The Emperor joins the Habassins and Portugueses where they had not been Ten Days before the Emperor came to them with a small Army but having after some Months got a Body of 500 Horse and 8000 Foot together he resolved to march and offer the Enemy Battel being strongly urged to it by the Portugueses who tho but 90 in number were mad to revenge the Death of their General Cunha who after the Defeat had retreated with 40 of his Portugueses into Tigre was sent to to come and join the Gross but that not being possible by reason of the Enemy's being posted betwixt them the Emperor advanced with the Forces he had with him and being come within sight of the Enemy encamped himself strongly for some days during which time there were frequent Skirmishes in all of which the Portugueses are said to have done Wonders if not to have wrought Miracles The Habassin General in whose Conduct and Courage the Soldiers placed their chief confidence happening to be slain in an Ambush the Turks had laid for him the Emperor had much ado to keep the Army from dispersing upon that unlucky Accident and to prevent it was obliged to offer the Enemy Battel some days sooner than he had otherwise intended to have done The Portugueses having desired it had the Van given them and were joined with 250 Habassin Horse and 3500 Foot The Rear which was commanded by the Emperor in Person consisted of the same Number of Horse and Foot The Enemies Van which was made up of 200 Turks with Fire-Arms 600 Moorish Horse and 7000 Foot was commanded by Granhe himself and the Rear consisting of 600 Horse and 6000 Foot by a great Turkish Captain The Two Armies were no sooner drawn into the Field He fights and routs Granhe than they ran upon one another with great Fury making a great Slaughter on both sides and the Body of Turks happening to charge the Habassins that were in the Van gave them such a shock as obliged them to retreat in great disorder which having been timely observed by the Portugueses who were hewing their way through the Battalions they were engaged withal they wheeled about and attacked the Victorious Turks with that vigor that they quickly forced them to give ground and with the loss of a great many of their best men to retire to their Gross but the Portugueses not being content with that followed their Blow and with the Assistance of the Habassins who had rallied again broke into the Main Body of the Enemy so as to make it give ground apace which being perceived by Granhe he galloped up to them and having put himself on their Head did act the part both of a great Captain and a stout Soldier till he received a Mortal Wound with a Musket Bullet in his breast Granhe killed fighting His men when they saw him fall from his Horse instead of seeking to revenge his Death or to carry off his Body threw down their Arms and betook themselves to their heels only a Turkish Captain who was near him when he received his Death's Wound defended his Body with his Scimiter in his hand till he fell dead upon it and sold his own life dear The Portugueses and Habassins pursued the Enemy so close that few of them escaped the Turks were all killed to 14 who keeping together in a Body got before it was day to the place where Granhe had left his Queen whom with a vast Treasure in Gold and Jewels they conveyed to a place of safety to the great loss and sorrow of the Habassins It is said there was not one Portuguese killed or wounded in this Fight which they will have to have been a miracle owing to the Standard they had bore ever since Gamas's death which was our Lady of mercy whereas before when they lost men they had fought under the Banner of the five Wounds of Christ which are the Arms of the King of Portugal Upon the news of this Victory all the Princes and Governors of Ethiopia The Emperor being restored to the quiet possession of his Kingdom quarrels with the Portugueses who had sided with Granhe flocked to throw themselves at the Emperor's feet who by pardoning them all to a man was immediately restored to the full and quiet possession of his Empire The Emperor for some time after the Victory caressed the Portugueses highly acknowledging on all occasions that he owed his Crown purely to their Valour But whether it was that the Emperor after the fashion of too many Princes looking upon the Services the Portugueses had done him as too great to be rewarded by him did for that reason begin to hate them as a reproach to him or that the Portugueses overvaluing their Services which is likewise a common fault on the other side did grow troublesome and insolent thereupon The chief cause of this Quarrel was the Abund urging the Emperor to turn Roman-Catholick presently and demanded greater Rewards than were just or than the Emperor could conveniently give them or whether it was the Patriarch's teizing the Emperor instantly to declare himself a Roman-Catholick it is certain they came in a short time to an open rupture the Emperor accusing the Portugueses of Impertinence and Insolence and the Portugueses the Emperor of Ingratitude and breach of Faith pretending he had promised the King of Portugal that whensoever he should be restored to the peaceable possession of his Empire he would immediately declare himself a Roman-Catholick and give the third part of his Dominions to the Portugueses But the Emperor as he absolutely denied his having ever made any such promise so he conjured the Patriarch not to trouble him any more about his Religion being resolved never to change it for that of Popery which he called Nestorianism and accused of worshipping Four Gods The Emperor is resolved never to turn Roman-Catholick adding accused of worshipping Four Gods adding That he was the Pastor and Prelate of all the Franks that were in Ethiopia but had nothing to do with his Subjects who had a Prelate of their own to wit the Patriarch of Alexandria in whose obedience after the Example of his Ancestors he was resolved to live and die The Patriarch finding he was not to be persuaded to embrace Popery was for trying whether he could not terrify him into it by obliging the Portugueses by his Censures not to serve him any longer until he made profession of it The Emperor is said at first to have laughed at this Excommunication as the effect of the impotent Passion of an angry old man who would needs be exercising jurisdiction where he had none and it is more than probable considering his present Circumstances and the small number the Pertugueses were then reduced to that he continued to do so to the last Notwithstanding it is reported That when he found the Portugueses would serve him no longer unless he declared himself a Roman-Catholick that he submitted abjuring
Honour nor Authority of a Patriarch And if it should so happen that a Couneil should be assembled in Greece and this Prelate should be present at it he shall have the seventh Place therein next after the Bishop of Seleucia and in case he should have at any time power given him to ordain Archbishops in his Province it shall not be lawful for him to advance any of the Natives to that Dignity whosoever does not yield obedience to this is excommunicated by the Synod If there were nothing else to prove these Arabick Canons to be spurious this Canon alone would do it abundantly it being plain from Ecclesiastical History that the Title of Patriarch was not known in the Church for some time after the Celebration of the First Nicene Council neither was there any Bishop or Christian in Ethiopia at that time Frumentius who was the Apostle or first Bishop thereof having been consecrated a Bishop by Athanasius when he was Primate of Alexandria which he was not till after the Nicene Council In the Year 1177. Pope Alexander the IIId Pope Alexander the III d pretends to have received an Ambassador from Prester John while he was at Venice whither the Emperor Frederick had driven him either received or pretended to receive a Message from the Great Christian Emperor Prester John desiring to submit himself to his obedience and to have a College at Rome and an Altar at Jerusalem for the use of his Subjects The Pope having made a noise with this Message pretended to send Philip a Physician who was said to have brought it back again with a Letter to Prester John I shall not trouble the Reader with that Letter for besides that it contains little else than Hyperbolies of St. Peter and the Pope's Supremacy it is probable that that whole Affair was a mere Fiction invented on purpose to make the Roman Emperor ashamed of persecuting the Pope at the same time when so remote a Christian Emperor was ready to throw himself at his feet For had this Message of Philip's whom some call Peter been a real thing it would certainly have taught the Court of Rome in what part of the World Prester John's Empire lay whether in Asia near Tartary or in Africk beyond Egypt Whereas long after this that Empire though called Ethiopia was still supposed to lie somewhere in the North of Asia for which reason it was still joined in the same Missions with the Tartars and Ruthens and committed to the Charge of the Dominican Provincial of Poland as being its next Neigbour In the Year 1308. Pope Clement pretended to have received an Embassy from the same Prince Prester John was brought upon the stage again Pope Clement the Vth being said to have received a most splendid Embassy from him consisting of 30 Ambassadors by whom he was assured that their Master had no less than 74 Kings under him and who excepting five of the smallest that were Mahometans were all Christians and that he had likewise within his Dominions an 127 Archbishops every one of which had 20 Bishops under his Jurisdiction Which pious Fraud was spread about at that time on purpose to encourage the Latins to undertake a new Expedition to the Holy Land being assured of the Assistance of this mighty Christian Emperor whose Dominions were still reported to lie convenient enough for the carrying on of a Holy War in Syria It is probable that there was never any such Emperor insomuch that I am apt to think that the whole Story of this Enchanted Asiatick Christian Empire was invented and kept up by the Trumpeters of the Holy War for that very purpose no such Empire having ever to this day been discovered in Asia what is reported by the Portuguese Missionaries of the Kingdom of Thybot amounting to no more at most than that those People were formerly Christians but without the least Evidence of any Prester John or Great Christian Empire having ever been in those Parts But how they come to call a Countrey which they supposed to lie towards Scythia Ethiopia is one of the unaccountable Blunders of those Ignorant though Fraudulent Ages unless we will say That they having heard something of a Christian Empire in Ethiopia did either for the foresaid Ends industriously transiate it into Asia or were so ignorant in Geography as not to know what part of the World Ethiopia lay in In the Council of Florence for so low we must come before we meet with any thing more of the Ethiopick Church Eugenius the IVth after he had dismissed the Greeks Eugenius the IVth translates the Council from Florence to Rome upon a sham Pretence that the Emperor of Ethiopia was sending an Ambassador with a submission of himself and his Church to him finding it necessary for his Affairs to have the name of a Council still sitting so long as that of Basil which had deposed him and chosen the Duke of Savoy Pope was on foot against him but being withal desirous to have it at Rome for want of a better gave this for the reason of his translating it from Florence thither That it was convenient that the splendid Embassy from Zerah Jacob the High and Mighty Emperor of Ethiopia which was on its way to that Council with the submission of that Church and Empire to the Pope should not find the Council sitting in such a paultry Town as Florence but in the Metropolis of Christendom which would add something of Authority to it and accordingly it was translated But as it is certain that no such splendid Ethiopick Embassy ever came to Rome so it is as certain that it was never so much as thought of in Habassia on the contrary Zera Jacob when he was solicited by some Jerusalem Monks on this Occasion did absolutely refuse to submit his Church to that of Rome for which denial the Jesuits above 200 years after his death made Sultan Saged his Great Grandson Sultan Saged curseth his Grandfather's Soul for not having submitted himself to the Romish Church and their Convert to curse his Soul to the Pit of Hell saying A curse on King Zera Jacob who was the cause of our not being at this time in the Portuguese or Roman Faith for which he is now tormented in Hell Now though this Convert had been never so certain of Zera Jacob's being in Hell for having deny'd to submit himself to the Pope yet considering he was his Great Granfather he might very well have spared his Curses such impious Expressions of Zeal for I can call them no other being much fitter for the Mouths of Profligate Algerine Renegadoes with whom they are said to be common than for a Prince who turns from one Sect of Christianity to another Besides Zera Jacob abating him that one thing of his having refused to submit the Ethiopick Church to the Roman was no such Miscreant as to deserve to be thus cursed by his Posterity as appears by a Letter written by him
the Island of Madera after which he went on discovering more and more yearly The Island of Madera first discovered The Pope gives a Title to the Crown of Portugal to all the New Countries they shall discover until they made the Mountains of Leaena which lie 360 Leagues to the Southward of Ganaria The Infante to encourage the Portugueses to go on with the Discoveries he had so happily begun obtained a Bull from Pope Martin the Vth and which was afterwards confirmed by divers other Popes whereby he gave to the Crown of Portugal a Title to all the Countries that should be discovered by its Subjects from the Promontory of Ganaria to the farthest Indies But notwithstanding this Grant The Discoveries were intermitted and revived again by Alphonso V. after the Infante's Death these Discoveries were for some years at a stand until they were renewed again by Alphonso the Vth whose Captains sailed first beyond the Mountain of Leaena as far as Caboverde and afterwards advanced as far as the Promontory of St. Catherin which is two degrees and an half to the South of the Equator John II. who succeeded Alphonso set his heart extreamly on carrying on those Discoveries and having got some Eminent Mathematicians about him he commanded them to consult together to see whether they could invent any thing that might be of use in long Voyages the most eminent of them were Rodrigo and Josephe his two Physicians and one Martin Bohemo The Astrolabe and Tables of Declination were found out by the Portugues At the River Zaires in the Kingdom of Congo the Portugurses first heard of the Habassins who had been Scholar to Johannes Monteregius These Learned Men after divers Conferences invented the Astrolabe and the Tables of Declination With the help of this Instrument one Canus a famous Sea-Commander carried on the Discoveries as far as the River Zaires in the Kingdom of Congo This River is said to rise in the same Mountains with the Nile and in the Winter to run into the Sea with that violence as to make the Water fresh for 80 miles Here it was the Portugueses first heard of the Habassins and of their being Christians of whom when King John came to be informed he resolved to send some by the way of Egypt to try to get into that Countrey the first that were sent being ignorant of the Arabick Tongue were quickly discouraged who having visited Jerusalem returned home without doing any thing Only to excuse themselves they raised Stories that were enough to have daunted others from attempting that Voyage a second time But the King understanding what it was that had made his first Attempt miscarry and having found two men who were both great Masters of the Arabick Tongue whose names were Petro Cavilham Cavilham and Payo who both understood Arabick are sent by the way of Memphis to find out Habassia and Alphonso Payo he sent them on the same Errand with a strict charge not to come back without an Account of the Scituation and State of the Habassin Empire and Religion promising them great Rewards if they did it effectually They went first to Alexandria and from thence to Memphis and from thence to Medena where being informed of the Indies being on the left hand and Habassia on the right they agreed to part there and having cast lots it fell to Payo's share to go to Habassia and to Cavilham to go to the Indies having appointed to meet at Memphis after they had made all the Discoveries they were able in their several Provinces Payo whose Province was Habassia died by the way before he got thither Cavilham Payo dying by the way goes first to the Indies then to the Southern Coast of Africk and at last enters into Habassia but Cavilham had better luck and arrived safe in the Indies where having observed all the Chief Ports and Commodities of those Countries he made Maps of the one and set down an exact Account of the other which were afterwards of great use to the Portugueses as well as an encouragement to them to go on in their Discoveries After having finished what he had to do in the Indies he failed to the Coast of Africk where having touched at Oramata and the Promontory of Prasus and at Rapti which stands on the Mouth of the River Sengi as also at Melinde Quiloa and Cephala he was there certainly informed by the Merchants and Mariners that there was a passage to the Indies in the Latitude where the Cape of Good Hope was since discovered to be Cavilham being overjoy'd at this Intelligence made all the haste he could to Memphis where being arrived he met with the bad news of Payo's Death and tho he was willing to have returned to Portugal with the Intelligence he had got yet remembring how much the King's heart was set on the discovery of Habassia of which he was able to give him little or no Account he resolved to take a Journey thither which he did having first sent the King in writing an exact Information of all the Discoveries he had made in the Indies and on the Coast of Africk by some Merchants that traded from Memphis to Lisbon In the Year 1490. Cavilham enters into Habassia and was kindly entertained by the King whose Name was Alexander Cavilham first entred into Habassia of which at that time one Escander or Alexander was Emperor who being satisfi'd of the truth of what Cavilham had told him of his having been sent to him by the King of Portugal and of the Greatness of that King he entertained him civilly and was preparing to have sent an Ambassador along with him to Portugal but was prevented from doing it by Death But Nahod who succeeded Alexander He was detained as a Spy by King Nahod was so far from executing what his Father had designed that he would neither send himself nor suffer Cavilham to return home whom he looked upon and treated as a Spy He sends an account of the Country to Portugai by an Habassin Monk Cavilham finding that there was no hopes of his ever getting out of Ethiopia persuaded an Habassin Monk who was going to Jerusalem to take a Journey to Lisbon by whom he sent the King a full Information of the State of the Habassin Church and Empire which coming safe to the King's hand gave him abundant Satisfaction Nahod having reigned 13 Years was succeeded by his Son Lebna Danguil or David who being a Child at his Father's Death the Empire during his Minority was managed by his Grand-mother Helena who had been Wife to the Emperor Beda Mariam and who for her admirable Wisdom and Learning was highly esteemed by all sorts of People She had a great Dowry in the Kingdom of Goiam where she built the most stately Church that had ever been seen in Ethiopia This King had three Names his Baptismal Name was Lebna Danguil his second Name which he took when he assumed the
Furthermore If you shall think fit to marry either your Daughters to our Sons or your Sons with our Daughters it will be extreamly acceptable to us She desires a Daughter of Portugal for her Black Prince and will be much for both our Advantages by laying a foundation of a Brotherly Alliance betwixt us Which Marriages we are and shall always be ready to enter into with you What remains is That the Health and Grace of our Redeemer Christ Jesus and of our Holy Lady the Virgin Mary may extend themselves to you your Sons and Daughters and your whole Family Amen We do furthermore certify you That in case you and we join our Forces we shall with God's assistance be strong enough to destroy the Enemies of our Holy Faith for at Sea where by reason of our Empire 's lying so much within Land we are not able to do any thing You praised be God are the most powerful of all Jesus Christ being your Helper for in truth the things done by you in the Indies are miraculous and more than humane If you will set out a Fleet of a 1000 Ships we will take care to furnish them with all Necessaries Upon the Emperor of Habassin's having made this glorious Proposition to him King Emanuel resolved to send a splendid Embassy to his Court named Don Edward Calvam who had been Secretary of State to two Kings and Ambassador at the Courts of Vienna France and Rome and one Rodriguez de Lima and Francis Alverez one of his Chaplains in Ordinary to go Ambassadors sending rich Presents by them both to the Emperor and his Grandmother These Ambassadors with Matthew in their Company went to Goa on the Fleet that carried the Viceroy Lopez Suares by whom they were sent in the Year 1520. with a strong Convoy to Arkiko a Port in the Red-Sea belonging at that time to the Habassins Galvam who was the first in Commission dying by the way in the Island of Camara was succeeded by Lima who having made but a short stay at Arkiko begun his Journey towards the Habassin Court where when he arrived he was received by the Emperor with extraordinary joy and kindness Matthew who died in the way betwixt Arkiko and the Court having been splendidly interr'd by the Ambassadors in the Monastry of Bisoym The Ambassadors who were to have returned to the Indies by the same Fleet they came upon having brought their Negotiation to a speedy issue made what haste they could back to Arkiko where to their great mortification they found the Fleet they were to have embarked upon gone the Moncons or Trade-Winds which in those Seas blow six Months from one Point and six months from the opposite not permitting them to wait any longer for them And to encrease the mortification of this Disappointment they met with Letters which had been left for them by the Admiral that advised them of the Death of King Emanuel the greatest and most fortunate Prince that ever wore the Crown of Portugal The Ambassadors not knowing how long it might be before they should have a Fleet to carry them to Goa and being certain that by reason of the Moncon it must be at least six months before one could possibly come to them they returned to the Court again where they remained four years before any opportunity for Goa offered it self But at the end of four years they embarked upon a Fleet at Arkiko sent on purpose to fetch them carrying an Habassin Ambassador home with them with Letters to the King of Portugal and the Pope The Ambassadors did not arrive at Lisbon before the Year 1527. where the Habassin Ambassador whose name was Zaga Zabo was received with all the marks of friendship and kindness but whatever was the cause of it he was to his great sorrow detained above 10 years in that Court He hath given the World a large Account of the Faith and Customs of the Habassins which though false in abundance of Particulars I shall set down at length having first translated the Habassin Emperor's Letters to the Pope and the King of Portugal The Letters of the most Serene David Emperor of Ethiopia to Emanuel King of Portugal writ in the Year 1521. In the name of God the Father as it was always and who has no beginning In the name of God the only Son who was like unto him before the light of the Stars was seen and before he laid the foundations of the Sea but who in time was conceived in the Womb of a Virgin without Human Seed and without Marriage for after this manner was the knowledge of his Office In the name of the Comforter the Spirit of Holiness who knoweth all Secrets that are or ever were and all the height of Heaven which is sustained and upheld without Pillars and who enlarged the Earth which before was not known nor created from the East to the West and from the South to the North neither are they First and Second but a Trinity join'd in One Eternal Creator and One Council and One Word thorow all Ages Amen THESE Letters are sent by Mani Tinghil that is the Frankincense of the Virgin which was the name that was given me at my Baptism but the name I assumed when I took the Government upon me is David the Beloved of God the Pillar of the Faith of the Race of Judah the Son of David the Son of Solomon the Son of the Pillar of Sion the Son of the Seed of Jacob the Son of the Hand of Mary the Son of Nau by the Flesh Emperor of the Great and High Ethiopia and of Mighty Kingdoms and Provinces King of Xoa and Affate and of Fatigar and of Angote and Bara and of Baaligaura and of Adea and of Vangue and of Goiam where the Nile riseth and of Damarua and of Vaquem Edri Ambea Vagni Tigri Mahon and Sabaym where Queen Saba lived and of Barnagaes and Lord of all the Countries as far as Nubia on the Confines of Egypt These Letters are addressed to the most Potent and Excellent King Emanuel who liveth in the love of God and who continues stedfast in the Catholick Faith the Son of the Apostles Peter and Paul King of Portugal and Algarves the Friend of Christians the Enemy Judge and Conqueror of the Mahometans and Heathens of Africk and Guinea from the Promontory and Island of the Moon to the Red-Sea of Arabia Persia and Ormus and of the whole Indies and of all the Provinces Islands and Lands belonging to them the Destroyer of the Mahometans and of all the mighty Heathens the Lord of Towers and of High Castles and Walls the Propagator of the Faith of Jesus Christ Peace be with you King Emanuel who relying uton God's Assistance do slaughter the Mahometans and with your Fleet and Armies every where drive the Infidels out as Dogs Peace be with the Queen your Wife the Friend of Jesus Christ and the Servant of the Virgin Mary the Mother of the Saviour
with one that had ever heard of them before The Observances prescribed in those Books are as followeth 1. That we are to fast upon all Wednesdays in memory of its having been decreed by the Jewish Council upon that day That Christ should be put to death We are commanded likewise to fast upon all Fridays because Christ was crucify'd and died for our Sins on that day upon which two days we are commanded to eat nothing till Sun-set During the 40 days of Lent we are commanded to fast with Bread and Water and to be employed seven hours in the day in Divine Service by the same Edicts we are commanded to Administer the Sacraments in the Evenings of Wednesdays and Fridays because our Saviour expired at that time on the Cross We are furthermore commanded to assemble together unanimously on the Lord's Day in the Church three hours after Sun-rising to read and hear the Books of the Prophets and afterwards to preach the Gospel and Administer the Sacrament they have furthermore appointed Nine days to be observed as Festivities in honour of Christ to wit the Annunciation the Nativity the Circumcision the Purification or Day of Candles of Baptism of Transfiguration Palm-Sunday until the Octaves of Good-Friday which are twelve days of the Ascension and Pentecost with their Festivities according to these Books We are without exception to eat Flesh every day from Easter to Pentecost neither are we bound to fast till after the Octaves of Pentecost which is observed for the greater honour and veneration of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ they command us likewise to celebrate the Days of the Death and Assumption of the Virgin Mary with great honour But besides the Precepts of the Apostles a certain Precious John whose name was Zara Jacob ordained 33 days in every year to be kept in honour of the said Blessed Virgin and a day in every Month in honour of Christ's Nativity which is always the 25th of the Month and a day likewise in every Month to be observed in honour of St. Michael Furthermore in obedience to the said Synod of the Apostles we do celebrate the day of St. Stephen and other Martyrs and are bound by the Institution of the Apostles to observe two days to wit the Sabbath and Lord's-Day on which it is not lawful for us to do any work no not the least on the Sabbath-Day because God after he had finished the Creation of the World rested thereon Which Day as God would have it called the Holy of Holies so the not celebrating thereof with great honour and devotion seems to be plainly contrary to God's Will and Precept who will suffer Heaven and Earth to pass away sooner than his Word and that especially since Christ came not to dissolve the Law but to fulfil it It is not therefore in imitation of the Jews but in obedience to Christ and his holy Apostles that we observe that Day the favour that was shewed herein to the Jews being transferred to us Christians so that excepting Lent we eat Flesh every Saturday in the Year but in the Kingdoms of Barnagaus Tigre and Mahon the Christians according to ancient custome do eat Flesh on all Saturdays and Sundays even in Lent We do observe the Lord's-Day after the manner of all other Christians in memory of Christ's Resurrection But as we are sensible that we have the observation of the Sabbath-Day from the Books of the Law and not from those of the Gospel A Falsehood so we are not ignorant that the Gospel is the end of the Law and the Prophets On those forementioned Days we believe the Souls of the Just departed this Life not to be tormented in Purgatory which ease will be granted by God to them upon those two most holy Days until the term of their suffering for their Sins is expired and they are entirely delivered to the shortning and mitigating of which Torments we believe the Alms that are given for the relief of the Souls in Purgatory do contribute much towards the remission of which Souls the Patriarch grants no Indulgences The Abuna never grants any Indulgences which we believe belongs to God only and that he only constitutes the time of their punishment neither does the Patriarch grant Indulgences on any occasion The Gospel obligeth us to observe only the Six Precepts which Christ with his own mouth has explained as follows I was hungry and you gave me meat I was thirsty and you gave me drink I was a stranger and you entertained me naked and you covered me sick and you visited me in prison and you came unto me which are all words that will be spoke by Christ at the Day of Judgment For the Law as St. Paul says sheweth us our sins which Law without Christ The Habassins believe Original Sin none is able to keep Paul witnesseth likewise that we are all born in sin by reason of the Transgression and Curse of our Mother Eve Paul saith furthermore that we died thorough Adam and do live thorough Christ who of his infinite mercy gave us these Six Precepts that when he comes in Majesty to judge the Quick and Dead we may be saved With which Words and Precepts he will on the Tremendous Day of Judgment allot everlasting Glory to the Righteous and to the Wicked Fire and Everlasting Damnation We do reckon only five mortal Sins as they call them which are gathered out of the last Chapter of the Revelations where it is said Without are dogs and witches and unclean persons and murtherers and idolaters and every one who loveth and maketh a lye It is constituted by the holy Apostles Clerks may marry in the Book of Synods that it is lawful for Clerks to marry and that even after they have some knowledge of Divine Matters who after they are married are received into the Order of Presbyter to which none are admitted before they are 30 years of Age neither are Bastards ever admitted to it Holy Orders are conferred by none but the Patriarch and after the death of their first Wives neither Bishops nor Presbyters are permitted to marry a second time unless the Patriarch shall think fit to dispence with them which he does sometimes to eminent Persons and when it is for the Publick good Neither are they suffered to keep Concubines unless they do voluntarily give over officiating after which they must no more meddle with holy things and this is so strictly observed that the Presbyters who marry a second time must not presume so much as to take a consecrated Candle in their hands and if any Bishop or Clerk is found to have had a Bastard he is deprived of his Orders and all his Ecclesiastical Benefices and his Goods if he dies without Children lawfully begotten do all go to Precious John and not to the Patriarch That it is lawful for Presbyters to have Wives we have received from St. Paul who would rather have both Clergy and Laity
Bishopricks nor any other Ecclesiastical Benefices which are all in the Gift of Precious John who bestows them as he thinks good When the Patriarch whose Revenues are very great dieth the Emperor is his sole Heir It is furthermore the business of the Patriarch to excommunicate all such as are obstinate to which Censures there is so great a Respect paid that all who slight them are condemned for their whole life to a strict and perpetual Fast He grants no Indulgences neither are the Sacraments of the Church denied to any Sinners but Murtherers The Patriarch in our Tongue is called Abuna only he who at present is in possession of that Dignity is called by his Baptismal Name which is Mark he is an Hundred Years of Age and upward With us the Year begins on the First day of September which falls always on the Vigil of John the Baptist the other Holidays as the Nativity Easter c. are observed at the same time as they are in the Roman Church The Gospel and Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ was first preached among us by Philip the Apostle If you would know the name of our Emperor it is always Precious John and not Presbyter John as it is here falsly reported to be in our Language It is John Belul and in the Chalde John Encoo or Precious or High John Neither is he ever called as Matthew falsly reported Emperor of the Habassins but of the Ethiopians for he being an Armenian did not thoroughly understand our Affairs and least of all those relating to our Faith which made him report several things to the wise King Emanuel of happy Memory that were false which was not done by him with an intention to deceive for he was an honest Man but because he was not well Instructed in the Matters of our Religion The Empire does not of right descend to the Eldest Son but to him on whom the Emperor is pleased to bestow it So the present Emperor was the third Brother and got the Crown by a Pious piece of Reverence For the last Emperor having when he was upon his Death-Bed commanded all his Sons to sit down by him on Royal Thrones they all did so except my Master who said Far be it from me to sit in the Chair of my Lord for which act of Piety his Father bestowed the Empire upon him His Name is David and his Dominions of Christians and Heathens are very large in which there are divers Kings Princes Earls Barons and Nobles who are all extreamly submissive to his commands He hath no other than Foreign Coin within his Territories Gold and Silver being paid and received among us by Weight We have a great many Cities and Towns tho not built as they are here in Portugal Precious John keeps his Court perpetually in the Camp which he does on purpose to accustom the Nobility to the Hardships and Exercises of War Neither is it to be omitted that we are Besieged on all Sides by the Enemies of our Faith with whom we have frequent Battels but are always Victorious which Victories we Attribute to the Divine Assistance A Written Law is not in use among us neither are the Complaints of Litigants Transacted by Papers but by word of Mouth which makes that Law-Suits are not Protracted by the Avarice of the Judges and Advocates to any great length I am to tell you likewise that Matthew was not sent by our Emperor David to the Invincible and Powerful King Emanuel of happy Memory but by Queen Helena who was Dowager to the Emperor The Hand of Mary who was Grandfather to David and who David being under Age at that time was Regent of Ethiopia She was undoubtedly a most Wise and Religious Princess and was Mistress of so much Learning that she Composed two Books in the Chaldee Tongue The Title of the first was Euzara Clebaa that is to say Praise the Lord with Organs in which she discoursed Learnedly concerning the Trinity and the Virginity of the Blessed Virgin The Second is called Chedale Câ—ay that is the Beam of the Sun in which she has divers accurate Discourses concerning the Law of God All these things relating to the Faith Religion and State of our Countrey I Zaga Zabo that is the Grace of the Father a Bishop Presbyter and Bagama Raz that is to say a Soldier and Viceroy of the Province of Bagana could not deny to Thee Damianus my dearest Son in Christ nor indeed to any one that should have desired it of me And that for two Reasons 1. Because I was commanded by the Most Potent Lord Precious John Emperor of Ethiopia not to conceal any thing relating to our Faith and Countrey from such as should desire to have an account thereof but to Communicate the whole truth of all such matters to them both by Writing and word of Mouth 2. Because I judged it convenient to acquaint this part of the World with our Manners Rites and Institutions and that the rather because I had neither said nor writ any thing thereof before not that I grudged my labour but because no Christian Soul since I came into Portugal had ever desired me to do it which is a thing I cannot wonder at enough I do therefore knowing you to be extreamly curious to be acquainted with our Affairs beseech you by the Wounds and Cross of Christ to Translate this Confession of Faith and Religion into the Latin Tongue that so the Integrity of our Manners and Rites may be known to all European Christians and if you should at any time happen to go to Rome I must intreat you to Salute the Pope Cardinals Patriarchs Archbishops Bishops and all the other Worshippers of Christ in my Name with the Kiss of Peace And to desire the Pope to send Francis Alvarez back to me with an Answer to the Letters of my Most Potent Lord the Emperor of Ethiopia that so I may at last return to my own Country and once more see my own House having been detained here too long already and that before I am arrested by Death which by reason of my great Age I must be in a short time I may carry back an Answer to my Master and having finished my Embassy may Dedicate the remainder of my Days to God and Divine Matters And in case this Treatise should not be so accurately Composed as it ought to be I must beseech you to Correct it and Adapt it to the Latin Phrase but so as not to alter the sense Finally I must intreat you in the Translation thereof to consult the Old and New Testaments that you may the better understand out of what Books I have taken my Quotations and may be able to translate them the more faithfully And in case matters should not be so curiously handled therein as to satisfy Critical Readers the fault thereof must be imputed to my want of Chaldee Books of which I have not one by me those I brought from home with me having been
with there not having been one Portuguese Killed or Wounded in the whole Action that looking upon it as a Miracle he immediately turned Christian and thereupon had the Government of the Mountain conferred upon him by Gama being ordered to send word to the Emperor of the Passes being opened for him and his Army There were 300 Mules and 800 good Horses taken all which Gama ordered to be brought after him to the Camp whither he with the greatest part of his Men Rode Post fearing lest he might have been intercepted by Granhe Neither was Granhe Idle all this Winter who having observed that his Army besides that it would require time to bring them to endure the Thunder of Cannon were strangely cowed by their having been Beat so often by a handful of Portugueses writ to the Bashaw of Zebid a Province in Arabia for some Turkish Troops and a Train of Artillery to enable him to deal with the Portugueses representing the driving of them out of Ethiopia as one of the best Services that could be done the Grand Seignior The Bashaw having 3000 Turks all Veteran Soldiers for the Guard of the Red-Sea sent him 600 some say 900 of them with several Peices of Ordnance and besides these he is said to have received considerable Supplies from some of his other Friends in Arabia These Foreign Troops came up to Granhe the very night that Gama returned to the Camp Granhe being reinforced by a Body of Turks and a Train of Artillery forceth Gama to come to a Battel with which Auxiliaries he instantly advanced towards the Portugueses and Encamped so near them as to make them both hear and feel that he had now got Cannon as well as they Upon this new scene of Affairs Gama called a Council of War to consult what was fit to be done and it being agreed on all hands That there was now no possibility of Retreating no nor of waiting where they were till the Emperor came up with them they had therefore nothing to think of but of Fighting it out so as either to Conquer or to sell their lives dear only that they should do all that they were able to avoid coming to Battel before the Mules and Horses that had been taken lately by Gama arrived in the Camp But Granhe having now got men that were not afraid to go upon the mouth of a Cannon advanced next day within Musket-shot of the Portugueses resolving if they did not come out to Fight to storm their Camp which he reckoned himself strong enough to do Gama perceiving their design Sally'd out to demolish a Mount Granhe was raising to plant his Cannon upon and which would have commanded his whole Camp in which Sally he made the Turks give ground until over-powered by Number he was forced to retreat having lost some Officers and several of his Soldiers in the Action Gama made several other brisk Sallies but was still repulsed with loss Gama routed and taken Prisoner and in one of them was himself Wounded When night came on the Empressand all the Officers were at Gama to retire to the Mountains it not being possible for them to hold out another day against so great and well-disciplin'd an Army Gama was put into such a rage by the motion that he drew his Sword and brandishing it cri'd out They that will steal away by night may do it but for my own part I am resolved to stay and fight the Infidels and if his Countreymen would be so base as to desert him and leave him alone to defend the Camp he could not hinder them but out of it he was resolved not to stir unless it was to Fight the Enemy The Officers finding there was no persuading of Gama to go with them laid violent hands on him and having set him upon a Mule carried him with them as a Prisoner They were not well got out of their Camp with Gama the Empress and Patriarch having departed some time before when the Turks broke into it where finding 40 Portugueses who by reason of their Wounds had been left behind they knocked them all on the head and understanding that Gama could not be got far a Body of Turks was ordered immediately to pursue him who having before Sun-rising got between him and the Mountains by noon they found them lying under a Tree quite spent with the loss of Blood and the Fatigue of the Battel and having mounted him on a Horse they carried him to Granhe The Portuguese Historians as if they reckoned that to have neither Fear nor Wit were the true Character of a Hero do according to their custom on this occasion sacrifice Gama 's discretion to the Reputation of his Courage Who they say upon Granhe's asking him How he would have treated him had the Fortune of War made him his Prisoner made answer That he would have cut off his Head and have sent it as a Present to the Emperor The foolish Bravery of which Answer was so far from obliging Granhe to give him his Life that he gave him Lex talionis having after he had treated him barbarously for a day or two Gama beheaded order'd his Head to be chopped off in his presence at which the Turks who design'd to have made a Present of him to their Bassa are said to have been very angry A Portuguese who was a Prisoner and present when Gama was murthered having afterwards made his escape gave an ample account of all the Particulars of Gama's carriage at his death and among other things affirmed that he saw with his own eyes a great fountain of most delicate water gush out of the earth Gama 's Head fell upon when it was chopped off This Miracle was the easier swallowed it being no more than what the Heads of all Legendary Saints have done who have happened to be beheaded This is the substance of the so much celebrated Expedition of Don Christopher Da Gama which as I have related it is I doubt big enough for the belief of any indifferent person but is much too great for that of the most credulous if impartial as it is magnified by his Countreymen to whose Romantick way of writing their Lives the Memory of their Heroes of which Race few Kingdoms of its bigness have produced either more or greater than Portugal is little beholden Which common Fault in the Spanish and Portuguese Writers I do not in the least attribute to any defect of Natural Judgment in them that being a talent that few Nations excel them in but purely to their reading Romances so much when they are young and especially Ecclesiastical ones that is the Lives and Legends of their Saints the Writers whereof instead of troubling themselves to collect Informations do shut themselves up in a Cell and say every thing of their Hero that they think will make for his Honour After this Rout the Empress and Patriarch retreated to the strong Mountain Gama had made himself Master of a little before
defend it with the last drop of his blood This Proclamation brought the whole Countrey in to Julius out of which having formed a numerous Croisade he marched directly towards the Nile with an intention to have fallen first upon Raz Cella the great Champion of Popery He Marcheth with a great Croisade against the Emperor but happening in his March to come near the place where the Abuna resided he went to wait on him to have his Blessing the Abuna who was glad to see him was not satisfied with giving him a Thousand Blessings for being so valiant for the truth but though he was above a Hundred Years of Age he would go in person in the Croisade The Abuna goes against him in person telling Julius That as he should partake of the benefits of that holy War if it had success so he was resolved likewise to partake of its dangers And whereas Julius was for beginning with Raz Cella the Abuna diverted him from it by telling him That since he was at the head of so great and zealous an Army he ought not to spend its first heats which were always the strongest in lopping off Branches but in striking at the Root which being once destroyed the Branches would wither of themselves He likewise encouraged the Soldiers by telling them That they fought for the best Cause in the world that is the true Religion which the Emperor and his Brother if let alone would certainly destroy assuring them That whosoever was slain in this holy War would die a Martyr and go straight to Heaven thundering out his Excommunications at the same time against the Emperor and his Brother and all that adhered to them as Apostates from the Faith The Emperor hearing that Julius was Marching towards him with a numerous and Zealous Croisade sent to his Brother to make all the haste he could to come and join him with his Army but fearing lest Julius who made long Marches might be up with him before his Brother could join him He incamped his Army so that the Enemy's Horse in which their main strength consisted if they should attack him in his Camp would be of little use to them When the Armies were within sight of one another the Emperor sent his Daughter who was Wife to Julius to try if she could persuade her Husband to lay down his Arms promising him not only a pardon for what he had done but every thing that a subject could reasonably desire of his Prince And in case she should not be able to bring him to submit she was then to try if she could obtain a Cessation of Arms of him for a few days but Julius either reckoning himself secure of a Victory that would have the Crown for its reward or being fearful to take the Emperor's word after he had provoked him so much would hear of nothing but of Fighting saying He would either die a Martyr for his Religion or by Conquering its Enemies secure it from being ever destroy'd And that he might lose no time He fights the Emperor's Army and is killed he attacked the Emperor's Camp before his Princess was well got back to her Father and having put himself at the head of a brisk body of men be advanced towards his out-guards who though they did not come in to him would not strike a stroke telling their Officers flatly That they would never draw their Swords against a man who was fighting in Defence of their Religion Julius observing this asked aloud all the way he went where the Emperor was that was resolved to destroy the Religion of their Forefathers which he was there with his Sword in his hand ready to defend against him and all Mankind with which as if it had been the word of the Imperialists he advanced within sight of the Royal Tent without having met with the least opposition until a body of Tigrians who were posted not far from it put a full stop to his Career thorough whom as he was hacking his way he was knocked off his Horse with the blow of a stone under the left Eye and as he lay on the ground had his head presently chopped off which was carried to the Emperor by a private Sentinel The Body that advanced with Julius having as it were lost their Soul in their Commander was presently hewed all in pieces and the Tigrians following their blow The Croisaide is totally defeated and the old Abuna slain and the other Imperialists who would not strike a stroke before joining with them now that Julius was slain they put the whole Croisade immediately to the rout every man of them so soon as they heard of their General 's being killed throwing down their Arms and crying out for Quarter The old Abuna was stunned so with this sudden turn of things that he was not able to stir from the place where he had posted himself but though several of the Imperialists knowing him to be the Abuna had out of Reverence to his character and great Age passed by him without offering him any violence yet a true Roman Catholick say the Jesuits whose name was Za Michael having found him out gave him such a blow in the neck with his Lance that he laid his head at his foot with whose and Julius's death this great Croisade vanished having had no other effect than to enrage the Emperor more than he was before against the Alexandrians The Emperor upon this Victory prohibits his Subjects to observe Saturday and their Religion who immediately upon this Victory set forth a Proclamation prohibiting all his Subjects upon severe penalties to observe Saturday any longer This Impious Proclamation as the Habassins reckoned it produced a bitter Libel directed by way of a Letter to the Emperor wherein he was told That his Subjects were all amazed at his wickedness in commanding the violation of that Sacred day advising him not to be rid by the Jesuits A severe Libel comes out against the Emperor who were an Ignorant little sort of people and who being of the race of Pontius Pilate and Uncircumcised did teach that there are Two Natures in Christ Adding That they were men swallowed up in the Gulph of their own Fopperies and did run headlong like an unbridled Horse without looking before them and did well deserve to have a Milstone tied about their Necks and to be thrown into the Sea and to be made partakers of the Curse that befel Pope Leo for having deni'd the Unity of Christ's Nature and after a great huddle of Texts of Scripture in favour of their Doctrines it at last admonisheth the Emperor that in case he was not weary of his Crown and the high Dignity he had received from the Popes of Egypt who wore the holy and new Ephod and bore the badge of the Cross to give over trying such new Experiments concluding thus Ah! We do here send this precious stone which enlightens the eyes of the blind May it be for an offering
but may the Swine never see it that so they may not trample it under their unclean feet for it is written You shall not throw Jewels before Swine This Libel galled the Emperor so terribly that to be revenged on its Authors he published a Second Proclamation by which he commanded all his Subjects to work on Saturdays being to pay a Crown for the first fault The Emperor by a Second Proclamation commands all his Subjects to work upon Saturdays and to forfeit their whole Estate for the second to which penalty the Offenders were to continue liable Seven Years after the fault was committed by which time the Fathers hoped that Popery might have got strength enough in Ethiopia to execute this Law as they should see occasion being sensible that there would be few or none of any Estate that would not be under its lash This rigorous Proclamation being sent to Joanel the Viceroy of Begameder who waited for such an opportunity to raise the people against the Emperor to publish he commanded it to be done presently with great Solemnity taking care at the same time to declare to all the World that it was what he abominated from his Soul Neither was Joanel deceived in his thoughts of the effects of this Proclamation for the people no sooner heard of the Emperor's having commanded them under severe Penalties for to work upon Saturdays than they began to rail at him as one who had no Religion and who for that and other reasons was become so intolerable to his Subjects that they must be Beasts of Burden to endure him any longer and hearing that Joanel had declared himself openly in all Companies against what the Emperor had commanded A Rebellion breaks out upon it they flocked to him from all Quarters beseeching him as he had any love for God and his Countrey not to suffer their Religion to be thus trampled on promising to die by his side in the defence of it Joanel having foreseen what the Emperor by his Zeal for Popery would quickly bring things to had obtained a promise of considerable Succours from the Gauls whenever he should take the Field upon the strength of which and the fury the Emperor's late Proclamation had put the whole Empire into he formed a great Army out of the people that flocked in to him assuring them now he had taken up Arms that he would never lay them down until he had secured their Religion to them When the news of this second Croisade came to Court great numbers of the first Quality of both Sexes set upon the Emperor again An address is made to the Emperor not to trouble his people with Popery beseeching him as he loved himself and his Empire to give over all thoughts of introducing Popery into a Countrey that of all things in the world could not endure it The Emperor though much troubled to find that Joanel and his Cause had so many friends in his Court yet not being willing to do any thing that might intimmedate his Converts The Addressers are punished he told the Grandees that had addressed to him with an angry countenance That it was his Subjects duty to obey and not to dispute his Commands and that he would teach them better manners than to fly thus in their Prince's face when he did any thing that displeased them and hoping to have terrifi'd the Grandees from troubling him with any more Addresses he commanded one of the most forward Addressers to be put to death banishing another of them for his life to the Kingdom of Narea which cruelty was so far from having the effect that was expected from it that it did but Exasperate peoples spirits and put them into a greater rage against Popery than they were in before The Emperor though he could not but see the storm thicken upon him on all sides yet was so far from seeking to divert it by any Compliances that having called a full Assembly of the Grandees Monks and Military Officers together in the great Hall of the Palace he made the following Speech to them YOU Ris against the Emperor Jacob and having Deposed him for several Misdemeanors The Emperor's Speech thereupon you advanced my Cousin Za Danguil to the Throne whom for having forsaken your Religion and embraced that of the Portugueses you afterwards Murthered and after having conferred the Crown upon me you made Jacob King a Second time but though you intended to have Deposed me God was pleased to give me Victory from that day to this I have done wrong to no body but on the contrary have pardoned great numbers having been prodigal of my favours to a fault but all this has not been sufficient to keep you from Rebelling upon a pretence that I am endeavouring to destroy your Religion when in truth I do only seek to reform it for as I do profess with you That our Lord Christ is true God and true Man so I do moreover affirm That as he cannot be perfect God without having the Nature of God so neither can he be perfect Man without a Human Nature now since it is evident by the light of reason That the Divine and Human Nature are really distinguished it must follow therefore that there are two Natures in Christ and since there can be no Confusion in the Godhead those two Natures must necessarily be united in one and the same Person of the Eternal Word so that what I am doing is not to forsake the Faith but to profess it in truth And I do further affirm That the Divine Nature is Superior to the Human. It is true I have forbid you to observe Saturday any longer and it is an amazing thing that you who value your selves upon being Christians should be for keeping the Sabbath of the Jews what is this but as the Prophet Elias said to go halting c. As this is my Faith so I do not follow it because it is the Faith of the Portugueses or of the Roman Church but because it is the Faith that was established by Six hundred Fathers in the Council of Calcedon which Condemn'd Dioscorus and Eutyches and for being a truth founded on the Scriptures and derived from the Apostles who were the Teachers of the World Undeceive your selves therefore for for this Faith I am ready to lay down my life if there should be occasion though I must tell you at the same time it shall cost them their Lives first that shall dare to contradict me therein How seasonable a Speech of this strain was in which Father Peter who was now become the first Minister had a hand undoubtedly for one in the Emperor's Circumstances let the world judge The Emperor having received an insolent Letter from Joanel wherein he insisted upon having the Jesuits all turned out of Ethiopia and his being declared Viceroy of Begameder for his Life was so incensed that he marched against him in Person but Joanel having advice thereof The Emperor
sends an Army against the Rebels and routs them and knowing himself not to be strong enough to deal with him he Retreated to the Mountains where his Army's Zeal being allayed by the want of Provisions it moulder'd to nothing in a short time so that he was obliged with a small Party to take fanctuary among the Gauls who having been hired to it by the Emperor put him to death The Emperor being returned to Doncaz where he intended to spend the Winter was invited by the Fathers to come and visit the new Church they had built at Gorgora which he did with great Devotion putting his Shoes off when he entered into it but the late Proclamation had bred too much ill blood in Ethiopia for to let it be long quiet The Damotes a People inhabiting the banks of Nile being thrown into such a rage by Raz Cella their Viceroy's rigorous Execution thereof that they all flew to their Arms as one Man being likewise instigated so to do by great droves of Hermits who being alarmed by the late Proclamation flocked to them from all parts of the Desarts railing all the way they came at the Emperor and his Brother as Apostates and at the Jesuits as the Authors of all their troubles several of them running over the Countrey as men distracted and roaring as they went That all People were bound in Conscience to take up Arms against the Emperor and his Brother in defence of their Religion which they seemed to be resolved to destroy The Viceroy hearing of the mad work the Hermits were making among the Damotes writ to some of his Friends in those parts not to suffer themselves and the People to be any longer abused by such a pack of Ignorant and Hypocritical Rascals who taught them nothing but Lies but he could have no other answer from them than That unless he would burn all his Popish Books and deliver up all his Jesuits to them The Damotes take up Arms for their Religion and are routed that they might hang them all upon one great Tree for the mischiefs they had done in Ethiopia they would have nothing more to do with him being all to a man resolved to live and die in the Alexandrian Faith The Viceroy not caring to part with his Books and Jesuâ—â—s so easily advanced towards them with an Army of Seven Thousand well-disciplin'd Men the Damotes were near double the Number having Four hundred Hermits who had devoted their Lives to their Religion well Armed with Targets and Launces this great inequality in numbers did not hinder the Viceroy from offering them Battel so soon as he came up with them which they having accepted of the two Armies quickly came to blows but the Damotes being raw men and not well Armed were at the first onset put to the rout and besides a great slaughter that was made among the Soldiers as they fled towards the Mountains there were One hundred and eighteen of the Monks with their famous Captain Batare found slain upon the spot where the Fight was the Viceroy is said to have lost but One Man in the Action and he too which made the loss the less was a Heathen A Miraculous Evidence say the Jesuits of the Truth of the Roman and of the falshood of the Alexandrian Faith The Emperor when Father Peter Congratulated him upon this Victory told him He had great reason to thank God for it for that had the Damotes gained the least advantage he should have had the whole Empire presently in Arms against him whose Spirits he believed were now pretty well subdued and that after such a blow it would not be soâ—eâ—â—y for the Monks or Hermits to Roar them into any more Rebellions and whereas he had hitherto been with-held by his fear and his Wife 's The Emperor reconciles himself to the Church of Rome which he was very unwilling to have parted withal from Reconciling himself formally to the Church of Rome he told the Father he would delay to do it no longer the Father over-joyed to hear this upon his having first Abjured all the Alexandrian Errors and made a Confession of his whole Life to him gave him Absolution and Reconciled him to the Pope But the Father overcome it is like by the Joy of this Conversion outlived it but a few days his Death was much Lamented by the Emperor and his Brother to whom the Father was become a perfect Oracle in all State no less than Church-matters Presently after Father Peter's death there were Three Letters writ from Ethiopia to the Provincial and Visitor of the Jesuits in the Indies to send them a Patriarch with as many Fathers as they could spare The first was writ by the Emperor to the Provincial the second and third to the Visitor by Father Luis de Azevedo and Father Antony Fernandez The Contents of which Letters being much the same I shall set down that of Father Antony's only which is the shortest of them Father Antony Fernandez Letter to the Father Visitor of the Indies I Write this with the good News of this Kingdom to your Reverence to engage you to order Processions to be made and to have Masses said and the Te Deum sung to return Thanks to God for the favour he has shewed us in the Conversion of this Empire the doing whereof will very much refresh the Fathers and Brethren who labour here with me and will sweeten the great hardships they undergo The Emperor with his whole Court and all the Grandees and Princes Ecclesiastical and Secular of this Empire have abjured their Errors and made a publick Profession of their Obedience to the holy See of Rome The general Administration of all Churches and Parishes being put into my hands I have Established Curates in them all having made such new Laws as were necessary and abolished all the old ones that were contrary to the Roman Church I have had some thoughts of coming to you and have been ready to begin my Journey but have been still hindered by the Glory of God which obligeth me to keep close to the Emperor The thing we stand most in need of here at present is a Patriarch with a good number of Fathers to help us to carry on these good beginnings Your Reverence cannot but be sensible of this our want without my enlarging upon it Our Fathers and Brethren ought to run thorough fire and water Pikes and Swords for to assist this Countrey lest having the promised Land shewed us we may be excluded it thorough our own fault They ought to flock hither with all possible speed for notwithstanding the Heirs apparent of the Empire and all the Princes and Nobles thereof are at present true Catholicks Nevertheless should we happen to be deprived of the Emperor and his Brother Zela Christos by death it is to be feared that the Monks and Habassins might raise seditions to the pulling down of all that we have built and may persuade the people who are more
off saith Father Anthony with the following Noble Fable There was upon a time a very ancient man A Lady is put to death for her Religion who being told that a Child was dead made answer Children are tender Creatures and a small matter carries them off and being told afterwards there was a Young man dead he said Considering the rashness of Youth that was no wonder but when be was told that an Old man was dead he wrung his hands and cried as if the world had been at an end imagining death stood ready to arrest him So saith the Emperor you could see Guergis and his Companions suffer without speaking a word in their behalf but now one of your own Sex is to suffer you are all in an uproar to save her but I will have you all know That this Shoestring of Aba Jacob 's whom Guergis had Murthered for being a Roman Priest is strong enough to hang this Sow and all such as she is Father Anthony who was present at all these Executions has in his Relation of them made so true a remark upon the change Popery had wrought on the Emperor's temper The wonderful change Popery had wrought on the tempers of its Converts and on the practice of the Habassins who seldom or never used to put Grandees and much less Ladies to death for Treason or indeed for any other Crime that I shall set it down in his own words Whosoever saith he shall diligently read the History of Ethiopia and shall observe the want of Vindicative Justice that was therein and the Clemency Seltem Saged had used before with all that had Rebelled against him must of necessity reckon his Punishing of Tecla Guergis so severely to have been one of the greatest Miracles that had happened in many years in Ethiopia For let the Church of Rome be what She will as to her working Miracles that are any ways beneficial to Mankind they must be very unjust to her that deny her the honour of working such Miracles as these in the tempers of her Converts But as we shall see hereafter these Miracles of Cruelty did the Fathers no great kindness in Ethiopia at long run Neither were the Cruelties of an unprovoked Persecution at this time in Ethiopia less wonderful than those of War the inhumanity of the former being such as to overtake those An inhumane persecution is raised against the Alexandrians who for Conscience sake had forsaken all that they had in the world and had Buried themselves in Cases and Dens of the Earth out of which when discovered they were either ferreted to be burnt if they would not turn Roman-Catholicks or smoaked to death in them The memory of which Barbarities is to this day so fresh in the minds of the Habassins that as they do still continue to have a great Veneration for those Caves wherein their Brethren suffered Martyrdom so they cannot hear a Jesuit or a Roman-Catholick so much as mentioned but with horror The Patriarch and Fathers reckoning themselves sure of the Emperor after these miraculous cruelties for which they believed the Alexandrians would never be reconciled to him begun to make bolder steps than they had ventured to make before and so the Patriarch having been informed that an Ancient Nobleman who had been of the Council of State and Chamberlain to the Emperor had some Lands which belonged to the Church in his hands he first admonished him to restore them to the Church immediately which the Nobleman having refused to do the Patriarch seeing him afterwards at Mass The Patriarch Excommunicates a great Man for keeping Church-Lands ordered an Excommunication to be pronounced against him the Nobleman having never dreamt of any such Thunderclap is said to have been so astonished by its Curses and Maledictions That he fell upon the ground as if Datham and Abiram to whom the Excommunication had delivered him had been coming upon him like two furies to carry him quick down into Hell but being come to himself again he beseeched the Emperor and the whole Congregation to intercede with the Patriarch in his behalf promising to restore the Lands to the Church immediately which being done the Patriarch absolved him in forma Ecclesiae striking him with a road all the time the Miserere was Singing At which exercise of Discipline though all the true Romanists say the Jesuits rejoiced they that were Hereticks in their hearts were mad to see themselves subjected to such reproachful punishments In this Year the Foundation of the Patriarichal Church was laid at Dancez the Emperor himself having laid the first stone and promised to build it at his own proper cost and as an Earnest of his Devotion for our Lady to whom it was Dedicated he took a Crown of pure Gold off his Head and gave it to be employ'd in gilding the Seats in our Lady's Chappel it was to have been a large Church with three Naves but Popery did not stay long enough in Ethiopia to see it finished For at the same time that its foundations were laid the Emperor's jealousies of his Brother revived again one Melcha Christos who was his first Cousin having assured both the Emperor and the Prince Raz Cella is accused of plotting with the Portugueses to make himself Emperor that Raz Cella was continually plotting with the Patriarch and the Fathers to bring a Portuguese Army into Ethiopia to make himself Emperor in which charge Melcha Christos was seconded by one Lessana Christos who being an Officer of the Army was secured by Raz Cella so soon as he heard of his being one of his accusers and condemned by him to be put to death immediately as an Apostate to the Alexandrian Faith Lessana to prevent the Execution of this Sentence appealed to the Emperor and fearing lest he might be dispatched out of the way before he could have an answer from Court he broke prison but being taken before he could get to the Emperor he had his head chopped off not for Heresy nor for having accused his General but for having broke Jayl But Raz Cella by stopping of Lessana ' s mouth thus did open a Thousand against him and did Confirm the Emperor and the Prince in their former jealousies it being in every body's mouth One of the chief Witnesses against him is murthered by his order that Raz Cella had murther'd Lessana for no other reason but because he was privy to his plotting secretly with the Patriarch and was ready to have proved it upon him if he had been suffered to go to Court The discovery of this plot gave a fatal blow to Popery in Ethiopia every body but especially the Prince being satisfied that considering how odious Raz Cella had rendered himself to the Habassins it could be nothing but his having received some assurances of a Portuguese Army that could have put such fumes into his head so that after this the Prince never gave over persecuting the Patriarch and Fathers
and as Misfortunes do seldom come single his tears were not well dried up for this loss before he received the bad News of Tecur Egzi the Grandee that was to have gone Ambassador to Portugal being killed by the Galls in an inrode they had made into the Kingdom of Damotes Upon the fall of these Two Pillars of the Roman Church the Alexandrians about the Court grew bolder every day and having observed the Emperor to be Melancholy upon such a run of Losses they all waited upon him in a Body one of them in the Name of all the rest asking him Sir We desire to know how long we are to worry one another thus The poor Peasants that are in Arms have no Quarrel with your Highness but only for forcing them to be of the Roman Religion That Religion may perhaps be true but it is what they do not understand neither will they trouble themselves being well satisfied with their Old Religion to study a New one and so being resolved never to be of any other Faith but that of their Forefathers they have set up an Emperor who has promised to defend them in the Profession of it calling us Turks and Moors for having not only embraced a New Religion our selves but for Persecuting of them because they will not do it The Emperor tho he returned them no answer to these passionate Remonstrances encouraged them by his silence and attention to what they said to ply him daily upon that point desiring him at least to leave his Subjects to their liberty of being of which of the Two Religions they liked best But as when things are tumbling The Patriarch hastens the downfall of Popery by two indiscreet acts every small push hastens their fall so there were Two Actions of the Patriarch's which gave Popery a terrible shake in the tottering condition it was in at Court The first was His having commanded the Corps of an Eminent Monk who had been for several years General of the whole Order of Tecla Haymonot to be taken out of the Grave where it lay Buried in a Church and to be thrown into the open Fields for his having declared at his Death That he died in the Alexandrian and not in the Roman Faith It is not to be imagined say the Jesuits how great a storm this act of Discipline put the whole Empire into it being in every Body's mouth That the Romanists were not satisfied with Persecuting People while they were alive who would not turn to their Religion but did Persecute them beyond the Grave which puts a stop to the Rage of all other Nations and Sects of People by Commanding their Bodies contrary to the Laws of Humanity to be taken out of the Earth and thrown for a Prey to Birds and Wild Beasts The second was the Patriarch having committed a Woman to Prison for being a Witch and notwithstanding upon his having been informed that there was a Law in Ethiopia which prohibited People to believe that there is any such thing as Witches the belief whereof they say is founded upon the Error of the Manichees That there are Two Independent Gods a Good one and a Bad one he commanded her presently to be set at Liberty yet that was not sufficient to stop the Clamour or to keep the Alexandrians from accusing the Portugueses of being Manichees and who in defiance to the ancient Laws of the Empire were endeavouring to bring the belief of Two Eternal and Independent Principles in among them There was another thing happened at this time too which though in it self ridiculous made a great noise and did Popery some disservice A Man who appeared to be Distracted running into the great Hall of the Palace cried out He had a Message from Heaven to deliver to the Emperor the Alexandrians who were believed to have made the Farce having persuaded the Emperor to hear what he had to say he told his Highness That it was now Three days since he was Raised from the Dead and having since been carried up to Paradise was sent by God to deliver the following Message to him Hear O Emperor I have bore with you for some Years expecting that you would have Repented of the great Sin you have been guilty of in forsaking the Religion of your Forefathers during all which time the Blessed Virgin has been on her Knees before her Son to Intercede for you but I am now to tell you That in case you do not Repent of that Sin that God will Punish you with a strange Judgment But notwithstanding the Emperor Commanded the Fellow to be soundly Whipp'd for his News the Alexandrians made great use of what he had said it being reported over the whole Empire That an Angel from Heaven had appeared to the Emperor with a Command to him from God to return to his Old Religion But among other things the Emperor is said to have been displeased with himself for having in the first heats of his new Religion settled so much Land on the Patriarch which he would gladly have had a pretence to have resumed again to settle it upon his Younger Sons but whatever were the cause of the Emperor growing every day less fond of Popery the Alexandrians being at him continually for a Toleration he promised to speak to the Patriarch about it and accordingly having sent for him he told him He opposes a Toleration when proposed to him by the Emperor He had done all that was in his power to have introduced the Roman Faith into his Empire but he was now satisfied that it was not to be done by force it being visible that his People hated it more than ever since he Commanded them to embrace it Besides there was an absolute necessity of his granting them a Toleration since if he did not he would quickly have his whole Empire against him his Soldiers that he made use of against the Peasants being in their hearts no less Alexandrians than the Peasants themselves The Patriarch who was extreamly troubled to hear this from the Emperor told him That his Highness was miserably misled by Evil Counsellors who under pretence of a Toleration sought the utter Extirpation of the Roman Faith But the Emperor urging still That something must be done to satisfy the minds of his Subjects the Patriarch was forc'd to promise the Toleration of all such Ancient Habassin Customs as were not contrary to the Faith but upon condition that such a Toleration should not be Proclaimed because if that were done the Habassins he said would Triumph so upon it as to conclude that the Roman Church was about to make Her Exit out of Ethiopia While Popery was in this declining state Dom Apolinar D' Almeyda the new Bishop of Nice arrived in Ethiopia bringing a Jubilee with him and Letters from the Pope to the Emperor and the Prince which Letters though I have great reason to believe they were writ in Ethiopia in order to rekindle the Emperor's Zeal for
the Emperor's Zeal so for Popery again that the Discourse of a Toleration seemed to be quite laid aside by him The new Viceroy of Gojam Raz Cella having been quickly turned out of that Government was so enraged at this change in the Emperor's mind that he was for deposing him presently as an irreconcileable Enemy to their Religion and for declaring the Prince who was a hearty Friend to it Emperor in his room and being encouraged so to do by the Monks and Alexandrians that were about him The Viceroy of Gojam thereupon proclaims the Prince Emperor he proclaimed the Prince Basilides Emperor of Ethiopia at the head of his Army and having done it dispatch'd a Courier to him to acquaint him therewith and to desire him to join the Army he had the command of with his that they might be able to subdue all the Enemies of their Religion but the Prince was so far from being pleased with the Viceroy's having proclaimed him Emperor that to satisfy his Father of his having had no hand in it The Prince is displeased with the Viceroy for what he had done he sent the Courier that had brought him the first news of it to him in chains to punish him as he should think fit The Fathers whose Church of Collela was but at a small distance from the Viceroy's Camp were put into such a terrible fright by this Proclamation that they immediately shut their Gates and their Convent being built very strong as indeed all their Houses in Ethiopia were more like Castles than Monasteries they resolved to defend themselves until an Army should come from the Emperor to relieve them The Viceroy hearing how much the Fathers were alarm'd and of their having taken all the Portugueses of the Neighbourhood into their Garison he sent them word That they had no reason to be so affrighted for seeing they did not come into Ethiopia before they were sent for no body could blame them for having come or for what the Emperor had done since their Arrival and being extreamly desirous to have wheedled them out of their strong-hold he bid the Messenger whisper them in the Ear That notwithstanding all he had done he was still a true Roman-Catholick in his heart having been forc'd to set forth he late Proclamation to quiet the Minds of the People if it were possible desiring them likewise to send him the Horses and Muskets that had been left in their Convent by Raz Cella but the Fathers not believing a syllable of what he said refused to open their Gates or to deliver their Arms to the Messenger which provoked the Viceroy to that degree that he changed his note and sent them word That if they did not deliver the Arms and Horses to him presently he would come for them himself and that if they did give him that trouble he would be at a little more for to teach them better manners than to disobey his Commands And he had certainly been as good as his word had he not been hindered by the news of a great Army advancing towards him apace The Monks who were got in shoals about the Viceroy advised him to do something to satisfy the people that he was in no Correspondence with the Court but was in earnest to defend their Faith adding that there was no such way of doing that as by making Examples of some of those who to please the Emperor had changed their Religion the Viceroy approving of their advice commanded a Monk who was his own first Cousin to be put to death publickly for having turned Roman-Catholick The Prince who Commanded his Father's Army having received advice that the Viceroy was Marching with all the speed he could to join the Peasants of Lasta crossed the Nile He marcheth against him and by doing so put himself betwixt him and them and having brought him to an Engagement had an absolute Victory over him After which He routs the Croisade and sends the Viceroy prisoner to his Father that he might fully satisfy his Father of the Viceroy's not having had the least encouragement from him to proclaim him Emperor he sent him with several of his Chief Officers Prisoners to him that if he would give himself the trouble he might examine that matter to the bottom The Emperor who could not but take this extreamly well of the Prince having examined the Viceroy and his Officers commanded Seven of them to be presently put to death Six of which are said to have died Roman-Catholicks which the Seventh was so far from doing that when one of the Fathers told him at the place of Execution That he would be Damned for him if he were not Damned if he died out of the Communion of the Roman Church he bid the Father look to himself that he be not Damned upon his own account for he was resolved to venture his Soul with the Alexandrian Faith by dying in it Behold a Miracle say the Jesuits the Seven bodies being after they were Executed thrown to the Dogs they all fell presently upon the Alexandrian body and eat it up bones and all without so much as offering to touch or smell at any of the Six Roman-Catholicks bodies that lay before them One of the Viceroy's Chief Servants continuing to rail against Popery and the Emperor for forcing it upon his Subjects was hanged by the thigh upon an Iron hook that was driven into a Tree and after having hung thereon for some time for persisting in his railing he had his Tongue cut out the Viceroy himself being secretly put to death a few days after The Emperor having none now to deal with but the Peasants of Lasta advanced towards them in person with a great Army and having beat them out of three or four of their strongest Mountains was in hopes to have reduced them all to his obedience in a short time but the sturdy Peasants were so far from being terrified into a submission by those ill successes that they fell upon the Viceroy of Begameder in his Quarters and having made a great slaughter among his men The Emperor is defeated by the Peasants of Lasta obliged him to retreat in great disorder The Emperor who was grown old and timerous apprehending the Peasants to have been much stronger than they were and fearing lest he might be hemmed in by them among the Mountains retired in a great Consternation his Rear being closely pursued by the Peasants for some Leagues The Alexandrians observing the Emperor's Spirits to be much dejected by the disgrace of this Campaign renewed their Remonstrances to him some of them asking him He is passionately addressed to for a Toleration Whether he thought it made a Prince look great in History to have been continually fighting with his own Subjects and especially his Peasants Others telling him plainly That if he did not speedily grant his Subjects a Toleration that he would be Deserted by his whole Army who would fight no longer against their