THE APOSTATE AHMED. 295 " In the name of the most merciful God, by the power of God, and under the auspices of the Kha-khan, this from Ahmed to the Sultan of Egypt." The Sultan apparently did not admire this formula, for in his answer, he mimicked its style in a sort of af- fected way, and dryly replied to Ahmed's epistle, word for word. The ambassadors then received presents and were sent back with the same precautions that had been observed on their entrance. In the following year, while the Sultan was at Damascus, Ahmed made a second attempt, but it does not seem to have succeeded better than the first. The Emir left Aleppo to receive the new ambassadors ; into whatever city they entered, it had to be in the night ; their tents and arms were taken from them ; they were watched like prisoners, and prohibited from holding communication with any one. Ahmed did not, there- fore, profit much by his apostacy ; it only served to isolate him completely between the Mussulmans, who could not trust, and the Christians, who abhorred him. The Mussulmans were accustomed to regard the Mongols as enemies almost as bitter as the Crusaders themselves, and they could not believe in the sincerity of the new sentiments professed by them ; whilst the numerous vassals of the Mongols, who were attached to Christianity, and the partisans of the ancient Tartar re- ligion, alike felt the strongest dissatisfaction with the conduct of Ahmed. The Tartar nations were accus- tomed to the Christian ceremonies, and averse to a sect which they had fought against so long, and whose pontiff they had dethroned ; and they could not see without indignation this same sect established in the midst of them. The kings of Georgia and Armenia re- u 4
