chap. XL] OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 249 clined an unequal competition, in which they must be always prevented by the vicinity of the Persians to the markets of India; and the emperor submitted to the disappointment, till his wishes were gratified by an unexpected event. The gospel had been preached to the Indians : a bishop already governed the Christians of St. Thomas on the pepper coast of Malabar ; a church was planted in Ceylon ; and the missionaries pursued the footsteps of commerce to the extremities of Asia. 75 Two Persian monks had long resided in China, perhaps in the royal city of Nankin, the seat of a monarch addicted to foreign superstitions, and who actually received an embassy from the isle of Ceylon. Amidst their pious occupations, they viewed with a curious eye the common dress of the Chinese, the manu- factures of silk, and the myriads of silk-worms, whose education (either on trees or in houses) had once been considered as the labour of queens. 76 They soon discovered that it was impracti- cable to transport the short-lived insect, but that in the eggs a numerous progeny might be preserved and multiplied in a distant climate. Eeligion or interest had more power over the Persian monks than the love of their country : after a long journey, they arrived at Constantinople, imparted their project to the emperor, and were liberally encouraged by the gifts and promises of Justinian. To the historians of that prince, a campaign at the foot of mount Caucasus has seemed more de- serving of a minute relation than the labours of these mission- aries of commerce, who again entered China, deceived a jealous people by concealing the eggs of the silk-worm in a hollow cane, and returned in triumph with the spoils of the East. Under their direction, the eggs were hatched at the proper season by the artificial heat of dung ; the worms were fed with mulberry leaves ; they lived and laboured in a foreign climate ; a sufficient number of butterflies was saved to propagate the race ; and trees were planted to supply the nourishment of the rising generations. Experience and reflection corrected the errors of a new attempt, and the Sogdoite ambassadors acknowledged, in the succeeding reign, that the Eomans were not inferior to the 75 See the Christian missions in India, in Cosmas (1. iii. p. 178, 179, 1. xi. p. 337), and consult Asseman. Bibliot. Orient, (torn. iv. p. 413-548). 76 The invention, manufacture, and general use of silk in China may be seen in Duhalde (Description Generate de la Chine, torn. ii. p. 165, 205-223). The pro- vince of Chekian is the most renowned both for quantity and quality.
