Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume I.djvu/275

LETTER OF IIOULAGOU TO NASSIR. 203 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. He 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 you resist, if you persist in your obstinacy, lay the blame of what follows only on yourself. He who warns is justified ! " To us, fortresses form no obstacles ; armies do not stop us. Your 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. You 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. Woe and terror be upon those who rise up before us ! Grace and peace to those who find favour in our eyes ! " We have conquered the earth from the east to the s 4