XII. PART I.

CENT. and intractable people. Nor was his ministry among the Sclavonians the only circumstance that redounds to the honour of his memory; the history of his life and actions in general furnishes proofs of his piety and zeal, fufficient to tranfmit his name to the latest generations [m].

The judg

ment we

ought to form of thefe converfions.

VI. It is needless to repeat here the obfervation we have fo often had occafion to make upon fuch converfions as thefe, or to intimate to the reader that the favage nations, who were thus dragooned into the church, became the difciples of Chrift, not fo much in reality, as in outward appearance. [They profeffed, with an inward reluctance, a religion which was inculcated by violence and bloodfhed, which recalled to their remembrance nothing but scenes of defolation and mifery; and which, indeed, when confidered in the reprefentations that were given of it by the greatest part of the miffionaries, was but a few degrees removed from the abfurdities of paganifm.] The pure and rational religion of the gofpel was never presented to these unhappy nations in its native fimplicity; they were only taught to appeafe the Deity, and to render him propitious, by a fenfeless round of trifling ceremonies and bodily exercises, which, in many circumstances, refembled the fuperftitions they were obliged to renounce, and might have been easily reconciled with them, had it not been that the name and hiftory of Chrift, the fign of the crofs, and fome diverfity between certain rites and ceremonies of the two religions,

[m] There is a particular and ample account of Vicelinus in the Cimbria Literata of Mollerus, tom. ii. p. 910. and in the Res Hamburg. of Lambecius, lib. ii. p. 12. See alfo upon this fubject the Origines Neomonafter. et Bordesholmenf. of the most learned and induftrious Joh. Ern. De Weftphalen, which are publifhed in the fecond tome of the Monumenta inedita Cimbrica, p. 2344, and the Preface to this tome, p. 33. There is in this work a print of Vicelinus well engraven,

opposed

XII. PART I.

opposed this coalition. Befides, the miffionaries, CENT. whofe zeal for imposing the name of Christians upon this people was fo vehement and even furious, were extremely indulgent in all other refpects, and oppofed their prejudices and vices. with much gentleness and forbearance. They permitted them to retain feveral rites and obfervances that were in direct oppofition to the spirit of Chriftianity, and to the nature of true piety. The truth of the matter feems to have been this, that the leading views of thefe Chriftian heralds, and propagators of the faith, a fmaller number excepted, were rather turned towards the advancement of their own interests, and the confirming and extending the dominion of the Roman pontiffs, than towards the true converfion of these favage Pagans; that converfion which confifts in the removal of ignorance, the correction of error, and the reformation of vice.

of affairs in

favour of

VII. A great revolution in Afiatic Tartary, The ftate which borders upon Cathay, changed the face of Tartary things in that distant region about the commence- changed in ment of this century, and proved, by its effects, the Chrif extremely beneficial to the Chriftian caufe. To- tians. wards the conclufion of the preceding century, died Koiremchan, otherwife called Kenchan, the moft powerful monarch that was known in the caftern regions of Afia; and while that mighty kingdom was deprived of its chief, it was invaded with fuch uncommon valour and fuccefs, by a Neftorian priest, whofe name was John, that it fell before his victorious arms, and acknowleged this warlike and enterprifing prefbyter as its monarch. This was the famous Prefter John, (as he was called) whofe territory was, for a long time, confidered by the Europeans as a fecond paradife, as the feat of opulence and complete felicity. As he was a prefbyter before his elevation to the royal dignity, many continued to call him Prefbyter John, even

when

XII.

CENT. when he was feated on the throne [n]; but his PART 1. kingly name was Ungchan. The high notions which

the

[n] The account I have here given of this famous Prefbyter, commonly called Prefter John, who was, for a long time, confidered as the greatest and happiest of all earthly monarchs, is what appeared to me the most probable among the various relations that have been given of the life and adventures of that extraordinary man. This account is moreover confirmed by the teftimonies of contemporary writers, whofe knowledge and impartiality render them worthy of credit; fuch as William of Tripoli, (fee Dufrefne's Adnot. ad vitam Ludovici Sti. à Joinvillio fcriptam, p. 89.) as alfo a certain bishop of Gabala mentioned by Otto Frifing. Chronic. lib. vii. cap. xxxii. See also Guillaume Rubruquis, Voyage, cap. xviii. p. 36. in the Antiqua in Afiam Itinera, collected by father Bergeron, and Alberic in Chronico, ad A. 1165. and 1170, in Leibnitii Acceffionibus Hifloricis, tom. ii. p. 345. 355. It is indeed furprifing, that fuch authentic records as thefe fhould have efcaped the obfervation of the learned, and that fo many different opinions fhould have been advanced concerning Prefter John, and the place of his refidence. But it is too generally the fate of learned men, to overlook thofe accounts that carry the plainett marks of evidence, and, from a paffion for the marvellous, to plunge into the regions of uncertainty and doubt. In the fifteenth century, John II. king of Portugal, employed Pedro Covilliano in a laborious inquiry into the real fituation of the kingdom of Prefter John. The curious voyager undertook this tafk, and, for information in the matter, traveled with a few companions into Abyffinia; and obferving in the emperor of the Abyffinians, or Ethiopians, many circumftances that refembled the accounts which, at that time, prevailed in Europe concerning Prefter John, he perfuaded himfelf that he had fulfilled his commiffion, and found out the refidence of that extraordinary monarch, who was the object of his refearches. His opinion eafily gained credit in Europe, which had not yet emerged out of its ignorance and barbarifm. See Morinus, de facris Ecclef. Ordinationibus, part II. p. 367. But a new light was caft upon this matter in the feventeenth century, by the publication of feveral pieces, which the induftry of the curious drew forth from their obfcurity, and by which a great number of learned men were engaged to abandon the Portuguese opinion, and were convinced that Prefter John reigned in Afia, though they ftill continued to difpute about the fituation of his kingdom, and other particular circumftances. There are, notwithstanding all this, fome men of the moft eminent learning in our times, who maintain, that John was emperor of the Abyffinians, and thus prefer the Portuguese opinion, though

the Greeks and Latins generally entertained of the grandeur and magnificence of this royal prefbyter, were principally produced by the letters he wrote to the Roman emperor Frederic I. and to Emanuel emperor of the Greeks, in which, puffed up with profperity, and flushed with fuccefs, he vaunted his victories over the neighbouring nations that difputed his paffage to the throne; defcribed, in the moft pompous and extravagant terms, the fplendor of his riches, the grandeur of his ftate, and the extent of his dominions; and exalted himself far above all other earthly monarchs. All this was eafily believed; and the Neftorians were extremely zealous in confirming the boafts of their vainglorious prince. He was fucceeded by his fon, or, as others think, his brother, whofe name was David, though, in common difcourfe, he was alfo called Prefter John, as his predeceffor had been. The reign of David was far from being happy, nor did he end his days in peace; Genghiz Khan, the great and warlike emperor of the Tartars, invaded his territories towards the conclufion of this century, and deprived him both of his life and his dominions.

of the Chri

a declining

VIII. The new kingdom of Jerufalem, which The affairs had been erected by the holy warriors of France, ftians in near the clofe of the preceding century, feem- Palefine in ed to flourish confiderably at the beginning of late. this, and to reft upon firm and folid foundations. This profperous fcene was, however, but tranfitory, and was foon fucceeded by the moft terrible calamities and defolations. For when the

deftitute of authentic proofs and teftimonies, to the other above mentioned, though supported by the strongest evidence, and the most unquestionable authorities. See Eufeb. Renaudot, H. Patriarch. Alexandr. p. 223. 337. Jof. Franc. Lafitau, Hift. des Decouvertes des Portugais, tom. i. p. 58. and tom. iii. p. 57. Henr. le Grand, Dif. de Johanne Prefbytero in Lobo's Voyage Abyfinie, tome i. p. 295. Mohammedans

XII. PART I.

CENT. Mohammedans faw vaft numbers of those who had engaged in this holy war returning into Europe, and the Chriftian chiefs that remained in Palef tine divided into factions, and every one advancing his private interest, without any regard to the public good, they refumed their courage, recovered from the terror and confternation into which they had been thrown by the amazing valour and rapid fuccefs of the European legions, and gathering troops and foliciting fuccours from all quarters, they haraffed and exhausted the Chriftians by invafions and wars without interruption. The Chriftians, on the other hand, fuftained thefe efforts with their ufual fortitude, and maintained their ground during many years; but when Atabeck Zenghi [], after a long fiege, made himself mafter of the city of Edeffa, and threatened Antioch with the fame fate, their courage began to fail, and a diffidence in their own ftrength obliged them to turn their eyes once more towards Europe. They accordingly implored, in the most lamentable ftrain, the affiftance of the European princes; and requested that a new army of crofs-bearing champions might be fent to fupport their tottering empire in the Holy Land. Their entreaties were favourably received by the Roman pontiffs, who left no method of perfuafion unemployed, that might engage the emperor and other Chriftian princes to undertake a new expedition into Palestine.

The ciu

fade renewed.

IX. This new expedition was not, however, refolved upon with fuch unanimity and precipita

[o] Atabeck was a title of honour given by the Sultans to the viceroys or lieutenants, whom they intrufted with the govern ment of their provinces. The Latin authors, who have written the hiftory of this holy war, and of whom Bongarfius has given us a complete lift, call this Atabeck Zenghi, Sanguinus. See Herbelot, Biblioth. Orient. at the word Atabeck, p. 142.