1Ѵ. Тия

MENIANS 199 had signalised their ARMENIANS. attachment to the religion and empire of the Christians. The disorders of their country, and their ignorance of the Greek tongue, prevented their clergy from assisting at the synod of Chalcedon, and they floated eightyfour years 140 in a state of indifference or suspense, till their vacant faith was finally occupied by the missionaries of Julian of Halicarnassus, 141 who, in Egypt, their common exile, had been vanquished by the arguments or the influence of his rival Severus, the Monophysite patriarch of Antioch. The Armenians alone are the pure disciples of Eutyches, an unfortunate parent, who has been renounced by the greater part of his spiritual progeny. They alone persevere in the opinion, that the manhood of Christ was created, or existed without creation, of a divine and incorruptible substance. Their adversaries reproach them with the adoration of a phantom; and they retort the accusation, by deriding or execrating the blasphemy of the Jacobites, who impute to the Godhead the vile infirmities of the flesh, even the natural effects of nutrition and digestion. The religion of Armenia could not derive much glory from the learning or the power of its inhabitants. The royalty expired with the origin of their schism; and their Christian kings, who arose and fell in the thirteenth century on the confines of Cilicia, were the clients of the Latins and the vassals of the Turkish sultan of Iconium. The helpless nation has seldom been permitted to enjoy the tranquillity of servitude. From the earliest period to the present hour, Armenia has been the theatre of perpetual war; the lands between Tauris and Erivan were dispeopled by the cruel policy of the Sophis; and myriads of Christian families were transplanted, to perish or to propagate in the distant provinces of Persia. Under the rod of oppression, the zeal of the Armenians is fervent and intrepid: they have often preferred the crown of martyrdom to the white turban of Mahomet; they devoutly hate the error and idolatry of the Greeks; and their transient union with the Latins is not less devoid of truth, than the thousand bishops whom their patriarch offered at the feet of the Roman pontiff. 142 The catholic, or patriarch, of the Armenians, resides in the monastery of Ekmiasin, three leagues from Erivan. Forty-seven archbishops, each of whom may claim the obedience of four or five suffragans, are consecrated by his hand; but the far greater part are only titular prelates, who dignify with their presence and service the simplicity of his court. As soon as they have performed the liturgy, they cultivate the garden; and our bishops will hear

139 The religion of the Armenians is briefly described by La Croze (Hist. du Christ. de l'Ethiopie et de l'Armenie, p. 269-402.). He refers to the great Armenian History of Galanus (3 vols. in fol. Rome, 1650-1661), and commends the state of Arinenia in the iiid volume of the Nouveaux Mémoires des Missions du Levant. The work of a Jesuit must have sterling merit when it is praised by La Croze.

140 The schism of the Armenians is placed 84 years after the council of Chalcedon (Pagi, Critica, ad A. D. 535.). It was consummated at the end of seventeen years; and it is from the year of Christ 552 that we date the æra of the Armenians (l'Art de vérifier les Dates, p. xxxv.)

141 The sentiments and success of Julian of Halicarnassus may be seen in Liberatus (Brev. c. 19.), Renaudot (Hist. Patriarch. Alex. p. 132. 303.), and Assemannus (Bibliot. Orient. tom. ii. Dissertat. de Monophysitis, p. viii. p. 286.).

142 See a remarkable fact of the xiith century in the History of

with surprise, that the austerity of their life increases in just proportion to the elevation of their rank. In the fourscore thousand towns or villages of his spiritual empire, the patriarch receives a small and voluntary tax from each person above the age of fifteen; but the annual amount of six hundred thousand crowns is insufficient to supply the incessant demands of charity and tribute. Since the beginning of the last century, the Armenians have obtained a large and lucrative share of the commerce of the East in their return from Europe, the caravan usually halts in the neighbourhood of Erivan, the altars are enriched with the fruits of their patient industry; and the faith of Eutyches is preached in their recent congregations of Barbary and Poland, 143

:

V. In the rest of the Roman em- V. THE COPTS pire, the despotism of the prince OR EGYPTIANS. might eradicate or silence the sectaries of an obnoxious creed. But the stubborn temper of the Egyptians maintained their opposition to the synod of Chalcedon, and the policy of Justinian condescended to expect and to seize the opportunity of discord. The Monophysite church of Alexandria 144 was torn by the disputes of the corruptibles and incorruptibles, and on the death of the patriarch, the two factions upheld their respective candidates. 145 Gaian was the disciple of Julian, Theodosius had been the The patriarch pupil of Severus: the claims of the Theodosius. former were supported by the con- A. D. 537-568. sent of the monks and senators, the city and the province; the latter depended on the priority of his ordination, the favour of the empress Theodora, and the arms of the eunuch Narses, which might have been used in more honourable warfare. The exile of the popular candidate to Carthage and Sardinia, inflamed the ferment of Alexandria; and after a schism of one hundred and seventy years, the Gaianites still revered the memory and doctrine of their founder. The strength of numbers and of discipline was tried in a desperate and bloody conflict; the streets were filled with the dead bodies of citizens and soldiers; the pious women, ascending the roofs of their houses, showered down every sharp or ponderous utensil on the heads of the enemy; and the final victory of Narses was owing to the flames, with which he wasted the third capital of the Roman world. But the lieutenant of Justinian had not conquered in the cause of an heretic; Theodosius himself was speedily, though gently, removed; and Paul

Paul. A. D. 538.

of Tanis, an orthodox monk, was raised to the throne of Athanasius. The Powers of government were strained in his support; he might appoint or displace the dukes and tribunes

Nicetas Choniates (p. 258.). Yet three hundred years before, Photius (Epistol. ii. p. 49. edit. Montacut.) had gloried in the conversion of the Armenians - λατρεύει σήμερον ορθοδοξως,

143 The travelling Armenians are in the way of every traveller, and their mother church is on the high road between Constantinople and Ispahan: for their present state, see Fabricius (Lux Evangelii, &c. c. xxxviii. p. 40-51.), Olearins (1. iv. c. 40.), Chardin (vol. ii. p. 232.), Tournefort (lettre xx.), and, above all, Tavernier (tom. i. p. 28-37. 510-518.) that rambling jeweller, who had read nothing, but had seen so much and so well.

144 The history of the Alexandrian patriarchs, from Dioscorus to Benjamin, is taken from Renaudot (p.114-161.), and the second tome of the Annals of Eutychius.

145 Liberat. Brev. c. 20. Victor. Chron. p. 329 330. Procop Anecdot. c. 26, 27.

of Egypt; the allowance of bread, which Diocletian had granted, was suppressed, the churches were shut, and a nation of schismatics was deprived at once of their spiritual and carnal food. In his turn, the tyrant was excommunicated by the zeal and revenge of the people; and none except his servile Melchites would salute him as a man, a Christian, or a bishop. Yet such is the blindness of ambition, that, when Paul was expelled on a charge of murder, he solicited, with a bribe of seven hundred pounds of gold, his restoration to the same station of hatred and

Apollinaris. ignominy. His successor Apol

A. D. 551. linaris entered the hostile city in military array, alike qualified for prayer or for battle. His troops, under arms, were distributed through the streets; the gates of the cathedral were guarded, and a chosen band was stationed in the choir, to defend the person of their chief. He stood erect on his throne, and throwing aside the upper garment of a warrior, suddenly appeared before the eyes of the multitude in the robes of the patriarch of Alexandria. Astonishment held them mute; but no sooner had Apollinaris begun to read the tome of St. Leo, than a volley of curses, and invectives, and stones, assaulted the odious minister of the emperor and the synod. A charge was instantly sounded by the successor of the apostles; the soldiers waded to their knees in blood; and two hundred thousand Christians are said to have fallen by the sword: an incredible account, even if it be extended from the slaughter of a day to the eighteen years of the reign of Apollinaris. Two

John.

A. D. 609.

Eulogius. succeeding patriarchs, Eulogius 146 A. D. 380. and John, 147 laboured in the conversion of heretics, with arms and arguments more worthy of their evangelical profession. The theological knowledge of Eulogius was displayed in many a volume, which magnified the errors of Eutyches and Severus, and attempted to reconcile the ambiguous language of St. Cyril with the orthodox creed of pope Leo and the fathers of Chalcedon. The bounteous alms of John the eleemosynary were dictated by superstition, or benevolence, or policy. Seven thousand five hundred poor were maintained at his expense; on his accession he found eight thousand pounds of gold in the treasury of the church; he collected ten thousand from the liberality of the faithful; yet the primate could boast in his testament, that he left behind him no more than the third part of the smallest of the silver coins. The churches of Alexandria were delivered to the Catholics, the religion of the Monophysites was proscribed in Egypt, and a law was revived which excluded the natives from the honours and emoluments of the state.

146 Eulogius, who had been a monk of Antioch, was more conspicuous for subtlety than eloquence. He proves that the enemies of the faith, the Gaianites and Theodosians, ought not to be reconciled; that the same proposition may be orthodox in the mouth of St. Cyril, heretical in that of Severus; that the opposite assertions of St. Leo are equally true, &c. His writings are no longer extant, except in the Extracts of Photius, who had perused them with care and satisfaction, Cod. ccviii. ccxxv. ccxxvi. ccxxvii. ccxxx. cclxxx.

The

Justinian with the spirit of an apostle or an enthusiast. "Such, replied the patriarch, "were the offers of the tempter when he shewed "the kingdoms of the earth. But my soul is "far dearer to me than life or dominion. "churches are in the hands of a prince who can "kill the body; but my conscience is my own; "and in exile, poverty, or chains, I will stedfastly "adhere to the faith of my holy predecessors, "Athanasius, Cyril, and Dioscorus. Anathema "to the tome of Leo and the synod of Chalcedon! "Anathema to all who embrace their creed! Ana"thema to them now and for evermore! Naked "came I out of my mother's womb, naked shall "I descend into the grave. Let those who love "God, follow me and seek their salvation." After comforting his brethren, he embarked for Constantinople, and sustained, in six successive interviews, the almost irresistible weight of the royal presence. His opinions were favourably entertained in the palace and the city; the influence of Theodora assured him a safe conduct and honourable dismission; and he ended his days, though not on the throne, yet in the bosom, of his native country. On the news of his death, Apollinaris indecently feasted the nobles and the clergy; but his joy was checked by the intelligence of a new election; and while he enjoyed the wealth of Alexandria, his rivals reigned in the monasteries of Thebais, and were maintained by the voluntary oblations of the people. A perpetual succession of patriarchs arose from the ashes of Theodosius; and the Monophysite churches of Syria and Egypt were united by the name of Jacobites and the communion of the faith. But the same faith, which has been confined to a narrow sect of the Syrians, was diffused over the mass of the Egyptian or Coptic nation; who, almost unanimously, rejected the decrees of the synod of Chalcedon. A thousand years were now elapsed since Egypt had ceased to be a kingdom, since the conquerors of Asia and Europe had trampled on the ready necks of a people, whose ancient wisdom and power ascend beyond the records of history. The conflict of zeal and persecution rekindled some sparks of their national spirit. They abjured, with a foreign heresy, the manners and language of the Greeks: every Melchite, in their eyes, was a stranger, every Jacobite a citizen; the alliance of marriage, the offices of humanity, were con demned as a deadly sin; the natives renounced all allegiance to the emperor; and his orders, at a distance from Alexandria, were obeyed only under the pressure of military force. A generous effort might have redeemed the religion and liberty of Egypt, and her six hundred monasteries might have poured forth their myriads of holy warriors, for whom death should have no terrors, since life had no comfort or delight. But experience has proved the distinction of active and passive courage; the fanatic who endures without a groan the torture of the rack or the

147 See the Life of John the eleemosynary by his contemporary Leontius, bishop of Neapolis in Cyprus, whose Greek text, either lost or hidden, is reflected in the Latin version of Baronius (A.D. 610, No. 9. A. D. 620, No. 8.). Pagi (Critica, tom. ii. p. 763.) and Fabricius (1. v. c. 11. tom. vii. p. 454.) have made some critical

observations.

arch.

stake, would tremble and fly before the face of an armed enemy. The pusillanimous temper of the Egyptians could only hope for a change of masters; the arms of Chosroes depopulated the land, yet under his reign the Jacobites enjoyed a short and precarious respite. The victory of Heraclius renewed and aggravated the persecution, and the patriarch again escaped from Alexandria to the desert. In his flight, Benjamin, the Jacobite patri- Benjamin was encouraged by a A. D. 625-661. voice, which bade him expect, at the end of ten years, the aid of a foreign nation, marked like the Egyptians themselves with the ancient rite of circumcision. The character of these deliverers, and the nature of the deliverance, will be hereafter explained; and I shall step over the interval of eleven centuries to observe the present misery of the Jacobites of Egypt. The populous city of Cairo affords a residence or rather a shelter for their indigent patriarch, and a remnant of ten bishops: forty monasteries have survived the inroads of the Arabs; and the progress of servitude and apostasy has reduced the Coptic nation to the despicable number of twenty-five or thirty thousand families; 148 a race of illiterate beggars, whose only consolation is derived from the superior wretchedness of the Greek patriarch and his diminutive congregation. 149

VI. THE ABVS

VI. The Coptic patriarch, a rebel SINIANS AND to the Cæsars, or a slave to the NUBIANS khalifs, still gloried in the filial obedience of the kings of Nubia and Æthiopia. He repaid their homage by magnifying their greatness; and it was boldly asserted that they could bring into the field an hundred thousand horse, with an equal number of camels; 150 that their hand could pour out or restrain the waters of the Nile; 151 and the peace and plenty of Egypt was obtained, even in this world, by the intercession of the patriarch. In exile at Constantinople, Theodosius recommended to his patroness the conversion of the black nations of Nubia, from the tropic of Cancer to the confines of Abyssinia. 152 Her design was suspected and emulated by the more orthodox emperor. The rival missionaries, a Melchite and a Jacobite, embarked at the same time; but the empress, from a motive of love or fear, was more effectually obeyed; and the Catholic priest was detained by the president of Thebais, while the

148 This number is taken from the curious Recherches sur les Egyptiens et les Chinois (tom. ii. p. 192, 193.); and appears more probable than the 600,000 ancient, or 15,000 modern, Copts of Gemelli Carreri. Cyril Lucar, the Protestant patriarch of Constantinople, laments that those heretics were ten times more numerous than his orthodox Greeks, ingeniously applying the πολλαι καν δεκάδες δενοίατα exo of Homer (Iliad. ii. 128.), the most perfect expression of contempt (Fabric. Lux Evangelii, 740.).

149 The history of the Copts, their religion, manners, &c. may be found in the Abbé Renaudot's motley work, neither a translation nor an original; the Chronicon Orientale of Peter, a Jacobite in the two versions of Abraham Ecchellensis, Paris, 1651; and John Simon Asseman, Venet. 1729. These annals descend no lower than the xiiith century. The more recent accounts must be searched for in the travellers into Egypt, and the Nouveaux Mémoires des Missions de Levant. In the last century, Joseph Abudacnus, a native of Cairo, published at Oxford, in thirty pages, a slight Historia Jacobitarum, 147. post 150.

150 About the year 737. See Renaudot, Hist. Patriarch. Alex. p. 221, 222. Elmacin, Hist. Saracen. p. 99.

151 Ludolph. Hist. Athiopic. et Comment. I. i. c. 8. Renaudot, Hist. Patriarch. Alex. p. 480, &c. This opinion, introduced into Egypt and Europe by the artifice of the Copts, the pride of the Abys sinians, the fear and ignorance of the Turks and Arabs, has not even the semblance of truth. The rains of Ethiopia do not, in the increase of the Nile, consult the will of the monarch. If the river approaches at Napata, within three days' journey of the Red Sea (see D'Anville's Maps), a canal that should divert its course would demand, and most probably surpass, the power of the Caesars.

king of Nubia and his court were hastily baptized in the faith of Dioscorus. The tardy envoy of Justinian was received and dismissed with honour; but when he accused the heresy and treason of the Egyptians, the negro convert was instructed to reply that he would never abandon his brethren the true believers, to the persecuting ministers of the synod of Chalcedon. 153 During several ages, the bishops of Nubia were named and consecrated by the Jacobite patriarch of Alexandria: as late as the twelfth century, Christianity prevailed; and some rites, some ruins, are still visible in the savage towns of Sennaar and Dongola. 154 But the Nubians at length executed their threats of returning to the worship of idols; the climate required the indulgence of polygamy, and they have finally preferred the triumph of the Koran to the abasement of the Cross. A metaphysical religion may appear too refined for the capacity of the negro race: yet a black or a parrot might be taught to repeat the words of the Chalcedonian or Monophysite creed.

Church of Abyssinia. A. D. 530, &c.

Christianity was more deeply rooted in the Abyssinian empire; and, although the correspondence has been sometimes interrupted above seventy or an hundred years, the mother-church of Alexandria retains her colony in a state of perpetual pupillage. Seven bishops once composed the Æthiopic synod: had their number amounted to ten, they might have elected an independent primate; and one of their kings was ambitious of promoting his brother to the ecclesiastical throne. But the event was foreseen, the increase was denied; the episcopal office has been gradually confined to the abuna,155 the head and author of the Abyssinian priesthood; the patriarch supplies each vacancy with an Egyptian monk; and the character of a stranger appears more venerable in the eyes of the people, less dangerous in those of the monarch. In the sixth century, when the schism of Egypt was confirmed, the rival chiefs, with their patrons, Justinian and Theodora, strove to outstrip each other in the conquest of a remote and independent province. The industry of the empress was again victorious, and the pious Theodora has established in that sequestered church the faith and discipline of the Jacobites. 156 Encompassed on all sides by the enemies of their religion,

152 The Abyssinians, who still preserve the features and olive complexion of the Arabs, afford a proof that two thousand years are not sufficient to change the colour of the human race. The Nubians, an African race, are pure negroes, a black as those of Senegal or Congo, with flat noses, thick lips, and woolly hair (Buffon, Hist. Naturelle, tom. v. p. 117. 143, 144. 166. 219. edit. in 12mo, Paris, 1769.). The ancients beheld, without much attention, the extraordi nary phænomenon which has exercised the philosophers and theologians of modern times.

153 Asseman. Bibliot. Orient. tom. i. p. 329.

154 The Chris. ianity of the Nubians, A. D. 1155, is attested by the sheriff al Edrisi, falsely described under the name of the Nubian geographer (p. 18.), who represents tem as a nation of Jacobites. The rays of historical light that twinkle in the history of Renaudot (p. 178. 220-224. 281 256. 405. 434, 451. 464.) are all previous to this era. See the modern state in the Lettres Edifiantes (Recueil, iv.) and Busching (tom. ix. p. 152-159. par Berenger).

155 The abuna is improperly dignified by the Latins with the title of patriarch. The Abyssinians acknowledge only the four patriarchs, and their chief is no more than a metropolitan or national primate (Ludolph. Hist. Ethiopic. et Comment. 1. iii. c. 7.). The seven bishops of Renaudot (p.511.), who existed A. D. 1131, are unknown to the historian.

156 I know not why Assemannus (Bibliot. Orient. tom. ii. p. 384.) should call in question these probable missions of Theodora into Nubia and Ethiopia. The slight notices of Abyssinia till the year 1500 are supplied by Renaudot (p. 356-311. 381, 382. 405. 443, &c. 452. 456. 163. 475, 480, 511. 525, 559-564.) from the Coptic writers. The mind of Ludolphus was a perfect blank.

in Abyssinia.

the Ethiopians slept near a thousand years, forgetful of the world, by whom they were The Portuguese forgotten. They were awakened A. D. 1525 by the Portuguese, who, turning 1550, &c. the southern promontory of Africa, appeared in India and the Red Sea, as if they had descended through the air from a distant planet. In the first moments of their interview, the subjects of Rome and Alexandria observed the resemblance, rather than the difference, of their faith; and each nation expected the most important benefits from an alliance with their Christian brethren. In their lonely situation, the Ethiopians had almost relapsed into the savage life. Their vessels, which had traded to Ceylon, scarcely presumed to navigate the rivers of Africa; the ruins of Axume were deserted, the nation was scattered in villages, and the emperor, a pompous name, was content, both in peace and war, with the immoveable residence of a camp. Conscious of their own indigence, the Abyssinians had formed the rational project of importing the arts and ingenuity of Europe;157 and their ambassadors at Rome and Lisbon were instructed to solicit a colony of smiths, carpenters, tilers, masons, printers, surgeons, and physicians, for the use of their country. But the public danger soon called for the instant and effectual aid of arms and soldiers, to defend an unwarlike people from the barbarians who ravaged the inland country, and the Turks and Arabs who advanced from the sea-coast in more formidable array. Æthiopia was saved by four hundred and fifty Portuguese, who displayed in the field the native valour of Europeans, and the artificial powers of the musket and cannon. In a moment of terror, the emperor had promised to reconcile himself and his subjects to the Catholic faith : a Latin patriarch represented the supremacy of the pope: 158 the empire, enlarged in a tenfold proportion, was supposed to contain more gold than the mines of America; and the wildest hopes of avarice and zeal were built on the willing submission of the Christians of Africa. But the vows which pain had extorted, were forsworn on the return of health. The Abyssinians still adhered with unshaken constancy to the Monophysite faith; their languid belief was inflamed by the exercise of dispute; they branded the Latins with the names of Arians and Nestorians, and imputed the adoration of four gods, to those who separated the two natures of Christ. Fremona, a place of worship, or rather of exile, was assigned to the Jesuit missionaries. Their skill in the liberal and mechanic arts, their theological learning, and the decency of their manners, inspired a barren esteem; but

Mission of the
Jesuits.
A. D. 1557.

157 Ludolph. Hist. Æthiop. 1. iv. c. 5. The most necessary arts are now exercised by the Jews, and the foreign trade is in the hands of the Armenians. What Gregory principally admired and envied was the industry of Europe - artes et opificia.

158 John Bermudez, whose relation, printed at Lisbon, 1569, was translated into English by Purchas (Pilgrims, 1. vii. c. 7. p. 1149, &c.), and from thence into French by La Croze (Christianisme d'Ethiopie, p. 92 265.). The piece is curious; but the author may be suspected of deceiving Abyssinia, Rome, and Portugal. His title to the rank of patriarch is dark and doubtful (Ludolph. Comment. No. 101. p. 475.).

159 Religio Romananec precibus patrum nec miraculis ab psis editis suffulciebatur, is the uncontradicted assurance of the devout emperor Susneus to his patriarch Mendez (Ludolph. Comment.

Conversion of

they were not endowed with the gift of miracles, 159 and they vainly solicited a reinforcement of European troops. The patience and dexterity of forty years at length obtained a more favourable audience, and two emperors of Abyssinia were persuaded that Rome could ensure the temporal and everlasting happiness of her votaries. The first of these royal converts lost his crown and his life; and the rebel army was sanctified by the abuna, who hurled an anathema at the apostate, and absolved his subjects from their oath of fidelity. The fate of Zadenghel was revenged by the courage and fortune of Susneus, who ascended the throne under the name of Segued, and more vigorously prosecuted the pious enterprise of his kinsman. After the amusement of some unequal combats between the Jesuits and his illiterate priests, the emperor declared himself a proselyte to the synod of Chalcedon, presuming that his clergy and people would embrace without delay the religion of their prince. The liberty of choice was succeeded by a law, which imposed, under pain of death, the belief of the two natures of Christ: the Abyssinians were enjoined to work and to play on the Sabbath; and Segued, in the face of Europe and Africa, renounced his connection with the Alexandrian church. A Jesuit, Alphonso Mendez, the Catholic the emperor. patriarch of Æthiopia, accepted in the name of Urban VIII. the homage and abjuration of his penitent. "I confess," said, the emperor on his kness, " I confess that the "pope is the vicar of Christ, the successor of "St. Peter, and the sovereign of the world. "To him I swear true obedience, and at his feet "I offer my person and kingdom." A similar oath was repeated by his son, his brother, the clergy, the nobles, and even the ladies of the court: the Latin patriarch was invested with honours and wealth; and his missionaries erected their churches or citadels in the most convenient stations of the empire. The Jesuits themselves deplore the fatal indiscretion of their chief, who forgot the mildness of the Gospel and the policy of his order, to introduce with hasty violence the liturgy of Rome, and the inquisition of Portugal. He condemned the ancient practice of circumcision, which health rather than superstition had first invented in the climate of Ethiopia. 160 A new baptism, a new ordination, was inflicted on the natives; and they trembled with horror when the most holy of the dead were torn from their graves, when the most illustrious of the living were excommunicated by a foreign priest. In the defence of their religion and liberty, the Abyssinians rose in arms, with desperate but unsuccessful zeal.

A. D. 1626.

No. 126. p. 529.); and such assurances should be preciously kept, as an antidote against any marvellous legends.

160 I am aware how tender is the question of circumcision. Yet I will affirm, 1. That the Ethiopians have a physical reason for the circumcision of males, and even of females (Recherches Philoso phiques sur les Américains, tom. ii.). 2. That it was practised in Ethiopia long before the introduction of Judaism or Christianity (Herodot. 1. ii. c. 104. Marsham Canon. Chron. p. 72, 75). "Infantes circumcidunt ob consuetudinem non ob Judai-mum," says Gregory the Abyssinian priest (apud Fabric. Lux Christiana, p. 7202). Yet, in the heat of dispute, the Portuguese were sometimes brazalend with the name of uncircumcised (La Croze, p. 80. Ludolph. Hist, and Comment. 1. iii. c. 1.).

Five rebellions were extinguished in the blood of the insurgents: two abunas were slain in battle, whole legions were slaughtered in the field, or suffocated in their caverns; and neither merit, nor rank, nor sex, could save from an ignominious death the enemies of Rome. But the victorious monarch was finally subdued by the constancy of the nation, of his mother, of his son, and of his most faithful friends. Segued listened to the voice of pity, of reason, perhaps of fear; and his edict of liberty of conscience instantly revealed the tyranny and weakness of the Jesuits. On the death of his father, Basilides expelled the Latin patriarch, and restored to the wishes of the nation the faith and the discipline of Egypt. The Monophysite churches resounded with a song of triumph,

"that "sheep of Æthiopia were now de"livered from the hyænas of the

Final expulsion of the Jesuits. A.D. 1632, &c. West;" and the gates of that solitary realm were for ever shut against the arts, the science, and the fanaticism of Europe. 161

CHAP. XLVIII.

--

Plan of the remaining Chapters. Succession and Characters of the Greek Emperors of Constantinople, from the Time of Heraclius to the Latin Conquest.

Defects of the Byzantine history.

I HAVE now deduced from Trajan to Constantine, from Constantine to Heraclius, the regular series of the Roman emperors; and faithfully exposed the prosperous and adverse fortunes of their reigns. Five centuries of the decline and fall of the empire have already elapsed; but a period of more than eight hundred years still separates me from the term of my labours, the taking of Constantinople by the Turks. Should I persevere in the same course, should I observe the same measure, a prolix and slender thread would be spun through many a volume, nor would the patient reader find an adequate reward of instruction or amusement. At every step, as we sink deeper in the decline and fall of the Eastern empire, the annals of each succeeding reign would impose a more ungrateful and melancholy task. These annals must continue to repeat a tedious and uniform tale of weakness and misery; the natural connection of causes and events would be broken by frequent and hasty transitions, and a minute accumulation of circumstances must destroy the light and effect of those general pictures which compose the use and ornament of a remote history. From the time of Heraclius, the Byzantine theatre is contracted and darkened: the line of empire, which had been defined by the laws of Justinian and the arms of Belisarius, recedes on all sides from our view: the Roman name, the proper subject of our enquiries, is reduced to a narrow corner of

161 The three Protestant historians, Ludolphus (Hist. Ethiopica, Francofurt. 1681; Commentarius, 1691; Relatio Nova, &c. 1693, in folio), Geddes (Church History of Ethiopia, London, 1696, in 8vo.), and La Croze (Hist. du Christianisme d'Ethiopie et d'Armenie, La Haye, 1739, in 12mo.), have drawn their principal materials from the Jesuits, especially from the General History of Tellez, published in Portuguese at Conimbra, 1660. We might be surprised at their

Europe, to the lonely suburbs of Constantinople; and the fate of the Greek empire has been compared to that of the Rhine, which loses itself in the sands, before its waters can mingle with the ocean. The scale of dominion is diminished to our view by the distance of time and place nor is the loss of external splendour compensated by the nobler gifts of virtue and genius. In the last moments of her decay, Constantinople was doubtless more opulent and populous than Athens at her most flourishing æra, when a scanty sum of six thousand talents, or twelve hundred thousand pounds sterling, was possessed by twenty-one thousand male citizens of an adult age. But each of these citizens was a freeman, who dared to assert the liberty of his thoughts, words, and actions; whose person and property were guarded by equal law; and who exercised his independent vote in the government of the republic. Their numbers seem to be multiplied by the strong and various discriminations of character: under the shield of freedom, on the wings of emulation and vanity, each Athenian aspired to the level of the national dignity: from this commanding eminence, some chosen spirits soared beyond the reach of a vulgar eye; and the chances of superior merit in a great and populous kingdom, as they are proved by experience, would excuse the computation of imaginary millions. The territories of Athens, Sparta, and their allies, do not exceed a moderate province of France or England: but after the trophies of Salamis and Platea, they expand in our fancy to the gigantic size of Asia, which had been trampled under the feet of the victorious Greeks. But the subjects of the Byzantine empire, who assume and dishonour the names both of Greeks and Romans, present a dead uniformity of abject vices, which are neither softened by the weakness of humanity, nor animated by the vigour of memorable crimes. The freemen of antiquity might repeat with generous enthusiasm the sentence of Homer, "that on the first day "of his servitude, the captive is deprived of one "half of his manly virtue." But the poet had only seen the effects of civil or domestic slavery, nor could he foretell that the second moiety of manhood must be annihilated by the spiritual despotism, which shackles, not only the actions, but even the thoughts of the prostrate votary. By this double yoke, the Greeks were oppressed under the successors of Heraclius; the tyrant, a law of eternal justice, was degraded by the vices of his subjects; and on the throne, in the camp, in the schools, we search, perhaps with fruitless diligence, the names and characters that may deserve to be rescued from oblivion. Nor are the defects of the subject compensated by the skill and variety of the painters. Of a space of eight hundred years, the four first centuries are overspread with a cloud interrupted by some faint and broken rays of historic light:

frankness; but their most flagitious vice, the spirit of persecution, was in their eyes the most meritorious virtue. Ludolphus possessed some, though a slight, advantage from the Ethiopic language, and the personal conversation of Gregory, a free-spirited Abyssinian priest, whom he invited from Rome to the court of Saxe-Gotha. See the Theologia Ethiopica of Gregory, in Fabricius, Lux Evangelii, p. 716 -731.