Theodore

In the early part of the century, Kuara, a district of Amhara, s.w. of lake Tzana, was ruled by Dejaj Comfu. The brothel' of this frontier chief died young, leaving a widow in greaE poverty, and a son born in 1820, named Kassai, afterward Theodore. She was compelled to seek refuge with her boy in Gondar. There she lived in great obscurity, earning her bread by selling ko.Nso, a specific against tapeworm. What her rank was is doubtful; and it is not known how far her son was justified in claiming for her descent from the family of the titular kings. Kassai was admitted to a monastery, where he spent many years; but his asylum was afterward attacked by an insurgent chief, and he escaped with difficulty to Kuara. He joined the army of his uncle, then fighting the 'Turks; and he distinguished himself so much by courage, intelligence, activity, and tact that he obtained a wonderful influence over his fellow-soldiers. Dejaj Comfu died suddenly, and his three sons quarreled. To settle their dispute, Birru Goshu, chief of Godjain, was called in. He entered Kuara, and conquered the best part of it. Kassai, however, resisted him, and at the head of a numerous band of soldiers took refuge among the mountains. He was there attacked by Waizero ?enin, the mother of ras Ali, who, as we have seen, had married the titular emperor Johannes, and who at that time ruled Dembea, the district near Gondar, the capital. Kassel encountered her troops, defeated them several times, and recovered possession of Kuara. Has All thought it.prudent to come to terms, recognized him as governor of Kuara, and gave him his daughter in marriage. This alliance did not, however, reconcile Kassai and Waizero 3Ienin. They again quarreled, and again Kassai was victorious. He captured Waizero Benin, and compelled his father-in-law to acknowledge him as ras of Kuara and Dembea Has All had, however, become alarmed at the power of Kassai, and determined to crush him. As representing the ras, Birru Goshu attacked him with a powerful army, and compelled him again to seek refuge in the mountains of Kuara. In the following year, Kassai entered the field against Birru Goshu, conquered him, and slew him with his own hand.. He then marched against ras Ali, and drove him to Debra Tabor, the old stronghold of his family. There he maintained for a time a determined resistance, but lie was compelled at last to yield, and he then sought refuge in the country of the Gallas, where he died. Kassai then attacked the Dejaj of Godjam, sou of the chief he had killed, and defeated him. The whole of Amhara thus fell into his possession. Having secured the person of the titular emperor, he called upon Dejaj Oubie of Tigre and Semen to pay tribute to him. This demand was refused with insult. Such, however, was the power of this chief that Kassai dreaded to attack him. The rivals met in Feb., 1854, and, to avert bloodshed, agreed to allow the magnates of the empire to decide which had the best right to the throne. The abuna was more under the control of Oubie than Kassel, and the latter felt that the weight of the church would be against him. Padre de' Jacobis, as already mentioned, had acquired considerable influence in Tigre. Theodore made advances to him, and offered that if he, as head of the Latin church, would support his cause, and crown him king, he would compel the people to adopt the Romish rites. Dr. Beke asserts that the padre de' Jacobis accepted the offer. Kassai marched against Oubie, and in Feb., 1855, a battle was fought at Debi reskie, in which the latter was captured, as well as the abuna Salama. Kassai, unscrupu lously disregarding his promise to the Roman Catholic prelate, now made advances to the abuna Abba Salama, and obtained his consent to acknowledge his descent from Solo mon and the queen of Sheba, and to crown him emperor. The conditions exacted were that Kassai should support the Coptic church, and banish the Roman Catholics. A few days after the battle, Kassai was accordingly crowned by the abuna as Theodore of Abyssinia. It was not without reason that this name was chosen. According to an old tradition, a king Theodore was to reign in Abyssinia, conquer the kingdom of Solomon, and restore the ancient glory of Ethiopia. Kassai believed, or affected to believe, him self the man thus announced. He proclaimed himself a descendant of Solomon, but it does not appear that he ventured to ignore the titular king; on the contrary, since his coronation, he is represented as standing in the presence of the latter, naked to the waist, as is the custom of an Abyssinian servant in presence of his master. On the annexation of Tigre, Theodore resolved to attack Shoa, the third great province of the old empire. He invaded the country of the Wollo Gallas, defeated them, and reached Ankobar. the southern capital. The people were frightened by the sudden death of the king, and sub mitted without a struggle. Theodore now resolved to extend his conquests to the Red sea, and enter on a crusade against the Turks for the recovery of the sea-board. He had treated up till this time the conquered provinces with great leniency, generally one of the ruling family in power, and to Mr. Bell and Mr. Plowden he extended the same protection they had from ras Ali. He heartily adopted many of their schemes, and was anxious to open up intercourse with England. It was difficult, however, to negotiate with him. He 'believed himself to possess the same claim to respect as a European monarch, and was kept in perpetual torture by imaginary slights, and more especially by the respect shown to the Turks, whom he regards as barbarians. Ilis vanity and touchiness were aggravated by reverses. The conquest of Shoo, had not long been completed when the Dejaj of Godjam and the prince of Tigre rebelled, the latter being supported by the French. At the time when the Roman Catholic missionaries were banished by Theodore, Dr. Krapf and the rev. Martin Flad entered central Abyssinia to found a Protestant mission under the auspices of bishop Gobat of Jerusalem. They proposed to introduce handicraftsmen, not priests, who were to follow their usual avocations, and in addition, merely to read the Scriptures, and distribute copies .in the natives languages. The scheme met with Theodore's approval. In April, 1856, the first member of the mission arrived, and others followed. Encouraged by their success, the rev. H. A. Stern afterward went to Abyssinia as agent of the society for promoting Christianity among the native Jews or Falashas, and obtained the consent of the king and abuna to found another mission. He went back to Europe, but returned early in 1863, accompanied by •Mr. and Mrs. Rosenthal. A. third, known as the Scotch mission, was founded, and all were well received. The first quarrels of Theodore were with the diplomatists. He was indignant at the proposal made by the English foreign office to exercise jurisdiction over criminals in Abyssinia, without granting him reciprocal rights. In Nov., 1855, he was still further irritated by our refusal to receive any embassy from him without an as'surance that he was to renounce all idea of reconquering from Egypt the Abyssinian territory of which it had taken pos session. At this period our government are accused of having systematically ignored complaints against the Turks. They certainly, without justification, expressed great

dissatisfaction with the failure of Mr. Plowden to realize the advantages of intercourse with Abyssinia, although he, in a series of admirable papers, unfortunately not pub lished at the time, proved that it had arisen from causes he could not have anticipated. Personally, Mr. Plowden remained on the best terms with Theodore, and if he had lived, all might have gone well. The consul, however, exposed himself to great risks. He was returning to Massowah from Gondar when he. and a company of fellow-travel ers were attacked by Garod, a rebel chief. He was wounded, and eied of the injury he received. The king and.Mr. Bell marched against Garod, and killed him. Garod's brother then killed Bell, and a horrible slaughter of the insurgents ensued. After the death of Mr. Plowden, capt. C. D. Cameron was appointed consul. Theodore was not consulted, and the new consul was coldly received in Oct., 1862. The Egyptians were at the time advancing within the northern frontier of Tigre, and Abyssinian Christians had been subjected to indignities at Jerusalem. Theodore resolved to appeal to the English and French governments, and wrote letters claiming their protection. That to the queen was forwarded to Aden; but unfortunately did not reach London until Feb., 1863, when it was thrust into a pigeon-hole and ignored or forgotten. In the meanwhile consul Cameron was directed to visit Sennaar, on the frontier of Egypt and Abyssinia, to judge of its fitness to become a cotton-producing country. The object of this journey was not explained to Theodore, and he naturally believed it to be a visit by a spy to his enemies the Turks. FIis`suspicions were not allayed when the consul, on his return to Gondar, could produce no answer to the letter. He had received a dispatch, but it sim ply ordered him to go back to Massowah, and not to interfere with Abyssinian politics. " So your queen," said Theodore, "can give you orders to return to Massowah, but she cannot send a civil answer to my letter to her. You shall not leave till that answer comes;" and the consul was detailed on parole at Gondar. In reply to the French let ter, M. Lejean was sent to Abyssinia. A written answer to Theodore was read, in which, as if it had been intended to irritate him, something was said of the protection accorded by the emperor of the French to all Roman Catholics in the east. This aggra vated the offense already committed by the French—that of aiding the prince of Tigre. The letter was torn and trampled upon, and M. Lejean, imprisoned for a few days, was ordered off to Massowah. Theodore declared lie would no longer be "humbugged by missionaries and consuls like a rajah of Hindustan," and the European residents all felt that a crisis had come. In Oct., 1863, consul Cameron sent letters to Massowah. His messengers were stopped, deprived of their dispatches, and beaten. On the same day Mr. Stern, who happened to pay a visit of ceremony to the emperor, inadvertently gave him offense; and he and his two servants were ordered to be beaten. The servants died the same night. Mr. Stern himself was so seriously hurt that his life was despaired of. His papers were then examined and found to contain remarks derogatory to the emperor. He and Mr. Rosenthal were arrested, and on Nov. 20 they were publicly tried with all the formalities of Abyssinian law—on a charge of having committed the crimen lance majestatis. Mr. Stern was accused of having circulated the report in Europe of Theo dore being the son of a beggar-woman who sold kosso, and of his not being the descend &nt of Solomon and the queen of Sheba; while Mr. Rosenthal was accused of having mid that the country would fare better under the Turks than Theodore. The prisoners were condemned to death, but the sentence was not carried out. Two days after the trial dispatches arrived for capt. Cameron, but there was no reply to Theodore's letter. these circumstances the consul was injudicious enough to apply for permission leave. He was arrested and thrown into the prison at Gondar with the missionaries, where they remained till the following summer, when they were removed to Magdala. The English government did not seem to interest themselves about the consul; but the case of the missionaries was warmly taken up by lord Shaftesbury and the religious public. A letter of capt. Cameron's was published, in which he said, "No release until an answer is sent to the letter to the queen." The subject was brought before parlia ment, and the government were compelled to search for this document. It was found in the pigeon-hole where it had been put, indorsed by lord John Russell. It had been written in 1862; it was answered in June, 1864. The reply was intrusted to Mr. Hor muzd Rassam, a native of Mosul, who had been employed in diplomatic service at Aden. The choice of this envoy was most unfortunate—he being, in the eyes of Theodore, a mere Turk, and therefore a spy and an enemy. He was not received till Jan., 1866, and then a second error was committed. Mr. Rassam accepted a large present from Theo dore, and did not, or was not enabled to repay it, as was expected, by a gift equal in value, although the necessity of doing so had been fully explained to the government. Theodore then sent the English envoy, who was treated as a mere beggar, to prison with the other captives. This was his first distinct breach of the law of nations. After this period, he conducted himself like a madman: he caused women and children to be tor tured, dishonored, and starved in an unheard-of manner. "Out of 3,000,000 inhabit ants," says Dr. Blanc in June, 1867, " he has destroyed more than a third by war, famine, and murder." After some unsuccessful attempts to negotiate with Theodore, through Mr. Flad, in the early part of 1867 lord Stanley in April, ordered him within three months to deliver up the prisoners. He took no notice of the communication, and accordingly an expedition was fitted out at Bombay for the invasion of the table-land. The force consisted of upward of 10,000 soldiers. Early in November the advanced. brigade landed at Zulla, on the Red sea. From this point the expedition advanced suc cessfully in spite of many difficulties, and, in the beginning of April, 1868, came within sight of Magdala. On April 10, near Magdala, Theodore gave battle to the British forces, and sustained a defeat so decided that he forthwith made submission to the extent of surrendering all the European captives in his power; and on the 13th, Mag dala, into which he had retired, was stormed, and with little difficulty was taken posses sion of by our forces. Neither in the battle nor the assault was there any loss of life on the British side, only a few being wounded; the Abyssinians sustained a loss of 500 killed and 1500 wounded, the most notable among the former being Theodore himself, who was found dead, shot in the head.—See The British Captives in Abyssinia, and other works, by C. T. Beke, PH.D. ; the government blue-books; an article in No. 65 of the Westminster Review, new series; the works of Harris, Rudolph, Lejean, and Dufton.