724 Report on Shoa [No. 140. 



hend, by what authority the Pope held in his possession the keys of the 

 kingdom of heaven. 



Meanwhile the civil war continued with great expenditure of life, and 

 alternate success on either side. Enticed on to the plain, the enemy 

 were generally worsted by the royal troops ; but among the recesses of 

 their native rocks, the mountaineers had always the advantage. No sign 

 of intended submission could be observed, and the monarch becoming 

 suspicious of the Jesuits, who were erecting posts and strong-holds under 

 the guise of churches and residences, lent a favourable ear to the entrea- 

 ties of his subjects. 



A second remonstrance was penned, wherein he forcibly set forth to 

 the Portuguese Bishop, that the Roman religion had not been introduced 

 into the country by the miracles or the preaching of the fathers ; but by 

 royal edict and ordinance, in opposition to the wish of the entire popula- 

 tion, and that the prelate must devise some milder measure, for the 

 furtherance of the true faith. 



Foreseeing a heavy storm in abeyance in case of refusal, Mendez re- 

 luctantly complied with the proposal of a modified church code, under 

 the restriction, that no public manifesto should announce the change, 

 which must be gradually and silently introduced. 



The ancient liturgy and the ancient holidays were thus restored, and 

 the celebration of the Jewish sabbath once again permitted. 



But the concession was insufficient, and came too late to pacify the 

 turbulent mountaineers of Lasta, who had been altogether victorious 

 during the war. They would listen to no modification of their first 

 demand ; but imperatively insisted upon the complete establishment of 

 their ancient ecclesiastical institutions, together with the expulsion of the 

 foreigners from the land. 



The liberty and the customs of highlanders are seldom invaded with 

 success, and a religion detested by the common people, cannot without 

 much difficulty be introduced by the prince. Weary of so many rebel- 

 lions, and murders, and excommunications, the king in his advanced 

 age, began to view with an unfavorable eye the firebrand authors of 

 these disturbances. Suspecting his brother and the Patriarch of 

 suspicious views ; offended by the contumacy of his subjects, and the 

 increasing diminution of his own authority ; disgusted with the present 

 state of affairs, and apprehensive of future events; he now seriously 



