Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume I.djvu/324

312 312 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. tisans of both religions in the countries subject to them ; a complete and decisive alliance could alone put an end to this fluctuation ; but the Christian princes did not sufficiently understand this, and history will have to record, to the great honour of the papacy, that the sovereign pontiffs were more intelligent, more active, and more persevering than the kings in this great struggle between the West and the East. The conver- CO sion of the Mongol princes was, in their opinion, an event of immense magnitude, as it respected civilisation and the Christian faith. Although Jesus Christ has said that " his kingdom is not of this world," neverthe- less, good policy, and the prosperity of nations, must always harmonise with the interests of religion. Na- tions are great and happy only when the individuals who compose them are anxious to save their souls for eternit}'. Thus, those numerous letters which the Pope sent into the heart of Asia, and whose only aim seems to have been the baptism of a few barbarian princes, might have tended to the triumph of Christian civilisa- tion throughout the world. Nicholas IV. wrote by Zagan on his return, not only to Argoun, to press him earnestly to embrace the Christian religion, but also to his son Kharbende, who had been baptized by the name of Nicholas, to congratu- late him on his conversion, and to give him wise and useful counsel. There were also letters for the two brothers, Sarou and Cassian, for the Mongol general Tagatchar, and for the queens Anichoamin and Da- thanikan. This correspondence has been preserved to us in the pontifical annals ; but we shall only quote the letter to the son of Argoun, and this merely because it contains passages which prove that the Church, like a