Abyssinia, or ancient Ethiopia, comprehends a vast region in the interior parts of Africa, whose inhabitants, previous to the acquaintance of their Queen with the Jewish king Solomon, were involved in a dark and gloomy superstition, resembling in many respects the idolatrous worship of the Egyptians. The connexion and intimacy that subsequently existed between the Jewish and Ethiopian courts resulted in the conversion of this people to Judaism, in the profession of which they remained until the time of our Saviour. It is also evident that considerable intercourse was carried on between Axuma, the capital of Ethiopia, and the royal city of Judea, no less for commercial than religious purposes. It is highly probable that business connected with ecclesiastical affairs, or perhaps the desire of witnessing and participating in the solemnities of Pentecost, had induced a dignitary of the Ethiopian court to visit Jerusalem, where, coming in contact with Philip, he was converted to Christianity, and baptized by that apostle. The subsequent fate of this distinguished personage, the impression produced upon the mind of his royal mistress and her court by his conversion, or whether the propagation of Christianity throughout the realm was effected by his instrumentality, are all mysteries over which time has drawn an impenetrable veil.

Ecclesiastical historians are united in their testimony that, early in the fourth century, Christianity became the established religion of the empire. This happy result was brought about by a train of singular circumstances. It appears that Meropius, a merchant of Tyre, having undertaken a commercial voyage to India, was shipwrecked on the coast of Ethiopia, when he was barbarously murdered by the natives, and his two sons carried as slaves before the Emperor. The intelligence, gentleness, and peaceable demeanour of the two brothers, of whom the older was named Frumentius, gained them many friends, and they were soon promoted to high offices at court. The brothers, being Christians, soon began to teach the natives, and the work of conversion went on rapidly. In a few years, so great was their success, that the gospel had been preached throughout the length and breadth of the land, and a thriving branch thereby united to the great Eastern church. Frumentius subsequently visited the Patriarch of Alexandria, who received him and the message he bore with the greatest joy, loaded him with honours, and consecrated him the first bishop of the Ethiopians. The system of doctrine was the same as that received in the Alexandrian Church, of which Athanasius gives a very succinct account. This venerable prelate was a decided opposer of the Arian heresy, and he expresses their belief in the divinity of our Saviour; "And we assemble on Saturday," he continues; "not that we are infected with Judaism, but to worship Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath." The friendly relation thus early begun between these churches, has continued to the present time through fifteen centuries; and the office of Patriarch of the Ethiopic Church is still bestowed upon a Coptish priest, who receives his appointment and consecration from the Patriarch of Alexandria.

The Abyssinian Church appears to have remained in a state of general peace and prosperity while Numidia, Carthage, and other African provinces, were convulsed by the faction of the Donatists. Neither do they appear to have taken any part in the tumults and dissensions arising from the Arian and Sabellian controversies. On the contrary, they were counted by the most rigid as a church of orthodox Christians, until the commencement of the seventh century, when they embraced the Eutychian sentiments, in consequence, it is said, of the exhortations addressed to them by the doctors of that sect who resided in Egypt.[7] About the same time, the Saracens subduing Egypt and all the adjacent countries, Abyssinia became isolated from the rest of the world. During the many centuries that ensued, Christianity, though not without adulteration, was preserved in this ancient empire, and the solemn observance of the seventh day unchangeably continued. Toward the close of the fifteenth century, the Portuguese, through their brilliant career of maritime discovery, succeeded in opening a communication into the country of the Abyssinians, who were found observing the rites and professing the doctrine of their ancient faith. Rome, inflamed with a bigoted zeal to extend the sphere of her spiritual triumphs, early took advantage of so favourable an opportunity to establish a mission in this remote quarter of the globe. Accordingly, John Bermudez, one of the most enterprising and crafty of the sons of Loyola, was despatched into Abyssinia, and in order to give his mission a certain appearance of dignity, he was consecrated patriarch of that people by the Pope. According to his own accounts of the matter, he found them sunk in the most deplorable state of heresy and ignorance, observant of Judaical rites and ceremonies, and unacquainted with the ritual and worship of the true church. As Bermudez was accompanied by an embassage from the Portuguese court, who expressed the most solicitous regard for the Abyssinian monarch, that prince, hoping to derive some signal advantage from such powerful succours, that would enable him to terminate successfully a war in which he was at that time engaged with a neighbouring prince, received them most graciously, and everything seemed for a time to presage the most happy termination of the mission. But their sanguine expectations were doomed to disappointment, and though they were several times reinforced, and neither pains nor expense were spared in the prosecution of their enterprise, it became ultimately apparent to all that the Abyssinians were not to be engaged to abandon their ancient faith, and the Jesuits becoming weary of such fruitless endeavours, relinquished the enterprise and returned to Europe. But the Pope, unwilling to renounce his pretensions in that quarter of the world, took occasion to renew the embassy about the commencement of the seventeenth century. As before, the mission received at first the most auspicious encouragement from Susneius, or Segued, the reigning monarch. This prince, whose right to the throne was fiercely contested by some powerful adversaries, gladly embraced their overtures. Alphonsa Mendez, through the exercise of that consummate cunning for which his order is proverbial, succeeded in securing to himself the appointment of prime minister of the realm, and of patriarch of the Abyssinians. The monarch, also, in an open and public manner, swore allegiance to the Pope, and issued a decree commanding all his subjects to embrace the Romish faith under penalty of confiscation, mutilation, and death. The execution of this barbarous decree was committed to Mendez, the new patriarch, who commenced his mission by the most inconsiderate acts of violence and oppression. Displaying in all his conduct the true spirit of the Spanish Inquisition, he employed all the arts of persuasion and reward on the one hand, and of terror and cruelty on the other, to compel the Abyssinians to abandon the tenets of their forefathers, and to adopt the doctrine and worship of Rome. In this fearful alternative, multitudes of that people, with their priests and leaders, steadfastly adhered to the truth, with a firmness and magnanimity that would have done honour to the primitive ages, and resolutely met death in its most frightful forms. Popular insurrections succeeded, and force was called in to produce submission. Multitudes were slaughtered, and many driven into exile. At last, however, the inhuman work of persecution disgusted the emperor; and after a great victory over twenty thousand of his peasantry, in which eight thousand were slain, he relinquished the bloody task, and by a proclamation, distinguished for its frankness and simplicity, restored religious freedom to Abyssinia.

The result is gratifying as a triumph of religious liberty, and as a check to the extension of Roman despotism and superstition. To attempt any details of the miseries and sufferings which the Abyssinians had endured during this persecution, would require volumes; for beside the horrors of the Inquisition and the evils of civil war, the worst passions and vices of mankind, as an unavoidable consequence, were released from all restraint. Intrepid avarice took occasion to extort and pillage from its miserable victims; revenge wreaked the hoarded hatred of years upon its unsuspecting objects; and the assassin and the ravisher proceeded, without fear of punishment, to the consummation of their crimes.

Mendez had, likewise, ordered those to be re-baptized, who, in compliance with the will of the emperor, embraced the religion of Rome, as if they had formerly been the votaries of Paganism, and their worship a system of idolatry. They were also compelled to renounce the observance of the seventh day. This the Abyssinian clergy regarded as a most shocking insult to the religious discipline of their forefathers, and quite as provoking as the violence and barbarity exercised upon those who refused to submit to the Romish yoke. Besides his arbitrary and despotic proceedings in the church, Mendez excited tumults and dissensions in the state, and with an unparalleled spirit of aggression and arrogance, encroached upon the prerogatives of the crown, and even attempted to give law to the emperor himself. Many circumstances, indeed, concur to favour the opinion that he entertained the design of subverting the liberties of the empire, and rendering it an appendage of the Portuguese crown. At any rate, the kingdom became torn to pieces by intestine commotions and conspiracies, and though obliged to carry on his machinations in secret, he filled the court with cabals which lasted until the death of the reigning monarch, in 1632. Basilides, the son and successor of the former, deemed it expedient to free the country from such troublesome guests, and accordingly, in 1684, he banished Mendez, with all the Europeans belonging to his train, from the Abyssinian territories, commanded all his subjects to return to the religion of their ancestors, and forbid the worship of images, or the observance of the first day. He likewise requested the Patriarch of Alexandria to send them a new abuna, with which request that dignitary complied.[8]

The condition of the Abyssinian church at this time was most deplorable. The reign of the Jesuits, though short, had been attended with blighting and fatal consequences. It had been their aim to overthrow in the minds of the people all respect for the moral law and the revealed word of God, and to establish in its place a preposterous veneration for the authority of the fathers, and the canons of the church. Nor was this all; superstition had immeasurably increased, and its accompaniments, vice and ignorance, everywhere prevailed.

But from this period the very name of Rome, its worship, or its pontiffs, were objects of the highest aversion to the Abyssinians; and even the frontiers of the kingdom were guarded with the strictest vigilance and the closest attention, lest any Jesuit or Romish emissary might steal into their territory in disguise, and excite new commotions in the kingdom. In vain the pontiffs made many attempts to recover what they had lost through the insolence and misconduct of the Jesuits. For this purpose two Capuchin monks were despatched into Abyssinia; but these unfortunate wretches only succeeded in penetrating a short distance into the interior, when they were discovered and immediately put to death. The pontiffs, however, were not discouraged, though they employed more clandestine methods of reviving the missions, and even solicited in their behalf the intercession and influence of Louis XIV. of France. The Jesuits were eager to obtain this employment, and, accordingly, Poncet, a French apothecary, was despatched from Cairo by the consul Maillet, in company with Brevedent, a respectable member of the former fraternity. Brevedent died in Abyssinia, and, soon after, Poncet obtained an introduction to the king, who expressed his dislike of the Catholic religion, and his determination not to permit his people to embrace it. M. Du Roule was afterwards deputed to the same court, but he had advanced no further than Sennaar, when he was cruelly murdered by the natives, at the instigation, as was supposed, of the Franciscans, who were disgusted at seeing the mission in the hands of the Jesuits. In 1709, the throne was usurped by Ousts, who appears to have been well affected to the Romish system, and who secretly communed with its emissaries, although he made no attempt to influence the consciences of his subjects. His successor, David, ordered three of these strangers to be apprehended, who, being condemned as heretics and schismatics in a council of the clergy, were stoned to death. Since that period, Pope Benedict XIV. made a new attempt to effect a reconciliation with the Abyssinian church, but his efforts proved abortive; and, so far as I am aware, neither the pontiffs nor their votaries have been able to calm the resentment of that exasperated people, or to subdue their enmity against the doctrine and worship of Rome.

In 1634, the Lutherans made several attempts to establish missions in Abyssinia, in order, as they said, to bring that benighted people to the knowledge of a purer religion, and a more rational system of worship, although it might appear questionable to some which church of the two most required a reformation in its rites and doctrines. In accordance with this design, the learned Heyling of Lubec made a voyage into Abyssinia, where he resided many years, and acquired such a distinguished place in the confidence and esteem of the sovereign, that he was honoured with many important offices, and finally became prime minister of the realm. In this eminent station he acquitted himself in the most creditable manner, and gave many proofs of his zeal both for the interests of religion and the public good. He finally set out for Europe on business of importance, but never arrived there; and, as the journey was being performed by land, it is supposed that he perished in the deserts of Nubia. Subsequently, however, a communication was kept up between the two countries, and Ernest, duke of Saxe-Gotha, surnamed the Pious, on account of his sanctity and virtue, made new attempts to diffuse a knowledge of the gospel, as taught in his church, among the Abyssinians. This design was formed through the counsels of the famous Ludolph, and was to have been executed by the ministry of Gregory, an Abyssinian abbot who had resided some time in Europe. This missionary sailed from Antwerp, in the ship Katerina, in 1657, but, in passing Cape Horn, she was unfortunately wrecked, and all on board perished. The mission, thus frustrated, was not designed to be abandoned; for the prince, in 1663, entrusted the same important commission to John Michael Wansleb, a native of Erfurt, to whom he gave the wisest instructions, and whom he charged particularly to employ all rational and consistent means to excite in the Abyssinian nation a favourable opinion of the Germans, as this, more than anything else, would contribute to the success of the enterprise. But this wise and laudable undertaking failed through the inconstancy of the worthless man to whom it was confided, and whose virtue was by no means equal to his ability. Instead of continuing his journey into Abyssinia, he remained for some time in Egypt, and finally returned to Europe without ever seeing the country he was intended to visit. But he entertained many uneasy apprehensions of the account that would naturally be demanded of his conduct, and of the manner in which he had expended the large sums of money designed for the Abyssinian expedition. These apprehensions, together with the consciousness of guilt, made him desperate. Hence, instead of returning to Germany, he went to Rome, and, in 1667, embraced the doctrine of that church, at least in open profession, and entered into the Dominican order.

Other missions have been established, or rather attempted, in this country. In 1829, Messrs. Gobat and Kinglar were sent by the Church Missionary Society, as missionaries to Abyssinia. After many trials, they succeeded in reaching the place of their destination, by way of Massowa. The ruler of Tigre, who is greatly beloved by his subjects, received them in a friendly manner, and they were much encouraged by his assurances of safety and protection. Mr. Hinglar died when he had just conquered most of the difficulties of the language, but Mr. Gobat employed his time in conversational preaching and distributing Bibles, until, in consequence of the unsettled state of the country, he was induced to leave for a short time. It is a fact, however, that previous to this the Scriptures had been translated by the Abyssinians themselves from the Arabic and Ethiopic into the Amharic language, which is the dialect generally spoken throughout the Abyssinian empire. In 1833, Mr. Gobat, accompanied by Mr. Isenberg, returned to his field of labour. They took up their residence at Adowa, the capital of Tigre, six or eight days' journey from Massowa. During Mr. Gobat's absence, the former monarch, Sabagadis, had been dethroned, and Oobie, an avaricious and cruel despot, reigned in his stead. It was soon perceived that he regarded the missionaries with a jealous eye, and his suspicions were increased by the appearance in the country soon after of many foreigners. Mr. Isenberg was openly accused of bringing them into the country for treasonable purposes. These accusations, and others of a similar character, were circulated by the priests, who complained that through the influence of the missionaries the Ethiopic church was threatened with extinction. They also charged the missionaries with intrigue to overthrow the government of the country, and to introduce English troops. Oobie was no less suspicious of the political designs of the foreigners, and it was not long before an edict came to Mr. Isenberg, from the king, in which all foreigners were commanded to embrace the Abyssinian creed or to leave the country. Preferring the latter alternative, Mr. Isenberg and his associate, Mr. Blumhardt, retired into Egypt. Mr. Krapf, a former companion of Blumhardt, removed to Shoa, where he was favourably received and hospitably entertained for a time. Ultimately, however, it appeared that the king wished to be benefited by the superior knowledge of the missionaries in everything but what pertained to the duties of religion. He said that he wanted workmen, not priests. After Mr. Krapf had acquired the language, he established schools, which succeeded well for a time, or until the pupils, from their superior knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, began to question the traditions in which they had been brought up. Here the priesthood interfered, and through their machinations the monarch was induced to express his decided disapprobation of the proceedings, and the schools were, at his command, suppressed. Under these discouragements, the missionaries, after distributing ten thousand copies of the Bible, returned to Europe.

The empire of Abyssinia has been frequently disturbed by civil wars; and the appointment of a new abuna, or metropolitan, is often attended by intestine commotions. This was the case in 1715, when that dignitary, in a convocation of the clergy, declared his opinion of the consubstantiality of Christ, which was different from that which had been proclaimed at the gate of the palace. The abuna represented Christ as being "one God, of the Father alone, with a body consubstantial with ours, and by that union becoming the Messiah." The emperor maintained, on the contrary, that the Redeemer was perfect man and perfect God by the union; one Christ, whose body was composed of a precious substance, called bahery, not derived from his mother, or consubstantial with ours. Many of the ecclesiastics favoured the opinion of the abuna; and, elate with their supposed triumph, they gathered the populace, surrounded the palace, and insulted the emperor with shouts and songs. The enraged potentate gave immediate orders for their dispersion and punishment. The mandate was executed by a company of pagan soldiers, who slew about one hundred of the delinquents, and filled the streets of the capital with slaughter. The Christian population of Shoa and Efat is estimated at 1,000,000 souls, and that of the Pagan and Mohammedan population of the numerous dependencies at an equal number. But this people is chiefly interesting to us from the fact that here, for so many ages, a national religious establishment has existed, which never succumbed to the authority of Rome, and, consequently, which has ever been in the observation of the holy Sabbath day.

The Ethiopic church maintains the Eutychian doctrine respecting the nature of Christ; and it agrees with the other Eastern churches in holding the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father only. In these respects it differs from the Western churches. From the Romish church it is distinguished by its doctrine regarding the supremacy of the Pope, in which it agrees with Protestants; to the rule of faith, which it limits to the Scriptures, including the Apocrypha; to the eucharist, which it administers in both kinds to the laity, and regards neither as a transubstantiation nor as a sacrifice; to the celibacy of the clergy, who may be married; to the adoration of images, which it regards as unlawful; to the state of the soul after death, rejecting purgatory; and as regards several other less important and minor points. But, like Rome, it invokes saints and angels as intercessors with God, paying great honours to the Virgin and St. Michael, and having a copious calendar of saints, with a corresponding number of fasts and festivals.[9]

Their most extraordinary peculiarities are certain forms and ceremonies retained from their ancient Jewish worship. Their churches, which are generally small and mean, resemble precisely the Jewish temple. Like it, they are divided into three parts; the innermost being the holy of holies, and inaccessible to the laity, who, except on certain occasions, are forbidden to pass the outer porch. Unbelievers, and all subject to Levitical uncleanness, are carefully excluded. All who enter must be barefoot, and the doorposts and threshold must be kissed in passing. The service is performed in the ancient Ethiopic, or Geez, now a dead language. It commences with the Jewish Trisagion, and as David danced before the ark, so their priests caper and beat the ground with their feet, and, with other similar antics and performances, complete a remarkable form of devotion. They observe the Levitical prohibitions of unclean animals, and the Pharisaical ceremonies of genuflexions and ablutions. Like the Jews, they practise concubinage. Fasts of unexampled strictness and extraordinary frequency are constantly observed. With scriptural examples before them, and unenlightened by science and philosophy, it is perhaps not surprising that they should believe in witchcraft, magic, and sorcery.

The whole country is overspread to excess with churches, and the number of the professedly religious in Shoa amounts to one-fourth of the population. The aboon, or abuna, is the ecclesiastical head, and the church confines to his hands alone the grace or virtue that makes a clergyman, differing in this from other churches called apostolic, which allow it to all bishops.

The Grand Prior of the monks of Debra Libanos is second in dignity; then the bishops; next the priests and deacons. Monasteries abound, and they are generally placed on eminences near running water, and amid scenes of beauty and sublimity. An easy ceremony admits to the monkish order, and the life of the professed is one of ease and indulgence, consequently the land swarms with monks, who are in reality the greatest of pests and plagues. Every church establishment is supported by certain lands and villages particularly set apart for that purpose, and to these are added various fees for baptismal, funeral, and other clerical services, besides the voluntary contributions of the superstitious people. These ecclesiastics, taken as a body, are ignorant, superstitious, and immoral, fearful of innovation, hating heretics, and observant of religious forms, some with the sincerity of devotees, and others as the business-like followers of a gainful profession. Of the doctrines of justification by faith or regeneration by the Holy Spirit, the Abyssinians are said to be entirely ignorant; but it is possible, it is even probable, that there has been some misapprehension upon that point. It is very easy for foreigners, in a state of society so new and strange, to misapprehend the purport of what they behold, or to arrive at wrong conclusions, from given premises, in consequence of prejudice and partiality. We trust that the Divine Inhabitant has not entirely forsaken this polluted temple, and that the sacred fire is not utterly extinguished, although the surrounding atmosphere may be impure. At any rate, there is hope, since the Scriptures are the foundation of the faith of the Abyssinian Church, and there is no infallible pontiff, consecrating with his authority the manifold corruptions from which that authority sprung, and by which it is perpetuated.

It is scarcely necessary to repeat what all authors acquainted with the subject have been unanimous in affirming, namely, that the Abyssinian Church observes the seventh-day Sabbath. Sandius says, "There is a Christian empire of the Abyssinians, who adhere to Peter and Paul, and observe the seventh day." The Jesuits affirmed "that they kept as sacred the Jewish Sabbath." Mr. Brerewood, who wrote in 1614, declares that the midland Ethiopians, the modern Abyssinians, reverenced the Sabbath, keeping it solemn equal with the Lord's day.[10] James Bruce, a Scotsman, who visited Abyssinia in 1768, testifies to their observance of the seventh day; and these accounts have been substantiated by the witness of modern travellers. The numerous dependencies of the Abyssinian empire, as well as some of the neighbouring independent kingdoms, contain Christian communities, of which some much nearer than others approximate in their rites and ceremonies to the simplicity of the apostolic age. Many of these have for a long period of years, successfully held their position among mountain fastnesses in the very midst of a Pagan and Mohammedan population. One of the most remarkable of these seats is upon an island of the Lake Zovai, where, in the Church of Emanuel, are deposited the silver dishes and other sacred utensils, with numerous manuscripts, which Nebla Dengel wished particularly to preserve from the grasp of an invading army. The islands of this lake contain upwards of three thousand Christian houses formed of lime and stone. They are shaded by lofty trees, and the whole has a luxuriant and beautiful appearance. In Guragee, a dependency of Abyssinia, the population are exclusively Christian. Twelve isolated churches previously unheard of were discovered a few years since in a province called Yoya. Between Garro and Metcha there is a small tract peopled by Christians, who reside entirely in mountain caves, as a measure of security against the heathens by whom they are surrounded. Eight days' journey hence is Cambat, an independent Christian state, completely studded with churches and monasteries. Wollamo, another Christian province under an independent sovereign, lies below Cambat, and also contains many religious houses. Skorchassie, another neighbouring state, is peopled by Christians, and so is Sidama, and both are entirely surrounded by Pagans. Susa is another important Christian country, whose king, in 1842, was said to be a very wise and just ruler. The government is liberal, and the people are, comparatively with the other African nations, in a high state of civilization. The priests are distinguished by antique robes and silver mitres, and the churches and religious observances resemble those of Shoa, except as regards the saints' days, most of which are unknown in Susa. In this country all labour is interdicted upon the Sabbath, but the observation of any Lord's day is unknown.

That the religion of Ethiopia should have become corrupt is not in the least surprising, although we can only refer it to the superintending providence of God that, amid the wreck of ages and the changes and revolutions of time, it has survived at all. The wonder is, that, surrounded as they are by Pagan and Moslem, together with the corrupt propensities of the human heart, the very name and profession of Christianity has not been long since obliterated from their minds, the Sabbath forgotten, and the name of the Great Mediator supplanted by that of the false prophet.

Abyssinia, notwithstanding her corruptions, is immeasurably above all other African nations in the scale of civilization. This is plainly enough proved by the following extract from the Narrative of the Travels of Charles Johnston, through the country of Adel to the kingdom of Shoa, in 1842-43:

"Arrived upon the summit, the stranger finds an extensive table-land spread out before him, and he cannot divest himself of the idea that he has reached some new continent. A Scotch climate and Scotch vegetation, wheat, barley, linseed,—and yet in intertropical Africa. The country seems highly cultivated, wheat and barley on all sides growing close to our path, while near the farmhouses were stacks of grain, which gave the whole country an English appearance.

"Amidst the luxuries and conveniences so abundantly supplied to the embassy by the indulgent care of a liberal government, I almost fancied that I had returned to the comforts of European life."

Mr. Johnston says that he was furnished with excellent wheaten bread, and butter quite as good as any he had ever eaten, with fish, flesh, fowl, wine, honey, and a kind of native beer, resembling English ale. He speaks of the king as being beloved by his people, remarkably just in all his transactions, moderate in his anger, and benevolent to his visiters. He himself declared that he had "the fear of God before his eyes."

The Holy Scriptures have been preserved in Abyssinia, on parchment manuscript, and in the Geez language; but, in 1826, they were translated by the Ethiopians themselves into Amharic, the spoken dialect of the country. These books, our traveller declares, agree perfectly with the Vulgate, except the book of the Maccabees, in which he discovered some discrepancies. They also possess a commentary on each of the sacred books, and, besides the five books of Moses, possess a sixth, which they equally revere. The names of the books agree with ours, and appear to be Ethiopic translations of Genesis, Exodus, &c. They also possess the book of Enoch, which, however, according to Mr. Bruce, is the production of a Gnostic philosopher. They have a liturgy in Ethiopic. It is said that all the literature of the country is embraced in 120 volumes.

But we trust that great and good things are in store for this ancient people, who, though severely tried and tempted, have persisted in keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus; who, though stumbling, have not wandered altogether out of the way; and who have within themselves all the elements for moral renovation,—the Holy Scriptures, the Sabbath, and the knowledge of the Redeemer of mankind.[11]

Abyssinia, as an empire, has experienced alternately the contraction and expansion common to the ancient monarchies. The Negus, as friend and ally of Justinian, reigned supreme over seven kingdoms, prosecuted an extensive trade with Ceylon and the Indies, and encouraged in his country the arts and letters of Europe. Arabia, surnamed "the blest," and, by contrast with the neighbouring regions, considered as "happy," had been despoiled of her rich treasures, and led in captivity, to gratify the avarice or ambition of an Ethiopian conqueror, whose hereditary claim, founded on his descent from the beauteous Queen of Sheba, was warmed and animated by religious zeal. The inhabitants of Arabia were denominated Homerites. Their prince, Duncan, was not insensible to the inflictions, nor inflexible to the entreaties, of the Jews, who, powerful even in exile, persuaded him to retaliate upon the Christians in his dominions the persecution that their people suffered from the imperial laws. Accordingly some Roman merchants were ignominiously put to death, and the crown of martyrdom bestowed upon many Christians of Yemen, who refused to apostatize from their faith. The expiring churches of Arabia invoked the name of the Abyssinian monarch, who arose like a lion out of his place, passed the Red Sea with a fleet and army, dethroned the Jewish proselyte, and extinguished a royal race who, for many centuries, had exercised sovereignty over the sequestered region of precious gums and aromatic groves. The cities of Arabia immediately resounded with the Trisagion, chanted, with rapturous demonstrations of joy, by the conquering army. The Negus himself despatched a messenger to the Alexandrian prelate, announcing the victory of the gospel, and soliciting of that dignitary an orthodox ruler for the Arabian churches. To Justinian, this announcement occasioned much secret gratulation, though it may be questioned by posterity whether he exulted most in the triumph of orthodoxy, or the flattering prospects he thereby entertained of gratifying his ambition, securing a fortunate ally, and reaping the advantages of a lucrative commercial intercourse. He was desirous to divert the trade of the precious commodities of the East,—silk, balm, and frankincense,—no less than to engage the forces of Arabia and Africa against the Persian king. Accordingly, an embassage, under the direction of Nonnosus, was despatched into Abyssinia, to execute, in the name of the Emperor, this important commission. Declining the shorter but more dangerous route through the desert regions of Nubia, he ascended the Nile, embarked on the Red Sea, and safely landed at the port of Adulis.[12] From this port to the royal city of Axuma is no more than fifty leagues, in a direct line; but the winding passes of the mountains detained the embassage fifteen days, during which journey they were astonished by the droves of wild elephants that roamed the forests. He found the capital large and populous, the people Christian in profession, and strictly observant of the Jewish Sabbath. He found also many traces of Grecian art.[13] The Negus received the ambassador with the splendid hospitality suitable to a potent monarch, and due to the representative of an imperial friend. Amidst a numerous and august assemblage of the ladies of the court, the dignitaries of the church, and the princes of the empire, the Negus gave audience in a spacious plain. Dismounting from his lofty chariot, to which was harnessed four white elephants, superbly caparisoned, he appeared, clad in a linen garment, with a golden tiara on his head; while around his neck, arms, and ankles, blazed the regal circlets of diamonds, pearls, and precious stones, interwoven with chains of gold. He carried two javelins of rarest temper, and wore a light shield of exquisite workmanship. The ambassador of Justinian approached with awe, and knelt with becoming deference. He was raised and embraced by the Negus, who received the imperial missive of which he was the bearer, kissed the seal, perused the contents with apparent satisfaction, accepted the imperial alliance, and, brandishing his weapons, denounced a perpetual anathema against the enemies of his new friend and ally. But the proposal for trade was artfully eluded, and the hostile demonstration was not productive of a corresponding effect. The Abyssinians were unwilling to abandon the pleasures and luxuries of peace, with the sensual delights of their aromatic bowers, for the toils of ambition and the benefit of a foreign potentate. Discretion is certainly the better part of valour, and it was proved in the sequel that the Negus, instead of extending his triumphs, was incapable of preserving what he had already obtained. The sceptre of Arabia was wrenched from his hands by Abrahah, the slave of a Roman merchant of Adulis. The Ethiopian legions were seduced and enervated by the luxurious influences of the climate. Justinian solicited the friendship of the usurper, who returned his complaisancy with a slight tribute and the acknowledgment of his nominal supremacy. After a long course of prosperity, the dynasty of Abrahah was overthrown, his descendants despoiled of their rich possessions by the Persian conqueror, and every vestige of Christianity obliterated. This short episode of Abyssinian history must be interesting to us, from the fact that, could a Christian empire have been sustained in Arabia, it might have prevented the rise of the Mohammedan imposture, and have materially changed the history of the world.[14]