with Crosses Censors and Holy-water and that with a pace so swift that it is a difficult matter to follow them The Body is for some time set down by the Grave during the reading of a certain Paragraph out of St. John's Gospel after which the Body being found and sprinkl'd with Holy Water is not let down but thrown into the Sepulcher King Claudius being desirous to Solemnize the Exequies of Christopher Gomez upon the Anniversary Day that he had lost his Life for the Recovery of Abassia summon'd together all the Priests Canons Monks and all the Neighbouring Poor People and to the first being about Six hundred he gave a Royal Funeral Supper to the last being about Six thousand he distributed a large and noble Alms. They on the other side recited the whole Psalter quite thorough and made the Sky ring with innumerable Allelujahs a Ceremony that serves alike as well upon sad as joyful Occasions Thus when Marcus the Eldest Son of Susneus was Buried they sounded forth Marcus is Dead Hallelujah Marcus is Dead Hallelujah And this they repeated so often and so loud that the Fathers but newly then arriv'd in Ethiopia were astonish'd to hear such an unwonted cry not being able to tell whether the Ethiopians rejoyc'd or lamented So strangely are all Nations delighted with their own Customs CHAP. VII Of the Constitution and Form of Ecclesiastical Government in Ethiopia as also of the Priviledges of the Clergy The Clergy enjoy no immunity Their Head or Abuna created by the Metropolitan of Alexandria His Place in Councils The present State of the Alexandrian Church deplorable The Clergy ignorant the Patriarch Illiterate The Habessine Metropolitans ordain the Clergy only No Bishops nor Arch-Bishops The Icegue governs the Monks They acknowledge but four Oecumenical Patriarchs The Catalogue of Metropolitans incertain They do not reck'n these sent by the Pope After Mendez one call'd the Cophtit His Successors The Orders of Deacon Presbyter and Sub-Presbyter The Clergy Marry but not twice WE have already declar'd That the Supream Power in Ecclesiastical Affairs is invested in the King Therefore all Ecclesiastical Causes except only in very slight Matters are all determin'd by the King's Judges Neither do the Clergy or Monks enjoy any sort of Ecclesiastical Immunity or Priviledge of Exemption Nor does the Canon Siquis suadente diabolo hujus Sacrilegii reatum incurrerit quod in Clericum vel Monachum violentas manus injecerit c. help them at all but that upon offences committed they are punish'd as Lay Persons by the Secular Judges And many times they are sensible of the rough and violent hands of wicked Men without any fear of Excommunication But as to what concerns the Law of Order or the Diocesan Law those things are left to the Clergy Their Chief Head is call'd Papas or Metropolitan Tho the Title or Sirname of Abuna that is to say Our Father be more frequently given him He by ancient Custom at the King's desire is Consecrated to that Dignity by the Patriarch of Alexandria and sent out of Egypt into Ethiopia For they do not think it fitting for the Patriarch to nominate any one out of their own Nation tho never so skilful in their Language Laws and Customs It being provided by those Nicene Canons extant in the Arabic Language That the Ethiopians shall not Elect or Create a Patriarch but that their chief Chief Prelate shall be under the Jurisdiction of Him that resides at Alexandria And a little after That if the Council be held in Greece and the Prelate of Ethiopia be present he shall have the seventh place next the Prelate of Seleucia For they are very obstinate in maintaining their old Customs tho it happen to be one of their greatest Misfortunes The State and Condition of the Alexandrian Church being quite different now from what it was formerly that is to say altogether miserable and deplorable For both the Patriarch and his Clergy are a poor sort of contemptible and rustic People and void of all common Endowments They are as it were the Servants and Slaves of the Turks whose continual vexations so terrifie them from undertaking Ecclesiastical Employment that many times they receive their Ordination by constraint and with Tears in their Eyes which requires nothing more from them than to read Arabic For the Coptic or ancient Egyptian Language as it was spoken in the times of the Grecian Kings and as Athanasius Kirker has given a view of it to the Europeans is now almost buried in Oblivion Their Churches are either all destroy'd or very near to Ruin the Turks not suffering them either to Rebuild or Repair The Patriarch if he can but only read and write and understand the Scripture after an ordinary manner is thought sufficiently worthy of St. Mark 's Chair Hence it may be easily conjectur'd what sort of Persons are sent into Ethiopia for the Government of so many Churches In the time of the Fathers of the Society there was sent such a sad Tool into Habessinia to be the Abuna that being rejected for his Simplicity he was forc'd to Grind Corn for his living To whom another Succeeding not much better gifted gave occasion to the Courtiers to jest and cry We have a Miller still Now as these Patriarchs know very little so they do as little only in set forms of Words they ordain Under-Clercs just as wise and learned as themselves For this reason the Fathers of the Society little regarded the Ordinations of the Abuna but when any of the Abessine Priests came over to them they ordain'd them again after the Roman manner not without the great resentment and indignation of the rest In none of their Kingdoms or Provinces have they any Bishops or Arch-Bishops So that unless the Icegue with the assistance of his Monks had taken some care of the Church all thought of Religion had fallen to the ground long e're this This Abuna is by some tho improperly call'd Patriarch his truer Title being that of Bik Papas or Bik Papaste Prince or Master of the Metropolitans of whom they acknowledge only Four to be of equal Power and Dignity among themselves Among these they reckon the Roman Patriarch to be the First and call him Bik Papaste Zaromeja or the Roman Patriarch For they have no higher Title to give to any one who may be thought Superior to a Patriarch The first Metropolitan of Habessinia was Frumentius the Ethiopic Apostle From him to Simeon who dy'd with Elius in defence of the Alexandrian Religion they reck'n in order Ninety five Metropolitans We have not yet seen the Catalogue but in the Ethiopic Register they are Number'd up in this Order Abuna Abba Matthew Abba Salama Abba Jacob. Abba Bartholomew Abba Michael Abba Isaac Abba John Abba Mark who was Metropolitan in the Time of David Abba Joseph In the Reign of Claudius was receiv'd into the Kingdom with great Pomp without any regard had to John Bermudes whom the Pope had
Winter For which reason we rather ought to conclude that there are but three Seasons among the Abyssines that is to say the Spring which begins upon the 25th of September Then the Summer which may be divided into two parts the first and the best call'd Tzadai which begins upon the 25th of December and the last and worst part call'd Hagai which begins upon the 25th of June and ends upon the (r) Gregory differs from our Poet one day who puts it upon the 26th succeeding Winter which is the third part of the Ethiopic year The Days and Nights in that Climate being in a right Sphere are for the most part always equal Their Dawnings and Evenings much shorter than ours Gregory wonder'd that it should be light when he could not see the Sun and again after Sun-set that the Twilight should last so long For there immediately after Sun-set it grows dark and all the Stars in the absence of the Moon appear The Winds upon the Mountains frequent and pleasant render the Air healthful and temperate but in open and flat Levels the Air for want of motion grows hot and unwholsom especially in the Islands of the Red-Sea This a certain Merchant attested who carrying several rich Indian Commodities from the Port of Suaqena to the Court and being ask'd by one of the King's Daughters What there was that could not be purchas'd at the Port of Suaqena answer'd The Wind that being only wanting in that place otherwise a happy and pleasant Island But all Winds are not equally grateful or beneficial in Ethiopia for there are some which are most impetuously violent among the rest the Whirlwind called Sendo which in the Amharic Dialect signifies a Snake a Wind so furious that it throws down all before it Houses Oaks and Stones and hurries them along in the Air. The Belgioms call this Wind Hoof and report it frequent upon the Coasts of Asia as they sometimes experience to the loss of their Ships The Whirlwind by the Greeks called Typhon is that of which Pliny thus writes A principal Plague to the Mariners which not only throws down the Masts but rives the Ship in pieces And again The same Wind meeting opposition carries all before it and sweeps whate're it meets into the Air. Gregory affirm'd it might be seen and that it represented the form of a Snake whose thicker part like the Head brushing upon the ground the Body advanc'd it self in curls and windings to the Sky Nor do I believe this Wind to differ much from that Wind which the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Prester there being the same Equivocal in both for that Prester signifies a kind of Serpent and perhaps may be the same which the Venetians call Bissaboba Biscia signifying a Serpent in Italian Anno 1679. Such a Whirlwind last Autumn happening in Dalmatia swept into the Air Men Cattel Carts and Horses laden with Hay and great Bells if there be any faith in Report and after the ruin of many Houses Churches Towers and Palaces left behind it the deplorable Testimonies of the havock it had made P. Organtino of Brescia wrote from Goa That a Whirlwind toss'd up several empty Ships from the Water into the Air and carried them beyond the Shore Which if it be true Plin. l. 2. c. 56. those prodigious showers of Stones Iron and Bricks are the less to be wonder'd at if we may be allow'd to say That the time has been when it rain'd Men Ships and great Bells CHAP. VI. Of the high Mountains of Habessinia and Rocks of strange forms High Mountains Lamalmona most dangerous Amhara and Samen the gibbose part of Abyssinia higher than the Alps and Pyreneans Steep Rocks of a wonderful shape not to be ascended without Ropes and Ladders Spacious at the top The Rock where the Kings Sons were formerly kept describ'd A Rock in Gojam hollow'd like a Looking-Glass Deep Abysses Plains very rare one great one in Dembea The benefits of the Mountains temperate Air security and pleasantness of the Fountains ALL Habessinia is egregiously Mountainous So soon as you have travell'd two days Journey from the Red-Sea you must presently climb the high Mountains of Tigra amongst which Lamalmona lifts up her head more lofty than the rest which they that travel to the Royal Camp in Dembea are forc'd to clamber over The Steps of which if they may be so call'd are so dangerous and the Path or Track so narrow that if Company meet Men and Horses giving the way fall headlong into a bottomless Abyss never to be any more seen But not only this Region is the Plain that seems as it were planted with Mountains Bagemdra Gojam Waleka Shewa and all the rest Dembea excepted are but one continued Chain of Mountains Among the rest the vast and high Mountains of Amhara and Samen are as it were the Embossment of Habessinia Here are many Aorni or Rocks of an (u) A Rock in India called Aornos as being above the slight of a Bird Curt. 8. n. 2. There are also Lakes of this name but from another cause for that the pestilent Exhalations that they send up kill the Birds that fly over them Plin. 2.4 by the Latins callâ—d Averni incredible height and ruggedness in so much that as Tellezius writes they strike a terror into the Beholders the Alps and Pyreneans compar'd with the Abessine Mountains are but low Hills The Mountains of Portugal tho very high are but trifles to them Amongst those Mountains and frequently in the Plain it self and in the middle of the Fields rise up Rocks every way steep yet varying their shape some looking a far off like Towers some like Pyramids some like four-square Towers built by Art and so even on the sides as if the Workman's hand had done it so so that there is no way to get to the top but by the help of Ladders and Ropes by which means they Crane up their Cattel and other necessaries And yet so spacious at the top that they contain Woods Fields Meadows Fountains and which is more wonderful Fish-ponds and all other conveniencies for humane Support These sort of Rocks the Natives call Amba as Amba-Dorbo (x) That is the Rock of the Hen in the Map erroneously call'd Ambadora c. This puts us in mind to describe that famous Rock in the Kingdom of Amhara called Geshen of which and of the Mountain Ambacel we have already made mention which we shall do in the words of Tellezius In the Confines of Amhara toward Shewa stands Amba-Geshen It is a Mountain almost impregnable every way steep prodigiously high and in the form of a Castle made all of Free-Stone At the top it is about half a Portugal League in breadth at the bottom near half a days Journey about At first easie to be ascended then steep and rugged in so much that the Abyssine Oxen that otherwise will clamber like Goats must be cran'd up and let down with
according to the frequent and ancient custom of the Orientals CHAP. VIII Of the Rivers of Habessinia more especially of Nile its Fountains and Course as also of the Lake Tzana Many Rivers there more precious than Metals The Fountains originally from Rain-water An Encomium of Nilus In Scripture it is call'd The River 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Schichor or Niger By some of the ancients Astapus and Astaboras In the Amharic Dialect call'd Abawi or the Patent of Rivers it flows not in Paradise as some of the Fathers thought Admiration caus'd the desire of knowing its Original that the Ancients plac'd in the Mountains of the Moon The Portugals discover'd the true Fountains their description from Peter Pays not different from Gregories It rises in Sicut it has five Heads It mixes with the Lake in Dembea It passes by the principal Kingdoms of Habassia encircles Gojam runs through Egypt and so into the Sea Gregories Ethiopic Description He alledges That all the Rivers of Africa fall into Nile He limits that assertion Some fall into the Sea The true causes of the overflowing of Nile Jovius blam'd A double Channel of Nile Niger the other Channel The old Relation in Herodotus explain'd Whether the King of Hebessynia can divert the Course of Nile Rivers suckt up in the Sand. Zebeus falls into the Indian Sea The Habessines unskill'd in Navigation The Tzanic Lake with its Islands BUT much more excelling and far more precious Gifts of Nature than those of Metals flow from the Mountains of Habessinia that is to say several remarkable Rivers more profitable to the Natives and the neighbouring Nations than Gold it self so much the Subject of human Avarice For the Rain-water soaking through the pores of the Earth and the clefts of the Rocks is receiv'd and as it were cistern'd up in the hidden Caverns of the Mountains where after it has pass'd through many secret conveyances of Nature at length it meets with some hollow place and breaks forth Sometimes oppress'd by its own weight it reascends and seeks for passage at the tops of the Mountains themselves which is the reason that in Countries where there is little or no Rain there are few or no Fountains but where there are frequent Rains the Rivers are large and swelling The Effect demonstrating the Cause (c) No truer opinion concerning the Original of Rivers Aristotle quotes it in his Meteorologies l. 1. s 4. c. 1. but without reason dissents Most Neoterics defend it See Isaac Vossius De Origine Nili Fluminum c. v. But Nilus owing to Habassia for its source for plenty of Water for sweetness wholsomness and fertility of the same excells all other Rivers of the World In sacred Writ by reason of its Excellency it is sometimes call'd Isa 23.3 The River absolutely and particularly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from its black Colour and by the Greeks for the same reason 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it runs with black a muddy Water Some of the Ancients tell us Plin. 5.9 7.3 that it was then by the Ethiopians call'd Astapus and that the left Channel of it about Meroe was nam'd Astabora which others have understood concerning other Rivers that flow into Nile But this we let pass as obscure and doubtful whether meant of Nilus and our Ethiopians or no for the Habessines in their vulgar Language have no other name for Nile than that of Abawi And that as some think from the word Ab which signifies a Parent as if Nilus were the Parent of all other Rivers But this derivation neither suits with Grammar neither does (d) It is in the form of an Adjective Heavenly Golden So Abawi signifies Paternal Abawi simply signifie a Parent neither if you rightly consider it is it agreeable to Sense for Nilus does not send forth from his own Bowels but receives the Tribute of all other Rivers So that he may be rather said to be their Captain and Prince than the Father of them And therefore the Egyptians out of a vain Superstition call'd him their Preserver their Sun and their God and sometimes Poetically Parent In our Ethiopic or the Language of the Books this River is call'd Gejon or Gewon by an ancient mistake from the (e) For in the time of the 70 Interpreters it was so called who render'd Shichor Jer 2.18 where the Prophet speaks positively of Nile 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gihon The same you shall find in the Book of Syras Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Geon and that from the Hebrew word Gihon because it seem'd to agree with the Description Gen. 2.13 which encompasses the Land of Ethiopia whereas it only encircles Gojam but only glides and passes by all the other Kingdoms of Ethiopia If you object That Gihon had its source in the Terrestrial Paradise 't is twenty to one but that they extol their own Country for Paradise For you must understand that many of the Fathers of the (f) Theodoret in c. 2. Gen. 9.19 Austin l. 8. de gen c. 7. Abulens in c. 2. Gen. 9.15 26.9.2 Church were of the same opinion which that they might defend they brought the River Nile under Ground and under the Sea into Egypt well knowing that no body would follow them thither leaving their Readers to find out the way Certainly the Ancients never inquir'd so curiously into the Nature or Source of any River as they did in that of Nile neither were they ever so deceiv'd for it was a thing altogether unusual for any other Rivers in the World to overflow in the most sultry Season of the year an Inundation so wholsom and profitable to Egypt So that the ignorance of the cause of it fill'd the minds of the Ancients with so much admiration that both Princes and private Persons desired nothing more than to know the Head of that River which was the Original of their Happiness in so much that there were some Emperours and Kings who sent great Armies in quest of the satisfaction of their Curiosity tho with all success (g) As Cambyses Alexander Ptol. Philadelph J. Caesar Nero c. Most of the ancient Geographers by meer conjecture plac'd the Fountains of this River beyond the Equinoctial Line in I know not what Mountains of the Moon to the end they might deduce the cause of its swelling from the Winter Rains of those Regions For they could not persuade themselves that the Sun being in the Northern Signs so much Winter or Rain could be so near to cause so great an increase of the Flood tho there were (h) So Pliny l. 17. c. 18. wherever Summer Rains are not as in India and Ethiopia some who made it out plainly enough but that Credit would not be given to them (i) Photin in Bibl. n. 249. in the Life of Pythag. Agatharchides Strabo and others See Vossius d. l. c. 20. But by the Travels of the Portugals into Habessinia and the sedulity of the Fathers
view taken from the Saracenic History In those days that is in the days of Michael the Patriarch Nilus fail'd extreamly Mustansir therefore a Mahumetan Prince of Egypt sent him to the Country of the Habessines with costly Gifts and other things of high value Whereupon the King of the Country came forth to meet him whom the Patriarch reverenc'd publicly After that the King demanded of him the cause of his coming Then the Patriarch made known to the King how that the Waters of Nile fail'd in Egypt to the unspeakable detriment of the Land and Inhabitants Thereupon in favour of the Patriarch the King commanded the Channel to be open'd through which the Water ran into Egypt which was then stopp'd up Which being done Nilus encreas'd three yards in one night and the River was so fill'd that the Fields of Egypt were water'd and sown So that the Patriarch return'd with great Honour into Egypt I could wish to hear the opinions of those that deny this place The words are clear of themselves that the King commanded the Channel that was stopp'd to be open'd The Historian himself is accounted a credible Author bred and born in Egypt as also Secretary to the Mahometan Princes of that Country So that he could not possibly be ignorant of such an accident and besides he wrote his History above a hundred and twenty years after the thing happen'd And therefore had it been an untruth he durst not have mention'd it for fear of being contradicted which he might easily have been But it may be objected That the Historian does not mention by whom the Channel was obstructed or whether it happen'd as many times it does naturally when the course of a Stream is damm'd up by trunks of Trees Mud and Stones driven by force and heap'd together in the narrow passages of the Water But this Objection does not resolve the doubt for such remarkable stops rarely or never happen in such large or violent Rivers Or if Nature could effect so much what might not be accomplish'd by Art Athanasius Kircher a person not only generally vers'd in the Affair of Egypt but more particularly in what related to the River Nile in his Catalogue of the Patriarchs of Egypt relates That one (t) In Supplement Prod. and Lexic Capt. p. 524. c. 2. This Michael was the 68th Patriarch of the Jacobites and dy'd about the year 1110. Michael was sent into Ethiopia for the restoring of Nile to its Channel from whence the Ethiopians had directed the Course of its Waters tho it be the fault of that learned Man to write much rather than accurately nor does he always commend his Authors The Question being put to Gregory he did not remember the Story of Michael but that he had heard from persons of great Credit That not far from the Cataracts of Nile all the Land toward the East lies level and unless it were for one Mountain that stands in the way Nile would rather flow that way than into Egypt or the Northern Sea So that if that Mountain were digg'd through a thing to be done with pains and difficulty the Course of the River might be turn'd and carry'd into the Red-Sea which is well known to the Turks and many of the Portugals And for this reason have the Emperours of Ethiopia obtain'd those advantagious Conditions from the Saracens Nay it is said That once one of the Ethiopian Emperours had an intention to have done it and had commanded his Subjects to undertake the Work but that he was prevail'd upon to desist at the entreaty of the Egyptian Christians I must confess this thing has very much perplex'd my thoughts nor are the Reasons that are brought against it to be contemn'd For either to raise a Mole or Dam of Stones and then to remove it again are things requiring so much toyl and labour that the Task does no way agree with the nature of the Abessines And it seems somewhat unlikely that so vast a River so long accustom'd to a declining and headlong Course should be diverted and compell'd to change its Channel I consider'd also with my self that if the King of Habessinia had the River Nile so much in his Power he might have all Egypt easily at his Devotion and that the Turk could deny him nothing whatever he demanded Nor would he ever suffer the Christians of his own Religion and the Patriarch who is the Head of his Church to groan under such a miserable Bondage Lastly I did not a little wonder that the Jesuits did not insinuate it into the heads of the Abessines to make use of that Power which Nature had put into their hands and that they did not use Threats rather than Intreaties and Bribes to obtain those conveniencies which they enjoy by the favour of the Turkish Basha who commands the Ports of the Red-Sea But all things consider'd and rejecting the History of Elmacine we may answer Tellez from the Relation of Gregory which is That a new Channel may be carry'd on not from those parts of Abessinia which lie upon the Nile and are so many Leagues distant from the Sea but from that part which is near the Cataracts and formerly perhaps belong'd to Nubia My first Opinion was That the Channel of Nile could no where be so easily alter'd as in that place where it divides it self into two Channels for that there by the direction of Nature her self it seem'd that the whole might be more easily turn'd another way where a part turns naturally without compulsion For tho other Rivers empty themselves into Nile beyond this separation and flow into Egypt yet are they not enough to make the Inundation so great as necessity requires which would not only be the ruin of Egypt but a great diminution of the Turkish Power But however it be this I believe to be certain That the King of Habessinia is now no more Lord of those places where the River Nile ever was or ever can be diverted from Nile nor are the Princes of those places now at his Devotion neither are they indeed Christians but unhappily revolted to Paganism So that whatever formerly might have been done cannot now be brought to pass not that the nature of the place obstructs the design but that the Prince of the Country wants Power or else has no inclination to the Project Otherwise I should not think it either absurd or improbable that some Rivers that make their way through the high Fields of Habessinia might be convey'd another way by the descents of the Hill through the sandy Levels that lye below to a vast diminution of the Egyptian Stream provided that skilful Artists were employ'd to survey the declivities of the places and the places most proper to carry off the Water For though it be a difficult thing to alter the Course and Limits of Rivers which Nature has settl'd yet Examples are not wanting We read in Herodotus L. 1. call'd Clio. That Nitocres King of the Babylonians
When the War with the Adelenses was ended and Grainus slain having certain Lands and Possessions granted them by Claudius they chose themselves Wives got Children and being furnish'd after the manner of the Country with Mules and Servants and other necessaries began to live comfortably for while the success of their assistance was fresh in memory they were courted and every where kindly entertained and had the free liberty of their Religion but these Priviledges were abridg'd by Menas successor to Claudius They impatiently brook'd to see their kindness so ungratefully retalliated it being the nature of Soldiers rather to do than receive injuries However their Lands were taken away for jealousie began to Rule or else exchang'd for worse and those bordering upon the Enemy so that at length the Kings of Portugal were forc'd to allow them Twelve hundred Patacks a year to maintain them In this last Century while the Fathers of the Society flourish'd they wanted for nothing but liv'd in great Prosperity but the Fathers losing their Credit they were again reduc'd to the extremity of Misery So that it was the fear of Mendez lest in that miserable Poverty forgetful of their Native Language and their Ancestors they should revolt to the Religion and Customs of the Habessines The End of the First Book CONCERNING Their Political Government BOOK II. CHAP. I. Of the Kings of the Abessines their Various Titles their Names and Arms. The King of the Abessines why called Prester John The King of Portugal sends to discover the Indian Trade and to find out Prester John One of them not finding him in India causes a false Report in Europe The true Presbyter John in Asia Why so call'd Ridiculous Expositions of his Name The true Title of the Kings of Abessinia They have a double Name relating to their Baptism and the Government sometimes treble which renders the Story uncertain Their Arms. Their Titles The Queens Title retain'd during Life The Title of the Noble Women THE King of the Habessines has been hitherto known to the Europeans by no other Title than that of Presbyter John which was first given him by the Portugueses The Occasion thus Peter the Son of Peter Prince of Portugal returning home from Venice carried along with him a Treatise of Paulus Venetus being a Discourse of the Affairs of India Itiner c. 52. wherein many things were more especially and magnificently written concerning Presbyter John which as the Portuguese Chronicles witness was the chief Motive to prosecute the Design of the Indian Navigation that Henry the Son of John the First had begun He being induc'd into a certain belief that there might a Compass be fetch'd about Africa by which means the Passage would be open into India as having read in the Relations of the Ancients that Hanno the Carthaginian sailing out of the Streights of Gibraltar came at length through the Ocean into the Red Sea and sent a Navy into the unknown Atlantic Sea to discover the Shore of Africa Whose Design John the Second pursuing to bring the Discovery to Perfection sent two Portugueses Skilful in the Arabic Language Peter Covillian and Alphonsus Payva to try what they could do among other things giving them more especially in charge to find out that so much celebrated Presbyter John that most wealthy King as he was reputed either in Asia or India hoping easily to obtain a League and Friendship with him as a Christian Prince They Travell'd through Egypt several ways into India and after a long and vain Search for Prester John Payva came home but Peter more inquisitive at length in some of the Ports of the Red Sea heard much talk of a most Potent Christian King of the Abessines that us'd to carry a Cross in his Hands as also of his Subjects who were great Favourers if not Followers of the Christian Religion Believing it therefore to be of little moment whether this famous Monarch liv'd in Asia or in Africa he certainly perswaded himself as being Ignorant both in History and Geography that this was the Prince so much sought after and thereupon gave Intelligence thereof to his own King while he himself continu'd his Journey into Ethiopia with a resolution to take a view of this Celebrated Presbyter Emperor who was look't upon as another Pope These glad Tidings the Portugals sooner believ'd than consider'd and so spread the News all over Europe for real Truth Credulity gaining easily upon those that are ignorant of Foreign Affairs and Kingdoms And now the Learned Men began to enquire into the Cause and Original of this same Appellation As it is the Custom generally to search for true Originals of feigned Names and wrest them after a strange manner to make good their own Opinions We find among the most Eminent Historians that formerly there was a certain Christian Prince that reign'd in the utmost Parts of Asia not far from the Kingdom of Tenduc toward (a) The most Skilful Geographers teach us That Cataya is no peculiar Kingdom but a Part of North China See Newhostus's China Embassy Cataya who being of great Power and Fame was by the Neighbouring Persians to signifie his remarkable Sanctity call'd Prester-Chan or Prince of the Adorers that is to say Christians or as Scaliger will have it Fristegiani the Apostolic Prince However the Name is to be pronounc'd we shall not contend but this is certain that the unskilful Vulgar having learnt the Name from the Italians who at that time were great Traders into the East call'd him by the Italian Name of Preste or Pretegianni or Giovanni after which the same Name prevail'd with all the People of Europe Thus his Name and his Fame continued for some Ages though under much obscurity For few understood that that same Asiatic Prester Chan was (b) Scal. in his Notes ad Comp. Ethiop but by what Authority he writes that the Ethiopians were beaten out of Asia by the Tartars I cannot apprehend driven out of his Kingdom by Cenchi or Cynges King of the Tartars Therefore for this reason because the Portugueses were greatly mistaken first in the Name and secondly in the thing it self that Name was given to this African King which belong'd to a King reigning some Ages since in Asia some Thousands of Miles distance Now after this Sir-name prevail'd among the Habessinians and yet there could be found no Cause or Signification of the same they began to find out (c) In the Itineracie of Hierome Wolsus words Foreign and altogether from the purpose to uphold their own Vanity as Gian-Belul Beldigian Tarasta Gian one among the rest super-exquisitely Critical perswading himself that Prete-Janni was faulty would have it to be Pretious-John as a Title more becoming the Person of a King This Epithete the Pope once assum'd and that he might not be thought to be in an Error many there were that obstinately maintain'd it l. 2. c. 2. so that Tellezius had much ado to instruct them better It
was equally Venerable as are most of the Princes of the Royal Blood of Habessinia in the most flourishing years of pleasing Youth and through his Experience of Adversity and Prosperity worthy of the high degree to which he had arriv'd and which was more than all mild and ready to Forgive For among all the crow'd of so many Enemies he never punish'd any as by Law he might have done but without any disgrace suffer'd them to continue in their several Offices and in the same degrees of Honour even the Queen her self so mild and gentle even to a fault is the Disposition of those Kings saith Tellezius Moreover he behav'd himself with an undaunted Courage in all sorts of Danger For he had hardly grasp'd the Helm of Government in his hands when the Gallans understanding the Divisions at Court fell into Habessinia with three Armies and overthrew the Governor of Gojam who presum'd to fight against the King's Command whereupon the King arriving soon after leading an Army tir'd by a long March with a greater Courage than Force he assail'd the Enemy who pufft up with Victory bore down the Habessines with so much Violence that the Captains finding their Battalions recoil perswaded the King to betake himself to an early flight When he disdaining the motion as arguing Effeminacy leapt from his Horse and advancing with his Sword and Buckler cry'd out Here will I die you if you please may flye perhaps you may escape the fury of the Gallans but never the Infamy of deserting your King The Habessines mov'd with such a Speech and the Countenance of their Prince cast themselves into a Globe and with a Prodigious fury like Men prepar'd to dye broke in among the Gallans and constrain'd them to give back which the Fugitives perceiving presently return'd and renewing the Fight gain'd a glorious Victory with such a Slaughter of the Enemy that a greater had not been made among them at any other time The King believing that the Advantages of such a Victory were not to be let slip did not indulge himself to be as soon overcome with Banquets and Luxury under pretence of Refreshment but with a swift March led his Army over Mountains and Rocks against the other Body of the Enemy which with the same success he put to Flight The third Army not daring to withstand the force of the Habessine retreated into the Fastnesses of their Country Of these Four hundred thought themselves secure with their Prey in a steep and almost inaccessible Mountain But the Habessines now contemning their Enemies already terrify'd with the Slaughter of their own People couragiously drave them from their Holds and slew them every Mothers Son About the same time Peter Pays a Jesuit arriving in Habessinia at the Request of the King went to Court and so oblig'd him with several Discourses concerning Matters as well Ecclesiastical as Civil that at first privately then publickly he embrac'd the Latin Religion which he testify'd by Letters as well to the Pope as to the King of Spain then Philip the Third and preferr'd the Portugueses before his own Habessinians But this same Kindness of his to Strangers and a Foreign Religion begat him the Hatred of his People and caus'd his own Destruction For the Nobility of the Kingdom took it in great disdain to see their Ancient Religion chang'd and that the Patriarch of Alexandria should be deserted And they were the more enflam'd out of their Envy to the Portugals and the Rancour which they bore to Laeca-Marjam the King 's principal Friend Therefore they Conspire against him among themselves The Head of the Faction was one Saslac born of mean Parentage but of great fame for his Experience in War and for that reason proud He was exil'd by Jacob but recall'd by Za-Denghel and made Governor of Dembea consequently ungrateful and out of an inbred Stubborness frowardly disdaining Obedience Ras-Athanasius was drawn into this Society a famous Captain and a Man of great Conduct and being first in Dignity frown'd to see that he was but Second in the King's Favour and therefore he proves a Traitor to a most excellent King as one that had forgot who set the Crown upon his Head But the Cause of Religion was the main pretence the most prevalent to put the Minds of People into disorder for they were not ignorant what Preparations were making at Court for the introducing of the Latin Religion Frequent Complaints were therefore divulg'd abroad That the King was Revolted from the Church of Alexandria the Common Mother Church and that there was nothing intended by his frequent Discourses and familiarity with the Jesuits but the Abrogation of the Institutions of their Ancestors and the Introduction of new Ceremonies and Foreign Priests into the Kingdom That the Portugals would come in and establish their Religion by force of Arms and when they had done that would endeavour also to take the Kingdom from them That it behov'd them to succour their Distressed Countrey and that such a King was not to be endur'd who had first deserted the True Worship of God These things were easily inculcated into those that were of the same mind before But there was nothing which alienated so much the minds of the People as that the Portugueses had been heard to say That the Reduction so they call'd the Conversion of Ethiopia was but vainly attempted if it could not be upheld by force of Arms. The King having detected the Conspiracy calls the Portugueses together confiding in them as Foreigners and Men of the Latin Religion then marching with all speed toward Gojam he was deserted by the way first by Ras-Athanasius whom tho he suspected he durst not apprehend then by Jonael one of his Principal Captains Their example many others following forsake the King The King seeing himself left with a slender Guard applying himself to Peter Pays spoke these words This therefore befalls me because I am desirous to shew them the way of Truth and to set free the Weak from the Oppression of the more Powerful Thereupon Peter and the Commander of the Portugueses John Gabriel advis'd him to Protract the War till the heat of the Rebels fury waxed cool that his Friends with his Innocent Subjects would repair to his Assistance that the rest would in time come to themselves and repent their folly That Sedition was like a Torrent violent at first but that it abated by degrees But the King impatient of delay look'd upon Protraction as a Diminution of his Honour and being too full of Courage and in his boyling Youth resolv'd to try the Fortune of War that rarely accompanies rashness before the Rebels should encrease their Numbers So he Marches with a small Army of scarce Twelve thousand Men thinking to fall upon them e're they were aware of his coming This over-hastiness had but ill success For most of his Adversaries were Men experienc'd in War who did not follow their business negligently and besides they were as
eager to come to a Field decision before the King should gather Strength In the mean time the Enemies of the new Religion Rendevouz'd together from all Parts and among the rest Abuna Peter the Alexandrian Metropolitan and chief Head of the Rebellion who by an unheard of President in Ethiopia contrary to the Laws of God and Man absolv'd the Rebels from the tye of their Oaths which they had Sworn to their lawful Prince which they themselves had already broke by virtue of a detestable Excommunication of his Prince Thus more and more embold'nd and contemning the Majesty of the King they turn'd their Veneration into Hatred And so with mutual Animosity they joyn Battel The Portugueses who fought in the right wing maintain'd their ground a long time believing the Kings and the Cause of Religion to be their own But in the left Wing of which the King himself took charge all things went to rack for many fled over to the Enemy many look'd on without striking a stroke resolv'd to follow the Fortune of the Day Thus the King forsaken by his own fought bravely for a long time till Laeca-Marjam and the rest of his Guard being slain he was himself struck down from his Horse with the sling of a Lance. After that getting up again to renew the Fight he was stuck through the body and slain with several Darts thrown at a distance reverence of his person not permitting them to come near to hurt him The third day after the Fight he was taken up and buried without any Funeral Pomp in a little Chappel hard by the Field of the Battel Such was the end of the short Life and Reign of this Famous and Lawful King of Ethiopia A doleful Warning to admonish us that the Cause of Religion ought to be moderately and prudently handled And that it behoves a Prince not to thrust himself rashly into a Battel especially when there is no certain Successor For proof whereof the fatal Example of Sebastian King of Portugal may serve among the rest CHAP. VII Of the Kings of this Centurie To our Times Susneus aspires to the Crown acknowledg'd by Ras-Athanasius He requests the same from Zaslac Who refuses at first then submits But Jacob appearing he takes his part So does Ras-Athanasius Jacob again made King He desires an agreement with Susneus but in vain They take Arms. Zaslac beaten he goes over to Susneus A new War Jacob and Abuna slain The Victor's Clemency Zaslac imprison'd he escapes invades Waleka and Gojam Kill'd by the Pagans Ras-Athanasius dyes Susneus kind to the Portugals and Jesuits He submits to the Pope A Counterfeit Jacob but dares not stand the coming of Susneus An Impostor of the same kind comes into France His Conditions his Epitaph Alibi boasts himself the Son of Arzo Susneus's Nativity Conditions Vertues Vices and Death His Son Basilides drives the Jesuits out of Ethiopia He kills his Brothers A General Table of the last Kings of Habessinia KIng Zadenghel being thus slain the War indeed ceas'd yet Peace did not presently ensue For the Rebels not dreaming of such a speedy Victory had not consider'd of a Successor Wherefore as it were stupid with Emulation Ras-Athanasius departs for Gojam and Zaslac for Dembea without ever holding any common Consultation Thereupon Susneus hearing of the King's death and believing that the Kingdom was now fallen to Him as being the Son of Basilides the Nephew of Jacob and Grandchild of David and then being also a Young man train'd up in the Gallan Wars belov'd and surrounded with the choicest of the Military Bands he conceiv'd no small hopes of his design First therefore he sends before one of the Faithfullest of his Friends to Ras-Athanasius with instructions to declare to him in short That whereas the Kingdom belong'd to him by right of Inheritance he should come presently and joyn Forces with his In the mean time Susneus not expecting an Answer follows the Messenger with the nimblest of his Army and writes to Athanasius as if already made King That he was at hand and that therefore he should come to meet him and pay him the accustom'd honours due to him Athanasius amaz'd at the unexpected approach of Susneus void of Counsel the Danger being Equal on both sides either to refuse or admit him at length finding all assistance far distant and no hopes of delay to give him time to consult with Zaslac he rather chose to be before-hand with the new King's Favours than to hazard the uncertain Fortune of a Battel So that Susneus being honourably receiv'd into the Camp was saluted King Which done he presently writes to Zaslac That by the Providence of God he had recovered the Throne of his Ancestors and was now marching for Dembea therefore he should take Care that there might be Forces there ready to receive him and those deserved Favours which he was ready to bestow upon them But he tho astonish'd at the suddain News was unwilling to acknowledg him for King whom he had not made himself and therefore consulting with his Friends return'd for answer That he would then obey him if Jacob to whom he had already by Message offer'd the Kingdom did not come before June and therefore begg'd that short delay Susneus no way pleas'd with the Condition wrote back to him again That he was King already and therefore would give place neither to Jacob once before adjudg'd unworthy nor to his Father Malec-Saghed though he should return from the other World Zaslac having receiv'd this surly Answer equally mettlesom and diligent turns his Arms upon him and comes on briskly to meet him Susneus finding himself prevented with the speedy March of his Adversary and perceiving himself over-match'd and which was worse not well in health retir'd to the Craggy Mountains of Amhara Ras-Athanasius also whose precipitancy Zaslac had upbraided retreated into other Fastnesses to avoid the Fury of his Associate In the mean time there being no News of Jacob the other Captains and Commanders of the Army began to scatterwords of discontent That they would not be without a King that if Jacob would not come there was no Person fitter than Susneus neither would he be at rest till he had obtain'd by force what they would not give him by fair means Zaslac fearing the Inconstancy of his own People and consequently a Revolt orders Commissioners to be sent and by them surrenders the Scepter to Susneus who presently sent a Person to whom Allegiance should be sworn in his Name Which being done Ten of the chiefest Peers ride forth to meet the new King and to conduct him with a Pomp befitting into the Camp And now Shouts and Acclamations are to be every where heard Neither were Banquets wanting with all other Solemnities usual at the Inaugurations of their Kings when on a sudden new Commissioners from Jacob quite disturb'd their mirth with such a suddain alteration as with which Fortune never more odly mock'd before the hopes of those that
and that there is no great difference made between the Legitimate and he Illegitimate However the most assured Safety of Kingdoms consists in a Constant and Establish'd Settlement of Succession But if in Hereditary Kingdoms it may be lawful either for the King to choose one of his Sons or if it may be lawful for the Nobility not so much to regard the order of birth as the disposition and conditions of him that is to govern or to respect the favour of the People War and Sedition must of necessity follow They that are set aside will never be quiet nor shall they want Factious Abettors and Associates The Grand Pretence more Especially in Elective Kingdoms is this That Conditions cannot be distinguish'd by Nativities but the best may be taken by Election and Judgment A specious pretence in words but vain in Reality while the Imbecility of human Nature prevails which is guided by the affections and obeys rather Favour and Hatred than Virtue which usually happens in great Assemblies But there are two Pillars which sustain the Safety of great Monarchies Reverence and Authority which they that Govern never can reconcile to themselves either by Wisdom or Probity alone For there are many who will esteem themselves if not their Superiors yet their Equals and men very unwillingly obey their Equals much less their Inferiours so that it is altogether vain and pedantic what Plato writes concerning the Felicity of Kingdoms That they should be Govern'd by Philosophers while other Aids are wanting A Philosopher how wise soever would hardly find a Subject that would obey him three days together for his Philosophies sake There ought to be something External and Visible which as well the vulgar and ordinary sort as the prudent Equally acknowledg which is not subjected to the fluctuating and inconstant determination of Men. For this reason in the Election of Kings and Princes Nobility and Power are preferr'd before Wisdom and Sanctity of disposition Yet the one requires the assistance of the other The one is the cause that the Subject willingly and freely obeys the other compels the refractory to submit And therefore because Election does not bring much more advantage to a Kingdom than the chance of birth but is rather liable to Tumults and Seditions many People have (m) The Swedes in the last Century The Danes in our memory The Chineses of old Joh. Newhoft Descript Chin. c. 18. abandon'd it of their own accord However it approaches nearest to Liberty because the Electors may prescribe Laws and Conditions of Government to the Person that is to be Elected tho that same wariness proves many times ineffectual Because the Prince upon refusal either positively cannot or else will be very unwilling to be brought to an accompt So impossible it is that there should be a compleat happiness in this World And therefore it is the part of a good and prudent Statesman to prefer that form of Government which he finds (n) That the Wise call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to preserve the present state of the Republic Isoc against Collimalh Established But I return to the Habessines among whom there is this most prudent Constitution That only the Male Issue shall govern or the Male kindred nearest in blood But because the Determination of the Fathers and Mothers and the chief Nobility happens frequently to be intermix'd and that the natural Issue is likewise if male allow'd the same Priviledge for want of Legitimate Off-spring hence it comes to pass that their Successions are most unhappy and turbulent the chief cause of all their Calamities We have already declar'd how Helena with the consent of Marc the Metropolitan preferr'd David the second Son before Naod the Elder Brother as having nothing else to advance him but a meer brutish strength The Civil Wars between Menas and Tazcar his Brothers Eldest Son between the Illegitimate Son of Malec-Saghed and Zadenghel his Legitimate Kinsman and lastly between Jacob and Susneus and all about the doubtful right of Succession are sufficient Arguments to prove what we assert Tellezius indeed declares That according to the Lawes of Ethiopia the natural Sons do not succeed But in another place he so discourses concerning their Law alledging the Example of John the First King of Portugal that the Reader may perceive that he varies in this from his other Relation But the chiefest Inconvenience which uses to arise in hereditary Kingdoms where the Succession is ty'd to a certain Family proceeds either from the sence of Rivalship and a jealousie which they that rule have of them that are nearly related in blood or from their Ambition which always animates the Factious Dismal are the Examples among the Barbarians where there are no Laws or Rules for Succession but all things are at the Will of them that bear sway or else of Fortune her self What ruin'd the Family of the Caesars What the Roman Empire but onely that the Creation of the Emperors was inconstant and unfix'd and at the Will of the Souldiery Certainly it was a great Oversight in Augustus Caesar after he had vanquish'd all his Rivals and had all the Power in his own hands that he ordain'd no certain Settlement of Succession The Emperours of the Turks to prevent the Crimes of their Brothers more impiously put them to death and punish that Disloyalty which perhaps was never intended The Ancient Kings of Abessinia to rid themselves of these Fears were wont to shut up their Brothers under safe Custody where they might abide unknown to turbulent Spirits and so be uncapable of attempting any thing against the raigning Prince and yet be ready to supply the want of Successors The Rocks of Geshen and Ambasel were set apart to this end The whole Story from the Relations of Antonie d' Almeyda runs thus The Emperour Icon Imlac had five Sons others say nine which he lov'd all alike Out of which affection he most imprudently advis'd them to raign all with Equal Power or which was worse to govern by turns The Youngest impatient of the delay of so many Years design'd with himself not to part with the Scepter when once he had got it into his hands but to send away his Brothers to some distant Rock and so continue the Kingdom to his own Posterity But being betrayd by one of his peculiar Friends who rather chose to accept of a reward from the raigning Prince than to expect a guerdon from him that was to raign he was taken in the same snare which he had laid for his Brothers and sent to the Rock Geshen But lest the King might seem to have consulted more for his own than the Security of the Kingdom he also shut up all his own Sons which he then had in the same place After which this Custom continu'd as a Fundamental Law in Ethiopia for above Two hundred and thirty Years by which means the raigning Kings were secur'd from danger of Civil Wars among Brethren till in the Year
would take the pains to come to Matzua he would order some Person to be there both to give them a befitting Reception and Conduct them to his Court. Besides all this the King was no less fearful least the Portugals as it had befallen several other Kings in India should make him their Tributary and under the pretence of Religion powre into his Country a great force of Soldiers Arm'd and furnish'd with Fire-Arms Especially remembring what great Exploits a small Number of Portugals had perform'd in his Kingdom but a few years before A Jealousie that not long after increas'd to that height that when King David had seriously negotiated with Roderigo Limez the Portugal Embassador about the Recovery and Fortification of Matzua and Suaqena and had also offer'd assistance of Forces Provision and Money afterwards the Business was not only no farther mention'd but also the Portuguese Aid so necessary and so much desir'd was utterly refus'd so that he chose rather to leave the Port of Arkiko with the Island adjoyning in the hands of the Turk then to give Admission to the Portugals So prevalent is the fear of Foreign Domination But now Claudius's answer being return'd into India strangely surpriz'd the Patriarch Barret and his Associates who imagin'd that all things would have bin smooth and easie according to their wishes Thereupon after long deliberation they came to this result Lest the Patriarchal Dignity should be hazarded with a Prince ill affected which would be to the Detriment of the Pontifical Authority and a contempt of the King of Portugal by whose recommendation and favour they were sent that the Patriarch should remain in India with Melchior Caymero Bishop of Nice and that Oviedo should go alone to the end he might take his measures by the Event of Oviedo 's Success Oviedo being thus dispatch'd away with Five more Associates was kindly receiv'd by Isaac at that time Bahrnagass or Governor of the Sea-Ports The Common People ignorant of their Errand nor altogether averse to the Romish Ceremonies receiv'd the Bishop and his Associates with great testimonies of Kindness even to the kissing their hands The Romanists laying hold upon the occasion resolv'd upon a Procession from their own to the Habessine Church and were by them beheld with mutual Charity without the least upbrading or reproach of the Novelty The King also entertain'd them with great kindness only he took it ill that they should talk to him of yielding obedience to the Roman Pontiff Nevertheless as he was a most Prudent Person and worthy the high Dignity he enjoy'd he always carry'd himself with so great Moderation toward the Bishop that he still left him with some hopes of Success In the mean time the Roman Religion was every where freely exercis'd and no man forbid who defir'd to embrace it But the Bishop not content with so much favour began to press the King more urgently That at length without more delay he would submit himself to the Roman Pontiff He reply'd That his Ancestors had in sacred things given their Obedience to none but the Successors of St. Mark nor did he see any cause why he should desire Innovation and disturb his People well contented with their Abuna But the Bishop still continuing his Importunity The King told him That since he was come to him from a Region so far distant upon so honest a Negotiation he would consult with his Friends and his Learned Men upon a Matter of so great Importance Oviedo understanding that the King did nothing but spin out delays and hearing withal that the King's Mother and all the Blood Royal together with the Nobility and greatest Doctors of the Nation were utterly averse to any Alterations wrote an Epistle to the King wherein he put him in Mind That his Father had acknowledg'd the Pope of Rome for the Vicar of Christ that several of his Learned men had besought him that Claudius had wrote to the King of Portugal and that his Father had Commanded that they should not desire an Abuna from any other place then from Rome and that He himself had publickly promis'd Obedience to thee See of Rome That if any doubt remain'd concerning any Articles of Faith he should bring those things to a Publick Dispute and hear the Arguments on both sides it being but just that the Party that was foil'd should acknowledge and follow what the other had maintain'd for Truth and that the King should well consider whose advice he took or what Persons he consulted in so important an Affair That the Ends and Interest of Parents or Kindred were not to be regarded That the love of Christ was to be preferr'd before the love of Relations who being busied in Teaching his own Doctrine in the Temple of Jerusalem would not make use of his most Holy Mothers advice by which he shew'd that in the Cause of God no Man is bound to Communicate his Intentions to his nearest Friends Whether the King made any Answer or what it was is not known But Gregory told me That the sence of the King's Commands and Letters was quite different from the Expositions of Alvarez Bermudes and others addicted to the Roman Religion made of them at Rome and that it could not be otherwise in regard that before the Reign of Susneus the Habessines had never known what that Obedience meant Hower the King that he might not seem to distrust the strength of his own Cause and the learning of his own Subjects permitted frequent Disputes not yet made Publick by the Fathers of the Society From this Tellez reports That the Habessine Doctors appear'd very ignorant and illiterate in all their Disputes as never having Study'd Logic Syllogisms nor Enthymemes nor having any knowledge of the Subtleties of Scholastic Divinity From whence the Reader may readily Judge of the Progress and Events of such Disputes Tellez goes on and says That Claudius â—â—ary of the illiterateness of his own People for the most part undertook the Discourse himself and gave Oviedo not a little Trouble Moreover he complains That the Habessines when they were worsted would never acknowledge it but always boasted of the Victory and so all those Disputes came to nothing It was therefore thought more convenient to betake themselves to writing Nor did the King decline the Combat but answer'd them with other Writings tho they have not as yet bin permitted to visit the European Regions Oviedo impatient of his ill Success and finding he could not bring the Ethiopic Prince to do as he would have had him resolv'd to a more severe but unseasonable course And therefore to testifie his Indignation he left the Court and publish'd a Writing Where in he branded the Habessines with several Heresies and exhorted his Portugueses to have a care of them Which did not a little offend Claudius For a mind free and subject to none when once it refuses the persuasion of Argument is the more exasperated by affront and reviling Nor can it be
thought that any Prince will suffer himself and his Subjects to be traduc'd for Heretics within his own Dominions Not long after Claudius was slain in a Battel against the Adelans to whom in regard he dy'd without Issue his Brother Adamas-Saghed Succeeded a Person quite of another disposition as one that retain'd nothing of his Moderation or Clemency For whatever Indulgencies Claudius had granted to Oviedo and the Embracers of his Doctrine he recall'd them all nor would he so much as permit that the Habessine Women who were Marry'd to the Portugueses should exercise the Religion of their Husbands to which he added many other severe Edicts declaring openly That his Brother was therefore punish'd by God because he did not persecute the Religion of the Franks as it is frequent to attribute Adversity or Prosperity to neglected or protected Religion Nay he proceeded so far that having sent for Oviedo he threaten'd him with Death if he continu'd divulging and sowing Roman Paradoxes in his Dominions Which when the Bishop refus'd to consent to saying That God was to be obey'd rather then Man he drew his Scymiter in a rage and unless the Queen and some of the chief Nobility had prevented him had undoubtedly dispatch'd the Bishop to the other World The Bishop therefore in this desperate Condition of Affairs retires to Fremona where he lay conceal'd thirty whole years together and assuming to himself after the Death of Barret the Title of Patriarch officiated among his own Portugueses without any further molestation in regard that Melec-Saghed after his Father's violent Death shew'd himself more mild and temperate to the Portugueses who behaving themselves more modestly gave him no cause of Provocation But at length all the Avenues into Habessinia being shut-up by the Turk and the Fathers that were sent thither being all taken and slain the State of Religion among the Portugueses was reduc'd to that extremity that all the Fathers being deceas'd there was none remain'd alive to officiate Divine Service At length Melchior Silvanus an Indian Vicar of the Church of St. Anns in Goa and for that reason disguis'd both by his Language and Colour ventur'd into Ethiopia and there officiated till the Arrival of Peter Pays after which he return'd into India leaving the said Peter as he had bin before all alone in his office of Priesthood CHAP. X. Of the New Mission and its Success till the Coming of the Roman Patriarch The Religion of the Portugueses very low in Habessinia New Hopes upon the arrival of Peter Pays Who Taught School at Fremona with the admiration of all The King sends for him Curiously receives him And permits Obedience to the Pope He abrogates the Observation of the Sabbath He obtains the King's Friendship by the Pope's and K. of Portugal's Letters The King therefore hated and slain Susneus Succeeds He perceives the Ignorance of his own Doctors and applys to the Fathers Several Disputes The King's Brother Embraces the Roman Faith Susneus promises Obedience to the Pope He causes a publick dispute concerning the two Natures in Christ. The Habessines confuted The King's Edict A disobedient Monk punish'd The Metropolitan complains The Event The Edict renew'd The Alexandrinians provok'd They Excommunicate the Romans The King resists Simeon replies Thence a Rebellion The Metropolitan's Anathema Elius the Head of the Conspirators slain So is Simeon The Sabbath abrogated The Effects Jonael the Viceroy Revolts The King defends the Abrogation Jonael hides himself Slain by the Gallans The People of Damota Rebel Vanquish'd The King publickly Embraces the Roman Faith New Commotions by his Son Gabrael He is slain THE Arch-Bishop of Goa and the Fathers of the Society were not ignorant of the afflicted Condition of the Roman Worship in Habessinia And therefore whereas before they had conceiv'd vast hope of Total Conversion of Ethiopia now the case was so far alter'd that they found themselves put to a Necessity of providing for their own few Countrymen least they should be utterly destitute of Provision for the Salvation of their own Souls as not having any Priests to perform Religious Duties among them Mov'd therefore by the Instigation of Conscience they took it into serious Consideration least while they were busyed about Subjecting Abassia to the See of Rome that nothing belong'd to it they should loose their own Countrymen Professors of their own Religion who had reason enough to forsake those that forsook them And therefore they made it their whole study how to supply them with Priests to govern their Ecclesiastical Affairs And indeed many had attempted the Journey but in vain Till at length with the dawn of the new Century new hopes began to shine forth For Peter Pays after his first unfortunate Attempt which had expos'd him to various Hazards and a Captivity in Arabia undertook a second Journey into Ethiopia wherein he prosperously Succeeded being well skill'd both in the Countries Customs and Foreign Languages and able to endure the temperature of those Climates John Gabriel a famous Portuguese Collonel had given King Jacob then reigning notice of his coming and had so possess'd the young Prince with the worth of the Person by the high Commendations which he gave him that so soon as the Winter was over the King sent for him But he being soon after depos'd Zadenghel was advanc'd in his Room Thereupon Peter Pays kept himself still at Fremona where not believing his time could be better spent than in instructing the Portuguese Children he chose out some of the riper Ingenuities and in a short time so manur'd them that they were able to answer to any Question propounded to them concerning the Christian Faith A thing both unwonted and wonderful to the Habessines to hear from Children what they could hardly expect from Persons of years and Experience But considering the Person he was not so much wonderful neither for he was a Man of a quick and ready Wit that could fit himself to all Humours of an affable and complaisant Temper and well skill'd not only in the Liberal Sciences but Mechanic Arts. The fame of so acute and laborious a Person and so happy in his Instruction being spread over the Neighbouring Regions in a short time reach'd the young King's Ears who being covetous to see such a Master and such Scholars by his Letters invited him to Court Thereupon in the Month of April 1604. accompany'd with two Portuguese Youths arriving at Court he was honourably receiv'd by the King as if he had bin one of the Nobles of his Kingdom not without great distast taken by the Monks whose Sloth compar'd to Peter's Diligence and Industry render'd them contemptible to most The next day several Disputes began about Controversies in Religion which the King was pleas'd both favourably and patiently to hear Mass was also said after the Roman manner and a Sermon Preach'd with which Zadenghel was so taken that having Communicated his Intentions to some of his intimate Friends he resolv'd to submit
reason by Argument you can never subdue the Will Eighthly That the Devil had put it into the Heads of several Catholicks to make a corresponding Agreement between the Catholick and the Alexandrinian Religion asserting all to be Christians as well Alexandrians as Romans That all believe in Christ That Christ saves all That there is little Difference between both Religions That both have Conveniencies and Inconveniencies their Truths and their Errors but that the Wheat was to be separated from the Cockle Ninthly That the Ecclesiastical Censures seem'd very heavy to the Habessines especially when they heard the Patriarch name Dathan and Abiram in the Excommunication CHAP. XIII Of the Expulsion of the Patriarch and the Exilement of the Fathers of the Society The Alexandrians quarrel with the Fathers who are accurs'd Their Churches taken from them Susneus Dyes Ras-Seelax renouncing the Alexandrian Religion is Overthrown and Banish'd Others put to Death The Fathers Dispossessed of their Goods Sent to Fremona The Patriarch by Letters Demands of the King the Causes of his Banishment and a New Dispute The King's Answer The Fathers depart for Fremona Afterwards quite thrown out of the Kingdom AFter the Publication of the King's Edict the Alexandrians being now absolute Victors endeavour'd with all their industry to be quit with the Fathers and expel them quite out of Habessinia To which purpose they omitted no occasion of daily quarrel and contention First accusing the Patriarch for endeavouring by Seditious Sermons to stir up the People to Sedition and to turn them from the Alexandrian Religion for that he had openly exhorted his Hearers to Constancy But understanding that Basilides was displeas'd and gave out threatning words they thought it requisite to act more moderately Soon after the Fathers Churches were taken from them believing that would be a means to put a stop to the Roman Worship And first they were constrain'd to quit their Cathedral at Gorgora a stately Structure after the European manner At their departure they carry'd with them all their Sacred Furniture brake all the Sculpture and spoil'd the Pictures that they might not leave them to be the sport of their Adversaries doing that themselves which they thought the Habessines would do And this Example they follow'd in all other places from whence they were expell'd In the mid'st of these Transactions Susnèus's Distemper increasing and more and more augmented by his continual anguish of Mind he ended this Life the 16th day of Decemb. 1632. The King being Dead the Fathers Adversaries set upon Ras-Seelax in the first place as the Principal Favourer and Protector of the Roman Religion and first of all they promise him all his former Dignities all his Possessions and Goods upon Condition he would return to the Alexandrian Religion Upon his refusal they bring him bound in Chains before the King and pronounce him guilty of Death But the King declaring that he would not pollute his hands with the Blood of his Uncle commanded him to be carry'd to a certain remote Place near to Samenar and sequester'd his Goods And as he was great so was he attended in his fall by several others as Atzai-Tino Secretary of State and the King's Historiographer Walata Georgissa the Queens Cousin In short whoever had favour'd the Fathers were all sent into Exile and some put to Death perhaps because they had bin more bitter in their Expressions than others against the Alexandrian Religion For some had call'd it a Religion for Dogs After all this the Enemies of the Fathers still insisted That nothing was yet done so long as the Patriarch and the Fathers were suffer'd to abide within the Confines of the Kingdom Neither would the Lastaneers be quiet till they heard the Fathers were all thrown out of Ethiopia but would look upon all things transacted for the re-establishment of the Alexandrian Religion as fictitious Stories There needed not many words to press him that was already willing First of all therefore their Goods and Possessions were taken from them then all their Arms especially their Musquets and Fire-Arms But before that they were sent to Fremona where as we have already declar'd Oviedo the Patriarch resided for some time But before their Departure the Patriarch wrote a certain Letter to the King to this Effect I did not adventure to come into Habessinia with my Companions of my own accord but by the Command of the Roman Pontiff and the King of Portugal at the request of your Father where having taken the King's Oath of Obedience I officiated the Office of Patriarch in the Name of the Roman Pontiff and the King of Portugal Now because you Command me to depart my humble request is that your Majesty would set down the Causes of my Exilement in Writing subscrib'd with your own and the hands of some of your Counsellors and Peers that all the World may know whether I am compell'd to suffer for my Life and Conversation or for the sake of my Doctrine I granted the Ceremonies desired by your Father except the Communion under both Kinds which only the Pope himself can dispute with The same also I again offer so that you and your Subjects will yield Obedience to the Church of Rome as the head of all other Churches My last request is That as the Matter was Debated at first so it may be referr'd to another Dispute by which means the Truth of the whole affair will more manifestly appear To this Writing the King thus reply'd Whatever was done by me before was done by the Command of my Father whom I was in Duty bound to Obey so that I was forc'd to wage War under his Conduct both with Kindred and Subjects But after the last Battel of Wainadega the Learned and Unlearned Clergy and Layety Civil and Military young and old all sorts of Persons made their Addresses to my Father Crying out How long shall we be perplexed and wearied with unprofitable things How long shall we encounter Brethren and Kindred cutting off the right hand with the left How long shall we thrust our Swords into our own Bowels Especially since we learn nothing from the Roman Religion but what we knew before For what the Romans call the two Natures in Christ his Divinity and his Humanity that we knew from the beginning to this time For we all believe that our Lord Christ is perfect God and perfect Man perfect God in his Divinity and perfect Man in his Humanity But in regard those Natures are not separated nor divided for neither of them subsist of its self but both of them conjoyn'd the one with the other therefore we do not say that they are two things For one is made two yet so as the Natures are not mix'd in their Subsistence This Controversie therefore among us is of little moment neither was it for this that there has bin so much Bloodshed among us but chiefly because the Blood was deny'd to the Layety whereas Christ has said in his Gospel Unless
ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood ye shall not have life everlasting and when he instituted the Holy Supper he did not say The Blood is in my Body which I have given to you alone but take and drink and partake all From that time the Disciples did as they were commanded The Intermission of the Fast of the fourth Holyday which is nevertheless enjoyn'd by the Canons of the Holy Apostles as also a various manner of Fasting in the Time of Lent Besides by altering the Order of the whole Ecclesiastical Computation in reference to the Annual Festivals and the Permission of all Persons to enter into the Church without any distinction of clean or unclean these are the things that gave offence to our People But they detested nothing more than the reiteration of Baptism as if we had bin Heathens before we had bin Baptiz'd by the Fathers They re-ordain'd our Priests and Deacons they burnt the wooden Chests of our Altars and Consecrated some Altars of their own as if ours had not bin Consecrated before The Monks also complain'd that their Institutions were abrogated These and others of the same Nature were the true Causes that we abandon'd the Roman Faith tho it was not we who gave it Protection but our Father And therefore because the Alexandrian Abuna is now upon his Journey hither and hath sent us word that he cannot live or joyntly act in the same Kingdom with the Roman Patriarch and the Fathers we command you to hasten to Fremona Those things are offer'd now too late which might have bin easily at first allow'd For now there is no returning to that which all the whole Nation abhors and detests for which reason all farther Colloquies and Disputes will be in vain The Patriarch relates in his Epistle to the King of Spain That that same Metropolitan of whom the King makes mention came some years before into Ethiopia but lay privately conceal'd in Enarea where hearing of the disowning and casting off the Patriarch he brake out into this farther Expression to the King That he could not officiate in his Office unless the Patriarch and the Fathers were either put to Death or Banish'd to perpetuity So that the Patriarch and the Fathers were forc'd to obey the King's Command not without a long Dispute about their Guns which they would willingly have kept for their own Preservation but they were forc'd to deliver them up that they might be of no use to the Portugals who were coming as it was fear'd and reported to their assistance Thus the Patriarch with all the Fathers that were then in the Country were constrain'd to leave their warm Seats after an Enjoyment of Eight years standing In their return they met with various Misfortunes and were frequently infested with Thieves before they could get to Fremona But because they foresaw that would be no abiding place for 'em of any long continuance they presently resolv'd to send away some of the Fathers before into India to give the Vice-Roy an accompt of the state of their affairs and to desire some remedy that is to say a good sufficient strength of Portuguesis But before they could obtain that they receiv'd fresh Commands from the King who 't is very probable smelt their Design to remove from Fremona and be gon But they sang loath to depart a great while and to spin out time privately retir'd to one John Akay formerly an Enemy to the King who not being able to defend them they were pull'd out thence by the Ears and in May 1634. deliver'd to the Turks and first carry'd to Arkiko and Matzua after that to Suaqena and brought beore the Turkish Basha And indeed there was nothing more that provok'd the Habessines as Gregory told me then that they should require aid of the Military Power from India to establish their Religion They might said he have shaken the dust from their shoes at their departure as the Apostles were commanded but they were for settling Religion with Swords and Guns Which was not done so secretly but it came to the Ears of the Habessines for it seems that some of their Train vext at some Misfortune or other had imprudently threaten'd it Which was one reason among others that their Churches built of Stone and Morter and their Guns were taken from them CHAP. XIV Of what happen'd after the Departure of the Patriarch and the Fathers out of Ethiopia The Condition of the Bishop and his Associates privately left behind The Patriarchs misery among the Turks Peter Heyling a German Disputes with him Peter entertain'd by the King of Habessinia Various reports concerning his Death The Patriarch redeems himself He sends Hierom Lobo for Assistance who cannot speed The favourers of the Fathers put to Death in Ethiopia Now admitted into Habessinia Six Capuchins sent again their ill success Three more sent after them their sad Misfortune Nogueira Hang'd Mendez dyes in India After that no News from Habessinia NOtwithstanding the King's Commands to all in general the Patriarch left behind privately in several places Apollinaris Almeyda Hiacynthos Francisco Ludovigo Cordeyra Bruno Bruni and some others who after they had liv'd miserably for some time lurking up and down at last were most of them Hang'd In the mean time he himself spent almost a whole year in great Vexation and full of sorrow among the Barbarous Turks in Suaqena almost melted by the Sun But nothing more increas'd the anguish of his Mind than the News of the New Metropolitan's arrival out of Egypt and that it should be his misfortune to be constrain'd to behold him as he pass'd by He had in his Train a certain German whose Name was Peter Heyling a Native of Lubeck a young Gentleman eminent for Probity and Learning a Professor of the Augustan or Lutheran Religion and generally call'd by the Title of Muallim that is in Arabic Doctor Peter He being desirous to see the world and learn the Arabic Language was arriv'd about that time in Egypt and was very much esteem'd for his Piety and Modesty by the Coptites and hearing that the Metropolitan was going for Ethiopia he obtain'd leave to go in his Train and by that means met the Patriarch Alphonsus at Suaqene Presently he undertook to encounter him opposing several Opinions and Tenents of the Roman Church and expounding in Arabic to the standers by whatever was said on both sides The Patriarch in a heat desir'd him to forbear that Explanation because he did not understand the Arabic To which the other answer'd That he Disputed for others to hear as well as himself The Disputation being ended The Patriarch turning to his Companions sighing told them That if that Doctor went into Habessinia he would precipitate the whole Country into Heresie He was no sooner arriv'd there but he became very acceptable to the King who gave him a Tent and all things necessary Concerning his Death various Reports were spread abroad For some said