to be a most certain and sacred Truth being delivered to us in the History of the said King David which is a Book about the bigness of St. Paul's Epistles and very pleasant to read When David was come to the Borders of Ethiopia Azarias going one day into his Tent discovered to him what he had so industriously concealed telling him he had brought the Tables of the Covenant of the Lord along with him whereupon David went straightways with him to the place where those Tables were kept and after the example of his Grandfather David danced before them with great exultation as did also the whole Company When he returned home his Mother resigned the Empire to him immediately from which time which is now near 2600 Years to this day the Empire of Ethiopia has desecended from Male to Male in a Right Line We have also ever since retained the Law of God and Circumcision and the Ministries prescribed by Solomon to his Son for the Government of the Court all which do to this day continue in the same Families and in the same Order neither is it lawful for the Emperor to put People of another Race into any of those Offices Furthermore at the Command of the said Queen Maqueda Women are Circumcised also among us Men and Women are Circumcised on the Eighth day but Male-Children are not Baptized till the Fortieth The Eucharist is Administred to Children when they are Baptized nor Female till the Eightieth day after their Birth without it be in case of Sickness and when that happens the Children are not allowed to Suck their Mothers until after they are purified the Water wherein Children are Baptized is Consecrated by Exorcisms and on the same day they are Christned they Receive the Venerable Body of Christ under the Element of Bread We were among the first Christians that received Baptism that Sacrament having been brought among us by the Eunuch of Candace Queen of Ethiopia who is spoke of in the Acts of the Apostles his Name according to our Tradition was Indick from which time to this day both Baptism and Circumcision have been in use among us and most Religiously and Christianly observed and thorough God's Grace will be so for ever We do observe nothing but what we find in the Law and the Prophets and in the Books of the Synods of the Apostles or if any thing else is observed by us it is done only for the sake of Order and for the Peace of the Church so as not to reckon it to be a Sin not to observe it Circumcision is not observed by them as a Sacrament but as a civil Custom wherefore our Circumcision is not Uncleanness but it is the Law and Grace which was given to our Father Abraham and which he received from God as a Sign not that he or his Sons should be Saved by Circumcision but that his Posterity might be distinguished thereby from all other Nations and as for what is signified by Circumcision we do observe it exactly by having our Hearts Circumcised neither do we Glory upon the account of Circumcision or prefer our selves to other Christians thereupon or reckon our selves for it the more acceptable to God with whom there is no acceptance of Persons as Paul testifies who tells us likewise that we cannot be Saved by Circumcision but by Faith for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision but a new creature now by this Paul did not intend to destroy the Law but to establish it for he himself was Circumcised being of the Seed of Benjamin he Circumcised Timothy likewise after he was made a Christian his Mother being a Jewess notwithstanding his Father was a Gentile knowing that God approves both of Circumcision that is in Faith and of Uncircumcision which is by Faith for as he himself tells he was made all things to all men that he might save all to the Jews he became a Jew that he might gain the Jews and to those that were under the law as if he had been under the law which he was not that he might gain those who were under the law and to those who were without the law as if he had been without the law whereas he was not without the Law of God but was in the Law of Christ that he might gain them who were without the law he also became weak that he might gain the weak which he did that he might shew that it was not by Circumcision but by Faith that we must be Saved and so when he Preached to the Hebrews he spoke to them as Hebrews saying God hath at sundry times and in divers manners spoke to our forefathers by the Prophets and from thence proved to them that Christ was of the Seed of David according to the Flesh he Preached likewise to them That Christ was with our Fathers in their Tents in the Desart and did lead them by the hand of Joshua into the Land of Promise he furthermore testified That Christ was the Prince of the Priests and had entered into the Holy of Holies which is the New Tabernacle and had by the Sacrifice of his Body and Blood abolished the blood of Goats and Bulls by which none that came could be justified and that he had spoke to the Jews in divers manners and did suffer himself to be Worshipped by his People with divers rites and an holy and uncorrupt Faith Furthermore The Children of Christian Parents before they are Baptized are called Half-Christians Those Children are looked upon by us as Half-Christians who as I am told are reckoned to be Heathens by the Roman Church upon account of their dying without Baptism whereas being the Children of the holy Blood of Parents who have been Sanctified by Baptism and the Holy Spirit and the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ upon which Three Testimonies all that are Christians are reputed to be such they ought to be esteemed Half-Christians for there are Three who bear Witness on Earth the Spirit the Water and the Blood as St. John testifieth in his first Canonical Epistle the Gospel saith likewise That a good tree bringeth forth good fruit and an evil tree evil fruit wherefore the Children of Christians are not as the Children of the Gentiles Jews and Mahometans who are dry Trees without Fruit but are chosen in the Womb of their Mothers as the Prophet Jeremy and John the Baptist were The Children of Christian Women are furthermore Chosen and Sanctified by the Communication of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ received by their Mothers from whom they derive their Nourishment during the time they are in their Wombs for as an Infant in the Womb rejoyceth or is sorrowful according as its Mother is affected so it is nourished likewise by its Mother's nutriment for as our Lord saith in his Holy Gospel Whosoever shall eat my body and drink my blood shall never tast death and again He that eateth my
A long Justification of their abstaining from Meats that are made unclean by the Law while they conversed with Christ make use of unclean Meats or so much as taste any thing that was prohibited by the Law which was what none of them offered to transgress no not after the time of our Lord's Passion when they began to preach the Gospel there being nothing in their Writings from whence it can be gathered that they did ever kill or eat any thing that is unclean It is true Paul saith Eat all that is sold in the shambles asking nothing for conscience sake and again If any that are infidels invite you to a feast and you are disposed to go eat whatsoever is set before you asking no questions for conscience sake And again If any one shall say This is offered to idols do not eat for his sake that told you so and for conscience sake c. All which Paul spoke in compliance with those who are weak in the Faith betwixt whom and the Jews there were frequent Debates and in order to the putting a stop to those Disputes the Apostle complied much with the weaker Christians which he did not do that he would have the Law broke but that by gratifying such People in the relaxation of Rites he might allure them to the Faith The same Apostle saith likewise Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not for he that eateth eateth unto the Lord and he that eareth not eateth not unto the Lord. It is therefore an unworthy thing to reprove Christians who are Strangers with so much bitterness as I have been reproved here concerning this very matter and other little things which do no ways belong to Faith It would certainly be much wiser for Christians whether Greeks Armenians Ethiopians or of any of the Seven Christian Churches to bear with one another in Charity and in the Bowels of Christ in all such matters and to suffer one another to live and converse with their Christian Brethren being all Sons of Baptism and unanimous in the true Faith neither is there any cause why they should debate so sharply about Ceremonies or why every one should not be suffered to observe his own and that without hating and persecuting others for theirs neither ought any one in a strange Countrey to be debarred the Communion of the Church for observing his own Church-Ceremonies As to that we meet with in the Acts of Peter's seeing a Cloth let down from Heaven by the corners wherein were all Four-footed Beasts and all creeping Creatures and Birds of the Air and of his having heard a Voice that commanded him to rise and kill and eat to which Peter replied Far be it from me Lord for I have never eat any thing that is common and unclean to whom the Voice answered What God has purified that do not thou call unclean which having been done three several times the Vessel was then immediately taken up into Heaven whereupon the Spirit sent him straightways to Cesarea to Cornelius a holy Man fearing God to whom when Peter spake the Holy Spirit descended on all who heard the Word of God After which Peter baptized Cornelius and his whole Family Now when the Apostles and Brethren who were in Judea came to hear of what Peter had done they were angry and asked him How he came to go to men who were uncircumcised and to eat with them but after Peter had declared to them the whole Vision they were satisfied and returned thanks to God saying He hath given repentance unto life to the Gentiles and they remembred the word of the Lord which he spoke when he ascended into Heaven Go over all nations and preach the Gospel to all creatures in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost and he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved and he that believeth not shall be condemned Then the Apostles begun to preach the Gospel over the whole World to every Creature in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost insomuch that their sound went thorough the whole Earth Now this Vision wherein things clean and unclean appeared we of Ethiopia interpret thus The clean living Creatures were the People of Israel the unclean were the Gentiles who were therefore said to be unclean because they worshipped Idols and did the Works of the Devil which are unclean So that the Voice saying Peter kill was the same as if it had said Teach and preach the Faith and the Law of Christ both to the People of Israel and the Gentiles besides it is most certain that we read no where in the Scriptures of Peter or of any other of the Apostles killing or eating any thing that was unclean after this Vision We are to observe likewise That when the Scriptures speak of Bread it is not to be understood of a Corporal Food but of the Doctrine of the Gospel It is therefore adviseable for all Doctors and Preachers to teach high and sublime things of this Linen Cloth which was shewed to Peter and not low things which do no way appertain to Salvation and least of all to draw Arguments from thence to prove it to be lawful for us to eat things that are unclean seeing no such matter can be gathered from the Scripture but that is not all for the Apostles themselves in their Book of Synods have forbid us to eat any thing that is strangled or tore or half eaten by Beast or Blood hecause the Lord loveth cleanness and sobriety and hateth gluttony and pollution and loveth those much who abstain from Flesh and those more who fast with Bread and Water and Herbs as John the Baptist did who eat nothing else As also Paul the Hermite who lived in the Desert and fasted 80 years as St. Anthony and St. Macarius and a great number of their Spiritual Sons who never so much as tasted Flesh Wherefore Brethren we ought not to contemn and persecute our Neighbours for St. James saith He that speaketh evil of his brother or judgeth his brother speaketh evil of the law Paul teacheth likewise That it is much better for people to rest satisfied with their own traditions than to contend with their Christian brethren about the law and that in such matters they ought not to be wiser than is necessary but to be wise to sobriety according as God hath dealt to every man a measure of faith Wherefore it is a very undecent thing to contend with our brethren about the law and distinction of meats since meat cannot commend us to God A charitable Admonition and especially since St. Paul hath said Whether ye eat plentifully or do not eat ye are never the worse Let us therefore look after higher things and the food that is heavenly and forbear such low and empty disputations What I have writ concerning Traditions I have not writ out of a spirit of contention but to defend my Countreymen against the violent reproofs of those who paid so
been Emperor himself for Seven years and that with the Approbation of the People who had also restored him after he had been Deposed for some time neither was his being a Bastard any bar to him since according to the Natural and Civil Law a Bastard may succeed his Father as John the First of Portugal did his Fathor Don Peter besides Suseneus was a Bastard no less than Jacob. On the other side saith Tellez it may be alledged That Jacob having been deposed to make room for Za Danguil who was both the true Heir and was chosen by the Grandees and People upon Danguil 's death the Throne became void and the Election of an Emperor out of the Royal Family devolved to the Commonwealth whereupon Suseneus who was the Grandson of an Infante was chosen Emperor by the Army upon Jacob 's having delayed coming to them Concluding That whatever Princes Titles or Pretences in such cases may be in Speculation according to the Practice of the World he has the best Title that â—â—s the longest Sword But to return to the Fathers who having staid at Court till Winter obtained leave to go to Gorgora to fix a Residence there but they had not been gone a Month before the Emperor writ to them to come to Court again declaring that he could not be without their Company any longer The Fathers obey'd the summons and repaired to Coga a place near the Lake of Dembea where the Emperor at that time had his Camp They were no sooner arrived but the Emperor gave them an Audience and after that was over ordered them to Dine with him that is in the same Room though not at the same Table The Portugueses give a tedious account of the particulars of this Entertainment the main of which are That the Emperor does not feed himself but has his Meat put into his Mouth by his Pages that his Diet was plain and without any thing of Cookery and that he had neither Knife Spoon Table-Cloth nor Napkin and had Bread for his Trencher and never Drank till he had done Eating Father Peter and his Companions never missed the Emperor's Levee the Emperor taking great delight to discourse with them about Religion and the difference that is between the Habassin and Roman Churches which Conferences having continued for some time The Emperor offers to write to the King of Portugal and the Pope and is encouraged by Father Peter to do it the Emperor sent one day to Father Peter to come to him alone and being come he told him That nowithstanding he was convinced that he ought to submit himself and his Empire to the Pope yet it would not be safe for him to attempt it before he had some assurance that the King of Portugal would assist him against those who would oppose him in doing of it That he intended therefore to write a Letter to the Pope and another to the King about it The Father having extolled his good intentions encouraged him to write those Letters assuring him of as good an Answer to them as he could desire The Emperor Seltem Saged's Letter to the Pope THE Letter of the Emperor of Ethiopia The Emperor's Letter to the Pope Malac Eguet cometh to the holy Pope of Rome with the Peace of our Lord Christ who loved us and washed us from our Sins in his blood and hath made us a Kingdom and a Priesthood to God the Father May this Peace be always with your Holiness and the Catholick Church of Christ Amen We have for a long time had a great affection for the Christians of your parts upon the account of the benefits this Empire received from them when it was formerly rescued by the Portugueses out of the hands of Mahometans and restored by them to its ancient estate and quiet most of whose Race died in our Father's Reign who was willing they should enjoy what his Ancestors had given them whereupon so soon as through God's Grace I took the Government of the Empire upon me I determined to renew our Alliance with the Faithful People of Christ in order to remedy the manifest distractions our Empire of late years has been put into by the Mahometans for notwithstanding we have subdued most of our Domestick Enemies we have Enemies still that are much more Powerful that is the Infidel Gauls who have Conquered a great part of our Empire and destroyed many of our Churches and which is worst of all are daily Invading us and exercising unheard-of Cruelties on Old Men Widows and Children whom we are not able to protect without being assisted by our Brother the Emperor of Portugal We do therefore implore his aid as our Ancestors did that of his Predecessors formerly and that there may be no failure we resolved to intreat your Holiness who is the Father and Pastor of all faithful Christians to write to our Brother to grant us what we desire of him before the Gauls grow stronger upon us As to the landing of the Succors he shall send it will be done without any danger they that are the Masters of our Coast being at this time very weak at Sea so being assured that your Holiness will assist us according to our necessities we will trouble you with no more words but shall refer the relation of the state of our Empire and of the kindness wherewith we Treat those of the Portuguese race and of the care we take of the Fathers and their Churches to Father Peter Pays to whom I have recommended the doing of it and to whose account I desire you to give the same credit as you do to this Letter We conclude praying that our Lord Christ would preserve your Holiness for many Years for the good of the Catholick Church Written in Ethiopia on the 14th of October 1607. The Emperor's Letter to the King of Spain THE Letter sent by the Emperor Malac Eguet His Letters to the King of Spain cometh to the Emperor of Spain the Holy Land of St. Peter the Prince of the Doctors and of the Catholick Church of our Lord of which the Apostle St. Paul said I have betrothed thee to one man to present thee a chast Virgin to Christ To whom be glory and in imitation of the most pure Messenger St. Gabriel who saluting our Lady the Virgin said The Lord save thee and of Christ our Lord who on the Evening of the Lord's-day after his Resurrection said to his Apostles being assembled together Peace be among you and as St. Paul writes in all his Epistles The Peace of our Lord be with your Majesty our Brother in the Faith that was preached by St. Peter at the time when our Lord Christ commanded his Apostles to go all over the world and preach the Gospel to all Nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost How is your Majesty and how is your Empire we are in health thorough the Intercession of St. Peter your and our
that they found in Arms in the Emperor's Camp and that he would Canonize the Man that would kill the Emperor assuring them that all that should be slain sighting against him would die Martyrs and go straightways to Heaven encouraging Julius 's Soldiers after the example of Satan to fight against us but God was pleased to give us the Victory and the Divine Justice having laid its Military hands upon him he died an ill death But to return to our chief intent these Patriarchs in having from the time of Dioscorus denied Obedience to the Popes of Rome who are the Successors of St. Peter the foundation of the Faith and the Head of the Holy Church and in having affirmed that there is only One Nature in Christ and in having refused the Ordinances and Canons of the Apostles of our Lord and wrested all writings to their own wicked purposes have not lead the People in the paths of Truth Let us therefore give over yeilding Obedience any longer to the Patriarchs of Alexandria who are all Jacobites walking in the ways of their Errors and treading in the steps of Arius Macedonius Sabellius Eutyches and Dioscorus and let us yeild Obedience to the Bishop of Rome who sits in the Chair of St. Peter which Chair cannot Err in any matter of Faith or good Manners And do you all in Peace follow the Holy Faith which Christ our Lord built with his Holy Blood on the Cross which he shed for the Salvation of all that do believe in him for ever and ever Amen This Manifesto notwithstanding it is Orthodox as to what relates to the two Natures in Christ yet its throwng so much dirt and in all probability unjustly on the Memories of the Habassin Abuna's was a thing infinitely below the Dignity as well as Charity of a Christian Emperor who let his Religion be what it will is not to write Libels but to burn them rather as Constantine did And as to the policy of such a Manifesto at this time unless the Emperor's Affairs were in such a condition that it was safe for him to provoke his Subjects to Rebel that so by subduing them he might destroy the established Religion with the more case it was certainly stark naught there being nothing that he could have done that could have enraged his People more against him than the making of such lew'd reflections on Prelates for whose Memories the Habassins had a most profound veneration but such blunders as these are to be expected in places where Princes Councils are governed by People who have spent most of their days in a Cell under the discipline of a blind Obedience The Emperor about this time finding that notwithstanding he had enraged his Subjects almost to a madness against him by his Manifesto's and Proclamations in favour of Popery The Emperor grows jealous of his Brother that his Brother Raz Cella was still courted by the whole Roman Party as their Head so that he was left in a manner without a Friend that he could confide in he resolved upon some pretence or other to strip his Brother not only of the Viceroyship of Gojam but of all the Posts of Authority that he was possessed of judging it to be necessary to his safety to keep him as low as it was possible and especially if the Portuguese Succors should come which had been desired Raz Cella who was a Prince of a violent and rash Temper having discovered his Brother's jealousies of him together with the resolutions they had made him take did storm at such rate in all Companies as to make the Emperor much more jealous than ever who though resolved to throw him down yet being willing to do it as gently as might be he called him out of Gojam to Command an Army he was sending against one Cabrael who had raised a Croisade against him Raz Cella He sends him against Cabrael who was at the head of a Croisade though he was not ignorant of what was his Brother's design in giving him this Command yet being sensible that the Roman Party in Ethiopia was but a handful and that the Alexandrians who were a Thousand to One would upon the Emperor's abandoning all Popish Interests which a rupture with him at that time would have forced him to not only have forgave him all that was past but would as one man have declared for him and stood by him in defence of their Religion he judged it most advisable for him to obey the summons and accordingly went and took the Command of the Army upon him and having made a Vow to Francis Xavier to build a Church to him if he returned Victorious he marched against Cabrael who finding himself too weak to resist the Royal Army trussed up his Baggage so soon as it approached him retiring with what speed he could to the Gauls by whom being hired to do it he was Murthered which success was so far from reconciling the Emperor to his Brother that it made him more afraid of him than ever Now while things were thus in Ethiopia at Rome and Madrid they thought it was more than time that a Patriarch were sent thither with Two Coadjutors A Patriarch of Ethiopia is consecrated at Lisbon and with the same Power as the former and accordingly one Alfonso Mendez being named Patriarch and James Seco and John da Rocha Bishops of Nice and Hieropolis his Two Coadjutors by Philip the Fourth they were approved by the Pope and having obtained their Dispensations for they were all Three Jesuits and Bulls the Patriarch and Bishop Elect of Nice were Consecrated at Lisbon by Prelates of a much higher Sphere than the former Patriarch their Order by this time having pretty well wore off the odium of Novelty the Consecration of the Bishop Elect of Hieropolis being prorogued to the Indies On the 28th of May The Patriarch arrives at Goa the Patriarch with the Elect of Hieropolis the Bishop of Nice having died in the Voyage arrived at Goa where he stayed till the 17th of September and then embarked for Chaul where he met with the following Letters from the Emperor and his Brother The Emperor's Letter WITH the Peace of the good Pastor who gave his Life for his Sheep The Emperor's Letter to the Patriarch We do give many thanks to God our Lord who has granted us our desires and petitions and has been pleased to fulfil the time when your Lordship was to come to be our Patriarch with two Bishops Coadjutors who will be all found little enough to help these straying Sheep in a stormy day May God bring your Lordship to us in Peace and health and give you such a passage that we may have you among us quickly as the necessity of this Empire does require with the greatness of which the Fathers have I presume acquainted you at large in the mean time we do beseech God so to order matters that they may all redound to his Glory and Honour
Countreymen only for defending the Religion of their Forefathers and which they themselves were of no less than the Peasants The Emperor promised them to speak to the Patriarch about it and having accordingly sent for him he told him again That he could not but be sensible of his having done all that lay in his power for to have established the Roman Faith in his Empire He speaks to the Patriarch about it and will not be deni'd and that whereas he had endeavoured to force his Subjects to embrace it he was now satisfied that there was no bringing them to it by that Method it being visible to every body that his having used it had had no other effect but to increase his peoples aversion for that Religion He told him farther that he had reason to fear That if he did not quickly grant a Toleration that he should be Deserted by his whole Court and Army but not being willing to do any thing in that matter without his consent he had therefore sent for him to advise with him about the manner of it adding Something must be done and that speedily to quiet the minds of the people The Patriarch who was extreamly troubled to hear the Emperor speak of a Toleration again made answer That his Highness was miserably misled by evil Counsellors who under pretence of a Toleration designed the utter Extirpation of the Roman Faith but the Emperor urging still the necessity there was thereof the Patriarch was forc'd to promise to give way to the Toleration of all such Habassin Customs as were not contrary to the Roman Faith but upon condition that the said Toleration should not be proclaimed that so it might look more like a Connivence than a Toleration Whereupon it was concerted betwixt them that the Habassins should be Tolerated as to Three things one was the observation of Saturday the Second the Fasting on Wednesdays and not on Saturdays and the third was that they might use their ancient Offices according to his Emendations of them The Alexandrians being acquainted by the Emperor with what the Patriarch was willing to grant them seemed to accept of it very thankfully only they told him it must be proclaimed for if that were not done it would have no effect at all on the minds of the people which was the only end for which they had desired it and not for their own sakes who pretended to be so abundantly satisfi'd with the Doctrines and Customs of Popery as to wish the people could without disturbing the Peace of the Empire be brought to embrace it And so having prevailed with the Emperor that it should be proclaimed proclaimed it was and that with extraordinary Solemnities first in the Camp The Toleration is proclaimed and afterwards over the whole Empire to the great Joy of the people they that understood how it truly was reckoning it however a good beginning but for the generality they believed it to be a Toleration of the whole of their Religion The Patriarch hearing of the Toleration having been proclaimed The Patriarch's protestation against it and of the people rejoicing at it as a Toleration of their whole Religion he immediately drew up the following protestation against it and sent it to the Emperor NOtwithstanding I told your Highness That your Subjects might be allowed to fast on Wednesdays instead of Saturdays and might use their Offices as by me amended and excepting Easter and the Festivities depending thereon that they might observe their Holidays as formerly nevertheless I declared to your Highness at the same time that it was not to be done by Proclamation which as he that publisheth them publisheth them as he thinks fit so all that hear them do understand and interpret them as they like best as we see it has happened in the present case for though I am satisfi'd that your Highness designed to grant no more by your Proclamation but what was agreed on between us yet as I am told all the news every where is that your Highness hath by a Proclamation commanded all your Subjects to return to the Alexandrian Faith upon which conceit there have been extravagant rejoicings in your Highness's own Camp to the great Mortification of all true Catholicks Whatever it was that induced your Highness to do this know you certainly that God will one day call you to a strict account for it And that I and the Bishop to whom the Holy Ghost hath committed the Government of this Church which Christ purchased with his blood as it is said in the Acts of the Apostles may not be partakers of the same Condemnation We do jointly declare to your Highness That in this Proclamation you have not observed that order that you ought to have done which being a business of an Ecclesiastical nature the publication thereof did not belong to your Highness but to us Your Highness would do well to remember what the high Priest Azarias said to King Ozias in the Twenty Sixth Chapter of the second Book of Chronicles O Ozias it is not your Office to offer Incense to the Lord but it is the Office of the Priests and the Sons of Aaron who were Consecrated to that Ministry Therefore come forth of the Sanctuary and despise not for this thing will not be for your Honour in the sight of God Your Highness would do well likewise to remember the punishment which immediately befel that King thereupon And since it was not thought sufficient to have these Proclamations published only in the Church but it must be done also in the Camp your Highness before you ordered that ought to have consulted with some of the Fathers or some other of your Chaplains or with some person authorized by us to that purpose who would have taken care to have prevented the offence that it has given for we are informed by some that were present at the Solemnity that the people after the Proclamation were heard to say openly That now they were to have all their old Offices again without our amendments of them and were to observe all their old Holidays not excepting Easter and the Festivities that depend thereon and that they were not left to their liberty but were commanded not to fast on Saturdays but on Wednesdays Wherefore that the last error may not be worse than the first your Highness must set forth a Second Proclamation with all necessary Explanations of your mind at the framing whereof I do appoint Father James Mattos to be present in my place and whereas it is not convenient that it should be done without the concurrence of Abeto Basilides I do in the name of God require your Highness to acquaint him with it and I do farther admonish you to pray to the Father of Light for Light that so you may not fix your eyes so much on an Earthly Kingdom which is transitory as to lose that of Heaven which is Eternal and that on Earth likewise The Emperor though nettled
of holy Mother Church In the Second place I do declare That I so long as I do live and am not loosed from that bond of Spiritual Marriage which I have Contracted with the Church of Ethiopia am the true Patriarch and Pastor and Abuna thereof and that whosoever is or shall come from any part is a stranger and cannot enter into it by the door it not being opened to him by the faithful and prudent Steward to whom Christ has delivered the Keys of his House Such a one therefore must be an Adulterer in taking another man's Wife while her lawful Husband is living I have been placed in this Chair by the true Successor of St. Peter and that with the same Authority as St. Peter placed his Disciple St. Mark in the Chair of Alexandria all that are in that Chair and do deny Obedience to the Pope and his Successors being Patriarchs only in name for the branch cannot bear fruit of it self if it continueth not in the vine In the Third place I am to put your Highness and the whole Empire in mind of those words of St. Paul Be not deceived for God no nor men will not be Mocked by your pretending that you have not forsaken the Roman faith but only in some customs for it is plain you have departed from her by divers Heresies namely the using of Circumcision together with Baptism the repeating of Baptism the keeping Saturday and the ceremonial Law about Legal uncleannesses and distinctions of meat and in dissolving Marriages many of you affirming that Christ is the Son of God by grace only Others affirming that there are Two persons in Christ others that he has one person made of Two and that he has not two Wills nor two Operations others that he died without his Divinity others that the Humanity is equal to the Divinity and is every where You do affirm likewise that water squeezed from dry grapes may be Consecrated and that the Souls of Children are derived from their Parents with a great many other things that are repugnant to the holy Scriptures and have been Condemned and Anathematized in divers Councils In the Fourth place I do beseech your Highness by the Precious Blood of Christ and by the Bowels of Our Lady the Virgin Mary and I do in the name of God and by the Authority which he hath given me by the Pontifical Oil that was poured on my head as upon that of Aaron on the day of my Consecration command you neither by force nor promises to endeavour to oblige the Portugueses that shall remain here to renounce the true Roman Faith Nor to set any Captain over them that is not a Catholick by Descent and chosen by Catholicks And I do pronounce the greater Excommunication to be Ipso facto incurred and do invocate the Indignation and Curse of Almighty God and of the holy Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul and of St. Thomas the Patron of India and of St. James the Great the Patron of Spain and Portugal on all that shall any ways offend in this matter or who shall at any time forsake the Roman Faith In the Fifth place I do advertise your Highness and all and every one in your Empire that there is no Nation under Heaven that has the like Obligations to another as Ethiopia has to Portugal The Portugueses not having come among you as the Children of Israel went into Egypt with Asses to have them laden with Provisions to satisfy their hunger but were moved to it purely out of Charity and Zeal for the faith It is not above an Hundred years since they were sent by their King to his great cost laden with Arms and Muskets and accompanied with a train of Artillery which is at this time in your Camp with the Royal Arms of Portugal upon them with their Pockets full of Money and that not to make themselves Masters of Ethiopia nor to Conquer it for their King but to deliver the Habassins out of a Mahometan Captivity and to free them from the Yoke which that cursed Sect had laid upon their necks for which great Service they have been so ill rewarded that their Children and Grandchildren were reduced to that Penury that the King of Portugal was obliged to allow them a yearly Maintenance Wherefore I do beseech your Highness to let them enjoy the Privileges which their Fathers purchased for them with their Blood and which have been granted them by former Kings for their services In the Sixth place I would have your Highness remember that several of the Fathers of the Society who are Eminent for their Piety and Learning have come into Ethiopia at divers times not to seek after Honours or Riches but to serve God and your people in much humility and to teach them the true faith some of them having given the greatest Testimonies of love that are possible in having laid down their Lives for their Friends which Three of them did one after having been several years a prisoner at Matzua and the other two at Adel and those that are now alive have served your Father with all the fidelity of Doctors Servants and Slaves as he himself has many times told me all which notwithstanding after they had built several Churches and Houses they are now turned out of them all and that in the midst of Winter their Churches and Goods being all given to the Enemies of the Roman Faith the Fathers that were at Gorgora having in little more than three Months time been sent from three several places they that were at Dembea and Gojam having been likewise turned out of all notwithstanding all which hard usage they continue to pray to God to Establish your Highness's Empire for ever and that he would give you a House that has the true faith for its Foundation and Heaven for its Roof Furthermore I would have your Highness remember That your Father desired the Bishop of Rome to send a Patriarch and Bishops into Ethiopia at whose request he sent me and a Bishop we were both Masters of Divinity and Readers of the holy Scriptures Neither did the most Catholick Powerful and Munificient King of Portugal expect that your Father should have remitted Gold to him to defray the charges of our Mission or that he should have taxed his Nobles on that account but he took the whole charge thereof upon himself which amounted to several Thousand Oquea's giving us also many rich pieces to make Presents of some of which are at this time in your Royal Palace and in several great Houses in Ethiopia Neither did he so much as charge your Father with the Maintenance of our persons having sent me yearly an Hundred Oquea's to support my Dignity Now all the return you have made to your Brother the King of Portugal and to the Bishop and me for all the charge and trouble that we have been at is to throw us out of all at a blow and to entertain another without knowing who