An Account Of The Persecutions Against The Christians In Abyssinia Or Ethiopia


Towards the conclusion of the fifteenth century, and soon after the

discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, some Portuguese missionaries made a

voyage to Abyssinia, and were indefatigable in propagating the Roman

catholic doctrine among the Abyssinians, who professed christianity

before the arrival of the missionaries.



The priests, employed in this mission, gained such an influence at

court, that the emperor
onsented to abolish the established rites of

the Ethiopian church, and to admit those of Rome. He soon after

consented to receive a patriarch from Rome, and to acknowledge the

pope's supremacy.



Many of the most powerful lords, and a majority of the people who

professed the primitive christianity, as first established in Abyssinia,

opposed these innovations, and took up arms against the emperor.--Thus,

by the artifices of the court of Rome, and its emissaries, a most

furious civil war was begun, and the whole empire thrown into commotion.

This war was carried on through several reigns, its continuance being

above 100 years, and the court constantly siding with the Roman

catholics, the primitive christians of Abyssinia were severely

persecuted, and multitudes perished by the most inhuman means.



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