Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume I.djvu/360

348 348 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. coming indignant at their malice, condemned several of them to exile. Jean de Monte Corvino, however patient amid all his trials, instead of allowing himself to be disheartened by the difficulties before him, only redoubled his efforts ; and the exertions of the* good missionary were crowned with success, for before long the Catholic mission of Pekin became the most nourishing in the empire. A short time after his arrival, Monte Corvino succeeded in restoring to the unity of the Catholic church George, King of the Keraites, who had professed the Nestorian doctrine. The example of the monarch was followed by a large number of his subjects, and he him- self assumed the Minorite order so that he might be able to assist the professed ministers of God in the celebration of the holy services. He built also a large and beautiful church which he called the Roman church, and died a fervent Christian in 1299, leaving a son of three years old, to whom he had given the name of John, in honour of the missionary who had first enabled him to see his errors and had directed his conscience. Besides this, Jean de Monte Corvino had himself erected two churches even in the town of Pekin, where he performed service with all the pomp of the Catholic ceremonial. He trained a large number of young Tartars to chant, and the emperor became fond of coming to hear them, and sometimes would publicly present the poor monks with marks of his esteem and veneration. The religion of Jesus Christ thus spread rapidly among their populations formerly so plunged in gross superstition and barbarism, and Jean de Monte Corvino became so thoroughly conversant with the Tartar language, that he translated the Testament and