Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume I.djvu/235

223 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 Eubruk, " 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