rown Daniel with regal
splendor.

"I have need," exclaimed the prince, "of an army, not of a crown. A
crown is but a childish ornament when the yoke of the barbarian is
galling our necks."

Daniel at length consented, for the sake of its moral influence, to be
crowned king, and the pope issued his letters calling upon the
faithful to unite under the banners of the cross, to drive the
barbarians from Europe. This union, however, accomplished but little,
as the pope was only anxious to bring the Greek church under the sway
of Rome, and Daniel sought only military aid to expel the Tartars;
each endeavoring to surrender as little and to gain as much as
possible.

One of the Christian nobles endeavored to persuade Mangou, a Tartar
chieftain, of the superiority of the Christian religion. The pagan
replied;

"We are not ignorant that there is a God; and we love him with all our
heart. There are more ways of salvation than there are fingers on your
hands. If God has given you the Bible, he has given us our _wise men_
(Magi). But _you_ do not obey the precepts of your Bible, while _we_
are perfectly obedient to the instructions of our Magi, and never
think of disputing their authority."

The pride of these Tartar conquerors may be inferred from the
following letter, sent by the great khan to Louis, King of France:

"In the name of God, the all powerful, I command you, King Louis, to
be obedient to me. When the will of Heaven shall be accomplished--when
the universe shall have recognized me as its sovereign, tranquillity
will then be seen restored to earth. But if you dare to despise the
decrees of God, and to say that your country is remote, your mountains
inaccessible, and your seas deep and wide, and that you fear not my
displeasure, then the Almighty will speedily show you how terrible is
my power."

After the death of Yaroslaf, his uncle Alexander assumed the
sovereignty of the grand principality. He was a prince of much
military renown. Bati, who was still encamped upon the banks of the
Volga, sent to him a message as follows:

"Prince of Novgorod: it is well known by you that God has subjected to
our sway innumerable peoples. If you wish to live in tranquillity,
immediately come to me, in my tent, that you may witness the glory
and the grandeur of the Mogols."

Alexander obeyed with the promptness of a slave. Bati received the
prince with great condescension, but commanded him to continue his
journey some hun