An Account Of The Queen Of Sheba, And Of
Queen Candace.
The conversion of the Abyssins.
The original of the Abyssins, like that of all other nations, is
obscure and uncertain. The tradition generally received derives
them from Cham, the son of Noah, and they pretend, however
improbably, that from his time till now the legal succession of
their kings hath never been interrupted, and that the supreme power
hath always continued in the same family. An authentic genealogy
traced up so high could not but be extremely curious; and with good
reason might the Emperors of Abyssinia boast themselves the most
illustrious and ancient family in the world. But there are no real
grounds for imagining that Providence has vouchsafed them so
distinguishing a protection, and from the wars with which this
empire hath been shaken in these latter ages we may justly believe
that, like all others, it has suffered its revolutions, and that the
history of the Abyssins is corrupted with fables. This empire is
known by the name of the kingdom of Prester-John. For the
Portuguese having heard such wonderful relations of an ancient and
famous Christian state called by that name, in the Indies, imagined
it could be none but this of Aethiopia. Many things concurred to
make them of this opinion: there was no Christian kingdom or state
in the Indies of which all was true which they heard of this land of
Prester-John: and there was none in the other parts of the world
who was a Christian separated from the Catholic Church but what was
known, except this kingdom of Aethiopia. It has therefore passed
for the kingdom of Prester-John since the time that it was
discovered by the Portuguese in the reign of King John the Second.
The country is properly called Abyssinia, and the people term
themselves Abyssins. Their histories count a hundred and sixty-two
reigns, from Cham to Faciladas or Basilides; among which some women
are remarkably celebrated. One of the most renowned is the Queen of
Sheba, mentioned in Scripture, whom the natives call Nicaula or
Macheda, and in their translation of the gospel, Nagista Azeb, which
in their language is Queen of the South. They still show the ruins
of a city which appears to have been once of note, as the place
where she kept her court, and a village which, from its being the
place of her birth, they call the land of Saba. The Kings of
Aethiopia draw their boasted pedigree from Minilech, the son of this
Queen and Solomon. The other Queen for whom they retain a great
veneration is Candace, whom they call Judith, and indeed if what
they relate of her could be proved, there never was, amongst the
most illustrious and beneficent sovereigns, any to whom their
country was more indebted, for it is said that she being converted
by Inda her eunuch, whom St. Philip baptised, prevailed with her
subjects to quit the worship of idols, and profess the faith of
Jesus Christ. This opinion appears to me without any better
foundation than another of the conversion of the Abyssins to the
Jewish rites by the Queen of Sheba, at her return from the court of
Solomon. They, however, who patronise these traditions give us very
specious accounts of the zeal and piety of the Abyssins at their
first conversion. Many, they say, abandoned all the pleasures and
vanities of life for solitude and religious austerities; others
devoted themselves to God in an ecclesiastical life; they who could
not do these set apart their revenues for building churches,
endowing chapels, and founding monasteries, and spent their wealth
in costly ornaments for the churches and vessels for the altars. It
is true that this people has a natural disposition to goodness; they
are very liberal of their alms, they much frequent their churches,
and are very studious to adorn them; they practise fasting and other
mortifications, and notwithstanding their separation from the Roman
Church, and the corruptions which have crept into their faith, yet
retain in a great measure the devout fervour of the primitive
Christians. There never were greater hopes of uniting this people
to the Church of Rome, which their adherence to the Eutichian heresy
has made very difficult, than in the time of Sultan Segued, who
called us into his dominions in the year 1625, from whence we were
expelled in 1634. As I have lived a long time in this country, and
borne a share in all that has passed, I will present the reader with
a short account of what I have observed, and of the revolution which
forced us to abandon Aethiopia, and destroyed all our hopes of
reuniting this kingdom with the Roman Church.
The empire of Abyssinia hath been one of the largest which history
gives us an account of: it extended formerly from the Red Sea to
the kingdom of Congo, and from Egypt to the Indian Sea. It is not
long since it contained forty provinces; but is now not much bigger
than all Spain, and consists but of five kingdoms and six provinces,
of which part is entirely subject to the Emperor, and part only pays
him some tribute, or acknowledgment of dependence, either
voluntarily or by compulsion. Some of these are of very large
extent: the kingdoms of Tigre, Bagameder, and Goiama are as big as
Portugal, or bigger; Amhara and Damote are something less. The
provinces are inhabited by Moors, Pagans, Jews, and Christians: the
last is the reigning and established religion. This diversity of
people and religion is the reason that the kingdom in different
parts is under different forms of government, and that their laws
and customs are extremely various.
The inhabitants of the kingdom of Amhara are the most civilised and
polite; and next to them the natives of Tigre, or the true Abyssins.
The rest, except the Damotes, the Gasates, and the Agaus, which
approach somewhat nearer to civility, are entirely rude and
barbarous.
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