Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume I.djvu/243

231 MEETING OF TRIESTS OF VA11IOUS RELIGIONS. 231 Christians, Mahometans, and Buddhists, but that they knew nothing of Christianity beyond some external rites, such as offering incense ; the benediction of the Cup, and the adoration of the Cross ; and that indepen- dently of their own soothsayers or Came.?, 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 Rubruk 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 Cames ; as Rubruk 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 Q 4