THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 347 



had many concubines. Abuna Petros, who fucceeded, took 

 the wife of a poor Egyptian, and lived with her ; he then 

 excommunicated his fovereign Jacob, after he had reigned 

 feven years, and died in battle in the a(5tual commiflion of 

 treafon, fighting againft the prince. 



Simon, the laft Abuna, befides living in adultery with the 

 wife of an Egyptian called Matti, kept feveral young wo- 

 men with him as concubines; and being dete(5led in having 

 a daughter by one of them, with a view to conceal it, he 

 caufed the child to be expofed to be devoured by the hysena. 

 After living in conflant difobedience to God's law, he joined 

 the crime of rebellion to the repeated breach of every com- 

 mand in the dfcalogue ; and appearing in battle, and ex- 

 communicating his fovereign, God (fays the manifefto) de- 

 livered him into our victorious hands, and he was flain by 

 a common foldier in the very commiflion of his crime. 



It muft be owned, we cannot have a worfe pi(5ture of any 

 Chrillian church than that here given of the bifhop's church 

 of Alexandria. Charity fhould induce us to hope fome exag- 

 geration had crept into it. Yet when we confider that the 

 fads mentioned were all within the fpacc of forty years, 

 and confequently muft have been within the knowledge, not 

 only of Socinios, but of many people then alive and at court,, 

 we cannot, with the impartiality of an hiftorian, deny our 

 apprehenfions, that thefe charges were but too- well founded. 



HowEV£R this may be, neither the king's example, nor his 

 ananifefto, had the efFe<ft he defired. A rebel, whom the 

 annals call the fon of Gabriel, declared himfelf againft the 

 king in Amhara,Juft at the time that Socinios, miflcd by 



X X 3 the 



