Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume I.djvu/204

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 cle Chateau Raoul. The Christians of that time were too eager to believe the Tartars ready to embrace Christianity and assist them against the Mohammedans, not to give credit rather too hastily to whatever 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