264 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. west, and despoiled those who possessed riches; ive have carried away all vessels .* " Choose then in your own mind the path of safety, and hasten to reply to this before war shall have kindled its fires and cast its spark upon you. Suddenly you will experience the most terrible calamities ; in the twinkling of an eye your country shall become a desert, and you shall nowhere find a refuge. The angel of death will exclaim, ' Is there one of you that gives the least sign of life, or whose voice utters the lightest murmur ? ' f We act honestly in warning you. Ex- plain your intentions promptly, lest chastisement come upon you unawares. Be on your guard ; and when you shall have finished our letter, read the commence- ment of the Bees, and the end of Sad. J " We have scattered the diamonds of our words, it is for you to reply ; and safety to him who chooses the way of safety! " This insolent letter was received very coldly by Nassir, who replied in the same tone ; and it is curious to see the swelling pride of Tartar and Arab contending together, in epistles which are more like odd literary compositions than documents concerning public affairs. Aleppo replies to Houlagou thus : — " Say, my God ! Master of Empires ! Thou givest dominion to whomsoever thou wilt : do thou help us ! Praise be to God, the sovereign of the universe ; health and benediction upon the Coryphaeus of the envoys of God, the last of the prophets, Mahomet the unlettered, and upon all his family !
- Coran, chap, xviii. ver. 78. f Ibid. chap. xix. ver. 98.
X Two chapters so called in the Coran.
