58 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER 



if thefe offences were committed by a layman. Of this the 

 treatment of Honorius is an example, who made ufe only 

 of fpiritual weapons againll offences, that furely deferved the. 

 cenfure of all churches. 



With whatever propriety this fentence might have 

 been inflicfled upon individuals, and, perhaps, without any 

 bad confequencc to the public in general, the law of 

 the land, in Abyffinia, could not fuffer this to be inflic- 

 ted on their king, becaufe very bad eiFedts muft have 

 followed it towards the common-weal ; for excommuni- 

 cation there is really a capital punilhment if executed 

 with rigour.. It is a kind of interdlBio aqua et Ignls^ for you 

 yourfelf are exprefsly prohibited from kindling a lire, and 

 every body elfe is laid under a pi'ohibition from fupplying 

 either fire or water.. No one can fpeak, eat, or drink with 

 you, enter your houfe, or fuffer you to enter theirs. You 

 cannot buy nor fell, nor recover debts. If under this fitua- 

 tion you fhould be violently flain by robbers, no inquifi- 

 tion is made into the caufe of your death, and your body \s 

 not. fuffered to be buried.. 



I WOULD fubmit now to the judgment of any one, what 

 fort of government there would be in Abyflinia, if a priefl 

 was fuffered to lay the king under fuch: interdid; or reflric- 

 tion. The kings of that country do not pretend to be faints;, 

 indeed, it may be faid, they are the very contrary, leading 

 very free lives. Pretences are never wanting, and it is only 

 nccellliry to find a fanatic priefl (which, God knows, is not 

 a rarity in that country) to unhinge government perpetually,,. 

 and throw all into anarchy and confufion. But nothing of 

 ubis kind occurs in their liiflory, though the bigotted Le 



Grande^ 



