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.