There is nothing in this account very improbable; but the same record adds many circumstances that are evidently false; as, that the first-born of Israel, at the instigation of Azariah, the son of Zadock, went to Jerusalem, and fetched the ark out of the temple; and being assisted by a train of miracles, escaped the pursuit of Solomon, and arrived with it in Ethiopia; it is not, however, improbable, that the prince of Abyssinia might cause another ark to be made like that formed by Moses; and that this story might be afterwards invented, in order to procure it a more general veneration. Such an ark is said to be still kept, but is so closely concealed, that even their monarchs are not admitted to a sight

of it.

The Abyssinians maintain, that they were converted to christianity by the eunuch or prime minister of their queen Candace, or, as they call her, Handake, who, after his conversion by Philip, they say returned into Ethiopia, and gave his queen a full account of all that had passed; upon which that princess also believed in the gospel. However this may be, Athanasius, patriarch of Alexandria, in the year 335, ordained Frumentius, bishop of Auxuma, and sent him to preach the gospel in Ethiopia. This he performed with great success; the discipline of the church was then settled conformably to that of Alexandria; priests and deacons were every where ordained; liturgies, articles, and canons were settled and confirmed; and the Abyssinian church was brought to acknowledge herself wholly subject to, and dependent upon that of Alexandria.

The early travellers to the east, such as Rubruquis, Marco Paulo, and others, gave to the empire of Abyssinia the name of Prester, or Presbyter John's country, from the great power and authority which was possessed by the chief ecclesiastic; but Lobo accounts for this name being given to Abyssinia, because the country was confounded by the Portuguese with an ancient and famous Christian state called by that name in the Indies, which is now known as the country of the

Grand Lama. Voyage to Abyssinia, p. 44. The report which had been spread in Europe, of Christianity being professed in this remote and secluded country, induced John II. king of Portugal, when intent upon opening a communication with the East-Indies, to attempt to gain some knowledge of Abyssinia also.— To effect both these purposes, he sent Pedro de Covillam and Alphonso de Payva, about the year 1488, who were both thoroughly versed in the Arabic language, into the East. The two travellers repaired to Cairo, whence they travelled in company with a caravan of Egyptian merchants, and crossed over to Aden, on the Red Sea, where they separated. Payva sailed directly towards Abyssinia, Covillam embarked for the East Indies. The latter completed his travels successfully and safely, but the former was unfortunately murdered, and the country remained entirely unknown to Europeans until some missionaries were hardy enough to visit it carly in the last century.

The Abyssinians, however, retain many of the Jewish ceremonies. They circumcise not only the male but the female infants, which last is done by cutting off a small piece of skin from the clitoris. They abstain from blood, things strangled, the flesh of swine, and the other animals prohibited by the Mosaic law. According to Mr. Bruce, hares are likewise interdicted for food. They use purifications and washings after certain defilements. They oblige a man, if his brother die without male issue, to marry his widow, and raise up seed to his name; and they keep the seventh day sab

bath.

On the other hand, they believe the doctrine of the Trinity, and that Christ shall come again in glory to judge the quick and the dead, when the just shall inherit the kingdom of heaven, and unrepenting sinners be sent into hell. Mr. Bruce relates, that a dwarf belonging to Ras Michael, prime minister of Abyssinia, whose name was Dono, constantly spent his time in reading the scriptures, the acts of the councils, the works of St.

John Chrysostom, and other such books as they have among them.-Travels IV. 101.

The Abyssinian clergy are allowed to marry. The people never enter their churches without pulling off their shoes or sandals. The divine service consists of a set of prayers, psalms, and hymns suitable to the seasons, and for the most part is performed with great decency and devotion, without any of that pomp and ceremony used in the church of Rome. They have no bells, but call the people to the church by the sound of wooden hammers. They have neither pews, benches, nor hassocks, but continue standing all the time. In none of these edifices, whether sumptuous or mean, are any statues or carved images of any kind, except pictures: they will not suffer any crucifixes, whether carved or cast in metal, to be seen in them.-Payne.

CHAPTER XXXI.

INDOSTAN.*

This once extensive, populous, powerful, and celebrated empire, although at present entirely subverted, yet constitutes a very interesting subject for oriental history. The court of the prince, who was known in Europe by the title of the "Great Mogul," was splendid beyond rivalship, even amidst eastern grandeur. There magnificence was displayed to the fullest degree that human pride and human ingenuity, assisted by a profusion of every species of dazzling wealth, employed under the most propitious climate, to gratify the most luxurious habits, could supply. The city of Delhi,

The history of Indostan being, we presume, but little known to most of our readers, (especially the younger class, for whose benefit this work is principally intended) we have devoted a greater portion of this publication to it than to any other country.

the residence of the emperor, was of vast extent, and its riches countless; for hither the contributions, which were drawn from the widely extended provinces of the empire, were continually flowing.

Various are the names by which the country forming this empire was known; such as India, Mogulstan, Indostan, Hindostan, and Hindoostan. Its extent and boundaries, when at the height of power, may be laid down from thirty-five degrees to nineteen degrees N. latitude, and from sixty-eight degrees to ninety-two degrees E. longitude. Bounded on the W. by the Indus, on the E. by the Ganges, northward by Cashmere, and the chain of mountains which stretch along Lahore; southward by the Decan, or Deccan, and Golconda; including a vast extent of country, populous, fertile, highly cultivated, and abounding with manufacturés.

When Alexander undertook his expedition into India, the powerful empire which afterwards arose there was not established, but the country consisted of several independent and extensive monarchies. After the death of Alexander, the conquests which he had made in India continued under the dominion of the Macedonians, being first governed by Pytho and afterwards by Seleucus. Soon after the death of the latter, which was about two hundred and fifty years before the Christian æra, Dr. Robinson supposes the Macedonians were compelled to abandon their possessions in India. Historical Disquisition concerning Ancient India, p. 33.

Some Greeks, however, still retained the kingdom of Bactria, and even extended their conquests very considerably. There were six princes who at one time reigned in Bactria, some of whom were distinguished by the title of "the Great King ;" a mark of pre-eminence assumed by the monarchs of Persia when inflated by the plenitude of power. At length these potent princes were overwhelmed by a vast body of Tartars, which poured in upon them from the north, and the dominion of the Greeks in India was entirely subverted.

With their expulsion all knowledge of the internal state of the country was entirely lost, during the vast space of sixteen centuries. It was not until the Portuguese became acquainted with India, by sailing round the southern point of Africa, and boldly adventuring across the Indian ocean, that any knowledge of the history of India was obtained in Europe; although the spices, silks, porcelaine, pearls, and diamonds, which it yielded, had been obtained in all ages. Since the commerce of the East has been transferred successively to the maritime nations possessing the western coasts of Europe, the history of the powerful empires which occupy those regions has been gradually developed. Concerning many of these countries, the Romish missionaries have given very copious information; but of the empire we are now to describe, the researches of English gentlemen, who have been long resident in some of its parts, have furnished the most full and satisfactory accounts; who, amidst commercial pursuits and military occupations, have found leisure to gratify a taste for literature, in a manner the most useful and laudable. Of these the indefatigable and discerning Major Rennell has taken, beyond compare, the most extensive survey of the face of the country, and of its general history : he has, indeed, rendered Englishmen as well acquainted with the empire of Indostan, as with that of GreatBritain. From the general mass of information the following sketch has been made.

The Mahomedan government, which afterwards extended itself to Indostan, arose at first from a very small beginning among the mountains which divide Persia from India. The Afghans, or Patans, a warlike race of men, who had been subjects of the vast empire of Bohara, revolted under their governor Abstagi, in the fourth century of the Higera, or tenth of the Christian æra, and laid the foundation of the empire of Ghizni or Gazna.

The Afghans were divided into distinct communities, each of which was governed by a prince, who was