12 THE INDIAN ADVOCATE
holy men who sacrificed their lives for the truth's sake,
not fanatics, who give their bodies to be burnt for error,
not having the Charity of God. Abyssinian Christianity
only needs reviving and purifying.
The church edifices in Abyssinia are small, and their
walls covered with rude pictures of the Madonna, the
Saints, and the angels. Europeans might consider them
hideous, but they are in the highest style 'of Ethiopic art,
and by natives considered beautiful; however, there is no
disputing about tastes.
The language used in the public functions of the Church
is the ancient Ethiopian, or 6-Vs, as it is now called.
This is the language of their scholars, used in philosophical
and theological discussions, in quotations, and sometimes
to conceal the sense of a conversation from the vulgar.
The Ethiopian Bible, probably translated from the Greek
in the fourth century, contains the whole of the Catholic
canon. This is also in the ancient tongue, the Latin of
that distant land. Mons. d' Abbadie, who spent a consi
derable time in Abyssinia, says that education is essential
ly public and gratuitous, because they say science should
not be sold like any other vile merchandise. He also says
that he has held disputes with native Christians, on reli
gious, philosophical, and other scientific subjects, and
found them as well informed as if they had been brought
up in Paris or London.
In the year 1850 much had been done towards removing
tho existing obstacles to a return to the Church's unity
by Monsignor de Jacobis. But all his labors in this direc
tion were rendered useless by the evil deeds of the English
and other Protestant ministers, whom may the Lord re
pay. These ministers gained permission from the King
and the A bun to settle in the country on the following
conditions: First, "that they should do what they could
towards converting the Talma or native Jews." For they
considered -.that a people so long surrounded by the in
fluence of a genuine Christian Church, could scarcely be
influenced by the teachers of a man-made religion of some