Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume I.djvu/312

 300 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. Unfortunately Nestorianism was invading Tartary and China at the same time. The Patriarch Jaballaha was an Oigour Tartar, and it is well known with what zeal he endeavoured to spread among his countrymen his peculiar faith. These Nestorian missions were, indeed, the greatest obstacle in the way of the Catholic preachers ; and, if the extreme East was not Christian- ised at this time, it must be attributed to this cause, for the missionaries enjoyed then, both in China and Tartary, a liberty that was never afterwards accorded to them in equal measure. Pope Nicholas IV. returned to Argoun, by Bishop Barsuma, a letter, in which he gave him a concise sum- mary of Christian doctrine, and exhorted him to live in conformity to the law of God. As for Argoun's pro- ject of getting himself baptized when he should have taken Jerusalem, the Pope suggests that it would be better to do so beforehand, as such a step would obtain for him the protection of Heaven, and thus facilitate the conquest he desired. By getting himself baptized without delay, he would render himself more pleasing to God, and influence by his example a great number of his subjects. The Pontiff, addressed at the same time, the following congratulatory letter to Queen Touktan, the wife of Argoun, who he had been informed, pro- fessed the Catholic faith. The superscription and form of the letter are rather peculiar. " To my dear daughter in Jesus Christ, Touk- tan, the illustrious Queen of the Tartars, health and apostolic benediction. " My very dear daughter, we have learned by credible testimony, that being enlightened by the torch of