Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume I.djvu/432

 420 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. never ceased to persecute that of the Shi-ites, which was most numerous in Persia, and it is even said that he sought to convert the latter, not only by the influence of his authority, but also by his argumentative skill. This ferocious warrior was fond of playing the theolo- gian ; he liked religious discussions as well as battles ; and after having vanquished his enemies in the field, was well pleased to be acknowledged the victor also in wordy warfare. It is not very easy, even after having read all the histories of the life of Tamerlane, to make out precisely what his religion was, but it is quite certain that under his reign Christianity was almost entirely destroyed in the extreme East, and that the flourishing missions, founded in Tartary with so much labour and persever- ance by the religious orders of St. Francis and St. Do- minic, entirely disappeared. From this epoch also may be dated the triumph of Mahometan ism among the na- tions of Asia, and wherever Tamerlane penetrated with his barbarous legions, he pitilessly massacred the Chris- tians who would not renounce their faith. Scarcely had he invaded Georgia, before he compelled the Chris- tian prince Isocrates to declare himself a follower of Mahomet, and a great majority of his subjects to do the same. The Christians who resisted were slaughtered, their churches destroyed, and all sacred vessels and fur- niture given to the flames. In the countries where he desired to appear more tolerant, as in Natolia, for ex- ample, he contented himself with reducing the Chris- Nadir, to mingle and unite the two sects, have always been as fruit- less as those made for many ages to bring together the Christian churches of the East and the West. — Von Hammer, History of the Assassins, p. 24.