throne o f China; and who, on his return, ‘gave the fir ft accounts
o f this extraordinary empire ; which appeared indeed lb
wonderful that they were generally confidered as his own inventions.
His relations o f the magnificent and fplendid palaces-
o f the Emperor, o f his immenfe wealth, o f the extent o f his
empire, and the vaft multitudes o f people, were held to be fo
many fabrications; and as, in fpeaking o f thefe fubjefts, he
feldom made ufe o f a lower, term than millions, his countrymen
bellowed upon him the epithet o f Signer Marco Millionc.—
Mr. Mark Million. T h e y had no hefitation, however, in giving
credit to the only incredible part o f his narrative, where he
relates a few miracles that were performed, in the courfe o f his
journey through Perfia, by fome Neftorean Chriftians. Young
Marco is faid to have accompanied three miffionaries- o f the
Dominican order, fent from Venice to the capital o f China,
at the exprefs defire o f Kublai-Khan ; but, whether they met-
with little encouragement in the objeft o f their million,, on
account o f being preceded by. the Chriftians o f the Greek
church, or their zeal at that time was lefs ardent than in later,
days, is not ftated; but it feems they did not remain long in
the Eaft, returning very foon to their native country much
enriched by their travels.
During the continuance o f the Tartar government, which
was not quite a century, great numbers o f Mahomedans like-
wife found their way from Arabia to China. Thefe people had
long, indeed, been in the habit o f carrying on a commercial
intercourfe with the Chinefe; which, however, as at the pre-
fent day, extended no further-than the fea-ports on the fouthern
coaft.
coaft. T h e y now found no difficulty in getting accefs to the
capital, where they rendered themfelves particularly ufeful in
adjufting the chronology o f the nation, and making the necef-
fary calculations for the yearly calendar. Having acquired the
language and adopted the drefs and manners o f the people,
by degrees they turned their thoughts to the extending o f their
religious principles, and bringing the whole country to embrace
the docftrine o f their great prophet. For this end, they bought
and educated at their own expence fuch children o f poor
people as were likely to be expofed in times o f famine; and
they employed perfons to pick up, in the ftreets o f the capital,
any infants that ihould be thrown out in the courfe o f the
night, and who were not too much weakened or otherwife
injured to b e recovered;
About the middle o f the fixteenth century, feveral Roman
Catholic miffionaries, o f the order o f Jefus, penetrated into the
E a ft; and the indefatigable zeal o f one o f thefe, Francis Xavier,
carried him as far as San-Sbian, a fmall ifland on the coaft o f
China, where he died in the year 1552, fa confequence o f the
uncommon fatigues he had undergone. His brother miffionaries
have calculated that h e travelled, on foot, not lefs than one
hundred thoufand Engliih miles, a great part o f which was over
mountains and defarts and forefts and burning fands. Since
a more eafy communication with India and China has been
effecfted b y the way o f the Cape o f Good Hope, numbers o f
miffionaries o f the Catholic religion have volunteered their fer-
vices into thofe countries; and although the foie ©bje& o f their
miffion is the propagation o f the Chriftian faith, they find; it
3 1 2 neceffary,