354 OIKISTIANITY IN 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 encouragement to his zeal and per- severance. In 1307, the sovereign pontiff, Clement V., sent out seven missionaries to China, namely, Gerard, Peregrin, Andre de Perouse, Nicolas de Bautra, Peter of Castile, Andrutius d' Assise, and William of Yilleneuve. 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.
