other, who live under one common rule; but their convents are independent of each other. These monks are men of credit and reputation, and are frequently entrusted with the most important affairs of state. None but the priests and deacons have any right to enter into the sanctuary where the altar stands; the emperor himself is denied that privilege, unless he has been before admitted into holy orders; for this reason their monarchs are frequently ordained, and take either deacon's or priest's orders on the day of their coronation.

The Ethiopian princes insist that they are descendants of Solomon by the Queen of Sheba; and this royal extraction, whether true or false, is supported by several historical testimonies, interspersed with a Origin. thousand extravagant fictions. But if this really be so, it readily accounts for that Judaism which is so universally blended with the Christianity of this empire, and which seems to be originally derived from this royal race of the Abyssinian monarchs. Indeed the Abyssinians are so confirmed, beyond all contradiction, in this belief, that their monarchs assume the title of Kings of Israel. The people are divided into tribes, as were the ancient Hebrews, and they preserve many Jewish names; indeed, their very singers boast that they are descended from the ancient Scribes.

Rites and Ceremonies.

We shall next notice some of their rites and ceremonies; and first, in respect to baptism: the mother, being dressed with great neatness and decency, attends with her infant in her arms at the churchdoor. There the priest who officiates, pronounces several long prayers for a blessing on them both, beginning with those peculiarly appropriated to the mother. Afterwards, he conducts them into the church, and anoints the infant six several times with the oil consecrated for their exorcisms. These first unctions are accompanied with thirty-six others, administered with galilæum, each on a distinct part of the infant's body. After this, he blesses the font, pouring consecrated oil into it twice, and making, each time, three different signs of the cross with meiron; all which ceremonies are accompanied with several long prayers. As soon as the benediction of the font is over, he plunges the infant into it three times successively. At the first, he dips one third part of the infant's body into the water, saying, I baptize thee in the name of the Father; he then dips him lower, about two-thirds, adding, I baptize thee in the name of the Son; at the third operation, he plunges him all over, saying, I baptize thee in the name of the Holy Ghost. The sacraments of Confirmation and of the blessed Eucharist are administered after this baptism, which is solemnized before mass; and the Communion is administered to the infant towards the end.

The confirmation of the Copts consists in several long prayers, and repeating the unctions on the infant, the same as after baptism. The priests among the Abyssinians perform their unction with Confirmation. chrism, in the form of a cross, upon the forehead of the baptized infant, saying, May this be the unction of the grace of the Holy Ghost; Amen. When he anoints the infant's nose and lips, he says, This is the pledge of the kingdom of heaven. At the application of the ointment to his ears, he uses this form, The sacred unction of our Lord Jesus Christ : in anointing the arms, knees, and legs, I anoint thee, says he, with this

sacred unction, in the name of the Father, &c. To conclude, the priest repeats a prayer over the infants that have been baptized, and afterwards confirmed, in the form of a benediction, puts crowns upon their heads, and then gives them the communion.

Eucharist.

When the Abyssinians celebrate the eucharist, the sacramental bread is prepared in a convenient place, contiguous to the church, but no woman is permitted to touch the flour from which it is made. The bread is brought from the vestry to the altar by proper officers, who go in solemn procession before it, with crosses, censers, and little bells. During the celebration of mass, a curtain is drawn, to conceal what is done at the altar from the eyes of the congregation.

They administer the communion in both kinds; but with these restrictions, according to Father le Brun :-that in the Ethiopian, as well as in all other Eastern churches, the celebrant gives the blood, or wine, in the chalice to none but the priests; he administers it to the deacons, in a small spoon; and the laity receive only some particles of the body dipped in the blood; the king excepted, who receives the communion in both kinds. The Abyssinian churches are all situated directly from west to east, that the people, when they pray, may turn their faces eastward. The altar stands by itself, within the sanctuary, under a kind of dome, Churches. supported by four pilasters; and is called, by the Ethiopians, their ark, the form or figure of it being, according to their tradition, the same as that of the Jews, which they pretend is actually in existence, and is to be seen at this very time in the church of Axuma. There are two curtains before the sanctuary, with little bells at the bottom of them, on which account nobody can go in, nor come out, without making them ring. As the congregation always stand during the performance of divine service, they have no seats in their churches; they are allowed, however, to rest themselves upon supporters or crutches, a great number of which are provided for that purpose, and deposited on the outside of the churches. The people always go into the church barefooted; and for this reason the pavement is covered with tapestry. No person presumes to talk, blow his nose, nor so much as to turn his head aside, whilst at church. The men are separated from the women, and the latter are placed as far distant as possible from the sanctuary. They have lamps burning in their churches even in the day-time, and they frequently illumine a great number of waxtapers.

Fasts.

They are very strict and severe in the observance of their fasts. During their Lent, they eat but once a day, and that after sunset. On Wednesdays and Fridays they sit down to table at three o'clock; and, in order not to be in the least mistaken in point of time, they measure their shadows, which when they are just seven feet in length is the critical minute. The Abyssinian priests are so precise, that they defer the celebration of the mass until the evening, upon a fast-day, for fear of transgressing the injunction of fasting, by receiving even the elements. They do not think themselves obliged, however, to fast, till they have children of a marriageable age; but as the heat of the climate soon brings the natives to maturity, there are but very few at twenty-five who are exempt from this penance.

Among the Abyssinians, the particular person for whose spiritual com

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of the Lamp.

fort this benediction of the lamp is pronounced, is obliged, according to the direction of the ritual, if his strength will permit him, Benediction to draw near to the celebrant, who places him in a convenient seat, with his face towards the east. The priests then hold the book of the Gospels, and a cross over his head, and lay their hands upon him. The senior priest then reads the prayers appointed for that particular occasion; after which they raise the sick person up, give him a blessing with the Book of the Gospels, and rehearse the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, &c. Then they raise the cross above his head, and at the same time pronounce the general absolution over him which is inserted in their liturgy. If time will permit, there are several other prayers added, and a formal procession is made all round the church, with the sacred lamp, and several lighted wax-tapers, to beg of God that he would graciously vouchsafe to heal the person for whom their prayers are desired. If the patient happens to be so far indisposed as to be incapable of approaching the altar himself, some friend is substituted in his room. When the procession is over, the priests perform the usual unctions upon the sick person, and afterwards a single unction upon one another.

A writer gives the following description of one of their weddings, at which he was personally present. The bridegroom and the bride attended at the church-door, where a kind of nuptial-bed, or couch, Nuptial Cewas erected for that purpose. The abuna, or patriarch, seated remonies. them both upon it, and then went in procession round them with the cross and censer. After that he laid his hands upon their heads, and said, As ye this day become one flesh, ye must be both of one heart and one will. After a short harangue, suitable to the foregoing words, he proceeded to the celebration of the mass, at which the newly-married couple attended, and, after it was over, he pronounced the nuptial benediction.

Gaia has furnished us with some other ceremonies observed by them in their nuptials, amongst which the following are the most remarkable :— "The celebrant, after he has cut a lock of hair from the heads of the bridegroom and the bride, and dipped them into wine mingled with honey, exchanges the locks, and places that which belonged to the former on the head of the latter, and so vice versa, in the very same place from whence they were taken, sprinkling them at the same time with holy water. After this ceremony is over, the newly-married couple, attended by their friends, go home, and never stir abroad for a month. When the bride goes out, she wears a black veil over her face, which she never turns up till after the expiration of six months, except she proves with child." We have before taken particular notice of the nuptial crowns amongst the ceremonies of the Greeks; and among the Abyssinians, these crowns are put upon the heads of the newly-married couple, and they wear them for the first eight days; after which, the priest who put them on takes them off again, with much formality, and pronounces several prayers.

Each monastery has two churches, one for the men and the other for women. Their musical instruments are little drums, which they hang about their necks, and beat with both hands. The gravest ecclesiastic amongst them looks upon this drum as an ornament, and always wears one. They have, likewise, pilgrim's staffs, which they strike upon the ground, regulating the motion of their bodies to the cadence. They always begin