of the Jews Error who were learned in the Books of the Mosaic Law Most Nations have a particular Dyet some by custome some through superstition Not to speak of the Mahumetans who abstain not only from Swines flesh but from Wine is not the custom of the Bannians not much different from the ancient Pythagoreans to be strangely admir'd who onely feed upon Herbs and Meats made of Milk which we hardly believe sufficient to sustain Nature Others there are that devour all sorts of Creatures which the flesh consuming Beasts themselves refuse and otherwise nauseous to the most part of Men. The Oriental Tartars feed upon Camels Foxes and all sorts of wild Beasts Some of our Europeans indulging their appetites please their palats with a sort of Dyet abominated by all other People as Frogs Cockles and I know not what sort of Insects Gregory had an utter aversion to Lobsters Crabbs Crayfish and Oysters which we accompt our chiefest Delicacies and it turn'd his stomach to see Turkies Hares and several other Dishes to which he was unaccustom'd brought to our Tables Being ask'd why he abstain'd from Swines flesh he retorted still and why we from Horse-flesh And most certainly were we to banquet with the Tartars there are but very few of us that would easily be induc'd to eat Horse-flesh with an Appetite tho it be one of their principal junkets Nay their Embassadors to our Princes desire fat Horses for their Kitchins However they abstain from blood and things strangl'd not out of any observance of the Mosaic Law but an Apostolic Decree always in force in the Eastern Church which was also for many Ages observ'd in the Western Church and reviv'd in some Councils They also rebuke us for that we suffer'd that Decree to be laid aside Nor do they allow the Jews Sabboth out of a respect to Judaism or that they learnt it from some certain Nations that kept the Seventh day holy But because the ancient Custom of the Primitive Church who observ'd that day perhaps out of complacency to the Jews being long retain'd in the East was at length carry'd into Ethiopia For thus we find it written in some ancient Constitutions which they call the Constitutions of the Apostles Let the Servants labour five days but let them keep the Holydays the Sabboth and the Lords Day in the Church for the sake of Pious Instruction The Council of Laodicea decreed that the Gospels with other parts of Scripture should be read upon the Sabboth when before the Paragraphs of the Law of Moses were onely read upon the Sabboth and the Gospels upon the Sunday the Texts of the old Law being thought most agreeable to the Old Sabboth and the Texts of the New Testament to the New Sabboth Socrates also farther testifies that the People us'd to assemble at Church upon the Sabboth and Lords Day And Gregory Nyssen whose Writings the Ethiopians have among them saith With what Eyes dost thou behold the Lords Day who hast defil'd the Sabboth Know'st thou not that these two days are Twins and that if thou injur'st the one thou dost injury to the other But Claudius makes so much difference between both days that he prefers the Lords day before the Sabaoth But as to what pertains to our Celebration of the ancient Sabaoth we do not celebrate it as the Jews did who Crucify'd Christ saying Let his blood be upon Us and our Children For those Jews neither draw water nor kindle fires nor dress meat nor bake bread neither do they go from house to house But we so celebrate it that we administer the Sacrament and relieve the Poor and the Widow as our Fathers the Apostles commanded Us. We Celebrate it as the Sabaoth of the first Holiday which is a new day of which David saith This is the day which the Lord made let us rejoyce and exult therein For upon that day our Lord Jesus Christ rose and upon that day the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles in the Oratory of Sion And in that day Christ was incarnated in the Womb of the Perpetual Virgin St. Mary and upon that day he shall come again to reward the Just and punish the Evil. Gregory also testify'd That the Habessines abstain from no sort of Labour upon the Sabaoth but from the most servile sorts of Labour This Custom continu'd long in the Church till it was abrogated by degrees for by the 22d Canon of the said Council of Laodicea the Christians are forbid to work upon the Sabaoth Nevertheless the Sacred Lectures were continu'd for a time as appears by the Canon above mention'd till at length those were also left off perhaps because that the People having a licence to work there were but few that repair'd to Church Moreover according to the Custom of the Jews it is lawful in Abessinia to marry the Widow of the Brother deceas'd as Alvarez testifies Adding That the Habessinian defend their so doing by the Laws of the Old Testament But Gregory positively deny'd that it was lawful but onely conniv'd at by the Magistrate However that such Wives are also prohibited from coming to the Holy Communion wherein Alvarez agrees with him However it does not therefore follow that this Custom was translated from the Jews to the Habessines no more then if any one should assert that the Laws of Polygamie and Divorce were deriv'd from the Jews And yet this is somewhat strange I must confess that they abstain from that Muscle which the Hebrews call Ghid Hannesheh or the Sinew mutilated the Ethiopians Sereje Berum the forbidden Nerve the Amharies Shalada Which very probably they might learn from the Jews in their own Country of which Nation there are several Colonies in Ethiopia But as to what is reported concerning Queen Candaces Eunuch we have already shew'd that she was not Queen of Habessinia but of the Ethiopians that inhabited the Iland of Meroe and if the Eunuch were a Jew it does not follow that his Lady the Queen shall be so too Others there are who tell us That Menilehec's Successors in a short time return'd to the worship of Idols Which if it be true the assertion of the Continuation of the Jewish Religion till the time of the Apostles will prove altogether vain tho in Europe most certainly the Habessines were long suspected of Judaisme and so are many to this day Which King Claudius observing by his Disputations with Gonsalo Rodriguez and the Writings which he compos'd to refute the Errors of the Habessines set forth a Confession of which we have already cited several parcels as they related to our business The chief Scope of which was to remove that Suspition of Judaism from himself and his Subjects which in my opinion he very effectually did CHAP. II. Of the Conversion of the Habessines to the Christian Faith The Conversion of the Habessines attributed to Queen Candace's Eunuch but contrary to authentic Histories Candace no Habessinian Other Traditions nothing better Demonstrated when and by
the sake of Honour and Bootie They have a Language peculiar to themselves and different from all the rest of the Habessinian Dialects which argues their Original both forrain and common to all their Tribes they admit of Circumcision among themselves whether it be by any ancient Custom observed by many of the Neighbouring Ethnics or for that they find the Arabians and Abessines to do the same They have no Idols and but very little Divine Worship If you ask them concerning God or any Supreme Numen or who it is that Governs the Earth with so much Order and Constancy they answer Heaven which embraces in their view all the rest however they adore that Heaven with no Solemn Worship more barbarous than the Barbarians themselves nor yet are they altogether void of Humanity for they aspire to a large share of Ingenuity and in aptness to learn equalize the smartest of the Habessines From whence we may observe that there is no sort of Human-kind so fierce and savage which may not be civiliz'd by Education and Learning Many have submitted to the Instructions of Christianity and persisted constant in the Faith Tellezius testifies and Gregory farther witnessed That several Thousands of the Gallans were Converted to the Christian Religion and submitted to Baptism under King Basilides Now let me tell you this is that formidable Nation which has ruin'd the Power and Dominion of the Abessines insomuch that they have torn from the Abessine King above the half of those Territories which his Ancestors enjoy'd for after their Irruption out of Bali they made themselves Masters of the Provinces of Gedmam Angota Dawara Wed Fatagar Ifat Guragea Ganza Conta Damota Waleka Bizama part of Shewa and many intermix'd Kingdoms Nor had they stopp'd there had they not being rent into Divisions among themselves turn'd their Arms one against another and given the Habessines a little breathing time for Concord among Equals rarely long attends Prosperity At this time they are divided into certain Tribes Seventy or more and as it were into Two Nations of which the more Westerly are by the Habessines call'd Bertuma Galla those that lye to the East Boren Galla those Easterly and Southerly in a manner encircle Habassia and harrase it with frequent Incursions They have also separated Cambata and Enarea from the rest of the Body as having subdu'd the Kingdoms that lye between which makes it very difficult for the Abessine Prince to convoy home the Tribute of those Kingdoms Thus there is a necessity for the Habessines to be always in War with these People nor is there any hopes of regaining their ancient and pristine Glory unless that Nation be first reduc'd into order The King has prudently made use of their Intestine Discords for he has plac'd the Revolters in Dembea and Gojam and successfully makes use of their Arms against their Country-men for as they are the most excellent Antidotes which are compos'd of the most Venomous Animals themselves so the Barbarians themselves are the most prevalent Force against the Barbarians Now let us take a view of the Kingdom of Zandero till lately undiscovered although contiguous to Habessinia as being not above four or five days from it The Inhabitants are but little more civil than the Gallans only that they acknowledge a King and have an awful respect for something whether it be God or Devil The King being dead the next of Kin retire into the Wood and there modestly wait the Election of the Nobility who in quest of their King newly Elected among themselves enter the Wood guided by a certain Bird of the Eagle-kind which by the Noise it makes discovers the Conceal'd Person presently they find him surrounded with a Guard of Lyons Dragons and Panthers d assembled together by a sort of Incantation to the Ancients unknown At first he makes a resistance against the Electors and wounds those that he can that he may seem to be Constrained to take the Government upon him soon after as they are going along another Gang to whom it belongs of ancient Custom endeavour to Rescue their King from the other Party claiming to themselves the Honour of being the Persons that set the Crown upon the King's Head and purchasing the hopes of Royal Favour by means of a seeming Sport which oft-times proves very Bloody Thus instead of Inauguration the African Gentiles think it Lawful to attone the Devil with human Blood The King proud in the height of Poverty not contented with the few steps to his Throne gets upon the Beam of his House from whence he looks down as from a Gallery and gives Answers to Embassadors Antony Fernandez Travelling with the Habessinian Ambassador into that Kingdom having viewed this same Lybian Soveraign compares him for colour and gesture to a Rampant Monkey Nor does the word Zendero which is the Name of the Kingdom intimate much less in regard that Zendero signifies an Ape Tellezius adds That it is the Custom of those Barbarians if their King be wounded to kill him which is conformable to the Nature of Monkeys who having receiv'd a wound tear and scratch it so long till their Entrails drop out or that they lose all their Blood The next Kingdom is Alaba conterminous Easterly to Cambat the Governour of which in the Sixteenth Year of this Century was call'd Alico To the East Habessinia is bounded by vast Deserts and open Solitary level Wildernesses and therefore altogether unknown Southward it joyns to the Kingdom of Sennar or Fund Govern'd by its peculiar King formerly a Tributary to the Abessines but now Absolute He Possest a part of the ancient Nubia near to which adjoyn'd the Kingdom of Balou whose Inhabitants are by the Portugueses call'd Balous their King was formerly Lord of Suaqena and in friendship with the Abessines now he only receives the half of the Maritine Tribute from the Turks From what we have said it may be easily gathered with how many Adversaries and Enemies Ethiopia is surrounded so that the Abersines may not improperly compare their Country to the Flower of Saffron Denguelat set about with Thorns For being perpetually struggling with their Foes they rather apply themselves to the Arts of War then Peace which seldom thrive amidst the Noise of War and public Contention An Addition It remains to speak of the Portugals in Habessinia who are neither Africans nor Forreiners for that some time since they have submitted themselves to the Habessine Jurisdiction For of the Four hundred which Christopher Gamez brought to the succour of the Abissines in the Adelan War about One hundred and seventy superviving in the space of one Age multiply'd so fast that when the Fathers of the Society came thither they were able to Muster Fourteen hundred Fighting men a small handful but very considerable to the Party to which they adhere as retaining their ancient Courage and dexterity in handling their Arms for the use of Fire-arms superiour to the Habessines or any of the Barbarians
to be tax'd for this alone seeing all the Princes of Africa and Asia use the same Custom The same Sovereignty is claim'd and maintain'd by the Russian Emperour whose Grandees never call themselves any other then Golop his Servants nor in their Letters which they write to him do they subscribe their names any otherwise than in the (h) As for Example Hansellus Stephanuel Laurentioll thy Servant Olear his Itinerary Diminutive We are also to understand That the word Gabre or Servant has a more diffusive signification among Them than among Us. For it extends not to real Slaves alone but their Subjects and Domesticks And indeed to say truth they differ but little from Slaves who are bound to observe their King at all times with Body having nothing at all of Property to which they can lay the least claim Nor are the Ceremonies less servile by which they testifie their Submission and Reverence to their King The Bah-tu-ded himself the Chief of his Ministers as Alvarez relates it stood before the King's Pavillion naked up to his Thighs with his Head and his right hand almost touching the Earth and a poor Linnen swath-band about his forehead crying out thrice Abeto or most merciful Lord. Being ask'd according to Custome Who he was he answer'd He was the meanest of the Court that Saddl'd the Kings Carriage Horses ready prepar'd to obey all Commands When the Kings Messenger whom they call Kol Hatzè the King's Voice declares the King's Commands afoot it behoves all that hear to be afoot Neither is it lawful to ride up to the King's Pavillion no more than if it were to some Altar but the person must always alight at a distance Suppliants having occasion to make their Petitions to the King stand in a certain place and instead of Petitions which they know not how to write betimes in the Morning with loud Voices and different Tones whereby they may be severally distinguish'd by their Countries they wake the sleeping King beseeching him to hear their complaints They of Amhara and Shewa and those that use the same Dialect redouble these following Exclamations as fast as they can speak Shan Hoi Shan Hoi My King My King Some add Belul Hoi Shan Hoi Belul Hoi My Apple of my Eye My King My Apple of my Eye Hence Tzaga-za-abus compos'd his ridiculous Shan Belul by others more corruptly Beldigian King Apple of my Eye much more ridiculously render'd (i) In his Confession of Faith above mention'd Tom. 2. Hispan Illustrat p. 1311. High or Pretious John The Tigrenses in their Supplications cry out Hadurije My Lord. The Inhabitants of Dembea and Dara Jegja or Our Lord. Those of Gafata and Gojam Abkawo O Father of Orphans The Mahometan implores his own Ja Siddi or O my Lord. Those of Gonga and Enarea Donzo Lord. The Lusitanians in their own Language make use of their own Senhor Senhor Senhor till they are heard The Barbarians the more savage they are so much the more harsh and obstreperous in their Tones For the Gallans like so many Wolves howl out their Hu Hu Hu. Others bark like Doggs or imitate the inarticulate noises of Wolves Apes and other Wild Beasts to the end they may be thereby the better distinguish'd But the more Civiliz'd and those that belong to the Camp use no other exclamation but that of their Abeto Abeto Abeto or Lord Lord Lord which Appellation of Honour is attributed not onely to the King but to all those whom we call (k) See the Relation of Jerome Lupus Printed in English Entitl'd a short Relation of the River Nile p. 40. see more in Sandovall de Restaur Ethiop Salut 250. mild and merciful Lords Others addressing themselves for relief make use of other expressions by which they think the King may be most honour'd saluting him by the name of Sun or Lord of their Hearts But the Monks unless access be permitted them sing a certain Hymn These particular Tones of Suppliants are taken norice of and as soon as day appears such and such are commanded to be admitted and heard or if it be a business of moment the King himself gives them audience and returns them their answer And surely it is the chief Office of Kings to hear the Complaints of their Suppliants and to administer timely Justice to their Subjects Of which the Barbarian Kings not being unmindful gave opportunity to poor and miserable people to whom their Court was shut up from access to convey their Complaints to the Kings Ears Among the Turks the Suppliants always carry a lighted fire upon their heads before the Window of the Sultan In the Bed-Chamber of the Great Mogul there always hangs a Bell which it is lawful for the Suppliant to ring standing at the farthermost end of the Palace but he is taken into Custody by the Guards and if afterwards he do not make good his Accusation he loses his Life for his presumptuousness Our Princes after a more noble manner receive Petitions from the hands of their Suppliants and thereby greatly win the love of their Subjects They who despise that sort of Clemency or whip out at their back doors to avoid the sight or giving Ear to the miserable do but onely procure Sadness to their People and Hatred and Contempt to themselves CHAP. XIX Of their Judiciary Proceedings and Punishments Their Judicial Proceedings very plain Witnesses slightly and cursorily examin'd Appeals rare Their Punishments Stoning Drubbing and Banishment Homicides how punished A Discourse of Like for Like THe manner of their Judicial Proceedings is very plain and ordinary For all Controversies are determin'd by word of Mouth without any noise of Process without any Writs or Writings of which the most part of the Nation is ignorant The Plaintiff has liberty to produce his Witnesses which the Defendant may refuse if he have any reason to suspect them But in regard of their ignorance of the true Proceedings by way of Interrogatory and proof nor understand how to examin a Witness it must of necessity follow That Justice is but ill administer'd where the Witnesses are so cursorily heard It is lawful to appeal from Inferiour Sentences either to the King or the Court-Tribunals but that is seldom done by reason of the Poverty of the People and the tediousness of Travelling and partly out of the Little hopes they have of redress For the Governours and Judges of Provinces are offended with appeals as seeming to them an accusation of Injustice and therefore the wrong'd Parties fearing their displeasure rather choose to lose their right than the favour of the Judges Neither does the resigning of Office afford any relief against an unjust Sentence For either through Favour or for Money they obtain a Pardon for all things done amiss in their Magistracy Among the sorts of Punishments inflicted upon Offenders besides Beheading and Hanging the most ready at hand is Stoning to death the Soyl affording sufficient materials for that sort of Execution
the Church first of all to read the Names of the Holy Martyrs out of the Public Registers as being a Duty owing to the memory of the invincible Testimonies for Christ Which the following Ages strain'd another way as if they had need of our Intercession and others as if we could not be without their Intercession made it a presence to invoke the Holy Saints as if they were present and heard them To which we may add That the Ancient Christian Orators and Writers of Homilies making use of their Rhetorick by vertue of that Figure commonly call'd Prosopopocia bespoke the blessed Saints and introduc'd them as it were returning Answers from whence it is not improbable that Suspition might introduce the Custom of giving the same Adoration to them as to God himself and worshipping them with Temples Altars and other Divine Honours Which nevertheless the Habessines do not do for though they keep Holydaies in memory of their Saints they do not call them Bagnabat Solemnities but Tjabarat Remembrances They also invoke them tho they know not after what manner they may be able to hear them and beg their Intercessions also especially of the most Holy Virgin Mary to whom they bear such an affectionate Reverence that they think whatever the Church of Rome has invented to her Honour all too little and yet they erect no Statues to her memory for all that being contented only with her Pictures When they were in a rage against those of the Roman Religion and pursu'd 'em in their fury with Sticks and Stones they cry'd out Kill Kill whoever is not an Enemy of Marie let him take up a Stone to stone her Enemies to Death But more than this they many times invoke the Angels as having for that perhaps a more specious pretence because they have bin frequently said to appear to good Men and Women and hear their Prayers Of these the Ethiopians reckon no less than Nine Orders which they borrow from their Names and Epithites given them in Sacred Scripture Malaeket Angels particularly so call'd or by another Name Manofsat Spirits Bitean Malaeket Arch-Angels Agaezet Saltanot Manoberet Hujebat Maqinenet Qirubil Surafel Lords 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Magistracies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thrones 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Powers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Princes Cherubims Seraphims Some there are who give them several other Sirnames as Bikanot Primores or Cheiftains and Arbabe or Arbab Asat as much as to say fierie Myriads Others there are who affirm That first of all there were Ten Orders of which the first whose Chieftain was Satanael together with his Associates revolted from God and that the Blessed hereafter shall succeed into their places which they assert to be the cause of the Devils inveterate hatred toward Man As to their forms of Catechizing Youth and Neophytes the following Accompt may afford very great Satisfaction as being written by Gregory with his own hand and all that he could then call to mind A Brief Accompt of the Heads of the Ethiopic Faith in which they usually instruct their Youth and Neophytes They are Extant more at large in Ethiopia but more succinctly as follows What God dost thou Worship The Father Son and Holy Ghost three Persons but one Deity Of these Three Persons which is the first which the last which the greatest which the least Their is no Person first or last no Person Superior or Inferior but all equal in all things How many Persons Three How many Gods One How many Deities One How many Kingdoms One How many Powers One How many Creators One How many Wills One Is God limited by time No For he is from all Eternity and shall endure to all Eternity Where is God Every where and in all things Is not the Father God Yes Is not the Son God Yes Is not the Holy Ghost God Yes Dost thou not therefore say there are Three Gods I do not say Three Gods but Three Persons and One only God Who begat the Son God the Father But the Holy Ghost proceeds from Father and takes from the Son Pray shew me some Similitude how Three Persons can be in one Deity The Sun tho he be but one in Substance yet in him are found three distinct Things Rotundity Light and Heat Thus we also believe that in one God there are three Persons the Father Son and Holy Ghost equal in all things Of those Three Persons which was born for our Redemption The second Person viz. The Son of God our Lord Jesus Christ How many Nativities had he Two Which were they His first Nativity was from the Father without Mother without time The second from the Virgin Mary our Lady without Father in time she always remaining a Virgin Is Jesus Christ our Lord a Man or is he truely God God and Man both in one Person without Separation and without Change without Confusion or Commixture In the same manner do the Habessines Believe and Teach all matters of Faith viz. Concerning the Baptism of Christ his Fasting his Passion his Death his Resurrection his Ascention into Heaven and sending of the Holy Ghost Moreover That he shall return in Glory to Judge the Quick and the Dead That he is present in the Holy Sacrament That the Dead shall rise at the last Day That the Just shall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven but that Sinners shall be condemn'd to Hell They also believe the Catholic Church according to the Creed compil'd by the 318 Orthodox Fathers that met at the Council of Nice We shall not add more at present till more and those Publickly approv'd Books shall come to our hands that we may not imprudently attribute as some have done the Opinions of private persons to the whole Church CHAP. VI. Of the Rites and Ceremonies of the Ethiopic Church as also of the Habessine Temples Sacred Rites often an Occasion of Disturbance in the Church The Prudent Decree of the Apostles Paul's Condescension necessary Judaish Rites retain'd Many new Ceremonies invented by the Pope by the Alexandrian Metropolitan none The most ancient Ceremonies retain'd by the Abessines Their Churches dark like the Synagogues The Divisions of them and Quires The Nobility made Deacons The Bishops Lodgings Much honour'd They admit of Pictures They sign with the Cross Baptism of grown People Vndertakers why so call'd The Eucharist given to baptiz'd Infants Some frivolous forms of the Habessines constrain'd the Fathers to Rebaptize The Custom of Annual Bathing not effectual for Baptism The abuse of it The State of Ecclesiastical Affairs miserable in Habessinia The Reasons General Confession Absolution Before 25 years of Age they believe themselves Innocent Much Preaching Gregorie's Opinion of their Sermons They Read Homilies c. The Sacred Vessels for the Eucharist Why the Stone Consecrated by the Romans is call'd a Chest by the Habessinians A particular Discourse of the Author Leavened Bread The Wine distributed in a Spoon The defect of it supply'd The time and place for the Holy Supper
the King himself Tellez reports That it was stufft with places of Scripture but nothing to the purpose The King more incens'd by this Writing renew'd the Edict about the Sabbath and commanded the Husbandmen to Plough and Sow upon that Day adding as a Penalty upon the Offenders for the first Fault the Forfeiture of a weav'd Vestment to the value of a Portugal Patack for the second Confiscation of Goods and that the said Offence should not be prescribed to Seven years a certain form usually inserted in their more severe Decrees Certainly it must of necessity be true what Tellez reports of the Natural Piety of the Habessines since they were thus to be compell'd to the Neglect of the Sabbath by such Severe Laws when we can hardly be induc'd by stricter Penalties to observe the Lord's-Day Among the rest one Bucus a stout and famous Soldier felt the utmost rigour of this Decree for being accus'd to have observ'd the Sabbath he was made a most severe Example that others of less consequence might not think to expect any Mercy From thence Jonael Viceroy of Bagemdra took an occasion to Revolt alluring all to his Party who were displeased with the Edicts Upon which News many of the chiefest of the Court both Men and Women of which several were near allyed to the King with Tears in their Eyes besought him once more not to expose himself and the Kingdom to Calamity but to take Pity upon so many poor afflicted People offending out of meer Simplicity and Ignorance and not to disturb the Minds of his People with such unseasonable Changes The King far from being mov'd with their Tears but rather the more displeas'd to see so many all of one Mind that at once he might answer all confirm the wavering and terrifie the Headstrong having summon'd together the Chief Nobles and Commanders of his Army that attended the Court in a short but grave Oration put them in mind of past Transactions upbraiding them among the rest For that they had depriv'd Zadenghel both of his Life and Kingdom because he had forsaken the Alexandrian Religion to embrace the Roman Faith That for his part after his Victory obtain'd against Jacob he had bin severe to none but rather had pardon'd all nevertheless he was disturb'd with daily Seditions and Rebellions under pretence of changing his Religion when he only reform'd it For that he acknowledg'd as much and the same that others did That Christ was true God and true Man but because he could not be Perfect God unless he had the Perfect Divine Nature nor perfect Man without perfect Humane Nature it follow'd that there were two Natures in Christ united in one Substance of the Eternal Word Which was not to abandon but explain his Religion In the next place he had abrogated the Observation of the Sabbath Day because it became not Christians to observe the Jews Sabboth These things he did not believe in favour of the Portugueses but because it was the Truth it self determin'd in the Council of Chalcedon founded upon Scripture and ever since the time of the Apostles deliver'd as it were from hand to hand and if there were occasion he would lay down his life in defence of this Doctrine but they who deny'd it should first examine the Truth of it Having finished his Oration a Letter was brought him from Jonael containing many haughty Demands and among the rest the Expulsion of the Jesuits The King believing there would be no better way than to answer him in the Field Commanded the nimblest of his Armed Bands to March of which the Rebel having Intelligence and not willing to abide his Fury fled for shelter among those inaccessible Rocks whither it was in vain to pursue him Thereupon Susneus well-knowing that the Revolters would not be able long to endure the Inconveniencies and Famine that lodg'd among those inaccessible places blockt him up at a Distance So that Jonael at length weaken'd by daily desertions fled to the Gallans who being at variance among themselves kept their promis'd Faith but a short time for being underhand tempted with Rewards by the King they at length turn'd their Protection into Treachery and slew the Unfortunate Implorer of their Security This Bad Success however did not terrifie the Inhabitants of Damota inhabiting the Southern parts of Gojam who upon the News of the Prophanation of the Sabbath as they called it with their Hermites that sculk'd in the Deserts of that Province ran to their Arms. Ras-Seelax otherwise their Lord and Patron in vain Exhorting them to continue their Obedience whose kind Messages of Peace and Pardon they refus'd unless he would burn the Books Translated out of Latin into the Habessine Language by the Fathers and deliver up the Fathers themselves to be Hang'd upon the highest Trees they could find Thus despairing of Peace Ras-Seelax set forward tho deserted by the greatest part of his Forces who favoured the Cause of their Countrymen so that he had hardly Seven Thousand Men that stook close to him while the Enemies Body daily encreas'd However he resolv'd to Fight them knowing his Soldiers to be more Experienc'd and better Arm'd besides that he had about Forty Portuguese Musquetiers in his Camp When they came to blows the Victory fell to the King's Party tho it cost dear in regard that about Four hundred Monks that had as it were devoted themselves to die for their Religion fought most desperately of which a Hundred and fourscore were Slain Hitherto the King had not made Publick Profession of the Roman Religion partly out of fear of stirring up Popular Tumults against him partly being loath to dismiss his Supernumerary Wives and Concubines but at length encourag'd by so many Victories he lay'd all fear aside and publickly renounc'd the Alexandrian Worship and confessing his Sins after the Roman manner to Peter Pays dismiss'd all his Wives and Concubines only the first of those to which he had bin lawfully Marry'd His Example convinc'd many others who were not asham'd to keep many Mistresses but Adultresses also Not long after the King signify'd his Conversion to the Roman Religion to his whole Empire by a Publick Instrument not without the Severe reproof of the Alexandrian Patriarch The sum of his Manifesto was That having deserted the Alexandrinian he now reverenced only the Roman See and had yielded his Obedience to the Roman Pope as the Successor of Peter the Prince of the Apostles for that that See could never err either in Faith or good Manners and then he exhorted his Subjects to do as he had done He also discoursed at large concerning the two Natures in Christ and tax'd the Ethiopian Primates as guilty of many Errors But neither the King's Example nor his Exhortation wrought upon many For at the same time his Son Gabriel began to study new Contrivances tho with no better Success than they who had taught him the way For when he had intelligence that Ras-Seelax was marching
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
this Encomium Peace be to Michael Aragawi nam'd Wisdom his Life his Death true Prudence fam'd With him was God the Holy Three in One. To all those Saints an everlasting Crown Who by their Prayers true Concord did enjoy That they might Arwe's Kingdom quite destroy By Arwè which signifies a Serpent he either means in general the Kingdom of Satan which was destroy'd by the propagation of Christianity or in particular the Ethiopic Gentilism For as we have already said the most ancient Ethiopians worship'd a Serpent as their supream Deitie to which the Poet seems to allude There are to be seen to this day the Cells wherein those holy Men sequester'd themselves by the names of Beta Pantaleon the Domicil of St. Pantaleon in Tigra where his Sepulcher also remains Of whom the Poet thus Peace to Pantaleon's Bones who study'd here In th'inner Cell next to his Sepulcher Who by the aid of Heavens most pretious Word Speech to the dead miraculously restor'd Who by his Prayers and his Soul-saving Voice Made the afflicted Widow soon rejoyce Her Sins were dead but he unlock'd the grave And freed those Souls which Death did late enslave He also makes mention of the Nine Saints in his Hymn to Likanos Peace be to Likanos who of the Nine Makes one who did their Lives to God resign With lasting wreaths would they my Temples crown How should I then set forth their high renown Like lighted Lamps his fingers burn'd in prayer His Hand was pierc'd when he the Staff did bear Besides these there are several other great Doctors among them who have highly merited for propagating the Christian Religion as also many Martyrs frequently celebrated by the Ethiopians and Coptices in their Religious Panegyricks But as to their Saints they relate of them several Miracles more than Extraordinary as the removing Mountains appeasing the rage of most Tempestuous Seas raising the Dead causing Water to spring from smitten Rocks and walking over Rivers which are reported for common Miracles among them so that if the Truth of the Ethiopic Church were to be grounded upon such Wonders there could be no purer Religion in the World For tho we have a St. Martin that gave a piece of his Cloak to one in necessity they have among 'em a Saint that parted with his whole Garment to relieve the distressed There are among them not onely several Stories of persons that have walk'd upon the Asp and the Basilisk and trampled upon the Dragon and the Lyon but also those who have rode upon those Beasts as upon Horses and Mules Never were the Ascetae more austere There are some who have liv'd for whole days together upon three little Dates others upon no more than one poor little dry Bisket But there is not one more renowned for Sanctity among them then Gabra-Menfes-Keddus or the Servant of the Holy Ghost in honour of whom they keep a Holyday every month Next to him is Tecla-Haimanot or the Plant of Faith who restor'd the Monastical way of Living in Ethiopia about the Year of Christ 600. Whom the Ethiopic Poet extolls in a most singular manner All hail to thy Navity great Saint It was at first thy Mothers great Complaint That she should barren dye till th' Angels Voice Declar'd thy Birth and made her Son rejoyce Then Tecla-Haimanot Thou didst appear Like to the Sun that rules the Day and Year Thy Glory fill'd the Earth from end to end And to the Heavens thy Luster did ascend This Austere way of Living was first practiz'd in Thebais a Desert of Egypt whither many Pious men had retir'd themselves from the Persecution of the Heathen that through abstinence and temperance they might be more intent upon the Duty of Prayer Among the rest St. Antonie as it were the Captain of the Hermites prescrib'd certain Lawes to be observ'd by the Professors of this sort of severity for which reason next to Paul he was look'd upon as its first Institutor The Affairs of the Church being settl'd many Anchorites in imitation of him voluntarily chose a solitary way of Living for that reason call'd Monachi Monks or People that liv'd alone by themselves Some meerly out of a Pious and godly end some out of an opinion of merit some out of vain-glory and a desire of worldly fame because they found that austerity of life as being a thing hard to be undergone was vulgarly much admir'd and highly applauded Many also did not think it sufficient to abstain from lawful enjoyments or to bridle and restrain the ordinary desires of Nature but voluntarily tormented themselves with new invented Tortures or macerated themselves with hunger and famine This Custome spread it self also into Ethiopia where some without any advantage to themselves or others invented several ways of afflicting their own Carcasses as for example To stand whole days together in cold water to gird their Loyns with a heavy Chain to feed onely upon Pot-herbs and Roots and that very sparingly too Nay which is hardly to be credited some there were who would thrust themselves into the clefts of Trees and so as those clos'd together again suffer'd themselves to be bury'd alive To Antonie succeeded Macarius after whom liv'd St. Pachom to whom in Ethiopia succeeded Aragawi the first Abbot or Ruler over Monks among the Abessinians His Successors were Abba Christos Bezana Abba Mesket Moa Abba Johanni Who left bequeath'd his Asqema that is the Badge of his Abbotship or his Monastical Habit to Tecla-Haimanot For the Tradition is among them That the Arch-Angel St. Michael brought that Habit to St. Antonie for which reason it was afterwards deliver'd from Successor to Successor as it were from one hand to another The Greek word it self is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Schema Alphonsus the Patriarch compares it to a Scapulary The Life of this Saint is extant in Ethiopia written at large and stufft with several Miracles and render'd famous for several Apparitions and Pilgrimages Mention is also made of him in the Ethiopic Church Registers after this manner Remember Lord the Soul of thy Servant our Father Tecla-Haimanot and all his Companions This Tecla-Haimanot gave new Rules and Precepts to his Monks and order'd them to submit themselves to a Governour who is call'd Icegue and is always of highest authority and dignity next to the Abuna He either Visits his fellow Monks himself or sends some one in his stead to reform Errors and punish transgressions Before the Kingdom of Shewa was won by the Gallans he had his habitation in a place call'd Debra Libanos or the Mountain of Libanus which was afterwards translated into Bagemdra And hence it is that Tesfa-tzejon who set forth the Ethiopic New Testament in the Epilogue to St. Matthew thus speaks of himself and his fellow Monks We are all the Sons of our Father Tecla Haimanot of the Monastery of Mount Libanus The other Abbot or Governour of the Monks call'd Eustathius is no less famous than he nor is his Memory
less esteem'd in their Sacred Registers while they cry Remember Lord our Father Eustathius with all his Children Of him the Ethiopic Poet thus sings Hail to thy pretious Mantle once the Boate Which with thy Burden on the Sea did floate Thy Pilgrimage a mighty Wonder shew'd Th'Obedient Ocean smooth and smiling slow'd And Rocks remov'd abandon'd ancient Rest To give free Passage where thy footsteps prest He also prescrib'd Laws to his followers but impos'd no Governour upon them neither are they very solicitous about that neglect pretending That Eustathius went into Armenia having nam'd no Successor and that therefore it is not lawful for them to appoint any one Every Abbot therefore is Supreme in his own Monastery and if any one dye another is chosen by the Suffrages of the rest of the Monks Habessinia is full of these sort of people to the great burthen of the Common-wealth to which they are no way profitable as being useless in the Field and free from Tribute However their Rules and Orders are very much different both from the Greeks and Latins For excepting their Sheemas and Crosses which they carry you can hardly distinguish them from the Laitie in regard they neither wear any Coat or Monastical Habit. Nor do they live in Monasteries but in some Village in scatter'd Cottages near to some Church or Temple They have certain Prayers of which they say such a number believing their Piety fully satisfy'd if they finish their Task which that they may make the more hast to accomplish they huddle over the Psalms of David with such a dextrous celerity that I who have heard 'em at Rome holding the same Copy in my hand could never follow them with my voice and hardly with my eyes Every one manures his own Ground and lives upon the product of his Labours of which they are also very liberal Otherwise they go and come every one without controul as they please themselves So that by no means their Farms can be call'd Cloysters nor they be said to be really Monks but onely unmarried Husbandmen and that onely while they preserve their Continency intire However they are branded with infamy if they forsake their Monastical way of living to marry Wives Nor are their Children capable of being admitted into the Clergy and it is taken for an affront to call any man the Son of a Monk Nevertheless they bear Civil Offices and are sometimes made Governors of Provinces as is apparent by the Example of Tzagazaabus who was a Monk as appears from Alvarez's Itinerary Of such as these the Question may be ask'd with St. Jerome If thou desirest to be accompted a Monk what doest thou do in the Cities what in the Camp or why dost thou undertake Civil Employments They could not choose but highly displease the Fathers of the Society which is the reason that they have always spoken of them with contempt on the other side the Monks have bin the main Obstacles of the Fathers Successes for which Reason Tellezius calls them Persecutors of the Catholic Faith Their Monasteries if we may so call their Villages are very numerous and dispierc'd over all Parts of the Kingdom and commonly go by the name of Daber a Mountain in the plural number Adebaruti Mountains as Dabra Bizen Dabra Hallelujah Dabra Damo Albamata and the like as being formerly built upon steep Hills Beside which they possess all the Ilands in the Tzanic Lake except Deka An Addition to the Third Chapter concerning their Nuns THat there are also Nuns in Ethiopia I gather from Tellezius But they are very ignorant and therefore the more obstinate in their devotion For proof of which the same Tellezius produces a very remarkable Story of one who by chance becoming blind was admonish'd by one of the Fathers to make Confession and embrace the Latin Religion unless she intended to go headlong to Hell To which the Nun made answer That she was willing to go thither of her own accord for that she found there was no Room for her in Heaven as being a person with whom God was displeas'd and had therefore depriv'd her of her sight without any cause of offence by her committed Upon which the Father press'd her the more urgently in hopes to deliver her from that more dangerous blindness of her Mind But finding her to continue obstinate after all his pains Since then said he thou refusest Heav'n get thee to Hell with all the Devils with Dathan and Abiram But I would not have thee take thy Religious Habit along with thee which is onely proper for those that desire the Joyes of Heaven And so saying he presently order'd her to put off her Nuns Vestments and to put on a sordid Vulgar Habit which wrought in her such a sadness and contrition that she soon after made her confession and reconcil'd her self to the Church of Rome CHAP. IV. Of the Sacred Books of the Habessines The Ethiopians together with the Christian Religion receiv'd the Holy Scripture according to the Version of the 70 Interpreters the New Testament from an Imperfect Copy and ill Printed The Old Testament divided into four parts The New Testament into as many The Revelation added as an Appendix To the New Testament are added the Constitutions and Canons of the Apostles as they call them divided into Eight parts Therefore they reckon several Sacred Books Three Oecumenical Councils A fair Manuscript of the Councils at Rome Books therein contain'd A Counterfeit Book of Enoch Magical Prayers Wherein Monstrous words seeming to be taken from the Jews The Form of the Jewish Anathematizing DIvine Worship is seldom found among any sort of Nations in the World to be without Books by which we apprehend from whence every particular kind of worship derives it self and by what means it got footing among the People for the words and the worship generally go together Which is the reason there are so many Hebrew and Greek words in all the Versions of the Bible and that we have so many Latin words in our Theologie The Habessines together with the Christian Religion receiv'd the holy Scripture And this Scripture was translated into that Idiom of the Ethiopic Language which was at that time more peculiar to the Inhabitants of Tigra from the Greek Version of the Seventy Interpreters according to a certain Copy us'd in the Church of Alexandria which the innumerable various Readings that are inserted into the English Polyglòtton Bibles from one of the same Copies plainly demonstrate with which the Ethiopic Translation perfectly agrees Especially in the 35 39 Chapter of Exodus which in other Copies are wonderfully mutilated Nor is it without reason that a Colonie as it were of the Alexandrian Church should follow the Sacred Copies of their Metropolis As for the Author and Time of the Translation I find nothing certainly deliver'd concerning either however it is most probable that it was begun at the time when the Habessines were (f) There is one who