Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume I.djvu/49

37 FRUMENTIUS PRIMATE OF INDIA. 61 peninsula, and from his high position, and his speaking remarkably well the language of the country, he exer- cised great influence over the population, and his mis- sion was crowned with the most brilliant success. After having built several churches, he obtained per- mission to revisit his native country, where he was consecrated bishop; and he returned to India invested with this new dignity. Christianity was soon so flourishing on the banks of the Ganges, that it was thought necessary to institute a Primacy of India ; and the first bishop appointed to this dignity was one named John, who, in 325, was present at the Council of Nice, and put his signature to its acts. In the following year, Frumentius suc- ceeded him in the primacy, and was consecrated at Alexandria by Athanasius. He resided in the penin- sula, and from that time the Christians always had a bishop who bore the title of Primate of India. The religion of Jesus Christ extended rapidly in these vast regions, and even penetrated to the north, notwith- standing all the opposition it had to encounter from the Brahmins, and the disciples of Buddha. It is well known that Musseus, Bishop of Aduli, on the frontiers of Abyssinia, evangelised the northern parts of India in the second half of the fourth century ; being associated in this task with the famous Palladius, a Goth of Galatia. They embarked with some merchants on the Red Sea, at that time much frequented by vessels from Ceylon and China ; but Palladius, whose temperament was not very robust, could not bear the excessive heat of India, and was obliged to return to his own country. Bishop Musseus, however, pursued his journey, and D 3 52817