A Sketch of the History of the Kingdom of Abyssinia.

It is a tradition among the Abyssinians, which they say they have had from time immemorial, and which is equally received by the Jews and Christians of that country, that, almost immediately after the flood, Cush, grandson of Noah, with his family, passing through Atbara, then without inhabitants, came to the chains of mountains which separate the flat country of Atbara from the elevated part of Abyssinia. The tradition farther says, that they built the city of Axum early in the days of Abraham; and that they spread from thence until they became (as Josephus says) the MerÖetes, or inhabitants of the islands of MerÖe.

While population was thus extending towards the north, it is supposed that the mountains parallel to the Red Sea, which in all times have been called Saba or Azaba (which means south), became peopled with the Agaazi, or Shepherds, who first possessed the high country of Abyssinia, called TigrÉ, several tribes afterward occupying the other countries, many of which still retain particular languages of their own.[25]

In the most ancient of these languages, tribes or assemblies of people are called Habesh, which appellation was therefore supposed to have been given to the whole country now known to us by the name of Abyssinia.

The inhabitants of Saba, Azab, or Azaba, all of which mean south, were a separate and distinct people from the Ethiopians or Arabs; and it was a custom among these Sabeans to have women for their sovereigns in preference to men.

One of these queens, called Balkis by the Arabs and Maqueda by the Abyssinians, having heard not only of the wisdom of Solomon, but of the immense riches which he had accumulated in the north, determined to witness for herself the reality of scenes, to the description of which she had listened with so much delight; and, accordingly, this Queen of Saba (Sheba), Azaba, or the South, suddenly appeared before Solomon. Pagan, Arab, Moor, Abyssinian, and, indeed, the inhabitants of all the countries around, vouch for this expedition very nearly in the language of Scripture, which states, "And when the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions;" and again, "The Queen of the South shall rise up in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, a greater than Solomon is here."

It is said by the Abyssinians that this Queen of Sheba or Saba left her country a Pagan; but that, having received Solomon's answers to the hard questions which she put to him, she returned converted to Judaism, bringing with her a young child called Menilek, whose paternity was ascribed to Solomon; and it may here be observed, that both the Jews and Christians of Abyssinia still believe that the fourteenth Psalm is a prophecy, not only of their queen's journey to Jerusalem, but that there she should have a son, who was to be king over a nation of Gentiles.

The Abyssinians declare that Menilek, after residing some years with his mother, was sent by her to his father, Solomon, to be instructed; that he then took the name of David, and was anointed and crowned, in the Temple of Jerusalem, as King of Ethiopia. After this ceremony he is said to have returned to Azab, or Saba, accompanied by a colony of Jews, and by a high-priest, Azazias, who brought with him a Hebrew transcript of the Law. The moment had now arrived for the Queen of Saba to carry her great and hitherto secret objects into execution. Abyssinia was converted to the religion of Jerusalem; and, by the last act of the queen's reign, she settled a new mode of succession to the crown, which has existed very nearly to the present day.

She enacted, first, that the throne should be hereditary in the family of Solomon for ever; secondly, that, on her demise, no woman should be capable of wearing the crown, which should thenceforward descend to heirs-male, however distant; and, lastly, that the heirs-male of the royal house should be kept imprisoned on a high mountain, there to remain until their death, or until they should be called to the throne.

The queen having decreed that these laws should be irrevocable, died, after a long reign of forty years, in the year 986 before Christ. She was succeeded by her son Menilek, whose posterity, according to the annals of Abyssinia, and according to the belief of all the neighbouring nations, have reigned ever since; their device being a lion passant, with this motto: "Mo ansaba am Nizilet Solomon am Negade Juda;" which signifies, "The Lion of the race of Solomon and tribe of Judah hath overcome."

Separated from the present day by a period of nearly three thousand years, the history of the Queen of Saba is unavoidably involved in great obscurity; yet this faint outline of her character denotes a mind possessed of superior abilities. Secluded in the remote country where she reigned, it required no inconsiderable enterprise and determination to have undertaken the great journey which Scripture records that she performed; and this desire to introduce herself into the society of her superior, and to become acquainted with a country in a higher state of civilization than her own, shows a liberality which, in every situation of life, has always been considered highly creditable. Her wish that her sex should surrender to man, its natural guardian and protector, the dignity of command and the power of dominion, is also a remarkable trait in her character; and, whoever may have been the father of her son Menilek, in establishing a succession of heirs-male, it was certainly not impolitic to confer upon him dignity, in the real or imaginary claim of being descended from the wisest as well as one of the most powerful of kings.

With respect to her precaution of imprisoning all the heirs-male, in order the more surely to maintain a succession to the crown, this involves explanations respecting the habits and manners of the Abyssinians which will better appear in another place: it may, however, be here observed, that time is the best test of the fitness of any law for the particular tribe or people for whom it is designed; and therefore that, if this law has existed, as we are informed, for nearly three thousand years, and during that immense period has practically effected its object, the Queen of Sheba may very fairly be considered as a person of wisdom, equal at least to many less ancient legislators, whose laws and families are alike extinct.

We must now leave the Queen of Sheba, and speak of scenes which, being nearer, are for that reason more worthy of our attention.

About one thousand three hundred years after the death of the queen, and more than three hundred years after the birth of our Saviour, Meropius, a Greek philosopher, accompanied by Frumentius and Ædesius, two young men whom he had educated, embarked on board a vessel in the Red Sea for India. As they were proceeding on their voyage, the vessel was wrecked on the coast of Abyssinia, and they were instantly attacked by the natives, who seemed more merciless than the rocks on which they had been stranded. Meropius was killed, and the two youths were taken as prisoners to Axum, which had been made the capital of Abyssinia by Menilek, who removed his court from its ancient residence at Saba to a place near Axum, which is called "Adega Daid" (the house of David) to this day.

Frumentius and Ædesius, having received a good education, in a short time learned the language of the country; and, as soon as their talents and acquirements became known, they rose rapidly to distinction. Ædesius was appointed to be keeper of the king's household, while the young prince was intrusted to the care of Frumentius, who, after gradually gaining possession of the affection as well as the mind of his pupil, at length succeeded in imparting to him a love and veneration for the Christian religion; and, as soon as this good feeling was confirmed, Frumentius sought and obtained leave of absence, and hastened to St. Athanasius at Alexandria, to whom he declared his belief that the Abyssinians might easily be converted to Christianity if proper ministers were sent to instruct them. Athanasius listened to the statement with the earnest attention which it deserved, and in a very short time Frumentius returned to Abyssinia as bishop of that country. He found the young king firmly cherishing the religious hopes which he had been taught to entertain, and, encouraged by Frumentius, he now formally embraced Christianity.

His example was rapidly followed throughout the greater part of the kingdom; and never did the seed of the Christian religion find a more genial soil than when it first fell among the rugged mountains of Abyssinia. There was no war to introduce it, no fanatic priesthood to oppose it, no bloodshed to disgrace it; its only argument was its truth, its only ornament its simplicity; and around our religion, thus shining in its native lustre, men flocked in peaceful humility, and, hand in hand, joined cheerfully in doctrines which gave glory to God in the highest, and announced on earth peace, good will towards men.

Arianism, however, breaking out under the Emperor Constantius, he was applied to by Athanasius to recall Frumentius; but, although the lightning of heaven had illumined Abyssinia, the thunder of the Roman Church was but faintly heard in so remote a region.

About one hundred and eighty years after the establishment of Christianity, a religious war is said to have taken place between the converted and unconverted Abyssinians (the Christians and the Jews). After this event there is nothing of importance in the uncertain annals of Abyssinia for upward of four hundred and forty years. Nine hundred and sixty years after Christ, a strong party was formed among the Jews, who, ever since the conversion of the race of Solomon to Christianity, had preserved on the mountain of Samem, on a pinnacle which was named the Jews' Rock, a separate royal family of their own.

Supported by their king and by his daughter Judith, a woman of great beauty and possessing uncommon talents for intrigue, the Jews resolved to attempt the subversion of the Christian religion, and the destruction of the race of Solomon. They accordingly surprised the Mountain of Damo, the residence of the Christian princes, the whole of whom, about four hundred in number, were massacred, with the single exception of an infant, Del Naad, who escaped into the powerful and loyal province of Shoa. A solitary descendant of the blood of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba was thus preserved to represent the royal line. Thus the Jews, by means of their sanguinary victory, succeeded in interrupting the succession; and, contrary to the long-respected law of Abyssinia, Judith took possession of the throne, and not only enjoyed it herself for forty years, but transmitted it to five of her posterity, whose names are said to have been Totadem, Jan-Shum, Garcina-Shum, Harbai, and Maravi. On the death of Maravi the crown descended to one of his relations, a Christian, and it is said to have remained in his family (who, although Christians, were not of the line of Solomon) for five generations: however, about three hundred years after the murder of the princes, Tecla Haimanout, a monk and native of Abyssinia, who had founded the famous monastery of Debra Libanos, and been ordained abuna, or chief priest of Abyssinia, persuaded the reigning king nobly to restore the crown to the line of Solomon, which, as before stated, had been preserved in the province of Shoa. A treaty was accordingly drawn up by Tecla Haimanout, by which it was agreed that the kingdom of Abyssinia should be resigned to one of the royal princes; that a portion of land should be given to the retiring sovereign; that one third of the kingdom should be ceded to the abuna (Tecla Haimanout himself), for the maintenance of the Christian Church of Abyssinia; and, lastly, that no native Abyssinian should thereafter be chosen abuna, but that that great dignitary should always be ordained and sent from Cairo; by which arrangement Tecla Haimanout wisely intended to secure to his church the incalculable advantage of always having at its head a man independent of the narrow prejudices and interests which would probably govern any native of Abyssinia, and who would also bring into their secluded country the books, knowledge, and improvements of the more civilized part of the world.

This treaty having been concluded, a prince of the race of Solomon was peacefully restored to the throne of his ancestors, and the title which he assumed, "Icon Amlac," which means, "Let him be made our sovereign," was expressive of the general approbation which attended the measure. The place of confinement for the princes of the blood of Solomon was now established on the summit of the mountain of Geshen, in the province of Amhara, instead of being, as it had been for the space of two hundred years before the massacre of the princes, on the rock of Damo, in TigrÉ.

We need not linger over the petty wars and provincial troubles which make up the Abyssinian history for several succeeding generations. About the year 1418, Prince Henry of Portugal, who was half an Englishman, being the youngest son of John I. of Portugal, by Philippina, sister of Henry IV. of England, having long turned his attention to astronomy and the higher branches of mathematics, prevailed upon his father to attempt a passage to India by sailing round the Continent of Africa; and while this expedition was, by slow degrees and repeated voyages, groping its way over the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, Prince Henry suggested that, to avoid all disappointment, it would be well to attempt also to reach India by land; for it had long been reported by Christians from Jerusalem, that monks occasionally resorted to the holy city who declared themselves to be the subjects of a Christian prince, whose dominions were in the heart of Africa. The King of Portugal, therefore, determined to send ambassadors in search of this country, which was supposed to be governed by Prester John; and accordingly, Peter Covillan and Alphonso de Paiva sailed for Alexandria, carrying with them a rude map which had been constructed under the direction of Prince Henry. Embarking on the Red Sea, they sailed beyond the Straits of Babelmandel. Alphonso de Paiva died; but Covillan, after a series of adventures, reached Shoa, where the court of Abyssinia then resided; and here he was greeted by the fatal intelligence, that an ancient law of the country forbade him ever to revisit his native clime; that no stranger was ever permitted to depart; that Abyssinia was but too truly the bourne from which no traveller returns; and Covillan, in fact, never did return to Europe.

He was, however, very well treated by the king and his people, and permitted to send to Portugal descriptions and plans of all his discoveries, which he most earnestly recommended should be followed up by other expeditions from his country. But the foundation on which he was building all his hopes suddenly gave way. Cape Tormentoso (the Cape of Good Hope) was doubled; the barrier to India was thus broken down; and the journey by land, as well as the importance of Abyssinia, were alike neglected and forgotten. During two reigns Covillan remained quietly at Shoa; but the Abyssinians then becoming embroiled in a war with the Turks of Arabia, entreated Covillan to obtain for them the assistance of Portugal, the King of Abyssinia promising that, as soon as his throne should be re-established in security, he would submit himself to the pope, and resign one third of his dominions to the Portuguese. A letter was accordingly despatched by an Armenian merchant named Mateo, who, after encountering for many years difficulties which often appeared to be insurmountable, at last succeeded in reaching Portugal, where he was received with every mark of attention and respect. A very numerous embassy was accordingly sent out from Portugal; and, landing at the north of Abyssinia, on the 16th of April, 1520, Don Roderigo, the ambassador, his numerous retinue, and Mateo the Armenian (all equally ignorant of the country), rashly resolved to proceed by land to the king, who was in one of the southern districts of his dominions. They crossed the whole extent of the empire, passing through unknown woods and mountains, "full of savage beasts, with men more savage than the beasts themselves," and intersected by large rivers, which were daily swelling with the tropical rains. They had occasionally to pass over deserts in which no sustenance was to be found either for man or beast. At last they were placed in a situation which, by their description, appears to have been still more dreadful; for, in their journey to the convent of St. Michael, the wood or jungle became so thick that it was almost impossible to penetrate it: thorns and briers impeded their progress; unlooked-for ravines suddenly yawned beneath them; while mountains upon mountains were towering above them, their black and bare tops appearing, as it were, calcined by the rays of a burning sun, and by the lightning which was incessantly flashing around them.

As the little band proceeded, terrified at the thunder which was resounding in their ears, tigers and other wild beasts at times presented themselves, their voracity seeming for the moment to be appeased by astonishment; while immense baboons hurried by, clambering up the trees, as if eager to view creatures so strangely resembling themselves. At last the woods grew thinner, and some fields appeared; but Mateo and Don Roderigo's servant, worn out by fear, fatigue, and fever, became unable to proceed, and died.

After incredible difficulties the embassy reached the king at Shoa, on the 16th of October, 1520; but, bringing no presents (it was with no small difficulty that they had been able to bring themselves), they were very coolly received. After they had explained the object of their mission, the king was anxious to send back an answer to Portugal; and, contrary to the custom of Abyssinia, he at last allowed Don Roderigo to return, though he forcibly detained several of his attendants.

Roderigo reached Lisbon in safety with Zaga Zaab, ambassador from the court of Abyssinia. About twelve years afterward, the abuna or patriarch of Abyssinia, an imbecile old man, being at the point of death, the king, for political as well as religious reasons, prevailed on him to nominate as his successor John Bermudez, one of the Portuguese who had been detained in the country ever since Roderigo's arrival. Bermudez, anxious to revisit Europe, consented to accept the office, provided he received the approbation of the pope; and the king, being hard pressed in his wars, and fully aware of the value of European troops, proposed that Bermudez should go first to the pope, and then to his own court, to solicit for Abyssinia the assistance of Portugal. After some difficulty, Bermudez set out for Rome, and, arriving there without accident, was confirmed by Paul III. as patriarch not only of Abyssinia, but of Alexandria likewise; nay, gratified at receiving a mission from a Christian state so remote that he had hardly been aware of its existence, the pope lavished on Bermudez the additional and incomprehensible title of "Patriarch of the Sea." With these distinctions Bermudez proceeded as ambassador from the King of Abyssinia to Lisbon, where, on his arrival, his titles were all acknowledged, and he himself treated with corresponding attention. His first act was to give the Portuguese a specimen of Abyssinian discipline, by putting Zaga Zaab in irons for having wasted so much time without effecting the objects of his embassy.

Bermudez then addressed the King of Portugal; and he drew such a picture of the wealth and power of Abyssinia, and of the advantages which would be derived from an alliance with so remote and magnificent a country, that the king promised to furnish him with four hundred troops; and many more than that number eventually landed at Masuah, and advanced into Abyssinia under the command of Don Christopher de Gama.

After marching for eight days to meet the king, Don Christopher received a message from the Moorish general full of opprobrious expressions, to which he returned a contemptuous answer; and on the 25th of March, 1542, these rival commanders came in sight of each other at Airial, a small village in the country of the Baharnagash. The Moorish army was composed of a thousand horsemen, five thousand foot, fifty Turkish musketeers, and a few pieces of small artillery. Don Christopher's forces consisted of three hundred and fifty Portuguese infantry, and about twelve thousand Abyssinians, with a few horsemen badly mounted, commanded by the Baharnagash, and Rohel, governor of TigrÉ. A slight action ensued, which terminated in favour of Don Christopher; and on the 30th of August he again offered battle to the Moorish general.

The Portuguese had, early in the morning, strewed loose gunpowder in front of their line; and on the first approach of the enemy they set fire to it, which burned and frightened them very severely. The Abyssinians, however, shortly afterward giving way, the little band of Portuguese was instantly surrounded. Gallantly they resisted the fierce attack that was made on them; and, Don Christopher having been wounded, they cut their way through the enemy and retreated. During the night, the Portuguese commander crawled into a wood alone, where he was discovered by some Moorish horsemen, who, delighted at their prize, immediately carried him before their general. This worthy no sooner saw his prisoner than he began to load him with reproaches. Don Christopher, who was as impetuous as he was brave, replied in terms full of indignation and contempt; and this so enraged the Moor, that he flew upon his defenceless captive, and with his own hand cut off his head. The body of this brave man was severed into pieces, which were forwarded to different parts of Arabia, and the scull was packed off for Constantinople—the tribute of a barbarian to his superior in barbarism.

The victorious Moors then surrounded and attempted to seize a number of women belonging to their enemy; but a noble Abyssinian lady, who was married to a Portuguese officer, aware of the brutal character of the Moors, set fire to some barrels of gunpowder that were in the tent, when a terrific explosion took place, and the fears of the one sex, and the savage passions of the other, were instantly hushed for ever!

The king expressed his unfeigned sorrow at the tragical fate of Don Christopher, and sent three thousand ounces of gold to be divided among the surviving Portuguese, who flocked around his throne, earnestly entreating him to lead them to revenge the death of their commander. This they had shortly afterward an opportunity of doing, in a battle in which the Moors were defeated with great slaughter.

But, while the Portuguese troops were thus fighting for the Abyssinian cause, their religion, from the conduct of Bermudez, was becoming unpopular. For a long time the distinction between the Roman Catholic and the Abyssinian, Greek, or Coptic system, was too trifling to be observed. The Portuguese and the Abyssinians not only intermarried, but their children were christened sometimes by the ministers of one church and sometimes by those of the other: but Bermudez, in his intemperate zeal, soon gave another aspect to affairs. His bigoted policy continued for some time to disturb the country, but it at last reacted on himself: the king in public firmly resisted his arguments, and the flame which he had kindled only promoted his own downfall.

Deserting society, sullen, forlorn, and neglected, for some time he attempted to occupy his mind by saying daily mass to some ten miserable individuals. He then repaired to the port of Masuah, where, in squalid insignificance, this "Patriarch of the Sea" embarked upon his fickle element, and quitted Abyssinia for ever.

About this time, St. Ignatius, the founder of the order of Jesuits, was at Rome. To his active and grasping mind the conversion of Abyssinia to the Romish church seemed of so much importance, that it is said he proposed himself to go and be the apostle of that kingdom. The pope, however, who had need of Loyola's talents for higher purposes, refused this offer; but one of the same fraternity, Nunez Baretto, was fixed upon as patriarch. On his arrival at Goa, however, the king's continued aversion to the Catholic church being communicated to him, he resolved not to hazard his own patriarchal dignity, but to send Andreas Oviedo, bishop of Hieropolis, and Melchior Carneyro, bishop of Nice, with several other priests, as ambassadors to the court of Abyssinia. These ecclesiastical emissaries arrived at the port of Masuah in 1558. The king, fancying that they were Portuguese troops who had come to fight for him, received them with marks of great delight; but when, on opening their credentials, he found that they were priests instead of soldiers, his countenance fell, and he became much troubled; "wondering," he said, "that the King of Portugal should meddle with his affairs:" and adding, "that he and his ancestors had paid obedience only to the chair of St. Mark, and acknowledged no other patriarch than him of Alexandria." The king and Oviedo had a violent discussion in public, which, of course, ended in the defeat of the latter, who, for a considerable time, lived in great obscurity. On the death of the king, however, his successor accepted the congratulations of Oviedo; but, hearing that he continued to preach, and to cause divisions among the people, he called him into his presence, and ordered him to desist. Oviedo refused; and the king, losing his temper, very improperly beat him with great violence, and then banished him to a desert mountain.

After the departure of Bermudez, the Catholic religion had no longer any support: the fathers who had remained in Abyssinia being dead, and the gate of the kingdom closed by the violent animosities of the Turks, and the cruelties they exercised on the missionaries who fell into their hands, the few Catholics remaining in these regions were only lingering out a wretched and hopeless existence. Affairs were in this state, when, in the year 1600, Peter Paez, the most enterprising, enlightened, and successful missionary that ever entered Ethiopia, landed at Masuah. He had been taken by the Turks in the Red Sea, and had just escaped from a seven years' imprisonment: adversity had thus given him a severer lesson and a clearer knowledge of the world than generally falls to the lot of members of his fraternity. On landing at Masuah, instead of rushing forward with hasty, intemperate zeal, in the hope of converting all at once a country, the language, habits, and prejudices of which he had as yet no knowledge of except from books, he calmly and deliberately set himself to work to learn the Geez, or written language. He next set up a school, which gave him privately, and without danger, a thorough insight into the Abyssinian character; and, after he had thus cautiously practised on the minds of his pupils, he at length felt himself prepared to encounter, by argument and persuasion, the passions and prejudices of the Abyssinian court. In April, 1604, therefore, Peter presented himself before the king, who received him with the same honours that he bestowed on his own people of rank: a distinction which the monks of the Abyssinian church viewed with great jealousy, foreseeing that the exaltation of Paez would eventually be the cause of their own humiliation. Mass was now said according to the ritual of the Romish church; and a sermon followed, which was almost the first ever preached in Abyssinia. Such was the eloquence of Paez, and so convincing did his arguments appear, that the king resolved to embrace the Catholic religion; and, guided by the persuasive missionary, he afterward went so far as to write to Pope Clement VIII. and to Philip III. of Spain, to ask for Jesuits to instruct his people.

Many of the courtiers soon followed the royal example. Latin prayers were now repeated; mass was said; the incense smoked; and the host was elevated in triumph. A party, however, was suddenly raised against Paez: the abuna not only declared him excommunicated, but pronounced a curse on all those who had supported, or who might support him or his cause. A battle was in consequence fought; and the King of Abyssinia, the first who had publicly avowed the Romish religion, died in the field.

After a series of sanguinary changes and contests, in the course of which another sovereign had fallen, Socinios succeeded to the throne, and began his reign with professions of moderation and neutrality. He, however, very soon privately made profession of the Catholic faith; and Paez, thus encouraged, asked the king for the territory of Dembea. This province, lying around the great lake Tzana, is the most fertile and cultivated country in Abyssinia. It is entirely flat, and seems to have been formed by the subsidence of the water of the lake, which, from visible marks, appears to have once covered four times its present surface. Dembea, although fruitful, has, however, one inconvenience, to which all level countries in this climate are subject: a mortal fever rages in the whole extent of it from March to November. On the north side of this lake, the country rises towards a rocky promontory, which forms a peninsula running into the lake. Nothing can be more beautiful than this small territory, moderately elevated above the water which surrounds it on every side except the north. Its climate is delightful, and no fevers or other diseases rage within it. The prospect of the lake and distant mountains is magnificent beyond European conception, and nature seems to have pointed out this lovely spot for pleasure, health, and retirement.

As soon as Paez had obtained possession of his territory, he began to build a convent. He had previously not only made tools of the European shape, but taught several of the natives how to use them; and accustomed to very rude habitations of but one story, the Abyssinians, to their utter astonishment, now beheld the rapid erection of a stately fabric of stone and lime. Paez was soon requested by the king to build him a palace, which he readily undertook; and, as story was mounted upon story, the fame of the builder rose with the edifice. This feeling Paez artfully exerted all his abilities to turn to the advantage of the see of Rome: his attempt, however, caused most violent dissensions; and the mild principles of Christianity were disregarded and disgraced on both sides. The chief point of controversy between the Coptic and the Romish priests was the number of natures in Christ. The abuna declared that no one could be saved who believed in more than one; the Catholics, that those who did not believe in two were reprobate, and condemned to everlasting punishment. This latter opinion was soon expressed otherwise than by words. In a short time the bleeding head of the abuna, or Patriarch of Abyssinia, was sent, as a religious offering, to Socinios, who, hearing a monk deny the two natures of Christ, put a sudden stop to his heresies by cutting out his tongue; while, on the other side, La Selasse, a priest of Selado, refusing to deny the two natures of the Saviour, was instantly stabbed with lances, and died exclaiming, "God and Man! God and Man! God and Man!"

A rival king now stood up to oppose Socinios, and the whole country was filled with rebellion and bloodshed. Socinios resolving publicly to renounce the Alexandrian faith and to profess the Catholic, Paez most willingly came forward, and with great pomp received his confession. Delighted that his great object was at last attained, Paez, during the heat of the day, returned to his house with his head uncovered, triumphantly saying the "Nunc dimittis!" "Lord! now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation!" and from being thus exposed to the burning sun, aided perhaps by the highly excited state of his feelings, he was taken violently ill, and died of a raging fever on the 3d of May, 1624.

After the death of Paez, Alphonso Mendez, a Jesuit doctor of divinity, and a man of great learning, having been ordained at Lisbon on the 25th of May, 1625, reached Abyssinia the following year. Accompanied by several missionaries, they experienced very great difficulties and dangers in crossing the country to join King Socinios. When they at length presented themselves before the king, he ordered Mendez to be placed on his right hand; and at that very audience (on the 11th of February, 1626) it was settled that Socinios should take an oath of religious submission to the See of Rome. This ceremony was celebrated with all the pageantry of a heathen festival. The palace was adorned with great pomp, and Mendez there preached a sermon to the king and his people, in Portuguese and Latin, not a word of either of which languages could they understand. In return, a sermon was preached to Mendez, and the missionaries who attended him, in the Amharic, which was equally unintelligible to them. When this prelude was over, Mendez advanced, holding in his hand the New Testament, and upon that sacred volume Socinios, the degraded king of Abyssinia, was made to take the following oath, the Jesuit Mendez standing by his side:

"We, Sultan Sequed, emperor of Ethiopia, do believe and confess that St. Peter, prince of the apostles, was constituted by Christ our Lord head of the whole Christian Church; and that he gave him the principality and dominion over the whole world, by saying to him, 'Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church; and I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven;' and again, when he said, 'Feed my sheep.' Also we believe and confess, that the pope at Rome, lawfully elected, is the true successor of St. Peter the apostle in government; that he holdeth the same power, dignity, and primacy in the whole Christian Church; and to the holy father, Urban VIII. of that name, by the mercy of God, pope, and our lord, and to his successor in the government of the church, we do promise, offer, and swear true obedience, and subject with humility at his feet our person and empire: so help us God, and these holy gospels."

What an abject picture is here presented to us! and how melancholy the change in the aspect of the Christian faith, since we saw it first established among the simple inhabitants of Abyssinia!

As soon as the oath was concluded, one of the king's governors drew his sword, and swore that he would punish with that weapon any one who should fall from his religious vows; and that he would even be the greatest enemy of his prince if he should desert the Catholic faith. These declarations were repeated by many of the officers of state. A solemn excommunication was then pronounced against all who did not keep the oath, and a proclamation was immediately issued, requiring all persons intending to become priests to embrace the Catholic religion under pain of death; and that all persons should follow the forms of the Church of Rome in the celebration of Easter and Lent, under the same dreadful penalty. Mendez vigorously followed up his success. The Abyssinian clergy were reordained; the churches were reconsecrated; grown men as well as children were again baptized; the feasts and festivals of the Church of Rome were established; and the forms and tenets of the Alexandrian faith were formally abrogated.

Mendez, however, had overacted his part: unlike Paez, he had neglected to make himself competent first to lead the people whom he so hastily desired to drive; and, in a short time, a violent reaction naturally took place. The Abyssinians, still simple in their habits, and long accustomed to the placid enjoyment of unaffected devotion, soon felt that there was no real satisfaction to be derived from repeating prayers in words which they could not comprehend. The king, meanwhile, finding that his own power was gradually diminishing, and that he was losing the affections as well as the obedience of his subjects, patiently listened to their complaints: impressed by the native eloquence with which they insisted on their right of addressing the Almighty in their own language, he at length yielded to their request; and, though he himself continued to follow the tenets of the Church of Rome, declared that, by his people, prayers need no longer be uttered in a foreign tongue.

This concession, apparently simple and unobjectionable, was fatal to the views of Mendez. As long, therefore, as he was able, he obstinately resisted; but the voice of the people so resounded in his ears, that he was very shortly obliged to pretend to submit, although in secret he still did everything in his power to uphold his system. Thus Abyssinia again became, as might naturally be expected, a scene of war; and Tellez, the Portuguese historian, has published a long list of the names of those who died in that country, martyrs to the Catholic faith. Many battles were fought; and, for a considerable period, Socinios, who still strenuously supported the religion of Rome, met with continued defeats; until adversity, that stern but useful monitor, at last made him sensible of the error he had committed. "These men whom you see slaughtered," said one of his nobles rudely to him on a field of battle, "were neither Pagans nor Mohammedans: they were Christians, once your subjects and your friends. In killing these you drive the sword into your own vitals." Still, however, the Jesuit Mendez hovered around him, and for some time succeeded in keeping him in arms; but the spell was at last broken, and Socinios, seeing that his subjects were all deserting him, issued, on the 14th of June, 1632, the following singular proclamation:

"Hear us! hear us! hear us! First of all, we gave you the Roman Catholic faith, as thinking it a good one; but many people have died fighting against it, and lastly these rude peasants of Lasta. Now, therefore, we restore to you the faith of your ancestors; let your own priests say their mass in their own churches; let the people have their own altars for the sacrament, and their own liturgy, and be happy! As for myself, I am now old, and worn out with war and infirmities, and no longer capable of governing: I name my son, Facilidas, to reign in my stead."

Thus in one day fell the whole fabric of the Roman Catholic faith and hierarchy in Abyssinia. Socinios lingered for two or three months after this, and died firmly professing himself a Catholic to the last.

As soon as the new king had buried his father, he began to compose those disorders which had so long distracted the country from difference of religion. Accordingly, he at once wrote to Mendez to inform him that the Alexandrian faith being now restored, his leaving the country had become indispensable. He therefore commanded him and the Catholic priests to retire to Fremona, there to await his farther pleasure.

Mendez, by subtle arguments, persuasions, and, lastly, by entreaties, endeavoured to evade, or, at least, to defer the execution of this mandate; but his words were now powerless, and he was peremptorily told that if he did not depart, the time might arrive when it would be too late for him to do so.

He and his companions were accordingly conducted by a party of soldiers. On the road they were robbed and ill-treated, their guards conniving at the attack; and at the end of April, 1633, they reached Fremona. Among the Jesuits who accompanied Mendez was Jerome Lobo, one of the most bigoted of the Portuguese, yet a man of enterprise and talent, who had travelled over the greatest part of Abyssinia. For a short time it was determined by these banished monks to send Lobo to India or Spain, to solicit troops for the country. The king, however, perfectly aware of all that passed, ordered the Jesuits at once to set out for Masuah. On receiving this command, they managed, at the suggestion of Lobo, to escape to the protection of a man of considerable power who favoured them. The king wrote to this person, and desired him to give them up, which he declined to do; but, by an odd sort of compromise, agreed, instead of it, to sell them to the Turks.

The whole were accordingly, for a certain sum, delivered to the Basha of Masuah. As soon as the intelligence reached Europe of the loss of Abyssinia to the See of Rome, it became a subject of most violent discussion. Many of the Catholic clergy insisted that the failure had proceeded from the pride, obstinacy, and violence of the Jesuits; and it was therefore determined at Rome to send to that country six French capuchins of the reformed order of St. Francis.

Two of these attempted to enter Abyssinia by the Indian Ocean; but, shortly after their landing, they were massacred. Two succeeded in making their way into the country, and they suffered martyrdom by being most barbarously stoned to death. The remaining two gave up the attempt, and returned to Europe to report the sad fate of their companions. Three other capuchins, deaf to the stern admonition which their church had thus received from Abyssinia, volunteered their services to make a new endeavour for the conversion, as it was termed, of that country. They accordingly set out on their journey; and, after encountering very considerable difficulties and hardships, at last succeeded in reaching Suakem. The bashaw of this place had been previously written to by the King of Abyssinia, who, after acquainting him with the expected arrival of these three priests, concluded by earnestly requesting him to "treat them," as he said, "according to their merits." As soon, therefore, as they landed, their heads were cut off, and the skins of their sculls and faces were stripped, stuffed, and sent off to the King of Abyssinia at Gondar, "to satisfy him," as it was declared, "that these people had met with the attention which they deserved."

There was no mistaking the meaning of this most unjust and barbarous act; and when intelligence of it reached the Vatican, all hopes of converting Abyssinia vanished.

In the year 1698, the reigning King of Abyssinia, being exceedingly indisposed, sent to Cairo for a physician. Charles Poncet, a Frenchman at Cairo, who had been bred up as a chymist and apothecary, set out accordingly for Abyssinia, privately supported by Louis XIV., and taking with him, disguised as a servant, Father Brevedent, a French Jesuit. They travelled up the Nile, remained for some time at Sennaar, and at length arrived in Abyssinia, where Brevedent, worn out by the climate and the fatigue of his journey, died. In the year 1700 Poncet left Gondar, having repaired the constitution of the King of Abyssinia at the expense of his own, which was completely exhausted by the hardships to which it had been subjected. He proceeded to Masuah, embarked on the Red Sea, and reached Cairo, whence he proceeded to Paris, and published an account of his travels.

Four years afterward, the King of Abyssinia having favourably received several French letters which had been addressed to him, M. du RoulÉ, vice-consul at Damietta, was selected by Louis XIV. to proceed as his ambassador to Abyssinia; and in July, 1704, he left Cairo for that purpose; but a quarrel had now broken out among two parties of Capuchins and Franciscans, between whom a most violent jealousy existed respecting the conversion of Abyssinia. It has been supposed that this jealousy was the secret cause of M. du RoulÉ's death. As this traveller was quitting Sennaar on his journey towards Abyssinia, he was surrounded in the large square which is before the king's house. Four blacks murdered him with their sabres; Gentil, his French servant, fell next, and his three other companions were then inhumanly butchered.

When the King of Abyssinia heard of Du RoulÉ's murder, he was much disappointed and displeased, for he had really been desirous of receiving this French ambassador, as well as the valuable presents which he supposed he would bring with him. Unable to detect the sinister conspiracy which had caused his death, he conceived that it had taken place at the instigation of the Pasha of Cairo; and he accordingly addressed to him and to his divan the following very singular communication:

Translation of an Arabic Letter from the King of Abyssinia to the Pasha and Divan of Cairo.

"To the Pasha and Lords of the Militia of Cairo:

"On the part of the King of Abyssinia, the King Tecla Haimanout, son of the King of the Church of Abyssinia.

"On the part of the august king, the powerful arbiter of nations, shadow of God upon earth, the guide of kings who profess the religion of the Messiah, the most powerful of all Christian kings, maintainer of order between Mohammedans and Christians, protector of the confines of Alexandria, observer of the commandments of the Gospel, heir from father to son of a most powerful kingdom, descended of the family of David and Solomon—may the blessing of Israel be upon our prophet, and upon them; may his happiness be durable, and his greatness lasting; and may his powerful army be always feared! To the most powerful lord, elevated by his dignity, venerable by his merits, distinguished by his strength and riches among all Mohammedans, the refuge of all those that reverence him, who by his prudence governs and directs the armies of the noble empire, and commands his confines; victorious viceroy of Egypt, the four corners of which shall always be respected and defended—So be it! And to all the distinguished princes, judges, men of learning, and other officers, whose business it is to maintain order and good government, and to all commanders in general—may God preserve them all in their dignities, in the nobleness of their health! You are to know, that our ancestors never bore any envy to other kings, nor did they ever occasion them any trouble, or show them any mark of hatred. On the contrary, they have, upon all occasions, given them proofs of their friendship, assisting them generously, relieving them in their necessities, as well in what concerns the caravan and pilgrims of Mecca in Arabia Felix, as in the Indies, in Persia, and other distant and out-of-the-way places; also, by protecting distinguished persons in every urgent necessity.

"Nevertheless, when the King of France, our brother, who professes our religion and our law, having been induced thereto by some advances of friendship on our part such as are proper, sent an ambassador to us; I understand that you caused to arrest him at Sennaar; and also another, by name Murat, the Syrian, whom likewise you did put in prison, though he was sent to that ambassador on our part; and, by thus doing, you have violated the law of nations; as ambassadors of kings ought to be at liberty to go wherever they will; and it is a general obligation to treat them with honour, and not to molest or detain them; nor should they be subject to pay customs, or any sort of presents. We could very soon repay you in kind, if we were inclined to revenge the insult you have offered to the man Murat, sent on our part. The Nile would be sufficient to punish you, since God hath put into our power his fountain, his outlet, and his increase, and that we can dispose of the same to do you harm: for the present, we demand of and exhort you to desist from any future vexations towards our envoys, and not disturb us by detaining those who shall be sent towards you; but you shall let them pass, and continue their route without delay, coming and going wherever they will, freely for their own advantage, whether they are our subjects or Frenchmen; and whatever you shall do to or for them, we shall regard as done to or for ourselves!"

The address is, "To the basha, princes, and lords governing the town of great Cairo, may God favour them with his goodness."

The king, who had invited M. du RoulÉ into his country, was shortly afterward assassinated while he was hunting; and the reign of his successor was a series of petty wars and commotions.

Several years afterward the Abyssinians resolved to invade Sennaar; but their army, which is said to have amounted to eighteen thousand men, either perished by the sword or by thirst, or were made prisoners. All the sacred reliques, which the Abyssinian troops carry with them to ensure victory, were conveyed in triumph to Sennaar, and with great difficulty the king escaped to his palace at Gondar.

About the year 1735, some misfortune having happened to the Christians at Smyrna, they flocked to Cairo: finding themselves very badly received there, several sailed up the Red Sea on their way to India, and, missing the monsoon, and being destitute of money and necessaries, a few of them ventured to land at Masuah. They were silversmiths; and as the King of Abyssinia happened at the moment of their landing to be much in want of European workmen to assist him in adorning his palace, these men were ordered to come to Gondar, where they remained for some time in the king's service, and afterward gained a moderate livelihood by ornamenting saddles, &c.

Great jealousies now began to be entertained in Abyssinia on account of the favour shown to some of the Galla chieftains, who were brought to court and received with distinction. Violent dissensions took place: two kings successively met with a violent death; one being assassinated, and the other poisoned by Ras Michael, the governor of the province of TigrÉ, a most singular personage, with whom the reader will very shortly be made acquainted.

King Tecla Haimanout succeeded to the throne; and the same year, 1769, James Bruce, the enterprising hero of these pages, landed at Masuah.

Since the death of M. du RoulÉ, which took place seventy years before Bruce's arrival, Abyssinia had been so much forgotten in Europe that it seemed almost to have been blotted from the map of the world. The immense distance, the climate in which it was situated, the deserts which nearly surrounded it, and the barbarous character of the nations on its borders, were of themselves quite sufficient to deter any ordinary traveller; and the dangers of the route, great as they really were, had been much exaggerated by the disappointed and expelled Romanists. The great link which had so long connected Abyssinia with Europe, namely, the attempt to convert it to the See of Rome, had been violently broken, and the chasm which now separated them no one seemed desirous to pass.

Having thus given a short sketch of so much of the history of Abyssinia as seemed absolutely necessary to interest the reader in the following narrative, it remains only to be observed, that Bruce has furnished a minute account (which occupies about a thousand pages of his volumes) of the reigns of the several kings of Abyssinia, with descriptions of their persons, their petty feuds and dissensions, their wars with the Moors, the Galla, and the Falasha (or Jews), the burning of their churches, their savage treatment of the Shangalla tribes, &c. The general reader will, however, feel probably but little curiosity to spend his time over the records of so remote a country; and more particularly as, after all, they are not implicitly to be relied on.