Chapter XXVII: Part 27

Ras Sela Christos marched against the rebels, but desertion considerably thinned his troops; and he confronted the enemy with barely one-half the numerical strength of their formidable array. Governor of the province, and greatly beloved by the people, a proposal was tendered to him, that if he would only lend his assistance in burning the monkish books and hanging the worthy fathers themselves upon tall trees, he might be seated upon the imperial throne of his ancestors. But the general, despising the offer, and resting confident in the firelocks of the Portuguese, rushed to the attack. The combat raged fiercely for a time. Four hundred monks, devoting themselves to death, carried destruction through the royal host; but the tide of victory set at length in his favour, and after a fearful carnage on either side, he found himself master of the field.

Great rejoicings at court followed the news of this success. Peter declared that Heaven, by the extermination of his enemies, had given the desired sign that the Roman Catholic should be the religion of the land; and the emperor, who, partly from fear of his subjects, and partly from dislike to relinquish his supernumerary wives and concubines, had not as yet publicly professed the Latin religion, now openly embraced the faith, and confessed his sins to the triumphant Jesuit.

A letter containing the royal sentiments was published for the benefit of the nation:--"The king henceforth obeys the pope of Rome, the successor of Peter, chief of the apostles, who could neither err in doctrine nor in conduct; and all subjects are hereby advised to adopt the same creed." And the missionary, who now reasonably imagined that the work was satisfactorily concluded, wrote to the courts of Rome and Lisbon, requesting that a patriarch and twenty ecclesiastics might be immediately sent to the vineyard; adding, that "although the harvest was plentiful, the labourers were but few."

These happy and unlooked-for tidings were received by Philip the Fourth of Spain. Mutio Vitelesi, the general of the Jesuits, offered to proceed in person, but the pope refused permission, as he had done in the case of his predecessor Loyola; and Alphonso Mendez, a learned doctor of the society of Jesus, was inaugurated at Lisbon with all the customary solemnities.

After suffering much difficulty and delay in his passage, the Portuguese patriarch at length arrived on the Danakil coast with a large train of priests, servants, masons, and musicians. The same greediness and cupidity were experienced amongst the savage Adaiel that the traveller finds at the present day--baseness and avarice having stamped their character for generations; but the troubles of a weary march were soon forgotten in the cordial reception which awaited the party at the royal camp; and the day was finally fixed when the homage of the king and of the country should be rendered to the Pope of Rome.

On the 11th of February, 1626, the court and the nobles of the land were assembled in the open air. Two rich thrones were occupied by the monarch and his distinguished guest, and a surrounding multitude gazed upon the imposing ceremony in silence. "The hour is come," exclaimed Mendez, "when the king shall satisfy the debt of his ancestors, and submit himself and his people to the only true head of the church." A copy of the Gospel was produced, and the monarch, falling upon his knees, took the oath of homage. "We, King of the kings of Ethiopia, believe and confess that the Pope of Rome is the true successor of the Apostle Saint Peter, and that he holds the same power, dignity, and dominion, over the whole Christian church. Therefore we promise, offer, and swear sincere obedience to the holy father Urban, by God's grace Pope and our Lord, and throw humbly at his feet our person and our kingdom."

As the emperor rose from his position, Ras Sela Christos, suddenly drawing his sword, shouted aloud, "What is now done is done for ever; and whoso in future disclaims the act, shall taste the sharp edge of this trusty weapon. I do homage only to true Catholic kings." The monks, clergy, and noblemen followed the example of their superiors; and the assembly was closed by a public edict, proclaimed through the royal herald, that all Abyssinians should, under pain of death, forthwith embrace the Roman religion.

Palaces and revenues were set apart for the ministers of the new faith; seminaries for youth were established throughout the country, and baptism and ordination went on in peace. The success of the Jesuits increased rapidly, and many thousand souls were enrolled, who had been converted from the delusions of the Alexandrian creed.

The trial of two years failed, however, to convince the nation of the benefits of the new religion; and the emperor and patriarchs could not deceive themselves in the fact, that the cause advanced rather in appearance than in reality. Missionaries who entered the native churches were found murdered in their beds; the most disparaging stories were everywhere circulated regarding the holy fathers, and more particularly on the representation of scriptural performances at the Paschal feast, when demons being introduced by the Romans upon the stage, the spectators rushed simultaneously from the theatre, exclaiming, "Alas! they have brought with them devils from the infernal regions," and the tale spread like wildfire through the land.

Nothing daunted by the unfortunate fate of Aelius and Joanel, Tekla Georgis, another son-in-law of the emperor, with a large body of the discontented, rose to defend the religion of their forefathers. Burning the crosses and rosaries, together with a Jesuit priest who fell into their hands, the party rapidly increased, and the emperor was compelled to march an army to quell the insurrection. The rebels were completely routed by Rebaxus, the viceroy of Tigre, and all who fell into his hands, men, women, and children, were barbarously massacred. Georgis and his sister Adera concealed themselves in a cave during three days, but were at length discovered and brought before the irritated emperor. Condemned by the advice of the Jesuits to be burned to death as a heretic, Georgis was allowed by the monarch publicly to solicit the patriarch to be admitted into the Roman church; but it being afterwards considered politic to imagine that his intentions were insincere, the unfortunate prince was hung in front of the palace in presence of the whole court; and his devoted sister, fifteen days afterwards, suffered the same fate upon the same tree, notwithstanding that the most strenuous efforts were made to save her life by the queen and by all classes of society.

To increase the dread effects of his tyranny, the emperor now issued a manifesto, that even as he had punished with death the obstinacy of his own son-in-law, so would he of a surety not spare any who in future committed a like transgression. The remarks of the worthy missionary Antoine, regarding this execution, will show the spirit which animated the fathers in their course of persecution, so novel in the annals of Abyssinia, and so contrary to the mildness of the Christian faith. "He who reads with attention the history of Ethiopia, will observe, that at no previous period was such ardent zeal displayed for the honour of religion, and a direct miracle, indeed, must have induced the emperor to hang his own son-in-law in the blessed cause."

Dazzled by the success that had hitherto attended their measures, the patriarch and his colleagues now plunged headlong into proceedings which eventually proved disastrous to their cause. Excommunications were lightly launched in civil disputes, and the soul of every counsellor of the state was committed to the devil if he dared to question the authority of the foreign priest. Conspiracies were hatched against the imperial person; and the body of a distinguished non-conforming ecclesiastic, which had been interred within the walls of the church, was exhumed by order of the Portuguese prelate, and thrown to the wild beasts--an action which raised the indignation of the ethiopians to the highest pitch against a set of men "who had ever the words of religion in the mouth, but who, after persecuting the living, denied even to the dead that repose which neither Pagan nor Mohammadan ever disturbed."

The detestation of the fathers and their religion daily waxed stronger in the hearts of all. Their great patron, Ras Sela Christos, was deprived of power and property for seditious attempts; and the bold mountaineers of Begemeder at length seized their long spears to uphold the faith of their ancestors. The viceroy was driven from the province, and Meleaxus, a youth of royal blood, appointed defender of the ancient religion, and leader of the armed host of peasants who flocked to his standard from all parts of the country, but especially from Lasta, the seat of the bravest warriors of the land.

To quell this insurrection, the Emperor assembled in Gojam an army of twenty-five thousand men, and attacked the insurgents among their strongholds. His troops were, however, repulsed at all points with the loss of many officers and men, and he was reluctantly obliged to retreat to the plains. Deputies followed from the victorious camp, to supplicate him to take pity upon his subjects, and to dismiss those evil-minded strangers who had so long oppressed Abyssinia. The royal army was in no heart or condition to renew hostilities. Rumours went through the land that angels sent from heaven had proclaimed the restoration of the ancient religion; and in the general excitement the king perceived that his own authority would be fatally compromised unless some concessions were made.

The patriarch was nevertheless inflexible; and letters were at the same time received from Rome, instigating the emperor to combat stoutly with his rebellious subjects, and extending to Ethiopia the general absolution of the great year of Jubilee. But the unhappy inhabitants laughed the offer of this indulgence to scorn, and were utterly unable to comprehend by what authority the pope held in his possession the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

Volume 3, Chapter XV.

EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS FROM ETHIOPIA.

The civil war continued, meanwhile, to rage with great expenditure of life, and with alternate success on either side. Enticed into the plain, the enemy were generally worsted by the royal troops, but among the recesses of their native rocks the mountaineers had always the advantage. No sign of intended submission could be observed; and the monarch, becoming suspicious of the Jesuits, who were erecting forts and strongholds under the guise of churches and residences, lent a favourable ear to the entreaties of his subjects.

A second remonstrance was penned, wherein he forcibly set forth to the Portuguese bishop, "that the Roman religion had not been introduced into the country by the miracles or the preaching of the fathers, but by royal edict and ordinance, in opposition to the wish of the entire population; and that the prelate must devise some milder measures for the furtherance of the true faith."

Foreseeing a heavy storm in case of refusal, Mendez reluctantly complied with the proposal of a modified church code, under the restriction that no public manifesto should announce the change, which must be gradually and silently introduced. The ancient liturgy and the ancient holydays were thus restored, and the celebration of the Jewish Sabbath once again permitted.

But the concession was insufficient, and came too late to pacify the turbulent mountaineers of Lasta, who had been altogether victorious during the war. They would listen to no modification of their first demand; but imperatively insisted upon the complete re-establishment of their ancient ecclesiastical institution, together with the expulsion of the foreigners from the land.

The liberty and the customs of highlanders are seldom invaded with success; and a religion detested by the common people cannot, without much difficulty, be introduced by the prince. Weary of so many rebellions, and murders, and excommunications, the king, in his advanced age, began to view with an unfavourable eye the firebrand authors of these disturbances. Suspecting his brother and the patriarch of seditious views--offended by the contumacy of his subjects, and the increasing diminution of his own authority--disgusted with the present state of affairs, and apprehensive of future events--he now seriously bethought him of restoring the church to its original footing. But the rebellion must, in the first instance, be quelled; and having with this view concluded an alliance with the Galla, he marched towards Lasta.

Twenty thousand peasants, confident of victory, descending from their mountains, rushed into the plain to meet the royal force. The two armies for a time remained in sight in that still calmness which precedes the earthquake. At length the Galla cavalry dashing at speed on the crowded masses of the enemy, threw them into complete confusion-- a fierce combat lasted until the going down of the sun--and the field of battle was left covered with eight thousand bodies of the insurgents.

Throwing themselves prostrate before the triumphant monarch on this scene of carnage, the vanquished peasants expressed their grief in the following lively terms:--"Who are these men," they asked with groans, "whom you now behold bathed in blood? Are they Moslems, or Pagans, or even the enemies of the kingdom? No, they are Christians--they are all thy subjects, knit together by the most tender bonds of blood, friendship, and affection. Those warriors who now lie lifeless at thy feet, would, under a better government, have proved the bulwarks of thy throne, and the terror of those very men by whose hands they have fallen. The very heathen blush at thy cruelty, and call thee renegade for having abandoned the religion of thy fathers. Cease, O emperor! in mercy cease to prolong a struggle which must end in the downfall of the throne, and the ruin of all religion in the land!"

The empress also mingled her tears with the groans of the wounded petitioners, and adjured the king for the love of God, and in the name of future generations, to take pity upon his subjects, and desist from preparing a sepulchre for himself and for his family. "What have you gained by this battle?" she exclaimed. "You have introduced into the kingdom hordes of pagan Galla, who detest yourself equally with your religion; but futile will be your attempt to establish in Ethiopia a form of worship which is unknown to the greater part of your people, and to the remainder is known only to be resisted to the last drop of their blood."

These representations sunk deep into the heart of the emperor; and instead of proceeding in triumph to his capital, he retired to a secluded spot to give vent to his feelings, and bewail the loss he had created. The Galla troops were dismissed; and having collected all the principal monks and clergy, he announced his resolution of allowing the nation to return to the faith of their forefathers.

Immediately on this intelligence, the patriarch hurried with all the Jesuit fathers to soothe the ruffled mood of the monarch. "I had fondly imagined," exclaimed Mendez, "that we were the victors, but behold we are the vanquished; and the rebels, routed and put to flight, have obtained all that they desire. Call to mind how many fields thou hast won with the assistance of God and the Portuguese, and remember that thou didst embrace the true faith of thine own free will. We have been sent unto thy charge by the Pope of Rome, and by the King of Portugal. Beware of irritating great potentates to just indignation. They be indeed far off, but God is nigh at hand; and thy apostasy will defile thy name and that of thy nation, and will leave an everlasting tarnish upon the Lion of the tribe of Judah, which now glitters in the standard of Ethiopia." On the conclusion of this harangue, all threw themselves at his feet, and entreated an immediate order to execution, rather than a confirmation from his lips of the rash resolution that he had taken.

Retaining a too lively recollection of the streams of blood that had been poured out upon the plains of Lasta, the emperor quietly allowed the Jesuits to arise, and unmoved by their earnest prayers and entreaties, replied shortly, "that his adherence to the Catholic faith had already caused the slaughter of a great portion of his subjects, and that he would have no further dealings whatever with their doctrines."

The film fell from before the eyes of the discomfited monks. The friends of the Alexandrian faith, rallying round the throne, united their utmost efforts to strengthen the emperor in his resolves; and the rumour spread abroad that on the feast of Saint John the Baptist the ancient religion was to be re-established throughout the land. Thousands assembled in the capital on that day to assist in the ceremony; and, although temporarily disappointed, the event clearly proved that this act of justice could no longer he safely delayed.

Every art and stratagem was still resorted to by the patriarch to put off the evil day; but the Emperor, roused at length by the harsh and uncompromising character of the Jesuit, fiercely exclaimed, "Has, then, the sceptre departed from mine hand for ever?"--and the royal trumpets suddenly sounded through the streets of Gondar, as the herald announced the following proclamation to the empire:--

"Listen and hear! We formerly recommended to you the adoption of the Roman Catholic creed, on the firm conviction that it was the only true one; but numbers of our subjects having sacrificed their lives for the religion of their ancestors, we henceforth accord its free exercise unto all. Let the priests resume possession of their churches, and worship the God of their forefathers. Farewell, and rejoice."

It is not possible to describe the rapture with which this welcome edict was received. The praises of the Emperor resounded from every quarter. The rosaries and the chaplets of the Jesuits were tossed out of doors, and burned in a heap. Men and women danced for joy in the streets, and the song of liberation burst from the lips of the disenthralled multitude.

"The flock of Ethiopia has escaped from the hyenas of the West.
The doctrine of Saint Mark is the column of our church.
Let all rejoice and sing hallelujahs,
For the sun of our deliverance has lighted up the land."

Thus perished the hopes of a mission which, for craft and cruelty, has been seldom equalled in the annals of time. Whilst Rome must indeed have been prompted by no ordinary motive to persevere so pertinaciously in a work of conversion, through all the horrors of banishment and martyrdom, the unworthy means resorted to by the dauntless but unsuccessful agents employed in the enterprise, have left an indelible stain upon the page of her history.

Volume 3, Chapter XVI.

THE CHURCH, SECOND GREAT POWER IN SHOA.

Christianity is the national religion throughout the more elevated portions of Abyssinia; but the wild Galla has overrun her fairest provinces, and located himself in her most pleasant places--the bigoted Moslem crowds thick upon the skirts of her distracted empire, and the tenets that she professes are base, foolish, and degrading. Engrafted on the superstitions of the Jew, the Mohammadan, and the Pagan-- promulgated by rude and ignorant men--and received by a people emerging only into the first stage of civilisation--the light of religion must have been feeble, even in the beginning; but as it was imparted, so it still remains. Sects and parties have arisen, and province has been banded against province in all the fiery wrath of the zealot; but, lost in the maze of subtle controversy, these internal wars have raged for generations without disturbing the original doctrine; and the same errors of the church prevail to this day throughout the land, as when first propounded in the beginning of the fourth century.

The Abuna or Archbishop is the spiritual chief of Ethiopia. Consecrated by the Patriarch of Alexandria, and possessing with rich revenues the intelligence of other lands, the Primate is universally feared and respected throughout the empire, and all religious differences and dissensions must be carried for the final decision of his Holiness. Princes and rulers pay implicit deference to his high behest, and, seated on the ground before his episcopal throne, receive with the utmost respect his every wish and advice. Feuds and quarrels betwixt state and state are satisfactorily arranged in his presence; and war, tyranny, and violence, are controlled by his all commanding voice of mildness and benevolence. But whilst his influence is thus potent, the extent of his diocese is also great; and many local difficulties opposing the pastoral visit to the extremities of his see, the kingdom of Shoa has for ages been deprived of the advantages accruing from the residence of an archbishop.

In the hand of the Abuna is vested the exclusive power of consecration. Bishops, priests, and deacons, can from him alone receive holy office. He only it is who grants absolution for heavy offences against either God or man; and the ark of a church, whether newly constructed or polluted by the unhallowed touch of a Mohammadan, must be purified by his hands with the holy _merom_, before being entitled to that high adoration which it thenceforward receives.

The second place in spiritual dignity is filled by the Etchegue, the Grand Prior of the monks of Debra Libanos. Seated on the throne of Tekla Haimanot, one of the first founders of the orders of Seclusion, he engrosses the management of all the various monastic establishments throughout the land, and in his hands remains the charge of the existing literature and education. Deeply versed in the subtilties of theology, his opinion is held of the highest import in the never-ceasing disputes upon the uninteresting subjects of false faith which occupy the mind of the Abyssinian divine; but his authority extends only to the simple admittance into the monkish order, and to granting absolution for minor offences.

The Comus, or Bishop, who ranks next above the Priest, is without diocese or even authority over the inferior members of the church; and his peculiar function is to bless and purify the sacred ark, should it accidentally receive the impure touch of deacon or layman; to repeat the prayer of admission, and sign the cross on the skull-cap of the candidate for monastic seclusion; and to afford absolution for trivial offences against the conscience.

Twelve thousand clerical drones, "Fruges consumere nati," fatten in idleness on the labour of the working classes, and employ their influence to foster the prejudice, bigotry, and superstition of their flock. The kiss imprinted on the hand of one of these licentious shepherds being believed to purify the body from all sin, they are treated with the highest respect and veneration, are fed and caressed both by high and low, and invariably addressed as "Father."

Upon payment each of a few pieces of salt, many hundred candidates receive the breath of the Holy Ghost from the Abuna in a single day; but every Abyssinian being ignorant of his own age, it is essential to the reception of priestly orders that the beard should have appeared. Deacons are chosen from among boys and children, because on reaching maturity the life of the adult is not always distinguished by that spotless purity which is held indispensable. The juvenile novices are present during divine service in capacity of servitors, and they complete the requisite number at the administration of the holy communion.

The father confessor is bound to the strictest secrecy; and it is believed that on this point a dread oath is taken before ordination, when all the mysteries of religion are expounded by the Abuna, and especially those which have reference to the preparation of bread for the holy supper. In a small house styled Bethlehem, which rises immediately behind every church, the mysterious ceremony is performed. The deacon can alone bake the cake; and the most vigilant guard is invariably preserved against the approach or intrusion of females or other improper visitors during the hour of solemn occupation.

Certain revenues and estates are set apart for the support of each clerical establishment; and to ensure the proper distribution, an Alaka, or chief, is selected by the monarch from either class of society. Whilst a successful foray is invariably followed by donations from the throne, the safe return from a journey is acknowledged by an offering on the part of all private individuals; and the shade of the venerable juniper-trees, which adorn the churchyard on the summit of the greenest knolls, is ever crowded with groups of sleek, hooded priests, who bask in the enjoyment of idle indulgence.

There are, perhaps, more churches in Abyssinia than in any other part of the Christian world; and he who has erected one believes that he has atoned for every sin. But even the best are very miserable edifices of wattle plastered with mud, only to be distinguished from the surrounding hovels by a thin coating of whitewash, which is dashed over the outside to point with the finger of pride to the peculiar privilege of the two great powers in the land. Circular in form, they have a door to each quarter of the compass, the apex of the conical thatch being surmounted by a brazen cross, which is usually adorned with ostrich eggs, whilst the same depraved and heathenish taste pervades the decorations of the interior. Sculpture is strictly forbidden; but the walls are bedaubed with paintings of the patron saint of the church, the blessed Virgin, and a truly incongruous assemblage of cherubim and fallen angels, with the evil one himself enveloped in hell-flames. Timbrels and crutches depend in picturesque confusion from the bare rafters of the roof; no ceiling protects the head from the descent of the lizard and the spider; and the _tout ensemble_ of the slovenly Abyssinian church presents the strangest imaginable picture of cobweb finery.

The Jewish temple consisted of three distinct divisions--the fore-court, the holy, and the holy of holies. To the first laymen were admitted, to the second only the priest, and to the third the high priest alone. All entrance was denied to the Pagan,--a custom which is rigorously enforced in Abyssinia; and her churches are in like manner divided into three parts.

Eight feet in breadth, the first compartment stretches, after the fashion of a corridor, entirely around the building. It is styled _Kene Mahelet_, and, strewed throughout with green rushes, forms the scene of morning worship. To the right of the entrance is the seat of honour for priests and erudite scribes; and beyond this court, save on certain occasions, the bare foot of the unlearned layman cannot pass.

_Makdas_ is the second compartment. This is the sanctuary in which the priests officiate, and a corner is set apart for laymen during the administration of the holy supper, whilst a cloth screens the mysteries of the interior. Here also hang, arranged around the walls, the bones of many deceased worthies, which have been carefully gathered from the newly opened sepulchre, and are deposited by the hand of the priest in cotton bags. By the nearest relative, the first opportunity is embraced of transporting these mouldering emblems of mortality to the sacred resting-place of Debra Libanos, where the living and the dead are alike blessed with a rich treasure of righteousness, since the remains of Tekla Haimanot, the patron saint of Abyssinia, still shed a bright halo over the scene of his miracles upon earth.

To _Kedis Kedisen_, the holy of holies, none but the Alaka is admitted. Behind its veil the sacrament is consecrated, the communion vessels are deposited, and the tremendous mysteries of the _tabot_, or ark of the covenant, are shrouded from the eyes of the uninitiated. The gold of the foreigner has penetrated the secret of the contents of this box, which are nothing more than a scroll of parchment, on which is inscribed the name of the patron saint of the church; but the priest who dared to open his lips on the subject to one of his own countrymen would incur the heavy penalties due to the sacrilege.

The most ridiculous exploits are recorded of Menilek the son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, who crowned a long course of iniquity by plundering the Temple of Jerusalem. The true ark of Zion is believed still to exist in the church at Axum; but prayers, vows, and oblations, are equally made to the handicraft of any vain ecclesiastic, which may be held up to the admiring multitude as having been secreted in a cave during the inroad of the conquering Graan, and since revealed by a miraculous dream from Heaven.

In the presence of the mysterious casket consists the only sanctity of the church. Heretics alone doubt of its inherent virtues; and every individual who professes Christianity must during life make his vows and oblations to the one he has selected, in order that after death he may enjoy the privilege of interment under its sacred influence. Young and old, rich and poor, prostrate themselves to the ground as the idol is carried in procession through the streets under the great umbrellas; and when replaced in its case in the holy of holies, the air is rent by the attendant priests with shouts of "The temple of the eternal God!"

All the disqualifications of the Levitical law oppose entrance to the sacred edifice, and both the threshold and the door-posts must be kissed in passing. Like the Jews, the Abyssinians invariably commence the service with the Trisagion, "Holy, holy, holy, is God, the Lord of Sabaoth." The sweet singer of Israel danced before the Lord, and a caricature imitation remains, the chief point of Abyssinian worship. Capering and beating the ground with their feet, the priests stretch out their crutches towards each other with frantic gesticulations, whilst the clash of the timbrel, the sound of the drum, and the howling of harsh voices, complete a most strange form of devotion. The lessons are taken partly from the Scriptures, partly from the miracles of the holy Virgin and of Tekla Haimanot, the life of Saint George, and other foolish and fabulous works; but all are in the ancient Ethiopic tongue, which to the congregation is a dead letter; and the sole edification of a visit to the church is therefore comprised in the kiss that has been imprinted on the portal.

In order to obtain the desired and enviable position of eating the bread of comparative idleness, a sacrifice is indispensable. The priest is restricted to the possession of a single wife; and on her demise or infidelity, no second marriage is authorised. A small portion of lore must, moreover, be imbibed--the Psalms of David must be carefully conned--and the mysteries of Abyssinian song and dance be fully penetrated, before the sacred office can be attained. The lessons of early youth are, however, speedily forgotten, and the constant repetition of the same words removes the necessity of retaining the character. Few in after years can read--still fewer respect the vow of chastity--and the employment of the morning hours of the Sabbath, and of the holydays, in dancing and shouting within the walls of the church, entitle the performer to all the immunities and comforts pertaining unto holy orders.

In every clerical conclave the king possesses the supreme voice of authority; and the despotic monarch may in Shoa be justly regarded as the head of his own church. Loss of office is the great punishment inflicted by the spiritual court, which is composed of the assembled members of the individual church, and degradation is followed by the expulsion of the offending brother from the community. But the great hall of justice is not unfrequently graced with the presence of the refractory priest; and fetters in the dungeon, or banishment from the realm, maintain a wholesome fear of the royal power of investigation in matters ecclesiastical.

The monk is admitted to the order of his choice by any officiating priest. A prayer is repeated, the skull-cap blessed with the sign of the cross, and the ceremony is complete. But a more imposing rite attends the oath of celibacy before the Abuna. The clergy assemble in numbers, and fires are lighted around the person of the candidate. His loins are bound about with the leathern girdle of Saint John, and the prayer and the requiem for the dead rise pealing from the circle. The _Glaswa_--a narrow strip of black cloth adorned with coloured crosses-- is then placed on the shaven crown, and shrouded from view by the enveloping shawl; and the archbishop, clad in his robes of state, having repeated the concluding prayer and blessing, signs with his own hand the emblem of faith over the various parts of the body.

Education was in former days to be obtained alone from the inmate of the monastic abode, and a life of scanty food, austerity, and severe fasting, was embraced only by the more enthusiastic. But the skin-cloak, and the dirty head-dress, now envelope the listless monk, who, satisfied with a dreamy and indolent existence, basks during the day on the grassy banks of the sparkling rivulet, and prefers a bare sufficiency of coarse fare from the hand of royal charity, to the sweeter morsel earned by the sweat of his brow.

Priest-ridden and bigoted to the last degree, the chains of bondage are firmly riveted around the neck of the infatuated Abyssinian. The most ridiculous doctrines must be believed, and the most severe fasts and penances must be endured, according to the pleasure and the fiat of the church. Uncharitable and uncompromising, her anger often blazes forth into the furious blast of excommunication; and for offences the most trivial, the souls of men are consigned to eternal perdition.

Fasts, penances, and excommunication form, in fact, the chief props of the clerical power; but the repentant sinner can always purchase a substitute to undergo the two former, and the ban of the church is readily averted by a timely offering. Spiritual offences are indeed of rare occurrence; for murder and sacrilege alone give umbrage to the easy conscience of the native of Shoa, and all other crimes written in the book of Christian commandment have been well-nigh effaced from his tablet. Abstinence and the disbursement of suitable largesses to the priest and mendicant, are of themselves quite sufficient to ensure the requisite absolution for every sin committed in the flesh.

The death-bed and the funeral feast are attended with much advantage to the temporal interests of the church. The choicest food is unsparingly dealt out, and the bereaved widow is glad to leave the management of her affairs to the assiduous father confessor, who is entertained in the house of all who can afford the expense. The dying man bestows a portion of his estate in this world for the bright hopes which absolution extends in that which is to come; and the holy sacrament is even administered after the soul has quitted the tenement of clay, in order that the superstition of grateful relatives may grant a rich reward for the blessing of the priest, and for his undeniable assurance of exemption from punishment hereafter.

But the Abyssinian possesses no idea of the more salutary doctrine of Christianity. Polluted faith is here reflected in the mirror of depraved manners, and long severe fastings constitute the essence of his degenerate religion. The idol worship of saints has made rapid progress in the land, and the ignorance of the clergy is only to be equalled by the impurity of the lay classes. Their belief in Christianity, if that term can be applied, is strange, childish, and inconsistent; and bigoted to the faith of their ancestors, they abhor and despise all who refuse acquiescence in this their absurd confession:--

"That the Alexandrian faith is the only true belief.

"That faith, together with baptism, is sufficient for justification; but that God demands alms and fasting, as amends for sin committed prior to the performance of the baptismal rite.

"That unchristened children are not saved.

"That the baptism of water is the true regeneration.

"That invocation ought to be made to the saints, because sinning mortals are unworthy to appear in the presence of God, and because if the saints be well loved, they will listen to all prayer.

"That every sin is forgiven from the moment that the kiss of the pilgrim is imprinted on the stones of Jerusalem; and that kissing the hand of a priest purifies the body in like manner.

"That sins must be confessed to the priest--saints invoked--and full faith reposed in charms and amulets, more especially if written in an unknown tongue.

"That prayers for the dead are necessary, and absolution indispensable; but that the souls of the departed do not immediately enter upon a state of happiness, the period being in exact accordance with the alms and prayers that are expended upon earth."

All ideas regarding salvation are thus vague and indefinite; and vain; foolish doctrines have taken entire possession of the shallow thoughts of the Christian of Ethiopia. Born amid falsehood and deceit, cradled in bloodshed, and nursed in the arms of idleness and debauchery, the national character is truly painted in the confession of one of her degenerate sons:--"Whensoever we behold the pleasing ware, we desire to steal it; and we are never in the company of a man whom we dislike, that we do not wish to kill him on the spot."

The uphill task of the missionary is therefore hard, and the wonder is that so much has been accomplished--not that the harvest is scanty. The example of a holy life cannot fail to produce a beneficial effect, and the preacher of the Gospel is acknowledged to possess every quality that is good, mild, and just; but disliked as a stranger of envied accomplishment, despised as an alien to the land, and hated by the jealous priesthood, the words of truth fall unheeded from lips the most eloquent, and the best directed endeavours prove of small avail. Perfectly satisfied with his own creed, the Abyssinian finds it easier to kiss the holy book than to peruse its contents, and to trust to the fast and the priestly absolution than to mould his conduct according to the Gospel; and it is not until commerce with the arts of civilised society shall have been introduced, that the barrier can be overcome, or one step be gained towards the restoration to the unhappy country of the true word of God. The bigotry of ages is confirmed by the self-pride and the excessive ignorance of the present race; and on the rising or on the unborn generation must rest the sole hope for a moral resurrection.

Volume 3, Chapter XVII.

ABYSSINIAN RITES AND PRACTICES WHICH WOULD APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN BORROWED FROM THE HEBREWS.

The appellation of _Habeshi_, "a mixed and mingling people," is aptly exemplified in this strange medley of religion, to which the Jew, the Moslem, and the Pagan, has each contributed. A mixture from different nations, as stigmatised by the original term, the Abyssinians have garbled the faith of all their ancestors; and there is assuredly no Christian community in the whole world which has jumbled together truth and falsehood with such utter inconsistency as the vain church of Ethiopia.

Many circumstances have conspired to render the nation more peculiarly susceptible of Hebrew influence. The first Christian missionary found the people idolaters and worshippers of the great serpent Arwe; but the ancestors of those Jews who to the present day exist in the country, unquestionably arrived long before the nation had embraced the Christian religion; and in their attempts to obtain a moral influence over their pagan hosts were far from being inactive in their adopted home. Thus the early Christian church, that of Egypt especially, by which many Hebrew customs had been embraced, was the more readily received when introduced into a nation amongst whom similar doctrines and practices were already in use.

Boasting a direct descent from the house of Solomon, and flattering themselves in the name of the wisest man of antiquity, the emperors of Abyssinia preserve the high-sounding title of "King of Israel," and the national standard displays for their motto--"The Lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed." The tradition of queen Maqueda has been ascribed to the invention of those fugitive Jews, who, after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Emperor Titus, migrated into the northern states by way of the Red Sea--who disseminated it with the design of obtaining the desired permission to settle in the country, and whose descendants are the Falashas still extant among the mountains of Simien and Lasta. But whatever may be thought by others of the legend of descent, the firm national belief in the origin traced, will in a great measure account for the general inclination and consent to receive Hebrew rites and practices as they were from time to time presented. Jews as well as Christians believe the forty-fifth psalm to be a prophecy of the queen's visit to Jerusalem, whither she was attended by a daughter of Hiram the king of Tyre--the latter portion being a prediction of the birth of Menilek, who was to be king over a nation of Gentiles.

Whatever the true date of their arrival, it is certain that the Hebrews have exercised a great influence upon the affairs of Abyssinia since the days of their dispersion; and although their religion was abjured by the nation on the promulgation of the Gospel, the children of Israel, moulding a portion of their worship on the formulae of the Christian faith, and esteemed as sorcerers and cunning artists in the land, found a safe asylum among the mountains, and exist to the present day, here as elsewhere, a separate and peculiar nation.

With the destruction of the race of Solomon, the Jewish party for a time obtained the preponderance. Again, on the restoration of the legitimate dynasty, they were hunted among the mountains as a race accursed, and the feeling reigned paramount to sweep the wanderers from the face of the land. But the custom of ages had impressed the Hebrew practices too deeply to be removed. They were, in fact, regarded in the light of orthodox Christian doctrines; and, as might have been expected from a bigoted and superstitious people, the severest persecutions were enforced against the members of another creed, without the nation observing in how far they were themselves tainted with those very principles which in others they considered so justifiable to oppress.

The Abyssinian Christian will neither eat with the Jew, nor with the Galla, nor with the Mohammadan, lest he should thereby participate in the delusions of his creed. The church and the churchyard are equally closed against all who commit this deadly sin; and the Ethiopian is bound by the same restrictions which prohibited the Jews from partaking of the flesh of certain animals. The act which is deemed disgraceful in the eyes of men, is regarded as a moral transgression, and is visited, as was the case in the Mosaic institution, by the stern reprimand of the priest. The penance of severe fasting, or of uneasy repose upon the bare ground, is enforced by the father confessor to efface the taint of the interdicted animal; and prayers must be repeated, and holy water plentifully besprinkled over the defiled person of that sinning individual who shall have dared to touch the meat of the hare, or the swine, or the aquatic fowl.

"The children of Israel did not eat of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh." This in the Amharic language is termed _Shoolada_, and it is held unlawful to be eaten in Shoa, more especially to the members of the royal blood; a universal belief prevailing, that the touch of the unholy morsel would infallibly be followed by the loss of the offending teeth, as a direct proof of the just indignation of Heaven.

The Jewish Sabbath is strictly observed throughout the kingdom. The ox and the ass are at rest. Agricultural pursuits are suspended. Household avocations must be laid aside, and the spirit of idleness reigns throughout the day.

By order of the great council of Laodicea, the Oriental churches were freed from this burden; and the industrious gladly availed themselves of the ecclesiastical licence to work on the Saturday. Here, however, the ancient usage agreed too well with a people systematically indolent; and when, a few years ago, one daring spirit presumed, in advance of the age, to burst the fetters of superstition. His Majesty the king of Shoa, stimulated by the advice of besotted monks, issued a proclamation, that whoso violated the Jewish Sabbath should forfeit his property to the royal treasury, and be consigned to the state dungeon.

Ludolf, the celebrated Strabo of Ethiopia, most accurately remarks, that there is no nation upon earth which fasts so strictly as the Abyssinians; and that they would rather commit a great crime than touch food on the day of abstinence. They not only boast with the Pharisee, "I fast twice a week," but pride themselves also upon their mortification of the flesh during half the year, whilst the haughty and self-sufficient monk vaunts his meagre diet as the only means of expiation from sin and evil desire.

The Abyssinians, in common with other Christian communities who rigidly observe the fasts of Wednesday and Friday, advance as an argument, that the Jews seized our Saviour on the first of those days, and on the second carried into execution their design of crucifixion; but as this account differs from the evidence of the Gospel, which shows that the arrest took place upon the Thursday, the observance is most probably an imitation of the weekly fasts in existence among the Jews.

The fast of the forty days before Easter is observed with much greater rigour than any other in Abyssinia; and the reckless individual who shall neglect the great "Toma Hodadi" cannot possess one sentiment of true religion in his heart. To the abstinence of this season especially are attached peculiar virtues which completely nullify the effect of every sin that may be committed throughout the residue of the year.

According to the Jewish practice, all culinary utensils must be thoroughly cleansed and polished, to the end that no particle of meat or prohibited food may remain to pollute the pious intention. Journeys and travel are strictly interdicted; and from the Thursday until Easter morn no morsel should enter the lip, and the parched throat ought to remain without moisture.

During the fast of the holy Virgin, children of tender years are not even exempted from the penance of sixteen days; and during the many and weary weeks of abstinence which roll slowly throughout the entire year, the Abyssinian priest would grant no dispensation to the famished mortal, "were he even to receive an immediate mandate from heaven."

Sahela Selassie arose some years ago a mighty zealot in the cause; and perceiving that the custom was beginning to decline, proclaimed through the royal herald pains and penalties sufficiently severe to insure the future strict observance of the fast. The commands of the defender of the faith were, however, in one instance, transgressed by a soldier, during a military expedition; but his excuse of fatigue under a heavy load of the king's camp equipage was admitted; and although on similar occasions a certain licence is extended, still the monarch keeps a strict watch over the maintenance of church discipline.

On the annual day of atonement, the Jews were obliged to confess their sins before a priest. In like manner the Abyssinians are commanded from time to time to perform the ceremony, during the great fast of Hodadi more particularly, and on Good Friday, the day of the Jewish expiation. And as the slave, in token of his freedom and dismissal, received the blow from the Roman praetor, so the penitent on absolution receives a stroke over the shoulders from a branch of the Woira tree, as a sign of his deliverance from sin and Satan.

Like the Pagans of ancient and modern times, who placed between the most high God and themselves an inferior deity, the Abyssinians observe this species of idolatry, although the names of their tutelar spirits have been changed. Saint Michael and the holy Virgin are here venerated as in no other country in the world--the former as the martial leader of all the choirs of angels--the latter as chief of all saints, and queen of heaven and of earth; and both are considered as the great intercessors for mankind.

The detrimental influence of this superstition is fully exemplified in the conduct of the nation. The mediator is ever employed when individual courage fails in impudent assurance or insatiable beggary. Time is uselessly wasted in importunity, which all believe must in the end prove successful; and the practice of invocation and intercession thus exerts the most baneful tendency even upon the daily dealings of life.

Like the Jews of old, the Abyssinians weep and lament on all occasions of death, and the shriek ascends to the sky, as if the soul could be again recalled from the world of spirits. The Israelites employed hired mourners; but here the friends and relatives of the departed assemble for the same purpose, and the absence of any from the scene is ascribed to want of love and affection. As with the Jews, the most inferior garments are put on; and the skin is torn from the temples, and scarified on the cheeks and breast, to proclaim the last extremity of grief.

In later days, the extravagance of mourning has been somewhat moderated, through the agency of a priest of the church of Saint George, who stood boldly forward to arrest a practice equally at variance with the sacred books of the country, and with the spirit of the New Testament. Excommunication was thundered upon all who should thenceforth indulge publicly in the luxury of woe; and the people trembled under the ban of the church. The death of a great governor soon confirmed the restriction. Being loved and esteemed by all classes, the prohibition was severely felt. The complaint was referred to the throne; and as the deceased was a man of rank, and a royal favourite withal, the clergy were commanded to grant absolution in this one instance. But Zeddoo, the stout-hearted priest, arose, and declared that he had no respect for persons, and that the words of truth must be defended to the death. The silence of the monarch enforced the ecclesiastical fiat; and to this day the drum is mute at the funeral wake, and the customary praise of the defunct is heard no more in the public resorts of the capital.

The Talmud asserts that those who died piously remained in a state of active knowledge of all the occurrences of this world. Philo, the learned Jew of Alexandria, informs us, that the souls of the patriarchs pray incessantly for the Jewish nation, and the erudite rabbins alleged that angels are the governors of all sublunary things, and that each man and every country has a guardian angel for protection and direction. The Abyssinians carry this belief still further--they confidently anticipate the intercession and assistance of saints and angels in all spiritual and secular concerns, and invoke and adore them in even a higher degree than the Creator. All their churches are dedicated to one in particular, and the holy "tabot" is regarded as the visible representative of the celestial patron. The ark of Saint Michael accompanies all military expeditions, to insure success against the Gentiles; and that of Tekla Haimanot stands the palladium of the north, to preserve the empire from the attacks of the Mohammadan prince of Argobba.

All the absurd ideas of the Jewish rabbins regarding the dead have been received and embraced by the fathers of Abyssinia. They maintain with the Romanists too, that the soul of the departed does not immediately enter into the kingdom of joy, but is conducted to an habitation situated in an invisible spot between the heaven and the earth, where it remains until the resurrection, in a state of happiness or torment, according to the alms and prayers bestowed by surviving relatives and friends. This Abyssinian "limbo" is supposed also to be occupied by the saints; and the absurdity is increased by the belief that intercession with the Almighty is absolutely necessary to absolve the Heavenly host from their spiritual imperfections, and insure their resting in peace until the coming of Christ.

But the interest of the avaricious priest is concerned in the preservation of this doctrine, and a corner of the churchyard is sternly denied to all who die without death-bed confession, or whose relations refuse the fee and the funeral feast. The payment of eight pieces of salt, however, wafts the soul of a poor man to a place of rest, and the _tescar_, or banquet for the dead, places him in a degree of happiness according to the costliness of the entertainment. The price of eternal bliss is necessarily higher to the rich; whilst royalty is taxed at a still more costly rate, and the anniversaries of the deaths of the six kings of Shoa are held with great ceremony in the capital. Once during every twelve months, before the commencement of a splendid feast, their souls are fully absolved from all sin; and the munificence of their illustrious descendant is still further displayed in the long line of beeves which afterwards wends its way to the threshold of every church in Ankober.

Volume 3, Chapter XVIII.

THE PEOPLE.