1843.] and the Abyssinian Church. 699 



skin, torn and scarified from the temples, proclaims the plunge into the 

 last extremity of grief. 



In later days, the extravagance of mourning has been somewhat mo- 

 derated through the agency of a priest of the church of St. George, 

 who stood boldly forward to arrest a practice equally at variance with 

 the sacred books of the country, and with the spirit of the New Testa- 

 ment. Excommunication thundered her wrath upon all who should 

 thenceforth indulge in the luxury of woe, and the people trembled 

 under the ban of the Church. The death of a great governor soon con- 

 firmed the restriction. Loved and esteemed by all classes, the prohibi- 

 tion was severely felt. The complaint of lamentation was referred to 

 the throne, and as the deceased was a man of rank and a royal favorite 

 with all, the clergy were commanded to grant absolution in this one in- 

 stance. But Zeddoo, the stout-hearted priest arose and declared, that he 

 had no respect for persons, and the words of truth must be defended to the 

 death. The silence of the monarch enforced the ecclesiastical fiat, and to 

 this day the drum is mute at the funeral wake, and customary praise of 

 the deceased is heard no more in the public resorts of the capital. 



On the annual day of atonement, the Jews were obliged to confess 

 their sins before a priest. In like manner, the Abyssinians are com- 

 manded from time to time to perform the ceremony during the great 

 fast of Hodada more particularly, and on Good Friday, the day of the 

 Jewish expiation ; and as the slave in token of his freedom and dismissal 

 received the blow from the Roman proctor, so the penitent on absolu- 

 tion, receives the stroke over the shoulders from the branch of the woira 

 tree, as a sign of his deliverance from sin and Satan. 



Murder and sacrilege ought to be immediately revealed to the of- 

 ficiating priest, and a particular confession of all crimes is enjoined once 

 before death. The father- confessor is bound to the strictest secrecy, and 

 it is believed, that on this point a dreadful oath is taken before ordina- 

 tion, when the mysteries of religion are explained by the Abuna, and 

 especially those which have reference to the preparation of bread for 

 the Holy Supper. In a small house styled Bethlehem, which rises im- 

 mediately behind every church, the mysterious ceremony is performed. 

 The deacon can alone bake the cake, and the most vigilant guard is 

 invariably preserved against the approach or intrusion of females, or 

 other improper visitors during the hours of solemn preparation. 



