KAM'KKN CHUKCHES. 



ECUADOR. 





tlioin- 



li;il.itaiitstl'.\!>y inia I 'roper, ahout :;.(ini(,(i(iMiii 

 number, Li-Ion^ to an ancient .branch of ( 'hri-tian- 

 ity, tlii- Al>y-siniaii Church, \vhicli, in point of 

 > with the Coptic cliurdi. Tho 

 hea<lof tin- Al.iN-Miiian Cliurdi is cal|.-<l Alnina, 

 .ml In- is always selected liy and onlaineil !>y the 

 ( 'ojitic patriarch. Tho late Abunaof the church 

 lied in October, ISDT. after having been for a 

 long time impruoned ly Kin:? Theodore. The 

 ration of war against Al>ys>inia, by Eng- 

 land, at tract rd public attention also to the 

 -itiian Church, and the numerous works 

 which appeared on Abyssinia treat more or 

 less fully on the Abyssinian Church (see ABTS- 

 M MA ). Tho following are extracts from a book 

 1-y Henry Duftan : 



The Abuuahas the appointment of priests and other 

 ohfof officer*. Priests that are already married have 



ivilrjre of entering the sacred office, but none 

 marry afterward. Their duties consist in 

 r>Miliug the prayers, chanting, administering the 

 sacraments, and dancing, the latter being indulged 

 in during religious processions, and consisting of a 

 peculiar swinging to and fro of the body rather than 

 a free use of theHegs. Upon them also devolves the 

 duty uf instructing youth, but not exclusively, for 



is another class called debteras, or learned men, 

 who arc schoolmasters as well as scribes. Some 

 monasteries are found in ditferent parts, but nuns 

 :nv rare. The churches are generally built on the 

 summit, of hills, in the midst of cypress-groves. They 

 are round, with conical roofs, and divided, after the 

 .l.-wish model, into three parts. The outer court is 

 open, being the space between the wall and the posts 

 supporting the roof, which extends about four yards 

 beyond the main building. The second part, corre- 

 sponding with the Holy Place, is the space between 

 the outer wall and another, which encloses the holiest 

 of all ; and here the people congregate for divine 

 u -mvliip. The holiest is only entered by the priest, 

 and contains what is called the tabot, or ark, in which 

 the sacred vessels_ and books are kept. The exterior 

 of this enclosure is profusely painted with sacred and 

 historical subjects by native artists, which, to a 

 European, arc subjects of great amusement. Michael, 

 the archangel, and St. George and the Dragon, 

 nearly always occupy the door. In representations 

 of the future world it is remarkable that they always 

 paint angels and good men white, devils and bad 

 men black. Sometimes the tolling of a bell, but in 

 most cases the beating of kettle-drums, summons 

 the faithful to prayer. The prayers are read in 

 Ethiopia, a language which the people know nothing 

 about, so that little profit can be derived from the 

 service. Indeed, most persons content themselves 

 with kissing the floor or walls of the edifice, and such 

 is a criterion of a man's piety ; " he kisses the church," 

 they say, and so esteem him a good Christian. Some 

 will utter a prayer. The sacrament is administered 

 in both kinds, only that raisins are steeped in water 

 to form the wine. Wine is scarce in the country. 

 Baptism is administered by immersion every year. 

 The rite of circumcision universally prevails. Their 

 calendar is crammed full of saints, and the days of 

 the year by no means suffice for them all, so that 

 they have morning celebrations and evening cele- 

 brations. One cannot wonder at this, when their 

 l;-t it udinarianism leads them to commemorate Balaam 

 and his ass, Pontius Pilate and his wife, and such 

 like doubtful saints. In addition to the heroes of 

 the Bible ami Apocryphal books, they have many 

 1'T.tl saints, who have at various times astonished 



inia by their miracles and prodigies, particu- 

 larly one called Tecla Haimanot, who usurps an im- 

 portance in the Abyssinian mind often before Mary, 



or even Jesus. He is said to bare converted the 

 devil, and induced him to become monk for forty 

 days, though what became of him afterward we are 

 at a loss to Know. I suppose that fasting and celibacy 

 iii'1 not ...-I uith him for longer than that term of 

 trial, and therefore he became a "backslider." The 

 same holy man, wishing to ascend a steep mountain 

 with perpendicular sides, similar to tho Guimb, was 

 accommodated, in answer to a prayer, with a boa- 

 constrictor, which took him on its back. 



ECUADOR,* a republic in South America. 

 1'iv-ident Jeronimo Carrion (1865-'69) Laving 

 resigned in November, 1867, a new vote for 

 IV. -ident was taken in December, 1867. Area 

 about 284,660 English square miles. Popu- 

 lation, in 1858, 1,040,371, among whom 600,000 

 were descendants of whites. Tho value of 

 products exported from the port of Guaya- 

 quil amounted, in 1865, to about 4,000,000 

 piastres, an excess over the receipts of 1864 of 

 about 1,000,000 piastres. The chief article of 

 export is cocoa, which, in 1865, was estimated 

 at 2,000,000 piastres. In 1866 the value of ex- 

 ports increased 115,752 piastres. The number 

 of entries in the port of Guayaquil, in 1866, 

 was 132 vessels, amounting to 13,969 tons. 

 Among the vessels were 21 Italian, 8 French, 

 11 English, 4 German, 26 Ecuadorean, 5 Colom- 

 bian, 1 Spanish, 4 from the United States, 41 

 Peruvian, 1 Chilian. 



The administration of President Carrion gave 

 great dissatisfaction to the majority in Congress. 

 A motion was made to impeach the President 

 and the ex-Minister Bostamente. The motion 

 was rejected as regards the President, but as to 

 the minister, his impeachment was resolved 

 upon, on the ground of an illegal appointment 

 of the Governor of Imbabura, The case was 

 brought before the Senate on September 30th, 

 and on October 4th Bustamente was declared 

 unfit to hold a public office for the term of two 

 years. On October 5th the whole cabinet 

 tendered its resignation, which was accepted. 

 On the same day Congress closed its session, 

 after passing a resolution to censure the Presi- 

 dent. The resolution declares that u the acting 

 chief of the State, sacrificing the weal of the 

 republic to petty family interests, and yielding 

 to pernicious influences, has made himself un- 

 worthy of the position which the people have 

 intrusted to him, and that his continuation in. 

 office is a grave evil, which Congress omits to 

 remedy only on account of the close of tho 

 session." The President, after accepting the 

 resignation of the ministry, wished to appoint 

 SeQor Elias Laso as u general minister ; " but 

 La*o at once refused to accept this position. 

 The President then tendered his resignation to 

 the Council of State, which at once accepted 

 it. The Vice-President, Pedro Jos6 de Artet.i. 

 provisionally assumed the reins of government. 

 The cabinet was reconstituted of its former 

 members, as. follows : Interior and Foreign At- 

 1'airs, Rafael Carvnjal; Commerce, Colonel .Man- 

 uel de Ascasubi ; War and Navy, General Her- 

 nardo Davalos. On the withdrawal of the 



* For fuller statistic*, tee ANXUAL CTCLOP.KDIA for 1888. 



