1843.] and the Abyssinian Church. 719 



despised by most. The Latin interpolation was abhorred as magic by all, 

 and a furious paper controversy raged for a time until the Abyssi- 

 nians becoming scurrilous, the wrath of the monarch was again roused, 

 and he issued a severe edict, wherein the people were forbidden from 

 celebrating the Jewish sabbath, which from time immemorial had 

 hitherto been kept sacred. 



The inhabitants of Begemder flew to arms, and people from all parts 

 of the country groaning under the yoke of foreign oppression, poured in 

 to join the standard of rebellion, which Joanel had reared on the plains 

 of his government. A horde of Galla delighting in the confusion, offer- 

 ed their assistance, and the most haughty conditions were speedily con- 

 veyed to court from a large assembly in arms. 



Again the most earnest entreaties were employed to induce the em- 

 peror to compromise ; but influenced by the words of the Jesuits, he call- 

 ed together his principal chieftains, monks, and learned men, and in their 

 presence solemnly declared, that he would defend the Catholic religion 

 to the last drop of his blood, adding, that it was the first duty of his sub- 

 jects to obey their legitimate monarch. 



Energetic measures were forthwith agreed upon, and at the head of 

 a large army, the king proceeded in person to the war. Joanel finding 

 himself too weak to contend in the plains, withdrew to the inaccessible 

 mountains, where the blockade of the royal troops soon caused a scarcity 

 of provisions. His forces gradually deserted, and he himself escaping 

 to the Galla, was pursued, betrayed, and put to death. 



This reverse sustained by the defenders of the old cause, did not how- 

 ever intimidate the inhabitants of Damat, a province situated on the 

 banks of the Nile ; for hardly had the emperor reached his capital, 

 than the population rose en masse, with the determination of dethroning 

 a monarch, who so basely truckled to foreign yoke, and of driving from 

 the land the authors of its destruction. An army of fourteen thousand 

 warriors was speedily organized, and monks and hermits, burning with 

 zeal in the cause emerged from the cave and from the wilderness, to join 

 the fast swelling ranks. 



Ras Cella Christos marched against the rebels, but desertion consi- 

 derably thinned his troops, and he confronted the enemy with barely one- 

 half the numerical strength of their formidable army. Governor of the 

 province, and greatly beloved by the people, a proposal was tendered to 



