Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume I.djvu/58

46 46 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. came Martin Martini, author of the Chinese Atlas, and Michael Boym, a Pole, who, with the assistance of a Chinese man of letters, undertook the interpretation of the inscription. At the news of this curious discovery, the government of Pekin sent to demand a copy of the inscription, and the Emperor gave orders that the original should be placed in a celebrated pagoda, about a quarter of a league from Si-gnan-Fou, where, doubtless, it may still be found.* Several exact tracings from the stone were sent to Europe by the Jesuits who saw it. The library of their house at Rome had one of the first, and it attracted numerous visitors; subsequently, another authentic copy, of the dimensions of the tablet, was sent to Paris, and deposited at the library in the Rue Richelieu, where it may still be seen in the Gallery of MSS. This monument, discovered by chance amidst rubbish, in the environs of an ancient capital of the Chinese Empire, excited a great sensation ; for, on examining the stone, and endeavouring to interpret the inscription, it was, with surprise, discovered that the Christian religion had had numerous apostles in China, at the beginning of the seventh century, and that it had for a lon£ time flourished there. The strange characters proved to be those called estranghelos, which were in use among the ancient inhabitants of Syria, and will be found in most Syriac manuscripts of earlier date than the eighth century. f us that they had seen the inscription in the ahove-mentioned pagoda. ancient Arab character called Rufic.
 * During our residence at Pekin, several Chinese friends assured
 * It was employed chiefly for inscriptions, and resembled the