 — Inference - - - - - - -45 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Religious Movement in the Chinese Empire. — Tolerance and Scep- 
 ticism of the Chin^. — Propagation of Christianity in China. — 
 First Metropolitans — Progress of Proselytism — Details drawn 
 
VI 
 
 CONTENTS OF 
 
 from Arab Literature. — Curious Passage in a Book entitled 
 “ Tlie Chain of Chronicles.” — Revolution in China. — ISIassacrc 
 of the Christians. — Arab Writers and Marco Polo. — Missionaries 
 sent to China in the tenth Century. — Notice of Prester John. — 
 Letter of this curious Personage to the Emperor of Constantinople. 
 
 — Letter of Pope Alexander III. to Prester John. — Conversion 
 
 of a Khan and a Tribe of Keraites in the eleventh Century. — 
 Numerous Conquests of this Mongol Tribe. — Origin of the 
 Legend of Prester John. — Ung-Khan, the last Sovereign of the 
 Keraites - Page 83 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 A French Missionary in Tartary. — Tchinguiz-Khan proclaimed 
 Sovereign of the Tartars. — Character of this famous Conqueror. 
 
 — His Conquests. — His Death. — His religious Faith. — Election 
 
 of his Successor. — Tartar Invasion of Georgia — of Armenia. — 
 Gregory IX. and the Queen Rhouzoudan. — Invasion of Poland. 
 — Saint Hyacinth. — Battle of Liegnitz. — Ravages of the INIongols 
 in Poland and Russia. — Frederic Barbarossa. — St. Louis and 
 Queen Blanche. — Bela IV. King of Hungary. — Adventures of 
 the Canon of Varadin. — Gregory IX. preaches a Crusade against 
 the Tartars. — Gregory IX. and Frederic Barbarossa. — Religion 
 of the Mongol Tartars. — Innocent IV. at the Council-General of 
 Lyons. — Decree that Missionary Ambassadors shall be sent to the 
 Tartars - - - - - - -119 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Embassy of John de Plano Carpini. — Arrival at the Camp of Baton. 
 
 — Letter of Pope Innocent IV. to the Tartars. — The Ambassador 
 of the Holy See to the Golden Horde. — Election of the Grand 
 Khan of the Tartars. — Couyouk proclaimed Emperor. — Audience 
 of Plano Carpini. — The Ambassadors prepare to quit the Im- 
 perial Horde. — Letter of the Tartar Emperor to the Pope. — 
 Return of Plano Carpini to Europe. — Innocent appoints him 
 Archbishop of Antivari. — Embassy of Brother Anselm to the 
 Camp of the Tartars in Persia. — Interview of the French Mis- 
 sionaries with the Tartar Officers. — Proposal to flay and impale 
 them. — Discussion of the Supremacy of the Pope and the Khan. 
 
 — Renown of French Valour among the 'Tartars. — Departure of 
 
 the Monks Letter of the 'Tartar Lieutenant. — Manifesto of the 
 
 Grand Khan. — St. Louis receives in Cyprus two Envoys from 
 
 Iltchikadai Letter of the 'Tartar Prince. — Narrative of the 
 
 Constable of Armenia. — St. Louis sends an Embassy to reply to 
 Iltchikadai Its Ill-success and Return ... 162 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 State of Christianity among the Mongols. — ■^ubruk, the new Am- 
 bassador of St. Louis to Tartary. — Manners of the 'Tartars. — 
 
THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 Vll 
 
 Hardships and Miseries of the Route. — Camp of Sartak. — Tlic 
 IVIonks at the Court of Batou. — They proceed to the Imperial 
 Court of Mangou-Khan. — Incidents of the Journey. — The Grand 
 Khan gives Audience to the Envoys of St. Louis. — Singular 
 Mixture of Religions among the Tartars. — Aspect of Karu- 
 Koroum. — Solemn Discussion among the Missionaries. — Tlie 
 Buddhists and the Mussulmans. — Tlie French Missionaries quit 
 the Court of the Emperor of Tartary. — Letter of Mangou-Klian 
 to St. Louis. — Return of Rubruk to France - Page 203 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Institution of the Society of Brotlier Travellers for Jesus Clirist. — 
 Journey of King Hay ton in Tartary. — The Negotiations. — Hou- 
 lagou leads his Army towards Jerusalem. — Destruction ot the 
 Order of the Assassins. — End of the Caliphate of Bagdad. — The 
 Tartars draw near to tlic Cliristians. — Alexander HI. deters Bela, 
 King of Hungary, from forming an Alliance with the Mongols. — 
 The Forty-nine Martyrs of Sandomir. — Houlagou and Nassir. — 
 Iloulagou and Alexander IV. — Strife between the Mongols and 
 the Christians of Sidon. — Defeat of the Tartars in Egypt. — 
 Kublai, the Grand Khan of the Tartars. — Change of Policy. — 
 Death of Houlagou. — Marriage of his Son Abaga with the 
 Daughter of Michael Palmclogus. — Abaga and Clement IV. — 
 Tartar Ambassadors at Lyons. — They go to England. — Mission 
 of the two Vassilli. — Nicholas HI. sends Missionaries and Letters 
 to China and Tartary .... - 2-13 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Nestorian Propagandism in High Asia. — The Apostate Ahmed. — 
 Argoun, Khan of Persia. — His Letter to Honorius IV. — Letters 
 of Nicholas IV. to Argoun. — Queen of Touktan. — • Argoun and 
 Philip the Fair. — News from the Mission in China. — Conversion 
 of several Tartar Princes. — Letter of the Pope to Gazan, Son of 
 Argoun. — His Wife and Child condemned to be burnt alive. — 
 Attempts at Alliance between the Tartars and Christians. — Esu- 
 pire of Kublai. — Religions of China. — Confucius. — Lao-tze. — 
 Buddha - - - - - - -291 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Kublai-Khan favours the Christians. — He sends the Venetian 
 Brothers Polo to the Sovereign Pontiff. — The two Venetians re- 
 turn to China accompanied by young Marco Polo. — Their 
 Journey. — Residence of Marco Polo in China. — His Return to 
 Venice The Narrative of Marco Polo. — His Account of Chris- 
 
 tianity in China. — The Apostleship of John of Monte Corvino. — ■ 
 His Letters to the Monks of his Order. — Persecutions raised 
 against him. — Clement V. sends seven Bishops to China. — They 
 
Vlll 
 
 CONTENTS OF THE FIKST VOLUiME. 
 
 consecrate Monte Corvino Archbishop of Pekin. — An Armenian 
 Lady builds a Church at Han-Tcheou-Fou. — Letter of Andre de 
 Perouse. — Numerous Missionaries in China. — Oderic de Friuli. 
 
 — His Journey from the Indies to China with the Bones of four 
 
 Martyrs His Apostleship in China — In Tartary — In Thibet. 
 
 — His Return to Pisa. — Account of his Death - Page 332 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Christianity amongst the Tartars of Persia. — Correspondence of 
 Khan Q^uldjaitou with Philip the Fair, Edward I., and Clement V. 
 
 — 2. Usbeck and the Province of Kiptchak. — Erection of the 
 
 Archiepiscopal See of Soultaniye. — 3. Zeal of Pope John XXII. 
 for the Propagation of the Faith. — Death of the Archbishop of 
 Pekin, John de Monte Corvino. — Departure of Missionaries for 
 China. — 4. Apostasy and Martyrdom of Stephen of Hungary. — 
 5. Mission of Pekin. — Progress of Christianity in China, and in 
 the Steppes of Tartary. — Narrative of Pascal of Spain. — 6. Vio- 
 lent Persecution of the Christians of Tartary. — Revolution in 
 China. — The Missions are desolated Tamerlane. — His re- 
 
 ligious Principles. — Christianity eclipsed in Upper Asia 374 
 
CHKLSTIANITY 
 
 IN 
 
 CHINA, TARTAllY, AND THIBET. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF THE REDEMPTION OF MEN DIFFUSED OVER THE 
 
 WHOLE WORLD. THE PREACHING OF THE JEWISH NATION. ^ 
 
 INDIAN POETS. VIRGIL. THE SIBYLS. EXTRACT FRO.M THE 
 
 “annals of china.” THE WORLD IN EXPECTATION OF THE 
 
 MESSIAH. LEGEND OF THE APOSTLESHIP OF ST. THOMAS. 
 
 PROOFS OF THE PREACHING OF ST. THOMAS IN INDIA. — ARCHEO- 
 LOGICAL PROOFS. MEDAL OF KING GONDAPHORUS. PROBABILITY 
 
 OF THE APOSTLESHIP OP ST. THOMAS IN CHINA. FREQUENT RE- 
 
 LATIONS BETWEEN THE EAST AND THE WEST AT THE COMMENCE- 
 MENT Ot THE CHRISTIAN ERA CONSEQUENCES OF THESE RELA- 
 TIONS. ST. PANTENUS AND OTHER MISSIONARIES IN THE EAST. 
 
 NESTORIAN AND CATHOLIC PREACHERS IN CHINA. 
 
 The Gospel of the Christian religion, when preached 
 successively to all the nations of the earth, excited no 
 astonishment, for it had been everywhere prophesied, 
 and was universally expected. A Divine Incarnation, 
 the birth of a Man-God, was the common faith of hu- 
 manity, — the great dogma that under forms, more or 
 less mysterious, appears in the oldest modes of worship, 
 and may be traced in the most ancient traditions. The 
 Messiah, the Redeemer, promised to fallen man in the 
 'voL. I. B 
 
2 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 terrestrial Paradise, had been announced uninter- 
 ruptedly from age to age ; and the nation specially 
 chosen to be the depository of this promise had spread 
 the hope abroad among men for centuries before its 
 fulfilment ; such was, under Providence, the result of 
 the great revolutions which agitated the Jews, and 
 dispersed them over all Asia and the world at large. 
 
 In the year 719 (b. c.), Salmanassar, King of the 
 Assyrians, seized upon Samaria, and transported the 
 inhabitants into the most remote village of Media. In 
 676 (b.c.), Assaharaddon dispersed the remnant of the 
 kingdoms of Syria and Israel over Persia, Media, and 
 the distant provinces of the East. 
 
 At length, in 606, began the captivity of Babylon, 
 when Nebuchadnezzar carried away the greater part of 
 the Jewish nation, and among them the princes, priests, 
 and even prophets into his own dominions, which at 
 that time extended as far as Media. 
 
 The Israelites of the ten tribes met in the sorrowful 
 days of their captivity, and by the waters of Babylon 
 they sat down and wept together when they remem- 
 bered Sion. Dispersed afterwards over the whole East, 
 they proceeded in numerous caravans to Persia, India, 
 Thibet, and even China. In our own time there have 
 been found, in all these countries, traces of the ancient 
 migrations of the Jewish people. 
 
 Thus as early as the seventh century before the 
 Christian era, the captivity of the Jews had had the 
 effect of disseminating the books, the doctrines, and 
 the pro{)hecies of that people among all the inhabitants 
 of Asia, as if to re-animate the ancient faith, and restore 
 to men their hopes of a Redeemer. The biblical tra- 
 ditions accompanied the children of Israel throughout 
 
DIFFUSION OF THE DOCTRINE OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 3 
 
 all their wanderings ; travelled with them through 
 Persia, India, and Tartary, and by both routes to 
 China ; at the same time that they penetrated into 
 Egypt, Asia ]\Iinor, and Greece, and through Greece to 
 the AVest and North of Europe. At length, according to 
 Strabo (who wrote in the time of Pompey and Ciesar), 
 “ the Jews were scattered into all cities ; and it was not 
 easy to find a spot on the earth which had not received 
 them, and where they were not settled.” Thus a 
 current of the truth had been felt over the whole sur- 
 face of the globe ; the human race had begun to awaken 
 from its supine slumbers, and to thrill with the pre- 
 sentiment of its redemption. 
 
 If there were anything to be surprised at, it would be 
 that after this men should manifest surprise at finding, 
 among all nations, and in all modes of worship, biblical 
 fragments, and ideas that may be called Christian. 
 The wonder would be if it were not so. “ God,” says 
 St. Paul, “ has not left himself without witness among 
 the Gentiles;” and according to the prophecy of Jacob, 
 the Pedeemer was to be “ the expectation of the 
 nations.” 
 
 AA'hen the Christ appeared, it was not only in Judea, 
 among the Hebrews, that he was looked for ; he was 
 expected also at Pome, among the Goths and Scandi- 
 navians, in India, in China, in High Asia especially, 
 where almost all reliofious svstems are founded on the 
 doOTia of a Divine Incarnation. Long before the 
 coining of the Messiah, a reconciliation of man with a 
 Saviour, a King of righteousness and peace, had been 
 announced throughout the world. This expectation is 
 often mentioned in the Puranas, the m\ thological books 
 of India. Sometimes the earth is represented in them 
 
4 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 as mourning, that by the weight of human iniquities 
 accumulated upon her she is pressed down into Patala, 
 the hell of the Hindoos. The gods themselves complain 
 of the oppression of the giants; and Vishnu consoles 
 the earth as well as the gods by assuring tliem that a 
 Saviour will come to redress their wrongs, and put an 
 end to the tyranny of the demons {Dartyas) ; that for 
 this end he will become incarnate in the house of a 
 shepherd, and be brought up amidst pastoral people. 
 Confucius, in his writings, laments the loss of the Sacred 
 Tripod, by which he probably meant the idea of the 
 Tri-une God ; and he announces to the Hundred Fa- 
 milies*, that the Saint, par excellence, is to be born in 
 the West. 
 
 By degrees, as the time approached, the Poets, those 
 half divine seers {mens divinior) Avho draw their in- 
 spirations from the traditions of all nations, began to 
 sing the birth of the Saviour of men ; and to send from 
 one end of the world to the other prophetic echoes of 
 the marvellous event expected. In the Indian poem 
 Barta-Sash'a^, after a long detail of the woes and 
 disorders of the Age of Iron (Kaly-Youjiga), a Hindoo 
 sage, addressing himself to Darma Raja, one of the 
 greatest kings of India, expresses himself as follows : — 
 
 “ Then shall be born a Brahmin, in the city of Samb- 
 hala. This shall be the Vishnu Yesu ; he shall possess 
 the Divine Scriptures and all the sciences, without 
 liaving employed to learn them as .much time as it 
 takes to pronounce a single Avord. That is why he 
 shall be called the Sarva Buddha — he Avho knows in 
 
 * An expression designating the Cliinese nation. 
 
 I liarta- Sastra in the 3rd vol., entitled Arania-parva, or narrative 
 of the Adventures of the Forest. 
 
INDIAN POETS. — VIRGIL. 
 
 5 
 
 perfection all things. Then this Vishnu Yesu, con- 
 versing with the race of man, shall purge the earth of 
 sinners (whicli would be impossible to any other than 
 him), and shall cause truth and justice to reign upon 
 it ; and shall offer the sacrifice of tlie horse, and shall 
 subject the universe to Buddha. Nevertheless, when 
 he shall have attained old age, he shall withdraw into 
 the Desert to do penance ; and this is the order that the 
 Vishnu Yesu shall establish among men. He shall esta- 
 blish virtue and truth in the midst of the Brahmins, and 
 restore the four Castes within the limits of their law. 
 Then the first age will be restored. The Supreme King 
 ■will render the sacrifice so common to all nations, that 
 even the wildernesses shall not be deprived of it. The 
 Brahmins, established in virtue, shall employ themselves 
 only in the ceremonies of religion and sacrifice; they 
 shall cause penitence, and other virtues, which follow 
 in the train of truth, to flourish ; and they shall spread 
 abroad the splendour of the Holy Scriptures. The 
 seasons shall succeed each other in an invariable order ; 
 the rain in due time shall inundate the fields, the 
 harvest in due time shall pour forth abundance. Milk 
 shall flow at the pleasure of those who desire it ; the 
 earth, as in the first age, shall be intoxicated with joy 
 and prosperity, and all nations shall taste of ineffable 
 delights.” {Kaly-Younga and Krita-Younga of the 
 Hindoos.) 
 
 Whilst the Indian^poet Maricandeya sung tbus on the 
 banks of the Ganges, Virgil was making the shores of 
 Tiber resound with nearly the same strain. 
 
6 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Ultima CumcBi venit jam carminis cetas ; 
 
 Magnus ah integro sceclorum nascitur ordo. 
 
 Jam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna : 
 
 Jam nova progenies cce.lo demittitur alto. 
 
 Tu modo nascenti puero, quo ferrea primum 
 Desinet, ac toto surget gens aurea mundo. 
 
 Casta fave Lucina: tuusjam regnat Apollo. 
 
 Teque adeo decus hoc cevi, te consule, inibit, 
 
 Pollio ; et incipient magni procedere menses : 
 
 Te duce, si qua manent sceleris vestigia nostri, 
 
 Irrita perpetua solvent formidine terras, 
 llle deum vitam accipiet, divisque videhit 
 Permixtos heroas, et ipse videbitur illis ; 
 
 Pacatmnque reget patriis virtutibus orbem. 
 
 At tibi prima, puer, nullo munuscula cultu, 
 
 Errantes hederas passhn cum baccare, tellus 
 Mixtaque ridenti colocasia fundet acantho. 
 
 Ipsce lacte domum referent distenta capelUe 
 Ubera ; nee magnos metuent armenta leones. 
 
 Ipsa tibi blandos fundent cunabula fores. 
 
 Occidet et serpens, et fallax herba veneni 
 Occidet ; Assyrium vulgo nascetur amomum. 
 *««**»« 
 
 Aggredere o magnos, aderit jam tempus, honores, 
 Cara deum suboles, magnum Jovis incrementum ! 
 Adspice convexo nutatitem pondere mundum, • 
 Terrasque, tractusque maris, cixlumque profundum : 
 Adspice, venturo leelentur ut omnia sceclo. 
 
 Virgil, Ecloga, 4. 
 
 The supreme age foretold by the CumaGan sibyl, he 
 exclaims, has at length arrived \ tlien he celebrates the 
 birth of the child who shall live the life of the Gods. 
 Under his auspices “ the traces of our criines shall be 
 effaced. The world shall be delivered from eternal 
 alarm. The serpent shall perish,” &c. 
 
 These words are remarkable enough to have struck 
 many Christian apologists; and though Virgil doubtless 
 
THE SIBYLS. SIBYLLINE BOOKS. 
 
 7 
 
 had in view nothing more than the praise of Augustus, 
 liis Eclogue was a harmonious echo of the profdietic 
 rumours that were floating ov'er the Roman World. 
 All he did was to turn to the glory of his hero, Cajsar, 
 the Pacificator of the Empire, the predictions that 
 really related to the Saviour of men. 
 
 The age of Gold foretold by the Sibyl of Cuma?, 
 and so melodiously sung by Virgil, was announced 
 in the mystei’ious verses of all the sibyls, many of 
 which were at that time extant, and enjoyed great 
 celebrity. They were to be found in Egypt, Chaldea, 
 Persia, Elis, and according to Pausanias, even in Judea. 
 These prophetesses, dwelling in the midst of the pagan 
 world, drew their inspiration from the antique faith 
 of their respective countries ; they were collectors of 
 the primitive traditions which all referred to the re- 
 demption of the human race by a Divine Incarnation ; 
 so that they often unconsciously proclaimed the truth, 
 and foretold future events. The great artists of the 
 Middle Ages, who had so profound a comprehension of 
 what related to Christianity, never failed to place on 
 the magnificent stained windows of our cathedrals, the 
 most renowned sibyls of antiquity by the side of the 
 prophets of the Old Testament. 
 
 A short time before the birth of Jesus Christ, not 
 only the Jews, but even the Romans, on the authority 
 of the Sibylline books and the decision of the Sacred 
 College of Augurs, in Etruria, considered that this 
 important event was approaching. The capital of the 
 Roman world was alarmed by prodigies, as well as by 
 ancient prophecies, announcing that an emanation of 
 the Divinity was about to appear, and a regeneration 
 of the world to take place. One day the Senate was 
 
8 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 assembled to deliberate on the imminent danger that, 
 threatened the Republic, and the whole world, of having 
 to receive a king. Nigidius Figulus (an intimate friend 
 of Cicero, at that time Consul), having heard Octavius 
 excuse himself for coming so late, on account of his 
 wife having been seized with the pains of childbirth, 
 exclaimed : “ You have then been bringing into the 
 world a lord and master for us.” 
 
 Xigidius enjoyed a high reputation at Rome, as one 
 of the most learned men of the Republic; indeed, his 
 proficiency in the mathematical and other sciences based 
 upon them, was such that he was supposed to be an 
 adept in magic. This exclamation from him threw the 
 Conscript Fathers into such alarm, that for months 
 afterwards they kept repeating that “ Nature was 
 about to bring forth, and to place a king on the throne 
 of the world.” They added, that the same thing had 
 been announced in the verses of the Sibyl, and that, 
 moreover, from all parts of the world, even the most 
 distant, there had arrived numerous oracles which re- 
 peated the same prediction. The Senate, terrified by 
 these rumours, and by the prodigies which were reported 
 to have taken place in Rome, issued a decree, forbidding 
 fathers of families to bring up any child that should be 
 born for a year, or to adopt any that should be found 
 exposed. Those Conscript Fathers, however, whose 
 wives were then in a state of pregnancy, contrived to 
 prevent the registration of this decree, in the hope that 
 this kinof-child might be one of theirs.* 
 
 * Auctor est Julius Marathus, ante paucos quam (^Auffustus) 
 nasceretur menses, prodigium Romce factum publice, quo denuntia- 
 batur regem Populo liomano naturam parturire ; senatum ejrterritum 
 sensuisse, ne qttis illo anno genitus educaretur ; cos qui gravidas 
 
CHINESE EMBASSY TO ROME. 
 
 9 
 
 At the same epoch Cicero writes in his book “ Of the 
 Republic,” “ There shall not be one law at Koine, 
 another at Athens ; one now, another then ; but one 
 law, immutable and eternal, shall rule all nations, 
 throughout all time ; and he who has made, manifested, 
 and promulgated this law, shall be the sole common 
 
 master and supreme sovereign of all 
 
 Whoever shall refuse to obey him, must fly from him- 
 self, and renounce his human nature ; and by that he 
 will become subject to great punishments, even though 
 he should escape what here below is called by that 
 name.” * 
 
 India, the Roman empire, the civilised world in fact, 
 was thus looking for a renovation of humanity ; and it 
 is very remarkable that, precisely at that time, the most 
 distant people of the east, the Seres or Chinese, sent 
 ambassadors to Rome to seek the friendship of Augustus. 
 A Roman author tells us expressly f ; and the annals of 
 China show a high probability of such a circumstance 
 having really taken place. Towards the period when 
 Pompey had extended the dominion of Rome to the 
 western shores of the Caspian Sea, the Chinese had ap- 
 proached the eastern, and thus the two great nations 
 were brought into proximity with each other. At the 
 very moment when Augustus was closing the temple of 
 war, two immense empires, Rome in the West, and 
 China in the East, were thus taking each other by the 
 hand, as if to keep the world in the stillness of expec- 
 
 uxores haberent quo ad se quisque spent traheret curasse ne senatus 
 consultum ad cerarium deferretur. 
 
 Suetonius, Life of Augustus, 94. 
 
 * Cic. de Rep., 1, 3. 
 
 I Florus, liv. 4. chap. 12. 
 
10 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 tation.* China and Confucius were looking for the 
 saint from the West. Rome was expecting a monarch 
 from the East ; and neither one nor the other was 
 mistaken. The subject of the magnificent Indian epics, 
 the Incarnation of the Divinity, was really about to 
 be accomplished in Judea, between the East and the 
 West. 
 
 The Messiah was actually born in a poor shed at 
 Bethlehem, near Jerusalem ; and immediately three 
 “ kings of the East ” three magi, who had been living 
 in anxious expectation of the event, betook themselves 
 to the spot where they were told they should find 
 the Divine infant. At the same time, the emperor of 
 the Indies, alarmed by the general diflfusion of prophe- 
 cies, which he supposed to menace the fall of his em- 
 pire and his own ruin, sent out messengers to inquire 
 Avhether in any place such a child had really been born, 
 and if they found him, to put him to death. The hor- 
 rible massacre ordered by Herod, from the same motives, 
 is well known. 
 
 Finally, some years afterwards, a Chinese emperor 
 himself accompanied an embassy to the West, in order 
 to seek the supreme saint, who was to be born in that 
 
 * The Englisli reader will remember the lines in Milton’s Hymn 
 of the Nativity, — 
 
 “ No war or battle’s sound 
 Was heard, the world around 
 Tlie idle spear and shield were high uphung ; 
 
 Tlie hooked chariot stood 
 Unstained with hostile blood. 
 
 The trumpet spake not to the armed throng, 
 
 And kings sat still with awful eye. 
 
 As if they surely knew, their sov’reign Lord was by.” 
 
 Trans. 
 
EXTRACT FROM CHINESE ANNALS. 
 
 11 
 
 part of the world. The fact is thus recorded in the 
 annals of the Celestial Empire : — 
 
 “ In the twenty-fourth year of the reign of Tchao- 
 Wang, of the dynasty of the Tcheou (corresponding 
 with the year 1029 b. c.), on the eighth day of 
 the fourth moon, a light appeared in the south-Avest, 
 Avhich illuminated the king’s palace. The monarch, 
 struck by its splendour, interrogated the sages Avho 
 Avere skilled in foretelling future events. They then 
 showed him books in which it was Avritten that this 
 prodigy signified the appearance of a great saint in the 
 AVest, AAdiose religion Avas to be introduced into this 
 country a thousand years after his birth. 
 
 “ In the fifty-third year of the reign of Mou-AVang, 
 AA'hich is that of the Black Ape (951 b. c.), on the fif- 
 teenth day of the second moon, Buddha manifested 
 himself. One thousand and. thirteen years afterAvards, 
 under the dynasty of Hau-AIing, in the seventh year 
 of the reign of Young-Ping (a. d. 64), on the fifteenth 
 day of the first moon, the king saAv in a dream a man 
 AA'hose appearance was that of radiant gold, like the sun, 
 and whose stature was more than ten feet. This man 
 entered the king’s palace, and said, ‘ Aly religion shall 
 spread abroad in this country.’ 
 
 “ The next day the king questioned the sages ; and one 
 of them named Fou-y, opening the annals of the empire 
 in the reign of Tchao-A\’^ang, pointed out the connection 
 between the circumstance narrated therein and the 
 king’s dream. The king consulted the ancient books, 
 and having found the passage corresponding Avith the 
 time of Tchao-A\"ang, was filled with joy. Then he 
 sent the oflicers Tsa-Yn, and Thsin-King, the learned 
 
12 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Wang-Tsun, and fifteen other men to the West, to 
 obtain information concerning the doctrine of Buddha. 
 
 “In the tenth year (a.d. 67), these emissaries being 
 sent into Central India, procured a statue of Buddha, 
 and some Sanscrit books, which they conveyed on a 
 white horse to the city of Lo-yang.”* The Chinese 
 ambassadors, however, lost sight of the true object of 
 their mission ; they sufibred themselves to be seduced 
 by the priests of India ; and from that epoch is to be 
 dated the introduction of Buddhism into China. 
 
 The idea of a Divine Incarnation prevailed equally 
 among the Gothic tribes of the North. They were so 
 perplexed and agitated by prophetic rumours from the 
 East, that they sent emissaries to seek for the divine 
 being so impatiently expected over the whole world ; 
 and it was these strange embassies that formed the 
 foundation of the Edda, which concludes with these 
 words : “ The new gods then took the names of the 
 ancient ones, and appeared like real gods.” 
 
 The fact was, that audacious men, profiting by the 
 preconceived idea generally prevalent, gave themselves 
 out for the promised Messiah, and that the divinity of 
 Odin Avas acknowledged in the kingdom of Glyphe, and 
 Trenmor was deified by Fingal. 
 
 That a Saviour, and a regeneration of the human 
 race, was expected in all parts of the civilised world, in 
 consequence of ancient prophecies, cannot be denied. 
 Such an event Avas confidently looked for in the West 
 and the East, in Persia, India, and China,, and even 
 among the Avandering tribes of Upper Asia. In the 
 intermediate countries, as among the IIebreAA’'S, it Avas 
 
 * Tliis is the city now called Kai-Fong-Fou, the capital of Ilo-nan. 
 
TUE WORLD IN EXPECTATION. 
 
 13 
 
 the fundamental doctrine of religion ; and thus, thanks 
 to this general expectation and preparation, Christianity 
 was able to spread itself with facility over the whole 
 surface of the earth. 
 
 Its advent was more adapted to satisfy the human 
 mind than to astonish it; and there was nothing to pre- 
 vent the words of the apostles from being heard, ac- 
 cording to the text of Holy Writ, to the utmost con- 
 fines of the world : — 
 
 Et in fines orbis terra verba eortim. 
 
 The preaching of the Gospel was, in fact, heard in the 
 most remote countries, and probably in the very heart 
 of the Chinese Empire, — an empire at that time vaster, 
 and perhaps more civilised, than that of Rome. 
 
 Ihe propagation of the Christian faith in Upper Asia, 
 is a subject that has been very little studied. People 
 have generally contented themselves with supposing 
 that the Gospel was not carried there till a recent time; 
 and it is nevertheless now discovered that to a certainty 
 the doctrines of Jesus Christ were preached from the 
 very beginning to the nations of the ^utmost East. 
 
 The light has often shone in the midst of darkness, 
 and unfortunately the darkness has “ comprehended it 
 not.” 
 
 Abdias, in his history of the apostolic labours, says 
 that St. Thomas*, while he was at Jerusalem, received a 
 
 * The history was published for the first time by AYolfgang 
 Lazius, under the title of Adice Babylonia, Episcopi et Apostolorum 
 Discipnli, de Historia Certaminis Apostolici, libri decern; Julio 
 Africano interprete (Basiliae, 1552). Fabricius published it again 
 with critical notes, in the 2nd vol. p. 388. of his Codex Apocryphus 
 Novi Testamenti, 
 
14 CHEISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 divine command to go to India, in order to show the 
 light of truth to that people, still sitting in darkness 
 and the shadow of death. “ Now I myself recollect 
 having seen a certain book in which the voyage of 
 St. Thomas to India and the things he did in that 
 country were described.* As this book was not re- 
 ceived on account of its tediousness {oh verhositatem), 
 I will leave out superfluous things, and content myself 
 with relating that which is certain, and which may be 
 agreeable to the reader, and useful to the Church.” 
 After this preamble, Abdias gives the legend, as fol- 
 lows. “ When St. Thomas the Apostle was at Jerusalem, 
 our Lord appeared to him, and said ; ‘ Gondaphorus, 
 the King of India, has sent his minister Abbas to Syria, 
 in order to seek for men instructed in the art of archi- 
 tecture. Go, I will send thee to him.’ St. Thomas 
 ansAvered, ‘ Lord, send me anywhere, except to 
 India ; ’ and our Lord said to him, ‘ Go, I Avill watch 
 over thee, and when thou shalt have converted the 
 Indians, thou shalt come to me to receive as a recom- 
 pense the crown of martyrdom ; ’ and St. Thomas said, 
 ‘ Lord, I am thy servant ; thy will be done.’ And as 
 Abbas, the servant of King Gondaphorus, Avas going 
 across the market-place, our Lord met him, and said to 
 him, ‘ Young man, Avhat dost thou Avish to buy ?’ 
 And Abbas replied, ‘ My muster has sent me hither to 
 bring to him Avorkmen skilled in the art of masonry, 
 and Avho may build him a palace like those that there 
 are at Koine.’ Then our Lord shoAved him St. Thomas, 
 and said that he AV'as Avell skilled in architecture. 
 
 * “ Probably,” says Fabricius, “lie here alludes to the ‘ Acts of St. 
 Thomas,’ which are to be found in Greek in some libraries.” 
 
LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS. 
 
 15 
 
 “ The holy apostle and the minister of the King 
 Gondaphorus embarked ; and Thomas converted on the 
 way a great number of infidels, especially at Aden, a 
 town situated at the entrance of the Red Sea, where 
 they stopped some time. They arrived at length on 
 the coast of India; and in the first city they entered, 
 they were present at the marriage of the king’s 
 daughter. St. Thomas preached the Gospel, and per- 
 formed many wonderful miracles, which effected nu- 
 merous conversions, and amongst others that of the 
 king ; and the newly-married pair also received baptism. 
 A long time afterwards the princess, who had been 
 named Pelagiana, took the holy veil, and suffered 
 martyrdom. The husband, called Denis, was conse- 
 crated bishop of the town. 
 
 “ The Apostle and Abbas, however, went on their way 
 to King Gondaphorus. Thomas was presented to him 
 as an architect ; and the king entrusted him with great 
 treasures, in order to provide for the expenses of a 
 magnificent palace, which he ordered him to construct. 
 Gondaphorus then departed into another province; and 
 Thomas, instead of busying himself about the construc- 
 tion of the palace, traversed the country, preaching the 
 Gospel, healing the sick, and distributing the treasures 
 to the poor, for the space of two years, during which the 
 king remained absent. He converted to the faith an 
 innumerable multitude. When Gondaphorus came 
 back and asked him about the palace, the apostle said, 
 ‘ the palace is built, but thou wilt only inhabit it in 
 eternity;’ and thereupon the king, who regarded him 
 as a magician, ordered him to be flung into a horrible 
 dungeon, flayed alive, and burnt. 
 
 “In the meantime, however, Sud, the brother of King 
 
16 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Gondaphorus died ; and the king ordered him a mag- 
 nificent funeral. 
 
 “Now on the fourth day, while the obsequies were 
 being performed, suddenly, to the astonishment and 
 terror of all present, the dead man arose, and said to 
 the king, ‘ That man whom you intended to flay and 
 burn alive is the friend of God. The angels who serve 
 God took me to Paradise, and showed me a superb 
 palace, enriched with gold and silver, and precious 
 stones; and Avhilst I stood struck with admiration be- 
 fore so much magnificence, they said to me, “ That is 
 the palace which Thomas built for your brother the 
 King Gondaphorus, but he has rendered liimself un- 
 worthy of it ; if you wish to live in it, we will pray God 
 to resuscitate you, in order tliat you may purchase it 
 of your brother, by restoring to him the money he gave 
 for the building of it, and which he thinks he has lost.’” 
 
 “ The king, on hearing these words, rushed to the 
 prison into which he had thrown the Apostle, eagerly 
 released him from his chains, and besought him to 
 accept a robe of honour. ‘ Dost thou not know,’ said 
 Thomas to him, ‘ that those who wish to have power 
 over things celestial care nothing for those which are 
 carnal and terrestrial ?’ 
 
 “ The king threw himself at the feet of the Apostle, 
 and implored his pardon ; and when Gondaphorus and 
 his brother had received baptism, Thomas said to them, 
 
 ‘ There are in heaven innumerable palaces, prepared 
 from the beginning of the world ; and they may be 
 bought at the ])rice of faith and alms : your riclies may 
 precede you thither, but cannot follow you.’ 
 
 “Thomas afterwards traversed various kingdoms of 
 India, preaching the Gospel everywhere, working many 
 
MARTYRDOM OF ST. THOMAS. 
 
 17 
 
 miracles, and converting the nations to Jesus Christ. 
 At last he was persecuted by a king named Mesdeus, 
 who ordered him to worship a statue of the sun. The 
 apostle consented to kneel down before it, and to sacri* 
 fice to it, if the statue did not, at his command, fall into 
 dust. But that miracle really took place. Then there 
 arose a great tumult among the people, the greater 
 part of whom took part with St. Thomas. The king 
 ordered him to be thrown into prison, and then de- 
 livered him to four soldiers, with orders to go and put 
 him to death on a neighbouring mountain. The apostle 
 remained long in prayer ; and then the soldiers ap- 
 proaching him, pierced him through with their lances, 
 and the martyr fell and breathed his last. Ilis disciples 
 buried him with tears, after having poured over him a 
 number of precious perfumes ; and the new Church of 
 India subsequently prospered under the direction of 
 Siforus, a priest, and Zuzanes, a deacon, whom the 
 apostle had ordained at the moment when he went to 
 suffer death on the mountain.” 
 
 Such is the narrative of Abdias, and though, of 
 course the legend cannot be accepted entire, there is 
 probably a certain amount of truth in it, surrounded as 
 it is by the fanciful additions a story usually receives 
 in passing from mouth to mouth, and travelling a great 
 distance. 
 
 The circumstance of St. Thomas having preached at 
 all in India has been frequently called in question by 
 writers deserving of attention ; but we find it supported 
 by so much evidence, that it seems difficult for an 
 unprejudiced mind to refuse credit to a fact guaranteed 
 by such excellent historical authorities. All the Greek, 
 Latin, and Syriac monuments proclaim that St. Thomas 
 
 VOL. I. c 
 
18 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 was the apostle of the Indies, who carried the torch of 
 faith into the remote regions where he suffered mar- 
 tyrdom. Some writers have affirmed that he pro- 
 secuted his apostolical labours as far even as China; 
 and the mission and the martyrdom of St. Thomas in 
 the Indies have been alluded to in all the martyrologies, 
 and in the ancient liturgies, which form the most pure 
 and authentic source of Christian tradition. 
 
 In the Syriac Jacobite service for the festival of 
 St. Thomas, the third of July, we read the following 
 words * : — “ Thomas, whose memory we this day cele- 
 brate, having been sent to India by the Lord, was sold 
 for a slave. He formed the plan of an excellent palace, 
 of which God elevated the summit to heaven. He was 
 afterwards, after the example of the Lord, pierced with 
 a lance ; and with the title of apostle, he obtained the 
 crown of the martyr.” It is evident these words allude 
 to some of the most striking features of the legend, as 
 related by Abdias. 
 
 The Nestorians chant in the Vesper service for St. 
 Thomas’s day, “ Thanks be to thy preaching, 0 Thomas, 
 the Indians have breathed the perfume of spiritual life, 
 and after renouncing the customs of the heathens, have 
 seen chastity flourish among them.” In the nocturnal 
 part of the same service, we find these words : — 
 “ Thomas undertook the voyage to India in order to 
 overthrow the temples of demons, and extirpate the 
 licentiousness which prevailed among both men and 
 women. The Indians, Avho, on account of the excessive 
 heat of the country, had been accustomed to go entirely 
 naked, learned from seeing Thomas clothed, the value 
 of m-odesty and reserve.” 
 
 * Assemani, “ Bibliotheca Orientalis,” vol. ii., passim. 
 
MARTYRDOM OF ST. THOMAS. 
 
 19 
 
 Gregorius Bar-IIebrnesiis expresses himself in these 
 terms in his Syriac Chronicle (par. 3. chap, i.) : — 
 
 “ Thomas the Apostle, the first pontiff of the East. 
 We learn hy the hook of the preaching of the holy 
 apostles, that in the second year after the Ascension of 
 our Lord, the Apostle Thomas announced the tidings 
 of the Gospel in the East, and preached to the Indians.” 
 
 Finally, we find these words in the Roman hreviary : 
 — “ The Apostle Thomas, surnamed Didymus, hy hirth 
 a Galilean, preached the Gospel of Christ in many pro- 
 vinces ; he proclaimed the faith to the Parthians, ^ledes, 
 Persians, llircanians, and Ractrians. Finally, he went 
 to the Indians, and instructed them in the Christian 
 religion. The king of that nation having condemned 
 him to death, he was pierced with arrows at Calamina, 
 and thus glorified his apostleship hy the crown of 
 martyrdom.” 
 
 These numerous testimonies from the most ancient 
 liturgies afford assuredly a strong presumption in 
 favour of the opinion that St. Thomas was really the 
 Apostle of India ; and this presumption is still further 
 corroborated, when we see that opinion supported by 
 traditions ascending to the very earliest period of 
 Christianity. 
 
 In the Paschal Chronicle is a fragment of a work of 
 Bishop Dorotheus (born 254), in which he relates the 
 acts and journeyings of the Apostles, and this is what 
 he says of St. Thomas : — 
 
 “ The Apostle Thomas, after having preached the 
 Gospel to the Parthians, Medes, Persians, Germanians"**, 
 Bactrians, and iMagi, suffered martyrdom at Calamina, 
 a town of India.” 
 
 * An agricultural people of Persia, mentioned by Herodotus, i. 125. 
 
20 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 St. Jerome, who died in the year 420, speaks of the 
 mission of St. Thomas as of a fact universally known 
 at that time. He even, in his catalogue of sacred 
 writers, mentions Calamina, a town of India, as the 
 place of his death.* Admitting that this passage may 
 not have been written by the illustrious doctor himself, 
 but possibly added by the Greeks, it must in that case 
 be attributed to Sophronius ; and it will still serve to 
 prove that Sophronius and the Greeks did not entertain 
 any doubt of the fact of the preaching of St. Thomas in 
 India. It was also, undoubtedly, the opinion of St. 
 Jerome ; for, in speaking of the immensity of the Saviour 
 regarded as God, he says these words, of which no one 
 will dispute the authenticity : — “ The Son of God re- 
 mained then with the apostles for forty days after his 
 resurrection, at the same time that he was with the 
 angels in the bosom of his Father. He was present in 
 all places, with Thomas in India, with Peter at Rome, 
 with Paul in Illyria, with Titus in Crete, with Andrew 
 in Achaia, and with every apostle, and every preacher 
 of the Gospel in all the regions they traversed.” f 
 
 Theodoret J was of the same opinion as St. Jerome. 
 In speaking of the preaching of the apostles, he ex- 
 presses himself thus : — “ They have induced not only 
 the Romans, and those who live under their empire, but 
 also the Scythians, Sarmatians, Indians, Ethiopians, 
 Persians, Seres, Hyrcanians, Britons, Cimmerians, and 
 Germans, to receive the law of the crucified Saviour ; 
 and in short have preached it to all nations, and to 
 every class of men.” 
 
 • Sanctus Ilier. Catal. Script, eccl. i. 120. 
 
 t Sanctus Ilier. Marcell. Epit. 148. v. 3. p. 144. 
 
 f Thcodoret, Serni. 9. p. 125. 
 
CHURCH OF ST. THOMAS IN INDIA. 
 
 21 
 
 Tlieodoret, it is true, speaks of the apostles in gene- 
 ral, but St. Thomas is the only one to -whom the mission 
 of India has ever been ascribed, and the learned Ba- 
 ronius* observes truly, that to St. Thomas alone can 
 his words apply. Nicephorusf, in the same manner, 
 declares St. Thomas to be the Apostle of the Indians; 
 and Gaudentius| says, like Sophronius, that he died in 
 India at the town of Calamina, which is no other than 
 Meliapour, a place at a short distance from Madras. 
 
 To these clear and positive testimonies of authors in 
 the earliest ages of Christianity, must be added that of 
 the unvarying tradition of all ages. Thus, in the 
 seventh century, we find Gregory of Tours, the father 
 of French history, speaking of a worthy man named 
 Theodorus, who had visited the tomb of St. Thomas in 
 India. In the year 833, Sighelm, Bishop of Shireburn§, 
 was also sent thither by the Anglo-Saxon king, Alfred 
 the Great, in fulfilment of a vow ; and was charged to 
 afibrd succour to the descendants of the Christians 
 converted by St. Thomas. Is it credible that such 
 pilgrimages should have been made to countries so 
 distant, and at such various epochs, if there had not 
 been a general belief in the apostleship and martyrdom 
 of St. Thomas in India ? and, moreover, this very 
 church of St. Thomas on the Coromandel coast, is men- 
 tioned by two j\Iussulmans who visited India in the 
 «inth century, a short time after the Bishop of Shire- 
 burn. 
 
 The celebrated Venetian Marco Polo, who traversed 
 
 * Baronius, “ Annales,” anno 44, No. 33. 
 
 t Hist. vol. ii. ch. 4. 
 
 J Gand., Serm. 17. 
 
 § “ Clironicon Saxonicum,” anno 883, by Turner. “ De Gestis 
 Regum Anglorum,” p. 44., by William of Malmesbury. 
 
22 CHEISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Upper Asia in the thirteenth century, says, in speaking, 
 of Aden in Arabia, that St. Thomas is believed to have 
 preached there before he visited India. 
 
 “ The body of St. Thomas,” * adds Marco Polo, “ lies 
 in the province of Malabar, near an insignificant little 
 town, of which the inhabitants and the traders are few 
 in number, since there is very little traffic to be done ; 
 but devotion attracts thither a multitude of Christians. 
 The Saracens, too, hold the spot in profound veneration, 
 saying that the holy apostle was a great prophet ; and 
 they call him ‘ avariia ’ which in their language signi- 
 fies ‘ holy man.’” 
 
 Towards the same period, a Dominican missionary, 
 who had travelled over India, and carried the light of 
 the Gospel even into the interior of Tartary, wrote thus 
 to the monks of his order f: — “In this kingdom of India 
 St. Thomas the apostle preached the faith, and converted 
 to God many princes. But as they have been hitherto 
 far from the countries where this faith was held, their 
 Christianity has gradually declined, until at present 
 there is only one small tOAvn where it is still professed. 
 All the other towns and cities have forsaken it.” 
 
 This town of India, where, according to Frere Ricold, 
 Christianity was still preserved, was doubtless Calamina, 
 where the apostle suffered, martyrdom, and where his 
 body reposed. J Subsequently, this town became known 
 
 * “ Le cors meisser Saint Thomas la apostres, est en la provence de 
 Meabar en une petite ville, car ne i a gueires homes ne mercaant,” &c. 
 “ Recueil des Voyages et de Memoires Public par la Societe de Geo- 
 graphic, ” vol. i. p. 208. 
 
 f “ L’hystoire merveilleuse du Grant Caan,” feuillet 3. 
 
 I According to Ilufin, who went to Syria in 371, and resided there 
 twenty-five years, the relics of St. Thomas had been brought from 
 
CONFIRMATION OF THE TRADITION. 
 
 23 
 
 under the name of Meliapour, or the town of peacocks.* 
 It has also sometimes been called San Thome ; and in tl>e 
 middle ages, the Arabs named it Betama^ or Beti-Thoma, 
 the house or church of St. Thomas. 
 
 The apostleship of St. Thomas in India appears, 
 therefore, to have been fully believed, not only by the 
 Christians of Europe, but also by the Arabs, the disciples 
 of Mahomet ; and the tradition has been especially per- 
 petuated in the kingdoms of Madura and the Carnatic, 
 and many races still glorify themselves on the fact 
 of their ancestors having been enlightened by the 
 apostle. From age to age it has been believed at Melia- 
 pour that St. Thomas was put to death on a hill near 
 the town, and the practice of making annual visits to 
 his tomb has been retained. According to the testimony 
 of Father Pons *, the Brahmins stated that there were 
 among the books deposited in their library at Cangia- 
 pour, some very ancient historical works, in which men- 
 tion was made of St. Thomas and of his martyrdom, 
 and the place of his burial. 
 
 Many facts connected with the epoch of the Portu- 
 guese conquest, tend to confirm the tradition of the 
 apostleship and death of St. Thomas in India. Alfonso 
 Albuquerque, whose exploits have procured for him the 
 surname of the Great, seized upon Goa in 1510, and 
 strengthened it by new fortifications. In digging for 
 the foundations of these, a cross of bronze, bearing the 
 image of the crucified Saviour, was found ; and placed 
 by the governor in the church, which he built in thanks- 
 
 India, and deposited at Edessa. But, as we shall see, he spoke only 
 of a part of them. 
 
 * Called Meliar-Pha by Ptolemy. 
 
 t “Lettres Edifiantes,” vol. xxii. p. 205. edit. in=18. 
 
24 ' CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. " 
 
 giving for his success. The body of St. Thomas was 
 not discovered till 1521. It was then found at a consi- 
 derable depth under ground, beneath the ruins of a vast 
 and ancient church at Meliapour. There was a sepul- 
 chre, in which, amongst lime and sand, were found some 
 remarkably white bones, the iron point of a lance, with 
 part of the wood attached, and a clay vase filled with 
 earth. The coincidence of this discovery with the local 
 traditions of the presence of the body of St. Thomas at 
 Meliapour, and the arrangements of his tomb, left in the 
 opinion of the Portuguese no reason to doubt the iden- 
 tity of these remains with those of the apostle. They 
 were, therefore, placed in a shrine, enriched with silver, 
 and subsequently taken to Goa, where they were depo- 
 sited in a church dedicated to St. Thomas.* 
 
 Du Jarric f relates, after Osorio, the historian of Em- 
 manuel, and Bishop of Sy Ives in Algarve, — that towards 
 the year 1543, there was presented to Martin Alphonse 
 de Sousa, Lieutenant-general of the Portuguese posses- 
 sions, a cojjper lance, on which were engraved some 
 worn and ancient letters that nobody could read. A 
 Jew, versed in the language and antiquities of India, 
 however, at length succeeded in making out the sense of 
 them, and it appeared they related to a donation of a 
 piece of land, whereon to build a temple to the true God, 
 made by an Indian king to St. Thomas. 
 
 Du Jarric adds, that towards the year 1548, when 
 Jean de Castro was governor of the Indies, some Por- 
 tuguese of Meliapour wished to build a chapel upon a 
 hill near the town, where they said an apostle had been 
 
 * Maffei, “ Ilistoire des Incles Orientates,” vol. i. p. 81 — 84. 
 
 I Du Jarric, “ Ilistoire des Clioses IMemorables,” &c. vol. i. p. 502. 
 
ARCIIiEOLOGICAL PROOFS. 
 
 25 
 
 killed by tlie Brahmins. On this occasion, they found 
 a stone, with a cross sculptured in relief upon it, two feet 
 lonf’’ and a foot and a half broad, with the four extremi- 
 ties ornamented with open fleur de lys, and surmounted 
 by a dove, which appeared to peck the top. Round this 
 token of salvation was a triple arcade, and beyond 
 that some strange characters that no one could read. 
 
 In order to discover the signification of these letters, 
 the captain and vicar of the town of Meliapour, applied 
 to a Brahmin of the kingdom of Narsinga, who was 
 much famed for his learning. He replied that they 
 were hieroglyphical signs, and gave the translation of 
 them thus: — 
 
 “ Since the law of the Christians appeared in the 
 world, and thirty years afterwards, on the 25th of the 
 month of December, the Apostle St. Thomas died at 
 ^leliapour, where there was the knowledge of God ; a 
 change of law, and the destruction of the demons. 
 God was born of the Virgin Mary, was under obedience 
 to her for thirty years, and was an eternal God. This 
 God taught his laAv to twelve apostles, and one of them 
 came to Meliapour, with a pilgrim’s staff in his hand, 
 and there built a church ; and the king of Malabar, and 
 the king of Coromandel, and the king of Pandi, and 
 other various nations and sects, determined of their own 
 will to submit to the law of St. Thomas, a holy and 
 penitent man. The time came when St. Thomas died by 
 the hands of a Brahmin, and his blood formed a cross.” 
 Another learned person from a distant part of the 
 country was then sent for, and without having any com- 
 munication with the first, or knowing his interpretation, 
 gave one to the same effect. In 1562, the bishop of 
 Cochin sent to the Cardinal Henry, at that time infant, 
 
26 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 and afterwards king of Portugal, the authentic vouchers, 
 attesting these facts ; the historian Osorio had had them 
 in his own hands, and the other Portuguese historians 
 are unanimous concerning them. 
 
 After a tradition so steady and consistent, and such an 
 amount of evidence to the same purport, it certainly 
 does seem to us that there would be great temerity in 
 denying the fact of the apostleship and martyrdom of 
 St. Thomas in India. This legend of Abdias appears 
 on examination to be fundamentally confirmed by as 
 incontestable proofs as can be required for the most 
 authentic facts of history. 
 
 The existence even of the king Gondaphorus, named 
 in the legend, has recently been rendered indisputable. 
 The discovery is due to M. Reinaud, member of the 
 Institute, a learned Orientalist, whose writings have 
 always been remarkable for erudition, perspicuity, and 
 candour, and Avho expresses himself thus in a Memoire 
 published in 1849 : — 
 
 “ Amongst medals recently discovered, may be men- 
 tioned some of the Indo-Scythian kings, who reigned a 
 short time after Kanerkes in the valley of the Indus, 
 and especially those of a prince named Gondaphorus. 
 There are medals of the same kind in the National 
 Library at Paris ; and, according to a tradition which 
 ascends to the very earliest ages of the Christian era, 
 the apostle St. Thomas went to preach the Gospel in 
 India, and suffered martyrdom on the coast of Coro- 
 mandel. 
 
 “ Now the Acts of the life of St. Thomas, which are 
 extant both in Greek and Latin, mention a king named 
 Gondaphorus. According to these Acts, St. Thomas, 
 being at Jerusalem, embarked at the nearest port, and 
 
MEDALS OF KING GONDArilORUS. 
 
 27 
 
 arrived on the coast of the Peninsula of Ilindostan. 
 Tlience he travelled into the interior, and visited a king 
 named Gondaphorus, avIio embraced Christianity ; and 
 after that he went to another province of India, where 
 he received the crown of martyrdom. It will be seen 
 that this narrative is in no way incompatible with that 
 transmitted to us by tradition, and indicated also by 
 archajological monuments.” * 
 
 Certainly not ; and not only not incompatible, but, on 
 the contrary, in the most perfect harmony with them. 
 Everything tends to prove that St. Thomas was verit- 
 ably the first apostle of India. This opinion, says M. 
 Coquebert-Montbretf, has in its favour an unvarying 
 tradition, and the suffrages of the majority of Catholics; 
 and of late years it has obtained some favour even with 
 Protestants : for example, from 1\I. Kohlenberg, in a 
 dissertation on the origin and destiny of the Christian 
 Church in India, and from Mr. Claude Buchanan in 
 his “ Christian Researches in India.” (Second Edition, 
 p. 104.) 
 
 We have said that the human race had been prepared 
 from its commencement to receive the fundamental 
 truths of Christianity. Independently of the relations 
 established beyond the limits of the Celestial Empire 
 between several Chinese and the Israelites whom God 
 dispersed amongst the nations to make known his name 
 
 ♦ “ Memoire Geographique Historique et Scientifique sur I’lnde 
 anterieurement, au milieu du onzieme siecle de Fere Chretienne, 
 d’apres les Ecrivains, Arabes, Persans, et Chinois,” par M. Reinaud, 
 de rinstitut. p. 95. 
 
 t Note on the Christian converts of St. Thomas in the “ Recueil 
 des Voyages et des Memoires de la Societe de Geographic,” vol. iv. 
 p. 25. 
 
28 CHEISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 and prepare the way for the Messiah, there have been 
 Jews in China, perhaps, from the seventh century 
 before the Christian era. Many of these Jews, says 
 Father Gaubil (in his “Chinese Chronology,” p. 267.), 
 were employed in the highest military offices, and there 
 were some among them who became governors of pro- 
 vinces, ministers of state, bachelors and doctors. These 
 messengers of the truth were not Avanting to their mis- 
 sion, and they communicated so much information, that 
 Confucius was enabled to announce in his writings, that 
 there should be born, in the West, a saint Avho had been 
 expected more than three thousand years. “ Vast and 
 extensive as the heavens, deep as the abyss, he will 
 be respected by all nations ; the whole world will 
 believe his words, all will applaud his actions. His 
 name and his glory will extend over the Avhole empire, 
 and even among the barbarians of the south and north, 
 wherever ships and chariots can advance, and the power 
 of man penetrate, in all places which the sky covers and 
 the earth supports, which are enlightened by the sun 
 and moon, and fertilised by the deAv and the mist ; and 
 all beings Avho have blood and breath shall honour and 
 love him. He is the equal of Tien" (heaven). 
 
 Is it, after this, surprising that a Chinese emperor 
 should (in the year 65 of our era) send to the West, in 
 search of the Saviour of men, that solemn embassy of 
 Avhich Ave have already spoken ? 
 
 India, as Ave have endeavoured to shoAv, AA^as evangelised 
 by St. Thomas ; and many learned men have expressed 
 tlieir belief that the same apostle carried tlie light of 
 Christianity as far as the Chinese empire. They ground 
 this belief on the Chaldean books that have been found 
 in India. The I’reviary of the church of Malabar con- 
 
DID ST. THOMAS VISIT CHINA ? 
 
 29 
 
 tains in fact the following words in a lesson of the noc- 
 turnal service : — 
 
 “ By St. Thomas idolatrous delusion was dissipated in India. 
 
 “ By St. Thomas the Cliinese and Ethiopians were converted to 
 the truth. 
 
 “ By St. Tliomas they received baptism, and believed and con- 
 fessed the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
 
 “ By St. Thomas they have preserved the faith in one only God. 
 
 “ By St. Thomas the splendours of a vivifying law have arisen 
 over all India. 
 
 “ By St. Thomas the kingdom of heaven has been extended even 
 to China.” 
 
 In the same Chaldean service for St. Thomas’s day, is 
 found the following anthem : — 
 
 “ The Indians, the Chinese, the Persians, and the other insular 
 people [cateri insulani*), offer their adorations to your holy name 
 in commemoration of St. Thomas.” 
 
 The Chaldee breviary of the church of Malabar does 
 not certainly afford any proof that St. Thomas was ever 
 in China ; but it confirms, at least, the opinion that the 
 most distant Oriental churches regard him as their 
 founder. The Christians of India, Persia, and Bactriana 
 could then freely enter the Celestial Empire, and carry 
 thither the evangelical light that had come to them from 
 the West; and whilst St. Thomas was preaching in the 
 India of the Ganges, and St. Bartholomew in Ethiopia 
 and Arabia Felix, the shock of the Christian revolution 
 
 * This is quite an Oriental expression. The Bible speaks (Gen. 
 X. 5.) of the “ isles of the Gentiles,” and we know that in the 
 religious books of India, various parts of the world are regarded as 
 so many islands, newly risen from the waters which separate them 
 from each other, and on which they float like a ship or an aquatic 
 plant. 
 
30 
 
 CUKISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Avas felt throughout the world. At that epoch the 
 people of different nations had much more intercourse 
 with each other, than has been commonly supposed, 
 and the relations between the East and the West were 
 much more frequent. There was apparently more in- 
 dividual energy then than in our days, and people did 
 not require the aid of steam to undertake long and 
 dangerous voyages. The natives of the banks of the 
 Ganges Avere scattered over the West in much greater 
 numbers than at present. 
 
 In the Letters of Alciphron, Ave find that the Greeks 
 frequently had Hindoos of both sexes in their families, 
 in the quality of domestics. The latter had especially 
 emigrated in great numbers to Colchis ; and Avhen 
 Metellus Celer was pro-consul in Gaul, fifty-nine years 
 before Christ, the famous Ariovistus, king of the Suevi, 
 made him a present of some Hindoos, Avho had been 
 shipAvrecked on the German coast. These Avere mer- 
 chants, Avhose adventurous spirit had carried them to 
 that distance from their country. 
 
 It is knoAvn that numerous embassies Avere sent from 
 India to the emperors of Rome and Constantinople, 
 doAvn to the seventh century ; but after that time, the 
 Mussulman poAver, SAvelling and rolling on like an ocean 
 tide, became an insurmountable obstacle to such com- 
 munications. 
 
 The most famous of these embassies AA-^as that sent to 
 Augustus by Porus, Avho boasted in his letter of having 
 six kings under his authority. The object of this 
 mission Avas to form an alliance Avith the Roman Em- 
 peror, and as he happened to be at that time in Spain, 
 the ambassadors folloAved him thither ; but as they did 
 not on that occasion succeed in their object, others Avere 
 
ANCIENT RELATIONS BETWEEN EAST AND WEST. 31 
 
 sent some years afterwards, when Augustus was at 
 Samos. 
 
 Besides these ambassadors from Porus, there came 
 others from Pandeon, a king whose territories were 
 situated in the southern part of the peninsula ; and they 
 had in their suite a Brahmin, who chose to remain in 
 Borne, and attach himself to the court of Augustus as 
 an augur or soothsayer. The Emperor Claudius also 
 received an embassy from Ceylon ; and when, in a.d. 
 103, Trajan marched against the Parthians, some Indian 
 princes sent ambassadors to entreat his arbitration in 
 some difference that had arisen between themselves and 
 their neighbours. 
 
 Antoninus Pius, Diocletian, Maximin, Theodosius, 
 Heraclius, and Justinian also received ambassadors 
 from India in 274; and when Aurelian took Palmyra, 
 and made Queen Zenobia prisoner, he found in that 
 country a body of Hindoos, whom he brought to Borne 
 to ornament his triumph. 
 
 In the early ages of Christianity, the Indians emigrated 
 in great numbers to the countries of the West, and the 
 inhabitants of Europe showed the same eagerness to 
 visit places remote from the lands of their birth, and 
 more especially India. At the period when the apostles 
 traversed every region of the known world, in obedience 
 to the command of their Divine Master, “ Go, and teach 
 all nations,” there existed a lively intercourse and fusion 
 between the East and the West. Numerous caravans, 
 impelled by the spirit of commercial enterprise, or of 
 curiosity, travelled continually between Europe and the 
 Indies. The Chinese were less exclusive then than they 
 have been since, and they allowed strangers to penetrate 
 freely into their vast empire, whilst they themselves 
 
32 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 visited neighbouring nations for the purposes of traffic. 
 Their junks traversed the Straits of Sunda, visited 
 the coasts of Malacca, and carried their merchandise 
 to the ports of Ceylon, the Gulf of Persia, and the 
 Red Sea. 
 
 The Greeks and Romans knew them under the name 
 of Seres, because silk, which was originally obtained from 
 them, was known by that name over a great part of 
 Asia; and still bears nearl}' the same appellation. The 
 commerce between the Romans and Chinese was often 
 carried on by the intervention of the Parthians ; and 
 thus the apostles were enabled to bear the light of the 
 Gospel to Upper Asia, by the way of Egypt to India, 
 and through India to China. 
 
 In urging the consideration of these facts, and in- 
 sisting so much on the existence of Christian traditions, 
 concerning the early propagation of the faith in the 
 remotest East, we have had a special purpose in view. 
 
 Those who have studied the system of Buddhism in 
 Upper Asia, have been often struck with the analogy, 
 in many points, between its doctrines, moral precepts, 
 and liturgy, and those of Christian Churches. Un- 
 believers have exulted at these resemblances, and have 
 inferred immediately that Ciiristianity Avas copied from 
 the religious systems of India and China. But their 
 triumph in this discovery, which has often served to 
 trouble timid Christians, could only arise from Avant of 
 good faith, or from ignorance. Eor if the primitive 
 traditions of our race Avere carried to India and China 
 by the descendants of Noah, — if the JeAvs AA'ere esta- 
 blished there seven centuries before Christ, — if St. 
 Thomas preached the Gospel there in the very first 
 period of its existence, — if Judaism, Christianity, and 
 
BUDDHISM INDEBTED TO CEIKISTIANITY. 
 
 33 
 
 the religions of Asia, were in continual juxtaposition, 
 it is surely not difficult to imagine that the latter may 
 have borrowed much from the Jews and Christians. 
 In observing the various pliases of the propagation oi 
 the faith in the East, it will be easy for us to show that 
 they actually did so, and that the real fact is that Bud- 
 dhism, by adorning itself with some Christian truths, 
 has been able for many centuries to delude a countless 
 multitude of people. Men do not seek error instinctively ; 
 on the contrary, they have a horror of it, — and when it 
 succeeds easily in deluding tliem, it is because it pre- 
 sents itself to them under the guise of truth. 
 
 From the various evidence we have collected, it may 
 be considered certain, that in the time of the preaching 
 of the Gospel by the Apostles, evangelical truth was 
 announced by St. Thomas to the nations of India. It 
 is equally beyond a doubt that the propagation of the 
 faith went on rapidly among all the nations of the East, 
 if not by the preaching of the apostle himself, at least 
 by that of his disciples, — for there were at that time 
 such relations between the Chinese, the Indians, and the 
 people of the M’est, that the former could hardly have 
 remained ignorant of the wonderful events which had 
 occurred at Bethlehem and Calvary, or of the miraculous 
 resurrection of the Lord. 
 
 Be the apostleship of St. Thomas in India admitted 
 or not, it is certain that the good tidings of the coming 
 of the Messiah and the redemption of men, Avere, from 
 the very commencement of Christianity, made knoAvn 
 in Upper Asia. We shall see apostles and missionaries 
 from age to age braving the perils and fatigues of the 
 longest and most dangerous journeys, to carry over 
 land and sea the Avords of eternal life. Opportunities 
 
 VOL. I. D 
 
34 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 of becoming acquainted with the truth have not been 
 wanting to the Orientals, and yet they are still plunged 
 in the grossest error. That East, from which we re- 
 ceived our light, is herself in the thickest darkness ; 
 but it is not the fault of the people of the West, who 
 have returned again and again to their aged parent ; 
 not like the poor and destitute prodigal son, but radiant 
 in light, and with their hands full of celestial gifts. 
 
 One of the earliest apostles of the remote East, was 
 St. Pantenus, a Sicilian by birth, who lived towards 
 the end of the second century. He had applied him- 
 self much to the study of eloquence, and of the Stoical 
 philosophy, and afterwards having become a Christian, 
 entered the Church, and employed his talents in en- 
 deavouring to throw light on the divine mysteries of 
 Christianity. From a motive of humility, he lived, 
 after his baptism, in the closest retirement, and Clement 
 of Alexandria long souglit for him in vain, though his 
 search, say the writers of the time, was conducted witli 
 “ the ardour of a huntsman pursuing his game in the 
 recesses of the forest.” 
 
 He at last found him in Egypt, passing a life of se- 
 clusion and solitude, devoted to prayer, meditation, and 
 the study of holy books. Up to that time Clement had 
 studied under various masters, but having now formed 
 an intimate friendship with Pantenus, lie discovered 
 in him such great talents, such a rich treasury of divine 
 wisdom, that he thought he should need no other guide 
 to lead him to the summit of Christian philosophy. 
 Thenceforward, Pantenus shed such glory on the town 
 of Alexandria, that the Bishop Jidian charged him with 
 the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures in that famous 
 school. 
 
MISSION OF ST. FANTENUS TO INIMA. 
 
 35 
 
 The renown of Pantenus extended beyond the limits 
 of the Poman Empire ; and some Indian merchants, 
 drawn by commerce to Alexandria, before the year 179, 
 took occasion to make themselves acquainted with the 
 holy doctor, the head of the Christian school, and 
 besought him to proceed to their country, in order 
 there to combat the doctrines of the Brahmins by those 
 of Jesus Christ. 
 
 There were many holy-minded men at that time to 
 be found, under the name of Evangelists, who, full 
 of zeal for the service of God, were willing, after the 
 example of the apostles, to renounce every worldly ' 
 prospect, and devote themselves wholly to the propaga- 
 tion of the Christian religion. Pantenus Avas of this 
 number ; and yielding to the entreaties of an envoy^ 
 sent to him from India, hega\'e* up his school, and in 189 
 quitted Egypt, and set out for those remote countries, 
 though not Avithout the permission of the Bishop of 
 Alexandria, Avho appointed him preacher of the Gospel 
 to the Oriental nations.* 
 
 On arriving in India, Pantenus found indications of the 
 faith having been already preached there ; but he again 
 announced Jesus Christ to the Brahmins and philo- 
 sophers of the country. History, however, gives us no 
 further details concerning his mission, than that he 
 found in the hands of some Christians, a Gospel of 
 St. MattheAv in the HebrcAv character. It is supposed, 
 that, after having devoted some years to evangelical 
 labours in India, he returned to Alexandria, and re- 
 commenced his former occupation. It is certain that he 
 was still living when Origen Avas filling, Avith much dis- 
 
 * Eusebius Hist., lib. iv. ch. 10. 
 
36 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 tinction, the professorial chair, but the precise date of 
 his death is not known. It is commonly thouglit that 
 he lived till the end of the reign of Severus, or the com- 
 mencement of that of Caracalla. The Gospel of St. 
 ]\Iatthew, which he brought from India to Alexandria, 
 was still in existence in the time of St. Jerome.* 
 
 In the early ages of Christianity the ecclesiastical 
 hierarchy was rapidly organised. Wherever tliere were 
 found a few of the faithful gathered together, the 
 Church of Jesus Christ, full of vigilance and anxiety 
 for their welfare, placed at their head bishops charged 
 to confirm neophytes in the faith, and excite the ardour 
 of proselytism. St. Pantenus had been, it was sup- 
 posed, before his departure for India, consecrated 
 bishop at x\lexandria, by Demetrius. 
 
 After the departure of St. Pantenus, the evangelical 
 charge of the extreme East was undertaken by Fru- 
 mentius, who visited India in company with his brother 
 Adhesius, and his paternal uncle, a native of Tyre, and 
 a man remarkable for his scientific attainments ; but on 
 entering a certain port to take in provisions and water, 
 they were attacked suddenly, as soon as they set foot 
 on land, by the natives of the country. ]\Iany of the 
 travellers perished, and othei’S were dragged into cap- 
 tivity. Among the killed Avas the uncle of Frumentius; 
 but the two nephews were presented to the king, Avho, 
 having formed a high opinion of their merit, raised 
 them to the chief dignities of the state. Frumentius 
 resided a long time in India, where for several years he 
 filled the office of first minister, and governor of one 
 of the kings during his minority. 
 
 He preached the Gospel in the southern parts of the 
 * Eusebius, lib. vi. cb. 14. 
 
FRUMENTIUS PRIMATE OF INDIA. 
 
 37 
 
 peninsula, and from his high position, and his speaking 
 remarkably well the language of the country, he exer- 
 cised great influence over the population, and his mis- 
 sion was crowned with the most brilliant success. 
 After having built several churches, he obtained per- 
 mission to revisit his native country, where he was 
 consecrated bishop; and he returned to India invested 
 with this new dignity. 
 
 Christianity was soon so flourishing on the banks of 
 the Ganges, that it was thought necessary to institute 
 a Primacy of India ; and the first bishop appointed to 
 this dignity was one named John, Avho, in 325, was 
 present at the Council of Nice, and put his signature 
 to its acts. In the following year, Frumentius suc- 
 ceeded him in the primacy, and Avas consecrated at 
 Alexandria by Athanasius. He resided in the penin- 
 sula, and from that time the Christians ahvays had a 
 bishop who bore the title of Primate of India. 
 
 The religion of Jesus Christ extended rapidly in these 
 vast regions, and even penetrated to the north, notwith- 
 standing all the opposition it had to encounter from the 
 Brahmins, and the disciples of Buddha. 
 
 It is AA'ell known that Musseus, Bishop of Aduli, on 
 the frontiers of Abyssinia, e\'angelised the northern 
 parts of India in the second half of the fourth century ; 
 being associated in this task Avith the famous Palladius, 
 a Goth of Galatia. 
 
 They embarked Avith some merchants on the Red 
 Sea, at that time much frequented by vessels from 
 Ceylon and China ; but Palladius, whose temperament 
 was not very robust, could not bear the excessive heat 
 of India, and AA^as obliged to return to his OAvn country. 
 Bishop Musieus, hoAvever, pursued his journey, and 
 
 D 3 
 
38 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 travelled in Lesser Bucharia and China. These details 
 have been preserved by St. Ambrose, in his book on 
 the customs of the Brahmins, which seems to have been 
 composed for the instruction of this same Palladius, 
 who was for some time the travelling companion of 
 Musaeus. 
 
 The holy doctor expresses himself thus: — 
 
 “ The desire of your mind, my dear Palladius, which, 
 tilled with the love of wisdom, is always draAvn towards 
 the knowledge of new things, has induced us to under- 
 take a new and difficult work, that of describing the 
 life, the manners, and the country of the Brahmins.” 
 He then commences his narrative thus : — “ Our brother 
 Musajus, Bishop of the Dolenians, has related to me, 
 that having set forth some years ago to visit the Brah- 
 mins in India, he travelled over almost the whole 
 country of the Seres (Chinese). After having seen 
 a great number of nations and countries, he arrived at 
 Arianam, near the river Indus.* 
 
 At this time the apostle of India was the Bishop 
 Theophilus, who afterwards rendered himself famous 
 by his adherence to the heresy of Arius. He was 
 a native of Diu, at the mouth of the Indus, a depen- 
 dency of the kingdom of Cambodia, and he was, when 
 very young, sent to Constantinople, where lie Avent 
 through a course of study, and afterwards embraced 
 Christianity and the monastic life. 
 
 As he Avas remarkably dark complexioned, he was 
 called the Black JVlonk ; and subsequently being con- 
 secrated bishop, he Avas sent to Arabia to Avatch there 
 
 * St. Ambrose. “ l)c Moribiis Brachmannorum,” vol. iv. p. 1131. 
 Giuvres Completes, Edition de Wigne. 
 
BISHOPS THEOPIIILUS AND MAllUTHA. 
 
 39 
 
 over the interests of the Christian relij^ion. Notwith- 
 standing the lively opposition which he encountered 
 from the Jews, who were at that time very numerous in 
 that country, lie succeeded in building tliree churches, 
 one at Darfur, the capital of that part of Arabia ; the 
 other at Aden, near the straits of Babelmandel ; and the 
 third at the entrance to the Gulf of Persia, wliere was 
 lield a celebrated annual fair, for the sale of Indian and 
 Chinese productions.* After having founded these va- 
 rious churches, he returned to Din, his native country, 
 and thence visited other parts of India, where he re- 
 formed many objectionable practices among the Chris- 
 tians ; such, for instance, as that of consulting the pagan 
 oracles, while professing faith in the Gospel. 
 
 Unfortunately, Theophilus also sowed the seeds of the 
 Arian heresy amongst these neophytes, f 
 
 Marutha, a Hindoo by birth, was invested with the 
 Episcopal dignity in his own country towards the end 
 of the fourth centur}’. He held the see of Sufferdain ; 
 and St. Chrysostom, in his writings J, pronounces an 
 eulogium on this excellent prelate. In 381, he was pre- 
 sent at the general council of Constantinople, and at 
 that of Seleucia, where he prepared twenty-one canons. 
 In 383, he was present at the Synod of Sides in Parn- 
 phylia. 
 
 These facts, which cannot be called in question, are so 
 many proofs, that in the early ages of the Church, the 
 evangelical seed was as fruitful in the East as in the 
 AVest. The grain of mustard seed had become in India 
 
 * Philostorge, vol. ii., No. 6., and 1 — 3. No. 4. 
 f Nicephoros Hist. Eccl., vol. i. p. 719. 
 
 J Saint Chrysost. Epist. 14., ad Olympiadem. 
 
40 
 
 CIIEISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 and the surrounding countries a great tree, and nu- 
 merous populations had found shelter under its branches, 
 which may very probably have extended even to China, 
 since, according to the testimony of St. Ambrose, Bishop 
 Musasus had traversed almost all the country of the 
 Seres.” 
 
 The Chinese of that time were less indifferent to 
 matters of religion than they have been since, and it is 
 scarcely probable that they should have remained quite 
 uninterested in the great Christian movement then 
 going on in the world, since they were in frequent com- 
 munication Avith the neophytes of India, Persia, and 
 Arabia; and that, moreover, the propagators of the 
 faith had no difficulty in obtaining entrance into their 
 empire, as it Avas then open to all foreigners. 
 
 This assertion does not appear to us a mere hypothe- 
 sis; for Arnobius, Avho lived in the third century, reckons 
 the Chinese among the nations avIio had already received 
 the Gospel. 
 
 At a somcAvhat later period, namely in 585, under 
 Justinian, the celebrated Egyptian traveller, Cosmas 
 hidicopleustes (that is to say, traveller in India), made 
 many journeys in those countries ; and he reports, in 
 his Avork, entitled “ Christian Topography,” that there 
 Avere churches and priests, Avith a complete liturgy, in 
 the island of Ceylon, on the coast of Malabar, and in 
 the north-Avest of the peninsula of llindostan.* This is 
 
 * Tliese churches, j>riests, and liturgies in the north of India at 
 tliat remote period, form certainly a very striking fact. At the 
 present day it is there that the pomp of the hierarchy and liturgy of 
 Buddhism is chiefly displayed ; but at that time it did not exist. If, 
 therefore, there has been any imitation in the case, it is certainly not 
 Christianity that has been the imitator. 
 
TESTIMONY OF COSMAS INDICOFLEUSTES. 
 
 41 
 
 what he says of Ceylon : — “ Tliere is in this island a 
 church for the Christians of Persia, who often pro to it. 
 It is served hy a priest and a vicar, who took sacred 
 orders in Persia, and it has the complete ecclesiastical 
 liturgy. As for the natives of the island, they, as well 
 as the kings who rule it, are pagans. They have many 
 temples, and amongst others one built on a hill, in which 
 there is a jewel of inestimable value, a ruby of the size of 
 a large fir cone. AVhen the sun shines upon it, its rays 
 are perfectly dazzling. Great numbers of vessels come 
 to this island, especially from India and Ethiopia, as well 
 as from China and other countries to the east ; and many 
 ships from Ceylon also proceed to those countries.” * 
 
 Cosmas Indicopleustes confesses that he does not 
 knowf whether there are any Christians beyond Ce}don ; 
 but that there were such, even in China, we shall soon 
 find the most convincing proofs. 
 
 AVliilst the religion of Jesus Christ was being thus 
 diffused over the world, the spirit of evil, incessantly la- 
 bouring to delude mankind, was endeavouring to mingle 
 error with the truth, and obscure by his darkness 
 the evangelical light. The Christian converts of St. 
 Thomas did not always preserve in its purity the faith 
 which the apostle had preached to them. The Indians 
 had more communication with Egypt and Greece than 
 with the city in which Jesus Christ has established the 
 focus of his truth, and the centre of his Church ; and by 
 degrees they began to feel the ill effects of their relations 
 with these unsteady people of the East, over whom the 
 very spirit of schism and heresy seemed to hold sway. 
 Nestorianism had taken firm root in Persia, whose nu- 
 
 * Cosmas Indicopleustes in the “Voyages de Thevenot,” p. 20. 
 
 I An ulterius etiam ignore. “ Topographia Christ.” vol. iii. 
 
42 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 merous churches were governed by very enlightened, 
 though heretical ecclesiastics, and who, moreover, de- 
 spatched missionaries of their doctrines to Ceylon, India, 
 and even the Chinese empire, where they greatly cor- 
 rupted those of true Christianity. 
 
 From the monument of Si-gnan-Fou, of which we 
 sliall presently speak, some authors have concluded that 
 Christianity was first carried to China by the Nestorians. 
 But this appears to us extremely doubtful ; for, leaving 
 out of the question for the moment the opinions of those 
 who have distinctly affirmed that the Chinese were first 
 evangelised by St. Thomas or his disciples, we have the 
 most authentic testimony that the first propagation of 
 the faith in Upper Asia was by orthodox Catholics, un- 
 touched by any taint of heresy. Ebedjesus, a Syrian 
 writer, much versed in the Christian antiquities of the 
 East, expresses himself thus in his Canonical Epitome: — 
 “ The Cat/ioUcos Saliba-Zacha founded the metropolitan 
 sees of Ueria (in Khorassan), of Samarcand, and of 
 China, though some have affirmed that they were insti- 
 tuted by Achaeus and Silas.” * Thus, according to 
 Ebedjesus, many have thought that Acha3us and Silas 
 established the metropolitan sees of China. Now 
 Achaeus, the Archbishop of Seleucia, was at the head of 
 the orthodox Chaldean Christians, from 411 to 415; 
 Silas was patriarch of the Nestorians from 503 to 520 ; 
 and Saliba-Zacha held the same see from 714 to 728. 
 
 If, therefore, it should be admitted, in contradiction 
 to the opinion of many, that the metropolitan see of 
 China, was established by Saliba-Zacha, it only appears 
 more certain that the Chinese must have been converted 
 
 * “Ebe<1jcsus Sobcnsis in Epitome Canonuin,” par. 8. cap. 15. 
 
PROOF FURNISHED BY ASSEMANI. 
 
 43 
 
 to Christianity long before the time of this Nestorian 
 patriarch. How, in fact, could a metropolitan sec be 
 created in a country, in which Christianity liad not 
 made considerable progress, and in which there were 
 not already several episcopal sees ? The creation of a 
 metropolitan supposes a flourishing church already esta- 
 blished ; and this could not be till after a considerable 
 lapse of time. But if we suppose, with tlie authors 
 referred to by Ebedjesus, that the metropolitan see of 
 China was founded by Achmus, Archbishop of Seleucia, 
 towards the year 411, we are fully justified in giving 
 credit to the tradition which dates the propagation of 
 the Christian faith in China from the time of the 
 Apostles themselves ; and it is not surprising that Ar- 
 nobius, who lived in the third century, should have 
 counted the Seres or Chinese amongst the nations who, 
 in his time, had received the Gospel. 
 
 One of the most conclusive arguments, however, 
 which tend to prove the antiquity of Christianity in 
 China, has been furnished by Assemani, in his very 
 erudite work.* This learned Orientalist quotes from 
 Amrus the list of metropolitans subject to the Patriarch 
 of Seleucia, and in this catalogue the metropolitan see 
 of China is reckoned with that of India.f 
 
 It may, therefore, be inferred that the two were 
 established about the same time, for Ebedjesus says 
 expressly, “ The primacy of the sees is determined by 
 the priority of time, in which the patriarchs lived who 
 founded them.” | Kow the proofs of the antiquity of 
 Christianity in India rest on the most solid foundation. 
 
 * Assem. vol. ii. p. 413.1 
 
 t China occupies the thirteenth place, and India the fourteenth. 
 
 f Assem. vol. iii. p. 346. 
 
44 CHEISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 We have seen that the fact of the Apostleship of St. 
 Thomas in Upper Asia is supported by the constant 
 and unvarying tradition of the Church; by the testi- 
 mony of Greek, Latin, and Syriac writers ; by the 
 most ancient liturgies ; and by the most authentic 
 archseological monuments*; and the propagation of the 
 Christian faith in China bears an equal character of 
 antiquity, since, according to the catalogue of Amrus, 
 cited in the Bibliotheque Orientale, by the learned Asse- 
 mani, the metropolitan see of China is placed on a level 
 with that of India. 
 
 It has seemed to us important to dwell on these 
 proofs of the introduction of Christianity into China 
 during the first ages of the Church, because, if it is de- 
 monstrated that the Gospel was known in those countries 
 before the seventh century, the possible authenticity of 
 the monument of Si-gnan-Fou, into wliich we are now 
 about to inquire, may be admitted d pnori. 
 
 * “ Memoire de M. Reinaud,” p. 95. 
 
45 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 DISCOVERY OP THE FAMODS INSCRIPTION OF SI-C.NAN-FOU. — TRANS- 
 LATION OF Tins INSCRIPTION. STATE OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE 
 
 AT THE EPOCH OF THE ERECTION OF THIS MONCMENT. INFLUX 
 
 OF FOREIGNERS INTO CHINA UNDER THE DYNASTY OF THANG. 
 
 CRITICAL STUDY OF THE INSCRIPTION OF SI-GNAN-FOU. NATIVE 
 
 COUNTRY OF OLOPEN AND OTHER MISSIONARIES TO CHINA IN THE 
 SEVENTH CENTURY. — SYRIAC CHARACTERS. — NESTORIAN DOCTRINE. 
 
 OBJECTIONS OF VOLTAIRE AND MILNE TO THE AUTHENTICITY OF 
 
 THE INSCRIPTION. REFUTATION OF THEM THE AUTHENTICITY 
 
 OF THE MONUMENT PROVED BY CHINESE WRITERS. ANCIENT 
 
 AND MODERN BOOKS. — SIMPLE FAITH OF THE MISSIONARIES. — 
 INFERENCE. 
 
 In 1625, some Chinese workmen, engaged in digging a 
 foundation for a house, outside the walls of the city of 
 Si-gnan-Fou, the capital of the province of Chen-Si, 
 found, buried in the earth, a large monumental stone, 
 resembling those which the Chinese are in the habit of 
 raising to preserve to posterity the remembrance of re- 
 markable events and illustrious men. It was a dark- 
 coloured marble tablet, ten feet high and five broad, 
 and bearing on one side an inscription in ancient 
 Chinese, and also some other characters quite unknown 
 in China. The discovery excited much attention among 
 the mandarins and the population of the country. The 
 stone was publicly exhibited, and visited by crowds of 
 curious persons ; and amongst others, some Jesuit 
 missionaries, who were at that time scattered about 
 China, in various missions, went to examine it. The 
 first who saw it was Father Alvares Seinedo ; then 
 
46 
 
 CHEISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 came Martin Martini, author of the Chinese Atlas, and 
 Michael Boym, a Pole, who, with the assistance of a 
 Chinese man of letters, undertook the interpretation of 
 the inscription. 
 
 At the news of this curious discovery, the government 
 of Pekin sent to demand a copy of the inscription, and 
 the Emperor gave orders that the original should be 
 placed in a celebrated pagoda, about a quarter of a 
 league from Si-gnan-Fou, where, doubtless, it may still 
 be found.* 
 
 Several exact tracings from the stone were sent to 
 Europe by the Jesuits who saw it. The libi*ary of 
 their house at Rome had one of the first, and it attracted 
 numerous visitors; subsequently, anotlier authentic 
 copy, of the dimensions of the tablet, was sent to Paris, 
 and deposited at the library in the Rue Richelieu, where 
 it may still be seen in the Gallery of j\lSS. 
 
 This monument, discovered by cliance amidst rubbish, 
 in the environs of an ancient capital of the Chinese 
 Empire, excited a great sensation ; for, on examining 
 the stone, and endeavouring to interpret the inscription, 
 it was, with surprise, discovered that the Christian 
 religion had had numerous ai)OStles in China, at the 
 beginning of the seventh ccntuiy, and that it had for 
 a long time flourished there. The strange characters 
 proved to be tliose called estmnghMos, which were in use 
 among the ancient itihabitants of Syria, and will be 
 found in most Syriac manuscripts of earlier date than 
 the eighth century. f 
 
 * During our residence at Pekin, several Cliinese friends assured 
 us tliat they liad seen the inscription in the above-mentioned pagoda. 
 
 f It was employed cliiefly for inscriptions, and resembled tlie 
 ancient Arab character called Rufic. 
 
MONUMENT OF SI-GNAN-FOU. 
 
 47 
 
 People had been accustomed liitherto to regard China 
 as having been, up to a recent period, kept entirely 
 apart from all contact with the nations of tlie West ; 
 wlien, in 1583, Fatlier Picci announced in that country 
 the glad tidings of the Gospel, it was imagined that the 
 name of Jesus was then pronounced for the first time in 
 that sequestered land. No little astonishment, therefore, 
 was created, M'hen a voice from antiquity, issuing thus 
 from the bowels of the earth, proclaimed that Christi- 
 anity had been preached from the beginning among the 
 remotest nations ; that even for the Chinese the Day- 
 spring from on high had shone forth ; and that if they 
 were still in darkness, it was not because Providence 
 never atforded them an opportunity of seeing the light. 
 
 It is stated on the monumental stone in question, 
 that a religious man, named Olopen, a man of eminent 
 virtue, came, in 635, from Ta-Thsin (the Roman Em- 
 pire) to Si-gnan-Fou. The Emperor sent his officers 
 to meet him in the western suburb of the city, had him 
 brought to the palace, and ordered him to translate the 
 sacred books that he had brought with him. These 
 books having been examined, the Emperor pronounced 
 the doctrine they contained good, and permitted its 
 publication. The decree issued to this effect is cited 
 in the inscription. It is therein asserted, to the honour 
 of the doctrine taught by Olopen, that under the dynasty 
 of Tcheou, the law of truth was eclipsed in China, and 
 having been carried towards the West by Lao-Tze, has 
 now returned to its primitive source, to increase the 
 splendour of the reigning dynasty. This doctrine 
 proclaims, that Aloho (that is, God, in the Syriac 
 language) created the heavens and the earth ; and that 
 Satan, having seduced the first man, God sent the 
 
48 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Messiah to deliver the human race from the original 
 sin ; that the Messiah was born of a virgin, in the 
 country of Ta-Thsin, and that the Persians went to 
 adore him, in order that the law and the prediction 
 might be accomplished. 
 
 The Syriac characters, which form ninety lines, 
 contain the names of the Syrian priests who came to 
 China in the suite of Olopen. 
 
 This is a brief summary of the inscription of Si- 
 gnan-Fou ; but as it is our purpose to collect all the 
 documents relating to the introduction and propagation 
 of Christianity in High Asia, we will give a complete 
 translation of this curious monument, which, at the 
 epoch of its discovery, excited the most passionate 
 controversies. We trust that our translation will be 
 found as faithful as the extreme conciseness of the 
 Chinese language will permit. Whilst working at it, 
 Ave have had before us the Chinese text, preserved in 
 the Imperial Library, and Ave ha\'e been further aided 
 by various translations already made. 
 
 The preamble of the inscription is surmounted by 
 the figure of a cross, cut in the stone, resembling that 
 used by the Knights of ]\ralta, and also that found in 
 the tomb of St. Thomas, in India. 
 
 Monument of the great propagation of the Litmindus Doctrine 
 in the Central Dmpire composed by Khing-Tsing, 
 a devout man of the temple of Ta- Thsin. 
 
 “ 1. There has always been one only true Cause, essentially the 
 first, and without beginning, supremely intelligent and immaterial ; 
 essentially the last, and uniting all perfections. He placed the poles 
 of the lieavcns, and created all beings; marvellously holy; he is the 
 
TRANSLATION OF THE INSCRII’TION. 
 
 49 
 
 source of all perfection. This admirable being, is he not the Tri- 
 une, the true Lord without beginning, Oloho?* * * § 
 
 “ He divided the world by a cross into four parts. After having 
 decomposed the primordial air, he gave birth to the two elements, f 
 “ Chaos was transformed, and then the sun and the moon ap- 
 peared. He made the sun and the moon move| to produce day and 
 night. He elaborated and perfected the ten thousand things §; but 
 in creating the first man, he endowed him with perfect interior har- 
 mony. He enjoined him to watch over the sea of his desires. His 
 nature was without vice, and without error ; his heart, pure and 
 simple, was originally without disorderly appetites. 
 
 “ 2. But Sa-Than propagated lies, and stained by his malice that 
 which had been pure and holy. || He proclaimed, as a truth, the 
 equality of greatness, and upset all ideas. Tliis is why three 
 hundred and sixty-five sects^, lending each other a mutual support, 
 formed a long chain, and wove, so to speak, a net of law. Some put 
 the creature in tlie place of the Eternal, others denied the existence 
 of beings, and destroyed the two principles. Others instituted 
 prayers and sacrifices to obtain good fortune; others proclaimed 
 their own sanctity, to deceive mankind. The minds of men laboured, 
 and were filled with anxiety ; aspirations towards the supreme good 
 were trampled down ; thus perpetually floating about, they attained 
 to nothing, and all went from bad to worse.** The darkness tbick- 
 
 * This name, foreign to the Chinese language, is evidently a 
 translation of Eloha, the true name of God in Syriac. 
 
 t The Yn and the Yang, which play sa great a part among 
 Chinese philosophers. 
 
 J Modern astronomy has shown that it is the movement of the 
 sun, which draws after it that of the earth. It would be curious if 
 this fact were known to the author of the inscription. 
 
 § JYan-ou, ten thousand things, is the Chinese expression for the 
 totality of created beings. 
 
 II This expression is obscure, but it seems to us that it is meant to 
 indicate the Indian and Chinese pantheism. 
 
 ^ This number, which corresponds with the days of the year, ex- 
 presses, according to the genius of the Chinese language, a great 
 multitude, an uninterrupted series. 
 
 ** Literally, the boiled meat turned to roast. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 CHEISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 ened, men lost their sight, and for a long time they wandered without 
 being able to find it again. 
 
 “ 3. Then our Tri-une God communicated his substance to the 
 very venerable Mi-chi-ho (Messiah), w'ho, veiling his true majesty, 
 appeared in the world in the likeness of a man. The celestial spirits 
 manifested their joy, and a Virgin brought forth the Saint in Ta- 
 Thsin. The most splendid constellations announced this happy 
 event ; the Persians saw the splendour, and ran to pay tribute. He 
 fulfilled what was said of old by the twenty -four saints*; he orga- 
 nised, by his precepts, both families and kingdoms ; he instituted the 
 new religion, according to the pure notion of the Trinity in Unity ; 
 he regulated conscience by true faith ; he signified to the world the 
 eight commandments, and purged humanity from its pollutions, by 
 opening the door to the three virtues. He difi'used life and extin- 
 guished death ; he suspended the luminous sun to destroy the dwell- 
 ing of darkness, and then the lies of demons passed away. He 
 directed the bark of mercy towards the palace of light, and all 
 creatures endowed with intelligence have been succoured. After 
 having consummated this act of power, he rose at mid-day towards 
 the Truth. Twenty-seven books have been left.j' He has enlarged 
 the springs of mercy, that men might be converted. The baptism 
 by water and by the Spirit, is a law that purifies the soul and beauti- 
 fies the exterior. Tlie sign of the cross unites the four quarters of 
 the world, and restores the harmony that had been destroyed. By 
 striking upon a piece of woodj, we make the voice of charity and 
 mercy resound ; by sacrificing towards tho East, we indicate the way 
 of life and glory. 
 
 “ Our ministers allow their beards to grow, to show that they arc 
 devoted to their neighbours. Tlie tonsure that they wear at the top 
 
 * An allusion to the four great prophets, and the twelve lesser 
 ones, by adding to whom Abraliam, Isaac, .Jacob, Job, Moses, 
 Samuel, David, and John the Baptist, they make twbnty-four. 
 
 I Namely, the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, fourteen 
 Epistles of St. Paul, three of St. Jolm, one of St. James, two of 
 St. Peter, one of St. Jude, and the Apocalypse. 
 
 J It is customary in Cliina in the pagodas and monasteries to 
 strike either on a bell or a piece of bamboo, to call tlie devout to 
 prayer. 
 
TRANSLATION OF THE INSCRIPTION. 
 
 51 
 
 of their heads indicates that they have renounced worldly desires. 
 In giving liberty to slaves, we become a link between the powerful 
 and the weak. We do not accumulate riches, and we share with the 
 poor that which we possess. Fasting strengthens the intellectual 
 powers, abstinence and moderation preserve health. We worship 
 seven times a day, and by our prayers we aid the living and the 
 dead. On the seventh day we offer sacrifice, after having purified 
 our hearts, and received absolution for our sins. This religion, so 
 perfect and so excellent, is difficult to name, but it enlightens dark- 
 ness by its brilliant precepts. It is called the Luminous Religion.* 
 
 “ 5. Learning alone without sanctity has no grandeur ; sanctity 
 w'ithout learning makes no progress. When learning and sanctity 
 proceed harmoniously, the universe is adorned and resplendent. 
 
 “The Emperor Tai-Tsoungf illustrated the empire. lie opened 
 the revolution, and governed men in holiness. In his time there was 
 a man of high virtue named Olopen, who came from the kingdom of 
 Ta-Thsin. Directed by the blue clouds, he bore the Scriptures of 
 the true doctrine ; he observed the rules of the winds, and traversed 
 difficult and perilous countries. 
 
 “ In the ninth year of Tching-Kouan (6.36), he arrived at Tchang- 
 ngan.J The emperor ordered Fang-hi-wen-Ling, first minister of 
 the empire, to go with a great train of attendants to the western 
 suburb, to meet the stranger, and bring him to the palace. He had 
 the Holy Scriptures translated in the imperial library. The court 
 
 * King-Khiao means, literally, luminous religion. A Russian 
 scholar, who has made a rather inaccurate translation of the above 
 inscription, has rendered these two Chinese characters most erro- 
 neously as orthodox religion. 
 
 f Tai-Tsoung was only twenty-three years of age when he sub- 
 jugated the empire. He was proclaimed Emperor in 627, and was 
 remarkable for his philosophical toleration, and his numerous rela- 
 tions with foreigners. The reception he gave to Olopen is, therefore, 
 not at all surprising. In 629, he had subjugated all the Tartar kings, 
 who with common consent conferred on him the title of Celestial 
 Emperor. He died, A. d. 649, at the age of 45, after having reigned 
 22 years. 
 
 J The name borne at that time by Si-ngan-Fou, at present capital 
 of the province of Chen-Si. It was at that time the capital of the 
 empire, and the residence of the court. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 CHEISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 listened to the doctrine, meditated on it profoundly, and understood 
 the great unity of truth. A special edict was promulgated for its 
 publication and diffusion. 
 
 “ In the twelfth year of Tching-Kouan in the seventh moon, 
 during the Autumn, the new edict was promulgated in these terms: — 
 
 “ ‘ The doctrine has no fixed name, the holy has no determinate 
 substance; it institutes religions suitable to various countries, and 
 carries men in crowds in its track.* * * § Olopen, a man of Ta- T/isin, and 
 of a lofty virtue, bearing Scriptures and images, has come to offer 
 them in the Supreme Court. After a minute examination of the 
 spirit of this religion, it has been found to be excellent, mysterious, 
 and pacific. The contemplation of its radical principle gives birth 
 to perfection, and fixes the will. It is exempt from verbosity ; it 
 considers only good results. It is useful to men, and consequently 
 ought to be published under the whole extent of the heavens. 1^ 
 therefore, command the magistrates to have a Ta-Thsin temple con- 
 structed in the quarter named I-ning f of the imperial city, and 
 twenty-one religious men shall be installed therein.’ 
 
 “ The virtue of the venerable dynasty of Tcheou was extinct ; the 
 Blue Chariot had passed to the West.J I'he wisdom of the dynasty 
 of Thang having shone forth, a luminous ray has penetrated to the 
 East. The magistrates have received orders, and a genuine writing 
 of the sovereign has been traced on the w'all of the temple. A Ce- 
 lestial beauty, with splendid colours, has made the Luminous Gatef 
 to shine. This sacred testimony of the Emperor has been a source 
 of felicity ; it will eternally lighten the universe. 
 
 * These words show clearly that the Emperor Tai-Tsoung tole- 
 rated all religions, and was consequently likely to give a favourable 
 reception to the Christian. 
 
 f That is to say, the quarter “ of Justice and Mercy.” 
 
 I Lao-Kiun, or Lao-tse, a celebrated Chinese philosopher, tho 
 contemporary of Confucius, and author of “the Tao-Te-King,” — the 
 book of Virtue and Reason, — translated into French by M. Stanislas 
 Julien. He was the founder of the sect of Doctors of Reasons. (See 
 “ Chinese Empire,” ch. xi.). 
 
 § J/ew(gate) is often used in Chinese to designate a religion. 
 Thus, Kimj-Mcn, the I.uminous Gate, is the synonyme of Luminous 
 Religion, and in the monument of Si-ngan-Fou, is used for Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
TRANSLATION OF THE INSCRIPTION. 
 
 53 
 
 “6. According to the geographical monuments of the 'Western 
 countries, and the liistoriographers of the dynasties Ilan and Wei, 
 the kingdom of Ta-Thsin embraces on the south the Sea of Coral* * * § ; 
 on the north it is bounded by mountains of precious stones ; to the 
 west it looks to the country of the Immortals, and the Forest of 
 Flowers ; towards the east it receives the perpetual winds, and sweet 
 waters. Its soil produces the linen that is washed with fire 
 (Asbestos), vivifying perfumes, carbuncles, and the precious stones 
 that shine in the night. Its people practise neither theft nor assas- 
 sinations ; they enjoy a happy peace. If a law is not lumuwus 
 (Christian), it is not observed. No one is ever called to power who 
 is not virtuous. The country is of vast extent, and articles of 
 lu.xury are seen in every part of it. 
 
 “ 7. The great Emperor Kao-Tsoung f followed respectfully in 
 the footsteps of his ancestors. lie fertilised the Truth, conferred 
 splendour on it, and raised luminous temples in all the provinces, 
 lie heaped new titles on Olopen, and appointed him Guardian of the 
 Empire, and Lord of the Great Law. The law was thus propagated 
 along the Ten Roads. | The empire thus received fruitful germs of 
 felicity ; the temples filled a hundred cities, and the Families were 
 enriched with admirable happiness. 
 
 “8. In the years Chen-Li §, the children of C^e (the Buddhists) 
 resorted to violence, and spread their calumnies, even as far as the 
 Eastern Tcheou. Towards the end of the year Sien-Tien (713), 
 some men of letters, of a low class, dared to spread their jests and 
 sarcasms (against religion) in Western Hao. 
 
 “ At this time Jo-han (John), the chief of the devout men, Ki-Li, 
 
 * Probably the Red Sea. 
 
 j- lie succeeded his father, Tai-Tsoung, in 650. History has re- 
 proached him with feebleness of character, and with having allowed 
 his wife, the famous Ou-Heou, to govern him. 
 
 $ In 627, Tai-Tsoung divided the empire into ten provinces, 
 which he named Tao, or Way. 
 
 § Those of the reign of the famous Empress Ou-Heou, who filled 
 the imperial throne for forty years. The life of this monstrous 
 woman, though she was remarkable for ability and genius, was 
 stained by the most unheard-of cruelty and debauchery. It is not, 
 therefore, surprising that in her reign the Christians were perse- 
 cuted. 
 
54 CIIEISTIANITY ]N CHINA, ETC. 
 
 a person of great virtue, and Kouei-Siou of Kin-Fan, all illustrious 
 religious men, united their efforts to restore the fallen law, and re- 
 unite the broken ties. Then Tsoung, an emperor of sublime wisdom, 
 ordered the five kings, Ning-Kouo, to repair to the temple of felicity, 
 and firmly raise its altar. The beam of the law, which had been 
 bent, was again straightened, and the stone of the doctrine was re- 
 stored to the perpendicular. 
 
 “ At the commencement of the years Tien-Pao (747), he ordered 
 Kao-Ly-Siu, the generalissimo of his armies, to take the venerable 
 images of the five saints, place them in the temple, and offer a hun- 
 dred pieces of silk as a sign of joy and gladness. Thus we were 
 able to seize the bow, the sword, and the moustaches of the Dragon *, 
 although he was far off. The beams of the sun shed a great light on 
 their celestial countenances. 
 
 “ 10. In the third year of Tching-Kouan (744), there was a reli- 
 gious man of the kingdom of Ta-Thsin named Ki-Ho, who, directing 
 his course by the stars, travelled for the conversion of men. Having 
 contemplated the sun, he came to render homage to the emperor. 
 
 “ The emperor ordered the devout Lo-hou, the devout Pou-Loung, 
 and others, to the number of seven, to devote themselves, along with 
 the virtuous Ki-IIo, to the practice of perfection in the temple of 
 Iling-Khing. Then the celestial emperor himself wrote a tablet 
 for the temple. The writing of the Dragon appeared on the front ; 
 gorgeous ornaments glittered on every part, vermilion clouds shone 
 from afar, they rose, and rivalled in splendour those of the sun. The 
 imperial favours are like the summits of the southern mountains, 
 they equal in depth the Eastern Ocean. 
 
 “ Reason can do all things; that which is possible can be named; 
 the saint does everything, and what he does may be made public. 
 
 “ Sou-Tsoung, the illustrious and brilliant emperor, erected at 
 Ling-ou and other towns, five in all, lumiuotis temples. The primi- 
 tive good was thus strengthened, and felicity flourished. Joyous so- 
 
 * This is an allusion to a Chinese fable, according to which the 
 Emperor Iloang-ti was carried to Heaven, along w'ith seventy other 
 persons, by a great Dragon. Those who were only able to catch at 
 his moustaches, were shaken off, and throw'n back on the ground. 
 It is still the custom, when an emperor dies, to say, the Dragon has 
 ascended to Heaven. 
 
TRANSLATION OF THE INSCRIPTION. 
 
 55 
 
 Icmnities were inaugurated, and the empire entered on a wide course 
 of prosperity. 
 
 “11. Tai-Tsoung (764), a lettered and a warlike emperor, propa- 
 gated the holy revolution. He sought for peace and tranquillity. 
 Every year, at the hour of the Nativity (Christmas), he burnt celes- 
 tial perfumes in remembrance of the divine benefit ; he prepared im- 
 perial feasts, to honour the luminous (Christian) multitude. 
 
 “ Heaven is certainly the source of whatever is fine and useful. It 
 can then create and preserve all things. The saint, by assimilating 
 this celestial virtue to himself, may then elevate and sanctify the 
 nations. 
 
 “ 12. Our emperor, the friend of moderation, a holy man and a 
 seer, a man of letters and a warrior, has proclaimed eight ordonnances, 
 in order to bring virtuous men into office, and drive away the wicked. 
 He has instituted nine rules for the propagation of the doctrine. 
 Thus, mysterious reason is regenerating the empire ; let us pray the 
 Lord for him without blushing. He has attained, too, to the summit 
 of power, and he is always indulgent, the friend of peace, and full of 
 mercy. He is helpful to all, scattering his liberalities among the 
 multitude. Such is the true way, such is the ladder of the holy doc- 
 trine. If the rains and the winds arrive in due time, if the sky is 
 calm and serene, if men are well governed, and the affairs of the 
 empire in good condition, if the living enjoy abundance, and the dead 
 sweet repose, if success accompanies our enterprises, as voice does 
 persuasion, if our thoughts are pure, and our actions holy, all 
 that is due to the merit and the practice of our luminous power. 
 
 “ 13. The devout Y-Sou, sub-governor of the province of So-Fan, 
 and inspector of the interior of the palace, has been honoured with a 
 blue tunic. He is charitable and peaceful, desirous of doing good to 
 his neighbour, and a zealous propagator of the law. He came from 
 very far off, from AVang-che-Tchen, to Tchoung-hin ; he surpasses 
 three generations by his virtues, he has acquired perfection in tlie arts 
 and sciences ; in the beginning, he filled an office in the vermilion 
 palace.* 
 
 “ Kouo-tsof, first minister of state, governor of the town of 
 
 * The imperial court. 
 
 f Kouo-tso was the most illustrious man of the dynasty of Thang, 
 either in affairs of peace or war. He several times replaced on their 
 
 E 4 
 
56 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Fen-Yang, was at first charged with military affairs in Lo-Fan, 
 The emperor Sou-Tsoung wished that he should accompany him in 
 a distant expedition, and though he was admitted familiarly into the 
 imperial tent, he behaved as if he had been nothing more than 
 a simple soldier. He was, nevertheless, the teeth and the claws 
 of the empire, the eyes and the ears of the army. He distributed to 
 others his pay and his presents, and did not know how to accumulate 
 riches in his house. He offered vases of glass, and gilded carpets ; 
 he restored the ancient temples, and enlarged the Palace of the Law. 
 He raised roofs and porticoes, and embellished edifices in such a man- 
 ner that they were like pheasants spreading their wings to fiy. He 
 rendered perpetual service to the Luminous Gate * * ; he distributed 
 alms generously; every year he assembled the religious and faithful 
 from the four temples ; he served them with zeal, he provided them 
 with suitable dishes, and he continued his good offices for fifty days ; 
 those who were hungry came, and he fed them ; those who were cold 
 came, and he clothed them ; he took care of the sick, and cured them ; 
 he buried the dead, and put them to rest. It has not been heard that 
 there existed anything finer among the Ta-So f, of pure duty. The 
 religious men of the Luminous Doetrine, clothed in their white robes, 
 admired this illustrious man, and wished to engrave on stone the 
 memorial of his sublime actions. 
 
 “15. The monument expresses itself thus: — The true Lord is 
 without beginning, eternally pure, and solitary. He was the Maker 
 and reformer of the whole world ; he fixed the earth and prepared the 
 
 throne emperors who had been driven from it by foreigners or rebels. 
 He died at the age of eighty-four, in 781, the very year when this 
 monument was erected. Tlie whole empire, say the annals, went into 
 mourning for his death, and this mourning was the same as that 
 worn for a parent, and lasted three years. His name has remained 
 popular in China till this day ; he is often made the hero of dramatic 
 pieces, and we have ourselves repeatedly heard his name pronounced 
 with respect and admiration in assemblies of mandarins. There is 
 every reason to believe that this great man was a Christian. 
 
 * The Cliristian religion. 
 
 I According to tradition, Ta-So was a religious Buddhist, who 
 having convoked all the Bonzes in a great assembly, lodged them, fed 
 them, and jtrocured for them all the necessaries of life. — Alvahez 
 Semedo, “ Histoire Gentiralc de Chine,” p. 229. 
 
TRANSLATION OF THE INSCRH’TION. 
 
 57 
 
 heavens. He came into the world to effect an infinite salvation. IIo 
 ascended like the sun, and darkness was dispersed ; he has made 
 visible the mysterious depths of truth. 
 
 “ 16. The illustrious and learned emperor, who has surpassed 
 in wisdom the ancient monarchs, has known how to profit by the fa- 
 vourable time, and pacify that which was disturbed. lie has 
 expanded the heavens, and dilated the earth. The luminous religion 
 entered the empire under tlie dynasty of Thang. Tlie sacred books 
 were translated, temples were built, and the living and the dead 
 were passed in the book. A hundred felicities arose at the same time, 
 and ten thousand kingdoms were pacified. 
 
 “ 17. Kao-Tsoung • continued his race; the roofs of the pure edi- 
 fices arose again ; the temples of Concord cast a glory wdiich illumi- 
 nated the country of the centre. The true law w'as clearly made 
 known. The chiefs of the doctrine were instituted ; mortals again 
 found peace and happiness, and there w'ere no more miseries and ca- 
 lamities. 
 
 “ 18. Hiuen-Houng inaugurated the ways of sanctity and rectitude. 
 He made the imperial tables shine in the front of the temple ; the 
 celestial inscription beamed with marvellous glory; the august tablet 
 was perfectly dazzling, the people paid homage to it. The empire was 
 at peace, and men lived in felicity. 
 
 “ 19. Lou-Tsoung, having recovered the empire, returned into 
 the imperial city, after having directed from afar his august chariot. 
 The sun displayed its splendour, and a fortunate wind swept away the 
 night; then felicity returned into tlie palace, the monstrous vapour of 
 revolt was dissipated for ever. He had arrested its ebullition and its 
 dust ; thus our country became great. 
 
 “20. Tai-Tsoung, the Pious and the Just, equalled by his virtue 
 both heaven and earth. He forwarded what he had begun, and per- 
 fected what he forwarded ; he knew how to obtain in all things mar- 
 vellous advantages. He burnt perfumes in acts of thanksgiving ; his 
 liberalities were scattered about everywhere. The vallies of the 
 East f came to render him homage ; the rents in the moon were re- 
 paired.J 
 
 * The author of the inscription enumerates the emperors wdio up 
 to this period bad favoured Christianity, 
 f The barbarians of the East. 
 
 J Perhaps this means that the empire was restored to tranquillity. 
 
58 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 “21. Kien-Tchoung * * * § , master of his passions, rendered virtue 
 beautiful and brilliant. By his arms he pacihed the four seas ; he 
 organised and civilised ten thousand countries ; he penetrated like a 
 torch the hidden miseries of men ; he reflected like a mirror the 
 colours of all things ; he resuscitated and revived the world ; he gave 
 laws to a hundred barbarian nations. The most excellent law is as- 
 suredly in harmony with all perfections. If we are forced to name 
 it, we shall call it the Triple Unity. The sovereign acts, and the 
 subject publishes his actions ; and that is why we erect this monu- 
 ment, to celebrate the primordial felicity. 
 
 “ This stone was raised in the second year of Kien-Tchoung, of 
 the great dynasty of Thang (a.d. 781.), on the seventh day of the 
 moon of the great increase.f At this time the devout Ning-Chou, 
 lord of the doctrine |, governed the luminous multitude in the 
 Eastern country. 
 
 “ Lu-Siou-Yen, councillor of the palace, and previously member of 
 the Council of War, himself traced these characters.” 
 
 Such is the translation of the famous inscription 
 found at Si-ngan-Fou in 1G25. On the left of tlie monu- 
 ment are to be read the following words, in the Syriac 
 language. “ In the da}'^s of the Father of Fathers, 
 Anan-Yeschouah, Patriarch Catholicos.^ To the right 
 could be traced, “Adam, Priest, and Chor-Episcopus 
 and at the base of the inscription, “ In the year of the 
 Greeks one thousand nine hundred and two (a.d. 781) 
 Mar Yezd-bouzid, Priest, and Chor-Episcopus of tlic 
 Imperial City of Komdam, son of Millesius, priest, of 
 
 • The emperor Te-Soung, who reigned under the title of Kicn- 
 Tchoung. 
 
 •j" The first moon. 
 
 J Bishop. 
 
 § He was the second piitriarch of that name, and consecrated in 
 774. llis death, which took place in 778, was not known in China 
 when the stone was erected. 
 
TAl-TSOUNG, FOUNDER OF THE TIIANG DYNASTY. 59 
 
 liappy memory, of Balkli, a town of Tokliaristan (Tur- 
 kestan), raised this tablet of stone, on whicli are de- 
 scribed the benefits of our Saviour, and the preacliing 
 of our fathers in the kingdom of the Chinese. Adam, 
 Deacon, son of Yezd-bouzid, Chor-Episcopus ; Mar-Ser- 
 gins. Priest, and Chor-Episcopus; Sabar-Jesu, Priest; 
 Gabriel, Priest, Arch-deacon, and Ecclesiarch of Kom- 
 darn and Sarage.” 
 
 At the period mentioned in the inscription of Si- 
 ngan-Fou, China had recently undergone an important 
 revolution, which brought into power the dynasty of 
 Thang, the most celebrated and most illustrious of those 
 which have governed the Chinese empire. 
 
 The founder, Tai-Tsoung, although scarcely twenty- 
 three years of age, had subjugated almost all the pro- 
 vinces ; but instead of seizing on the supreme power 
 for himself, he caused his father to be proclaimed em- 
 peror. This act of filial piety won for him the enthu- 
 siastic admiration of the people ; and when, in 627, he 
 succeeded to the imperial throne, he became one of the 
 greatest princes of the Chinese monarchy. He annexed 
 to the empire, or rendered tributary, all the neigh- 
 bouring States. In 629, the whole of Tartary was 
 subject to his authority, and the chiefs unanimously 
 yielded to him the title of Celestial Emperor. He died 
 in the year 649, at the age of fifty-five, after having 
 reigned twenty-three years. 
 
 The dynasty of Thang produced a numerous suc- 
 cession of distinguished princes, who raised China to 
 the highest point of civilisation it has ever reached. 
 At no other period did literature and the fine arts 
 attain an equal degree of splendour ; and even to the 
 present day, the antiquaries of China, and those of 
 
60 
 
 CHEISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Europe, seek with eagerness, and at a great expense, 
 the porcelain, the bronzes, the lacquer, and the paintings 
 of the dynasty of Thang. 
 
 This period of the history of China is especially 
 remarkable for the numerous relations which the 
 Chinese kept up with foreign countries. Accustomed 
 as we have been, in our own time, to see the Chinese 
 shutting themselves up jealously within their own em- 
 pire, we have been too ready to believe that it was al- 
 ways so ; that they have always cherished an inveterate 
 antipathy to foreigners, and done their utmost to keep 
 them off their frontiers. This is, however, quite a 
 mistake. This jealously exclusive spirit characterises 
 especially the Mantchoo Tartars ; and the empire has 
 only been thus hermetically closed since their accession 
 to power. 
 
 In the preceding ages, and particularly under the 
 celebrated dynasty of Thang, the Chinese kept up an 
 active intercourse with all the Asiatic nations. Arabs, 
 Persians, and Indians, came and traded in their ports, 
 without let or hindrance ; and also freely passed into 
 tlie interior, and traversed the provinces. 
 
 The annals of China, as well as the histories of the 
 various countries of Asia alluded to, contain numerous 
 documents relating to tliis subject. 
 
 We learn from one of these, that tlie relations of 
 Persia and China were, at this time, very remarkable; 
 and that Ilormisdas or Izdegerd III. Avas the ally of 
 the Ihnperor of China. In 644, the Caliph Omar Avas 
 stabbed in the INIosque of IMedina, and his successor had 
 achieved, at the head of the IMussulman annies, the 
 conquest of Persia, Avhcn Ilormisdas, reduced to the 
 last extremity, sent to China, to solicit the aid of an 
 
THE ESCAPE OF FEROSES. — GREEK EMBASSY. G1 
 
 emperor of the Thang dynasty. After tlie death of 
 Ilorinisdas, and the definitive conquest of Persia, 
 Peroses, his son, succeeded in making his escape to 
 China, where he was recognised as King of Persia, and 
 did homage to the emperor for the dominions which he 
 never possessed. The emperor appointed him to the 
 office of captain of his guard, and allowed the title 
 afterwards to descend to his son, whom the Chinese 
 pretended to wish to re-establish in his kingdom. They 
 even sent him off with an army ; but their real design 
 was to surprise the people of Thibet, by which country 
 they were to j>ass. This stratagem having succeeded, 
 their general brought back the Persian prince, who 
 died at Si-ngan-Fou, Avithout leaving any descendants. 
 
 At this time, the Greek emperor sent an embassy to 
 the Emperor of China, to endeavour to excite his hos- 
 tility against the Arabs. The disciples of Manes and 
 Zoroaster had spread in Upper Asia, and had obtained 
 permission to build temples in China, as we shall see in 
 the sequel, even according to the testimony of Chinese 
 Avriters. It is, therefore, the more easily to be believed 
 that the founders of the dynasty of Thang, who held 
 such frequent communication Avith foreign poAvers, may 
 have permitted the Christians, as Avell as others, to 
 establish themselves in the empire. 
 
 The monument of Si-ngan-Fou affords incontestable 
 proof that they did so, for the doctrines Avhose propaga- 
 tion in China it records can be those only of Christianity. 
 
 The inscription is, in the first place, as Ave have said, 
 surmounted by a cross ; then it contains a concise, and 
 tolerably clear exposition of Christian doctrine. The 
 existence of God in three persons, the Creator of all 
 things, and this God named 0-lo-ho, a transcription of 
 
62 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Eloha, the Syriac name for God, identical in fact with 
 the Hebrew words Elohah, Elohim ; in the succeeding 
 columns an account of the creation of the world, the 
 fall of man, through the seductions of Satan, and the 
 subsequent general corruption of the human race ; the 
 coming of Jesus Christ, expressed in terms which in- 
 dicate the Nestorian opinions on the mystery of the 
 Incarnation. 
 
 After having given this dogmatic exposition, too, the 
 inscription speaks of the arrival of the missionaries, 
 their protection by the emperor, the progress of the 
 Gospel, and the persecutions which the neophytes had 
 to suffer. 
 
 Such, then, is the early history of the propagation of 
 the faith in China, and the brief outline of Christian 
 doctrine contained in the inscription of Si-ngan-Fou. 
 It must have been a striking circumstance certainly, to 
 see a stone thus issuing unexpectedly from the bowels 
 of the earth, in the midst of this ancient empire, to bear 
 witness to the articles of the ancient Catholic faith — the 
 Trinity, the Incarnation, the Redemption, Grace, ori- 
 ginal Sin, Baptism, the sacrifice of the ]\Iass, and even 
 down to the tonsure of the priests. 
 
 But who then were these devout men — these mis- 
 sionaries scattered over the face of the vast empire of 
 China ? What is the distant country named in the in- 
 scription as J'a-llisin, whence Olopen and his successors 
 set out to evangelise the innumerable discijfies of 
 Lao-tse, Buddha, and Confucius ? These questions do 
 not seem now quite as difficult to solve as they were at 
 the time of the discovery of the monument. Many 
 have supposed Ta-Thsin to be the Roman empire in 
 general; others, that it specially designated Judea; and 
 
WUAT COUNTRY IS MEANT BY TA-THSIN ? 63 
 
 some have even thought it might mean Persia, since 
 most Chinese writers, both ancient and modern, are apt 
 to confound Ta-Thsin with Po-sse, evidently a tran- 
 scription of the word Persia. The denomination of 
 Ta-Thsin appears, by the evidence of some Chinese 
 books, to correspond with the western part of Asia, 
 which was subject to the great empire of Byzantium, 
 and has always been called Romania by Asiatics. Thus 
 Ta-Thsin may mean either the Roman empire of Byzan- 
 tium, or Judea, or Persia, or it may be a general ap- 
 pellation for all the countries of the AVest, just as at the 
 present day the Chinese apply the word Si-ya7ig, which 
 signifies Western Seas, to the country of all the nations 
 of Europe — English, French, Spaniards, and even some- 
 times also to that of the Americans. 
 
 It is hardly worth while to seek in Chinese authors 
 for a geographical accuracy, which they do not even 
 pretend to themselves. 
 
 The authenticity of the monument of Si-ngan-Fou 
 does not in the least depend on the question of what 
 particular country is meant by Ta-Thsin. If it should 
 be Persia, as appears to be indicated in a Chinese work, 
 called, “ A History of the Barbarous Nations,” the 
 Syriac character of the inscription is accounted for. 
 Here is an extract from this production : — “ The king- 
 dom of Ta-Thsin is the rendezvous of all the kingdoms 
 of the Western sky, and there meet the foreign mer- 
 chants of the country of the Ta-chi (Arabs). The 
 present king is named Malo-Fo. He envelopes his head 
 in a piece of silk stuff, ornamented with letters of gold 
 in relief. His palace is surrounded by walls, in which 
 are seven gates, each guarded by thirty men. When 
 an envoy arrives from another kingdom to offer tribute 
 
64 
 
 CLIEISTIANITy m CHIXA, ETC. 
 
 to this monarch, he prostrates himself at the foot of the 
 steps, utters his prayer, and retires.” 
 
 “ The men of this country are tall, handsome, and in- 
 telligent, and as they much resemble the inhabitants of 
 the Central Kingdom, they have been called Ta-Thsin, 
 that is, as if one said, ‘ tall Chinese.’ ” 
 
 “ The people of this kingdom seldom see the face of 
 their king. When he goes out he is mounted on horse- 
 back, and over his head, and over his horse, are held 
 parasols, ornamented with gold, pearls, and diamonds. 
 Every year, the king of the kingdom of the Ta-chi 
 (Arabs), who bears the title of Sou-tan (Sultan), sends 
 ambassadors to otFer him tribute. If any disturbance 
 takes place in the kingdom, he orders the Ta-chi to arm 
 themselves with lances and cuirasses, and restore tran- 
 quillity. Their food is principally composed of cakes of 
 rice and meat. They do not drink wine, but they eat 
 out of vessels of gold and silver, and make use of spoons. 
 After their meals, they pour water into a golden basin 
 to wash their hands.” 
 
 “ This country produces lapis-lazuli, coral, silk stuffs, 
 ornamented with golden flowers, red cornelian, pearls, 
 rhinoceroses, &c.”* 
 
 The Syriac language, says M. Ernest Renan, was at 
 that time (the 5th century) the ecclesiastical language 
 of the Persian Christians, as indeed it still is. Bahrain 
 the Fifth, yielding no doubt to the pressure of public 
 
 * Extract from a work entitled “ Tchou-Fan-Tchi,” “ History of the 
 Barbarous Nations,” by Tcbao-Jou-Kono, who lived under the 
 dynasty of Song, between 960 — 1278. Bibliotheque Impcriale nouv. 
 fonds. Chinois, No. 696. 
 
 f Ilistoire Generale des Langues Seinitiques : Paris, 1855, p. 
 
SYRIAC CHARACTERS. — NESTORIAN DOCTRINE. 65 
 
 opinion, and the solicitations of the ^lagi, instituted a 
 violent persecution of Christianity, proscribed the Syriac, 
 and ordered that the Parsee alone should be spoken at 
 Court, and taught in the schools. 
 
 This re-action, however, was not final *, the Magi 
 not beino; at that time stron" enough to resist the 
 combined influence of Syria and the Greek Empire, 
 acting in the interests of Christianity. Under Firouz, 
 the Nestorians of Syria made great progress, and under 
 Chosroes, we see the Sassanide Empire becoming the 
 centre of a vast intellectual movement, directed by 
 Greeks and Syrians. Great numbers of the men of 
 Iran came to be instructed at Edessa, and it was this 
 which procured for it the appellation of the School of the 
 Persians. The instruction of the academies of Nisibius 
 and Gandisapor was Greek as to its plan, but the 
 lessons were given in Syriac, and Syriac became in 
 Persia the language of learning, conjointly with Greek. 
 A century afterwards, Persia, by the Mahometan con- 
 quest, fell definitively under the influence of the Semitic 
 spirit, and only escaped from it towards the eleventh 
 century, by the establishment of the native dynasties. 
 
 Armenia felt the influence of Syria even more com- 
 pletely than Persia, during the ages that intervened 
 between the foundation of Christianity and the Mussul- 
 man invasion. There, as in Persia, the Syriac language 
 represented the Christian influence, and was regarded 
 for a long time as sacred. The Armenian translation 
 of the Bible, and the principal ecclesiastical works, were 
 at first written in Syriac. 
 
 The spirit of proselytism that actuated the Nestorians, 
 
 * Ibn-Makaffa reckons the Syriac among the languages that were 
 spoken at Court. See Quatremere, “ Memoire sur les Nabatiens.” 
 
 VOL. I. F 
 
66 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 and the persecution that drove tliem to Upper Asia, 
 spread still further the influence of the Syriac language, 
 and carried it to Tartary, Thibet, India, and even 
 China. The navigation of the Indian Ocean, and the 
 colonisation of India, were in the time of the Ptolemies 
 almost monopolised by the Arabs and Syrians, and an 
 unceasing current of emigration bore the Semitic 
 dialects to the coasts of Hindostan ; and there exists at 
 the present day a Christian community in India (perhaps 
 the same which Cosrnas-Indicopleustes saw in the sixth 
 century), which has preserved in its liturgy the use of 
 Syriac.* 
 
 “ It will be seen,” says M. Renan f, “ what an im- 
 portant part the Syriac language played in Asia, from 
 the third to the ninth century of our era, after it had 
 become the instrument of Christian preaching. Like 
 the Greek for the Hellenic East, and Latin for the West, 
 Syriac became the Christian and ecclesiastical language 
 of Upper Asia.” 
 
 We may then affirm, without fear of mistake, that 
 the Christian missionaries, whose names are cited in the 
 Chinese text of the inscription, and on the side columns 
 in Syriac characters, belonged to the Church of Syria, 
 which, as is known, was one of the first founded by 
 the Apostles. The Syriac characters in question per- 
 fectly resemble tlie estranghelo, used by the Syria is in 
 the eighth century. The names are well known, and 
 have always been employed by the hierarchy of the 
 Syrian church. It may easily be supposed, also, that 
 the neophytes received the Syriac from their masters 
 
 * Quatremere, “ Memoire sur les Nabatiens,” p. HO. 
 
 t “ Ilistoire Gcnerale des Langues Sdmitiques.” 
 
SYRIAC CHARACTERS NESTORIAN DOCTRINE. G7 
 
 as a sacred language, and that it was in use among them 
 for the celebration of the divine services, for psalmody, 
 and for drawing up ecclesiastical documents.* This is 
 the more probable, as the same custom existed in 
 India, among the Christian converts, supposed to be 
 those of St. Thomas. 
 
 The abridgment of Christian doctrine given in the 
 Syro-Chinese inscription of Si-ngan-Fou shows us, also, 
 that the propagators of the faith in Upper Asia in the 
 seventh century professed the Nestorian errors.f 
 
 Through the vague and obscure verbiage which 
 characterises the Chinese style, we recognise the mode 
 in which that heresiarch admitted the union of the 
 Word with Man, by indwelling plenitude of grace 
 superior to that of all the saints. One of the three 
 persons of the Trinity communicated himself to the 
 very illustrious and very venerable Messiah, “ veiling 
 
 * Many learned Orientalists, among others M. M. Quatremere, 
 Abel Remusat, Klaproth, Reinaud, and Ernest Renan, have supposed 
 that the Ouigour alphabet, from which the Mongol Kalmuck and 
 Mantchoo alphabets are derived, came from the Syriac estranghelo, 
 through the intervention of the Ntstorians. See Quatremere, “ Mem, 
 sur les Nabat.,” p. 144. ; Abel Remusat, “ Recherches sur les Langues 
 Tartares,” vol. i. p. 29. ; Klaproth, “ Recherches sur la Langue et 
 I’Ecriture des Ouigours;” Reinaud, “ Geog. d’Aboulfeda,” Introd. 
 p. 362. ; E. Renan, “ Hist. Gen. des Langues Semitiques,” p. 268. 
 
 f The heresy of Nestorius, which spread in the fifth century of 
 our era, consisted principally in the dogma, that there were two 
 persons in Jesus Christ ; one, Jesus the Man, brought forth by the 
 Virgin, the other, proceeding from the word of God ; and that the 
 Incarnation was not the hypostatic union of the Divine Word with 
 the human nature, but the simple indwelling of the Word in the 
 Man, as in a temple. The Jacobites admitted only one person, but 
 without mixture of the divine and human nature. The orthodox 
 Christians were called Greeks or Mekites. 
 
 F 2 
 
G8 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 his majesty.” That is certainly the doctrine of Nes- 
 torius ; upon that point the authority of the critics is 
 unanimous. 
 
 History, as we have elsewhere remarked, records the 
 rapid progress of the Nestorian sects in the interior of 
 Asia, and their being able to hold their ground, even 
 under the sway of the Mussulmans, by means of tributes, 
 compromises, and concessions of every kind. 
 
 Setting out from the banks of the Tigris or the 
 Euphrates, these ardent and courageous propagators of 
 the gospel probaldy proceeded to Khorassan, and then, 
 crossing the Oxus, directed their course towards the 
 Lake of Lop, and entered the Chinese Empire by the 
 province of Chen-si. Olopen and his successors in the 
 Chinese mission, ivhether Syrians or Persians by birth, 
 certainly belonged to the Nestorian church. 0-lo-pen 
 is doubtless a Syriac name, mutilated by Chinese ortlio- 
 graphy. De Guignes traced in the two first syllables, 
 the Syrian name for God, Aloho, and tlie learned Maro- 
 nite Assemani tried to bring it back by metathesis to 
 the form of Yaballah, or Yabh-Alolio, that is to say, 
 “ God given.” Six centuries later, we shall find a 
 Nestorian metropolitan of China bearing the same name. 
 “ One cannot imagine,” says Abel llemusat “ of what 
 Voltaire was thinking, when he said that this name 
 resembled an ancient Spanish one. He cannot tell 
 either,” he says, “ what is to be understood by Olopen 
 coming to China, conducted by the blue clouds, and 
 by observing the rule of the winds ; but tliese ex- 
 pressions, oddly as they sound in a translation, are quite 
 ordinary ones in China.” 
 
 * Nouv. met. Asiat., vol. ii. p. 192. 
 
OBJECTIONS OF VOLTAIRE AND MILNE. 
 
 G9 
 
 Voltaire, in fact, had determined to make it out that 
 the inscription of Si-ngan-Fou was nothing but a “ pious 
 fraud ” of the Jesuits to deceive the Chinese, and per- 
 suade them that Christianity had been already received 
 by their ancestors; and the philosophical party in France, 
 out of love for Voltaire, and hatred of the Jesuits, also 
 contested the authenticity of the inscription. Now, 
 however, this question is definitively settled, for men 
 of profound erudition and perfect candour have decided 
 in its favour, and Abel Remusat has argued against 
 the objections raised by Voltaire and some Protestant 
 writers, more especially those of a Mr. Milne, the 
 founder of a ^Mission at Malacca, who, in a paper pub- 
 blished in 1820, endeavoured to insinuate doubts as to 
 the genuineness of the monument in question. “ Two 
 remarks,” says Mr. Milne, “ occur to me in relation to 
 the historians of China; the first, that no authentic 
 Chinese report that I have ever seen makes the least 
 mention of this sect, and that, with the exception of the 
 stone of Si-ngan-Fou, of which some missionaries from 
 Rome have spoken, I have never seen or heard that 
 Chinese writers are aware of the existence of any monu- 
 ment, any inscription, or of the remains of any ancient 
 Church ; tlie second is, that no part of the Nestorian 
 doctrines or ceremonies is found mingled with the pagan 
 systems of China, at least as far as I have been able to 
 discover.” 
 
 There is no need of any long discussion to show that 
 these two remarks, and the inference that might be 
 drawn from them, are equally without foundation. 
 There would, in the first place, be nothing very sur- 
 prising in the fact, that two religious sects, foreign to 
 one another in their language, origin, and in the nature 
 
70 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 of their doctrines, should have borrowed nothing from 
 each other for several centuries, during which they 
 might possibly have come into contact, somewhere on 
 the soil of the enormous empire of China. We do not 
 see that the Chinese have ever borrowed anything of 
 the Mussulmans, who have been living in the midst of 
 them almost since the epoch of the Hegira. But those 
 who are intimately acquainted with the religion of the 
 Lamas, cannot help perceiving that their hierarchical 
 system, a great number of their liturgical practices, and 
 many of their dogmas, have been introduced into Budd- 
 hism, by a result of the decay and corruption of 
 Nestorian Christianity in Upper Asia; and a zealous 
 Protestant writer. Sir John Davis (formerly governor 
 of the English colony in China), and whose authority 
 Mr. Milne will certainly not dispute, expresses himself 
 thus on the subject of the imitation by Buddhism of 
 Christianity* : — 
 
 “ The curious resemblance existing between the rites 
 of the Buddhist priests of China and Tartary, and those 
 of the Church of Rome, has excited great surprise 
 among Catholic missionaries. These curious coinci- 
 dences afford ground for the conjecture that the Chinese 
 did formerly obtain some slight knowledge of Chris- 
 tianity by way of Tartary, and through the interven- 
 tion of the Nestorians. 
 
 “ It is certain, and may be seen every day at Canton, 
 that they observe the practices of fasting, of celibacy, 
 and of prayer for the dead. They worship relics, use 
 holy water, and have rosaries of beads with which they 
 count their prayers, and a monastic habit, resembling 
 that of the Franciscans.” Here then it seems arc many 
 
 • “ China, ” by Sir John Davis, vol. ii. p. 37. 
 
Voltaire’s accusation of the missionaries. 71 
 
 resemblances, 'wliicli Mr. Milne has not been able to 
 discover^ although tliey were evident enough to his 
 compatriot and co-religionist, Sir J. Davis. Voltaire, 
 who did not like to trouble himself with scientific ar- 
 guments, and who was much stronger in sarcasm than 
 in erudition, roundly accuses the missionaries of having 
 fabricated the inscription on the monument of Si-ngan- 
 Fou, from motives of “ pious fraud.” “ As if,” observes 
 Abel Remusat *, “ such a fabrication could have been 
 practicable in the midst of a distrustful and suspicious 
 nation, in a country in which magistrates and private 
 people are equally ill-disposed towards foreigners, and 
 especially missionaries ; where all eyes are open to their 
 most trivial proceedings, and where the authorities 
 watch, Avith the most jealous care, over everything 
 relating to the historical traditions and monuments of 
 antiquity. It would be very difficult to explain how the 
 missionaries could have been bold enough to have 
 printed and published in China, and in Chinese, an 
 inscription that had never existed ; how they could 
 have imitated the Chinese style, counterfeited the man- 
 ner of the writers of the dynasty of Thang, alluded to 
 customs little known, to local circumstances, to dates 
 calculated from the mysterious figures of Chinese 
 astrology, and the whole Avithout betraying themselves 
 for a moment ; and Avith such perfection as to impose 
 on the most skilful men of letters, induced, of course, by 
 the singularity of the discovery to dispute its authen- 
 ticity. It could only have been done by one of the 
 most erudite of Chinese scholars, joining Avith the mis- 
 sionaries to impose on his own countrymen. 
 
 * Melanges “ Asiatiques,” vol. ii. p. 35. 
 
72 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 “ Even that would not be all, for the borders of the 
 inscription are covered with Syrian names in fine 
 estranghelo characters. The forgers must then have 
 been not only acquainted with these characters, but 
 have been able to get engraved with perfect exactness 
 ninety lines of them, and in the ancient writing, known 
 at present to very few.” 
 
 “ This argument of Remusat’s,” says another learned 
 Orientalist, M. Felix Neve*, “ is of irresistible force, and 
 we have formerly heard a similar one maintained with 
 the greatest confidence by M. Quatremere, of the Aca- 
 demy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres, and Ave allow 
 ourselves to quote the opinion of so highly qualified a 
 judge upon this point. Before the last century it 
 Avould have been absolutely impossible to forge in 
 Europe a series of names and titles belonging to a 
 Christian nation of "Western Asia ; it is only since the 
 fruits of Assemani’s labours have been made public by 
 his family at Rome, that there has existed a sufficient 
 knowledge of the Syriac for such a purpose ; and it is 
 only by the publication of the manuscripts of the 
 Vatican, that the extent to Avhich Nestorianism spread 
 in the centre of Asia, and the influence of its hierarchy 
 in the Persian provinces, could have been estimated. 
 There is no reason to suppose that missionaries Avho 
 left Europe in the very beginning of the seventeenth 
 century could have acquired a knoAvledge Avhich could 
 only be obtained from reading the originals, and not 
 vague accounts of them.” 
 
 The sagacity of J\l. Saint Martin, Avho Avas for a long 
 time the colleague of M. Quatremere, has pointed out. 
 
 * “Revue Cnilioliqne de Louvain,” Nov. 1846. 
 
ST. martin’s arguments. 
 
 73 
 
 in a note wortliy of his erudition, another special proof, 
 wliich is by no means to be neglected.* 
 
 “ Amongst the various arguments,” he says, “ that 
 might be urged in favour of the legitirnncy of the 
 monument, but of which, as yet, no use has been made, 
 must not be forgotten, the name of the priest by whom 
 it is said to have been erected. This name Yezdhouzid 
 is Persian, and at the epoch when the monument was 
 discovered, it would have been impossible to invent it, 
 as tliere existed no w'ork where it could have been 
 found. Indeed, I do not think that even since then, 
 there has ever been any one published in which it could 
 have been met with. 
 
 “ It is a very celebrated name among the Arme- 
 nians, and comes to them from a martyr, a Persian by 
 birth, and of the royal race, Avho perished towards 
 the middle of the seventh century, and rendered his 
 name illustrious amongst the Christian nations of the 
 East.” Saint Martin adds in the same place, that the 
 famous monument of Si-ngan-Fou, whose authenticity 
 has for a long time been called in question, from the 
 hatred entertained against the Jesuit missionaries who 
 discovered it, rather than from a candid examination of 
 its contents, — is now regarded as above all suspicion. 
 
 Why, in fact, should there have been any such sus- 
 picions, and with what possible object could the mis- 
 sionaries have taken on themselves the guilt of the 
 odious stratagem, which Voltaire attributes to them ? 
 Their intention, it will probably be said, was to ob- 
 tain an argument in favour of the Catholic doctrine, or 
 at least to give the Chinese a proof of the antiquity of 
 
 * “ Hist, du bas Empire,” vol. vi. p. 69. (ed. dc S. M. 1827). 
 
74 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Christianity in China ; for there is no other motive 
 conceivable, which could have induced them to run the 
 risks of so perilous an enterprise. Now the monument 
 of Si-ngan-Fou contains the exposition, not of an ortho- 
 dox Catholic, but of a Nestorian doctrine. If they had 
 set themselves to work at such a fraud as this, they 
 certainly would not have been so awkward as to leave 
 on this monument traces of a heresy that might occa- 
 sion them great embarrassment, by compelling them to 
 disclose to the Chinese that there had been among 
 Christians, at an early period, very serious differences 
 on points of doctrine as fundamental to Christianity, as 
 the mystery of the Incarnation ; and any one must know 
 little indeed of the Chinese to suppose that such a fact 
 as the discovery of this monument could make any 
 great impression upon them. Events dating no further 
 back than eight centuries would not be of any great 
 w'eight in the opinion of men, wdio are fond of deriving 
 their faith and their traditions from the remotest pos- 
 sible periods, and who admire and venerate in Con- 
 fucius himself, only the restorer of antiquity, and of the 
 doctrines of the founders of their ancient monarchy. 
 
 Voltaire knew his own epoch and his own country 
 rather better than lie did China, and his decisive argu- 
 ment against tlie inscription is this; “ The Jesuits have 
 made us acquainted with it, therefore it is false.” But 
 this mode of reasoning, though not without its value in 
 France at that time, will hardly, it is to be- hoped, be 
 esteemed very cogent at present. We may have no 
 great affection for the Jesuits, and yet not be willing to 
 subscribe to mere absurdities in order to throw blame 
 on them. 
 
 The only serious difficulty in the case of the monu- 
 
QUOTATION FROM STANISLAS JULIEN. 75 
 
 ment of Si-ngan-Fou, consists in the alleged absolute 
 silence of Chinese Avriters on the subject. This silence 
 indeed, if it really existed, could never afford more 
 than a negative proof, and must be of little importance 
 to those who are aware of the profound disdain of 
 Chinese historians for foreign nations and “barbarians.” 
 But this supposed silence does not really exist. Chinese 
 books do actually contain a great number of valuable 
 hints concerning the propagation of Christianity in 
 China in general, and the monument of Si-ngan-Fou in 
 particular. 
 
 M. Stanislas Julien, Avho has a profound knoAvledge 
 of Chinese literature, has collected some most important 
 passages on this subject, which he has been kind enough 
 to place at our disposal, and which prove that the 
 learned of the Celestial Empire have condescended to 
 interest themselves in this monument. This is the 
 manner in which the discovery is related in the Collec- 
 tion of Inscriptions, the Kin-Che-Sui-Pien * : — 
 
 “In the period Tsong-Tching (1628 — 1643) of the 
 dynasty of Ming, the Governor of Si-ngan-Fou, named 
 Tsing-Ling-Tseou, and surnamed Master Tsing-Tchang, 
 had a young son, called Hoa-Sing. Nature had en- 
 dowed him with rare intelligence, and scarcely Avas he 
 able to walk, before he knew how to fold his hands and 
 adore Fo.f At the age of twelve years he showed the 
 greatest ardour for study ; but soon there came a spot 
 upon his eyes, and at the moment when he Avas smiling 
 at his father, he suddenly died. 
 
 “ After having consulted the fates, his friends desired 
 to bury him, to the south of the monastery of Kin- 
 
 * Lib. 102. vol. viii., “ Bibliotbeque Iraperiale,” No. 574. 
 
 t The Chinese name for Buddha. 
 
76 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Ching-Sse (the City of Gold). When the earth had 
 been dug to the depth of a few feet, a great stone was 
 found. It was the inscription of the luminous doctrine 
 which has spread through the Central Empire. 
 
 “ This stone, which had been buried in the earth for 
 a thousand years, was then brought to light. The 
 inscription may be seen in the collection entitled Lieou- 
 yu-hoa-Tsi. All the characters were perfect, and there 
 was not one damaged. In the lower part, and at the 
 extremity, are traced a multitude of strange characters, 
 such as are seen in the books of Fo.” * 
 
 Here then is no European missionarj^, but a learned 
 Chinese, an arclimologist, who gives all the details of 
 the discovery. Some Chinese books go further, and tell 
 us Avhat has become of the inscription, f 
 
 According to their testimony, it is to bo found in the 
 Buddhist temple, named of the City of Gold, in the 
 vicinity of Si-ngan-Fou. The great Imperial Geo- 
 graphy contains the following passage : — 
 
 “ King-ching-Sse (the monastery of the City of Gold). 
 This monastery is situated outside the western suburb 
 of Si-ngan-Fou. It was formerly the monastery of the 
 Sublime Humanity Tsoung-Jin-Sse, and was founded 
 under the Thang. This monastery possesses the in- 
 scriptions of the Pagoda of the Master of the Law, of 
 the epoch of Thang, engraved upon sandal wood. It 
 possesses also the inscription on stone, entitled ‘In- 
 scription upon stone of the luminous religion propagated 
 
 * Tlie. Chinese author means the Syriac charncters, which he 
 likens, by mistake, to the Sanscrit in the Buddhist books. 
 
 t See tlie “ Universal Geograpliy of China,” 1st and 2nd edition, 
 and the “ Geography of the Province of Chen-si.” 
 
QUOTATIONS FROM CHINESE WRITERS. 77 
 
 in the Central Empire.’ During the years Thien-Tchim 
 ( 1457 — 1464 ), the strangers from Thsin repaired it.” 
 
 These last words, from the Imperial Geography, are 
 worthy of remark, for they prove that in the lifteenth 
 century, there were still Christians in China, enjoying 
 freedom enough to be able to repair the monument that 
 had been raised by the faith of their fathers in the 
 seventh. 
 
 We might, if we pleased, indeed, contest the au- 
 thority of the authors just quoted, and insinuate that 
 the new edition of the Imperial Geography was revised 
 and corrected under the influence of the Jesuits, who 
 were powerful enough, and skilful enough, to deceive 
 the learned, lull to sleep their jealousy, and induce them 
 to print, in an important and ofiicial work, details of 
 their own invention. All the passages favourable to the 
 inscription which are to be found in the modern works 
 of Chinese authors, may be put down at once to the 
 account of the Jesuits, and so go for nothing. 
 
 But here again Ave have a very Avell known Chinese 
 author, Min-Khieou, Avho wrote under the dynasty of 
 Song, in 1060, and who, according to all probability, 
 had not at that period experienced the influence of the 
 Jesuits. He expresses himself thus in his Avork entitled 
 “ Description of Si-ngan-Fou ” : — 
 
 “In the street of Justice {T-Ning') may be seen the 
 temple of Po-Sse-Sse. It was built in the twelfth year 
 of the period of Tching-Kouan (638) by order of the 
 Emperor Tai-Tsoung, in favour of 0-lo-Sse (Olopen) 
 a religious stranger from the kingdom of Ta-Thsin.” 
 The same Avork says again : — “ There was formerly at 
 Si-ngan-Fou, eastward of the street of the Sweet Spring 
 {Li-Kuen)^ a temple of Po-Sse (of Persia). In the 
 
78 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 second year of the period I-Fong (677), three devout 
 Persians desired that another temple should be con- 
 structed.” 
 
 A Chinese encyclopaidia *, published under the dy- 
 nasty of Song, in the year 1005, contains the folloAving 
 imperial decree : — 
 
 “ In the ninth moon of the fourth year of the period 
 Thien-Pao (745), the emperor issued a decree, in which 
 it is said: ‘ The luminous doctrine came from Ta-Thsin; 
 its partisans transmitted it from one to the other, so 
 that at last it spread through the Central kingdom. 
 Then they began to build temples, and from thence 
 came their name, temples of Ta-Thsin.’ If it is desired 
 to make them known to men, it is necessary to ascend 
 to their origin ; and that is why, in the two capitals of 
 China, it is proper to change the name of temple of 
 Po-Sse into temple of Ta-Thsin. It is proper that, in 
 all the circles of the empire, this rule should be con- 
 formed to.” ^ 
 
 This imperial decree of 745 is reported in an en- 
 cyclopaedia published in 1005 ; the passages from Min- 
 Khieou, author of a “ Description of Si-ngan-Fou,” were 
 published in 1060 ; so this cannot be accounted for by 
 the supposition of a “ pious fraud of tlie Jesuits.” 
 
 These decisive testimonies were repeated by Tsien- 
 che (who was living in 1063, under the emperor Jin- 
 Tsoung, and was a contemporary of tlie above-named 
 ^lin-Khieou) in his work, entitled, “Examination of 
 the Luminous Doctrine.”f 
 
 Tsien-che, after having cited the very words of the 
 encyclopaedia, and of Min-Khieou, his contemporary, 
 
 * It is called Tse-fou-youefi-Kotiei. 
 
 -j- “ liibliotlieque Impcrialc, ” No. r>74., vol. viii. lib. 108. 
 
EVIDENCE OF AUTHENTICITY OF THE MONUMENT. 79 
 
 continues thus: — “It was then, at this epoch, that the 
 building of the temples of Ta-Thsin was commenced. 
 The inscription says: ‘In the kingdom of Ta-Thsin 
 there was a man of superior virtue, named 0-lo-Pen. 
 In the ninth year of the period Tching-Kouan (636), 
 he came to Si-ngan-Fou. In the seventh moon of the 
 same period (638), a temple of Ta-Tshin was built in 
 the street of Justice and Peace (T-ning). 0-lo-Pen is 
 the same as 0-lo-Sse, of whom Min-Khieou speaks. In 
 the beginning, the temple was called the temple of Po- 
 Sse. In the period I-Fong (676 — 679) it still retained 
 its ancient name, but in the fourth year Tien-Pao (745) 
 its name was changed into that of temple of Ta-Thsin.” 
 Tsien-che, in his examination of the luminous doc- 
 trine, passes in review the various religions which have 
 come from foreign countries and been propagated in the 
 empire. He speaks especially in detail, and by no 
 means in a tone of eulogy, of the Manicheans, or disci- 
 ples of Mo-Ni (Manes), and of the worshippers of fire, 
 or disciples of Zoroaster. After declaring that these 
 doctrines are false and perverse, he continues thus : — 
 “ As to the luminous doctrine, which has spread like a 
 river, its professors are the most intelligent of all the 
 barbarians above-mentioned ; they understand the cha- 
 racters (Chinese), but they flourish in their language, 
 and tell quantities of lies. In reality, they do not 
 differ from the Manicheans and worshippers of fire.* 
 
 AVe believe these quotations sufficient to prove posi- 
 tively that Chinese authors were, long before the 
 existence of the Jesuits, perfectly well acquainted with 
 the monument of Si-ngan-Fou, and the propagation of 
 the Christian religion in the Celestial Empire. After 
 
 * Tsien-chi-King-Khiao-Khao, vol. viii. lib. 18. fol. 8. 
 
80 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 that it appears superfluous to invoke the testimony of 
 modern authors, but they may nevertheless carry with 
 them some authority. Many letters written in the last 
 century mention the existence of the inscription, and, 
 what is very remarkable, do not say a syllable against 
 its authenticity. How can we suppose that there should 
 not be found in all the empire a single Avriter who 
 should undertake to unveil the fraudulent artifice of the 
 Christians and missionaries, especially in those epochs of 
 persecution, when the government, the mandarins and 
 the people, were all leagued against Christianity ? What 
 a piece of good fortune it would have been for a Avriter 
 of that time to be able to fling a good pamphlet in the 
 face of the “ Worshippers of the Lord of Heaven,” and 
 prove to the whole empire that they Avere no better than 
 cheats and impostors ! But nothing of the kind took 
 place ; though a thousand calumnies Avere invented 
 against the missionaries, though they AA'ere accused of 
 boiling little children to make opium, and of tearing out 
 the eyes of sick people. 
 
 As for the inscription of Si-ngan-Fou, not a moment’s 
 doubt appears to have been entertained, for there is not 
 the slightest insinuation of the kind to be found, even 
 in the most violent manifestoes that have ever been 
 published in China, against Christians and missionaries. 
 
 Here, surely, are })roofs numerous and decisive 
 enough in favour of the monument of Si-ngan-Fou. 
 Let us be permitted, nevertheless, to add one consider- 
 ation, Avhich forms, in our opinion, a more conclusive 
 proof than all the historic and scientific testimony that 
 Ave have brought forAvard. 
 
 At the time of the discovery of the inscription, there 
 Avcrc in the Chinese empire, a great number of mis- 
 
INFERENCE. 
 
 81 
 
 sionaries of various orders, Franciscans, Dominicans 
 and Jesuits of various countries. There were among 
 them, Portuguese, Italians, Spaniards, French, Germans, 
 in short, men from all the nations of Europe. These 
 reli"ious men had bidden farewell to their countrv, and 
 sacrificed all they had, to travel to the end of the world, 
 and labour in the conversion of the infidels, in the midst 
 of privations and sufferings of every kind, and at the 
 risk of their lives. These were the men who saw and 
 studied the inscription of Si-ngan-Fou, and sent copies 
 of it to Europe \ * and we for our parts put entire trust 
 in their sincerity. We are convinced that these devout 
 persons did not conspire to attest unanimously the 
 authenticity of what was only a fraud ; we are convinced 
 that, devoted to a religious life, and ready at any mo- 
 ment to seal their testimony with their blood, they did 
 not lie with effrontery to Europe, China, and the whole 
 world. 
 
 They were, assuredly, not guilty of this “ pious 
 fraud ” of which Yoltaire speaks. Such a fraud would 
 be a villany, of which it is impossible for any one to be 
 guilty, until he had lost every feeling of honour and re- 
 ligion. Such a proceeding in the missionaries of China 
 would indeed convict them, not only of being without 
 conscience, but not even of sane mind ; for no rational 
 motive could have induced them to fabricate an auda- 
 cious lie, which could serve no purpose, and which, 
 if discovered, could not fail to ruin their mission, 
 
 * Father Alvares Semedo, who was at that time In Si-ngan-Fou, 
 expresses himself thus : — “I have seen, read, and considered this 
 stone, at my leisure ; and have been astonished that it was so com- 
 plete, and the letters so entii’e and well formed, after the lapse of so 
 many years. (“ Hist. Generale du Royaume de la Chine.”) 
 
 VOL. I. G 
 
82 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 and cover them with shame and contempt in the eyes 
 of their own neophytes, as well as the Christians of 
 Europe. 
 
 The inscription of Si-ngan*Fou is then genuine, 
 since its authenticity rests on the good faith, the honour, 
 and the religion of the missionaries ; as well as on the 
 evidence of both history and science ; and because never 
 yet, either in East or West, has it been found possible 
 to oppose to it one solid irrefragable argument. 
 
 A judicious member of the Institute has not hesi- 
 tated to declare that “ This famous monument, whose 
 authenticity has long been questioned, out of hatred to 
 the Jesuit missionaries who first made it known, rather 
 than from any real examination, is now unanimously 
 regarded as above all suspicion.”* 
 
 * Saint Martin, “ Hist, du bas Empire,” vol. vi. p. 69. 
 
83 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 UEUGIOUS MOVEMENT IN THE CHINESE EMPIRE TOLERANCE AND 
 
 SCEPTICISM OF THE CHINESE. — PROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY IN 
 
 CHINA. FIRST METROPOLITANS. PROGRESS OF PROSELYTISM. 
 
 DETAILS DRAWN FROM ARAB LITERATURE CURIOUS PASSAGE IN 
 
 A BOOK ENTITLED “ THE CHAIN OF CHRONICLES.” — REVOLUTION 
 
 IN CHINA. MASSACRE OF THE CHRISTIANS. ARAB WRITERS AND 
 
 MARCO POLO. MISSIONARIES SENT TO CHINA IN THE TENTH 
 
 CENTURY. — NOTICE OF PRESTER JOHN. LETTER OF THIS CURIOUS 
 
 PERSONAGE TO THE EMPEROR OF CONSTANTINOPLE. LETTER OP 
 
 POPE ALEXANDER III. TO PRESTER JOHN. — CONVERSION OP A 
 
 KHAN AND A TRIBE OF KERAITES IN THE ELEVENTH CENTURY. 
 
 NUMEROUS CONQUESTS OF THIS MONGOL TRIBE. — ORIGIN OF THE 
 
 LEGEND OF PRESTER JOHN UNG-KHAN, THE I.AST SOVEREIGN 
 
 OP THE KERAITES. 
 
 At the period when the apostles of Christianity were 
 erecting in the heart of the Chinese empire the remark- 
 able monument of which Ave have spoken, there was a 
 great religions movement going on in Upper Asia; a 
 movement that has been by no means sufficiently re- 
 marked by those who have desired to contest the 
 authenticity of the inscription of Si-ngan-Fou. At the 
 very time when' the missionaries of Jesus Christ Avere 
 scattering the seeds of divine truth in the populous 
 countries of Upper Asia, the disciples of Mahomet and 
 Buddha were also animated by an ardent spirit of pro- 
 selytisrn. It is knoAAm with Avhat fanatic fuiy the 
 disciples of the Koran laboured to convert men to tlieir 
 faith. Persia had been subjugated ; its last sovereign 
 forced, as we have seen, to seek a refuge in China, and 
 
 G 2 
 
84 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 dying at last in the mountains of Thibet. The Maho- 
 metans were already widely diffused, opening for them- 
 selves adroitly, by their commerce, a way into those 
 countries of the remote East, which they could not sub- 
 jugate by their arms. They traded in India, in Ceylon, 
 in the Straits of Sunda, on the coasts of China, and 
 even into the interior of the empire, where they pro- 
 mulgated, in perfect liberty, the doctrine of the Koran. 
 The Chinese saw the Manicheans and the Fire-wor- 
 shippers rushing into their country in crowds, and the 
 Buddhists especially arriving in countless caravans. 
 A powerful reaction had taken place against them in 
 India ; Brahminism had pursued them everywhere, and 
 forced them to expatriate themselves ; and they fled by 
 thousands to seek a refuge amongst the populations of 
 Tartary, Thibet, and China, where already Pantheism 
 and the subtle philosophy of Buddhism had made con- 
 siderable progress amongst the disciples of Lao-tze and 
 Confucius. 
 
 During the period referred to in the inscription of 
 Si-ngan-Fou, China was governed by the celebrated 
 dynasty of Thang, whose princes were for the most part 
 enlightened and tolerant men, who endeavoured to keep 
 up friendly relations with foreign countries. 
 
 It was under their rule that the Arabs and Persians 
 kept up such continual communication by land and 
 sea with the Celestial Empire. The Emperor Tai- 
 Tsoung, whose edict in favour of toleration for the 
 Imrninous Religion we liave already mentioned, does not 
 speak of Christianity like a man convinced of its truth ; 
 nor, indeed, does he of any other religion. lie is an 
 eclectic philosopher, who affords a hospitable reception 
 to all kinds of creeds with equal benevolence and equal 
 
TOLERANCE AND SCEPTICISM IN CHINA. 
 
 85 
 
 indifFerence. lie speaks like a prince who, having no 
 state religion to defend, grants his protection to all 
 inodes of worship, and all symbols that do not oppose 
 his government. Ilis expressions are those of a true 
 Chinese philosopher, disposed to believe that all reli- 
 gions are good according to time and place. 
 
 This strange syncretism was characteristic not only 
 of the head of the state, but also of the whole nation. 
 The worship of Buddha had become so firmly established 
 in China, in concurrence with the two religions of the 
 Lettered Class and of the Doctors of Reason, that many 
 temples were raised to a conjunction of the three 
 systems, in which the statues of Buddha, of Lao-tze, 
 and of Confucius were placed on the same level on the 
 common altar, and honoured by similar rites : the three 
 divinities were represented standing, Confucius in the 
 middle, between Buddha and Lao-tze, holding each by 
 the hand, and with three wax lights burning at their 
 feet. 
 
 On the gate of temples of this kind was inscribed 
 “ San-Khiao-Tang,” that is. Temple of the Three Re- 
 ligions ; and in the interior there shone above the altar 
 three great golden characters, which signify, “ The Three 
 Religions are but One : ” San-Khiao-y-Khiao. 
 
 If all doctrines were received in China with the same 
 sympathy, or rather the same indilFerence, why should 
 it be thought surprising that there should be at this 
 time a colony of Christian priests, freely preaching the 
 Gospel, building churches, and receiving a tolerant 
 edict in favour of their religion by the philosophic em- 
 peror, who solemnly declares it to be “ mysterious, ex- 
 cellent, peaceful,” and which he respectfully compares 
 to the metaphysical system of Lao-tze? 
 
 G 3 
 
86 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 The inscription of Si-ngan-Fou has, then, furnished us 
 with authentic information on the propagation of the 
 Christian Faith in Upper Asia from the year 636 till 
 781. We found, hoAvever, in the traditions of the Sy- 
 rian Church, traces of evangelical preaching in China 
 previous to that period. We have seen that the Patriarch 
 Saliba-Zacha, appointed metropolitans for Heria (in 
 Khorassan), for Samarcand, and for China — a pro- 
 ceeding which denotes that Christianity was already 
 flourishing in those countries. The same sources Avill 
 furnish us Avith documents to shoAv that these distant 
 missions still subsisted after the erection of the monu- 
 ment of Si-ngan-Fou in 781 — another confirmation of 
 its authenticity. Is there anything Avonderful in finding 
 Christianity spoken of in an inscription Avhen Ave have 
 certain proofs that there Avere missionaries in the coun- 
 try both before and after the erection of the stone ? 
 
 Timotheus, Avho occupied the patriarchal see of the 
 Nestorians, from 777 till 820, sent religious men to 
 preach the Gospel to the various nations of Upper Asia. 
 At this time, there Avas in Assyria a very celebrated 
 Nestorian monastery called Beth-hobeh, Avhere resided 
 a very learned monk versed in all the Syrian, Persian, 
 and Arabic tongues. His name Avas Subchal-Jesu. The 
 Patriarch Timotheus, considering this man Avell suited 
 to the mission, made him a bishop, and sent him to 
 preach the Gospel to the inhabitants of the- environs of 
 the Caspian Sea. The ho[)es of tlie patriarch Avere not 
 disappointed; for Subchal-Jesu brought a great number 
 of these people to the knoAvledge of the truth, built 
 several cliurches, and ordained many priests. Encour- 
 aged by this success, he aftcrAvards i)enetrated further 
 into the remote East, and traversed Tartary and China, 
 
APPOINTMENT OF CHRISTIAN BISHOPS. 
 
 87 
 
 scattering everywhere on his route the seed of the 
 Gospel. This apostle had not the consolation of long 
 enjoying the fruit of his labours ; for, as he was return- 
 ing towards Assyria to visit the Patriarch Tirnotheus, 
 and recover himself a little in the society of liis brethren, 
 lie was stopped on the road, and murdered by robbers. 
 
 The patriarch appointed two persons, named Kardage 
 and Jaballah, to be his successors, and added to them 
 fifteen monks from the monastery of Beth-hobeh. Seven 
 of these, namely Thomas, Zache, Sem, Ephraim, Simeon, 
 Ananias, and David, were consecrated bishops. Some 
 of them were sent to India, others to China, or Cathay, 
 as people used to call it at that time. 
 
 Soon after his arrival at the place of his mission, 
 Jaballah wrote to the Patriarch Tirnotheus : — “ By the 
 help of your prayers, and of the grace of Clirist, many 
 nations have been converted to the true faith; and 
 it is important to place at their head, bishops chosen 
 from amongst the monks who accompanied us to these 
 countries.” 
 
 The Patriarch replied to him and his companions 
 in the following manner (*) : — “ It is true that the or- 
 dination of one bishop absolutely requires the presence 
 of three others ; but since you are at present in re- 
 gions where it is not possible to collect this number, 
 it is granted to you by the word of the Lord, which 
 rules and governs all things, that you and Bishop Kar- 
 dage shall consecrate the bishop whom you shall have 
 chosen. To represent the third prelate, you will place 
 
 * Thomas Margensis, in “ Historla Monastica,’* lib. ir. ch. xx. ; 
 Assemani, “ Bibliotheca Or.” vol. iii. p. 491. ; Mosheim, “ Hist. Tart.” 
 p. 14. 
 
 o 4 
 
88 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 the book of the Gospels on the seat at the right hand of 
 the altar, and consecrate the first bishop according to 
 this rite, and by the grace of God. As for the rest, 
 they may then be consecrated by three bishops. I pray 
 the Holy Spirit to pour out his blessing upon you, as he 
 formerly did on the Apostles.” 
 
 Thomas, Bishop of Marajah, who has preserved for 
 us this valuable correspondence in his “ History of the 
 Monastery of Beth-hobeh,” wrote towards the end of 
 the eighth century, and states that he had himself seen 
 the letter of Patriarch Timotheus to Bishop Jeballah ; 
 adding also, that the patriarch wrote to him to inform 
 him that David, one of the newly consecrated bishops, 
 had been chosen Metropolitan of China.* 
 
 We have no very circumstantial information con- 
 cerning the state of the Christian Missions in high 
 Asia, but we must presume that they were very flou- 
 rishing, and that the number of neophytes was con- 
 siderable. We see, in fact, that from the beginning 
 of the sixth century the hierarchy was perfectly esta- 
 blished, and the metropolitans succeeded one another 
 regularly. So advanced an organisation leaves room 
 to suppose that Christianity had already made great 
 progress. We read in a canon of the Synod, held in 
 850, by the Patriarch Theodosius, and which recalls the 
 j)rescriptions of those of Nicca and Ezechiel in 570, 
 that all metropolitan bishops were commanded to re- 
 pair to the patriarch once in four years ; but that the 
 metropolitans of India and China, were dispensed from 
 this necessity on account of the great distance. Here 
 
 * Sinentibus IMetropolitani datum fuisse Davidem cn Epistola 
 Tiraothei dedici. Thomas Marg. “ Hist. Monas.” lib. iv. ch. xx. 
 
MONKS IN CHINA. 
 
 89 
 
 are the actual words of the canon, as they have been 
 preserved to us by the learned ^laronite Asseinani : 
 
 “ That the six metropolitans of llilam, Prath, Assur, 
 &c., who are not very far removed from the patriarchal 
 seat, do not fail to come like the others every four years. 
 As for those placed at an enormous distance, like those of 
 India, China, Persia, and Samarcand, who are hindered 
 by lofty mountains infested with robbers, and by tem- 
 pestuous seas continually occasioning shipwrecks, they 
 may abstain from coming even though they would 
 ■willingly do so ; but let them not fail to communicate 
 with the patriarch by letter every six years. They 
 will also take care to levy in all the towns, great or 
 small, a just and suitable tribute, according to the 
 canonical rules ; and to send this to the patriarch, as a 
 contribution to the expenses of the patriarchalTiouse.”^ 
 This tax demanded by the synod was doubtless a 
 sort of tithe, the institution of which indicates an 
 already flourishing and regularly organised church. 
 The far East possessed also at this epoch several mo- 
 nasteries, where the monks lived in community ; for 
 we find in the “ Bibliotheque Orientale” of Asseinani, 
 a notice of a book called “ The History of a Monk of 
 China, and of Abraham.” This production, which in 
 all probability dates from the eighth or ninth century, 
 begins thus : “ This is what Abraham, Bishop of Bas- 
 sora, says : — I was passing one day near the cell of 
 one of the monks of China, and I asked permission to 
 make a cell opposite to his, and to devote myself to the 
 same exercises ; this he granted.” It was certainly a 
 curious thing to see a Bishop of Bassora traversing 
 
 * Assemani, Bibl. Or., vol. iii. p. 347. 
 
90 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 China, visiting the Christians of those distant coun- 
 tries, and settling at last near a Chinese monk, for the 
 purpose of devoting himself to the religious exercises 
 which he practised. The dialogue between Abraham 
 of Bassora and the Chinese monk would certainly afford 
 details of the greatest interest, with respect to the 
 state of Christianity in those countries, and we have 
 made many attempts to obtain this precious Arabic 
 MS., but unfortunately without success. 
 
 The literature of the Arabs is, in fact, the only one 
 that can bring us on the track of the propagation of the 
 Gospel in the far East. It has already afforded us 
 several important indications ; and it is also from it we 
 learn what became of the disciples of Olopen, of whom 
 mention is made in the inscription of Si-ngan-Fou. The 
 presence of Christians in China in the ninth century, 
 has been noticed by Renaudot, in an Arabic narrative 
 of a voyage to India, which he translated first, and 
 which was long erroneously attributed to the celebrated 
 historian Massoudi. This part of the narrative is by an 
 intelligent and Avell-informed man, named Abou-Zeyd 
 Ilassan de Syraf. He speaks from the information of 
 an eye-witness, Ibn Vahab, a Mussulman merchant of 
 Bassora, who had visited not only the ports of China, 
 but also the imperial city Si-ngan-Fou, situated at the 
 distance of two months’ journey from the sea. 
 
 In the pages of the Arab writer we find a very curi- 
 ous incident, which proves that there existed in China 
 a tolerably accurate knowledge of Jesus Christ and his 
 apostles. The author relates tliat Ibn Vahab arrived 
 at Si-ngan-Fou, and was introduced into the Imperial 
 palace. The Emperor, after having interrogated him 
 on the affairs of the West, commanded the interpreter 
 
CHINESE KNOWLEDGE OF SCRirXUUE. 
 
 91 
 
 to sa)^ to him tlicse words, “ Should you recognise 
 your Master if you were to see liim ? The Emperor 
 meant the Apostle of God, — to whom may God be 
 gracious ! I replied. And how can I see him, since he 
 is now above with the l\Iost High God ? 
 
 “ The Emperor answered. That is not what I meant ; 
 I was speaking only of his face.” The Arab then said, 
 “ Yes; and thereupon the Emperor ordered a box to 
 be brought and placed before him, and from this he 
 drew some papers, saying to the interpreter. Show 
 him his jMaster ! 
 
 “ I recognised on these pages, the portraits of the 
 prophets ; and when I did so, I uttered prayers for 
 them, and moved my lips. The Emperor did not know 
 that I recognised the prophets, and told the interpreter 
 to ask me what I moved my lips for. The interpreter 
 did as he was ordered, and I replied, I was pray- 
 ing for the prophets. The Emperor asked how I knew 
 them ; and I answered. By means of the attributes 
 which distinguish them. Thus, here is Noah in his 
 Ark ; he who saved himself with his family, when the 
 Most High commanded the waters to overwhelm the 
 whole earth with its inhabitants : Noah and his family 
 alone escaped. At these words the Emperor began 
 to laugh, and said. You guessed rightly when you 
 said it Avas Noah ; but as to the submersion of the 
 whole earth, that is a thing Ave do not admit. The 
 deluge only affected a part of the earth, and not either 
 our country or India.” Ibn-Vahab reported that he 
 feared to refute what the Emperor had stated by making 
 use of the arguments that he was acquainted with, 
 seeing that the Prince would not have admitted their 
 
92 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 force. But he resumed, “ Here is Moses and his staff, 
 with the children of Israel.” 
 
 “ That is true, said the Emperor; but Moses 
 showed himself on a very small stage ; and his people 
 were not very well disposed towards him. 
 
 “ I resumed. Here is Jesus, sitting upon an ass, and 
 surrounded by his Apostles. 
 
 “ The Emperor said. He, too, had very little time to 
 appear on the stage. His mission did not last more 
 than thirty months.” 
 
 Ibn-Vahab continued to pass the prophets in re- 
 view ; but we will confine ourselves to a part of what 
 was said. Ibn-Vahab added that above the figure of 
 each prophet there was a long inscription, which he 
 supposed to contain their names, the names of their 
 countries, and the circumstances accompanying their 
 mission. Afterwards he continued thus, “ I saw the 
 face of the prophet (Mahomet), upon whom be peace! 
 He was mounted on a camel, and his companions, also 
 on camels, were placed around him. They all wore 
 Arab coverings on their feet, and had tooth-picks at 
 their girdles. As I began to weep, the Emperor desired 
 the interpreter to ask me the cause of my tears. I 
 replied. There is our prophet — our Lord, and my 
 cousin *, upon him be peace ! 
 
 “ The Emperor answered, You have spoken truly; 
 he and his people have raised the most glorious empire, 
 only lie has not been able to see with his own eyes the 
 em})ire he founded. The edifice was only seen by those 
 Avho came after him. 
 
 “ I saw the })ictures of a great number of otlier 
 
 
 Ibn Valiab stated himself to be of the family of Mahomet. 
 
REVOLUTION IN CHINA. 
 
 93 
 
 prophets : some were making the sign of a cross by 
 uniting the thumb and forefinger, as if they meant by 
 this movement to signify some truth. Certain of the 
 figures were represented standing on their feet, and 
 making: si^ns Avith their fingers tOAvards heaven. There 
 Avere also other pictures, but the interpreter told me 
 these represented the prophets of India and China.” * 
 
 The Chinese Emperor AAdio held this strange dialogue 
 Avith the Arab Ibn-Vahab Avas, doubtless, Ili-Tsoung, 
 Avho ascended the imperial throne in 874. The cele- 
 brated dynasty of Thang AA'as then approaching its 
 decline, and China AA’as pregnant AAuth one of those 
 formidable revolutions, Avhich have so often conv'ulsed 
 the Empire, but always ended in re-establishing things 
 on the same basis and Avith the ancient institutions. 
 It was in the reign of Hi-Tsoung, and almost im- 
 mediately after the departure of the Arab, that the 
 disturbance of which the narrative of Abou-Zeyd 
 spake began. 
 
 The insurrection burst out simultaneously in the 
 provinces of Pe-Tche-Li and Chan-Toung, to the north 
 of the Yellow River. The chief of the rebels was 
 Hoang-Tchao, named Banschoua by the Arab Avriter. 
 He AA’as of a mercantile family which had made a con- 
 siderable fortune by some speculations in salt ; he had 
 
 * The box evidently contained a collection of portraits of the 
 divinities and principal persons of Judaism, Christianity, Moham- 
 medanism, Buddhism, and other religions of China and India. The 
 general spirit of the princes of the dynasty of Thang, was that of 
 toleration or indifference. Sometimes a sovereign would seem to 
 lean towards Christianity, sometimes to the worship of Fo or 
 Buddha, and sometimes to the doctrines of Tao-tse, or of the disciples 
 of Lao-tze . — Note by JL Reinaud. 
 
94 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 studied a good deal, and after having finislied his 
 classical course he wished to become a candidate for 
 the Mandarinate. He passed successfully his examin- 
 ations for the bachelor’s degree, but broke down in 
 those for the doctor’s; and his wounded pride then 
 drove him into the conspiracies of secret societies, 
 which, in China, as elsewhere, are the refuge of ambitious 
 malcontents. The rebellion soon spread over the whole 
 country, and Hoang-Tchao became its sole chief. 
 
 The middle class Chinaman by no means aspired, 
 however, after the honour of becoming the founder of 
 a new dynasty, and at first he refused the title of 
 Emperor, and called himself merely “ The General who 
 attacks the Heavens.” In 879 he led his revolutionary 
 bands into Fo-kien and Tche-Kiang, and took the 
 capital of the latter province, the town of Han-Tcheou- 
 Fou, situated at a short distance from the celebrated 
 seaport Khan-Fou. In this town he ordered those 
 frightful massacres, in which some of tlie numerous 
 foreigners who came to trade in China were involved. 
 Such is an abridged account of the narrative of Chinese 
 historians. Hut it is in this way that the Arab writer 
 gives the story of the events which overthrew the 
 celebrated dynasty of Thang, and substituted for it that 
 of Song : — 
 
 “ That which lias turned China from the course of 
 law and justice in wliich she was previously proceeding, 
 and which has interrupted the expeditions against the 
 port of Syraf, is tlie enterprise of a rebel, who did 
 not belong to the royal house, and who was named 
 Banschoua (Hoang-Tchao). This man began by an 
 artful line of conduct and insubordination ; then lie 
 took arms, and began to commit extortion on private 
 
CONDITION OF THE EMPIltE. 
 
 95 
 
 persons ; by little and little, evil disposed men began to 
 gather round him ; his name became formidable ; his 
 resources increased ; his ambition was fired ; and among 
 the cities of China that he attacked was Khan-Fou, 
 a port at which the Arab merchants disembark. Be- 
 tween this city and the sea there is a distance of some 
 days’ journey ; it is seated on a great river, and bathed 
 with sweet water. 
 
 “ The people of Khan-Fou having closed their gates, 
 the rebel besicfied them for a long while. That took 
 place in the course of the year 264 (a.d. 878). The 
 town Avas at length taken, and the inhabitants put to 
 the sword. Persons acquainted with events that take 
 place in China, report that on this occasion there 
 perished a hundred and twenty thousand persons — 
 Mussulmans, Joavs, Christians, and Magi, who had set- 
 tled in the city for the sake of trade ; not to mention 
 the numbers killed who Avere natives of the country. 
 The number of persons of the four religions mentioned 
 who perished is known, because the Chinese government 
 levied a tax upon them according to their number. The 
 rebel, moreover, cut doAvn the mulberry and other trees 
 which were on the territory of the city. We mention 
 the mulberry in particular, because the leaves of this 
 tree serve to feed the Avorm which makes the silk, until 
 the creature constructs for itself its last dwelling. This 
 was the reason Avhy silk was no longer sent to Arabia 
 and other countries.” 
 
 The Empire of China was after that time, concludes 
 the Arab narrator, much in the state Persia Avas in for- 
 merly, when Alexander killed Darius, and divided its 
 provinces among his generals. According to the testi- 
 mony of the Arab traveller, there were at Khan-Fou 
 
96 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 a great numlDer of Christians ; and they were massacred 
 along with the multitude of foreigners who flocked thi- 
 ther to traffic on the Coast of China, and usually to the 
 port of Khan-Fou. It is remarkable, and tends to show 
 how much this Arab writer is worthy of our confidence, 
 that Marco Polo, who visited this great commercial 
 depot four hundred years afterwards, speaks of it in the 
 same terms. 
 
 “ And also I must let you know,” says the illustrious 
 Venetian, “that twenty-five miles from this city is the 
 sea, between north-east and east ; and there is a town 
 called Ganfoo, a very good port, whither come im- 
 mense vessels and large quantities of merchandise of 
 great value from India and other parts.”* The factories 
 of the numerous foreigners who come to trade with the 
 Chinese were probably at Han-Tcheou-Fou, a town but 
 a little way from the sea, and which, being the capital 
 of the province, was of considerable importance. It had 
 become a great commercial centre for all parts of China, 
 and it was so in the time of Marco Polo, who speaks very 
 little of Khan-Fou, but gives a magnificent description 
 of this town, which he calls Quinsay. 
 
 “ Quinsay is so large that it is certainly a hundred 
 miles round ; and there are in it twelve thousand bridges 
 so high that great ships might pass under them; and 
 no one need wonder that there are so many bridges, 
 for I tell you that the city is entirely in the water 
 and surrounded by water, so that there must be many 
 bridges in order to go about it. And within -the city 
 there is a lake which is certainly thirty miles round ; 
 and round the lake many beautiful palaces and fine 
 
 * Marco Polo, edition by the Societe des Geographic, vol. i. p. 170. 
 
ARAB WRITERS AND MARCO POLO. 
 
 1)7 
 
 houses belonging to the great people and rich and 
 powerful men who reside in tlie place. And there are 
 many abbeys and churches of idolaters, and the houses 
 of the city have high towers of stone, where valuable 
 things are put, for fear of tire. For the other habita- 
 tions are of wood. The people are idolaters, and eat 
 the flesh of dogs and other vile animals that Christians 
 would on no account eat. 
 
 “ Know, also, that within this city is a mount, and 
 on the mount a tower, and on the tower a plate of 
 metal ; and whenever fire or any other cause of alarm 
 happens in the city, a man, put there for the purpose, 
 strikes this plate with a hammer, with which he is 
 provided, so strongly, that he is heard afar off ; so that 
 when one hears that sound, one may know certainly 
 that there is fire or some other distress. All the streets 
 are paved with stone, and also all the roads in the 
 country of Mangy *, and one can ride upon them very 
 conveniently ; and if it were not for this pavement, one 
 could not well ride, for the country is very low, and 
 when it rains there are many pools. And know, also, 
 that this city has full three thousand baths, with springs 
 that issue from the ground, from which the people have 
 much delight and cleanliness ; and the ocean sea is at 
 about twenty-five miles oflf, near the town that they 
 call Ganfoo; and there are many great ships there, 
 which come and go from India and other foreign parts, 
 and bring and take back merchandise of such kinds as 
 are thought of most worth in the city ; and from the 
 city of Quinsay there goes a great river unto the 
 sea-port. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 * Southern China. 
 H 
 
98 CimiSTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 “ Also there is in this city the palace of the king 
 which is the greatest in the world. It is ten miles 
 round, and is surrounded by high embattled walls, and 
 within the walls there are the finest and most delectable 
 gardens in the world, and many fountains and lakes 
 full of fish ; and in the midst is the palace, which is 
 very large, and very fine.”f 
 
 This description is remarkably accurate. We have 
 had occasion, during our long residence in China, to 
 visit Han-Tcheou-Fou, which is still one of the finest 
 and most considerable cities in the empire. It is still 
 intersected by numerous canals, on which thousands 
 of junks, painted in bright colours, and brilliantly 
 varnished, convey the rich merchants and elegant lite- 
 rati of the province of Tche-kiang, in various di- 
 rections. 
 
 Marco Polo must have been, at Han-Tcheou-Fou, 
 delightfully reminded of his native Venice, with its 
 gondolas and its warm climate. 
 
 It was in this city that the massacre mentioned by 
 the Arab traveller took place ; and it is to be pre- 
 sumed that there were also Christians in other towns, 
 and that they were no more spared than those of Han* 
 Tcheou-Fou by the bands of IIoang-Tchao. This in- 
 surrectionary chief, after having ravaged several pro- 
 vinces of the South, increased his army with all the 
 vagabonds and malcontents Avhom he met on his road, 
 and he soon found himself at the head of two hundred 
 thousand men. Then he changed his title of '“ General 
 
 * ITan-Tclieou-Fou 1ms been the capital of the empire at various 
 epochs, ami especially under the dynasty of Song. 
 
 t Voyage do Marco Polo, MS. of the Imp. Lib. fol. 67, &c. 
 
ASSISTANCE OF THE MISSIONARIES. 
 
 99 
 
 •who attacks the heavens,” for “ General aided by 
 heaven;” meaning to indicate that the revolution had 
 been sanctioned and consecrated by success. After 
 having issued a manifesto, and published it in all the 
 provinces, he marched openly upon Si-ngan-Fou, the 
 capital of the empire ; and his advance was so rapid, that 
 the Emperor had scarcely time to escape into Thibet. 
 IIoang-Tchao then entered the capital, and declaring 
 himself Emperor, put to death the members of the 
 Imperial family who had not had time to escape. 
 
 The Christianity planted by Olopen, and which had 
 long been so flourishing under the Thang dynasty, had 
 doubtless much to suffer during these political disturb- 
 ances, and it is probably from this epoch we may date 
 the decay and ruin of the missions of China. The 
 preaching of the Gospel in the Celestial Empire was 
 however not entirely abandoned, and the increasing 
 difficulties it had to contend Avith, the massacre of 
 foreigners above alluded to, and the cessation of com- 
 mercial relations of China Avith Persia and Arabia, 
 could not put a stop to it. According to the text of 
 an Arab Avriter named Aboulfarage, cited by Golius in 
 his notes to the astronomical treatise of Alfergany, it 
 is knoAvn that in the latter half of the tenth century, 
 a Christian monk of Nadjran, in Arabia Eelix, Avas 
 directed by his Patriarch to go Avith some other re- 
 ligious men to China, and afford assistance to the Chris- 
 tians of that country. Renaudot * has, Avith his cus- 
 tomary sagacity, perceived the value of this isolated 
 passage, and recognised in the patriarch mentioned by 
 Golius, the Archbishop of Seleucia on the Tigris, who 
 
 * Anc. Relation, &c., p. 269. 
 
100 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 had established his residence at Bagdad, and who, 
 under the title of Catholicus, exercised jurisdiction over 
 all the Nestorian Churches of Persia, India, and China. 
 
 “ Unfortunately,” observes M. Reinaud *, “the nar- 
 rative of Golius presented obscurities and even con- 
 tradictions. It did not appear to be very clear who 
 was this Avriter of the name of Aboulfarage, on whose 
 authority the account rested. It Avas asked by AA'hat 
 route ecclesiastics from Bagdad could have proceeded 
 to China, at an epoch Avhen travelling Avas extremely 
 difficult. Besides, if toAvards the end of the tenth cen- 
 tury these ecclesiastics had made their Avay to China, 
 Avhy Avere not others subsequently charged Avith the 
 same mission ? ” 
 
 These questions, hoAvever, have been triumphantly 
 ansAvered by M. Reinaud himself. Tlie learned pro- 
 fessor of Arab literature in the “ Ecole des Langues 
 Orientales," Avhose zeal for all that can promote the 
 true progress of science is indefatigable, has discovered, 
 in a valuable manuscript, the confirmation of the fact 
 advanced by M. Reinaud on the authority of Golius. 
 
 “ The Royal Library,” says M. Reinaud, “ has 
 received from Constantinople, by the intervention of 
 M. Le Baron de Slane, a copy of the second volume 
 of the Kitah-aLFihrist, made from one in a library 
 of that capital. The Kitab-al-Fihrist, of Avhich the 
 Royal Library has hitherto possessed only the first 
 volume, is a kind of Arab bibliography, classed ac- 
 cording to subjeefs, and arranged in the )'ear 377 
 of the Hegira” (a.d. 987). The greater part of the 
 
 * Note addressed to M. Cliarles Lenormand, and inserted in the 
 Correspondant, vol. xv. p. 761. 
 
ASSISTANCE OF THE MISSIONARIES. 
 
 101 
 
 ■works mentioned in it have not come down to our 
 time ; but it is the source to which most of our mo- 
 dern Oriental bibiiographers have resorted for all that 
 concerns the first four centuries of Arab literature. 
 
 The author, Moliammed, the son of Ishac, surnamed 
 Aboulfarages, lived at llagdad, and carried on the 
 trade of a bookseller. In folio 227 verso of the new 
 copy of the second volume, there is mention made of 
 the fact alluded to by Golius, and it is evident that 
 this is a copy of the very work so long sought in vain. 
 Tlie passage is as follows: — “In the year 377 (a.d. 
 987) I found living in the Christians’ quarter, behind 
 the church, a monk of Nadjran, who seven years before 
 had been sent by the DjaloUk (Catholic) to China, 
 along with five other ecclesiastics, to set the affairs of 
 Christianity there in order. I saw a man still young, 
 and of an agreeable countenance, but he spoke little, 
 and never opened his mouth but to answer the ques- 
 tions put to him. I asked him for some information 
 concerning his travels, and he answered that Chris- 
 tianity had become extinct in China. 
 
 “ The Christians who had been in that country had 
 perished in different ways, the churcli that had been 
 built for them had been destroyed, and there remained 
 not one single Christian in China. The monk, not 
 having found any one whom he could aid by his mi- 
 nistry, had returned more quickly than he went.” The 
 Arab writer does not express himself very clearly as 
 to the route the ecclesiastics had followed ; but he 
 says that the distance by sea differed according to the 
 way they took, and that the navigation was very trou- 
 blesome, as few persons could be found acquainted 
 with those latitudes. At the time when the monk 
 
102 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 visited China, the capital where the sovereign resided 
 Avas called ThadjouyL The empire had previously 
 been divided into two territories ; but one of the tAvo 
 competitors for sovereignty had succumbed to the 
 other, Avho noAv remained sole master. 
 
 “ Let us pause a moment,” says M. Reinaud, ‘‘ to 
 consider these various circumstances. At the epoch to 
 Avhich the inscription of Si-ngan-Fou relates, China was 
 under the laws of the dynasty of Thang. It was a 
 brilliant period of Chinese history, for the princes of 
 the dynasty of Thang Avere in general enlightened and 
 tolerant men, Avho sought to maintain friendly relations 
 with foreign nations. It was under their dominion 
 that the Arabians and Persians kept up so active an 
 intercourse both by sea and land Avith the Celestial 
 Empire.” 
 
 It Avas in this period that Christianity A\"as propagated 
 in China, but the Thangs disappeared at the beginning 
 of the tenth century, in the midst of intestine AA^ars, and 
 the other scourges, Avhich anarchy ahvays brings in its 
 train. Various factions Avere formed, and it Avas not till 
 toAvards the year 960 that the dynasty of Song esta- 
 blished itself; Avhich Avas in poAver at the time the monk 
 of Nadjran undertook his mission (about 980 ); though, 
 as it appears, it had hardly yet established its authority 
 over the Avhole empire. The Christians had of course 
 suffered in the general confusion, like the rest of the 
 nation ; but Avhen order had been restored, a violent 
 reaction took place in favour of the ancient traditions 
 of the country, and tliis finished Avhat Avar and tyranny 
 had unfortunately l)egun. 
 
 These revolutionary movements and changes of dy- 
 nasty, so frequent in China, could not but offer numer- 
 
ntESTEU JODN. 
 
 103 
 
 oils obstacles to the propagation of the gospel in those 
 countries ; but a strong presumption is atlbrilecl that 
 the progress of the faith, thus obstructed in the Central 
 Empire, extended beyond the Great Wall, amongst the 
 Tartar tribes, who were preparing to play so great a 
 part on the theatre of the world. 
 
 Towards the commencement of the eleventh century, 
 a prodigious sensation was excited in Europe, Asia, and 
 Africa, by the conversion to Christianity of a prince 
 known by the name of Priest, or Prester John. The 
 renown of this monarch went on increasing through 
 the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, — for this partly 
 real and partly fanciful personage appeared not to be 
 subject to the law of mortality. The type still re- 
 mained, and was continually receiving new embellish- 
 ments. It was agreed that this sacerdotal person 
 surpassed in power and riches all the potentates of the 
 earth ; on that point there was no difference of opinion. 
 But as to whereabout this wonderful priestly Croesus, 
 this kingly pontiff, was to be found, there were very 
 wide differences indeed. Some placed him in Africa, 
 — in Ethiopia ; others proclaimed that his incomparable 
 kingdom was situated in Asia, but could not decide 
 whether it was in India, Tartary, or Thibet. The 
 
 countr}^, as well as the title and the religion of this 
 mysterious potentate, furnished the erudite of the time, 
 and also the tellers of stories, with materials for dis- 
 sertations without end, and a monstrous heap of fables 
 and contradictions. 
 
 There was, indeed, so much written in the middle 
 ages about Prester John, that it is not very easy to 
 discover what little portion of truth may exist amidst 
 the thousand accounts, which scarcely agree in any 
 
104 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 one particular. Otho of Freisingen, Alberic of Trois 
 Fontaines, William of Tripoli, Vincent de Beauvais, 
 Jacques de Vitry, Marco Polo, Plan-Carpin, Rubruk, 
 Jordan de Severac, Mandeville ; in short, all the tra- 
 vellers and writers of the period, busied themselves 
 about Prester J.ohn, and related the most marvellous 
 things concerning him. Nothing, however, can equal 
 what this strange personage says of himself ; or, at 
 least, in a letter attributed to him, which was addressed 
 to the Emperor of Constantinople.* * * § Mosheimf, who 
 copies it from Assemani J, regards it as apocryphal ; 
 but many other critics, and among others, Marsden §, 
 are disposed to admit its authenticity. Authentic or 
 not, however, it is so curious, and so illustrative of the 
 spirit of the time, that we shall not hesitate to translate 
 it almost entire : — 
 
 “ John Priest, by the Power and the Virtue of God and our Lord 
 
 Jesus Christ, Lord of fiords, to the Sovereign of Constantinople, 
 
 may he enjoy health and prosperity by the grace of God. 
 
 “ It has been made known to our Majesty, that you esteem our 
 excellence, and that there has been speech among you of our gran- 
 deur. We have learned from our secretary that you, had the 
 intention to send us some articles of luxury and curiosity. What 
 we desire and wish to know is, whether you have, like us, the true 
 faith — whether you believe in our Lord Jesus Christ ? We know 
 tliat you are a man, and that your little people take you for a sove- 
 reign, although you are but a mortal destined to corruption. If you 
 have need of anything that would be agreeable to you, make it known 
 to us by our secretary, and you shall obtain it from our munificence. 
 If you like to come to our dominions, you shall be appointed to be 
 
 • Probably the Emperor Alexis Comnenus, who died in 1118. 
 
 f Hist. Tart, in Appendix, p. 29. 
 
 I Bibl. Orient, vol. iii. partii. chap. ix. p. 490. 
 
 § Travels of Marco Polo, pp. 192, 193. 
 
LETTER OF rUESTEU JOHN. 
 
 105 
 
 the greatest and most worthy of our house, and you may partake of 
 our abundance. Should it please you to go back again, you shall 
 set forth overwhelmed by benefits. 
 
 “Do you desire to know the grandeur and excellence of our dynasty, 
 the extent of our power and dominion ? Know and believe that I 
 am the Priest John, the servant of God, and that I surpass in riches, 
 in power, and in virtue, all the kings of the earth. Sixty-two kings 
 are tributary to me. I am a zealous Christian, and I protect and 
 support by my alms the poor Christians who are subjects of our 
 merciful empire. 
 
 “We have formed the project of visiting the sepulchre of our 
 Lord, at the head of a great army, as becomes the glory of our 
 Majesty ; and we wish to combat and to humble the enemies of the 
 cross of Christ, whose name be blessed and exalted. 
 
 “ Our magnificence dominates the three Indies ; our domains, 
 setting out from Further India, where reposes the body of St. Thomas 
 the Apostle*, advance across the deserts to the place where the sun 
 is born, and return by a circuit to the ruins of Babylon, not far from 
 the tower of Babel. 
 
 “ Sixty-two provinces, of which few are Christian, obey us ; each 
 has its king, and all are tributary to us. In our territories are found 
 elephants, dromedaries, camels, and animals of every species under 
 heaven. Milk and honey flow in our country, and no poison is ever 
 found there. One of our provinces, which is inhabited by Pagans, 
 is traversed by a river called the Indus. Issuing from Paradise, 
 it rolls its waters through the entire province, and in them are found 
 emeralds, sapphires, and other precious stones. In another pro- 
 vince pepper grows in abundance, and the earth is covered by an 
 immense forest filled with serpents. This forest is situated at the 
 foot of Mount Olympus, whence springs up an inexhaustible foun- 
 tain, whose waters preserve all kinds of flavours. Then comes an 
 arid sea of sand. At three days’ journey from this immense desert 
 there are inhabited mountains, amongst which there flows a stream 
 that cannot be approached. This stream throws itself into a great 
 river, into which the inhabitants of our countries plunge and bring 
 up wonderful quantities of precious stones. Beyond that river are 
 
 * It will be observed how unvarying was the tradition of the 
 apostleship of St. Thomas in India. 
 
106 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 ten Jewish tribes, who, although they ehoose their own kings, are 
 nevertheless the slaves and tributaries of our Excellency. 
 
 “ In another province of our States, near the torrid zone, there 
 are worms, called in our language Salamanders, which can only live 
 in the fire. They envelop themselves in a kind of tissue, like the 
 insects that produce silk, and the substance is wrought with care by 
 the ladies of our palace, and thus we have stuffs and garments of it 
 for the use of our Excellency. These garments can only be purified 
 by being placed in a fierce fire. 
 
 “ We believe that we have no equal, either for the quantity of 
 our riches, or the number of our subjects. When we issue forth to 
 make war upon our enemies, we have borne before us, upon thirteen 
 cars, thirteen large and precious crosses, ornamented with gold and 
 jewels. Each cross is followed by ten thousand horsemen and a 
 hundred thousand foot soldiers, without counting the men of war, 
 charged to conduct the baggage and provisions of the army. 
 
 “ When we go out merely on horseback, our Majesty is preceded 
 by a cross without either gold, jewels, or any ornament, in order 
 that we may always remember the Passion of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ ; then there is a golden vase filled with earth, in order to 
 remind us that our body must return whence it came — that is to 
 say, to the earth ; and lastly, there is a silver vase Idled with gold, 
 that every one may understand that we are the Lord of Lords. Our 
 magnificence surpasses all the riches in the world. 
 
 “ Every year we visit the body of the prophet St. Daniel, in the 
 desert of Babylon. We go there armed because of the serpents. 
 In our country is caught the fish whose blood is used for the purple 
 dye. We rule over the Amazons, and likewise over the Brahmins. 
 The palace in which our Sublimity resides, is like that built by 
 St. Thomas, for Gondophorus, King of India.* Its woodwork is of 
 the most costly kind, and its roof is of ebony, to avoid the danger 
 of fire. At the summit of this palace are seen two golden globes, 
 surmounted each by a carbuncle, in order that the gold may shine 
 during tlie day, and the carbuncle at night. Tlie tables pn which 
 the repasts are spread in this palace are, some of gold and some of 
 amethyst ; the columns that support them are of ivoiy. 
 
 “ Tlie chamber where our Sublimity reposes, is ornamented with 
 
 * The tradition, it will be seen, is still the same. 
 
LETTER OF PRESTER JOHN. 
 
 107 
 
 various works in gold, silver, and jewels ; and is perpetually per- 
 fumed by the odour of the balsams burnt in it. 
 
 “ Our bed is of sapphire. Why does our Dignity ehoose to adopt 
 the title of Priest? That is what your prudence need not be sur- 
 prised at. We have in our court many otficers, whose dignity, 
 functions, and titles, are borrowed from the ecclesiastical hierarchy. 
 There arc even some who are superior to us with respect to their 
 divine functions. Thus the master of our pantry is a primate as 
 well as a king ; our cupbearer, an archbishop and king ; our chamber- 
 lain, bishop and king; our marshal, archimandrate and king; our 
 chief cook is an abbe and a king ; it is therefore not repugnant to 
 our Majesty to adopt the titles of which our court is full. If we 
 have chosen an inferior title and rank, it has been out of humility. 
 Our empire extends on one side for four months’ journey, on tlie 
 other no one can know how great it is. It you can count the sands 
 of the sea, and the stars of heaven, you may number my domains, 
 and reckon my power.” 
 
 Such is the pompously extravagant epistle addressed 
 by Prester John to the Emperor Comnenus ; and 
 many missives in the same style were sent at various 
 epochs to the Emperors of the East and West, to the 
 Pope, the King of France, and even, it is said, to the 
 King of Portugal.* These curious documents contained, 
 like that we have copied, an ostentatious account of the 
 fabulous power of this royal pontiff, but nowhere suffi- 
 ciently exact indications of the locality of his dominions 
 to enable us to identify them. Every one was convinced, 
 nevertheless, of the existence of this extraordinary per- 
 sonage, and the Avonders of his empire formed a common 
 theme for discussion. It represented the Eldorado of 
 the time, in the excited imaginations of the people. 
 
 The great renown of Prester John induced the Pope 
 Alexander III. to write to him (in 1177), and he ad' 
 
 * Alberic, Cbronicou, p. 34o. 
 
108 CHEISTIAXITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 dresses him by the title of “ King of the Indies, and 
 Most Holy of Priests.”* 
 
 After having shown, at the commencement of his 
 letter, the supremacy of the successor of St. Peter, and 
 the authority given him to regulate the affairs of the 
 Church, and determine points of doctrine, he speaks of 
 a certain “ Master Philip,” his physician and servant, 
 who had received from powerful and distinguished 
 people in the East some communications relative to the 
 desire which Priest John had to be instructed in the 
 doctrines of the Church of Rome. Alexander then 
 endeavours to demonstrate how important it is for 
 those who call themselves Christians to hold the true 
 Catholic faith. He exhorts Priest John, therefore, to 
 repent of his errors, and to give his full confidence to 
 Master Philip, who will explain to him the true prin- 
 ciples of the Christian faith, without which “ one cannot 
 hope for salvation.” 
 
 This brief of Alexander III. giv^es us to understand 
 that Prester John and the subjects of his vast empire 
 did not profess a very orthodox creed. In fact, the 
 chronicles of the time are unanimous in representing 
 them as tainted with the Nestorian heresy. As early 
 as the year 1143 the Bishop of Gabala, legate of the 
 Churcli of Armenia, addressed to the Pope Eugene III. 
 the following report f: — “Some years ago,” said the 
 
 * The memory of this singular personage has been preserved in 
 the proverbial expressions in some countries, as for instance in Ger- 
 many, where people say of any one who lives happily, “ Er lebt so 
 vcrynugt ah toorre er in dcr Priestes Johannes Land" lie lives as 
 pleasantly as if he were in Prester John’s country. 
 
 f Othoni, Freising. Chronicon, ch. xxxii. p. 146. This recital, 
 which has been transmitted to us by Otho of Freisingen, is also to 
 be found in the “Chronique d’Albcrii,” p. 307. 
 
NESTORIANISM OF PRESTER JOHN. 
 
 109 
 
 prelate, “ a prince named John, Avho dwelt beyond Persia 
 and Armenia, at the extremity of the East, professing, 
 along with his people, Xestorianism, and uniting in 
 himself the characters of sovereign and priest, came 
 and waged war against Media and Persia, and having 
 seized upon Ecbatana cut the armies of his enemies to 
 pieces.” 
 
 Jacques de Yitry expresses himself thus*: — “The 
 Xestorians have mortally infected the greater part of 
 the East with their doctrine, and especially the empire 
 of the very puissant Prince, vulgarly called Priest or 
 Prester John.” 
 
 Finally, Matthew Paris reports the receipt, in 1237, 
 of a letter from Brother Philip, prior of the Dominicans 
 in Palestine, which declares Xestorianism to be pre- 
 dominant in India, the kingdom of Prester John f, and 
 the most distant States of the East. 
 
 From all these documents it may certainly be in- 
 ferred that Prester John was a real person, in whom 
 European Christendom was powerfully interested. He 
 was, it seems, a potent prince of Upper Asia, professing, 
 with his subjects, the Xestorianism which for a long 
 time was actively propagated in those countries ; and 
 all these facts are placed beyond doubt by the testi- 
 mony of history and the most authentic narrative of 
 travellers. 
 
 At the period when the West began to hear for 
 the first time of this pontiff king. Upper Asia had 
 undoubtedly witnessed numerous conversions to Chris- 
 tianity. In the first year of the eleventh century, a 
 
 * Hist. Hierosl., 1. 1. c. Ixxvi. 
 
 f Per regnum sacerdotis Joannis. (Mathieu Paris, Hist. p. 440.) 
 
110 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Tartar prince received baptism with two hundred thou- 
 sand of his subjects ; and these, according to Mares*, 
 are the circumstances in which the event took place. 
 There was, at the north-west of the Great Wall of 
 China, beyond the Desert of Gobi, a considerable tribe 
 of Tartars, name Karaites. One day, the sovereign of 
 these numerous hordes was engaged in hunting, and 
 having pursued the yellow sheep and wild yaks for 
 a long time amongst steep mountains covered with 
 snow, he happened to lose his way. He sought for a 
 long time to recover the right track, but in vain; he 
 only wandered about in the midst of these solitudes 
 where there was no trace of human habitation, and had 
 at last stopped quite discouraged and overcome by a 
 vague feeling of terror, when suddenly a mysterious 
 personage appeared to him, and uttered these words, — 
 “If thou wilt believe in Jesus Christ, I will rescue 
 thee from this peril, and show thee thy way.” The 
 King of the Keraites, vividly struck by this apparition, 
 promised to embrace Christianity, which already 
 counted numerous partisans among his subjects. Upon 
 this promise the mysterious personage served him as a 
 guide, and after having brought him back to the right 
 wa}^, suddenly vanished. 
 
 The prince of the K(iraites having returned to his 
 camp, hastened to relate to his courtiers what had hap- 
 pened to him, and expressed to them his determination 
 to accomplish his vow. There were at that time in the 
 country many Christian merchants wlio had come from 
 the West, and he had them summoned, and demanded 
 
 * Marcs in Vita Bar-Tobi. This Ncstorian patriarch died in 
 
 999. 
 
CONVERSION OF THE KARAITES. 
 
 Ill 
 
 from them information concerning the religion of Jesus 
 Christ. The Tartar sovereign then, after liaving stu- 
 died the Christian doctrine, received baptism, with two 
 hundred thousand of his subjects. 
 
 Marcs adds in his chronicle, — “ He had an altar con- 
 structed, upon which he placed a cross and a gospel, 
 and dedicated it to Saint Sergius. He learned the 
 Pater Noster, the Tresagion, and a prayer that begins 
 thus : “ To you. Lord and Master of all things,” * &c. 
 The facts which we have just related from Mares, are 
 also mentioned in various writings of that period. This 
 is what is said on the subject in the History of the Ori- 
 ental Dynasties, by Aboulfarages.f 
 
 The Nestorian patriarch, John |, received from 
 Ebed Jesu, metropolitan of Marou, a town of Kho- 
 rassan, a letter in these words : — “ The king of the 
 people, called Keraites, who inhabit the interior of 
 Turkey, towards the north-east, being one day hunting 
 on certain mountains of his dominions, which were 
 then covered with snow, lost his way.” Then, after 
 ha\dng related the miraculous conversion of the Tartar 
 prince, the metropolitan of ]\larou continues thus : — 
 “ The king of the Keraites has just invited me to visit 
 him, or to send him a priest who may bestow baptism 
 on him. He has also interrogated me concerning the 
 fasts, saying, ‘ We have no other food than milk and 
 meat — how, then, shall we fast ? ’ He mentioned that 
 
 * “ Tibi Domine Universarum,” &c. This prayer was composed 
 by St. Simeon, Archbishop of Seleucia, and martyr. It may still be 
 read in the Chaldee service. — Assemani, Bibl. Orient., vol. iii. part 
 ii. p. 486. 
 
 f Chron. Sy. vol. ii. p. 445. 
 
 J He occupied the pontifical seat at Bagdad from 1001 — 1012. 
 
112 CPIRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 two hundred thousand individuals were ready to follow 
 his example ; and the patriarch John, in reply, desired 
 the metropolitan of Marou to send to the said king two 
 priests, and two deacons, provided with consecrated 
 vessels to baptize all who were willing to be converted, 
 and teach them the rites of Christianity, and ordered 
 that he should prescribe to them abstinence from meat 
 during Lent, but permit the use of milk, since they 
 stated that they had no other food.” 
 
 Though it may not be possible to assign the causes 
 which brought to a knowledge of the Gospel these 
 numerous populations of High Asia, it is certain that 
 the nation of the Keraites was converted to Chris- 
 tianity in the first year of the eleventh century. On 
 that point Oriental writers are unanimous,* The Nes- 
 torians, as we have more than once remarked, had, even 
 in the preceding ages, propagated the Christian faith 
 amongst the tribes of Tartary. But this splendid con- 
 version of a powerful sovereign, who solemnly received 
 baptism with two hundred thousand of his subjects, 
 was an event that must have created a wonderful 
 sensation in the Christian world. The Nestorians 
 never failed to publish, throughout Asia, their valuable 
 conversions, and to exaggerate greatly their importance, 
 with the design of forwarding their propagandism. 
 
 Travellers listened to these narratives, added to them 
 a thousand marvels of their own, and then hawked 
 these stories about in their long peregrinations. Sucli 
 was, in all probability, the origin of tlie story of 
 Prester John and his Christian Empire, which for 
 above three centuries excited so powerfully the minds 
 of both Eastern and Western nations. 
 
 * See (I’Ohsson’s History of the Mongols, vol. i. p. 48. 
 
SUCCESSES OF THE KEUAITES. 
 
 113 
 
 The Keralte people kept for a long time the Christian 
 faith which had been imparted to them ; their power 
 went on meanwhile increasing prodigiously, and the 
 important part which they played in the great revo- 
 lutions by which Asia was convulsed, appears to justify, 
 in some measure, the brilliant renown of the kingdom 
 of Prester John. 
 
 In 1046, that is, forty-five years after the conversion 
 of the king of the Karaites, one of his successors 
 subjugated several neighbouring tribes, and led his 
 victorious armies to Khakhgar. The name of Tartar 
 began then to be repeated among the Asiatic nations, 
 and to carry with it a secret terror. The metropolitan 
 Bishop of Samarkand, finding himself at a little distance 
 from the theatre of war, forwarded a dispatch to the 
 Nestorian Catholicos*, to inform him of the overwhelm- 
 ing march of the Tartar Keraites, and his letter was 
 read, even in the palace of the Kaliph of Bagdad, in the 
 presence of the Arab chiefs. 
 
 “ A people,” f said the metropolitan of Samarkand, 
 
 “ innumerable as grasshoppers, has opened for itself a 
 passage across the mountains which separate Thibet 
 from Choutan, where, according to ancient historians, 
 are to be found the gates constructed by Alexander the 
 Great. Thence they have penetrated to Kaschgar. 
 There are seven kings, each of whom is at the head of 
 seven hundred thousand horsemen. The first of these 
 is named Nazarath ; that is to say, ‘ Chief, by order of 
 God.’ They have brown complexions, like Indians. 
 
 * This Catholicos had then his seat at Bagdad, 
 t Aboulfarage, Chron. Syr. dans Assemani, toI. iii. part ii. ch. ix. 
 p. 488. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 I 
 
114 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 They do not wash their faces, nor cut their hair, but 
 plait it, and tie it together at the top of their heads, in 
 the form of a tiara, which serves them instead of a 
 helmet. They are excellent archers. Their food is 
 simple, and not very abundant. They practise, above 
 all things, justice and humanity. Their horses eat 
 flesh meat.” 
 
 At these words there arose a great noise in the 
 assembly. An Arab chief stood up and said that the 
 letter was not worthy of credit, since it contained an 
 incredible circumstance ; but another replied that he 
 had himself had an Arab horse, which he fed habitually 
 with beef and mutton, and that, consequently, there was 
 no reason to doubt what the metropolitan of Samarkand 
 had asserted.* 
 
 The progress of these Tartar Keraites towards the 
 Western regions of Asia, was only the prelude to their 
 future aggrandisement, and enormous conquests. The 
 Christian element, which continued to penetrate more 
 and more this rough and energetic race, seemed to 
 communicate to it an expansive force that nothing 
 could resist — not even the enthusiastic ardour of Is- 
 lam. In the middle of the twelfth century, one of 
 
 these Keraite kings, also designated by the name of 
 Prester John, after having prosecuted a furious war 
 against the sovereigns of Persia and Medea, took, by 
 assault, Ecbatana, the capital of two empires, and 
 pursued, like a torrent, his devastating march, until he 
 planted his camp on the banks of the Tigris. He was 
 preparing to carry his victorious and indefatigable bat- 
 
 • During our long journey from Pekin to Llia-Ssa, the capital of 
 Thibet, we ourselves saw a horse devouring, with excellent appetite, 
 slices of camel’s flesh. 
 
THE LAST SOVEREIGN OF THE KERAITES. 115 
 
 talions across tlie river, and come to the assistance of 
 tlie Christians of Syria and PiJestine, 'when suddenly 
 he seemed to be arrested by some mysterious obstacle, 
 checked his course, and led liis powerful and victorious 
 army back into the arid and sandy deserts of Tartary.* 
 It is to this prince the pompous letters addressed to the 
 Pope Alexander III., the King of Prance, and the 
 Emperor, are generally attributed. 
 
 Ung-Khan was the last sovereign Avho governed the 
 nation of the Karaites. After having increased and 
 strengthened the power bequeathed to him by his pre- 
 decessors, he exercised an uncontested supremacy over 
 the numerous hordes of Tartary ; but he subsequently 
 found himself brought into collision with a formidable 
 chief named Temoutchin ; and the two perceiving that 
 their rivalry would be injurious or fatal to both, formed 
 an alliance, cemented by the ceremony of drinking from 
 a cup of fermented mare’s milk, in which they had both 
 mingled their blood. Their friendship, nevertheless, 
 was not eternal, as bad been mutually promised, and 
 they did not continue to share “ the sweet and the 
 bitter.” f In fact, there arose between them a long and 
 obstinate contest, and they finally prepared for a great 
 battle. The two armies were in presence of each other, 
 and preparing for an engagement, when Temoutchin 
 called together the soothsayers who always accompanied 
 him in his wars, and demanded of them what would be 
 the result of the decisive struggle. 
 
 The soothsayers took a bamboo cane, split it into two 
 halves, wrote the name of Temoutchin on one, and that 
 
 * Ottoni’s Chron. ch. xxxiii. p. 146. ; Alberni Chron. pp. 307-8. 
 
 t When two Tartars form an alliance, they reciprocally promise 
 to share “ the sweet and the bitter.” 
 
116 
 
 CmirSTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 of Ung-Ivhan on the other, and flung them into the 
 midst of the assembly. After this they chanted some 
 magic prayers, and soon the two fragments of wood, it 
 is related *, set themselves in motion, and began a kind 
 of combat, the vicissitudes of which the Tartar chiefs 
 watched with intense anxiety. 
 
 At length the bamboo of Temoutchin succeeded in 
 placing itself across that of Ung-Khan, and paralysing 
 its movements. This circumstance, continues Marco 
 Polo, was of good augury for the troops of Temoutchin, 
 who, therefore, advanced full of confidence and courage 
 against the Keraites, and Ung-Khan was routed, and 
 had his head cut off by one of Temoutchin’s officers. 
 Thus vanished, in 1203, the kingdom of Prester John 
 and the power of the Karaites. The principal Tartar 
 chiefs, as is Avell known, have alwa}^s borne, and still 
 bear, the title of Khan ; and this word being somewhat 
 difficult to pronounce from the guttural effort it re- 
 quires, was found rather troublesome by Western tra- 
 vellers who wished to speak of their relations with the 
 Chief of the Tartars. They wrote by turns Chan, Caan, 
 Ghan, Gehan, and finally John ; and the last mode of 
 rendering the rough Tartar sound pleased them all the 
 better, because it seemed, in the Middle Ages, quite na- 
 tural to designate by the name of an Apostle a sovereign 
 recently converted to Christianity. All tlie Khans of 
 the Keraites, of course, bore the same title, and this 
 seeins to explain the astonishing longevity of this eternal 
 Prester John, whom all European travellers in Asia 
 never failed to meet with for at least two centuries. 
 
 * Voyages de Marco Polo, published by the Societc de la Geo- 
 graphie, ch. liii. p. .'54U. 
 
CONVERSION OF THE KERAITE KHANS. 117 
 
 It is not credible that these princes should liave been 
 really invested with the sacerdotal character, as the title 
 of Priest would seem to indicate ; and it was probably 
 only attributed to them from its being a common prac- 
 tice with Oriental monarchs, to unite in their own per- 
 sons the temporal and spiritual authorities, and to be at 
 the same time the political and religious head of their 
 nation. Asia has always been the country of royal 
 priests ; and it is not uncommon for these sovereigns 
 to denominate themselves “ Sons of Heaven ; ” and in 
 this quality, not only to regulate religious affairs, and 
 settle points of belief, but also to appoint the Tutelary 
 Genii for provinces, towns, rivers, mountains, and forests. 
 The Karaite Khans having embraced Christianity, it 
 seems likely that, to accommodate themselves to Asiatic 
 practices, they should adopt the sacerdotal dignity as a 
 title of honour ; — indeed, from that curious epistle of 
 Prester John to the Emperor of Constantinople, it would 
 appear that his whole court had received an ecclesias- 
 tical organisation, and that attendants, cup-bearers, and 
 grooms were decorated with the titles of Abbes, Bishops, 
 and Archbishops. It is remarkable, too, that it Avas 
 about the same epoch that the Lama hierarchy, and the 
 theocratic government of the Tale-Lana, was formed in 
 Thibet. We shall in the sequel have occasion to revert 
 to this extraordinary fact, which we think cannot rea- 
 sonably be attributed to anything else than to the influ- 
 ence of the Kestorianism propagated in Upper Asia. 
 
 From all this it seems fair to conclude that this re- 
 nowned Prester John was no other than the Khan of 
 the Keraite Tartars, amongst whom the Kestorian mis- 
 sions remained very flourishing up to the commencement 
 of the thirteenth century ; and in whose country we shall 
 
118 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 find traces of Christianity at a later period. The great 
 conqueror Ternoutchin having dispersed and absorbed 
 the nation of the Keraites, the kingdom of Prester John 
 disappeared, and existed no more, except in the imagi- 
 nations of Europeans. The travellers from the West, 
 during the Middle Ages, continued, nevertheless, to seek 
 for this remarkable potentate with eager curiosity, and 
 whenever they met with a prince professing Christianity, 
 though it might be in India or Abyssinia, never failed 
 to declare they had found Prester John. 
 
Ill) 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 A FRENCH MISSIONARY IN TARTARY. — TCFIINQUIZ-KHAN PROCLAIMED 
 
 SOVEREIGN OF THE TARTARS. CHARACTER OF THIS FAMOUS 
 
 CONQUEROR HIS CONQUESTS. HIS DEATH. — HIS RELIGIOUS 
 
 FAITH. — ELECTION OF HIS SUCCESSOR. — TARTAR INVASION OP 
 GEORGIA — OF ARMENIA. — GREGORY IX. AND THE QUEEN RIIOU- 
 
 ZOUDAN. INVASION OF POLAND. SAINT HYACINTH. — BATTLE 
 
 OF LIEGNITZ. RAVAGES OF THE MONGOLS IN POLAND AND 
 
 RUSSIA. FREDERIC BARBAROSSA ST. LOUIS AND QUEEN BLANCHE. 
 
 BELA IV. KING OF HUNGARY. ADVENTURES OF THE CANON 
 
 OF VARADIN. — GREGORY IX. PREACHES A CRUSADE AGAINST THE 
 
 TARTARS. GREGORY IX. AND FREDERIC BARBAROSSA. RELIGION 
 
 OF THE MONGOL TARTARS. INNOCENT IV. AT THE COUNCIL- 
 
 GENERAL OF LYONS. — DECREE THAT MISSIONARY AMBASSADORS 
 SHALL BE SENT TO THE TARTARS. 
 
 A FEW years ago, a French missionary was following 
 across the Steppes of Tartary a Mongol caravan, which 
 was conducting a long string of camels, laden ivith 
 Chinese merchandise, to Kiakta, on the frontiers of 
 Siberia. One day, the caravan stopped in a vast plain, 
 not far from the source of the Onan, one of the great 
 tributaries of the river Amour. The place of encamp- 
 ment chosen by these nomadic herdsmen was an im- 
 mense prairie, which, as the wind swept over the high 
 grass that covered it, resembled a wide sea. The 
 horizon was bounded in all directions by a girdle ol 
 mountains of a yellowish tint, whose summits were 
 covered by eternal snows, then glittering in the rays of 
 the sun. 
 
 I 4 
 
120 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 A little before dark, the Mongols brought back their 
 numerous camels from the pasture. They made them 
 lie down, side by side, so as to form a kind of wall 
 round the encampment. Then, according to custom, 
 they set to work to prepare the evening meal of tea, 
 into which tliey put, by way of rendering it more sub- 
 stantial, slices of fat sheep’s tail or camel’s hump, as 
 well as butter and salt. Whilst the company were 
 waiting until this Tartar soup had undergone its rather 
 lengthy preparation, they were smoking Chinese to- 
 bacco, and abandoning themselves to the pleasure of 
 one of those interminable gossips, in which the children 
 of the desert so much delight. 
 
 “ My brother,” said the chief of the caravan, address- 
 ing the French missionary, “ these fine pastures, those 
 lofty mountains that surround them, those sources of 
 the river Onan, where we have just watered our camels, 
 — all this country is for us, full of glorious and holy re- 
 collections. Here was the cradle of the Mongol power. 
 Our learned Lamas love to relate to us how our an- 
 cestors, who were at first but a feeble tribe, became the 
 masters of the world, and subjugated nations whose very 
 names are unknown to us. In those ancient times, all 
 Mongols were warriors, and their number was countless. 
 Now, as you see, my brother, you meet nothing in all 
 directions but immense solitudes, and the descendants 
 of Tchinguiz and Timour are become wandering herds- 
 men.” 
 
 The chief was not able to do justice in his description 
 to the epic grandeur of the gigantic wars of his fore- 
 fathers, and he had but a confused idea of the former 
 power of his nation ; but it was })erfcctly true that on 
 this very spot, where the Mongols were now lying indo- 
 
GENERAL ASSEAIBLY OF MONGOL CHIEFS. 
 
 121 
 
 lently round their fire of argots *, smoking their long 
 pipes, whilst their camels peaceably ruminated the grass 
 of the desert, there Avould have been seen, six hundred 
 years ago, hosts of men of tlie same race, restless, daring, 
 impetuous warriors, breathing only battle, and planning 
 the conquest of the whole world. 
 
 It was in the spring of the year 1206, that Temout- 
 chin, after the death of Ung-Khan, and the destruction 
 of the kingdom of the Keraites, convoked a Kouriltai, or 
 general assembly of the chiefs of all the hordes. The 
 meeting was to take place near the source of the Onan, 
 and on the day fixed for this “ Charrip de 3/a^,” a mul- 
 titude of tents, with streamers of various colours floating 
 above them, to indicate the tribe they belonged to, were 
 seen pitched upon the plain ; and behind each were 
 ranged numerous squadrons of Tartar horsemen. Fierce 
 impetuous-looking warriors were galloping to and fro, 
 calling to one another in the guttural tones of their rude 
 language ; and the strangeness of their costume, their 
 hardy and ferocious aspect, and everything about the 
 assembly, bore the character of indomitable barbarism. 
 In the midst of the camp was a standard formed of a 
 long pike, to which were attached seven white yak’s 
 tails f, one above another. 
 
 As soon as Temoutchin, the supreme chief of these 
 
 * The dried dung of animals, used for fuel in Tartary. 
 f These standards are called tou by the Chinese ; and, doubtless, 
 it is from them that the name of the Turkish standard, the “ toug" 
 has been derived. “ It is,” says Cuvier, “ with the tail of the yak, a 
 kind of small buffalo, wdth a long-haired tail, like that of the horse, 
 — itself a native of the mountains of Thibet, — that those standards 
 were first made w'hich are still in use among the Turks.” — “Regne 
 Animal,” vol. i. p. 270. 
 
122 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 half savage tribes, made his appearance, the assembly 
 was hushed into profound silence. Temoutchin was at 
 this time forty-four years of age ; the habit of abso- 
 lute command, and the practice of the fiercest battles, 
 had given to his swarthy countenance a haughty, stern, 
 and pitiless expression. An iron will, and a body fitted 
 to be its instrument, inured to long privations and hard- 
 ships, and of massive squareness in its proportions, ex- 
 cited the admiration of his companions in arms. 
 Temoutchin was certainly endowed with superior 
 intelligence, but it was his athletic person that chiefly 
 won their respect. These barbarous hordes which he 
 swayed at his pleasure, saw in him the representative of 
 brute force, and material power. 
 
 The Toolholos^ or Mongol bards, who had already 
 begun to celebrate his exploits, said little of the military 
 genius of the great warrior, but vaunted in their songs 
 the loudness of his voice, which sounded like thunder in 
 the mountains, and the strength of his hands, like the 
 paws of a bear, which could break a man in two, as 
 easily as an arrow. They told how, when he lay down 
 at night, near a fire made of the trunks of great trees, 
 that he hardly felt the sparks and burning brands that 
 fell upon his body, but took them for the stings of 
 insects. Such was the man who presided over this 
 meeting of Mongol chiefs. 
 
 He took his place on a sort of throne, covered with 
 the skins of tigers and foxes, as if to indicate.the cunning 
 and cruelty that were to distinguish the conquests of 
 tlie Tartar army ; and then an old man advanced, 
 clothed in long yellow robes, and whose countenance 
 Avas full of entlmsiasm. This was a renowned sooth- 
 sayer, knoAvn by the name of Bout-Tengri, that is, the 
 
TCUlNGUIZ-KnAN, SOVEREIGN OF THE TARTARS. 123 
 
 “ image of God.” He never spoke but by the inspiration 
 of Hormoustha, and all • his words were regarded as 
 oracles. This personage now began a solemn oration, 
 and addressing Temoutchin told him, that, after having 
 vanquished and destroyed several sovereigns, who had 
 borne the title of Gour-Khan *, that is, Khan-General, 
 or universal, it did not become him to adopt the same 
 qualification, since its glory was for ever tarnished ; but 
 that Heaven ordered him to take the title of Tchinguiz- 
 A'Aanf, or “Khan of the Strong.” No sooner had 
 Bout-Tengri ceased, than an immense clamour arose from 
 the camp, and the whole multitude of Tartars cried out 
 with one voice, “ Ten thousand years of life to Tchinguiz- 
 Khan.” 
 
 Tchinguiz-Khan, the “ Sovereign of the Strong,” was 
 formerly but the chief of some very poor tribes, wander- 
 ino; about with their flocks under the most rigorous climate 
 and in the most elevated regions of Tartary, namely, 
 to the south-east of Lake Barkal, where the rivers 
 Onan, Keroulan, and Toula take their rise. A few years 
 sufficed for him to collect under one banner a crowd of 
 the ferocious and turbulent hordes, whom he let loose 
 to ravage the earth. Tchinguiz owed his success to the 
 strength of his will, the resources of his genius, and the 
 employment of every stratagem that could further his 
 ends. Cunning and perfidy were always ready to second 
 his warlike efforts ; never did conqueror carry further 
 his contempt for humanity, never had ambitious chief an 
 army more adapted to execute his designs. Made up of 
 nomadic hordes, who at all times led the lives of soldiers 
 
 * The word gour, in Mongol, conveys the idea of totality. 
 
 f Tchink, in Mongol, signifies strong or firm, and the particle guiz 
 is the plural inflection. 
 
124 
 
 CIIMSTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 — who carried with them all the homes they had — who 
 could subsist wherever their cattle and their horses 
 could find pasture ; it was no less superior to the troops 
 of other nations by its warlike habits and the rapidity 
 of its movements, than by the stern discipline that 
 Tchinguiz-Khan had introduced into it. 
 
 It Avas Avith these Mongol hordes that Tchinguiz- 
 Khan successively subjected all the nations of Tartary, 
 and annihilated empires, “ as you might tear up grass.”* 
 Far from paying homage at that time to the soA^ereigns 
 of Northern China, to Avhom the Tartar tribes had 
 before been tributary, he rushed doAvn upon the empire 
 at the head of a numerous body of his horsemen, and 
 carried his devastations to the banks of the YelloAv 
 River. 
 
 Master of an immense booty, he then quitted China, 
 but it Avas only to fly to other conquests. Central Asia 
 Avas subjected to his laAvs ; he desolated Trans-Oxiana, 
 Khorassan, and Persia, and Avhilst his armies Avere on 
 one side ravaging the Chinese empire, on the other 
 they Avere sacking the country of Sinde and the banks 
 of the Euphrates, penetrating through Georgia to the 
 northern shores of the Black Sea, pouring over the 
 Crimea, laying Avaste a part of Russia, and attacking 
 the Bulgarians on the Upper Wolga. The destructiA^e 
 progress of the Mongols among the nations of Western 
 Asia, spread terror even to Byzantium. The Emperor 
 John Ducas reinforced all his garrisons ; and liis 
 subjects, terrified by the rumours of the atrocities com- 
 
 * “ Since the commencement of the world no nation has ever been 
 as powerful as the Mongols are at present. They annihilate empires 
 as one tears up grass. AVhy docs Heaven permit that?” — Toung- 
 Kien-Kan Mou, “ Annuls of China.” 
 
FEROCITY OF THE MONGOLS. 
 
 125 
 
 niittecl by the Tartars, believed that these conquerors 
 had the heads of dogs, and that they fed upon human 
 flesh.* 
 
 The dread inspired by the ferocious soldiers of 
 Tchinguiz-Khan was only too much justified by tlie hor- 
 rible excesses of -which they were really guilty towards 
 the vanquished. The towns taken by assault were treated 
 with incredible ferocity, especially when the ^longols 
 had experienced a long resistance. Nischabour, the 
 capital of Khorassan, under the monarchy of the Chos- 
 roes, having been taken, tlie Mongols massacred every 
 living thing they found in the town, to the very dogs 
 and cats. 
 
 The carnage lasted four days; and Touloui^ tlie son 
 of Tchinguiz-Khan, having heard that in the sack of 
 ^lerou many of the inhabitants had saved their lives 
 by lying down amongst the dead, ordered that the 
 heads should be cut oft' from all the victims of his fury. 
 Immense pyramids were constructed, in which were 
 separately piled up the heads of men, of women, and 
 of children, and in fifteen days, every vestige of the city 
 was destroyed, and barley was sown upon its site.f 
 
 When towns surrendered at discretion, they were 
 treated with somewhat less barbarity. Arab historians 
 relate, that during the siege of Bokhara, a deputation, 
 composed of Imaums and notables of the city, came 
 out to meet Tchinguiz-Khan, and ofler him homage 
 and submission. The Mongol entered the town, and 
 passing before the grand Mosque, rode in on horseback, 
 asking whether that was the palace of the Sultan. 
 
 * Pachimeres, vol. i. p. 87. Stritter’s “ Memoriae Populorum,” 
 vol. iii. p. 1028. 
 
 f “ Tarikh-Djihankuscliai,” vol. i. 
 
126 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 “ No,” they replied, “ it is the house of God.” The 
 conqueror then alighted at the foot of the altar, and 
 mounting two or three steps, called out with a loud 
 voice, “ the country is laid waste, bring us fodder for 
 our horses.” All the corn in the magazines of the 
 town was immediately brought, the chests containing 
 the Koran were carried into the court of the temple by 
 he IVlongols to serve for horse-troughs, and the sacred 
 books of the Mussulmans were trampled under the 
 hoofs of their horses. The barbarians deposited their 
 wine-skins in the midst of the mosques, sent for the 
 merry-andrews and singing girls of the town, making 
 the walls ring with the roar of their brutal revelry ; 
 and while giving themselves up to every debaucherj'', 
 the principal inhabitants of the town, the doctors of 
 law, and the chief religious persons, were obliged to 
 wait upon them as slaves, and tend their horses. 
 
 After some hours, Tchinguiz-Khan left the town, 'and 
 went to a place called the Field of Prayer, to which the 
 inhabitants were accustomed to resort on certain days 
 of solemn religious festival. They were now assembled 
 on this spot by order of their ruthless invader. lie 
 ascended a kind of pulpit that stood there, and de- 
 manded who were the richest persons of the place. 
 They were pointed out to him, to the number of two 
 liundred and eighty, and he then called them, and 
 addressed them. After having mentioned the acts of 
 hostility that had induced him to take arms against 
 their Sultan, he said to them, “Know that you have 
 committed great faults, and the chiefs of the people are 
 the Inost crimitial. If 5^11 ask me how I know this, I 
 reply, that I am the ‘ Scourge of God and that if you 
 
DEATH OF TCIIINGUIZ-KIIAN. 
 
 127 
 
 were not very guilty, he would not have hurled me at 
 you.”* 
 
 He was indeed a terrible and inevitable scourge. 
 Without pity or mercy for the unfortunate victims of 
 liis wars, he seemed actually to delight in carnage and 
 devastation. One day, the fierce barbarian asked Bour- 
 goul, one of his principal generals, what was, in his 
 opinion, the greatest pleasure of man. “ To go hunting,” 
 was the reply, “ on a spring day, mounted on a fine 
 liorse, and holding a falcon on your fist, to see him 
 bring down his prey.” “ No,” said Tchinguiz-Khan, 
 “the greatest enjoyment of man is, to conquer his ene- 
 mies, to drive them before him, to snatch from them all 
 that they possess, to see the persons dear to them with 
 their faces bathed in tears, to mount their horses, and 
 carry away captive their daughters and their wives.” f 
 
 Death came at last to this ravager of nations, and 
 at the moment when he was preparing to lay waste the 
 kingdom of Tangout. He expired, after a week’s illness, 
 on the 18th of August, 1227, at the age of sixty-six, 
 and in the twenty-second year of his reign. Before he 
 died, he recommended his sons to finish the conquest of 
 the world. “ My children,” said he, “ I have raised an 
 empire so vast, that from the centre to one of its ex- 
 tremities is a year’s journey. If you wish to preserve 
 it, remain united.” 
 
 Tchinguiz-Khan, even after his death, seemed still to 
 preside over carnage and destruction. His body Avas 
 secretly transported to Mongolia; and to prevent the 
 news of his decease from spreading, the troops that 
 
 * D’Ohsson, vol. i. p. 231. 
 
 t D’Ohsson, “Hist, of the Mongols,” vol. i. p. 404. 
 
128 
 
 CIIEISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 accompanied his coffin* killed every individual they 
 met on that long journey. 
 
 It was not until the procession had reached the great 
 Ordou, the ancient territory of Tchinguiz-Khan, near 
 the source of the Keroulan, that his death was publicly 
 made known. After the funeral ceremonies, in which 
 an immense number of men and horses were immolatedf , 
 the coffin was buried in one of the mountains that form 
 the chain of Borkan-Caldoun, whence issue the rivers 
 Onan, Keroulan, and Toula. 
 
 The Mongol historians relate, that one day, when 
 Tchinguiz-Khan was hunting in this region, he lay 
 down to rest himself under the shade of a large tree. 
 After remaining there a few minutes, seemingly in 
 profound thought, he said that it was there he would 
 wish to be buried, and his sons, being informed of the 
 circumstance, ordered that the interment should take 
 place in that spot. Some time afterwards, it is added, 
 the ground became covered with a thick forest, so that 
 the particular tree beneath which the remains of Tchin- 
 guiz-Khan had been deposited, could no longer be re- 
 
 * “ When tlie body of this great Khan was transported to the place 
 of burial, the convoy killed every one they met on the way, saying, 
 
 ‘ Go and serve our lord and master in another world.’ For they are 
 so possessed by a demon, that they believe the persons killed in this 
 way go and serve the deceased king. Their fury extended itself 
 even to the horses they found on the ro.ads ; they cut their throats in 
 order that they too might serve the Khan. It is said that when the 
 body of Mangou-Khan was carried to the mounttiins to be buried, 
 the soldiers who bore it killed in this way more than 20,000 men.” — 
 “Voyage de Marco Polo, edition de Bergeron,” vol. i. ch. 3. p. 54. 
 
 j" This atrocious custom existed for a long time in Tartary, but at 
 present it is extremely rare. Only on the graves of persons of rank 
 horses arc sacrificed. See “ Souvenirs d’un Voyage en Tartarie it 
 Thihct.” 
 
RELIGIOUS FAITH OF TCTTINGDIZ-KUAN. 
 
 129 
 
 cognised; “and tliis is the fruit of so many victories!” 
 The furious conqueror, wlio thought to get possession 
 of all the kingdoms of the earth, has not kept so much 
 as a tomb in his own country. 
 
 History lias left us little information concerning the 
 religion of Tchinguiz-Khan, probably because that was 
 a matter in Avhich he had small concern himself. It is 
 known that in the armies, and among the nations sub- 
 ject to him, there were idolaters, Mahomedans, and 
 Christians, and it is even said that one of his wives, a 
 Keraite by birth, and the niece of Ung-Khan, had been 
 baptized. Tchinguiz-Khan himself, however, was 
 neither Christian, Mahomedan, nor even idolater. lie 
 protected one religion no more than the other, and 
 favoured each in turn, as suited the interests of his 
 policy. He strongly recommended his successors to 
 give no preference to any, but desired that the priests 
 of the various faiths should be exempt from taxes and 
 contributions. 
 
 He seems to have believed in a supreme being, but 
 that it mattered little in what way he was worshipped ; 
 so that his religion may be called. Deism. 
 
 On some public occasions, he is known to have 
 prayed publicly, and implored the protection of the 
 Divinity, and it is related, that when the Sultan Mo- 
 hammed put to death some Mongol ambassador in 
 Turkestan, Tchinguiz-Khan, on receiving the intelli- 
 gence, not only shed tears of indignation, but went to 
 the summit of a mountain, where, prostrate on the 
 ground, with his head uncovered, his face to the earth, 
 and his girdle round his neck, he passed three days and 
 nights in prayer and mortification. In his dealings 
 with foreign nations, he liked to appeal to the Divinity ; 
 
 VOL. I. K 
 
130 
 
 CHKISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 and Avhen he attacked a country, and desired tliat It 
 should surrender, and pay him homage, his very concise 
 summons was concluded by these words : — “If you do 
 not submit, how do we know what will happen ? God 
 alone knows that." * 
 
 But whatever may have been the religious faith of 
 Tchinguiz-Khan, a matter not very easy to determine, 
 it is certain that he was very tolerant, and left his 
 subjects to profess freely Avhatever faith pleased them 
 best, from Christianity down to the grossest and most 
 absurd superstitions. His successors inherited this in- 
 difference, and we shall see how faithful they were to 
 the recommendation of the famous founder of the Mon- 
 gol power, to tolerate all religions, and show no pre- 
 ference for any. 
 
 After rendering the last honours to Tchinguiz-Khan, 
 the princes of his family, and the chiefs of his army, 
 and of the various hordes, separated, to return to their 
 cantonments ; and it was only after the lapse of two 
 years, and in the fear of the evil that might result from 
 a longer interregnum, that they agreed to assemble, and 
 elect a sovereign. 
 
 In the spring of the year 1229, the chiefs and 
 generals came from all parts of the Tartar empire, to 
 the great horde on the banks of the Keroulan. 
 
 These ferocious ravagers of nations had at their head, 
 the three sons of Tchinguiz-Khan, Ogotai, Tchagatai, 
 and Touloui.f The latter had been charged to under- 
 take the regency, until the election of a new sovereign. 
 
 ♦ “•Tarikh Djiliankuscliai,” vol. i. 
 
 f Dgoutchi, the eldest son of Tchinguiz-Klian, had died some years 
 before, but liis descendants reigned for several centuries over a vast 
 empire north of the Caspian and Black Seas, that counted Russia 
 among its tributaries. 
 
OGOTAI, THE SUCCESSOR OF TCHINGUIZ-KIIAN. 131 
 
 Three days after, the first meeting of the Kouriltai 
 were passed in festivity and pleasure, and then the 
 members of this numerous assembly began to deliberate 
 concerning the choice of an emperor. J\Iany voices de- 
 clared for Touloui, but he himself proclaimed in full 
 council, that Tchinguiz-lvhan had appointed his brother 
 Ogotai to be his successor, and that the will of his 
 father must be obeyed. Ogotai, on his side, made the 
 most generous exertions to get Touloui invested .with 
 the sovereign authority, but the princes cried out Avith 
 one voice, “ Tchinguiz-Khan chose thee to be his suc- 
 cessor, and how can we disobey his Avill ?” * 
 
 Then Touloui presented him the cup, and at the same 
 moment all the members of the Kouriltai, with their 
 heads uncovered, and their girdles flung over their 
 shoulders, bent the knee nine times before Ogotai, and 
 saluted him with the title of Kha-kan, which subse- 
 quently served to designate the sovereign prince of the 
 three other branches of Tchinguiz-Khan’s fainily, of 
 which the chiefs only took the title of Khan. 
 
 Before dispersing itself, the Kouriltai fixed the 
 centre of the Tartar dominion definitively at Kara- 
 Koroum, an ancient town of the Keraites, between the 
 Orgon and the Selinga, in nearly the same latitude as 
 Paris. 
 
 This great Mongol empire, which had nearly absorbed 
 
 * D’Ohsson, “Hist, des Mongols,” vol. ii. p. 11. In raising Ogotai 
 to the throne, the members of the family swore to remain faithful to 
 his descendants in the following curious expressions: — “We swear 
 that whilst there shall remain of thy posterity but a piece of flesh, 
 such as if thrown on the grass would hinder an ox from grazing it, 
 which if put into the fat would prevent the dogs from taking it, — 
 we will not place on the throne the princes of any other branch.” 
 
182 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 the whole known world, was from this time completely 
 constituted. It had been created by one man, the un- 
 known chief of a nomadic tribe, in less time than is 
 usually required to found and people a single city. 
 Never before, from a beginning so insignificant, did 
 power rise in so short a time to such a gigantic height. 
 
 AVe have thought it necessary to dwell a little on the 
 origin and progress of the Mongol supremacy in Upper 
 Asia, in order to render more intelligible the political 
 and religious relations of the sovereign pontiffs, Chris- 
 tian princes, and more especially of the kings of France, 
 with the successors of Tchinguiz-Khan, in the thirteenth 
 century. Europe and Asia were then convulsed by 
 tremendous wars, which seemed in a measure to bring 
 all empires into what we may call a state of fusion. 
 There is nothing in the annals of the human race to be 
 compared with the sudden and sweeping revolutions of 
 that period, by which nations were often brought to- 
 gether, who had been previously almost ignorant of 
 each other’s existence, and separated by the entire 
 breadth of our continent. We must be acquainted with 
 these events, in order to appreciate their influence on 
 the propagation of the Christian faith in Upper Asia, 
 and on the progress of European civilisation. 
 
 As early as 1221, six years before the death of Tchin- 
 guiz-Khan, two Tartar generals, who had received orders 
 to proceed to the conquest of Media, attacked the Geor- 
 gians as they passed, but obtained no very decisive ad- 
 vantage over them. It was under these circumstances that 
 Christians saw the Mongols for the first time, and fought 
 against them. In the following year, the Tartar generals 
 led their troops across the Caucasus mountains, and en- 
 tered the country of some tribes of nomadic Turks, called 
 
TARTAR INVASION OF GEORGIA. 
 
 133 
 
 Kiptchacs, an immense plain, extending along the north 
 of the Black Sea, the Caucasus, and the Caspian Sea, from 
 the mouths of the Danube to those of the Jaik. On the 
 news of the unexpected invasion of the Mongols, the 
 occupants withdrew towards the extremity of their 
 territory, but the Mongols pursued them, routed them 
 in various encounters, and finally penetrated into Rus- 
 sia, where they met with no resistance. At the approach 
 of these barbarians, the inhabitants of Novogorod, being 
 quite unable to resist, went out to meet them, bearing 
 crosses, and imploring their mercy. The Tartars 
 slaughtered them all, to the number of ten thousand ; 
 they then carried fire and sword over the Avhole of 
 Southern Russia, and the banks of the Dnieper, and 
 then proceeded to ravage the country round the Sea of 
 Azoff, entered the Crimea, and took the opulent city of 
 Soudac, belonging to the Genoese, Avho paid a tribute for 
 it to the Turkish Kiptchacs; it was at this epoch a com- 
 mercial depot, betAveen the countries north and south of 
 the Black Sea.* 
 
 Georgia Avas at that period the most poAverful country 
 of the East, Avhich had remained subject to Christian 
 princes. It formed in some measure the advanced post 
 of Christianity against the formidable armies, which 
 descended like avalanches from the lofty plateau of 
 Central Asia, and its throne Avas at this time oc- 
 cupied by a Queen Rhouzoudan, Avhile the Constable 
 John commanded the military force of her kingdom. 
 She AA^as the first to utter a cry of alarm, and Avarn 
 Christendom of the danger that threatened it. She 
 sent an ambassador to Honorius the Third, to draw his 
 
 * Michel Scherbatoff, “ Hist, of Russia,” vol. ii. pp. 509 — 521. 
 
134 
 
 CIIHISTIANITY IN CUINA, ETC. 
 
 attention to the storm which had long been gathering 
 in the countries of the North, and which could not fail 
 one day to burst over the very centre of Catholicism. 
 This letter of the Georgian Queen has been preserved.* 
 She states in it that she has not sent the help she had 
 promised against the Saracens, because she had need of 
 all the strength she could collect, to repulse a sudden 
 invasion of barbarians. The Mongols, by an artifice of 
 which the Georgians had been the dupes, had presented 
 themselves as Christians, placing in their front some 
 priests, whom they had taken in the countries through 
 which they had passed, and carrying before their batta- 
 lions the Cross as a standard. 
 
 The Georgians, deceived by this trick, had suffered 
 themselves to be surprised, and had lost six thousand 
 men. “ But,” continues the Queen, “ as soon as we 
 perceived they were not true Christians, we rose against 
 them, killed 20,000 of them, took many prisoners, and 
 put the rest to flight.” Rhouzoudan adds, that she has 
 just learned that the emperor was about to go to Syria, 
 to begin the war against the Saracens, that she rejoices 
 at it, and will send to the help of the Christian armies 
 the Constable John, and a considerable number of dis- 
 tinguished persons of her kingdom, who have taken the 
 cross, and are only Avaiting for orders to fly to the 
 defence of the Holy Sepulchre. 
 
 David, the Bishop of Ani, had been charged to carry 
 this letter to Ilonorius the Third, and he brought also 
 one from the Constable John, Avho, after holding lan- 
 guage pretty nearly similar to that of the Queen of 
 Georgia, begged the blessing of the sovereign pontiff 
 
 * OJor Kiiynaltli, “ Aimalos Eccl. Ann. 1224,” p. o35. 
 
TAUTAU INVASION OF GEORGIA. 
 
 135 
 
 and the help of his prayers, “ in order to be able to fight 
 the battles of the Lord.” 
 
 The Pope replied to Rhouzoudan and the Constable to 
 animate their courage, and give them information of the 
 plans of the Emperor Frederick for the approaching 
 crusade. He recommended that his letter should be 
 publicly read, in order to excite the enthusiasm of the 
 people, and induce them to enlist in the holy war. 
 
 What a grand and beautiful mission was that of the 
 Papacy in the Middle Ages, in the midst of the general 
 confusion, in which so many young Christian nations 
 were seeking to free themselves from their pagan insti- 
 tutions! To enlighten them with the torch of faith, to 
 soften the asperity of their manners, to draw gently the 
 worst vices from their hearts, and the most fatal errors 
 from their intellects ; then to defend the weak against 
 the strong, to struggle against tyrants and oppressors, 
 to preach crusades, to call kings and nations to arms, 
 to repulse the invasions of infidels and barbarians, such 
 was the magnificent part assigned to this marvellous in- 
 stitution, which, even in a purely human point of view, 
 has never had anything comparable to it in the world. 
 The sovereign pontiff was, at the same time, the teacher, 
 protector, civiliser, in a word, the Father of the great 
 Christian family, and from the most distant regions, 
 nations had recourse to him for consolation, for en- 
 couragement, for counsel. 
 
 M'e shall shortly see him, with his anxious glances 
 directed towards Central Asia, enrolling by turns 
 soldiers and missionaries, to overcome the fierce Tartars, 
 and then to convert them, and make them children of 
 the Church and of God. 
 
 The apparition of the Tartars in Georgia had been 
 
 K 4 
 
136 CHKISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 but transitor}'’, and as Queen Rhouzoudan also had an- 
 nounced that she had repulsed their attack, little more 
 was thought of news that did not seem of much import- 
 ance. Then came the death of Tchinguiz-Khan, which 
 changed the course of events, and gave the Christians 
 still some breathing time ; but when Ogotai, his suc- 
 cessor, had annexed to the Mongol empire the whole of 
 China, as far as the Blue River, he raised an army of a 
 million and a half of men, with the purpose of carrying 
 on his operations at the same time, at the two extremi- 
 ties of Asia. 
 
 Thus the peace which appeared to reign in remote Asia 
 became fatal to Europe. Batou, the son of Djoutihi, was 
 the principal chief of the formidable expedition now 
 preparing ; and with him were associated several other 
 generals and princes of the blood of Tchinguiz-Khan. 
 The Mongol army, after subjugating the Coumans * and 
 Bulgarians, entered Russia, and took ]\foscow and the 
 principal towns of what are now the governments of 
 Vladimir and Jeroslaw; and the Grand Dukes of 
 Russia then became the tributaries of the Grand Khan 
 of the Tartars. 
 
 At the same time, another army of Mongols, accom- 
 companied by their wives and children, advanced 
 towards Georgia and Armenia, under the conduct of 
 Tcharmagan, and seventeen other generals. According 
 to the laws established by Tchinguiz-Khan, they had 
 orders to treat well the princes and nations- who should 
 submit at once, deliver up their towns, and consent to 
 ]>ay tribute. Others were to be abandoned to the fury 
 of the soldiers. The inhabitants of towns were to be 
 
 * TLe country beyond the Kuban was often called Couniania. 
 
TARTAR invasion OF ARMENIA. 
 
 137 
 
 massacred ■without distinction of age or sex, and not 
 even the animals were to be spared. 
 
 In the beginning of their career, nothing like nego- 
 tiation with the Tartars was possible ; the only choice 
 was to acknowledge their empire, or die, and the peril of 
 resistance was attested by the innumerable pyramids of 
 human bones, which they raised on the sites of ruined 
 towns. Long afterwards, travellers contemplated them 
 with horror in regions now become desert, but which 
 had seen the passage of these terrific barbarians. 
 
 In 1235 and 1236, the Mongols burnt and ravaged 
 many of the towns of Albania, Georgia, and Great 
 Armenia. Many of the Armenian princes, finding it 
 impossible to oppose effectual resistance to these formid- 
 able invaders, took the resolution of submitting to them, 
 and serving in their armies. Sometimes they even 
 undertook the journey to Kara-Koroum, in order to 
 demand of the Kha-kan himself, reparation for injuries 
 inflicted by his generals ; and several of them did really 
 obtain by this means the restitution of their states, so 
 that the imperial horde became like the Rome of former 
 days, the supreme tribunal, where the claims of kings 
 were adjudged.* 
 
 The pride and strength of character of the Queen of 
 Georgia did not permit her to follow the example of 
 her vassals. Instead of submitting to the Tartars, she 
 continued to write urgent letters to the West, to ask 
 for help ; and one, addressed to Pope Gregory the Ninth, 
 who then occupied the pontifical throne, has been 
 preserved. The Queen asks for a Christian army to 
 repulse the attacks of the Mongols ; and in order to 
 interest the Pope more in her cause, professes entire 
 
 * “ Memoires d’Abel Kemusat,” p. 12. 
 
138 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 submission to the Church of Rome, and promises to 
 unite Georgia to it in Catholic unity. 
 
 Gregory the Ninth replies, that he mourns deeply for 
 the evils suffered by Georgia, but that it is out of his 
 power to send any help to it at present, since the Em- 
 peror, Frederick the Second, has just raised a tempest 
 within the Church, and that it has also been attacked 
 in all directions, in Syria by the Saracens, in Spain by 
 the Moors, in Italy and Germany by false Christians, 
 that is to say, partisans of the emperor. He praises 
 the Queen for her intention of bringing back Georgia to 
 the unity of the Faith ; and in order to favour this pious 
 design, he will send her some monks of the order of St. 
 Dominic, to evangelise the country. Rhouzoudan would 
 have greatly preferred his sending her soldiers, and she 
 appears in the sequel to have attached but little value 
 to the Holy Father’s spiritual consolations, as she re- 
 nounced Christianity, and became a Mahometan.* 
 
 Whilst the Mongols were thus keeping Georgia in 
 terror of their arms, they were menacing the North still 
 more alarmingly for the Christians. After having sacked 
 the southern part of Russia, they marched in 1240 upon 
 Kiew, a town Avhich, for three centuries, had been the 
 metropolis of Russia, and which its commerce with the 
 em[)irc of Byzantium, with the Dnieper, and the Black 
 Sea, rendered vciy tlourishing. It was soon invested by 
 the Tartars, but the inhabitants trusted to the deep 
 waters of the river Dnieper for opposing' an insur- 
 mountable barrier to the Tartar cavalry. They were 
 deceived, however. These barbarians had no need of 
 bridges or boats to cross rivers; they constructed, ac- 
 cording to their practice, with boughs of trees, covered 
 
 * Abouliurage. 
 
INVASION OF rOLAND. — ST. HYACINTH. 
 
 139 
 
 with hides, a kind of portmanteau, in which they packed 
 tlieir baggage ; they then placed themselves astride of 
 this extempore contrivance, fastened it to the tail of their 
 horses, and thus, making use of their bows for oars, the 
 whole army crossed the river w'ithout accident ; for 
 horses, as well as men, had great experience in this kind 
 of navigation. The metropolis of Russia was then soon 
 in the hands of the Mongols, who, according to custom, 
 massacred the inhabitants, and burnt their town.* 
 
 There was at Kiew, at the period of the Tartar in- 
 vasion, a monk celebrated for his apostolic labours, 
 named Hyacinth, a nephew of Yves of Kouski, Bishop 
 of Cracow. After having received at Rome, from the 
 hands of St. Dominic, the habit of the preaching 
 Brothers, he returned to Poland, and revived the faith 
 among his own countrymen, and he afterwards pro- 
 ceeded, with indefatigable zeal, to combat the remains 
 of idolatry in Prussia, Pomerania, Denmark, Sweden, 
 Gothland, and Norway, as well as in Russia, Black and 
 Bed^ the Greek Archipelago, and among the Coumans. 
 'I’his apostle, whose astonishing zeal embraced all Asia, 
 subsequently traversed Tartary and Thibet, and even 
 penetrated to China, whence he returned to Poland, 
 marking every day by a victory over paganism, Mussul- 
 man infidelity, heresy, and schism. Saint Hyacinth 
 
 * It appears, according to the Greek historian Nicetas, that the 
 Turks made use of nearly the same method for crossing rivers. “ To 
 pass the Danube, they filled a piece of leather with cork, and then 
 closed it so that no drop of water could get in ; then seating them- 
 selves upon it, and holding by the tail of their horses, and carrying 
 at the same time their saddles and arms, they thus passed the waters 
 of the broad Danube.” — Nicetas, “Choniates Mem. Popul. ad Ann. 
 1 154,” vol. iii. p. 929. 
 
140 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 was at Kiew, in a Dominican convent, of whicli he was 
 the founder, when the Mongol “hordes, thirsting for 
 blood and carnage, burst into the town. Whilst some 
 of them were engaged in cutting the throats of the in- 
 habitants, others were rusliing about with flaming 
 torches to set fire to the buildings, and soon every 
 quarter of the city was enveloped in one vast conflagra- 
 tion, which glared frightfully on the heaps of dead 
 bodies, and streams of blood. Before the fire could 
 reach the Dominican convent. Saint Hyacinth, clothed 
 in his sacerdotal vestments, went to the chapel to with- 
 draw the Holy Elements from the profanation of the 
 barbarians. He was anxiously bearing away from its 
 tabernacle the treasure of the Eucharist, and was passing 
 a statue of the Virgin, near the end of the church, 
 when he thought he heard — according to the legend 
 — a voice saying. Hyacinth, my son, are you going to 
 abandon me to the insults of the wicked ? 
 
 The holy saint cast a tender and mournful look 
 towards the statue, which was of alabaster, and of con- 
 siderable weight, when the same voice said, “ Hyacinth, 
 Hyacinth, do not forsake me ; be of good courage, you 
 shall have strength enough to save both Son and 
 Mother.” 
 
 The generous servant of God, listening only to his zeal 
 and his piety, flung his arms round the statue, raised it 
 Avith facility, and bearing in the other hand the holy 
 Pyx, issued from the toAvn through the flames, and 
 miraculously crossed the river Dnieper.* -This same 
 Virgin of KieAVAvas aftenA^ards transported by the illus- 
 trious Thaumaturgus to CracoAA'-, Avherc the Poles 
 honoured it with a special devotion. 
 
 * Fontana, “Monumenta Dominicana, Ann. 1241.” 
 
liiVVAGES OF THE MONGOLS IN POLAND. 141 
 
 After the capture, and almost complete destruction 
 of the metropolis of Russia, the IMongols advanced to 
 Roland. Ill the year 1240, they ravaged the province 
 of Lublin, and withdrew with their booty to Galicia. 
 They returned, however, in the depth of winter, sacked 
 Sandomir, and advanced, without meeting with any 
 resistance, to within seven miles of Cracow. They 
 then retired a second time, at the beginning of Lent 
 1241, laden with spoil, and driving before them, like 
 cattle, a multitude of captives of both sexes, the very 
 elite of the nation, tied one to another. Vladimir, the 
 Palatine of Cracow, pursued them with some troops, 
 attacked them, and in the first charge killed many; 
 but the ^longols, having faced about, charged their 
 assailants again with impetuosity, and put them to 
 flight. This action was, however, favourable to the 
 captives, who, finding means during the battle to break 
 their chains, fled into the neighbouring forests.* 
 
 The ^longols did not long delay returning to Poland, 
 with new strength, and furious at the resistance they 
 had met with, and on both sides preparations were made 
 for a decisive battle. Henry, Duke of Silesia, surnamed 
 the Pious, the son of Henry the Bearded, and Saint 
 Hedwig, soon found himself at the head of thirty thou- 
 sand men, divided into five corps. The Mongols, com- 
 manded by their general, Baidar, were formed into an 
 equal number of divisions, but each numerically stronger 
 than that of their enemies. 
 
 The presence of the Tartars had excited the greatest 
 enthusiasm and military ardour in the States of Poland, 
 not unmingled, probably, with a considerable dread of 
 the foe. The Poles were called on to contend with those 
 
 * D’Ohsson, vol. ii. p. 124. 
 
142 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 who were enemies alike of their religion, their countr}% 
 and their domestic homes, to defend at once their altars, 
 hearths, and native soil. It Avas a crusade, a holy 
 war, to Avhich no one could possibly remain indifferent. 
 Public prayers were offered up, priests exhorted the 
 combatants in churches and camps; even Saint HedAvug, 
 the mother of Duke Henry, Avas seen to issue from the 
 convent in which she had devoted herself to a life of 
 religious seclusion, and rush through the ranks of the 
 soldiers, urging them to heroic exertions in the cause of 
 Christianity, and of Poland. 
 
 It is said that God had revealed to her that her son 
 Avas to perish in this struggle, but that she had the 
 fortitude to control the anguish by Avhich her heart 
 Avas rent ; and this sublime mother Avas heard to say to 
 Henry, at the moment Avhen he was going into battle, that 
 it Avas his part to set an example of valour, and that if 
 God so Avilled it, he must die bravely, at the head of 
 his army. 
 
 On the ninth of April, 1241, Duke Henry, the princes 
 and Christian leaders, after having heard mass, and 
 communicated, issued from Liegnitz to meet the foe, 
 and the two armies confronted one another about a 
 league from the town, in a plain Avatered by the Neiss, 
 Avhere Avas since built the village of AVahlstadt. The 
 crusaders had obtained from Duke Henry the favour of 
 being alloAved to commence the attack, and unfortunately 
 they Avere deceived by a stratagem of the IMongol ad- 
 vanced guard, Avhich feigned to give Avay., and pursued 
 them. 
 
 When this ill armed and half-naked infantry had been 
 draAvn to a sufficient distance from the main body, the 
 Mongol cavalry surrounded them, and pierced them to 
 death with their arroAvs. 
 
BATTLE OF LIEGNITZ. — DEATH OF FRINGE HENRY. 143 
 
 The Polish army was entirely defeated. Prince 
 Henry had a horse killed under him during the rout, 
 and he had just mounted another, when he Avas sur- 
 rounded by a squadron of the enemy, and while raising 
 his lance to defend himself, he received a wmund in the 
 armpit, and was thrown down. 
 
 The Tartars cut oft’ his head, and after having placed 
 it on the point of a lance, presented themselves, 
 armed with this bloody trophy, before the citadel of 
 Liesrnitz, and summoned it to surrender. The loss of 
 the Poles was very considerable ; it is said, that in order 
 to make known the number of their enemies left dead 
 on the field, the Mongols cut off an ear from each, and 
 that they filled nine sacks with these barbarous tokens of 
 their victory. The practice was common enough with 
 them, and in Pussia in 1239, when the Khan had given 
 a similar order, they are said to have found themselves 
 in possession of two hundred and seventy thousand 
 human ears. 
 
 The town of Liegnitz, having been delivered to the 
 flames by the Christians themselves, the Mongols laid 
 Avaste all the surrounding country, and then entered 
 Moravia, marking their course by fire and blood, and 
 advanced as far as the frontiers of Bohemia and Austria. 
 
 Vinceslas, the king of Bohemia, saw, Avith terror, the 
 approach of the storm that threatened to burst over his 
 country ; and feeling little confidence in any force he 
 could oppose to them, had taken the resolution to con- 
 centrate his strength within his fortresses, and to write 
 to the neighbouring princes to urge them to form a 
 coalition against the common enemy. 
 
 In his letter to the Duke of Brabant, he says : — “A 
 nation of ferocious savages, in countless numbers, is 
 
144 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 occupying our frontiers. The misfortunes predicted 
 for the sins of men, in the Holy Scriptures, are over- 
 whelming us on every side ; ” and after having painted, 
 in the liveliest colours, the ravages exercised by the 
 Tartars in the neighbouring countries, he entreats his 
 father-in-law to send him troops promptly, since he has 
 been informed that the barbarians intend enterinjr 
 
 o 
 
 Bohemia, at the approaching festival of Easter (1241). 
 
 “ The people of both north and south,” he says, in 
 conclusion, “ are so oppressed by calamity, that never, 
 since the beginning of the world, were they so cruelly 
 scourged.” * 
 
 There was no exaggeration in this account. The very 
 name of the Tartars made people shudderf, and the sight 
 of them often produced the most painful effects. The 
 sovereigns of Europe and Asia felt themselves tottering 
 on their thrones, and they dispatched emissaries one to 
 another, to concert measures for resisting this formid- 
 able invasion. 
 
 The Emperor Frederick IE wrote a curious letter to 
 the King of England, in which he takes occasion, with 
 much self-complacency, to indulge his taste for rhetoric. 
 The picture which he draws of the Tartars, however, is 
 remarkable for truth and precision. “ A people issuing 
 from the utmost confines of the world, where they had 
 long been hidden under a frightful climate, has sud- 
 denly and violently seized on the countries of the nortli, 
 and multiplied there like grasshoppers. One knows 
 not whence this savage race derives the name of Tartar, 
 
 * Odor Riiynald, “ Annal. Eccl. ad Annum 1241.” 
 
 I “ Toutes les gens dc Orient en eurent si grand paour et si grand 
 hide, que le scul nom des Tartres et la hideur dc les oyr nonimer par 
 les villes et les cliateaulx faisait les dames cnchaintes aborlir de peur 
 et de hide.” 
 
LETTER OF FREDERIC BARBAROSSA. 
 
 145 
 
 but it is not without a manifest judgment of God tliat 
 tliey have been reserved for these latter times, as a 
 chastisement for the sins of men, and, perhaps, for the 
 destruction of Christendom. 
 
 “ This ferocious and barbarous nation knows nothing 
 of tlie laws of humanity. They have, however, a chief 
 wliom they venerate, and whose orders they blindly 
 obey, calling him the God of the earth. These men 
 are short, and thick set, but strong, hardy, of immov- 
 able firmness, and, at the least sign from their chief, 
 rushing with impetuous valour into the midst of perils 
 of every kind. They have broad faces, eyes set ob- 
 liquely, and they utter the most frightful cries and 
 yells, which correspond but too well with the feelings 
 of their hearts. They have no other clothing than the 
 hides of oxen, asses, and horses, and up to the present 
 time, they have had no other armour than rough and 
 ill-joined plates of iron. 
 
 “ But already — and one cannot utter it without a 
 groan — they are beginning to equip themselves better, 
 from the spoils of Christians; and soon the wrath of 
 God will perhaps permit us to be shamefully massacred 
 with our own weapons. The Tartars are mounted 
 on the finest horses, and they now feed on the most 
 dainty viands, and dress richly, and with care. They 
 are incomparable archers. They carry with them 
 leathern bags, skilfully fashioned, with which they 
 cross lakes and rapid rivers. It is said that their 
 horses, when they have no other forage, will feed on 
 the leaves, bark, and roots of trees, and that they are, 
 notwithstanding, full of spirit, strength, and agility.” * 
 
 * Mattb. Paris, “ Hist. Angl.,” p. 820. Odor Raynald, “ Annal. 
 Eccl. ad Ann. 1241.” 
 
 VOL. I. L 
 
146 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Whilst Frederick Barbarossa was sending this faith- 
 ful portrait of the Tartars to Edward of England, all 
 Europe was agitated and terrified at the rumour of 
 this horrible barbarian invasion. Matthew Paris relates, 
 that Queen Blanche, the mother of the King of Erance, 
 and a lady of most venerable and pious character, burst 
 into tears when she heard that the nations were 
 menaced by this messenger of the wrath of Heaven, and 
 sending for her son, begged to know what he meant 
 to do in this terrible conjuncture. “ My dear son,” 
 she said, “what fearful rumours are these? Surely 
 the irruption of these Tartars threatens our total ruin, 
 and that of our Holy Church.” King Louis replied, in 
 a voice which, though sorrowful, had a tone of some- 
 thing divine in it, “ Let us look to Heaven for support 
 and consolation, mother ; and if they come, these Tar- 
 tars, we will drive them back into Tartary, whence 
 they have issued ; or it may be that they will send us to 
 Heaven, to enjoy the bliss that has been promised to 
 the elect.”* These words, adds Matthew Paris, inspired 
 both the nobility of Erance and of the neighbouring 
 nations with confidence and courage. 
 
 The play upon words here attributed to St. Louis, is 
 found in almost all the writings of the period, and is, 
 perhaps, the real cause of the alteration which the 
 Westerns have made in the name of the Tatars. They 
 are frequently designated Tartares, from the first mo- 
 ment of their appearance ; and Tartari imo Tartai'ei, 
 as the Emperor Frederick calls them, Avas art expression 
 that found much favour. It Avas, in fact, a very general 
 opinion in Europe tliat the Mongols Avere demons, sent 
 to chastise mankind, or at least that tliey held inter- 
 * Matth. Paris, “Hist. Angl.,” p. 747. 
 
TARTAR INVASION OF HUNGARY. 
 
 147 
 
 course ■with demons ; and tliis last supposition was 
 strengthened by their having, or being said to have, tlie 
 art of raising clouds of smoke and flame in the midst 
 of battles.* This was an additional reason why recourse 
 Avas often had to solemn prayer and fasts, in the hope 
 of escaping the fearful scourge of their invasion. 
 
 The banner of the cross was now displayed, and 
 all nations called on to unite in the defence of the 
 Christian name. The country where the Tartar in- 
 vasion raged with most implacable fury was Hungary; 
 a kingdom which, at that time, extended to the 
 Adriatic, and Avhich had been for five years under 
 tlie rule of Bela IV. The Mongol general Batou had 
 written to him, to demand his submission to the Mongol 
 sovereign, if he wished to save his own life, or that of 
 his subjects. The letter had been brought by an 
 Englishman banished for life from his native country, 
 and Avho had been taken into the service of the Tartars. 
 
 The Hungarian king Bela was a gentle and pious 
 prince, but by no means a Avarrior, and he imagined he 
 could arrest the course of the torrent that was pre- 
 cipitating itself upon his frontiers. He refused, there- 
 fore, to pay homage to the Mongols, but unfortunately 
 neglected the precautions that his refusal rendered 
 indispensable. His only measure of defence was, to 
 send a handful of troops into the passes of the Car- 
 
 * “ It has been customary to explain this fact by saying that the 
 Tartars were in the habit of setting fire to the dry grass and the 
 brushwood of the forests, as the natives of New Holland do. But in 
 that case it would have been easy for the Christians to perceive the 
 cause of the fires. It is more probable that the fires proceeded from 
 some kind of artillery and inflammable powder, with which, it is 
 certain from Chinese history, the Mongols of that epoch were ac- 
 quainted.” — A. Remusat. 
 
148 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 pathians, to guard them, and block each of them up 
 with an abattis of felled trees. But the Tartars swept 
 away such obstacles as these in a moment; Hungary 
 was invaded at three points at once by fifty thousand 
 men, and the whole country was soon in the power of 
 the barbarians, Avho covered its cities and its fields with 
 fire and blood. The people fled in horror and con- 
 sternation, and great numbers took refuge in Varadin, 
 one of the principal cities, which had a citadel defended 
 by broad moats, and walls flanked with towers, though, 
 unfortunately, only of wood. The Mongols captured it 
 Avith great ease, pillaged it, set fire to it, and beheaded 
 the whole population, without any distinction of age or 
 sex. The ladies had taken refuge in the cathedral, and 
 the Mongols would not give themselves the trouble to 
 break open the doors, but set fire to it, and the unfor- 
 tunate ladies all perished in the flames. 
 
 The barbarians profaned the churches by the most 
 abominable debauchery, broke open the tombs, trampled 
 the relics under their feet, polluted the sacred vessels, 
 and put the Canons to torture, to make them reveal all 
 that they possessed. The feAv inhabitants Avho had been 
 left alive after the first massacre, citizens, ecclesiastics, 
 or soldiers, Avere hacked to death in the plain AA’itli 
 sabres and hatchets, and the ravages only ceased A\4ien 
 the infection from the putrefying corpses forced the 
 Tartars to leave the place, of Avhich they had made a 
 vast desert. 
 
 Roger, one of the canons of Varadin, has related the 
 invasion and destruction of Hungary by the Tartars, in 
 a production entitled, Miserahile Carmen. 
 
 Tlie narrative of these deplorable events could, in 
 fact, be nothing else than a song of lamentation. 
 
ADVENTURES OF ROGER OF VARADIN. 149 
 
 This monk Roger had been an eyewitness and a 
 victim of the atrocities of the Mongols in his country, 
 and for a long time, he says, “death would have been 
 a consolation for him, and life was only a torment.” 
 This is what he tells us of his own adventures * : — 
 
 “ Whilst the Tartars were sacking Varadin, I escaped 
 by night into a fortified island, but not thinking myself 
 safe there, I took refuge in a neighbouring forest. In 
 the morning, the island was occupied by the Tartars, 
 who killed all the people in it ; my very hair stood up 
 on hearing of these massacres, and a cold sweat, as of 
 death, burst from me, when I thought of that army of 
 murderers. 
 
 “ I continued to wander about the woods, but I was 
 starvinsT with hunfjer, and was obliged to venture at 
 night into the island, in order to search among the 
 bodies for morsels of food or flour, which I secretly 
 carried away. I lived thus for twenty days, hiding 
 myself in caverns and ditches, and in the hollow trunks 
 of trees. 
 
 “ The Tartars then promised that they would do no 
 harm to the inhabitants, who would come out of their 
 concealment. I did not myself depend much on this 
 promise, and my suspicions were but too just ; but I 
 thought it better to go at once to their camp, than to 
 await my fate in a village, and I, therefore, gave myself 
 up to a Hungarian, who had gone into the service of the 
 Tartars, and who deigned, as a great favour, to place me 
 among the number of his servants. I was almost naked ; 
 but my business was to mind the waggons ; and I had 
 the fear of death continually before me, for I knew that in 
 
 * Rogerii, “ Miserabile Carmen,” p. 293. 
 
150 CHRISTIAMTY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 one night the Tartars had murdered the inhabitants of. 
 all the surrounding villages. Nevertheless, as the 
 princes had received orders to return to Tartary, we 
 began to move away with the herds of cattle, and horses, 
 and waggons, laden with booty. The army retired 
 slowly, and when it had quitted Hungary to enter 
 Coumania, it was no longer allowed that any cattle 
 should be killed for the use of the captives. The 
 Tartars gave us only the intestines, heads, and hoofs of 
 the animals they had eaten, and we heard from the in- 
 terpreters that it was intended to kill us very soon. I 
 began to consider, therefore, how I should escape from 
 them, and, contriving to get away from the road they 
 were following, I plunged into the forest followed by my 
 servant. I crept into a grotto, and covered myself over 
 with the branches of trees, and my servant hid himself 
 also not far off. We remained thus, as in a tomb, for 
 two days, not daring to lift our heads, and listening to 
 the horrible voices of the Tartars, who were seeking 
 their cattle in the woods. At length, being tormented 
 by hunger, we issued from our retreat, but soon catch- 
 ing sight of a man, we took to flight again. He ran 
 away too, however, and as we now saw that he was 
 without arms, we made signs to each other that we 
 should meet. We then both related our sad adventures, 
 and deliberated as to what was best to be done. Being 
 strengthened by our trust in God, we reached the 
 extremity of the forest, and there mounted on a high 
 tree to look about us. 
 
 “ Oh, what a sorrow ! The country was entirely deso- 
 lated, and it was a desert that we should have to cross, 
 with nothing but the steeples of the churches to direct 
 our steps; and happy did we think ourselves, if we 
 
CRUSADE TREACIIED AGAINST THE TARTARS. 151 
 
 could find now and then, some peas, onions, or garlick, 
 in the gardens of the ruined villages, — otherwise we had 
 to support ourselves on roots. In about a week after 
 leaving the forest, we arrived at Alba, where we found 
 nothing but human bones, and the walls of the churches 
 and palaces, still stained with Christian blood. 
 
 “ Ten miles off, there was near a wood a country house, 
 commonly called Frata, and four miles from this forest 
 a high mountain, where many individuals of both sexes 
 had taken refuge. When Ave reached it the fugitives 
 congratulated us Avith tears in their eyes, and questioned 
 us concerning the perils we had encountered. They 
 offered us black bread, made of a mixture of flour AA’ith 
 oak bark, and Ave thought it the most delicious thing Ave 
 had CA’er eaten.” * • 
 
 The horrible devastations committed by the Mongols 
 in Poland and Hungary had spread particular terror 
 through the Avhole empire of Germany, and a crusade Avas 
 preached against the barbarians, Avho seemed eager for 
 the destruction of the very name of the Christians. 
 The letters Avhich Gregory the Xinth addressed to the 
 people, to animate them to the holy Avar, paint in lively 
 colours his grief and alarm. “ Many afibirs of grave 
 importance,” he writes, “ are at this time incessantly 
 occupying our thoughts; the melancholy state of the 
 Holy Land ; the tribulations of the Church ; the de- 
 plorable condition of the Roman Empire. But we con- 
 fess, we forget all these causes of affliction, and even 
 what most particularly concerns us, Avhen we think of 
 the evils caused by the Tartars ; for the bare thought 
 that the Christian name might be destroyed by them in 
 
 * Rogerii, “ Miserable Carmen.’ 
 
152 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 our days, is enough to break our bones, to dry up- 
 our marrow, to wither our flesh, destroy our strength, 
 and fill us with such lively grief and anguish, that we 
 are, so to speak, beside ourselves, and know not whither 
 to turn.” * 
 
 For three years, Hungary remained one vast theatre 
 of carnage and destruction. King Bela continued to 
 implore the help of the sovereigns of Europe, but still 
 in vain, though the Papacy used all its influence to ob- 
 tain help for this unfortunate kingdom. Gregory IX. 
 granted to those who should take arms in its defence, the 
 same indulgence as if they had gone to the Holy Land. 
 
 He wrote to Christian kings, princes, counts, magis- 
 trates, archbishops, and bishops, ordering the latter to 
 preach the crusade, to grant indulgences, to relieve 
 from ecclesiastical censures, in a word, to employ all the 
 means in their power to encourage the people to take 
 up arms against the Tartars. In a letter addressed to 
 Bela, he exhorts him to put his trust in the mercy of 
 God, who, having hurled against his people this scourge 
 of his wrath, provoked by the intolerable atrocity of 
 their crimes, will not fail afterwards to let mercy and 
 gentleness succeed to severity, and after having wielded 
 the rod of chastisement, to hold out the hand of conso- 
 lation. He urges the king to courage and fortitude, 
 and promises to come to his assistance as soon as ever 
 it shall be in his power. “ If Frederick, who calls him- 
 self Emperor,” he continues, “ would return with a 
 humble and contrite heart to the obedience of the 
 Church, she would be ready to make peace with him, 
 which would tend to the glory of God, and the good of 
 
 * Dlugoss, “ Hist. Polon.,” lib. vii. p. 682 . 
 
QUAUREL OF THE POPE AND EMPEROR. 153 
 
 religion ; and by restoring tranquillity to the Christian 
 world, enable us also to afford you more effectual help.” * 
 
 Unfortunately for Hungary, the quarrel between the 
 Pope and the Emperor, instead of being reconciled, 
 became more violent than ever, and the partisans of 
 Gregory the Ninth reproached Frederick Barbarossa 
 with the calamities by which the Christian world was 
 afflicted. Some even went so far as to accuse him of 
 having called in the Tartars to Europe, and excited 
 them secretly against the Catholics.f He had, in fact, 
 contented himself with exhorting the Christian princes 
 to take up arras, and had expressed himself on the 
 subject in such choice phrases, and with such an affec- 
 tation of eloquence, as to justify, in a great measure, 
 the reproach addressed to him by the Pope, that in the 
 presence of the Tartars, he behaved more like an idle 
 pompous orator making speeches, than a Christian 
 Emperor at the head of his troops. 
 
 Frederick does indeed seem to have tried to amuse 
 himself with bons mots, even in the midst of the events 
 which were making so terrible a sensation in Europe. 
 AYe have said that in whatever direction the Mongols 
 turned their arms, they sent forward envoys, who called 
 on princes and people to submit themselves to the 
 Grand Khan, and a refusal infallibly drew down on 
 the country a Tartar invasion, and all the disasters 
 and miseries that followed in its train. If submis 
 sion was offered, the prince who consented to become 
 
 * This letter is dated from the Lateran, July 1. 1241. Odor Ray- 
 naldi, “ Annal. Eccl.,” tom. ii. p. 259. 
 
 t “Verbis adversus infideles pugnare contentus, ipse ad clienses 
 Romanae Ecclesise obterendos, Tartaricum furorem exercebat.” — 
 blatt. Parisias, “ Hist. Angl.” 
 
154 CHEISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 tributary, was required to go to Kara-Koroum, to 
 do homage to the Kha-kan. A proposal of this kind 
 was one day made to the Emperor ^Frederick, in the 
 name of the sovereign of the Tartars. He was re- 
 quired to do homage for his states, and offered in re- 
 compense whatever office he might choose at the court 
 of the Khan. That was, according to Chinese notions, 
 which were also prevalent with the Tartars, an honour- 
 able offer, quite proportioned to the dignity of the first 
 of Christian princes. Frederick took the offer jest- 
 ingly, and said, that as he was pretty well acquainted 
 with birds of prey, he thought he had better take the 
 office of Falconer.* 
 
 The divisions existing among the Christian princes 
 of the West, and especially between the Pope and the 
 Emperor, were certainly the cause of so little prepara- 
 tions being made in Europe for defence against the 
 barbarous hordes that descended from the plateau of 
 Central Asia ; and the tremendous devastation that 
 threatened them was probably only averted by the death 
 of Ogotai, which obliged Baton and the other chiefs to 
 return to Tartary, to take part in the election of a new 
 sovereign. Had it not been for this fortunate cir- 
 cumstance, it is probable that the superiority of the 
 Mongols in the art of war would have subjected other 
 nations to a fate as deplorable as that of the Russians, 
 the Hungarians, and the Poles. Fatal experience had 
 shown them, that troops composed of a small number of 
 knights in heavy armour, and a multitude of half-naked 
 peasants, — armies without order, subordination, unity 
 
 * llcsjyo7idisse impcrator fertuo : quod sntro scit dc avihus el hcuc 
 erat falconarius. 
 
PERSECUTION OF EASTERN CHRISTIANS. 
 
 155 
 
 of command, or skill in military tactics, could not resist 
 the numerous warlike and well-disciplined light cavalry 
 of the Mongols, fertile in stratagem, accustomed to the 
 grand operations and manoeuvres of vast battle-fields, 
 mounted on fleet horses, and able to make their attack 
 from a considerable distance with their arrows, so that 
 tliey mocked the bravery of warriors accustomed only 
 to fight with the lance and heavy arms. 
 
 The countries of Europe were no sooner invaded than 
 they Avere overwhelmed and crushed by these ferocious 
 conquerors. In the East, the Christians had found in 
 prompt submission something like rest and peace ; but 
 that tranquillity could not be of long duration Avith 
 iiiA'ading armies, Avith Avhom pillage and murder had 
 become a regular occupation. The Mussulmans, also, 
 were constantly endeavouring to excite the Tartars 
 against the Christians, and urging their persecution ; 
 and small as AA^as the regard of the Tartars for the 
 ^Mussulmans, they were Avilling enough to comply Avith 
 their suggestions in this respect; and harassed them, 
 till they could no longer publicly exercise their religion. 
 
 At this epoch there Avas in Tartary, at the court of 
 the Grand Khan, a Syrian doctor named Simeon, a 
 learned and zealous man who had gone to preach 
 the Gospel to the furthest extremity of Asia. His 
 merit and his virtues had procured him access to Ogo- 
 tai, Avho was pleased to denominate him Ata, that 
 is. Father, and others called him Rabban or Master. 
 Simeon being informed of what the Christians of Ar- 
 menia, Georgia, and Albania had been suffering, seized 
 a favourable opportunity for making a representation on 
 the subject to the Kha-kan. He pointed out that the 
 persecutions carried on by the Tartars against these 
 
156 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 faithful subjects who had never resisted him, but served' 
 him with zeal, and punctually paid their tribute, must 
 redound rather to the shame than the glory of his em- 
 pire. These remonstrances were taken in good part by 
 the Kha-kan, who, in 1241, sent Simeon himself to Ar- 
 menia, as administrator of all affairs concerning the 
 Christians, and provided him with documents as war- 
 rants of his authority, addressed to the generals who 
 occupied those countries. 
 
 His arrival put an end for the time to the sufferings 
 of the Christians ; the free exercise of their religion was 
 restored to them in all the countries subject to the 
 Mongols, and not a few of the latter were converted and 
 received baptism. Thence arose a report, generally be- 
 lieved in the Levant, that the Tartars had embraced 
 Christianity, and that their chiefs had been baptized. 
 These barbarians had inspired such terror, and it seemed 
 so impossible to overcome them by arms, that people 
 were glad to suppose that there was some chance of 
 humanising them by the gentle influence of the mo- 
 rality of the Gospel. 
 
 The Mongols also rejected Mahomet, and persecuted 
 the Mussulmans, and that alone was regarded, at that 
 time, as a step towards Christianity. The very men, 
 who had been taken for magicians or demons incarnate, 
 when they attacked the Christians of Poland and Hun- 
 gary, passed for half-converted, Avhen they were seen 
 making Avar on the Turks and Saracens. 
 
 • The religious ideas of the iUongols of that .period did 
 not appear unfavourable to their conversion. It Avas 
 knoAvn that they acknowledged one Almighty God, 
 whom they named Tengri* (heaven), and that to this 
 * “L’llistoiro Mcrveilleuse du Grant Caan,” fol. 29G. 
 
RELIGION OF THE MONGOLS. 
 
 157 
 
 fundamental belief they did not add any very precise 
 accessory or many superstitious practices. 
 
 In their mode of life and faith, says Frere llicold in 
 liis na'ive Peregrinacion, “ they differ from all the 
 nations in the world ; for they do not boast of having 
 any law warranted by God, as many other nations 
 falsely do, but simply by some instinct or movement of 
 nature, say that there is something sovereign above all 
 the things of this world, and that that is God.* 
 
 Rubruk, Plano Carpini, ^larco Polo, and all other tra- 
 vellers, speak of the Tartars in this respect in the same 
 manner. 
 
 Abul Ghazy reports that the pure adoration of one 
 God prevailed in Tartary for the first generations 
 after Japhet ; that it ceased with the birth of Oghuz, 
 who, however, re-established it in his dominion ; that 
 Tchinguiz-Khan was atheist, and that in a conversation 
 with some Mahommedan doctors, he agreed that their 
 arguments in favour of the existence and attributes of 
 the Divinity could not be refuted, but that he contested 
 the truth of their prophet’s mission. In giving laws to 
 the ^longols, he had purposely contented himself with 
 establishino; in their minds the basis of all leo;islation, 
 leaving to time and locality to add what circumstances 
 might render necessary. He appears to have feared 
 that any decided creed might offer an obstacle to his 
 conquests ; and the Mongols being, in fact, indifferent to 
 all religions, were as ready to adopt one as another, and 
 might be inclined to give themselves an additional claim 
 to the submission of the nations they conquered, by an 
 ostensible conversion. 
 
 * “ Histoire Genealogique des Tartares,” vol. i. p. 51. 
 
158 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Wherever the successors of Tchinguiz-Khan estab- 
 lished their sovereignty, they adopted the dominant mode 
 of worship, and thus became Buddhists in China, Mus- 
 sulmans in Persia, and in Germany or Italy would 
 doubtless have embraced Christianity, so that Europe 
 might have a second time disarmed and civilised by her 
 religion the barbarians whom she had not been able to 
 repulse by her arms. 
 
 The conversion of the Tartars was, therefore, a 
 subject that greatly occupied the minds of the Christian 
 kings of Europe, and more especially that of the sove- 
 reign pontiff. 
 
 The first missionaries were soon to be sent from 
 France, the country privileged above all others to effect 
 the germination of the seeds of religion and civilisation. 
 In 1245, a Council general was assembled at Lyons, and 
 Pope Innocent IV. mentioned among the principal mo- 
 tives that had induced him to convoke it, the urgent 
 necessity of deliberating upon the methods of defending 
 Europe against tlie Tartars. In the first instance, he 
 ordered some solemn fasts and prayers, in order “ to ap- 
 pease the anger of God;” and afterwards it was resolved 
 that the nations exposed to the irruptions of the Mongols, 
 should be advised to fortify their towns, and block up 
 their roads, and that missionaries should be sent to the 
 chiefs of the barbarians with letters from the Pope, en- 
 treating them to shed no more Christian blood, and to 
 be converted to the true faith. Such Avere the measures 
 of the Council of Lyons, to Avard off from Christianity the 
 threatened danger. The Church of Jesus Christ, ahvays 
 faithful to her mission, never ceased to Avatch over her 
 children Avith maternal solicitude, Avhilst her apostolic 
 
MISSIONARY EMBASSIES TO THE EAST. 
 
 159 
 
 zeal was, at the same time, occupied with the conver- 
 sion of the infidels, and the civilisation of the bar- 
 barians. 
 
 Pope Innocent the Fourth wrote to the Prior of the 
 Dominicans at Paris to announce the resolution of the 
 Council, and to charge him to choose amongst the monks 
 of his order several brothers who might be trusted with 
 the mission to Tartary. The prior having read the apos- 
 tolic letters in a full chapter, the monks vied with one 
 another in entreating to be chosen. Some demanded 
 even with tears to be sent on this destination, whilst 
 others grieved at the thought of the terrible fatigues 
 and certain death to which their beloved brethren were 
 devoting themselves. Some wept with joy, for having 
 obtained permission to depart, and others with sorrow 
 that they were not allowed to devote themselves to death 
 for the salvation of their neighbours.* These details 
 transmitted by the historian of the order, sufficiently 
 show what was the zeal and devotion of the children of 
 St. Dominic, how they burned with the desire of saving 
 souls, and with what fervour they were animated for 
 the extension of the Catholic faith. 
 
 The four Dominican monks who were chosen, Anselm 
 of Lombardy, Simon of St. Quentin, Alberic, and 
 Alexander, went to throw themselves at the feet of the 
 Holy Father, and received from him letters addressed to 
 the Tartar chiefs, and the order to proceed to Persia to 
 tlie camp of the Tartar general Baidjou ; and according 
 to a chronicler of the time, Innocent IV. enjoined 
 them that, “ for the remission of their sins, they should 
 
 * Fontann, “ Monumenta Dominicana, Ann. 1245,” p. 52. 
 
IGO CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 make diligent inquiry into tlie manners and customs 
 of the Tartars.”* 
 
 Whilst these four Dominicans were setting out for 
 Persia, three other monks of the order of St. Francis, 
 Benedict of Poland, Laurence of Portugal, and John of 
 Plano Carpini, were sent to Tartary. 
 
 These embassies had the double purpose of pro- 
 pagating religion and civilisation. The sovereign 
 pontiff knew well that the Tartars, ferocious and in- 
 domitable as they were, would renounce their barbarous 
 habits, and acquire a mild and humane character, as 
 soon as they should be converted to the Christian faith ; 
 and to labour 'for their conversion would be to take 
 measures for the protection of the Christian nations of 
 the West. He sent forth, therefore, preachers of the 
 gospel, chosen from the Dominican and Franciscan 
 orders, which, though still in their infancy, had shed 
 great glory on the Church, and rendered society im- 
 mense services. The Popes were in the habit of choosing 
 their missionary ambassadors to infidel nations from 
 these two spiritual families. 
 
 These poor monks, habituated to a hard and mortified 
 life, required very little accommodation during their 
 long peregrinations. Inured to the endurance of 
 hunger, thirst, and privations of every kind, they were 
 able to perform these long journeys at very trifling 
 expense ; and the studious life of their convents, and 
 their habits of preaching giving them a great command 
 of words, rendered them better fitted than others to 
 convince those to whom they Avere sent. The fervent 
 
 ♦ “ Cliron. de France, Man. de la liibl. Imp.,” No. 939. fol. 384. 
 
CHARACTER OF THE MISSIONARIES. 
 
 IGl 
 
 faith by which they were animated, and their boundless 
 devotion to the interests of the Churcli, and the salva- 
 tion of souls, made them entirely forgetful of self, and 
 intent only on the sacred object of their mission. Am- 
 bassadors chosen from any other class would not have 
 otfered, perhaps, at that period, the same guarantee of 
 skill and self-abnegation, of zeal and fidelity. 
 
 VOL. I, 
 
 M 
 
162 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 EMBASSY OF JOHN DE PLANO CARPINI. — ARRIVAL AT THE CAMP OF 
 
 BATOU. LETTER OF POPE INNOCENT IV. TO THE TARTARS. 
 
 THE AMBASSADOR OF THE HOLY SEE TO THE GOLDEN HORDE. 
 
 ELECTION OF THE GRAND KHAN OF THE TARTARS. — COUYOUK 
 PROCLAIMED EMPEROR. AUDIENCE OF PLANO CARPINI. THE AM- 
 
 BASSADORS PREPARE TO QUIT THE IMPERIAL HORDE. — LETTER OF 
 
 THE TARTAR EMPEROR TO THE POPE. RETURN OF PLANO CARPINI 
 
 TO EUROPE. INNOCENT APPOINTS HIM ARCHBISHOP OF ANTIVARI. 
 
 EMBASSY OP BROTHER ANSELM TO THE CAMP OF THE TARTARS 
 
 IN PERSIA. INTERVIEAV OP THE FRENCH MISSIONARIES AVITII THE 
 
 TARTAR OFFICERS. PROPOSAL TO FLAY AND IMPALE THEM 
 
 DISCUSSION OF THE SUPREMACY OF THE POPE AND THE KHAN. 
 
 RENOWN OF FRENCH VALOUR AMONG THE TARTARS. — DEPARTURE 
 OP THE MONKS. LETTER OF THE TARTAR LIEUTENANT. — MANI- 
 FESTO OF THE GRAND KHAN ST. LOUIS RECEIVES IN CYPRUS 
 
 TWO ENVOYS FROM ILTCHIKADAI. LETTER OF THE TARTAR 
 
 PRINCE. NARRATIVE OF THE CONSTABLE OF ARMENIA. ST. LOUIS 
 
 SENDS AN EMBASSY TO REPLY TO ILTCHIKADAI ITS ILL-SUCCESS 
 
 AND RETURN. 
 
 The two embassies set otf in 1246; the Franciscans, 
 John de Plano Carpini *, and his companion Stephen, 
 travelling through Bohemia and Silesia. At Breslau, 
 they found their other associate, Benedict of Poland, 
 
 * John de Plano Carpini, the chief of the embassy, was a native of 
 the district of Perouse, in the vicinity of Assise. He had been the 
 companion of St. Francis, and held responsible positions in Saxony 
 and other parts of Germany, and being full of zeal for his order, had 
 founded convents of it in Bohemia, Hungary, Norway,’Dacia, Lor- 
 raine, and Spain ; possibly also in Barbary, at least if he was the 
 “ Friar John ” sent by Gregory IX. to the Mohammedan chief of 
 Tunis. . 
 
PROGRESS OF THE EMBASSY THROUGH RUSSIA. 1G3 
 
 Avho ■was to share their fatigues, and serve them as an 
 interpreter. They learned at Lencise that, in order to 
 be admitted to the presence of the Mongol cliiefs, it was 
 necessary to be provided with presents ; but as mendi- 
 cant friars, living themselves on alms, they had no 
 possessions to offer. Fortunately, however, Duke 
 Conrad, his duchess, and tlie Bishop of Lencise, came 
 to their assistance, and gave them furs to be offered as 
 presents. The three missionaries reached Cracow, and 
 there met with the Bussian Prince Vassilko, Duke of 
 ^dadimir, who took them with him to his dominions, 
 and kept them there some time. These zealous apostles 
 did not fail to profit by this opportunity of preaching to 
 the duke, the bishops, and the people, the duty of re- 
 turning to the unity of the Catholic Church ; but they 
 could not get them to take any definitive resolution on 
 that important question. 
 
 Vassilko, on their departure, gave them one of his 
 own attendants to conduct them through a country 
 exposed to the depredations of the Lithuanians, and as 
 far as Kiew, then the metropolis of Russia, and in the 
 hands of the Tartars. Before reaching it, however. 
 Friar John fell dangerously ill, at a place called Danilow, 
 and in order not to delay the accomplishment of his 
 mission, had to get himself carried through the snow 
 in very severe weather. Friar Stephen of Bohemia was 
 too much exhausted to be able to proceed further. 
 
 The two friars, John de Plano Carpini, and Benedict 
 of Poland, reached the advanced posts of the Mongols on 
 the banks of the Dnieper, and were taken to the quarters 
 of the prince who held command over the Tartars on 
 this frontier ; but, as no one could be found capable of 
 interpreting the Latin missives, with which they were 
 
IGl CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 entrusted, that chief sent them to the court of Batou, the 
 grandson of Tchingulz-khan. They set off on the first 
 day of Lent, and after having ridden at full gallop every 
 day for five weeks, with no food but millet, and no 
 drink but melted snow, and changing their horses often 
 seven times in the day, arrived at last at the en- 
 campment of Batou, on the banks of the Volga. Tents 
 were assigned to them, pitched at about three miles from 
 the general quarters. The chief attendant of Batou 
 asked what they meant to offer to their master, when 
 they should be permitted to prostrate themselves in his 
 presence ; but they replied, that their Lord, the Pope, 
 not being sure that his envoys would ever reach their 
 destination, had not entrusted any presents to them, 
 especially as they had had to pass through dangerous 
 countries ; but that what they had received on their 
 own account they were willing to offer. When they 
 had placed these things in the hands of the attendant, 
 they were conducted to the tent of Batou for an 
 audience. 
 
 The Franciscans Avere obliged to pass between two 
 fires in order to purify themselves in the opinion of the 
 Tartars from the suspicion of evil intentions, and to neu- 
 tralise any malignant influence which their very pre- 
 sence might bring with it. There were also two lances 
 planted upright near the fires, with a cord stretched 
 between them, to Avhich were attached some pieces of 
 cloth. The persons, animals, and articles to be pu- 
 1‘ified were passed under this cord ; and at the same 
 time two Avornen, one on eacli side, sprinkled water on 
 them, uttering certain magical AV'ords. The two monks 
 Avere told to kneel down three times on the left knee 
 before tfie tent of the prince, and to take particular care 
 
RECEPTION IN THE CAMP OF BATOU. 
 
 165 
 
 not to touch the threshold with their feet as tliey went 
 in. Tliis is, even to the present day, a matter to be 
 attended to in entering a Mongol tent. 
 
 Batou, the eldest prince of the family of Tchinguiz- 
 khan, 'who was next in power to the Grand Khan, was 
 a shrewd man, full of stratagem in war, cruel in action, 
 and dreaded even by his own people. There was a 
 grand display of luxury and magnificence in liis camp ; 
 guards and officers of every grade ; beautiful tents taken 
 from the king of Hungary ; tables covered with vases 
 of gold and silver ; and, during the repasts, musicians 
 singing or playing on instruments. A dais, or red pa- 
 rasol, was borne over his head ; no one addressed him 
 but on their knees ; in short, all the ceremony of an 
 imperial court was observed. 
 
 Batou was seated on a kind of elevated divan, with 
 one of his Avives beside him. The members of his 
 family, and the principal chiefs, were seated in the 
 middle of the tent ; and behind them on the ground 
 reposed persons of an inferior rank, men on the right, 
 and women on the left. 
 
 The missionaries were obliged to kneel down, and 
 they then presented their letters, and begged that some 
 interpreter might translate them. 
 
 The letters of Innocent lY., dated from Lyons the 
 3rd of the Nones of March, 1245, Avere addressed to the 
 king and the nation of the Tartars. In one of them, 
 after having briefly explained the principal dogmas of 
 the Christian religion, — the redemption of the human 
 race effected by the sacrifice of the Son of God, His re- 
 surrection, and His ascension, preceded by the appoint- 
 ment of a vicar on earth who is charored with the care 
 
 O 
 
 of souls and the keys of the kingdom of heaven, — the 
 
166 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 sovereign pontiff declares that he, the unworthy suc- 
 cessor of that vicar, desires to effect the salvation of the 
 king and the Tartar nation ; and that, as he cannot be 
 everywhere himself, he has delegated his powers to the 
 monks, the bearers of the presents, in order that they 
 may make known the doctrines of the Christian religion. 
 In conclusion. Innocent exhorts the Tartars to receive 
 his envoys kindly, or rather to do honour to him in their 
 persons.* 
 
 The other letter contains this passage : — “ Since not 
 only men, but also animals without reason, and even the 
 elements of the universe, are united together by certain 
 laws of affinity, — after the example of the celestial 
 spirits, Avhose choirs have been established in perpetual 
 harmony by the Creator of all things, — we find our- 
 selves compelled to be greatl}’’ astonished that you 
 should have invaded, as you have done, a great number 
 of Christian and other countries, horribly ravaged and 
 desolated them, carrying your devastating arms with in- 
 cessant fury in every direction ; breaking all the ties of 
 natural affinity, sparing neither age nor sex, but putting 
 all indiscriminately to the sword. 
 
 “ Desiring, therefore, after the example of the God of 
 peace, to see all men united in the fear of the Lord, we 
 warn and entreat you to refrain absolutely from perse- 
 cuting the Christians, and, to appease the wrath of the 
 Divine Majesty, justly provoked by so many offences, to 
 submit yourselves to some suitable penance. For if 
 up to this hour the Almighty God has permitted the 
 nations to fall before you, and under the fury of your 
 
 * “Odor. Raynald. Ann. 1245.” No. 16. p. 338. Wadding. “ An- 
 nales Minormn,” vol. 3. p. 116. 
 
ARKIVAL AT THE IMPERIAL HORDE. 
 
 167 
 
 attacks, that need not give you audacity to pursue your 
 cruelties any farther. God sometimes omits for a time 
 to chastise the proud; but if they neglect to humble 
 themselves, he never fails to punish their iniquities even 
 in this world, reserving to himself a more complete ven- 
 geance in that which is to come.” 
 
 Innocent concluded this letter by pronouncing a 
 panegyric on Friar John and his companions, begging 
 the Tartars to receive them well, furnish them with 
 provisions, and with an escort on their return. lie 
 then, simply enough, begs them to tell him in their 
 answer, what can have induced them to destroy other 
 nations, and what are their projects for the future.* 
 
 Some days after the delivery of these letters which 
 were translated into the Mongol, Russian, and Arabic 
 languages, Batou sent off the friars to the Yellow 
 Horde. They set out on Easter day, accompanied by 
 two Tartars, who had orders to make them travel very 
 fast, though these intrepid missionaries were so weak 
 that they could hardly keep themselves on their horses, 
 and were obliged to get their eyes bandaged up (a pre- 
 caution frequently adopted by travellers in these re- 
 gions, to relieve the pain occasioned by hard gallop- 
 ing) ; they finally arrived at the imperial residence 
 on the 22nd of July, about five months after their en- 
 trance on the Mongol territory near the Dnieper. 
 
 When the envoys of the Holy See arrived at the Im- 
 perial Horde, they found that the Khan Ogotai was 
 dead ; that his widow Tourakina was invested with the 
 regency till the election of his successor, and that she 
 
 * “ Quid VOS ad gentium exterminium moverit aliarum et quid 
 ulterius intendatis, pereasdem fratres plenarae intimetis.” — Odor Ray- 
 nald, Ann. 1245. No. 18. p. 540. 
 
 M 4 
 
168 
 
 CHKISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 was sparing no pains to get a son named Couyouk pro- 
 claimed in the Kouriltai, or general assembly. Couyouk 
 did not ostensibly take part in public affairs before the 
 election, and could not receive the ambassadors, but 
 he gave them shelter, and after leaving them some days 
 to rest themselves, sent them to his mother the em- 
 press regent, Tourakina, who occupied a magnificent 
 tent of white silk. 
 
 The day fixed for the election, however, was ap- 
 proaching, and the Kouriltai had been convoked to meet 
 at a spot not far from a fine lake, in a district called the 
 Seventy Hills. This convocation had set in motion all 
 the Tartar princes of Asia, and the roads that led from 
 all parts of the continent to the centre of Tartary were 
 covered with travellers. The princes of the blood came 
 attended by a numerous military escort; Utjuken with 
 his eighty sons; the widow of Touloui, accompanied by 
 her children ; the descendants of Ogotai, Djoutchi, and 
 Tchagatai, followed by the chiefs of their particular 
 tribes ; the military and civil governors of the Mongol 
 possessions in China, Argoun, and Massoud ; the go- 
 vernor-general of Persia, and of Turkestan and Traiis- 
 Oxiana, with the princes and lords of those countries in 
 their train; the sultan of Roum-Rok-ud-din ; Yaroslav, 
 the Grand Duke of Russia ; two princes named David, 
 who were contending for the crown of Georgia ; the 
 brother of the sovereign of Aleppo ; ambassadors from 
 the Caliph of Bagdad, and from the Princes of Ismail, 
 Mossoul, Karss, and Kerman; — all bringing magnificent 
 offerings, and rivalling each other in the richness and 
 pomp of their equipments. 
 
 In the midst of this crowd of distinguished person- 
 ages, surrounded by all the splendour of Asiatic luxury. 
 
ELECTION OF A GRAND KHAN. 
 
 169 
 
 there were two persons remarkable for the simplicity 
 of their attire, and the modesty of their behaviour ; 
 namely, the two spiritual children of St. Francis d’ As- 
 sise, sent to preach the gospel to these fierce barbarians, 
 and teach them to seek before all things the “ kingdom 
 of God and his righteousness.” 
 
 In this spot, named Syra-Ordou, there were now 
 collected two thousand white tents, which were still 
 scarcely sufficient to lodge the princes, lords, and am- 
 bassadors waiting to prostrate themselves before the 
 new sovereign. The merchants of Persia, India, and 
 China had flocked thither in great numbers, with the 
 most precious productions of the various countries of 
 the East, and the neighbourhood of the imperial camp 
 was filled with a countless multitude, whose agitation 
 and tremendous tumult gave a formidable character to 
 the assembly. 
 
 The princes of the blood and generals assembled in 
 an immense tent, capable of containing two thousand 
 persons, and surrounded at some distance by a painted 
 balustrade. Public afi'airs were discussed till about 
 the middle of the day, and then the members of the 
 assembly set to drinking to excess of fermented mare’s 
 milk; every day they put on garments of a diflcrent 
 colour, distributed by the sovereign, and even the 
 monks one day received vestments of silk embroidered 
 with gold, which they put on over their robes of serge. 
 
 The electors of the Kouriltai yielding at length to the 
 influence of the regent Tourakina, agreed to choose 
 Couyouk, and gave their votes for him unanimously. 
 
 He, according to the practice on such occasions, at 
 first refused the supreme dignity, but after a long 
 resistance declared he would accept the empire, on 
 
170 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 condition that it should be secured to his posterity. 
 The electors then made the declaration — “ As Ions: as 
 there shall exist a morsel of the flesh of thy race, 
 which thrown on the grass would repel an ox, we 
 Avill give to no other person the dignity of Khan ; ” and 
 as soon as this was concluded the air was rent by tre- 
 mendous acclamations ; wands, terminated by tufts of 
 scarlet cloth, were bent before Couyouk ; the members 
 of the assembly did him homage by nine prostrations, 
 and the vassal princes, and foreign ambassadors, Avho 
 had been left outside the enclosure of the imperial tent, 
 as well as the immense multitude that covered the 
 plain, flung themselves prostrate on the ground, and 
 Couyouk then issued from his tent to salute the sun by 
 three genuflexions. 
 
 After the election of the new emperor, the whole 
 assembly left the Syra-Ordou, to betake themselves on 
 horseback to another encampment three or four leagues 
 off, the Tartar name of which signifies “ Golden Horde;” 
 the imperial tent destined for the enthronisation of Cou- 
 youk being in fact supported by pillars covered by plates 
 of gold. This inauguration had been appointed for the 
 15th of August, but could not, on account of the hail 
 that fell, take place till the 24th. The ceremonies by 
 Avhich it Avas preceded and folloAved, present a Avhimsical 
 mixture of rudeness and magnificence, and Av^ere charac- 
 teristic of a people issuing from barbarism to enter on 
 tlie confines of civilisation. 
 
 Bergeron, translating the narratives of Plano Carpini 
 into his OAvn simple language, says : — “ All the lords 
 and barons assembled in the place, put a golden seat in 
 the midst of them, on Avhich they made him sit, saying, 
 ‘ We Avill, we pray, and Ave command that you have poAver 
 
CEREMONY OF INAUGURATION. 
 
 171 
 
 and dominion over us all.’ He replied, ‘ If you Avisli that 
 I should be your king, are you resolved and disposed, 
 each one of you, to do all that I shall command ? to 
 come when I shall call you ? to go where I shall send 
 you ? and to kill all those whom I shall tell you to 
 kill? ’ 
 
 “ And they all answered, ‘ Yes.’ Then he said to 
 them, ‘From henceforward my simple word shall serve 
 me as a sword.’ To which they all consented. 
 
 “ That being done, they placed a piece of felt on the 
 ground, made him sit on it, and said to him, ‘ Look up, 
 and acknowledge God, and consider well the piece of 
 felt upon which thou art seated. If thou governest well 
 thy state ; if thou art liberal and beneficent ; if thou 
 causest justice to reign ; if thou honourest thy princes 
 and chiefs, each according to his rank and dignity, — 
 thou shalt reign in all splendour and magnificence, and 
 all the earth shall be subjected to thy sway; but if 
 thou dost the contrary of all that, thou shalt become 
 miserable, vile, and contemptible, and so poor that thou 
 shalt not have as much as the piece of felt upon which 
 thou art seated.’ After that the chiefs made the wife 
 of Couyouk sit on the same piece of felt by the side of 
 him, and then raised them both in the air, proclaiming 
 them with loud cries emperor and empress of all the 
 Tartars. 
 
 This ceremony was followed by an enormous banquet, 
 to which were invited the princes, princesses, and grand 
 dignitaries of the empire. The repast was composed 
 of nothing but meat, served with a profusion of rice 
 wine brought from China, and of kumys, or spirit 
 made from mares’ milk ; and the guests drank till the 
 middle of the night, to the sound of musical instru- 
 
172 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 ments and martial songs. The feast was renewed every 
 day for seven days in succession. 
 
 Towards the end of August, the Franciscans were 
 admitted to an audience of Couyouk. It was a few 
 days after his elevation to the throne ; and there were 
 admitted, at the same time, many princes and ambas- 
 sadors, whose names were read in a loud voice by the 
 Chancellor Tchincai. These personages brought to the 
 emperor an immense quantity of presents, consisting 
 principally of rich stutFs, girdles of silk and gold, or 
 precious furs ; and there were also horses with iron or 
 leathern armour. 
 
 Couyouk Avas a man of about forty years of age, of 
 small figure, and very grave deportment, never listening 
 or replying to anything but through the intervention 
 of his first minister, and pronouncing irrevocably upon 
 every matter laid before him. Every one addressed 
 him kneeling. 
 
 From the Golden Horde the monks proceeded to 
 another residence, at Avhich the tAVO Avere several times 
 admitted to the imperial tent ; this was crimson and 
 gold, and had been made in China. On a circular 
 divan was raised a throne of ivory, elaborately carved, 
 and enriched Avith gold and precious stones. This Avas 
 the AAmrk of a Russian goldsmith named Come. One 
 day some of the emperor’s officers came to tell the 
 Franciscans that they must leave the court till further 
 orders ; and they AA^re then sent to the former regent, 
 Tourakina. This they found Avas on account of a 
 certain ceremony that was to be performed, Avhich it 
 Avas desired the missionaries should not Avitness. It 
 consisted in Couyouk’s raising a great banner toAvards 
 the West, and Avhile Avaving it, threatening to carry 
 fire and SAVord over all the countries in that direction 
 
AUDIENCE GRANTED TO THE MISSIONARIES. 173 
 
 Avliicli should not, along with all the rest of the earth, 
 submit to his authority. 
 
 The monks were sent for back again when this was 
 over, but very little notice was taken of them ; and for 
 a whole month they sulfercd much from scarcity of 
 food, as what was distributed to them for four days 
 barely sufficed for one. Fortunately they were assisted 
 in their distress by the Russian goldsmith Come, who 
 seemed to take a pleasure in giving them information 
 about the Klian and his subjects. They also received 
 much information from various Russians and Hun- 
 garians, both priests and laymen, who could speak 
 Latin and French, and who had been living among 
 the Tartars for several years.* 
 
 The Grand Khan at length gave a solemn audience 
 to all the ambassadors, and the envoys of the Pope 
 resolved to profit by it, to fulfil, if possible, the mission 
 with which they are charged. The missionaries having 
 asked Couyouk why his armies ravaged the world, he 
 replied, “ God has commanded me and my forefathers 
 to exterminate criminal nations.” 
 
 The monks stated that the sovereign pontiff desired 
 to know whether the Kha-kan had embraced Christianity 
 already ; for, in fact, there had been a rumour of such 
 a conversion, and the fame of it had spread to the West, 
 and is even related as a fact by Aboulfarages. “ God 
 knows it,” was the reply ; “ and if the Pope wishes to 
 know too, he has but to come and see.” 
 
 It is certain that Tourakina did make some profession 
 of Christianity, and that the emperor had in his service 
 a great number of Christians, amongst whom he espe- 
 
 * Narrative of Plano Carpini, passim. 
 
174 
 
 CIIUISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 dally distinguished one of his ministers and one of his 
 secretaries. 
 
 Tlie Franciscans had come to Tartary in the persua- 
 sion that the Klia-kan protected the Christians ; but, says 
 Plano Carpini, “ we were not long in perceiving that 
 this Emperor, in concert with his vassals, had raised his 
 banner against the Roman Church, and against all 
 Christian kings and princes.” He had, in fact, formed 
 the design of turning his arms towards the west, and 
 death alone prevented its execution. 
 
 The successors of Tchinguiz-Khan belonged to no 
 distinct religious system, and did not, till the time of 
 Khublai, who adopted Buddhism, and compelled his 
 subjects to follow his example. It is, therefore, by 
 no means surprising that Christians should have been 
 well received by Couyouk. 
 
 That prince gave, doubtless, an equally good reception 
 to Mussulmans and Lamas ; and such is, in fact, the 
 ordinary result of perfect indifference to religion. 
 
 We shall see the emperors of the Mantchoo Tartar 
 dynasty at Pekin performing, as patriarchs of the sect 
 of the Lettered, civil ceremonies in honour of the 
 lieavens, the earth, and Confucius, addressing prayers 
 to the spirits honoured by the Tao-Sse, adoring Buddha 
 incarnate in the persons of the superior Lamas, and 
 sending Catholic inscriptions to the churches of the 
 Jesuits, without in tlie least concerning themselves 
 about the contradictions involved in such proceedings. 
 
 The ambassadors of the Holy See Averc at length 
 under the necessity of taking their departure, and the 
 court began to prepare some letters, Avhich they were 
 to carry back. It Avas asked Avhether there Avere about 
 the Pope any persons Avho understood Tartar, Arabic, 
 
KEPLY OP THE KHAN TO THE POPE. 
 
 175 
 
 or Russian. The reply was in the negative ; there 
 were, indeed, Saracens in Europe, but they were at a 
 great distance from the Holy Father, and the Francis- 
 cans begged that the letter might be written in Tartar, 
 and then interpreted to them word for word, so that 
 they might make a faithful version of it in Latin. 
 
 On the 11th of November the Khan’s secretaries 
 came to them to explain literally their master’s reply. 
 After they had read the Latin translation, they had it 
 read twice over, and put back word for word into 
 Tartar, in order to assure themselves of its perfect 
 conformity with the original, and they also gave the 
 monks an Arabic version, in case they should find any 
 one who understood that lanscuafje. Tliis answer of 
 Couyouk’s, which had been got up with so much pains, 
 was for a long time lost sight of, but has at length been 
 discovered in a MS. of Colbert, on the Appendix to the 
 recital of Benedict of Poland.* 
 
 This is the translation : — 
 
 “ Couyouk, by tlie power of God, Khan and Emperor of all men, 
 to the Great Pope. 
 
 “ You, and all the Christians who inhabit the "West, have sent me 
 by an ambassador certain authentic letters, with the design of forming 
 w ith me a treaty of peace. According to the words of your envoys, 
 and the tenour of your letters, you desire to have peace with us. 
 
 “ If, then, you wdsh to have peace — you Pope, and you Emperors, 
 Kings, chiefs of towns, and governors of countries, do not delay to 
 come to me and settle this peace. You shall hear our answers and 
 our pleasure. 
 
 “ The tenour of these letters declares that we ought to be baptized 
 and become Christians ; to that we reply briefly that we do not un- 
 
 * Recueil des Voyages et Memoires de la Societe de Geographic, 
 vol. iv. p. 594. 
 
176 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 derstand why we should do any thing of the kind. It was said in 
 your letter also, that you were astonished at our slaughter of men, 
 especially of Christians, and in particular of the Hungarians, Poles, 
 and Moravians. We reply, that we do not understand that either. 
 Nevertheless, that it may not appear that we pass over this point in 
 silence, we have thought proper to give you this answer. It was 
 because they did not obey the command of God and of Tchinguiz- 
 Khan ; and because, yielding to bad counsels, they put to death our 
 ambassadors.* In consequence of that, God has commanded me to 
 annihilate them, and has delivered them entirely into my hands. 
 And if it were not the work of God, what could one man do against 
 another man ? But you inhabitants of the West, you adore God, you 
 say, — you believe that you are the only Christians, and you despise 
 others. But how do you know on whom He will deign to confer his 
 grace? We adore God, and it is in his strength and power that we 
 shall destroy all nations. If man had not the strength of God, what 
 could man do ? ” 
 
 The Tartar Emperor had intended to have his answer 
 carried by his own envoys, who Avere to have accompa- 
 nied the Franciscans on their return ; but they seem to 
 have feared such an addition to their company, and 
 dissuaded him from making it. “ We found,” says 
 Carpini, “ that for various reasons it was not expe- 
 dient that Cou}muk should send his ambassadors with 
 us ; firstly, because we feared that if they came to knoAV 
 the wars and dissensions there were amongst ourselves, 
 that might encourage them the more to attack us ; 
 secondly, because they Avould have been so many spies 
 upon us ; thirdly, that we feared they might be insulted 
 or even killed, as our people are somewhat proud and 
 arrogant. Now, tlie custom of the Tartars is, never to 
 make peace or truce Avith those Avho have killed an 
 
 * Couyouk here alludes to the murder of the Tartar ambassadors 
 by the Russians, before the battle of Kalka. (See History of the 
 Russian Empire, by Karampir, vol. iii. p. 286.)^ 
 
HETURN OF THE FRANCISCAN EMBASSY. 
 
 177 
 
 ambassador, until they have liad vengeance. Tlie fourth 
 reason was, tliat we apprcliended tliey might have been 
 carried off from us by force ; and the ffftli and last, 
 that their coming could have served to little purpose, 
 since they had but to carry letters to the Pope and 
 other princes, which were in substance the same as 
 those with which we were charged.” 
 
 On the 13th of November the papal envoys were 
 admitted to a farev'^ell audience with the Khan, and his 
 letter was delivered to them, sealed with the imperial 
 seal, Avhich, according to Plano Carpini, had a motto thus 
 trnaslated by the Russian goldsmith Come, “ God in 
 heaven, and Couyouk-Khan on earth. Power of God. 
 Seal of the Emperor of all men.” The envoys were 
 afterwards conducted to an audience of the empress- 
 mother, who gave each of them a pelisse of fox skin, 
 with the hair outwards, and a robe of other stuff. 
 
 The Franciscans followed, on their return, the route 
 by which they had come. It was winter, and the 
 poor monks had mostly to sleep upon the snow, or 
 in a hole that they had scraped for themselves in the 
 ground. “ It was a bare country without any trees, 
 and often in the morning we found ourselves quite 
 covered by snow that the wind had drifted on us.” * 
 They returned to Kiew on the 9th of June, 1247, and 
 John de Plano Carpini had the joy of finding that some 
 proposals tending to re-union with the Church of Rome, 
 which he had made to certain princes and bishops of 
 Russia, had been accepted. After this, traversing Rus- 
 sia, Poland, Bohemia, and Germany, he passed the 
 
 * Bergeron, p. 133. 
 
 N 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
178 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Rhine at Cologne, continued his route by Liege and 
 Champagne, and finally at Lyons placed in the Pope’s 
 hands the letter which he had brought from the Em- 
 peror of Tartary. 
 
 The pontiff kept near his person for three montlis 
 the courageous Franciscans who had encountered so 
 many fatigues and perils to fulfil his mission. Friar 
 Salimbeni saw Plano Carpini in France shortly after his 
 return, and found him “ a pleasant man, of lively wit, 
 eloquent, well instructed, and skilful in many things. 
 He had Avritten a large book concerning the things he 
 had seen among the Tartars and elsewhere ; and when 
 people fatigued him Avith questions on the subject, he 
 made them read his narrative ; as many times,” adds the 
 chronicler, “I have myself seen and heard.”* 
 
 The archbishopric of Antivari, in Dalmatia, having 
 become vacant during his absence. Friar John Avas 
 raised to it. “ Be thou blessed by the Lord, and by 
 me his vicar,” says Pope Innocent; “for I see that in 
 thee are fulfilled the saying of the Avise man : ‘ As the 
 
 cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful 
 messenger to them that send him ; for he refresheth 
 the soul of his masters.’ f Well done, thou good and 
 faithful servant; since thou hast been faithful over a 
 fcAV things, I Avill confide unto thee many things.” 
 
 The ncAv archbishop Avas sent some time aftcrAvards on 
 a mission to St. Louis, but he did not survive long his 
 return from the East ; and if Ave consider that he Avas 
 sixty-five years old Avhen he undertook the perilous 
 mission to Tartary, and that he Avas afflicted by painful 
 corpulence, it will seem surprising that he sliould not 
 
 * Sbaraglia, p. 452. 
 
 t Prov. XXV. 3. 
 
THE DOMINICAN EMHASSY TO TEHSIA. 
 
 179 
 
 have sunk iinineJiately under the hardships and pri- 
 vations attendant on such an expedition. 
 
 He had for a successor in the see of Antivari, “ llro- 
 ther Lawrence,” of Portugal, who had also performed a 
 mission to the Moiiffols. 
 
 We have said that after the Council of Lyons, 
 Innocent the Fourth sent off an embassy to Persia at the 
 same time as the one to Tartary, and that while the 
 Franciscans were making their way to the court of the 
 Grand Khan, in Central Asia, the Brothers Anselm, 
 Simon de St. Quentin, Alexander, and Alberic, monks 
 of the order of St. Dominic, had received orders to 
 proceed to Persia, to the nearest Tartar camp. This 
 legation, pursuing its route along the soutliern shore 
 of the Caspian Sea, arrived, in the montli of August, 
 1247, at the post of the general Baidjou. The Mongol 
 chief was encamped with his hordes at Chowarezein, 
 near the castle of the Sitians, — a name probably cor- 
 rupted, — but, according to Friar Anselm, situated 
 •fifty-nine days’ journey from St. Jean d’Acre. The 
 Dominicans, having expressed a desire to be admitted 
 to Baidjou, in order to acquit themselves of their com- 
 mission, that chief’s officers demanded who they were. 
 Friar Anselm, the chief person of the embassy, replied 
 in the name of all, “ I am the legate of the Pope, 
 whom Christians regard as superior to all other men.” 
 At these words the Tartars burst forth indignantly, 
 “ Why do you talk with that pride, saying that your 
 pope is above all other men ? Do you not know that 
 our Khan is the Son of Heaven, and that Baidjou is 
 his lieutenant ? Their names must be known through 
 the whole world.” 
 
180 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Friar Anselm replied that the Pope did not know 
 either the Khan or Baidjou — that he had never heard 
 their names : that he had merely heard that a nation 
 called Tartars had issued from the remote East, had 
 subjugated many countries, and destroyed an innu- 
 merable multitude of men ; that if the Pope had known 
 the name of the Khan, or of his lieutenant, he would 
 not have failed to write it in the letters with which 
 he had commissioned them ; that the pontiff, afflicted 
 at all the carnage that had l;aken place, and espe- 
 cially at the murder of so many Christians, had ordered 
 them to repair promptly to the first Tartar camp that 
 they could find, and in his name enf^reat the chief of 
 that army, and all those who obeyed him, to abstain 
 henceforth from slaughtering men, and particularly 
 Christians; and to expiate, by penance, the atrocious 
 crimes they had committed. 
 
 This was the tenour of the letters with which the 
 Pope had charged them. 
 
 Such language as this, to ferocious conquerors accus- 
 tomed to see men craAvling on the earth at their feet, 
 could not but produce an astounding effect ; and the 
 officers and interpreters Avithdrew to report to Baidjou 
 these unaccountable Avords. 
 
 In a foAv moments they returned to ask Avhether the 
 Envoys brought any presents from the Pope. 
 
 “ We bring nothing,” said Friar Anselm; “the Pope 
 is not in the habit of sending presents ; on the contrary, 
 he receives offerings, both from Christians and in- 
 fidels.” The astonishment of the Tartars Avas at its 
 height AAd)en they found that, in defiance of the invari- 
 able practice of ambassadors in Asia, these audacious 
 men' had brought nothing. “ What!” said they, “ Avill 
 
INTERVIEW WITH TARTAR OFFICERS. 181 
 
 you dare to appear before our master with empty 
 hands ? That is what no one has ever done yet.” 
 
 Anselm replied, that if for that reason they could 
 not be admitted, they would give them the letters to 
 deliver. 
 
 The otiicers thereupon went to take their orders from 
 Baidjou, and every time they went and came they put on 
 a fresh dress. When they returned again, the chief of 
 them said to Anselm and his companions, “ If you wish 
 to see the face of our master, and present to him your 
 letters, you must adore him as the Son of Heaven, and 
 prostrate yourselves three times, for such is the order 
 of the Kha-kan, who reigns over the whole earth.” 
 
 The monks considered that this sort of adoration 
 might be regarded as a sign of submission to the Mon- 
 gol emperor on the part of the pope and the church, 
 and that it would give great occasion of triumph to all 
 the enemies of the Church in Asia. They refused, 
 therefore, to consent to it, saying that they were willing 
 to salute the Tartar general in the same manner that 
 they would their own master; but that to agree to the 
 proposal now made to them would be ignominious to the 
 Christian religion, and that they would suffer death 
 rather than submit to such a ceremony. To show, 
 however, that they were not influenced in their refusal 
 by any feeling of pride, they assured them that if 
 Baidjou and his officers would become Christians they 
 would not hesitate a moment to prostrate themselves 
 before them, and to kiss the very sole of their foot, in 
 honour of the true God. 
 
 At these words the Mongols flew into a violent pas- 
 sion. “ What ! ” they cried, “ do you counsel us to 
 make ourselves Christians, and become dogs like you 
 
182 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 and your pope?” And after overwhelming them with 
 the most vehement abuse, they withdrew in high wrath. 
 
 Baidjou, to whom the reply of the missionaries had 
 been communicated, wished to put them to death at 
 once ; and one of his officers improved on the proposal 
 by suggesting that the chief of the embassy should be 
 flayed alive, his skin stuffed with straw, and thus sent 
 back to the pope by his companions.* But the oldest 
 of Baidjou’s six wives, and the officer who had been in 
 communication with the missionaries, opposed this act 
 of barbarity. “ If you kill these messengers,” said 
 Baidjou’s wife, “ you will draw on you the hatred of all 
 who shall hear of such a cruelty. You will also lose 
 the chance of receiving ambassadors again, and con- 
 sequently also the presents that they bring ; and people 
 will not fail to exercise reprisals on your own envoys.” 
 “ Do you remember,” said the officer, “ how wrathful 
 the Kha-kan was against me because of that ambassador 
 you made me kill, whose heart I tore out of his breast, 
 and wore it afterwards round my neck? f If you should 
 tell me to kill these ambassadors, know that I will not 
 do it. I will rather go and seek the Khan, and accuse 
 jmu of perfidy and barbarity.” 
 
 Baidjou yielded to this vehement opposition, and con- 
 sented to let the missionaries live. He then sent his 
 interpreters to ask how they saluted their own sove- 
 
 * Aucliun disent que ly principaux messngcr fust escorchies et lu 
 peau fust emplie de pailleet envoyee h, I’apostellc par ses compagnones. 
 — Chron. Monas. Franc, fol. 393. 
 
 f Te souvient il comment Cliam fut jadis courechiez a moi pour 
 un message que tu me fesis ochirre, que je li esracliai le cucr dou 
 ventre et puis le pendi a nion poitral, et portai par Tost. — Ihul., fol. 
 verso. 
 
DISCUSSION ON rADAL SUPREMACY. 
 
 183 
 
 reign. Friar Anselm drew his cowl a little back and 
 bent his head. The Mongols then asked how they 
 worshipped God. Anselm replied that they adored him 
 in various ways — sometimes kneeling, sometimes pros- 
 trate, Ac. “ Since you are Christians,” said the Mongol, 
 roughly, “ you worship wood and stone, so you need 
 not refuse to worship Baidjou, for it is ordered by 
 the Son of Heaven that the same honours shall be paid 
 to his lieutenant as to himself.” 
 
 Friar Anselm endeavoured to explain that it was the 
 Divinity represented by the wood and stone that Chris- 
 tians worshipped, and that their master could not set 
 up that claim. 
 
 The Mongol officer then signified to the Dominicans 
 that they were to go to Syra-Ordou, to the imperial 
 court, in order to contemplate the magnificence and 
 glory of the Grand Khan. Anselm replied that the 
 pope had said nothing to them about the Grand Khan, 
 but had merely ordered them to go to the first Tartar 
 army they could find, and that it was enough for them 
 to have accomplished his instructions. 
 
 “ How do you Christians dare,” said the officer, “ then, 
 to pretend that your pope is superior in dignity to all 
 other men ? Who ever heard that the name of your 
 pope was spread everywhere, — respected and feared by 
 the whole earth, as that of our Khan is ? Who has ever 
 heard that he possessed as many kingdoms as the Son 
 of Heaven has by the favour of God acquired, and who 
 rules from the furthest Fast to the Mediterranean and 
 Black Sea ? The Khan must be therefore superior in 
 glory and power to your Pope and all other men.” 
 
 “ We say,” replied Friar Anselm, “ that our Lord the 
 Pope is above all other men, because God has granted 
 
184 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 to St. Peter and his successors authority over the uni- 
 versal Church until the end of the world.” And the 
 monk then began to explain this article of the faith ; 
 but he was soon interrupted by the insolent vocifera- 
 tions of Baidjou’s officers, who prevented him also from 
 replying to another point in the speech. 
 
 During the residence of the Dominicans in the Tartar 
 camp there were long and lively discussions with them 
 concei-ning the power of the Pope and the Kha-kan, in 
 which of course it was very difficult for the disputants 
 to come to an understanding, since the legate spoke 
 only of spiritual domination by the cross and the gos- 
 pel, and the Mongols thought of nothing but power 
 exercised by force of arms. In the conversations that 
 took place, however, the Tartars managed adroitly to 
 find out whether the Frank crusaders had again en- 
 tered Syria. 
 
 These they knew by reputation; for their valour, 
 their superiority in arms and discipline, and the con- 
 tinual wars they waged with the Turks and Arabs, had 
 long rendered them formidable in Turkey, Egypt, and 
 Syria ; and the Tartars had made few expeditions to 
 these countries, in which the Franks did not appear to 
 them in the character of auxiliaries. 
 
 When the IMongols seized upon Erzeroum, there were 
 among the captives two Frenchmen, who had, by their 
 almost extravagant bravery, given the Tartars a high 
 idea of tlie men of their country. 
 
 Tlius William of Nangis relates the circumstances 
 tliat took place.* “ Some of the Tartars had heard 
 that the French were marvellously brave and skilful 
 
 * “ Annales du Itcgiie St. Louis,” p. 188 . 
 
HEROISM OF TWO FRENCH PRISONERS. 
 
 185 
 
 M’arriors; and when they heard that these two were 
 Frenchmen, they came to their master, and begged him 
 to set them to tight together, for that they desired to 
 see the way the Frenchmen liad in battle, and also 
 that they would have great joy, if they should kill one 
 another. 
 
 “ It Avas therefore ordered that they should be armed 
 in the best Avay, and mounted on two good horses ; but 
 when the two Christians were armed and mounted, they 
 did not go at one another as the Tartars desired, but 
 rushed on the Tartars Avitli their lances and swords, 
 killed fifteen of them, and wounded cruelly full thirty 
 more, before they could be taken and killed themselves. 
 
 “ By these tAvo Christians, both the Tartar and the 
 Turk had afterAA^ards much fear of the people of France.” 
 
 Thus 'William of Xangis appears to date from this 
 siege that fear of the French, AAdiich, according to him, 
 AA'as felt by all the Mongols. It is at least certain that 
 the latter forbade their tributary nations to take any of 
 them into their armies ; and it is not, therefore, sur- 
 prising that they should haA^e made inquiries of the 
 Dominicans toucliing their redoubtable compatriots. 
 
 After a very long delay, the Pope’s letters Avere trans- 
 lated into Persian by the Greek and Turkish interpreters, 
 and afterAvards from Persian intoTartar by those of Baid- 
 jou. It was then proposed to send tAA'o of the envoys to 
 the imperial court, Avhilst the others should aAvait their 
 return; but Anselm, for the reasons before alleged, re- 
 fused to agree to this proposal. 
 
 The day wore aAvay in these unsatisfactory negotia- 
 tions, and then the monks, AAUthout having broken their 
 fast, Avent back to the tent assigned them, Avhich Avas 
 about a mile from Baidjou’s quarters. 
 
186 CIIRISTIANITy IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 In four days they returned to the camp, to beg for 
 the general’s answer, and his permission to depart ; 
 but in vain. They reiterated their request, going every 
 day for nine weeks, and remaining several hours exposed 
 to the heat of the sun in the month of June, without 
 the slightest notice being taken of them. No one even 
 spoke to them, and their only food was black bread and 
 a little water. 
 
 Very often they were kept fasting till the evening, 
 and then they received only some mares’ or cows’ milk. 
 
 They were never offered a drop of wine, rice wine, or 
 kumys ; but now and then a few drops of vinegar were 
 put into the water that was given to them. 
 
 “ The missionaries,” says Friar Simon of St. Quentin, 
 “ were treated by the Tartars as miserable wretches — 
 dogs, unworthy of an answer ; and it was thus that 
 Baidjou manifested his resentment against them for 
 having offended him by the frankness of their speech. 
 He was, indeed, going in his anger to have them killed, 
 and actually gave the order for it three times.” 
 
 At last the missionaries got their dismissal and the 
 reply of Baidjou to the Pope. It was in these words : — 
 
 “ By tlie divine command of the Khan, the words of Baidjou are 
 transmitted. 
 
 “ Know, O Pope, that thy messengers have come and broiiglit us 
 letters. Thy messengers have spoken great words, and we do not 
 know wliether thou hast ordered them to do so, or whether they have 
 done it of themselves. Thy letters bore, amongst otliers, these 
 words : — ‘ You kill many people ; you massacre and you lay waste.’ 
 The immutable command of God, and the order of Him who rules tlie 
 whole earth is this : ‘ Whosoever tvill obey ns, let him remain in pos- 
 session of his land, his water, his patrimony ; and let him give np 
 his forces to the master of the universe; whosoever shall resist this 
 order and command, let him be destroyed and annihilated.' We 
 
MANIFESTO OF THE GRAND KHAN. 
 
 187 
 
 transmit thee this order, by virtue of which, if thou wishest to keep 
 tlky land, thy water, and thy patrimony, tliou must come, thou Pope, 
 in person to us, and afterwards go and present thyself to him, 
 who is the master of the whole earth. If thou dost not obey this im- 
 mutable command of God, and of him who rules the earth, we know 
 not what will happen. God alone knows it. Thou art to send us 
 messengers to inform us whether thou wilt come or not, and if thou 
 wilt be our friend or our enemy. 
 
 “ See that thy answer be sent promptly, in order that we may for- 
 ward it by Aybeg and Sargis. 
 
 “ Given in the district of Sitians, the 20th of July.” 
 
 Some days before the despatcli of this insolent missive, 
 Baidjou had received from the Grand Khan a general 
 order to regulate his conduct towards foreign nations. 
 
 This document has been preserved, and its tone of 
 arrogance and contempt may be considered as a proof of 
 its authenticity. The Kha-kan speaks like the master 
 of the world, and treats all sovereigns who do not obey 
 his orders as rebels worthy of death. 
 
 These ideas are still the basis of public law in China. 
 Ko other monarch is recognised, in the universe than 
 the Son of Heaven ; ever}' assertion of independence is 
 stigmatised as revolt, and all nations as robbers who dare 
 to wage war with the empire. The document in question 
 exhibits, indeed, many peculiarities of style, evidently 
 borrowed from the Chinese, and they are recognisable 
 even through the alterations that the translators have 
 been obliged to make. Baidjou was charged to transmit 
 to the pope a copy of the imperial manifesto, which runs 
 thus : — 
 
 “ By the command of the living God, Tchinguiz-Khan, 
 the gracious and venerable Son of Heaven, proclaims 
 that God is elevated above all things. God is immortal, 
 and Tchinguiz-Khan is the sole governor of the earth. 
 
188 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 We desire that this manifesto shall reach the ears of 
 all people in every place of the nations Avhich obey us, 
 as Avell as of those still unsubmissive. Thou, therefore, 
 J3aidjou, must notify to them that such is the command 
 of the living and immortal God. In sending thy des- 
 patches, thou must also send this order whithersoever 
 a messenger can penetrate ; and whoever shall oppose 
 it, let him be annihilated, and let his country be 
 ravaged. 
 
 “ I swear to thee that he must be very deaf Avho will 
 not hear this commandment, and very blind who shall 
 see it Avithout obeying it, and very lame and crippled 
 Avho shall be acquainted Avith it and not execute it. 
 
 “ Let my order come to the knowledge of all, both 
 of the learned and of the ignorant ; and Avhoever, having 
 heard it, shall fail to observe it, let him be broken, let 
 him be ruined, let him die ! Make this knoAvn, then, 
 0 liaidjou ! everyAvhere and to all. 
 
 “ He Avho shall desire and seek the good and the 
 repose of his house, and shall be Avilling to serve us, 
 shall be saved and honoured ; but Avhoever shall oppose 
 my precepts, I order that he shall be chastised according 
 to thy pleasure.” 
 
 The bearers of this impertinent and absurdly arrogant 
 letter were Tartars, Avho came to summon the pope to 
 submit to the rule of the Kha-kan. 
 
 Innocent IV., listening only to the suggestions of 
 prudent and moderate policy, received them Avith marks 
 of high distinction ; ordered scarlet robes lined AAUth 
 costly furs to be given to them, and often conversed 
 familiarly Avith them by means of interpreters.* The 
 
 * Dedit eis vestes pretiosissiniiis quas robas viilgariter appellamus, 
 de scarlato praselecto, cum penulis et furariis de pcllibus, et libenter 
 coul’abulatur per iiitcrprctcs. — Matth. Paris, p. 1001. 
 
MONGOL ENVOYS TO ST. LOUIS. 
 
 189 
 
 chroniclers of the epoch formed various conjectures as 
 to the political object of these curious diplomatic rela- 
 tions ; but, according to Matthew Paris, the true purpose 
 of the mission of these Tartar envoys remained a mys- 
 tery even to the secretaries and notaries, and to the 
 families most intimately connected with the pontifical 
 court.* These first embassies from the papacy to the 
 Tartars had not had all the good results that had been 
 anticipated. The envoys, both Franciscans and Domin- 
 icans, had been ill received, and treated with contempt 
 and insolence, and the missives that they brought back 
 were in some measure a declaration of war to all nations. 
 
 The Mongol chiefs, however, became by that means 
 acquainted with the Franks, and appeared to understand 
 how important it would be to make common cause with 
 them against the Mussulmans, and to enter into their 
 views on the question of the affairs of the East. They 
 soon sought, therefore, to enter into relation with them. 
 
 St. Louis had embarked at Aigues-Mortes on the 25th 
 of August, 1248. He had just arrived at Nicotia, the 
 capital of the isle of Cyprus, and was preparing to go on 
 to Egypt, when an audience was asked of him by two 
 individuals named David and Mark, who stated them- 
 selves to be envojs from Iltchikadai, the successor of 
 Baidjou in the command of the forces in Persia. Con- 
 sidering that the proposed French expedition against 
 the Mussulmans would accord perfectly well with the 
 interests of the Tartars, their leader had sent them, they 
 said, to concert measures for a simultaneous attack. •}• 
 
 * Causa autem nuncii eorum adeo cunctos latuit in curia, ut nec 
 clericis, notariis nec aliis licet fainiliaribus claruit patefactum. — 
 Ibid. 
 
 t Tandisque le roi sejournoit en Chippre, le grant roy de Tartarie 
 
190 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 They delivered to St. Louis a letter which was trans- 
 lated to him into Latin from the Persian by Andre de 
 Lonjumel, a Dominican monk, who had known David 
 some years before, when he accompanied Friar Anselm 
 to the camp of Baidjou. The letters of Iltchikadai re- 
 presented the Grand Khan as a zealous convert to Chris- 
 tianity, disposed to favour in all things the professors of 
 that religion. The king. Saint Louis, having inquired 
 what circumstances had induced him to embrace the 
 faith, was told that Couyouk had had a Christian mother, 
 and that his conversion had been occasioned by her ex- 
 liortations, and those of a holy bishop named Malcissias^ 
 from whom he had received baptism, on the day of the 
 Epiphany, along with eighteen sons of kings, and many 
 lords of the court. They admitted, however, that 
 amongst the Tartars there were a great many who were 
 not baptized, but they affirmed that Iltchikadai had 
 been so a long time ; adding that, though he was not of 
 the blood royal, he was very powerful. Saint Louis 
 having asked what could possibly be the motive of Bai- 
 djou for giving the ambassadors of the holy see so bad 
 a reception, they replied that Baidjou was not a Chris- 
 tian, but a Pagan, and surrounded by Mussulman coun- 
 sellors ; but that his power had been much diminished 
 since he Avas now subordinate in command to Iltchi- 
 kadai. Such is the substance of the statements made 
 by these ambassadors, and it Avill be seen that they con - 
 
 envoya par devers lui son ambassade, qui moult lui dirent de bonnes 
 paroles et debonnaires, entro lesquelles paroles lui inandoit le roy de 
 'J'artarie qu’il estoit tout prest it son command, ii lui aider it con- 
 ([uerir la terre sainte, et delivrcr Jerusalem des mains des Sarrazins 
 ct payens. Le roi rc9ut benignement ieelle ambassade. — Joinville, 
 “ Hist, de Saint Louis,” p. 25. 
 
LETTER OF THE TARTAR PRINCE ILTClllKADAI. 191 
 
 tain a tissue not only of exaggerations, but of gross 
 falsehoods, along with some few particulars worthy of 
 confidence. 
 
 The letter of lltchikadai to the King of France is of 
 precisely the same character. Here is the translation : 
 
 “ The words of lltchikadai, lieutenant of the Khan, 
 king of the universe, by the power of the Most High, 
 to the great king of many provinces, the valiant defender 
 of the world, the victorious Sword of Christendom, Pro- 
 tector of the Apostolic Religion, Son of the Gospel, and 
 King of France. May God enlarge her territories, 
 and preserve him long to his kingdom, and accomplish 
 his will, acording to the law, and according to the 
 word, now and in future, by the divine truth, the guide 
 of men, of prophets, and of apostles. Amen. 
 
 “ A hundred thousand salutations, and a hundred 
 thousand benedictions : May God give me grace to see 
 the great and magnificent king, who has arrived from 
 beyond the sea, and that we may be able to meet and 
 unite with one another in charity. May his Majesty 
 perceive by this letter, that our intention is no other 
 than the welfare of Christianity. I pray God that he 
 will be pleased to give the victory to the Christians, and 
 to make them triumph over all the enemies of the cross. 
 AVe are come with power and commandment to deliver 
 the Christians from all servitude, pains, and tribute, 
 that they may be honoured and respected, and that no 
 one may touch their goods. That their churches may 
 be rebuilt, that the brazen tables * may sound, that 
 divine worship may flourish, that no one in future may 
 undertake to hinder the Christians from praying to God 
 in peace for the reign of the Great Khan. 
 
 * The Oriental Christians made use of these instead of bells. 
 
192 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 “ We are advancing, by the grace of the Almighty, 
 for the welfare, the preservation, and the salvation of 
 Christians ; and we have sent to you two venerable and 
 faithful men, David and Mark, to announce to you these 
 good news, and to beg you, as our son, to listen to their 
 words and to give credit to our letters. 
 
 “ The king of the earth — may he be exalted — com- 
 mands that there shall be, according to the law of God, 
 no difference between the Latin, the Greek, the Armenian, 
 the Nestorian, and the Jacobite, — in a word, between all 
 those who adore the cross ; for all those are but one in 
 our eyes. We also pray your royal magnificence not 
 to make any distinction or difference between them, 
 but that his piety and clemency may extend over all 
 Christians and endure for ever.” 
 
 This letter was received quite unsuspectingly by 
 Louis IX., and he sent one copy of it to Queen Blanche 
 and another to Pope Innocent IV., by his legate the 
 Cardinal Eude de Chateau Raoul. The Christians of 
 that time Avere too eager to believe the Tartars ready 
 to embrace Christianity and assist them against the 
 Mohammedans, not to give credit rather too hastily to 
 AvhateA^^er favoured that opinion. The letter, however, 
 and the information given by the Tartars to St. Louis, 
 must have appeared surprising. Was this singular 
 embassy really despatched by the Mongol commander, 
 or was it a daring enterprise of some bold adventurers ? 
 Was the letter authentic ? Could there be any truth 
 in this marvellous story of the conversion of the Grand 
 Khan, his tributary kings, as well as .of Iltchikadai 
 himself ? 
 
 The style of the letter, in the first place, differs 
 widely from the haughty laconic manner affected by 
 
REMARKS ON THE LETTER OF ILTCHIKADAI. 193 
 
 tlie Tartars. Tliere arc in it formulas of respect and 
 . Iminility, such as at that period the most powerful 
 monarch upon earth would hardly have obtained from 
 the pettiest of the Tartar chiefs. It is to be observed, 
 also, that while it contains little or nothing of what 
 could be interesting to Mongols, it insists upon matters 
 of which they had scarcely any cognizance, such as the 
 ditferences of Christian sects, — Latins, Greeks, Arme- 
 nians, Nestorians, and Jacobites. 
 
 The request to the King of France, that he will 
 make no ditference betAveen Homan Catholic and 
 Oriental schismatics, looks very much more, as if it 
 came from the schismatics themselves than from a 
 general, who, even supposing him to be converted, 
 could knoAv nothiim of the dissensions that rent the 
 
 O 
 
 Church, or could take no interest in them if he did. 
 
 The accuracy, nevertheless, of some facts alluded to 
 in this missive must be acknoAAdedged — of those, for 
 example, of the privileges granted to the Christians 
 by the Mongols ; and the purpose of the embassy, as 
 explained viva voce by the messenger, is not in itself 
 improbable, as it agrees perfectly Avell Avitli the poli- 
 tical system that the Mongols had necessarily to main- 
 tain in their relations Avith the Franks and ]\lussulmans. 
 Their design was to attack the Caliph, and they begged 
 the king to march upon Egypt, in order to prevent 
 the Egyptians from coming to the aid of the enemy 
 with AAdiom they were engaged. Such a diversion 
 Avould be in perfect accordance Avith their vicAvs and 
 interests. It is also to be borne in mind that the 
 chief of the embassy was a knoAvn man ; Andre de 
 Longumel had himself seen him with the Tartar ge- 
 neral, and it does not appear very probable that this 
 
 VOL. I. o 
 
194 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 man, who had a certain position to maintain, would 
 have had the effrontery to come without any mission, 
 and attempt to impose upon the King of France thus 
 grossly. If the fraud should be discovered, as sooner 
 or later it must be, he could no longer hope to find an 
 asylum either among the Franks whom he had insulted, 
 or among the Mongols, of whose name he had made so 
 unwarrantable a use. 
 
 All these contradictions may, however, be reconciled 
 by a very simple supposition — namely, that David 
 and his companions were in fact sent by Iltchikadai 
 to concert measures with the Franks against the Mus- 
 sulmans; but that they had not been furnished with 
 written credentials, or only with one 6f those pompous 
 decrees which the lieutenants of tlie Grand Khan were 
 in the habit of sending to the princes with whom they 
 had to communicate. As a paper of this sort, if tliey 
 had it, would not appear very likely to effect its pur- 
 pose, the envoys might have forged another, into which 
 they could easily slip such expressions as would please 
 the Christians, and dispose them to favour the Tartars. 
 
 They Avould not dare, however, to put into writing 
 the account of the conversion of the Grand Khan, and 
 therefore they contented themselves Avith relating that 
 verbally. Assuming that this might be the explanation 
 of the affair, Ave shall see in it the first example of the 
 method aftenvards pursued in all negotiations Avith 
 Tartar princes. 
 
 The letters furnished to ambassadors, not seeming to 
 them likely to secure the good Avill of those to Avhom 
 they Avere addressed, they falsilied them, added to them, 
 and, in short, interpreted them altogether in their oavu 
 fashion. For this reason the translations of these 
 
LETTER OF THE CONSTABLE OF ARAIENIA. 
 
 105 
 
 letters difFer widely from the originals, and often con- 
 tain only the substance of them amplified, embellished 
 and decorated in all sorts of ways that might seem 
 likely to please the European princes. 
 
 AVhilst St. Louis was at Cyprus with the Tartar 
 envoys, a letter addressed by the Constable of Ar- 
 menia, who had been making a journey in Tartary to 
 the King of Cyprus, was communicated to him. This 
 letter contains some curious details, and on the Avholc 
 agrees tolerably Avell Avith that of lltchikadai. We 
 copy it from Bergeron : — 
 
 “ To the Excellent and Puissatit Prince Henry of Lusiynan, by the 
 Grace of God, King of Cyprus, to the Quceii his Sister, and to her 
 noble Brother Yves de Ibelin, the Constable of Armenia sends 
 health and greeting. 
 
 “ You must know, that having undertaken this journey for the 
 honour of God, and the good of Christianity, it has pleased Jesus 
 Christ to bring me to the town of Samareand. Having visited 
 several countries, and left the Indies behind us, we traversed the 
 countries of Shadah, in which we employed about two months of 
 travel. 
 
 “ I noticed several cities destroyed by the Tartars, the grandeur 
 and riches of which must have been inestimable. I saw many re- 
 markable mountains composed of the bones of those whom the Tartars 
 had put to death ; and it seemed to us, that if God had not willed it 
 thus, and that the Tartars who have thus destroyed the pagans had 
 not come, all these nations might have conquered and overrun all 
 those that are beyond the sea. 
 
 “ As for the Tartars, you know that they are in such numbers 
 that they cannot be counted. They are very good archers, of 
 terrible appearance, and various kinds of faces. It would be very 
 difficult to describe to you in detail their manners and modes of life. 
 For eight months we did nothing else, night and day, but march ; 
 and yet we were given to understand that with all that, we did not 
 get more than half way to the country where the T artar emperor 
 resides. We made out for certain that Couyouk, father of the Khan 
 
 o 2 
 
196 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 at present reigning, has been dead tliese five years. But the lords 
 and barons of Tartary are scattered so widely apart, that during 
 these five years they have not been able to assemble to crown their 
 emperor ; for some were in the Indies, some in China and other 
 countries. 
 
 “ We found a great number of Christians scattered about the East, 
 and many ancient churches, lofty and well built, which the Tartars 
 had destroyed, though the Christians went to the Khan, who received 
 them with great honour, set them at liberty, and forbid, under the 
 severest penalties, that any one should otFend them by word or deed. 
 And since for our sins it happened tliat there wms no one who could 
 preach the faith of Jesus Christ, he has been pleased to make himself 
 manifest here by many miracles, so that now all these people believe 
 in him. 
 
 “ But in the country of the Indies, where the blessed apostle St. 
 Thomas preached, and made converts, there is still a Christian king, 
 who was much oppressed by the Saracen kings, his neighbours, w'ho 
 were continually making war upon him, until w'hen the Tartars came 
 into these countries and he put himself under their command, and 
 joining his arms to theirs, did attack, and so entirely defeat the 
 Saracens his enemies, that he conquered a great part of India ; and 
 at the present day this country is full of IMahometan slaves, for I 
 have myself seen more than five thousand of them whom this king 
 had taken and sold by public auction. 
 
 “ You must know also that his Holiness has sent ambassadors to 
 the Grand Khan, to know wdiether he w^as a Christian or not, and 
 why he sent out his armies for the ruin and destruction of the world; 
 but the Khan made answer, that God had commanded his ancestors 
 and him to do so, — to send out his men of war to exterminate all 
 wicked and perverse nations ; and as to the question whether he was 
 a Christian or not, he answered that God knew, and that if the Pope 
 wished to know, he must come and see.” 
 
 Such is the narrative of the Constable of Armenia, 
 and it agrees very Avell witli the letter of Iltchikadai 
 as to what concerns the good disposition, of the Grand 
 Khan towards the Christians. Between the Emperor 
 of the Tartars and the French king there Avas certainly 
 in so far a community of interest, that they Avere both 
 
ST. Louis’s reply to iltciiikadai. 
 
 197 
 
 opposed to the ^lussulmans ; and there appeared, 
 therefore, some ground for tlie expectation that the 
 expedition of St. Louis -would be undertaken in con- 
 cert with tlie Tartars. What ini^ht have been tlie 
 consequences of such an alliance, it would be difficult 
 to calculate. Possibly the Mussulman power might 
 have been entirely broken and destroyed ; but it is 
 also within the limits of possibility that Europe would 
 have fallen entirely under the yoke of the Tartars, 
 and God knows what aspect Europe might now pre- 
 sent if the iMongol characteristics had been added to 
 so many other elements of barbarism. 
 
 St. Louis hastened to reply to the communication, 
 real or supposed, of the Tartar prince Iltciiikadai, by 
 sending olf an embassy composed of three Dominicans, 
 Andre de Longumel, Jean de Carcassonne, and Wil- 
 liam. The first, a Frenchman by birth, was acquainted, 
 says Joinville, with the Saracen language, had pre- 
 viously accompanied Brother Anselm to the camp of 
 Baidjou. Two secular clerks and two of the king’s 
 officers were added to the party, one of Avhom J. Co- 
 lumna, in his “ Sea of Histories,” states himself to 
 have known in his extreme old age. He was then 
 sub-chanter in the church of Chartres, and was named 
 Bobert.* 
 
 David had hinted to King Louis that the most ac- 
 ceptable gift to the Mongol emperor would be a chapel 
 in the form of a tent, and the king sent him one ; 
 “ very rich and well made, of fine scarlet, and embroi- 
 dered in needlework with all the articles of our faith ; 
 the Annunciation of the angel Gabriel, the Nativity, 
 
 * “Mare historiarum mon. Lat.,” fol. 412. 
 
198 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 the Baptism, the Passion, the Ascension, and the coming 
 of the Holy Spirit. He also sent books, chalices, or- 
 naments, and all things needful for the celebration of 
 the Mass, and he did so to try Avliether he could not 
 attract the King of Tartary and his people to our 
 faith and creed.” * 
 
 King Louis even bestowed on the Mongol sovereign, 
 and his general Iltchikadai, a much-valued relic, 
 namely, a piece of the wood of the true cross. 
 
 The letters he addressed to them are said by some 
 to have invited the Khan, hitherto a pagan, to follow 
 the example of his mother and his grandfather, and 
 embrace the true faith. Others, who assume that the 
 Khan’s conversion had already been effected, say that 
 they merely exhorted him and Iltchikadai to fulfil the 
 duties owed to him, who by his grace had called them 
 to the knowledge of his holy name, and to persevere 
 in them Avith fervour. The Pope’s legate also Avrote to 
 the Grand Khan, his mother and his commander in 
 Persia, to announce to them that the Holy Roman 
 Church had heard Avith joy of their conversion, and 
 receiving them into the number of her dear children, 
 exhorted them to preserve inAuolate the orthodox faith, 
 to acknoAvdedo^e the Church of Rome as the mother of 
 all churches, and its head as the Vicar of Jesus Christ, 
 Avhom all Avho profess the Christian faith are bound to 
 obey. 
 
 ProA'ided Avith these documents, Avhich AA'ere certainly 
 likely to astonish not a little the court of Kara-Koroum, 
 the monks set off from C}q)rus, accompanied by the 
 Tartar envoys, on the 27th of January, 1248. 
 
 Joinville, “ Hist, de St. Louis,” u. 25. 
 
DEPARTURE OF THE EMBASSY OF ST. LOUIS. 199 
 
 The embassy traversed Persia on their Avay to the 
 camp of lltcliikadai, and thence proceeded to the 
 i\Iongol court, which they reached towards tlie end of 
 that year, or tlie beginning of tlie next. “ The mes- 
 sengers,” says Joinville, “ put to sea, and disembarked 
 at the port of Antioch ; and to travel from there, to tlie 
 place wliere the great King of Tartary was, took them a 
 3’ear. They went ten leagues a day, and they found 
 all the lands that they traversed subject to the Tartars ; 
 and in the countries they passed they found, in many 
 places, heaps of ruins that had been towns or cities, as 
 well as piles of dead men’s bones.” * 
 
 AVhen the envoys of St. Louis arrived at the imperial 
 court, Couyouk was dead, but had not yet been replaced 
 by a successor; and it was the Queen Regent Ogoul 
 who received them. This princess and her son, having 
 seen the king’s presents, received the monks with dis- 
 tinction, but interpreted their coming into an acknow- 
 ledgment on the part of the King of France that he 
 was tributary to the Tartars. The presents were, 
 therefore, accepted as tokens of submission to the 
 authority which the Kha-kan arrogated to himself over 
 all the sovereigns of the earth. According to Joinville, 
 the Khan also afterwards showed the tent to other 
 princes whom he wished to subjugate, saying that the 
 King of France had acknowledged allegiance to him, 
 and had sent him that in pledge of his fidelity ; and 
 that several princes were really by that means induced 
 to submit. 
 
 In return for the gifts she had received, the Regent 
 Ogoul presented to the envoys various articles, amongst 
 
 * “ Hist, de St. Louis,” p. 90. 
 
200 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 which was, according to Chinese custom, a piece of silk 
 stuff. She afterwards dismissed them with honour, hut 
 without their having obtained any positive answer as to 
 the principal object of their journey, namely, the con- 
 version of the Mongol princes. They were even charged 
 with a letter to King Louis, in which tlie Khan * de- 
 manded that he should send an annual tribute in gold 
 and silver, and threatening, in case of refusal, that he 
 should be put to the sword, as he, the Khan, had done 
 many other kings, and destroyed them and their people. 
 Here is the letter as reported by Joinville : — 
 
 “ A good thing is peace; for in a land of peace those 
 who go on four feet peaceably eat the grass, and those 
 who go on two cultivate the ground, whence they 
 peaceably obtain the fruits ; and thus we say to you to 
 warn you, for you cannot have peace if you do not get 
 it from us ; and as for such and such kings (naming 
 many), we have put them all to the sword. Therefore 
 we command you to send us so much of your gold and 
 silver every year, and then you may keep us as friends ; 
 and if you do not do so, we will destroy you and your 
 people, as we have done those whom we have named.” 
 This menacing letter is quite in the customary style 
 of the horde of Kara-Koroum, and quite in accordance 
 with that still maintained by the Chinese. St. Louis 
 sends an ambassador, — therefore he acknowledges him- 
 self tributary ; his presents are a token of his submis- 
 sion to the Tartars. Tins has always been the mode of 
 reasoning adopted at the court of tlie Son of Heaven; 
 and the Mongols certainly employed no other. 
 
 * Probably a prince associated temporarily with Ogoul in the 
 regeney. 
 
ILL-SUCCESS AND RETURN OF THE EMBASSY. 201 
 
 It may easily be imagined that King Louis little ex- 
 pected such a result from his embassy, “ and much 
 repented of having sent it.” * 
 
 The ambassadors returned in two years from the time 
 of their departure, and found the king in the town ot 
 Acre. Their narratives and descriptions must doubtless 
 have keenly excited the curiosity of the Crusaders, who 
 were themselves exposed to so many similar adventures. 
 Among other marvellous things, they related to King 
 Louis a story of a prince of a Mongol tribe, whom 
 they had seen in Tartary, who had been converted to 
 Christianity by a miracle. The story, which is reported 
 by Mosheim f , though only as a sill}' fable, is that the 
 prince in question, being ill of violent fever, was one 
 night seized with a fit of delirium, and escaping from 
 his tent, while all around him were buried in deep 
 sleep, wandered away into the desert, and remained wan- 
 dering for three days. On the fourth night his delirium 
 left him, and he was very much frightened to find him- 
 self in darkness in an unknown place, ahd knew not 
 what to do, or which way to turn. Suddenly, however, 
 the darkness was dispersed, and he saw on the summit 
 of a mountain a resplendent light. He advanced to- 
 wards it, crawling up the mountain on his hands and 
 knees, and there perceived an innumerable multitude of 
 men, remarkable for the beauty of their faces, and the 
 magnificence of their attire. In the centre, on an ele- 
 vated spot, was a golden throne, on which was seated a 
 celestial king, distinguished above all the rest by the 
 still greater beauty of his face, and the superior splen- 
 
 * Joinville, “ Hist, de St. Louis,” p. 102. 
 
 t Lepidum hie adjiciam fabulam. “ Hist. Tart. Eccl.,” p. 52. 
 
202 CHEISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 dour of his robes ; and having seated at his right hand 
 a queen of the same indescribable loveliness and glory. 
 The celestial king exhorted the Tartar to embrace the 
 Christian faith ; and accordingly, as soon as he had 
 made his Avay back to his people, and related what he 
 had seen, he did so. Both Raynald* and Joinville repeat 
 this story, and it certainly agrees very well with the 
 statement made by the Constable of Armenia to Henry 
 de Lusignan, King of Cyprus — that Jesus Christ mani- 
 fested himself in Tartary by many miracles. Mosheimf 
 appends to it the following remark : — “ Every reasonable 
 person must see that this ridiculous adventure was 
 invented by the monks, King Louis’s ambassadors. 
 This is evident from their representing the Virgin 
 Mary as the Queen of Heaven, — Avhich certainly Jesus 
 Christ never declared her to be. They would have 
 been wiser to place her simply among the saints, if 
 they Avished to gain credit for tlieir story.” 
 
 Mosheim is a Protestant Avriter, but that is no reason 
 for agreeing in his absolute rejection of this miracle, 
 merely on the ground that Jesus Christ did not declare 
 the Holy Virgin Queen of Heaven. The AAmrthy monks 
 related in all simplicity Avhat they heard ; and they 
 could not AA^ell foresee, at the beginning of the thirteenth 
 century, that three hundred years afterAvards Luther 
 Avould aim to reform the Churcli, and protest against 
 the Catholic faith. The simple narratiA^e of the ambas- 
 sadors of St. Louis may appear, to some, less ridiculous 
 than the refutation of ]\Iosheim, — an erudite historian, 
 hoAvever, though over-sharp in his strictures upon 
 Catholics. 
 
 * Oilor Itaynalil, “ Amialcs,” vol. 13. No. 39. p. 588. 
 
 f Moslieiin, p. 53. 
 
203 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 STATE OF CnRISTI.VNITT AMONG THE MONGOLS. — RUBKUK, THE NEAV 
 AMBASSADOR OF ST. LOUIS TO TARTART. — MANNERS OF THE TARTARS. 
 
 HARDSHU’S and MISERIES OF THE ROUTE. — CAMl’ OF 8ARTAK. 
 
 THE MONKS -AT THE COURT OF BATOU. — THEY FROCEED TO THE 
 IMPERIAL COURT OF MANGOU-KHAN. — INCIDENTS OF THE JOURNEY. 
 
 the grand khan gives audience to THE ENVOYS OF ST. LOUIS. 
 
 SINGULAR MIXTURE OF RELIGIONS AMONG THE TARTARS. — ASPECT 
 
 OF KARA-KOROUM. SOLEMN DLSCUSSION AMONG THE MISSIONARIES. 
 
 THE BUDDHISTS AND THE MUSSULMANS. THE FRENCH MISSION- 
 ARIES QUIT THE COURT OF THE EMPEROR OF TARTARY. — LETTER OF 
 M.ANGOU-KIIAN TO. ST. LOUIS. RETURN OF RUBRUK TO FRANCE. 
 
 Tue ambassadors sent by King Louis to Tartary had 
 found there a great number of Christians, though un- 
 fortunately in a state of profound ignorance, ahd some- 
 what loose in their morals. 
 
 They were mostly Xestorians, though without know- 
 ing it, and showed no spirit of exclusiveness, offering 
 their communion freely to the Catholics, acknowledging 
 without hesitation that the Churcli of Rome was the 
 mother of all other churches, and even saying that they 
 ought to have received their patriarch from the Pope, if 
 the road to Rome had been open. The Tartars and the 
 Khan himself were full of respect for the name of Jesus 
 Christ, and willingly did homage to the Cross. Mangou, 
 who had now succeeded Couyouk on the imperial 
 throne, showed great favour to the Christians, and, 
 indeed, was generally supposed to be a Christian him- 
 self. Hayton, of Armenia, affirms it in the most 
 
204 
 
 CHKISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 positive manner ; but we shall have occasion bye and 
 bye to discuss this question ; and it is at least certain 
 that the Mangou’s mother, a person greatly respected 
 among the Tartars, was of that faith, and also the 
 emperor’s secretary, who possessed great influence at 
 court, and who had obtained an exemption from any 
 kind of tax for those who undertook to lead a religious 
 life. 
 
 It may be supposed, therefore, that these people 
 Avould not have been unlikely to receive the faith, if it 
 had been preached to them ; but they had few bishops 
 among them, and in some localities none Avere ever seen. 
 The Nestorian bishops also were incapable of converting 
 these people to true Christianity, and they bestowed 
 no pains on the formation of a native clergy, even 
 sometimes conferring the sacerdotal character on boys 
 under age. 
 
 These details were well knoAvn in the West ; and 
 St. Louis, who ardently desired the advancement of 
 the Christian faith, thought it would be very desirable 
 to raise to the episcopal dignity the monks of the order 
 of St. Dominic and St. Francis, Avho Avere destined to 
 preach the gospel in Tartary. lie Avrote on the sub- 
 ject to the pope, and on the 20th of February, 12.33, 
 the sovereign pontiff sent to the Bishop of Tusculum, 
 his legate at the French court, to do Avhat he should 
 think desirable for the good of the country, Avith AA’hich 
 he Avas better acquainted than most others.* 
 
 Amongst the Tai’tars avIio had embraced Christianity, 
 much Avas said of a Prince Sartak, the son of Baton, and 
 who held his court someAvdiere betAvecn the Tanais and 
 
 * Odor Kaynald, iiJ aim. 1253. No. 49. p. 635. 
 
CONVERSION OF PRINCE SARTAK. 
 
 205 
 
 the Volga. A person named Jolin, who called himself 
 a priest and the chaplain of Sartak, came one day to 
 Home, to Pope Innocent and assured him that 
 that Mongol chief had renounced idolatry and received 
 holy baptism. 
 
 He did not bring any letters, but he accounted for 
 this by stating that he had been arrested by Conrad in 
 Sicily, and kept in prison, where he had lost his cre- 
 dentials, and all that he possessed, but had recovered 
 his liberty on the death of Conrad. The Pope gave 
 credit to his narrative, and wrote to Sartak, to congra- 
 tulate him on his conversion, to exhort him to i)roclaim 
 boldly the faith which he had embraced, and to beg 
 him to allow his subjects to listen to those who came 
 to preach the gospel to them. 
 
 The rumour of the conversion of Sartak spread into 
 Palestine in 1252, and rejoiced greatly all the Chris- 
 tians, and more especially King Louis. Notwithstand- 
 ing the affront offered to him by the Eegent Ogoul, in 
 her false interpretation of his former proceeding, he 
 resolved to hazard a new attempt, and write to Sartak 
 letters of peace and amity, to instruct him in the 
 articles of the faith, to give him counsel on affairs 
 relating to Christianity, and to beg him to be the 
 friend of Christians, and the enemy of their enemies, 
 and in all things to do honour to the Holy Cross. It 
 is beautiful to see this great monarch, not content with 
 perilling his own life and that of his subjects, for the 
 deliverance of the Holy Land, also taking the initiative 
 in these distant missions for the propagation of the 
 faith. 
 
 This new mission to Tartary was committed to the 
 
206 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 charge of two Franciscan monks, William of Ruhruk*^ 
 sometimes known as Rubruquis, and Bartholomew of Cre- 
 mona; and in order to protect the dignity of King Louis, 
 they did not profess to have received their orders from 
 any one but their own superiors. They went in the first 
 place from Acre to Constantinople, which was then in 
 the hands of the Franks; and Rubruk, preaching at St. 
 Sophia, declared, as it had been agreed he should do, 
 that he was going to Tartary to preach the gospel to 
 the infidels, according to the rules of the ]\Iinorite 
 Friars; and such was the aspect that he endeavoured to 
 give to his mission throughout his whole journey. 
 
 The ambassadors embarked on the 7th of May, 1253, 
 in a vessel that took them to Soldaya, and there found 
 that some Constantinople merchants who had preceded 
 them had, notwithstanding what Rubruk had said at 
 St. Sophia, announced them in the quality of ambassa- 
 dors. The Franciscan diplomatist endeavoured, how- 
 ever, to persuade the inhabitants of the place that he had 
 no claim to the dignity. 
 
 At Soldaya, Rubruk completed the organisation 
 of his caravan for the long and perilous journey he was 
 about to undertake. He procured eight covered carts, 
 two of which were to serve for beds, and five saddle- 
 horses, for the little party composed of the two monks, 
 an interpreter, a guide, and a servant. 
 
 “ In the third day after leaving Soldaya,” says Rubruk 
 in the account he gave to St. Louis after his return, “ we 
 met with the Tartars, and when I had seen them, and 
 observed their manners, it seemed to me as if I were en- 
 
 * He was born in Brabant, about 1220. 
 
UU13UUK, THE NEW TAllTAU AMBASSADOR. 207 
 
 tcrlng a new world ; and before pursuing my journey, I 
 Avill endeavour to describe to your Majesty, as well as I 
 can, something of the fashions and manners of life of 
 those people.” 
 
 It may be interesting to compare the picture drawn 
 by the Franciscan monks of the Tartars of the thirteenth 
 century, with that which modern missionaries have en- 
 deavoured to trace, after traversing the steppes of Mon- 
 golia, and we will, therefore, follow the ambassador of 
 St. Louis through some of his details.* 
 
 “ The Tartars,” says Rubruk, “ have no permanent 
 abodes, and never know where they may be the next 
 day ; though every chief of a horde knows the bounds 
 of his pasture grounds, and whereabouts he ought to be, 
 according to the season of the year. When winter comes 
 they descend towards the south, and in summer go up 
 again to the cold regions of the north. The houses 
 they inhabit are placed upon wheels, and constructed 
 of a kind of wooden latticework, with an opening at the 
 top that serves for a chimney. This wooden frame is 
 generally covered with white felt, plastered with lime or 
 powdered bones ; but sometimes these houses are black. 
 Before the entrance there is suspended a piece of felt, 
 enriched with paintings, representing flowers, trees, 
 birds, and fantastic animals. 
 
 “ These dwellings are sometimes thirty feet long, and 
 Rubruk counted as many as twenty-two oxen harnessed 
 to one of them. These great cabins are, however, only 
 for chiefs ; common people have much smaller ones, and 
 of a conical shape, but also placed on four wheels ; and 
 when the tribe is on a march, the carts drawn by a 
 
 * “ Relation des Voyages en Turtarie.” Bergeron. 
 
208 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 single ox or camel are attached one to another, so that 
 a single person is able to guide a long caravan of 
 them. 
 
 “ When the Tartars stop to encamp in any place, they 
 always turn the doors of their dwellings towards the 
 south ; the master’s bed is placed to the north, and the 
 women occupy the eastern part ; and a man entering the 
 tent, must take care never to hang up his bow and quiver 
 on the women’s side. Above the place of the head of 
 the family, there is always a small image, a kind of doll 
 made of felt, and called “ the brother of the lord of the 
 house,” and another on the other side, denominated in 
 like manner “ the brother of the mistress.” A little 
 above, and between these two dolls, there is a third, a 
 very small and meagre one, which is considered the 
 guardian of the house in general. There is besides, on 
 the women’s side, a figure of a cow, because it is their 
 business to milk cows ; and on the men’s another image 
 representing a mare, as the milking the mares falls to 
 the men’s share. 
 
 “ On festival days, when the Tartars assemble to 
 drink humys^ they begin by sprinkling the image over the 
 head of the master, and then all the others successively. 
 A boy afterwards goes out of the tent with a cupfull, 
 and pours out a portion three times towards the 
 south, accompanying each libation with a genuflexion. 
 
 “ This rite is to do honour to fire ; he then repeats 
 the ceremony towards the east, the west, and the north, 
 in honour of the air, the water, and the deceased 
 ancestors. 
 
 “ Before drinking, the master of the house dips his 
 finger in the cup, and sprinkles the ground witli 
 
FAVOURITE BEVERAGE OF THE TARTARS. 209 
 
 some drops of kumys ; or if he happens to be on 
 horseback, he throws them on his horse’s mane. 
 
 “ The ordinary drink of the Tartars is kumys, a spirit 
 made of mare’s milk. They pour the milk into a large 
 leathern vessel, and when they have got a considerable 
 quantity, beat it till it begins to ferment like new wine. 
 When it becomes quite sour, they beat it again violently, 
 and then draw off the buttery part. The fermented 
 whey makes a brisk sort of liquor, with an agreeable 
 almond flavour, very intoxicating to those not much 
 accustomed to it. The Tartars also make from goat’s 
 milk a kind of butter, which they boil and keep for 
 winter use in goats’ skins, and though they put no salt 
 in it, it never spoils. After they have taken off the 
 butter, they boil tlie curd again to make cheese, which 
 they dry in the sun, and which is as hard as iron ; these 
 cheeses they put into sacks for the winter store, and 
 when the supply of milk becomes scanty, they put this 
 hard sour curd into a leathern vessel, pour hot water 
 upon it, and beat it till it liquefies ; and with this acid 
 drink they have to content themselves during the time 
 of year so severely felt by pastoral nations.* 
 
 “ The Tartars live chiefly on their flocks, and the 
 produce of the chase. When they intend to go hunting, 
 they assemble in great numbers in the neighbourhood 
 of the country where they know there is game, and 
 forming an immense circle, which they gradually draw 
 closer, they enclose the game as in a net, and then kill it 
 with arrows. 
 
 “ The beginning of winter is the season for the grand 
 imperial hunts, which are conducted like great military 
 expeditions. 
 
 * All these customs still exist amongst the Tartars. 
 
 VOL. I. P 
 
210 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 “Parties are first sent out to discover whereabouts the 
 game is most abundant, and according to their report, 
 orders are dispatched to all the tribes encamped within 
 a circle of a month’s journey, to let a certain number of 
 their men be employed in forming a circle, and chasing 
 the game towards an appointed spot. These troops are 
 organised into right, left, and centre division; and during 
 the march the officers make frequent reports to the 
 Khan of the game that has been found, and the place to 
 which it has been driven. The circle of hunters, at 
 first immense, is then narrowed, till they stand shoulder 
 to shoulder round the enclosure, a space perhaps of two 
 or three leagues, marked by pieces of felt suspended to 
 cords. The hunters are obliged to be very careful 
 to keep their ranks, that the game may not escape ; and 
 the smallest negligence in this respect is punished with 
 the bastinado. The emperor comes first into the 
 enclosure with his wives, and amuses himself with 
 shooting an immense number of animals of all kinds ; 
 Avhen he is tired of slaughter, he retires to some elevated 
 spot within the enclosure, whence he may witness 
 the performance of the princes and generals. After 
 them, officers of a lower rank may enjoy the sport, and 
 last of all the common men ; and the affair lasts for 
 several days, when the old men jiresent themselves to 
 the emperor as suppliants for whatever game may have 
 escaped the carnage, though some animals arc allowed to 
 escape, in order to multiply and furnish material for 
 future hunts. 
 
 “ The flocks and herds of the Tartars consist of sheep, 
 goats, oxen, camels, and especially horses, which furnish 
 tlicir habitual food, and constitute the chief part of their 
 wealth. They eat, however, the llcsh of all animals. 
 
MIGRATIONS OF THE TARTARS. 
 
 211 
 
 and preserve it for a long time by cutting it into thin 
 slices, and drying it in the air, or in the smoke of their 
 fires. 
 
 “ These people are under the necessity of constant mi- 
 grations, in order to seek fresh pastures for their cattle, 
 and as soon as the grass has been eaten from the 
 district where they are encamped, they load their animals 
 with their household goods and young children, and go 
 to seek fresh fields and pastures, no matter in what 
 direction. In the spring they proceed to the mountains, 
 and when the cold season comes they return to the 
 plains. At that time the cattle have no food but what 
 they can obtain by scratching away the snow witli their 
 feet, and when a severe frost succeeds a thaw, so that 
 the ground becomes covered with ice, the animals which 
 cannot break the ice perish of hunger. Horses, which 
 are least exposed to this danger, on account of the great 
 strength of their legs, always form a large proportion 
 of the Tartar herds, and the care of them is the principal 
 branch of Tartar economy. 
 
 “ The cotton and silk stuffs, embroidered in gold or 
 silver, which the wealthy Tartars Avear in summer, come 
 from China and Persia ; the costly furs that they wrap 
 themseh’es in, in Avinter, chiefly from Russia and Bul- 
 garia. Their usual plan in the winter is to Avear two 
 pelisses, one with the hair inward, the other with 
 it turned out ; and they are thus protected against Avind 
 and snoAv. These outer pelisses are of sheep or goat’s 
 skin for the poor, and of fox or wolfs skin for the rich, 
 or sometimes the latter line them with silk or cotton 
 wadding, or fine wool. 
 
 “ The warmest kind of wool is kept for making felt, 
 of which there is a great consumption, as it is used 
 
212 
 
 CHEISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 for carpets, for coverings for the Yourtas or huts, and 
 for cloaks to keep off the rain and snow. 
 
 “ The Tartar dress is in the form of a tunic, clasped 
 always on the right side, though the Turks constantly 
 fasten theirs on the left. The costume of the women 
 does not differ greatly from that of the men, except 
 that they wear a very lofty head-dress, of which Riibruk 
 enters into a very minute detail, and adds, “ When you 
 see a company of these women on horseback, you might 
 take them for men at arms with helmet and lance, espe- 
 cially as they ride astride.” 
 
 “ It is the business of the women to pitch the tents, 
 and the rolling habitations above described ; to milk the 
 coAvs, make the butter, prepare the skins, and sew them 
 Avith thread Avhich they make themselves from the hair 
 of the camel or yak ; and besides these employments, 
 to make shoes, boots, and garments of all kinds. 
 
 “ They never wash their clothes, saying that God is 
 angry if they do, and sends thunder Avhile they are 
 hanging up to dry. The sound of thunder terrifies 
 them so much, that Avhen they hear it they hide them- 
 selves under their felt carpets, and remain buried thus 
 till it is over. 
 
 “ The men occupy themselves in making bows and 
 arroAvs, saddles, bridles, bits, and spurs. They take 
 care of the camels, load and unload them for a journey, 
 and in general look after the cattle, and tan the hides. 
 
 “Cleanliness is in no more favour Avitli tliem than AA'ith 
 their ladies, and tlieir mode of AA^ashing their faces and 
 hands, is by filling their mouths Avith Avater, and squirt- 
 ing it out over them. They never clean any of their 
 domestic utensils, uidess, indeed, Avlien they are boiling 
 meat ; they then sometimes dip into the pot the boAA'la 
 
PLANO CARPINl’s ACCOUNT OF THE TARTARS. 213 
 
 they eat from, Avasli them with the liquor, and then 
 pour it back into the cauldron.” 
 
 These details from the narrative of Riibruk are 
 I nearly the same that might be given, at the present day, 
 concerning the nomadic people of Tartary ; for these 
 formidable shepherds, after having invaded and ravaged 
 the world, have resumed, in the midst of their im- 
 measurable steppes, the wandering life of their fore- 
 fathers. 
 
 The portraits, too, which the missionaries of the 
 middle ages have left us, of the physical characteristics 
 of the Tartars, may be recognised, feature for feature, 
 in the Mongols of the present day. John de Plano 
 Carpini has described Tartary as the country of men of 
 middle size, with broad flat faces, prominent cheek 
 bones, short flat noses, little eyes, placed obliquely, and 
 separated by a great space, with the beard scanty or 
 entirely Avanting: a portrait of such precision, says 
 M. d’ Avezac *, that no modern naturalist could improve 
 on it, with respect to the external characteristics of the 
 Mongols. Another monk has left us a picture no less 
 striking, a little satirical perhaps, but not the Avorse 
 likeness for that. 
 
 “ After leaving Turkey,” says the lively Friar 
 Ricoldf, “we entered Tartary, Avhere we met Avith 
 that wonderful and horrid people, the Tartars, who 
 
 * “Relation des Monghols on Tartares,” p. 524. The admir- 
 able work of M. d’ Avezac has furnished us with many valuable 
 details, especially on the obscure question of Prester John. This 
 learned geographer has thoroughly studied the Mongols of the middle 
 ages. 
 
 f “ Peregrinacion de Frere Ricold de TOrdre des Freres Pes- 
 cheurs.” Feuillet, 36. 
 
214 CHEISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 differ so much in person, manners, and mode of life, 
 from all the nations in the world. They differ in per- 
 son, for they have great broad faces, and eyes so little 
 and narrow, that they look only like small slits in their 
 faces ; they are without beards, and many of them look 
 exactly like upright old baboons. 
 
 “ In manners they differ from other nations, for they 
 have neither courtesy, nor modesty, nor love, nor agree- 
 ableness. They seem to think themselves the owners 
 of all cities, edifices, and habitations ; for wherever they 
 find them, they destroy them, and do most harm to 
 those who humble themselves before them. They de- 
 sire that one should pay them all honour, reverence, 
 and service, and even then they do not take it in good 
 part, but say that all is due to them. They say that 
 they are the true lords of the earth, and that God made 
 the world expressly for them, in order that they might 
 rule over and enjoy it ; they say that the birds of the 
 air, and the beasts of the field, only eat and drink by 
 permission of their emperor. And once it happened 
 that a Frenchman came to the Khan of Tartary, and 
 the emperor asked him what offering he had brought 
 him ; the Frenchman replied, ‘ Sire, I have brought 
 you nothing, for I did not know of your great power.’ 
 ‘ How,’ said the emperor, ‘ did not the very birds, as 
 they flew over the country, tell you of our power?’ 
 The Frenchman replied, ‘Sire, perhaps they did, but 
 as I do not understand their language, I did not know 
 what they said ; ’ and thus tlie emperor was appeased.” 
 
 Such was the arrogant people, that, in the fifteenth 
 century, seemed for a time to hold in "its hands the 
 destinies of the world. 
 
 “ When we entered,” says Rubruk, “ among these 
 
rubruk’s account of the tartars. 215 
 
 barbarous nations, it seemed to me that we had come 
 into another world. The first time we met them, after 
 having kept us waiting a long time, while they were 
 sitting in the shade of their black waggons, they sud- 
 denly surrounded us on their horses. 
 
 “ The first thing they asked us was, whether we had 
 ever been among them before, and on our answering 
 no, they impudently demanded our victuals. AVe gave 
 them some of the biscuit and wine that we had brought, 
 but when they had emptied one bottle, they asked for 
 another, and said, laughing, that ‘ a man could not get 
 into a house with one foot.’ When they inquired 
 whence we came, and where we were going to, I replied, 
 that having heard say that Prince Sartak was a Chris- 
 tian, I intended to seek him. Thereupon they asked 
 whether I came of my own accord, or whether I was 
 sent by another. I replied, that no one had obliged me 
 to come, and that I should never have come if I had 
 not desired it ; so that, I might say, it was of my own 
 accord, though with the knowledge and permission of 
 my superior ; for I took good care not to say I was sent 
 by your Majesty. After that, they inquired what we 
 carried in our carts, whether it was gold or silver, or 
 rich garments for Sartak. 
 
 “ I replied that Sartak would see that himself when 
 we got to him, and that it was not their business to 
 know. They kept us waiting a long time before they 
 would take us to their chief, asking us perpetually for 
 presents ; for biscuits for their little children, for knives, 
 gloves, buckles, tags, indeed for every thing we had. 
 They admired all, and wanted all. I excused myself 
 from giving, on the ground that, having a very long 
 journey to go, we could not deprive ourselves of necessary 
 
216 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 things; but they told me I was a liar. It is their 
 custom to demand impudently and importunately what- 
 ever they see ; and when we got free of them, we seemed 
 to have escaped from real demons.” 
 
 From the time of their leaving Soldaya to their ar- 
 rival at the camp of Sartak, a journey of two months, 
 the monks never slept in a house, nor even under a tent, 
 but always in the open air, or under their waggons. 
 They never came to any villages, or buildings, but only 
 to immense tumuli, filled with human bones. They 
 stopped from time to time at Tartar encampments, 
 where the attempts at extortion were always repeated, 
 and presents demanded for the chief, so that the little 
 store of wine and biscuit that our poor ambassadors 
 had laid in, decreased with distressing rapidity. 
 
 On reaching the camp of Scakatay, one of Sartak’s 
 officers, they found the Tartar seated on a divan, witli 
 his wife by his side, and a guitar in his hand ; “ and I 
 really thought,” says Rubruk, “ that his nose had been 
 cut off, so flat was it, and that part of his face, as well 
 as his eyebrows, were rubbed with a kind of black oint- 
 ment, which was very frightful to look on.” * 
 
 The Tartars were as curious about news as they were 
 eager for presents, and Scakatay never left otf teasing 
 Rubruk to know what was in the letters that he was 
 taking to Sartak ; but tlie prudent diplomatist would 
 only reply that the letters were sealed up, but that, 
 doubtless, they contained only kind and amiable words. 
 The Mongol then desired to know wliat they meant to 
 say to Sartak wlien they should meet him, and on their 
 replying that they had only to speak to him concerning 
 
 • Bergeron, p. 43. 
 
ZEAL OF THE ENVOYS OF ST. LOUIS. 
 
 217 
 
 the Christian religion, he said he should like to hear 
 that speech. 
 
 “ Then,” says Eubruk, “ I declared to him, as well as 
 I could, by means of our interpreter, who was not at all 
 eloquent, and rather stupid, what belongs to the faith ; 
 and he listened to it all, but when he had done so only 
 shook his head, and said nothing.” 
 
 The envoys of St. Louis were as zealous missionaries 
 as they were prudent ambassadors, and as they went 
 along, they preached, as well as they could, to these 
 barbarous races, concerning the truths of the Gospel. 
 They met Christians in many places, but mostly plunged 
 in the most profound ignorance, and given to ridiculous 
 superstitions. Some Muscovite and Hungarian be- 
 lievers, for instance, were persuaded they could never 
 be saved if they drank kumys, and they regarded such 
 an act as equivalent to apostacy. The Franciscan 
 monks endeavoured to enlighten them on this point, but 
 without success. They were so convinced that kumys 
 was forbidden to Christians, that a Saracen, whom 
 Eubruk was endeavouring to convert, declined being 
 baptized on this very ground. He had been carefully 
 instructed in evangelical truths ; he manifested an 
 excellent disposition, and all things were prepared for 
 the performance of the ceremony, when he suddenly 
 leaped on his horse, and galloped off, saying he must 
 go home and consult his Avife. He returned the next 
 day to tell the missionaries that he must not be made a 
 Christian, for then it would be impossible for him to 
 drink kumys, and that in these deserts he could not 
 live without it. This notion had been inculcated by 
 the Eussians, then very numerous in Tartary, and the 
 Franciscan monks bravely endeavoured to remove the 
 
f 
 
 218 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 prejudice. Rubruk and his companions had much to 
 suffer from hunger and thirst through the whole di- 
 rection of this toilsome journey, for there was nothing 
 to be bought, and the only kind of food given to them 
 was sour milk, which was sometimes entirely spoiled. 
 
 The waters that they came to were so fetid and 
 muddy with the trampling of horses" hoofs, that it was 
 impossible to drink of them, “ so that,” says Rubruk, 
 “ had it not been for the biscuit that we carried with 
 us, and the mercy of God that helped us, we should 
 have been starved to death.” 
 
 “ We travelled on continually towards the East, 
 seeing nothing on our way but sky and plain, except 
 here and there some burying-places of the Coumans, 
 which we could perceive two leagues off ; the interments 
 of a family Avith all their kindred being always made on 
 the same spot. 
 
 “ But Ave Avere much better off in journeying through 
 the desert, hard as it Avas sometimes, than when we got 
 to the Tartars’ lodgings, Avhich Avere such that I cannot 
 describe them in Avords. Sometimes, Avhen Ave Avere 
 sitting in the shade of our Avaggons, on account of the 
 great heat, for it Avas the month of July, they troubled 
 us much ; coming and throAving themselves upon us, 
 pulling us about, and teasing us to shoAV them every 
 thing we brought Avith us.” * 
 
 They proceeded thus from camp to camp, through 
 hardships and trials of all kinds, till they readied the 
 banks of the river Tanais (the Don), Avhich they had to 
 cross. Fortunately, they found here some little boats, 
 and managed to place their Avaggons upoh them, by 
 tying tAVO together for each Avaggon. They got safely 
 
 • Bergeron, p. 56. 
 
THE MISSIONARIES AT THE CAMP OF SARTAK. 219 
 
 over the water, but on reaching the opposite bank, 
 found that their guide had plaj^ed them a shameful trick. 
 On his assurance that they would find plenty of horses 
 on the other side, they had sent back those they had 
 had, as well as their draught oxen ; and now they had 
 to wait three whole days on the banks of the river, 
 without being able to procure any. 
 
 “ The river was very full of fish, but the Tartars do 
 not know how to catch it, and do not care about it, un- 
 less it is large enough to cut off lumps, as they do off 
 the carcass of a sheep.” 
 
 At length, the missionaries found means of continuing 
 their journey, though it had to be on foot, as the only 
 cattle to be procured were wanted to draw Iheir 
 waggons. They walked for three whole days without 
 coming to any human habitation, and both men and 
 oxen were getting thoroughly exhausted, when two 
 horses came up which had been forwarded to them. 
 The guide and the interpreter then mounted and set off 
 on an expedition of discovery, and after riding about for 
 three days, came to a Tartar camp, where they obtained 
 horses and oxen, with which they returned to the mis- 
 sionaries, and finally, at the end of the month of July, 
 they arrived at Sartak’s encampment. 
 
 They were taken to Coyat, his lieutenant*, and one of 
 the first questions addressed to them was, who was the 
 neatest Lord among the Franks or Christians of the 
 West ? Rubruk named the Emperor of Germany, but 
 Coyat replied that it was not he, but the King of France ; 
 “ for,” adds Rubruk, addressing his narrative to King 
 Louis, “ he had heard speech of your Majesty by Sir 
 Baldwin of Hamault, and I found there too one of the 
 
 * This man was a Nestorian Christian. 
 
220 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Knights Templars, who had been in Cyprus, and had 
 told of all that he had seen there.” Bergeron doubtless 
 alludes to this when he says, in his preface to the 
 Narrative of Journeys in Tartary, “That which, in these 
 travels of the old monks, is much to be remarked to the 
 honour and glory of France, is that the Tartars, who had 
 rendered themselves so formidable to all the nations of 
 the earth, did not dread any people so much as our 
 French ; ” and we may see, in many parts of these 
 narratives, the esteem in which they were held by the 
 Tartars, and what a high notion they had of their 
 military discipline, which they said they wished to 
 learn. This is to be attributed to the reputation the 
 French had of being the best men-at-arms, and the 
 most adroit and chivalrous knights in the world ; as 
 even the great Frederic Barbarossa bears witness, in 
 that famous song which he composed in the Proven9al 
 language, to the praise of all the nations of Europe, and 
 which was then in vogue through all Christendom, be- 
 ginning thus : — 
 
 “ Plas mi cavalier Francez,” &c. 
 
 The rumour had gained credit, even in the East, that 
 Sartak had become a Christian, but Rubruk was told 
 not to make use of that expression, for that Sartak was 
 not a Christian, hut a Mongol. It seemed, therefore, 
 that Christian was mistaken for a national designation, 
 an error rather disconcerting to the missionaries, after 
 all they had been thinking on the subject of Sartak’s 
 conversion. Sartak certainly had with him, however, 
 some Nestorian priests, Avho celebrated Christian rites 
 according to the particular tenets of their sect. He 
 had desired, that when the Franciscans were admitted 
 
RUMOURED CONVERSION OF SARTAK. 
 
 221 
 
 to an audience they should bring with them their books 
 and sacred vessels, and accordingly tlie monks clothed 
 themselves for the occasion in their richest vestments. 
 
 liubruk held in his hands a beautiful Bible that he 
 had received from King Louis, and a psalter of great 
 price, splendidly illuminated, which the Queen had 
 presented to him ; his companion bore a missal and 
 the cross, and the clerk was provided with a censer ; 
 and thus they advanced in procession towards the tent 
 of Sartak. The piece of felt that hung before the en- 
 trance of the tent was raised, that those within might 
 witness their approach in this grand state ; but they 
 were warned to take care, in passing, not to touch the 
 threshold, and advised to raise some benedictory hymn 
 for the prince. 
 
 They entered the tent chanting the “ Salve Regina” 
 and Sartak and his wives examined, with the closest 
 curiosity, the books and vestments of the monks. 
 
 “The prince, having taken the Bible, inquired whether 
 that was the Gospel ; I replied, that that book contained 
 the entire Holy Scripture ; and seeing a figure on the 
 cross, he asked whether that was Jesus Christ. We 
 answered that it was, and we perceived by that that 
 the Kestorian Christians and Armenians never put a 
 figure on their crosses, so that it would seem that 
 either they do not believe in the Passion of the Son of 
 God, or are ashamed of it.” 
 
 Rubruk profited by this audience to present to 
 Sartak the letters of St. Louis, with two translations, 
 one in Arabic, the other in Syriac; and the prince, 
 having made out their contents, told him that if they 
 wished to remain in the country, they must obtain 
 
222 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 f)ermission from his father, Batou, and that he would 
 have them sent to his court. 
 
 The missionaries were, therefore, obliged to go to the 
 Tartar encampment on the Volga; and Rubruk was 
 surprised to see that it covered as much space as a great 
 ■ city with its suburbs, to the distance of three or four 
 leagues, and contained a multitude of people. In its 
 centre was the dwelling of the prince, with the entrance 
 towards the south, and it was not allowed that any 
 yourtas should be placed before it in that direction, but 
 they were all ranged to the right and left of the royal 
 residence, and from east to west. The tents of Baton’s 
 sixteen wives were all on the left, and about a stone’s 
 throw from one another. Around these dwellings were 
 those of a great number of women and girls, who at- 
 tended on the wives of the prince, as well as small 
 huts for storing up their goods ; and these were covered 
 with felt smeared with suet or sheep’s milk, to keep otF 
 the rain. All these little houses were fixed on wheeled 
 trucks, to which horses or oxen could be harnessed 
 when the camp was to be shifted ; and the extremely 
 level character of the ground in these immense plains 
 facilitates this mode of transport. 
 
 The monks were conducted to the court of Batou, 
 who had had an immense tent pitched, as his wooden 
 mansion could not contain his court. 
 
 “We were warned again,” says Rubruk, “not to 
 touch the tent ropes, for they were regarded in the 
 same light as the threshold of the house. We stood 
 there in our robes, barefoot, and bareheaded, about tlie 
 length of a miserere, and the Avhole assembly preserved 
 a profound silence. Friar John of Plano Carpini had 
 been there before us. 
 
THE MONKS AT THE COURT OF BATOU. 
 
 223 
 
 “ Batou was seated on a high seat or throne, about 
 as large as a bed, and all gilt, to which three steps led 
 up. Near him was one of his wives, and at the en- 
 trance of the tent was a bench, on which was placed 
 kumys, and three great cups of gold and silver, en- 
 riched with jewels. Batou looked at us earnestly, and 
 we observed him with much attention, and it seemed 
 to me that he was much of the figure of Sir John de 
 Beaumont (peace to his soul ! ), and his face was a little 
 reddish. At length he commanded us to speak, and 
 then our conductor warned us to kneel down. I bent 
 one knee to the ground, as before a man, but they made 
 me a sign that I should bend both, which I did, not 
 daring to disobey, and began my harangue in these 
 words, feeling, in this attitude, as if I were praying to 
 God: — ‘My lord, we pray God, from whom all good 
 things proceed, that as He has given you all these 
 temporal advantages. He will, after that, be pleased to 
 give you celestial ones also ; inasmuch as the one are 
 vain and useless without the other.’ 
 
 “ He listened very attentively to that, and then I 
 added, ‘ My lord, you must know that you will never 
 have these last, unless you are a Christian, for God 
 himself has said, “Whosoever will believe, and be 
 baptized, shall be saved ; but he who will not believe, 
 shall be damned.” ’ At these words,” says Rubruk, 
 “ the prince smiled a little, and all the Mongols began 
 to clap their hands, at which my interpreter was much 
 afraid ; he who ought to have comforted me, so that I 
 should not fear. 
 
 “When silence was restored, I said to Batou that I 
 had come to his son because we had heard that he was 
 a Christian, and that I had brought him letters from 
 
224 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC- 
 
 the King of France, my sovereign lord. Having heard 
 that, he made me rise, and inquired concerning the name 
 of your jMajesty, as well as of mine, and those of my 
 companions ; and my interpreter presented them to him 
 in writing, and he then told me that he had heard how 
 your Majesty had issued from your country with a 
 great army, to make war. I replied that was true, but 
 that it was to make war on the Saracens, who were 
 occupying the holy city of Jerusalem, and profaning 
 the House of God. 
 
 “He asked also whether you had ever sent ambas- 
 sadors to him, and I answered. No ! Then he made us 
 sit down, and gave us milk to drink, which was thought 
 a great favour ; and as my e}^es were fixed upon the 
 ground, he ordered me to look up, perhaps that he 
 might take a better view of me, but possibly from 
 superstition, since the Tartars regard it as a bad omen 
 when any one seated before them appears sad, and holds 
 his head down, and more especially if he should lean it 
 on his hand.” 
 
 Louis IX. had, in his letters, asked permission for 
 the monks to remain in Tartary, to preach the Christian 
 faith, but Baton said he would not take it upon him to 
 grant this permission. It must be asked of the Em- 
 peror Mangou, Avho had been proclaimed Kha-kan in 
 1250. The missionaries were, therefore, requested to 
 continue their journey, for which they were promised 
 the means of transport, as well as provisions. 
 
 The Franciscans now pursued their weary way 
 for five weeks more, along the banks o'f the Volga, 
 almost always on foot, and very often suffering from 
 want of food, so that Rubruk’s companion could not 
 help weeping. 
 
JOURNEY TO THE COURT OF MANGOU-KIIAN. 225 
 
 On the IGth of September they left that river and 
 directed tlieir course towards the Ural. The cold had 
 now become intense, and the guide charged to conduct 
 the caravan warned the monks that they Avould have 
 to travel four months more before reaching the court of 
 j\Iangou-Khan, and that the frost in those countries 
 was so terrible that it split trees and stones. He then 
 asked them whether they were capable of enduring the 
 hardships of such a journey; and these intrepid mis- 
 sionaries replied, that Avhat other men could endure 
 they, by the grace of God, would be able to endure 
 also. Warmer clothing was then given to them, of a 
 kind adapted to the rigour of this frightful climate, 
 namely, a thick robe and drawers of sheepskin, felt 
 boots and leggings, and large cloaks of the same ma- 
 terial. During the whole journey they lived chiefly on 
 millet boiled in water and kumys. Sometimes in the 
 evening they had a little meat, but they were obliged 
 to eat it almost raw, from the want of wood for fuel. 
 “When we stopped at night,” says Rubruk, “we could 
 not well go to gather the dung of horses and oxen, and 
 there was hardly anything else to be found of which 
 fire could be made.” Travellers through the deserts 
 of Tartary meet in the present day with the very same 
 difficulty. 
 
 Rubruk relates that he saw in these solitudes asses 
 that resembled mules, and he probably speaks of the 
 animal called the hemion^ which we often met with in 
 numerous herds during our journey from Pekin to 
 Lha-ssa, through the Mongolian steppes. This animal 
 is a kind of ass about the size of an ordinary mule, but 
 handsomer, and very light and graceful in its move- 
 ments. Its skin is, on the back, of a reddish hue, but 
 
 VOL. I. Q 
 
226 CimiSTIANlTY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 softened off towards the belly till it is almost white. 
 Its head is large and ungraceful, so as to be quite out 
 of keeping with its body, and when it moves it holds 
 this head with its long ears very erect, and in galloping 
 turns the head in the direction of the wind, and carries 
 its tail aloft. Its neigh is very loud, clear, and sono- 
 rous, and it is so agile that no Tartar or Thibetan 
 horseman can ever overtake it. These animals are 
 shot by hunters, who place themselves in ambush near 
 the places where they go to drink. Their flesh is ex- 
 cellent food, and their skin serves to make boots. The 
 females are fruitful, and the species is perpetually re- 
 produced without alteration, but no one has ever yet 
 succeeded in turning them to any domestic purpose. 
 
 Rubruk speaks thus of the animal called the yak ; — 
 “ The Tartars have a powerful kind of oxen which are 
 covered with long hair, and have tails like horses, but 
 smaller legs than most of these species. They are very 
 fierce, but they are made to drag the great rolling 
 houses of the JMongols.” The accuracy of this descrip- 
 tion may be verified any day by a visit to the Thibetan 
 yak in the Jardin des Plantes.* 
 
 The monks on this journey saw several Buddhist 
 monasteries, and Rubruk describes the ceremonies and 
 costume of these idolatrous priests, their long yellow 
 robes, their mitres, tlieir shaven crowns, and the chaplet 
 of beads that they are incessantly fingering. It is 
 evident that even at that early period the Lama organi- 
 sation established among the Oigours had began to be 
 introduced into the military camps of the Mongols ; 
 and among the various modes of worship that were 
 
 * There is a stuffed specimen in the Thibet department of the 
 Crystal Palace. 
 
rubruk’s description of the nestorians. 227 
 
 mingled together confusedly among these populous 
 hordes, that of Buddhism was in the ascendant. Chris- 
 tianity, being represented only by the ignorant .and 
 immoral Xestorians, could hardly make any great im- 
 pression; and their bishops visited the different dis- 
 tricts only at very long intervals, and when they came 
 were, as we have said, so liberal in their bestowal of 
 the dignity of the priesthood as to confer it even on 
 children in their cradles, so that all the men laid claim 
 to the sacerdotal character. The Mongol nobles con- 
 fided the education of their children to these men, and 
 they certainly taught their pupils the principal articles 
 of the Christian creed, and thus it was not difficult to 
 make it appear that they were converting the whole 
 nation ; but their bad conduct and their insatiable 
 avarice counteracted any good effect that might have 
 resulted from their teaching. 
 
 “ The Nestorians,” says Rubruk, “ do possess the 
 Holy Scriptures in the Syriac tongue, but tliey scarcely 
 understand anything of them. They chant like our 
 ignorant monks who do not know Latin, and thence it 
 comes that they are mostly corrupt and wicked, and 
 especially great usurers and drunkards.” * 
 
 On the day when the Franciscan missionaries arrived 
 at the residence of Mangou-Khan, Rubruk remarked, 
 not far from the imperial palace, a building surmounted 
 by a cross. “ Then,” he says, “ I was overwhelmed 
 with joy, thinking that I had got to a Christian place, 
 and I entered the building with confidence and found a 
 magnificent altar. The figures of the Saviour, the Holy 
 Virgin, St. John the Baptist, were embroidered in gold, 
 and the two angels had their garments adorned with 
 
 * Bergeron, p, 117. 
 
228 
 
 CBEISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 jewels. There was also a great silver cross with pearls 
 at the centre and corners, many ornaments, and a lamp 
 with eight branches was burning before the altar. In 
 the sanctuary there was seated an Armenian monk, of 
 a swarthy complexion and attenuated form, and clothed 
 in a tunic that reached only to the mid-leg, and a black 
 fur cloak, fastened with an iron clasp. We entered, 
 but before saluting the monk we knelt down and began 
 chanting the ‘ Ave Regina coelorurn,’ and he then rose 
 and began to pray with us. After saluting one another 
 we seated ourselves near a little brasier in which there 
 was tire. 
 
 “ This Armenian monk had been a hermit in the 
 Holy Land, not far from Jerusalem, and it was solely 
 by Divine inspiration, he said, that he had undertaken 
 this journey to Tartary. God had commanded him to 
 go and convert the Grand Khan ; and as soon as he had 
 reached Kara-Koroum he had presented himself to 
 Mangou, exhorting him to become a Christian, and 
 promising that if he embraced the faith the whole world 
 should be subjected to him, and even the French and 
 the sovereign pontiff acknowledge his sway. 
 
 “ The worthy monk entreated Rubruk to speak to the 
 emperor to the same effect, but the envoy of St. Louis 
 replied, ‘ My brother, I am certainly very willing that 
 the Khan should become a Christian, since that is the 
 very object of my journey hither ; and I will promise 
 him that if he will be baptized, tlie Pope and the French 
 will rejoice greatly, and will recognise him for a brother 
 and a friend ; but not that they should ever become his 
 subjects or pay him tribute, for to say that would be 
 against my conscience and against the mission with 
 which I am charged.’ 
 
 “ The Armenian monk found this answer so categorical 
 
THE GRAND KIIAN AND THE MISSIONARIES. 229 
 
 that he did not insist further ; and Rubruk, for liis 
 part, was so little disposed to make concessions, that he 
 says of the Tartars in some part of his narrative, 
 ‘ These proud and arrogant men believe that the whole 
 world desires their favour ; yet, truly, if it were per- 
 mitted to my profession, and knowing Avhat they are, I 
 should rather advise the making war upon them and 
 fighting them to the last extremity.’ ” 
 
 On the 4th of January, 1254, the missionaries were 
 admitted to an audience of the Grand Khan. “ The 
 felt curtain before the door of the palace was drawn up 
 when we entered,” says Rubruk, “ and as it was still the 
 Christmas season, we began to sing the hymn, — 
 
 ‘ A soils ortus cardine 
 Et usque terraj limitem 
 Christum canamus principem 
 Natum Maria virgine,’ &c. 
 
 “ When we had finished, some attendants began 
 to rummage our garments all over, to see whether we 
 had any knife concealed in them, and they obliged our 
 interpreter to leave his girdle and his knife at the door, 
 where there was a bench with kumys upon it ; and after 
 that, they placed us on a bench opposite some ladies, and 
 made our interpreter stand near us. The jJace was all 
 hung with cloth of gold, and there was in the midst a 
 chafing-dish filled with a fire made of dried dung, and 
 the roots and thorns of the wormwood which grows in 
 that country in great abundance. The Grand Khan was 
 seated on a small bed, and clothed in a rich furred robe 
 very lustrous, like the skin of a sea-calf. He was a man 
 of about forty-five years of age, of a middle height, 
 and with a blunt flat nose. His wife, who was seated 
 
 Q 3 
 
230 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 near him, was young and rather handsome ; and she had 
 with her one of her daughters, named Cyrina, of a mar- 
 riageable age, but ugly enough, and there were several 
 little children lying on a bed near them. 
 
 The Khan ordered kumys to be brought as well as 
 mead, and rice wine from China, and he seemed to take 
 a pleasure in regaling his guests, and himself did great 
 honour to all these liquors, which, though not very 
 pleasant to the taste, are very heady, especially the 
 kumys. After a good deal had been drunk, a long con- 
 versation began ; the Tartar sovereign, addressing 
 a crowd of questions to Rubruk, concerning the object 
 of his journey, and the intentions of the Pope and the 
 Christian kings ; but with regard to the Tartars, unfor- 
 tunately the kumys had so muddled the brains and 
 thickened the speech of the interpreter, that hardly any- 
 thing of what he said could be understood, and the 
 questions and answers got into the wildest confusion. 
 “ For my part,” says Rubruk, “ I understood nothing 
 from what our interpreter said, except that he was 
 very drunk, and the emperor, in my opinion, not much 
 better.”* 
 
 The people of Mangou questioned the Franciscans 
 with the most eager curiosity, and asked for all kinds of 
 details concerning the kingdom of France, and especially 
 whether there were in it plenty of oxen, sheep, and 
 camels, “ as if,” says the monk, “ they had nothing to 
 do but to come and take them. Many times I could 
 hardly repress my anger and indignation.” 
 
 During their stay at this court, the envoys observed 
 that Mangou-Khan and the members of his family were 
 present equally at the religious ceremonies of the 
 
 * Bcrccron, n. 140. 
 
MEETING OF PRIESTS OF VARIOUS RELIGIONS. 231 
 
 Christians, I\Iahoraetans, and Buddhists, but that they 
 knew nothing of Christianity beyond some external 
 rites, such as offering incUnse ; the benediction of the 
 Cup, and the adoration of the Cross ; and that indepen- 
 dently of their own soothsayers or Carnes, they main- 
 tained priests of all three religions, in order to make sure 
 of the good things they wished for, and avoid any evils 
 that might threaten them ; not thinking that religious 
 practices could have any other object. When Mangou 
 went to the Nestorian church, he used to seat himself 
 with the empress on a gilded divan opposite the altar, 
 and one day he sent for the Franciscans, and desired 
 them to sing. They began the “ Veni sancte Spiritus,” 
 and while they were singing, Mangou was examining 
 their breviary and Bible with lively interest. 
 
 But this was no proof of his feeling drawn towards 
 Christianity ; for, faithful to the maxim of Tchinguiz- 
 Khan, he showed no preference for any religion, but 
 treated them all as on an equality. He said one day to 
 Bubruk that all the men at his court, who adored the 
 one eternal God, ought to be free to do so, each in his 
 own way. 
 
 Mangou was fond of inviting the professors of 
 all creeds to feasts at his palace together, and on these 
 occasions the Nestorian priests came first, with their 
 sacred ornaments, praying for the emperor, and blessing 
 the cup. After them came the Mussulmans, performing 
 their own ceremonies and reciting their prayers ; then 
 the Bonzes, Lamas, and Carnes ; as Bubruk says, “ like 
 bees about flowers, for as the emperor gives to all, they 
 each wish him all sorts of prosperity, and each regard 
 themselves as his particular friends.” 
 
 These rather equivocally pious festivals were usually 
 
232 
 
 CHKISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 terminated by drinking-parties, in which emperor, 
 empress, and priests of all religions got intoxicated to- 
 gether. 
 
 The Tartar emperor, though he held no determinate 
 religious faith, was given to a number of superstitious 
 practices, and the principal soothsayer was lodged oppo- 
 site his tent, not a stone’s throw off, having under his 
 care the cars that bore the idols. 
 
 These soothsayers practised astrology, and foretold 
 eclipses, and on the occurrence of such a phenomenon, 
 they set to beating the great drum, clashing the cymbals, 
 and uttering loud cries. They also pointed out the 
 lucky and unlucky days for all kinds of affairs, and 
 nothing was undertaken without their advice ; it was 
 their business, too, to purify by fire all articles destined 
 for the consumption of the court, as well as the presents 
 offered to the emperor, on which they had a right to 
 levy a certain toll. At the birth of a child they were 
 summoned to cast its horoscope, and they had recourse 
 to sorcery for the cure of diseases. 
 
 If they wished to ruin any one, they had nothing to 
 do but to accuse him of having by his malignant arts 
 occasioned any misfortune that might have occurred. 
 When they were interrogated, they evoked their demons 
 by the sound of the tambourine, shaking it furiously ; 
 then falling into an ecstasy, they feigned to receive 
 answers from their familiar spirits, and proclaimed them 
 as oracles. It is rather curious, too, that tahle-rapping 
 and table-turning were in use in the thirteenth century 
 among these Mongols in the wilds of Tartary. Rubruk 
 himself witnessed an instance of the kind. On the 
 eve of the Ascension, when the mother of j\Iangou, feeling 
 very ill, the first soothsayer was summoned for consul- 
 
SUPERSTITIOUS RRACTICES OF MANGOU-KUAN. 233 
 
 tation, he “ performed some magic by rapping on a 
 table.” 
 
 jMangou himself was specially addicted to a kind of 
 conjuration performed with burnt bones. When about 
 to undertake any business that occasioned him anxiety, 
 he used to have three bones brought to him, and hold- 
 ing them in his hands, put the question whether he 
 would be successful or not, and then gave the bones to 
 be burnt. As soon as they had become blackened by 
 combustion, they were brought back to him, and he ex- 
 amined them. If the strength of the fire had cracked 
 the bones, the emperor would be unlucky, and he 
 accordingly gave the matter up ; but if they had re- 
 mained entire, the fates, it was supposed, would be pro- 
 pitious. This practice is still in use among the Mongols, 
 after the lapse of six hundred years ; and the bone ge- 
 nerally chosen for this purpose is the blade-bone of a 
 shoulder of mutton. Great numbers of them are often 
 seen suspended like ex votos, in the pagodas and tents, 
 and usually covered with sentences in Thibetan charac- 
 ters written by the Lamas. 
 
 Towards the festival of Easter, the missionaries fol- 
 lowed Mangou-Khan to Kara-Koroum, a town that 
 appeared to them inferior to St. Denis in France. “ Its 
 monastery,” adds Kubruk, “ is ten times bigger than the 
 whole palace of Mangou.” 
 
 There were in the town two great streets, one called 
 that of the Saracens, where the markets and fairs were 
 held, and where there were a considerable number of 
 foreign merchants, attracted by the presence of the 
 court, and the arrival of a crowd of ambassadors. 
 
 The other street was the quarter of Cathay or of the 
 Chinese, and there were to be found all sorts of artisans. 
 
234 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 This town contained several buildings appropriated to 
 what we may call public offices, as well as twelve 
 temples of various nations, two mosques, and a Xestorian 
 church. 
 
 It was surrounded by an earthen rampart, and had 
 four gates, corresponding with the four cardinal points, 
 and near these gates various markets ; at the eastern, 
 the one for millet, and all kinds of grain ; at the western, 
 for sheep and goats ; at the northern, for horses ; and at 
 the southern, for oxen and waggons. 
 
 The Franciscans were much surprised to find here a 
 Parisian goldsmith named Guillaume Boucher, who had 
 been taken prisoner in Hungary by the Tartars, when 
 they captured Belgrade. Along with the goldsmith 
 they had carried off at the same time a Lorraine 
 woman from Metz, named Paqueste, and a Norman 
 bishop, a native of Belleville, near Rouen. The gold- 
 smith had executed an ingenious work in the imperial 
 palace ; a silver tree, intended to be produced at the so- 
 lemn festivals given by the emperor at Easter, and in the 
 summer. At the foot of this tree reposed four lions, 
 from whose jaws wine, mead, and other liquors were 
 spouted into four basins of silver. At the summit 
 of the tree, besides branches, leaves and fruit, all 
 of silver, there was a silver angel with his wings 
 extended, and which by some interior mechanism 
 sounded a trumpet when the time came for the attend- 
 ants to fill the reservoirs that supplied the fountains. 
 This marvellous tree was placed opposite the imperial 
 throne, in a magnificent hall where the Kha-kan took 
 his meals, and received the presents of the ambas- 
 sadors. 
 
 The industrious Parisian had also fabricated a large 
 
A RELIGIOUS CONTEST IN TARTARY. 
 
 235 
 
 silver cross, with a crucifix ; but that had brought him 
 into disgrace Avith the Nestorian priests, since they do 
 not admit of crucifixes in their churches, llubrukalso 
 mentions, among the Avorks of Boucher, a sculptured 
 image of the holy Virgin, Avith the principal facts of the 
 Gospel history carved round it ; and he made a pyx and 
 a ciborium for the Franciscans. On Holy Thursday 
 and Easter Day, Rubruk celebrated the sacred mysteries 
 in the Nestorian baptistry, and administered the com- 
 munion to the faithful. 
 
 An opportunity soon presented itself for the envoys of 
 St. Louis to make their solemn profession of faith in the 
 presence of the court. ]\Iangou-Khan seeing around liim 
 the representatiA^es of various religions, all claiming 
 the truth as their possession, determined on bringing 
 them face to face, and making them explain their various 
 pretensions in the presence of the people. He ordered 
 that a public discussion should take place betAveen the 
 Christians, IMahometans, and Buddhists, and even re- 
 quired the ministers of these A'^arious creeds to send him 
 in Avriting a statement of their articles of faith. 
 Rubruk, Avho Avas Avell-informed, eloquent, and of a 
 subtle turn of mind, Avished to have a previous under- 
 standing Avith the Nestorians, as to the course they 
 meant to pursue in the discussion. The Nestorians 
 proposed to attack the Mahometans first, and then the 
 idolaters ; but the F ranciscans opposed this course, 
 alleging that the Mussulmans agreed Avith Christians 
 as to the unity of God ; and this point being granted 
 by them, it Avas desirable to prove the existence of God 
 to the Bonzes, Avho saAv the DiAune essence in virtue, 
 perfection, and the soul of each individual being, thus 
 maintaining a system of extensive pantheism. 
 
236 CHKISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Rubruk wishing to take measures that should ensure 
 him the victory, proposed to the Nestorians to have a 
 kind of rehearsal, in which he would take the part of 
 Bonze, and argue against them. But as his adversaries 
 were not very skilful, they Avere continually worsted, in 
 this preparatory exercise ; and as they never brought for- 
 ward any other proofs than those from Holy Scripture, 
 Rubruk had to point out to them that these could be of 
 no avail with men who did not accept the Scriptures. 
 It Avas therefore decided that Rubruk should speak first, 
 and maintain the thesis. 
 
 These things being settled, the meeting took place on 
 the eve of Pentecost ; three of the emperor’s secretaries, 
 a Mussulman, a Buddhist, and a Christian, being ap- 
 pointed as umpires in the contest. At the opening of 
 the debate, a proclamation by the Kha-khan Avas read, 
 in which it Avas forbidden, under pain of death, that 
 either of the orators should say anything abusive of 
 their adversaries, or raise any tumult that might stop 
 the discussion. 
 
 After the reading of this proclamation, there Avas a 
 profound silence in the assembly, to Avhich the most 
 learned men of each party had been invited ; and then 
 the Christians placed Rubruk in the midst of them, and 
 charged him to maintain their cause against the pagans. 
 Then a Bonze, Avho came from China, rose, and began 
 to speak. “ My friend,” said he, addressing Rubruk, 
 “ if you find yourself drh'cn to extremity, you Avould do 
 Avell to seek for some one more skilful than yourself.” 
 
 Rubruk made no ansAver to this impertinent speech, 
 and the Chinese continued, “ With Avhat Avilt thou com- 
 meuQC the discussion ? Shall it be on the creation of the 
 Avorld, or on the fate of the soul after death ?” 
 
THE CHRISTIANS DECLARED VICTORS. 237 
 
 “ Friend,” replied the Franciscan, “ the questions 
 concerning those things must not form the beginning of 
 our controversy. All things come from God, He is the 
 source and origin of whatever exists ; we must, there- 
 fore, speak of God first ; for we have not the same ideas 
 concerning the Divinity, and Mangou wislies to know 
 Avhich of us has the best faith.” 
 
 The umpires decided that this was reasonable, and 
 Fubruk then proceeded to prove the existence of God 
 from philosophical arguments ; but when he had finished 
 his demonstration, the Chinese cried, “ One must be 
 mad to think there is but one God ! The sages admit 
 several. Are there not in the world princes of various 
 degrees of power, and is not Mangou-Khan above them 
 all ? It is the same with the Gods. Who is, then, this 
 only God of whom you speak ? ” 
 
 Then Rubruk replied by enumerating the attributes 
 of the Divinity, and asserting his omnipotence. The 
 Bonze exclaimed and protested, saying they could not 
 admit the existence of one omnipotent God. 
 
 “ If not,” said Ilubruk, “ there is no one among your 
 Gods who can with certainty secure you from evil and 
 danger. To what purpose, then, is it to pray to and 
 worship them?” Finally, the Franciscan monk was 
 declared by the umpires, and. even by the Chinese 
 Bonze himself, to have gained the victory. 
 
 The Nestorians then entered the lists against the 
 Mussulmans, but the latter declared that there was no 
 ground for dispute ; that they regarded the Christian 
 law as a true one, and believed all that the Gospel con- 
 tained ; that they acknowledged one God alone, and 
 prayed to him every day. 
 
 “ This conference being then ended,” says Rubruk, 
 
238 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 “ the Nestorians and Saracens chanted together with a 
 loud voice, but the pagans said nothing at all ; and 
 after that the whole assembly drank together pretty 
 freely.” 
 
 The day after the public controversy, Mangou sent 
 for Rubruk, and began to make a kind of confession of 
 faith. “ We Mongols,” said he, “ believe that there is 
 one God, by whom we live and die, and towards whom 
 our hearts are wholly turned.” 
 
 “ May God give you his grace that it may be so,” 
 said Rubruk, “ for otherwise it is impossible.” 
 
 The emperor went on : “ As God has given the hand 
 several fingers, so has He prepared for men various 
 ways, by which they may go to heaven. He has given 
 the Gospel to the Christians, but they do not obey it ; 
 He has given soothsayers to the Mongols, and the 
 Mongols do what their soothsayers command, and, 
 therefore, they live in peace.” 
 
 Mangou-Khan then terminated the interview by de- 
 claring, that the missionaries had now been long enough 
 in his empire, and that it was time they should think 
 of going home again ; and Rubruk was not allowed, 
 after that, any more opportunities for instructing the 
 prince, or explaining to him the truths of the Christian 
 faith. “ I took my leave,” he says, simply, “ thinking 
 that if God had been pleased to let me perform such 
 miracles as Moses did, perhaps I should have converted 
 him.” 
 
 After a stay of five months at the imperial court, the 
 envoys of St. Louis prepared to depart. Mangou 
 wished to send some ambassadors with them, but 
 Rubruk stated that they should have to pass through 
 countries where there was no safety for travellers, and 
 
DEPARTURE OF THE ENVOYS. 
 
 239 
 
 that lie could not be responsible for their persons ; and 
 Mangou, therefore, contented himself with charging 
 him with letters, in reply to those he had brought trom 
 the King of France. 
 
 Rubruk asked whether, after having delivered these 
 letters, he might return to watch over the spiritual 
 welfare of the Christians in this part of Tartary. 
 To this request Mangou made no reply at all, but, 
 after advising the Franciscan to provide himself well 
 with necessaries for the long journey he was about to 
 undertake, offered him the usual refreshment, gave him 
 three robes, and dismissed him. 
 
 In the letter sent to St. Louis, the ^longol emperor 
 takes the title of Son of Heaven, and Sovereign Lord ; 
 he refuses to acknowledge David, the envoy of lltchi- 
 kadai, and the Regent Queen Ogoul ; and, finally, he 
 commands King Louis, if he wishes to merit his favour 
 and obtain his friendship, to obey exactly the laws of 
 the successors of Tchinguiz-Khan. The literal transla- 
 tion of the missive is as follows : — 
 
 “ This is the command of the Eternal God ! There 
 is but one God in Heaven, and one Sovereign Lord upon 
 the Earth, — Tchinguiz-Khan, the Son of Heaven! 
 
 “ These are the words that we make you hear ; we, 
 who are in this country, whether Mongols, Naimans, 
 Merkites, or j\Iussulmans. Wherever ears can hear, or 
 horses can gallop, all those to whom my orders have 
 reached, and who shall not obey them, or who shall 
 arm themselves to resist them, they shall have eyes and 
 not see ; they shall have ears and hear not ; they shall 
 have hands, and not be able to make use of them ; they 
 shall have feet, and shall not be able to walk. Such 
 are the commands of the eternal God, and of the God 
 
240 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 of the Earth, the Sovereign of the Mongols. This com- 
 mand is addressed by Mangou-Khan to Louis, King of 
 France, to all the lords and priests, and to all the 
 kingdom of France, in order that they may hear my 
 ■words, and the commands of the Eternal God to Tchin- 
 guiz-Khan, which have not yet reached you. 
 
 “ A man named David has been to you as ambassador 
 from the Mongols, but he was a liar, and an impostor ; 
 you sent your ambassadors with him to Couyouk-Khan, 
 and they arrived at his court after his death. His 
 widow, Ogoul, sent you by them a piece of silk and 
 some letters. As to the affairs of peace and war, how 
 could that wicked woman, more vile and abject than a 
 feminine dog, know anything about such matters ? 
 
 “ These two monks came from you to Sartak, who sent 
 them to Baton, and Baton sent them hither, because 
 Mangou-Khan is the supreme chief of the Mongols. 
 We should have sent back our ambassadors Avith your 
 priests, but they have given us to understand that 
 between your country and ours there are many hostile 
 nations, and dangerous roads, which made them fear 
 that our ambassadors might not reach you in safety ; 
 but they have offered to bear tlie letters containing our 
 commands to King Louis. Thus, then, we address to 
 you, by your priests, the commands of the eternal God. 
 When you shall have heard them, )mu will send us your 
 ambassadors, to let us knoAv Avhether you Avill have peace 
 or war Avith us. 
 
 “ If you despise the commandments of -God, in the 
 thought that your country is very distant, and that you 
 are protected by high mountains, and vast and deep 
 seas,’ He Avho can make easy Avhat is difficult, and bring 
 near Avhat is far off, knoAVS Avell Avhat Ave shall do.” * 
 
 * “ Voyage de Rubiuk,” cli. 48. 
 
IJETURN OF RUBRUK TO FRANCE. 
 
 241 
 
 Rubruk took leave of Mangou on the Stli of July, 
 
 1254, and took with him as a present to St. Louis from 
 tlie Parisian goldsmith, a girdle ornamented with a 
 precious stone, which the Tartars make use of as a spell 
 against thunder. Bartholomew of Cremona did not, on 
 account of his bad health, wish to pass again through 
 the desert to revisit the encampment of Baton, and 
 Bubruk, therefore, set off without him, accompanied 
 only by a guide and a servant. During his stay at 
 Kara-Koroum, he had baptized a considerable number 
 of children. 
 
 Towards the end of the month of August, the 
 travellers met Prince Sartak, who was going to the 
 emperor ; and, if we may believe what was declared to 
 Pope Innocent the Fourth by a priest named John, by 
 whom he was accompanied, the prince had just been 
 baptized. He appeared pleased to see the Franciscan 
 again, and gave him two silk robes ; one for himself, 
 and the other for the King of France ; but Rubruk sent 
 them both to St. Louis. 
 
 On the 16th of September, the missionary reached 
 the camp of Baton, after a march of seventy days, 
 during which he saw but one village, and there he 
 could not procure so much as a little flour. Very often 
 he had no kind of nourishment except kumys. Rubruk, 
 for several weeks, accompanied the nomadic court of 
 Baton, but at length quitted the Tartars, and took his 
 way towards the Caucasus ; and after having traversed 
 Armenia and Syria, arrived on the 15 th of August, 
 
 1255, at his convent of St. John d’Acre, whence he 
 addressed the narrative of his journey to St. Louis, who 
 had returned to France. 
 
 The curious details given by this indefatigable monk 
 VOL. I. R 
 
242 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 must have excited the liveliest interest and emotion 
 among the Christians of the West ; and it was certainly 
 a most remarkable thing to hear that in the midst of 
 the steppes of Tartary, and under the tent of a grand- 
 son of Tchinfjuiz-Khan, a relmious conference had 
 taken place concerning the Unity of God, and the Holy 
 Trinity, between Pagans, Christians, and Mahometans ; 
 between a monk of St. Francis d’ Assise from the far 
 West, and a Chinese philosopher from the remotest 
 East; and to hear, too, of this poor Franciscan listening 
 to confessions, and administering the Communion to 
 Christians at Kara-Koroum, the Tartar capital. No 
 less remarkable and beautiful is it, perhaps, to hear 
 with what simplicity this monk tells the story of his 
 adventures to the first monarch of Europe, St. Louis of 
 France. 
 
 In concluding his narrative Rubruk gives his opinion 
 that it would be desirable to send to the Tartars, not 
 mere monks, but a bishop or some other prelate of 
 distinction with the rank of an ambassador, as they 
 would probably, in that case, pay more attention to 
 what was said; and he adds, that these people are not 
 really as formidable as has been imagined, and that 
 their conquests have been effected as much by trickery 
 as by force of arms. “ I positively declare,” he says to 
 St. Louis, “ that if our peasants Avould live as frugally 
 and dress like these Tartars, they might make the same 
 conquests.” * 
 
 * Bergeron, p. 395. 
 
243 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 INSTITUTION OF TOE SOCIETY OF BROTHER TRAVELLERS FOR JESUS 
 CHRIST JOURNEY OF KING HAYTON IN TARTARY. — THE NEGO- 
 
 TIATIONS. — IIOULAGOU LEADS HIS ARMY TOWARDS JERUSALEM. — 
 DESTRUCTION OF THE ORDER OF THE ASSASSINS. — END OF THE 
 
 CALIPHATE OF BAGDAD. THE TARTARS DRAW NEAR TO THE 
 
 CHRISTIANS ALEXANDER HI. DETERS BELA, KING OF HUNGARY, 
 
 FROM FORMING AN ALLLANCE WITH THE MONGOLS. THE FORTY- 
 
 NINE MARTARS OF SANDOMIR. — UOULAGOU AND NASSIR. IIOU- 
 LAGOU AND ALEXANDER IV. STRIFE BETWEEN THE MONGOLS 
 
 AND THE CHRISTIANS OF SIDON. DEFEAT OF THE TARTARS IN 
 
 EGYPT. KUBLAI, THE GRAND KHAN OF THE TARTARS. CHANGE 
 
 OF POLICY. — DEATH OF IIOULAGOU. MARRIAGE OF HIS SON 
 
 ABAGA WITH THE DAUGHTER OF MICHAEL PAL*EOLOGUS. — ABAGA 
 
 AND CLEMENT IV TARTAR AMBASSADORS AT LYONS. THEY GO 
 
 TO ENGLAND. — MISSION OF THE TWO VASSILLI NICHOLAS HI. 
 
 SENDS MISSIONARIES AND LETTERS TO CHINA AND TARTARY. 
 
 Whilst the ambassadors of Louis IX. were proceeding 
 to the ends of the world to preach the Gospel to the 
 hordes of Tartary, the Papacy was organising the work 
 of the propagation of the faith on a vast scale in 
 Europe. 
 
 In 1252, Innocent IV. conceived the project of form- 
 ing a body of missionaries, the members of which, taken 
 from the spiritual families of St. Francis and St. Do- 
 minic, should be as numerous as they were zealous, and 
 always ready to set out on the most distant and peril- 
 ous journeys, for the aggrandisement of the kingdom of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 This body received a name that happily indicated its 
 
 R 2 
 
244 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 destination* ; namely, that of the “Society of Brother 
 Travellers for Jesus Christ.” 
 
 These missionaries -were intrepid and hardy pioneers, 
 whose lot it was to open the way for travellers who 
 should afterwards follow in their track, from motives of 
 policy, for the sake of commerce or of science, or 
 perhaps nothing more than frivolous curiosity. They 
 undertook these laborious peregrinations for Christ’s 
 sake, for the saving of souls, the diffusion of truth, for 
 the enfranchisement of the nations, and for true civi- 
 lisation. This society, an eminently Catholic one, had 
 in its bosom bishops and archbishops, on whom the 
 Holy See had conferred great power. The monks 
 belonging to it were to be scattered over the countries 
 of Mussulmans and idolaters, to preach the Catholic 
 faith ; and St. Raymond of Pennafort, general of the 
 Dominican Order, wishing to render the preaching of 
 the missionaries more efficacious, employed a method 
 which contributed much to the progress of the Gospel. 
 He begged St. Tlioinas d’ Aquinas, whose reputation 
 was already very high in the Church, to compose a 
 work which should contain a clear and methodical ex- 
 position of the truths of the Christian religion, with 
 their proofs, and answers to the objections of infidels. 
 The holy doctor accordingly took up his pen, and 
 composed his work in four volumes, “ On the Catholic 
 Faith,” or “ Summary against the Gentiles;” and Ray- 
 mond de Pennafort received, as a gift from heaven, a 
 work that was to afford such signal help to the zeal of 
 the missionaries. 
 
 .Alexander IV., the successor of Innocent IV., showed 
 
 * WiulJing, “ Annales Minorum, Ann. 12.52.’ 
 
THE SOCIETY OF BROTHER TRA\’F:LLERS. 245 
 
 no less ardour for the conversion of the nations, and the 
 propagation of the faith through the world. This pope 
 had the extension of the religion of Jesus Christ so raucli 
 at heart, that he was continually stimulating the zeal 
 of tlie friars minor, and the preachers, by the concession 
 of fresh privileges. The monks to whom this career 
 had been opened, threw themselves into it with a 
 generous fervour ; and full of joy that they should have 
 to endure fatigues and tribulations for the glory of 
 God; and it appears, by tlie diploma of 1248, that the 
 Franciscans were placed fully on a level with the 
 Dominicans. The diploma is addressed by the Pope 
 “ to our dear brothers of the Minorite orders, in the 
 lands of the Saracens, Pagans, Greeks, Bulgarians, 
 Coumanians, Ethiopians, Syrians, Iberians, Alans, Ga- 
 zares, Goths, Ziques, Rothenes, Georgians, Nubians, 
 Nestorians, Jacobites, Armenians, Indians, Mostelites, 
 Tartars, Hungarians of Great Hungary, Turks, and 
 other infidel nations of the East!”* A long enumera- 
 tion, which serves to show that the maternal solicitude 
 of the Church extended to all known nations, and 
 endeavoured to shed Gospel light upon the whole world. 
 
 Of all the nations thus indicated the Tartars were 
 the most powerful, for the emperor IMangou ruled from 
 the most Eastern parts of Asia to Constantinople ; and 
 Poland, the banks of the Danube, Bulgaria, Turkey, the 
 principality of Antioch, in a word, the whole East, even 
 to India, was become tributary to the Mongols. 
 
 M^hilst Rubruk was returning from Kara-Koroum, a 
 certain king of Armenia, named Hay ton, feeling little 
 
 * Fontana, “ Monumenta Dominica, Ann. 1258.” "Wadding, 
 “ Annales Minorum ad Anno.” 
 
246 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 confidence in the security of his dominions, while the 
 Mongol power was swallowing up all nations in its 
 overwhelming march, resolved, by the advice of his 
 ministers, to take a journey to Tartary, and try to 
 secure his kingdom by getting into the good graces of 
 Mangou-Khan. Before setting out, he thought it ad- 
 visable, how^ever, to send thither his brother Sinibald, 
 the Constable of his kingdom, in order to feel his way. 
 
 Sinibald betook himself to the court of Baton, with 
 a numerous suite and magnificent presents ; and made 
 the most favourable preparation for the good reception 
 of the king, to whom he returned in four years, and 
 described all that he had seen, and even wrote to the 
 King of Cyprus the curious letter already mentioned. 
 
 King Hayton was therefore confirmed in his resolu- 
 tion, and undertook the journey to Tartary accordingly, 
 proceeding by the way of Derbend that he might visit 
 Baton and Sartak, and then going on to the imperial 
 court, where he met with a most honourable reception. 
 After a residence of fifty da}7s he quitted it, bearing 
 with him letters patent by which he was invested with 
 his own kingdom, and an ordonnance that not only 
 diminished the tribute imposed on Little Armenia, but 
 guaranteed to his clergy the freedom from all imposi- 
 tions. The narrative of the King of Armenia’s journey 
 was Avritten by one of his nephews, named like himself 
 Hayton, and we here give a few extracts from it in 
 their original simplicity* : — 
 
 * “In the year 1205, Pope Clement V., ilesiring'to undertake the 
 conquest of tlie Holy Land, with the help of the Tartars, the enemies 
 of the Turks of Syria and Egypt, and knowing that there was at 
 Cjqnnis a monk named Hayton, of the order of Premonstrants, who 
 had been in all the wars of the Tartars against the Turks, sent for 
 
JOURNEY OF UAYTON TO TAUTARY. 
 
 247 
 
 “ In the year of the Incarnation of our Lord, one 
 thousand two hundred, Aytone (Ilayton), King of Ar- 
 menia, a prince of very noble memory, seeing how the 
 Tartars had conquered the world as far as the kingdom 
 of Turkey, and that they had met with no monarch 
 powerful enough to put them down, assembled the wise 
 men of his kingdom and pointed this out to them, and 
 requested their counsel. They all agreed with their 
 noble and wise king that he himself should go in person 
 to the great Khan of the Tartars, to gain his good will 
 and make with him a perpetual alliance ; but before he 
 went himself, the king was to send his brother, the con- 
 stable of his kingdom, to obtain a safe conduct for him, 
 so that he might go and come in safety. And my 
 Lord his brother went with a fine company and took 
 with him great presents to the Khan, and did very 
 nobly the business for which he was sent ; but it was 
 four years before he came back to the land of Armenia. 
 
 "When he returned he related to his brother the king, 
 in order, all that he had seen and done. Then, without 
 any delay, the king set forth, but secretly and with few 
 people, because he feared to be recognised in the king- 
 dom of Turkey, which was his neighbour and enemy. 
 But it pleased our Lord God, that the Soldan of Turkey 
 had been at that time vanquished and discomfited by a 
 
 him to France, where the Pope then was ; it was this monk who 
 wrote the history from which we quote. It was w'ritten in French, 
 then much used in the East, afterwards translated by the Pope’s 
 order into Latin by a Nicolas Salconi, and then put back into French 
 again by a monk of St. Omcr’s, named Friar John of Long d’ Ypre, 
 in the year 1351. It was printed in 1529 in handsome Gothic cha- 
 racters, in the collection entitled “ Hystoire Merveilieuse du Grant 
 Caan.” 
 
248 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 duke of the Tartars, whom the King of Armenia met, 
 and made himself known to. 
 
 “When this duke heard that the King of Armenia 
 wished to go peaceably to the Khan, he received him 
 very honourably, and had him safely conveyed to beyond 
 the Iron Gate.* And he met with other captains who 
 received him with joy, and conducted him through the 
 countries until he came to the city of Amalich, where 
 Mano^ou then held his court. Man^ou-Khan and all 
 the princes of Tartary were very joyous at the coming 
 of the King of Armenia, and specially because since the 
 death of Tchinguiz-Khan no great princes had come in 
 peace to see them, and so this one received great bene- 
 volence and honour, and some of the greatest and most 
 noble of the Tartars were appointed to keep him com- 
 pany and do him honour ; and the Khan himself showed 
 him so much favour and grace, and bestowed on him 
 such great gifts, that they still speak in Armenia of 
 those gifts and graces. The king remained and rested 
 for 'a time, and then begged for the settlement of the 
 business for which he had come ; and the Khan an- 
 swered tliat he would willingly do all he could for him 
 and his people, and for that he had come hither of his 
 own accord and will, he might ask for whatever should 
 please him.” 
 
 King Ilayton hastened to profit by this favourable 
 disposition of the Khan, and addressed to him a long 
 series of requests. In the first place, that the Khan 
 and all his family would embrace Christianity and get 
 himself baptized. Secondly, that he would send an 
 army into the Holy Land to conquer it and give it to 
 
 *’A fortification traditionally ascribed to Alexander tlie Great. 
 
REQUESTS OF KING IIAYTON. 
 
 249 
 
 the Christians. Tliirdly, that he would restore to the 
 Kins: of Armenia certain lands that had been taken 
 from him by the Tartars. Fourthly, that the Khan 
 would enter with him into an alliance offensive and 
 defensive. Fifthly, that he would dispense the monks 
 and other Christians living in the Tartar dominions 
 from the payment of all taxes ; and strange as some of 
 these requests may seem, the historian declares that they 
 were favourably received by the Tartar emperor. 
 
 “ AVhen ^langou had heard all these petitions of the 
 kin", he called together his nobles and councillors and 
 deliberated upon the requests above named, and then 
 eave audience to the kin" and the others who were 
 with him, and spoke thus : — ‘ Forasmuch as this King 
 of Armenia has come from a distant country to our 
 Imperial Majesty, not constrained, nor called, nor sum- 
 moned, but of his own proper good will, it becomes and 
 is suitable to our Imperial IMajesty, that we benignly 
 grant his petitions, and especially as they are laudable 
 and honest, and we accept them willingly, and by the 
 aid of God Avill accomplish what we promise.’ ” 
 
 The Armenian chronicler adds that the Tartar em- 
 peror was faithful to his word, and even made haste to 
 get himself baptized. 
 
 “ After that Mangou-Khan had granted and confirmed 
 these privileges, he demanded the holy sacrament of 
 baptism. Then was baptized Mangou-Khan with great 
 joy, and with him all the people of his palace, and many 
 other noble Tartars, both men and women, by the hand 
 of the bishop, who was the chancellor of the King of 
 Armenia, and who was made welcome with the king his 
 lord.” * 
 
 * “ L’Hystoire Merveilleuse du Grant Caan,” feull. H. 
 
250 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 This narrative of Hayton’s certainly contains circum- 
 stances that appear very improbable. It is possible, 
 however, that Mangou may have allowed himself to be 
 baptized, without meaning to profess himself a Christian, 
 for he was in the habit of complying indifferently with 
 the practices of various modes of worship established at 
 his court, but he professed no positive religion, and very 
 likely regarded baptism as a mere ceremony of purifi- 
 cation. 
 
 The young but vast empire of the Tartars, being 
 perpetually surrounded by enemies, was under the 
 fatal necessity of continually undertaking new con- 
 quests ; and Mangou-Khan, feeling, in 1256, great 
 doubts of the intentions of some of his neighbours, 
 placed his two brothers, Kublai and Houlagou, at the 
 head of two considerable armies ; the first was to march 
 to China and conquer it, the second to invade Persia 
 and Mesopotamia. It was just at this time that King 
 Hayton visited Kara-Koroum, and Houlagou, before he 
 began his march, received instructions very favourable 
 to the kingdom of Armenia. One of the requests of 
 King Hayton to the Tartar emperor was, as we have 
 seen, that he should conquer the Holy Land and deliver 
 Jerusalem from the Saracens; and Mangou now charged 
 Houlagou to satisfy the King of Armenia in this par- 
 ticular. Such was the origin of the fatnous expedition 
 which resulted in placing a grandson of Tchinguiz- 
 Khan on the throne of Persia, and establisliing there a 
 government almost independent of that of Kara- 
 Koroum. 
 
 Houlagoii entered Persia witli 70,000 horsemen, and 
 the first year of his occupation was signalised by tlie 
 destruction of the Assassins, and of some Mussulman 
 
DESTRUCTION OF THE ORDER OF THE ASSASSINS. 251 
 
 states of Irak, and the south of Persia. These Assas- 
 sins or Ismaelites *, -svlio were exterminated by the 
 Tartar chief, had a certain head or king named Iiok- 
 ud-din^ ealled by the writers of that time the “ Old 
 ^lan of the Mountain.” This monarch, it was said, 
 occupied a country of wonderful fertility, and abounding 
 in all sorts of good things. He inhabited a palace of 
 extraordinary magnificence, surrounded by delicious 
 gardens, where there was nothing wanting for volup- 
 tuous enjoyment ; and it Avas added, that by the attrac- 
 sion of such delights, this old man of the mountain had 
 enticed to him men of all countries, of whom he made 
 assassins, and then sent them forth to kill the princes 
 and kings that he pointed out to them. He exercised, 
 it Avas said, such a fascination over them, that they 
 vowed a blind obedience to his Avill, and executed all his 
 commands, even at the peril of their lives. Joinville, 
 Nangis, and many other historians, say that in the 
 time of the Crusades these fanatics were frequently 
 met Avith in the Holy Land. They attempted to as- 
 sassinate St. Louis ; and EdAvard the First of England, 
 Avas severely Avounded by one of them. 
 
 The Arabs named these miscreants Gazis or Saleides. 
 AYhen their sovereign Avas on a march, a man Avent 
 before him bearing a hatchet, surrounded by knives and 
 swords, and crying from time to time, “ Back ! Back ! 
 Fly from before the face of him who holds in his hands 
 the death of kings ! ” 
 
 The progress of Houlagou Avas one incessant course 
 of victory and destruction ; but the Georgians and Ar- 
 menians managed to gain his good Avill, and he shoAvered 
 
 * Commonly designated in the country Hascheschin, whence was 
 derived Assissin, and thence Assassin. 
 
252 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 favours on the Christians, it was thought from the 
 influence of his Avife Dhogouz-Katoun^ who was of that 
 faith. He even went so far as to have a chaiiel fitted 
 up in his camp, in the plain of Moughan, Avhere the 
 Armenians, Georgians, and Syrians freely celebrated 
 divine service. 
 
 Having completed the conquest of Persia, Houlagou 
 set out on a march towards Bagdad, whither he Avas 
 proceeding, Avith the applause of all the Christians of 
 the East, to destroy the Caliphate, then represented by 
 Mostassim. This prince, from the day of his installation 
 on the throne of the Caliphs, had done nothing but 
 exhibit his absurd vanity and taste for puerile pomp, 
 which he took for grandeur. When he Avent to the 
 Mosque, he Avould only walk on cloth of gold ; and 
 he Avould not alight from his horse at the gate of the 
 Temple. He kept his face veiled, in order, he said, that 
 his features might not be defiled by the looks of a vile 
 populace ; and he required all Avho came to his palace 
 to kiss its threshold, and also a piece of black velvet 
 suspended at his door, for Avhich he demanded the same 
 honours as for the famous black stone in the temple of 
 Mecca. 
 
 He Avas a prince destitute of energy, judgment, and 
 aptitude for business, Avho, Avith the exception of a little 
 superficial employment in his library, passed his Avholc 
 time in hearing music, visiting his aviaries, and seeing 
 conjuring tricks; and he AA'as entirely governed by his 
 Avomen and his courtiers. 
 
 Such Avas the last Caliph, the last Pope of the Mussul- 
 mans, and such his occupations, Avhen, on the 22nd of 
 January, 1258, Houlagou appeared Avith his army before 
 Bagdad. After various engagements, in all of Avhich 
 
END OF THE CALIITIATE. 
 
 253 
 
 he was victorious, the Tartar summoned Caliph Mos- 
 tassim to surrender. “ Avoid Avar,” said the conqueror, 
 “ and do not strike your fist upon the pricker, or take 
 the sun for a lamp, or it Avill be Avorse for you. If you 
 rase the Avails, and fill up the ditches of Bagdad, and 
 present yourself to us in person, Ave may not chastise 
 you ; but if in our Avrath Ave attack Bagdad, you aauII 
 not escape, not though you should hide yourself in tlie 
 boAA'els of the earth. If, then, you desire your oAvn 
 safety, and that of your house, lend an ear to my 
 counsels ; if you do not, Ave shall see AA^hat is the will 
 of God.” 
 
 The Caliph replied to this summons: “Young man, 
 Avho, seduced by ten days’ good fortune, imagine your- 
 self master of the Avorld, and dream that your commands 
 are irresistible, like those of fate — Avhat audacity is this, 
 to ask of me Avhat you will never obtain ? Do you not 
 knoAV, that from the East unto the West, all Avho adore 
 God and profess the true faith are my servants ? 
 Follow, then, the way of peace and prudence, and 
 return to Khorassan.” * 
 
 While the Tartar envoys were bringing back this 
 haughty answer to their master, they Avere assailed by 
 the populace of Bagdad, who overAvhelmed them Avith 
 abuse, spat on their faces, tore their clothes, and would 
 have massacred them, but that some guards, sent in 
 haste by the vizier, snatched them from the hands of 
 the Mussulmans. 
 
 On hearing of this outrage, Houlagou exclaimed, 
 “ The behaviour of the Caliph is more crooked than 
 this bow ; but so God help me, I Avill make it as straight 
 as this arrow. 
 
 * D’Ohsson’s “Hist, of Mongols,” vol. iii. p. 217- 
 
254 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 On the first of February, Houlagou took the city of 
 Bagdad by storm, and thus put an end to the power of 
 the Caliphs. He had made Mostassim believe that he 
 was willing to give his daughter in marriage to the 
 Caliph’s son, Aboubeker, and on the 10th of February 
 Mostassim was seen issuing from his palace, with his 
 wife, his children, his jewels, and all the most consider- 
 able persons of his court ; he was installed in a magni- 
 ficent tent near one of the gates of the city ; and the 
 magistrates, officers, and lawyers of the place assembled, 
 as if to witness the nuptial ceremony, and draw up the 
 contract. But when the principal people were thus all 
 got together, the Tartars set on them, and put them all 
 to death. Bagdad, the city of science, learning, and 
 pleasure, was given up to pillage and slaughter, and 
 more than 800,000 persons were mercilessly destroyed. 
 Sanut * declares that Houlagou killed the Caliph by 
 pouring molten gold down his throat, in mockery of his 
 avarice. The chronicle of St. Louis says that he was 
 shut in an iron cage, and that the Mongol general, 
 adding insult to cruelty, told him that a person of his 
 quality ought not to be fed like an ordinary mortal, and 
 ordered that he should have no food but the gold and 
 jewels that he had been so fond of and had kept to 
 himself, instead of distributing them amongst his troops. 
 It has been said, too, that Houlagou, at the solicitation 
 of his wife, had the mosques rased to the ground, and 
 forbade the Saracens to pay homage to Mahomet ; and 
 it is certain that in the sack of the city he’ spared the 
 Christians. 
 
 The Nestorians, who were in considerable number in 
 
 * Marin Sanut, “ Sccrcta fidclium crucis, &c.,” lib. iii. ch. 7. 
 
ABIIOKREN.CE OF THE TARTAR ALLIANCE IN EUROFE. 255 
 
 the town, suffered no damage, but remained in safety 
 in the church where their patriarch Machicha had 
 assembled them. After the victory Iloulagou received 
 IMachiclia in a friendly manner, and assigned him as a 
 residence one of the Caliph’s palaces on the Tigris, and 
 the patriarch built there a spacious and beautiful 
 church. 
 
 The Tartars seemed at this time in some measure to 
 make common cause Avith the Christians in these coun- 
 tries, the bond between them being of course their 
 common hatred of the jMussulmans. But the political 
 interest which tended thus to unite nations so dis- 
 similar in manners and religion did not exist in the 
 North of Europe, and in Russia, Poland, and Hungary, 
 where they were as hostile as ever; and the Christian 
 princes, who had found themselves compelled to submit 
 and to serve in the Mongol armies, Avere regarded Avith 
 the same horror as the Mongols themselves. 
 
 Whilst the Christians did not object in the South to 
 profit by the alliances Avhich some of the princes, the 
 King of Armenia, for instance, had entered into AAuth the 
 Tartar generals, they regarded with detestation, as 
 deserters from the Christian name, those who in the 
 North had done the same thing — perhaps only Avith the 
 vieAv of preserving their people from the misfortune of 
 an unequal and hopeless struggle. This Avas because 
 in the North the troops demanded by the Mongols as 
 auxiliaries, having no Mussulmans to fight, Avould 
 infallibly have had to turn their arms against their 
 OAvn countrymen and fellow Christians. Thus, in 
 1254, Avhen Livonia and Poland appeared to be 
 threatened, and the Pope wished to guard from in- 
 vasion the countries Avhere the establishment of Chris- 
 
256 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 • 
 
 tianity had been so difficult, he wrote to the bishops, 
 enjoining them to preach a crusade against the Tartars 
 and their accomplices^ by which he meant the Russians, 
 whose troops formed part of the army of Baton. 
 
 The aversion felt by Western Europeans to any 
 alliance with the Tartars is shown still more strongly 
 in a letter of Alexander IV. to Bela, King of Hungary, 
 on the occasion of a proposal made to the latter by 
 Bereka, the successor of Baton. He had sent ambas- 
 sadors to offer to Bela an alliance to be cemented by 
 the marriage of their children. Under this arrange- 
 ment the son of the King of Hungary was to march 
 with a certain number of Hungarian troops, as an 
 auxiliary of the Tartars, and to receive the fifth part of 
 all the booty that was made in the war. Hungary Avas 
 also to be exempt from all tribute, and the Tartars 
 Avere to respect her frontier. These liberal offers hoAv- 
 ever were accompanied, in case of refusal, Avith menaces 
 of a cruel Avar, and of the total destruction of the 
 country. 
 
 Bela, who, on the first irruption of the Mongols, had 
 only been able to offer them a feeble resistance, and 
 Avho subsequently had only OAved to their spontaneous 
 retreat the possibility of resuming his throne, had 
 recourse in this neAv perplexity to his customary 
 refuge. He AA^rote to Rome for help and counsel, and 
 did not forget to remind the Pope that in similar 
 circumstances, Gregory IX. had abandoned him to the 
 fury of the Mongols. 
 
 “ The complaints* contained in the beginning of 
 your letter,” replies Alexander, “ have rent our heart. 
 
 * Odoi’ Eayiiald, “ Annul. Eccl.” vol. xiv. No. 33. p. 50. 
 
REPLY OF ALEXANDER III. TO BELA. 
 
 257 
 
 It is stated therein that when yonr kingdom was 
 cruelly devastated by the Tartars, you asked for help 
 from our predecessor Gregory, and that that pontiff, as 
 if he had forgotten your signal devotion and that of 
 your ancestors, was not willing to show even in words, 
 far less in actions, that he grieved for the slaughter 
 of your subjects. You add, that after his death, and 
 during the vacancy of the apostolic see, the cardinals 
 gave you the consoling promise that the future Pope 
 would exert himself to drive the barbarians from your 
 frontier, but that this hope had not been realised. 
 
 “ In seeking the assistance and advice of the Church 
 against the fresh attacks of the Tartars, you show that 
 she scorned and forsook you in your former peril — but 
 if you will consider the unfortunate situation of the 
 Church herself at that period, we believe that you will 
 absolve her from blame, and agree that the omission of 
 which you complain can only be attributed to the mis- 
 fortunes of the time, and to the iniquity of those who 
 were then troubling the Church. The Emperor 
 Frederick exercised the most violent tyranny against 
 the Apostolic See; he attacked it with his whole power, 
 in order that, when he had crushed it, he himself might 
 receive the supreme honour. To defend her own 
 liberty and that of her sons, the Church had to make 
 such great expenditure, and became herself so oppressed 
 by debts, that it was impossible for her to afford 
 succour to others, — and even to this day her resources 
 have not enabled her to acquit herself of all her 
 liabilities. 
 
 “If after the accession of the new pontiff the 
 promises given by the cardinals were not fulfilled, 
 
 VOL. I. s 
 
258 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 it was because that help was no longer necessary, since 
 the Tartars had then evacuated j^our territories. You 
 add that not having it in your power to resist such 
 powerful enemies, you Avould be compelled, should you 
 not receive any assistance from the Holy See (though 
 groaning over the necessity), to enter into a treaty 
 of alliance with them, and that they had even pressed 
 you to do so, offering a daughter of a Tartar prince in 
 marriage to your son — or a son of theirs to your 
 daughter, according to your choice.” Then passing in 
 review the other conditions offered to Bela by the 
 Mongols, Alexander goes on to declare that a king of 
 Hungary, or any Christian king, should be ashamed to 
 hold on conditions so humiliating, not only all the 
 kingdoms of the world, but even his life, or that of his 
 family. 
 
 “ Turn with horror, my son,” cries the pontiff, “ from 
 the thought of clouding the splendour of your titles 
 with shame, and staining with perpetual ignominy the 
 beauty of your reign. To what infamy would not a 
 prince expose himself who should break with the whole 
 body of the faithful to connect himself with pagan 
 nations, and march with them against Christian sove- 
 reigns and their subjects? What trust also could he 
 place in the duration of an alliance Avhich would, 
 instead of securing his safety, at the utmost only retard 
 his ruin ? Is it not well knoAvn that the Tartars have 
 seduced many nations by insidious treaties, and that as 
 they hold not the true faith, no account is to be made 
 of their oaths. The union of a Hungarian princess 
 with the son of Bereka, or the daughter of the latter 
 Avith a Hungarian prince, Avould not be a marriage, but 
 
TUE FORTY-NINE MARTYRS OF SANDOMIR. 259 
 
 an infjiinous adultery, since Christian persons cannot 
 unite themselves in the Lord with pagans.” 
 
 Such were the expostulations by which the Pope 
 deavoured to deter Bela from the proposed alliance. 
 In conclusion he excuses himself for not being able to 
 send, according to the king’s request, a body of a 
 thousand armed men, but promises a liberal concession 
 of indulgences for a crusade against the Tartars. 
 
 O O 
 
 Alexander IV. could not, in fact, offer Bela anything 
 more than the expression of his sincere sympathy, 
 Avhich was not very efficacious against an invasion of 
 Mongol hordes. Fortunately for Hungary, Bela found 
 better help in an alliance with Bohemia, who also had 
 at this time to look about for the means of defence, and 
 more fortunately still, Bercka, after having ravaged 
 Poland, thought proper to turn his arms in the 
 direction of Persia. The cruelties perpetrated by the 
 Tartars in Poland should not be entirely passed over, 
 since they served to give martyrs to the Church, and. to 
 the faithful, beautiful examples of Christian fortitude. 
 
 At the time of the second irruption of the Tartars in 
 1260, Sadoc, whom St. Dominic had sent into Hungary 
 to preach Jesus Christ, was governing a pious colony of 
 brethren at Sandomir, and Fontana relates* that the 
 glorious trial reserved for these Dominicans was thus 
 revealed to them. On the evening before the dav of 
 their martyrdom, the novice who was reading to the 
 monks in the refectory from the martyrolog}^ suddenly 
 saw in the book, written in letters of gold, these words, 
 “ At Sandomir the deaths of forty-nine martyrs.” At 
 first he felt uncertain whether he ought to read the 
 
 Monuraenta Dominicana, ann. 1260 . 
 
260 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 words or not, but he soon pronounced them in a loud 
 voice. Sadoc and the other fathers, greatly astonished, 
 wished to see the book, but the letters of gold vanished 
 as soon as tliey took it into their hands. 
 
 The prior then turning towards the monks said to 
 them, “ These divinely traced letters are a warning 
 from heaven, my beloved brethren, and it is not in vain 
 that they have been revealed to the eyes of this young 
 and innocent novice. The author of life and death has 
 thus given us notice to prepare ourselves for that life 
 which shall know no end. Let no one of us therefore 
 neglect to do so by the reception of the sweet and holy 
 viaticum. The Tartars Avill take from us indeed our 
 lives — but only the mortal life, so transitory and full of 
 pain ; whilst a life eternal and full of felicity will be 
 granted to us in exchange by Jesus Christ the king of 
 martyrs.” On the very next day the Tartars arrived 
 before Sandomir, and took the town by assault. Sadoc 
 assembled all the brethren in the church, and they 
 began to sing the anthem “ Salve Regina,” but while 
 they were employed thus in celebrating the praise of 
 God for having judged them worthy of the immortal 
 palm — the barbarians broke in and massacred them 
 all. 
 
 About the same time the glorious death of an illus- 
 trious and zealous missionary, also afforded consolation 
 to the Church in the midst of her sufferings. This was 
 a Hungarian prince, who having reached an advanced 
 age, and being weary of human dignities, had exchanged 
 the insignia of sovereignty for the modest habit of St. 
 Hominic, and had gone to evangelise the barbarous in- 
 habitants of remote countries. The prior of the convent 
 which sheltered this valiant apostle during this Tartar 
 
IIOULAGOU AND NASSIR. 
 
 261 
 
 invasion, tliought to retire, in order to save Ills own life 
 and the lives of his brethren. This good monk, how- 
 ever, entreated to be left behind as guardian of the con- 
 vent and the church, adding, to overcome the unwill- 
 ingness of the prior, that he was already old, and that 
 if the Tartars should kill him, the death of one useless 
 old man would be of little consequence to the Order. 
 His perseverance at length triumphed, and when his 
 brethren had departed, he employed himself in keeping 
 up the courage of the faithful in the town, administering 
 the sacrament to them, and enjoining them to receive 
 fearlessly for the love of God, the death inflicted by the 
 barbarians. 
 
 When the brethren returned some days afterwards to 
 the convent, they found the body of the holy old man 
 prostrate before the high altar, pierced with many 
 wounds, and bathed in blood, Avith the arms stretched 
 out in the form of a cross, and the brains scattered all 
 about.* 
 
 Whilst the Mongols were covering Poland with blood 
 and ruins, Houlagou, in the East, was completing the 
 conquest of Syria. After the capture of Bagdad he had 
 entered Mesopotamia, seized on Merdin and Harran, 
 passed the Euphrates, and made himself master of 
 Aleppo and Damascus. 
 
 The Tartar general had sent orders to Nassir, the 
 Sultan of Aleppo, to submit at once, and come in person 
 to meet him; but Nassir only sent his son Aziz — though 
 with rich presents, and accompanied by many dignitaries 
 of the court. When they were admitted to an audience, 
 Houlagou demanded why their master had not come 
 
 * Fontana Monument, dom., ann. 1261. 
 s 3 
 
262 CIIIIISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 himself ? They alleged that it -vvas because he feared 
 that if he should absent himself from his country, the 
 Franks, his neighbours and enemies, would come and 
 invade it. 
 
 Houlagou seemed to accept the excuse, and kept 
 young Aziz with him all the winter ; but when he dis- 
 missed liim, he gave him the following letter, to deliver 
 to his father.* 
 
 “ In the name of God, the Creator of the heavens 
 and the earth ! Know, oh Prince Kassir, that we 
 arrived before Bagdad in 655 (a.d. 1257), and that we 
 took its sovereign prisoner. He had behaved ill to us, 
 and being questioned, he acknowledged this, and owned 
 that he deserved death. Covetous of his riches, he 
 has ended by losing all. His grasping despotism has 
 caused him to exchange the most precious goods for 
 annihilation. According to the adage, ‘ That which 
 has reached the summit begins to decline,’ but we, on 
 the contrary, are increasing. 
 
 “ Oh ! Prince Nassir, and all you generals and war- 
 riors of Syria, know that we are the soldiers of God 
 upon the earth, and that he has created us in his wrath, 
 and given us power over those who have awakened his 
 anger. May the example of so many countries en- 
 lighten you ! May the misfortunes of others serve you 
 for a lesson ! 
 
 “ Surrender, before the veil shall open f ; for we arc 
 
 * The letter is said to have been written in Arabic by the cele- 
 brated astronomer Nassir-sed-din, who had attaclicd himself to IIou- 
 lagou. 
 
 ■[ Coran, chap. i. ver. 20. This letter contains several quotations 
 from the Coran, which seems strange from a Tartar general. 
 
LETTER OF IIOULAGOU TO NASSIR. 
 
 2G3 
 
 not sensible to tears, nor moved by complaints. As to 
 pity, God has taken it out of our hearts, and woe to 
 those who do not belong to us ! 
 
 “ You know how many countries we have conquered, 
 how many nations we have destroyed. Let flight be 
 yours, and let pursuit be ours! But what road will 
 save you, what land will protect you? Nothing can 
 defend you from our arms. Our steeds are lightnings, 
 our swords thunderbolts, our breasts as hard as rocks, 
 our warriors as numerous as the grains of sand, lie 
 who attempts to resist us will repent of it ; he who asks 
 our grace will find safety. Our empire is respected, 
 and our vassals are secure. If you receive our law, 
 everything shall be in common between us. If }mu 
 resist, if you persist in your obstinacy, lay the blame of 
 what follows only on yourself. He who warns is 
 justified 1 
 
 “ To us, fortresses form no obstacles ; armies do not 
 stop us. Y^our prayers against us will not be heard, 
 for you use prohibited meats, you do not keep your 
 word, you violate agreements and betray faith, you 
 profess heresy, and you love impiety and rebellion. 
 Learn that you are condemned to abject misery and 
 contempt ; the day will come when you shall receive 
 the ignominious chastisement of your pride, your ex- 
 cesses, and your impiety. ITou believe that we are 
 Infidels ; we know that you are impious, and that the 
 Almighty has subjected you to our dominion. Those 
 whom you most honour are in our eyes vile. AYoe 
 and terror be upon those who rise up before us ! Grace 
 and peace to those who find favour in our eyes 1 
 
 “ AA^e have conquered the earth from the east to the 
 
264 CHEISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 west, and despoiled those who possessed riches; we 
 have carried away all vessels* 
 
 “ Choose then in your own mind the path of safety, 
 and hasten to reply to this before war shall have 
 kindled its fires and cast its spark upon you. Suddenly 
 you will experience the most terrible calamities ; in the 
 twinkling of an eye your country shall become a desert, 
 and you shall nowhere find a refuge. The angel of 
 death will exclaim, ‘ Is there one of you that gives the 
 least sign of life, or whose voice utters the lightest 
 murmur ? ’ f We act honestly in warning you. Ex- 
 plain your intentions promptly, lest chastisement come 
 upon you unawares. Be on your guard ; and when 
 you shall have finished our letter, read the commence- 
 ment of the Bees, and the end of Sad-X 
 
 “ We have scattered the diamonds of our Avords, it is 
 for you to reply ; and safety to him Avho chooses the 
 way of safety ! ” 
 
 This insolent letter Avas received very coldly by 
 Nassir, Avho replied in the same tone ; and it is curious 
 to see the swelling pride of Tartar and Arab contending 
 together, in epistles Avhich are more like odd literary 
 compositions than documents concerning public affairs. 
 Aleppo replies to Houlagou thus : — 
 
 “ Say, 0 my God ! Master of Empires ! Thou givest 
 dominion to Avhomsoever thou Avilt : do thou help us ! 
 Praise be to God, the sovereign of the universe ; health 
 and benediction upon the Coryphasus of the envoys of 
 God, the last of the prophets, Mahomet the unlettered, 
 and upon all his famil}' ! 
 
 * Coran, chap, xviii. vcr. 78. f Ibid. chap. xix. ver. 98. 
 
 f T\Vo cliapters so called in the Coran. 
 
KEPLY OF NASSIR TO IIOULAGOU. 
 
 2G5 
 
 “ AVe have made ourselves acquainted with the con- 
 tents of the letter of your Highness the Sultan (may 
 God give you grace to find the true way, and to know 
 the truth), informing us that you were created in the 
 wrath of God, and are cast against tliose Avho have 
 merited his anger ; that you are affected by no tears or 
 complaints, and that God has taken pity out of your 
 hearts. That is one of your great vices ; such is the 
 character of devils, and not of sovereigns ! This spon- 
 taneous avowal disgraces you. Oh ! Infidels, I icill not 
 adore tchat you adore.* You are accursed in all books 
 of revelation, you have been painted with the most 
 abominable features, you have been pointed at by all 
 celestial apostles, and we have known you since you 
 were created. You are Infidels, as you yourself sus- 
 pect, and is not the curse of God upon Infidels ? f You 
 say that we profess heresies, that we have broken our 
 faith, that we have given ourselves up to rebellion and 
 impiety. He who does not care for any consequences 
 reminds us of our principles ! It is as if Pharaoh had 
 undertaken to praise God, he who denied the true faith ! 
 
 “ We are the true believers ; to us no transgression 
 can be imputed, and we give cause for no suspicion. 
 To us was the Koran sent from heaven, and the God 
 whom we adore is eternal. We believe firmly in the 
 revealed word, and we know how it ought to be inter- 
 preted; but assuredly for you was fire created, to 
 consume your skin. 
 
 “ When the heavens shall be rent, and the stars shall 
 be dispersed, and the seas shall mingle their waters, and 
 
 * Coran, chap. xix. ver. 41. 
 
 I Ibid. chap. ii. ver. 89. 
 
266 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 the sepulchres shall be overthrown, the soul will see the 
 future of its whole life.* 
 
 “ Is it not a strange thing to threaten lions with 
 bruises, tigers Avith hyenas, and brave soldiers Avith the 
 attacks of poor ragamuffins ? 
 
 “Our steeds are from Barca — oursA\mrds from Yemen, 
 — our arms are renoAvned for strength from the east to 
 the Avest. Our Avarriors spring on their prey like lions, 
 our horses overtake all whom they pursue, our SAvords 
 cut in pieces all Avhom they attack, and our bloAvs are 
 thunderbolts ! Abusive Avords do not break our hearts, 
 nor menaces cause us any fear. Kesistance to you is 
 obedience to God. If Ave kill you, our prayers Avill have 
 been heard, if you kill us. Paradise aAvaits us. 
 
 “ You say, ‘ Our breasts are like rocks: Ave are as nu- 
 merous as the grains of sand.’ But is the butcher terri- 
 fied at the number of the sheep ? and Avill not a small 
 fire consume a vast pile ? We Avill not fly from death 
 in order to live in disgrace. If Ave live Ave Avill be happy, 
 if Ave die, Ave Avill be martyrs. Shall not the soldiers of 
 God triumph?! And you demand from us the obedience 
 Ave pay to the head of the faithful, to the vicar of the 
 Prophet! We Avill not obey you; certainly AA’-e shall 
 prefer going to join him : you ask Avhether Ave Avill 
 submit, before the veil shall open, and you shall reach us. 
 
 “ The beads of your Avords are badly threaded. If the 
 veil is rent, if fate shall be accomplished, it Avill then be 
 seen Avho is in fault, Avho has been an apostate, return- 
 ing to the Avorship of idols, and acknoAvledging more 
 than one God. 
 
 • Coran, chap. xix. ver. 1. 
 t Coran, chap. v. vcr. 68. 
 
REPLY OE NASSIR TO IIOULAGOU. 
 
 2G7 
 
 “ You have indeed said sucli strange tilings, that little 
 more was wanting that the earth should open, and the 
 mountains be crumbled away. Tell your secretary, the 
 composer of your letter, that notwithstanding his con- 
 ciseness, he has not restrained himself within due 
 bounds ; and in truth, we care no more for your prose 
 than for the sound of the rahab ” ( a kind of Persian 
 violin), “ or than for the buzzing of a fly ; for you have 
 repayed your benefactor with ingratitude, and have 
 merited severe chastisement. 
 
 “ Assuredly we will keep a register of these discourses, 
 and we will make them bear the punishment with 
 usury.* You are playing with us with your lying 
 threats ; you have Avished to show your eloquence. One 
 might say to you ‘ You have remembered something; 
 but you have forgotten a great many things.’ You 
 Avrite, The perverse shall one day know their fate. 
 Such is your apostrophe, and here is our ansAver. The 
 commandment of God shall be fulfilled ; do not hasten 
 the fulfilment. 
 
 “ Prince Nassir and the generals and Avarriors of Syria 
 will not decline the combat ; they aAA'ait with impatience 
 the neighing of your steeds, and the charge of your 
 AA’-arriors : for they have made a vow to fight you. You 
 had better not -leap into hell, it is a bad resting place, 
 nor strike with your SAVord upon a lion’s mane. All 
 will tell you that if you have arms strong in battle, 
 that Avill be your best eloquence. You have no occasion 
 to quote verses, nor compose letters, nor Avrite histories. 
 We await you, and God give the victory as it shall 
 please him ; we do not scatter diamonds of Avords ; but 
 
 * Coran, chap. xix. ver. 78. 
 
268 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 we say what comes into our mind, and we excuse him- 
 who stammers. We salute you.” 
 
 All this eloquence made small impression on the Tartar 
 Houlagou, who immediately advanced his army, and 
 laid siege to Aleppo. Twenty catapults played for five 
 days against the town, and it was taken by assault on 
 the 18th of January, 1260. An incredible amount of 
 treasure was found in it, and the carnage was still more 
 horrible than at Bagdad. The streets were choked up 
 with corpses, and it is stated that 1 00,000 women and 
 children were taken and sold for slaves in Little Ar- 
 menia, or in the territories of Europeans. The Mongols 
 were masters of Syria, and they dismantled the towns 
 and citadels, and planted their garrisons as far as Gaza. 
 
 After the conquest of Syria, Houlagou was preparing 
 to pass on to Jerusalem, deliver the Holy City from the 
 hands of the Saracens, and restore it to the Christians ; 
 when he received the news that Mangou his brother 
 was dead, and that the Tartars were waiting to 
 proclaim him their Grand Khan. Mangou had been 
 killed in China in the month of December 1259, in a 
 war against the Chinese Emperor. 
 
 Houlagou, therefore, was obliged to leave Syria, but 
 he left an army of a hundred thousand men, under the 
 command of a general named Kitou-Boga, who was 
 said to be much attached to the Christians. Houlagou 
 himself had been very favourably disposed towards 
 them, and intended, it was said, to be baptized and 
 make a public profession of Christianity. This welcome 
 news was carried to Rome by a priest named John, 
 who gave himself out for an envoy from Houlagou, 
 and he -asked, on behalf of the Tartar prince, that there 
 might be sent to Persia a priest distinguished for 
 
IIOULAGOU AND ALEXANDER IV. 
 
 269 
 
 purity of life and learning, who should complete the 
 conversion of the “ Governor of the West.” Notwith- 
 standing the ready confidence always felt in the truth 
 of intelligence of this kind, experience had taught 
 Christian powers by this time not to count much on 
 the veracity of those who brought it; and since the 
 envoy had no letter from Iloulagou, nor any docu- 
 ment to authenticate his mission, Alexander IV., 
 though he wrote a congratulatory letter to the Tartar 
 prince, charged the Patriarch of Jerusalem to verify 
 the facts on which his congratulations were based. 
 
 “ Our heart,” says the Pope, “ thrilled, and our soul 
 dilated with joy, on learning from the Hungarian John, 
 who calls himself your messenger, the happy news that 
 God had mercifully opened the eyes of your mind ; ” 
 and then, having expressed in warm and pious 
 language the joy of the Church on learning the conver- 
 sion of Houlagou, Alexander continues thus — “ There 
 is one consideration that will not have escaped your 
 sagacity — namely, what a vast increase of power there 
 would be for the subjugation of the Saracens, if the 
 Christian armies should unite their strength with 
 yours. Shielded by the buckler of Christian faith — 
 supported by the Divine protection — you would attain 
 the very summit of temporal grandeur, whilst at the 
 same time you would secure eternal glory.” In conclu- 
 sion, the sovereign pontiff entreats Houlagou to reveal 
 to the Patriarch of Jerusalem the secret of his inten- 
 tions, in order that thus prepared he may be able to 
 take measures for the common cause with all conve- 
 nient celerity. 
 
 It was, in fact, highly desirable to know what were 
 the intentions of the Tartars; for the barrier that 
 
270 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 separated them from the crusaders Avas broken, noAV 
 that Aleppo, Damascus, and Syria Avere almost entirely 
 subject to them. Houlagou, Avhile confiding his autho- 
 rity to Kitou-Boga, had ordered him to conquer Jeru- 
 salem and restore it to the Christians ; and Kitou- 
 Boga Avas Avith great good Avill setting about the 
 execution of the order, Avhen an unfortunate occurrence 
 entirely put to flight his friendly feelings. The Chris- 
 tians of Sidon and of the castle of Beaufort had made 
 a sally against the Saracens, in Avhich they Iiad carried 
 off considerable bootyq and the nepheAV of Kitou-Boga, 
 being in the neighbourhood, hastened to the spot, and 
 in the name of his uncle demanded his share of the 
 prize. The Christians refused to giA'^e it up, charged 
 the Tartars, and killed, along Avith others, the iiepheAV 
 of Kitou-Boga ; and Avhen the neAvs of this untoAvard 
 event Avas brought to the general, he mounted his horse 
 and ordered an immediate attack on Sidon, AA'hich he 
 took, and destroyed the greater part of the fortifications. 
 From that moment, says the monk Hay ton, the Chris- 
 tians and Tartars had no confidence in each other any 
 more. 
 
 The taking of Sidon Avas up to this time the first 
 harm the Tartars had done the Franks ; but there Avas 
 noAV reason to apprehend that the latter Avould them- 
 selves have to repulse the formidable force that tliey had 
 been trying to turn against the Saracens. The Tartars, 
 in fact, did not long delay sending them a summons to 
 submission, and the military Orders of Templars and 
 Hospitallers, in Avlioin piety and valour Avere so Avell 
 blended, held a meeting, according to their custom, 
 during the night, to deliberate upon the course to be 
 taken. The Bishop of Bethlehem pronounced an ana- 
 
EUROrE IN DREAD OF A TARTAR INVASION. 271 
 
 tliema upon those who should be cowardly enough to 
 yield — and the reply of the knights was to the effect, 
 that they had not quitted the world and devoted them- 
 selves to God for the sake of living in ease and delight, 
 but to die for Jesus Christ ; the Tartars might, there- 
 fore, come when they would, they would always find 
 the servants of Christ ready to defend the Christian 
 law unto the death. 
 
 The Tartars, upon whom so many hopes had been 
 founded, were now become objects of universal terror ; 
 and all Syria seemed affected by the same panic fear. 
 Letters were written, and deputies sent to Europe to 
 implore help from the kings of the West ; and the 
 report Avas soon current that Antioch and Tripoli Avere 
 already in the hands of the Mongols. One envoy 
 came even as far as England, Avhere a council was 
 assembled, and the people Avere enjoined to seek by 
 prayer and fasting, and penitential tears, to move the 
 mercy of Heaven to remove the dreadful scourge that 
 was once more menacing Christendom. 
 
 On the intelligence being transmitted by the Pope to 
 Paris, St. Louis convoked an assembly of lords and 
 bishops, to discuss the means of averting a misfortune 
 that seemed so imminent. “ A procession,” says 
 William of Nangis, “ was ordered AAUth litanies and 
 orisons, and every one was to take care not to swear or 
 take in vain the names of our Lord or his saints, and 
 to keep himself from sin, and from a superfluity of 
 garments and of meats.” It was also ordained that for 
 two years no tournament should be held, and that it 
 should be forbidden to practise any game, except 
 archerj'^ and shooting with the crossbow. 
 
 In the following year, 1261, the Pope convoked a 
 
272 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 council-general at Eome, to consider wliat measures 
 could be taken to protect Christendom from the 
 ferocious hordes that menaced it. The sovereign 
 pontiff renewed his exhortations, and endeavoured to 
 arouse the Christian princes, not only against the 
 Mongols of Persia and Syria, but also against those 
 who were marching upon Hungary in consequence of 
 the refusal by King Bela of their offers of alliance — a 
 refusal that had been suggested by the Pope. The 
 most remote countries of Europe had to furnish a 
 contingent of men and money; and envoys came in 1262, 
 to announce to the Pope that Norway had all in 
 readiness. When he dismissed them. Urban IV. gave 
 them letters to the archbishop, and also to the Bishops 
 of Bergen, the Orcades, and Stavanger, to urge them 
 not to relax their efforts, since the succours that were 
 looked for from them became every day more necessary. 
 
 While these preparations were going on, however, 
 events were taking place that rendered them useless, 
 or at least changed their object ; for the Tartars were 
 now flying before the Egyptians. The Queen of Aleppo 
 had strengthened the forces of the Couttouz Sultan of 
 Egypt, who had now no longer anything to dread from 
 his Syrian rival, and finding his power so much in- 
 creased, resolved on endeavouring to drive out the 
 Tartars. He advanced therefore to Acre, where he en- 
 tered into a treaty with the Christians, and after having 
 given three days to tlie refreshment of his army, entered 
 Galilee, where Kitou-Boga was encamped, in the plain 
 of Tiberias, near a place called the Eountain-of Goliath. 
 Ho surprised the camp, and after several engagements, 
 defeated and killed Kitou-Boga, with several thousands 
 of his Tartars, — carried off his children as prisoners, — 
 
DECLINING POWER OF THE TARTARS. 
 
 273 
 
 pursued those who fled, and taught men that the 
 Tartars were not invincible. A victory gained over tlie 
 Mongols was in fact a thing hitherto unheard of in 
 these countries, and this of the Sultan of Kgypt power- 
 fully reanimated the hopes of the jMussulinans, whilst 
 its effects were in no less degree disastrous for the 
 Christians. At Damascus the unexpected victory was 
 no sooner proclaimed than the ^lussulmans rushed tu- 
 multuously to the houses of the Christians, pillaged 
 them from top to bottom, massacred the inhabitants, 
 and then burnt the churches of St. James and St. 
 Mary. 
 
 Symptoms of declining strength in the power of the 
 Tartars were soon manifest at many points, and in no 
 long time produced considerable modifications in their 
 policy. The dismemberment of the vast empire of 
 Tchinguiz-Khan was consummated ; and though even 
 its divisions formed powerful states, their power was 
 not so great as to make Europe and Asia tremble, and 
 we shall soon see these haughty Mongols, who before 
 would scarcely deign even to receive ambassadors from 
 other nations, and offered only the alternatives of sub- 
 mission or destruction, bending their pride to make the 
 first advances to Christian sovereigns, and more espe- 
 cially to the kings of France, who were in the East ge- 
 nerally regarded as the most powerful of all. 
 
 Houlagou, as we have seen, quitted Syria to ascend 
 the imperial throne, left vacant by the death of Mangou- 
 Khan ; but he came too lute, and found the place taken, 
 Kublai, his brother, having been elected emperor in his 
 stead, in the year 1260. This was the prince who to 
 the north of China, already subjected by the Tartars, 
 added the territory of Mangy, or Southern China. He 
 
 VOL. I. T 
 
274 
 
 CHKISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC- 
 
 even attempted the conquest of Japan, but with no other 
 result than the loss of his fleet. At other points, how- 
 ever, he was more fortunate. He rendered Tong-king, 
 Cochin China, and Pegu, tributary to his empire, and 
 subjugated Thibet, and the country which separates the 
 course of the Ganges from the rivers of Eastern Asia ; 
 but no narrative extant affords so adequate an idea of 
 Kublai and his vast dominions, as the travels of Marco 
 Polo, of which we shall presently speak. 
 
 Whilst this potentate was extending his conquests in 
 the extreme East, the Mongol Empire in the West was 
 undergoing divisions from which resulted some curious 
 changes in the relations of the Tartars with the Persians 
 and the Franks. The first missionary sent to a ^longol 
 chief had, as we have seen, incurred great danger, and 
 the question had been mooted of the expediency of 
 skinning him alive, and stuffing his skin with straw. 
 The envoys of St. Louis had been treated with less bar- 
 barity, but with excessive pride and insolence. But the 
 successes of the Mamelukes of Egypt now produced 
 some striking modifications in the tone and behaviour 
 of the Mongols. The victory gained over his army at 
 the Fountain of Goliath had tended greatly to enlighten 
 Houlagou as to the possible advantages of an alliance 
 with the Christians ; and no sooner had the news 
 reached him than he assembled an army, summoned 
 the princes of Georgia and Armenia, and despatched 
 emissaries to the P'rank princes in the East, to induce 
 them to march against the Sultan of Itgypt and 
 the other Mussulmans. It is difficult to imagine what 
 might have been the issue of such an expedition, had it 
 not been checked at the outset by the death of Houlagou. 
 The Franks flattered themselves that if they had met 
 
DEATHS OF IIOULAGOU AND IIIS WIFE. 275 
 
 wltli success, the Holy Land would have been given up 
 to them by tlie Tartars, without any difficulty, as the 
 latter could not accustom themselves to the excessive 
 heat of its climate. They hoped also that they would 
 have been exempted from all taxes and tributes, like the 
 Christians of Armenia and Georgia ; but it is not pro- 
 bable that the same favours would have been granted 
 them, unless on the same conditions ; that is to say, 
 they would have had to recognise the sovereign autho- 
 rity of the Khan, and to follow him into whatever 
 part of his empire lie should choose to carry his arms. 
 
 rioulagou died in his camp, on the banks of the 
 Tchogatou, in the month of February, 1265, at the age 
 of forty-eight, and was buried in an island in the midst 
 of the Lake of Ormia, where he had built a fortress to 
 contain his treasures. Some months afterwards followed 
 the death of Doghouz-Khatoun, who had held the first 
 rank amongst his wives. “ This princess,” says the 
 historian Raschid, “was brought up in the Christianity 
 professed by the Keraite nation to which she belonged, 
 and she constantly protected her fellow believers ; it 
 was through her influence that Houlagou was induced 
 to show so much favour to the Christians, who, profiting 
 
 S by this period of prosperity, built churches in all the 
 provinces of his dominions. At the entrance of the 
 ^ Ordou of Doghouz-Khatoun, there was always a church 
 !' whence the sound of bells could be heard.” 
 
 ' The deaths of Houlagou and his wife were deeply 
 
 deplored by the Christians of Asia. “ At the beginning 
 of Lent,” exclaims Bar-Hebraeus *, “ died tioulagou, 
 whose wisdom, magnanimity, and great exploits have 
 
 1 * Bar-Hebraeus, Dyn. xi. p. .542. 
 
 ' T 2 
 
276 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 HO parallel ; and in the summer following, his faithful 
 queen Doghouz-Khatoun also quitted this world. By 
 the disappearance of these two stars, the protectors of 
 the Christian faith, the Christians of the whole world 
 have been plunged into sorrow and mourning.” An- 
 other writer of the time * goes so far as to compare 
 them to Constantine and Helena. These strange exag- 
 gerations prove how great were usually the sutferings 
 of the Christians, since the smallest manifestations of 
 good-will were capable of inspiring such warmth of 
 gratitude. 
 
 Houlagou was succeeded by his son Abaga, who, 
 though he placed a Mussulman at the head of his 
 council, was nevertheless a friend to the Christians, 
 either from policy, or from complaisance to his wife, 
 who was of that faith. Houlagou, a short time before 
 his death, had asked in marriage a daughter of Michael 
 Paleologus, the emperor of Byzantium, and the latter 
 had bestowed on him the hand of one of his natural 
 daughters, named Maria, whose mother was of the 
 family of Diplovatatzi. Theodosius de Ville Hardouin, 
 archimandrite of the convent of Pantocrator f, or, 
 according to others J, Euthymius, the Greek Patriarch 
 of Antioch, was charged to conduct her to the king of 
 
 * “The great and pious king, the master of the world, the hope 
 of the Christians, Houlagou-Khan, died in the year 1265, and was 
 soon followed by his excellent wife, Doghouz-Khatoun. The Lord 
 knows that tliey were scarcely inferior to Constantine and his mother 
 Helena. As Houlagou loved tlie Cliristians, all nations which pro- 
 fessed the true faith obeyed him willingly and were of great help to 
 liim.” — “Hist, des Orpelians,” in the “ Memoires sur TArmenie” of 
 VI. Saint Martin. 
 
 I Du Cange, Anc. Byzant., p. 235. Pachymeres, vol. iii. p. 1044. 
 
 J Aboulfaradge, Chron. Syr. p. 567. Bar-Hebraeus, p. 567. 
 
UNION BETWEEN CHRISTIANS AND TARTARS. 277 
 
 the Tartars ; but on her arrival at Cesarea she heard 
 of his death. She continued her journey nevertheless, 
 and arriving at the court of Abaga, was married by him, 
 and thus became a Queen of the Mongols. She had, it 
 appears, some interest in the glory of her religion, for 
 she petitioned her father to send two painters to deco- 
 rate the Greek church of Tauris. 
 
 Abaga, however, would in all probability scarcely 
 have been induced by his wife’s teelings of piety to 
 make common cause with the Europeans, had not the 
 Sultan of Egypt, eager to avenge on the Christians the 
 evils they had brought upon Islam, attacked the King of 
 Armenia, at the same time that he laid siege to Antioch. 
 One of the vassals of the Mongol sovereignty, and the 
 most powerful of the principalities founded by the 
 Crusaders, being thus menaced at the same moment, 
 the common danger unavoidably led to a union betAveen 
 the Christians and the Tartars ; and Europe saw with 
 joy the Mussulman power of Eg}^pt engaged with a 
 formidable enemy avIio had extended his frontiers to the 
 confines of Syria. The less she was herself disposed, 
 at that epoch, when the enthusiasm for the Crusades 
 was almost extinct, to make any efforts for the succour 
 of the Syrian colonies, the more she was inclined to 
 count on the assistance of the Mongols. 
 
 On the other hand, the effects of the division of the 
 Mongol empire began to be felt. The Tartar princes 
 could not as sovereigns dispose of such armies as they 
 had commanded as generals of the Grand Khan, and 
 their neighbours on the North and East, instead of 
 being auxiliaries, as they were formerly, now often had 
 interests opposed to theirs. The Sultan of Egypt found 
 means to excite the jealousy of the Khans of Kiptchak, 
 
278 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 and concluded a treaty with them, by which they agreed 
 to invade the territories of Abaga every time that he 
 should attack the Egyptians. To counterbalance the 
 effect of this treaty, therefore, the Mongols sought the 
 alliance of the Christians, and Abaga wrote to the Pope 
 a letter that he sent by an ambassador. Several letters 
 had been received at Rome before, purporting to come 
 from this Tartar prince ; but, as they were written in 
 Latin, they could not be supposed to come directly from 
 Abaga, but must have been the work of some of the 
 Christians of the East, acting under his orders, or 
 possibly sometimes without them. However that may 
 have been, this letter of 1267 was written in Mongol, 
 and when it came there was nobody in Rome who could 
 read it, so that the Pope was obliged to get the envoy 
 who brought it, to give him some verbal information of 
 its contents. 
 
 This explains how the Pope, in his reply to the 
 Tartar prince, came to appear so entirely satisfied of 
 his conversion, and also the supposition that Abaga had 
 shared in the rejoicing at the victory of Charles of 
 Anjou over Manfred. Abaga, according to the testi- 
 mony of Hayton himself, was not a Christian, and the 
 defeat of Manfred, though so interesting a matter to the 
 Ploly See, must have been of very small importance to the 
 Khan of Persia. These two points were most likely in- 
 troduced into the letter by the person who undertook 
 the translation of it, in order to render the court of 
 Rome more favourably disposed to the Tartars. 
 
 Abaga really manifested an intention of proceeding 
 with his father-in-law, Michael Paleologus, to the help 
 of the Christians against the Saracens; and he asked 
 the Pope to point out the route to be taken by the 
 
clement’s letter to abaga. 
 
 279 
 
 Christian kings in the expedition they were preparing, 
 in order that he iniglit concert measures in accordance 
 with them. 
 
 Clement replied in the following terms : — 
 
 “ AVe have received lately a noble messenger from 
 your greatness, who presented to us letters from you, 
 and from which we have learned what he has verbally 
 reported to us. No person in our palace being capable 
 of reading those letters, since you did not, according to 
 your custom, write in the Latin tongue, we were obliged 
 to depend upon the words of your messenger, and reply 
 accordingly to your magnificence. 
 
 “ Before all things, we return thanks to God, the giver 
 of all good, that he has been pleased to enlighten the 
 eyes of your heart, and cause you humbly to adore his 
 only Son, crucified, for the salvation of the human race. 
 You rejoice, you say, at the victory we have gained in 
 the kingdom of Sicily over Manfred, the natural son of 
 the ex-Roman emperor. This rash usurper fell on the 
 field of battle, with a multitude of perfidious Christians 
 and Saracens, losing at the same time his life and his 
 throne, by the powerful hand of our dear Son in Jesus 
 Christ, Charles of Anjou, on whom we had bestowed the 
 kingdom. This is what the kings of France and 
 Navarre *, followed by a considerable number of counts, 
 barons, and knights, have determined to do with respect 
 to the Holy Land. Having taken the sign of the cross, 
 they are preparing to combat, valiantly and powerfully, 
 the enemies of religion. Already in other countries 
 many lords and men of the common sort, animated by 
 their example, have resolved to exalt with all their might 
 
 * Thibaud, King of Navarre. 
 
280 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 the name of Jesus Christ, and destroy the power, the 
 religion, and even the very name of the Saracens. You 
 write to us that you propose to join your father-in-law, 
 and come to the help of the Latins, and for this we re- 
 turn ‘you abundant and fervent thanks. As for the 
 route which our people design to take, we cannot inform 
 you of that until we shall have consulted the other 
 sovereigns, but we will communicate to them your in- 
 tentions, and those of your father-in-laAv, in order that 
 they may the better deliberate on what they will have 
 to do ; and we will inform your magnificence by a 
 messenger of what shall have been resolved upon. 
 Persevere, then, great prince, in your salutary resolu- 
 tion, for you may trust that God, if you serve Him faith- 
 fully, will secure and exalt your tlirone. In Him is all 
 power, and might, and empire, and the hearts of kings 
 are in his hands. With a glance of his eye he rules the 
 universe, and none can resist his will.” * 
 
 Clement X. doubtless did not fail to inform the 
 Ivinas of France and Navarre, and even the King^ of 
 England, of the offer of Abaga, though no written 
 proof that he did so is to be found in the chronicles of 
 the time ; in other countries, however, the effects of this 
 negotiation become visible. We find that in 1269, an 
 ambassador frotn Michael Paleologus and the Grand 
 Khan of the Tartars came to Valence James, Kiim of 
 Arragon, and the historian Mariana asserts that tliis was 
 the second embassy the King of Arragon had received 
 from the Tartars, and that these new ambassadors came 
 in company with one John Alaric, a native of Perpignan, 
 who had been sent to Turtary in answer to the first 
 mission. 
 
 * The Pope’s letter is dated Viterbo, 1 267. 
 
EXPEDITION OF THE KING OF AKRAGON. 281 
 
 The ambassadors stopped to rest at Barcelona, but 
 Alaric passed on to Toledo, and having been admitted 
 before a Junta of the principal nobles of the country, he 
 gave them a detailed account of what he had seen, 
 and of the result of liis embassy. The king, notwith- 
 standing his great age, desired to go in person to the 
 Crusade, but his son-in-law, Don Alphonso, and the 
 Queen of Castile endeavoured to deter him from this 
 proceeding, by representations of the treachery of the 
 Greeks and the ferocity of the Tartars; but their 
 entreaties, and even tears, were of no avail. The result 
 of his enterprise is well known, — that he was cast by a 
 tempest on Aigues Mortes, and compelled to return to 
 his dominions.* 
 
 It would have been far better for the Christian powers 
 to have accepted the overtures of Abaga, and entered 
 boldly into the confederation that he proposed to them : 
 but the fatal expedition to Tunis in 1270, in which the 
 Mongols could take no part, forfeited the advantages of 
 an alliance so desirable for the Crusaders. 
 
 Edward, the eldest son of the King of England, was 
 the only one who went direct to the Holy Land ; but his 
 arrival was not sufficient to change the aspect of affairs ; 
 while Abaga, occupied in distant wars, could not even 
 afford succour to the King of Armenia, who found himself 
 obliged to treat with the Sultan of Egypt, in order to 
 save his dominions, and to obtain the liberty of his son, 
 who had been taken prisoner by the Saracens. 
 
 As soon, however, as Abaga had concluded the affair 
 that had detained him in the remote East, he hastened 
 to encounter the Sultan of Egypt, who had entered 
 
 * Mariana, vol. i. p. 655. 
 
282 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Asia Minor. He attacked him with a powerful army, ■ 
 and drove him from the kingdom of Turkey, which he 
 offered, it is said, to Hayton, King of Armenia. But the 
 latter was wise enough to refuse so dangerous a present, 
 which would only have served to irritate the Sultan of 
 Egypt against him. 
 
 He contented himself with asking Abaga to cooperate 
 in delivering the Holy Land from the Saracen yoke ; and 
 the Khan agreed to a proposal so conformable to the in- 
 terests of his policy, and again sent ambassadors to the 
 Pope and other Christian sovereigns, in order to come 
 to an understanding with them upon the projected ex- 
 pedition. 
 
 These ambassadors, six in number, arrived at Lyons 
 at the beginning of 1274, for the second council, where, 
 thanks to the exertions of the Franciscan Nuncios, re- 
 peatedly sent to Constantinople, the Greeks and Latins 
 came to a harmonious agreement in matters of faith. 
 Gregory X. hastened to announce to Abaga the arrival 
 of his ambassadors, and the good reception they had 
 met with ; he said also that he had read the letters of 
 which they were the bearers, and that before the 
 Christian army set out on its march, he would send 
 jirecise information on all points. The Tartar envoys 
 were then introduced to the Council at its fourth sitting 
 on the 6th of July, 1274 ; and the Pope made them sit 
 opposite liim at the feet of the patriarchs. The letters 
 they had brought were read, apparently according to 
 the version they had themselves given of the contents ; 
 and at the next meeting of the Council on the 16th of 
 July, the envoy wlio had acted as spokesman to the rest, 
 and two of the most distinguished Tartars who accom- 
 panied them, were baptized by Pierre de Tarentaise, 
 
MONGOL ENVOYS VISIT ENGLAND. 
 
 283 
 
 Cardinal of Ostia, afterwards Pope Innocent V. The 
 Sovereign Pontitf on this occasion presented some costly 
 robes to the Tartars, and he always made a point of 
 having them present at all the religious ceremonies, 
 with the pomp and splendour of which they were greatly 
 struck ; but it does not appear that this solemn em- 
 bassy ever had any very important political results. 
 
 The ^longol envoys who went to England were also 
 received with great attention, but the success of their 
 mission was just as little decisive as in France. Edward I. 
 replied to Abaga in a letter written in Latin, and dated 
 from Bellus locus regis, January 26th, 1274. It was to 
 the following effect : — 
 
 “ The devout Friar David of the order of Preachers, 
 chaplain to Friar Thomas, Patriarch of Jerusalem, and 
 legate of the Apostolic See, has arrived at our court, 
 and presented to us letters addressed by you to the 
 Holy Father, and the other Christian sovereigns. \Ve 
 have therein seen the affection you bear to the 
 Christian religion, and the resolution you have taken 
 to lend assistance to the Christians of the Holy Land 
 against the enemies of Christendom. We pray your 
 magnificence to execute this holy project ; but we can- 
 not at the present moment tell you anything certain 
 touching the epoch of our own arrival in the Holy Land, 
 and the passage of the Christians, since at this present 
 wi'iting nothing has been settled by the Sovereign 
 Pontiff relatively to the said passage ; but as soon as Ave 
 shall ourselves know anything positive thereupon, as we 
 speedily shall, we Avill not fail to instruct you of it. 
 
 “ We recommend to the care of your mightiness the 
 Holy Land, and all the Christians of the East.” 
 
284 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 All these attempts at coalition had, however, very 
 little effect, for notwithstanding the increasing power of 
 the Mussulmans, the losses of the Crusaders, and the 
 exhortations of the Sovereign Pontiff, the princes of 
 Europe were then too seriously occupied with cares of 
 their own nearer home, for them to think much of 
 profiting by the alliance of the Tartars. 
 
 Two years afterwards, in 1276, under the pontificate 
 of John XXL, two strangers, calling themselves am- 
 bassadors from Abaga, arrived at Rome. They stated 
 their names to be John and James Yassili, and being 
 admitted to the Assembly of Cardinals, they explained 
 the object of their mission, partly vivd voce, and partly 
 from letters that they had in their hands. It was a 
 repetition of the offers of the Tartar monarch, who 
 undertook to afford succour to the Christian armies if 
 they would proceed to Syria, and even to furnish them 
 Avith any provisions of which they might have need. 
 
 Neither John XXII., nor his successor Nicholas III., 
 Avould undertake to give a positive answer to Abaga’s 
 ambassadors, but induced them to go themselves to 
 inquire into the intentions of the Christian kings ; and, 
 as in the former instance, some of the envoys went to 
 Spain to try and excite tlie princes of Arragon and 
 Castile to an expedition to Syria, whilst others pro- 
 ceeded to France and England ivith the same intention, 
 and somewhat better prospect of success. This is what 
 William of Nangis reports concerning their arrival at 
 tlie court of Philip III. of France.* 
 
 “ At the time, which ivas that of the Incarnation of 
 our Lord, in the year 1276, there came messengers 
 
 Vol. V. p. 535. 
 
SINCERITY OF THE ENVOYS DOUBTED. 
 
 285 
 
 from the King of the Tartars to King Philip of France, 
 who said that the said King of the Tartars had sent 
 them to say, that if the Christian kings would go into 
 the East against the Saracens, he would assist them. 
 
 “ When they had sojourned a long time in France, they 
 went to the King of England, and told him the same as 
 they had said to the King of France.” This same 
 historian adds, that some doubt was entertained whether 
 these envoys were not spies, for they were evidently 
 not Tartars, either by birth or education, but Christians 
 of Georgia. Philip III. nevertheless had them brought 
 to the abbey of Saint Denis, where he was then cele- 
 brating Easter. 
 
 One of the circumstances connected Avith these en- 
 voys may, especially as they Avere Georgians, inspire 
 some doubts of their sincerity, namely, their keeping 
 up the fiction of the conversion of the Grand Khan, 
 Avitli Avhich their predecessors had entertained tlie Pope 
 and the cardinals. According to them, Kublai, the 
 supreme master of all the Tartars, had received bap- 
 tism, and desired the Pope to send him some persons 
 Avell versed in divine things, in order that they might 
 instruct his children. The negotiators doubtless con- 
 sidered that they could say nothing more likely to be 
 agreeable to the Pontifical Court, and it does not 
 appear that the repetition of the tale had at all lessened 
 its effect with those Avho were so very willing to believe 
 it : so easy is it to lap oneself in a sweet delusion con- 
 cerning what one desires very eagerly. The conversion 
 of the ^longols was an object of much solicitude to the 
 Church and the Sovereign Pontiff, but it does not 
 appear that the Tartars really had more sympathy for 
 the Christians than for any other nation, but they 
 
2S6 CIimSTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 crushed them all indifferently whenever their policy or 
 their interest seemed to demand it. They feigned 
 friendship for Christianity and Christian princes merely 
 that they might ol^ain the assistance they needed ; but 
 they had much more regard for their OAvn armies than 
 for any religion whatever. It is true, however, that 
 the Christian missionaries scattered about the further 
 parts of Asia did at this time receive a friendly recep- 
 tion from the Grand Khan, who was occupied in 
 endeavouring by all methods to effect the civilisation of 
 his still barbarous subjects. With this view he received 
 equally well all religious foreigners of whatever country 
 or creed. But Kublai Khan was, nevertheless, in no 
 respect a Christian, and from the year 1260, he had made 
 his choice of the religion which he desired his subjects 
 to embrace. Following the example of the ancient 
 kings of India, of several Tartar princes, and of some 
 Chinese emperors of the great dynasty of Thang, he 
 had created a pontiff, under the title of “ ]\Iaster of the 
 Kingdom,” and had honoured with this office a young 
 Buddhist ecclesiastic, a Thibetan by birth, who had 
 been for seven years a great favourite with him. It 
 was through this person, whose family held the office of 
 high priest to the kings of Thibet for ten generations, 
 that the succession of the ancient Buddhist patriarchs 
 was continued, and that of Grand Lamas commenced ; 
 and it was also since his time that Lamaism, or re- 
 formed Buddhism, became the common religion of all 
 Mongols. History informs us that the adoption of a 
 new worship was with Kublai an affair of policy rather 
 than of conviction ; and, indeed, one must know very 
 little of the Chinese, amongst whom Kublai had been edu- 
 cated, to suppose that conviction has usually had any- 
 
THE POPE SENDS A MISSION TO TARTAUY, 287 
 
 thing to do with the religious systems accepted by their 
 princes. 
 
 Even thougli it were proved that Kublai liad been 
 baptized, as the two Vassalis asserted, we could not from 
 that infer that he was a Christian, but merely tliat he 
 had consented to add one ceremony more to those of 
 the Tao-sse, the Buddhists, and the Literary Sect, all of 
 which he practised indifferently. 
 
 Such is the effect of the agreement which the Mongol 
 emperors, and in our own time the sovereigns of the 
 Mantchoo dynasty, have found means to establish 
 between the disciples of Confucius, who worship no- 
 thing, and the common-place idolatry of the polytlieists 
 of India and China, who worship everything. “ There 
 is but one religion,” it is declared ; “ but the sages of 
 each country have varied its forms according to time 
 and place.” 
 
 Whatever doubts may have existed concerning the 
 alleged conversion of Abaga and Kublai, Pope John 
 XXII. determined to verify a fact so important to the 
 Church, and proposed therefore to send with the two 
 Vassalis several missionaries to Tartary ; and though 
 this project was retarded by his death, it was put in 
 execution by his successor Nicholas III. This pontiff 
 chose five monks of the Franciscan order, named 
 Gerard de Prato, Antony of Parma, John of St. Agatha, 
 Andre of Florence, and Matthew of Arezzo, who were 
 to be the bearers of letters to Abaga and Kublai, and 
 also to labour in the conversion of the Mongols. The 
 letter remitted to Abaga by the Pope’s envoys was as 
 follows * : — 
 
 * Odor Raynald, vol. iv. ann. 1278, No. 18. p. 282. "Wadding, 
 “ Annales Minorura,” vol. v. p. 36. 
 
288 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 “ To the Excellent and Magnificent prince 
 Abaga, the illustrious king of the Oriental 
 Tartars, may he walk in the way of truth ! 
 
 “ The holy Roman Church is thrilling with joy in the 
 Lord, for the happy news that the messengers of your 
 magnificence have reported both verbally and in 
 writing to our predecessor Pope John and our brethren 
 the cardinals. These letters say that if a Christian 
 army should disembark in the Holy Land, you promise 
 to provide for its wants, and to assist it in person to the 
 utmost of your power, against the enemies of the 
 Christian faith. You declare at the end of these 
 letters that we may put entire confidence in what these 
 envoys may say to us on your behalf, and they have told 
 us things pleasing to God, and pleasing to our prede- 
 cessor and our brethren, amongst whom I then fulfilled 
 the functions of cardinal. What happy news are these, 
 and how worthy to be received with holy rapture, 
 since they involve the salvation of so many souls ! We 
 speak of the intelligence thus conveyed to us, that our 
 dear son in Jesus Christ, your uncle Kublai, Grand 
 Khan, Emperor and Moderator of all the Tartars, has 
 been baptized, and solicits the Church of Rome to send 
 him some qualified persons to instruct you, your 
 children, and your people in the Christian religion. 
 
 “ Let our mother Church rejoice that by the merciful 
 clemency of Jesus Clirist her spouse, it is given to her 
 to regenerate so many children in the waters of baptism. 
 Let the pastor of the Church rejoice that in his day Chris- 
 tianity has received an addition to the flock of countless 
 nations ! What gladness will there be in the celestial 
 courts, at the safe return of so many lost sheep, since, 
 according to the gospel, there is more rejoicing there 
 
LETTER OF NICHOLAS III. TO KUBLAI KHAN. 2oJ 
 
 over one sinner who repents, than over ninety and nine 
 just men who need no repentance. Oh ! what liappy 
 days are ours if it should be permitted us to furnish to 
 tlie celestial courts such a subject of joy ! Truly are 
 these things that your majesty announces to us vast 
 and sublime. The finger of God has assuredly touched 
 your heart, since you are inllamed by such holy zeal, 
 that you are willing to place at the service of Christ, 
 and against His enemies your own person, the strength 
 of your people, and your whole empire with all its 
 power and resources.” The Pope then concludes by 
 earnestly recommending to the Tartar prince the 
 missionaries that he is sending to him, and the Chris- 
 tians resident in his dominions. The letter to Kublai 
 Khan was precisely to the same effect, and his holiness 
 at the same time conferred, by letters patent of the 
 same date, very extensive powers upon the five 
 Franciscans. He authorises them to preach the word 
 of God in all countries subject to the Tartars, to 
 baptize Abaga, his children, his subjects, and all others 
 who are willing to be converted to the unity of the 
 Christian faith, and to do, collectively and individually, 
 all that may contribute to the glory of God and the 
 propagation of the holy faith.* 
 
 The historians of the period do not afford us suffi- 
 cient details to enable us to appreciate the results of 
 this new mission to the Tartars. The barbarism of 
 the Mongols, the indifference of the Chinese, the 
 prejudices of the idolaters, the rivalry of the Nes- 
 torians, who had previously made considerable progress 
 in those countries, and moreover the ignorance of the 
 
 * Wadding, “ Annales Minoi’um,” vol. v. p. 40. 
 
 VOL. I. U 
 
290 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 missionaries of the languages and customs of the 
 nations they were commissioned to evangelise, must 
 have opposed very formidable obstacles to their success. 
 It may be conjectured, nevertheless, that their exer- 
 tions were not altogether fruitless, for we hear that the 
 provincial of the Franciscans established in Hungary 
 wrote to the sovereign pontiff to beg him to send a 
 bishop to Tartary, since “ several of our brethren who 
 reside amongst the Tartars, and preach the faith of 
 Jesus Christ to them with zeal, have by divine grace, 
 converted great numbers of them.” * 
 
 Pope Nicholas III., in consequence of this applica- 
 tion desired Philip, Bishop of Firman, and Legate 
 Apostolic, to consecrate a bishop to whom he should 
 assign whatever revenues might be raised from those 
 countries, and which would otherwise acrue to the Holy 
 See. Jlistory has not recorded the name of the bishop 
 sent, nor the results of his ministry ; but the necessity 
 for creating episcopal sees, affords in itself a proof that 
 Christianity must have made considerable progress in 
 Upper Asia. 
 
 * “ Quam plures fratres ejusdem ordinis inler Tartaros comrao- 
 rantur, qui fidera Christ! gratiosis studiis annunciantes eisdcm, multos 
 ex eis ad fidem ipsam, divina co-operante gratia converterunt.” — 
 Wadding, vol. v. p. 42. 
 
291 
 
 CHAP. Vlll. 
 
 NESTOKUN PROPAGANDISM IN 111011 ASIA. — THE APOSTATE AHMED. 
 
 ARGOUN, KHAN OF PERSIA. — IHS LETTER TO HONORIUS IV 
 
 LETTERS OF NICHOLAS IV. TO ARGOL'N. — QUEEN OF TOUKTAN. — 
 ARGOUN AND PHILIP THE FAIR. — NEWS FROM THE MISSION IN 
 
 CHINA. — CONVERSION OF SEVERAL TARTAR PRINCES. LETTER OF 
 
 THE POPE TO GAZAN, SON OF ARGOUN. — HIS AVIFE AND CHILD 
 
 CONDEMNED TO BE BURNT ALIVE. ATTEJIPTS AT ALLIANCE BE- 
 
 TAVEEN THE TARTARS AND CHRISTIANS. — EMPIRE OF KUBLAL — 
 RELIGIONS OF CHINA. — CONFUCIUS. — LAO-TZE. — BUDDHA. 
 
 The success of the Catholic missions in Tartary could not, 
 it must be admitted, be compared with the propagation 
 of Nestorianism in those countries. Not only did the 
 Nestorians possess numerous churches in Tartary, but 
 they were spread throughout the Chinese empire, andtheir 
 disciples AA'ere multiplying from day to day, as Ave learn 
 from their historians and from the testimony of Marco 
 Polo. At Khanbalik, or Pekin, which Kublai had 
 made the capital of his empire, they had a Metropolitan 
 church, dependent on the Patriarch or Catholicos of 
 Seleucia. In 1279*, the Metropolitan of China having 
 died, the Patriarch John Denha hastened to send him a 
 successor, and he had ordained for this office a certain 
 Simeon-Bar-Kalig, formerly a bishop in Khorassan, but 
 who, before setting out for his post at Pekin, revolted 
 against the Patriarch, and was consequently arrested by 
 
 * Assemani, “ Bibliotheca Orientalis.’ 
 u 2 
 
292 CITRTSTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 him, thrown into prison, in the monastery of St. Abraham, 
 in the town of Sahaka, and forfeited of all his possessions. 
 The Metropolitan of Pekin, however, found means to 
 escape from his dungeon, and fled to the mountains, but 
 was retaken by the mountaineers, and brought back to 
 the Catholicos, who again sent him to prison. A few days 
 afterwards, he died, as well as several bishops who had 
 been the accomplices of his revolt and shared in his cap- 
 tivity ; and it was believed they all perished of a violent 
 death by order of the Patriarch. 
 
 In the meantime, two monks, belonging to the nation 
 of Oigours, presented themselves to the Patriarch Denha. 
 They had left China and gone on a pilgrimage to Jeru- 
 salem, to visit the place sanctified by the life and death 
 of the Saviour of men ; and the Patriarch now created 
 one of them, named Jaballaha, Metropolitan of Pekin, 
 in the place of Simeon-Bar-Kaly. Jaballaha was just on 
 the point of setting out to take possession of his see, 
 when John Denha died, and a Tartar chief, who was 
 related to these two monks, in announcing the death of 
 the Patriarch to Abaga, pointed out Jaballaha as 
 worthy to be his successor ; though Aboulfarage reports 
 that he was a rude and illiterate man, though pious.* 
 
 Abaga, in consequence of this recommendation, imme- 
 diately issued a proclamation, by which he ordered the 
 consecration of Jaballaha to the dignity of the Patri- 
 archate, and the Nestorian bishops, docile to the injunc- 
 tions of the Khan of the Mongols, betook themselves in 
 all haste to Seleucia, and proclaimed with pomp and so- 
 lemnity the new Patriarch or Catholicos. The other 
 
 * “ Eum rudem quidem et indoctum, sed pium tamen fuisse.”, — 
 Aboulfaradje apud Asscmani, vol. xiii. p. 257. 
 
DEATH OF AHAGA. 
 
 293 
 
 Oigour monk, named Barsuma, the companion of 
 Jaballalia, was made a bishop in his own country. 
 
 All these facts arc related to show that if the Nesto- 
 rian Christians did succeed in rendering themselves po- 
 pular among the Tartars, it was much at the expense of 
 their dignity and independence. They did not so much 
 convert these barbarous hordes, as submit to their yoke, 
 and the servile condition into which the Nestorian 
 bishops had fallen is obvious from their having been 
 willing, at a word from a Tartar prince, to place an 
 Oigour monk at the head of their church. If the 
 Franciscans had fewer proselytes, it may be because they 
 Avere more tenacious of the purity of their doctrines and 
 the integrity of their characters. 
 
 Abaga was just preparing to undertake a new war 
 against the Mussulmans, when he perished by poison, in 
 the year 1282. The poison Avas said to have been ad- 
 raistered to him by a j\Iussulman at a banquet, of which 
 he partook, after having celebrated Easter with the 
 Christians. 
 
 Tagoudar, his brother and successor, was at first the 
 friend, but afterwards the bitter enemy, of Christianity. 
 This prince had been baptized in his youth, under the 
 name of Nicholas, and on his first accession to the throne 
 he shoAved such favour to the Christians and their reli- 
 gion as to build a great number of churches in Assyria 
 and ]\Iesopotamia ; and he published throughout his 
 empire an edict, by which he exempted from taxes and 
 tributes all monasteries, monks and bishops. But this 
 gracious disposition Avas of brief duration. He became 
 a i\[ussuhnan, took the name of Ahmed and the title of 
 Sultan, and then persecuted the Christians and destroyed 
 their churches. 
 
294 
 
 CHKISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Far, too, from continuing the negotiation for an alliance, 
 with the Christian powers, which Abaga had opened, he 
 desired to form one with the Sultan of Egypt, and he 
 hastened to send thither the Kadi of Sebaste, to an- 
 nounce his conversion to ]\Iahometanism, offer his 
 friendship to the Sultan, and undertake to propagate 
 everywhere the faith that he had just embraced. This 
 prince, therefore, who, but a short time before had been 
 counted on as the warm friend of the Christians, had 
 now become a pitiless tyrant to them, and was possessed 
 by so fanatical a zeal for the law of Mahomet, that he en- 
 deavoured to extirpate the very name of Christianit3% 
 The punishment of exile or death was proclaimed as the 
 penalty of worshipping Jesus Christ ; and during these 
 persecutions a great number of the Franciscans perished 
 in dreadful tortures.* 
 
 The conduct of the apostate Ahmed naturally excited 
 the indignation and hatred of all the Christians and 
 their numerous friends, and awakened no pity or sym- 
 pathy in the Mussulmans. The Sultan of Egypt re- 
 ceived the envoys of the new convert with much 
 distrust, and when they arrived at Biroh, he sent orders 
 to his lieutenants to watch them closely, so that no one 
 of the people of God might have access to or converse 
 with them. They were brought into Aleppo secretly, in 
 the night, and afterwards taken to Damascus and Cairo 
 in the same stealthy manner. They were then presented 
 to the Sultan, kissed the ground before him, delivered 
 their letter, and said what they had been ordered to say. 
 The letter was written in Arabic, and had thirteen seals; 
 its superscription was in an unaccustomed form, running 
 thus: — 
 
 * See Wadding, vol. v. p. 128. 
 
THE APOSTATE AHMED. 
 
 295 
 
 “ In the name of the most merciful God, by the power 
 of God, and under the auspices of the Kha-khan, this 
 from Ahmed to the Sultan of Egypt.” 
 
 The Sultan apparently did not admire this formula, 
 for in his answer, he mimicked its style in a sort of af- 
 fected way, and dryly replied to Ahmed’s epistle, word 
 for word. The ambassadors then received presents 
 and were sent back with the same precautions that had 
 been observed on their entrance. 
 
 In the following year, while tlie Sultan was at 
 Damascus, xVhmed made a second attempt, but it does 
 not seem to have succeeded better than the first. The 
 Emir left Aleppo to receive tlie new ambassadors ; into 
 whatever city they entered, it had to be in the night ; 
 their tents and arms were taken from them ; they were 
 watched like prisoners, and prohibited from holding 
 communication with any one. Ahmed did not, there- 
 fore, profit much by his apostacy ; it only served to 
 isolate him completely between the Mussulmans, who 
 could not trust, and the Christians, who abliorred him. 
 
 The Mussulmans were accustomed to regard the 
 jMongols as enemies almost as bitter as the Crusaders 
 themselves, and they could not believe in the sincerity 
 of the new sentiments professed by them ; whilst the 
 numerous vassals of the Mongols, who were attached to 
 Christianity, and the partisans of the ancient Tartar re- 
 ligion, alike felt the strongest dissatisfaction with the 
 conduct of Ahmed. The Tartar nations were accus- 
 tomed to the Christian ceremonies, and averse to a sect 
 which they had fought against so long, and wliose 
 pontift’ they had dethroned ; and they could not see 
 without indignation this same sect established in the 
 midst of them. The kings of Georgia and Armenia re- 
 
296 CITRISTTANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 fused obedience to Ahmed. Kublai himself threatened 
 him with his anger, for having wandered from the 
 footsteps of his ancestors; and his nephew Argoun, the 
 son of Abaga, raised against him the standard of revolt ; 
 defeated him in battle ; took him prisoner, and had him 
 beheaded in the presence of the army. 
 
 In the manifesto which Argoun publislied on this 
 occasion, he states that the princes of the blood royal 
 had, with one accord, driven Ahmed from the throne 
 for having abandoned the ancient laws of the Mongols, 
 to embrace the religion of the Arabs a religion unknown 
 to their forefathers ; that they had sent to the Grand 
 Khan to demand justice on this guilty man, and had 
 placed him, Argoun, on the throne of Persia, to govern 
 the countries situated between Djihoun, and the lands 
 of the Franks. Ahmed had been in power only two 
 years. 
 
 It would seem that the Khan Argoun owed his 
 victory, in a great measure, to the Christians, who Avere 
 then very numerous in the Tartar armies ; and it is even 
 said, that he had decorated his standards and his arms 
 Avith the cross, and triumphed over his enemies in the 
 name of Christ; and that, moreover, he had had a coin 
 struck Avhich bore on one side tlie representation of the 
 Holy Sepulchre, and on the other the AAmrds, “ In the 
 name of the Fatlier, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.” * 
 
 The apostacy of Ahmed, if it A\^as not the cause of his 
 full, Avas at least the pretext for it, and likely to make 
 his successor feel tlie necessity of folloAving an opposite 
 course ; and this, accordingly, Argoun did, as soon as 
 he liad seized on the throne of Persia. He had, in fact. 
 
 Odor Itiiymild, anii. 128d, No. 78. 
 
ARGOrN, KHAN OF FERSIA. 
 
 297 
 
 scarcely received from tlie Grand Khan Kublai the con- 
 firmation of his power than he resolved to attack the 
 ^Iiissulmans, witli the design, according to the historians 
 of tlie epoch, of getting himself baptized at Jerusalem, 
 as soon as he should have made himself master of it. 
 He also, guiding himself in all things by the example of 
 his father, Abaga, restored the churches that Ahmed 
 had destroyed ; and he put to death a great number of 
 the Mussulmans, and declared war against the Sultan 
 of Egypt. The kings of Armenia and Georgia came to 
 his court, and the Cliristians of the East renewed their 
 solicitations that he would rescue the Holy Land from 
 the hands of the Infidels. It was probably at their 
 suggestion that he wrote to Pope Honorius IV. 
 a letter, the contents of wliich are not easy to make out, 
 although a Latin translation of it has been preserved ; 
 many of the peculiarities of the ^longol style are trace- 
 able in this as in other documents of a similar nature ; 
 but the translator appears to have understood Mongol 
 rather better than he did Latin, and has made so many 
 mistakes that it is scarcely intelligible. Such as it is, 
 however, it serves, as Abel Remusat has observed, to 
 confirm the existence of the original in the Tartar 
 lan"ua2:e, for it is an almost literal translation from it. 
 The very barbarism of the expressions and the blunders 
 of which it is full, afford the best proof of its authenti- 
 city, and it is not impossible to any one acquainted with 
 the events to which it alludes, and the relation therein 
 indicated, to discover from it some curious particulars. 
 Argoun first makes mention of the good will entertained 
 by the Mongols, from the time of Tchinguiz-khan, “ their 
 first Father, for the Pope, the most serene King of the 
 Franks, and the most serene King Charles of Anjou, and 
 
298 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 he alludes to the protection they have always granted ta 
 the Christians, who have been exempt from tributes, and 
 living in freedom in their country, “ et omnium Chris- 
 tianorum non dentur aliquid de tributum^ etjiant franchi in 
 sua terra” and the favours heaped upon them by his 
 grandfather, Houlagou, and the good Abaga, his father. 
 He then goes on to speak of a certain Ise-Turcimen, or 
 Tse, the Interpreter, with several of his companions, who 
 were sent as envoys, it would seem, to the court of the 
 Pope and some other princes by the Grand Khan, and 
 who had received from them costly robes and perfumes, 
 roha et tus. He himself, he states, as soon as he had re- 
 ceived the favour of the Grand Khan, that is to say, the 
 investiture for the throne of Persia, thought of sending 
 presents to the Pope, ad domino sancto patri mittantur 
 rohas et tus. He j>roposes to restore to the Christians 
 all the advantages they have previously enjoyed, et habe- 
 mus in pensamentum de eos custodire, et facere gratiam. 
 
 The long interval that had elapsed since the last em- 
 bassy to the Christian princes is explained by the apostacy 
 of Ahmed, who “ anno preeterito Ameto erat intratus in 
 moribus Saracenorum” and who, for that reason, had 
 not kept the land of the Christians. Finally, he pro- 
 mises to the Franks a portion of the land of Scam, that 
 is to say, Egypt, “ terrain Scami, videlicet Egypti,” and 
 he desires the Christian princes to let him know by a 
 man worthy of trust, in Avhat place they propose to join 
 their forces to those of the IMongols, so that the Khan 
 and the Pope may annihilate the power of the Saracens. 
 The letter is dated in the year of the Cock, that is to say, 
 1285 , on the 18 th day of Madii, or IMay. The last 
 words of the letter, in coris, seem to indicate that it was 
 written in the city of Taiiris, for it was there that the 
 Mongol princes of Persia habitually resided. 
 
FRANCISCAN MISSIONS IN HIGH ASIA. 
 
 299 
 
 What answer the Pontiff made to Argoun is not on 
 record, but probably he contented himself with the 
 customary exhortations to protect the Christians, and 
 instruct himself in the true religion, without being very 
 explicit on the subject of the assistance the Tartars 
 asked for. At this epoch there was war among the 
 Christian princes themselves, and in the midst of in- 
 ternal commotions, they could not think of going on a 
 crusade to the Holy Land. 
 
 Argoun, however, was not discouraged, but pursuing 
 his object with tenacious perseverance, sent, in 1288, 
 a fresh embassy addressed to Nicholas IV., who had 
 just ascended the pontifical throne. The principal 
 person in this embassy was Barsuma, the Oigour monk, 
 who had been appointed to a bishopric by his travelling 
 companion, Jaballaha, who had, as we have seen, him- 
 self been made Patriarch of the Nestorians by the in- 
 fluence of Abaga. 
 
 Barsuma spoke to the Pope of the design of Argoun 
 to make war on the Saracens and take the Holy Land 
 from them, and he described to him the flourishing 
 condition of Christianity in Tartary and China, where 
 Kublai had always shown himself favourable to the 
 missionaries. 
 
 The Christian faith could hardly fail, in fact, to make 
 considerable progress in High Asia. The monks of 
 St. Francis were now scattered over these vast coun- 
 tries, and preaching the Gospel with zeal and perse- 
 verance. They had founded several missions, to which 
 new apostles were continually proceeding, who counted 
 as nothing the fatigues and dangers of these long and 
 toilsome journeys if they could only make God known, 
 and eflect the salvation of souls. 
 
300 CimiSTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Unfortunately Nestorianism was invading Tartary 
 and China at the same time. The Patriarch Jaballaha 
 was an Oigour Tartar, and it is well known with what 
 zeal he endeavoured to spread among his countrymen 
 his peculiar faith. These Nestorian missions were, 
 indeed, the greatest obstacle in the way of the Catholic 
 preachers ; and, if the extreme East was not Christian- 
 ised at this time, it must be attributed to this cause, 
 for the missionaries enjoyed . then, both in China and 
 Tartary, a liberty that was never afterwards accorded 
 to them in equal measure. 
 
 Pope Nicholas IV. returned to Argoun, by Bishop 
 Barsuma, a letter, in which he gave him a concise sum- 
 mary of Christian doctrine, and exhorted him to live in 
 conformity to the law of God. As for Argoun’s pro- 
 ject of getting himself baptized when he should have 
 taken Jerusalem, the Pope suggests that it would be 
 better to do so beforehand, as such a step would obtain 
 for him the protection of Heaven, and thus facilitate 
 the conquest he desired. By getting himself baptized 
 without delay, he would render himself more pleasing 
 to God, and influence by his example a great number of 
 his subjects. The Pontiff, addressed at the same time, 
 the following congratulatory letter to Queen Touktan, 
 the wife of Argoun, who he had been informed, pro- 
 fessed the Catholic faith. The superscription and form 
 of the letter arc rather peculiar. 
 
 “To my dear daughter in Jesus Christ, Touk- 
 tan, the illustrious Queen of the Tartars, health 
 and a])ostolic benediction. 
 
 “ My very dear daughter, we have learned by credible 
 testimony, that being enlightened by the torch of 
 
FRENCH E>rBAvSSY TO PERSIA. 
 
 301 
 
 Catholic truth, you not only fulfil with fervour your 
 religious duties, but also show yourself full of zeal in 
 exhorting others to make profession of the law of Jesus 
 Christ. These are things that will certainly render you 
 pleasing in the eyes of the Divine IMajesty, besides 
 gaining for you the praise of men, and augmenting 
 your renown. You acknowledge, like a respectful and 
 blessed daughter, the divine clemency, which has 
 brought you out of the darkness of infidelity into the 
 paths of truth and life. AVe implore you, in the name 
 of the Son of God, to have the eyes of your soul raised 
 towards the Lord, whose law you have embraced, to go 
 on increasing in all good, and, like the industrious bee, 
 never to cease gathering abundant merits, that you may 
 present them to the Lord your God, who will place in 
 his celestial garner the sheaf of your good works.”* 
 
 Nicholas wrote also to Denis, bishop of Tauris, from 
 whom he had received a letter with that of the Khan of 
 Persia. He congratulates him on his zeal for the pro- 
 pagation of the faith amongst the Tartars, recommends 
 the Franciscan missionaries to him, and exhorts him to 
 hold fast to the true Catholic faith, of which he for- 
 wards a summary. 
 
 The whole of this correspondence of the Sovereign 
 Pontiff, is of a purely religious character, and does not 
 seem to bear any relation to the political object which 
 the Tartars had chiefly in view ; but we must suppose 
 that the Pope did not lose sight of this point in the 
 negotiation, but communicated to Philip the Fair the 
 proposals brought by the ambassadors ; since, in 1288, 
 the king of France sent off an embassy to Persia. 
 
 These envoys, whose names have not been preserved, 
 
 * Wadding, vol. v. p. 170. 
 
302 CHKISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 seem to have conducted themselves towards Argoun 
 with a haughtiness which the Khan complains of to 
 Philip, although in a very moderate tone. 
 
 They refused to render the sovereign of Persia the 
 honours required of them, under pretext that, this 
 prince not being yet a Christian, they should be want- 
 ing in duty to their own master if they did him 
 homage, that is, probably, prostrated themselves three 
 times before him, according to custom. 
 
 A short time after this a new envoy arrived at Eome, 
 from the court of the Tartar Khan, and afterwards pro- 
 ceeded to France and England. This was a Genoese, 
 named Buscarello di Gesulfo, who delivered to Philip 
 the Fair a letter from Argoun in the Mongol language 
 and the Oigour character, which has been found in the 
 Archives of France. 
 
 Abel Remusat has made known the substance of this 
 letter, and published a fac simile of it, from which 
 M. Schmidt, a learned Orientalist of St. Petersburg!!, 
 perfectly acquainted with the Mongol language, has 
 made a translation, word for word, into German, and 
 also preserving the original ]\Iongol form, in which the 
 words God, and Klia-khan, whenever they occur, begin a 
 neAV line, and are even placed a little higher than the 
 rest. 
 
 “ Thou hast sent to me 
 
 “When the troops of the Hhkhan shall march against', Egypt, 
 we will set out from here to join him. Having received this message 
 on thy part, I tell thee that we propose, trusting in , 
 
 GOD, 
 
 to set off in the last month of the winter of the year of the 
 Panther (1291), and to encamp before Damascus tow’ards the 15th 
 of the first month of spring. If you keep your word, and send the 
 troops at the appointed moment, and if 
 
LETTER FROM ARGOUN TO IMlILir THE FAIR. 303 
 
 GOD 
 
 should prosper us, when we have taken Jerusalem from that 
 nation we will give it to you. But to fail us at the rendezvous 
 would be causing the troops to march in vain ; ought it to be so ? 
 and if afterwards we know not what to do, of what use is it ? I 
 shall send Mouskeria, who will tell you that if you send us ambas- 
 sadors who can speak several languagc.s, and who bring us presents, 
 rarities, coloured pictures of the country of the Franks, we shall 
 thank you, by the power of 
 
 GOD 
 
 and the fortune of the 
 KIIA-KHAN. 
 
 “ Our letter is written at Coundoulen, on the sixth day of the first 
 month of summer, in the year of the Ox.” 
 
 Buscarello sent, with the letter of Argoim (which 
 doubtless no one at the court of France could read), a 
 diplomatic note, in which he developes the proposals of 
 his master. 
 
 This is the substance of it : * — Argoun makes known 
 to the king of France that he is ready to march with 
 
 * This is the original of the curious note, three copies of which 
 are preserved in the Archives of France : — 
 
 “ Ci est la messagerie de Busquerel message d’Argon faite en I’an 
 du buef de Coedelun. 
 
 “ Premierement Argon fait assavoir au roi de France, comme a 
 son frere, que, en toutes les provinces d’Orient entre Tartars, Sarra- 
 zins, et tout autre langue, ont certainne renommee de la grandesse, 
 puissance et loyaute du royaume de France, et que les roys de 
 France, qui ont este a leurs barons, a leurs chevaliers, et a leur 
 puissance, sont venue plusieurs fois en leide et conqueste de la Terre 
 Sainte, a I’onneur du fils du la Vierge Marie et de tout le people 
 crestien, et fait assavoir le dit Argon au dit roi de France, comme a 
 son frere, que son corps, et son host est prest a amitie daler au con- 
 queste de la dite Sainte Terre, et de estre ensemble avec le roi de 
 France en cest benoit service. 
 
 Et je Busquarel devant dit message et Argon dy qui si vous roi 
 
304 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 his army, in concert with the king, to tlie conquest of- 
 the Holy Land ; that if the king should come in person, 
 
 de France, venez en personne en cest benoit service, qiie Argon y 
 amenra deux rois chrestiens Georgiens qui sont sous sa seignourie, 
 et qui de jour et de nuit prient Dieu destre en cest bien lioereus ser- 
 vice, et on bien pooir damener avec eux XX mil hommes de clieval 
 et plus. 
 
 “ Encore dy je pour ce que Argon a entendu que grave chose est 
 au roi de France et a ses barons de passer par mer tant de chevaux 
 comme mestier est a euls est a leur gent, le dit roi de France porra 
 recouvrer d’ Argon, se il en a mestier, et il leu requiert, XX mil ou 
 XXX mil clievaus en don ou en convenable prix. 
 
 “ Item, se vous mous le roi de France voulez Argon vous fera 
 appareiller pour cest benoit service par toute la Turquie bestail 
 menu et hues, -vaches et cbamaux, grains et farine, et toute autre 
 vi faille qui leur pourra trouver a votre volente et mandement. 
 
 “ Item, ci poez voir bonnes enseignes, et grant presomtion de la 
 bonte d’Argon ; car, sitost comme il entendy qui Triple fu prise de 
 Sarrazins, et qu il avait gran barons sarrasins dessouz sa seignourie, 
 qui liez estoient, et faisoient joie du damage que estoit avenu aux 
 chrestiens, et fist amener devant H quatre de touz les plus grans et 
 les puissant barons sarrazins qui fustent en sa seignourie, et les fait 
 tailler presentement, et ne soulTre qui les corps en fussent enterre, 
 mais voust et commanda que leu les laissast illnecques mangier aux 
 chiens et aus oisiaux. 
 
 “ Item, que tantost qui ledit Argon et sa suer mariee au fils le roi 
 Davi de Georgie, il la fit tantost presentement crestiennes et lever. 
 
 “ Item, que ceste jour de Pasque prochaincment passe ledit Argon 
 fist chanter en une chapelle qu’il fait porter h soi si Rabanata. (Ra- 
 banata n’est pas un nom propre ; c’est un titre honorofique et de 
 respect, qu’on donne aux evequcs. Rabban veut dii-e maifre ct Ata 
 perc. L’eveque en question etait Barsuma, dont nous avons deja 
 parle) evesque Nestorin que lantre on vous visit en message, et 
 list illnecques presentement devant li siccomenier et reeevoir le saint 
 sacrament de I'autel plusicurs de ses barons Tartars. 
 
 “ Encore, sire, vous fait assavoir ledit Argon quo les vos grans 
 mcssag.es (jue vous autan 11 envoi astu ne li voudrent faire redevance 
 ne honneur tels comme il est accoutuine de faire de toutes manieres 
 de gens, roys, princes et barons qui cn sa cour viennent. Car, si 
 
ARGOUN AND PHILIP THE FAIR. 
 
 305 
 
 Argoun will be accompanied by two Christian kings of 
 Geortria, his vassals, who can brinof with them twenty 
 thousand horse, or more ; that, considering how diffi- 
 cult it would be for the King of France and his barons 
 to send over the sea the great number of liorscs they 
 will require, Argoun will furnish them with twenty or 
 thirty thousand horses, either as a gift, or at a suitable 
 price; that Argoun would also have provisions prepared 
 in Turkev, and that there should be delivered to the 
 Franks, by his orders, sheep and cattle, camels, grain, 
 flour, and all other kinds of provisions that could be 
 procured. He finishes by expressing the surprise of 
 Argoun that the ambassadors of the King of France had 
 refused to salute him in the manner prescribed by 
 ^longol etiquette, alleging that they would not kneel 
 to him because he was not a Christian. He says that 
 Argoun had three times requested them by his officers 
 
 comrae il disoJent, il ne feroient pasvotre honneur dagenoiller roy de- 
 vant li pour ce quil nestoit mie baptise ne lui crestien, et si les en fist- 
 il par trois fois requerre par ses grans barons ; et quant il vit qu’il 
 neu voloient autre chose faire, il les fist venir en la inaniere qu’il 
 voudrent, et si leur fist grant joie et mont les bonnoura si comme il 
 mersmes scevent. Si vous fit assavoir, sire, le drt Argon que si le 
 dit votre message firent ce par votre commandement, il en est tout 
 liez, car tout ce qui vous plaist li plait ausing, priant vous que si 
 vous li envoy ez yceuls ou autres messages, que vous voulliez soufFrir 
 et commander leur que il li facent tale reverence et honneur comme 
 coustume et usage est en sa cour sanz passer feu. 
 
 “ Et je Busquaril devant dit message d’Argon ofire mon corps, 
 mes freres, mes enfans et tout mon avoir a mettre tout nuit et jour 
 au service de vous, monsieur le roi de France, et vous promet que si 
 vous voles envoier messages au dit Argon, que je les menrai, et con- 
 duirai a mains la moitie de depens, travail, peril et double que il 
 mont este quant a vous plaira.” 
 
 Collated with three copies preserved in the archives of France. 
 VOL. I. X 
 
306 CIimSTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 to comply with this custom, but that seeing they 
 would do nothing of the sort, he admitted them never- 
 theless into his presence, and gave them a good 
 reception ; that, however, Argoun besought the King 
 of France that, in future, he should send ambassadors 
 whom he would command to do him such reverence 
 and honour as was the custom of his court.” This 
 circumstance is worthy of notice, and shows how far 
 the sentiments of the JMongols were modified with 
 respect to Christian princes. It is well known how bar- 
 barously they had formerly treated foreign ambassadors, 
 sometimes threatening them to flay them alive, and 
 stuff them with straw; we have seen too the furious and 
 insolent missives which they addressed to the sove- 
 reigns of Asia and Europe, citing them, on pain of utter 
 destruction, to submit immediately to their rule ; but a 
 few years had sufficed to change the character of their 
 intercourse with Christians. The French envoys who 
 visited the Khan of Tartary in 1288, absolutely refused 
 to salute that prince by prostrating themselves before 
 him, as Mongol etiquette required. “ They would have 
 failed,” they said, “ in what they owed to themselves, 
 by rendering such homage to a king who was not a 
 Christian.” The Mongol prince not only endured this 
 refusal without anger, but even wrote to the King of 
 France, “ that if his ambassadors had received orders to 
 act thus, he was perfectly satisfied ; for that what was 
 pleasing to that monarch, pleased him also.” This lan- 
 guage is a strong proof of the influence of the French 
 name at the IMongol court. 
 
 Historians have left us quite ignorant of the effect of 
 the negotiation of Buskarello, and of the projects to 
 which it might have given rise for the future ; but it is 
 
NEWS FROM THE MISSION IN CHINA. 
 
 307 
 
 at least certain, that it produced for the time no 
 resolution in accordance with the views of Argoun or 
 the interests of the Crusaders. After having accom- 
 plished his mission in France, Buskarello no doubt 
 proceeded to England. His arrival was announced by 
 a bull of Nicholas IV. to Edward I., giving him notice 
 that the King of the Tartars was prepared to come to 
 the assistance of the Holy Land. The Pope informed 
 the king that a distinguished personage, Biscarellus de 
 Gisuefo, an envoy from Argoun, had recently arrived, 
 bringing him letters from that Tartar prince, in which 
 he says, amongst other things, that he is quite ready to 
 come, at the requisition of the Church, to the assistance 
 of the Holy Land, at the time of the general passage, 
 tempore passagii generalise'' that is, at the period fixed 
 for the crusade. The said envoy being obliged to come 
 to the King of England on this business, the Pope gave 
 him this letter as an introduction, begging Edward to 
 receive him kindly, and to listen with attention to what 
 he should say on the part of Argoun. 
 
 This bull is dated from Rieti, Sept. 30. 1289.* 
 
 It was in the course of the same year that important 
 and interesting news was received at Rome respecting 
 the state of the Christian religion in Upper Asia. It 
 was no longer now by messengers or letters from Tartar 
 princes, whose information and whose narrations were 
 always equivocal, and founded on self-interest ; but 
 from missionaries who had been sent into Tartary by 
 Bonagratia, General of the Franciscan order, and who 
 came themselves to give a verbal account of their 
 apostleship to the sovereign pontiff, after a residence of 
 
 * Act. Rymer, vol. ii. p. 429. 
 
 X 2 
 
308 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 ten years in those distant regions. These indefatigable 
 apostles had traversed the whole of the countries subject 
 to the ]\Iongol power ; they had seen, face to face, those 
 Tartar Khans whose names, exploits, and atrocities 
 filled the world ; and they had preached the Gospel to 
 those innumerable populations whom the fury of war had 
 collected from every point of the far East, to mingle 
 them together and crush them in its frightful struggles. 
 The testimony of these priests, of these “ travellers for 
 Jesus Christ,” as they were then called, peregrinantium 
 propter Christum^" was in the highest degree interesting, 
 and their narration could not but excite, both at Rome 
 and everywhere else, the most lively curiosity. They, 
 in general, bore witness to the sincerity of the envoys 
 of Argoun, confirmed their reports, and gave assurance 
 that the chiefs of the Tartars were favourably inclined 
 with respect to the Christians, and desirous of receiving 
 the Gospel. 
 
 They expressed, above all, their admiration and gra- 
 titude for the signal services which had been rendered 
 them by a noble Pisan named dole, or Julio, who having 
 been long settled in Tartary, had gained immense 
 riches and great authority amongst the Mongols. His 
 powerful protection had often come to their aid amidst 
 the difficulties and embarrassments of their painful mis- 
 sion. 
 
 The chief of this phalanx of Franciscan missionaries 
 was John de Monte Corvino, a priest of singular piety, 
 great learning, and indefatigable zeal for the propaga- 
 tion of the faith ; who had already made himself 
 famous all through the East by his eminent qualities. 
 Born in 1247, in a village at a short distance from Sa- 
 lerno, called i\Iontc Corvino, he had assumed, according 
 
CONVERSION OF SEVERAL TARTAR PRINCES. 309 
 
 to the custom of the time, the name of the place of 
 liis birth. After having passed the greater part of his 
 life in the duties of his mission in Tartary, he was 
 at length appointed Archbishop of Pekin, where he 
 died ; but we shall speak, at a future time, of the labours 
 and the success of this valiant apostle. 
 
 After a very short stay in the West, John de Monte 
 Corvino and his companions set out again to resume 
 their holy and laborious ministry in Upper Asia. Pope 
 Nicholas IV. gave them letters for Argouu and for 
 Kublai, Emperor of the Tartars and Chinese, who had 
 established his court at Khan Balik, or Pekin. We do 
 not quote his letters, because they contain nothing re- 
 markable. They resemble most of those, the translation 
 of which we have already given, and contain only ur- 
 gent and paternal exhortations to receive baptism, and 
 to favour the Christians. Several authors (and, 
 amongst others. Wadding, the celebrated historio- 
 grapher of the Franciscan order) have asserted that 
 Argoun and Kublai had been baptized ; but this is im- 
 probable, as the sovereign pontiff, who doubtless knew 
 the truth of the matter, would not, in that case, have 
 insisted so much, in his letters, on the necessity of not 
 deferring baptism. Nicholas IV. did not fail to write, 
 by the same opportunity, to the noble Pisan dole, a letter 
 in which the Pope praises his piety, and thanks him for 
 his zeal in favouring the work of the missions. Not- 
 withstanding the urgent exhortations of the sovereign 
 pontiff, and the constant endeavours of the missionaries, 
 we must confess, that the conversion of the Tartars did 
 not yet make any very rapid or striking progress ; still 
 the apostolate was not struck with barrenness, and there 
 were favoured spirits to whom Cod granted such a 
 
310 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 power of mental abstraction, that, in the midst of the 
 tumult of the camp, they could meditate on eternal 
 truths, and occupy themselves with the great business 
 of salvation. It was reported, in the West, that several 
 Tartars of distinction had received baptism, and were 
 fervently fulfilling their Christian duties. Two prin- 
 cesses were mentioned, whose names were Dathanikan 
 and Anichoamin, and a son of Argoun, who had received 
 the name of Nicholas, and who publicly professed the 
 religion of Jesus Christ. His mother, Erouk Khatoune*, 
 had been for some time a Christian. 
 
 The first lieutenant and the physician of Argoun were 
 also mentioned, who, not content with faithfully and 
 jfiously accomplishing their own religious duties, were 
 also full of zeal in bringing new worshippers to Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 This interesting news was brought to Rome in 1291, 
 by a personage named Zagan, who was sent by Argoun, 
 and charged with letters for the Pope and the King of 
 England. Nicholas IV., after having examined those 
 addressed to himself, sent the others to Edward. The 
 Khan of Persia endeavoured, in these missives, as well as 
 in the preceding ones, to persuade the Christians to 
 make an expedition into Syria, in concert with himself. 
 But, although the King of England had really taken the 
 cross, the surrender of Ptolemais, which had taken 
 place in the same year, and the news of which had cer- 
 
 * She was great-granddaughter of Ung-Khan, o’r Priest John, 
 sovei’cign of the Keraites. This princess, says Il.iytoii (chap, xlv.), 
 was all her life inucli attached to the faith of Jesus Christ. Slie 
 caused divine service to be celebrated for herself, and had always in 
 her house a Christian priest and a chapel, so tliat her son Carbagande 
 was baptized and named Nicholas. 
 
LETTER OF NICHOLAS IV. TO ARGOUN. 
 
 311 
 
 tainly readied Europe at tlie time wlien Zagan arrived 
 there, was, no doubt, an obstacle to the realisation of 
 the projects he came to forward. The loss of this im- 
 ])ortant place prevented tlie princes of the West from 
 thinking further of these distant wars. The Popes 
 alone still endeavoured, though unsuccessfully, to 
 renew them, and (singularly enough) they found, in 
 the Tartar princes, auxiliaries as active, and more per- 
 severing, than themselves. The Franks abandoned, 
 perhaps culpably, an alliance which might have ruined 
 the future prospects of Islamism, changed the destinies 
 of Asia, and brought innumerable populations into the 
 great Christian family. The Tartars, for some time, 
 seemed earnestly bent on the very course that would 
 have been so beneficial to Christianity and civilisation, 
 and they showed incredible perseverance in renewing 
 negotiations, and in forming a coalition against the 
 Mussulmans ; but, unfortunately, they were only suffi- 
 ciently seconded by the intelligent zeal of the papacy. 
 
 In the answer of Nicholas lY. to the last letter of 
 Argoun, the pontiff appears to reckon but little on the 
 assistance of the King of England, while he brings for- 
 ward the strongest motives to attract the Mongol prince 
 towards Christianity. This important conquest, if it 
 could have been effected, would have been quite equal 
 in value to that of Palestine and the conversion of 
 the Mongols following the crusades, and would have 
 been the most important and happiest result of these 
 expeditions, and of the connexions to which they had 
 given birth. The Mongols, it is true, were not a people 
 easy to convert; always wavering between Christianity 
 and Mahommedanism, they sought to conciliate the par- 
 
312 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 tisans of both religions in the countries subject to them ; 
 a complete and decisive alliance could alone put an end 
 to this fluctuation ; but the Christian princes did not 
 sufficiently understand this, and history will have to 
 record, to the great honour of the papacy, that the 
 sovereign pontiffs were more intelligent, more active, 
 and more persevering than the kings in this great 
 struggle between the West and the East. The conver- 
 sion of the Mongol princes Avas, in their opinion, an 
 event of immense magnitude, as it respected civilisation 
 and the Christian faith. Although Jesus Christ has 
 said that “ his kingdom is not of this world,” neverthe- 
 less, good policy, and the prosperity of nations, must 
 always harmonise with the interests of religion. Na- 
 tions are great and happy only Avhen the individuals 
 Avlio compose them are anxious to save their souls for 
 eternity. Thus, those numerous letters which the Pope 
 sent into the heart of Asia, and whose only aim seems 
 to have been the baptism of a few barbarian princes, 
 might have tended to the triumph of Christian civilisa- 
 tion throughout the Avorld. 
 
 Nicholas IV. wrote by Zagan on his return, not only 
 to Argoun, to press him earnestly to embrace the 
 Christian religion, but also to his son Kharbcnde, Avho 
 had been baptized by the name of Nicholas, to congratu- 
 late him on his conversion, and to give him wise and 
 useful counsel. There were also letters for the two 
 brothers, Sarou and Cassian, for tlic Mongol general 
 Tagatchar, and for the (jueens Anichoamin and Da- 
 thanikan. This corresj)ondencc has been preserved to 
 us in the pontifical annals; but we shall only quote the 
 letter to the son of Argoun, and this merely because it 
 contains passages which prove that the Church, like a 
 
LETTER OF THE POPE TO NICHOLAS. 
 
 313 
 
 tender mother, has always been (whatever some may 
 say) gentle and tolerant to her children. 
 
 “ To our dear and noble son Nicholas, son of Argoun, 
 the illustrious King of the Tartars, health and the 
 apostolic benediction. 
 
 “ Our heart has glowed with joy in the Lord, from 
 whom flows the abundance of all celestial gifts, be- 
 cause we have learned, by credible testimony, that 
 you have been illuminated by a ray of the divine 
 light. Prepared by the blessings of grace, you have 
 hastened with laudable zeal to the source of the 
 waters of baptism. This news has been to us the 
 more agreeable and happy, as we bear you the more 
 sincerely in the bowels of our charity, and the more 
 warmly desire the increase of your glory and your sal- 
 vation. We beseech your nobleness, and exhort you, in 
 the name of the Son of God, to devote yourself with 
 zeal and vigilance, as a child of benediction, to the 
 practice of those good works and those virtues by 
 which the kingdom of heaven is to be gained. Study 
 and observe, with courage and sincerity, the Christian 
 faith, whose glorious banner you have unfurled. Men, 
 led on by your salutary example, will be induced to 
 embrace the same faith ; and you yourself, after the 
 course of this life, which has in it nothing certain or 
 lasting, will receive the reward of that eternal blessed- 
 ness which God has reserved for His elect. Further, 
 we recommend and advise you affectionately to make no 
 change in your habits, your garments, or your food, 
 lest it might become amongst your people a subject of 
 dissension or scandal. Continue the same manner of 
 living which you practised before the reception of 
 
314 CimiSTIANlTY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 baptism ; and, in order that the articles of your faith 
 may be more familiar to you, we send you a copy of 
 them, which you will find added hereunto. It begins 
 thus, ‘ We believe in the holy Trinity,’ &c. Receive 
 with kindness, out of respect for us and the holy see, 
 our dear sons the brothers William de Cheri, our 
 penitentiary, and Matthew de Thieti, professor of Theo- 
 logy, whom we send into your country for the salva- 
 tion of your nation. Treat them with favour, and in 
 the business which has been entrusted to them, grant 
 them, if they shall ask it, advice, assistance, and protec- 
 tion.” * 
 
 At the moment, however, when the Pope was sending 
 by two new ambassadors, these numerous letters to 
 Tartary, Argoun was breathing his last.f Providence, 
 says a contemporary author, had allowed that column 
 to fall, upon which every hope of the propagation of the 
 faith in Upper Asia seemed to rest. It is certain that 
 his death overwhelmed with regret and sadness all who 
 Avere interested in the progress of Christianity. The 
 conversion of Argoun had been relied upon ; and only 
 a favourable opportunity Avas Avaited for, to see him 
 publicly take his place amongst the AAmrshippers of 
 Jesus Christ. But this prince Avas of too undecided a 
 character to defy the opinion of tlie numerous Mussul- 
 mans at his court. Before declaring himself, he Avislied 
 to see their poAver insensibly diminish ; he had in the 
 first place begun by depriving them of their dignities and 
 employments, and he liopcd that their influence AAmuld 
 be completely destroyed, by the projected expedition 
 into Syria and Palestine. Argoun liad also repeatedly 
 said, that he Avould be baptized at Jerusalem only. It 
 
 * Odor. Itaynald, ann. 1291, p. 413. Wadding, tom. v. p. 2J6. 
 
 t IJar-lIebraius, p. 512. 
 
PEllSECUTION OF CIIEISTIANS BY GAZAN. 315 
 
 is certain, nevertheless, that he favoured religion and 
 the missionaries, during the whole course of his life ; 
 and the numerous embassies which he sent to Rome, 
 France, England, and Spain, are a proof of his sympathy 
 with the Christians. 
 
 Arfroun’s successor was his brother, Ga’ikhatou, who 
 did not at all resemble him. He was said to lean to- 
 wards ^lahomraedanism, and the historians of the time 
 represent him as a man entirely plunged in debauchery 
 and drunkenness ; but Hayton, who attributes to him 
 every vice, says that he had no religion at all.* After a 
 disgraceful reign of five years, he was assassinated by the 
 grandees of his palace. He was succeeded by Baidou, 
 a mild and humane prince, and a great friend to the 
 Christians ; but perhaps not sufficiently prudent in po- 
 litical matters. He built a great number of churches, 
 and forbade the preaching of Islarnism to the Tartars ; 
 and these measures alienated from him the hearts of 
 the Mussulmans, who now cast their eyes upon Gazan, 
 the son of Argoun, and offered him the throne, on con- 
 dition of his renouncing the Christianity which he had 
 lately embraced. Gazan, Avho had little faith and much 
 ambition, lent himself to their intrigues, and became their 
 proselyte, in order to gain possession of the crown ; and 
 having thus attained to power, he showed himself at 
 first a bitter enemy to the Christians. In 1296 he 
 overwhelmed them with calamities, and raised a terrible 
 persecution against them ; those of Armenia alone were 
 exempt from ill-treatment; in all other countries, he 
 overthrew all that pertained to religion. The churches 
 Avere everywhere pulled down, and all objects in use for 
 religious worship were given up to the ridicule and 
 
 * “ Nullara liabebat legem vel fidetn.” — Hist. Orient, cap. xxxix. 
 
316 CHEISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 contempt of the infidels. In the city of Bagdad every 
 Christian who dared to appear in public was sure to be 
 loaded with insults and outrages. The bodies of the 
 Nestorian patriarchs, Machika and Denha, which were 
 buried in the temple called Duidari, were exhumed, and 
 their limbs cast out on the public road to the profanation 
 of the multitude. Contemporary authors cannot relate, 
 without horror, the atrocities which were committed at 
 that time against the Christians, in the cities of Arbela, 
 Tauris, Mosoul, and Bagdad. The persecution lasted 
 till 1298, when the Christians were on a sudden re- 
 stored to tranquillity. 
 
 Gazan had married a daughter of the King of Ar- 
 menia, a Christian princess, distinguished, it is said, by 
 great piety and extraordinary beauty. She gave birth, 
 however, to a child repulsively ugly and deformed, 
 “ more like a little monster than a human being.” 
 Gazan tenderly loved his wife, but was ashamed and 
 shocked at having a son so hideous ; and his courtiers 
 (most of them Mussulmans) thought they had now found 
 a favourable opportunity of ruining the princess, who, as 
 a devout Christian, and full of zeal for the propagation 
 of her faith, was highly objectionable to them. They 
 held a council, therefore, and declared that the child 
 just born must necessarily be the offspring of adultery; 
 and both mother and child were consequently condemned 
 to be burned alive. The pile was prepared, and the 
 victims led to torture, in the midst of an immense con- 
 course of people, amongst whom very contradictory 
 feelings were manifested ; for tliis tragic event, which 
 Avas the triumph of the jMussulmans, had plunged the 
 Christians into sorrow and dejection. The pile being on 
 fire, crackled and blazed in all directions, awaiting its 
 
WIFE OF GAZAN CONDEMNED TO BE BURNT. 317 
 
 prey, when tlie unfortunate princess of Armenia, with 
 tears, besought her royal spouse to grant her one moment 
 to fulfil the last duties of her religion, and to procure 
 the grace of baptism for her poor child, ere she should 
 die with him in the midst of the flames. Gazan, moved 
 with compassion, granted his wife the favour she im- 
 })lored ; a minister of the Christian religion presented 
 himself, heard the confession of the mother, and after 
 having fortified her by the reception of the holy via- 
 ticum^ administered the sacrament of baptism to the 
 child. But scarce!}’’ had the holy water destined to re- 
 generate the soul of that unfortunate creature flowed 
 over his forehead, when a sudden and marvellous change 
 took place in the sight of the multitude, who were 
 anxiously awaiting the end of this frightful drama. 
 
 God had given to the waters of baptism the power of 
 embellishing the body, at the same time that it Avashed 
 away the original stains from the soul. The child had 
 suddenly become ravishingly beautiful ; the numerous 
 witnesses of the miracle uttered cries of admiration, and 
 Gazan, convinced of the virtue of his Avife, led her back 
 in triumph to his palace. From that time, he also 
 determined to Avorship that God AA'ho had wrought such 
 marvels, and he made a public profession of Christianity, 
 along with a considerable number of his subjects. 
 
 The circumstances of this event are related by St. 
 Antoninus*, as he received them from a Florentine who, 
 
 * Chroti., p. 3. tit. 20. cap. viii. fol. 82. We find in the “ Chronicle 
 of St. Denis” (chap, xxv.) the following words : — “An cest an (1266) 
 le roi des Tartarins Cassahan, qui grant Cham estoit appelle, mer- 
 veilleusement et par miracle, avec grant multitude de ses gens, fut 
 chrestienne et converty par la fille du roi d’Armenie, qui estoit 
 chretienne laquelle il avoit espousee.” 
 
318 CHRISTIANITY IN CEIINA, ETC. 
 
 after having lived a long time amongst the Tartars, had 
 been deputed to go into Europe, and carry this inter- 
 esting news to the sovereign pontiff and the Christian 
 princes. Mosheim also relates the same fact*, but does 
 not appear to put any great faith in it. “Is it not 
 possible ” says, he “ that a beautiful child may have been 
 substituted for that monstrous being, and made to pass 
 for the son of Gazan?” Yes, assuredly the thing is 
 very possible, but a miracle is still more so ; we have 
 not, like Mosheim, an insuperable objection to miracles, 
 and it is even difficult for us to comprehend the views 
 of those who always prefer granting to the cunning 
 of men what they refuse to the omnipotence of God. 
 
 Gazan having become a Christian, resolutely adopted 
 a policy more conformable to his new sentiments. He 
 joined his father-in-law, the King of Armenia, in attack- 
 ing the Sultan of Egypt, IMalek-Naser ; in which expe- 
 dition, he realised, but a little too late, the projects 
 concerning Avhich his predecessors had so many times 
 negotiated with the Christian kings, before the total 
 destruction of the power of the Crusaders. He took 
 Damascus, and his troops ravaged all Syria. Koutlouk, 
 one of his generals, advanced from the direction of An- 
 tioch, and in pursuance of the commands of his master, 
 invoked the Christians of Cyprus to his aid. Sire 
 Amauri, the brother of the King of Cyprus, was chosen 
 to conduct this expedition, and came to Autarados, with 
 the Grand Masters of the Templars and Hospitallers. 
 But just as they were on the point of, joining the 
 IMongols, the latter, learning that Gazan was dangerously 
 ill, retired in haste. The King of Armenia returned to 
 
 * Hist. Tart., &c., p. 86. 
 
WAR BETWEEN GAZAN AND THE SULTAN OF EGYTT. 319 
 
 Ills dominions, and the Franks went back to Cyprus, 
 without having derived any advantage from their pre- 
 parations. 
 
 AVhat there was favourable to the cause of the 
 Christians in these events, had the effect of bringing 
 the news of them quickly to Europe. 
 
 “ Then it happened,” says a contemporary chronicler, 
 “ that an innumerable and marvellous host was as- 
 sembled against the Saracens, and the seneschal of all 
 this host was the Christian King of Armenia. And he 
 first led them towards Aleppo, and after that to Camel, 
 and gained the victory, though not without great 
 slaughter and loss of his people. And then, when he 
 had collected his host again, and refreshed them, and 
 recovered his strength, he followed the Saracens towards 
 Damascus, where the Soldan was, with a great host 
 that he had brought there. Then between this King of 
 the Tartars, the Soldan, and the Saracens, there was a 
 wonderful, great, and fierce battle, and more than 
 
 100.000 Saracens were slain. The Holy Land was then 
 in the hands of the Tartars, and subject to them ; and 
 the Christians, with great joy and exultation, kept the 
 Feast of Easter to the glory of God in Jerusalem.” * 
 
 The war between Gazan and the Sultan of Egypt 
 was prolonged for several years with various success. 
 The King of Armenia, his faithful vassal, or, as the 
 chroniclers say, seneschal of all his host, came with 
 
 40.000 vassals to ravage Syria, and took several towns, 
 and it was in consequence of these events, that the idea 
 of invoking the aid of the Crusaders recurred to Gazan, 
 and that he sent ambassadors to the West to solicit it. 
 
 * Chron. de Saint-Denis, chap. xxv. 
 
320 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 His messengers came to Paris, and renewed to the King 
 of France their former proposals of alliance; they then 
 went to England, and endeavoured to come to an under- 
 standing with Edward I. 
 
 But while Gazan was thus offering his alliance to the 
 sovereigns of the West, the circumstances that might 
 have rendered it valuable to them were considerably 
 altered. A great victory gained by the ^Mussulmans 
 had obliged the Mongols and the King of Armenia to 
 retire across the Euphrates, — a misfortune which is said 
 to have afflicted Gazan so much, as to cause the malady 
 of which he died in the year 1302. 
 
 At the same epoch, there died also at Pekin the great 
 Kublai-Khan, Emperor of the Chinese and Oriental 
 Tartars. Kublai was indisputably the sovereign of the 
 most enormous empire that the annals of the world have 
 ever made known : it comprehended the whole of China, 
 Corea, Thibet, Tonquin, and Cochin China, a great part 
 of India beyond the Ganges; many islands of the Indian 
 Ocean ; and the whole north of the continent of Asia, from 
 the Pacific to the Dnieper. Persia, also, was a feudatory 
 of his throne ; its sovereigns, the successors of Houlagou, 
 receiving their investiture from the Emperor of China, 
 and as the dominions of these great vassals extended 
 to the Mediterranean and the frontiers of the Greek 
 Empire, it may be said that the whole of Asia was 
 subject to the laws of the great Khan, who had chosen 
 Pekin as the central seat of his government. What was 
 the empire of Alexander the Great, or of the Romans, 
 or even of Tchinguiz-Klian, compared with that of 
 Kublai ? And yet this astonishing potentate is scarcely 
 known at all among us, and our most learned histories 
 liardly say a Avord about him ! 
 
kublai-khan’s encoukagement of learning. 321 
 
 This reign of Kublai offers to our observation one re- 
 markable phenomenon. We see tliis powerful sovereign 
 ruling at once over the most civilised nations of the 
 Kast, and over those who had scarcely issued from bar- 
 barism ; with one hand encouraging the arts of peace, 
 and with the other exciting ardour for martial enter- 
 prises ; softening nations already vanquished, and un- 
 chaining aijainst others the furies of war. 
 
 Kublai had received a Chinese education ; he appre- 
 ciated the advantages of civilisation ; he admired the 
 institutions of China, and protected literature and the 
 sciences. He had some of the best Chinese books 
 translated into the Mongol language, and founded 
 schools for the young people of his own country, and 
 gave much encouragement to their studies, fie received 
 with favour learned and literary men of every country 
 and religion, granting them many privileges, and 
 exempting them from taxes and tributes. It was he 
 who established the college of Han-lin^ the first 
 academical institution of China. He spread the taste 
 for mathematics, and, with the assistance of the Arabs, 
 laboured in the construction of a new system of as- 
 tronomy, greatly superior to any that the Chinese had 
 hitherto been acquainted with. He afforded, also, great 
 encouragement to agriculture, industry, and commerce ; 
 he had numerous canals dug in all the provinces of 
 China, and he threw open the sea-ports to all foreigners. 
 But the task of civilising the Tartars proved beyond 
 the power even of Kublai. The intercourse- of these 
 ignorant and warlike tribes with a peaceful and culti- 
 vated nation, never effected any fusion between them ; 
 and whilst the Tartars retained their rude, turbulent, 
 and vagabond habits, the Chinese submitted patiently 
 
 VOL. I. Y 
 
322 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 to their conquest, and quietly devoted themselves to 
 commerce and industry, arts and letters. 
 
 The religious sentiment was the only one that could 
 have combined elements so discordant, and upon this 
 point the Chinese and Mongols seemed to differ irrecon- 
 cileably. When Kublai-Khan had achieved the conquest 
 of China, he found three religious systems acclimated in 
 it, and at that time engaged in bitter hostilities against 
 one another ; though since then, having all fallen into 
 the abyss of scepticism, they have become reconciled, 
 and given each other the kiss of peace. 
 
 The first and most ancient of these faiths is that called 
 Jou-Khiao, the Doctrine of the Lettered, of which Con- 
 fucius is regarded as the reformer and patriarch. It is 
 based upon a philosophical pantheism, which has been 
 variously interpreted at various epochs. It is believed 
 that at a remote period, the existence of an omnipotent 
 God, a requiter of human actions, was not excluded 
 from it, and various passages from Confucius give room 
 to suppose, that the sage himself held such a doctrine ; 
 but the little care he took to inculcate it on his disciples, 
 the vague meaning of the expressions he employed, and 
 the resolution he had apparently taken to found his 
 system of morals and justice merely upon the principles 
 of love of order, and of a certain not very well defined 
 “ conformity with the designs of Heaven,” and the pro- 
 gress of nature, have allowed the philosophers who have 
 succeeded him to go entirely astray, and many of them 
 had, even in the thirteenth century, fallen into a true 
 Spinozism ; and wliile still aj^pcaling to the authority of 
 their master, taught a materialist doctrine that has since 
 degenerated into atheism. 
 
 Confucius, himself, is never i-eligious in his writings; 
 
KELIGION OF CONFUCIUS. 
 
 323 
 
 he contents himself with recommending in general the 
 observance of ancient precepts, of filial piety, and 
 fraternal affection, and of maintaining a course of 
 conduct “conformable to the laws of Heaven, which 
 must always be in harmony with human actions.” * 
 
 In reality the religion, or rather the doctrine of the 
 disciples of Confucius, is Positivism. They care nothing 
 about the origin, the creation, or the end of the world, 
 and very little about long philosophical lucubrations. 
 They confine their cares wholly to this life : they ask 
 of science and letters only what is needful to enable 
 them to go through their various occupations ; of great 
 principles, only their practical consequences ; and of 
 morality, only what is political and utilitarian. They 
 are, in fact, what many people in Europe are now 
 seeking to become. They put all speculative questions 
 aside, to attach themselves exclusively to the positive ; 
 their religion is but a kind of material civilisation, and 
 their philosophy the art of living in peace, of obeying 
 and commanding. The “ Religion of the Lettered” has 
 neither altars, images, nor priests ; the mandarins are its 
 sole ministers, and Avhen on some solemn occasions it is 
 thought desirable to offer some homage to Heaven, it is 
 they who officiate. 
 
 Whatever is most in earnest, and least vague in this 
 religion of the lettered, has been absorbed by the 
 worship of Confucius himself. His tablet is placed in 
 all the schools, and masters and pupils are required to 
 prostrate themselves before his venerated name at the 
 commencement and end of the lessons ; and his statue 
 
 * TVe have already, in the “ Chinese Empire,” spoken of the tliree 
 religions oflBcially admitted into China; but it seemed that tlie subject 
 ought to find a place in the present work. 
 
324 
 
 CHEISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 is to be found in all the academies, in the places where 
 the learned assemble, and where literary examinations 
 are undergone. All the towns in China have temples 
 raised to his honour, and more than three hundred 
 millions of men proclaim him with one voice the saint 
 ])ar excellence. Kever has it been given to any mortal 
 to exercise, for so many ages, such an empire over his 
 fellow- creatures, or to receive from them homage so 
 like actual worship ; although every one knows per- 
 fectly well that Confucius was simply a man who lived 
 in the principality of Lou, two centuries before the 
 Christian era. The annals of the human race present 
 no more extraordinary fact than of this civil homage 
 and religious adoration, rendered by an immense nation, 
 for twenty-four centuries, to a simple citizen. The 
 descendants of Confucius too, who still exist in great 
 numbers, participate in the extraordinary honours 
 rendered by the Chinese to their glorious ancestor. 
 They constitute, in fact, the only hereditary nobility of 
 the empire, and enjoy certain privileges, reserved for 
 them alone. 
 
 The second religion of China is regarded by its 
 disciples as the primitive one of its most ancient 
 inhabitants. It has numerous analogies with the 
 preceding ; but the individual existence of genii and 
 demons is recognised in it, independently of the parts 
 of nature over which they preside. The priests and 
 priestesses of this worship are devoted to celibacy, and 
 practise magic, astrology, necromancy, and- a thousand 
 absurdities. They are called Tao-ss6, or Doctors of 
 lleason, because their fundamental dogma taught by 
 the renowned Lao-tze, is that of a primordial reason, 
 which has created the world. This doctrine is con- 
 
RELIGION OF LAO-TZE. 
 
 325 
 
 tained in a work pompously entitled, the “ Book of the 
 Way, and of Virtue.” * 
 
 This Lao-tze was in frequent communication with 
 Confucius, but it is difficult to know what was the 
 opinion of the head of the Religion of the Lettered 
 concerning the doctrine of the patriarch of the Doctors 
 of Reason. One day he went to pay him a visit, and 
 when he came back to his disciples, remained three 
 days without speaking a word. Tseu-Kong was sur- 
 prised at this silence, and asked its cause. 
 
 “ When,” said Confucius, “ I see a man making use 
 of his thoughts to escape from me like a bird who flies, 
 I arrange mine like a bow armed with its arrow to 
 pierce him, and I never fail to reach him and master 
 him. When I see a man making use of his thoughts to 
 escape from me like an agile stag, I arrange mine like 
 a hunting dog to pursue him, and I never fail to over- 
 take and seize him. When a man makes use of his 
 thoughts to slip away from me like a fish into the deep, 
 I arrange mine as the fisherman does the hook, and I 
 never fail to get him into my power. But as to 
 the dragon that rises into the clouds and soars into the 
 air, I cannot pursue him. This daj' I have seen Lao- 
 tze, and he is like the dragon. At his voice mv mouth 
 remained wide open, and I was not able to shut it ; my 
 tongue came out with astonishment, and I have never 
 been able to draw it back again ! My soul was plunged 
 into perplexity, and has not been able to recover its 
 iormer tranquillity.” 
 
 Whatever may be said of the philosophical ideas of 
 Lao-tze, his disciples have never enjoyed great popularity. 
 
 * Tao-te-King. M. Stanislas Julien has given a translation of 
 it, which, like all his works, is of rare excellence. 
 
326 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 and the superstitions to which they give way are so ex- 
 travagant, that the most ignorant make them the object 
 of their sarcasms. They have acquired celebrity chiefly 
 by their pretended secret of an elixir of immortality, a 
 secret which has brought them into great favour with 
 some famous emperors. 
 
 The Chinese annals are full of the disputes and 
 quarrels of the Lao-tze with the disciples of Confucius, 
 who have employed the weapons of ridicule against 
 them with the greatest success — and have never failed 
 to turn the laugh against both them and the Bonzes, 
 the priests of Buddhism, which is the third religion of 
 China. 
 
 Towards the middle of the first century of our era, 
 the emperors of the Han dynasty otficially admitted 
 into the empire the Buddhism of India ; and this 
 worship, which admits of material representations of 
 the Divinity, spread rapidly among the Chinese, who 
 called it the religion of Fo — an imperfect transcription 
 of the name of Buddha. This is a very ancient generic 
 word, Avith a double root in Sanscrit — one part signify- 
 ing being, and the other Avisdom or superior intelligence. 
 It is the name employed to designate the Supreme 
 Being — the Omnipotent God; and it is also sometimes 
 extended to those Avho Avorship him, and seek to raise 
 themselves tOAvards him by contemplation and sanctity. 
 The Buddhists generally use it for a real liistorical 
 personage Avho became celebrated throughout Asia, and 
 Avho is regarded as the founder of the institutions and 
 doctrine comprised under the general denomination of 
 Buddliism. In the eyes of the Buddhists this personage 
 is sometimes a man and sometimes a god, or rather 
 both one and the other — a divine incarnation — a man- 
 
RELIGION OF BUDDHA. 
 
 327 
 
 god — who came into the world to enligliten men, to 
 redeem them, and indicate to them the way of safety. 
 Tliis idea of redemption by a divine incarnation, is so 
 general and popular amongst the Buddhists, that 
 during our travels in Upper Asia we everywhere found 
 it expressed in a neat formula. If we addressed to a 
 ^longol or a Thibetan the question “ Who is Buddha ? ” 
 he would immediately reply, “ The Saviour of men.” 
 The miraculous birth of Buddha, his life and his 
 instructions, contain a great number of the moral and 
 dogmatic truths professed in Christianity, and which 
 we need not be surprised to find thus in other religions, 
 since these truths are traditional, and have always been 
 the property of the whole human race. There must be 
 amongst a pagan people more or less of Christian truth, 
 as they have been more or less faithful in preserving 
 the deposit of primitive tradition. 
 
 By the concordance of the Indian, Chinese, Thibetan, 
 Mongol, and Cingalese books, the birth of Buddha may 
 be placed as far back as about the year 960 b. c. He 
 Avas of the house of Chakia, Avhich reigned in India 
 over the powerful empire of Mogadha, in the southern 
 Bahar ; and the legend concerning him is full of the most 
 extravagant prodigies and Avonders. After many years 
 passed in solitude and contemplation, he Avent to Be- 
 nares, Avhere he assumed the name of Chakia-Mouni^ 
 the Penitent of Chakia ; and having assembled around 
 him a multitude of auditors of all classes, he unfolded 
 his doctrines. His teachings are contained in a collec- 
 tion of a hundred and eight large volumes, known 
 under the generic name of Gandjour, or Verbal Instruc- 
 tions ; and turning exclusively on the metaphysics of 
 creation, and the frail and perishable nature of man. 
 
328 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 This monumental work is found in all the libraries of 
 the great Buddhist convents. 
 
 Chakia-Mouni experienced in his apostleship a lively 
 opposition from the priests attached to the more ancient 
 creeds of India ; but, after a solemn discussion with 
 them, he triumphed over all his adversaries, and their 
 chief prostrated himself before him, and confessed him- 
 self conquered. 
 
 Chakia-Mouni then revised the fundamental prin- 
 ciples of morality, and the Decalogue. The moral 
 principles he reduced to four: — 1st. The force of mercy, 
 established on an immovable basis. 2nd. An aversion 
 to all cruelty. 3rd. A boundless compassion towards 
 all creatures. 4th. A conscience inflexible in its ob- 
 servance of law. Then follows the Decalogue, or ten 
 special prescriptions and prohibitions: — 1st. Xot to 
 kill. 2nd. Not to steal. 3rd. To be chaste. 4th. Not 
 to bear false witness. 5th. Not to lie. 6th. Not to 
 swear. 7th. To avoid impure words. 8th. To be dis- 
 interested. 9th. Not to avenge one’s-self. 10th. Not 
 to be superstitious. This last prohibition is a very 
 remarkable one, and one which certainly the modern 
 Buddhists do not observe very strictly. 
 
 Chakia-Mouni declared that these precepts and rules 
 of human action, had been revealed to him after the 
 four great trials to which he had subjected himself, 
 when he first devoted himself to the state of sanctity; 
 and, according to the legend, this code of morals was 
 beginning to be generally diffused in Asia, when Buddha, 
 then twenty- four years of age, quitted the earth, putting 
 off his material envelope to be re-absorbed into the uni- 
 versa) soul, which is himself. Before bidding farewell 
 to his disciples, he foretold that his doctrine would 
 
CHARACTER OF BUDDIIISJI. 
 
 329 
 
 reign on the earth for five thousand years ; and that at 
 the end of tliat time another Buddha would appear, a 
 man-god, predestined twelve centuries before, to be the 
 teacher of the human race. “ From this epoch,” he 
 added, “ my religion will be a prey to persecution ; my 
 disciples will be obliged to quit India to retire to the 
 lofty summits of Thibet ; and this table-land from wliich 
 the observer overlooks the world, will become the sanc- 
 tuary and the metropolis of the true faith.” 
 
 The dominant character of Buddhism is a spirit of 
 mildness, equality, and fraternity, which contrasts 
 strongly with the hardness and arrogance of Brahminism. 
 Chakia-!Mouni and his disciples in the first place endea- 
 voured to communicate to all the world the truths 
 which were before the exclusive property of the privi- 
 leged classes. The Brahmin idea of perfection was of 
 an egotistical character ; religion was for them only, and 
 they devoted themselves to painful penances, in order to 
 share hereafter in the abode of Brahma. 
 
 The devotion of the Buddhist ascetic was more dis- 
 interested ; not aspiring to elevate himself only, he 
 practised virtue and applied himself to perfection, to 
 make other men share in its benefits ; and by the in- 
 stitution of an order of religious mendicants, which in- 
 creased to an immense extent, he attracted toward him, 
 and restored to society, the poor and unfortunate. It 
 was, indeed, precisely because he received among his 
 disciples miserable creatures who were outcasts from the 
 respectable classes of India, that he became an object of 
 mockery to the Brahmins. But he merely replied to 
 their taunts, “ My law is a law of mercy for all.” 
 
 One day the Brahmins were scandalised to see him 
 receive a girl of the inferior caste of the Tchandala as a 
 
330 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 nun; but Chakia said, “There is not between 'a 
 Brahmin and a person of any other caste the difference 
 that there is between gold and a stone, between light 
 and darkness. The Brahmin did not issue from the 
 ether or the wind, nor did he cleave the earth and come 
 forth like the fire from the Arani wood. The Brahmin 
 was born of a woman, just like the Tchandala. Where 
 then is the cause that should render one noble and 
 another vile ? The Brahmin himself, when he is 
 dead, is abandoned like a vile and impure thing, as a 
 man of any other caste is. Where then is the dif- 
 ference ? ” * 
 
 The religious systems of Brahminism and Buddhism 
 resemble each other, nevertheless, in many particulars ; 
 and the fierce persecutions the Buddhists have experi- 
 enced are not so much to be attributed to the divergence 
 of their opinions upon doctrinal points, as to their ad- 
 mission of all men, without distinction of caste, to the 
 civil and sacerdotal functions, and to the rewards of a 
 future state. 
 
 A reformer Avho proclaimed the equality of men in 
 this world and the next, could not but excite the hostility 
 of the adherents of a system depending so essentially 
 as Brahminism does on a hierarchy of castes; and the 
 persecutions of the Buddhists were long and violent. Ac- 
 cording to their own accounts, the number of victims who 
 perished Avould be quite incalculable ; but at length, to- 
 wards the sixth century of our era, Brahminism obtained 
 a decisive victory over the partisans of the new religion ; 
 and the latter being driven from Ilindostan, and forced 
 
 * Eugene llurnouf, “ Introiluction a I’llistoire de Bouddhisnie,” 
 vol. i. 
 
WIDE DIFFUSION OF BUDDHISM. 
 
 331 
 
 to cross the Iliminalaya in great numbers, spread over 
 Thibet, Bucharia, IMongolia and China, the Birman 
 Em])ire and Japan, and also over the island of Ceylon. 
 So actively, indeed, has propagandism been carried on 
 in those countries, that Buddhism at present boasts a 
 greater number of disciples than any other form of 
 religious faith. 
 
382 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 KUBLAI-KHAN FAVOURS THE CHRISTIAXS. HE SENDS THE VENETIAN 
 
 BROTHERS POLO TO THE SOVEREIGN PONTIFF. THE TWO VENE- 
 
 TIANS RETURN TO CHINA ACCOMPANIED BY YOUNG MARCO POLO. 
 
 THEIR JOURNEY. RESIDENCE OF MARCO POLO IN CHINA. 
 
 HIS RETURN TO VENICE. THE NARRATIVE OF MARCO POLO 
 
 HIS ACCOUNT OF CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA. THE APOSTLESHIP OF 
 
 JOHN OF MONTE CORVINO. — HIS LETTERS TO THE MONKS OF HIS 
 
 ORDER. — PERSECUTIONS RAISED AGAINST HIM. CLEMENT V. 
 
 SENDS SEVEN BISHOPS TO CHINA. THEY CONSECRATE MONTE 
 
 CORVINO ARCHBISHOP OF PEKIN. AN ARMENIAN LADY BUILDS A 
 
 CHURCH AT HAN-TCHEOU-FOU. — LETTER OF ANDRE DE PERODSE. 
 
 — NUMEROUS MISSIONARIES IN CHINA. ODERIC DE FRIOUL. 
 
 HIS JOURNEY FROM THE INDIES TO CHINA WITH THE BONES OF 
 
 FOUR MARTYRS. HIS APOSTLESHIP IN CHINA — IN TARTARY 
 
 IN THIBET. HIS RETURN TO PISA. ACCOUNT OF HIS DEATH. 
 
 When Kublal-Khan found Buddhism so extensively 
 diffused among the population of his vast empire, he 
 deemed it expedient to adopt it himself, and to grant an 
 especial protection to the Lamas. His zeal, however, 
 for the religion of Buddha did not prevent him from 
 respecting and spreading the faith of Christians, Maho- 
 metans, and Jews. On the days of Christian festivals, 
 he had them brought into his presence, and devoutly 
 kissed the book of the Gospels, after having perfumed 
 it with incense. He said that there werq four great 
 prophets revered by all nations, Jesus Christ, Mahomet, 
 ]\Ioses, and Chakia-Mouni ; and that he held them all in 
 equal honour, and equally invoked their celestial as- 
 sistance. 
 
NICOLO AND MATTED TOLD. 
 
 333 
 
 This amalgamation of all beliefs was an arrangement 
 perfectly agreeable to the customs of Tchinguiz-Khan, 
 and to the habits of the greater part of the Chinese em- 
 perors. Not content, however, with affording refuge 
 and protection to all modes of worship and faith, 
 Kublai-Khan, in a very different spirit from that of most 
 of the sovereigns of the ^lantchoo dynasty, received 
 with kindness, in all parts of his vast empire, all 
 strangers, whether from Europe or Asia; and among the 
 travellers thus attracted to China in the thirteenth cen- 
 tury, the most celebrated is undoubtedly Marco Polo, 
 wliose curious history contains many details descriptive 
 of the state of Christianity in the far East. 
 
 Commerce, tlie grand source of the prosperity of the 
 Venetians, had, about the year 1250, attracted Nicolo 
 and Matteo Polo to Constantinople, and in 1256, they 
 both made their way to the dominions of the Khan of 
 Tartary, who was then encamped on the shores of the 
 Volga. The war, however, which had broken out 
 among these nomadic people, compelled them both 
 to make a precipitate retreat from the States of Barka, 
 Avhere they had been staying, and to pass on to Bokhara 
 on the south-eastern shores of the Caspian Sea. They 
 carried on their trading transactions for three years in 
 these districts, studying meanwhile the language and 
 manners of the Tartars ; and they finally joined an 
 embassy bound for China, but it took them more than a 
 year to get to Khanbalik (Pekin) where the Emperor 
 Kublai resided. This sovereign, with his usual courtesy 
 towards strangers, treated them with great distinction. 
 He questioned them much concerning the princes who 
 were reigning in Europe, as well as the manners and 
 customs of the different nations they had visited, 
 
334 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 and spoke to them with great interest about the 
 sovereign pontiff, the Church of Rome, and Christians 
 generally.* 
 
 The emperor’s conversation with the two Venetian 
 brothers soon bore fruit, for Kublai called a council 
 of the first dignitaries of his empire, and imparted to 
 them his project of sending envoys to the Pope of the 
 Christians. 
 
 The members of the council responded unanimously 
 that the idea was worthy of being put into execution, 
 and the khan had Nicolo and Matteo Polo at once 
 called before him, invested them with the rank of 
 ambassadors, and gave orders for the preparation of the 
 letters which they were to take to the Pope. At their 
 departure, Kublai particularly impressed upon the Ve- 
 netians the importance of the request which he had 
 addressed to the sovereign Pontiff, for him to despatch 
 a hundred men, remarkable for their wisdom and scien- 
 tific attainments, “ in order,” he said, “ that they may 
 show idolaters generally, and to my subjects, that their 
 present doctrine is a diabolical invention, and point 
 out to them the superiority of Christianity.” These 
 words are not a little surprising, proceeding from a 
 sovereign devoted to the superstitions of the Lamas ; 
 but what is more surprising still is, that he especially 
 directed his ambassadors to bring him some of the oil 
 burning before the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem.f All 
 these facts prove that Christianity Avas Avidely spread 
 in China; and that if the great khan did not openly 
 
 * “ And he afterwards questioned them about the Pope, the 
 general arrangements of the Komish church, and the customs of the 
 Latins.” — Journey of Marco Polo, published by the Geographical 
 Society, chap. vii. p. 5. 
 
 t Journey of Marco Polo, chap. viii. p. 6. 
 
EMBASSY OF KUBLAl TO TIJE POFE. 
 
 335 
 
 profess it, he nevertheless held it in great esteem and 
 veneration. 
 
 Nicolo and ^Matteo Polo, who had entered the city 
 of Pekin as merchants, quitted it in the capacity of 
 ambassadors from the great khan of Tartary to the 
 sovereign pontiff. A golden tablet stamped with the 
 imperial seal, Avhich Kublai had given them, served at 
 once to mark their rank throughout the empire, and to 
 obtain for them the assistance and protection they 
 required. But though this golden tablet preserved them 
 from pillage and massacre, it could not accelerate their 
 journey, and it was not until they had undergone the 
 fatigue of travelling for three years, that they arrived 
 at Acre, which town they reached in the month of 
 April, 1270. They were on the point of starting thence 
 for Eome, when they heard of the recent death of 
 Clement IV. ; and though the legate apostolic had ad- 
 vised them to remain in the East until the election of 
 the new pontiff, they preferred returning to their native 
 countr}\ 
 
 Their departure from Venice, whence they had 
 originally started for the East, had only preceded the 
 birth of Marco Polo by a few months ; and Avhen, after 
 an absence of twenty years, they returned to their 
 family, this young Venetian, who had lost his mother 
 when in the cradle, saw his father for the first time. 
 The accounts of the wonderful things Nicolo and Matteo 
 had seen in Asia, so inflamed the imagination of young 
 Marco, that he conceived a vehement desire to travel 
 himself, and earnestly entreated his relations to take 
 him with them when they should return to Tartary. 
 Two years slipped by without the election of a successor 
 to Clement IV.; and then the Venetians, finding this 
 delay so much greater than they had anticipated, deter- 
 
336 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 mined uj)on returning to the East, and taking Marco 
 the son of Nicolo Polo with them. They set out first 
 for Jerusalem, in order to obtain, in accordance with the 
 directions Kublai had given them, a portion of the oil 
 burning before the Holy Sepulchre, and then proceeded 
 again to Acre to see the legate apostolic, who approved 
 of tlieir determination, and gave them letters to the 
 khan, explaining that the vacancy of the Holy See had 
 caused their delay. 
 
 They had just commenced their journey, and were 
 proceeding by easy stages, when they were once more 
 stopped by receiving from an estafette, the information 
 that the legate apostolic of Egypt himself had been 
 called to the pontifical throne, which he had ascended 
 under the name of Gregory X. He desired the Vene- 
 tian ambassadors to proceed to Lyons, were he was 
 going to call a general council, and on their joyfully 
 repairing thither, he received them with affection, over- 
 Avhelmed them with honours, and attached to their em- 
 bassy two monks of the order of St. Dominic, William 
 of Tripoli, and Nicholas de Vicenza. 
 
 Just at the period Avhen the embassy entered Ar- 
 menia, the Bibar troops had invaded the country, and 
 spread murder and desolation througliout it.* The 
 two Dominican missionaries Avho had, several times 
 during their journey, almost sunk beneath the fatigue 
 they had to endure, were now reduced to such a state 
 of exhaustion, that they thought it impossible to pro- 
 ceed further ; and as they felt convinced that they would 
 be unable to pass safely through a country infested by 
 
 * Et quant les dpus frers Prescaor vireiit ce, il out grant dotance 
 d’alcr plus navat. Adouc distrent que il ne iront mie.” — Marco 
 Polo, chap. xiii. p. 9. 
 
ARRIVAL OF THE POLO FAMILY IN CHINA. 
 
 Egyptian soldiers, the mortal enemies of the monks, 
 tliey retraced their steps, and confided the despatches, 
 with which they had been entrusted, to the Venetians. 
 
 After spending tlirec years and a half on the journey, 
 the Polo family at last arrived in China, at the court of 
 which country, they were received with the most lively 
 manifestations of satisfaction, and the utmost honour. 
 The emperor praised the zeal and fidelity of his am- 
 bassadors, made them give him a minute account of the 
 affairs of the Christians, and the sovereign pontiff ; read 
 with interest all the letters that were addressed to him, 
 and exhibited the greatest delight on seeing the holy oil 
 which he had asked for"^, giving orders to his servants 
 to have it preserved with the utmost veneration. He 
 tlien noticed young Marco, and asked who he was. 
 “ Sire,” replied Nicolo Polo, “he is my son and your 
 servant.”! “He is welcome,” said Kublai. 
 
 He then gave orders for the preparation of a magni- 
 ficent banquet, during which, the three poor Venetians 
 had, no doubt, to submit to the most extraordinary 
 questioning about the men and things of the West, 
 since the Tartars, whose curiosity is insatiable, never 
 hesitate in the slightest degree in questioning strangers. 
 People who have travelled much are themselves, fre- 
 quently enough, over eager to tell stories about their 
 travels; but the pitiless fury of these questioners is 
 something beyond conception. 
 
 ^larco Polo was allowed to take up his abode at 
 court. He applied himself with ardour to the study 
 
 * “ Puis il bailent le sanct oleo de cui il fist grant joie, et le tient 
 mout cliier . . .” — Voyage de Marco Polo, p. 10. 
 
 I “ Sire, fait meser Nicolao, il est mon filz et vostre home. Bien 
 soit il venu, fiutle grant Can.” — Ibid. p. 11. 
 
 VOL. I. Z 
 
338 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 of the Tartar and four other languages ; and his pro- 
 gress was so rapid, that in a very short time he was 
 able to read and write with fluency in the Eastern 
 tongues. He fell in also, so easily, with the manners 
 and customs of the people among whom he lived, that 
 he was frequently supposed to be a native of the 
 countr}q differing from them only in those qualities of 
 mind which will always give the European a superiority 
 over the Oriental. The emperor having soon remarked 
 the wisdom and prudence of the young man, entrusted 
 him with an important mission into a distant country ; 
 and Marco Polo on his return, did not content himself 
 like other ambassadors, with giving the bare official 
 account of the affairs that had been confided to him, 
 but related so many curious and interesting details 
 as to the habits of the people he had visited, that 
 the emperor became greatly interested in his narra- 
 tion. The reputation of the young Venetian increased 
 rapidly from this time, and he soon gained a position 
 at court, Avhich commanded for him the esteem and 
 respect of all the great men of the empire. As his age 
 increased, his enlarged experience, his activity of mind, 
 and affable manners, gained for him a favour that Avas 
 always justified by his zeal and fidelity, and the affairs 
 of the empire and the most important embassies occu- 
 pied the best years of his life. Entrusted for three 
 years Avith the government of a province, he became 
 acquainted Avith all tlie springs of the administration, 
 and the resources of the empire; and it AA^as to his 
 industry, that Kublai OAved the surrender of a place, that 
 he had been vainly besieging for years, in the south of 
 China, since by inventing some engines of Avar for 
 tlirowing stones of an enormous size, he compelled the 
 
• MARCO rOLO’s RETURN TO EUROPE. 339 
 
 frightened inhabitants, who saw all their principal 
 edifices falling in ruins, to open their gates to the 
 Tartars. 
 
 After remaining seventeen years in China, the Vene- 
 tians, who had never intended to leave their native 
 country for ever, began to think of undertaking once 
 more the long and perilous journey by which they 
 could alone reach it. The emperor when he heard of 
 this was very much distressed, and neglected no means 
 by whicli to turn them from their resolution, and 
 induce them to remain permanently with him; but 
 when he found how ardent was their longing to see 
 their native land again, he generously agreed to their 
 departure, and gave such orders as would enable them 
 to travel with honour and convenience. He sent to 
 each of them a golden tablet stamped with the imperial 
 seal, which would ensure them a safe conduct through- 
 out the whole extent of his empire ; he invested them 
 with the rank of ambassadors, giving them letters for 
 the Pope, and the kings of France and Spain ; and on 
 hearing that they must necessarily cross the China Sea, 
 and the Straits of Sunda, as far as India, he placed 
 fourteen large vessels at their disposal, each having four 
 masts, by means of which they could, weather permit- 
 ting, spread twelve sails.* This journey by sea and 
 land lasted for three years and a half ; but finally, after 
 having escaped many dangers, and gone through 
 numerous adventures, they re-appeared in Europe in 
 the year 1295, when the interest of the Western World 
 was for the first time drawn towards those countries 
 
 * “ Puis le grant Kan fist epparolller quartorze nes, lesquels avoit 
 chascune quatre arbres, et maintes foies aloient a douze voiles,” — 
 Voyage de Marco Polo, p. 14. 
 
340 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 which they had explored more thoroughly than any 
 other Europeans. 
 
 Marco Polo, however, was not long destined to 
 remain in the quiet enjoyment of the rest he had hoped 
 for ; for only a few months after his return, a war 
 broke out between Venice and Genoa, and the ex-ambas- 
 sador of Kublai-Khan had the honour of serving on 
 board the Venetian fleet, and of exposing his life in the 
 defence of the country which he had just rendered 
 illustrious by his Asiatic discoveries. At the battle of 
 Curzola, where the Venetians were defeated, ^larco 
 Polo commanded a galley holding a position in the 
 front rank, and falling at his post severely wounded, he 
 was captured by the enemy, and taken as a prisoner of 
 war to Genoa. 
 
 His captivity lasted for four years, but it was this 
 misfortune that in reality put the finishing stroke to 
 his celebrity. The Genoese received with admiration 
 and avidity the accounts of his visit to countries which 
 had formerly been almost unknown. Xo account had 
 as yet been published ; and though all the materials 
 were at Venice, he had them brought to him, put them 
 in order, and had a complete narrative of his travels 
 written under his own eye by a citizen of Pisa, who 
 shared his captivity.* His work became very widely 
 known, the copies of it were multiplied, abridgments and 
 translations were published, and it circulated every- 
 where; it was in fact, to European readers, like the 
 announcement of a new world — like a revelation of the 
 manners and habits of a new race. Some of the 
 regions of Central Asia had, indeed, been previously 
 
 • Recucil de Voyages, 8ic., public par la Socictd de Geographic, 
 vol. i. introduction, p. xlv. 
 
ACCOUNTS OF CONTRMPOIIAUY TRAVELLERS. 341 
 
 traversed by many others ; Ascelin, Plano-Carpini, 
 Ivubruk, Oderic de Friuli, Sir John ^landeville, were 
 all of them contemporaries of Marco Polo ; but they 
 had seen nothing but numerous deserts on their way 
 to the court of Kara-Koroum ; they had never re- 
 mained long in any part ; they had not had either the 
 ability or the leisure to observe the details of the 
 countries through which they journeyed. They saw 
 nothing, and what indeed could they have seen ? A 
 Tartar population continually under arms, having no 
 fixed habitation, occupying only poor or devastated 
 countries, otfered no other spectacle than themselves. 
 The only things, consequently, that the travellers could 
 speak of* in their narratives, were the manners and cus- 
 toms of the warlike Mongols. They had never encoun- 
 tered Avhen on their journeys any objects of interest re- 
 lating to art, industry, commerce, or agriculture. They 
 had, it is true, occasionally visited some of the towns, 
 but these were separated from one another by immense 
 deserts. The security of the travellers diminished in 
 proportion to their distance from these enclosed places, 
 since the Tartar families who had kept to their wander- 
 ing mode of life traversed the steppes in all directions, 
 chasing the wild animals in the woods, and watching 
 for the passage of travellers that they might plunder 
 them. It became necessary to organise complete cara- 
 vans, and to wait in the large towns till a sufficient 
 number of travellers could be got together to ensure 
 safety during the journey. Regular periods for de- 
 parture were named, but unavoidable accidents would 
 often defer them, and the journeys Avere thus indefi- 
 nitely delayed. 
 
 Heavy falls of snoAV, the overflowing of rivers, deep 
 
342 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 sands and marshes, would sometimes interrupt the 
 communications. Here, the print of a few footsteps 
 would alone show the route that had to be followed ; 
 at other places the presence of man was alone apparent 
 by the destruction of forests, or the ruins of former 
 habitations. When the rivers had returned to their 
 beds, or when the tide of war had swept on to other 
 regions, the caravans would again set out, not unfre- 
 quently only to encounter new obstacles, that patience 
 and time could alone overcome; and but to reach at last 
 the end of a journey after years spent in fatigue, during 
 which the strain upon their courage and strength had. 
 never ceased. 
 
 In the remoter parts of Asia all these difficulties are 
 even now to be met with. When we passed through 
 Tartary and Thibet, we had to encounter the same 
 obstacles as those which opposed the progress of 
 travellers in the middle ages. Instead of having been 
 diminished, they have perhaps even increased, since 
 these numerous hordes have ceased to obey a single 
 sovereign. Time has destroyed most of the towns, the 
 roads uniting them have been broken up ; such slight 
 traces of cultivation as used to appear at intervals have 
 been buried beneath the sands of the desert ; and some 
 new difficulty will meet the traveller through these 
 desolated regions at every step. To meet with other 
 men, which in civilised countries re-animates the 
 traveller, and gives the hope of assistance, is here 
 regarded as a new cause for fear, and it not unfre- 
 quently happens, that two caravans crossing the same 
 plain, will suspiciously watch each other and arm them- 
 selves, as if expecting an enemy, will arrange the ranks 
 of their escort, increase the j)ace of their horses, cross 
 
ACCUUACY OF MARCO FOLO’S DESCUIFTIONS. 343 
 
 each other’s course, and then fly with the utmost speed, 
 as if in these dangerous re<xions man himself was the 
 
 O O 
 
 peril most to be feared. 
 
 The accounts of Rubruk and Plano-Carpini are little 
 more than the history of their personal adventures, 
 their transactions Avith the Tartars, and their constant 
 struggles against hunger, thirst, fatigue, and the in- 
 clemencies of the climate. Marco Polo, on the con- 
 trary, Avho remained for a long period in Central 
 Asia, and visited many of the countries there with the 
 rank of ambassador, never let slip an opportunity of 
 examining the plants, animals, and other productions 
 of each, making especial mention of those which ap- 
 peared to him, either on account of their value, utility, 
 or commercial importance, most worthy of note. His 
 observations upon the various arts describe processes 
 as minutely as results ; the stuffs manufactured, the 
 peculiar kinds of embroidery work, and the modes of 
 Avorking metals, are all touched upon. In less civilised 
 regions, he speaks of the animals which furnish the 
 most A'alued skins ; if spices are collected in any 
 country he visits, he describes the difierent plants and 
 barks most highly thought of; in fact, wherever he 
 goes, Marco Polo shoAvs that he belongs to a maritime 
 and commercial nation, and never forgets that he is a 
 Venetian, and tha^ his observations on the industry 
 and navigation of the nations with whom he comes in 
 contact, will be peculiarly interesting to his countrymen. 
 
 In his narrative, Marco Polo devotes himself especially 
 to the description of Cathay, so long unknoAvn to Eu- 
 ropeans, and the general aspect of which presents so 
 much that is remarkable. The enormous population of 
 this vast empire, the brilliant court of Pekin Avith its 
 
344 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 extraordinary customs, the great towns thronged with 
 inhabitants, industrious, cultivated, and literary ; the 
 artificial canals connecting one province with another ; 
 the wonders performed in agriculture ; the system of 
 government, at once so complete and pliant, all could 
 not but be sources of profound astonishment to tlie 
 dwellers in the West, since all that the celebrated Ve- 
 netian describes is at once so prodigious, so incredible, 
 and yet so remarkable for its exactitude and truth. 
 During the whole of our long residence in the ex- 
 treme East, we studied the Celestial Empire wdth the 
 greatest minuteness; since our return we have read 
 the account of Marco Polo’s journey, and there, in tlie 
 pages written six centuries ago, we find reproduced the 
 character and habits of the very men among whom we 
 spent so many years ! And yet since the account was put 
 together, though these people have been shaken by long, 
 frequent, and fierce revolutions, they have nevertheless 
 invariably preserved their own individual characteristics, 
 that stamp which distinguishes them from all other 
 nations. The Chinese of the ninth century, so well 
 described by Arab writers, are the same as those that 
 Marco Polo speaks of in the thirteenth, although they 
 w'ere then under the dominion of the Mongol Tartars. 
 Eurther on, in the sixteenth century, the Portuguese, 
 doubling the Cape of Good Hope by^sea, discover China, 
 and recognise the people that the celebrated traveller 
 had already made known in Europe. And now, in our 
 time, when we visit the “ Central Empire,” we again 
 meet the same Chinese which were described by the 
 Arabs, by Marco Polo, and by the Portuguese. 
 
 IMarco Polo’s account, although received with dis- 
 belief when published, now cnjoj^s the utmost favour. 
 
MARCO polo’s silence RESPECTING CHRISTIANITY. 345 
 
 Xo work has ever furnished more material for other 
 authors, none has been more commented on ; and it 
 must at the same time be admitted that no other has 
 been more deserving of the honour, either on account 
 of the variety or the extent of the information it con- 
 tains. Although it was at first supposed to be false 
 and exaggerated, its sincerity and accuracy are now 
 universally recognised. The incredulity with which it 
 was originally received, has given place to a perfect 
 confidence ; and far from there being now any dispo- 
 sition to underrate its importance, the tendency is 
 perhaps rather to exaggerate it, and the same traveller 
 who was once ridiculed with the nickname of Messer 
 Marco iUillione, has been since called the Humboldt of 
 the thirteenth century; and though this eulogy may be 
 carried too far, it at least shows the superiority of the 
 Venetian traveller over the others of his own day. 
 
 Notwithstanding the interest which is constantly 
 maintained throughout Marco Polo’s narrative, one can 
 hardly help regretting the absence of any information 
 as to the state of Christianity in Central Asia, and 
 especially in China, at the period in which he writes. 
 His long residence in those countries, and the important 
 duties with which the Khan intrusted him, must as- 
 suredly have placed in his possession all the details of 
 this interesting question ; but, notwithstanding this, it 
 is only occasionally and by chance that he drops a word 
 with reference to Christians or Christianity. Thus, in 
 describing the formidable insurrection raised by Nayan, 
 the nephew of the Khan, and the great victory that 
 the emperor obtained over him, he contents himself 
 with saying that Nayan was a Christian; that the sign 
 of the cross was affixed to his standards ; and that a 
 
346 CHKISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 large number of men in his army were Christians, not 
 a few of whom remained upon the field of battle.* 
 
 The Jews and Mohammedans belonmn^ to Kublai’s 
 
 O O 
 
 army were constantly mocking these Christians, who 
 had just submitted to the authority of the emperor, 
 saying, that although Nay an had raised the standard of 
 Jesus Christ, they had nevertheless received no assist- 
 ance from him. The Christians, who were at last un- 
 able to bear these taunts, carried their complaints to 
 the emperor, who answered them, in the presence of 
 their enemies, to the following effect : — 
 
 “ Your God has refused to assist Nayan ; but you 
 need not on this account distress yourselves, nor become 
 ashamed of your religion; because it was through the 
 justice of God that he abstained from favouring crime 
 and injustice. Nayan rebelled against his sovereign, 
 and in his impiety implored the assistance of your God ; 
 but this good and just God would not protect such 
 wicked attempts.” He then forbade the enemies of the 
 Christians to insult either their God or the cross. 
 
 In describing the large and important towns of 
 China, Marco Polo will sometimes mention the Christian 
 churches. Thus, he says, that at llaii-Tcheou-Fou 
 there was one, and at Tching-Kian-Fou three ; but 
 this meagre information is all that is given by the 
 Venetian traveller. There can be little doubt, how- 
 ever, of the progress made by Christianity throughout 
 Tartary, and especially in China. It is well known that 
 the Nestorians were diffused over the whole surface of 
 this rich and extensive empire, that they were governed 
 
 * “ Et sacliies que Naian estoit Cristienz balcizienz et li ceric 
 bateille avoit-il la crois dc Christ sor lu cnseiiige.” — Voyage of 
 Marco Polo, p. 85. 
 
JEAN DE MONTE CORVINO. 
 
 347 
 
 by a bishop at Pekin, and that they exercised consider- 
 able influence over the numerous population. Unfor- 
 tunately, however, this influence was often abused, and 
 their conduct was little in harmony with that modera- 
 tion and charity prescribed by the Gospel. They in- 
 variably tormented and oppressed all Christians who 
 did not agree with the errors of their own sect, and 
 viewed with jealousy the success of the Catholic mis- 
 sionaries ; it having even been said that they would 
 have preferred seeing the souls they pretended to save 
 lost altogether, than let them owe their salvation to the 
 assistance of others : to so great an extent may the 
 most ardent zeal be perverted by pride and fanaticism. 
 
 It was in the midst of these unworthy brethren that 
 Jean de Monte Corvino was compelled to reside for 
 several years. Sent on a mission to Tartary in 1289, 
 he crossed the Indies, and after great fatigue arrived at 
 tlie court of the great Khan, then fixed at Pekin, or, as 
 it was then called, Khanbalik (royal residence). He 
 set to work with indefatigable ardour at the task of 
 converting both grandees and people, and, after the 
 example of the great apostle, he was all things to all 
 men that he might gain all men to Jesus Christ. The 
 Kestorians, however, could not see without jealousy so 
 persevering a zeal. They endeavoured to calumniate 
 him and to turn his friends from him, to rob him of all 
 protection, and to compel him, by persecutions and by 
 throwing obstacles in his way, to renounce his apostle- 
 ship. They accused him now of being a spy, then a 
 robber and an assassin ; but though they carried their 
 hostility to the utmost pitch, it was easy for this vir- 
 tuous missionary to prove his innocence, and his calum- 
 niators did not go unpunished ; for the emperor, be- 
 
348 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 coming indignant at their malice, condemned several of 
 them to exile. 
 
 Jean de Monte Corvino, however patient amid all his 
 trials, instead of allowing himself to he disheartened by 
 the difficulties before, him, only redoubled his efforts ; 
 and the exertions of the good missionary were crowned 
 with success, for before long the Catholic mission of 
 Pekin became the most flourishing in the empire. A 
 short time after his arrival, Monte Corvino succeeded 
 in restoring to the unity of the Catholic church 
 George, King of the Keraites, who had professed the 
 Nestorian doctrine. The example of tlie monarch was 
 followed by a large number of his subjects, and he him- 
 self assumed the Minorite order so that he might be 
 able to assist the professed ministers of God in the 
 celebration of the holy services. He built also a large 
 and beautiful church which he called the Poman church, 
 and died a fervent Christian in 1299, leaving a son of 
 three years old, to whom he had given the name of 
 John, in honour of the missionary who had first enabled 
 him to see his errors and had directed his conscience. 
 
 Besides this, Jean de Monte Corvino had himself 
 erected two churches even in the town of Pekiu, where 
 he performed service with all the pomp of the Catholic 
 ceremonial. He trained a large number of young 
 Tartars to chant, and the emperor became fond of 
 coming to hear them, and sometimes would publicly 
 present the poor monks with marks of his esteem and 
 veneration. The religion of Jesus Christ thus spread 
 rapidly among their populations formerly so plunged in 
 gross superstition and barbarism, and Jean de ^lonte 
 Corvino became so thoroughly conversant w'ith the 
 Tartar language, that he translated the Testament and 
 
COKVINO’S LETTER FROM CATHAY. 349 
 
 the Psalms of David into that tongue, and published an 
 edition of it, remarkable for the beauty and elegance of 
 the characters ; a performance which gained him much 
 renown amongst a people who had already obtained 
 some insight into the ancient civilisation and literature 
 of the Chinese. 
 
 Jean de ]\Ionte Corvino himself describes with a 
 beautiful simplicity the difficulties he encountered, and 
 the final success of his mission, in a letter addressed 
 to the vicars-general of the Dominicans and Franciscans, 
 and to all missionaries established in the province of 
 Persia ; this curious document is as follows : — 
 
 “ Khanbalik in the kingdom of Cathay, the 8th of the 
 month of January, 1305. 
 
 “ I, brother Jean de Monte Corvino, of the order of 
 Minor Friars, quitted Tauris, the capital of Persia, in the 
 year of our Lord 1291. I penetrated into the Indies, 
 and remained thirteen months in the Church of St. 
 Thomas the Apostle. There I baptized about a hundred 
 persons ; and there, the companion of my journey, 
 brother Kicolas de Pistore, died and was buried. For 
 myself, proceeding further on, I arrived at the kingdom 
 of Cathay, the dominions of the Emperor of Tartary, 
 called the Great Khan. On presenting to him the 
 letters from the Pope, I endeavoured to induce him to 
 embrace the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ ; but 
 though he was himself too profoundly plunged in idolatry 
 to do so, it did not prevent him from conferring many 
 favours on the Christians. I have been at his court for 
 two years. Certain Nestorlans, who, though pretending 
 to be Christians, conform but little to the Christian re- 
 ligion, have acquired much authority in this country. 
 
35G CHEISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 and will scarcely allow Christians of another creed to 
 establish an oratory or a church, in which they might 
 preach any doctrine differing from the Xestorian. 
 These Xestorians, either directly or by means of persons 
 whom they have corrupted by money, raised the most 
 determined persecutions against me, saying everywhere 
 that I had not been sent in reality by our Lord the 
 Pope, but that I "was a dangerous spy and a seducer of 
 the people ; then they produced false witnesses who 
 maintained that I had killed a foreign ambassador, in 
 India, who had been entrusted with a treasure to take 
 to the emperor, which I had myself seized upon. 
 Their persecutions lasted for nearly live years, during 
 which time I was often in the hands of justice, and was 
 threatened with an ignominious death ; but at last, by 
 the grace of God, the testimony of a certain individual 
 proved my innocence to the emperor, and at the same 
 time showed him the malice of my enemies, who were 
 then exiled with their wives and families. I remained 
 here alone for eleven years, at the end of which time I 
 was joined by brother Arnold, a German of the province 
 of Cologne. I hav'e built a church at Khanbalik, the 
 principal residence of the emperor, which has been 
 finished now for about six years, and in which there is a 
 belfry with three bells. In this church I have altogether 
 baptized nearly 6000 persons, and if it had not been for 
 the calumnies of which I have spoken, the number 
 would have been 13,000; I have successively received a 
 hundred and fifty boys, the sons of pagans, whose ages 
 varied from seven to eleven years, who had been 
 hitherto without any religion at all, have baptized them 
 and instructed them in the elements of Greek and Latin 
 literature. I have written for their use Psalters as well 
 
CORVINO’S LETTER FROM CATHAY. 
 
 351 
 
 as thirty collections of hymns and two breviaries ; so 
 that eleven of these boys can now chant in choirs, 
 whether I am present myself or not, as is done in our 
 own monasteries : and several of the others arc able to 
 transcribe the Psalters and other books. The emperor is 
 very fond of hearing them sing. 
 
 “ At certain hours I have the bells rung, and celebrate 
 divine service before these children, and not having any 
 written service, we chant a little from memory. A 
 prince named George, one of the illustrious race of 
 the emperor, who was formerly a Nestorian, attached 
 himself to me in the first year of my arrival. I con- 
 verted him to the true Catholic faith, he has received 
 minor orders, and when I celebrate the holy services he 
 assists me dressed in his royal robes. The Nestorians 
 have accused him of being an apostate, and have raised 
 persecutions against him ; he has, however, restored the 
 larger portion of his people to the true faith, and has 
 had a church built with truly royal magnificence, in 
 honour of the Holy Trinity, whicli he has called the 
 Homan Church. Six years ago, in 1299, the king, 
 George, died a true Christian, leaving for an heir a child 
 of nine years of age. 
 
 “ The brothers of the king who adhere obstinately to 
 their Xestorian errors, have endeavoured since his death 
 to pervert those whom he had converted, and to restore 
 them to their former errors. Unfortunately, I am here 
 alone, and cannot leave the emperor, and it is, therefore, 
 impossible for me to visit this church, which is at a dis- 
 tance of twenty days’ journey. If, however, any good 
 brother comes to me, I hope to be able to repair all this 
 miscliief, as I have still in my possession the powers 
 conferred on me by the late king. I repeat, also, that 
 
352 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 but for the calumnies of which I have spoken, the fruit 
 of my labours would have been very abundant, and if I 
 could have been assisted by two or three companions, 
 the emperor himself might perhaps have been baptized. 
 
 “ I have not for twelve years received any intelligence 
 either from the court of Rome, or from our own order, 
 and I am entirely ignorant of the state of affairs in the 
 West. I entreat the minister-general of our order, to 
 send me a Antiphonary, a list of the saints, a Gradual 
 and a written Psalter, for a model, as at present I am 
 only provided with a portable breviary containing the 
 short lessons, and a small missal. If I had but one 
 copy, the boys could transcribe it. I am building a 
 second church, in order to divide these boys. I have 
 learnt to read and Avrite in the Tartar lani^uafie, and 
 liave translated into that tongue the whole of the New 
 Testament and the Psalter, Avhich I have had Avritten in 
 very beautiful Tartar characters ; and finally I read, 
 Avrite, and preach publicly the hiAV of Jesus Christ. I 
 had arranged Avith the King George to have translated, 
 if he had lived, the Avhole of the Latin ritual, in order 
 that the praises of the Lord might hav'e been chanted 
 everyAvhere in his dominions. During his lifetime, 
 I Avas in the habit of celebrating the holy sacrifice of 
 the mass, in his church, according to the Latin ritual. 
 The son of tlie King George has been named Jolin, in 
 consequence of it being my name, and I sincerely hope 
 that Avith the help of God he Avill folloAV in the footsteps 
 of his father.” 
 
 What zeal for the glory of God, and for the salvation 
 of souls, and, at the same time, Avhat energy is exhibited 
 in the conduct of these AAmnderful men, to induce them 
 to live thus at the extremity of the Avorld, in the midst 
 
PROGRESS OF CORVINO’S MISSION. 353 
 
 of sorrows and trials, without the power even of cor- 
 responding with their brethren or friends. Jean de 
 Monte Corvino remains for twelve years Avithout hearing 
 anything Avhatever from the West, and then simply an- 
 nounces the fact Avithout complaining, and Avithout 
 letting slip a Avord of sadness or discontent. Faith 
 alone could have produced resignation like this. 
 
 In 1305, the generous apostle of the Tartars and 
 Chinese Avrote to the Franciscan and Dominican mis- 
 sionaries in Persia, to give them some information as 
 to the persecutions raised by the Nestorians, and the 
 progress of his mission. “ I have prepared,” he says, 
 “ six pictures from the Old and KeAv Testament, for 
 the instruction of the ignorant, and several of the 
 children Avhoin I have collected and baptized, have, 
 since then, been taken to the Lord. Altogether, since 
 I have been in Tartary, I have baptized 5000 persons ; 
 and I have noAv founded a neAv establishment close to 
 the palace of the great Khan, from the door of which, 
 indeed, it is only a stone’s throw. A certain Peter de 
 Lucalongo, an excellent Christian and a rich merchant, 
 who travelled with me from Tauris, has bought the 
 piece of land at his own expense, and presented it to 
 me, for the love of God ; and when we chant there, the 
 great Khan can hear us from his OAvn apartments. The 
 two churches that I have built are about two miles 
 apart, and are both in the interior of the toAvn, which 
 is of a very great size. I can assure you, indeed, that 
 in no part of the Avorld is there as A'ast empire as 
 that of the great Khan. I have permission to enter^^the 
 palace, and an acknowledged office at court, as legate 
 from the pope, and the emperor pays me as much respect 
 as any other prelate.” 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 A A 
 
354 CUKISTIANITY ]N CHINA, ETC. 
 
 In the following year, Jean de Monte Corvino relates 
 to his correspondents in Persia, a very remarkable oc- 
 currence. He says, “ Some messengers came to me from 
 a certain part of Ethiopia, requesting me to go and 
 preach the Gospel in their country, or to send some 
 trustworthy missionaries thither. They stated, that 
 ever since the time of St. Matthew the Evangelist and 
 his disciples, they had been without a Christian minister ; 
 that they were very desirous of being instructed in this 
 faith, and that, if any missionaries were sent to them, 
 they would all be converted and become Christians. 
 Many of them were then only Christians in name, con- 
 tenting themselves with living soberly, as they were 
 unprovided with anyone able to explain the doctrine to 
 them, or to read the Holy Scripture.”* 
 
 It is not very easy to discover who these messengers 
 were, that Monte Corvino speaks of. They could not 
 have been Abyssinians, since this country is too far from 
 Pekin ; but it is most probable that they belonged to the 
 island of Ceylon, and were dependent upon the Nestorian 
 metropolitans, and that they were frequently in commu- 
 nication with China, both by sea and land. 
 
 Providence at last, however, put an end to the long 
 and sad isolation of Jean de Monte Corvino ; and gave 
 a great additional encouragem.ent to his zeal and per- 
 severance. In 1307, the sovereign pontiff, Clement Y., 
 sent out seven missionaries to China, namely, Gdrard, 
 Peregrin, Andre de Perouse, Nicolas de Bautra, Peter 
 of Castile, Andrutius d’Assise, andWilliam.of ATlleneuve. 
 In order to give an especial authority to this mission 
 in the extreme East, the pope created Jean de Monte 
 
 * This letter is dated Khanbalik, Quinquagesima Sunday, in April, 
 1306 . 
 
MONTE CORVINO ARCHBISHOP OF PEKIN. 
 
 355 
 
 Corvino, archbishop of Pekin, and made the seven 
 missionaries, whose names we have just enumerated, his 
 suffragans. Before their departure they received the 
 episcopal consecration, and were invested with numerous 
 privileges, to facilitate the performance of their duties 
 in such remote countries. Clement V. sent a letter to 
 Jean de l\Ionte Corvino, by which he placed him at the 
 head of all the Catholic missions in the extreme East, 
 on the condition of always submitting to the Roman 
 pontiff, and of receiving the Pallium from him. lie 
 wrote at the same time to Timour, the great Khan of 
 the Tartars, exhorting him to become a Christian, and 
 thanking him for the protection he had accorded to the 
 Catholics.* 
 
 Of the seven Franciscan monks appointed for the 
 journey into Tartary, three only succeeded, in 1308, in 
 reaching their destination, and in consecrating Jean de 
 Monte Corvino Archbishop of Pekin ; these were Gerard, 
 Peregrin, and Andre de Perouse ; of the others, Xicolas 
 de Bautra, Peter of Castile, and Andrutius d’ Assise, died 
 of fatigue soon after entering the Indies, while the 
 remaining one, William of Villeneuve, returned to Italy, 
 and was appointed Bishop of Sagona, in Corsica, in the 
 year 1325.f 
 
 That must have been a moment of indescribable 
 delight which united the venerable missionary of Khan- 
 balik with the three children of Saint Francis, who had 
 
 * Wadding, Annales Minorum, vol. vii. p. 228., &c. 
 
 t At the time of his election, Pope Jean XXII. stated that William 
 had heen consecrated a bishop by Clement V., and had been sent to 
 preach the Gospel to the nations of Tartary. (Wadding, vol. vi. 
 p. 147.) In 1328 Bishop William was translated to the episcopal 
 see of Tergeste, where he died in 1331, and there his tomb may still 
 be seen. — Ferdugellus, Italice Sacrce, vol. v. p. 582. 
 
 A A 2 
 
356 CHEISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 come to partake the cares of his apostleship. What 
 joy must it have been for him to hear once more that 
 native language, whose accents never sound so beautiful 
 and harmonious as in a foreign land ! With the help of 
 his sutfragans the archbishop continued to preach with 
 the same zeal as before, and the arrival of new comers 
 seemed to redouble the strength, energy, and health of 
 the old missionary, and to renew in him the ardour of 
 youth. He taught them his prudence and wisdom, and 
 communicated to them the results of his long experience 
 in apostleship. They helped one another, and conver- 
 sions became so numerous, and the fruit of their labour 
 so abundant, that it became necessary to have more 
 assistance still, and in 1312, the sovereign pontiff de- 
 spatched three new suffragans to the Archbishop of 
 Khanbalik.* They were again taken from the Order of 
 Saint Francis, and their names were Thomas, Jerome, 
 and Peter of Florence. In the bull f Avhich Clement V. 
 sent to Peter de Florence, he states that, in consequence 
 of the great increase in the number of Christians 
 throughout China and Tartary, he thought it advisable 
 to create neAV episcopal sees, in order to facilitate the 
 further propagation of the faith. 
 
 It was about this time that a very rich Armenian lady 
 took up her residence in Kai-Tou, in China, a large and 
 very beautiful town not far from the sea, most probably 
 the same as that now bearing the name of Ilan-Tcheou- 
 Fou, the capital of the province of Tchd-Kiang. Chris- 
 tianity was in a very flourishing state in Tai-Tou ; but 
 notwithstanding this, there Avas no con\'cnient place in 
 
 * Wadding, vol. vii. p. 53. 
 
 f This bull is dated at Avignon, where the tomb of Clement V. 
 may still be seen. 
 
AN ARMUNIAN LADY BUILDS A CHURCH. 
 
 357 
 
 which the multitudes of the faithful could meet on any 
 solemn occasion. The Armenian lady seeing this, at- 
 tending only to the promptings of her zeal and piety, 
 and determining to devote her immense riches to the 
 salvation of souls, and the glory of God, built such a 
 magnificent church there, that the Archbishop, Monte 
 Corvino, gave it the name of a cathedral, raised the 
 province into a diocese, and entrusted its administration 
 to Bishop G6rard, who, dying soon afterwards, was suc- 
 ceeded by Bishop Peregrin. In 1326, this district was 
 in the charge of Andrd de Perouse, and it was from here 
 that he wrote to the father of the convent of Perouse, 
 giving some of the details of his journey in Central 
 Asia, and speaking also of the state of the Catholic 
 missions in China.* 
 
 “ ^ye are separated,” he says, “ by such a vast stretch 
 of sea and land, that I scarcely dare hope ray letter will 
 ever reach you. ... You will doubtless have heard of 
 the difficulties we encountered by land and water, of the 
 trials, dangers, fatigues, and sufferings we had to en- 
 dure; how we were sometimes robbed of everything, even 
 of our horses and clothes. At last, however, by God’s 
 help, we arrived at Khanbalik, the capital of the empire 
 of the great Khan, and consecrated the archbishop, ac- 
 cording to the instructions we received from the Holy 
 See. Our residence at Khanbalik lasted for five years, 
 and during that time we received an alafa f through the 
 munificence of the emperor ; that is to say, food and 
 clothing for eight persons. This pension is granted by 
 
 * Wadding, vol. vii. p. 44. 
 
 f An Arabic word which means salary, appointment. It is in use 
 among the Turks, the Persians, and the Tartars, and we have even 
 met with it among the inhabitants of Thibet. 
 
 A A 3 
 
358 CHETSTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 the emperor to envoys from foreign princes, to orators, 
 warriors, artists, archers, to the poor, and to persons of 
 various conditions. It would take too long to describe 
 to you the riches, magnificence, and glory of the great 
 Khan ; the extent of his empire, the number of the 
 towns, and their grandeur, the multitudes of people 
 subject to him, or the administration of the empire, 
 where no one dares to raise a sword against another. 
 I pass over all these tilings in silence, because they 
 would seem incredible ; I myself, who am here upon the 
 spot, sometimes receive accounts that I can scarcely 
 believe. 
 
 “ There is a large town on the sea-shore named Kai- 
 Tong, where a magnificent church has been built by 
 a rich Armenian lady. The Archbishop of Khanbalik 
 created it a cathedral, and confided its government to 
 Bishop Gerard, during his lifetime, together with its 
 endowments. On the deatli of this bishop, who was 
 buried in the church, the archbishop intended me to 
 succeed him, and occupy the see ; but as I did not ac- 
 cept the nomination, the Bishop Peregrin was sent there 
 on the first opportunity. After having governed this 
 church for some years, he expired in the year 1322, nine 
 days after the festival of St. Peter and St. Paul. Before 
 the decease of the Bishop Peregrin, I had been living in 
 the environs of Khanbalik, for about four years, after 
 which 1 obtained the transfer of my imperial pension to 
 Kai-Tong, where I repaired with a brilliant escort of 
 eight cavaliers appointed by the emperor: Bishop Pe- 
 
 regrin was then still living, and I had a tolerably pretty 
 church built, in a forest not far from the town, with ac- 
 commodation for twenty-two monks, and four rooms for 
 the prelates. The imperial subsidy was my only re- 
 
LETTER OF ANDRE DE P^IROUSE. 
 
 359 
 
 source, the value of Avhich, in the estimation of some 
 Genoese merchants, may be about a hundred gold florins 
 annually, and the greater part of this has been absorbed 
 in the construction of this resilience, -which, for magni- 
 ficence and convenience, surpasses the most beautiful 
 hermitages of our province. 
 
 “ A short time after the decease pf brother Peregrin, 
 I received an archiepiscopal decree, placing me at the 
 head of this district, and many motives have induced 
 me to accept this nomination ; nevertheless, I inhabit 
 the church in the town, and that in the forest, alter- 
 nately. My health is good, and I can still labour for 
 some months of the year for the salvation of souls. i\Iy 
 hair, however, is white, the effect partly of age, and 
 partly of the fatigue of apostleship. 
 
 “ In this empire there are men of all nations under 
 the sun, and monks of all sects ; and as every one is per- 
 mitted to live in whatever belief he pleases, the opinion , 
 or rather the error, being upheld that each one may 
 effect his salvation in his own religion, we are enabled 
 to preach in perfect liberty and security. Among the 
 Jews and Saracens no conversions have been made ; the 
 idolaters come in great numbers to be baptized, but 
 many of them do not in reality live according to Chris- 
 tianity. Four of our brethren have been martyred in 
 the Indies by the Saracens ; and although one of them 
 was thrown into the middle of a blazing fire without 
 sustaining any injury, this astounding miracle did not 
 change the wicked intentions of the infidels. I have 
 transmitted these details to you, in order that you may 
 communicate them to other fraternities, and I have not 
 addressed any of my spiritual brethren or my personal 
 friends, because I know not whether they are alive or 
 
360 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 dead ; I beg them therefore to excuse me, and I salute 
 them all, and especially the minister and custodian of 
 Perouse. All the suffragan bishops created by Clement 
 have died at Khanbalik, I alone remaining. Tlie 
 brothers Nicolas de Bautra, Andrutius d’Assise, and 
 Peter of Gastello, died when they first entered the Indies. 
 May your fraternity ^1 ways be in peace with the Lord.”* 
 
 This letter is dated at Ka'i-Tong, in January, 1326. 
 
 Missionaries, in the middle ages, wrote but little. 
 There was at that period no publication like the “ An- 
 nales de la Propagation de la Foi,” to collect the accounts 
 of the proceedings of the numerous preachers of the 
 Gospel scattered over the face of the earth ; and it is 
 consequently difficult to obtain any correct account of 
 the state of a mission at that time. The few precious 
 fragments of correspondence, however, that have been 
 preserved to us are enough to throw light upon the 
 successful labours of the apostles in the extreme East. 
 Thanks to the religious liberty enjoyed in China and 
 Tartary, Christianity had made great progress there, 
 and journeys into these remote countries were much 
 more frequent than is now supposed. ]\Ierchants were 
 drawn thither in pursuit of gain from India and from 
 the Italian republics, and it is not a little curious to 
 learn that a church was built in one of the principal 
 towns of China by an Armenian lady, or to hear Andre 
 de Perouse valuing his imperial subsidy at a hundred 
 gold florins, through the information of Genoese mer- 
 chants. 
 
 Zeal for the diffusion of the Gospel, however, attracted 
 even more strangers to Central Asia than the interests 
 
 * Wadiling, Annahs Minorum, vol. vi. p. 53. 
 
ODERIC DE FRIULI. 
 
 361 
 
 of commerce. Numbers of monks of the Orders of St. 
 Francis and St. Dominic undertook this long and 
 perilous journey through motives of piety, and besides 
 those who were officially dispatched by the Holy See 
 and the Christian kings, we hear of many in the re- 
 moter parts of Asia, alone, without protection, food, or 
 money, rich only in their trust in God, animated by 
 zeal for the faith, and burning with the desire of doing 
 good to men and gaining souls to Jesus Christ. One 
 of the foremost of these voluntary apostles was the 
 holy Oderic, who travelled over many parts of the world 
 spreading the Gospel wherever he went. Born at Por- 
 denone in Friuli, at about 1286, he entered the Order 
 of St. Francis at Udine. There he set himself to over- 
 coming his passions by the most extraordinary mortifi- 
 cations. Not content with going always barefoot and 
 wearing a simple tunic for his only garment, with taking 
 no nourishment but bread and water, he constantly 
 subjected himself to the scourge, and wore a vest of 
 chain mail next his skin. It is not easy for people at 
 the present day to conceive how the saint remained in 
 health ; but Oderic’s long journeys and the immense 
 labour he performed, prove to us that the holy rigours 
 of mortification which he underwent endowed his mind 
 with a wonderful strength, while it left vigour enough 
 in his body to enable him to go through, during sixteen 
 years, an almost incredible amount of labour and fatigue. 
 Humility, the true test of piety, was always the prin- 
 ciple that actuated this pious cenobite of the monastery 
 of Udine. He invariably refused the dignities of his 
 Order that were offered to him, and desiring only soli- 
 tude and prayer, he obtained permission from his su- 
 periors to pass a hermit’s life. While living thus in 
 
362 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 seclusion, he was inspired with the desire of devoting 
 himself to the conversion of the infidels in the further 
 parts of Asia. He left his monastery at about the year 
 1314, and repaired to Constantinople, and having there 
 crossed the Black Sea, he travelled by land to Trebizond, 
 and passing through Great Armenia to Ormuz, he em- 
 barked at this port for Malabar. At Tana he was in- 
 formed of the glorious death of the four Franciscan 
 monks in Hindostan, of which Andre de Perouse makes 
 mention in his letter. These four missionaries, Thomas 
 de Tolentino, James of Padua, Peter of Sienna, and 
 the lay brother Demetrius of Tiflis, had also started for 
 China for the purpose of preaching the Gospel there. 
 Intending, on their passage through the Indies, to visit 
 the church of St. Thomas at M^liapour, they were 
 thrown by a tempest on to the island of Salcetti. The 
 governor of this district, a fanatic Mussulman, seized 
 upon the Franciscans, and asked them what they 
 thought about Mahomet. Thomas replied, with a 
 saintly dignity, that the impostor would drag to perdi- 
 tion all those who believed in his false doctrine. On 
 hearing these words the Mussulmans became furious, 
 'and employed both threats and promises to induce him 
 to recall what he had said. Seeing that the Fran- 
 ciscans were immovable in their faith, and refused to 
 apostatise, they tore off their cowls and exposed them, 
 tied to posts, to the full heat of the sun, which at that 
 place and time can never be borne for long. The 
 monks, however, never left off singing th’e praises of 
 the Lord, even while the fierce rays of the sun were 
 destroying them ; and this wonderful conduct served 
 only to increase the rage of the persecutors, who, after 
 having made them endure the most horrible torments, 
 
MARTYRDOM OF FOUR MISSIONARIES. 
 
 .363 
 
 put them to death. James of Padua had his head split 
 by a scimitar; one of the wretches then, seizing hold of 
 tlie beard of Tliomas de Tolentino, whose age rendered 
 him even more venerable than the others, plunged his 
 sword into his back, and as at this moment he was 
 invoking the Holy Virgin in a loud voice, another cut 
 his throat. Pierre de Sienna was decapitated, and 
 Demetrius of Tiflis, after receiving several wounds, was 
 killed with a scimitar. 
 
 The blood of these noble martyrs, however, was not 
 shed without effect, and many were converted through 
 its means. 
 
 The Annales des Freres Mineurs * states, that the 
 governor of Tana saw one night as he slept the four 
 Franciscans, one at each angle of his bed, brandishing 
 four swords of fire, and threatening him with death if 
 he did not treat the Christians more humanely. 
 Alarmed at this vision, he uttered loud cries, implored 
 mercy, and the next day caused the chains of the 
 Christian captives to be broken, recalled those who had 
 been banished, and, by a public edict, forbade, under 
 pain of capital punishment, offering the smallest insult 
 to the adorers of Jesus Christ. These new regulations 
 favoured the conversion of a great number of idolaters 
 and Mussulmans. 
 
 It was under these circumstances that Oderic of Friuli 
 arrived at Tana, where he learned the details of the 
 glorious martyrdom of his brethren. He knew that it 
 had been their intention to bear to China the faith of 
 Jesus Christ, for which they had so nobly shed their 
 blood in the Indies ; and Oderic would not have China 
 
 * Wadding, Annales Minorum, vol. vii. p. 232. 
 
364 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 entirely deprived of these apostles ; even their bones, 
 he thought, might still exercise a salutary influence, and 
 God would bestow on those precious relics a special 
 virtue for sanctification and salvation. He caused the 
 coffins to be opened, therefore, collected with veneration 
 the bones of the martyrs, and determined himself to re- 
 move them into China ; and he accordingly set out from 
 Tana with this rich treasure, in company with another 
 of the brethren and a servant. It was an affecting 
 thing to see this holy priest departing and bearing to 
 nations of infidels the bones of his brethren martyred 
 for the faith, and making of them a kind of sacred 
 armour in which to march to the conquest of souls. 
 During his long peregrinations, he never ceased to 
 watch with tender and pious solicitude over his precious 
 charge ; and in the night, he was in the habit of placing 
 it under his head, as if to derive from this martyr- 
 pillow the indomitable courage of the apostle. 
 
 Oderic, after having visited the islands of Ceylon, 
 Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, arrived at length in China; 
 and the enumeration of the difficulties he had to sur- 
 mount in order to reach it, makes us presume that he 
 crossed the marshy countries of Pegu and Ava. He 
 made his entrance into the empire by the southern pro- 
 vinces, which he calls Manzi, from the word Man-dze, 
 by which were designated then, as now, the Chinese of the 
 south. The description he gives of the country and its 
 inhabitants, “who,” says he, “are all artisans or trades- 
 men,” is so accurate that it is easy to recognise, more 
 than five years after, the nation visited by Oderic in the 
 fourteenth century. He speaks of several very populous 
 towns which he met with on his way, and, amongst 
 others,’ of Sou-Tcheou, whose beauty and wealth he 
 
ODERIC AND THE HOLY RELICS. 
 
 365 
 
 extols. lie crossed the Blue river and arrived at Han- 
 Tcheou-Fou, Avhicli he compares to Venice ; and it was 
 there that he deposited his precious burden Avhich he 
 liad so religiously watched over all the Avay from 
 Hindostan. We already know that this Chinese city, 
 regarded under several dynasties as the capital of the 
 whole empire, was celebrated in the middle ages for the 
 brilliant prosperity of its Christian church, and Avas the 
 metropolis of a diocese. 
 
 Oderic found here four Franciscans, Avho divided Avith 
 Andr4 de Pdrouse the pastoral eare of this ncAv flock of 
 the faithful, and it Avas doubtless great joy to them to 
 receive from the hands of Oderic the holy relics of four 
 missionaries whom they liad expected as living men, 
 but AA'ho had thus already obtained, almost at the com- 
 mencement of their apostolical career, the palm of 
 martyrdom. 
 
 Oderic de Friuli admired at Han-Tcheou-Fou the 
 beautiful cathedral, the result of the pious munificence 
 of the Armenian lady, and, in the environs of the town, 
 the church and monastery, built by the bishop Andre de 
 Ferouse, in the middle of a AAmod. The missionaries 
 cultivated AAuth zeal and affection that portion of their 
 Father’s field AA’hich had been entrusted to them, and 
 God granted his blessing to their pious labours. Con- 
 versions were numerous, and in different classes of 
 society. Amongst the neophytes, Oderic mentions a 
 rich and poAverful man Avith whom he dAvelt during his 
 residence at Han-Tcheou-Fou, — and Avho procured for 
 him a singular spectacle in a Buddhist convent. We 
 are about to quote literally the narration of the Fran- 
 ciscan monk.* 
 
 * Bollandi, Acta Sanct., t. i. p. 991. 
 
366 CHKISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 “ One day, the Christian neophyte said to me, 
 
 ‘ Father, will you come and have the pleasure of an 
 excursion into the town ? ’ ‘ Willingly,’ answered I. 
 
 He immediately sent for a boat, we entered it, and went 
 to visit a great monastery of Bonzes. The Christian 
 neophyte, having called one of these Bonzes, said to 
 him, ‘ Do you see this Frank priest ? he comes from 
 the regions where the sun sets, and he is now going to 
 Khanbalik to pray for the life of the emperor. Show 
 him some rarity of our country, in order that he may 
 say, when he shall one day return into his own land, “I 
 saw at Han-Tcheou-Fou, such or such a curious thing.” ’ 
 ‘I will show him,’ said the Bonze, ‘ the wonder of our 
 monastery.’ There were, in a corner of the apartment, 
 several baskets filled with the fragments of the repast of 
 the community. The Bonze took them, and, having 
 opened a door, introduced us into a magnificent park, 
 in the midst of which arose a hill planted with beautiful 
 trees. We stopped at the foot of the hill ; the Bonze 
 struck several times on a tam-tam, and at the sound 
 we perceived a number of animals, of various species, 
 hastening down towards us. The greater number re- 
 sembled apes and cats ; there were, at least, three thou- 
 sand of them : all these animals ranged themselves in 
 order, and the old Buddhist priest distributed to them the 
 fragments from the convent repast. When all had eaten 
 according to their appetite, at the first stroke of the 
 tam-tam they quietly began to climb up the side of the 
 hill again, and disappeared into their dens. This sight 
 was so strange that I could not help laughing heartily; 
 at length 1 said to the old man, ‘Tell me the meaning of 
 what I have just seen.’ ‘You have just seen,’ said he, 
 ‘ the souls of illustrious men, whom we feed for the 
 
DOCTRINE OF METEMrSYClIOSIS. 
 
 367 
 
 love of God.’ ‘ These cats, these apes, these dogs, all 
 these beasts,’ answered I, ‘ are not spiritual souls — they 
 are merely animals.’ ‘ No,’ said the Bonze, ‘ they are 
 not beasts ; they are the souls of the dead. Noble souls, 
 after this life, pass into the bodies of noble animals, and 
 the souls of peasants inhabit the bodies of the vilest 
 beasts.’ It was in vain I preached,” adds brother 
 Oderic ; “ I found it impossible to argue him out of his 
 superstition.” 
 
 It is known that Buddhists admit the doctrine of 
 metempsychosis : they are persuaded that the souls of 
 beasts have formerly been human souls ; and hence arises 
 the respect of Buddhist devotees for animals, and the 
 minute precautions which they take for fear of hurting 
 them. It was not therefore surprising to see, in a mo- 
 nastery of Bonzes, animals of all kinds, tamed, caressed 
 and petted, assembling at the sound of the tam-tam 
 to take their meals, and constituting, in some measure, 
 a part of the religious community. The old Bonze of 
 the convent of Han-Tcheou-Fou might be sincere in his 
 belief, and might really think himself surrounded by 
 friends, when he was in the midst of the apes and cats 
 of his own park ; and it is even probable that he might 
 have repulsed, as impieties, the exhortations of the 
 Franciscan brother.* 
 
 Oderic wrought numerous conversions in the south- 
 
 * TVe have visited, at Bombay, a vast and handsome hospital, in- 
 tended for the reception of old and invalid animals. There are to be 
 seen incurable quadrupeds, birds, and reptiles, on whom the pity of 
 the Hindoos lavished the most tender cares. Unfortunately, there is 
 not any similar establishment for men. It seems, nevertheless, as if 
 some interest ought to have been felt for them also, were it only 
 because they may, perhaps, formerly have been animals. 
 
368 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 ern provinces of China. He then proceeded towards 
 the north, and visited on his way several famous cities 
 where there were neophytes or Franciscan mission- 
 aries. He speaks of a city which had forty stone 
 bridges, and of several numerous fleets which he met 
 with, doubtless on the Yang-tse-Kiang and the lake 
 Pou Yang. He crossed a great river, on which he makes 
 but a single remark, but this characterises, in a re- 
 markable manner, the Hoang-Ho, or Yellow River. 
 “ This river,” says he, “ passes through the midst of 
 Cathay, to which it causes great injury by its inunda- 
 tions.” It is indeed well known that the overflowing 
 of the Hoang-Ho has at all times occasioned much 
 distress in the Chinese Empire. 
 
 The indefatigable missionary arrived at length at 
 Khanbalik, where he found the brethren of his Order 
 honoured by the grandees and the people, and labouring 
 with the greatest success in the conversion of the Tar- 
 tars and Chinese. They even enjoyed special favours 
 at the court of the great Khan. “ I have often been 
 present, ” says Oderic, “ at the imperial fetes ; for we 
 Minorite Brothers have in the palace a place specially 
 appointed for us. In the ceremonies they make us go 
 first, and we give our blessing to the great Khan.” He 
 relates that one day he had been walking, with four 
 other missionaries of Pekin, outside the walls of the 
 town. They were seated under a great tree, which pro- 
 tected them by its shade from the heat of the sun, when 
 they perceived at a distance the imperial chariot ad- 
 vancing towards them, surrounded by a brilliant escort. 
 At this sight the missionaries prepared to do homage to 
 the sovereign in a manner suitable to their rank. 
 Amongst them was one who, being a bishop, wore his 
 
ODERIC DE FRIUEI IN TARTARY AND THIBET. 369 
 
 pontifical ornaments, lie unfastened the cross which 
 hung on his breast, placed it on the end of a stick, and 
 when the imperial chai-iot came before them, he raised 
 it in the air, whilst the priests sung in chorus the “ Veni 
 Creator.” The great Khan asked the princes who sur- 
 rounded him, what was the meaning of these songs ; 
 they answered that it was the Frank priests who were 
 addressing their prayers to their God. The emperor 
 then made the missionaries approach, and, at the sight 
 of the cross, took off his cap and kissed it respectfully ; 
 “a proof,” says the author who relates this fact, “that 
 the Khan loved the Christian faith.”* It is certain that 
 the Catholic mission at Pekin was at this period, as 
 Oderic himself says, very flourishing ; and, by his ex- 
 hortations, he succeeded in inducing several important 
 personages of the court to embrace the gospel. 
 
 After a residence of three years at Khanbalik, Oderic 
 de Friuli, listening only to the ardour of his zeal for 
 the propagation of the faith, resolved to go still further, 
 and seek for souls whom he might gain over to Jesus 
 Christ. He quitted China, therefore, passed the Great 
 AVall, and plunged into the wilds of Tartary. He pene- 
 trated beyond the country of the Keraites, the ancient 
 kingdom of priest (or Prester) John, where he found 
 the Christians much cooled from their former fervour, 
 and almost entirely addicted to the errors of Nestori- 
 anism. He laboured to bring them back to the true 
 faith of the Catholic Church ; his zeal proved effectual 
 with many, and he also baptized a great number of 
 infidels. Having then traversed the vast province of 
 Khan-Sou, he got as far as the capital of Thibet. “It 
 
 * Marchinus, in vita. B. Odorici. 
 
 VOL. I. B B 
 
370 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 is in this city,” he says, “that the person dwells who .is 
 like the Pope of these countries. He is the chief and 
 pontitF of all the idolaters, on whom he confers bene- 
 fices and ecclesiastical dignities according to the rites of 
 the country.” Oderic describes the Thibetans as living 
 under tents, and leading a nomadic life in the gorges of 
 these lofty mountains. He observes, rather a curious 
 fact, that the walls of the buildings in the capital are 
 entirely black and white in colour.* When, in 1845, 
 we visited the capital of Thibet, we noticed a circum- 
 stance that might perhaps tend to explain the words 
 of the Franciscan missionary. There exists, in the sub- 
 urbs of Lha-Ssa, a quarter in which the houses are 
 entirely built of the horns of oxen and rams ; these 
 odd constructions are extremely durable, and present a 
 very agreeable appearance to the eye. The horns of 
 the oxen being smooth and whitish, and those of the 
 rams, on the contrary, black and rough, these strange 
 materials are wonderfully adapted to form a number of 
 curious combinations and various patterns on the walls ; 
 the interstices between the horns are filled with mortar ; 
 and these are the only houses which are not whitened. 
 The Thibetans have the good taste to leave them of 
 their natural colour, without endeavouring to add any- 
 thing to their wild and fantastic beauty. It would 
 be superfluous to remark that the inhabitants of Lha- 
 Ssa consume a great number of sheep and oxen ; their 
 houses of horns are an incontestable proof of thisf, and 
 it may not be impossible that, in the fourteenth century, 
 
 * “ Civitas principalis toto est ex muris albis et nigris.” — Bollandus, 
 t. i« p. 992. 
 
 t Voyage au Thibet, t. ii. p. 250. 
 
ODERIC DE FRIULI RETURNS TO FISA. 
 
 371 
 
 the capital of Thibet was entirely constructed like the 
 quarter we have endeavoured to describe. 
 
 The courage and zeal of the preachers of the gospel 
 had, it seems, already carried the light of Christianity 
 into countries almost inaccessible, on account of the 
 lofty, rugged mountains, and the extreme severity of 
 the climate ; for Oderic found in the capital of Thibet 
 Catholic missionaries who were effecting numerous con- 
 versions. 
 
 After having visited the different provinces of Thibet, 
 Oderic crossed the Himalaya mountains and traversed 
 India and Persia, on his return to Europe, and he 
 arrived at Pisa in 1330. This indefatigable apostle had, 
 in the course of sixteen years, visited the most distant 
 and savage regions of the globe, sowing everywhere the 
 evangelical seed. His great and sincere humility caused 
 him to suppress, in his narration, the success of his long 
 apostleship ; but it is known that he eonverted and 
 baptized more than twenty thousand infidels. When 
 he again beheld his native country, he was so changed 
 by the sufferings and miseries he had endured, his body 
 was so emaciated, and his face so withered and black- 
 ened by the sun that his relations could not recognize 
 him ; nevertheless, the eyes of Christians must have 
 contemplated, with affection and pride, this hero of the 
 faith, must have thought him embellished by the rude 
 marks of sufiering, and found in his weather-beaten 
 person the manly beauty of an old warrior returning from 
 a long campaign mutilated and covered with scars. 
 
 Oderic remained at Pisa only a few days, and then 
 hastened to Avignon to give an account to the sovereign 
 pontiff of the state of the Catholic missions in Upper 
 Asia, and to ask in the name of the great Khan for 
 
 B B 2 
 
372 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 more apostolic labourers. He was already preparing to 
 set out again on his way back to China, with a nume- 
 rous colony of young missionaries, when he fell seriously 
 ill, God it would seem being pleased with his servant, 
 was willing to call him to himself, that he might reward 
 him. The good priest, feeling his end approach, had 
 himself removed to Udine, that he might die in the 
 convent where he had received the habit of St. Francis. 
 He asked, as a consolation, to render up his life to the 
 Lord in the same place where it had been consecrated 
 entirely to Him ; this grace was not denied him, and his 
 patience and resignation during his long illness excited 
 the admiration of those same brethren whom he had 
 so much edified by his piety at the beginning of his 
 career. As modesty induced him to remain silent re- 
 specting the great things that he had done for the glory 
 of God and the salvation of souls, his superiors gave 
 him a formal order to write an account of his apostolic 
 journeys. He obeyed with simplicity ; but as he was 
 unable to write, it was brother Henri de Glatz who 
 served as his secretary and received his narration. 
 When he had ended his interesting tale, this admirable 
 priest pronounced the following words : — “I, brother 
 Oderic of Friuli, certify before God and Jesus Christ, 
 that all those things which have been here written I 
 have seen with my own eyes, or heard from persons 
 worthy of belief. There are many others which have 
 not been written, because they would appear impossible 
 to men of our country, excepting those who have 
 travelled as I (poor sinner) have, in the land of the 
 infidels.” 
 
 As we have related, according to the account of 
 Oderic de Friuli, some facts which have, perhaps, ap- 
 
I 
 
 DEATH OF ODERIC DE FRIULI. 373 
 
 pcarecl rather extraordinary, we like to quote those ex- 
 pressions of sincerity which he pronounced upon liis 
 bed of pain, some moments before lie appeared before 
 God. We would willingly believe in the most astonish- 
 ing adventures of travellers, if they always gave us the 
 same guarantees of their good faith. Oderic died at 
 Udine, in the month of January 1331, and as he had 
 been celebrated for his eminent virtues, for the zeal of 
 his ajiostleship, and the miracles he wrought during his 
 life and after his death, the church has placed him in 
 the number of the Saints. 
 
 B B 3 
 
374 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 CPIAP. X. 
 
 CHKISTIANITT AMONGST THE TARTARS OF PERSIA. — CORRESPONDENCE 
 OF KUAN CEULDJAITOU WITH PHILIP THE FAIR, EDWARD I., AND 
 
 CLEMENT V. 2 . USBECK AND THE PROVINCE OF KIPTCH^IK. 
 
 ERECTION OF THE ARCHIEPISCOPAL SEE OF SOULTANlrf. 3 . ZEAL 
 
 OF POPE JOHN XXII. FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE FAITH. DEATH 
 
 OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF PEKIN, JOHN DE MONTE CORVINO. DE- 
 PARTURE OF MISSIONARIES FOR CHINA. 4 . APOSTASY AND MAR- 
 TYRDOM OF STEPHEN OF HUNGARY. — 5 . MISSION OF PEKIN. 
 
 PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, AND IN THE STEPPES OF 
 TARTARY. NARRATIVE OF PASCAL OF SPAIN. 6- VIOLENT PER- 
 SECUTION OF THE CHRISTIANS OF TARTARY. REVOLUTION IN 
 
 CHINA. THE SnSSIONS ARE DESOLATED. TAMERLANE. HIS RELI- 
 GIOUS PRINCIPLES. CHRISTIANITY ECLIPSED IN UPPER ASIA. 
 
 Whilst Christianity was progressing in China, Tartary, 
 and Tliibet, under the very eyes of the grand Lama, 
 the Christians of Persia were a mark for the cruel per- 
 secutions of the Khan, who had become an apostate. 
 We have seen that Gazan, respecting whom the Cliris- 
 tians and the missionaries had so much cause to con- 
 gratulate themselves, died of grief in 1302, after his 
 sanguinary defeat by the Sultan of Egypt. 
 
 Gazan’s successor was his brother Kharbendd, wlio 
 had been baptized in his infancy, by the name of 
 Nicholas. We have quoted the letter Ayhich the sove- 
 reign pontiff wrote to liim in 1291 to congratulate 
 him, and to give liim advice as to the way in which 
 he. ought to live in the midst of pagans and Mus- 
 sulmans. llis mother Erouk-Khatounc was a Chris- 
 
APOSTASY OF KIIAFxBENDE. 
 
 375 
 
 tian of remarkable piety, and publicly performed her 
 religious duties in a chapel which she had had built in 
 her palace. As long as his mother lived, Kharbendc 
 showed himself a faithful and fervent Christian ; but, 
 after her death, he contracted a friendship with several 
 ^Mussulmans, participated in their religious observances, 
 and ended by declaring himself a follower of Mahomet. 
 The apostasy of Kharbendc was a terrible blow to the 
 Christians ; and the courtiers, a class of people who at 
 all times and in all countries are rather inspired by 
 the sentiments of their master than by their own con- 
 science and duty, immediately declared themselves the 
 enemies of the Christians also. Three sincerely pious 
 men, who wished to remain faithful to their religion, 
 were loaded with abuse, and cruelly persecuted, and this 
 event proved disastrous to the Christians of Western 
 Tartary. Reckoning from the fourteenth century and 
 the apostasy of Kharbendc, we shall see the Tartar 
 princes showing themselves less and less favourable to 
 Christianity, and the faith continuing to decline in the 
 kingdom of Persia. 
 
 The Lord in his goodness, however, always gives 
 some consolation with every sorrow ; and, as if to soften 
 the grief occasioned to Christians by the apostasy of 
 the Khan of the Western Tartars, He made use of a 
 Tartar, namely, Jaballaha, patriarch of the Kestorians, 
 to bring back these wandering children into the pale of 
 the church. Jaballaha, having been converted by mis- 
 sionaries of the order of St. Dominic, joined the Ro- 
 man church, and sent in 1304 to Pope Benedict XI. a 
 letter of submission, in which he makes profession of 
 the Catholic faith, and acknowledges the sovereign pon- 
 
 B B 4 
 
376 CHKISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 tiff as the successor of St. Peter, and the father of all 
 Christians.* 
 
 This happy event was the cause of great joy to the 
 Catholics, but it could not make them forget the wrongs 
 which their brethren of Persia had to endure beneath 
 the oppression of Kharbende. This apostate prince 
 had not, in truth, more sympathy with the Mussulmans 
 than with the Christians ; for the interests of his ambi- 
 tious policy were the only motives of his conduct. As 
 he desired to make war on the Saracens, he tried to ex- 
 cite the Christian princes against the Sultan of Egypt, 
 allowing them to believe that he Avas quite disposed to 
 make a public profession of Christianity. He even sent 
 into Europe a certain Touman-Yldoudji, entrusting 
 him Avith letters to Philip the Fair, to the King of 
 France, to Ed\A'ard L the King of England, and to Pope 
 Clement V. The letter addressed to Philip the Fair 
 Avas in the Mongol language, and in the Oigour cha- 
 racter. This is the translation. 
 
 (Euldjaitou* ^ Sultan. 
 
 Our Avords to the King of France, Sultan ! 
 
 “ In times past, 3mu, Sultans of the Franks, Avere all 
 united in friendship Avith our good great-grandfather, 
 our good grandfather, our good father, our good elder 
 brother; and notAvithstanding the distance Avhich se- 
 parated 3'ou, you looked on each other as neighbours, 
 you sent each other reciprocally all sorts of messages, 
 you sent ambassadors and friendly presents ; this 3^11 
 
 * Raynald, Ann. 1304, No. 23. p. 598. 
 
 f Kliarbcnde had assumed, since liis apostasy, the name of QLuUl 
 jaitou, and the title of Saltan. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE OF KHAN CEULDJAITOU. 377 
 
 cannot have forgotten. Noav that, by the power of God, 
 we are seated on the great throne, we shall not depart 
 from the commands of our predecessors, our good grand- 
 father, our good father and our good elder brother ; we 
 shall follow their precepts, and what our good ancestors 
 have promised you, Ave Avill perform, as if tlieir words 
 were our own oaths. We Avill bind ourselves in a 
 stricter friendship than that of times past, Ave Avill send 
 ambassadors to each other. 
 
 “ AVe, elder and younger brothers, have been divided 
 by the effect of the slanderous Avords of Avicked vassals ; 
 noAA", Timour Khagan, Toctoga Tchabar, Togha and 
 ourselves, the principal descendants of Tchinguiz-Khan, 
 are all, elder and younger, reconciled by the inspiration 
 and Avith the help of God ; so that, from the country of 
 the Chinese in the East to the lake Tala, our people are 
 united, and the roads are open. AVe Avith one accord 
 have agreed to fall upon any one amongst us who shall 
 change his mind. 
 
 “ Unable to forget the ties of friendship which united 
 you with our good grandfather, our good father and 
 our good elder brother, I send you tAvo messengers, 
 Mamalac and Touman. It has been reported to me that 
 you, Sultan of the Franks, are living in peace. Concord 
 is certainly a good thing. Now, amongst us, as amongst 
 you, Ave Avill all, by the power of God, fall together upon 
 him who shall disturb our union, God knows it ! Our 
 letter is written on the eighth of the first month of sum- 
 mer in the year of the Serpent (14 Mai 1305) in our 
 residence of Alidjan.” 
 
 This letter of the apostate Kharbende has been taken 
 from the archives of France, where it had remained for 
 five hundred years, by Abel Remusat. “ The original 
 
378 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 document,” says the learned Orientalist, “ is a roll of 
 cotton paper eighteen inches wide and more than nine 
 feet long, containing forty-two lines, in the Mongol 
 language and in Oigour character perfectly resembling 
 those of the letter of Argoun to Philip the Fair. 
 
 On this length has been stamped five times a great 
 square seal in red ink. At the back and at one of the 
 ends is found, in small writing scarcely legible, an Italian 
 translation of the Mongol letter. 
 
 The two documents addressed to Philip the Fair by 
 Argoun and by Kharbend4 present a remarkable dif- 
 ference in the dimensions of the paper, the length of 
 the lines, and the breadth of the margins and intervals. 
 It is known that all these particulars are important in 
 . the eyes of Orientals, and are used, according to the 
 customs of their diplomacy, as a means of expressing 
 and of graduating those marks of esteem which they 
 grant to the princes with whom they wish to treat. 
 Argoun, notwithstanding his goodness and henejicence^' 
 has confined himself, in this respect, to what was 
 strictly necessary. His letter shows no margins, and 
 scarcely any spaces, and it is only six feet and a half 
 long. That of Kharbendo is much more respectful ; 
 being ten feet long, and having the seal affixed to it 
 five times instead of three. The motto upon it is in 
 antique characters of those which are composed of 
 broken lines, and which the Chinese call “ tchouari” It 
 signifies, “ Py supreme decree, the seal of the descendant 
 of the emperor, charged to reduce to obedience the ten 
 thousand barbarians.” Py tliese last words are meant 
 not only Persians, but Christians and 'Western nations 
 in general who acknowledge or ought, it is assumed, to 
 acknowledge the authority of the Son of heaven. It is 
 
. LETTER OF EDWARD II. TO KIIARBENDE. 379 
 
 quite unknown what reception was given in France to 
 the Tartar envoys ; as the letter which they left there is 
 the only trace of their passage. No historian has spoken 
 of it, and no copy has been preserved of the answer which 
 the King of France must have given to the letter of 
 Kharbende. The Tartar ambassadors went from France 
 into England, where they arrived after the death of 
 Edward I., that is, after the 7th July, 1307, nearly two 
 years from the date of the letter of which they were the 
 bearers. The answer of Edward II., dated from North- 
 ampton, is expressed in these terms : — 
 
 “ We have admitted the messengers whom your High- 
 ness has sent with letters to the prince Edward of 
 glorious memory, lately King of England, our father, 
 who before their arrival had ended his days ; we have 
 taken account of your letters, and of what your mes- 
 sengers have reported from you, according to tlie 
 credentials you have given them. 
 
 “We render thanks to your Royal Magnificence for 
 the good will and friendship which you and your ances- 
 tors have manifested towards our father, and which you 
 now testify to us, by the sending of your ambassadors, 
 by the desire you show to see concord and affection 
 increase between you and us, and, above all, by the 
 remembrance you preserve of the friendship which ex- 
 isted between your noble predecessors and our father, 
 as is shown by the series of your letters ; as well as by 
 other things you mention. 
 
 “ We rejoice in the Lord at the peace made amongst 
 you, by the grace of God, from the boundaries of the 
 East to the sea. 
 
 “Further, as to what has been made known to you 
 that peace and concord were reviving amongst us 
 
380 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 beyond the sea, we wish it to be known to your Royal 
 Excellency, that we hope and finally believe that con- 
 cord and peace will in a short time (by God’s help) 
 succeed to all the divisions and quarrels which have 
 arisen in different parts.” * 
 
 In a second letter, dated on the last day of Xoveinber 
 1307, Edward writes to the King of the Tartars : — “ We 
 would very willingly use all our endeavours to extirpate 
 the abominable sect of Mahomet, if the distance of the 
 places and other difficulties did not prevent us; for the 
 present time is favourable to such a design. If we are 
 well informed, the very books of this abominable sect 
 themselves foretell its approaching destruction. Con- 
 tinue then your laudable design, and complete what 
 you have undertaken for the extermination of this 
 horrid sect. 
 
 “ Some priests, honest and learned men, are coming 
 to your court, with the intention (by God’s help) of 
 converting your people to the Catholic faith, out of 
 which none can be saved ; of instructing them in this 
 religion, and exhorting them to make war on the detest- 
 able sect of Mahomet ; those who are coining are the 
 venerable brother William, of the order of the Preachers, 
 Bishop of Lidd, with his venerable suite, whom we re- 
 commend to you, begging you to give them a good 
 reception.”! 
 
 This letter is an evident proof that the messenger of 
 Kharbendd had not only allowed Edward to be ignorant 
 that his master was a Mussulman, but that he had also 
 grossly imposed on the King of England, in soliciting 
 
 * llymcr, Meta J\tblica, t. i. p. 93. f Ibid. p. 100. 
 
LETTEIl OE POPE CLEMENT V. 
 
 381 
 
 liim, ill the name of the apostate Kharbende, to arm for 
 the destruction of the abominable sect of IMahomet. 
 
 The Tartar messenger came also to Poitiers, Avhere 
 I'ope Clement Y. resided, and, doubtless, used the same 
 expressions with him as he had ivitli the King of Kng- 
 land ; this, at least, is what ive may presume from the 
 following letter, addressed by the sovereign pontiff to 
 Kharbende, and dated Poitiers, March 1st 1308: — 
 
 “ We have received, with the habitual condescension 
 of the holy see, your envoy, Thomas Ildoutchi*, and the 
 letters which he brings us from you, and we have care- 
 fully examined their contents, as Avell as listened Avith 
 attention to Avhat this messenger has said and proposed 
 in your name. We have seen with pleasure, by these 
 letters, and by the communications of your envoy, 
 that appealing to our solicitude for the help and reco- 
 very of the Holy Land, you have offered us 200,000 
 horses and 200,000 loads of Avheat, to be in Armenia at 
 the period Avhen the Christian armies shall arrive there ; 
 and besides that, to march in person AAdth 100,000 
 horsemen, to second the efforts of the Christians, and 
 expel from that sacred land the ad\"erse forces of the 
 Saracens. We haA^e receh''ed this offer Avith satisfac- 
 tion ; it has fortified our minds like a spiritual nourish- 
 ment. We believe that this messenger came from none 
 other than Him, who, by his angel, charged Abacnc to 
 carry to Daniel, in the lion’s den, strengthening food. 
 It is certain that you have given us sweet sustenance by 
 offering us the hope of your magnificent assistance. 
 
 * The real name of the envoy was Touman Ildoutlji. Ildouclji 
 signifies “ he who bears the sword,” and Touman was, probably, 
 one of the body-guard of Kharbende. 
 
382 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 “We and our brethren will take care to submit this 
 important affair to serious deliberation, supported by 
 the most High who strengthens his servants ; we will 
 execute, as far as in us lies, what God shall inspire ; 
 and when the favourable season shall arrive for crossing 
 the sea, we will take care to give you notice, by our 
 letters or our messengers, that you may be ready to 
 accomplish what your magnificence has promised. But 
 do you turn yourselves in faith and good wmrks to- 
 wards Christ, who is ‘ the way, the truth, and the 
 life : ’ to serve Him, is to reign. Persevere firmly in 
 your laudable resolution respecting that sacred land ; 
 endeavour, by that and other means, to acquire, in this 
 life, the approbation of Christ the Redeemer, that you 
 may deserve to obtain from Him an ample portion of 
 blessedness in the heavens and of glory in this world. 
 We, and the apostolic see, shall rejoice in your honours 
 and your success.” * 
 
 It was difficult, at that time, to determine the kings 
 of Europe to undertake a crusade, since they now took 
 little interest in the deliverance of the Holy Land, less, 
 perhaps, than did the Tartars, who, intent upon the 
 abasement of the Sultan of Egypt, were always en- 
 deavouring to win to their policy the princes of the 
 West. 
 
 In 1312 Kharbendc began, alone. Ids expedition 
 against the Saracens ; but as the co-operation of the 
 Westerns, which he had solicited, failed him at the mo- 
 ment of action, the war went on languidly, and pro- 
 duced no important events. 
 
 Kharbendc was then called, by other wars, into the 
 
 * llaynald, t. 15. Ann. 130(5, No. 30. p. 39. 
 
USBECK AND THE TROVINCE OF KIPTCIIAK. 383 
 
 Eastern part of his empire, Avliere he died in 1317, and 
 AV'as succeeded by his son Abou-Said. 
 
 II. 
 
 Abou-Said was only twelve years old when he as- 
 cended the throne, and one of the first dignitaries of the 
 kingdom had charge of the regency and the education 
 of the young prince, who afterwards, Avhen he assumed 
 the reins of government, had to carry on many wars 
 ao-ainst his neighbours. The most formidable of his 
 enemies was Usbeck, a descendant of the family of 
 Tchinguiz-Khan, and governor of the province of Kip- 
 tchak.* 
 
 Usbeck was no friend to the Christians ; he persecuted 
 
 them, and forbade the missionaries to preach the gospel 
 in his dominions, Avhilst he favoured the sectaries of 
 Mahomet, whose Avorship he had adopted. “ He caused,” 
 says Aboulghazi, “ Mahometanism to be introduced into 
 all the provinces under his authority, Avhich so con- 
 ciliated the affections of his subjects, that, to give him 
 a public mark of their de\mtion, they all assumed the 
 name of Usbeck, which they have e\’er since retained; 
 for before the reign of Usbeck-Khan, they Avere never 
 knoAAm under that designation. f 
 
 The Mussulmans, strong in the support and protec- 
 tion of the sovereign, Avere continually contriving a 
 thousand modes of harassing the Christians, Avho, until 
 
 then, had enjoyed much liberty. They declared Avar 
 against their bells, and persuaded Usbeck that their 
 
 * It is from this country that the people called in Europe Kosaks 
 or Cossacks, have proceeded. 
 
 f Aboulghazi, Hist. Generale des Tatars, p. 457. 
 
384 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 sound had an ill omen, and provoked calamities of every 
 kind ; and the Christians were therefore strictly forbid- 
 den to ring them. These and similar vexations were 
 intended to effect the destruction of Christianity in that 
 country ; and William Adam, a Dominican monk who 
 had been residing as a missionary in Persia, came to 
 Avignon, where he related to the Pope, John XXIL, the 
 tribulations of the Christians liviim under the "overn- 
 
 O C* 
 
 ment of the Eastern Tartars. He added that Usbeck 
 was not personally hostile to Christianity, though he had 
 yielded to the influence of the Mussulmans, but that 
 hopes might be even entertained of seeing him embrace 
 the gospel. The sovereign pontiff, desirous of favouring 
 these good inclinations, wrote to him in 1318, ex- 
 horting him to become a Christian, and to suppress the 
 edicts against the liberty of worship; above all, he 
 besought him, with the most earnest entreaties, to per- 
 mit the Christians to assemble in their churches at the 
 sound of the bell. 
 
 In the same year John XXIL erected the city of Soul- 
 taniye, in Persia, into an archiepiscopal see. Kharbendc- 
 Khan had founded this city in 1305, in the midst of the 
 smiling meadows of Councour ; his father, Argoun, 
 had conceived the project, but death had prevented its 
 execution, and it was now accomplished by Kharbende. 
 In a short time there was seen arising, as if by en- 
 chantment, a magnificent city, which received the name 
 of Soultaniyii. It had several mosques, the principal 
 of which was built at the expense of the Sultan, and 
 richly adorned with marble and painted porcelain. The 
 nobles vied with each other in building fine mansions ; 
 a whole (piartcr, containing a thousand houses, was con- 
 
THE ARCIIIEPISCOPAL SEE OF SOULTANIYE. 385 
 
 structed at the expense of the Vizier, who raised be- 
 sides a large edifice, surmounted by two minarets, 
 wliich contained a college, a hospital, and a convent, all 
 richly endowed. The citadel was surrounded by a 
 square wall, flanked with towers, each side five hun- 
 dred cubits long, built of hewn stone, and so thick, that 
 four horses might easily have run abreast upon the top 
 of it. Kharbende had also a mausoleum built for him- 
 self in the castle ; it was an edifice of an octangular 
 form, each side of which was sixty cubits in length, 
 and covered with a cupola which rose to the height 
 of a hundred and twenty cubits. The royal habitation 
 consisted of a lofty pavilion, surrounded at a short dis- 
 tance by twelve smaller ones, each having a window, 
 Avhich looked out into a marble paved court, used as a 
 hall of justice, and vast enough to contain two thousand 
 persons, and several other buildings. During the Avhole 
 of his reign, Kharbende devoted considerable sums every 
 year to the buildings at Soultaniye, which, had he 
 lived longer, Avould have become one of the finest cities 
 in Asia.* 
 
 It did become in a short time the centre of commerce 
 betAveen Europe and the Indies, and strangers, attracted 
 by the love of traffic and lucre, flocked thither from all 
 parts of Asia; but they were preceded by the mis- 
 sionaries, ahvays eager to hasten wherever there was 
 good to be done or souls to be saved. The first apostle 
 of Soultaniye was Franco, a native of Perouse. Having 
 assumed the habit of St. Dominic, toAvards the year 
 1270, he was not long in becoming conspicuous amongst 
 his brethren by his virtues and talents ; and at the be- 
 
 * D’Ohsson, Hist, des Mongols, t. iv. p. 486. 
 
 C C 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
386 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 ginning of the fourteenth century, after having given 
 proof, in Italy, of his apostolic zeal, he was appointed, 
 according to his own desire, to foreign missions. He 
 went to the East, where the Armenians, Persians, and 
 Tartars immediately profited by his preaching, and as- 
 sisted by several missionaries of the same order, he suc- 
 cessfully encountered the superstitious pagans, cast down 
 the idols of the nations, raised altars to the true God, 
 and purified, in the waters of baptism, many thousands 
 of new disciples of Jesus Christ. The greater number 
 of these conversions were wrought in Persia, and par- 
 ticularly at Soultaniye, where the Catholic religion 
 speedily began to flourish, and the Christians there mul- 
 tiplied so rapidly, that they had twenty-five churches, 
 amongst which that of the Dominicans was renoAvned 
 for its beauty.* 
 
 As the indefatigable zeal of the Franciscan John de 
 Monte Corvino had prepared the erection of the metro- 
 politan see of Khanbalik in China, so that of the Domi- 
 nican Franco de Perouse effected that of the archiepis- 
 copal see of Soultaniy^, in Persia. Franco had sent 
 Guillaume Adam, a French Dominican, into Europe, to 
 inform the sovereign pontiff of the state of that mis- 
 sion, and to ask for auxiliaries. He doubted not tliat 
 if the number of the evangelical labourers Avere in- 
 creased, ncAv nations Avould obey the impulse already 
 given to the inhabitants of Soultaniye ; and the Pope 
 John XXII. Avas of the same opinion. 
 
 In oi'der to consolidate religion in Persia, he ad- 
 
 * Fontann, “ Monumentii Dominicnna, Ann. 1347.” This church 
 served ns an arsenal in 1G96, according to a missionary Jesuit who 
 passed through Soultaniye at that time. 
 
FRANCO DE PEROUSE APPOINTED ARCHBISHOP. 387 
 
 dressed on the 1st of May, 1318, a letter to Franco de 
 Perouse, in which, erecting the city of Soultaniye into a 
 metropolitan see, he established this zealous missionary 
 as its archbishop. But the Pope did not limit him- 
 self to entrusting to Franco the administration of that 
 church ; he gave besides into his charge, the instruc- 
 tion, the government, and the salvation of all the faitli- 
 ful in most of the lands occupied by the Mongols in 
 the west of Asia. To assist the prelate whose jurisdic- 
 tion extended over so immense a territory, he gave 
 him, as sutfragans, six bishops, also Dominicans : Gerard 
 de Calvi, Guillaume Adam, Barthelemy de Podio, Ber- 
 nardin de Plaisance, Bernard Moreti, and Barthelemy 
 Abaliati. A special bull also authorised the arch- 
 bisliop elect to choose amongst the apostolic mis- 
 sionaries, and to consecrate other bishops, should he 
 think it necessary for the propagation of the faith. 
 The Pope also commanded that in case deceased pre- 
 lates could not be immediately replaced, the communi- 
 ties of preaching brothers should take on themselves 
 the care and regulation of the churches left without 
 pastors. This seems to imply, says Father Foucon *, 
 that the order of St. Dominic had already several houses 
 in Persia. After the great number of conversions 
 spoken of, it was not very difficult for the Archbishop 
 of Soultaniye to build monasteries and to fill them, 
 since, when he was still only a simple priest and a 
 stranger amongst barbarians, he had inspired so high 
 an idea of his virtue, learning and talents, that he had 
 acquired the most powerful influence over all minds and 
 hearts. 
 
 * “ Hist, des homines illustres de I’Ordre de St. Dominique,” t. i. 
 p. 781. 
 
 c c 2 
 
388 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 John XXII. was so persuaded that the presence of 
 Franco de Perouse was necessary in a country where 
 he was regarded as an apostle, that Avithout heeding 
 ancient custom, according to Avhich new metropolitans 
 ought to go in person to the holy see, there to rcceivm 
 consecration, he ordered that the Archbishop of Soul- 
 taniye should receive on the spot (as John de INIonte 
 Corvino had formerly done) the imposition of hands and 
 the investiture of the pallium. William Adam, who 
 had been himself consecrated at AviOTon, had the charge 
 of performing the ceremony, and of presenting the apos- 
 tolical letters to his metropolitan.* 
 
 * This is the translation of the pontifical bull, erecting this new 
 archiepiscopal see amongst the Tartars : — 
 
 “ Jolin XXII. to liis dear son, Franco de Perouse, of the Brothers 
 Preachers, archbishop elect of Soultaniye. 
 
 “ Our heart has recently felt an immense joy in learning that in 
 Persia and tiie neighbouring countries, subject to the great Emperor 
 of the Tartars, the magnificent nursery garden of the faithful, planted 
 by the mercy of the Creator, and regenerated by the waters of 
 baptism, fervently adores the name of the Most High, and celebrates 
 the praises of the Redeemer. In order to gratify their pious desires, 
 we have occupied ourselves with zeal and solicitude in the choice of 
 men full of honour and virtue, that they might be sent to labour in 
 the cultivation of this new vine, whose branches, by the grace of 
 God, shall grow and extend throughout those countries to the ex- 
 tremities of the earth. Consequently, we have erected Soultaniye, 
 the most famous, noble, and populous city in these regions, into a 
 metropolitan city, according to the advice of our brothers, and the 
 plenitude of our apostolical power. We have cast’our eyes on you, 
 who are the preacher of the wmrd of God in those countries ; and 
 convinced of the sanctity of your life, of your acquaintance with 
 letters, and the abundance of your virtues, we constitute you arch- 
 bishop and pastor of that city. 
 
 “ We oitrust to you the absolute care, administration, and solici- 
 tude for all the souls existing in those countries subject to the Em- 
 
KESIGNATION OF FRANCO BE FEROUSE. 
 
 389 
 
 Franco de Peronse soon resigned liis see, A\diether 
 tliat lie miglit devote himself in greater tranquillity to 
 prayer and the contemplation of celestial things, or 
 Avith the design of carrying still further the light of the 
 Gospel, and of labouring more freely in the propaga- 
 tion of the faith in the different countries of Asia. 
 The brief of John XXIL, dated Avignon, June 1st, 
 1323, accepting the voluntary resignation of the ser- 
 vant of God, favours the latter conclusion. The Pope 
 permits Franco still to wear the insignia of the dignity 
 he resigns, and to give the episcopal benediction to the 
 Greeks, and to the people “ amongst Avhom,” says the 
 pontiff, “ you labour for the salvation of souls, and the 
 progress of the Catholic faith.” Guillaume Adam, the 
 suffragan of Franco de Perouse, immediately succeeded 
 him as metropolitan of Soultaniyd. 
 
 peror, as well as to the kings and princes of Ethiopia and India. We 
 grant you full and free power to exercise all the authority apper- 
 taining to the archiepiscopal character, as it is defined and decreed 
 in the sacred canons, and according to the tenor of our pontifical 
 letters. Wishing, then, that the truth of the Catholic faith should 
 (by the help of God) continually make new progress, and shine 
 through the whole extent of those regions, after having driven away 
 the darkness, we have chosen six brethren of the order of Brothers 
 Preachers, learned in the law of the Lord, distinguished by their life 
 and religion, and commendable for their many virtues ; they are 
 Gerard de Calvi, Guillaume Adam, Barthelemi de Podio, Bernai’din 
 de Plaisance, Bernard Moreti, and Barthelemi Abaliati. We chose 
 them according to the advice of our brothers, and the plenitude of 
 our power, and we constitute them bishops and pastors, and depute 
 them to be your coadjutors in solicitude for those souls whose sal- 
 vation has been entrusted to you. 
 
 “ Given at Avignon, 1st of May, 1318.” ' 
 
 * Raynald, t. xv. p. 168. 
 c c 3 
 
390 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 In the number of the missionaries who seconded the zeal 
 of Franco, must not be forgotten Jourdain de Severac.* 
 Jourdain was a Frenchman like Guillaume Adam, and 
 a Frenchman zealous for his country; for, in his “ De- 
 scription des merveilles d'une partie d'xisie" he expresses 
 liimself thus: I believe that the King of France might, 
 without any assistance, subdue and convert the whole 
 world. f After having evangelised the inhabitants of 
 Soultaniye, Jourdain was preparing to depart for China, 
 when he received a brief from John XXII. appointing 
 him Bishop of Colomban, in India. He repaired to his 
 post, but it is not known whether he remained there 
 long, or even whether he had any successor.^ 
 
 III. 
 
 The pontificate of John XXII. was celebrated for 
 the great movement which was effected in the missions 
 of Upper Asia. The orders of St. Francis and St. Do- 
 minic sent into those distant regions a considerable 
 number of missionaries, who went Avith the cross in 
 their hands to announce a religion of peace, concord, 
 and fraternity, to those barbarous populations, which 
 seemed to be happy only in the midst of the horrors of 
 Avar. These intrepid and zealous priests returned, 
 sometimes after a long absence, to their brethren in 
 Europe ; they related their traA^cls and their apostolic 
 labours, the manners of foreign nations, the Avonders of 
 
 * Probably Severac in Roucrgue ; for .Jourdain loves to compare 
 to Toulouse, the cities of which he speaks in his narration. 
 
 •f Coquebert Montbret, Ilecucil de Voyages et de Memoires, pub- 
 lished by the Geographical Society, t. iv. p. 1. 
 
 I “ Quid postea egerit .Jordanis iste nos latet ut et similiter an habu- 
 crit successores.” — P Lequren, Oriens Christianus. 
 
ZEAL OF POPE JOHN XXII. 
 
 391 
 
 the propagation of tlie gospel; and their words kindled 
 all hearts, and everywhere raised up new apostles. 
 Avignon was the rendezvous of these “ Travellers for 
 Jesus Christf as they were then called ; they came to 
 the feet of the common father of the faithful to offer up 
 their conquests to him, and to derive, from his discourse, 
 encouragement to plunge again into a career so full of 
 labour and danger. There Avas, at that much decried 
 period of the middle age, an incomparable amount of 
 movement, activity, and energy. Nations Avere con- 
 tinually brought into communication AV'itli one another; 
 and long journies were then, perhaps, more frequent than 
 in our oAvn day. The means of communication Avere, 
 it is true, imperfect ; but there Avas then an element still 
 more powerful than steam in overcoming obstacles, and 
 shortening distances ; this element was religious faith, 
 a faith lively and ardent, which rendered everything 
 possible to those Avho Avere animated by it. The papacy 
 Avas the great motiA'e power whose influence set in ac- 
 tion all other forces for the advantage of Christianity 
 and civilisation. From his palace at Avignon, John 
 XXII. kept alive the sacred flame by an active corre- 
 spondence, AA’hich caused the accents of his charity and 
 zeal for the salvation of souls to resound to the four 
 corners of the earth. He wrote to Georgia, to Persia, 
 to China, to Tartary, even to the Avildest regions of 
 Turkestan and the mountains of Albors, and seemed 
 to communicate to all Christendom something of the 
 ardour and spirit of proselytism, with Avhich, as a 
 Pope and a Frenchman, his soul Avas animated.* His 
 
 * John XXII. was a native of Cahors ; his family name was 
 Jacques d’Euse; he governed the church from August 7, 1316, until 
 
 c c 4 
 
392 CHKISTi'ANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 apostolic letters were sent in all directions to exhort 
 infidels and pagans to come forth from their darkness, 
 and open their eyes to the light of the gospel, and 
 to encourage the neophytes and fortify tiiein in the 
 faith, while using the most affecting and persuasive ex- 
 pressions to the Jacobites and Nestorians to induce 
 these wandering children to return to their mother the 
 Catholic church, who thus affectionately stretched out 
 her arms towards them. 
 
 The indefatigable solicitude of John XX. multiplied 
 apostles of the faith in every region then attainable of 
 infidel countries ; and it gave fresh life to the congrega- 
 tion of the travellers for Jesus Christ, formed from the 
 two families of St. Francis and St. Dominic. In 1324 
 he enjoined the master-general of the Brothers Preachers 
 to place the missionaries of his order belonging to 
 that society under the direction of a vicar-general, 
 who should send them into the countries whose spiri- 
 tual wants made their presence the most necessary. All 
 the Dominicans being authorised to join this congrega- 
 tion, they resorted to it in such numbers, that the pro- 
 vinces of the order were almost depopulated, and the 
 convents nearly deserted. The master-general sent infor- 
 mation of this to John XXII., who, admiring the ardent 
 charity of these monks, cried, “ They have truly been 
 placed as’ shining torches in the church of God.” * 
 However, he thought it necessary to moderate this zeal, 
 which might be prejudicial to the order, .and perhaps 
 unfavourable to the missions also. He wrote to the 
 
 liis death, which happened December 4, 1334. Ilis tomb is still seen 
 in the cathedral of Avignon. 
 
 * Fontana, “ Monumenta Domiiiicana, Ann. 1325.” 
 
DEATH OF JOHN DE MONTE COKVINO. 
 
 393 
 
 Dominicans assembled in chapter at Venice, not to 
 allow so many persons to devote themselves to the 
 preaching of the gospel ; to admit to the apostolic 
 ministry those only who should have special letters 
 from their superiors ; to choose from amongst them 
 the most learned and best qualified, and to send the 
 others back to their convents; this wise injunction was 
 obeyed. At a later period, subsequent to a general as- 
 sembly of the Dominicans held at Dijon, it was decreed, 
 that, to facilitate the work of the missions, the vicar- 
 general of the society of “ Travellers for Christ” should 
 introduce the study of the Oriental languages into the 
 principal houses over which he presided. Two convents 
 Avere specially appropriated to this study, one at Pera, 
 the other at Caffa the capital of the Crimea, Avhich 
 Avas for a long time under the dominion of the Tartars. * 
 John XXII. had erected Caffa into an episcopal see, 
 and sent thither P)ishop Jerome, avIio, having been a 
 suffragan of the archbishopric of Khanbalik, Avas per- 
 fectly acquainted AA’ith the language and manners of the 
 Tartars. 
 
 ToAA^ards this period, the mission of Khanbalik was 
 plunged into deep soitoav ; for the illustrious apostle of 
 the Tartars and Chinese, John de Monte Corvino, whose 
 struggles and triumphs Ave have already related, had 
 just died, to the great sorrow of this flourishing com- 
 munity of Christians. He had converted more than 
 thirty thousand infidels, during his long and laborious 
 mission. William Adam, the successor of Franco de 
 Perouse in the archbishopric of Soultaniye, was then 
 at Khanbalik ; he received the last sigh of John de 
 
 * Fontana, “Monumenta Dominicana, Ann. 1331.' 
 
394 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Monte Corvino, and presided at his funeral. All the 
 inhabitants of Khanbalik, without distinction, mourned 
 for the man of God, and both Christians and pagans 
 were present at the funeral ceremony, the latter rending 
 their garments in token of grief, according to their 
 custom on such occasions. The linen and various 
 articles which had belonged to the archbishop were re- 
 verently collected ; for every one wished to possess and 
 piously to preserve some of these relics ; and the place 
 of his burial became a pilgrimage to which the inhabit- 
 ants of Khanbalik resorted with pious eagerness.* These 
 details have been preserved by William Adam himself, 
 who, after his journey into China, edited, by order of 
 John XXII., a curious narrative, entitled, “Of the State 
 and Government of the Great Khan of Cathay, Sove- 
 reign Emperor of the Tartars, &c.” 
 
 As soon as the sovereign pontitf had heard that the 
 church of Khanbalik was widowed of her virtuous and 
 zealous pastor, he hastened to provide a successor to 
 John de Monte Corvino ; and chose Nicholas, of the 
 order of St. Francis, and sent with him, for the evange- 
 lisation of the Tartars, twenty-six monks and six lay 
 brothers of the same order. This holy expedition, 
 composed of an archbishop and thirty-two missionaries. 
 
 * “ Cilz arcevcusques Jehan dei Mont Ciiruin est, comme il pint .a 
 Dicu, nouvellcrnent trespassez de ce siecle. A son obseqne, et a son 
 sepulture vinrent tres grant multitude de gens crestiens ct de paiens, 
 et desaroient ces paiens leurs robes de deuil, ainsi qui leui guise est. 
 Et ces gens chrestiens et paiens pristrent en grant devocion les 
 draps de rarceveusques et le tinrent a grant reverence et pour 
 relique. La fu il ensevelis moult honnourablenient a la guise des 
 fiables (fideles) crestiens, encore uisite ou Ic lieu de sa sepulture a 
 moult grant devocion.” — Lc litre de I’estat du Grant Cuan. 
 
NICHOLAS, SECOND ARCIIBISlIOl’ OF PEKIN. 395 
 
 ■was well adapted to give a new and strong impulse to 
 the affairs of religion in Upper Asia. Kicholas, second 
 archbishop of Pekin, was a Frenchman, and, Avhat was 
 rather remarkable, had been Professor of Theology in 
 the faculty of Paris ; he is even mentioned in the letter 
 which John XXII. addressed by him to the great Khan 
 of the Tartars. “We send you,” says he, “our venerable 
 brother, Nicholas, Archbishop of Khanbalik, Professoi' of 
 the order of the brothers minorites.”* Nicholas had the 
 charge, at the same time, of an encyclical letter addressed 
 to the Tartar nation, “ Universo Populo Tartarorum” 
 and of a letter for Usbeck Khan, sovereign of Kiptchak. 
 
 lY. 
 
 We have already said that Christianity had numerous 
 and fervent neophytes in Kiptckak, and above all in 
 Serai, the capital of the countries subject to the Tartars. 
 The prosperity of this mission had been, for a moment, 
 disturbed by the commencement of a persecution ex- 
 cited by the Mussulmans, who had persuaded Usbeck to 
 forbid the bells to be rung under the pretence that it 
 was an evil omen, and foretold something fatal to the 
 empire. We have recorded the letter which John XXII. 
 wrote on the 28th of March, 1318, to this Tartar prince, 
 thanking him for the favour shown until that time to 
 the missionaries, exhorting him to embrace Christianity 
 himself, and begging him to revoke the edict issued 
 three years before, and to allow the faithful liberty to 
 ring their bells. Sixteen years after this letter of the 
 
 * “ Yenerabilem patrem nostrum Nicolaum, archiepiscopum Camba- 
 liensem, ordinis Fratrum minorum professorem, &c.” — Eaynald, t. xv. 
 p. 426. ; Wadding, t. vii. p. 1 38. 
 
396 
 
 CimiSTIAXITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Pope, the Christians and missionaries of Kiptchak were 
 thrown into consternation by the disgraceful fall of a 
 Franciscan, who, however, soon consoled them by his 
 admirable penitence.* 
 
 Stephen, a Hungarian by birth, had when very young 
 taken the habit of the Minorite brothers ; his ardent 
 and passionate nature made him believe that he had a 
 vocation for the apostleship, and that he should find 
 in that career of self-devotion and sacrifice a channel 
 for his superabundant energy. He was accordingly edu- 
 cated for the priesthood and sent into Kiptchak, where 
 the children of St. Francis were labouring successfully 
 for the conversion of the infidels. 
 
 Stephen was only twenty-five years old when he 
 arrived at the convent of St. John, situated three miles 
 from the great and opulent city of Serai. He had oc- 
 casion to visit this capital of Kiptchak, and his eyes, 
 accustomed until then to the stern and severe features of 
 monastic life, were insensibly dazzled and fascinated by 
 the luxury, pomp, and voluptuousness of this Oriental 
 world, which the doctrines of Islamism were continually 
 alluring to pleasure. When the monk Avas shut up in 
 liis poor cell, his ardent imagination often caused him 
 to hear harmonious sounds like the echo of the brilliant 
 fetes of Serai. His first ardour in the service of God 
 soon began to cool ; he ceased to pray, his soul gave 
 itself up to the soothing delusions of the world, and he 
 had the misfortune to fall into that state of I'eligious in- 
 difference which rapidly leads to forgetfulness of duty 
 
 * Wadding, aim. 1334, No. 4. La Chronique des Frercs niinciirs, 
 t. ii. p. 248. Ferct, Abregc de la vie des Saints des trois ordres de 
 St. Fran^'ois, t. ii. p. 328. 
 
APOSTASY AND MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN. 397 
 
 nml virtue. Fultli itself', that pillar which is the last 
 support of man, after having tottered for some time, 
 fell at length, and Stephen renounced in his heart the 
 whole Christian creed. Having thus broken the ties 
 Avliich bound him to his God, he easily allowed himself 
 to be carried away by the impetuosity of his nature ; 
 and an irregularity of conduct of which he was sus- 
 pected, obliged his superiors to shut him up (as a mea- 
 sure of discipline) in the interior of the convent. 
 
 The prisoner of the monastery of St. John did not, 
 however, return to better feelings ; the correction he 
 was enduring seemed only to irritate his desires, and 
 heighten the attractions of a worldly life ; and his mind 
 began to dwell with complacency on the thoughts of es- 
 cape, though the poor missionary still hesitated, and 
 feared to pass the barrier which separated him from 
 the abyss. His mind became the prey of a terrible in- 
 ternal struggle, and sometimes the remembrance of 
 the pure delight which he had tasted in the service of 
 God induced him to repel the cup of pleasure with which 
 he had tried to intoxicate himself; and then again his 
 eager longings would attract him towards the world, 
 but he would seem suddenly arrested by divine grace, 
 and prevented from rushing entirely into the road to 
 perdition. That he might have more power to resist 
 the thought of escape which tormented him, he begged 
 the assistance of the prayers of the monks ; but the 
 tempter then attacked him with redoubled violence, 
 and Stephen felt himself conquered. He clandestinely 
 quitted his cell, fully resolved at last to renounce the 
 religious life, the Christian faith, and God. He was 
 just about to leave the cloister, when Providence per- 
 mitted his eyes to fall upon the cross which surmounted 
 
398 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 the steeple of the church. This sight immediately 
 paralysed the impious courage by which he was ani- 
 mated, and he cried out, “ Can I so far betray my 
 Saviour, who for love of me yielded himself to the most 
 cruel sufferings ?” The next day he again recom- 
 mended himself to the prayers of his brethren, and con- 
 jured them to watch over him, and to prevent him from 
 ruining himself for ever. The superiors, affected by this 
 mark of good feeling, and persuaded that flight alone 
 could save the poor monk, resolved to send him into the 
 convent of Caffa in the Crimea, hoping that tlie in- 
 cidents of the journey and being surrounded by new 
 brethren would drive away the illusions by which he 
 was so cruelly pursued ; but it was too late. 
 
 Stephen had deserted his monastery, and was hasten- 
 ing towards Serai, in the pursuit of those felicities of 
 which his maddened imagination had so passionately 
 dreamed. Scarcely had he entered the city when he 
 began to declaim against Christianity, and declared to 
 the Mussulmans that he came to embrace the law of 
 Mahomet. The Kadi was delighted at this news ; he 
 received Stephen with every mark of respect and sym- 
 pathy ; for he felt how important to Islamism would 
 be the conversion of a Christian priest, the member of 
 a religious order whose progress amongst the infidels 
 of Tartary had been so striking, and whose learning 
 equalled its virtues. 
 
 The morrow was the day on which the Mussulmans 
 celebrate pompously one of their religious festivals ; 
 and they eagerly took advantage of this great solemnity 
 to display, in the sight of the whole city, the triumph 
 of Mahomet. Stephen repaired to the mosque ; and 
 there abjured Christianity, and made a public profession 
 
APOSTASY AND MARTYRDOM OF STRPIIEN. 399 
 
 of the religion of the Korun, This Mussulman festival 
 corresponded precisely in that year 1334 with Good 
 Friday, and whilst the Christians in their churches were 
 listening to the mournful story of the Saviour’s pas- 
 sion, one of their missionaries was denying Jesus Clirist 
 amidst the applause of the infidels. The Kadi himself 
 took from the person of the apostate Franciscan his 
 religious dress, which he trampled under his feet with 
 contempt and derision ; they then clothed him in a 
 scarlet robe, encircled his head with a beautiful turban 
 enriched with jewels, and put a mantle of state, mag- 
 nificently embroidered with gold, on his shoulders. The 
 report was immediately spread in every quarter of 
 Serai that the high priest of the Christians had just 
 been converted to ^Mahomet ; there was soon an im- 
 mense crowd in the environs of the mosque, and the 
 chiefs of the ^lahometan religion did not fail to take 
 advantage of the general emotion, to organise a solemn 
 procession, and celebrate by public rejoicings this happy 
 event. 
 
 The apostate missionary was pompously paraded 
 through the city, amidst the acclamations of the vo- 
 taries of Mahomet. He advanced, surrounded by the 
 principal inhabitants, mounted on a horse richly capa- 
 risoned, and preceded by numerous banners adorned 
 Avith the crescent, aboA’e which was seen the religious 
 habit of the Franciscan, carried at the end of a long pike 
 in sign of triumph. The procession thus traversed the 
 city in great pomp, with sound of the trumpet, to the 
 joy of the Mahometans, but to the utter confusion of 
 the Catholics, and above all of the priests, Avho, Avith 
 tears in their eyes and hearts broken Avith grief, fled, 
 hiding their faces, from that crowd intoxicated Avith 
 
400 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 the glory supposed to accrue from this disgrace of the 
 Christian name. Nevertheless that divine glance, whose 
 tender mercy had once caused a faithless apostle to weep 
 bitterly after his triple denial of his Lord, had pene- 
 trated also the soul of the apostate missionary. Even 
 during this triumphal march, in the midst of the frantic 
 acclamations of the multitude, Stephen heard the sobs 
 of the Christians and the priests. The joy of the Mus- 
 sulmans and the grief of the Catholics alike caused 
 him to blush at this impious ovation, and he had now 
 the happiness of feeling the first stings of shame and 
 remorse. After the procession, a splendid banquet was 
 served up to him ; but what had just taken place had 
 so overpowered him, and he was a prey to such anguish, 
 that he touched none of the viands ; but fearing to 
 betray the remorse by which he was tormented, he re- 
 plied to their questions that the spirit of ^Mahomet was 
 in him. He was then conducted to a magnificent dwel- 
 ling, accompanied by the Imaum who had the charge of 
 his instruction. On that and the following days, he re- 
 ceived, and moistened with his tears, letters full of grace 
 written by the monks, those sincere and devoted friends 
 who still held out their hands to rescue him from the 
 abyss, and witli unbounded charity still oftered him the 
 kiss of reconciliation. He replied to one of them : — “ I 
 have sinned like Judas, but 1 do not, like him, yield to 
 despair. God has given me grace to perceive the enor- 
 mity of my crime, and to repent of it ; if you can 
 conceal me without compromising yourselves or the 
 Christians, I am ready to submit to perpetual imprison- 
 ment ; if you cannot, I desire that you should come and 
 prepare me, by the administration of the sacraments, 
 for the trial of martyrdom ; as 1 have publicly denied 
 
STEPHEN OF HUNGARY. 
 
 401 
 
 Jesus Christ, I wish now to acknowledge him publicly 
 as my God and Saviour.” 
 
 An interview was secretly planned, which took place 
 on the morrow, Easter-day, in the house of a Christian. 
 Pierre de Bologne, superior of the monastery, hastened 
 thither with the other monks, and at the sight of his 
 brethren Stephen prostrated himself with his face to 
 the earth, and weeping, in a voice broken by sobs, asked 
 pardon for his crime. He begged to be admitted to 
 penance, and the communion of the faithful, with such 
 heartfelt and lively expressions of repentance, as drew 
 tears from all present, and was so admitted accordingly, 
 and received absolution for the crime of apostacy 
 and all his sins. All this took place within closed 
 walls, and without arousing the suspicions of the ]\Ius- 
 sulmans. 
 
 On the following day an extraordinary solemnity was 
 to take place at the mosque, in honour of the new be- 
 liever, who had promised to make an oration to the mul- 
 titude of the followers of Mahomet. Ten thousand Mus- 
 sulmans were already assembled in the vast enclosure of 
 the mosque of Serai, when Stephen appeared. He was 
 clad in a scarlet robe, and proceeded with noble con- 
 fidence towards the tribune, amidst the acclamations of 
 the assembly. Having with his hand demanded silence, 
 he cried in a voice of emotion, yet full of determination, 
 “ I have been a Christian for twenty-five years, and have 
 examined the doctrines of Christianity; know, then, all 
 you who listen to me, that the religion of Jesus Christ 
 is the only true religion, and that by which alone we 
 can be saved. During three days that I have lived 
 amongst you as an apostate, I have seen in yours 
 only superstition and falsehood. I confess then that 
 
 VOL. I. D D 
 
402 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Jesus Christ is the true Son of God and the Saviour of 
 the world. I pronounce anathema on the impostor 
 Mahomet ! anathema on the felse prophet ! ” At these 
 words he tore and cast away the beautiful scarlet robe, 
 and appeared before the astonished spectators, in the 
 humble habit of a Minorite brother. “I am a Chris- 
 tian,” said he, “ and ready to die for Jesus Christ.” 
 This bold and unexpected proceeding threw the Mus- 
 sulmans into a fury ; they flung themselves upon him, 
 tore him from the tribune, and would have massacred 
 him on the spot, if the Kadi had not interposed his 
 authority, and made them understand the necessity of 
 sparing him to undergo the punishment awarded to him 
 by law, — namely, that of being burned to death. 
 
 The Franciscan was then conducted, with his hands 
 tied, before the judge; and when, after they had tor- 
 mented him the whole day, they found he remained 
 constant in the Christian faith, he was given over to the 
 executioner. He was then scourged with leathern bags 
 filled with lead and sand, until he fell down half dead ; 
 and he was afterwards suspended by one foot and one 
 hand, with heavy weights attached to the opposite limbs, 
 and left the Avhole night in this torturing attitude. He 
 was found still alive in the morning, however: perhaps 
 God granted him a more than moderate share of strength 
 to bear these torments in order that he might by his suf- 
 ferings expiate his atrocious apostacy, and repair the 
 mischief of the immense scandal he had ‘occasioned. 
 
 For six whole days was Stephen tortured, without its 
 seeming possible for his enemies to put an end to his 
 life ; until at length the Mahometans, enraged to see 
 the intrepid Franciscan still surviving all the inventions 
 of their barbarity, rushed on him with hatchets and other 
 
EMBASSY FROM PEKIN. 
 
 403 
 
 weapons, cut him down and tore him to pieces. Such 
 was the triumph gained by this missionary by his un- 
 fortunate fall ! The Evil Spirit had been able for a 
 time to transform the disciple of St. Francis into a 
 slave of Mahomet; but the greater power of God had 
 enabled the renegade to see his error, and become again 
 a confessor of Jesus Christ, a penitent and a glorious 
 martyr. 
 
 In 1335, a year after this memorable event, which 
 had caused tlie most lively emotion among the Chris- 
 tians of the capital of Kiptchak, came news of the death 
 of Abou-Said, the sovereign of the empire founded uy 
 the Mongols in Persia. He was the last of tlie Tartar 
 khans who exercised imperial power in the western 
 countries of Asia, and he left only one son, whom the 
 chiefs of the horde refused to acknowledge; but went 
 to war among themselves, and endeavoured to destroy 
 each other. 
 
 The states founded by the descendants of Tchinguiz- 
 Khan were for a long time a prey to the ravages of in- 
 testine warfare, and a throng of petty sovereigns were 
 disputing by turns the ruins of this vast empire, when 
 the famous Tamerlane, with his victorious armies, put 
 an end to the strife by seizing on all the countries in 
 dispute. Whilst the Tartar princes of Persia were thus 
 struggling to effect their reciprocal ruin, the emperor 
 of the Oriental Mongols, who reigned in Cathay, sent 
 an embassy to the sovereign pontiff. At this epoch 
 the preaching of the gospel had made immense progress, 
 both within the limits of China, and beyond the great 
 wall ; and the numerous Christians spread over those 
 vast countries were continually receiving marks of fa- 
 vour from the emperor and the grand dignitaries of the 
 
 D D 2 
 
404 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 empire. The missionaries had even succeeded in col- 
 lecting a flourishing Christian community at Ily-Ballik, 
 an important town situated in the centre of Tartary, 
 where they built a large and beautiful church, so that 
 the religion of Jesus Christ was spreading, from day 
 to day, in the remote deserts of Mongolia. The grand 
 khan of the Tartars and Chinese, desirous of strength- 
 ening the alliance which he had formed with the Chris- 
 tians, sent, in 1338, a deputation to the sovereign pontiff. 
 It was composed of six persons, the chief of whom was 
 named Andrd, and belonged to the order of the F rancis- 
 cans. He was the bearer of two letters, one from the 
 emperor himself, and the other from several princes 
 resident at the court of Pekin. 
 
 The emperor wrote as follows : — 
 
 “ In the power of God Omnipotent. 
 
 “ Manifesto of the Emperor of Emperors ! 
 
 “ We send our ambassador Andre, a Frank by birth, 
 with fifteen companions, to the Pope, the Lord of the 
 Christians of France*, beyond the seven seas, where 
 the sun sets, in order to open a way for communica- 
 tions and messages from the pope to us, and from us 
 to the pope. 
 
 “ We pray the pope to make mention of us in his 
 holy prayers, and to interest himself in the Alains, his 
 Christian children and our servants. We beg him also 
 to send us some horses and other wonderful things 
 {^equos et alia mirabilia) from the place where the sun 
 sets. Written at Khanbalik, in the year of the Rat f 
 (133G), on the third day of the sixth moon.” 
 
 * The pope was tlien at Avignon. 
 
 t It is well known that the Tartars and Chinese count tlie years 
 
LETTER TO THE POTE. 
 
 405 
 
 The letter of the Alain Christians was as follows : 
 
 “ In the power of Almighty God, and in honour of 
 our Lord the Emperor. 
 
 “AVe Fodein Jovens, Chatik, &c., bowing our heads 
 to the ground, and kissing the feet of our Holy Father, 
 salute him, and beg for his grace and benediction, and 
 that he will make mention of us in his holy prayers, — 
 and always remember us. 
 
 “ AVe inform your Holiness, that for this long time 
 we have been enlightened by the Catholic faith, go- 
 verned with wisdom, and abundantly comforted by your 
 legate the brother John (of Monte Corvino), a man 
 holy, mighty, and well instructed, who died more than 
 eight years ago. Since then we have been without a 
 pastor, and without spiritual consolation. AVe have 
 heard that you have sent us another legate, but he has 
 not yet arrived, and we therefore supplicate your Holi- 
 ness to give us a wise, good, and well instructed pastor, 
 who may take the charge of our souls. Let him come 
 as soon as may be, for we are a flock without a head 
 and without a guide. 
 
 “ A\^e entreat your Holiness to reply graciously to 
 our Lord the Emperor, and to open, as he demands, a 
 sure and convenient way of communication for frequent 
 messages between you and him, in order to draw’ closer 
 the bonds of amity betAveen you. Should you do so, 
 it w’ill be of great service for the saving of souls and the 
 
 by means of a denary and duodenary cycle, to which they give the 
 names of animals. Bergeron, who was ignorant of this practice, 
 imagined that a rat had happened to be the first object that the em- 
 peror saw on the new year’s day, and that the year was thence so 
 called. 
 
 D D 3 
 
406 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 exaltation of the Christian faith. It may be productive 
 of immense benefit to these countries. 
 
 “ At various epochs three or four messengers have 
 come hither from you to the emperor our Lord, and 
 they have been received graciously, and have had ho- 
 nours and presents showered upon them ; but since then 
 the emperor has never had any answer from you or the 
 Apostolic See. For this reason your Holiness should 
 send a sure and faithful messenger. The honour of your 
 Floliness is at stake, for it is a great disgrace to tlie 
 Christians of these countries, when they are found 
 guilty of lies. AVritten at Khanbalik, in the year of the 
 Eat (1336), the third day of the sixth moon.” * 
 
 The sovereign pontiff received this Tartar embassy 
 very graciously ; the envoys were magnificently en- 
 tertained at Avignon ; and in a short time they set out 
 on their return to Pekin. Pope Benedict XII. entrusted 
 them with an answer to the emperor, dated June 13. 
 1338, in which he declares with what great satisfaction 
 he has learned, both from the tenor of the emperor’s 
 letter and the verbal communications of his envoys, 
 his great devotion to the holy Eoman Church, and to 
 himself who so unworthily holds the place of God upon 
 earth. He begs the emperor to continue his friendly 
 conduct towards the five Alain princes, whom he names, 
 as well as to the other Christians ; to allow Catholic 
 priests and monks, and Christians in gen'eral, to build 
 and possess churches, basilicas, and oratories, for the 
 celebration of divine service, and to preach freely in his 
 empire the word of God. Finally, he declares his inten- 
 tion of sending his nuncios to China, and begs that 
 • Waddiiigr, V. 7. p. 209. 
 
NUNCIOS 'FROM THE rOFE. 
 
 407 
 
 they may be well received, and listened to with patience 
 and kindness, in order that the seeds of life that they 
 sow may produce abundant fruit. 
 
 The pope wrote, at the same time, to Fodein Jovens, 
 the principal of the live Alains, to recommend him and 
 the other princes his compatriots to exert themselves to 
 obtain for the Christians permission to build churches 
 and for their spiritual directors to preach freely the 
 Avord of God. A third letter, addressed to the live Alain 
 princes collectively, instructs them in the principal 
 dogmas of the Christian faith. 
 
 Benedict XII. did not forget the promise he had 
 made to the neo, hytes of China and the emperor, to 
 send missionaries ; and in the month of Xovember of the 
 same year he sent off, as apostolic nuncios to High Asia, 
 the four Franciscans, Kicholas Bonnet, professor of 
 theology, Nicholas de Molano, John of Florence, and 
 Gregory of Hungary. They performed this long journey 
 by short stages, stopping a little in each country they 
 traversed, visiting the most renowned princes of the 
 East, and never neglecting any opportunity of scatter- 
 inii on their route the seeds of Christian truth. 
 
 They reached China at last in the year 1342, received 
 a most favourable reception from the emperor, and 
 Avondered at the progress the Catholic faith was making 
 in those countries. The Christian communities Avere 
 numerous and flourishing, and the Franciscans, Avhose 
 learning, prudence, and sanctity had made a great im- 
 pression on the people, AA^ere rapidly increasing their 
 establishments. Those who inhabited the monastery of 
 Monte Corvino, near the imperial palace, A\nre treated 
 with so much attention, that the emperor frequently 
 admitted them to his table, allowed them to present 
 
 D D 4 
 
408 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 themselves to him with the great people of his court, 
 and would often ask their blessing at night before going 
 to rest.* 
 
 The respect and influence enjoyed by the mission- 
 aries in China Avere increased by the arrival of John of 
 Florence and his companions invested for ten years 
 with the dignity of apostolic nuncios. The emperor 
 had facilitated the exercise of their ministry by a new 
 edict, authorising the preaching of the Christian faith 
 throughout the empire, and commanding the other 
 princes of the East to give the most honourable recep- 
 tion to the preachers. John of Florence, the chief of 
 the legation, traversed the provinces Avith indefatigable 
 zeal, proclaiming everyAvhere the name of Christ. At 
 his voice neAv churches arose for the conA^erts, and the 
 Catholic faith, victorious and triumphant, spread into 
 all parts of the empire. After a residence of tAvelve 
 years, he returned to Avignon in 1353, bringing letters 
 from the emperor not noAV extant, but the learned 
 author of the Annals of the Brothers Minor f assures us 
 that the grand khan pronounced therein a great eulo- 
 gium on the Christian religion, placed all his subjects 
 under obedience to the sovereign pontiff, and asked for 
 more missionaries to finish the Avork of converting and 
 civilising his vast states. 
 
 Benedict XII. Avas, in accordance Avith this request, 
 preparing a neAv Franciscan mission, Avhen the revolu- 
 tion broke out in China, Avhich frustrated the Avhole 
 project. 
 
 The mission of Ili-Balik, of Avhich we have already 
 spokeii, had borne in the Avilds of Tartar}^ fruits of sal- 
 
 Wadding, v. 7. p. 728. 
 
 t Ibid. V. 87. 
 
MISSIONARIES IN TARTARY. 
 
 409 
 
 vation not less abundant than those of China, Tliis 
 important Christian community had flourished on the 
 confines of ]\Iongolia in the province of Hi, a depend- 
 ancy of Turkestan. Before reaching these distant coun- 
 tries, there are frightful deserts to be traversed, and the 
 ^loussour mountains and their glaciers to be crossed. 
 These gigantic mountains are, in fact, formed of masses 
 of ice, heaped one upon another, so that travellers can 
 only cross them by cutting steps as they go; but on the 
 other side of these Moussour mountains the country is 
 magnificent, the climate temperate, and the soil adapted 
 to every kind of cultivation. It was among the popula- 
 tions of these great valleys that the Franciscans had 
 succeeded in propagating Christianity. The cliief of tlie 
 mission was Friar Richard of Burgundy, bishop of 
 lli-Balik, who, on going to assume his office, chose some 
 learned and zealous collaboratofs from his own order. 
 We may mention Pascal of Yittoria (in Spain), Francis 
 of Alexandria, and Raymond Ruffa of the same town ; 
 these three were priests: but there were also two lay- 
 brothers, Peter Martel of Xarbonne, and Lawrence of 
 Alexandria, as well as a black, called John of India, who 
 had for a long time served as interpreter to the Arch- 
 bishop of Pekin. These zealous apostles did not content 
 themselves wfith residing and preaching in the towns ; 
 they were continually traversing the vast extent of Tar- 
 tary, dwelling, like the nomadic populations of those 
 regions, in huts upon wheels, which carried them across 
 immense tracts of country to wherever the spiritual 
 wants of neophytes and the probability of conversions 
 seemed to require their presence. Having no fixed ha- 
 bitation, they followed these pastoral tribes, and adopted 
 their vagabond way of life ; stopping with them at their 
 
410 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 various encampments, living like them upon milk, and 
 glad to pass their days in the Tartars’ tents, if they were 
 only permitted to preach the Gospel to their occupants. 
 
 What energy and perseverance did not these poor 
 monks display! And yet how few accounts have they 
 left of their incomparable journeys and immense labours! 
 We can only collect with care the details concerning 
 them found scattered here and there through the letters 
 which they occasionally addressed to the convents they 
 had quitted. The historian Wadding has preserved for 
 us one letter of Pascal, the Spanish missionary to Ili- 
 Palik, addressed to the superior and monks of his con- 
 vent at Vittoria ; and we gladly give it here, as it may 
 help to make the reader acquainted with these admir- 
 able apostles of the middle ages, who could both do 
 great things, and relate them with simplicity and can- 
 dour : — 
 
 “ We hereby inform you, holy Father, and you, very 
 dear brothers, that after having left you with brother 
 Gonsalvi of Transtorna, we went to Avignon, where we 
 received the blessing of your venerable superior-general. 
 We embarked at Venice, and after having traversed the 
 Adriatic, and leaving Sclavonia on the left and Turkey 
 on the right*, we landed near Constantinople, where we 
 found the Father Vicar of China, and of the Oriental 
 province. We then took ship, and, crossing the Black 
 Sea, whose depth is an unfathomable abyss, we reached 
 the empire of the Tartars, and after that, having again 
 navigated a sea without bottom, we anchored at the 
 mouth of tlie Volga. As I was in more liaste than my 
 compatiion, I mounted a cart drawn by horses, which 
 carried me to Serai, the capital of Kiptchak, while my 
 
 * It will be rcniembcrccl that the Turks had at that time no 
 European territory, 
 
Pascal’s narrative. 
 
 411 
 
 companion was taken with some other brothers to 
 Urganthe. j\Iy intention was at first to join him, but 
 I afterwards preferred staying to learn the language of 
 the country ; and by the grace of God, I have learnt tlic 
 Mongol tongue, and the Oigour characters, which are in 
 general use throughout these countries, — in Tartary, 
 Persia, Chaldea, Medea, and China. 
 
 “ ]\Iy companion afterwards left Urganthe to return 
 to you in Spain ; but as for me I have a horror — even 
 to vomiting — of a return. I would not turn back, for 
 I desire to profit by the favour granted by the sove- 
 reign pontiff to all the monks who come to these coun- 
 tries, and who have' the same indulgences as those who 
 make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. 
 
 “Thus, my fathers, since by the grace of God I had 
 learned the language of the country, I often preached, 
 without an interpreter, the word of God to the Sa- 
 racens, as well as to schismatic and heretic Christians ; 
 but in the meanwhile I received from my vicar apostolic 
 an order, in the name of my obedience as a monk, to 
 set off and complete my journey. After having re- 
 mained more than a year at Serai, the capital of 
 Kiptchak, where one of our brethren, named Stephen of 
 Hungary, was martyred three years ago b}'’ the Sa- 
 racens, I embarked with the Armenians on a river they 
 call the Tigris, and then, proceeding along the sea- 
 shore, we arrived after twelve days’ march at Saratchik.* 
 We then mounted on a car drawn by camels, whose 
 pace is dreadful ; and in fifty days I reached Urganthe, 
 a town on the confines of the empire of the Tartars and 
 
 • This town belongs at present to the Russian government of the 
 Caucasus, and contains the remains of some very fine buildings, 
 constructed in the time of the Tartars. 
 
412 CHRISTIANITY' IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Persians. This town bears also the name of Ilus, and 
 it is said that the body of the blessed Job lies there. 
 Again, ascending a car drawn by camels, and travelling 
 in company with accursed Saracens, followers of Ma- 
 homet, myself the only Christian among them, I arrived 
 at last in the empire of the Medes. God knows what I 
 have suffered ; and it would be too long to relate to you 
 all these miseries, and how the caravan of Saracens 
 which I followed had to stop in all the towns for fear 
 of robbers. I have had much torment from these Sa- 
 racens, while preaching to them without ceasing, openly 
 proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ and his Gospel, 
 and unveiling the frauds and lies of their false prophet, 
 eonfounding their errors, and putting to silence in pub- 
 lic their frightful hayings. I had but little fear, since 
 I trusted in our Lord, and the support of his Holy 
 Spirit. At the epoch of one of their festivals they 
 placed me before a mosque, where, on account of the 
 solemnity, there assembled a great concourse of people 
 and of Imaurns. Being inspired by the Holy Spirit, I 
 disputed their religion, their false Koran, and their doc- 
 trines, for five-and-twenty days together, on this same 
 spot before the mosque, so that I could hardly go home 
 once a day to take some bread and water. The Holy 
 Trinity was thus preached to them; and after long op- 
 position they ended by admitting it; and thanks to the 
 protection of Almighty God, I always gained the vic- 
 tory, to his honour, and that of our holy mother the 
 Church. 
 
 “ These children of the devil endeavoured to seduce 
 me by their presents, and promising me voluptuous 
 enjoyments, honour, and riches, all that can be desired of 
 worldly things ; they desired to pervert me, and when 
 
pascal’s narrative. 
 
 413 
 
 I repulsed their offers with contempt, they stoned me 
 for two days, singed my face and my feet, tore out my 
 beard, and overwhelmed me with outrage and abuse; 
 but as for me, poor monk as I am, I rejoiced in that the 
 adorable goodness of our Lord Jesus Christ had judged 
 me worthy to suffer these things for his name. This 
 is the manner in which I have been treated as far as 
 Ily-Balik, which is a vicariate of China. From Urga li- 
 the, a frontier town of the Persians and Tartars, to Ily- 
 Balik, I was, for five months’ march, the sole Christian 
 amongst Saracens; but I did not on that account cease 
 to proclaim by my words, my acts, and my costume 
 the name of Jesus Christ. They often administered 
 poison to me, and often plunged me in the water ; they 
 fell upon me, and beat me, and inflicted other evils of 
 which I will not speak in this letter. But I thank God 
 for all, and I hope to suffer more still for the glory of 
 his name, and the remission of my sins, and thus to 
 attain to the kingdom of Heaven. Amen. 
 
 “ I salute you in the Lord Jesus Christ. Pray for 
 me and for those who take, or desire to take, this 
 journey, which is, by God’s help of great benefit for 
 the perfection and salvation of souls. Do not expect 
 to see me again, unless it should be in these countries, 
 or in Paradise, where is our Lord Jesus Christ, who is 
 our repose, our consolation, and our inheritance. My 
 well-beloved brothers, it is my mission to announce the 
 word of God to divers nations, and to show to sinners 
 their sins and the way of salvation ; but it belongs to 
 God only to grant them the grace of conversion. 
 "Written at Ily-Balik, on the day of the festival of St. 
 Lawrence, in the year of the Lord 1338.” * 
 
 * Wadding, v. 7. p. 256. 
 
414 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 Such were the missionaries who evangelised the north 
 of Tartary, and who had chosen Ily-Balik for the 
 centre of their apostolic operations. A zeal so ardent 
 could not fail to effect numerous conversions, and the 
 khan of these countries also had become the friend of the 
 Christians. It happened that this prince was taken ill 
 just at the time when the mission was established in his 
 capital, and friar Francis of Alexandria, who possessed 
 apparently some skill in surgery, succeeded in curing 
 him of a fistula and other ailments, a cure that won for 
 him the complete confidence of the khan, who called him 
 his father, and admitted him to his counsels, so that he 
 acquired great authority amongst the dignitaries of the 
 empire. The superiority of their talents, but especially 
 the exemplary conduct and perfect disinterestedness of 
 the missionaries, seemed to the Mongol prince a proof 
 of the holiness of their religion, as no other could be 
 capable, he thought, of inspiring such self-devotion, 
 lie had not, however, the strength of mind himself to 
 embrace the doctrines he so much admired, but gave 
 his son, a boy of eight years of age, to Francis, to be 
 educated in the principles of Christianity. This young 
 prince received baptism and the name of John, and 
 friar Francis, who often went to the imperial palace, to 
 carry him through a course of religious instruction, 
 profited by this opportunity to introduce the Christian 
 truth into the court. 
 
 Catholicism had at length struck deep root into this 
 soil, long so sterile. The germs of faitli were deve- 
 loping themselves in abundance, and all presaged a ricli 
 harvest, when a political catastrophe suddenly blighted 
 all these beautiful and joyful hopes. 
 
 The Tartar sovereign, wlio had been so great a friend 
 
MARTYRDOM OF MISSIONARIES. 
 
 415 
 
 to the missionaries, was poisoned by a prince of his 
 family, a fanatic IMahometan. The usurper, enraged 
 at the zeal shown by the Franciscans in extirpating, not 
 only idolatry, but the Islamism that he himself professed, 
 now enjoined all Christians, under pain of death, to re- 
 nounce Jesus Christ, and become Mussulmans. The 
 Christians, however, with the missionaries at their head, 
 had the honour and courage formally to refuse obe- 
 dience to the tyrant, and took no notice of his menaces. 
 They publicly professed their faith, and continued to 
 celebrate as before the ceremonies of their religion ; and 
 the usurper being informed of this noble and holy re- 
 bellion, gave orders that the means of seduction should 
 first be tried, with respect to both the missionaries and 
 their converts, but that, should these fail, the Christians 
 should be pitilessly exterminated. Those who deter- 
 mined to remain inflexible in the faith had to endure 
 all the tortures that the most savage tyranny could 
 Invent. A public and formal proposal of abjuration was 
 made to the missionaries ; and on their refusal they 
 were all seven chained together, and given up to the 
 fury of the Mussulman mob, which, urged on by the 
 authorities, stopped at no atrocity. They began by 
 abuse, then they struck the missionaries on the head 
 and with whips and sticks, — then the}'- stabbed at them, 
 and finally cut off their noses and ears ; and when they 
 found that neither opprobrium nor torment could shake 
 the constancy of these valiant apostles, whose voices 
 rose high amidst their tortures to glorify Jesus Christ, 
 to preach the Gospel, and to utter anathemas on Ma- 
 homet and the Koran, — they struck their heads off. 
 This was in the month of June 1342 ; and the populace 
 afterwards attacked the convent of the Franciscans, pil- 
 
416 CHRISTIANITr IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 laged and burnt it. The other Christians, as they did 
 not take flight, were thrown into prison^ loaded with 
 chains, and cruelly treated, and the persecution did not 
 cease till the tyrant was put to death by a Tartar chief ; 
 when the storm abated, and the few Christian believers 
 who were left were suffered to remain unmolested. 
 
 The time was approaching, however, when Chris- 
 tianity in High Asia, after having shone, more or less 
 brightly, in the seventh, twelfth, and thirteenth cen- 
 turies, was about to become entirely extinct. The vast 
 countries overrun by the Tartars, were resounding with 
 the tumult of war, and involved in a frightful confusion, 
 in which the voices of those who preached the good 
 tidings could no longer be heard. Catholicism, Avhich 
 had in some measure entered China Avith the Mongols, 
 and made so much progress there in the reign of Kublai 
 Khan and his successors, was about to disappear with 
 the Mongol dynasty of Yuen. The son of a common 
 labourer, avIio had become a Bonze in the Buddhist 
 convent of Sou-Tcheou, had throAvn aAvay his monkisli 
 robe, and, assuming the uniform of a soldier, put himself 
 at the head of the Chinese insurgents, Avho had revolted 
 against the Tartar government, and after gaining nu- 
 merous victories OA^er them, drove the foreigners from 
 the empire, founded (in 1369) the dynasty of Ming, 
 and gave to the year of his reign the name of lloung- 
 JFou, that is to say, “Fortunate War,” — or, more lite- 
 rally, “ Immense Fortune produced by War.” 
 
 Tlie Christians shared in this revolution the fate of 
 their protectors. As the ncAv Chinese dynasty aatis 
 endeavouring to put a stop to all communication Avith 
 foreign countries, neAV missionaries could no longer get 
 to Pekin, and the mission conse<|ucntly began to Ian- 
 
FRANCISCAN FUIARS SENT TO HIGH ASIA. 
 
 417 
 
 guisli. Tlie papacy, however, would not be discouraged, 
 and notwithstanding this unfortunate state of things. 
 Urban Y., in 1370, sent off to High Asia several Do- 
 minican and Franciscan friars, to replace those whom 
 the persecution had carried away. He appointed William 
 de Prato, a distinguished Professor of the University 
 of Paris, to the archiepiscopal see of Pekin, and gave 
 liim twelve Franciscans for companions, and he also 
 organised sixty others into various embassies which he 
 sent to Tartary to the Emperor, and various jMongol 
 princes. In 1371 he invested Francis de Podio, sur- 
 named Catalan, with the dignity of Legate Apostolic, 
 and sent him to the same country with twelve com- 
 panions, the choice of whom were left to him. But 
 nothing was ever heard more either of the Archbishop 
 of Pekin, or the missionaries, or the ambassadors; and 
 as war was raging over all the countries into which 
 the Pope had desired them to make their way, it is to 
 be presumed that they fell a sacrifice to their eflPorts 
 to fulfil their mission. The Christian communities 
 founded in the other states of Asia subject to the Tar- 
 tars had no happier fate than those of China, and the 
 descendants of Tchinguiz-Khan waged implacable wars 
 amongst themselves, weakened each other mutually, 
 and seemed as if they were trying to prepare for Ta- 
 merlane a prey easy to devour. 
 
 Tamerlane was born in 1336, and at the earliest period 
 when his name was heard in Europe, he was already a 
 warrior dreaded amongst the princes and khans of his 
 nation, and subduing them one after the other. It was 
 not long before he led his grand army to India, which 
 he conquered after some fierce and sanguinary battles^ 
 and he also ravaged Muscovy, and subjected to his sway 
 
 VOL. I. EE 
 
418 CHEISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 the great dominions of the Turks. The world resounded 
 with the news of the battle between Tamerlane and 
 Bajazet, in which the latter was vanquished, taken alive, 
 and shut by the Tartar in an iron cage, against the arm 
 of which he beat out his brains.* 
 
 The very name of Tamerlane became the terror of 
 nations, and the insatiable invader was just preparing a 
 formidable expedition against China, when death came 
 suddenly, in 1405, to overthrow the Colossus and dis- 
 sipate in a moment his gigantic empire. His im- 
 mense heritage fell to his children, but they were far 
 from resembling him. They rushed like birds of prey 
 upon a quarry to snatch whatever provinces they could, 
 and soon the fabulous empire of Tamerlane was dis- 
 located and rent asunder, and on its fragments arose 
 that of the great Moguls, who reigned wdth more or 
 less success down to the epoch of the English domi- 
 nation. 
 
 Opinions differ as to what kind of religious principles 
 Tamerlane professed ; some assert that, after the ex- 
 ample of Tchinguiz-Klian, he was simply a deist, but 
 rather more favourable to the Christians than the fol- 
 lowers of Mahomet. Catrou, in his “ General History 
 of the Mongol Empire,” says (vol. i. p. 7.), “ He fol- 
 lowed the religion of Tchinguiz-Khan, Avhich had been 
 preserved in the Mongol family. He adored the Al- 
 mighty, Invisible, and Eternal God, perfectly one, with- 
 out distinction of nature or person. He observed the 
 natural law comprised in the eight precepts, which are 
 
 * Tliis is the account given by all the Greek and Latin authors, 
 hut the Oriental writers contradict it, and declare that, on the con- 
 trary, Ihijazct was honourably treated by the victor. 
 
SUPPOSED llELIGION OF TAMERLANE. 
 
 419 
 
 pretty nearly those of the Decalogue, but he despised 
 the dreams of the Koran, and he was the enemy both of 
 idolaters and Mussulmans, while he did not object to 
 the law of Jesus Christ.” According to this author, 
 “ Tamerlane retained the same sentiments to tlie last 
 hour of his life, when the only person he allowed to ap- 
 proach him was an Imaum, well instructed in his own 
 principles of religion. This Imaum, it is said, exhorted 
 him, in accordance with these doctrinal principles, and 
 succeeded in softening his heart, so that he expired 
 confessing the unity of God, and full of fear of His 
 justice, and confidence in His mercy.” After having 
 given this rather strange account, the historian ex- 
 claims, “ It is our part to bow to the decrees of heaven 
 with respect to a hero who was acquainted with the 
 Christian religion, who loved it, and protected it, but 
 who did not ever profess it ! ” 
 
 The testimony of various Arab authors, however, and 
 of the celebrated Orientalist Herbelot, would go to 
 prove that Tamerlane was a fanatic Mussulman, who 
 pursued, with equal fury, Christians and idolaters ; and 
 that after havingjoined the sect of the Sumites*, he 
 
 f 
 
 * Islamism, almost at its commencement, was divided into these 
 two sects ; the greatest difference between them is, that the Sumites 
 regard the succession of the four first Caliphs as legitimate, while 
 the Shi-ites acknowledge no rights but those of Ali. The Sumites 
 have a horror of the murder of Osman, while the Shi-ites cannot 
 pardon that of Ali and his sons. . . In the course of ages, these dif- 
 ferences have assumed a more marked character, and been increased 
 by the various political interests of the nations which have followed 
 one or the other. From time immemorial, almost all the wars be- 
 tween the Turks and the Persians, the former of which are Sumites, 
 and the latter Shi-ites, have been religious as well as national 
 wars, and the attempts so continually repeated, and lastly by Shah- 
 
420 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 never ceased to persecute that of the Shi-ites, which was 
 most numerous in Persia, and it is even said that he 
 sought to convert the latter, not only by the influence 
 of his authority, but also by his argumentative skill. 
 This ferocious warrior was fond of playing the theolo- 
 gian ; he liked religious discussions as well as battles ; 
 and after having vanquished his enemies in the field, 
 Avas well pleased to be acknowledged the victor also in 
 Avordy warfare. 
 
 It is not very easy, eA^en after having read all the 
 histories of the life of Tamerlane, to make out precisely 
 what his religion was, but it is quite certain that under 
 his reign Christianity was almost entirely destroyed in 
 the extreme East, and that the flourishing missions, 
 founded in Tartary with so much labour and persever- 
 ance by the religious orders of St. Francis and St. Do- 
 minic, entirely disappeared. From this epoch also may 
 be dated the triumph of ^lahometanism among the na- 
 tions of Asia, and Avherever Tamerlane penetrated Avith 
 his barbarous legions, he pitilessly massacred the Chris- 
 tians Avho would not renounce their faith. Scarcely 
 had he invaded Georgia, before he compelled the Chris- 
 tian prince Isocrates to declare himself a iplloAver of 
 Mahomet, and a great majority of his subjects to do the 
 same. The Christians who resisted Avere slaughtered, 
 their churches destroyed, and all sacred vessels and fur- 
 niture given to the flames. In the countries Avhere he 
 desired to appear more tolerant, as in Xatolia, for ex- 
 ample, he contented himself Avith reducing the Chris- 
 
 Nadir, to mingle and unite the two sects, have always been as fruit- 
 less as those made for many ages to bring together the Christian 
 clmrches of the East and tlic West. — Von Hammer, History of the 
 Assassins, p. 24. 
 
CHRISTIANITY ECLIPSED IN HIGH ASIA. 
 
 421 
 
 tlans to slavery. Tamerlane passed on like a devas- 
 tating scourge ; cold, cruel, imperturbable, lie was 
 accessible to no sentiment of pity or commiseration ; 
 and after having laid waste thousands of towns, and 
 destroyed an incalculable number of men, he left a great 
 jiart of Asia a desert, covered with human bones and 
 blood-stained ruins. 
 
 In consequence of the convulsions occasioned by the 
 wars of Tamerlane, and the overthrow of the Mongol 
 dynasty in China, Catholicism was rapidly declining, 
 and there were, especially among the Tartars, very few 
 Christians left. Some Franciscan missionaries who had 
 escaped the massacres, struggled to keep alive a spark 
 of faith, amidst ashes and ruins, and even hoped, by 
 zeal and care, to kindle it once more to a flame. In 
 1391, they sent Koyer of England and Ambrose of 
 Sienna to the sovereign pontiff, to beg him once more 
 to send preachers of the gospel to the Tartars ; and 
 they obtained permission to take back with them twenty- 
 four Franciscans, but what was the fate of these new 
 apostles was never known, nor even whether they ever 
 reached the goal of their mission. In 1414, a daughter 
 of a certain Tartar prince was brought to the West, 
 and, it is said, brought up in a Christian manner by 
 Joanna Queen of Naples.* It is even asserted that she 
 afterwards took the veil, and passed the rest of her life 
 in a monastery, but history tells us nothing more that 
 is in any way connected with the affairs of Christianity 
 in High Asia at this period. 
 
 The frequent communications that had, during the 
 middle ages, subsisted between the East and the West, 
 
 * Bergeron, Traite des Tartares. 
 
422 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. 
 
 were for a long time interrupted. Languor and apathy 
 seemed to succeed the strange activity that had drawn 
 together and mingled so many nations, and when the 
 taste for travelling revived, it assumed an entirely dif- 
 ferent character. 
 
 Navigation had made great progress; men ventured 
 boldly out over the surface of great oceans, instead of 
 visiting their coasts or the interior of continents, as in 
 the preceding ages ; but neither religion nor politics en- 
 tered into the views of these new explorers of unknown 
 lands, and commercial interests alone gave the impulse 
 to their long and perilous voyages. 
 
 Their narratives, therefore, treat of little else than 
 the tariff of their merchandise, their imports and ex- 
 ports, matters which, though doubtless interesting to 
 commercial readers, are foreign to the purpose of the 
 present history, and would not add to it any special 
 charm. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 London : 
 
 Printed by Spottiswoodr A Co. 
 New-»trecl Sqiiiire. 
 
THE ABBE HUC’S WORKS ON CHINA. 
 
 In 2 vols. 8vo. with a coloured Map, price 2-ls. cloth, 
 
 THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 
 
 By the ABBE HUC, 
 
 Many years Missionary Apostolic in China. 
 
 TRANSLATED WITH THE AUTHOR'S SANCTION. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 OPIMOXS of tlic 
 
 “ The reader must consult for himself 
 a work which is as instructive as a scien- 
 tific treatise, as full of new facts as a 
 journal, and as amusing as a romance.” 
 Daily News. 
 
 “^Ve know no book of mere travel 
 which contains so full a body of syste- 
 matic information upon all aspects of 
 Cliinese society, as the volumes now 
 before us.” Examinee. 
 
 FIRST EDITION. 
 
 “ Ilis volumes teem with valuable in- 
 formation, and contain one of the best 
 pictures of China we have met with since 
 
 the days of the Dominican pilgrims 
 
 His description is real and picturesque . 
 It unfolds the life of China; it displays 
 the character of the people, and evinces 
 a thorough knowledge of Asiatic history 
 and manners.” Athen.ec'm . 
 
 OPINIONS of the SECOND EDITION. 
 
 “ Of the customs and manners of the 
 Chinese, more authentic and copious 
 details will be found in M. Hue’s volumes 
 than in any other work which has been 
 presented to Europeans on the subjeet. 
 Few foreigners, indeed, have ever before 
 had such opportunities of mixing with 
 all classes of the people, and of witnessing 
 their way of life. In the books written 
 by those who have chiefly known the 
 sea-port towns, and in the journals of 
 embassies to the capital, only a superficial 
 view of Chinese society could be expected. 
 But M. Hue, having travelled and resided 
 in remote parts of the Empire, is able 
 to tell much that has been little known 
 to other nations.” 
 
 Liteeaey Gazette. 
 
 " All who know the Chinese especially, 
 agree that nothing can ever be safely 
 yielded to them ; and the last and best 
 authority, the French missionary Hue, 
 shows that he owed his life to a system of 
 exaction which may most aptly be de- 
 scribed by the word bullying. Whenever 
 he found the. intention of a slight or a 
 neglect, he put on a bold front, made 
 strong demands, and passed the fear to 
 the Chinese authorities. And so, by 
 carrying things with a high hand, this 
 man of peace escaped the torture with 
 which he was threatened in one place, 
 and traversed the whole Chinese Empire 
 from end to end in safety and with 
 honour.” 
 
 Examinee. 
 
 5y the Abbe Hue, 
 
 A JOURNEY throHgh TARTARY, THIBET, and 
 
 CHINA, during the Tears 1844, 1845, and 1846. Translated with the Author’s 
 sanction. By Mrs. Pebct Sinnett. 16mo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 London : LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN. LONGMANS, and ROBERTS. 
 
NEW WORK BY CAPTAIN SHERARD OSBORN, C.B. 
 
 Just published in One Vol. post 8vo. with Chart and Illustrations, price 10s. Gd. cloth, 
 
 QTJEDAH ; 
 
 OE, 
 
 STRAY LEAVES FROM A JOURNAL IN MALAYAN ^YATERS. 
 
 BY 
 
 CAPTAIN SHEEAED OSBOEN, E.N., C.B. 
 
 Author of Slraij Leaves from an Arctic Journal, and of the Natraiive of the Liscovert/ of 
 the North- West Passage. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 Leader.— “ Captain Osborn entered into the warfare of the Indian Archipelago, roved among 
 its beautiful islands, and learned something of its kings, pirates, vessels, villages, and social miscellanea. Me 
 liad a variety of imcommon adventures to narrate, and he possesses a particular power of description. His 
 sketches on sea and land are among the most picturesque, while thev are among the most truthful that we 
 have met with in a traveller’s book for a considerable time To re.ad such a Imok as this is a pleasure.” 
 
 Moening Heeabd. — “ The proceedings of the blockading force, adventures at sea 
 and on shore, Malayan scenery, native character, manners, customs, prejudices, supply Captain 
 Osborn with ample materials for pi esenting to his readers numerous sketches which are conceived 
 and hit off in the most graphic and diverting manner. The account of a squall in the tropics, 
 and the ludicrous ceremonial of killing the wind on board ihe Emerald, is a specimen of descriptive 
 power not unworthy the pen of a Cooper or a Marryat.” 
 
 Examinee. — " Captain Osborn was engaged in a little Asiatic war ; saw Malay 
 battling with Malay; and in his own gun-boat commanded a crew formed of Malays exclusively. 
 He learned to understand and like the race ; and writing from the journal he kept at the time, he 
 here gives us a brief and genial account of his experience. His book is full of incident, and is a 
 true sailor’s book by reason of the frank way in which it pvits upon everything the happiest and 
 the most generous— which is in the long run always the least blundering — construction. He sees 
 in the Malays a race of sailors who combine, with all their faults and all their vices, many of the 
 finest attributes of a seafaring people.” 
 
 “ The young commander, aided always 
 by tlie faithful Jadee, harries bees’ nests, 
 hunts alligators, attacks pelicans and 
 cranes, with more or less success, until a 
 more exciting chase is afforded by the 
 attempt of one of the enemy’s prahus to 
 break the blockade. The pursuit and final 
 capture of this vessel is one of the most 
 
 spirited of these sketches Descriptions 
 
 of natural marvels — of the peculiar 
 growths of a Malayan forest — of the 
 schools of monkeys, absurd caricaturists 
 of humanity — of wild and strange scenery, 
 are mixed up with the excitement of 
 
 chasing and fighting prahus, and with 
 various legends of Malayan superstition — 
 amongst others, of a monstrous snake, 
 whoso wrath had to be apjwased nowand 
 then by the olfcring of a virgin daughter 
 
 of the royal family of Quedah That 
 
 another essential element of romance may 
 not be wanting, the young commander 
 finds himself tlic protector of a young 
 Malayan princess, a houri of twelve, for 
 the particular description of whom, and 
 the incident by which her life was saved, 
 wo must refer toCaplain Osborn’s pages.” 
 LiTEUAiiY Gazette. 
 
 Also hg Captain Sherard Osborn, R.N., C.B., recenthj published. 
 
 STRAY LEAVES from an ARCTIC JOURNAL. By Lieutenant OsnoiiN, 
 
 U.N., Commanding H.M.S.V. Pioneer in tbc Kx))p(lition, under Cnpt. Austin (1850-51), to 
 rc.scuc Sir John Franklin. With Map and 4 coloured I’latos. Post 8vo. I2s. 
 
 Tlic DISCOVERY of tlic NORTH-WEST PASSAGE by W.U.B. hivestinator. 
 
 Captain It. .M’Clurk, 18.50-54. Kditcd by Captain OsnoRN, from the Logs and Journals of C.ipt. 
 M‘Ci.ure. With Chart and Illustrations. Second Edition, revised; with Additions, ami a 
 Portrait. 8vo. 15s. 
 
 I^ondon: LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, LONGMANS, and ROBERTS. 
 

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